The #5Star Affair (Love Hashtagged Book 1) (6 page)

Did she have any idea how completely hot she looked? Or that she was giving him a raging hard on? There was no way she didn’t feel that. She spun and draped her arms around his neck. Her tits brushed his chest.

“You need to let yourself go,” she whispered in his ear. “It’s more fun that way.” Her laughter faded as her gaze locked on his. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, rested her hand on his chest, and leaned in.

He swallowed, intensely aware of every inch of her pressed against him. Just a twist, and he could pin her to the wall. His pulse tripped faster than the beat, and his cock jerked against his jeans, begging to find out how far he could take this. Could he stop at just a kiss? The sharp cherry of her lip gloss hovered inches from his mouth, and he pushed back the desire to run his tongue over her lips, and see if she tasted as distinctly as she smelled.

He rested his hands at the small of her back, and drew her into him completely. She searched his eyes, dragged in a deep breath, and broke out of his grip. “That’s not what I meant to do.”

Fuck. He suppressed a sigh. Things weren’t going down this way. “Don’t do that.”

“I’m not doing anything.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and dropped into the chair by her desk.

“We were having fun, weren’t we? Or I am wrong?”

Pink smeared her cheeks. “Yes. I mean, I assume…” She glanced in his direction, gaze not lifting above his crotch.

At least he wasn’t the only one talking about something besides the dancing. “Then don’t downplay it like it was nothing.”

“I’m not. It was definitely something. But I don’t know if I want it to be what you’re expecting.”

His cock strained against his zipper. “I’m hoping for a few things, but the only expectation I have is that you be honest with me.”

“What if the best I can give you is ‘I don’t know’?”

“Then you don’t know. At least it’s something.”

“I guess.” She finally looked up. “But next time you actually dance with me.”

They hadn’t resolved much of anything, but she also hadn’t taken any options off the table. He let a small laugh slip out. “Not likely.”

She caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “We’ll see.”

If he’d been hard before, it was nothing compared to the desire and pain that stiffened his cock now. “You’re going to kill me. You know that?”

“I hope not. Tell me you’ve got all the answers.”

“I don’t. Not even close.” He hated admitting he didn’t know something, but every time he tried to wrap his head around his relationship with Jaycie, he stumbled on something new. It was part of what made her so attractive—she was uniquely her—but it also meant relying on standby rhetoric wasn’t working for him.

“So we’ll make it up as we go along,” she said.

Not what he wanted to hear. Guessing, lack of planning, taking jabs in the dark… None of those were solid approaches to any problem. Knowing that still didn’t give him an answer, though.

As Jaycie paced the length of her room, random snippets of sentences flitted through her thoughts. None of them really encompassed what she was trying to say about
God of the Stars
. It was fun. Nothing special—certainly not worth the hype surrounding it—but better than a lot of its competition. It had let her play stealthily, and not a lot of games offered any option besides going in, guns blazing. But there was something negative about it, and she couldn’t quite place her finger on it.

Her deadline was tomorrow morning, and she really needed this write-up. It could be one of those career-making reviews, if she did it right. Besides, she was already feeling the financial strain of refusing to take on more Digital Media games.

The familiar sound of digital gunfire tore through the air. She should go see what Ethan was up to. Maybe whatever he was playing would give her enough contrast to find the words she needed. Not that she was looking for excuses to spend time with him. When things went well between them, it was easier than she thought possible. When they didn’t, she tended to walk away feeling gutted. But she looked forward to either option, even if she wasn’t sure why. As much as tiny bits of her mind told her not to get involved with a roommate, with another gamer, with him, she couldn’t ignore her attraction to him.

She just had to figure out how to either deal with it or get over him.

He didn’t as much as glance in her direction when she wandered into the living room. His gaze was fixed on the TV, fingers flying over the controller pad as he navigated the cosmic war zones of
God of the Stars
. So much for contrast. She should stop him, and take the disc back. Her non-disclosure agreement on this game had been stricter than most, and he was technically the competition.

The concern she should feel wasn’t there, though. She’d ask him not to tell anyone until the game was out, and he’d respect her request. Logic argued that was a stupid assumption to make. She’d trusted Nick—not with that kind of information, but with other things—and he’d glossed over everything she said, as if she were a child that needed to be placated.

Except, for all the unanswered questions Ethan left her with, she never doubted his sincerity.

All of her concerns faded, as the minutes ticked by and she watched Ethan play. She knew the level he was on. She’d struggled with it, and it had taken her several retries to figure out how to do the entire thing while being stealthy.

She wasn’t surprised he hopped into the middle of the combat zone, pistols drawn, instead. Walked right in, and started picking off targets. Sure, he ducked when he needed to. Dove for cover. But there was no sneaking. No tiptoeing up behind a guard and garroting them. She could tell from the inventory tracker on the right side of the screen he didn’t have any weapons besides guns and a spiked club.

Typical gamer guy. Rushing in. Except that wasn’t true. Even though his approach was more aggressive than hers, he still seemed to have a plan beyond ‘shoot it, if it moves.’ Not only did he not get slaughtered out of the gate, the aggression worked for him, and he made it almost to the end before getting swarmed and owned.

She hated that she was going to have to interrupt, and take the game back.

He paused the game, and the screen dimmed to almost black. He met her gaze in the reflection of the TV. He’d known she was back here? He seemed so absorbed in what he was doing.

“I hope this is okay.” It wasn’t a question. “I found it in the console, and couldn’t help myself.”

“Technically…” She trailed off. Would it really be a big deal to let him finish? Normally she’d be worried about someone else’s perspective tainting hers in a review. But his approach was so different, maybe it would trigger what she was trying to figure out.

He nodded at the empty spot next to him on the couch. “Grab the other controller.”

“You know how I feel about multi-player.”

“I know you’ve made exceptions for me before. Besides, not versus. Co-op. Come on.” He patted the cushion. “Fifteen minutes. It’ll be fun.”

“You really wouldn’t like playing with me.” She bit back a grimace, as the words clicked in her head and she realized how bad that sounded.

“I think I’d enjoy it quite a bit.” He shifted enough to look at her directly, and the intensity in his gaze made her pulse skip. “You’d probably like it too. But I can seduce you later. Grab the other controller.”

Heat flooded her cheeks, and rather than dwell on his implication, she did as he said. She dropped onto the couch, device in hand, and pulled up her account on the split screen. Seconds later, she joined Ethan on the load screen, for the level he’d just played. Which was perfect. She’d show him how to do this right.

The castle fortress where the bad guys held their prisoner loaded, and Jaycie leaned forward, hands on her knees, scanning for the weapons she knew were there. Within seconds, they’d each grabbed the implements of their choice.

He gave a short laugh. “You’re going to go all ninja?”

“Better than getting picked off when I stroll through the front door.” She kept the teasing in her tone.

“No one’s getting picked off.” He leaned back against the sofa, shifted his weight until his arm brushed hers, and progressed in game. “I’m going through the front door, though. You loop around the west hall, come up through receiving bay two, and meet me by the mannequin storage. Take out anyone who gets in your way.”

A protest rose in her throat at being ordered around. She choked it back when she glanced at the map, summoned what she remembered of the level, and realized that would give her a better advantage than what she’d planned. “Fine. But not because you said to.”

He laughed. “Okay.” Every few seconds, as gunfire erupted, she flicked her gaze to his half of the screen. The two different styles were a sharp contrast, but within minutes they’d met at their first rendezvous point.

He continued to issue orders, and her protests faded when she realized each was in line with what she preferred to do. They slid through the level quickly and smoothly. As each new portion of the map loaded, her pulse increased another notch, partly from the mounting adrenaline in game, and partly from the brush of his shoulder against hers every time one of them jerked in time with the movements on screen.

His leg pressed into hers when he adjusted his weight. On-screen, she choked out the guy in the shadows who had been about to shoot Ethan. He let go of the joystick long enough to squeeze her knee. “Nice shot.”

She couldn’t hide her pleased grin at the genuine praise. He hadn’t sounded surprised, just grateful she’d pulled it off. Seconds later, his hand was back on the cordless device, and he sniped someone several feet to her right, out of her reach.

She nudged him with her elbow. “Ditto. Thanks.”

Bullets flew, and her skin flared to life with each tap from him. The final-level fight loomed in, and he barked out more commands. Her heart threatened to tear from her ribcage with every near miss and every bad guy eliminated.

They took out all minions, and finished off the boss. A series of unlocked achievements flashed up on screen. Flawless level play—no player damage taken. Flawless co-op play.

“Fuck yeah!” He tossed his controller on the coffee table, and turned to face her. “That was amazing. You were brilliant.”

“I guess you were pretty good too.” Her teasing laugh died, when she realized how intently he studied her, brown eyes trying to pry into her soul.

“Christ, you’re gorgeous.” He rested a hand at the base of her neck, and his thumb caressed her cheek. “Beautiful, and you know how to handle a joystick.”

The direct compliment tied her thoughts in knots, and she fumbled for a response. “It makes a difference when I’ve got the right partner.”

“Told you we’d play well together.” His voice dropped an octave. He dipped his head, and crushed his mouth to hers. It wasn’t a hesitant kiss. He plunged in with a hunger and intensity that stole her breath and dragged a whimper from her.

He claimed her lips, nipping and sucking, his tongue diving into her mouth to dance with hers. Her nipples tightened, aching against her bra. A tiny voice whispered this was a bad idea, and she shoved it aside. She dug her fingers into his chest, and traced the definition under his T-shirt. When he tangled his fingers in her hair and yanked, the oxygen stole from her head until she thought she might float away.

The scent of his body wash—clean and sharp—filled her thoughts. He tasted amazing. He moved his free hand to her hip, then shoved the edge of her T-shirt up, dragging the hem over her skin.

She groaned against him. This was incredible. The tiny voice of protest whispered louder. Pushed cruel thoughts into her head. Reminded her she didn’t know anything about him, and she couldn’t cross this line. Fucking voice of reason. She pushed him back. “Stop.”

He pulled back, hands falling away and narrowed eyes locking on hers. His lips were swollen, and his breathing ragged. Did she look the same? Part of her itched to reach up and trail a finger along his chin. Memorize the stubble. Close the distance between them again. She swallowed the urges back, trying to smother them with reason.

“What did I do wrong?” he asked.

She shook her head, not sure if she could find the right words to explain herself. She wasn’t even sure she understood her own reasons—how was she supposed to tell him? Every inch of her wanted to finish what they’d started, so why couldn’t she?

He took a deep breath and then another, before scooting back enough to put some space between them. “I won’t ever push you, if you tell me to stop”—each word sounded strained, as if he were forcing it through a filter—“but I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one enjoying that. You don’t owe me anything, but an explanation might be nice.” He shifted on the couch, and adjusted his jeans.

More disappointment and embarrassment flooded her when she caught a glimpse of the large bulge outlined on his upper thigh. She dragged the words to the surface. “I don’t date gamers.” Even as the explanation flowed out, she realized how weak it sounded. “Besides, we’re roommates. Not lovers or dating, or anything else. We can’t just screw around; that’ll make things awkward between us.” Like that hadn’t already happened.

He pursed his lips, and raised his eyebrows high enough they almost reached his hairline. “First of all, you think this is going to be less awkward? Second, you’re really going to lump me into a generic category like that?”

He had a point. What she said made no sense. Every bit of her ached to close the distance again. Except the mood in the room had shifted. An icy wall grew between them now. “You asked. That’s my answer.”

He stood, adjusted himself again, and leaned in, mouth near her ear. “Fine. Not until you’re ready. But unless you tell me to back off completely, I’m going to keep trying until you let me in or tell me stop.”

His words warmed her far more than his warm breath on her skin.

“I need to get back to work,” she forced herself to say.

“That didn’t sound like ‘back off’ to me.”

She pulled back enough to look him in the eye. “I have a review to write.”

The corner of his mouth twitched up. “Good luck.”

****

Someone knocked on the front door. “’S open,” Ethan called from the living room. Most Saturday nights, Ethan and his friends got together at someone’s house, to blow each other up. It was his apartment’s night to be invaded.

Talking to whoever was on the other side was better than dealing with more of the not-making-eye-contact Jaycie had been doing since he kissed her. His cock twitched at the reminder.
Back down
. Considering the tense silence between Jaycie and himself, her claim that she didn’t want to make things awkward didn’t hold up.

Why did he care, anyway? She wasn’t the first girl to turn him down. Except he couldn’t rid himself of the memory of how incredible she’d tasted, felt, and smelled, earlier today. 

Rich stepped into the apartment, but wasn’t looking at Ethan. “You got a maid?” His attention was focused on Jaycie in the kitchen. “Hey, babe. We wondered where you got off to.”

Ethan swallowed his frustration, but not the wave of possessiveness that rolled through him. Jaycie stood near the open door to the fridge, eyes wide and gaze frozen Rich.

“Last warning. I
will
deck you.” Ethan made sure each word was distinct. “Back off. She’s my roommate.”

Rich held up both hands, as if surrendering. “I’m not saying anything. Your house, your pussy rules.”

“I’ve got to go.” Jaycie pushed past Rich, slipped on her shoes, and grabbed her keys.

“Jaycie, wait.” Ethan stood and followed her out the door.

She was already halfway down the stairs, but paused and faced him. “Don’t worry about it.” Her voice was strained. “I just remembered I have stuff to do.”

“But—”

“Later.” Her voice was so quiet it barely reached him. “Please?”

He would have called game night off, but the clench of her jaw, the way her leg bounced, even though she stood still, convinced him to let her walk away for a little bit. “All right.”

She gave him a strained smile, turned away, and half-jogged toward the parking lot.