On the last Wednesday of every month, Kina and I went out. Sometimes life got so busy that if we didn’t have a standing arrangement, we wouldn’t see each other for weeks on end.

We always met at Jada Cole’s, where they had cocktails and live music, and it wasn’t pretentious to be there. After weeks of teaching people to pretend, it was a nice break away from the rat race.

Jada Cole’s had wooden panel walls and tiled floors with a bar along the one side, a stage on the other, and wooden tables and chairs in the middle. Kina and I sat at the bar. It was easier and quicker to get our hands on alcohol that way, and the bartender knew us well enough to make anyone who bothered us go away.

We had a regular place and regular drinks. We always kicked the night off with mojitos. We talked about work, ranted about stupid bosses, and drank another round of mojitos before we ordered tequila. After that, we always got serious.

“So, are you still flying solo, or have you decided on your new fling, yet?” Kina asked. “It’s been a while since Luke now.”

I shook my head. “Not long enough.” I thought about Hanson, but he didn’t count. What I’d done with him, although fantastic, had been a mistake.

“Just casual one-night stands for now,” I said.

“Yeah, me too,” Kina said. I ordered a Cosmo. Kina raised her eyebrows. “You’re mixing a lot, tonight. This is going to get you fucked.”

I shrugged. “Sometimes it’s good to let loose, right?”

The Cosmo arrived. Kina had ordered another mojito. She was being careful.

“I guess so,” she said. “I think it depends on how far you go.”

“Like sleeping with Hanson?” I asked.

Kina blinked at me.

“You slept with Hanson?” she asked.

I shrugged. I sucked on the little straw that came with the cocktail. My head spun slowly, my veins were on fire, and I couldn’t feel my legs. The latter was because of the tequila. I also had an urgent need for sex. That would be the alcohol in general.

“Are you being serious?” Kina asked. “I thought you said—”

“I know, I know,” I said, interrupting her. “But he was hot as hell, and he kissed me, and I couldn’t help it. He’s fucking good, too.”

Kina raised her eyebrows. “If you’re drinking that much, it has to be more than just good sex.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

Kina shook her head. “Nothing. It just seems dangerous. Doesn’t it? Won’t that screw up your business relationship with him? Or even your business in general. You know the reputation he has.”

I shook my head. “You know I can hide this shit, right?” I spoke with the straw clenched between my teeth in the corner of my mouth. “This is what I do for a living. Besides, it’s not like it’s going to happen again.”

I didn’t know if I believed myself. I didn’t get the feeling Kina believed me, either.

“I’ve heard this before,” she said.

“When?” I asked.

“On Saturday, when you’d told me you wouldn’t sleep with him the first time.”

Oh. Right. I shook my head.

“I mean it,” I said.

Kina sipped her cocktail a lot slower than I drank mine.

“What was he like?” she asked after a beat.

I grinned. I’d known she would ask. She was curious. It was the famous Hanson Bell we were talking about, after all.

“Big. He knew what he was doing. A little rough, but in a nice way.”

Kina shook her head, smiling. “He would be good at it. He’s been with a lot of women, Lacey. Doesn’t that bother you?”

I shook my head. I had been with enough men of my own. Casual sex did that to you. Who was I to judge? Besides, it wasn’t like I loved the guy or anything. What he did with his life had nothing to do with me.

“I can’t believe you slept with one of the Miami Dolphins’ players,” Kina said.

I shook my head. “Technically, I didn’t because he’s suspended.”

Kina rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that makes all the difference.”

I chuckled.

When we finally left, I was a lot drunker than I’d meant to be. When I stood, I felt all the alcohol. My balance was questionable, and my skin burned.

“I got you,” Kina said when she saw me stumble. She put her arm around my waist, and we walked outside together. She hailed a cab and helped me in.

“You’re not coming?” I asked.

She shook her head. I nodded, not trying to argue or ask why not. She gave the driver my address and closed the door, shutting me in.

“Be safe,” she called through the window.

I waved at her when the cab pulled away. There was barely any traffic, and we slid through the streets. I was hot and bothered. I was horny. Alcohol made me think about sex, and Hanson was on my mind. I scissored my legs and touched my collarbone. I needed attention. I needed to be touched, and not by myself when I got home.

“Change of destination,” I said to the driver.

I gave him Hanson’s address, and he turned around, heading in the other direction. When he dropped me off, I stood in front of a tall building in Miami Beach. It was a tower of luxury apartments. I told the doorman who I was looking for, and he phoned up. I waited until he told me I could go up.

I rode the elevator to nearly the top of the building. When I stepped out of the elevator, Hanson’s front door was open, and he stood there in his boxers. I looked him up and down. Every inch of his body was sculpted and muscular, and his hair was tussled like he’d been pushing his hands into it.

“It’s late,” he said.

I nodded. “I know.”  I walked toward him focusing on putting one foot straight in front of the other. When I stood in front of him, Hanson frowned.

“Are you drunk?” he asked.

I didn’t know why I shook my head. I smiled at him, feeling like a teenager that had been up to no good. Hanson’s eyes rested on mine. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. I stepped closer to him, brushing my hands against his cock through his boxers and kissing him lightly on the lips.

“I thought we shouldn’t do this,” he said.

He was saying no to me? But his pupils were dilated, and when I glanced down, his erection strained against his boxers. I stood on my toes and pressed my lips against his again, wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing the length of my body against his.

Hanson didn’t hesitate. He wrapped one arm around me and dragged me into his apartment, shutting the door behind me. He kissed me hard, his hands in my hair and his hips pressing against mine.

“God, Lacey,” he mumbled against my lips.

“Take me,” I whispered.

He took me by the hand and led me to the bedroom. I didn’t have a lot of time or the mind to look at my surroundings. I was aware of a lot of square feet and expensive furniture.

In the bedroom, Hanson turned and kissed me again. I pulled off my shirt and took off my jeans, stripping off my clothes to offer myself to Hanson.

“I thought you were only seeing me on Friday,” he said when I pulled down his boxers. His cock sprang free, and I wrapped my fingers around him. He groaned.

“Shut up, Bell,” I said and moved my hand up and down, mimicking sex.

I couldn’t do it for very long before he pressed himself against me, making it hard for me to move my hand. He moved forward until my back hit the wall. I shivered, the cold concrete against my back giving me goosebumps. I didn’t think about it for long.

Hanson hiked up my leg again the way he had before. This time, I was naked. He bent his knees a little and pushed his cock right into me. I cried out. He had me pinned against the wall, a little off balance with just one foot touching the ground, and he started pumping into me. The sex was rough and fast and about nothing more than getting off.

It was exactly what I needed.

An orgasm built hard and fast, and before I knew it, I was tumbling into my first orgasm, gasping and crying out, clawing at his shoulders.

I was barely done when he swung me around, pulling out long enough to get me on the bed before he was on top of me, pushing into me again. I wrapped my legs around his hips, absorbing his movements as he pumped into me.

I orgasmed again, falling apart beneath him, trusting that he would pick up the pieces. Finally, he orgasmed, too, his body jerking inside me, emptying himself out. He groaned in my ear, and his body was taut. His muscles flexed as his body spasmed.

When he was done, he shuddered before he rolled off me, slipping out. He lay next to me and traced my body with his fingertips. He ran his fingers over my nipples, which responded by tightening up. He traced my ribs, slid his hand to my navel, and then to my hip bone before he moved back up again to repeat the pattern.

I looked at him. His eyes met mine, and we looked at each other without saying anything for a while. I moved closer, kissing him again. We made out like teenagers, doing nothing other than tasting each other, our tongues rolling around and around. Slowly, I felt him harden against my body, getting ready for round two.

And I was right there with him. He rolled onto his back, and I got on top of him, straddling him. I lowered myself so that I was on his cock, but he wasn’t inside me. I kissed his chest, moving my body, teasing him. I slid up and down, rubbing myself against him. I listened to his breathing. It became shallow and quick. He was rock hard beneath me again.

I reached between our bodies and held him, positioning him before I sat down on him. I groaned when he entered me. My body was sensitive after round one, but I wanted more. I moved back and forth slowly, picking up the pace. I moved my hips back and forth, rocking my body and working up an appetite for another orgasm.

Hanson’s eyes were on my breasts. I leaned forward so they swung back and forth while I bucked my hips. He stared at them like he was hypnotized. There was something powerful about being on top of a man, being in control.

I found a rhythm and something primal took over. I rocked harder and faster. My knees rubbed on the sheet, the skin getting sensitive. I didn’t care. I was going to see this through.

The orgasm built, slowly this time. My clit rubbed against Hanson’s pubic bone, and it pushed everything into a new gear. Waves of ecstasy washed over me, and I struggled to keep myself up. My core clenched, and the orgasm took over. I curled into a ball on Hanson’s chest. He put his hands on my hips and bucked beneath me, pumping into me. I cried out. The sudden speed kicked my orgasm up to new heights. Hanson let out a cry and exploded inside of me, his body jerking and spasming beneath mine as we came together.

I collapsed onto his chest, and Hanson’s arms wrapped around me, holding me there. Fatigue overwhelmed me, and I rolled off Hanson, lying in a ball next to him. He nudged me so that I rolled over. Then he pulled me against him so that my back was against his chest. He pulled the sheets over us. I closed my eyes. The alcohol and orgasm had taken over, and I was spent. I let sleep engulf me.