Asher

This fucking kid can’t be serious. He ran off with his tail between his legs, but he seems to have picked up some new-found courage during his little bathroom break, judging by the cocky fucking grin he’s sporting that’s going to get his teeth knocked out here in a minute. He sits down next to Briar, and she looks at me with wide eyes, knowing that my patience is hanging by a thread.

Dash leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. “Keep your mouth shut, and we won’t have any problems,” he says in a low voice as to not draw any attention.

Jackson smirks, bringing his ankle up to rest on his knee. “You know what I think? I think you can talk all the shit you want, but you won’t make a scene. Not here.”

“He won’t, but I will. Don’t fucking test me, pretty boy. I have nothing to lose with these kinds of people.”

“Because you’re not one of us. You can put on a suit and tie, but you’re still trash.”

I feel a delicate hand rub my thigh, and though I know her attempt is to calm me down, she’s doing the opposite. She’s making my dick hard, and all I want is to fuck her, right here and now, to prove that she belongs to me. Only me.

“At least he’s not a snobby, elitist douchebag with a tiny dick,” Briar shoots back, shocking all of us. Dash spits out his drink, and Jackson is completely speechless, eyes as wide as saucers and face burning with what I assume is a mix of anger and embarrassment. I’d laugh if she hadn’t confirmed—for the second time tonight—that she fucked him. The thought of him touching her, of being inside her, I can’t fucking handle it. I know I’m no good for her, but he doesn’t deserve her, either. Not by a long shot.

I clutch her wrist and bring it back to her lap before curling my hand around her thigh in a squeezing grip. I feel her stiffen, but I don’t look at her.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t just hear that,” Dash says, shaking the liquor off his hand. I glance at Briar to find her cheeks bright red—either from embarrassment at her outburst. Or maybe the fact that my hand is making its way underneath her dress with her brother on one side of us and her wannabe boyfriend on the other has something to do with it. I trail my calloused fingers up her silky-soft thighs, and she presses them together. I hook my leg under hers, thankful for the floor-length tablecloths, and pull, forcing her legs to widen. Briar makes a small sound of surprise, but no one else hears it.

I wonder if she’s still wet from earlier. It took every ounce of my self-control not to unzip myself and thrust inside her when she was straddling my lap, riding my fingers. I wasn’t going to come tonight, but the more I thought about her being alone with Jackson, the more I knew I couldn’t stay away.

I went into Dash’s room and questioned where he was going. I played dumb, making him think it was his idea to invite me.

“What are you up to tonight?” he’d asked. “My mom is forcing me to go to this fundraiser to keep up appearances.”

“You want me to go with you?”

He paused in the middle of adjusting his tie, thrown off by my offer. “You’d go? I’ve never gotten you to agree to this kind of shit before.”

I shrugged, feigning nonchalance, and feeling like a dick for it. “Will there be free booze?”

He smiled and handed me one of his suits that was a little tighter than I’d have liked, but it would do. And here we are.

Dash gets up and announces that he’s getting another drink, and I take the opportunity to slip my finger inside her panties. Fuck, those underwear. All strappy black and lacy framing her perfect little bubble butt. I take a sip of the water in front of me with my right hand while sliding my fingers through her slick heat with the other hand. She’s wet, so wet, and smooth. Someone takes the stage and begins their speech, but all I can focus on is the way Briar clenches around my fingers when I shove them inside her pussy, the way her breathing becomes ragged, her eyelids growing heavier, her tits heaving, and nipples hardening against the thin fabric of her dress. Fuck this.

I lean in close and whisper, “Go to the third floor. Wait for me by the elevator. Now.”

She nods her head yes rapidly, and the fact that she doesn’t even hesitate sates my inner beast. “Okay,” she whispers back, and she lets a quiet moan out when I slide my fingers from her pussy. Jackson looks over, a combination of shock and jealousy written all over his face, and I’m one thousand percent sure he knows what’s going on under this table. I raise a brow that says can I help you?

Briar rights her dress under the table before getting up onto shaky legs, making her way to the elevator. I give it a good five minutes, daring Jackson to say a fucking word, while also keeping an eye on Dash. A pretty little thing at the bar has distracted him, so I doubt he’ll be back any time soon. I’m a piece of shit for this—for being so sneaky with my best friend’s little sister—but I’ve fought acting on my feelings since she was fourteen years old. This thing between Briar and me is like a runaway train. It can’t be stopped, and it’ll take us both straight to hell.

“Enjoy your night,” I say to Jackson, sucking the taste of Briar off my finger before wiping my hands with the linen napkin. I ball it up, drop it on his plate, and walk away. Heading into the elevator, I stab at the number three with my finger, having zero patience left. I need to be inside her. Now. The doors ping and then open. She’s waiting, biting back a nervous smile, hands twisting behind her back.

“Hi,” she says.

“Hi.”

Eating up the distance between us, I take her face in my hands, kissing her hard. She moans into my mouth, her tongue sliding against mine. Both of us are too far gone to care about getting caught now. We’ve been teasing each other all night, and it’s coming to a head right here and now. Her hands grip my suit jacket as I swallow her cries of pleasure. This kiss is frantic and messy and desperate. I pull back, both of us panting.

“You let him fuck you?”

“Ash—”

“Tell. Me.”

She nods reluctantly.

“When.” It’s not a question. It’s a demand. I need to know if she fucked him after this thing between us started.

“Months ago. Before you came back.”

“Why?” Why him?

“Why?” She gives a bitter laugh. “Because you left me. Because Whitley came in bragging about hooking up with you. Because he was there and I was mad. That’s why. Was I supposed to keep waiting for you?”

“No.” Fuck. “But it doesn’t mean I’m not going to be pissed about it,” I say petulantly. Something she said isn’t adding up. “I thought you said this just happened a few months ago.”

“It did,” she says, confusion painted on her face. “Just the one time, at his party before school even ended.”

“I haven’t fucked Whitley in years.” We both stand there, soaking this information in. Whitley is a fucking liar, for one. And Briar gave up her virginity based on that lie.

Briar shakes her pretty, blonde head, walking to the balcony that overlooks the fundraiser. She rests her elbow on the bannister.

“I hate her, Ash.” Her voice is a whisper.

“I know, baby,” I say, coming up behind her, palming the outsides of her thighs. “Fuck her. Fuck all these people.”

“Ash,” she breathes my name as my left hand curves around her hip and dips underneath the thin scrap of lace. Her dress is bunched up above her ass, which is pressed right up against my crotch.

“What would they say if they saw you like this? With me?” I rub her clit and bite the shell of her ear. “They don’t know you, Briar. They think you’re a good girl, but they don’t know that you like sneaking around with me. That you like the idea of being fucked up here, right out in the open. Right underneath their noses.”

Her sharp intake of breath tells me that I’m right. And thank fuck, because I don’t know if I could wait another minute.

“We can’t.”

“We are.” I unzip my slacks enough to pull my cock out and tug her panties to the side. “Stop me.”

“I can’t,” she says, low and keening, pushing back against my bare, engorged dick.

“Because you need this just as bad as I do. You like the idea of getting caught almost as much as you like getting away with it.”

I push inside her slick pussy, giving us both what we want. What we need. Her head falls forward, but I grip the front of her neck, forcing her chin up.

“No,” she gasps as I start to fuck her harder.

“No? Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Say it. Say what you want.”

“I want to be up here with you. Fucking you. So fuck me.” The dirty words coming from that pretty mouth spur me on, and I pull one of her straps down, then pinch her nipple. She sucks in a breath, and I feel her clench around me.

“That’s right. You don’t belong with them. You never have. You may have been born into this life, but you’re not like them, Briar. You and I are the same. And that’s why you’ve been mine since you were fucking eleven, even if we didn’t know it yet.”

“Yes, God, yes. Don’t leave me again. Don’t ever leave.”

“Careful what you wish for.” I pump into her, my cock growing even harder. She plants her hands on the rail in front of us, bracing herself, meeting me thrust for thrust. I turn her face to the side, holding her there as I suck and bite and lick her shoulder, her neck, her cheek, and everywhere in between. I bring my other hand to rub at her clit while I pound into her. I can hear how wet she is, and our skin slaps together. Her hushed moans turn louder, and neither one of us cares if anyone knows in this moment. Because this is our truth, up here in the shadows.

I pull out abruptly to slide her underwear down, ignoring her protesting whine. I tug them down her toned thighs, and they fall to the floor around her slender ankles. Scooping them and clenching them in my fist, I waste no time burying myself back inside of her velvet heat. I squeeze her hips in a bruising grip, still holding on to the scrap of lace, and I don’t hold back. I fuck her like I hate her, because part of me still does. I don’t fully understand the depths of my feelings for Briar, but make no mistake, I’d kill for this girl.

“You’re so fucking beautiful like this.” We’re sweating and panting, completely animalistic. “Look at them, Briar. Look at them when you come on my cock. Anyone could look up at any moment.” I place my arms on top of hers, my hands covering hers that grip the rail, and I nip at her spine. “They’d act appalled, but they’d go home and jerk themselves off to this image. I promise you that.”

Briar cries out, contracting around my dick, but she bites down on my arm to muffle her screams. I fuck her through her climax, trying to hold back from coming inside her. Finally, she slumps forward, spent, and I pull out, shooting my load inside her wadded-up panties.

We take a minute to catch our breath, unspeaking, before I straighten the skirt of her dress and zip myself up. She turns to face me, flushed cheeks and sleepy eyes. Her hair is damp, and little curls spring near her hairline.

“What are we doing, Ash?” Briar asks, as reality crashes down around us. We’re getting sloppy. Just begging to get caught. I don’t know what this is, either, but I know I’m not stopping. So, I give her the only answer I can.

“Whatever the fuck we want.”