One thing led to another and by a quarter past midnight, the proud “foodies” of the dwindled group – down to about ten now – were talking about taking the after party to an amazing new gastropub inside some boutique hotel in DUMBO. Mike said we’d never get in even with his PR connections, at which point some drunk guy suggested we just drop Drew Maddox’s name.

And since it pissed off Mike, we did exactly that.

Besides, I was still trying to get my closure on Hillary. I’d seen Mike whisper to her a few times but other than that, she went nowhere near him. That said she avoided me too, and for every time I went up to her and she scurried away I felt my heart sag.

Because I didn’t want Drew to be right.

Since the day we’d met, he’d been proving me wrong and I wanted to change that. I wanted to prove to him that there was hope left. That trust wasn’t a guaranteed set-up for failure. I couldn’t get behind his morbid outlook on the world, and I was desperate to debunk it.

But as everyone but me got progressively drunker, I began to see things.

I saw Hillary instinctively smile when Mike whispered something in her ear while tickling her waist. But when she caught my eye across the bar, she quickly shoved him away. She looked miserable as she continued to duck both Mike and me all night, and at some point, I saw her rubbing her temples before taking shots of whiskey by herself.

And since she was proudly not a party girl who famously hated the taste of hard alcohol, I had a feeling she was trying desperately to relieve herself of something. Nerves, definitely.

And guilt, perhaps.

“The hotel gave me a free room,” Drew said as he came up to me and tossed a key card onto the bar. My eyes fluttered from Hillary to him.

“What? Why?”

“Because I’m Drew Maddox.”

“What did we say about referring to yourself in third person?”

“Sometimes it makes sense, alright?”

I gave him a look.

“Alright, I’ll stop,” he relented with amusement before dropping his voice to a murmur. “How you feeling, by the way?” he asked. Placing two hands on either side of me on the bar, he caged me in with those strong arms.

“I was feeling vaguely weird. But I’m better now,” I replied honestly as I gazed at his biceps, the deep line of muscle on his forearm, and the sleeve of tattoos that covered his right arm, right down to his wrist. I noted the birds, flames and lion heads hidden in the sea of ink. “Do they all mean something or did you just get them because they look cool?”

“The latter. I’m actually a giant poser. I don’t even play baseball. It’s all a front.”

“Screw you,” I snorted.

“Speaking of screwing, I want to check out this suite they gave me and see if the guy at the front desk was bullshitting me or not.”

“What’d he say?”

“That there are mirrors in the bedroom,” Drew laughed as I rolled my eyes. But I bit my lip as he brushed a wisp of hair from my face and cupped my cheek. “He also said there’s a pretty spectacular view of the East River and Manhattan if you’re interested in that. I know you have a pretty weird boner for the city skyline.”

“You’re the worst.”

“You love me,” he said with a cocky grin, sending heat to my cheeks. He traced my dimple with his thumb as he looked down at me for several seconds, and when he spoke again, his voice came back softer. “At the very least, I do think you like me now.”

“You’re slightly above tolerable to me now.”

“I’ll take it,” he laughed. “Now are you going to come with me or are you going to stay down here?”

Without hesitating, I chose Drew.

Unfortunately, anytime Drew went somewhere, everyone followed.

By now it was past 1AM and the group had dwindled to six, but everyone followed – including Hillary and Mike. Definitely a bit of a surprise to me, though to be fair, Hillary resisted as much as she could, taking another shot before letting Mike drag her away from the bar.

Yeah, enough of this, I decided when they joined us to wait for the elevators. I saw one descending a floor behind the other and when the first arrived, I let everyone pile in before pulling Hillary back last second.

“Hey!” Mike snapped just as the door closed in his face. Hillary’s eye went wide.

“Evie…”

“Hillary.” I pulled her into the next elevator and hit the door shut button before facing her. “How long?”

“How long what?” she practically whimpered.

“You and Mike. How long?” I reiterated my question, feeling suddenly ready to leave this bullshit behind me.

Had anyone told me two or three weeks ago that I’d lose Hillary to the breakup as well, I’d probably fall to my knees and mourn the loss of these people who’d been so important to me. But tonight, despite the initial hiccup, I was ready to take a page from the Drew Maddox playbook and just cut these two out of my life.

Trust existed but not with them, and I was ready to end this chapter and move on.

“About a year ago,” Hillary finally whispered, looking up at me with wet eyes. “A little longer. I kept telling him to make it right though, I promise. I kept telling him to just break up with you.”

“But he didn’t, and you stayed.”

“He said he needed time to transition.”

Oh my God.

He needed time to wean himself off me before going to Hillary. That was probably the most pathetic and despicable thing I’d ever heard.

“I told him to at least stop sleeping with you to make it somewhat okay,” Hillary protested.

Nope. Maybe that was the most despicable thing I’d ever heard.

Once the elevator reached the floor of the suite, I stalked out without a word and followed the sound of the group laughing and chatting down the hall. The door of the suite was open, and the group was marveling at everything from the view to the bedroom, which indeed had mirrored walls in front of and behind the king-sized bed.

But the laughter stopped the second I walked in, and the second Mike sneered and said, “I take it she told you,” everyone slowly looked at each other then trickled out of the room.

Ignoring Mike, I went straight to Drew and put my hands on his chest.

“Let’s go,” I murmured, repeating myself when he wouldn’t stop glaring at Mike.

His broad shoulders were rigid, and I could feel every muscle in his torso tensed and ready to launch into go mode. I would’ve been flattered by his fury on my behalf, but I was too ready to get the hell out of this place. By now, it was just Drew, me, Mike and a sniffling Hillary standing by the door.

“Look, I deserve a chance to explain myself,” Mike broke the silence.

“If you really believe that, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought,” I snapped.

“Just let me talk to you alone for a – ”

“Watch it,” Drew growled the second Mike reached for my arm. I didn’t know when it happened, but he was suddenly standing in front of me. “Read the room, asshole. No one here has any interest in hearing you beg, so save your own breath and go the fuck home.”

“I’ve known this girl for way longer than you have,” Mike snarled, making me want to roll my eyes out of my head. “And I want to talk to her privately.”

“You’re not going to get to,” I retorted.

“Yeah well, I’m not going fucking anywhere till I get a chance to.”

“Suit yourself.”

The words came from Drew before he pulled me into the bedroom and slammed the door in Mike’s face.

“What are you doing?” I hissed. “Let’s just go home. I know he’s not going to leave!”

“Good,” Drew muttered. “He made you watch him and Hillary all night, so I’m going to make him listen.”

“To what?”

“Me fucking you.”

My eyes fluttered wide. Tingles of mischief darted across my skin as Drew closed what little gap there was between us.

“But you’re not fucking me,” I whispered.

“Trust me, I’m aware of that.” My breath caught in my throat as he pushed me up against the door. “But I want him to think I am right now. I want to think I have you pinned here with my hand up your skirt and my cock teasing your pussy,” he muttered, thrusting his body against mine and rattling the door behind me. “I want him to know how loud I can make you moan.”

“I can’t fake moans very well,” I breathed as Drew kissed and nipped along my jaw. “So you might have to help me out a little.”

He gave a low, rumbling laugh against my neck.

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” he murmured, his warm, rough tongue nuzzling me for several more seconds before he sank to a kneel in front of me.

I swallowed as I watched Drew assess my legs, smoothing a hand up the side of my thigh as he tilted his head to look under my skirt.

“Hold it up for me.”

“What?”

“Your skirt. Lift it,” Drew said firmly. “Just like that. Now hold it there,” he muttered, wetting his lips when I flashed him my mesh and lace panties. They were black but they were sheer and in my heels, my pussy was right at his eye level, making me feel completely naked despite the fact that I wasn’t.

Yet.

But I did feel vulnerable as all hell just standing there, especially with Drew tormenting me. He was taking his sweet time, sending a million little tingles over my skin as he rubbed his hands up and down the backs of my thighs, gazing lustily between my bare legs.

“Drew,” I exhaled pleadingly. My short, jagged breaths had the door vibrating behind my back, shivering with me in its frame as I simply waited to be touched.

The second he kissed me over my panties, I let out a soft moan.

I knew he liked the sound of it because he glanced up with a smirk in his eyes before he kissed me again, this time closer to my clit.

“More,” I begged, hugging my skirt to my chest as I waited for Drew to take my panties off.

But he didn’t do that.

Instead he made me gasp as he stretched them off of me, using two hands to rip the crotch right in half before giving my bare pussy a long, wet lick. His wicked tongue pushed between my folds to find my clit and suck on it like candy. He didn’t bother to do anything quietly. Everything was loud, smacking, shameless. Unlike last time in my bed, he was going straight for the kill. He was trying to make me come fast and hard, and I swore to God his ruthless pace had me already dizzy.

I felt like I was losing control but the second my knees buckled, Drew’s strong hands gripped my thighs, pushing one back up on the door and throwing the other over his shoulder so he could bury his mouth deeper between my legs.

“Drew…fuck!” I had my hand crushed over my mouth at this point, practically screaming into my palm as that unbelievable tongue of his curled and scooped at my pussy, drawing every rush of wetness from the back to the front so he could lap me up like honey.

Oh God. Where am I?

I can’t even breathe.

I was out of my mind. I felt like I was on the verge of coming for a full minute before the burst of ecstasy finally rocked through me, forcing me to grip the doorknob to keep from toppling over. My hand pulsed there for several seconds, stars in my vision as I sucked in deep breaths, Drew still gripping my thigh and licking me dry.

Only once I’d caught my breath did I finally open my eyes. They fluttered as I found myself staring at my flushed reflection in the mirror behind the bed. I got one hot glimpse of Drew’s muscled back under his shirt before he stood up again and blocked my exquisite view.

But I couldn’t complain about this view either – his green eyes sparkling at me as he licked the last of me off his lips.

Without even looking down, I palmed his cock, biting hard on my lip when I confirmed that it was rock fucking solid. I wet my lips as I stroked it, still dazed from my orgasm but already needing another.

“I want you to fuck me,” I breathed, a frown twitching my brow as he removed my hand from his erection.

“Not here.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t have a condom,” he grumbled in frustration, pausing as if waiting to hear that I might. But I didn’t and that made him growl under his breath. “I don’t fuck without condoms. We have to go home.”

I blinked, surprised by his resolve. I was used to guys being desperate to fuck without condoms, but clearly that wasn’t the case with Drew. And it made me curious.

“That’s a lot of self-control.”

“You keep underestimating me in that department,” he muttered, shooting a glare when I blocked his reach for the doorknob. “What are you doing?”

“I want to test it,” I said, feeling a devilish flutter in my stomach. “Your self-control.”

“Why?”

“Because no one thinks you have any, and I want to tell them you do.”

Total bullshit answer – this was just turning me on, and Drew knew it.

“We’re going home, Evie.”

“I just want to suck on it for a little.”

Drew glared at me, his jaw clenching so hard I could practically hear his teeth gnashing together. In that moment, he looked at me like he fucking hated me, but I didn’t care because I had him.

As much as it would torture him, he couldn’t say no. I knew that so I didn’t back down till finally, without breaking his stare or saying a word, Drew reached down for his belt. He kept his steely gaze pinned to me as he gave three harsh jerks to undo his buckle. I watched his lips slightly part, his left shoulder rolling as he reached into his boxers to pull out his hard cock. I exhaled with anticipation when I felt its heat near my belly, and excitement literally watered my mouth.

But I kept my eyes locked on Drew till he gave me a dirty little nod.

“Go on then,” he murmured. “Suck it.”

Five words and he sent another rush of heat to my exposed pussy. Wetness dripped down my thighs as I lowered myself to my knees and wrapped my hand around the base of his cock. I felt Drew rake his long fingers into my hair and lean back to get a full view as I wrapped my lips around his wide, smooth tip, sucking till I could taste his precum seep onto my tongue.

“That’s too good, baby, you need to stop,” Drew growled. But in the same breath, he braced himself with two hands on the door and began rocking his hips, gently fucking his cock into my mouth. “Oh fuck, Evie. Fuck.” I heard him drop one hand from the door a second before I felt it grab my ponytail at the root.

I let him control the pace for a few seconds because I was already addicted to feeling of his size stretching my lips, and to the gravelly, unbelievably sexy sound of his groan.

I loved hearing him get lost in his pleasure, muttering under his breath and switching back and forth between filth and affection. One second, I was his “dirty little girl.” The other, I was “so goddamned perfect.” Whatever it was, I didn’t care – I loved it all.

Of course, I loved it most when I sucked him hard for a good twenty seconds, my cheeks hollowing as I squeezed handfuls of his jeans, giving pulls so tight and wet on his cock that he roared like a wild beast when I abruptly stopped.

Returning to my feet, I caught the blazing fire in Drew’s eyes as I wiped the corner of my mouth with my finger.

“Okay. We can go home now,” I panted, knowing well that I’d just set myself up for the hardest fuck of my life.

But that was kind of the point.

“Turn around,” Drew said.

I thought he was ordering me to immediately open the door, but the second I turned, he bent me over his arm. Ripping my skirt up, he brought a brutal spank down on my ass, prompting my jaw to fall open as I slapped my hand to the door.

“Just so you know what you’re in for,” Drew said as he dropped my skirt back into place and moved my hand around the doorknob. “Now stand up straight, baby. We’re going home.”