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“A taste is all I have time for tonight.” She snags her pants and pulls them on, carefully brushing his hand away. “But that was fun, so if you want more, I’ll make room on my list for you.” She produces a card from somewhere and presses it into his hand. “Thanks for the orgasm, handsome.”
I get a card too. It’s thick card stock and contains only an email. No phone number.
“If you haven’t changed your mind by then, send me that picture tomorrow, lovely. I meant it when I said I’d frame it.” She kisses Zayne lightly and gives me the same treatment. Then she’s gone, striding away as if she didn’t rock both our worlds.
Zayne slumps against me. “I think I’m in love.”
“You say that all the time.”
“I think I mean it this time.” He slides down until his head is in my lap and then gives me a surprisingly sweet smile. “That really was only a taste. Want to go back to my place and fuck some of that frustration out? I know we decided our friendship was simpler without sex involved, but I’m still riled up.”
I almost say yes, but not for any of the right reasons. I want to keep riding the high of Wolf’s anger, the sharp edge of doing something I shouldn’t. Playing those games with strangers is shitty. Doing it with my friends is unforgivable. I shake my head. “It’d be a poor substitute for what we both want.”
“Speak for yourself.” He laughs and sits up. “But yeah, I think that ship has sailed. Still, if you ever want to fuck someone else together again, that was fun. I’d do it again.” His gaze shifts to the stairs, going contemplative. “I think I will book her, though. Get her out of my system and all that.”
I don’t tell him it’s a bad idea, that Cassim will lose his ever-loving shit if he finds out Zayne is frequenting an escort. He barely tolerates Zayne’s fuckboy tendencies, and the Sarraf family cares about perception even more than my family does. It’s because of how Jasmine ended up in power, and while Jasmine and Jafar are hardly puritanical when it comes to sex and sex work, Cassim is a stick-in-the-mud.
Saying as much won’t change what he’s going to do, though. “Good luck.”
“I hear the doubt in your voice and I’m choosing to ignore it. I’m just looking for a good time, Ruby, not a spouse. Tatiana and I will have that good time and then we’ll go our separate ways.” He scrubs a hand over his face. “Are you hanging out longer?”
“No, I think I’m good.”
“I’ll wait with you while you call a car.”
I know better than to argue with him. And, honestly, with Wolf’s threats still ringing in my ears, I don’t relish the idea of standing on a dark street corner by myself. “Okay.”
We close out our tabs and wait in comfortable silence on the curb for the car to show up. We’re headed in opposite directions, so I don’t offer to share with him. And, to be perfectly honest, I want some time alone to think about what happened tonight.
“Hey, Ruby.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m glad you’re back.” He slings an arm around my shoulders and kisses my temple. “I missed having you around.”
“I missed you too.”
It’s not until I’m in the car that the horrible reckless feeling rises again, not remotely sated by my activities of the night. It’s the only explanation I have for pulling out my phone and sending that picture of Tatiana’s fingers and lipstick on my pussy to Wolf.
The message changes over to read, and I hold my breath as I wait for a response.
He doesn’t type anything. Not on the ride home. Not as I’m showering. Not as I’m lying in my bed, staring at my phone. When I wake up in the morning, not sure when I passed out, he still hasn’t texted me back.