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“Calm down there, Carrie.” Trey gives T a worried glimpse. “Jessica isn’t living with me. That will never happen. She lives in her own condo, several floors below mine.” Keeping his attention on me like I’m about to strike, he says to T out of the corner of his mouth, “Negative on Jessica. I repeat, negative on Jessica.”

All the anger and tension seep from my tight muscles, leaving them heavy. “Oh. Okay. Whew, you almost died.”

Wait, can I get jealous when I was just imagining hottie Sam and me playing “spank the student”?

“Wow,” T says on a whistle.

“Yeah, I was a little scared, and I've seen her hit.”

I let out a sarcastic laugh at the two with narrowed eyes. “Hey, I'm getting better. Look at these guns.” Lifting my twig-like arms, I flex, allowing the small hill to bulge along my bicep.

“You are improving,” T agrees. “Sarah says you've come a long way.”

Pride radiates in my chest. Sarah, his wife, is one tough cookie, so impressing her is like winning the lottery—it never happens. “Really? She said I was getting better?”

With a smile, he nods. “Still a long way to go, mind you.” I roll my eyes to the ceiling. “But better than the worthless duck-and-roll strategy you started the training sessions with.”

“That's what they taught me in elementary school,” I say, hiding my laughter. Trey is right, T is so fun to rile up.

“That’s tuck and roll,” T says, throwing his large hands in the air in clear exasperation. “That's when you're on fire, not when you're getting your ass—”

I lose control over my giggles, cutting him off.

Eyes narrowed, he squints from me to the chuckling Trey. “Funny.”

“You're not laughing,” Trey points out.

“I don't laugh.”

I nod, causing the earlier makeshift messy bun to come unraveled. “Sure you do. I've seen you do it a lot around me.” The pen falls to the floor, and my hair tumbles the rest of the way down my back.

“That's me laughingatyou, not with you.”

I grasp my chest and lean back against the bookshelf, faking pain. “You cut me deep. Real deep, T.”

With a roll of his dark eyes, he marches to the library doors and gives an impatient wave out into the hall. “Let's go, you two. I'm fucking starving.”

5

Trey

Why the hell am I nervous?

Keys in hand, I slide around Randi and the rest of the alpha team to open the condo door. The moment the deadbolt clicks, four of the guys, plus Tank, push past me, shoving the door open. Tank adds a little more shoulder into his push than necessary, making me stumble to keep from falling backward.

Randi moves around me to follow the five. Snaking an arm around her waist as she passes by, I haul her backward, sealing her back to my chest.

“Not until they clear the room,” I chastise. “It’s like you've never done this before.”

She shrugs. “It's your place. No one knew we were coming. What's the big deal?”

“You. You're the big deal, Randi. Not sure if you've realized it yet, but you're the vice president, and with that comes constant threats. Not everyone agrees with what you’re trying to change in this city, plus the less local threats.”

“I know,” she grumbles. Relaxing a bit against my chest, she takes a deep breath. “Which floor does Jessica live on?”

“She’s five floors down.” I tug her closer, relishing the feel of her ass molding around my growing cock. “But she doesn't have the view I do. I pay top dollar to be on this floor and this side.”

“Oh,” she says mockingly. “So I should be impressed.”