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JORDAN

I texted Logan to see what her and Quentin were doing, but she hadn’t responded. She knew I tagged on with the dinner, but a part of me hoped they were out too. It was clear Preston did not want to head back to the hotel room with me, and I tried not to let that sting my ego.

I’d never once offered up what I did with him to anyone else. I’d never do that. I hooked up temporarily and then said goodbye. A fling without feelings was the closest thing to a relationship I had ever tried. And he avoided it.

It was fine. It didn’t matter that Preston was fucking hot and had a beautiful cock.

Others were out there. Plus, that part of me needed to get over herself.

Preston was my best friend going through a shit time with his parents’ divorce and losing a game.

He needed my friendship, not my weird hangup because he wasn’t rushing back to the hotel room.

I knew this role well. I’d push his buttons, get him out of his funk, and make him laugh.

“Okay, big guy, are we line dancing or playing darts?”

“Fuck, neither.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, his shoulders tensing as we walked along the sidewalk. The wind blasted us, the chill spreading from my neck to my toes. My scarf and hat barely did anything to keep me warm. “I’m being an idiot. Let’s head to the hotel.”

“I told you, a-anything you want.”

“You’re freezing.” He slung his arm over my shoulder and tucked me against him. “I’m in my head. All over the place.”

“What if… we buy a bottle of Fireball and played Aggressive Drunk Uno?” It was a silly game we made up freshmen year, where every draw four you did a shot, and if you did a back-to-back, you did double.

“You need to distract yourself and get out of your brain. If we’re safe in the hotel room, you won’t get into any trouble. ”

“You’re the trouble, Jordan.”

“I’ll be super good.”

He stared down at me, and I winked. He scoffed, then a smile snuck out. “You good? Never.”

“Hey, I’m a good friend.” I pouted a little. My reputation was a little wild, a little black cat, and a little fierce. I was a good time until you pissed me off. “Right?”

“You’re a brat,” he said, but his tone was soft. “Is that doubt I hear in your voice, Dan the Man?”

“Never.”

“Aggressive Uno sounds perfect. I want to win something tonight, and you’re an easy opponent.”

“Oh, fuck off, you.” I shoved him away and jogged down the street. A drugstore was still open, and I darted in. They had Fireball and the deck of cards—I purchased them with my mom’s guilt money— and called an Uber, all within a few minutes.

“I can pay for it, you know.”

“Nonsense, I’m taking care of you tonight.

That’s my job.” My mind went to last night, how I took care of him then.

How he needed help as he stroked himself off.

Damn. My skin heated, and his gaze lowered to my mouth for a second before he glanced out the front doors. He had to be thinking about it .

He had to.

I couldn’t ask though. It had to be on his terms, that I knew for sure. “Uber should be here in two minutes.”

He nodded, his jaw tensing every few seconds.

He had a great jawline. It was chiseled as hell and only made him more alluring.

Preston Charming was sexy, and it was wild how he didn’t have a million puck bunnies in the palms of his hands.

I never asked him why he didn’t enjoy his hockey fame like most of the guys.

Preston didn’t hook up with someone different every weekend, but he also never really dated.

I filed that away for another thing I wanted to ask him.

He was always just Preston, my video game buddy, my guy, the third member of our trio, but the stab of guilt hit me again that I never asked deep questions.

We didn’t talk about meaningful stuff though.

Inspiration hit me. “What’s my biggest fear? ”

He frowned, side-glancing at me like I was a lunatic. “Being abandoned. Pretty easy to decipher that, J. Why?”

Shit. Okay, that wasn’t a fair question. “If you had to guess, what do you think keeps me up at night?”

“What is this?”

“I’ll tell you later, but answer the question, please.”

“Alright. Uh, my guess would be worrying about Logan and me and going through a list of things you could do to help us out. I’d also guess you think about your mom and how you want to succeed without her so you can show her how much she’s missing not being in your life.”

Double fuck. My chest ached. “Okay, wow.”

“Is there a reason you’re asking these weird-ass questions?”

“Uber is here!” I shouted, running toward the automatic doors and spying the Toyota. “For Jordan?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Preston joined me in the back as the driver took us toward the hotel.

Preston didn’t probe with more questions, but I could feel his stare on me for the fifteen-minute drive.

He knew deep things about me without even thinking that hard.

I wasn’t sure I could answer those questions.

I mean, he’d be thinking about his parents’ divorce, sure, and the team’s loss. Okay, yeah. I did know him.

Relief warmed my blood, and I relaxed, glad I was over my pity-party about being a shit friend. I still had work to do, but I’d get him a few shots first. Logan texted her and Q were doing the hot tub tonight before going back to the room. We could join if we wanted, but we had our game to play.

“Thank you,” I said, as we arrived at the hotel. I rated them five stars for not asking a single question, and we beelined it for the elevator. The doors shut, and I hit the eighth floor, all while feeling his gaze on me. “You gonna stare or ask a question?”

“I can’t figure you out.”

“I’m not meant to be solved. Have ya thought of that?” I fired back, leaning against the wall opposite him. “So don’t try.”

He bit down on his bottom lip, the gesture wildly attractive. Heat exploded on my skin as I imagined that bite on me. I blew out a long breath, thankful that I wore a puffy jacket to hide any reaction I might have—aka my tightening nipples.

“I know most things about you, Jordan, but there is a lot I don’t know.”

Was it me or was his voice a little husky?

I wanted it to be husky. I wanted him to be horny and into this, but a small voice in the back of my mind said wait.

Our friendship was too important to do this without talking.

Goading Preston, flirting with him was always my thing, so it was easy to fall into that habit.

“There’s a lot I don’t know about you either, Preston,” I lowered my voice on purpose.

“However, I learned a few things about you last night.”

His gaze heated, and his nostrils flared just as the elevator stopped. He gestured for me to go, so I threw him a saucy look. “So gentlemanly of you letting the lady go first.”

“You’re not a lady, Jordan. You’re a heathen.”

I cackled and practically bounced to our room. Sliding the key into the slot, I pushed the door open and immediately tossed my jacket on the chair. Our bed—the one we’d fooled around in—was made. Almost like it erased last night, which was probably for the best. “Okay, where we doing this?”

“Doing…what?” he asked, his tone hesitant.

“The game, dingo.” I kicked off my boots and sat crisscross on the couch. There was a small table there, and I patted the spot next to me. “Come on. I think we both need a drink after surviving that dinner.”

“Cheers to that.” He set his coat down and eyed my shirt as he sat next to me. “You’re wearing my jersey.”

“I’m always wearing your jersey.” I poured the Fireball into two of the hotel glasses. “Drink.”

We took it back and set the cup down. I exhaled, the burn of the drink warming my throat and settling the nerves in my stomach. Getting a little drunk with Preston used to be so easy. We’d get into trouble but never the naked kind. Now, that was all I wanted.

“Remember the rules?” I asked, not meeting his gaze.

“Yes.”

“Then let’s play.”

The first round started like regular Uno, neither one of us throwing down a draw four or a draw two. We were being tame and kind, which wouldn’t do. We needed skin in the game—literally. “Loser has to stand outside on the balcony for one minute naked.”

“What?”

“This is boring. You’re not attacking me, and I’m being nice. We need to play for something. ”

“It’s too cold to do that. How about… loser has to do two dares?”

“Which will include you standing outside naked.”

“You and nudity are a thing.” He eyed me, his lips curved in a half-smile. “Why?”

“Why not?” I shrugged. “I have a great body and hate how tight some clothes are. Plus,” I said, whispering. “I need to be wild sometimes. It’s like this burn inside me that needs to release.”

“Hm.” Preston played a blue five, and I placed a green five. He picked up a card and grinned. “Oh, I’ve doubled up my draw twos, my friend. Draw four.”

“Wait, I believe I can trade my draw four for a dare of your choice. I can’t question it or refuse, or I’ll have to draw eight.

” That was the dumb rule we made as freshmen when we played with our dormmates.

It was a huge hit, and there was a lot of making out.

And streaking. And shots and doing silly things like stealing a wall sign. “So I’d like my dare, please.”

Preston ran a hand over his jaw before smirking. “Should I be tame or go hard?”

“You know I’d prefer hard, Charming.”

His eyes lit up. “I get to draw anything I want on your body with a permanent marker.”

“Shit.” I huffed. “That’s a good one. Okay, I can’t refuse, so yes. Do you need me naked for this? Want to draw a big dick near my tit?”

“Nah.” He pursed his lips as he stood up and grabbed a sharpie from his bag. “While I know you would do that, you wildcat, I would never.”

“Then where do you want to mark me?” I practically purred at him. He stood over me, his face set in a determined line, and it was honestly super hot. “This dare isn’t like you, and I am here for it. ”

“Maybe you’re rubbing off on me.” He got onto his knees so our faces were inches apart. “On your back, Jordan.”

I whimpered from the sexy command of his voice, and he totally heard. He chuckled and placed a gentle hand on my stomach.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“I’m drawing something right here.” He rubbed his thumb over my right hip. “Don’t move.”

His hands were on me, and he looked so cute when focused. He chewed on the side of his lip while he worked hard on something, and when I tried to peek, he nudged me back down. “You don’t get to look until tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? No fucking way.”

“Are you refusing the dare, Jordan?” His eyes turned to liquid gold, all smooth and daring. “That means you do a shot, and I get another dare.”

“No. I’m not refusing, goddamn it.” I slammed my head against the pillow. “Are you almost done?”

“So impatient.”

“It doesn’t take long to draw a dick.”

“You got dick on the mind or something? I’m not drawing a cock on you.” His breath hit my stomach as he stared at my skin, his smile growing. “It looks fucking cool, not gonna lie.” He then lowered my shirt and poured two shots for us.

We didn’t even need to take them from the game, but I needed it. We were in some weird limbo where our chemistry was charged and off the charts, but our brains weren’t on the same page.

“Do you know how hard it is to not look right now?”

“Maybe I’ll let you look if you’re good.” He played a different card, and we were back to the game. He had ten cards left, I had four, and the alcohol flowed through my veins. I rarely had a filter, but what little one I did have evaporated .

“Oh, if I’m a good girl, you’ll give me what I want?”

He cleared his throat, his gaze burning into mine. “That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

I played a draw four, and he muttered fuck before downing another shot. The rest of the game flew by. He picked up a few more, and I used three skips in a row and called Uno before placing my wild card down.

I won, fair and square, and fuck, it felt good. “Sorry you had to lose twice tonight. I even went easy on you.”

His eyes flashed. “You brat.”

“I get a dare now.” I licked my lips and eyed the patio door. I wanted to say he had to stand outside naked. I wanted to so badly. “I dare you to?—”

“Double or nothing.” He placed his hands over the deck, like that would erase me winning. He stared at me hard, his gorgeous eyes boring into my damn soul.

My pulse skipped a beat. “We’ve… we’ve never done that before.”

“Nothing like the present. Double or nothing next round.”

“So the winner gets two dares then?” I studied him, the shots causing my mind to get fuzzy.

Not the worrying kind of fuzzy. The warm, fun kind that made me want to shimmy a little or suggest something outrageous.

I didn’t know what double or nothing meant when we dealt in dares, but the way he looked at me had goose bumps dancing along my skin.

He rubbed his lips together, his eyes never leaving mine as he said, “The winner gets two orgasms, Jordan.”