Page 16 of For the Plot (The Stone Siblings #1)

James

Loverboy - A-Wall

I woke up with a smile on my face. I had left Nikki’s room last night after we finished (pun intended) with a promise to figure out the next time the guys were gone for the first—well, technically second, if you counted what we’d done last night, which we probably should—“lesson.

" But I had needed to get myself cleaned up before things got stiff in a different, less pleasant way.

I had kissed her on the forehead as I left the room and instantly regretted it. Not because it wasn’t nice, but because it was too nice. I was the one who'd said we needed to keep things strictly physical between us, and sweet forehead kisses were the exact opposite of that.

Back in my room, I stripped out of my dirty clothes, before heading to the bathroom.

I was still so keyed up that I ended up jerking myself off again in the shower just by picturing what she had looked like on top of me, head thrown back in passion, hair stuck to her forehead with sweat as she rode me to her own pleasure.

Thinking about it now in bed had my morning wood come back to life.

My hand drifted down my torso until I was gripping my cock in my hand, stroking myself slowly.

This time I imagined what she would taste like when I finally got my mouth on her.

It didn’t take long until I was coming over my stomach, and I grimaced, looking down at the mess I’d made. The mess Nikki was making of me.

Carefully, I reached over to my nightstand, grabbing a tissue to clean myself up. After I got myself as clean as possible, I looked over at the clock to see it was already one in the afternoon.

The problem with being a bartender was that your body got on weird sleep schedules.

When you worked until two or three a.m. most nights, you ended up going to bed a few hours after that, and then all the sudden you were waking up in the afternoon.

Getting my ass up, I stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing my eyes and yawning.

I popped a pod into the Keurig, pushing the button that brought me the magical juice.

I leaned against the counter, scrolling mindlessly on my phone as I waited.

I was absolutely useless before coffee. Honestly, at any given time, there was probably more coffee running through my veins than blood.

Unfortunately for me, I had chronic gastritis, and I paid for my caffeine addiction dearly. But most days, the pain was worth it.

I smiled to myself at the memory of the night before.

I’m pretty sure Nikki knew exactly why I’d done what I’d done, drinking a mocha right before coming to her door.

If I was a coffee connoisseur, she was a coffee goddess.

I’m pretty sure there was no blood left in her veins—it was just pure coffee.

Familiarity was something that soothed her, and I figured she'd enjoy mocha on my breath more than mint. My hunch definitely paid off.

“Bro, who got you smiling like that?” Will's voice caught me so off guard I threw my phone across the room.

“Jesus, dude, what the fuck!” My heart was galloping in my chest. I looked over, and he was sitting at the table, smirking at me over a bowl of pho on the table in front of him.

“Hey man, I’ve been here the whole time. It’s not my fault you were too busy with your little heart eyes over there to notice me.”

I glared at him, walking across the room to pick the phone back up, stomping back over to the Keurig and turning my back to Will.

“Soooo…” His voice dragged the word out teasingly.

“So, what?” I grunted back at him.

“So, who’s got you all moony-eyed?”

“I was thinking about my coffee. You know how much I love coffee.”

“Nah, you lust after coffee. That expression on your face was some sappy shit.”

That almost got a smile out of me, and the bastard knew it.

“You’re not going to tell me , your oldest friend, who you’ve fallen in love with?! I am so offended.”

“You are not my oldest friend, you idiot.”

“Now that was just mean." He pouted at me.

“You know my oldest friend is John from high school,” I responded pointedly.

Will scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. “He doesn’t count. You barely even talk to him anymore.”

“You don’t count,” I mumbled under my breath, even though he was right.

My cup of my life juice was finally done brewing so I prepared my coffee.

Picking the mug up to bring it to my nose, I huffed a lungful of that rich, decadent mix of chocolate and coffee.

I blew on it before taking a sip, not caring that it was still hot enough to burn my tastebuds off, moaning at the swirling flavors on my tongue.

“Damn, dude, get a room.” Will shook his head at me, heading back to his seat, slurping down a spoonful of the pho.

“I would if I could,” I replied sincerely as I followed behind him, sitting on the opposite side of the table, taking another sip and moaning again. Finally back on this mortal plane, I asked, “How was the game last night?

“So you’re human again?” He raised a brow at me.

“Sorry?”

Will just sighed, shaking his head at me like I was a misbehaving puppy. “Apologies don’t end in question marks, James.”

“Ok, let’s try again.” I made a whooshing sound, waving my arms stretched out in front of myself.

Will looked at me like I had lost my mind. “What are you doing?”

“Rewinding time to go back before I drank my coffee so I can start over again and not be as big of a dick this time,” I said, the tone of my voice implying the duh .

“I’m not even gonna engage with all of that.” He motioned me, ignoring my antics. “To answer your question,” he replied instead, “we won. Actually, it was a pretty good game. Picked it up from a tie in the last quarter. Weren’t you gonna watch the game? What did you do instead?”

I almost choked on the sip I had just taken, setting the mug back down, “Yeah, I fell asleep on the couch watching Is It Cake? instead.” I hoped he didn’t catch the lie, and read it as guilt for missing the game instead. I always watched the game if I was home from work and he was reporting.

“You know what, that is so valid. Cake is better than sports any day.” Will nodded his head appreciatively, and I grinned back, equal parts relieved and guilt-ridden. I hated lying to him, but I didn’t really have a choice with this one.

“Aight, I’m out of here, gotta get back to work." He reached out with his fist, and I tapped it with my own as he walked past, dropping his dishes in the sink. “You working tonight?”

“Yeah, I’ll be heading in soon to get some boring busy work done before we open actually.”

“Aight, see you tomorrow then.”

Nikki

The Sleepy Siren was packed tonight. I’d been sitting at home doomscrolling in my room, and had the thought that I should get out of the house.

Next thing I knew I was walking into The Sleepy Siren.

Why had I decided to come here? And alone, too.

No buffer of Will or Collins. No pretense of a roommate outing.

Just me going to visit the guy who made me come last night at his place of work.

Part of me didn't even want to see him, didn’t think I could handle it yet.

It wasn't like we'd even seen each other naked yet, but we had made each other come and I had no idea how to look him in the eye now.

I was fully aware that this entire thing was my idea and my doing, and I was sure that I could get over it and act normal around him again.

But maybe I needed a minute to reset and get used to this new normal between us.

Oh, god. The more I thought about being here and talking to James, the more I realized that this was a terrible idea, and I needed to leave immediately. But just when I had decided that and turned around to head back out the door, I heard a voice call out.

“Nikki?”

I froze, before turning slowly back around towards the bar, where James was staring at me with a pleasantly surprised look on his face. I gave him a small smile, waving my hand awkwardly at him as I made my way to the bar.

“Hey!” My voice came out all weird, so I cleared my throat. “What’s up?”

“What’s up?” James raised his brow, his lips twitching. He looked around the room with an exaggerated expression of confusion. “I think I’m at work, but I’m not totally sure?”

“Shut up.”

A grin spread across his face. “What are you doing here?”

I shrugged. “Eh, I was bored.” The truth was, I couldn't stop thinking about last night, and I’d wanted to see James again.

But I had no idea why. Maybe being so vulnerable with someone in a way I never had been before just made me want to seek that person out.

I was sure it wasn’t anything more than that.

It wasn't like I was in love with James all of a sudden.

Sure, I could look at him and admit that he was just straight-up an attractive person.

I mean, there was a reason he was so popular, why he had no shortage of people wanting to hook up with him.

But I still didn’t feel anything when I looked at him.

But I also felt myself wanting to be around him. So, here I was.

James smiled brightly at me, opening his mouth “Well, I’m g—” He cut off when a customer yelled at him from down the bar. He rolled his eyes to me, holding up a finger. “Just a minute.”

I snickered at him as he walked away, watching as the annoyance fled his face, replaced with a friendly expression. I sat with my elbows on the bar, observing his interactions with the customers, more vying for his attention after the first guy.

It was mesmerizing to watch the ease with which he interacted with people. It never failed to astound me how easily neurotypical people seemed to be able to handle social situations. Especially when I always felt like I was two steps behind in the dark.

The next customer came up to him and was obviously flirting hardcore.

I laughed to myself at first, always amused at how much people loved to hit on attractive bartenders.

But then James leaned in as well, and he winked at them while he made their drink.

I’d seen him flirt back with customers countless times before, but for some reason this time I felt… weird. I did not like it.

I looked away and pulled my phone out to distract myself. What was I even doing here? I rarely ever, if ever at all, came to visit James alone at work. What, one dry-humping session and suddenly I was following him around like a puppy? Jesus, I needed to get a hold of myself.

When James came back, I cleared my throat.

“Hey, sorry. I’m actually gonna head out.

” I swear it looked like James was disappointed for a second, but no, I was just imagining things.

I held up my phone. “Noah texted, so I’m gonna go chat with her.

But I’ll see you at home?” I hated lying to him, but I had no idea how else to get out of here without making it awkward.

He nodded and gave me a soft smile. “Night, Nikki."

I ignored the weird feeling in my stomach as I walked out of the bar.