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He reaches up and brushes his thumb across my lips. “You haven’t complained. You come so hard I know you enjoy it.”

His gaze is intense, and his words make me suck in a breath. He leans down. “Don’t worry, baby girl. When we’re done here I’ll make you come again if you’re good.”

My eyes dart over to the table, and I catch Cole watching us. The second Koda steps away he turns back to Ava. My underwear is soaked. I hate Koda so much, but the thought of having sex with him again has me distracted. That’s exactly what he wanted. I was supposed to be terrorizing him, and he has flipped the fucking script.

He slides into the booth next to Ava, taking the last available seat. I look around for a chair, but he pulls me down to sit on the small space next to him, wrapping his arm firmly around my waist to keep me from falling. I don’t know what the hell he's doing, but this is the opposite of ignoring each other.

Cole is the only person at the table who seems to notice. He mouths ‘Are you okay?’ and I roll my eyes with a nod. Koda is acting so casual, like we do this all of the time. I take this opportunity to watch him. Despite him not shutting the fuck up when we’ve been together, he’s not much of a talker. He observes everyone at the table and soaks up their interactions, storing them somewhere in his weird caveman mind. It’s hard to admit, but being pressed up against him is comfortable. His muscles flex in his arm as he readjusts me next to him.

“Well, when I was in Greece—”

“Ah, yes, Greece,” Alexi interrupts Vale. “I’ve always wanted to go. All that crumbling shit looks so cool.”

“All of that ‘crumbling shit’ is very—”

“Old. Yeah, I know. I wonder what their parties were like. I mean can you imagine just walking around with your dick out all of the time. Is that what they did, Ashy? Did they have their dicks out all of the time?”

All eyes are on me. Vale is fucking perturbed, and Alexi has finally won himself a permanent spot in my good graces for it. Penny glances between Koda and I, giving me a sly smile.

“They were definitely comfortable with their sexuality. So yeah, rocked out with their cocks out. I mean almost every story involving Zeus is him getting a bunch of random bitches pregnant. Dude didn’t know how to use a condom.” My comment is directed at Koda, and he knows it by the smirk on his face, but no one else notices.

“What a power move,” Alexi muses.

Cole is embarrassed while Ava is blushing.

“You have such an interesting way with words, Ashland,” she says. Her voice is deep and sultry, like an evil businesswoman.

“What’s your major, Stacy, was it?” Koda intervenes, and I almost spit out my drink.

Cole glares at me, and I shrug. I didn’t say shit to Koda, but I’m realizing maybe he and Alexi are more my pace. I’ve always been the one at the table being an asshole, but now we’ve multiplied. This is going to be fun. I thought I would terrorize them, but here we are terrorizing everyone else.

“Ava.” She smiles sweetly. I thought she was nice when I was drunk, but now I see the bitch that lies within. “Marketing.”

“Gotcha. So you like to manipulate people?” I’m shocked that Koda is defending me right now, and it’s fucking hilarious.

“It’s not manipulating,” she deadpans. “Aren’t you a football player?”

“I am. Large corporations love to use us for their marketing manipulation. Lots of first hand experience.” He finishes his beer.

“They’re just trying to connect with your fans,” Ava argues.

“Connect. Use. It’s all the same,” he answers dismissively.

Woah. If I wasn’t already turned on, dissing corporate America is sending me into overdrive.

“Hm,” Ava hums. “And what’s your major?”

Koda gives her a charming smile. This must be the one that gets girls naked. “Psychology.”

He’s a psychology major? I instantly hate it. I’m a walking fucking experiment for those people. That’s why he’s so damn observant.

Ava smirks, like she just won an award for perfect attendance. “So we’re not that different. Studying patterns and figuring out what’s going on in people’s minds. Analyzing their habits and calculating why they make the decisions that they do.”

“Do you really believe that marketing and mental health align?” He laughs in disbelief. “I want to make people better. You want to rip them apart, no matter the cost.”

Even Vale is finding this intriguing. He’s been silent, actually paying attention to someone speaking that isn’t himself. Everything Koda has said is exactly the sort of shit I would say.

“I just think your analysis of marketing is terse and lacking an understanding of our motivations. What about drugs? You need marketing to get drugs into the hands of patients.”

“If you think drugs should be marketed, then you’re part of the problem. Patients should be prescribed medication based on their symptoms and the things happening in their daily life by someone who knows what the hell they’re doing. Not a marketing firm who gets a script and repeats it. Not by some guy who comes to sell you new drugs in your office by offering free samples and a cut of the sales. If you’re going to be a good doctor, then you know how to listen to your patients and care about seeing them get healthy. You don’t need marketing for that.”

Ava is sitting at a table of sharks, and she’s a fucking minnow. Everyone here is pretty open minded, and we’ve all argued over all sorts of things. We’re no strangers to how the world actually works, even Vale. With the way Ava is reacting, she isn’t used to being told she’s wrong. I would say the atmosphere is uncomfortable, but it’s not. Ava is just uncomfortable.

She clears her throat. “Very well thought out, Koda. If you all will excuse me, I need to get some water.”

I practically fall out of the booth to get out of the way. Koda catches me and stands up, letting Ava out. Cole goes after her, shooting Koda an angry look. They disappear into the crowd as Koda ushers me back in, putting me next to Penny.

I clap. “Well done, Armory.”

“Some people need to think before they speak.”

“Arguing with him is like arguing with a genius,” Alexi chuckles. “He doesn’t talk about shit he doesn’t know about.”

Koda folds his arms. “She was making gross assumptions.”

“I’m gonna go grab another round.” Alexi raps his knuckles on the table, heading back for the bar.

“I’ll be honest. I’m surprised you’re a psychology major when you’re going to go pro anyways,” Vale says.

“If I’m going to be here, I’m not going to waste my time. You can easily get hurt and end your athletic career.”

“Great point. I don’t think enough people have a backup plan. Would you be a psychiatrist?”

“I’m not sure. There are benefits to psychiatry, but you can also go into research.”

“Are you going to go to medical school?” Penny asks.

Koda shakes his head. “I’m on track to draft into the NFL so it doesn’t really make sense. Never say never, though.”

For once, I’m fucking quiet. Listening to everyone else talk. I’m itching to draw, but I silence it, picking at the label on Koda’s empty beer bottle instead. I’m kind of surprised that Vale is into football, but he talks about how stadiums are designed and it doesn’t seem to bore Koda to death. Alexi returns with a tray of drinks and shots.

“Well, I don’t think Ava and Cole will be rejoining us,” he announces.

“What a shame,” I snort, taking two drinks.

“It looked like he was doing a lot of ass kissing.”

Penny nods. “He’s good at that."

“I brought us shots, though.” Alexi distributes two to each of us. “To our fallen comrades.”

We all cheers and throw them both back.

The more time that passes the more drunk we all get, including Koda. Vale and Penny leave around eleven because they both have classes on Fridays. Turns out the three of us don’t.

Alexi stretches out in the booth where they sat. “Well, folks, what’s the move?” he slurs.

Koda kicks him under the table. “You need to go the fuck home cause I’m not carrying you.”

“I haven’t finished my last drink.”

He grabs Alexi’s full glass and slides it to me. “There. It’s not your drink anymore.”

“Right, right.” Alexi sits up. “Ashy, I’ll walk you.”

“No fucking way. If we got robbed you’d slow me down.”

Koda sets his phone onto the table. “I got you a ride share, dipshit.”

“I told Penny,” Alexi frets.

“I’ll get her home,” Koda promises.

“You sure?” Alexi asks me. “My brother is more annoying than me.”

“I’ll be fine. I have two more drinks to finish. Worst case I’ll crash upstairs with Prince.”

“Ah, yes. Prince the tattoo god.”

“They’ll be here in one minute. Get the fuck to the street ‘cause I’m not paying extra for you being an idiot. Red Toyota Camry,” Koda says.

“You two have a good night. Tell Prince I said hello.” Alexi starts to wobble away.

“Alexi!” Koda barks.

He stops and turns as much as he can without falling. “Yes, brother?”

“Ask them if they’re a fucking ride share before you just get into the car.”

Alexi salutes. “Will do.” He staggers away, and I watch him disappear up the stairs.

“Last time he got into some sorority girl’s car. He’s lucky he’s popular, or he probably would’ve gone to jail,” Koda explains.

“You can go with him. I’ve crashed with Prince plenty of times.”

“I thought it was a tattoo shop upstairs?”

“It is, but he lives above it on the top floor.”

He pulls me into him. “No.”

In this spot we’re shielded from most of the bar. I finish Alexi’s drink and start on mine. “I’m pretty drunk. I don’t feel like walking home. Especially with you.”

“I didn’t say you were going home.” His hungry eyes watch me, starving. “I told you that if you were a good girl I’d give you a reward.”

My heart rate increases as I try to keep my breaths even. He slides his hand between my thighs and gently brushes his fingers over my pussy. Even though it’s barely a touch, I can feel it like an electric shock. “I’m not fucking you in the bar bathroom.”

“We’re going to my place. Drink up, cause our ride will be here in three minutes.” He bites his lip and puts the glass to my lips, forcing me to gulp down the tequila.

Some of it escapes and streams down my neck. Koda’s tongue licks it up, then he kisses me. It’s different from the other times we’ve kissed. There’s something in it, like there was in that closet during the tornado. I want to kiss him again. Our mouths hover, ready to devour each other. That one kiss was life threatening. Koda’s phone starts to ring. He takes a deep breath then answers.

“Yeah? Right. Be there in a second.” He hangs up. “Car is here.”

He pulls me from the booth and leads me up the stairs where Jake is standing guard. We always talk shit saying Jake hates us, but he definitely doesn’t. He’s like a massive Teddy bear.

“Jake!” I squeal, throwing my arms around him. He squeezes me back.

“I thought I might not see you,” he grins, then sees Koda. “Get her home safe. She’s valuable.”

“Yes, sir,” he responds.

Koda takes my hand leading me away, and I skip up the stairs behind him like I’m headed to see the wizard of fucking Oz. I’m the perfect kind of drunk. When we get into the car and it starts to move, Koda turns to me, and he looks kind of mad.

“What?”

“What was the deal with Jake?”

“Um,” I pretend to think. “Dunno who that is.”

“Why did he say that valuable shit?”

“Because I’m a gift to society, duh.”

Koda looks annoyed. “Did you sleep with him, too?”

If the driver is paying attention to our conversation he doesn’t act like it.

“No. We’ve been going there since Freshman year. Now that I work upstairs I sit with him sometimes when I’m bored.”

He relaxes. “You work at the tattoo shop?”

The landscape around us changes to Riverside, the nice part of town where the rich kids live.

“Yeah. Why did you call Ava Stacy?” I confront him.

“She was being a bitch,” he says nonchalant.

“Obviously, but now Cole is going to be mad at me.”

He flexes his jaw. “Why? He should've been defending you.”

“I’m not his girlfriend.”

“But you’re his friend, are you not? Friends are supposed to have your back.”

I’ve never thought about it like that. I always have Penny’s back, and she always has mine. I’ve never considered that all of your friends are supposed to do that.

“Why were you being touchy?” I cross my arms.

“What? This?” he whispers, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me into him. I squirm, trying to escape, but it’s pointless. He’s too strong.

I clear my throat. “Yes.”

“Because I wanted Cole to know to stay the fuck away from you, and I don’t want you to be confused about who is in charge here.”

“You’re insane,” I hiss, checking the rearview mirror to see if the driver is watching.

“Maybe, but you’re not asking me to stop,” Koda says in my ear. It sends shivers down my spine.

The car doesn’t stop fast enough when we pull up to a nice condo, and he leads me up the steps and inside.

I look around at the modern angular architecture. “This is your place?”

He unlocks the door and gestures for me to come inside. “I assume you hate it.”

“Oh yeah. It’s fucking lifeless.”

He sets his keys on a marble countertop. “You live in the shrieking shack. I’m not surprised.”

It’s plain inside. Black and white. Exactly how a bachelor would decorate, not a college kid. It’s weirdly clean though, unlike me and Penny. Our place looks like we live there, but this place is like Koda doesn’t touch anything.

“You watch Harry Potter? I figured it would be too much fantasy for you.” My voice seems to echo off of the walls.

Koda’s arms slide around me and his palms travel up my torso, grabbing at me. “I don’t want to talk about Harry fucking Potter, baby girl.”

“Wait, you didn’t bring me here to chat?” I giggle, but when he slides his hand under my waistband I lose any semblance of keeping up with being a brat.

“You want to talk?” His hands slide up and play with my nipple piercings. I don’t even know how to handle it. I’m fucking overstimulated and more than a little drunk. “Go ahead and talk. I’m listening.”

I can’t help but to rise to the challenge. “Why does it look like a fucking serial killer’s house?” My voice squeaks at the end when he tweaks the piercings.

“I like things a certain way. When did you get your nipples pierced?” He pinches them, forcing me to blink a few times and reorient myself.

“When I was sixteen.”

“I want to see them. Lift your arms.”

I follow his orders, letting him pull off my top then turn me to face him. He palms my breasts, squeezing them. “You have great fucking tits.”

“I know,” I smirk, reaching down and feeling how hard he is. He bites his tongue, those dark irises roving over me.

He releases them and grabs my ass, pushing me into him. “And that ass.” He sucks in a breath. “You’re fucking beautiful,” he whispers. I’m not sure he even realizes he said it out loud.

Before I can retort, he kisses me again. It’s fucking consuming. His lips are soft, and I can’t think. He unbuttons my jeans and backs me through a doorway until I fall back onto a bed. His tongue is like magic in my mouth, thrashing with mine, but it’s gentle. It’s not like someone shoving something down your throat. Koda knows what he’s doing.

He lets me breathe while he pulls my jeans off, and I get a look at him. His muscles flex when he pulls his shirt off, and his jeans hang low on his hips. He has abs that are to die for, but not so chiseled that it makes me sick. He kisses me again while I shimmy out of my underwear, and then he shrugs off his pants. The next time we kiss I bite his lip and pull.

“Careful, Ashland. I might get the wrong idea.”

“I think you’ve got the right one.”

He flips me over and smacks my ass right where the brand is. He still hasn’t asked me about it, and he doesn’t now. He squeezes roughly, then slides his palm through my wetness, coating his fingers in my juices before slapping my pussy.

“Fuck, stop playing with me and start fucking me,” I groan.

“I told you I would make you come. I didn’t say it would be fast.”

His words are wicked and tantalizing. Koda is going to torture me in the best fucking way, and I don’t know why I was ever fighting this in the first place.

He slides the head of his cock through my slit. “You’re so fucking wet.”

“Do you have a condom?”

My head snaps back, Koda’s fist in my hair. The roots burn, and I know I’m soaking him.

“I want you to understand something, Ashland. I’m not some frat boy loser you fuck when you’re blackout drunk. You’re done with that. If you want to talk shit and pretend you hate me outside of this room, you can. But when we’re here, I’m gonna edge you for every single time you make me want to fuck you and I can’t. When I text you, don’t send me a picture of you with your middle finger and your tongue out, because that’s just an invitation for me to put my dick in your throat. If you get drunk and want sex, you’re going to call me. You’re going to be my good little slut, and I’m not going to wear a goddamn condom, because you only fuck me. Got it?”

He could have just said no.

I’m aware that we keep having raw sex. It’s serial. That makes this more than just some one night stand. I don’t want sex with him; I crave it. Some frat boy loser won’t slap me, choke me, and make me come, and Koda knows it.

“So demanding,” I give a strangled laugh. “You’re fucking Stacy. Hardly seems fair.”

He leans down to my ear. “I have never fucked any of the Stacy’s. They can’t give me what I want.”

I quiver at his words. It’s a sick promise of what’s to come. “I’m not giving you a goddamn thing.”

“Too fucking bad. Guess I’ll just take it then.” He lets me go and shoves me down on the bed in one move.

The fucker is strong. He drags me to the edge of the mattress and sticks two fingers in quickly before adding another. He doesn’t pump his hand but curls his fingers causing my hips to buck. “Don’t be such a slut.”

I can’t say anything, because the way his fingers massage me inside have my body confused as fuck. I don’t know if I want to come or cry. His thumb circles my clit lightly at first, then he presses it until I squeal, and his hand disappears.

I prop myself up on my elbows. “What the fuck? I was close.”

“I told you. I’m going to edge you for every single time I wanted to lay you out on that table and fuck you. That was for the fucking picture,” he smirks before inserting his fingers again. I fall back against the bed, riding his hand and moaning. He pulls away just when I think I’m about to come.

“That’s for when you threw yourself at Cole in the kitchen, and this is for when I had to argue with Stacy.”

He teases me again and again, edging me until I’m begging him to let me come.

“…for trying to crash with some Prince.”

“…for asking me questions in the goddamn ride share.”

“Koda,” I whine.

He slaps my pussy and my knees try to cave in, but he’s holding them apart. I feel the head of his cock and pray that I’ll finally get some fucking relief.

“What’s your safe phrase?”

“I love you.”

He pulls away immediately. His face is stricken with panic. “What?”

“That’s my phrase,” I laugh maniacally.

“You’re a goddamn fucking comedian,” he snarls, grabbing my throat. “See if this makes you laugh.”

Koda’s cock fights it’s way inside of me, and he groans. It’s the sexiest groan of all time. If they categorized groans like they did the top one hundred sexiest men, Koda would be number one by a landslide. The more my muscles fight, the tighter his grip around my throat is. When he’s finally seated inside of me I feel fucking delirious.

“Got something to say?”

I shake my head no. “Not right now,” I gasp.

“That’s what I thought. Now be a good girl and moan for me.” He slaps my nipple and pumps into me, and I am blinded by ecstasy.

Every other time we’ve had sex was rushed. Situational. This is the first time we’ve just been together with no one else having the ability to interrupt, and he’s taking advantage of it. He pinches my nipples and twists and my body shakes, begging for release.

“Not yet, baby girl,” he croons. His fingers dance along my cheekbone, asking for permission.

“If you do that, I will come,” I moan in warning.

“Such a little masochist,” he growls, fucking me so hard that my clit is on fire. “You won’t come until I say you do.”

“But you said—”

I feel the sting on my face, and I squeeze around him.

“Don’t, Ash. I’m not done, yet.”

“I can’t. When you…When you…” I want to die and live all at once.

“The next time I hit you, you can come.”

Angry tears sting my eyes. Koda doesn’t let up, and I keep trying to tell myself no.

“You’re gonna ruin it,” I sob.

“Then ruin it.”

“No, please. Please, Ko.” I toss my head back and forth at war with myself.

“I fucking love it when you cry and beg.”

The memory he sparked is there, but my mind can’t hold onto it because Koda slaps me.

I come. I come hard. I’m fucking screaming, and he doesn’t try to silence me. I know when he finishes, and he rides my orgasm out, which feels like forever. When it’s finally over I feel depleted. If this was a video game, the screen would be pulsing with my heartbeat because Koda did fucking damage. Not only to my insides, but my mind.

He pulls out, and the world comes rushing back in. I jump up and throw on my clothes, mustering the strength to get myself out of the door. My phone is still alive so I call a ride share who is luckily around the corner.

“Where are you going?” he asks in a daze. The same question, every single time, as if my exit is some sort of surprise.

“Home. This was fun.”

And I leave before he can say anything else.

On the twenty minute ride back I fight the urge to fall asleep. I stumble into the front door, barely hanging on for dear life, and drag myself down the hallway until I collapse into my bed.

Damien was wrong. Everything isn’t about money. Everyone has their own currency and thanks to him, mine is sex.