AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Good girl,” said Liam. “Not so bad, huh?”
I shook my head, sipping the last of my Cosmo. It tasted a little stronger than usual and I wondered if Liam had added extra vodka to it. My head felt light, but in a pleasant, dreamy way.
We chatted for a while. Liam told me he was from Sidney, Australia and he went to the university on the Canadian border. Travis was done with college and retired from a short football career after an ACL injury. They were both delicious and attentive, refilling my glass, getting me ice water, and letting me smoke from their cigarettes when I wanted.
After a while, I was feeling tipsy and bold enough to ask the question on my mind.
“Do you two do this a lot?”
Liam cocked his head. “Do what?”
“Sleep with the same girl,” I said. “You’re both flirting with me for a reason.”
Travis laughed. “She’s onto us.”
Liam’s mouth broke into a wide grin. He was beside me now, my legs draped over his beneath the water. His hand had been working the string of my bikini bottom for a while. Just wrapping it around his finger. Barely touching my skin.
“We’re not going to fuck you, baby,” he drawled.
I frowned. I hadn’t intended on sleeping with anyone, but it bothered me they weren’t even going to try.
“I’m not a fucking idiot,” Travis said. “Merrick Llwyd took down twelve men with no gun, knife—no nothing. Everyone respects the fuck out of him.”
I pushed my lower lip out. “Yeah, whatever. That’s what they say anyway.”
Liam ran his hand down my thigh to my knee. “You still have your cherry, don’t you, princess?”
I gasped. “How dare you!”
They both laughed and Liam bent, kissing the side of my neck. Right below my ear. A shiver moved down my spine.
“Relax, baby,” Travis said. “It’s just a bet.”
I glanced from one to the other. “You made a bet that I was a virgin?”
They looked a little embarrassed, but Liam nodded. Travis reached down and picked a bottle of coconut rum from the patio and pulled the cap off. He took a drink and passed it to Liam.
“I doubt Merrick lets you go out without a tracking collar on,” Liam said. “He’s not going to let you sleep around.”
I paused, staring straight ahead. Through the window, I could see Merrick in a crowd of other suits. I knew it was him by the light glinting from his hair. Black like the iridescent feathers of a raven.
It hit me then what they were trying to say. Up until now, I hadn’t realized it, but despite all his talk about autonomy, Merrick was still just as misogynistic as the rest of the men I knew. He just didn’t realize it.
My pink V card wasn’t in my purse.
It never had been.
No, it was tucked away in Merrick Llwyd’s custom leather wallet.
Anger surged through my chest. For all his talk about equality, I was still under his lock and key. Even the most intimate parts of my body weren’t mine to use as I pleased.
“I want to go,” I said, standing. “I drank too much.”
“Hey, hey, sorry if we upset you,” Liam said. “We didn’t mean it.”
I shook my head, climbing out of the hot tub. My legs felt wobbly as I balanced on the patio boards and looked around for my robe.
“Hey, sweetheart, let us get you another drink,” Travis urged.
