25. Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-five
Samantha
Adrian avoided flying commercial if he could help it. Pretty ridiculous, but since I often accompanied him, I couldn’t complain too much. He’d spoiled me flying private.
We were taking a trip to California to check out the location he wanted to buy for our second club. I was still on the fence, but Adrian was full steam ahead. He hadn’t said as much, but I figured this was his way of convincing me. We’d see the building, and he’d prove how perfect it was.
He was probably right. Sometimes I needed to be shoved in the right direction when I’d dug my heels in. I’d try my best to keep an open mind…but first, I needed to get to the plane.
I hurried to the waiting jet, juggling my overnight bag, coffee, and water bottle. Traffic had me running late, and I hated keeping anyone waiting.
I burst into the plane’s small, luxurious cabin, prepared to defend myself. As much as I hated being late, Adrian was a tyrant. But he was paying out the nose for this plane. Time was literally money.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” I pushed my sunglasses to the top of my head once the flight attendant relieved me of my bag. “Traffic was a nightmare, but I’m here.”
My feet stopped working when I found Adrian wasn’t alone. He had taken his favorite seat on the right side of the plane, and directly across from him, in the seat that was normally mine, was Nate.
“Oh…hi, Nate.” I swiveled to Adrian. “Nate’s here. On the plane.”
Adrian’s eyes widened. “He is?” Then he craned his neck to look at his brother. “When did that happen? How did you get here?”
Nate chuckled. “Snuck in with the snacks.”
When I didn’t move, Adrian pointed toward the chair facing Nate. “We can’t take off with you standing there. Sit down, Sammie.”
“I—” Was completely thrown off by Nate’s presence. That was the only reason I didn’t bark and act like a dog when Adrian ordered me around like one. I hated when he did that, and he knew it, but I didn’t have the wherewithal to snark back. “Okay.”
It had been a week since the night Kelly had shown up at my house in tears.
For the most part, things had gotten back to normal.
Well…my new normal of lots and lots of mind-blowing sex with Nate and random sleepovers.
But no more emotional outbursts. No more tears or weirdly intense moments in bed.
We were back to being friends with benefits.
Excellent, addictive benefits.
I took the seat across from Nate, tucking my drinks in the cup holders on my armrests. Nate raised an eyebrow, and I shook my head, though I didn’t know why.
“You’re going to California?”
“I am. Last-minute decision.” He nodded toward Adrian. “Ade mentioned he’d chartered the jet, and I’d invited myself along.”
“You did?”
“Yes.” The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled at me indulgently. I must have looked as frazzled as I felt. “Roman and I have been in talks with a company in LA. I have a meeting with them this afternoon.”
Adrian barely looked up from the book in his lap. “Look at me, being an environmentalist.”
“How’s that?” I asked.
He flicked his hand toward us. “Imagine if I’d said no to Nate and he’d chartered his own jet. I’m single-handedly saving the world by plane-pooling.”
“I wouldn’t have chartered a jet,” Nate deadpanned.
“Sure, sure.” Adrian lifted his book to his face. “Quiet time. I’m almost to the good part.”
Since he was reading a Stephen King novel, I shuddered to guess what he considered the good part.
There were many things I wanted to say, but couldn’t, given Adrian’s presence. I tried to convey my questions with my eyes.
Why didn’t you mention this when we were together two nights ago?
Did you want to surprise me?
Can you tell how thrown off I am?
Do you realize how sexy you look in that button-down?
Hopefully he couldn’t read that last question. Everything else, though? Yes. I wanted answers. Nate and I had just spent the night together. I’d left his bed yesterday morning with a kiss and promise to see him when I got back, and he hadn’t said a thing.
To me, it was understandable why I was thrown off. Not that I wasn’t perfectly content to spend the next hour across from him, looking at his gorgeous face…that had been buried between my thighs a little over twenty-four hours ago.
Like he could read my thoughts, Nate’s mouth slid into a slow, easy grin.
“It was a last-minute thing,” he said quietly. “Planned yesterday afternoon. I hope you don’t mind me being here.”
“I don’t mind.” I crossed my legs, letting the tip of my shoe graze against Nate’s outstretched leg. “You’re probably more interesting company than Adrian anyway. All he does is read and leave me to my own devices.”
He opened his hands, showing how empty they were. “Lucky for you, I didn’t bring a book.”
“He doesn’t read,” Adrian chimed in. “Don’t let him fool you.”
I scoffed. “For someone who claims to be reading, you sure seem to be paying a lot of attention to the conversations around you. Don’t tell me you’re one of those men who always has a book as a prop so they can seem deep when they haven’t actually read a full book since Green Eggs and Ham.”
Adrian shot me a droll look. “You caught me. I’ve carried on this thirty-year ruse so the general masses will think I’m deep and intellectual. I care so much about what everyone else thinks.”
I finger gunned him. “I knew it. Glad you finally admit it. Now that you have, it’s time for you to live your authentic life as a mindless doom scroller like the rest of us.”
He picked his book back up. “I’ll get on that ASAP.”
Nate was still smirking when I turned back to him. I cocked my head to the side and mouthed, “What?”
He mouthed back, “You’re cute.”
Annoyed, embarrassed, and more pleased than I should have been, I nudged his leg with my toe again. His smirk grew into a true smile, and my stomach did a nosedive.
None of that, you.
It wasn’t long before we were up in the air, flying toward the West Coast. Nate cracked open his laptop, a line forming between his brows as he concentrated on his screen. Midway through the flight, I moved to the seat facing Adrian to talk to him about the building we were going to see.
“I checked with the city ordinances—”
He made a scoffing sound, interrupting my chain of thought. “Since when do you check ordinances?”
“Since you decided to go all-in on California—I’m covering our bases.”
“Hmmm.” He closed his book and set it aside. “Did you think I wouldn’t have done that?”
“I’m sure you’ve looked into it—”
His eyes narrowed. “What’s going on with you, Sammie?”
“What do you mean?”
He studied me, scratching the side of his head. “Something’s been different about you lately. I’ve been thinking about it and realized you haven’t mentioned a Douche replacement. That’s unlike you.”
“Will…” I muttered, mostly out of habit. “That’s because there isn’t one.”
He leaned forward, his brow dropping. “You’re telling me you’re not dating anyone? What’s it been, two months?”
“Something like that.” I folded my arms across my middle.
“And…? You’re not dating?” he pressed.
I shook my head. “I’m taking a break from men for a while.”
I didn’t have to look to know Nate was listening. He also knew I wasn’t quite telling the truth, but what he and I were doing wasn’t dating.
We were fucking.
That was it.
Nate was incredible in bed…and on the counter…against the wall…
That was where this thing between us began and ended, though, and I thought that was why we were working so well. No strings or complications made it easy to spend time with him. I didn’t have to worry about an axe hanging over my head, waiting to chop me to bits when it inevitably ended.
Because it always did.
“That’s a good idea,” Adrian said. “I can’t say I’m not surprised, though. I don’t think you’ve ever gone this long without male companionship.”
I snorted a laugh. “I have plenty of companionship from you. Why would I need to go out looking for a guy who won’t measure up?”
He shook his head. “Don’t get any ideas about falling in love with me.”
I made a cross with my fingers. “Never suggest something so unholy again. I’ll jump right out of this airplane.”
He raised his hands. “You’re right. My mistake. I regretted it immediately after saying it.”
“The very idea…” I hissed, shaking my head.
“Disgusting,” he muttered, grinning.
Even though we were joking, there was relief shared between us. We were still on the same page. I thought we always would be, but it was good to check in from time to time to confirm neither of us was pining away for the other.
When Adrian went back to his book, I ventured a look across the aisle at Nate. He was busy with his laptop again, his long, elegant fingers pecking away at the keyboard.
Fingers that had been pumping inside my pussy just yesterday morning.
Hands that held me down and made me take it.
Arms that wrapped around me, keeping me as close to his body as humanly possible.
This was why I thought about ordinances and real estate laws. If I let my mind wander, it inevitably landed on Nate and all the filthy things he’d done to me.
I’d never get any work done.