Chapter 1
AUDREY DAWSON
“Naughty girl… look how wet you are for me…” Zane breathed against my skin, a smirk curling at his lips, his finger dragging against my clit before sliding in.
My walls clenched, heat pooling low in my belly as his other hand found my chest, palm warm against my skin, fingers teasing my nipple in rhythm with each thrust.
I shuddered, nails raking down his back, hips arching to meet him, moans spilling freely from my lips.
He leaned in and kissed me... slow, wet, then pulled back just enough to look my face.
The smirk returned.
“Do you still hate me, princess?” His finger curled, finding my G-spot.
I gasped, grip tightening on him.
“Fuck...”
He stopped.
“Ple… please, don’t stop...” The words left me before I could think twice.
“Do you still hate me?” His eyes held mine, steady and searching.
I didn’t answer.
His thumb found my clit, circling slowly.
“Answer me, princess…”
Before I could find the words, his palm slammed against me, fingers pumping. Fast, deep, relentless.
My breath came in short gasps. Every muscle in my body pulled tight.
“Fuck... I’m coming... don’t stop, I’m...”
Then... My phone rang.
My eyes snapped open.
I was alone. In my room. Sheets damp with sweat, heart hammering against my ribs, chest heaving.
What the fuck was that? Making out with my brother’s best friend in my dream. The one man I hate most in this world.
I cringed hard at the thought, pressing my palms against my face.
What a way to start my day.
I reached for my phone and silenced the alarm before noticing the screen label.
Anniversary.
A small smile tugged at my lips until I saw the time.
Past 9PM.
Shoot. How did I fall asleep?
I threw the sheets off and rushed to the bathroom, and that was when I felt it.
The wetness between my legs.
I stilled.
A fresh wave of irritation and goosebumps crawled up my spine. That jerk. The nerve of him to show up in my dream and touch me without permission.
I brushed the thought off and showered quickly, then got dressed, grabbed the cake I’d ordered earlier, and stepped out.
*****
Oliver’s apartment was quiet when I arrived.
My fingers were tight around the cake box as I took the elevator up, my heart already racing.
I paused at his door to check the lingerie under my dress--- red corset, matching g-string. The set Oliver always lost his mind over.
I smiled to myself.
It’s going to be a pretty rough long night ahead.
I inputed his passcode and walked into his apartment.
His living room was well unusually messy. Pizza box on the table, two tall wine glasses, and a bottle of wine with pillows loitering the floor.
I exhaled. “Did he bring friends over again?”
His apartment always ends up this messy whenever he brings friends over.
With the cake box still in my hand, I reached for the one of the pillows, then I heard it.
A grunt. Faint at first. Then another.
My eyes flicked to the stairs before I climbed it, but froze at the landing.
“Fuck… yeah… Oh, fuck...” That moans across the room... That voice.
No. I’m mistaken. That’s not Oliver’s voice.
My fingers tightened on the cake box, my hand already trembling on the doorknob. I hesitated, then pushed the door open.
The room was dim, bathed in a red light.
The sounds hit me first.
Skin against skin, breathless moans. Then the image sharpened.
Oliver was on the bed. A woman straddling him, head tilted back, hair swaying, her body bouncing up and down him, his hands tight on her waist as he thrust upward to meet her, both of them completely lost in it.
“Tell me… tell me, Ollie...”
My blood ran cold.
I knew that voice.
Natalie.
“Tell me what I want to hear,” she breathed, her pace quickening.
“Fuck...” Oliver’s voice broke. “You’re better than her. You fuck me better than her.”
“Again...” She demanded again.
“You’re hotter than her.”
I scoffed quietly.
“Say my name.”
“Nat… Natalie. Fuck, don’t stop...”
My chest tightened. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move.
I found the light switch and turned it on.
They froze.
“You didn’t say you’d be busy,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
Natalie rolled off him, scrambling for the sheet.
Oliver was already out of bed, yanking on his trousers, hands shaking.
“Ba...babe...” His voice cracked. “It’s not what you think, I swear. We were just...”
My palm cracked across his cheek.
He gasped, stumbling back.
“You lying piece of shit.”
“Ollie...” Natalie rushed to him, the sheet barely wrapped around her.
She touched his cheek, then turned to me, eyes blazing. “That was harsh, Audrey.”
I stared at her.
Harsh? She was supposed to be hiding her face in shame. Not standing in my face.
“Natalie.” My voice cracked. “We’ve been friends for ten years... Ten years! How could you do this to me?”
She scoffed, jaw tight.
“Friends.” She said. “Did you ever think of me as one?”
I blinked back my tears. “What?”
“It’s always been about you, Audrey. You’re the beautiful one. The smart one. Every room you walk into... every guy, every conversation... It’s always about you.” Her voice cracked. “You’ve always enjoyed me being your shadow while you get all the attention!”
“Well, I was fine with everything. I was putting up with it. But then you started dating Oliver, knowing I liked him---”
“You never told me...” I exhaled. “I would’ve given him to you!” I said through my teeth. “You didn’t have to be a fucking bitch!” I was doing everything I could to hold myself from breaking down.
“That’s exactly the problem. Giving him to me. Like I’m a fucking charity case. Like everything I have has to come from you first.” She let out a hollow laugh. “That’s all I’ve ever been to you... a runner-up.”
I bit the inside of my cheek hard. My eyes stung with tears, but I fought them back. I won’t cry in front of them.
I turned to Oliver, and he looked away.
“Hotter than me?” I scoffed. “Is that how you managed to get into her panties? She wouldn’t allow you to fuck her if you didn’t say she was better than me, huh?”
“Audrey!” Natalie gritted.
“Babe, please let’s talk about this...” Oliver said with a shaky voice, trying to touch me.
“You two disgust me.” I stepped back. “Don’t ever come near me again.”
“He was going to end things with you anyway,” Natalie said flatly.
“Natalie, stop.” Oliver’s voice climbed angrily.
She flinched.
“Baby, just let me explain...”
I picked up the cake and walked out, pulling the door shut behind me.
I finally allowed the pain to settle in my chest, tears streaming down my cheeks.
I walked without direction, legs unsteady beneath me, the cake box tucked under my arm.
My phone buzzed.
Adrian, my brother.
I stopped walking and stared at his name on the screen.
Adrian had never liked Oliver. He’d said it once... that something feels off about him. He’d said the same about Natalie.
He always had this quiet instinct about people, and he was rarely ever wrong.
I let the call ring out.
I couldn’t handle an ‘I told you so’ tonight. Especially a gentle one.
I flagged down a cab to the pub instead. If I went home now, I’d just lie in the dark and replay everything on a loop.
At least here I could get numb faster.
The pub was nearly empty when I walked in.
I slid onto a stool at the counter and set the cake box down.
“Tequila, please.”
The bartender didn’t ask questions.
He poured, I drank, and pushed the glass back.
“Another.”
He poured again. I emptied it in one shot.
“Another one.”
He hesitated. “Are you alright?”
I looked at him. Young face, cute eyes. For half a second, I wanted to let everything out. Oliver, Natalie, the betrayal. All of it. But he was a stranger.
“Just the tequila,” I said.
“I’m sorry.” He slid the glass back. “House rule. Two max if you’re alone.”
I laughed, short and dry. “Because I’m a woman?”
“Applies to everyone.”
I pushed the cake box toward him. “One more. You can have this.”
I don’t know exactly how I convinced him, but what he set in front of me was a glass of cold water.
I didn’t argue. I drank everything.
I put my arms on the counter, dropped my head down, and cried quietly.
I could hear myself murmuring words, half-sentences, fragments of thoughts from tonight, and at some point, the bartender was on his phone, voice low and out of reach.
“Called your brother to come get you,” he said when he hung up.
My brother? But Adrian is not in New York.
Still, I didn’t move.
A few minutes passed. Then arms came around me, lifting me easily.
I tilted my face upward.
Dark eyes. A jaw I’d recognize anywhere.
“Zane?” I murmured.
Then everything went black.
