back , and let her in.
“ Who the fuck are you?” she said as soon as she stepped past me. “Never mind. I’m here now so you can get rid of her, Xander.”
Avery had followed me out of the bedroom. She stood on the other side of the room, glaring at Veronica. She gave me a disgusted look, then turned her gaze back.
“She’s my girlfriend.”
“ What? What the fuck are you on? I thought you were sober.” Veronica narrowed her eyes, glancing between Avery and me.
“ I am, but you obviously are not, so I’m calling you a cab.” I’d let her in because I felt bad for her. We’d signed into rehab together because we were feeding each other’s habits. She was always high, I was always drunk, and we’d mix sex into it and things got out of control. I was tired of feeding a dependency that only ever drowned me in my problems. Veronica didn’t bode well for my sobriety and never would. It didn’t take long after leaving rehab for her to relapse, so I knew it was time to cut ties.
“ Xander… I need you.” She pouted.
“ What happened to Nick?” Veronica had a habit of falling back on me when one of her new boyfriends didn’t work out. I guess I sort of spoiled her that way because I never turned her away.
She rolled her eyes. “He’s an asshole.”
“ So am I,” I deadpanned.
“ Yeah, but you’re my soft spot. If I can’t come to you, then where will I go?” She frowned.
“ Home. To sleep it off.” I picked up the phone and had the doorman call a cab. Avery turned and went back into the bedroom as I walked Veronica out of the condo.
In the elevator, she cornered me, her hands at my sides and lips pressed at my neck. I put a hand on her hip and backed her off.
“ You used to be fun,” she whined.
“ Yeah, we had fun, but what’s fun when I was drunk is just an illusion.”
She crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall quietly until the doors slid open.
“ Goodnight, Xander. Don’t run to me when she fucks you over.”
I held open the doors, watching her exit the building and enter a cab before I let the doors slide shut.
When I got back to my place, I stripped, then got in bed with Avery. She straddled me abruptly and frowned. “So, Veronica?”
“ Friend.”
“ With benefits?” She lifted a brow.
I nodded. Veronica was a cast mate in a movie I’d filmed four years ago. There were never any feelings between us. I’d drawn a line across that codependency after rehab, and I wasn’t getting pulled back in. When it wasn’t Veronica, it was sex with random women I barely remembered the next day.
Sex with random women seemed great. It took me where I needed to be for a while, but I always came down. But with Avery, there was no down. She kept me strung up so high, even when she wasn’t in the same room, I felt lighthearted.
Avery leaned in and narrowed her eyes.
“What?” I asked
She turned my head and moved in closer. “You have lipstick on your neck.”
I tried to deflect by turning my head and pulling her off, but she held firm, yanking my hair and holding my head at a tilted angle, the sharp pain and forceful move actually turning me on. Sick fuck. I was in trouble, and all I could think about was playing rough.
“ Should I go after her? Because you gave me ownership of this.” She reached down and squeezed my cock. Hard.
Again… turning me on.
“She’s not a threat. You’re holding all the rights in your hand.”
“ Good.” She let go of my hair, wiping away the traces of lipstick.
Now that she got me hard , she was going to have to take care of it. “Since you want to power play, I’m going to need you to pull your panties to the side and take control of my cock.”
“ You’re insatiable.” She shook her head, but that hint of a smile told me she wanted to.
“ For you.” I squeezed her ass, then said, “Less talking, more fucking.”
“ I thought I was in charge here.” She straightened and planted her hands on her hips.
“
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