Bedding The Best Friend (Bedding the Bachelors, Book 4) (2 page)

Paige laughed as if that were the funniest thing in the world. “You totally remind me of how I was back in Seattle. Too scared to make others uncomfortable. Too nervous to speak my mind.” She leaned toward Annie. “But seriously, transforming myself didn’t just get me over him, it jump started a life I’d always wanted to lead. It led to me being my best self.”

“That sounds awesome, Paige,” Annie said, looking at her friend admiringly. If only she had the guts to do something like that—to
transform
herself.

“It feels awesome, too.” Paige turned on her seat to scan the bar. “So where the heck is your friend Ryan? You said you wanted to leave by eight because you have an early shift tomorrow and it’s getting close to that time now.”

“Shoot,” Annie said and checked her watch. “He texted that he and his girlfriend were here about fifteen minutes ago. Let me go check where he is.” She got off her barstool and had taken two steps when she was stopped by Paige’s hand on her shoulder.

“Um, Annie. You sure you want to….”

She turned to face her friend. “What’s that?”

Paige sighed. “Nothing, sweetie. I’ll wait for you here.”

“Okay, be right back.”

Annie made her way through the crowd and opened the front door. She took a few steps toward the illuminated parking lot, immediately spotting Ryan’s black pickup. She couldn’t imagine what was keeping Ryan and Samantha, but—

She froze when she saw them.

Ryan’s muscular body pressed Samantha’s smaller frame against the side of his truck. Her fingers were tangled in his hair, while Ryan’s held her hips, holding her tight against him. They were kissing madly, tongues tangling. Ryan’s hand shifted from Samantha’s ass to her breast, cupping her roughly. In response, Samantha lowered one of her hands to cup Ryan between his legs. They both groaned with pleasure.

Pain shot through Annie’s chest but she was too hypnotized to look away. Ryan lifted Samantha’s top and jerked down her bra, baring her heavy breast. He whispered something to her that Annie couldn’t hear, then lowered his head, latching on to her nipple like he was starving and Samantha was a gourmet meal.

Annie felt like she’d been kicked in the stomach. Not once, not ever, had she seen Ryan full-on making out with a woman. She wasn’t stupid. She knew Ryan had been with plenty of women. But seeing it was different—made it more real. More devastating. She’d spent the better part of eight years fantasizing about having his hands and mouth on her, and now here she was, living her worst nightmare, watching him practically fucking someone else.

And if
she
could see
them
…

Quickly, Annie backed away, almost tripping over her own feet in her haste to get back inside. The last thing she wanted was for Ryan to spot her. The horror she felt had to be written all over her face. One look at her and he’d know how devastated she felt. How hurt. How destroyed.

He’d know that she was in love with him and then their friendship would change forever. Things could get to the point that he wouldn’t even want to be around her anymore. She couldn’t let that happen.

Fighting to catch her breath and hold back her tears, Annie stormed to the back of the bar where the restrooms were located. When she felt a hand on her arm, she jerked around. It was that guy Jason, the one who’d overheard Paige talking about buying a vibrator. His handsome face was creased with what looked like worry. “Annie, are you okay?”

“Um yeah. I’m fine, thanks. Just headed to the restroom.”

She pulled away and dashed quickly for the bathroom. Before she stepped inside, she caught Paige’s gaze and called out, “Be right back. Then we can go.”

Paige looked worried about her, too, but Annie couldn’t deal with that right now.

She flew into the bathroom, locked herself into a stall, covered her face with her hands and struggled to hold back her sobs. No such luck. The sobs racked through her uncontrollably.

The pain she was feeling had reached agonizing new heights. Ryan was her best friend and she’d never want to lose him, but something needed to change.

It took her about five minutes to calm down enough to breathe normally. After splashing water on her face, she stared at herself in the mirror. She didn’t like what she saw—a chubby woman with glasses and mousy brown hair, her eyes red and puffy. She was a pathetic woman pining for a guy who would never want her the way she wanted him.

In that moment, she hated who she was.

She remembered what Paige had said when Annie had asked how she’d gotten her self-esteem back and gotten over her ex.

I transformed myself into the kind of woman that didn’t pine for any man. I envisioned myself as confident. Sexy. Strong. The type of woman that was willing to take risks and explore new horizons.

If Paige could do it, then so could Annie.

She was done being the nice girl. She was ready to take some risks. Looking at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, she vowed that by the time Ryan came back from training in two months, she would be a new woman.

She’d be over him. And she’d finally be ready to move on with her life.

Chapter One

“How about some bondage tape?”

Annie turned away from the clerk who was ringing up her new toy to see Paige holding up a roll of shiny black tape, which almost exactly matched the color of Paige’s long, straight tresses. Annie’s cheeks heated and she gave her friend a “keep your voice down” stare.

It was a stare Paige either didn’t read correctly or simply chose to ignore. Wiggling the roll, she raised her brows and singsonged, “It says it’s perfect for kinky couple’s play.”

Annie barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Kinky couple’s play sounded good. It would sound even better if Annie was actually part of a couple. Even then, given her inexperience with kink in general and her plans for the weekend in particular, including having sex with a stranger, she couldn’t help envisioning that tape and her body taking part in a high school gym prank or something straight out of a horror movie.

Still…

It had taken her two days to work up the nerve to walk into Sweet Sensations, the city’s best sex store according to Paige. She was supposed to be having an open mind here.

“It could be fun to put on,” she conceded. “But pulling it off?” She mock shivered.

“Here you go,” the clerk said. The young woman had dyed red hair, piercings, and visible tattoos that contrasted with her vintage baby doll dress. She easily emanated the hipster “I’m not really trying” vibe that ran rampant in San Francisco’s Mission District. She handed Annie a discreet white-handled bag, smiled, and jerked her chin at Paige. “If you decide on the bondage tape, it doesn’t yank out hair or leave a sticky residue, so it doesn’t hurt when you pull it off. It also comes in all kinds of fun colors.”

There was that word again.
Fun
. Annie had to admit, she’d had fun today. It was, after all, the first time she’d visited a sex shop, and Paige was always good company. The upcoming weekend in Vegas was supposed to be all about having fun, too. Specifically, it was Annie’s opportunity to stretch her bad-girl muscles and complete her carefully planned naughty list.

So why did thinking about it make her want to throw up?

Because you’re set in your boring, nice-girl ways, Annie. That’s the point. You need to go against your instincts and be the bad girl for once.

Bad girls have more fun.

They also don’t waste their time lusting over their best friends.

You’ll see.

That’s what her naughty side was telling her. The stronger part of her personality, her inner nice girl, wasn’t convinced. She’d spent the last two months transforming herself. Not by being bad, exactly, but by doing things she normally wouldn’t. Like getting Lasik surgery so she could ditch her glasses. Highlighting her mousy brown hair. And starting to take diet pills when her slow-and-steady weight loss regimen had hit a wall. Now her eyesight was perfect, her hair looked awesome, and she’d lost over twenty pounds.

Unfortunately, she was still in love with Ryan as much as ever, and she’d barely even seen the guy. That’s why she’d made her naughty list.

It was time for drastic measures.

Annie took the bag from the clerk and said, “Thanks for the, um, tip.” With a quick glance behind her, she saw the line had gotten even longer while she’d been paying for her purchase. Sweet Sensations was packed with men and women both young and old. Trying to appear nonchalant, she walked over to Paige and studied the display that touted the many functions of bondage tape. Restraint was just the beginning. It could also be used as a gag, collar, or harness, and to make boobtubes, dresses, and miniskirts.

“Talk about serving multiple purposes,” Annie whispered.

“I’m buying you a roll,” Paige declared loudly.

Annie laughed nervously. “Seriously, Paige? I’ve spent the past thirty minutes with my eyes as wide as saucers, and I just bought my very first sex toy, and you think I’m ready to graduate to BDSM?”

“It says right here on the label that it’s perfect for the bondage virgin.”

Annie shook her head. “I have enough on my list. I’m not going overboard. Plus, I’m already pushing the boundaries of safe sex by planning to sleep with a stranger. I’m not going to let one tie me up.”

Paige waved her hand in a
pshaw
gesture. “I’m buying it for you. If you decide to expand on your naughty list, you can thank me later.”

Left with no other choice, Annie waited while Paige got in line to buy the tape. She looked around, once again intrigued by the different dildos on display, the variety of which a helpful clerk had described in detail. There were glass ones and rubber ones. Long and thin ones. Short and fat ones. Double dongs and jellies and butt plugs. With some, tremendous effort had been taken to make the toy look and feel as real as possible.

As if someone could overlook the fact there was no body attached to a cock she was holding and convince herself she was actually having sex with someone rather than a toy?

She didn’t have that good of an imagination. The toy was simply a means of giving herself pleasure, and even nice girls desired pleasure. Besides, she wasn’t a complete prude. She masturbated the old-fashioned way just fine. This was about giving herself permission to go the extra mile, the same way her upcoming weekend in Vegas was.

Still, it all seemed unsettling to her, not to mention overwhelming, and in the end she’d decided on the toy that Paige recommended, something called a Rabbit that vibrated, rotated, and stimulated in multiple ways. Despite her embarrassment, she was proud she’d ventured into the store and made her purchase. Now she just had to get home, wrap it, and stick it under her Christmas tree before Ryan came over.

At the thought of Ryan’s broad shoulders soon filling up space in her little apartment, her pulse quickened. It had been only a week since she’d accompanied him to his college buddy Eric’s wedding on Coronado Island. However, the weekend had been tense between them, and not just because the groom had jilted the bride. No, the awkwardness had started well before that, when Ryan picked her up at the San Diego airport to take her to the wedding.

She hadn’t seen him in over two months and she’d been imagining the feel of his arms around her when he scooped her in for one of his hugs. Couldn’t wait to inhale his clean, woodsy scent. Only when he’d seen her, Ryan hadn’t hugged her. At least not right away. Instead, clearly shocked by her dramatic weight loss, he’d implied she looked unhealthy. Granted, she’d lost over twenty pounds in the two months he’d been away, and despite their frequent calls and e-mails, she’d managed to keep the secret from him. So, okay, seeing the improved her, complete with new hairstyle and wardrobe, had to have been shocking. But, damn it, she’d transformed herself into someone more like the women he dated, and all he’d done was criticize her. He’d hurt her feelings whether he’d meant to or not, and she’d withdrawn into herself, something she hadn’t done with Ryan before.

Eventually, she’d moved past it. It had been hard to stay mad given the way Brianne, the jilted bride, had insisted on going forward with the wedding reception and had personally urged Ryan and Annie to hit the dance floor. Whether he’d been boogying with her or holding her close for a slow song, dancing with Ryan was the most fun she’d had in a long time.

Over the past week, he’d called her almost every day, and while that wasn’t unusual in and of itself, there was a new hesitancy in his voice each time their conversations began. Hopefully after they had dinner tonight, things would be back to normal between them.

She was going to have a very busy and adventurous weekend, one that would require tremendous focus. She wasn’t a fool either. She was going to be bad, but she was going to exercise caution, too. She didn’t want to have to worry about her relationship with Ryan at the same time.

Annie found her gaze drawn back to the dildo display. Despite her determination to move on from such things, she was suddenly overcome by an image of Ryan using one on her, starting above her shoulders and working his way down to her sweet spot.

First, he’d tell her to get the toy nice and wet. She’d lick it from one end of the shaft to the other, making sure to roll her tongue across the head. Then she’d slip the dildo between her lips, taking it inch-by-inch, never taking her eyes off Ryan’s face as she increased the suction and let her tongue explore the toy’s length. He’d watch as her head bobbed up and down until he couldn’t take it anymore. Slowly, he’d pull the toy out of her mouth and slide it over her chin towards her chest. He’d circle her nipples with the toy’s damp tip, making her shiver with delight before he dragged the toy down her belly and toward the spot that throbbed from deep inside. He’d rub the toy against her, teasing her, and she’d be so wet that within seconds the toy would be coated with her—