Page 34 of Studs Up
“Nolan Fucking Reed, you better explain this right now, or I will cut off your balls and auction them off to the lowest bidder.”
He had put some real effort into making me look bad and Alice bought it.
“It’s from a friend,” I said. “He’s fucking with me.”
“Next time I’ll keep the change!” She shouted, and everyone around us turned.
“What the fuck did you do?” Diaz asked, very amused.
“Nothing,” I said.
“Who is this friend?” She demanded, using her fingers to quote friend. “I want to talk to them.”
“Alice,” I said, folding the bill in my hand. The body glitter was now smeared over my fingers. Fucking hell. “It’s nothing. He’s an asshole and is trying to be a jackass.”
“You are the asshole and the jackass!”
“I promise you,” I insisted. “It’s nothing. I’ll call him and tell him to fuck off.”
I backed away. I was going to get my phone and call his ass.
“Whatever that is,” she pointed angrily at the card. “You better tell him to keep his fucking mouth shut too.”
She didn’t have to worry about that.
I called him when I got into my car. I didn’t think calling and yelling at Holden was appropriate with other people around.
“Alice almost killed me today.”
“Who is Alice, and where can I send her a fruit basket?” Hearing his voice sent shivers down my spine as the memories heated my blood. I wanted so much more than just a few minutes.
“My PR rep,” I said. “She did not appreciate your card. She thinks I’m taking prostitutes to hotels and having illicit affairs.”
He spent a good minute on the other end of the phone laughing.
“It’s not funny,” I said. The sound of his laugh was hearty and sweet. It did funny things in my chest and in my groin.
“You’re right,” he took a breath. “It’s fucking hilarious. You were nice to her, right?”
“Why the fuck would I be nice to her?” I snapped. “She screamed at me in the training room.”
He was laughing again, and it was chipping off large chunks of my anger, whittling me down to a man who wanted to hear him laugh all day long.
“I told you I was going to make you pay,” I said.
“And what exactly will this punishment entail?” He purred, and it sent delicious ripples through my skin.
I chuckled. In my head, I was imagining him naked and writhing.
Instead of answering, I hung up. My cock was getting hard, and it probably wasn’t a good idea to jerk off in my car, so I went home.
Holden
Ignoring him was so hard when he made it so easy to poke him. The texting, the card, and listening to him grunt in my ear about it was fun.
Those weren’t the first texts we exchanged. Each one should have been the last. That’s what I told myself. But it never was.
I started watching his games, specifically to watch him. Something I had always forbidden myself from doing. There was no getting rid of him now.
