The Bargain

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Kayla came awake slowly, feeling the warmth of skin pressed against her naked back. Her lip curled up in a secret smile. She remembered stumbling into her room, stripping of her clothes, and crawling into bed. She vaguely recalled someone crawling in with her, but she didn't feel like they'd had sex.

She listened to him sleep, his deep breathing a pleasant accompaniment to the languid feel of early morning. He was a gentleman, not having taken advantage of her passed out form, and he was about to be rewarded for it. But who was it?

There had been so many hot guys at the party. Austin, running around shirtless despite the cold, showing off his gymnast body. James, his movie star good looks and lingering scans up her body. Even Allan, the pick of the lot, his girlfriend home visiting family for the weekend. It could be others, she'd flirted shamelessly with everyone, but with the way her arousal was rising as she fantasized, even if he were one of the duds among them, he was about to have a very good morning.

She debated how she should go about waking him. She could roll onto her back, stretch, and invite him to make the first move. She could crawl under the covers and give him the star treatment, but she really wanted to know who he was first.

Kayla reached out carefully and lifted her phone off its charger beside her bed. She turned on the selfie cam and used it to peer over her shoulder.

It was Jace.

"Good morning, Kayla," he said, smiling.

She had to take a calming breath before she spoke. "Jace, what are you doing here?"

Jace had been her little brother's best friend all through grade school. When she'd been thirteen, which would have made him about ten, he'd decided he was madly in love with her. Now, almost eight years later, he still was. Sure, she'd taken advantage over the years. She'd been a teenager. It had made her feel sexy and powerful. But she'd done nothing to encourage him for nearly two years, yet here he was in her bed.

"Why are you here, Jace?"

"I was getting your car detailed."

"Did I ask you to do that?"

He seemed flustered by the question. "You just got back from your Florida trip. It was full of sand and beach smell."

He wasn't wrong. She'd been thinking about getting it done herself. That wasn't exactly true. She'd been wondering if she'd have to do it herself or if he'd take care of it.

Ugh. He was distracting her. "But why are you still here?"

He made a look like he was particularly proud of himself. "When I came to put your keys back, I saw that you were naked and smashed. With the party going on, I was afraid someone would take advantage of you."

Kayla's eyes narrowed to slits. "Did it occur to you that I might have gotten blackout drunk and stripped my clothes off because I wanted someone to take advantage?"

His mouth opened in protest, realizing for the first time that she wasn't happy to see him this morning. "I'm sorry, Kayla. I didn't... I mean, it's just..." He paused, closing his eyes to settle his panic. "I'm really sorry, Kayla."

"Jace, you have to stop messing with my life." She could see it sinking in. He was going to go into a sulk. Normally she wouldn't care, but it was laundry day. She really hated doing laundry. "Look, Jace, I know you're just trying to help me, and it's sweet, but how can I ever find a boyfriend if you're always around?" They had talked about, at length and repeatedly, that she was never going to be romantic with Jace.

"I know, Kayla. I didn't mean to interfere. It just seemed the right thing at the time."

Kayla shook her head. This was so unhealthy. She'd tried to break this off a dozen times. She could never quite drive that final nail. She needed to end it.

She liked Jace and they could be friends if he wasn't so ... Jace. He was decent looking, though his shirtless torso was soft and pale. Why was he shirtless?

"Jace, you had my keys. Why didn't you just lock my door?"

He looked suddenly sheepish, but didn't manage to find a voice to answer.

"Are you wearing anything under that blanket?"

"Boxers," he muttered.

She smirked at him. "You want to do something that will actually make me happy?" She trailed a finger down his chest as she let the blanket fall away from her own.

His voice caught. "Kayla?"

"I don't have to get ready for work for a couple of hours." She rose up on an elbow. "How about we spend that time fooling around, and, when we're done, you delete me from your life?"

"Fool around?" He swallowed. "Like sex?"

She added a seductive lilt to her voice. "And all the fun stuff that goes with it." She needed to stick to her guns. "But I don't mean just unfollowing me. I mean all of it. No stalking me through my friends. No picking up my mail. If you joined a club because you might run into me, you leave it."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. And horny, so if the answer is no, you need to clear out if here."

"I don't know, Kayla. Forever?"

Ugh. Now he was sad, so not the mood she needed from him right now. This was always the problem. She could never be mean to him long enough to actually get rid of him. "A year." There, surly he would find someone else to obsess over in a year.

"Ok." He was so nervous it was cute. "Ok."

"Awesome. I'm going to go brush my teeth and pee. Join me in the shower in about five?" Kayla felt good as she trotted across the room under his gaze. She was finally doing the right thing with him. And she got to have sex.

Kayla sat sipping a coffee with her friend Eliz later that day on their work break. A hangover still teased at the edge of her awareness, but she'd been able to stave it off so far.

"So," Eliz asked conspiratorially, "how was Allen?"

"I'm sure I wouldn't know."

"Oh, come on. It's just me. I saw him slipping up to your room last night, and you definitely have that rode-hard-and-put-away-wet glow about you today."

This was not information she needed at the moment. "Sad to say, there was already someone in my bed when he got there."

"Who?" Eliz asked.

"Jace." Kayla cringed as she said it.

"Your simp, high schooler Jace?" Eliz was incredulous. Kayla just nodded. "You didn't sleep with him did you?"

"I may have."

Eliz laughed so loud several heads it the shop turned their way. "Well? How was he?"

Kayla sighed. "Really, really bad, actually. Any glow I have likely comes from my activities after he left."

Eliz sipped her coffee. "Ah, well. Curiosity satisfied, at least."

"That's just it. I've never been with anyone so in love with me before. He was actually shaking at one point. He must have kissed and complimented every inch of skin I have." She sipped her own drink. "A girl could get addicted to that in a hurry."

"Well, train him up. Simp sex on speed dial. Sounds like the dream."

Kayla shook her head. "That's just it. I cut him loose." She described the deal she'd made with Jace. "It's probably for the best, but I kinda wish I had a couple more shots at him first."

"Oh, please. It's Jace. There's no way he's lasting a month."

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