The Playboy's Crush By Deborah A. Olaleye

FOURTEEN

"Congratulations, man," Derrari said, giving him a big hug. "You finally got your girl. This calls for a celebration." He tweaked a finger at Shane as he walked back to his seat across Shane's.

"Of course," Shane agreed, raising his wine glass to his mouth.

"You've popped her cherry yet?" Derrari inquired with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

Shane twitched his lips. "That's not up for discussion."

Derrari scoffed. "Stunning. I wouldn't expect just a girl to throw you over the edge as much as this." He raised his wine glass to his mouth and drank from it. "So, what are your plans now? You've had her."

Shane raised an eyebrow at him, his nose flaring slightly. "Not enough," he replied flatly.

"You plan on keeping her for a while?"

"Not for a while. I'm sure it will take more than that."

Derrari choked on a scoff, washing it down with his drink. "Incredible!"

"What's the deal, man?"

"I'm..." Derrari frowned, shaking his head briefly. "I just feel like you've been swapped for another person. Still the same person on the outside, but damn, who the hell are you? What have you done to my friend? On second thought, I should be asking Lara, not you; it's obvious you are not in your right frame of mind. You haven't actually been since you met her."

Shane shook his head, an amused smile touching the corners of his lips. "Quit it. Stop being ridiculous."

"I am. Not. You are so different." He twitched his eyebrows, heaving an exhale. "Congrats, anyway. You've successfully been entrapped in Lara's snare. It's a lovely entrapment, by the way."

Shane snickered. "Of course it is. Let's stay caged in for as long as it lasts."

"No way," Derrari disagreed quickly, waving him off. "You stay in there, and I indulge in the excitement carrying on all around for as long as I want."

"Deal." Shane raised his glass to him and drank from it.

Derrari did as well, and they both drank in cheer for the resolutions they had made.

Unexpectedly, a pair of slender arms snaked across Shane's shoulders, the heavy scent of a seductive woman's perfume wafting strongly through his nose.

A corner of Derrari's lips lifted in a smirk as he saw her. He flashed a wink at her. She flashed a smile in acknowledgment at him and planted a kiss on the side of Shane's face.

He stiffened immediately in annoyance, shocked by his reaction to the lady's touch. It felt familiar, but he couldn't place who it was, however hard he tried to recollect from where he had known the scent.

"Missed me, baby?" She purred in his ear, her mint breath washing enticingly over the side of his face.

Shane balled his hands into tight fists, struggling to hold in his annoyance at the woman's—whoever she was—abrupt intrusion into his private moment with his friend. At a time, he would have condoned this; he loved this more than anything and would always crave more of it, but now, it irritated him.

Derrari was right. Who was he, and what had happened to him?

"Get your hands off me," he seethed out in a growl through his teeth.

He heard her gasp at the harshness in his tone as she retracted her hands from his neck.

It was about time he started hanging out with Derrari in a more refined environment than the usual clubhouse he was accustomed to. Although he loved the excitement in the air and virtually everything about the club, he thought it was high time he reconsidered his preferences.