Shyla didn’t often eat with him. Her lunchtime came before Score woke up. He ate his first meal of the day at the kitchen island while reading news and emails on his phone. Beeks and Fish were usually around then too, so if she interacted with anyone, it was them.
At night, she ate dinner before the three men sat down. It just seemed right to do it that way, given that she was there to serve, not to participate. No one had ever made her feel unwelcome. In fact, the only reason she’d eaten with them that once was because Score had ordered it after learning her doctor’s appointment had taken the place of her usual mealtime.
“You’re going to start eating dinner with us every night,” Score said. She nodded. “We will build up to everything you just said… Tell me, have you pleasured yourself while you’ve been here?” Anxiety wouldn’t let her speak. Her lips stayed shut, but she nodded. “You think of me?” She nodded again. When she started to avert her focus, he caught her chin to raise it. “No apologies, no embarrassment. I want to know it all…. what were you thinking about, baby? My mouth? My hands? My cock?”
Although it seemed he wanted her to pick one, she parted her lips to answer. “All of the above.”
It was nice to see the side of his mouth rise. He didn’t often smile. It was flattering to think she might make him happy.
“You’re gonna get them all, Lamb, all of them.”
Her throat narrowed. Never once had she really believed fulfilling her fantasies with him could be a reality. She’d wanted Score to notice her, but had assumed he’d never let himself be curious enough to explore any interest he did have in her.
“Which part of me is it that… that you like?” she asked.
Dipping down, he let his breath warm her ear. “All of you.” Her eyelids sank down as she whimpered. It felt so good to have him close. Boosting himself away from the wall, he didn’t seem to realize that he’d turned her insides to soup. “Let’s finish the game.”
Score didn’t leave things undone, when it came to chess anyway, but Shyla couldn’t tear herself from the wall even after he was out of sight.
Rolling her head on the wall, Shyla caught sight of the third bedroom, where Fish slept on the nights he wasn’t crashing at the club or at Beeks’. There was a bed right there. If she’d been thinking and capable, she could’ve taken a swing at coercing Score into it. The thought proved her to be a liar. After earlier claiming not to be a lush, there she was considering seducing her boss in another man’s bed.
“Come, Shyla,” Score commanded in a stern voice.
Trust him to say that word in the moment she was visualizing them being together. Her new fantasy gave her the strength to push away from the wall. Score coughed to get her attention up.
“What?” she asked, returning to her place on the floor opposite him. “Sorry…” But she wasn’t supposed to apologize. “Sorry.”
His slow blink was almost an eye roll. “Why were you smiling?”
Was she smiling? Yes, she was. Her fantasy had the potential to become reality. Score had done that for her. Just by telling her to take off her dress.
He’d also asked her to tell him everything. While it wasn’t habit to be completely open with him yet, there was only one way to change that. It was in that second, and in respect for all the liars he’d had in his life, Shyla vowed to always answer him with the truth, even if it was embarrassing.
“I was thinking about having sex in Fish’s bed,” she said, then paused with her fingers poised over the chess piece she’d been about to move. “With you… I was thinking about having sex with you in Fish’s bed… not with Fish.”
That was a sickening thought. Fish was the sweetest guy who was always happy, but she’d never once had a sexual thought about him, not once.
“Good to know,” Score said.
Although he was dry, she might have heard a strain of sarcasm in there.
She took her shot. “There’s nothing wrong with being clear.”
His curled fingers found his chin again. “No, there’s not, baby.”
“Sometimes I babble or say stupid things,” she said. “I did as a kid, like with my fingers.” Raising her hands over the board, she twisted them together and stretched them out to highlight her point. “It’s a nervous habit. If I’m uncomfortable or awkward, I have to do something.” With a renewed expression of interest, he propped his chin on his knuckles while studying her. “What? What are you thinking about?”
“How I might help with that.”
Shyla didn’t know what he meant, but she’d never take the word ‘help’ in a negative way. Not from Score.
“Already tonight I’ve talked about sex way more than I ever have before in my life. You’re already helping with something.”
“Are you using birth control?”
“Am I?” His questions were so direct. He’d stated up front that he wouldn’t pull his punches, that didn’t mean some of the questions wouldn’t blindside her. “No… no, I’m not.”
“Any reason?” She shook her head; it wasn’t like she had any allergies or moral objections to it. In her history, there had never been any need for her to consider contraception. “Are you on any medications?” She shook her head. “Good. It’s your move.”
Wondering if his dull tone was a reflection of her talking about sex too much, she focused on the game. Shyla had
