“Are you surprised?” I’d understood her jealousy over Veronica — she had a grudge against that woman going back years. It was a sore subject. But I wasn’t sure how she’d react to this. If Lucas and I being intimate with each other was going to make her jealous too, it was a red flag I wouldn’t be able to ignore.

But a tiny smile came over her face. She hid it quickly, forcing her expression back to seriousness. “No, not surprised at all. It makes sense.”

“Does it? Why’s that?”

“You’ve been best friends for years,” she said. “You’re calm and he’s…not…but I think you help him be. He looks at you like he wants to listen, and I didn’t think Lucas wanted to listen to anybody, so…yeah, it makes sense.”

The expression on her face when Lucas had taken me into his mouth had been so damn sexy I’d almost come on the spot. She’d looked enraptured, torn between longing and fascination.

The silence stretched between us. She almost turned away but then hesitated, as if there was something more she wanted to say.

“Why’d you do it, Jess?” I said. “Why did you come with them?” I believed her when she said she hadn’t caused all that destruction. But she’d still broken in, she’d been right there with them the whole time.

Her eyes darted away, regret making her lips tightly draw together.

“I-I don’t know. Everyone else was going. They didn’t tell me what exactly…” She shook her head, cutting off the excuse.

I wanted to shake her. I wanted to beg her to think, to stop trying so damn hard to please everyone else that she disregarded her own mind.

But I couldn’t make it my problem. Not again. I knew better.

I leaned down and kissed her forehead. She leaned into me, eyes closed, a soft sigh escaping her. I hoped she still felt the tension of her ruined orgasm. I hoped it kept her awake, the desperate desire to touch herself overwhelming every other thought until all she could do was fantasize and ride the edge.

“You’re not allowed to touch yourself tonight,” I said, and she stiffened. “Bad girls don’t get to come.”

Defiance flared in her expression. For a moment, even exhausted as I was, I almost welcomed the opportunity to bend her over again. But then she sniffed, rubbing her backside tenderly before she said, “Fine.”

“I expect a better answer than that.”

If she got to push me, then I was going to push her too. Her expression tightened as she struggled with herself, doubtlessly weighing the risks and rewards of any further snappiness.

Finally, she managed to grind out the words, “Yes, sir.”