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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

To My Seven…

Chapter 1

Clark

“Oh, yeah, Tina. Keep…uhh.” The warmth of Tina’s mouth wrapped around me elicited nothing but pure pleasure. My body responded to every flick of her tongue while her mouth massaged the very muscle that was completely in her control. The thought of looking down crossed my mind, but doing that would only make me lose it. I definitely wanted this to last longer. My fingers sifted through her silky strands, which only increased the need to peek down at her.

Batting stats.

I needed to think about…
oh, shit.
The second her hand slipped under my jewels and gripped tight caused me to suck in a deep breath. Shit, if she does that thing with her tongue I’ll be done for. I wanted to draw this out as long as possible since she rarely gives me head, but man, when she did—pure heaven. The second I thought it, she did exactly
that
and I made the mistake of glancing down at her.

Deep blue eyes under thick black lashes drew me in and willed me to thrust my cock further down her throat. I gripped the nape of her hair and shoved in further. Her eyes pleaded with me while her lips tightened around my shaft. That fantastic wave of pleasure charged through me like a tidal wave. “Oh fuck, yeah, babe.” I tightened my grip, feeling her head bob, milking everything I had out of me. “Ohh. Ohh, yeah. Ungh…” I shot everything I had right down her throat, emptying every last drop into her mouth. More than content, I sighed and laid back on my bed. “Fuck. That was amazing, Tina.”

Velvet kisses tickled my thigh, then my stomach. The white of the ceiling was peppered with small flickering lights as my vision came back into focus. The warmth of her skin brushed against my stomach when she inched her body on top of me. My attention was brought back to her as I felt a small nibble on my neck. The sweet scent of flowers was almost overpowering, but I still turned my head to kiss her as I pressed my lips against her puffy, swollen ones.

Emptiness consumed me the moment she pulled back, settling down on my chest to rest her chin on the back of her hands. I stared at the ceiling thankful that she relented so easily today. Then I realized why. “You have a photo shoot soon…”

“Mmm, hmm. I leave for New York tomorrow. Lingerie.” Her soft voice lingered in the stillness of my bedroom as I combed my fingers through her long blonde strands.

“Is that why you didn’t want me to bang you tonight?” Most women think I’m a dick when I say shit like that. I couldn’t care less. I have this need to say things that most wouldn’t say out loud. At least Tina takes it in stride. She always has.

She chuckled. “Such a way with words, my Clark.” She took in a deep breath and then went on with her reasoning. “You always like to go at it so hard. I can’t risk any bruises or red marks on my body left over from your hard smacks.”

“And what a body you have,” I told her as I ran my other hand along her thin model body. Her body is fantastic. I mean, hell, she
is
a model.

I nearly smacked Tina’s ass but remembered not to just as her deep sigh brought me back from my thoughts. I immediately knew what she was going to tell me because her voice always lowers to barely a whisper when she says it. “I’ll leave him for you. You know that, right?”

My response is always the same.
No.

She always brings this up when her boyfriend comes back to town right before she goes back to him. I’m not leading her on about any possibility between us. Every other woman accepts this, but not Tina. It makes me wonder if she just enjoys the challenge. To be honest, I can’t blame her. I thoroughly enjoy our little cat and mouse game. And that’s all she is to me…a game.

All women are. Go ahead and think it. In fact, I’ll tell you—I’m an asshole. I use women like you go through gum. That initial burst of flavor is fantastic when you first pop it in your mouth. Once the flavor is gone, you toss it. It’s the same with women. Once that newness wears off, I’m done.

“I didn’t ask you to leave him for me, Tina. And, I don’t want to keep rehashing this.”

I looked out the window, noticing the sun was just about to brighten the sky. I knew I’d need to head out the door soon, so I tried to remain calm, knowing she was going to press harder. She always did.

“Just say the word and I’ll do it. Just promise me that you can be faithful and I’ll leave him for you.”

Don’t ever trust a woman, Clark. The second you give her your heart, she’ll leave. Just like your mother did.
My Dad’s words echoed over and over again every time Tina brought this up.

Don’t ever trust a woman. You just can’t. That’s something I learned early on. Women use you and then leave. I didn’t just learn this from my dad’s warnings or because my mom left. It’s something I picked up on myself. If you don’t give a woman what she wants, she’ll move on to find it—which is perfect for me actually. Why would I want one to stick around? Women are crazy! They think they want a man, but as soon as they get one, they just want to change him. They want what they’ve pictured in their mind from all those fairy tales. I’m definitely not Prince Charming, nor do I ever want to be.

With Tina, I have the perfect setup. I get a part-time girlfriend. I get the benefits of having her around—going out to eat, lots of sex—but, when I start to get worn down, she heads back to her boyfriend. That’s exactly how I want it.

I don’t want anything to change about our relationship, so in order to keep things my way, I’m a dick to her right before she goes back to him.

Doing this keeps me from having to say those three little words that she wants to hear so badly. Those are words that I’ll never say to her or any other woman for that matter. The minute you say those words, you’re toast. A woman will use you for what she wants and then leave you broken hearted.
Thanks for the lesson, Mom
.

“Stop thinking about what your mom did.” Tina tilted my chin to face hers.
Had I said that out loud?
“I wouldn’t do that to you. I love you.”

It’s always the same line with her. I pulled away from her grip as my anger fumed. “Don’t. Don’t try this shit again. I don’t
want
a relationship. You know this.” My heart was beating faster now and I wondered if I should just end this with her once and for all.

Being a dick to her was the only way to protect myself. It was also the easiest way to deal with her.

“Yeah, but I know at some point you’ll finally realize you really do love me. Just say the word and I’ll be yours. I’ll leave him for good.”

I didn’t bother looking back at her. I knew her blue eyes would do that pleading, almost begging thing she does. It’s as if she really believes I’d fall for that. I never do, so I have no idea why she thinks one day it’ll work.

Reluctantly—and I say that because her body felt fantastic on top of me—I rolled her off of me and stood up. My black boxer briefs were right where Tina tugged them off earlier so she could give me head. Maybe she thought by doing that I’d change my mind.
Yeah right
. After I tugged them up, I gave her some off-handed answer to try to let this discussion go. “Don’t bother leaving him, Tina. He’s a good guy, for the most part. Marry him and have tons of cute babies. You don’t need me.”

I’ll give you a slight admission here. I honestly hate it when she goes back to him. I can’t decide if it’s because of my perception of women or if it’s because her boyfriend gets to do the same things I just did to her. It must be the latter. I hate to lose and this is most definitely a competition. I certainly don’t intend to lose to an opponent I’ve never met.

The light touch of her soft hand on my shoulder made me clench my jaw tight. I tried to think about what I’ll do tonight—hit the bars to seek out someone else—but her sweet scent filled my nostrils, bringing my focus back to her.

I pressed my lips together, attempting to push away those stupid visions of us being together. I can’t deny how much I enjoy relaxing on the couch watching dumb movies with her. And, when she falls asleep with her head on my chest, I actually get a kick out of the sweet sounds she makes when she sleeps.
Shit, I sound like a chick now.

Her soft, full lips scraped against my jawline and her hand rubbed my back with a sensuous touch only she has. Maybe I should reconsider my stance on letting her go back to him.

“He’s not the one I want. You already know this.” Her whisper pleaded with me.

I shut my eyes and asked the obvious. “Then why don’t you just leave him? You don’t need to wait for me.” This question always stumped me. It was a definite red flag for me.

“I’ve known him since high school. We’ve always been together. I just can’t bring myself to do it alone.” The moment she stepped in front of me, I knew she was definitely Eve trying to hand me a poisoned apple. Her nipples brushed against my chest, her soft, silky thigh pressed against my cock. She clearly had my attention down there until she wrapped her hands around my back of my neck, forcing me to look down at her.

“I just need to know that you’d really be there for me.”

I paused as I gazed into her sapphire orbs. They were pleading, almost begging me to tell her I would be there for her. She does this every time, too. The way she pulls me in with that gaze of hers was almost hypnotic. The way she implores me with her eyes almost makes me want to give in.

I don’t though.

My gut warns me each time. The sinking feeling I get in my stomach tells me she’s lying. Just like all women do. They lie. They only want to trap us—make us marry them and then walk all over us before they leave. I can’t let it happen to me. I watched it turn my dad into a shell of a man when mom walked out. And I know what affect it had on me.

As if I timed it perfectly, the TV blared in the living room. My roommate Aub cursed as she lowered the volume to a more respectable level. I do that deliberately to agitate her. She hasn’t let me sleep with her again, so I gotta get my digs in another way. This keeps the tension between us. Once that gives, she’ll want to sleep with me again. That is a day I live for.

I looked back down at Tina, realizing she was still expecting some sort of answer to her plea. “I gotta get going,” I told her as I pulled my jeans back on.

“Where do you have to run off to?”

The corners of my mouth turned up before I could stop them. Just thinking about the smiling face I’d see today shot a thrill through me. “I’ve got a birthday party to get to.”

“Whose birthday party?” The alarm in her question was unmistakable. I slipped on my old, worn sneakers and laughed at the panicked tone in her voice.

I noticed that she tried to regain her confidence and couldn’t resist taunting her.
I’m a jackass. What can I say?

I grabbed my black-rimmed glasses and pushed them up the bridge of my nose. “A beautiful girl. Are you jealous?” I made sure not to conceal my smirk.

She rolled her eyes. “No. Because I know I’m the one who really holds your heart.”

It was my turn to roll my eyes. “Not against this little beaut. She’ll always have my heart before any other woman on earth.”
Because at least I know this one will always be around
.

The annoyance in Tina’s huff felt like some sort of payback. She was really ticked. She doesn’t mind that I sleep around when she goes back to Hank, but the second I mention someone might have my heart, she’s pissed.

I decided to ease her worries and leaned over to give her a quick peck on her cheek. “It’s Ari, Tina. Stop it with the jealousy when you’re the one running home to your boyfriend.”

Tina knows that Ari is my niece and understands what she means to me. Well, I’m not really her uncle since Benji and I are cousins, but that’s never stopped me from calling his kid my niece. It’s easier to explain than second cousins or some bullshit like that.

When I found out Benji’s wife, Corrina, was pregnant with Ariana, I wasn’t quite sure what to think…I expected to be annoyed by the crying and just the way I knew a baby would change things…but it didn’t happen that way. Ari was adorable and she stole my heart from the beginning. In fact, she’s the only girl who would ever have my heart.
Ever.

I watched Tina exhale in relief. “See. Everyone thinks you’re this mean man-whore, but I know the real truth about you. You’re nothin’ but a big ol’ softy.”

I couldn’t have her thinking that, so I moved the conversation off of Ari so I could poke at Tina. “Soft and Clark don’t go together. Especially when I have Aub strutting around my apartment half-naked.”

Tina knew how Aub likes to prance around the apartment half-naked, claiming she forgot her clothes in the dryer. Tina’s glare could have frozen a river and turned it into a sheet of ice. “When does she leave again for her job? Or
whatever
it is she leaves for. Why did she have to move in here? It was a lot better when Matt lived here.”

I laughed. “Why? So all eyes are on you while you strut around here barely dressed? You want the attention solely on you, don’t you?” I stood up, not waiting for her response. I knew the truth.

Aub becoming my roommate was the best thing that ever happened to me. Aub is the one woman that I have a continuous hard-on for. She is a one-night stand that I would love to have again and again. I’m always fantasizing about her sexy curves, not to mention, those ‘thumb-holes’. She has these incredible dimples just above her ass. I’ve envisioned placing my thumbs right in those and wrapping my hands around her waist while I thrust into her from behind. I’d make sure to take her from behind in every room of this apartment.

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