Between Friends (Friends with Benefits) by Vristen Pierce Read Free Book Online

obviously a reluctant smile before he averted his eyes from my face. “Whatever,” he muttered.
    “How’d you pull this off anyway?”
    Justin stared out at the water. “This is a secluded spot. My family has their summer and fall cookouts at this lake—have ever since I was still a kid. When I was a teenager, I found this place, and ever since it’s been my hideaway when the togetherness becomes too much. I never wanted anyone to stumble on this little gem.” He looked at me again. “But I wanted you to see it.”
    My heart did a weird tightening thing just as those butterfly wings flapped in my stomach once more. I had to keep reminding myself this was not a
date
date. So why did it feel so close to one? And more importantly, why the hell did I like it?
    “Anyway,” he continued, “I don’t live all that far from here, so I set everything up before I came to get you.”
    “Oh,” I said softly, for lack of anything more to add. I cleared my throat. “Anything else you want to show me?” I asked playfully.
    Justin turned his head, giving me a serious look. “As a matter of fact…” He took my hand and led me to the blanket. “There is.”

Chapter Nine
    Over the next couple of weeks, Justin and I got together on occasion. And by together, I mean we had sex. Okay, so there was some conversing that went on; we shared some laughs. But that was it. We weren’t dating or anything like that. A few times, I’d asked him if he was seeing other people, and he’d dodged the question. He probably thought he’d hurt my dainty feelings by admitting that he was; nothing could be further from the truth. I hoped he was. It was a… good thing.
    Well, maybe not good exactly. Necessary was more like it. Our times together were getting a bit cozy. They were starting to feel familiar and too… right. It was scary. And after being yelled at by both Mr. Stein and Julia at various times throughout the day, I definitely needed to vent. As soon as I made it home, I called Nina and told her to come over. I needed a girls’ night.
    I poured a glass of wine while I waited for her to show. Doodle ran over with one of his squeaky toys in his mouth. “I’m not in the mood for that right now, pal.”
    He continued to stand there with the toy.
    “I walked you, we played, Mama’s tired.”
    Doodle gave me a look with soulful, sad eyes and my damn heart melted a bit. I sighed as I took the toy from him. “Fine, you get a few throws, that’s it.” I threw it and he took off in a shot. I couldn’t help but smile when he returned, toy firmly in mouth.
    The knock on the door interrupted my Doodle time. He let out a sharp bark.
    “Sorry, I have to get that.” I opened the door and Nina rushed in with a large paper sack in her arms. “Hey, girl.” I took the sack from her. “What’s this?”
    “Some junk food. Oh, and Coke.”
    “Coke?”
    “For this,” she said, holding up a bottle of whiskey she’d pulled from a small paper bag I hadn’t noticed earlier.
    “Lord,” I said as I rolled my eyes. I put the sack I was holding on the counter and turned to Nina. “Actually, I might want some of that.”
    Nina frowned. “Bad day? Your client still insane?”
    I rubbed my temples. “My client is, indeed, still insane. Thanks to him, Julia chews me out almost daily. Thanks to her, he rips me a new one every time I see him.” I blew out an exasperated breath. “Work’s great!”
    Nina pouted. “Sorry, girl.”
    “Thanks.” I leaned back on the counter. “Actually, all that’s something I can handle.”
    “But when you called I thought…” She shook her head in disbelief. “Man trouble? Stacy, seriously? I thought you were done with that.”
    “I thought I was too,” I whined.
    She grabbed a couple glasses from the cabinet and poured generous helpings of booze into them, adding splashes of soda to finish the drinks off. “Come on,” she said, taking the glasses to the living room, “let’s talk this