Sinners' Playground (The Harlequin Crew #1) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,144

the place to the wall of washing machines on the left. I filled two machines and set them running, turning back to find Rogue sitting up on the dryers, her golden legs hanging down, her sandals discarded on the floor.

A radio was playing pop music and as the song changed onto a slow one, the sound of Past Life by Trevor Daniel and Selena Gomez filling the air, I smirked at Rogue and pulled her to feet.

“Dance with me,” I demanded, looping her hands around my neck and brushing my fingertips down the length of her arms, running them along her sides until I was gripping her waist.

“How’d you get so confident, J?” she asked as my fingers slipped under the hem of her shirt circled against her warm skin.

“Practise.” I shrugged, letting my hands fall from her back and dropping them down to cup her ass.

I tugged her tighter against me and her fingers pushed into my hair as her hips rocked to the music and the denim of her skirt chafed against the crotch of my sweats. My cock was jerking happily as I pulled her even closer, letting her feel how hot she got me and her fingers knotted in my hair tight enough to make me growl.

“How did the whole escort thing start?” she questioned and I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I thought about that.

“Well, I guess I got hot before I realised I was hot. And when I was eighteen, Mrs Blackwell who runs the bait shop offered me fifty dollars to suck me off and I figured it was easy money. So I said fuck it and let her. After that, I guess things just kinda escalated. I realised I needed the practise if I was ever gonna get a girl off, so I just started finger fucking girls at parties until I’d figured out how to make them come in less than a minute. Rumours spread of how good I was until I had girls approaching me for it. And I said sure, so long as they paid me.”

“That’s so fucked up,” Rogue said, frowning.

“Nah,” I said. “If it wasn’t transactional, I don’t think I coulda done it. And I needed to get over…well, you.”

“JJ…” Rogue’s brow creased and I squeezed her ass to try and get her a smile out of her, but it didn’t work.

“Don’t pity me, pretty girl,” I growled. “I would have been a virgin forever waiting for you if I didn’t just rip the band aid off eventually.”

“Who was it?” she asked, looking like she half wanted to know and half didn’t.

“Some rich chick from the upper quarter,” I said, chewing the inside of my cheek again. That night had been a special kind of fucked up.

“Was she someone we knew?” Rogue asked, her fingers still in my hair and giving me the good kind of shivers.

“Nah,” I said. “She was like forty so it’s not like we would have mixed with her.”

“What?” Rogue gasped, stopping dancing and gazing at me in horror. “How old were you?”

“Nineteen.” I didn’t like her looking at me like that and I turned away from her, heading over to the washing machines as if to check if the load was done. But I really just needed to avoid the horror in her eyes.

“J, please tell me she didn’t pay you for it,” Rogue implored like she cared. But why would she care? It was a long time ago. It didn’t matter. Dead and buried. Just like Axel and Clive and our dreams.

“Alright, I won’t tell you,” I said lightly, leaning back against the machines as I turned to her, keeping my expression neutral.

“Jesus, fuck,” she spat. “Why would you do that?”

“Why are you so angry about it?” I laughed, but she scowled, shaking her head.

“Because your first time should be-”

“Special?” I scoffed. “Yeah, and there’s a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow, and Santa Claus exists.”

“Don’t be a dick.” She walked towards me, capturing my hand and I realised she’d put the fucking shark tooth bracelet on. And man, it looked stupidly hot on her.

“Was your first time special?” I asked, thinking of Maverick with a knot in my chest.

“No,” she said, her eyes turning cold. “It was awkward and fucking uncomfortable and I did not expect the blood by the way, so thanks for that Mother Nature.”

I frowned and she did too, and I realised I didn’t want to know if it was Maverick.