Flip (Next Level Book 2)

When I returned to my apartment earlier today, I expected the familiar relief that usually comes with being back home. Instead, I feel irritated that I live here and hate how far away I am from Erin. It’s annoyed me before, but never to this level.

First thing this morning, I’d sent Erin a text asking how Beetle’s doing and if she got an appointment at the dentist, plus I wished her good luck on her interviews.

It took her a while to text me back, and the entire time, I felt like she might block me or something. Stupid, I know, but the space between us is growing again. I think it’s in my head—fuck, I hope it’s in my head—and not really true. Maybe it’s just the routine she and I have with each other.

It’s always been the same old thing: I visit, we hook up, I leave, she doesn’t contact me and when I cave and call or text her, she’s short and to the point. Then we don’t make contact until I’m in town again.

What started as a fun, forbidden romance, has turned sour in my heart. I’m relieved Glitch knows about us. I’m happy Erin seems willing to give us a try, but…

Ding.

My cell goes off and I pull it out of my pocket.

Erin: Tooth is fixed! Waiting for interview #1 to start now. I’m nervous.

My smile splits my face.

Trey: You’re going to kill it. They’ll be lucky to have you.

Erin: Thanks.

She doesn’t say more and neither do I. For the rest of the afternoon, I’m a machine with work. I crank out cover after cover and load them as pre-mades on my website. I check social media, schedule posts for the month, and announce in my newsletter and platforms that I’ve got a new selection of cover deals. Then I head right into my meeting at three pm with my boss at Interactive Pixel.

“Trey,” my manager stands and walks over, hand stretched out for me to shake. “It’s been a while.”

“How was Japan?”

“Beautiful.” He sits down and gestures for me to do the same. “Looks like life is treating you well.”

Does it?

“Anyway,” he waves off the small talk. “I wanted to meet in person with you today because I have a new business proposal I’d like to discuss. As you’ve already heard, we’re starting a new line of games.”

Yeah, I know. My youngest brother is a video game developer here and was thrilled to be chosen as a leader in the department. “Reid’s excited about it. You’ve definitely kept him busy.”

“Busy enough where he’s negotiated a spot for you on his team.”

I work hard to keep my expression impassive. I loved designing video games, but it’s not where my heart is. “And, what exactly would I be doing?”

“All graphic designs for the campaigns. As well as some graphics for the games. I know you prefer to stay out of the development, but we think you’d be a great fit.”

We, as in Reid and my boss? Since when has my little brother been high up enough to call shots like this?

Holy hell, when was the last time I actually talked to him?

“He works like a machine,” my boss says. “I don’t think he sleeps.”

That’s not a compliment in my opinion. Reid’s a workaholic. In fact, watching how sucked into gaming he got is one of the reasons I stepped back. There’s more to life than your job and it’s easy to have no life when all you do is put in eighteen-hour days at an office. Then again, he’s found his passion and is getting paid bank for it. Why yuck someone else’s yum? “I’m glad he’s an asset to you.”

“As are you, Trey. Those designs you made for the rollout of Screaming Falls have impacted our sales tremendously. We’ve started a line of merch because two of your designs are trending already.”

That feels… great. And premature. The game hasn’t even officially come out yet. I had a demo of the game I shared with Beetle this weekend, but that’s on the down low. I’m not supposed to share that shit with anyone. He loved it, but he’s not the target audience.

“I know you said you wanted to step back a bit to focus on your other business,” he hedges. “But I’m willing to offer you a significant bump in pay if you tag team this new line with Reid.”

My knee-jerk reaction is to take it. A chance to make more money has been a goal of mine for a while.

But not necessarily in this industry.

“I’ll consider it,” I say cautiously. Then he shoves a folder across the desk with my offer inside. I flip the open the file and take a peek. “That’s a lot of money.”

It’s also going to be a lot of dedicated hours in the office.

If I take this, I’ll be living incredibly well. If I take this, I’ll be working until I drop. If I take this, I’ll get to spend time with my little brother and have new chances to expand my creativity. If I take this, I’ll be back in the office instead of working from home.

And the office is the last place I want to be.

“You have until Friday to decide,” he says. “After that, I’ll be offering it to someone else.”

I get the feeling I’m the first choice because Reid made this a stipulation as part of his contract. It would be so like him. My little brother will always try to sweep others into his success if he can.

“You’ll have my answer by Friday.” I get up and shake his hand again. Plucking the folder from the desk, I swear I float out of the office and once I’m outside, my first instinct is to tell Erin about it.

Then I pause. Shit. She’ll likely see this as too much too soon. Maybe she’ll think I’m smothering her.

Bitterness burns in my stomach. I should be able to share anything with her whenever I want. If she thinks I’m being too much, then she can go find less. Fuck it.

I pull out my phone just as it goes off. I’d put my cell on silent for the meeting and it looks like I’ve missed several messages.

Erin: Interview #1 suuucked. They couldn’t offer me full-time for the six months, which means no health insurance. Ugh. That’s not what they advertised. Glitch stopped by. He’s taking Beetle to camp for me. Thank fuck, since it’s on the other side of town.

Erin: Am I being annoying? Sorry.

Erin: Did you have that meeting yet? What did it end up being about?

Erin: Holy shit, I’m being annoying, aren’t I? I suck. I’m sorry.

Erin: Just block my ass when you get sick of me.

Wow. This is very different from the past two years with her. She’s never texted this much. Ever. It lifts some of the tension from my shoulders.

Trey: Boo for Interview #1. Glad Glitch could take Beetle to camp for you. Meeting for me was interesting. I’ll tell you about it later tonight. Good luck with #2.

I want to tell her to make sure she eats lunch. But I don’t. I also want to tell her that I miss her. But I don’t.

Erin: Can’t wait to hear about it!

She then sends me a selfie of her in the car eating a burger.

Erin: Not the meat I want, but it’ll have to do.

I laugh.

Trey: What kind did you want?

Erin: A footlong *wink emoji*

Trey: I only have nine inches to feed that pretty mouth.

Erin: *sighs* I miss it already.

Trey: Then I’ll make sure you don’t miss it for too long.

She doesn’t respond and I force myself to let the conversation go.

The rest of my day is spent on the phone with authors and also my realtor, surprisingly. I’m not sure if it’s the universe telling me something or not, but I’ve been looking for ways to diversify and decided flipping houses could be a lucrative path to take.

Guess it’s in my blood.

My dad owns a construction company and can help if I need him to. I don’t mind doing most of it myself, but I’m no professional. I figure whatever work I can’t do, I’ll hire a general contractor to handle. Growing up, my dad always made us work summers with him, so I’m no stranger to drywall and floor installation, but the places I’m thinking of investing in are far away from where I live.

I stare at the folder on my coffee table. If I accept this offer, I won’t have time to flip houses. I also wouldn’t need to for the extra income. There’s a lot of money in this opportunity for me if I choose to accept it.

But is this job what I really want to spend my time doing? I love the company I work for, but I think it’s because they let me set my own hours and I can do my thing with no one breathing down my back. If I take this new position, I’m not sure the dynamics would remain the same. Actually, I’m ninety-nine percent certain they won’t.

The thought makes my stomach drop.

I’ve grown used to setting my own hours. I love taking my work with me wherever I want to travel and cranking out my projects in the middle of the night and early morning. I’m more productive when I set my own pace instead of going by a corporate clock.

Leaning back on my couch, I glance around me and miss Erin. My apartment is nothing like her house. For one thing, my place is extremely modern. Black leather furniture in the living room with a glass and iron coffee table in the center. Off to my right is the kitchen and the back wall serves as the focal point with a counter-to-ceiling marble slab. My bedroom has light gray walls, a black headboard, white bedding, and dark flooring. The focal point there is a painting I bought from a street vendor a year ago. It’s of a naked woman’s back, her ass on full display as she ties her hair up.

It’s the flare of the hips for me. I bought that piece because it reminded me of Erin. Not that I’ll ever admit it to anyone.

Erin’s beautiful body is a series of pleasure points for a man like me to sink his teeth into. My mind swirls with thoughts of spreading her thighs wide and licking her until she’s screaming my name. That woman is addictive and I want another hit… badly.

My cell goes off, snatching me out of my fantasies.

Well guess who it is. “I was just thinking about you.”

“Oh yeah? Thinking about how I’m turning into a bugaboo already? I’m shocked you haven’t blocked me.”

I would never. “I was actually thinking about how you’re built to fuck.”

“Ohhh, perv. Maybe I should block you.”

She would never.

I laugh and relax against my couch. “So, how was interview number two?”

“Not too awful. They said they have more interviews to conduct so, I’ll take that as not promising.”

“You never know. They just have to do their due diligence and make it fair for all candidates.”

“I’m honestly not going to be heartbroken if I don’t get it. The pay is crap, but it has decent benefits.”

My heart clenches that she’s struggling at all. My job has incredible benefits, and it sucks I can’t share them with her.

“It’s okay,” she says. “I lucked out with my severance package, so I have time to keep hunting. I’ve really got my hopes up for the interview this Wednesday. It’s with a real estate firm, so I’m already qualified since I worked at one for several years. It’s a desk job though, which means I’ll be right where I picked up at my last job. Anyway, enough about me. What happened with you today?”

I can’t even believe this is the same woman I’ve been low key in love with for years. She’s talking like we’ve had a million phone calls between us already. News flash: We haven’t.

Part of me inwardly cringes because I don’t want to throw my good news in her face when she’s struggling for something similar and hasn’t achieved it yet. But I know Erin well enough to understand she’d never get jealous over someone else’s joy. “I got a job offer today.”

“Really?” She sounds excited. “I didn’t know you were looking for a new job.”

“I’m not. It’s with the company I already work for.” My gut feels heavy. “They’re opening a new branch and my brother is in charge of it. He’s negotiated for me to join him.”

“Reid’s the youngest, right?”

“Yeah.” I’ve never really discussed my family with her, so it shocks me that she remembers his name. “Reid’s the baby.”

“And then it’s Cole, the architect?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“Michael, the baseball player. Then you, and the oldest is…”

“Julian.”

“Julian.” I can hear her smile as she says his name. “He’s into stocks?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow. Your parents must be proud. All five of you have stellar careers.”

Too bad a career doesn’t make the man. “We’ve done pretty good. My parents were really adamant about us following our hearts.”

“And Julian’s heart beats for the stock exchange?”

“He’s weird. Numbers speak to his soul.”

Erin’s laugh fills my ears, and it’s contagious. “So, are you going to take it?”

“I’m not sure.” My gaze sails to the folder again. “It’s an incredible deal, but…”

“It doesn’t speak to your heart.”

“I don’t know. Not gonna lie, the paycheck makes my dick hard.”

“I bet lots of things make your dick hard.”

Touché. “You, most of all.”

“Oh yeah?” Her tone changes. “Show me.”

I snap a pic of my hard-on and send it to her through text. Just talking to Erin about my day makes me want to fuck her.

“Jesus. That thing should come with a warning. And a safety harness.”

I laugh so hard I start to cough. “You’re great for a man’s ego.”

“Well, they can be pretty fragile. Don’t worry. I’ll handle yours with care.”

“Like you do when you take my cock in that pretty little mouth?” She groans into my ear and I’m suddenly holding my cell so hard, I might just crack the case. “Keep making those noises, little slut, I’ll have to drive all the way back to gag you.”

She moans louder.

Damn her.

“Okay, okay, I’ll quit. Knowing you, you’re already at the door with your keys.”

How’d she know? “Would you like me to be?”

There’s silence between us. My hope wilts. More silence. Shit, did we get disconnected?

“Trey?”

“Yeah?” My hand is still on the doorknob. Because, yes, I’m willing to drive back to her tonight. Going all day without Erin felt like an eternity. How the hell have we managed to do this for two years? I can’t stand the thought of doing it for one more night.

“Is it selfish of me to say yes?”

Holy shit. “You want me to come back to your house?”

“Mmm hmm. I know it’s ridiculous and a lot to ask but…”

“I’ll be there in two hours.”

I was in her driveway in an hour and a half.