Glitch (Next Level Book 1)

She bit me!

All the blood rushes to my dick the instant her mouth wraps around the Skittle between my fingers, and when she chomps down, the pain is hard and sharp and oh so fucking delicious.

I’d expect nothing less from a dirty mouthed firecracker of a goddess like Ara.

I think I’m in love.

No. I know I’m in love. I have been for months and spending an hour perusing the grocery store, buying her a bunch of her favorite foods only maddens my heart more. I want to provide for and protect her. Worship her morning, noon, and night. The thought of anyone else doing it makes me murderous.

That I haven’t ripped that damn dress off her by now shows how well-behaved I’m trying to be.

Biting my finger just broke the leash I’d put on myself.

I pull my finger out of her mouth and laugh. “It’s not nice to bite.” Yes, it is.

“You’re lucky I didn’t do worse.” Ara snags the bag of Skittles from my hand. “That’ll teach you to hold back on me.” She dumps a bunch into her mouth at once.

“So it’s like that, huh?”

Ara shrugs as she grinds down on her sugar. “You can’t just feed me one of these at a time. That’s torture.”

That’s not torture. What she’s wearing is fucking torture.

Her light gray dress hugs her curves and flaunts all her assets as well as showcases her neediness. I had to bite back my urges the entire time we were at the grocery store when I saw she had a fucking wet spot in the back. I secretly relished the view and coveted it, which was why I walked behind her whenever someone else came within range of seeing it at the store.

I’m not sure if Ara’s always this turned on, but I’ll lie to myself and say it’s because of me. 

“You’re trying to take care of me.” Did she need someone to take care of her? I volunteer. Did she want someone to make sure all her needs were met? I. Vol. Un. Teer.

You learn a lot playing video games with people. And I’m a great listener. Ara’s been part of our group for a while and she’s always spouting off at the mouth. Sometimes things sneak through her filter. I love catching it when it happens. It’s like getting a peek behind a curtain. But now I don’t want a glimpse, I want the entire view.

There’s a bizarre chemistry between us that’s somewhere between shiny/new and old/familiar. It’s like we’ve known each other for a lifetime and yet, I really don’t know as much as I’d like about her.

Which is about to change.

I plan to spend as much time with Ara as I can. All this food could easily be dinner for us for a week. Or she could eat it all herself, which would make me twice as happy, because the thought of her going all day with no food doesn’t sit well with me.

She’s got a gorgeous body, and someone needs to take care of it.

I volunteer.

She throws a Skittle at my head, snapping me out of my glitchy-thoughts.

“One,” I warn, hoping she catches the humor in my deep tone. “You’ve just earned one.”

“One what?”

“Fuck around and find out.”

Her smile matches mine. It almost hurts my cheeks. God, this woman is fun.

“Oh, let’s not stop at one then.” She plucks a strawberry out of the box and throws it at me. “Two.” She tosses a grape at me next, and it bounces off my chest. “Three.”

I love her. I love her. I love her.

Ara reaches for an apple and rears it back like a baseball. I stand there and wait for it, elated that she’s so fiery. “Nah. I’m not bruising it just for a spanking.”

She knows what the counts are for. Fuck. Me. This woman is perfect.

Ara puts the honeycrisp back and grabs the baguette again, pitching it at me like a javelin.

I catch it with ease and toss it over my shoulder. I have no clue where it lands. Don’t care. All that matters is the beauty in front of me, pouring more candy in her mouth.

I close the space between us. Her lips are wet, breath sticky sweet, cheeks bright pink like her hair. I want to say a million things to her. Confess shit. Drop to my knees, lift her dress, and seal my mouth to her pussy and make her scream my name.

I can see her arousal. She wants me as bad as I want her.

So why am I hesitating?

Maybe it’s the fact that her hand is between us, pressing against my pounding heart, holding me back a little.

“I…” She suddenly pales.

Taking the Skittles away, I place them on the counter while keeping my gaze locked on hers. “You?”

“This is not a rebound.”

I arch an eyebrow. “It isn’t?”

“No.”

I can feel the heat radiating off her palm. When she steps back from me, my heart falls to my feet. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.” Ara adamantly shakes her head, easing the tightness that’s formed in my gut. “I just…” She looks away from me, casting her gaze to the floor. “I for real have no clue why I even just said that. It just flew out of my mouth.”

“It’s okay.” But there’s a reason she blurted it, and I want to know why. “Are you and Jason really over this time? For good?” I’ve lost track of how many times they’ve broken up. It was the rockiest relationship, and it never made sense to me. You either work or you don’t. If you work, enjoy it for however long it lasts. If you don’t work, move on.

Ara and Jason would break up, get back together. Break up, get back together. It was frustrating as Hell, especially since I didn’t think she liked him all that much to begin with. Then again, we didn’t discuss super personal shit on Discord, and I never pried.

“Oh, I’m over him. I’m soooo over him.” Ara’s voice is shaky. I don’t like it.

“Really?”

“Absolutely.”

Then why bring this up? “I feel like I’m missing something here, Ara.” She’s so flustered, I wish I hadn’t pushed it. I back away a little bit and lean casually against her wall, so she doesn’t feel trapped. “He kicked your computer, didn’t he?”

Her cheeks blaze. Her eyes fill with tears.

“He wasn’t a good boyfriend,” she says quietly. “But it was partly my fault.”

Not sure what that means, so I tread carefully. “Under no circumstances should someone destroy your things, Ara. I don’t give a shit what you think you did to deserve it.”

“He was really jealous.” Ara tucks her hair behind her ears. “All the time.”

“Of?”

“You.”

My heart stops. “Excuse me?”

“I… I’m… he knew I gamed with you guys whenever I could. But I only do it because I like our conversations on Discord.”

Our bland, generic, safe conversations. I swear the air evaporates from my lungs.

“He’d get jealous if I paid more attention to you guys than him. Between gaming with you and spending all my time in my studio, he pitched a fit one night and yelled about how he wants more from me. I didn’t want to give him more. He took it out on my computer. Which is better than trashing my studio, I guess, but—”

I’m so furious I see red. “Did he ever lay a hand on you?”

“No.”

I work really fucking hard to keep my tone calm and soft. Then I close some distance between us. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She’s not lying. I can feel it. “He just started to get super obsessive. The more I worked or did things for myself, the needier he got. I couldn’t stand it. When he broke my computer, that was the last straw. It was the first and only time he was violent around me, and I didn’t stick around to give him a chance to escalate.”

I grab her shoulders and pull her in tight to my chest. “I wish you’d told me sooner.”

“I don’t know you,” she mumbles.

“You know me, Ara.” I tip her chin up. “And even if you don’t know me well enough yet, you could have gone to Trey.”

“I handled it.”

And I’m so proud of her for sticking up for herself and knowing her worth. No one should be treated like that. Jason is a dick.

Ara cringes at me. “I’m just going to come out and say it all, okay?”

Fuck, there’s more?

“He was jealous of you because he caught me saying your name once.”

Oh shit.

“While I was coming.”

Oh. Double. Shit.

“Yeah. Sooo…” She pushes away from me and puts her hands on her hips. “How’s that for an ending to our first date?”

I stare at her for a few beats. “Who said this is the ending?” I grab her by the ass and pull her in. “This first date’s only just begun.”