Because I want to touch her so damn badly.
She said the sand tickling her feet is the best feeling in the world.
I’m willing to bet it doesn’t hold a candle to how her skin feels against mine.
My desire to keep my promise that I wouldn’t cross any physical lines with her is dwindling by the day. The more time we spend together, the more time I want to spend with her.
Yeah…bringing her out here was a big mistake.
“It’s starting to get brighter,” she comments quietly, eyes trained on the horizon.
“This is my favorite part,” I say.
“Watching the sun peek over the water?”
I shake my head. “No. Don’t get me wrong, I love watching that too, but right now—this moment, the last few remaining minutes of night, falling away to a bright new day—it’s like a fresh start on not just the day, but everything.”
“You’re making me want to come out here with you every morning now.”
“I’d let you.”
I mean the words.
And I’m surprised by that.
I’ve always been a private person. It’s just who I am. But this? Coming out here every morning for an hour to refresh? I’m very protective of it.
Somehow, though, sharing it with her doesn’t sound bad at all.
We sit in the silence as the sun lifts over the coastline, lighting the sky in a brilliant orange.
“Holy hell. This is stunning,” she says in awe. “Thank you for forcing me awake to see this. It’s almost making me reconsider my thoughts on the ocean.”
“Why are you so scared of the water?” I ask.
“It’s just so…unknown, you know?” She laughs lightly. “Of course you do—you said I remind you of it.” Her lips pull into a saccharine smile, and I wonder how many times she’s thought of my words and made that same smirk. “I’m not big on the unknown. It leaves too much room for hurt.”
I want to ask her so many questions, but she claps her hands, moving on before I can ask any.
“Anyway, I have a surprise.” She digs into her bag again, this time pulling out a package full of cookies. “Breakfast is served.”
Shaking my head at her—though I’m not surprised anymore—I take the outstretched bundle of baked goods and help myself to a cookie, eating it in two bites.
She pulls out a few for herself before sealing the bag and putting it away.
“Can I ask you something?” she asks, nibbling slowly.
“I’m not giving you my Social Security number, Thea.”
“That’s fine. I’ll figure it out after I dump your body in the ocean.”
“So now you’re the one killing me?”
“I guess we’ll just have to see.” She takes another sip of her coffee, covering her grin.
“What’d you want to ask?”
“This whole fake-dating thing…why’d you agree to help me?”
“It just felt like something I was supposed to do, and since my gut didn’t hate the idea and you seemed desperate, I agreed.”
“Just thought it sounded like fun? Something to pass the time?”
“No. I thought it sounded like pure fucking torture.”
She shoots daggers my way, pursing her lips. “Wow. Tell me how you really feel.”
“I don’t mean hanging out with you is pure torture.”
“Sure you don’t.”
I shake my head. “No, seriously. I love hanging out with you, getting to know the real you. It’s been fun. You’re fun. I just meant the whole con of it all. It makes me feel…”
“Like a snake?”
“Like my father.”
“Oh.” She clamps her lips together, unasked questions swimming in her eyes. “I’m not going to pry, Sully. If you want to tell me, you can, but if you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine too.”
I take a deep breath. “You know my juju thing, as you like to call it? I’ve been intuitive since I was young. It was small shit at first, like a school bully or someone in our neighborhood. Nothing major. Then I started getting this real uneasy feeling around my dad. I didn’t think much of it until I started noticing the bruises on my mom’s arms, and then I started paying more attention. My dad just felt…off. Like he wasn’t…right, you know? Just all wrong.”
She’s not looking at me, almost like she knows I don’t want her to, but I know she’s listening to every word.
“When I was ten,” I continue, “he went to prison for some shady shit. Found out he wasn’t at all who he’d been claiming to be. He had my mother fooled into believing he was a good family man. Fooled the whole town we lived in, had them believing he was a man of God and an honest businessman. Every single person fell for his charms, even me for a long time. He wasn’t good. He wasn’t a family man. He was nothing but a fake.” I scoff. “So goddamn fake, as we found out later in court. Not even some of his basic information was real, but damn did his documentation look legit.” I shake my head. “Anyway, he was caught, turned in by an ex-employee he screwed over, and spent fifteen years in the big house for it all.” I clear my throat and sigh. “He’s why it’s pure fucking torture…because I don’t want to be anything like him.”
When she doesn’t say anything for at least a minute, I dare to glance over at her.
She’s looking at me—through me. Peering into my fucking soul.
“Sully, I—”
I shake my head once. “Don’t. Don’t apologize, please. I hate that, because it’s not you who should be apologizing for his actions. It’s him.”
She swallows loudly, dropping whatever she was going to say, and nods.
“Can I just say…I know what it’s like to be duped by someone you love deeply. I understand that pain.”
She means her ex and his cheating. She does know what it’s like to not be able to trust someone you once gave everything to. It explains a lot about her reasoning for doing this whole fake-dating thing rather than actually dating.
“He’s the asshole who instilled this distrust of dating in you, why you’re lying to yourself about being ‘too busy’ to date, why you’d rather hide behind something fake than be real.”
Her mouth drops open, and for a moment it appears she’s going to refute my claims, but then her eyes fill with pain.
“He is,” she confirms, “and it fucking sucks. I used to not give two shits what anyone thought of me. Not guys or mean popular girls or judgy old ladies at church—not anyone. I was fine with being me. I was lucky enough to have parents who encouraged me to embrace all that I am, but then he happened. His attacks on who I am, his cheating…it broke me. Made me feel so small, so less than, so unworthy. It made me second-guess everything.” She sighs. “I…I’m…scared. I don’t want to get hurt again. I just want to live in this blissful bubble of never having to feel that kind of pain ever again.”
“So you’re just going to…what? Be alone forever?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t want to be alone forever. I’d love to find someone who loves me, who accepts me, who whispers sweet nothings in my ear and tells me all the wonderful things everyone wants to hear. But…being alone sounds a hell of a lot better than ever experiencing the heartache of giving someone your all and having them crush you. I can always find someone to satisfy any itches I might have. I’m fine with missing out on the rest.”
I feel a twinge of jealousy when I think about someone else putting their hands on her and getting to experience her body, but I push it aside, the frustration with her ignorance much louder.
“That’s bullshit.” I don’t hold back the bite in my words. “You’re just scared of the uncertainty.”
“I am scared, Sully. I’m fucking terrified. Have you ever had someone tell you you’re not enough? Because I have, and it’s not great.” She huffs. “I just want to know why. Why wasn’t I good enough? Or hell, just enough? Why wasn’t I worth the effort?”
“Don’t base your worth off an asshole like that
.” I grit my teeth. “Especially that asshole. Every single flaw that you have—and yes, you do have some. I don’t want to blow smoke up your ass and tell you you’re perfect when no one actually is.” She laughs. “Those imperfections are okay. They make you you, and I happen to really like who you are.”
She scoffs, rolling her eyes. She focuses her gaze on the ocean, the sun beating down on its waves. “You barely know me, Sully.”
“Look at me.”
She doesn’t.
I reach for her, grabbing her chin and pulling her attention to me.
When I have her green eyes focused on me, I ask, “Have you lied about anything? Pretended to be anything you’re not? Shown me a side of you that isn’t authentic?”
“No.”
“You’ve been real with me?”
“Yes.”
I run my thumb over her chin, loving the feel of her skin beneath my fingertips. “Then, Thea, I know you, and I happen to really like who you are.”
A soft gasp escapes her lips.
“You have to stop being afraid of the unknown. Nothing is ever certain, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take the leap and enjoy the fall.”
Like lightning striking, Thea’s lips are on mine.
Then just as fast as lightning disappears, they’re gone.
For a moment, I think I imagined the kiss, but her wide, worried eyes tell me I didn’t.
Sharp, stuttered breaths are louder than the waves crashing against the shore, and I don’t know if they’re coming from me or her.
“I—”
I press my thumb over her lips, silencing her. She swallows against my touch, the fretting in her eyes dissipating, lust settling in.
She peeks her tongue out, grazing the pad for a fraction of a second like she can’t help but get a taste.
It’s my undoing.
I cover her mouth with my own, kissing her hard and fast.
She lets me, pushing back with just as much ferocity as I give. Her fingers crash into my hair, pulling at the overgrown curls and holding me to her. I wrap an arm around her, sliding my hand under her ass and lifting her onto my lap with ease.
Her gasp breaks our kiss momentarily as she straddles me, sinking onto my lap like she was made to be there. There’s no way she doesn’t feel my hard cock rubbing against her center.
She locks our lips together once more, grinding down onto me.
Leaving one hand on her hip, I glide the other under her sweatshirt. Her soft skin feels like home underneath my fingertips, and I decide then I could touch her forever if she’d let me.
Though I’m itching to feel every inch of her, I don’t take it any further, letting her be the one to tell me when she’s ready and for what.
Then I feel her tongue brush against my lips, and I open, letting her take the lead.
Thea kisses me slowly, thoroughly. Our mouths fuse together, tongues sliding in what feels like a practiced rhythm. When she hums against me, I swear I can feel it down to my toes.
Slowly, she pulls away, her hard nipples brushing against my chest with every sharp, unsteady breath she takes. She looks down at me, eyes ablaze with desire.
“That was… I…” She gulps, the sound loud and harsh. “I—”
“My eyes! My eyes! Make it stop, Frankie!”
Thea scrambles off my lap, leaping away from me like we’re a couple of teens who just got caught by their parents.
“Leave her be, Jonas,” his fiancée chides. “You are so humiliating.”
I pull my legs up, hiding my hard dick from prying eyes. I work to calm my breathing and get my body back under control as Thea’s brother and his fiancée make their way toward us.
Thea stands over me, eyes big and wild.
She looks spooked.
And like she regrets kissing me.
“Thea, I—”
“Don’t.” She pastes on a big smile and turns toward her brother. “Hey! What are you guys doing out here this early?”
He hooks his thumb over his shoulder. “This buffoon thought it would be romantic to take a walk along the beach for sunrise.”
“Don’t you know you’re supposed to be sleeping now while you still can?” Thea says to her soon-to-be sister-in-law. “You’re going to wish you had spent more time in bed once my niece or nephew comes.”
I push to my feet, standing next to Thea but not touching her.
“Probably, but at least the view was worth it.” Frankie smiles at me. “Hey, Sully. Nice to see you again.”
“You too. How are the wedding plans coming along?”
“Ugh,” she groans. “Exhausting. Jonas keeps trying to convince us to hand out signed footballs as wedding favors.”
“Don’t roll your eyes at me, Frank. Football is our thing, the 50-yard line.”
“Whatever that means,” Thea says. “Quit stressing your pregnant fiancée out, Jonas.”
“Yeah, Jonas,” Frankie echoes. “Quit stressing me out.”
“It’s not bad enough you gang up on me with my mother, now you’re doing it with my sister?” Jonas shakes his head. “Have you no shame, woman?”
“Well, I am marrying you…” She shrugs. “So, no.”
“Hang on,” Thea says, reaching for her bag and digging through it. “I think I have some cream in here for that burn.”
Jonas swats at the bag, but Thea moves away quickly.
“You see how annoying she is?” He looks at me but motions her way. “You sure this is what you want to invest your time in?”
I glance over at Thea, who’s watching me with rapt attention.
“Positive,” I say while staring right at her.
Her lips part as the word leaves my mouth, and I want to kiss her all over again.
Her mouth curves into a shy grin, and she tucks a wild lock of hair behind her ear.
“It could just be me being all hormonal and crap, but you guys are so cute together,” Frankie comments. “I wish we could get together sometime and have dinner or something since the movie—”
She gags, covering her mouth with her hand.
“You okay?” Thea asks.
Her face twists up then she pulls her hand away on a deep breath. “Sorry, just the thought of smelling movie theater popcorn has me wanting to vomit again.” Another headshake. “What I was saying was since our previous plans didn’t pan out, we should grab dinner together sometime or something.”
“We could do a family dinner,” Jonas offers. “Mom’s been begging us to do a big one, and this would be a good chance for everyone to get together and not take too much time away from planning.”
“Good idea,” Frankie says. “And we can finally get to know the guy you’re always yammering on about.” She tosses a wink Thea’s way.
I whip my head toward her just as her cheeks turn a bright red.
She refuses to acknowledge me, burning a hole through Frankie’s head with her glare.
She’s been talking about me with her family?
Interesting.
Thea’s lips part and I spring into action, too afraid she’s going to turn down Frankie’s offer.
“That’d be great,” I say quickly. “I’d love it.”
“Good. Not to sound like pompous jerks or anything, but…”
“We’ll check our calendar and see what we can work out,” Jonas finishes for her. “Turns out moving your wedding up six months really throws shit off. We’re up to our eyeballs in appointments.”
“Fittings and tastings and napkins and chairs. Blah, blah, blah.” Frankie smirks. “I told him I’d marry him at the courthouse.”
“Hell no, Frank. We’re only doing this shit once, and I have our notebooks from high school where you went into great detail about your wedding. I know what you want.”
“That was my wedding to Zac Efron! You’re not him!”
“You’re right. I’m the better choice.”
“Have you seen him in Dirty Grandpa? His ass is”—she fans herself—“holy Batma
n, Robin.”
“That was a butt double! I Googled it!”
“Why were you looking up other men’s asses?” she tosses back at him, brows raised.
“Please, I see other dudes’ butts daily in the locker room. Googling one ass is nothing.”
“This conversation isn’t weird at all,” Thea comments.
“Sorry.” Frankie’s cheeks heat. “Anyway, let’s get together soon, okay? We’ll let you get back to your—”
“Nice, quiet, beautiful sunrise viewing while sitting at least two feet apart.” Jonas glares at me. “Because you were certainly not mauling my sister in public, right?”
I laugh at his overprotectiveness; we both know it’s moot. Thea’s more than capable of taking care of herself.
“Right,” I reply, just to pacify him.
Thea groans next to me. “Good lord, Jonas. I’m a grown-ass adult—an older than you grown-ass adult. I’ll do as I please. Get out of here before I give you a wedgie like I used to do.”
And there she goes proving me right.
Jonas’ eyes widen with fear as he reaches for his fiancée’s hand. “Come on, Frank. Let’s head home. There are too many crazies out here.”
“So dramatic,” Frankie mutters, giving us a wave as Jonas tugs her up the beach.
“Were your wedgies that bad?” I ask when they’re out of earshot.
She grins. “I might have hung him off a door handle or two.”
I whistle. “Wow. I’m really damn glad I’m the older sibling and never had a big sister.”
“Trust me, the twerp always had it coming.”
She grabs the blanket and begins to fold it up.
“Oh. Uh, did you want to head out already?” I grab her waist and tug her toward me, pulling her close. “Because I was kind of hoping…” We could pick up where we left off.
My words go unspoken as she wiggles out of my grip, turning away.
“I have things to do at the shop.”
Her words aren’t harsh or clipped, but there’s a distantness in them that wasn’t there before.
I pinch my brows together, watching as she shoves the blanket back into her bag.
“Hey, Thea?”
“Yeah?”
Cheesy on the Eyes: Fake Dating Romcom (Slice Book 5) Page 12
