by Ali Parker
“Oh, I want you. Far more than I’ve ever wanted anyone else. I just think it would be best if we take things slow.” I brushed her hair back and hovered above her lips. “Can I kiss you?”
She pulled me down and brushed her tongue against mine as she tightened her legs around me and rolled us back over.
“I’m not taking no for an answer. I’ve waited too long for this night.” She ran her hands down my chest and worked on the button on my jeans as my cock throbbed violently.
“You sure?” I touched the side of her face and arched my back as she sucked my thumb deep into her mouth. She was sure. Fuck, she was hot. Naked and wet, her nipples budded tightly, her hair a bit of a mess.
She moved down the bed, taking my jeans and briefs with her. “God, you’re so sexy. I’m not going to survive this, am I?”
“You? Damn, I’ve dreamt of this day since the last time I got to experience it.” I reached down and pulled at her arms as she stopped to swirl her tongue around the thick head of my cock. “Not tonight, baby. I wanna touch every part of you.”
“Soon then.” She rested on my lap, rolling her hips in a way that coated my dick with her sticky wetness and pulled me closer to the edge than I would have ever gotten with another woman.
“The condoms are in the drawer right there. Let me get one.”
“Not yet. I just want a minute.”
I gripped her hips tightly and shook my head. “I don’t want to chance anything, Emily. Let me come one time pretty quickly and I’ll be able to stay up all night with you if you want.”
“Okay.” She leaned down and kissed me several times as she rubbed her breasts over my chest. For a woman that seemed insanely shy a few minutes before, she was completely transformed. She leaned over and opened the drawer. I gripped her ass softly and lifted my hips, brushing myself over her clit as she moaned and her body contracted.
I hated myself for having slept with so many girls all of a sudden, but knowing exactly what to do and when to do it with her made it almost worthwhile. I wanted to please her in ways that would leave her curled on her side and shaking.
She sat back up and tore the condom open before moving back and rolling it down my dick.
I groaned again as she took her time, teasing me with her tight grip and her needy fuck-me eyes.
“Stop being a tease.” I reached down and ran my hands up her thighs to cup her hips. “Just take as much as you can. Don’t hurt yourself.”
“You mistake me for someone else.” She arched her back and shifted her hips, pressing down on my head and leaving the room to spin around me. “I’ve already had you once. I know exactly how much I can handle.”
“Yeah, you do.” I lifted my hips and pulled her down to lie flush against me as she opened her legs wide and took me like the good girl she was.
I slept like a baby the night before after making love to the beautiful woman next to me three more times. It was something more like a nap than a full night of sleep, but it was more than enough. The high pumping through me had everything to do with her and nothing to do with the sex.
I woke to find her tucked against my side, her dark hair splayed out across the bed in a way that had me growing hard again. It wasn’t fair how much I wanted to keep her there forever. Things were complicated at best, and I wasn’t even sure where to start in order to ensure we had a lot more nights like the one we’d just come through together.
“Morning,” she whispered and opened her eyes.
“Hi, beautiful.” I kissed her lips a few times and brushed her hair back out of her face. “Promise me things aren’t going to change between us. I would miss the horrible sexual tension and longing that I’ve been living with for a couple of years now.”
She smiled and kissed me once more. “Nope. I make no promises.”
I reached for her as she rolled away from me and got out of the bed.
“Why did you wanna wear your shirt last night? Your breasts are so perfect.” I reached down and stroked myself once over the covers as she turned and stole my breath. I’d seen so many girls naked, but none of them compared to her. Why? I wasn’t sure. She was just my dream girl, every part of her exactly how I liked it. Just enough innocence to leave me curious and enough of a gleam in her eyes to leave me aching.
“It just feels so intimate to have your body fully pressed against someone else’s.” She shrugged, causing her breasts to bounce slightly.
I groaned and moved toward her on the bed. “Come here and let’s test that theory out.”
“No. Get up and get dressed. I’m hungry. Do you guys have anything to eat here?”
“Yeah. We have tons of shit, but it all takes one special skill I don’t have.”
“What’s that?” She put her bra on, and I lamented over the fact that the fun was over.
“Cooking.” I smirked and got up, pulling her against me and kissing the side of her neck as she continued to work on her bra.
“I can cook.” She kissed me once before moving away and getting dressed.
I grabbed a pair of jeans off the floor and growled, “After we eat, let’s come get back in bed.”
“No. I need to try and get my stuff from Brody’s today. I’m running out of clothes fast.”
“I’ll go with you.” I walked to the bedroom door and opened it, waiting on her.
“No. He’s got a scrimmage this morning about thirty miles north of here. I still have my key. I’m going to get in and get out.”
“I don’t like it.” I squeezed her butt as she walked past me into the hall.
“Me either, but I’ll take care of it and be gone by the time he gets back. I’m going alone though. No trying to talk me out of it. I’ll be fine.” She jogged down the stairs as Micah opened his door and peeked out into the hall.
“Is Emily here? I thought I heard her voice.”
“No, you perv. Must have been another one of your naughty dreams.”
He rolled his eyes. “I only have naughty dreams about one girl, but I’ll never tell who it is.”
“Natasha Kelly. Hello. We’ve been friends for three years. I only pretend to ignore you.” I snorted as he groaned. Then I made my way downstairs to see just how good Em’s cooking skills were. I might have to seriously think about keeping her if she were as good in the kitchen as she was in bed.
Worry grew at a sickening rate as I walked into Merskys later that afternoon. I hadn’t heard from Emily since letting her go just before lunch, and I’d texted twice, which wasn’t like me at all. Playing it cool felt much safer than throwing my heart on the chopping block and hoping for the best.
I didn’t have much of a choice with this chick. I’d been waiting too long for an open door to get to her. It almost felt like I was there, and if so, I wasn’t letting go.
“I should have just gone with her,” I growled as the smell of burgers filled my senses. I tried to ignore the dull ache in my stomach as I made my way toward Lucas as he waved me over. I was glad to see he was by himself. Not that I didn’t enjoy the rest of his entourage, but it was nice to simply be myself from time to time, and Lucas allowed for that.
“Hey, brother.” He lifted his hand in the air and I hit it before taking the seat across from him. “You look like you have a lot on your mind.”
“Yeah, I do. I’m worried about Emily.”
“Emily Campbell?”
“Yeah.” I picked up the beer menu and tried not to let on just how worried I was.
“Why?”
“She went over to Brody’s today to get her stuff. Said he was out of town, but I don’t know. I’ve seen him manhandle her several times. I just feel like shit for letting her go alone.”
“Wait. Are you two together? Did I miss something?” He smiled.
“I don’t know. I need to give it some time and then I’ll ask her out, but either way, I’m highly protective of her.”
“Wow.” Lucas leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “Never in a million years would I ha
ve thought one woman was capable of satisfying the great Jacob Wright. We should mark this day down in the history books.”
“Fuck you too.” I gave him a cocky smirk and ordered a beer. “Where’s your girl?”
“She’s with Layla.” Lucas ran his fingers over his mouth and glanced down at the table. “You’re good friends with Layla, right?”
“Yeah. We’ve been pals since freshman year. Why?”
“Something is up with her, and she’s not talking.”
“Something like what?” I took the beer from the waitress and tried not to overreact.
“Like somebody beating up on her. We just need to find out who.”
“What the fuck?” Anger burned through me as I pulled out my phone. “She’s like a sister to me.”
“Yeah, to all of us.” He put his hand over the top of my screen. “You’re going to have to go about this differently. Barging in and demanding she talk isn’t going to work. Aubrey already did that.”
“And?”
“It blew up in her face.”
Chapter 19
Emily
There was a part of me that knew that avoiding Jacob as much as I had over the last few days was going to hurt both of us more than I knew, but I couldn’t stop myself. After being emotionally slung around by Brody and having to deal with my mom and sister, I just needed time to myself. Time to figure things out and to ensure that I wasn’t rushing into another bad situation.
“Hey, heads-up,” Natasha yelled and waved her arms.
I came to from my thoughts about the time a dull orange basketball slammed into my chest.
“Ugh,” I groaned and wrapped my arms around it.
“You okay? Shit. I thought you were paying attention.” She jogged toward me and stopped in front of me with worry on her face.
“I’m sorry. I got lost in my thoughts.” I handed her the ball and staggered over to the players’ bench on the side of the court. “Play without me. I’m just not in the mood.”
“You trying to blame your suckage on your deep thoughts? Oh, heck no.” She dribbled and smiled at me, forcing me to return the gesture. “Talk to me, Em. You can’t keep hiding behind that wall you keep up. You’re going to find yourself alone forever, just like my mother. She has very few friends, no new love interest, and has lost the only person in the world that would have loved her forever. Me.”
“I know.” I pulled my hair from the loose bun it was in and redid it. “I’m just trying to decide how to handle things with Jacob.”
“Well, if you’ll tell me what the fuck happened between you two guys, maybe I can help.”
I glanced down at my hands and let out a soft sigh. “I slept with him last Saturday night.”
“That’s great news.” Her words shocked me, and I couldn’t help but glance up.
“What?”
“That’s great news. You guys have been tripping over each other since our freshman year. Do you know how awkward it is when you’re in a room together? Horribly. Just because you didn’t want to acknowledge how you felt about him back then doesn’t mean it went away. You’ve dated horrible assholes since then, and if you ask me, I think it was on purpose.”
“That’s why I didn’t ask you,” I smirked and lifted my hands. There was no reason to be shy or withdrawn around her. She cared about me, and I needed to stop pushing her away. She wasn’t my mother, nor was she Cally. I just kept expecting the other shoe to fall on all of my relationships, especially the newest one.
“Do you love him?”
“What? Hell no. We just slept together. That would be insane. Absurd.” I rolled my eyes and tried to dribble past her, which worked about as well as I figured it would. She barely moved and the ball was back in her hands and she was headed down the court for her signature move, a beautifully graceful layup.
“Should have been a dancer,” I called after her and laughed at the nasty look I got in return for my kind words.
“Love isn’t something that has to develop over time, by the way. Everyone acts like there’s some magical courting period. Lucas and Aubrey got together after a few weeks of dating, and to the outsider, it looks shallow and stupid, but for those of us who know them…”
“It was three years coming.” I nodded, understanding exactly what she was getting at. “I’m not in love with Jacob, but there is a part of me that knows that we would be so damn good together. We’re both poor and broken.”
“Sounds like pitiful bliss.” She tossed the ball my way, but this time, I caught it.
“And what about you? You’re just going to dish out lectures on letting people in and not turn and face the music yourself?” I knew now wasn’t the time to turn the conversation around, but there never would be a good time.
Tasha had immersed herself in basketball to the point of becoming very much like her mother. She had a few close friends, but I’d never seen her go out on a date. She hadn’t even mentioned anyone over the last three years. There was a period of time when I thought maybe she was a lesbian, which would have been great too, but even then, no one. Not a single person.
“You know how I feel about taking time away from basketball. It’s all I have.”
“That’s a choice you’ve made.” I lifted my eyebrow and tilted my head to the side. “And you know it.”
“Back to talking about you. I think you need to quit avoiding Jacob and take the plunge. He’s probably not at all the jackass we all think he is. Most people aren’t.” She shrugged and lifted her hands. “Enough of this sweet, sensitive bullshit. Give me the ball.”
“Tell me you’ll let me set you up with Micah.”
“What? No.” She shook her hands. “The ball.”
“Micah.” I dribbled a few times.
“No. End of conversation.”
“Says who?” I smiled. “If I can get by you and make a basket, you’re going to let me set you guys up on a date this summer.”
“And if you don’t, you don’t get to jabber in my ear one more time about him. Got it?”
“Is it that you don’t think he’s attractive?”
“You’d have to be blind to not see that Micah is smoking hot, Em, but it’s not about looks. I’m serious about spending every bit of my time building a future I can be proud of. I’m not at all interested in spending hours every day ogling someone that’s going to knock me up and walk out the door.”
I didn’t say anything, but it was nice to finally see where she was coming from. She didn’t want her mother’s life to such an extreme that she was closing every possible door that would lead to that end.
“If I get past you—”
“And you score. Let’s go, cheerleader. Good luck.”
I laughed and started toward her, using the only move I’d ever figured out on the courts. I faked left, turned around, bounced the ball once, and took off as fast as I could.
She reached me about the time I pressed my feet to the floor and lifted in the air for the layup. I thought she had me as I fell to the floor and rolled on my back, but much to my delight—
“I made it! Holy shit. I made it. Did you see that?”
“Unbelievable. I swear if you ruin my future with this stupid boy…”
I laughed and let my head fall back carefully as joy raced across my insides. Micah Sanders wasn’t going to ruin anything. He was going to help me unlock my friend’s heart and bring her back to life.
I took a deep breath before walking into the pizza parlor and clocking in. Between Jacob’s practices, the parties at his frat house, and me working with the cheer camps, we hadn’t seen each other much. That would have all been fine and dandy if in the few times we could have gotten together, I hadn’t made up some dumbass excuse. I owed him a conversation and just hoped he wouldn’t be too upset with me to listen.
“So you really think this will work?” Mr. DeAngelo was standing in the middle of his office with a list lifted in front of his face.
Jacob had his back to me, and damn if hi
s jeans didn’t fit his butt perfectly. A warmth I was getting used to feeling pooled between my thighs started up as I moved up behind him.
“What is that?” I stepped up beside him, though my first inclination had been to wrap my arms around him and press my lips to his back. Why did I always have to second-guess myself?
“It’s a list of things we could do to try and get the business running better around here.” Jacob gave me a sideways glance and turned his attention back to his dad as if I were just anyone in the world.
I deserve that.
“Oh crap. That was the list we were supposed to pull together.”
“Right. We’re right in the middle of a conversation here, Emily. If you don’t mind.” He turned and pinned me with a mean stare.
Oh shit. It was worse than I thought.
“Actually, I do mind.” I stepped closer to him and took a shallow breath. “I’m sorry. I was scared.”
“Not good enough,” he barked and closed the distance between us.
“Jacob,” his father started, but Jacob jerked his head around and growled softly.
“No. This is between us. She fucked me over. Period.”
“I did not.” I reached out and gripped the sides of his neck, forcing him to look at me as horror raced through me. “I was scared, okay? I didn’t know what to do but pull back.”
“And you promised that’s the one thing you wouldn’t do. Thank you very much for reinforcing why I’m a better man alone.” He pulled from me and stormed down the hallway.
Warm tears burned my eyes, and I tried to wipe them away quickly.
“I’m so sorry.” I turned to Mr. DeAngelo and half expected to get my ass chewed by him as well.
“It’s all right, dear.” He handed me a tissue and motioned for me to take a seat in his office. “Come on in.”
“Thanks.” I sat down and blew my nose as I tried to pull myself together. All the drama and high emotion were getting old. I was ready for some semblance of peace.
“Do you care about my boy?” He sat back in his chair and kept a pleasant look on his face.
