by Eden Finley
“Do you want to tell Reece about us? Get it out of the way and give us a real shot?” My head was screaming, “Please say no, please say no,” but I knew in that moment, if she asked me to, I’d do it.
“We still barely know each other. And while I’m enjoying spending time with you—food poisoning and all—I’m not exactly ready to declare my undying love for you. It’s not like you’re actually Gale.”
I loved how she could make me laugh, always seeming to know what to say.
“So we just keep doing what we’re doing?” I asked. “At what point do we stop ignoring the elephant in the room?”
“I like that you just called your ex an elephant,” she said, giggling, “but I’m still kind of taking it one day at a time. Two nights together and an extremely horrible date does not make a relationship.”
She wasn’t including the night after we met and the conversation that left me in awe of her.
I didn’t know why I was pushing her on this. She was asking for exactly what I wanted. Then why didn’t it feel like enough?
****
Paige stayed again last night, and as much as we tried to stay up and talk, trying to find out everything there was to know about each other, we were both exhausted from not having much sleep the night before. We were both out of it by 8:30 PM.
When my alarm went off in the morning, I grabbed my phone off my bedside table to silence it. As much as I wanted to stay with her again today, I couldn’t afford to take much time off work. I didn’t have many sick days left.
Paige startled a little with the noise of my alarm but was back asleep before I’d finished getting ready for work.
Hunter was up making coffee when I walked into the kitchen. It never ceased to amaze me that he was awake so early every day. He trained in the morning in the pathetic little gym the apartment building had to maintain his model body. I loved my sleep way too much for that kind of commitment.
“You got a job today?” I asked, grabbing a cup of coffee for myself.
“Nah, day off. Why’s that?”
“Can you tell Paige she can hang out here until I’m home … if she wants to, anyway.”
He smiled. “Sure thing. I’m sure we can find something to do together. I’m predicting embarrassing photos of teenager Cole might be discovered.”
“Wow. You really are like a mother.” I downed my entire coffee; I needed to get to work. “Have fun traumatising my girlfriend … Fuck!” I turned to face him. “Do not tell her I just called her that.”
Hunter was in hysterics. “I never thought I’d see the day that Cole Preston Turner would have a girlfriend.”
“Shhh! That’s not what I meant. I didn’t mean to say it. We haven’t even had that conversation yet, and after last night, the impression I get is she’s not even ready for that. Hell, I shouldn’t be ready for that but apparently my stupid mouth thinks differently.”
“I won’t say a thing. In front of her, anyway. But this day will be marked on my calendar for years to come: The day Cole fell in looooove.”
I shook my head, grabbing a dishtowel off the bench and pegging it at him. “You’re such a dick.”
“Have fun at work, sweetness,” he mocked.
“Don’t ‘sweetness’ me!”
****
When I got home from work, I walked in to find Paige sitting on the couch in one of my shirts and her tiny shorts she wore on our date. She was laughing at something Hunter had said, but I missed it because I was too busy revelling in the fact that she stayed.
“You’re looking better.” Yeah, remind her of how shit she looked yesterday. Good move, dickhead.
“I’m feeling better.” Her voice went straight to my dick.
“Hunter?” I said, my eyes still locked on Paige.
“Yeah, bro?”
“Fuck off.”
Hunter laughed. “Right. I’m going out for dinner.”
He wasn’t even out the door before I jumped Paige on the couch. Her laughter was cut off by my mouth devouring hers. She kissed me back, throwing her arms around my neck and wrapping one of her legs around my waist as I pinned her down.
“Guys, seriously, two more seconds and I would’ve been gone and not had to see that,” Hunter said, shutting the apartment door behind him.
We completely ignored him as our mouths explored each other.
“My shirt looks good on you,” I said, easing off her and pulling back. “But it has to go.” She arched up, allowing me to remove it. I couldn’t be bothered removing her bra as well, I was in too much of a hurry.
“You know, I’m kind of hungry, we could’ve gone to dinner with Hunter first,” she said.
“Trust me, this is going to be fast and messy. Then I’ll go buy you dinner. Right now, I need you.”
“Fuck, that’s so romantic.” Despite her sarcasm, she was reaching for my belt.
My mind fuzzed for a moment when she shoved my pants down to my thighs and then started stroking me.
I managed to get my head together enough to grab her shorts and panties, yanking them down to her knees. There was no tenderness, just need.
Scrambling for my wallet in the back pocket of my pants, I pulled a condom out and started opening it.
“What, you’re carrying them around with you now?” she asked, trying to catch her breath.
“Only since I met you.”
I crashed my lips to hers while I rolled the condom on. The urge to slam inside of her was overwhelming, but I didn’t want to be that guy. I had to make sure she was at least ready for me.
I knew my girl liked it hard and fast, but I didn’t realise just how much until my fingers felt how wet she was. “Holy fuck, you’re loving this, aren’t you?”
“God yes.”
It was permission enough for me. I pushed inside her, slamming into her over and over. Her hips met my thrusts, her tight walls pulsing around me.
Her breathing increased, and a moan escaped from her throat.
She raised her hips and clenched her muscles when she came. A few more thrusts and I was done.
“I think I just became a fan of hard and fast.” I was breathless, lying on top of her. Her laugh made something break inside me. In that moment, I knew I was completely hers, but I just wasn’t ready to admit it aloud. To her anyway. Apparently, my mouth had no problem blurting it out to Hunter. “I love that sound,” I said.
“What sound?”
“Your laugh. It’s the second best sound in the world.”
“I’m scared to ask what the first is.”
“The noise you make when you come,” I whispered.
I knew she was going to blush, so I didn’t give her the chance before I was kissing her. It didn’t take long before we were getting hot and heavy again.
Remembering she was hungry, I pulled away before I had the need to fuck her again. “Okay, I’m going to get cleaned up and then go get us dinner. Pizza okay?”
She nodded and started to pull up her shorts as I climbed off her. “Pizza’s good. But cheeseless?”
“What kind of person has cheeseless pizza? That’s just wrong.”
“The person who has spent almost forty-eight hours feeling like crap because of evil Camembert.”
“Right. No cheese.”
I leaned down to kiss her once more before heading for the shower.
16
- PAIGE -
“I should get going,” I said, finishing up with my cheeseless pizza. Yeah, there was a reason pizza had cheese; it tasted bad otherwise.
“You’re not going to stay?”
I smiled at the fact he wanted me to stay again, but I really needed to get home. “I’m out of clothes and I can’t keep wearing yours. By tomorrow, I’ll have to go commando.”
His lips twitched upwards. “I’m failing to see the problem.”
“I also have a big day at uni tomorrow. I’ve already missed three classes by taking yesterday and today off.”
“But you’ve been sick
.”
“Yes, but now I’m better.”
He sighed. “Fine, but at least let me at you one more time.” He stood, coming around to my side of the dining table. He lifted me out of my chair and started dragging me down the hall to his bedroom, kicking the door closed behind him.
“Won’t Hunter be home soon?” I asked as he started undressing me. He kissed me in between removing each item of clothing, his lips never leaving mine for more than a couple of seconds.
“I really don’t care,” he murmured, laying me down on the bed. “We did this your way earlier, now it’s my turn.”
He took his time, his mouth exploring every inch of my body. His touch did things to me, things I’d never experienced before.
While I loved it earlier on the couch, chasing our release as fast as we could get there, his way of taking it slow made me want to get even closer.
When he reached for the bedside drawer, I grabbed his hand. “Do we really need one?”
His brow furrowed.
“I mean … I’m clean. I got tested as soon as I found out Dickwad was cheating—”
“Please don’t mention him in bed.” He sounded a little pissed.
“I just mean, I’m clean and on the pill.” I reached for him, stroking his hard length. “I don’t want any barrier between us.”
He shuddered as I continued to move my hand up and down, massaging him. His voice was ragged as he began to talk. “As much as I would love that, you have to excuse my lack of confidence in the pill. Two unplanned pregnancies will do that to a guy. Plus you’ve been throwing up. Doesn’t that, you know, alter the effectiveness?”
My hand stilled. “Two?”
His eyes went wide as he pulled up off me, leaning on his elbows for support on the mattress. “What?”
“You said two pregnancies.”
“Uh …” He shook his head. “I’m pretty sure I said one.”
I knew he was lying, I knew what I’d heard. It might’ve been a slip of the tongue, but maybe it wasn’t. Does he have another kid out there somewhere? How old? And with who?
Then I thought to myself that it wasn’t my place to know, not really, not when we hadn’t even decided what we were to each other. This thing between us wasn’t serious, and we didn’t know where it was going. It could all be over tomorrow. I thought we were making progress and getting closer. I even thought he might’ve wanted to tell Reece soon. He asked me that last night,but I could sense the hesitance in him. He was only asking to appease me, not because he was ready for it. I had to reprimand my thoughts; I couldn’t get ahead of myself.
His little slip had sobered me out of my Cole-infused trance, making me realise I still really don’t know him all that well.
“Shortcake?” he asked, worried. I realised I’d zoned out with my hand still unmoving, wrapped around his dick.
Freeing all my thoughts away, I nodded. “Sorry. Yeah, condom would be best.”
He reached for the drawer again, and this time I didn’t stop him. When he entered me, it was nice, but I felt disconnected from him.
“I love the feel of you,” he murmured.
I raised my hips and pushed him deeper, causing him to moan, but my head wasn’t in it. I pulled him in tighter, searching for the closeness we’d previously shared every other time we were together.
He lowered his forehead to mine as he slowly rocked his hips, thrusting in and out of me. I had to admit, it felt amazing. I could definitely get on board with this taking our time thing, one day. Just not this time—my brain wouldn’t shut off.
“Are you okay?” he whispered. I think he could sense I was somewhere else.
I nodded. “I think I need to be on top.” As good as it was feeling, I knew I wasn’t going to come that way, not with where my head was at. Being on top was basically foolproof.
He held me close and rolled us over. I straddled his hips, my hands raking over his chest as I lowered myself onto him over and over again.
He reached out and grasped my hips hard. “Slow, remember?” He grinned.
His smile made my resistance crack slightly.
After a few minutes, my brain finally started to relax and stopped overanalysing, allowing myself to enjoy the feel of him inside of me.
I leaned down to kiss him, taking his mouth as if I owned it while I still rocked and rotated my hips slowly, as per his command.
Our tongues came together in want and in need.
“There she is,” he said as I pulled away, relief filling his voice. “I thought I’d lost you for a second there.”
The fact he definitely noticed something was wrong stunned me. I thought men weren’t meant to notice those things.
He cupped my face, bringing my head down to kiss me again as he raised his hips, thrusting into me from below, hitting me in just the right spot.
“Holy fuck.” The words escaped me without even meaning to say them.
He chuckled and raised his hips again and again until I was screaming my orgasm. After coming down from my high, I climbed off him, lying on my back.
Leaning over me, he continued to pepper kisses on my lips, along my jaw and down my neck. “Roll over. I want to take you from behind.”
I did as he said, even though I was never a fan of it. It always felt impersonal, un-intimate, and unpassionate—just a way to get off. But seeing as I’d already got mine …
Surprising me yet again, when Cole entered me, he pressed his front to my back, supporting himself with one hand on the bed while the other reached around to explore my breasts. He ran kisses from my neck and down over my shoulder, all the while moving in and out of me.
As his thrusts became more frantic, it didn’t feel like it was just fucking. He had a tenderness to the way he had sex, and it made me grow with need once again.
My whole body was pulsing, my scream of pleasure impossible to stifle. It sent him over the edge.
He trailed kisses down my back as we rode the aftershocks together. When he eventually removed himself from me, I fell onto the bed in a heap of spent happiness.
Climbing off the bed, he went to dispose of the condom and was back by my side within seconds. He wrapped his arms around me, our naked bodies entangling.
“I could stay buried in you forever,” he said, kissing the side of my head.
“That would make work a bit awkward.”
He laughed. “True.”
“I have to admit, I may’ve just become a fan of slow.”
“I’m a fan of you. I’ll take you any which way you want.”
“How sacrificial of you.”
We stayed wrapped in each other for a while before we heard the front door to the apartment open and Hunter’s voice filling the air, followed by a feminine giggle. He had company.
“I think that’s our cue to leave,” I said, getting up to search for my clothes. I got dressed into my shorts and my dirty top from two days ago. Although the vomit was washed off, my sweat from wearing it yesterday wasn’t. But it was only until I could get home and shower anyway.
“Come on, I’ll drop you home,” Cole said, zipping up his jeans and pulling out a shirt from his chest of drawers.
Walking out into the living room, making our way to the door, we paused when we saw Hunter and some random girl making out on the couch.
“You might not want to do that there,” Cole said, interrupting. “Just sayin’.”
“Gross! Did you guys have sex on the couch earlier? You couldn’t even make it to the bedroom?” Hunter asked.
I flushed bright red but Cole just laughed.
The girl stood from the couch, making her way over to us. She was in a very short black dress with her boobs practically busting out of the low-cut V-neck top. Her blonde hair was wild and had so much product it looked wet, and her makeup was caked on.
Where did Hunter find this woman at nine PM on a Tuesday night?
“Hi. I’m Tiffany.”
Of course, you are.
“We’re leavi
ng. You guys can have the place to yourselves,” Cole replied in a short, clipped tone and headed for the door.
I smiled awkwardly and followed him. “Nice to meet you,” I said politely before closing the front door behind me.
“What was that about?” I asked as we made our way down the stairs into the basement to his ute.
“There’s no point in carrying on a conversation with any of his conquests. You’ll never see them again.”
“Doesn’t mean you have to be rude.”
He laughed. “Trust me on this one, talking to them can be torturous. It’s best to avoid them.”
I climbed into his ute, and as we started to drive off, I couldn’t help wondering more about Hunter. The guy I spent all day with—granted we didn’t really talk much, just watched TV—didn’t seem like the womanising kind. Maybe that was part of his charm. He wasn’t obvious about his slutty ways. “Why is he like that? I mean, I know why you don’t want a relationship, but why doesn’t he?”
Cole glanced at me with a perplexed expression, before moving his eyes back to the road. “Who knows. I wish I could tell you there’s this big dark secret to why he treats women like crap, but I’ve known him since we were teenagers, so I can tell you without a doubt, that it’s something much simpler than that. I think he does it because he can. It’s kind of the industry he’s in. He’s surrounded by beautiful people all the time, and being one of them, he can take his pick.”
“Maybe he just hasn’t met the right girl?”
Cole laughed. “He’d have to give a girl a chance for that to happen.”
I shake my head. “Men.”
He smiled and reached over, putting his hand on my thigh and leaving it there the fifteen minutes until we were pulling into my street.
“Should probably let me out here so they don’t see you,” I said.
He nodded and pulled over. “When can I see you again?”
“Uh … this weekend … I guess?”
“Don’t get overly excited about it now.”
“Wednesdays and Thursdays are my big days at uni. You have your friend thing on Fridays—”
“Come on Friday. I mean, we won’t be able to be together, but you could always say you’re there to see Hunter. At least we’ll get to hang out. I think if we’re going to do this whole dating on speed thing …”
