by Ryan, Emma
“No, I don’t regret it. I just think we should definitely talk about boundaries.” She bit her lip, then sighed. “Just… We can have sex, but there’s an expiration date on this whole thing, isn’t there?”
There’s an expiration date on this whole thing.
The way she said it, you’d think she was the one who was supposedly ‘uptight.’ It was almost a too-clinical way to sum up our arrangement—but it wasn’t like she was wrong.
Alright. She wasn’t floating on cloud nine anymore, and I was rapidly descending to earth with her, the high from waking up with her in my arms fading. I chose my words carefully.
“So… you’re saying you’re alright if we’re… I guess, friends with benefits? And we keep it that way?”
She nodded. “Exactly. I just—I just want us to be clear with each other this time about what’s going on,” she explained. “After how things ended with us before, I think it would be the best thing for the both of us, you know? Just to keep our heads on straight.”
I sat up alongside her, dipping my head to look into her gorgeous green eyes. “Macks. Should we talk about how things end—”
“No!” she shook her head emphatically, then chuckled softly. “No, there’s no point, Walker. It’s ancient history. Why rehash all of that, when things are okay right now? Just how they are?”
An uncomfortable feeling spread through my chest, and I resisted the urge to rub the pain away.
She doesn’t want us to fall into what we were.
I supposed that I couldn’t blame her for that. I’d taken our time together last night to be a little more than it was—that was okay. Given our history… well, it wasn’t surprising.
I smiled, hiding some of the bittersweet pain behind it as I rolled Mackenzie to her back and settled over her.
“Well. Since we’ve decided to keep things just the way they are… how about we continue where we left off last night?”
Her emerald eyes darkened with desire as she hooked her legs around me. “I think that sounds like an excellent idea.”
I dipped my head to kiss her, determined to make the most of… whatever this little bubble of time was for us. She kissed me back, and something in the way she wrapped herself around my body, the way she clung to me, made me think maybe she felt something like that too.
Tossing the covers back, I began to work my way down her body with opened mouthed kisses, tasting her sweet, smooth skin.
Damn. She even tasted fruity, like something tantalizing and exotic.
She murmured soft noises in her throat as I scraped the stubble of my beard over her perfect breasts. The skin reddened slightly, and I couldn’t resist—I kissed and licked her like she was a fucking ice cream cone on a hot day.
“Mmm… That tongue of yours is a damn lethal weapon, Walker,” she muttered, looking down at me with eyes already darkening with desire.
I waggled my eyebrows at her, keeping our gazes locked as I trailed the tip of my tongue down her stomach, over her bellybutton, and toward her sweet pussy. But before I could reach it, she surprised me by pulling my head back up toward hers again.
“Nuh uh, mister. You don’t get to have all the fun,” she chided in a sultry voice that made my already rock hard cock pulse.
She pressed on my shoulder, urging me onto my back, and I complied willingly, lacing my hands behind my head as I watched her with a curious, challenging stare. If she had the kind of ‘fun’ in mind that I did, she’d get no complaints from me.
Her gaze darted down to my cock, and I almost lost it when her pink tongue darted out to lick her cherry lips. So fucking hot.
Mirroring my earlier actions, she kissed and licked all over my chest, running the flat of her tongue over my nipples as her fingers danced lightly over my cock. I groaned in my throat when she wrapped her fist around me, and it took all my self-restraint not to thrust up into her hand. I’d tortured her with drawn out foreplay last night; I supposed turnabout was fair play.
She stroked my length as she raised her head to kiss me, dipping her tongue into my mouth as her hand worked harder.
“You’re incredible,” I moaned when she finally drew away.
Flashing me a wicked smile, she moved down my body, settling herself between my legs and darting her tongue out to lick the head of my cock. My muscles tensed as pleasure jolted through me, and—
A warm, wet tongue licked my foot.
I jerked, choking out a laugh as the tongue lapped over the ticklish arch of my foot.
“Oh shit—Bruno—”
Somehow, he’d managed to push the door open—or maybe I just hadn’t closed it. I actually couldn’t remember; Mackenzie and I had been too preoccupied to really care either way about the possibility of the dog deciding to interrupt.
But there he was, plopped on the foot of the bed where he knew he didn’t belong, with his big eyes looking at Mackenzie and me as he made himself comfortable. It was like he was saying, Okay, you’ve spent enough time in bed. Can I have some attention now?
“Aww, look at his cute little face,” Mackenzie said, laughing. She reached down to pet his head, scratching him between his ears as his tail wagged. He let out a little woof and licked her hand.
“Oh, Jesus. Talk about a damn boner killer.” I groaned and laughed at the same time, scrubbing a hand over my face. Then I hauled Macks up my body, draping her over me and kissing her deeply, wrapping my arms tightly around her. That damn dog, cute as he may be, had definitely extinguished the heat of the moment. But we’d finish this later, if I had anything to say about it—and I had quite a few things to say, if we were being completely honest. Her body was responsive, pressing to mine. I jerked away, however, when I felt a wet swipe of a tongue across my face as Bruno licked me.
“Okay, okay, we’re getting up. Damn, dog! It’s like having a nanny around,” I grumbled with a roll of my eyes. Mackenzie snickered.
“I’m gonna wash up.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Wanna join? No dogs in the shower.”
I smirked.
“Well, how could I turn down such a tempting offer from a such a lovely lady?” Bruno’s hot breath wafted onto my cheek, and I grimaced. “But I think for our sake, I’ll get breakfast going. Knowing our luck, today will be the day Bruno decides to break the ‘no dogs in the shower’ rule.”
Mackenzie laughed, scratching Bruno’s ears again as she cooed at him. “Oh, Bruno! Would you do that? Are you a bad boy? Who’s a bad boy?”
He leaned his big head into her hand, his tail thumping hard against the sheets.
And there it is. I’m actually jealous of a damn dog. Jesus, get a grip, Prince.
Tipping her chin up, I leaned down to kiss her on the nose.
“You shower. I’ll get food. Then maybe we can take Bruno out for a walk together since he obviously has an agenda today.”
11
Mackenzie
Hot water ran down my spine, flowing smoothly over sore muscles. Walker and I had spent both Friday and Saturday at home, in bed. Sleep, however, was the farthest thing from our minds.
It was like being a teenager again. We’d been each other’s firsts, and that very first time was implanted in my memory in vivid detail. After that? Well, it wasn’t hard to remember the hormones exploding, how hard it’d been to keep our hands off each other.
The difference between then and now was we both knew a hell of a lot more about sex—and it was a hell of a lot more intense than back then because of it.
Walker was in the kitchen, getting some lunch prepared. I finished washing my hair, but took a few extra minutes in the shower to sort through my tumbling thoughts. I felt like I was in a complete whirlwind.
Sex. Emotions. More sex. More intense emotions.
I sighed and pushed my face under the water. My whole body felt the effects of letting Walker devour me, and my mind… well, my mind was warring with itself over whether getting so wrapped up this whole thing was a good idea.
On one hand… the sex w
as amazing.
On the other… I couldn’t deny that, no matter what I’d said about keeping things simple, there was still a part of me that felt something for Walker.
And that? That scared the shit out of me.
It was why I always said friends with benefits was only a good idea if you really were just friends and were really only sticking around for the benefits. I mean, what adult doesn’t like sex, aside from a select few? It was a normal, healthy thing to want, and screwing a friend was a hell of a lot safer than finding a stranger.
But he’s more than a friend, that little annoying voice in my head whispered. And you know it.
Maybe I did. But was that going to stop me from letting myself have this, just for a little while?
Not at the moment, no.
I finished my shower and the one-sided conversation with myself, stepping out to wrap a towel around myself. When I left the bathroom, the scent of cooking bacon and frying eggs hit my nose. I groaned; it smelled so good, and I was glad that for all the opulence Walker was now surrounded with, he at least still liked cooking for himself. And he was actually pretty good at it. Granted, his tastes were a little fancier than mine. I would’ve been happy eating Pop-Tarts and Hot Pockets—my pallet was that of a five-year-old—but it was nice having something hearty and home-cooked on a near daily basis.
I threw on a large t-shirt that came down to just above my knees before heading downstairs to the kitchen. Walker manned the stove, dressed in a tank and a pair of sweats. I’d learned, in between our activities over the weekend, that Walker loosened up a lot post sex. It was a damn fine look on him.
Disregarding for a second my promise to keep things platonic, I couldn’t help but come up behind him and wrap my arms around his waist. I nuzzled my nose between his shoulder blades; he still smelled like sex.
“I’m starving,” I said. “I hope you’re making double.”
“You know I am. You eat like a black hole,” he teased. He reached around, holding out a piece of savory, cooled bacon. I happily plucked it from his fingers and backed up, pulling myself up to sit on the countertop of the island as I watched him work.
Walker, for a muscled man, was graceful in the kitchen. If cooking was considered an art form, he was certainly an artist, his tools not paintbrushes and canvas but spatulas and pans, savory foods becoming masterpieces before him. It was nice to see him in an environment that didn’t stress him, didn’t cause him to huff and get all agitated. It reminded me more of the Walker I’d known as a teen.
“Alright. Two egg white omelets with spinach, tomatoes, and goat cheese, fresh mandarins, and wheat toast with butter and honey.”
Oh god. My mouth watered, and my stomach growled as soon as I saw and smelled the delicious plate of food Walker handed me. I took it eagerly, quickly digging into my plate, ravenous. I was hungrier than I initially thought, whether because I’d just worked up a serious appetite or because it was just that good. For the next few minutes, there was nothing but the scrape of forks against plates and contented hums of satisfaction.
“So, what’s the plan for today?” I asked as I polished off the last bite. Somehow, I always managed to finish my food before Walker.
Maybe I really am a black hole, I thought, then bit back a grin. I’ll wear that badge proudly.
“Well, it’s still the weekend. I was planning on maybe getting some prelim work done so there’d be less to do when I went back to the office tomorrow. It’s going to be a busy week since I took Friday off, but…” He shrugged. “I’m not too worried about that to be honest. And I suppose I could be tempted out of working today if you’ve got some distractions for me…”
Distractions turned into me needing another shower after. We would have showered together that time, but Walker got a call from one of his overseas investors—an impromptu conference call. I waited in the living room while he was on his call, debating whether to take Bruno out for a walk solo; the big floppy guy was finally starting to show a little more life, and he sat by the door, wagging his shaggy tail.
But he could wait a few more minutes, and honestly, I wanted Walker to come with us. It felt right.
It was strange to think about it… but it felt like I was really, truly settling into living here.
You’re not, though. Remember that. This is all temporary.
When Walker finally wrapped up his call, he strode into the living room with a smile on his face.
“Anything good?” I asked.
“A new investor, apparently. So, very good. Thanks for waiting. Now we can turn it into a celebratory walk instead of just a regular dog walk.”
“What’s the difference?”
He paused, looking surprised. Then he cocked his head to the side and grinned. “Confetti.”
“Wise guy!” I slapped his arm playfully, letting my touch linger as I enjoyed the feel of the thick cords of muscle under my fingertips.
Jackets shrugged on and Bruno’s leash attached to his collar, we ended up at a dog park not too far from the house. It was one of my favorite spots, but apparently, Walker hadn’t even known it was there; he’d never paid attention.
“In my defense, I’m a very, very busy man,” he said as we took a leisurely stroll along a path that circled the park.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “How could you not know a place like this exists?”
It was almost criminal. This park was beautiful, with blooming cherry trees and ponds interspersed with arched bridges curving over them. Other couples and individual people were out and about with their own dogs, jogging along the trail or walking as casually as Walker and I were. Bruno seemed fascinated, his head going up and down and his nose wiggling about in every possible direction.
For his sake, I was glad we’d found this park. A new environment was good for a dog; it got their curiosity up and their excitement revved up. It was the cutest thing I’d seen in a long time. His tail wagged behind him and he pulled us along.
Walker laughed.
“I guess I’ve been a little preoccupied with work. I hired a dog walking service to take him out while I’m gone. But other than his bathroom breaks and maybe a small walk down to the café, he was always content the way things were.” He frowned a little. “Of course, maybe that’s because he never knew there were better options out there—”
Before Walker could finish that thought, Bruno started to bark and bolted, pulling me with him. He apparently thought that the pair of pigeons at the end of the bridge wanted to play.
I kept a death grip on his leash, desperate not to let him get loose—that would be awful. He was friendly as could be, but he was a big dog, and the last thing we needed was him getting in trouble with another dog or something.
That said…
Bruno’s little pigeon friends were apparently too dumb or fat to fly away, so they just waddled in the other direction, and Bruno kept right on chasing them. He was straining at the end of his leash, and considering he weighed at least half what I did—and had a lower center of gravity—I couldn’t get him to slow down.
“Bruno! Bruno, no! Come on now, be a good dog!” I called after him helplessly, as if reasoned conversation would get him to stop.
“Macks! Wait!” Walker ran after the two of us, catching me by the sleeve since both my hands were occupied with the leash.
The pigeons finally took flight when they reached the edge of a small pond in the middle of the park. Bruno skidded to a stop, and I tried to do the same, but I’d built up too good a head of steam.
I tripped over the small ledge surrounding the man-made pond, catching Walker by surprise. He kept his grip on my sleeve as we tumbled over each other right into the water.
“Holy fuckbuckets!” was the last thing to come out of my mouth before my head went under.
The pond was shallow, at least, but ‘shallow’ didn’t mean ‘not wet,’ and Walker and I were both definitely wet, wet, wet. We stared at each other as we sat in the water, the bottom of the pond squis
hy and muddy beneath our asses as Bruno barked happily at the pigeons, who I was convinced by now were teasing him intentionally. Whatever; he seemed happy.
Before I could help myself, a smile broke out over my face. I started to laugh, and Walker started to, as well.
“This feels like something out of a Disney movie,” he said wryly, slicking his wet hair back from his face. “Is this where I apologize for my dog and ask you out to lunch?”
I snorted. “Maybe after we’re not soaking wet and covered in algae.”
“Are you sure? It’s such an eco-friendly fashion accessory…”
* * *
“You’re glowing.”
Alex cocked his head at me, an all-too-knowing smirk twisting his lips.
With Walker back at work, the house had seemed way too empty, so I had called Alex to meet me at La Rue café for some coffee and catching up. We sat outside on the patio with Bruno sitting obediently and quietly beside us, occasionally earning a sweet little head pat from a passerby.
You’re glowing. His words reverberated in my mind, and I tugged my bottom lip between my teeth.
Was I? I could’ve sworn it was just the crisp breeze flushing my skin, but apparently not. I sipped my flat white and chuckled; this was probably the most stereotypical artsy scene I’d ever found myself in—a mid-day café visit with my best friend, my dog, and a fancy coffee.
“There it is again!” Alex pointed at my face, sitting up straighter like a hound dog on the scent. “That look.”
“I’m just happy. It’s a nice day. What’s not to be happy about?”
He tipped his chin down, raising a single eyebrow. “Girl, you and I have been friends for a long time. I think I know the difference between you being happy and you glowing. And I’m pretty sure we both know I’m not the source of your effervescence right now. Spill. What happened? Someone pick up your art? You have a new piece you like?” He waggled his brows at me. “Did you get laid?”
