I tell him about my dinners with Dad, how he was the one who gave me a ride to the airport and is going to pick me up when I come home. If I focus on what’s going well with them, I figure he might not ask me to share the details of what my mother said about Colby and our relationship. I gave him a general idea, and he knows my parents have long seen him as a squatter who isn’t good enough to share oxygen with me, but he doesn’t need to know any more than that. When I passed along my father’s well wishes for his upcoming tour, Colby responded by lifting my hand to his mouth, tenderly kissing each finger.
“I know you’re upset about your mom, but she’ll come around,” he says confidently. “A wise man told me that I have to prove to your parents that I’m worthy of your heart and I intend to do that as often as possible. Hell, we both figured your dad would be the hold-out, and it sounds like he’s keeping an open mind. Maybe he’ll manage to get through to her.”
Yeah, maybe.
The party at Cameron’s is much different from the gathering at Pete’s house the last time I was down here. The atmosphere when we enter his gorgeous brick home is mellow and there are far fewer people.
“Lea, you made it!” April shrieks, rushing out of the kitchen to greet me. She throws her arms around my neck, nearly toppling both of us to the ground. “I was afraid Colby was going to keep you all to himself until the minute they leave!”
She’s acting like we’ve known each other for years, rather than having met one time at a party. It reminds me of our group of friends back home and the way they welcomed everyone with open arms. I look over her shoulder and see Kara walking toward us. Colby leans in, giving me a kiss on the cheek before heading over to a group of men sitting in front of the fireplace.
“Hey, sweetie! Good to see you back,” Kara giggles, holding out a plastic cup. I stare at it for a moment, wondering how I can politely refuse the drink. It’s nothing against anyone here, but I’m no longer the type of girl who can take a drink from just anyone. I chew on the inside of my cheek, trying to come up with something to say that won’t offend Kara. Sensing my discomfort, April reaches for the glass.
It’s not until she takes a long drink of the liquid that I realize my entire body had gone rigid over a stupid glass. It’s messed up that the only trigger I have in life is something so mundane. The only traumatic experience in an otherwise boring life, all because someone thought it would be funny to drug his buddy and I wound up with the drink instead. It’s as if I’m standing in the middle of the road, looking to my left and seeing my past, filled with friends who refuse to grow up before looking to my right and seeing this group of strangers who are on track to a life they’ve dreamed of. I know which way I want to go, but no clue how to take the first step.
“Hey, would you prefer a soda or some coffee? You’ve got to be wiped after school and traveling all day.” I silently thank her as the three of us head to the kitchen in search of something caffeinated with no alcohol. “You can tell me what that was about later, if you want,” she whispers in my ear when Kara is distracted. When I simply nod, April doesn’t push the issue.
When Colby said we’d be here for an hour or two, I guess I thought we’d be together at the party, but that’s not the case. April and Kara lead me to the back yard, where all the wives and girlfriends are discussing a huge shopping trip on Friday. Apparently, I’m the only female on the face of the planet who would rather curl up in bed with a good book the day after Thanksgiving rather than fighting the mobs of people looking to score an amazing deal on crap they never thought they’d need.
“Are you coming, Lea?” April asks, standing to get another round of drinks for everyone.
“I would, but I already told Rebecca I would go with her, sorry.” Really, I’m not. Other than Amanda, Rebecca, and now April and Kara, I’ve never been the type to hang around with a group of women. I’ve always been much more comfortable being treated like one of the guys.
“Tell her to come with,” Kara suggests. It seems like a simple solution, but I don’t know what the etiquette is about asking the friend who suggested something first to join another group doing the same thing. See, this is why I don’t go out of my way trying to be one of the girls. Women are complicated and being friends with too many women is like walking through a field filled with landmines. Something’s going to explode and it’s not going to be pretty.
“I’ll ask, but I’m not making any promises.” April returns, leaning over to let me know she poured soda into one of the red plastic cups for me so no one can give me a hard time for drinking soda all night. I hug her, thanking her again for being so understanding.
After complaining that I didn’t want to be around people tonight, I wind up grateful to have these women in my life. They could easily see me as an outsider, but they’ve done nothing but treat me like I’ve been part of their group forever. And it seems like some of the crew wives have been friends almost that long. They could look at me as the kid because they’re all older than me, but in their eyes, I’m an equal.
I’m not obsessively checking the time anymore because there’s part of me that doesn’t want to rush out of here. Like too many things in my life, I have a very limited amount of time to befriend these women before I have to rely on their support and wisdom from afar. They’ll all be here, going out for coffee, shopping and whatever else, while I’ll be back home trying to make my friends understand what it’s like to feel like I no longer belong in the only place that’s always been home.
“Hey, you ready to get out of here?” Colby asks, rubbing his hands up and down my arms. I hear the women giggle when my head falls to the side, savoring the way he’s placing open-mouthed kisses along my neck.
“Mm-hmm,” I mutter, lazily standing from my seat. I say my goodbyes, as quickly as possible when every one of my new friends insists on a hug. To save time, I tell them we can all exchange phone numbers on Thursday, when we meet at Aaron’s for Thanksgiving dinner. I might not be spending the holiday with my birth family, but these people are my family, even if I only realized that tonight.
Chapter 15
Colby
We don’t even make it out of Cameron’s neighborhood before Lea’s head lolls to the side as she succumbs to exhaustion. I reach over, brushing the hair away from her face, wishing I didn’t have to drive so I could sit here and watch her sleep. There’s still something she’s still holding back from me, but I haven’t pushed the subject. She’s promised me that she will tell me what’s going on once she figures it out for herself, but I still worry, hating the tense set of her body and the constant furrow of her brow. When she’s asleep, all of the stress she carries around with her melts away and her expression turns into one of pure peace and contentment. I rest my hand on her leg the entire way back to the hotel, wishing it were possible for us to stay physically connected to one another until the moment I have to board the bus on Thursday night.
“Baby, we’re here,” I whisper, regretting the fact that I have to wake her at all. If we were home, I could carry her inside, allowing her to get the sleep she needs even more than I realized. Staying in hotels when she’s visiting makes our time together feel temporary, like it’s not meant to last. When the tour breaks for Christmas and New Year’s, I’m going to find a place that we can call our own, even if it’s going to be a long while before she’s there with me full-time. “Come on, let’s get you inside and then we can go to sleep.”
I hand my keys to the valet as he opens Lea’s door. She mumbles, still half-asleep as I help her to her feet, the cool night air bringing life back to her body. An older couple glares at us disapprovingly as she leans on me as we amble toward the bank of elevators, likely assuming that we’ve had too much to drink on a weeknight simply because we’re young. Cameron’s reminder from the night we were all out at Black Skye reverberates in my mind as I repeatedly stab the call button, as if that’ll do anything to make the doors open quicker.
“Everyone’s going to be watching you,�
�� Cameron says, motioning to the crowd of people behind us. “You’re one of the most talented kids I’ve had come through my doors in the past five years and that means you’re going to be a target. It doesn’t matter how many things you do right, eyes will be waiting for you to screw up just once.”
“Hey, where’d you go?” Lea asks, sliding her hand under the fabric of my shirt. My cock stiffens behind my jeans at the feel of her skin against mine, making me wish we were anywhere but still in the public lobby. The moment the elevator doors open, I lead her inside, pushing her back against the wall, every fiber of my body filled with need for her.
“I’m right here, baby,” I promise her, sealing my mouth over hers, devouring her with my kiss. The move seems to shake the residual grogginess from her system and her body comes to life along with mine. She wraps her legs around my waist when the doors open again, allowing me to carry her to our room. She reaches into her back pocket for the key and opens the door because my hands are too busy holding her while I reach beneath her bulky sweater to release the clasp on her bra.
I kick the door closed behind me, stalking my way through the dark, not stopping until my knees hit the side of the bed. She squeals as I release her, falling on top of her across the mattress. “I can’t wait any longer,” I say, pulling the sweater over her head, removing her bra in the process. “I need you so fucking much.”
“Please, Colby,” she begs, tugging wildly at my clothing, stripping me bare. I love the fact that she’s as frantic for me as I am for her. I kick off my boots, followed by my jeans and briefs, lowering myself to grind against her body. “Please, make love to me.”
My body is at war with my mind, one telling me to bury myself so deep inside her that we almost become one entity while the other demands that I take my time to cherish and worship her the way she deserves.
“I need you too much, Lea. I don’t know if I can be gentle,” I warn her as I reach between our bodies, thanking everything holy that her jeans are actually denim leggings because I have no time or patience for buttons and zippers. My skin heats as I slide down her body, watching her writhe as I drag the material down her legs, tossing them behind me as I kneel before her at the side of the bed. She squeals when I reach behind her knees, drawing her body closer to the edge of the bed.
My hands glide along the silky skin of her thighs, pushing her legs to the mattress as her hips arch off the bed, anticipating my next move. The closer I get to her apex, the more her muscles tense beneath my grip. Slowly, I drag my thumbs through her folds, spreading her wide as I lean down to taste her wetness. The musky scent of her arousal is enough to cause my balls to draw up tight to my body, threatening to come without ever feeling the way her pussy clenches around my shaft. I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted anyone as much as I want Lea right now.
“Colby, oh my God, Colby,” she chants as my tongue works her swollen clit. As I feel her nearing orgasm, I plunge two fingers deep into her pussy, thrusting hard as I reach for the place that I know will send her spinning into climax. Before she has a chance to catch her breath, I pull my fingers out of her body, positioning myself on top of her. She screams my name as I bury myself inside her tight depths.
Her walls convulse around me with aftershocks of her orgasm as I begin gliding in and out of her, the feeling of her flesh wrapped around mine an inferno of need. As I flick one nipple into a pebbled tip, I reach across to massage the globe of her other ample breast, pinching until she gasps in pain. “What… what are you… oh shit,” she mutters, unable to form a complete thought.
“Too much?” I ask, praying she says no because it’s my new mission in life to hear that noise coming from her body as often as possible. She shakes her head violently, pushing my face down to take more of her breast into my mouth.
Our bodies find a perfect rhythm, rising and falling, back and forth, until we’re both panting, trying in vain to make this moment last. “Baby, I need to-”
“Come for me, Colby. I need to feel you,” she urges, tipping me over the precipice. I thrust one final time, calling out her name as stream after stream shoots into her. I collapse on top of her as she comes again, her body wringing every last drop of come from mine. “That was…wow,” she sighs, running her fingers through my hair as we lie together in a sweaty tangle of bodies.
“Yeah, I think that sums it up,” I chuckle, cupping her face in my hands, feathering kisses along her cheekbones, down her nose, and finally, languidly claiming her mouth.
**
Time is a funny thing. When Lea’s at home and I’m here, it drags on, every hour feeling like a day, every week feeling like a month. But now that we’re together, every hour passes in mere seconds, the clock racing to the moment when I’ll be the one leaving Lea behind in Nashville for a change. Since we’re spending all day tomorrow with the entire crew until it’s time to say goodbye to our loved ones, I want to do something nice for Lea. Since we officially started dating, I’ve only taken her on one real date. I’m not including the times we’ve gone out to eat while she’s been visiting, because that was simply filling a need.
I’m waiting in Aaron and Rebecca’s living room while the women finish getting Lea dressed. It’s cute to see how flustered Lea got when I told her we’re going someplace nice. Typically, she’s the girl who is able to be ready for anything in fifteen minutes or less, but as of now, we’re at forty-five minutes and counting.
When the door at the end of the hall opens, I make my way to the bottom of the banister, holding my breath for the moment she comes into view. It’s a good thing we’re riding to Valentino’s together, because standing before me is a woman I’m not sure I’ve ever met. Lea’s casual elegance has been replaced by pure sophistication, but in typical Lea fashion, she does it with such simplicity that it seems effortless. Her simple black dress hugs every curve of her body and the blood-red heels add at least four inches of height to her frame. But it’s the combination of her slicked back hair, which explains the amount of time she and Rebecca spent in the bedroom, and her come-fuck-me eyes that obliterate my ability to draw a full breath. Even her lips, which appear almost completely natural, seem more supple tonight.
“Wow, you look amazing,” I whisper, drawing her into my arms when she reaches the bottom of the steps. I want so bad to kiss her, but I’m afraid I’m going to ruin her makeup.
“Thanks,” she giggles, running her hands down the lapels of my suit jacket. “You clean up pretty well yourself, Cowboy.”
Lea might be the only woman on the planet capable of getting me to put on a get-up like this. It’s not an exaggeration to say I’ve never been this dressed up in my life. I didn’t go to prom, wore black jeans and nice shirts to school dances, and haven’t had any reason to even own a three-piece suit. But Lea standing in front of me looking as beautiful as she does makes me want to take her to the nicest places I can every time we have the opportunity. I would gladly live in a suit if it meant seeing her dressed like this.
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” she asks, slinking her arms around my neck, pressing her body against mine. If she keeps that up, the only place we’ll be going is back upstairs to my bedroom to get naked. I shake my head and she groans. Lea hates being on the receiving end of surprises, which makes it that much more fun to draw out the anticipation.
Aaron hands me the keys to his BMW 3 Series, telling me that it would be unjust for me to take someone who looks like Lea to dinner in the SUV. I pat him on the back, agreeing with him when he calls me a lucky son-of-a-bitch. Just as I reach for the doorknob, Rebecca tells us to wait so she can take pictures. I feel like a chump, posing with Lea while Rebecca goes crazy with the camera, but I appreciate the fact that she thought to record this moment for us. She and Aaron stand at the front door, watching as I help Lea into the car before rounding the hood to the driver’s side.
“They really do love you, you know that, right?” Lea asks as we wave to them, watching us the way I would imagine most parents d
o when sending their kids off to prom.
“Yeah, they’re pretty cool,” I agree, trying to come across as unaffected. The truth is, I’m closer to them than I think I’ve ever been with my own family. There’s no way they can ever comprehend how much they’ve done for me, both personally and professionally.
The entire drive to the restaurant, I steal glances at Lea as often as safely possible, trying to commit every second of this night to memory. Her hand rests on my thigh, her thumb gently rubbing the fabric of my slacks, almost as if she’s doing it without realizing it. The sensation becomes a bit too much and I reach down, stilling her hand with my own. She looks over at me with a look on her face and I realize that she knew exactly what she was doing. I shake my head, smiling because my seemingly sweet and innocent girl can be a minx when she’s in the mood.
It doesn’t take as long as I had anticipated getting to the West End, so we park the car and casually make our way to the restaurant. Because I’ve been busy with all of the last minute preparations for the tour, it seems like we haven’t had much quality time together during this visit. Which sucks, not only because I want to spend as much time with Lea as possible, but also because I know it was an ordeal for her to get out of Thanksgiving with her family.
“So, we haven’t had much of a chance to talk since you got down here,” I say, directing her to the unremarkable looking building which houses some of the best Italian food in Nashville, from what I’ve been told.
“It’s okay, you’ve been busy with other things and we’ve had better things to do than talk when we’re together.” She smiles, a slight blush creeping over her face. I love knowing that she’s thinking about all the things we’ve done.
I give our name to the hostess and she leads us to a table near the back of the restaurant. Not wanting interruptions tonight, I made sure to talk to the manager earlier today, placing our dinner orders so we won’t waste time browsing through the menu.
Dare to Dream (Truth or Dare #2) Page 12
