“I’ve heard of this place,” Allison said, picking up her menu. “But not for the same reasons I’ve heard about Geyser.”
“Just so you know, the schnitzel flops over the edge of the plate.”
“I’ll have that, then.”
“Good choice.”
He closed his menu and rubbed his hands over his face. What a disaster of an evening. And yet he wanted to smile. Because Allison was a great fake girlfriend, and now he got to be alone with her.
“I’m sorry I put you through that,” he said after they’d placed their orders.
She shrugged. “It’s okay. I just can’t believe you see your parents at all.”
“Three times a year, one of them at Christmas.” He paused. “You didn’t need to stick up for—”
“It’s okay. I wanted to. I had to.”
“And when your sister came by, I sat on the couch and didn’t even introduce myself.”
“But that’s what I wanted you to do.” Allison looked away from him. “If you’d pretended to be my boyfriend, Jo would have told my parents, and they would have asked far too many questions. I don’t need that.” She turned back toward him and quirked her lips.
The waitress brought over a plate of rye bread, and Sidney pounced on it. He was starving. And he also wanted their entrées to come as quickly as possible so they could move on to other activities.
“This is probably more food than all four of our appetizers and entrées put together at Geyser,” Allison said, reaching for a slice.
“The food there is actually pretty good. It’s just really small and way too expensive. And some of it doesn’t make any sense to me. Like the compressed celery or charred apple seeds and ribbons that came with the beef lollipop.”
“I was wondering about that one. Maybe the apple seeds were just a garnish.”
“I considered ordering the deconstructed pizza but was afraid that would mean deconstructing the pizza dough into flour and yeast.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s what the man at the table next to us ordered. They didn’t break it down quite that much. But I think that was a reasonable fear.”
Allison bit into the slice of bread. He was distracted by her lips, full and kissable. Hell, he’d kissed her in front of his parents, right beside that freaking sculpture of a human heart, less than half an hour ago. And he couldn’t wait to do it again.
And again.
Maybe Sidney had been wrong. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to sleep with her and discard her like she was any other woman.
He tried to push those thoughts aside. Don’t worry about the future. Not now.
“We’re getting along,” he observed.
“I suppose we are.” She reached for a packet of butter. “We didn’t really fight until the end. Sure, we would argue before then, but those arguments were always punctuated with make-out sessions. Nothing really serious.”
“I remember.” But there seemed to be a fine line between fights and lighthearted arguments when it came to the two of them.
“Perhaps we’ve gotten it all out of our systems, and the rest of the weekend will be a breeze.”
He looked at the pile of bread between them. “You said I treated you better than anyone else you’ve dated. Is that true?”
He shouldn’t have asked that question. But he hadn’t been able to help himself.
She had a sip of water; he felt a little on edge as he waited for her to answer. Because her opinion—it mattered to him.
“Sometimes—most of the time, actually—you were the sweetest person I’ve ever been with.” She spoke slowly, as though choosing her words with care. “Occasionally you were careless and a bit of a jerk. But when I compared you to the next guy I dated, he came out lacking—and not just in bed. And that’s when I broke up with him. I don’t think I quite realized what I’d had, but…” She shook her head.
Sidney tried to tamp down the pride he felt at her words.
“You didn’t like what I was doing with my life,” he said. “Well, the fact that I was doing nothing with it.”
“I know I said that when I look at you, I see a man whose life is a mess.” She leaned closer to him and dropped her voice, just a little. “But that’s not true. Not anymore.”
So much for trying to brush aside his feelings. He was having no success at that. What she thought about him—he couldn’t help but let it affect him. Because this was Allison.
She had a sip of water, her lips curling slightly. “Don’t you wish I had a straw?”
The day he’d met her, she’d been drinking amaretto sours. They were at a bar, and he wasn’t thinking about picking up that night, just intending to have a night out with his friends. One of many, many nights out, because that’s all he did as a student. But then he saw her, sitting at a table with a few other women, laughing. When she took a sip from her drink and he saw her lips on that thin red straw…Well, that had gone straight to his groin.
He’d told her that. Not that night, but later on. The day of the damn indoor picnic.
“No,” he said. “Because then you would just torture me.” And he was already tortured enough, watching her in that amazing dress, thinking way too much about what had happened so long ago.
“Of course I would. That’s what I do best.” Allison put down her glass and picked up her slice of bread. “You know what was hard? Watching you fail over and over, yet somehow knowing you were better than that. It’s weird to say this now, but—Yeah. I’m not sure I ever told you that before.”
“You just keep torturing me even more.” He really needed to get ahold of himself.
“Because of how I’m eating my bread? How I’m holding my glass of water?” She slid her hand up and down the glass. Up and down. “I don’t see how this is torture. You have a filthy mind.”
Well, yeah.
But that was only part of the problem right now.
* * * *
Allison pressed her back against the door as Sidney kissed his way down her body. They’d gone to her place instead of his because it was closer, and closeness seemed to be of utmost importance.
“You really like this door,” she said.
“I do.” His lopsided grin made her smile…until his hands curved around her ass and he kissed the tops of her thighs. Her mouth flew open, and she closed her eyes.
She’d done her best not to react when he’d touched her at the restaurant as they were waiting for the bill. He’d lifted up the bottom of her dress, just the tiniest bit, and she’d only reacted by kicking him. Though it had been damn tough not to expose the heat sizzling inside her.
But when his fingers flirted with the hem of her dress now, she bucked toward him and moaned.
He pulled the dress over her head in one smooth motion, then quickly removed her bra and panties. Not the heels, though. She unzipped his pants and dropped to her knees. Needing to give him more—to touch, to taste, and to feel him respond.
He grabbed her hair when she took him in her mouth and circled her tongue around the head of his cock. She took him deeper, and his breath hitched; she pushed herself to take him as deep as she could and was rewarded by groans, low and masculine.
But he didn’t let her continue much longer. He handed her a condom and said, “You better put that on now.”
She lifted her head, but rather than tearing open the foil packet, she stroked her thumb up and down the underside of his cock.
“I’m serious.” Sidney tried to grab the condom out of her hand without success. “Come on. Let me do it myself.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll do it.” She enjoyed when he sounded tortured and desperate, but there was no need to drag this out any longer. She sure didn’t want to wait any longer. Not with the desire curling inside her, the ache between her legs because he wasn’t there.
Allison rolled on the condom and stood up. He bent down slightly and pushed inside her, lifting her up as he did so. She wrapped her legs around him, forgetting everything except…Oh, it hur
t a little. Not surprising, since he hadn’t had his fingers or his tongue on her beforehand. But she hadn’t wanted that, had just wanted him to take her right away. To be as close to him as possible.
“You okay?” he asked, concern in his voice.
“I’m fine. Just…go slow.”
His thrusts were gentle, and he kissed her on the mouth as he moved inside her. His kisses had a desperation that wasn’t coming across in the way he fucked her, his lips moving with a great need that mirrored her own.
“Better now?” he said, then kissed her before she had a chance to answer.
“Yes,” she murmured when he moved to her neck. “Feels real good.” Amazing, actually.
Sidney scraped his teeth along her jaw, following with his tongue. He thrust harder and deeper now, and pressure built up inside her. Her body tightened around his as she cried out and gripped his shoulders. He came soon after, burying his face in her hair.
Oh, God. If only she could have this again and again.
He pulled out of her and set her down; she had to lean against the door so she didn’t topple to the ground. They looked at each other, breathing heavily as they recovered, and she said, “I hope you’re not done yet.”
“Don’t you worry, baby,” he said with a little half smile.
There were moments when she wondered why they’d ever broken up.
More than a few of them, in fact.
Chapter 10
Allison woke up at four in the morning, feeling a little chilly. She moved her hand down to pull up the quilt but couldn’t find anything. She was completely blanket-less. Rolling over and feeling her way across the bed, she found that Sidney had stolen the quilt. And the sheet. He was also snoring. Quietly, but still.
Back in university, they used to sleep over at each other’s places a couple times a week. Well, usually he slept at hers because his was…not clean. To put it mildly. They both had twin beds, and they had to be in physical contact to fit in one of those together. Whenever he tried to roll over, she woke up. And yet they’d kept doing it.
Sharing a queen wasn’t as awkward, but it was different from sleeping alone.
She tried to tug back her share of the blankets, but Sidney had a good hold on them. Damn muscles. Giving up on the idea, she cuddled up close to him so she could sneak under the blankets that were all on his side of the bed. She wrapped her arm around him from behind, sort of like how they used to sleep when they were in a twin bed, except that usually he’d been the one with his arm wrapped around her. But sometimes they’d slept this way too.
It felt rather nice. Comforting. She understood why they’d continued to share a bed, as awkward as it had been. Even if it cost her sleep, it made up for it in other ways. Ways that had nothing to do with sex.
Allison thought about sleeping by herself tomorrow night, and it sounded a bit lonely. She did like having Sidney around, much as she hated to admit it.
Well, after this weekend was over, she would be more proactive about dating. Not just half-serious profiles on stupid websites like nomorebaddates.com. No, she’d start making more of an effort.
His long hair tickled her face. She smiled, then pushed it over his shoulder before joining him in slumber once more.
* * * *
There was an arm wrapped around him from behind. A body pressed against his.
Sidney opened his eyes. Right. He was at Allison’s, and apparently she’d snuggled up against him during the night. He wondered if she’d done that consciously. Probably not.
He looked at the clock. Once again, he’d woken up unnecessarily early. Well, maybe he’d just lie in bed for a while. If he got up, he’d probably wake her, and he didn’t want to do that. And it also felt…rather nice.
Scratch that. It felt really good.
He wrapped his hand around hers and smiled. He’d missed waking up with someone like this. One-night stands—those weren’t quite the same. He’d wake up in the morning barely remembering what the woman looked like, then roll over just to remind himself.
But with Allison…
Sidney shut his eyes—and not because he was trying to fall back to sleep.
No. He was falling in love with her all over again.
He’d tried to deny it yesterday, tried to push it out of his mind. But he couldn’t keep doing that.
Whether she was kissing him, talking about feeding geese filet mignon with truffle oil, or telling him to shut the hell up, she affected him like no one else ever had.
He’d seen her at the bakery, and he’d been determined to sleep with her, then get on with his life. Convinced that wouldn’t be a problem. Maybe it had been his stupidest idea ever—though it certainly had some stiff competition—or maybe he would have succeeded if it hadn’t been for the rest of the weekend. Especially last night. Seeing her talk to his parents like that…
Last night had made him wonder if it wasn’t all one-sided.
Maybe we could be together now.
He wanted to punch himself in the face for even thinking that. They’d tried before, and they’d failed. And then he’d sworn off relationships because no way in hell was he going through that again.
For months and months afterward, he’d been numb, missing her, aching for her so badly. It was embarrassing to think of how much of a wreck he’d been. He let his hair grow out because he was too lazy to cut it, and he grew a pretty impressive beard. He did laundry almost never, left the basement only slightly more often. It wasn’t all Allison. It was also finishing university with no opportunities and no motivation. But if he’d had her, the woman he’d been crazy about since he heard her laugh and saw her lips on that thin red straw, it wouldn’t have been nearly as bad.
Fuck. Just getting over this weekend would be bad enough.
It had started with them fighting a lot, but that had tapered off. Maybe because they weren’t talking about the past as much, maybe because they’d gotten used to being around each other. And when fighting crossed that fine line to lighthearted arguing, he had to admit it was rather fun.
Making it to the end of the weekend would be an easy task.
However, it wouldn’t be a good idea. No, better to leave now before he was in deeper shit than he already was.
Sidney let himself lie in bed for a couple more minutes, let himself bask in the warmth of the woman behind him. Then he gave Allison’s hand one last squeeze and extricated himself from her embrace. She rolled onto her back and mumbled something unintelligible. He wondered if he could get out of here without her fully waking up. Somehow he doubted he’d be that lucky.
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. The bed creaked like it was a hundred years old. He peered at it. Nope, it looked pretty new. But for some reason, it had decided it didn’t like him.
He was putting on his shirt—slightly wrinkled from lying on the floor all night—when Allison rubbed one eye and said, “Sidney?”
Crap. Now that she was awake, he wouldn’t get out of here without an argument.
“Yes?” he said, bracing himself for the inevitable.
“What time is it?”
“Six thirty.”
She slid up the headboard so she was half lying, half sitting, her black hair tumbling over her shoulders. “Where are you going? Shopping again?”
“No.”
“Good. Because I don’t need any more food. Not after that schnitzel.”
She was wearing an oversize Leafs T-shirt, and he stared at her as he buttoned his shirt. Burning the image of her into his mind for a rainy day—though it would probably be best if he didn’t think of Allison at all.
“You still haven’t told me where you’re going,” she said.
“I’m leaving. I can’t make it to the end of today. I’m sorry.”
She looked at him in confusion. “What? I thought we were doing pretty well. You’re telling me you’re too much of a wimp to put up with me for another twelve hours?”
“Call me whatever you want.
I don’t care.” He needed to get out of here more than anything.
She nodded slowly and crossed her arms over her chest. “I get it now. We’re getting along too well for you.”
Yeah, exactly. And now it hurt all over again.
“I refuse to spend another year playing poker and pissing my life away because of a woman.” Even worse, it would be the same woman. “So I’m leaving.”
She studied him for a long time, her face impassive.
“Okay,” she said finally. “You can go.”
So she wasn’t going to stop him. That almost disappointed him—he’d expected something a little more dramatic.
But when he started to open the bedroom door, he felt her hand on his wrist. He tensed, yet at the same time, he was relieved. This was how it was supposed to go. He would get to see her for just a little longer. Even if she was pissed at him, it was better than nothing.
“You can’t manage twelve more hours so you can say you did it and get two hundred and fifty dollars?”
“I could,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“I’m not sure I can make pancakes on my own.”
“You have a PhD in chemistry. I’m sure you can figure it out.” He tried to pull his wrist from her grasp but only with a halfhearted effort. “I should have asked my parents to make reservations at the molecular gastronomy restaurant. I bet you would have appreciated it.”
“What’s molecular gastronomy?”
“Look it up when I leave.”
“Okay.” She let go of him. “I know you want me to put up a fight. So I was trying to give you one. But I’m not going to stop you.” She raked a hand through her hair, which didn’t help tame it. “You think if you stay, I’m going to hurt you more, and maybe you’re right. Since I don’t want to cause you any pain…” She gestured toward the door.
Sidney bent down and kissed her cheek.
And then he left.
He decided to walk home, but he took a different route from yesterday. A man whose clothes had seen better days asked him for change for a coffee. Otherwise his walk was quiet, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
Not a Second Chance Page 9
