by Rye Hart
“We had a plan, remember?” I said. “You promised we’d make out in front of the Eiffel Tower.”
“I don’t think I ever promised that,” Julie said, laughing lightly.
“In my mind, you definitely did.”
We walked into a clearing just in front of the Tower. Julie was smiling up at the structure with those same wide, enchanted eyes. I couldn’t look away from her face. She was the only thing I saw, the only thing real in my life.
I took her arm and spun her toward me. She giggled just as our lips collided. I wrapped my arms around her waist, kissing her slowly. The moment was everything I hoped it would be.
When we pulled apart, I reached into my coat pocket and got down on one knee. Julie’s eyes were wider than ever. She stared down at me, shocked and speechless.
“There are so many things I want to say to you,” I said. My voice was weak, but I kept going. “My love for you is stronger than anything I’ve ever felt in my entire life. Julie, I can’t even begin to tell you just how much I need you.”
“Oh my god.”
“I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you,” I said. “You’re everything to me. Everything.”
“Michael.” Julie’s eyes filled with tears.
“When we planned this trip, I could think of only one thing,” I said. “If I’m sure of anything, it’s that you and I were meant to be together. Always.”
I swallowed hard and opened the box. Julie’s eyes flickered to the ring and then back to my face. She was crying in earnest now, tears sliding down her cheeks.
“Julie,” I said. “Will you marry me?”
Her answering nod was the best moment of my life. She laughed through her tears and flung herself at me. I caught her and stood up, spinning her in a fast circle before setting her back on her feet.
I slid the ring on her shaking finger and kissed her. She was crying and laughing while I could barely contain my excitement.
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you, too.”
We kissed again, right there in front of the Eiffel Tower. People around us began to applaud, but we barely noticed. We were lost in each other, and nothing else mattered.
The End
RYE HART SNEAK PEEKS
ONE MORE TIME: A SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE
Prologue
The moment our lips connected, I felt myself come to life. His lips tasted delicious. His body was throbbing against mine as his hands meandered along my skin. Our tongues lapped lazily at one another, neither of us battling for dominance but neither of us backing down.
I felt his cock growing against me, hard and thick and ready to be inside me. His hands slid my pants down, grasping my naked ass as I smiled against his lips. I trailed kisses down his neck as his hand found my folds, dripping and wet for him as he explored my wet folds. I left love bites on his neck and raked my teeth down his chest, my hand descending beyond his boxers and wrapping around his length.
“Shit, Chanel. Fuck.”
I spread my legs further for him, wanting his fingers buried inside of me.
He slid two fingers in, filling me up as I moaned into his neck. I rocked against his hand as his lips found mine, claiming dominance over my body as he bent me over the couch. I rolled my hips against his hand as his cock jumped in my palm. I could feel his warmed leaking down his skin, warm and dripping onto my fingertips as I slowly slipped my hand up and down his shaft. He was moaning into my lips and bucking against my body as I began to pant. His fingers stretched me perfectly as his thumb found my pulsing clit, and soon, I was a whimpering, gasping mess against his couch.
I brought my head up and connected our lips again, sucking his bottom lip between my teeth. He groaned as I sat up, allowing my lips to suckle on his before our eyes connected in the middle of his apartment living room.
I released his throbbing cock as he shoved his boxers down to the floor and then quickly worked me out of my pants.
He rushed up my body and picked me up in his arms, carrying me to his bedroom. I held his gaze the entire time as my back descended to his sheets.
I watched him perch between my thighs, my legs tossed haphazardly over his shoulders. His hands crawled up my skin, electrifying me as his hands wrapped around my tits. His fingers tugged at them, forcing my head to fall back on the pillows as his tongue lapped at me.
He licked a long, thick stripe up my slit that had me moaning and writhing uncontrollably.
His tongue licked between my dripping folds and found my clit immediately. He started slowly. Languidly. Licking at it as my juices poured from between my legs. My hands ran over his head as my hips began to roll against his mouth. His hands pinned my hips to his bed, ceasing my movements as his lips puckered around my swollen nub.
My legs were shaking, and my toes were curling. With every stroke he took, he stroked a fire in my gut. That burning sensation started to encompass the whole of my body, and my eyes rolled into the back of my head. His pace became faster, and his tongue pressed deeper. I was breathless as I moaned his name, chanting it like a ritualistic prayer. I was allowed small undulations, the slightest bit of control as I rolled against his tongue. His hands massaged my hips and worked their way down my thighs. He freed my movements, allowing me to buck against his lips as my heels dug into his back.
“Please, baby. Please. I’m so close. Don’t stop. Please.”
Chapter 1
Chanel
Is it too late to change my mind?
“I still can’t believe we’re going on this idiotic cruise.”
“Oh, come on. You’re a journalist. Don’t you take photos and shit?” Ana asked.
“I’m not a photojournalist, woman.”
“Well, don’t pictures have to go with your blog posts or whatever?” she asked.
“Is that really all you think I do? Write blog posts and sit around in my underwear?”
“Well, you’re always so freakin’ happy. I figured it had to be something like that. Fuck knows you’re not getting laid properly.”
“And here we go again,” I said with a sigh.
“Come on. You and I both know you fake your orgasms. All the time.”
“How the hell would you know this? You aren’t in the room when I’m having sex.”
“Oh, come on. With how tightly wound you are? And the fact that you haven’t seriously dated anyone since Rhett isn’t a coincidence.”
“I do not want to hear that name,” I said.
“And I also saw your little bag of fun you packed over there. That’s a new vibrator, isn’t it?”
“Ana!”
“Look. I get it. You’re stuck on your high school sweetheart, but seriously you gotta get off that train and find yourself a new man. Stop sleeping with those non-committal guys you meet during last call at these bars you drag me to. You deserve so much better.”
“I don’t drag you anywhere. The last time we went out, you literally rolled me out of my bed.”
“That’s what you get for giving me a key.”
“I’m gonna take it from you. Or change the locks,” I said.
“And yet, you haven’t. Face it. I’m the only source of excitement in your life, which is pathetic. The money you spent on those vibrators and butt plugs should be spent on lingerie for your man with a thick dick.”
“Get me one of those, and I’ll show you someone willing to buy lingerie. And I don’t have butt plugs.”
“Then I don’t know what the hell that other thing was in there, you nasty freak.”
The time had come for the moment which is the pinnacle of being reminded that you’re getting old. Ana’s and my ten-year high school reunion had come to pass and, like always, our class president outdid herself. Connie Thomas, the preppiest bitch to ever walk the hallways of that damn place, had asked the entire class to RSVP for a Caribbean cruise. A cruise! Who the hell takes a cruise for a ten-year class reunion?
It was just about as ridiculous as it could get
.
In all fairness, high school hadn’t been completely terrible, not until the last few weeks. That was when I had my heart broken and my dreams shattered before I headed off to college.
Rhett Smith, the most beautiful high school boy to ever exist, had stolen my heart. I was a nerd of the highest proportions. Took accelerated classes like Chemistry and Calculus while he was doing things like ramming into opponents on the lacrosse field. He trained in the high school gym with his buddies and ran cross-country with his best friend, Tommy Rider. I was head over heels for him and he was the perfect boyfriend.
Things were perfect, until Rhett shattered everything.
“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?” Ana asked.
“Thinking about who?”
“Do I look like I was born yesterday? Rhett, duh. You’ve got that dreamy look in your eyes.”
“I don’t know about dreamy. Rhett’s the last man I should be spending any time thinking about, other than the thought of keeping my distance from him.” I said.
“Damn right! That man broke your fucking heart. He took your virginity and then fucked someone else on prom night.”
“Thank you for the rundown of the culmination of my high school career. Bitch.”
“Hey, don’t get pissy with me. We’re about to go on a nice Caribbean cruise. And we aren’t going to be the only people on this ship. I’m sure there will be lots of muscular, chiseled hunks of man meat with giant anaconda dicks to give you that big ‘O’ you’re looking for.”
“You’re relentless,” I said.
“And you’ve yet to move on romantically since high school. Rhett isn’t the only guy that can make you come, you know.”
“I’m not saying he is!”
I felt Ana’s eyes on me as I continued to pack. I wasn’t really sure what she was so concerned about. I knew Rhett was trouble just as much as her. But, she was right, I hadn’t dated since Rhett. At first, I had been too scared. And then, I’d been too busy. Then, I was too focused on my career, and before I knew it I was sleeping with random guys at the bar just to feel something.
And none of them could made me orgasm.
None of them.
“Chanel, look at me.”
I lifted my eyes to look at my best friend as she zipped up her suitcase.
“We’re going to find you someone on this ship or on these islands who can rock your world. I know once you find out another man besides that asshole can make you feel good, you’ll forget all about him.”
“I still hate him so much,” I said. “Yet, I have these damn butterflies in my stomach when I…”
“You’re fantasizing about high school, a time in our lives where we wore blue mascara, put way too much hair spray in our hair, and had horrible back acne. It wasn’t that glamorous,” Ana said.
“You had back acne?” I asked.
“You didn’t? The point is this cruise can be a fresh start for us both.”
“You just want to see if Tommy’s going to be there,” I said.
“Sorry. Your ex’s best friend was hot back then, so I’m sure he’s hot as hell now. But Rhett probably looks a wreck. I bet he’s bald and fat now. Don’t get your hopes up.”
“So, Tommy’s a stud and Rhett assumed to be a nasty piece of trash.” I asked.
“Yep. That’s karma when you break my best friend’s heart. He’ll always be that in my eyes,” she said. “Now, please tell me you have a bikini to show off that body of yours. We’re going to be sunbathing, baby!”
“I have three,” I said.
“Oh, yes. You can have a drinking bikini, a lounging around bikini, and a swimming bikini.”
“Can’t I just use all three for all those activities?” I asked.
“Ew. No. Girl, you still have a lot to learn about being a female. But luckily, you have me as your best friend.”
“I’m twenty-seven years old. If I don’t know how to be a girl now, then it’s not going to happen,” I said.
“You’ve got curves in all the right places, sweetheart. You’ve got that long brown hair and those light blue eyes. I see men staring at you no matter where we go. I know what’s underneath those clothes. We hit the gym every damn day. But you don’t know how to dress yourself. It’s all jeans and T-shirts and the occasional pencil skirt that looks awful on you.”
“Awful? Pencil skirts look awesome on girls with curves,” I said.
“Yes, when you’re in your thirties. But when you’re still living it up in your twenties, it’s an entirely different sense of fashion. Plus, if you’re going to win big at the auction, you’re gonna need to spice your shit up.”
I stopped what I was doing and stared at Ana. “Uh, what ‘auction’ are you referring to Ana?”
Ana smiled deviously and batted her eyelashes at me. “Oh, didn’t I tell you? I signed you up for the charity date auction. You know, you get on stage and hot guys fight over who gets to spend an evening with you?”
My heart stopped in my chest and my mouth went dry. “Ana! Why the fuck would you do that?”
Ana rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. “Because, you need some sort of fun in your life. Plus, it’s for a good cause. All the money raised is going toward Jeff Banks’ medical bills.”
“Wait, Jeff Banks? The guy from the class below us that had cancer?” I asked.
“Yep. You don’t want to be a dick and not help your fellow man, do you?” Ana asked, knowing damn well that I couldn’t say no now.
I sighed and shook my head. “Fine,” I said.
Ana giggled and clapped her hands like a little girl. “Good. Trust me, you’re gonna thank me for this later.”
“I doubt it. Still, auction or not, I’ll stick to my jeans and T-shirts,” I said.
“For the love of fuck, please don’t tell me that’s all you packed.”
“It’s not all I packed,” I said, grinning. “I’m just playing with you.”
“So if I pull open your drawers, I’m going to see all your jeans in there?” she asked.
“I packed a couple, but it’s not the bulk of my suitcase.”
“Unzip it,” she said.
“What?”
“Open up your suitcase. I’m checking your shit.”
“It’s a good thing we don’t live together. I’d have killed you by now,” I said.
I stepped off to the side and let Ana rummage through my things. She was tossing everything I had folded and packed for myself as I rolled my eyes. I loved her to death, but we were completely different people. She was obsessed with makeup and fashion and Louis Vuitton heels, and I couldn't have cared less what I wore on a regular basis. I dressed up for work and to go out, but the rest of the time was spent in very comfortable jeans and shirts I could breathe in.
Not shirts that hiked my tits up to my chin.
Ana started rifling through my closet as I sat down. She was going to single-handedly repack me for this cruise, so I let her have at it. I had a separate backpack already in the trunk of my car, packed with jeans and my most comfortable off-the-shoulder shirts. I grinned as she packed skirts and dresses, heels I didn’t even remember purchasing, and panty sets that made me roll my eyes.
“We’re gonna get you laid on this trip. Mark my words,” Ana said.
“Have you seen the RSVP list?” I asked.
Ana sighed as she zipped up my suitcase.
“I have, yes.”
“Do you know if Rhett’s name is on it?” I asked.
“Why do you think I’m packing you all these revenge outfits?”
“So he is coming,” I said.
I felt Ana’s eyes on me as I sat back against the wall.
“Have you two spoken at all since he broke up with you?” Ana asked.
“Nope. Not one peep out of him in ten years, which was for the best, I guess. I’m just not thrilled about being trapped on a boat with him for a week. I was hoping maybe he wasn’t going to be there.”
“Even though I k
now you’re ready to hop on that dick?” she asked.
“I’m not ready to hop on anything,” I said. “Fuck, Ana. Is this whole thing good idea? Should we back out?”
“Hey. I upgraded our tickets on this cruise. We get all the top-shelf drinks we want. You aren’t backing out on me now. I need a drinking buddy.”
“Wait, you did what? How much did that cost? How much do I owe you?” I asked.
“Chanel, I did this for two reasons. One, we’re going to be in the Caribbean with some serious hunks. And, if Rhett is there and I have to beat his ass, then we can drink the nights away and have a bitch-a-thon. We can curse him out, you can slap his face, and then we can go have celebratory drinks and walk away with him out of your system.”
I stood and hugged the neck of my best friend.
“That’s a tad bit extreme, but I love you anyway for thinking of me,” I said.
“I love you too. Now, get that memory of your breakup out of your head. We’re about to head out for an awesome fucking cruise with shitheads we haven’t seen since high school. It’s gonna be great.”
“You and I have a very different definition of great,” I said.
But she was right. The closer we got to the date of the reunion, the more I was replaying that memory in my head. It was like a broken record, skipping on repeat. I couldn't stop it no matter how hard I fought, and the longer I stood there embracing Ana, the bigger the lump in my throat got.
“What happened that night, Chanel? You still won’t talk about it,” Ana said.
“Fuck, Ana. It was a nightmare. I still can’t belief it went down the way it did that night.”
I could remember as if it were yesterday. We planned on waiting until prom night to have sex for the first time, but the week before, we’d gone too far and ended up doing it in the back of his car, quick and dirty. I hadn’t regretted it. I loved him, and I’d been happy he’d been my first. Rhett, however, had wanted to make it up to me. We’d told our parents that we were going to stay at a friend’s house for an after party, and Rhett had his older brother rent us a hotel room and buy us a bottle of champagne. He wanted to make it a romantic night for us – or so I thought.
