“Troy.” He’s halfway across the yard when I catch up with him, freezing in nothing but my pajamas. “What in the hell is your problem? I thought we were okay?”
He lets out a slow exhale. “I don’t want to fight.”
“Why are you angry?”
“I’m not angry.”
“Oh, really? Is that why you won’t even look at me?”
“I’ll see you in the morning. We’re good, I promise.”
“Fine, whatever, better go get to doing whomever you need to do.”
He turns on a dime and grabs my wrist, and before I know what’s happening, I’m flush to him as he places my palm over his erection. I gasp at the feel of the bulge in his jeans as he leans in close.
“In an adult relationship, sex is gradual,” he grits out. “There’s no one and done.” Heat rolls off him as he runs my hand back and forth along the length of his cock. “You take the time to get to know the person, make sure your goals match because you’re well versed on what you do, and do not want.”
Realization dawns that my own words have come back to bite me in the ass.
“I want to be what you need. I want to be that man for you. And I’m fucking trying.” Mouth parted, he growls, yanking me closer. “It’s not anyone but you, and right now, I’m not in the mood for conversation. It’s taking everything I have not to rip those fucking pajamas off your body, spread your legs and eat that beautiful pussy and ass you so painstakingly keep waving in my face.”
In the next second, I’m covered in nothing but Troy, his warm hands, lips, and tongue as he plunges it into my mouth. I kiss him back in a fever, wrapping around him and tugging at his hair. He grips my ass fully while I climb him like a monkey before grinding on him like a stripper.
“Jesus Christ, I swear you’re trying to kill me,” he rasps out between kisses as I grip his sweater, pulling in for more. Enveloped in his hold, he deepens the kiss as I hook my ankles around his waist. It’s freezing, but we’re an inferno in between our two yards, the neighborhood eerily silent. Only the sound of our kiss and mingling fast breaths between us.
He rips himself away. “Fuck, I can’t take this.”
My lips are too busy for a reply as I suck on his neck, inhaling his cologne, my body lit. And then we’re moving, my lips locked on his neck as he opens the door to his house.
This has me pulling back.
“Theo’s in Houston, Lance went home.” That’s all he manages to get out as he whisks me up the stairs and sets me down on the edge of his bed. We both turn to see Dante sleeping soundly feet away. And then we’re kissing again while he slowly unbuttons the top of my pajamas, moving the material just enough to expose one of my breasts before pulling it into his mouth.
I moan, my head falling back as he alternates between licks and sucks.
“Tell me what you want,” he murmurs, gliding a warm hand up my neck before threading his fingers through my hair.
“Troy,” I say, whimpering as my pulse pounds between my legs.
“I love that answer,” he says, rimming a finger along the waistband of my pajamas.
“Touch me, please.”
“You’re sure?”
I nod.
“I need words, Clarissa.”
“Yes, touch me, please. I’m so fucking wet.”
He groans in reply, drawing the string on my bottoms, giving them just enough of a push so they slide to the floor. His perfect lips part when he sees my thong.
“I have to have a taste,” he says, turning me to face his bed before pinning my hands on the mattress. And then he’s exploring, covering me with calloused hands. “Jesus, Clarissa, you thought I could want someone else? Can’t you feel how much I want you?” He presses his cock against me, making me gasp. “I’ve been losing my fucking mind, trying to hold back.” He runs his hands along my thighs before massaging my ass with his palms.
“Every time I stroke my cock, every time I come, it’s with your name on my lips,” he murmurs before his tongue darts out, covering the material gathered at my soaked slit. My back bows at the feel of him as he continues to taunt me without enough contact. Fire trails from my head to my toes as he ravages me with mouth and hands, my erratic breaths, and his groans the only sounds in the room.
“I’m trying to give you what you want,” he says, between licks pulling at the material with his teeth and nudging my legs further apart with his nose.
“Troy, please,” I plead as he lifts the string and runs the flat part of his tongue in a complete sweep down my core. I damn near collapse on my hands as he fucks me with his tongue. I’m already on the verge, the friction of my nipples on his comforter causing another spike of pleasure as my moans grow louder.
“So sexy.” Palming my ass, he spreads me as his tongue darts out, the material becoming the bane of my existence, his flick rhythmic as he drives me to the brink.
“Take them off,” I beg as he plunges deeper before lowering to suck my clit through the silk.
“Jesus, Troy, please. Please!”
I lift to remove my thong and get rewarded with a slap on the ass.
“Don’t you fucking dare. I’ve been dreaming about this for years.”
“Please, Troy, I need you.”
“No,” he says, kissing down the length of my back, his hand snaking around my waist. His fingers dip inside my panties, sliding between my lips to massage my clit. “I need you. You’re all I can think about anymore. No one else. No one,” he says, running his tongue along the shell of my ear. “I haven’t touched another woman since that day we fought on that lawn, and I don’t want to.” I turn my head and meet his lips as he brings me into his kiss. Moth and flame, our mouths collide over and over, our hunger consuming us both. He carries me with him, turning me over, his eyes roaming the whole of me. He’s still fully dressed as I lay helplessly bare, breasts exposed, in a soaked thong.
“Everything I kiss, everything I touch tonight, now belongs to me. You hear me?”
I nod.
“Words, Clarissa.”
“Yes, I want that too. Troy, please,” I reach for him, and he shakes his head, using a finger to tug one side of my thong just past my hip, his eyes intent on mine.
“Did you break up with him for me?”
I moan, frenzied, as he continues the working of his fingers.
“Clarissa,” he growls, demanding an answer.
“Yes,” I rasp out. “Are we really doing this?”
“Yes, and we’re doing it right,” he murmurs before running a trail of kisses down to my navel. I grip his head as he begins to inch down toward the other side of my thong.
When his lips finally drift back to mine, we’re tangled tongues inhaling each other’s moans. He pulls away, running a finger up my slit before hooking the center of my panties and sliding them down. Kneeling between my thighs, his eyes intent, he darts his tongue out in a double tap on my swollen clit.
“This what you want?”
“Yes!”
He licks me smoothly before thrusting his tongue inside me fully.
“Troy.” I lift his name, my voice hoarse, the ache consuming me.
“Perfect,” he whispers before hooking his arms around my thighs and opening me wider. Dire need courses through me just as he lowers his head and pulls in my clit between his lips and sucks. Hand over my mouth, I do my best to muffle my scream as he drinks me, his tongue vibrating as he hums on my pussy. Drunk on his licks, I crest on the wave of my orgasm just as he pushes his fingers inside me, twisting them in beckoning. His palm pins me flat to the bed while he relentlessly eats me until I’m gasping his name over and over. The shockwaves steal my voice as I convulse on his tongue, and he laps it up hungrily. The aftershock is so intense, I shake uncontrollably as he continues with the thrash of his tongue until I’m fighting for reprieve, too sensitive for more. I push at his head in an attempt to close my legs as he keeps me hostage, fucking me with his fingers, sucking my clit as I cry out to him over and ove
r. When I’m spent again, he pulls away, satisfied, the lusty gleam in his eyes all I can see as he wipes his mouth. Lifting to hover above me, he studies me as my breathing evens, stroking my face, my hair, before leaning in to take my lips and kissing me deeply. Reaching between us, I start to unbutton his jeans, and he stops my movement.
“Not yet. The next time I push inside of you, there won’t be a doubt in your mind about me. Because I want all of it.” He presses warm lips to my chest, where my heart pounds and again to the side of my temple, erasing all doubts of where we stand, ending our discussion.
“Troy, let me touch you,” I whisper, palming his girth. He pulls my hand from between us and kisses it with the shake of his head before easily hauling us to sit where we have a clear view of Dante. He’s still sleeping soundly as I lay in Troy’s arms just as snow begins to fall.
“We’ll do it right this time,” he murmurs again, pressing another kiss to my temple. “For us, and for him.”
Ruth’s Beef Brisket
Bank teller, South Carolina
Makes 8 servings
2 hours and 30 minutes
3 Lb. Boneless Beef Brisket – Well Trimmed
1/4 Cup Liquid Smoke
1 Tsp. Onion Salt
1 Tsp. Garlic Salt
Salt to Taste
Smoky Sauce (combine all ingredients and simmer 5 minutes):
1 Tbsp. Liquid Smoke
1/2 Cup Ketchup
1 1/2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
1 1/2 Tsp. Dry Mustard
1/4 Cup Water
3 Tbsp. Melted Butter
1 Tsp. Celery Seeds
Dash of Pepper
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
Sprinkle brisket with regular salt and place on a large piece of aluminum foil. Set in a shallow pan and pour liquid smoke over meat. Seal foil and refrigerate overnight. Remove brisket from refrigerator. Sprinkle with onion salt and garlic salt. Reseal foil.
Bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours. Slice thin. Serve with Smoky Sauce.
Clarissa
“Mommy wake up! It snowed, and we have to see if Santa came!” Dante exclaims jumping into my bed in the Michigan J. Frog pajamas and matching slippers Troy bought him to wear last night. I groan as he bounces around me with boundless energy. Eyeing the clock, I see I’ve only had a mere hour of sleep.
For me, Santa most definitely came, and delivered. Troy and I spent the rest of the night on my couch, making out like a couple of teenagers, and even with the lack of sleep, I feel as if I’m floating on air, my feet haven’t touched the ground since he lifted me from the freezing lawn. Dante jumps into my bed, ready with his demands.
“Hurry up! Hurry up!”
I pull him to me from where I lay and squeeze. “Merry Christmas, Peanut. Just let me brush my teeth.”
“Gah, hurry, please!”
“Morning, bud,” Troy pokes his head into my bedroom and Dante turns to interrogate him.
“Did you see? Did Santa come?”
“I think he might have.”
“Hurry, Mommy!”
Troy’s eyes rake over me with heated appreciation.
“Morning good neighbor.”
He gives me a breathtaking smile, his own eyes red-rimmed from lack of sleep. “Morning.”
I rip my eyes away and still Dante’s bounce on my stomach. “Why don’t you let Troy take you to see what Santa brought?”
“You sure?” Troy asks.
“Of course, I’ll be right out.”
“Come on!” Dante springs from my bed and grabs Troy’s hand ushering him out of my room.
After wrangling with my sexed-up hair and making myself somewhat presentable, I join my men in the living room as Dante gushes over his new desk.
“I didn’t know I wanted this!”
“Santa knew,” I say, giving Troy the compliment. Pride shines in his father’s eyes as he shows Dante the ins and outs of his new desk and the lighting equipment.
“I love it!”
“Did you like your bike?”
“Yep. Troy’s going to teach me how to ride it.”
Troy. Not Mommy. I curl my lip at him, and he chuckles.
Dante rips through his presents while Troy and I sit back, sipping coffee, sharing heated looks. It’s when Dante reads the tag on a large package that he grabs Troy’s attention.
“This says from Troy, and it’s big,” Dante says, moving to sit in his lap. Troy wraps around him as if they’ve been doing it for years, which warms my heart. I look on, just as curious about the contents. Dante’s eyes bulge when Troy helps to open the taped box.
“IT’S ALL MY MERCH! Mommy, LOOK!” Dante lifts up the contents consisting of T-shirts, hoodies, coffee mugs, posters, and more, all brandishing The Legit Life Logo which Dante had designed himself. He’s beside himself with excitement as he sorts through it. It’s hundreds of dollars of merchandise that I haven’t been able to afford, and I’m blown away by Troy’s gesture. “You got me all of it! TROY! This is awesome!”
“I thought we could design your set, and you could wear it when you make your videos.”
Dante turns in Troy’s lap and throws himself at him, hugging him tightly. “Thank you soooo much!”
“Welcome, bud,”
“You’re my best friend,” Dante says easily, which stuns us both. Eyes locked after his confession, Dante moves from his lap and digs into the rest of his presents. Troy clears his throat, but I don’t miss the emotion shining in his eyes.
Troy
Troy: You look beautiful this morning, Ms. A. Did you do something new to your hair?
Clarissa’s phone buzzes on the table, her smile growing while she reads my message. Our eyes meet over Dante’s head as he finishes his cereal.
Clarissa: It’s called afterglow. Something new was done to me. I had a very wicked man sneak into my bedroom last night to have his way with me.
Troy: That so?
Clarissa: Oh, it’s so. He must have borrowed my house key from his son. If he keeps it up, he might earn his own key. He’s got a very persuasive tongue.
“Troy,” Dante grips my face with his hands. “Are you listening?”
“Sorry, bud. What were you saying?”
“I said that Carly wants me to be her boyfriend.”
This has Clarissa snapping her head up. “What?”
“I told her no. But I didn’t tell her cause she was ugly. Don’t worry, Mommy.”
“So, you don’t like her?” I ask as he slurps the almond milk from the side of his bowl like I taught him. A trick his mother isn’t fond of.
“No way. She’s always putting heart stickers on my hand. Gross.”
“Be nice to her,” Clarissa warns. “One day, you might think differently about her.”
“I’m not marrying anyone,” Dante says with the shake of his head. “Ever. Never.”
I chuckle. “The right girl will change your mind one day,” I say as Clarissa grins at me. “And drive you crazy.” Her smile morphs into a scowl. “But in a good way.”
Troy: We need a date.
Clarissa: Our sitter just left for India for three weeks.
Just as I’m about to type my reply, a notification pops up in my email, and I tense.
“Troy! Did you hear me!?”
I look over to Clarissa, and immediately, she sees it.
“Dante, go, go get dressed. Your clothes are on your bed.”
Clarissa’s already standing next to me as I scan the email.
“Is that it? Did you get the invite to the Combine?”
“I’m in,” I say, shaking my head. “I’m in.”
She leans down and wraps her arms around me. “Troy, this is awesome.”
She glances toward the hallway and turns back to me, stealing a kiss. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“I can’t believe you’re shocked. You had to know.”
I can’t help my smile. “Holy shit. I’m going.” She runs her han
ds through my hair.
“I know just how to celebrate. Dinner tonight and after…” She waggles her brows.
“Sounds perfect,” I say before glancing up at her, some of the high I’m feeling dispersing. “But we need to talk.”
“About?” She asks, alarm covering her face. Since Christmas, we’ve spent every spare moment together through the New Year. I’ve taken advantage of her couch when Theo texts to let me know he needs the house. Things are getting serious for him and his girlfriend, and he’s made it abundantly clear he wants me nowhere near that.
Lance has been a fucking wreck up until he left to go back to his family’s ranch for winter break. Harper broke up with him a few games before the season ended. Despite our budding friendship, he refuses to tell me what happened, but I have my suspicions.
No one, not even Theo, suspects a damn thing about the fact that my truck’s always parked next door while my bedroom is unoccupied. Everyone a house over is too wrapped up in their own lives, all of us moving in different directions once we snatch our diplomas. And I’m about to find myself moving away from the only place in years that’s felt like home.
Clarissa takes the chair next to me. “Okay, you’re making me nervous. I don’t think I can wait until dinner.”
I grab her hand and kiss the back of it before threading our fingers.
“I didn’t bring it up before because I wasn’t sure…”
“Tell me.”
“There’s this camp—”
“I’m ready,” Dante says, racing into the room with his backpack.
“You forgot your folder,” Clarissa says, glancing inside.
“Oh, duh,” he freezes, darting his eyes at Clarissa, “duh, do, da, le, do,” Dante sing songs with a giggle, and we can’t help our laugh.
“Good save, baby,” she says, shaking her head.
She squeezes my hand as soon as he’s out of earshot.
“Okay, so there’s a camp?”
“Yeah. It’s a prep camp for the Combine. And it’s expensive. Like really fucking expensive. I reserved a spot months ago in the off chance I’d be invited, but if I go—” I run a hand down my face.
The Underdogs: The Complete Series Page 47
