Mean Crush

by K L Wood

  “Me, too.”

  After a soft kiss on my forehead, he led me toward the bed. My breath hitched in my throat when I saw it was covered in rose petals.

  “I know I wasn’t your first…but this is our first time, and I wanted it to be somewhat the way you imagined.”

  Tears stung my eyes. “It’s perfect. Thank you…for everything.”

  “You deserve it and so much more.”

  I hugged my arms around my belly. The butterflies were swarming. “It’s weird, but I feel like a virgin all over again.”

  He took my hand and put it over his heart. It was hammering so fast. “Me, too.”

  I let out a deep breath then slipped the straps of my sundress down my shoulders and let it fall to the floor. All I had on were panties, and Reed’s eyes drank in the sight of me.

  “That was definitely not a virgin move.”

  I shrugged. “Someone had to break the ice.”

  His hands slid down my arms. “You’re so beautiful.” He stepped closer, and I glided my hands under his T-shirt. I slipped the fabric over his head, wanting to feel the heat of his skin against mine.

  The knots in my stomach unwound as his lips met mine. Any trace of nerves melted into passion as our kisses became more intense, hands exploring places we never allowed ourselves to go before. Even the times we’d been intimate before, we had to stay in control. Right now, I wanted to fully let go and be totally and completely exposed with him.

  Reed’s mouth massaged its way down the curve of my neck, and I dug my nails into his back, the yearning for him unbearable. I pulled him into me and felt his hardness press into my belly.

  “No foreplay,” I said under heavy breath. “I want you now.”

  He groaned at my words as he pulled back. His midnight-blue eyes were hungry and dark and wanting. He ripped off his jeans and boxer briefs in mere seconds. I lay down on the bed, not taking my eyes off him. He was so damn hard it reached his belly button. He opened the drawer to pull out a condom, but I stopped him.

  “No, I’m on birth control. I want to feel all of you.”

  He crawled onto the bed and gripped the band of my panties and slid them off. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

  My fingers sailed across his back, and I grabbed hold of his tight, muscular ass, pulling him to me. His lips hovered over mine, and I inhaled his moan. He adjusted my hips, and I ached and yearned to feel him inside me. He teased as the tip began to penetrate, but not all the way in.

  “I want to taste you so badly.” His voice was low and deep, almost a growl.

  “No.” I moved my hips upward, taking in more of him. “I want every damn inch of you.”

  Reed pushed himself up and locked his eyes with mine. In one hard thrust, he filled me up, and I screamed out in pleasure and pain. I wrapped my legs around him as he rocked my hips with his movement.

  “You feel so incredible, like you were made for me,” he said under a shaky breath.

  I reached up, hooked my fingers around the back of his neck, and pulled myself up, wanting to feel my chest against his. I straddled his lap, and his strong arm wrapped around my waist as my hips swayed under him. I hugged him closer as I felt myself riding the edge. I called out his name, and he flipped me on my back and pushed himself in deeper while his thumb circled my clit. My whole body convulsed into ripples of pleasure into one final explosion of pure bliss. I screamed out, not caring if anyone heard me. Reed groaned, pumping faster, until he released, the muscles in his abs quivering.

  He looked down at me with that soft smile, and it instantly filled me with warmth. I’d never seen him so at peace.

  He cupped the side of my face. “I love you so damn much.”

  “I love you,” I whispered, and he leaned down and kissed me softly. After carefully sliding out, he lay down beside me and opened his arms to me. I snuggled against his chest, enveloped in his warmth and basking in the afterglow.

  “‘There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights.’”

  I smiled. “I remember that quote on your wall. Which book is it from?”

  “Bram Stoker’s Dracula. When I read the line, I felt I was the darkness and you were the light.”

  I gently kissed the spot over his heart. “You are my light, Reed. It’s always been you.”

  30

  Our Lair

  Two Weeks Later

  Reed

  Tabitha walked toward me and stole a quick kiss before handing her dad a beer while he got the fire pit going. My mom and Auntie Sam came out with all the stuff to make s’mores. I finished carving the tip of the last stick and started handing them out.

  Tabitha and I flew in this morning to surprise our families. We couldn’t stay longer than a couple of days, but none of them cared. They were just happy we were there, especially my mom. Every time she’d catch Tabitha and me touching or showing any signs of affection, she’d beam out a smile. Her dad, not so much, but he accepted it and shook my hand. He was probably more confused than anything. Auntie Sam just hugged me and said, “I’m glad it’s you.”

  Paige seemed happy for us, but there was a sadness behind her eyes that I hadn’t seen since her breakup with Bryant. There were rumors that a few NFL teams were interested in him as a backup quarterback…and a place on a certain one of those teams would land him right back in Massachusetts. I headed over and handed my sister a stick.

  “No, thanks. Not all that hungry.”

  I sat down in the chair next to hers. “You didn’t eat much at dinner, either.”

  “Just not feeling it.”

  “I know you’re a lot like me and don’t like to talk about things, but I want you to know that I’m here if you ever need to talk…and you know Tabitha is, too.”

  “I’m fine.”

  I smiled, shaking my head. We always were a lot alike in moods. “Well, if you ask me, any guy who doesn’t see how amazing you are, it’s his loss, not yours.”

  She cracked a little smile, and I nudged her before getting up. She responded by lightly punching my arm. Then she held out her hand. “Give me the stick. I may have enough of an appetite for one s’more.”

  The seven of us sat around, reminiscing about old times and laughing a lot. Everything had changed, yet at the same time, it hadn’t. We all shared history and a lot of memories, and we grew right along with them. I had a vision of our own kids coming here one day, playing their grandparents’ board games and taking over our lair.

  But I’d have to put my foot down on that one.

  That lair would always belong to Tabitha and me.

  After Paige and my parents headed inside for bed, Tabitha and I continued to sit outside, watching the fire burn out. It was a warm night, but not too humid, and perfect for what I had planned.

  Tabitha went to the cooler and came back with beers for herself and me. I set the bottle aside and pulled her onto my lap. She let out a giggle, and I brushed my lips by her ear. “Remember that fantasy you had of us making love in our lair?” I whispered.

  She hugged my arms that were already wrapped around her waist. “Mmm-hmm.”

  “What do you say about making that happen tonight?”

  “Is the bed covered in rose petals?”

  “You’ll have to come and see for yourself.”

  What I had on the bed was so much better than rose petals.

  Tabitha

  Reed opened the door and guided me inside. With the light from his phone, he found a few of the battery lamps that were set around the walls and turned them on. The glow was perfect, not too bright. I looked down at the bed. No rose petals, but there was a small, red square box with a tiny bow sitting on the pillow.

  The insides of my belly fluttered in excitement.

  Is that what I think it is?

  Reed crawled over to the futon mattress and invited me to sit with him. He picked up the box, and we sat cross-legged, facing each other.

  He held my
hand and turned it over before placing the gift in my palm. “Fifteen years ago, a boy and a girl fell in love in this very lair. It was a very innocent kind of love, pure and ignorant of what it really was or what it would become. They had no idea that, no matter what obstacles stood between them, their love would grow stronger, until one day, it would bring them right back to where it all began.”

  A tear fell, and he gently wiped it away, his thumb caressing my cheek. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring with blue sapphire stones that fanned out around a diamond like rays from the sun. “Tabitha Clara Bell, my first crush, my light, my sun…will you marry me?”

  “Yes!” I lunged forward and hugged my arms around his neck. “I want nothing more than to start our lives together as husband and wife.” I pulled away to look into his eyes and saw they were red and glossy. I kissed his lips, soft and tender. “It’s always been you and me.”

  That soft smile touched his lips as he slipped the ring on my finger.

  “It’s perfect.”

  He looked down at the red box still clutched in my other hand. “You haven’t opened your gift.”

  “There’s more?”

  He nodded.

  My fingers fumbled as I pulled off the top. Inside sat two rings on a velvet cushion. I pulled out the smaller one. The inside of the ring was gold, like the band of my engagement ring, but the outer side almost looked like a mood ring that changed to different colors of a rainbow depending on your perspective. Inside there was a blue wire-like band that circled half the ring.

  “I hope you don’t mind that I had these made with your blue paperclip.” He pulled out the other ring. “You have one half, and I have the other.”

  “These are our wedding bands?”

  “Yes.”

  “Reed, this is incredible.” I squeezed the ring in my hand and held it close to my chest. “I love them.”

  That night, we did fulfill my teenage fantasy of making love in our lair. At the time, I wanted Reed to be my first, but in the end, I got something even better.

  Reed became my last.

  I hope you enjoyed MEAN CRUSH!

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  All the Best,

  Kayley xo

  P.S. Did you know I have a pseudonym author name? Check out my light and fun rom com series under Kayley Wood!