Free Pass (Free Will Book 1)

by Kincheloe, Allie

  When he said he planned to make love to me, he meant it. There could be no other word. With the emotion in his eyes, and the gentleness in his touch, I let myself believe Jake truly loved me.

  He groaned, and his grip on my hips tightened. His control shattered like a dropped glass. His thrusts gained intensity until he collapsed against me in a sweaty heap, my name leaving his lips in a harsh cry. He lay atop me, crushing me into the bed.

  Cradling him to me, I shoved the thought from my mind that we might only have a few more days together. I vowed to cherish each and every moment with him.

  He mumbled something, and I asked him to repeat it. I was lost in La-La-Land and didn't catch his words. He raised up, looking exhausted, and repeated, "You are a goddess." Heat rose in my cheeks and he laughed. "Well, now I know how far down that blush of yours does go," he said, kissing my chest.

  My stomach picked that moment to roar out a plea for food, the growl filling the room with its fury.

  He extracted himself from the bed and tossed me a T-shirt and some gym shorts. "Let's feed you before your stomach devours your backbone." Normally, I would have been mortified, but the smile on his face kept it from being too embarrassing.

  He took a casserole dish from the oven, peeled back the foil and braved a peek. "Well, this might be dry, but it still looks edible at least." He scooped us out each out a portion of... well, some sort of pasta casserole stuff. I'm not quite sure what it was. It was edible, but only just.

  "This might have been okay two hours ago when I wanted to eat it," he commented, nudging me.

  I raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't speak. He grazed my cheek with his thumb and winked at me. I closed my eyes, emotion clogging my throat. It was these gentle moments I'd been longing for. The sweet gestures, the tender touches. Just the two of us, no prying eyes, no reason for him to show affection. Yet he did and it had ruined me. How could I ever be in an emotional void of a relationship again?

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Laney seemed to want quiet, so I let the conversation trail off for a bit. We headed into the living room and I turned the TV on. She didn't seem to care what we watched. Everything I mentioned, she mumbled was fine. I finally picked a comedy. That seemed neutral enough.

  I laughed at a funny part, but she didn't so much as smile.

  "Everything okay?"

  She nodded against me, not lifting her head to make eye contact.

  Had I already screwed up? "You'd tell me if something was wrong? If I did something?"

  She nodded again and snuggled closer to me. I held her tight and lay my head against hers.

  I wondered what was going through her head right now. Was she regretting this evening? Upset that she'd forgiven me?

  She dozed off next to me and I carried her to bed. I lay next to her, watching her sleep in the soft light from the bedside lamp. She shifted and the shadows on her face inspired me. I eased off the bed so as not to disturb her. Grabbing my sketch pad, I came back to the bedroom and put pencil to paper.

  Damn, she was beautiful.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Scratch scratch. Scratch. The sound of pencil on paper roused me. The scent of lead and pure Jake surrounded me before I even opened my eyes. My lips turned up at the thought I could wake up like this every day, next to him, in his bed.

  "I love seeing you wake up with a smile on those beautiful lips."

  I raised up, kissed him on the shoulder, and glanced at what he was drawing. "Me again?"

  He'd sketched me in last night's dress, with him behind me, hands on my arms. The look on my penciled face was one of pure desire. "You are my muse, my inspiration," he said before tossing the sketchpad to the floor. Wrapping his arms around me, he whispered, "My every desire."

  His soft lips pressed gently against mine, his tongue slipping into my mouth to caress my own. I relaxed into his embrace. Unhurried, Jake nibbled my lips. His alarm went off on the night stand, and he continued kissing me for a moment before breaking away to shut it off. Laying back on his pillow, an arm thrown behind his head, he muttered, "I don't want to go to work today. I have a client presentation at eight though. Can't skip the damn thing."

  "I have school anyways," I reminded him, even as I snuggled in to his bare chest. He held me close, just for a moment. No kissing, his hands unmoving. I kissed his chest and he squeezed me tighter, his face buried in my hair.

  "Shower with me?"

  Um, yes, please. We didn't have time to fool around. But more naked time, with water running down every inch of him? Yes, a thousand times, yes.

  He pulled me under the stinging spray with him. Rough hands brushed my hair from my face before he kissed me. Another languid, sensual kiss. Desire rose in me, and I stepped away. Grabbing the shower gel, I washed him from head to toe. His hands clenched in his struggle for control. When I kneeled before him to wash his legs, his grip on the shower curtain let in a wave of cool air. I lathered and rinsed him, taking my slow, sweet time.

  "You are a damn cock-tease," he growled out and yanked me up to kiss me.

  "I'll make it up to you later." I attempted to wash myself around his groping hands.

  "Later is here now." He carried me out of the shower. Towels hung forgotten in the bathroom. Water trailed through the bedroom to the bed. "I fucking need you. No way in hell will I be able to make this sale this morning, not like this. All I can think about is you and your sweet little pussy."

  He kissed me hard before shoving me face down on the bed. "On your knees." Desire roughened his voice, and I happily complied. He grabbed a condom and, with a quick check to make sure I was ready for him, slammed himself home deep within me. I moaned at being filled so fast, but arched back into him. His grip on my hip was tight, almost painful. No way in hell would I stop him though, because when he moved, he hit the perfect angle, that perfect spot. I buried my face in the pillow to muffle my screams. Jake pounded into me, a far contrast from the soft, gentle love-making of last night. He owned me with every exquisite stroke. His grunt with every thrust left me aching for him. When he reached beneath me to bring me closer to my goal, I shattered.

  My name slipped from his lips and he sagged against me. He flipped to his back and yanked me to his side. "I'm going to be late to work, but I don't give a fuck. That was worth it."

  I kissed his chest. The salt of his sweat clung to my lips. "I can call Kelsey and get her to pick me up so that you can make your meeting. No worries."

  "You sure?"

  "Yeah, neither of us have class 'til ten, so no biggie."

  He kissed me one last time. I watched him get dressed, but didn't bother to get up myself. My body contorted into a stretch. The sheet slipped down with my movements and he got a flash of boob. "You make me want to get back in that damn bed with you, you know."

  I smiled up at him. "You're a perv. Go to work."

  "You hadn't figured that out by now? Take whatever clothes you need, whatever fits. There's food in the kitchen, help yourself."

  He fiddled in his nightstand for a moment and pulled out a key, "Here, house key. You wanna just meet me here and we'll leave to head to Free Will after I get off?"

  "You're giving me a key to your house?" Um. Wow. I tried to keep the smile off my face, but when he teased me, I knew I failed.

  "Why not? You gonna have Kelsey come help you steal all my shit while I'm at work?"

  "No." The smile I'd tried to hold back popped out in full force. I giggled at the thought of Kelsey backing her Prius up to the door and us trying to load Jake's TV into her car. I think his TV might be bigger than her car.

  "Then take the fucking key. I gotta go to work. I'll see you tonight, my goddess. And if you aren't too sore and can keep the screams to a minimum, I'll fuck you in tonight."

  "Fuck me in?" Damn, that sounded dirty.

  "You heard me. Minimal screams. I don't want your dad after me with that bat again." He winked and sauntered out the door.

  I laid there smiling like a bi
g ol' goof for a few minutes before I called Kelsey. I texted her the address after a quick conversation. I peeked quickly through his dresser until I found T-shirts and sweats. I had hips, Jake's jeans weren't going over these things.

  I sat munching on some Honey Bunches of Oats when Kelsey rang the doorbell. I let her in and she looked around in approval. "Not bad for a single man. Now tell me why loverboy couldn't bring you home."

  Heat rose in my face as I muttered something about how Jake would be late for work.

  She gave me a knowing grin. "Honey, the only reason that man's gonna be late for work is if you distracted him and got him to do bad things to you. Did he? Come on, tell me. You know I'm in a dry spell! Tell Kelsey all the dirty things he did. I know they was dirty because I saw the look in his eyes when he picked you up."

  I buried my face in my hands, laughing, even as my face scorched.

  "Oh come on, Laney, give me the deets! All I got is a damn vibrator. I'm lonely. Give a girl a hand."

  I shook my head, rinsed my bowl out, and snatched up my dress and garters. I was a mess heading out in sweats, a T-shirt and sparkly sandals.

  Kelsey snorted at my wince when I sink into her car. "I knew he did naughty things to you."

  My phone rang, and my first thought was 'Hallelujah, I am saved'. Kelsey could be unstoppable when she got onto a tangent about something. I didn't recognize the number, but answered anyways. "Hello?"

  "Laney Rogers?" a male voice asked.

  "This is Laney, yes." Who the hell is this? I hated confirming my identity without knowing who was on the other end.

  "This is Adam from Midtown Psychiatry. I wanted to see if you were interested in the position we interviewed you for."

  No, I just liked applying for jobs I had no plans to take. Of course I was interested. "Yes, very."

  "Good. Now, I remember you saying you had finals coming up over the next couple weeks. Would you be available to start on May 15th?"

  "Absolutely. That would be perfect." I struggled to remain professional, but I was in serious danger of hyperventilation.

  "Great. If you could stop in some time before that, when you have an hour or so, we can go ahead and knock out your new employee paperwork." I agreed and he named a rate of pay beyond what I hoped. I hung up with what had to be a goofy grin on my face.

  "Good news?"

  "Yeah, I got the job at Midtown. I'm going to be able to afford to stay here for the summer and keep our apartment."

  "Oh wow! Girl, that is so awesome. I'm proud of you. I knew you could do it."

  "I wanna call Jake, but I doubt his meeting is over yet." I text him instead.

  "Didn't Austin already plan to go back home though? What's he going to say, seeing as how he's still your boyfriend?"

  Crap. I had never told Kelsey that Austin and I had been pretty well broke up for almost two weeks. Or about mine and Austin's talk, had I? So I brought her up to speed and flinched when she whacked me for not telling her something so damned important.

  "Randy asked me out," she blurted.

  "What? When?" Wow. Randy and Kelsey? I could totally see the two of them together.

  "The other day when we walked together. He gave me his number and said he'd like to take me out sometime. I ain't called him yet. Don't know if I am gonna."

  "You were just complaining about a dry spell."

  "I know, but Laney, God. This is Randy freaking Mason we are talking about here. I don't want to be another notch on his bedpost, hell the thing's gotta be practically whittled to a toothpick by now."

  "So make him work for it. If he doesn't stick around, he's not worth your time. He's really not all bad. Austin has a lot of asshole friends. For all of his arrogance, and sleeping around, Randy's a good guy underneath."

  "Yeah," she considered what I said.

  I nudged her. "Besides, rumor has it that Randy is a sex God. For someone in a slump, you sure did pull a fine offer."

  "Shut it, just you shut it, right now." She glared at me, but couldn't hold it and burst into laughter along with me.

  We got to campus and I headed off to class, a broad smile still on my face. Today had been too good not to smile. My only class today ended up being review for finals. You would think they would want to cover more material, not that I complained. Just saying, we started review two weeks before the end of the semester in this class. Could have gotten another week of solid work in first. And that's where my thoughts became that of an eighty year old. How the hell did that happen?

  I turned my phone back on as I walked back toward my apartment. Jake had texted me back! I almost walked in to someone in my haste to read it.

  Jake: Can't wait to hear your news, 'specially if it involves some lacy lingerie and you on my bed? But not this afternoon. Austin asked to ride up with us, his car's jacked up.

  Three hours in a car with Jake and Austin? Sounded fun. Sigh. I texted back my news didn't involve lingerie and got a frowny face in return. Before I could come up with anything witty to say, my phone buzzed again:

  Jake: But sometime soon, can I please come home from work, your car hidden around the corner, you sprawled on my bed in a corset and garters? Or something lacy and sheer? I'll make it worth your trouble.

  Me: I bet you would. Go to work, perv.

  The phone stayed quiet, so I guess he did go do some work. I settled down to study for a few hours before I needed to pack up and head to Jake's. Kelsey came in after her class with some lunch and we spent the afternoon studying together. We had none of the same classes this term, so couldn't really help each other. But, sometimes, it's nice to just have someone else be in the same boat.

  As much as I wanted to see Jake, I dreaded seeing Austin and being alone in a vehicle with the two of them for so long. Jake said he'd be home around five, so I packed up shortly before and headed over to his place. Austin waited in the drive when I pulled up. I parked behind him and blocked his car in, intentionally. No way were the three of us cramming into his car for this ride. Nope, not happening. Then I remembered Jake said the matchbox car was acting up. Oh well, still wasn't moving my car.

  "Hey Laney, uh, did Jake tell you I was riding up with you guys? My car's acting up, so I'm gonna have to get it looked at when we get back."

  "Yeah, he did." I pulled out the handy dandy key Jake gave me this morning, and Austin's eyes looked like they might bug right out of his face.

  He gaped at me, mouth opening and closing like a fish. "My brother gave you a key after less than two weeks?"

  "Yup." The silent 'and you didn't after three years' followed it. His cheeks pinked up when he made the same connection.

  "Did you tell him yet that he's your choice?"

  The sound of the Jeep pulling into the drive cut our conversation short.

  Chapter Thirty-three

  I got out of the Jeep and saw Austin step away from Laney up by my door. I closed my eyes for a moment and attempted to squash down the anger.

  I strode up to the porch and wasted no time getting Laney into my arms. My lips possessed hers as I staked my claim. Austin cleared his throat a couple times. He finally gave up and the door slammed shut behind him when he stomped inside.

  Dragging my lips away from hers, I nibbled my way along her jaw. She shuddered in my arms and I pulled her closer.

  "Stop," she said. Her hands on my shoulders pushed me back. "We can't do this right now. Austin is inside and we have to leave soon."

  "You are still mine until Sunday." My voice dropped so low, it was almost a growl.

  "I know that," she whispered.

  I brushed my lips over hers. "I'm not giving you up." I sure as fuck hoped not anyway.

  I winked at her before striding inside, shouting, "Austin, why'd you run off? Didn't like seeing me greet my girl?"

  Laney followed behind me and I heard her sigh at my comment. But if I couldn't rag on my brother, what fun was life?

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Austin moved toward me the moment I
entered the house and snatched me up against him. We didn't fit together right. But he grabbed my ass and tried to haul me up against his hips. Well, that might work with someone taller than me, but it just ended up being weird. I hissed at him to let me go. He kissed me. And I couldn't imagine why I spent three years with Austin when there was no passion. There's no spark at all.

  Jake jerked me away from Austin. The burn in my shoulder made me fear he'd dislocated my arm. Holding it with tears in my eyes, I screamed at them both to stop. "I'm not a fucking Milkbone! I'll be in the car."

  I rushed outside before they could hurt me again. What the hell was wrong with those two? I tossed my bag in the back of the Jeep and climbed in the backseat to wait. I refused to sit next to either of those idiots.

  I didn't have to wait long. They came out a couple minutes later, both looking sheepish.

  Assholes.

  "Laney, I'm ..." Jake began, but I interrupted him.

  "I. Do. Not. Want. To. Hear. It. Drive me home. Now, please. Before I decide to take my own fucking car and never speak to either of you jackasses again."

  Austin shrugged and climbed in the passenger seat, but didn't say a word. He knew better than to speak. He didn't even make eye contact. Maybe he's not as stupid as he looked.

  Jake kept glancing at me in the rearview mirror. He opened his mouth to speak a few times, but Austin shook his head and Jake held his tongue. I put my iPod on, tuned both of them out, and fumed the entire ride to Free Will. Neither attempted to speak to me again. They barely spoke to each other.

  When Jake pulled into the drive, Austin flung himself from the car. I didn't blame him. I was ready to get the hell out myself. I climbed out, grabbed my bag, and started walking home. Jake moved to follow me and I'd had enough.

  "Will you leave me the hell alone? Haven't the two of you done enough? I am a person, not a chew toy. I will not be passed back and forth. And I won't be pulled from both sides like a damn tug rope."