Jacked - The Complete Series Box Set (A Lumberjack Neighbor Romance)

by Claire Adams

  “I don’t think I’m really in a headspace where I can—”

  “Shh,” I say, only turning around enough so he can see my index finger pressing against my bottom lip. “Come on,” I repeat and I turn back and continue on my way.

  After a few more seconds, I hear the sound of his board on the cement and he’s quickly at my side.

  I climb up the metal rungs of the ladder that’s never seemed to be quite to code—if there is a code applicable to skate parks, that is—and wait for Ian at the top of the wall.

  He gets to the top and we don’t really look at each other.

  “What if you’re right?” he asks. “What if there’s just no chance and all I’m doing is killing my career before it’s started? If there’s any chance, I really think I need to take it, but if I’m just pissing in the wind…” he trails off.

  “You said that you never really felt comfortable on your board,” I say, finally looking over at him. “How long have you been skating?”

  “A long time,” he says. “Probably since I was like seven, eight, somewhere in there.”

  “I mean, when did you start skating seriously?” I ask. “When did it become more than a hobby?”

  He doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t have to, either. I think I’m starting to understand now.

  “Is she proud of you?” I ask.

  “I don’t know,” he says. “Lately, she’s been—”

  “When she’s lucid,” I interrupt. “Is she proud of you when she knows who you are?”

  God, I’m really hoping the answer to this question is “yes,” otherwise, I may have just screwed up in a monumental way.

  “Yeah,” he says. “She is.”

  “All right,” I tell him. “That’s all you need to have in your head. You’re doing this for her, right? Well, she’s already proud of you.”

  “Okay,” he says and looks down at the park below.

  He places the tail of the board on the lip like so many times before. I’m expecting something to be different in his approach, although I have no idea what it could possibly be, but everything looks the same as it always has.

  He takes his front foot and puts it on the board, and he just stays like that for a few seconds, all of his weight on his back foot. Then, he just goes.

  Ian rolls down, makes the curve and rolls out like he’s been doing it for years.

  I can actually see the moment when he realizes that he’s actually done it because he jumps off his board, throws his hands in the air and lets out an impressively loud, “Woo!”

  I’m climbing down the ladder as quickly as possible, and as soon as my feet hit the ground, I’m running toward him, cheering in my own, much quieter way.

  He runs over to me and when we meet, he picks me up in a big embrace and swings me around, my legs flying behind me and I can’t stop laughing.

  “You know,” he says, “there’s an exhibition next week. I wasn’t going to go because the street comp is going to be fucking amateur hour and the rest is all vert, but if I can do this, will you go with me, cheer me on while I try to get good at the last possible opportunity?”

  “Let’s just focus on one thing at a time,” I tell him, not sure adding to his vert commitments is such a smart idea.

  “Yeah,” he says. “Probably wouldn’t be worth it. I mean, it’d be good to practice on an actual, full ramp instead of this thing, but you’re right. It’s probably not where my mind should be.”

  He sets his board down and skates back over to the ladder. He climbs it and gets into position. This time, without hesitation, he drops in.

  It’s smooth.

  This time he stays on his board and rides over to me.

  “So,” he says, “are you sure you don’t want to go to the demo with me?”

  PART FOUR

  Chapter Fourteen

  Second Thoughts

  Ian

  I wake up to a ceiling suspiciously painted a different color than my own.

  Mia sighs in her sleep next to me, and I’m content just to lie here for a little while and watch her beautiful body rise and fall with every breath.

  It’s been about a week since that night at the skate park, and we haven’t broken up again, yet. Technically, we never said the words, “Let’s get back together,” either, but given the fact that we’re both naked in her bed, in her dad’s house right now, I’d say that’s pretty much where we are.

  Mia takes a deep breath and her eyes flutter open.

  “Good morning,” I say and kiss her forehead. “Are we still dating?”

  “I’ve never liked that term,” she says. “Can’t we just say we’re two people who like each other enough to stay naked a lot?”

  I chuckle, saying, “That’s fine by me.”

  “Today’s the big day,” I say. “Well, not the big day so much as the public preview of how the big day is likely to go.”

  “Yeah,” she moans and turns over onto her front, propping her head up with one of her arms as she looks at me. “Are you stressed about it?” she asks.

  “I wouldn’t say I’m stressed so much as I’m terrified,” I answer, “but at least I’ll know whether it’s going to be worth the humiliation to go to the Midwest Competition.”

  “You’re still thinking of backing out of it?” she asks.

  “Not really,” I tell her. “I think just knowing that I can drop in is enough, you know. Once I actually did it, I don’t even know what the problem was.”

  “You’d convinced yourself you couldn’t do it,” she says. “I just helped convince you otherwise.”

  “You’re really going to take credit for everything on this one, aren’t you?” I ask.

  She purses her lips and looks up, saying, “Yeah, I think I’ve pretty well earned it. After all, I’m the one that got you to stop trying to kill the concrete with your face.”

  “That’s good,” I snicker, “that’s a good one, really. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the hours I spent on top of that stupid wall going in time after time, knowing there was a good possibility that I’d end up scraped, bruised, bloody or all of the above. It was all you.”

  “I’m glad you’re finally coming to realize that,” she says and grins wide as she lifts herself to her hands and knees and kisses my mouth.

  “Are you still giving me a ride to the demo?” I ask between kisses.

  “I was thinking about giving you a ride before the demo,” she answers, smiling and kissing me again.

  I brush her hair behind her ear in my habitual way, and I’m just hoping I can still skate after she’s through with me. Ever since we went from off to on to off to on again, she’s been particularly enthusiastic when it comes to the bedroom.

  “Are we going to have time?” she asks.

  “Yeah,” I tell her. “Exhibition doesn’t start until four, and it’s not that far away. I think if we leave by three, we should be there in plenty of time.”

  “That doesn’t give you a lot of warm up, though,” she says. “Are you good with the course?”

  “Never ridden it,” I tell her.

  She’s out of bed and looking for her clothes, and it must be stopped.

  “I’ve got the layout in my head,” I tell her. “I never show up early. When I saw you at the competition last time, I’d just gotten there. To be honest, I’m kind of surprised they still let me ride.”

  “Wait, you missed a round and still won?” I ask.

  “You were there, you didn’t notice?” he asks.

  It helps that they dropped the lowest and highest scores in that particular competition, but I’m happy just letting her think I am a god of the board.

  Of course, she knows better.

  “Still,” she says, “we should at least make sure we have time to get in and everything. Come on,” she says, tossing me my pants. “Let’s get going.”

  “It’s just a demo,” I tell her. “The only reason they even have judges is because the guy who organizes it likes to know who t
o tap for promo shots for the next event. I’m telling you, I never show up early. If I don’t get there just in time to skate, I start getting into my head and that’s when I start to have problems. Trust me, coming back to bed with that sexy naked body of yours is actually going to help.”

  She puts her palm to her forehead and shakes her head. “I’m dating a thirteen-year-old,” she groans.

  I lift the covers and act like I’m checking the size of my cock before looking back at her, saying, “Nope. I’d say I’m pretty full grown.”

  “I’m talking about your brain,” she smirks, “not your dick.”

  “All right,” I tell her. “If you’re not into it, you’re not into it.”

  I get out of bed, naked, and I decide to milk the situation a little by stretching really big, letting my morning wood stick out even more prominently than it already was.

  “What are you doing?” she asks.

  “What?” I ask. “I’m just stretching.”

  “Yeah, you’ve been stretching for a little while there, big guy,” she says.

  I look down and then over at her, a big smile coming over my face. “Hey, thanks for noticing.”

  “Oh god,” she says with a laugh. “Put that thing away. If you don’t want to get to the demo early, the least we can do is head to the skate park so you can get warmed up.”

  “Nope,” he says, “gotta go in cold. I mean, I stretch and everything beforehand, but yeah, my feet don’t touch the board until I’m taking my first run.”

  She’s going through her drawers looking for clothes, but she stops. “You really have it all in your head?” she asks.

  “I don’t have a photographic memory or anything,” I tell her, “but I have a good idea about what’s there and where it is. I don’t like to confront the finer details before that first run. That’s how I keep an edge in street competitions. I practice some things more than others, so I have quick go-tos when it comes time to take a run, but I never have anything set in stone. It keeps me on my feet and makes it a lot harder for me to be boring.”

  “That’s pretty impressive,” she says. “I’m still pretty well convinced that you’re full of shit and you’re just trying to sneak in another tumble before we have to go, but still.”

  “All right,” I say, bending down to grab my shirt off the floor. I put it on, my slowly fading erection still the most noticeable part of my general appearance. “Tumble?” I ask with a chuckle. “I love when you talk dirty to me.” I take a few steps toward Mia’s window and try to see the driveway, but my view is blocked. “Your dad’s still gone, right?” I ask.

  “Yeah,” she says. “He should be.”

  “Well, that’s a shame,” I tell her and finally grab my pants off of the bed where I left them. I’ve even got them buttoned and zipped when Mia comes over and kisses me on the lips again, resting her arms on my shoulders.

  At first, it feels like a, “Sorry, bud, it ain’t gonna happen,” thing, but her hands are moving to the top of my pants and she’s unzipping my zipper.

  “What ya doin’?” I ask as she reaches through the gap in the front of my pants and persuades my member through it.

  She’s gripping me with a firm, but comfortable touch and her cheeks are a little red.

  “You forgot something,” she says, and while her statement is more a non-sequitur than anything, I bend down and kiss her again as her hand starts to stroke my growing shaft.

  She puts her free hand around my neck and kisses me back, her tongue and mine massaging one another as we breathe each other in.

  I start to pull my shirt back off, but she pulls her head away and whispers, “Uh-uh. Leave it on. We’ve got to be quick. We’ve got things to do.”

  She’s in her shirt and panties, and as much as I don’t like that “we’ve got to be quick,” I’m more than happy to take what I can get.

  Mia pulls me a little closer, and my hands move over her body, one settling around her shoulders while the other slips between her legs.

  “Damn,” I whisper as I feel the hot wetness of her.

  “Come on,” she says. “We’ve got to hurry.”

  With that, she lets go of me and I let go of her. She opens her bottom drawer and pulls out the folded pair of pants she hides her condoms inside, pulling one out of the box before handing it to me.

  “We’ve learned that when you get out of your head, you can do things you never thought you could do. Open this,” she says and hands me the condom.

  “All right,” I tell her, “but if you run out of natural lubrication before I get this thing open, we’re both going to be pretty upset about it.”

  “Yeah,” she says. “So hurry.”

  I take a quick look at the condom wrapper and easily open it.

  “What the hell was that?” she asks.

  “Yeah,” I tell her, “I’ve got to level with you: These things are really easy to open.”

  “You are such a jerk,” she says, taking the now open condom wrapper out of my hand, removing the condom and replacing the wrapper back between my fingers. “But we don’t have time for me to yell at you right now for it,” she says and slides the condom onto me.

  “I’m glad to see you’re taking things so well in stride,” I tell her.

  “I’m just really horny,” she says. “You’re not off the hook for anything, but for right now, I want to feel you inside me and I want you to make me come. After that, I can reconsider being mad at you.”

  “Maybe I’ll just wait then,” I tell her. “If making you come is going to give you permission to be angry at me, I don’t really see my motivation here.”

  “Yeah,” she says, putting her lips close to my ear, “all that’s going to do is get me mad a lot sooner.”

  “Fair enough,” I laugh, and she giggles as she grabs my wrist, guiding my hand between her legs.

  Mia’s black hair hangs as she throws her head back when my fingers reach her center. She’s slick to the touch, and I kiss her lips before sliding two fingers inside her.

  “Whoa,” she titters and I pull my hand back.

  “Are you all right?” I ask.

  “Fine,” she laughs. “I just wasn’t expecting the second one. Ya kind of caught me by surprise there.”

  I smile and kiss her forehead. “Sorry about that,” I tell her.

  “Oh no,” she says, shaking her head. “It was nice. I just didn’t know it was coming.”

  She grabs my hand and puts it back where it was.

  “Where were we?” she asks.

  She lets go of my cock and wraps her arms around my neck as I first slide one, and then another finger into her. Now that she’s expecting it, her muscles tense and she takes in a deep breath, her eyes closed.

  Now, with the condom on and both of us primed, I put both my hands around Mia’s back and pull her close, walking slowly backward toward the bed.

  I reach the edge and sit down. The plan was to lie down, but Mia climbs on top of me and puts her hands on my shoulders, encouraging me to stay in a sitting position.

  She presses her body against mine and reaches down between her legs, grabbing my cock from between mine and setting my tip against her dripping gap.

  I put my arms behind myself and lean back a little, aiding the process as she lowers herself onto me, bit by bit, until I’m in her down to my base.

  Mia rocks her hips as she leans back, and I watch her supple breasts pulse as she rides me harder now.

  “We do have to be quick,” she says in a whisper so near silent that I have to strain to hear her.

  With one hand, I pull the front of her shirt down, securing it beneath her breasts. Putting both arms around her now, I settle my hands on her lower back, supporting her as I lean forward to kiss her soft mounds.

  Her skin grows even hotter in my mouth, and the springs in her mattress are really starting to creak.

  I just hope her dad’s really not home. He seemed like a peaceful kind of guy, but walking in on something like t
his has persuaded a lot of otherwise gentle souls to perform some pretty heinous acts.

  I really can’t think about that now, though. Mia said we had to be quick and from the tempo and depth of her breathing and the eagerness with which she’s riding me, she’s not too far from done, and I don’t want to go to this demo all backed up.

  Sure, I will if I have to, but it just makes things that much more difficult out on the pavement.

  “Oh my god,” she moans, bringing me back to the moment.

  “Are you close?” I ask, kissing between her breasts before leaning back again.

  “Don’t move,” she says. “Just stay right…”

  She lets out a guttural moan, and her breath comes in short bursts as I can feel her tightening around me.

  If I was worried about not coming before, I’m past that now, as the look and feel of Mia’s pending climax catapults me skyward and I feel my own body begin to come alive, ready to come with her.

  “Holy shit,” I breathe, my body responding to her with such urgency that I can hardly process the surge of ecstasy running through my body.

  Her arms are around me tight, now and I can feel her heart racing through both our chests as she kisses me hard, her tongue halfway in my mouth before I can even react.

  As always, we’re close, but not quite on the same page as my body starts to shudder just as hers starts to calm, only I don’t hit that peak when I think I’m going to, I just shoot right past it, the pleasure its own entity moving through my entire body until that moment when… everything… fades… away.

  I embrace Mia, as we both try to catch our breath and, together, we fall haphazardly onto the bed.

  “You know,” she says, between deep breaths, “sometimes I wonder how you can physically skate carrying that thing around between your legs.”

  I just laugh and hold her close. The last thing on my mind right now is skating.

  * * *

  “We’re too early,” I tell her. “We’ve got to go.”

  “Go?” she asks as we pull up to the demo, two towns away at the Richfield Community Skate and Ride.

  It’s a lot more inspiring before you know the name of the park.