by Ali Parker
Lanie’s gaze slid to mine. “Sure. Andrew?”
I smiled at them both. “Of course. Raven, do you want to go first?”
Raven laid her intertwined hands on the table. “I’m grateful for today exactly as it is.I’m glad that Miss Jacobs—Lanie—could come over.”
Lanie dropped her face in that way she always did when she was both happy and embarrassed. “Thank you, Raven. I’m grateful for ...” She trailed off, eyes searching the air. “You know what? I’m grateful for the exact same thing. Today. I can’t think of a way it could be more perfect.”
“Hear! Hear!” I raised my water glass. “I’m going to have to join in on that. Today is pretty amazing.”
We clinked glasses, the echo filling the room and striking a chord in my heart. I’d hoped that today would be great, but with it here, I found it better than I could have imagined. Though I’d suspected for a while that Lanie and Raven were forming their own special relationship, it wasn’t until that morning that I got to observe it.
What I saw, I liked. A lot.
As we dug in, and Raven and Lanie both shared news from school, the good feeling rising in me grew stronger. Was this what it would be like if Lanie lived with us? Not the feast that took several hours to prepare, but a meal together every day, just the three of us? Time away from all the craziness of work and school to enjoy each other?
We’d had those special evenings with Raven’s mom, and I’d cursed the world more times than I could count for taking Danica away. A few times, I’d thought about what it might mean to find another woman to join our family, but I’d never let myself take the musings very far. Daydreaming would only get my hopes up, and I’d never met a woman I could see living with me and Raven.
Not until Lanie.
“Do you want to go swimming?” Raven asked as we finished off the pumpkin pie Lanie had brought.
“Do you have a death wish?” I leaned back in my chair, resisting the urge to unbutton my pants. If I did that, Raven would never let me hear the end of it.
“I meant in a little while.” She turned back to Lanie. “If you’re not going anywhere after this, I mean.”
Lanie licked whipped cream off the tip of her fork, and it took every ounce of will I had to not lunge across the table and take her lips with mine.
“I don’t have anywhere to be.” Lanie shrugged. “It’s Thanksgiving, after all. Except I didn’t bring a bathing suit.”
An image of Lanie gliding through the water completely naked entered my mind. Clearing my throat, I adjusted myself in my seat. God, I was hopeless.
“You can borrow one of mine,” Raven offered.
“Okay.” Lanie’s smile lit up the room. “But your dad is right. We should probably wait a little while before swimming. Just to be safe.”
“Well, I’ll go get the bathing suits.” Raven stood and stacked our three plates.
“I’ll get these,” I announced, taking the dishes from her hands. “You girls can go get changed.”
The second I had the plates in the dishwasher—just the ones we’d eaten off of, as the others could wait till later—I ran upstairs, in the direction Lanie and Raven had gone.
“Raven?” I called, stopping at the landing. “Lanie?”
Music came from under Raven’s closed door. Just as I turned to go back downstairs and wait for them, the hall bathroom opened and Lanie stepped out.
“Hey,” she smiled.
I gulped, too busy staring at her black bikini-clad form to speak.
“Andrew,” she playfully chastised.
“I can’t help it.”
“You’ve seen me naked before.” She crossed her arms, which only made her breasts ampler.
“It must be something about having all the best parts covered up.” I reached for her, wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her into me. “That is a very sexy … wait.” I frowned. “That suit is too sexy for Raven to have. She needs to get rid of it.”
Lanie swatted my shoulder. “What’s she going to wear to pool parties then?”
“A full-piece wetsuit.”
“God.” She laughed. “I don’t want to be around when you tell her that.”
“Here.” I gently took her hand. “I want to show you something.”
“What?”
In response, I pulled her into the library and closed the door behind us. Lanie started to look around herself, but I pressed my fingers against her jaw, stopping her. Her eyes snapped back to me, and I gently guided her face to mine.
Lowering my head, I swept my lips across hers, taking my time and making the kiss butterfly light.
Lanie sighed in pleasure, her exhale a trembling one. I landed another kiss, this one a bit more forceful. Dropping my hands, I trailed them over her naked shoulders. The bathing suit straps taunted me. They looked so fragile like they would come untied if I only flicked them.
“It’s definitely too sexy,” I affirmed.
Lanie laughed and opened her mouth, probably to protest, but I pressed my finger to her lips.
“Raven should not be wearing it,” I said. In a slower, more meaningful way I added, “And neither should you, but for another reason completely.”
Pressing my arms against the door on either side of Lanie, I lethargically licked a line from the base of her neck to her ear. Lanie trembled between me and the door, her breasts heaving against my chest. I could feel her nipples getting tight, straining against the bikini’s fabric.
Her hands found my shoulders, nails digging in before moving up and twisting through the back of my hair. I took her bottom lip between my teeth, tugging the slightest amount before releasing it and running my tongue across her front teeth.
Lanie’s hands pressed harder into the back of my head, and her hips drove forward. I ran my palms down her bare sides, swiveling them over her hips and across her ass. She was so perfect in my arms, soft and delicate.
“Lanie!” Raven shouted from down the hall.
With a pained inhale, I pulled my lips away from hers.
Lanie’s eyes went wide in fear. “Oh, no,” she whispered. “I don’t want Raven to think we were—”
I chuckled. “If she asks, I’ll tell her I was showing you my encyclopedia collection.”
“Is that what they’re calling it now?”
“Get out of here.” I laughed, landing a playful spank on her rear as she turned to open the door.
Lanie paused with her hand on the knob. “Are you coming?”
“In a minute. I need to go get changed.”
And wait for my hard-on to go down.
“Okay,” she whispered, slipping out as Raven called her name again.
The door closed with a soft click, and I ran my hands through my hair as I sighed in contentment. Pulling Lanie into the library and having my way with her had been a ballsy move considering Raven was in the house, but it had been well worth it.
As much as I wanted—no, needed—to get Lanie into my bed, I now knew I could wait. There was a moment and a place for everything, and I had a very good feeling my time together with Lanie had only begun.
Chapter 39
Lanie
The beeping coming from the computer made me jump in my seat. Turning around in my chair, I stared at the screen in confusion for a second before realizing someone was calling me on video chat.
A smile pulling at my lips, and I hit the green answer button. Andrew’s face popped up, his large office windows behind him.
“Well, hello,” I answered, glancing at my office door to make sure it was closed all the way. Taking personal calls at work wasn’t forbidden, but I still felt weird about it and didn’t want to spend too much time chatting people up when I could have been bettering tomorrow’s minds and all that jazz.
“Hello, Miss Jacobs,” Andrew purred. “Have I caught you at a bad time?”
Heat traveled through me, and I crossed my legs, trying to get rid of that familiar ache Andrew’s voice always caused. “I can chat for
a bit. How are you? How is work?”
Andrew scrunched his nose slightly. “Can’t complain. I’ve been distracted by thoughts of you all day, though.”
“I know the feeling,” I sighed, propping my chin on my hand.
“Your day is almost over, no?” He looked at his wristwatch. God, I loved that he wore one. When everyone else relied on their smartphones for everything, Andrew Marx still wore a watch. It was so classic and, therefore, sexy.
“Yeah,” I answered. “Almost over. The bell rang, but I have a few things I need to finish up before I go home.”
Almost a week had gone by since Thanksgiving, and Andrew and I had gotten to see each other twice, which actually didn’t feel like much at all. Something had happened to me after my parents accepted him in my life and I’d hung out at home with him and Raven. It was like a “Go” flag had been waved. Just like that, we were off, free to go crazy and spend as much time with each other as we wanted.
Before, I’d thought about him a lot. Craved him a lot. But now it was at a deeper level. The giddy feelings Andrew gave me were still there, but there was a sense of familiarity as well. I’d never had it with another guy, and I was trying not to dissect the feeling, but even I couldn’t believe my good luck.
“Don’t you have, like, a million employees to be bossing around?” I teased.
“Maybe, but there’s no crime in calling my girlfriend midday and seeing how she’s doing.”
His words electrified my heart. Girlfriend. Andrew had never called me that before.
But, wow, did I like how it sounded.
“I’m doing great now that I’ve talked to you,” I admitted, not even caring how corny the whole conversation sounded.
Andrew ran his front teeth across his bottom lip, and his gaze lowered as he checked me out through the screen. “You look amazing today.”
“So do you,” I murmured. “I like your hair like that.”
He grabbed at the roots of his tousled hair. “It’s because I’ve been yanking at it in frustration trying to get work done before the weekend.”
“What’s happening this weekend?”
“I was hoping to take you out Friday night.”
“Oh.” I smiled in pleasure. “Whatever happened to the workaholic I first met?”
“What, you want him back?”
“No! Definitely not. I think Raven and I would both have to kill you if that happened.”
“I always knew beautiful women would be the death of me.” Andrew leaned back in his chair, putting his laced fingers behind his head. “So, what about Friday night?”
“Um.”
“No. Don’t tell me you have plans with some other guy.”
I grinned. “What other guy, Andrew? What else could I need?”
He smiled wider, and my heart felt like it was about to explode from happiness. Was this “the conversation?” Had we just declared we were exclusive, sealed the deal, and such?
“Raven has plans,” Andrew said. “So we have the whole night to ourselves. Think about what you want to do.”
“Okay.” Just as I said it, a familiar voice came from the other side of my door. Was that Raven?
“I should go,” I explained. “Talk later?”
Andrew winked. “Have a good afternoon.”
“You too,” I sighed, dangerously close to swooning.
Andrew’s sexy face disappeared from my screen, and I closed the chat window before getting up and cracking my office door. I’d been right. Raven was in the hallway.
She leaned against the wall across from my office, down a few feet, allowing me the perfect view of her face. And what a face it currently was. Raven glowed like she was made out of sunlight. She was talking to a guy who stood with his back to me, but I could take an easy guess as to who it was.
Sure enough, Jason turned slightly to the side as he said something in a low voice. Raven laughed, and a pack of kids passed by, obscuring my vision. When the view cleared again, Raven had tilted her head to the side. Despite the fact that they were just across the hall, I couldn’t make out anything they said.
Realizing I was creeping, I shut my office door. Jason and Raven had made up, it seemed.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
After the day Raven had slapped him, I did a little poking around and confirmed what she’d basically already told me. Jason was that guy at our school. As in, the boys all wanted to be him, and the girls all wanted to get with him. I wondered how many girls Jason had been with. I doubted he was a virgin. And what about Raven? I’d never brought that conversation up with Andrew.
I didn’t want to pry, but I also didn’t want Raven getting hurt. I’d lost my virginity when I wasn’t much older than her, and I’d always wished that I’d waited. Maybe if someone had encouraged me to be careful, had filled me in on how quickly things change when you’re a teen and young adult.
The intercom above my head crackled, and Principal Stafford’s voice came over the line. As the afternoon’s closing announcements droned on, I opened the door again. Raven and Jason were waving goodbye.
“Raven.”
She looked over, eyes going wide with surprise as if she’d forgotten she was flirting right across from my office.
“Hi,” I said.
She straightened up, adjusting her backpack strap. “Hey.”
I stayed where I was, leaning in the doorway. “Looks like you and Jason have made up.”
Her lips twisted as she tried not to smile. “Yeah. He apologized for what happened at the party.”
“That’s good.”
Raven’s face fell. “You don’t look like it is.”
My heart twisted. She looked so disappointed.
“Do you want to come in?” I pushed my door open further. “Or do you have to catch the bus?”
“I have German club in, like, fifteen minutes. Karen is picking me up afterward.” Pushing herself off the wall, she entered my office.
“Video chatting?” she asked, dropping into a chair and settling into a cross-legged position.
“Huh?”
She nodded at the computer screen. Although I’d closed out the conversation box with Andrew, I’d neglected to shut down the entire video chat program.
“Uh, yeah.” I hastily clicked the program closed.
“Anyone interesting?”
The cheeky look on her face said she suspected I’d been talking to her dad. Embarrassment flooded me, and I looked for a way to dodge the question but then realized there was no point. I wanted to connect with Raven, to find out what was happening with her and Jason, but our relationship had gone beyond that of counselor-student. It was even beyond that of Dad’s New Girlfriend. If I wanted transparency from Raven, I needed to offer it myself.
“Just some hot guy,” I said.
Raven made a disgusted face. “Ew.”
“Sorry.” I laughed. “It’s true.”
“You can stop right there. I don’t need to hear any more.”
I leaned forward in my seat, resting my arms on my desk. “I had a really good time at your house last week. Thanks again for inviting me.”
“Yeah, no problem. It was cool.” She shook her hair out and tied it into a fresh ponytail. “Have you and my dad been hanging out?”
The question seemed a little weird considering she’d wanted to stop talking about him, but I kind of got it. No sexy talk about Andrew, but everything else was fine.
“Yeah,” I slowly said. “We’ve seen each other a couple times.”
She pouted slightly. “He hasn’t told me.”
“Maybe he thinks you don’t want to hear about us.”
Raven’s eyebrows rose. “You came over for Thanksgiving. I know you two are dating. What else is there to hide?”
I thought about that. “Nothing, I guess. But I think he wants to be careful. He doesn’t want too much going on in your life all at once.”
It was the most honest I’d ever been with Raven, and I couldn�
��t really say why I was going the route of full disclosure. My intuition told me it was time. Being around Raven had shown me she could handle a lot more than her elders, Andrew included, probably gave her credit for.
“I’ve been fine.” Raven stared me down. “Right? Don’t you think I have?”
“It seems that way.” I leaned back in my seat, scooting down some. I’d been working at my desk most of the day, and my hips were sore from all the sitting. “You know if he’s being secretive, it’s out of love, right?”
“Yes.”
Her answer surprised me, and for a moment, I didn’t know what to say.
“Cool,” I finally managed. “Glad we have that squared away.” I gave her a smile to show her I wasn’t being serious. “So what’s the deal with you and Jason now that he’s apologized? Are you guys going out?”
“Going out in what way?”
“Any way.” I laughed.
Raven looked down at her lap. “I don’t know. I guess. I mean, he said I’m the only girl he wants, and, you know, he’s sorry about what happened, and he wants to be a better man for me.”
I tried not to laugh over a seventeen-year-old claiming he wanted to be a better man.
“That’s good,” I said instead.
“Yeah.” She peeked up at me from under her eyelashes. “I’ve never had one.” Raven swallowed, clearly embarrassed. “I’ve never had a boyfriend before.”
“I didn’t have my first boyfriend till I was seventeen.”
“Yeah, it’s whatever. I know it’s normal and all.”
“Totally.”
Raven dropped her face again. Was she trying to take the conversation somewhere else?
I thought fast, desperately looking for the right words. “And it wasn’t much longer after that that I lost my virginity.”
That got her attention. “How much longer after that?”
“Like a year later. It was a different guy, not my first boyfriend. And I-I kind of regret it.”
Raven groaned. “Lanie. Is this a celibacy talk?”
“No!” I sat up straighter.
“Okay. Good. Let me point out that things are different now than they were when you were in high school ten years ago.”
