by Logan Chance
He brushes past her to shake my hand.
“And you are?” I wait for him to fill in his name, and he does. Adam. “Nice to meet you, Adam.”
Nah, can’t be that Adam. Even though he fits Beau’s description. I look over at Nova, who now has welts on her neck that match her dress.
“Ethan, this is my ex-boyfriend,” she confirms.
Ah, Mr. You’re So Boring ex-boyfriend asshat.
“Excuse us,” I say to him, taking Nova’s hand, leading her away from the front door, into the kitchen. “What are you doing?” I ask, my protectiveness coming into full play.
She brushes an errant strand of blonde hair away from her eyes before answering, “He called. He wanted to talk with me, so I figured I would go and hear him out.”
I cross my arms, stifling a groan. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Ethan,” she puts up a hand to stop my further interrogation as to why she would ever agree to meet this guy, “I just want to hear what he has to say. He said it’s important.”
“I’ll tell you exactly what he wants to say: he’s sorry, and he wants you back.” I pull her in close, my mouth tightening. “But, Nova, it’s all lies. He doesn’t want you.” I want to add how I want her, but I don’t.
“You ready?” Adam calls from the front door.
She sighs. “I have to go,” she says, pulling away.
She turns and leaves me there. I inhale a sharp breath when I hear the door close. I find a few random tools in her junk drawer, and decide to work on her uneven cabinet doors. I’m not leaving this house until I know she’s safely inside. Alone.
Chapter 23
Nova
I’m not as stupid as Adam may think I am. Or even Ethan, for that matter. I have a plan. Everyone wants to win the breakup, and that’s exactly what tonight is all about. Winning. So, when I got off work, I went all out doing my nails, toenails too, and then I proceeded to get all dolled up in the sexiest dress I own. Even put my makeup on a bit heavier than usual.
Yeah, take that Adam. Who’s boring now? Not me.
He grins, his annoying lopsided grin, leading me to his Kia, parked next to Ethan’s sex machine.
Nothing’s really changed about him. He still wears rimless glasses high on his nose, and still has his very own hair helmet. I used to always tell him he didn’t need that much gel, but he never listened. He should have. Why did I ever care what this man thought about me?
“How’s Gia?” I inquire about the best friend he left me for, stopping short of his car.
He doesn’t meet my eyes. “She’s good, I guess. Haven’t really talked to her in a while.”
“So, I heard.” He opens the door, and I stay in place. I have no intentions of going anywhere with him. “Sucks you destroyed a lifelong friendship for temporary excitement.”
His smile drops. “I asked to see you because I felt bad for how everything went down last time we saw each other.”
“Oh? Don’t feel bad for me. You actually did me a favor, because now I have something I love.”
He reaches out to me. As if I would ever let him touch me. “Nova…”
I hold up a hand. “Save it, Adam.” This man never deserved me. And I no longer care about winning, or anything else. I just really want him to get out of here. This man has wasted enough time in my life. “You wanted to see me because now I’m not so boring, right?
He blinks. “That’s not true.”
“I really don’t care either way.” I toss my hand up in a wave and turn away. “Enjoy your dinner. I have somewhere better to be.”
There. Plan complete. Adam is my past, and thank god I learned something from it. Honestly, it wasn’t as gratifying as I thought it would be. He didn’t deserve that effort.
I open the front door, remove my heels, and find Ethan in the kitchen, opening and closing a cabinet door. I can’t believe he showed up here unexpected.
“Can’t decide if you want it open or closed?” I ask.
He jumps a little, and I laugh. “Fuck,” he says. “Forget something?”
“I forgot nothing.” I walk closer. “I had no plans to go anywhere with him. I just wanted to tell him off. While looking good.”
A slow grin spreads on his face. “That’s my girl.” Our eyes lock, and my chest warms at the use of ‘my girl.’ It’s getting hot in here. And I may just want to take off all my clothes. I joke, but I’m not kidding about the heat.
“Do you think I’m silly?”
“I think you’re badass,” he says, grinning.
“He’s a jerk. Always will be.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Look at him, so not the asshole I once perceived him as.
I think there’s many different kinds of assholes in the world. Adam was a Grade A asshole, who only ever cared about himself and what was best for him. Never caring about who he might possibly hurt along the way.
But, Ethan, he’s a different kind of asshole. A man who uses it as a defense to never truly show others his real personality. To hide behind the persona people believe him to be. But, he’s not a bad person. He’s actually very kind beneath his hard edges.
Then there’s me, the other kind of asshole, who judged him too harshly in the beginning, not really giving him a chance. I want to. Now I want to take that chance with him and see where this chemistry leads us, if anywhere at all.
I’m ready to leap, I just hope he’s there to catch me when I fall.
The next evening, I drive over to Landry’s Seafood Restaurant where our parents are having a get-together.
I’ve been a nervous wreck all afternoon, knowing full well, when the time comes, I will give myself to Ethan without looking back.
I head to the backseating area for our private event. Everyone is assembled, laughing and drinking, at five pushed together tables. When my eyes meet Ethan’s from across the room, everything fades away, and it’s like him and I are the only two people left on the entire planet.
How can any one person have it all? Great looks. Great career. Great personality. It’s like he’s in the gene pool elite club and got the whole work up. The rest of us got the leftovers.
I scan the table for an empty chair and take a seat next to Kim, across from Ethan. I avoid the urge to look at him and listen as my mother thanks everyone for coming. When she gives the decree to eat, chairs scoot back in a dash to the buffet table in the corner.
Somewhere between the king crab legs and coconut shrimp, I find myself next to Ethan.
“In about ten minutes, act like you’re going to the restroom and slip out the back door,” he whispers close to my ear.
I nod, not even asking why, and take my shrimp and crab cake filled plate back over to the table to chit chat with Kim and Charla for a bit. After ten minutes, I do as Ethan directed and excuse myself.
When I open the back door, he’s waiting for me on his motorcycle as the light of the disappearing sun highlights the best of his features for me to see. Which at this point are all of them.
“Let’s go,” he says.
“Where?”
“You’ll see.” He hands me a helmet. “Get on.”
I hop on, holding him tight around his waist as he takes off, flying down the road of this small town, leaving all the worry behind.
He veers toward the interstate, and I squeeze tighter as he picks up speed.
We’re clear out of Pity Falls now, and there’s nothing in front of us but highway with mountains on each side. It’s as if they’re shielding us from the rest of the world. No press. No parents. Nothing but the two of us and the open road.
It’s freeing being on the back of his bike. The intimacy of it all reminds me of sex. And now that I’m reminded of sex, I can’t stop thinking about it. What it would be like with him. Would he be quiet? Or would he talk dirty in my ear when he thrusts inside me?
He pulls down a small dirt path, stopping the bike near a creek.
“I thought we could get away.”
“This is perfect,” I say, not wanting to release him.
“I like it here.”
We get off his bike and draw closer toward the water. “Yeah, Montana’s beautiful.”
“No.”
I laugh. “Yes, it is. That’s a fact.”
A slow smile spreads on his perfect mouth. “No, I like it here because of you, and that’s a fact.”
And that’s all he needs to say before my lips find his in a deep, burning kiss. His arms wrap around me, and he explores my mouth further with his tongue. My scalp begs for more when he reaches into my hair and tugs, bringing my mouth even closer than it already is. We’re melded together, but not close enough. Never close enough. He grips my ass with his other hand, bringing me up into his hardness. We don’t stop kissing, and I don’t think we ever will.
Voyeur birds chirp in the distance as the sun sets behind us. The creek whispers as we kiss each other with a passion I’ve never experienced.
My fantasies couldn’t even comprehend the feeling of his mouth on mine. Lust courses through my veins as my panties grow wetter by the second. I want him.
He breaks away, and we’re both left breathless.
“Wow,” he whispers, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Wow is right.”
He drops his arms from around my waist. “I need to get you home.”
“Why?” I ask, breathless and whispery.
“Because if I don’t get my dick so deep inside you right now, I may never survive.”
I almost want to ask him to do me right here, to bend me over the motorcycle and fuck me out here in the open wilderness, but foreboding grey clouds loom in the distance, warning me with a crash of thunder. All my bravado falters. For a moment. And then I take the leap.
“Then do it.”
Chapter 24
Ethan
Fuck. Yes.
I barely heard her over the crash of thunder. And then, it happens so fast. One drop. Then another. Rain suddenly falling in sheets. And then another irate rumbling of thunder, followed closely by a bolt of lightning bright enough to light the gloomy sky.
We mount my bike, and I drive toward Pity Falls. I take a quick look around, not seeing any shelter in sight.
Nova grips tighter to my waist as I spy a weathered-wood barn off in the distance. It looks abandoned, and it’ll have to do.
I turn the bike, racing for it as lightning chases us the whole way.
The minute I shut the motorcycle off, we sprint for the door. I swing it open, and we rush inside, taking in our surroundings.
“I’m soaked,” Nova says, stepping further into our empty haven.
My mind goes to a dark and dirty place.
Those are two words I’ve wanted to hear from her, but not in the context she said them.
Her dress clings to her curves, water dripping from her hair, and my dick hardens the longer I stare at her.
Wet. Beautiful. Sexy.
She turns to me, and I suck in a deep breath.
The thunder outside rumbles all around, matching my heartbeat. I move for her, like lightning striking its target.
And then, my mouth is all over her, sucking, licking, biting, tasting her salty skin. I touch my tongue to her lips, then to her neck, up behind her ear, and back down the column of her throat. I’ve never been this hard for a woman before. Never felt this pain and longing as bad as I do right now.
“Do you want me as much I want you?” she whispers.
“More,” I say, cupping her ass cheeks and driving her up into me to show her exactly how much I want her.
I kiss her, hard. Hard like my beating heart. She moans into my mouth with trembling lips, the sexiest, sweetest little moan, giving me her consent. And it slays me. It ruins me. Makes me harder in an instant.
Her fingers dive into my hair, into the base of my scalp, and I push her against the wall. She wraps a leg around me and I catch her thigh with my hand, easing it beneath her dress, tracing along the edge of her drenched panties. My finger slips inside her, curling over the bundle of nerves of her G-spot. She’s wet, hot, and so ready for me.
Lightning illuminates her face as her head drops back against the wall. I want more than anything to be inside her. She moans when my finger pushes in deeper, and I trace her clit with my thumb.
Desperation seeps through my skin. Desire claws at my veins.
“I need you,” I whisper against her lips.
It’s insane how good this is. I pump my finger faster inside her, sliding in deeper, adding another as she arches her back.
It’s all so simple being here with her. The world ceases to exist, and it’s only us in this small glimpse of time. No one can break through.
She makes the sweetest sounds as I fuck her with my fingers. I love it. Greedy, I keep trying to get more by moving my lips to her breasts. I’m so hungry for everything she has to offer. I suck and bite her nipple through the thin fabric of her dress.
“Ethan,” she pants, twisting her hips in rhythm with my fingers.
My whole-body buzzes with energy, an electricity I can’t contain, and I keep touching and feeling, kissing and sucking. I keep doing everything I’ve wanted to do to her for so long.
I slide my fingers out, suck them into my mouth and groan. So good. It’s a shame to remove her sexy lace panties but they go down her long, tanned legs, then I undo my jeans and free my cock. I rub the head of my thick erection along the seam of her pussy, and then reach in my pocket for the condom I’ve been carrying since I met her.
“You want this?”
She nods, her eyes fluttering closed. “Yes, please, fuck me.”
That’s my girl. And she is all mine.
I pick her up and thrust deep inside on a groan, and life as I know it ceases to exist.
I wait for her to acclimate to my size. It’s almost more than I can handle.
“Fuck, Nova,” I murmur, out of control, gripping her ass with both hands.
Lightning flashes, and I go faster, deeper, finding a spot she didn’t even know existed.
“You’re so tight. Your body is just so fucking tight,” I tell her. It’s torture. She comes, and I can’t take it anymore.
My body explodes with euphoria, desire, and the most consuming orgasm I’ve ever had.
Over the last week, Nova and I have had sex everywhere. All over her house, in the hotel, even at the salon. (Shh, don’t tell.) And it’s been fucking phenomenal. But, even more than just the sex, is the way she looks at me as if I hung the moon, and for her I probably would.
We spent most nights nestled on her couch, watching Netflix, or just talking about life in general. Normal stuff.
I told her all about my growing up, my friends, and how I got into construction right after high school.
She told me all about high school, and how she’s worried about Seattle. She’ll kick ass in Seattle, duh.
It was hard to tear myself away to fly back to LA, but with the premiere in two days, and a fuck ton of last minute press obligations, I had no choice. Dad and I flew in this morning, and Nova will fly in with Dahlia the day of the premiere. Which means it’s time for me to get to work on a little plan I have.
“Hey, man,” I say, sitting down across from Jared at my patio table, “I need a dress.”
He closes his laptop. “Excuse me?”
“A dress. You know, those little scraps of material.”
“Yes, I know what a dress is.” He laces his fingers together, resting them on his laptop. “Why do you need one?”
“It’s not for me. I need one for Nova. She has one, but she didn’t seem happy with it.”
“Ah,” he says. He stares at me for a very long time.
“What?” I ask, brows furrowed.
“Nothing. I don’t really know about dresses, but I can find some designers to contact.” He opens his laptop. “What’s her size?”
“I don’t know. Her head comes to my shoulder.”
And she’s
got full tits, and a perfect ass, but I can’t say that.
“Ok, well, pretty sure that’s not going to work,” he says, dryly. “You need a size, and then, I can have some things sent here.”
I sigh and pull out my phone. I dial the salon, because I know Nova is off today, and ask for Charla.
After I explain why I need Nova’s size, she says in a hushed voice, “Oh my god, you’re actually going to go out and shop for a dress? That’s… that’s just unbelievably sweet.”
Hm. I’m not technically going out shopping. Is it more meaningful to actually go into the store? She gives me the size, and when we hang up I make a decision. “See if you can get an appointment for us to go in and look instead of having it sent here.”
His brows lift. “Seriously?”
I nod. Fifteen minutes later, he’s arranged an appointment at a top fashion designer’s store.
One hour later, we arrive at the swanky shop that caters to the rich and famous.
The cavernous studio is filled with clothes of every color. The designer, Marbella Manklin, a sprite of a woman with oversized glasses, leads us to a rack prefilled with a selection of gowns in Nova’s size. I already know which one, but I shuffle through the hangers, so this counts as shopping, and pull out a ruby red gown.
“This one,” I tell her.
One hour later, the dress is being overnighted, and I can’t wait to take it off of her.
Chapter 25
Nova
I feel like my body has been invaded by someone with starry eyes. Ethan’s been back in LA for a few days, and every time he sends a text telling me about his day, or asking me about mine, they burn a little brighter. It must be all the sex.
And speaking of sex. Oh. My. God. Best thing ever. Like I want to do it again and again. Which might be even worse. Sex with a movie star isn’t all it’s cracked up to be—it’s a million times better.
The way his body shudders, the sounds he makes, the look on his face; I could die and go to heaven, except, it feels like I’m already there.
When I get home, after putting in my official notice at the news station, I find a large package sitting on my front porch stoop.
