NINE: Boyle Heights

by Elizabeth Reyes

  “Nah, those were gone by the very next weekend, and it was awesome.”

  The screen on the dash lit up just as Nine pulled into a parking spot. He sent the call to voicemail but not fast enough. Drew caught the name on the screen. Becca. It was almost enough to ruin Drew’s cheery mood, but she refused to let it. Just because the girl was still calling him didn’t mean he was still doing anything with her. Brad still called and texted Drew occasionally. Didn’t mean it was anything Nine might have to be upset about, so Drew wouldn’t be either.

  As if he read her mind, when he came around the car to where Drew was now standing, Nine reached his hand out, and she slipped her hand into his. “Haven’t heard from her in over a month in case you’re wondering.”

  Drew smiled just as he leaned in and pecked her. As usual, her heart was swelling all over the place; though a tiny part of her still wondered if maybe he’d used the spa tickets he won with Becca. But again, she wouldn’t dwell on it, nor would she wreck her happy mood by asking about something that might’ve happened while Drew was still sleeping with her fiancé. Especially not after he said it was awesome.

  They walked in, and instantly she was surrounded with the luxurious and soothing aromas of eucalyptus and lavender wafting through the air. They were greeted, checked in, and escorted to the dressing room to change into their robes.

  “Shit,” Nine muttered, stopping in his tracks. “I left my phone in the car. I need it in case someone from the shop calls. Go ahead.” He spun around to head back out. “Start changing. I’ll be right back.”

  Hayden, the girl escorting them, handed her a robe and some soft slippers. “Right this way.” She pointed at the dressing room.

  As Drew began undressing, feeling excited about this already, she overheard the girls outside her dressing room. “Was that Rudy—?”

  Hayden said something in a hushed voice, very obviously warning whoever was asking that Drew was in the dressing room. Someone cleared her throat, and the conversation got all business-like.

  “They’ll be in the Serenity Lounge,” Hayden informed the other girl in a very professional tone, “and requested Robin and Lisa specifically for the facials and massages. Robin for him and Lisa for her. The room’s all set.”

  The other girl said she was going to fetch Robin and Lisa. Shaking off the unease, Drew chastised herself for always jumping to the worst conclusions. So what if he’d requested specific girls for their treatments. Maybe they were just that good. Only now she was really curious about who he’d used his tickets with.

  “Hey, I know you,” she heard a different female voice say.

  “I told you I’d be back soon,” Nine said cheerfully.

  Drew listened, folding her clothes as Nine chitchatted with the girl outside her dressing room for a bit until he finally went into his own dressing room. She felt like a snoop because she’d been done folding her clothes for a little bit before actually exiting the dressing room. She just wanted to listen without being seen.

  She knew better than anyone that Nine was a talker and his chatting had been perfectly harmless. Nothing flirty or even cutesy about it. She walked out of the dressing room, and Hayden quickly took her clothes and placed them in a locker. She did the same when Nine walked out of his dressing room.

  They were then escorted to their private lounge where they were greeted by a very pretty girl who introduced herself to Drew as Lisa. “I’ll be your aesthetician for the day.” She turned to Nine with a big smile. “Glad you enjoyed your stay here so much last time you specifically requested us again. Robin will be right out for you.”

  If Lisa was this pretty, Drew braced herself for what Robin might look like since her hands would be all over Nine soon—at his request. Lisa instructed them both to remove their robes and handed them towels to wrap around themselves instead. There was a partition off to the side if she preferred more privacy. Drew always did when she’d done this in the past, so she stepped behind the partition.

  Nine apparently had no issues with undressing in front of Lisa because she heard him ask her where he should put the robe, and there was only one partition in the room.

  Again, Drew took a little longer than needed, being a snoop as Lisa and Nine chatted, but she came back just as Robin walked into the room and greeted Nine very cheerfully. Drew felt enormous relief inundate her because Robin was a man not a woman. He and Nine were already talking football before Nine even got on the table.

  Drew exhaled, chastising herself inwardly again and decided then and there she was done questioning everything. She deserved to be this happy and needed to stop second-guessing the relationship that so far had been perfect and just enjoy.

  Lisa and Drew went over what parts of her body might be most tense. It wasn’t until then that Drew realized she was tense everywhere and all for no reason. So the massage was heaven-sent. By the time Drew and Nine were left alone to just relax to the soothing music in the room and take in the aroma of all the candles lit all around the room, she was more relaxed than she had been in weeks.

  Breathing in deeply, it dawned on Drew that, despite her enjoying this newfound change in her life, she’d also been incredibly tense about it. She’d kept waiting for the bomb to drop, and it had to stop because, so far, Nine hadn’t given her an iota of a reason to suspect it might. Everything she knew about him being a player or whatnot had all happened before she’d given into doing this with him. And this fuck-buddy thing or whatever they wanted to call it, had felt like an actual relationship from day one. Nine had been treating her with the respect of a girlfriend from the very beginning.

  So the doubt and suspicions stopped now. Nine deserved a little more credit than she’d been giving him. In fact, so far he’d been an absolute dream. They were going on two full months of this now. While the idea of getting her heart shattered still terrified her, probably even more than when she first gave into this because she was falling harder with every day that passed, Drew was just going to have to get over it.

  “You asleep?” Nine whispered.

  “No.” Drew turned to him. “But I nearly did fall asleep. It felt so good.”

  Robin and Lisa came back, and Drew and Nine were escorted to their private showers. The private bathrooms were as luxurious as Drew remembered. Like the rest of the resort, there were delectable-smelling candles everywhere. The walls, counters, and floors were all full marble. They also had chocolate-covered strawberries and a chilled bottle of champagne available for her.

  Drew wondered how much Nine had paid for this. According to Charlee, the day passes were the priciest, but she’d never quoted her an exact amount. She agreed to a glass of champagne before starting her shower. “Make it a warm one so your pores open, and this way you’ll get the most of your facial.” Lisa placed fluffy clean white towels on a bench just outside the shower for her. “I’ll come knock on your door in about fifteen minutes . . . uh, make that twenty-five so you don’t have to rush your champagne. Take your time and just relax and enjoy.

  Lisa walked out after Drew thanked her. Glancing in the mirror, Drew could see the difference already. She looked more relaxed and felt it. She knew the massage had a lot to do with it, and she was grateful for that. But it was the mindset she’d decided to change that had her feeling so much better.

  Whatever happened, she was just going to enjoy this as long as she could. From the looks of it, Nine didn’t appear to be tiring or getting bored of this yet. If anything, he seemed just as sucked into it as she was.

  She flinched when the door opened, and she spun around to see a sinfully grinning Nine. “Oh my God,” she whispered as he locked the door behind him. “You’re not supposed to be in here.”

  “Bullshit! I paid for this.” He rushed to her. “There’s a reason why I requested Robin. I knew he’d hook me up. No one’s gonna be coming to check on us.”

  Drew started to smile as he nearly reached her, until it hit her. Only way he’d know Robin would hook him up was if he’d done s
o the last time. Before he could wrap his arms around her, she placed her hand on his chest, stopping him in his tracks. With the knot back in her stomach, suddenly his bringing her here today didn’t make her feel so special after all—not at all.

  Chapter 21

  Nine

  “What’s wrong?” Nine asked, confused as she practically pushed him away. “I’m telling you we’re fine. Robin’s my boy. He’ll make sure we don’t get interrupted.”

  “Really?” She held her hand firmly at his chest, pushing even harder. “What makes you so sure? Did he have your back the last time you were here?”

  “What?” In the next moment, Nine felt like an idiot. Of course she’d think . . . “No, babe. Only time I’ve ever been here was with Dulce. I tried giving the tickets to my moms so they could come together but forgot how weird Tay is about strangers putting their hands on her. The woman doesn’t even like going to the doctors because of it. But Dulce got all excited because she’s never been to a spa. So we made it a mother-son thing.”

  He explained how Robin had actually been his mom’s aesthetician and Lisa was his. “I wasn’t crazy about the idea of having big hairy man hands all over me today, but if I had to choose between that and watching those hands all over you, well . . .” He lifted his hands in the air, shaking his head in a show of what a no-brainer that was. “He and I got to talking about cars, and he said he’d been wanting to have some work done on his. So I hooked him up at the shop. But I needed him here today so he could hook me up.”

  Her adorable expression had him smiling from ear to ear again. Knowing his Dee, that sweet uneasy smile held a bit of embarrassment and remorse. Her skin color was even tingeing on the pink side. Slipping his hands on either side of her face and cradling it since she wasn’t fighting him off anymore, he kissed her because he just couldn’t stand it anymore. She was so damn beautiful, even when she looked so mortified and full of regret.

  “I was curious,” he said, kissing her neck softly. “So when he came down to get his car worked on, I asked him if any kink ever happens here.” He paused to trace a few more kisses down her neck, pulling the tie to her robe open, and she trembled in response. “He said it’s not supposed to, but there were ways of getting around the rules.”

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered as his hand moved down from her face to her breast. “For jumping to conclu—”

  “Shh.” He lowered his face, taking her nipple in his mouth and sucking. It made him smile to hear her moan, and he pulled his mouth away momentarily. “No worries. You’re about to make it up to me. Big time.”

  They moved slowly toward the big overstuffed chase in the middle of the huge bathroom, all the while kissing deeply, like he never knew he loved doing so much. He sat her down, staring into her eyes, and undid her robe. It fell open around her, and he dropped to his knees one by one.

  Opening her legs gently, he kissed the insides of her soft supple thighs. “Lie down, baby.”

  Like his good girl, she did as she was told, and he worked his way up the insides of her thighs slowly, loving the tremble each one of kisses brought on. Pushing her up gently so he could get both her legs up onto the chase and open her wider, he continued kissing upward until he was there. Jesus Christ, it was beautiful.

  Using his fingers, he spread her open and breathed in deeply, barely able to contain himself, but he took his time because he wanted to enjoy every second. Running his tongue from top to bottom, he relished the taste of her juices over and over as she moaned and arched her back in response.

  Never in his life did he imagine that doing something this arousing could be so emotional. Any other time with anyone else all his mind would be on was how hot this made him—how much further he could push this—just how far she’d let his horny ass go. There were never any thoughts of where he stood in those girls’ lives and who else was privy to anything about them.

  But with Dee, his heart was imploding with the yearning to growl out loud what he was feeling with every lap of his tongue to her already pulsating clit. Mine . . . mine . . . fucking mine.

  Speeding up then slowing just in time to torment her a little longer, Nine took delight in her body’s response to his tongue slipping in and out of her. He slipped his hands under her sweet ass and lifted her so he could dive in deeply, spreading her even wider with his tongue. Her entire body quivered as he latched on and sucked her engorged and so ready-to-explode clit.

  It didn’t take much at that point, and he nearly came hearing her cry out and feeling her throb against his tongue. Mindful to slow it down, his greedy tongue sucked up every drop of her sweet juices, as he struggled to not embarrass himself and come too because it was that damn good.

  As she came down from her climax, Nine kissed her a few more times down there then sucked the inside of her thigh and smiled when he left a mark. “Perfect.” He smirked before moving up to kiss her abdomen and worked his way all the way up to her breathless lips.

  With those forbidden words threatening to slip his lips, he kissed her before they could. There were no two ways about it: Nine would drop to his knees at any moment if she asked him to. He had no idea how the hell he’d gotten here, but nothing could tear him away now.

  “You ready for a shower,” he whispered against her lips.

  She nodded, smiling dreamily, and it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Gazing at her for a moment and not making a move to get off her, all Nine could think was he finally knew what all the fuss was about. Damn, no matter what, there was no turning back for him now.

  The phone rang just as Nine was preparing to work on an overheated radiator. He pulled off his gloves and decided to answer the phone while the radiator cooled down a bit.

  “Hey, Mom.” He walked over to where he’d put down his water bottle and started opening it.

  “Hey.” Tay spoke in a lowered voice, and he heard what sounded like a squeaky door close. “Just calling to remind you about tonight because I already know you.”

  Nine winced because at first thought he had no idea what she was talking about. Then it came to him, and he nearly groaned. “The dinner show for Dulce’s birthday. That’s tonight?”

  “Yes, it is. I knew it. Did you forget?”

  “No,” he lied. “I knew it was coming, but it just snuck up on me. That was fast.”

  His mind raced as she reminded him Dulce still didn’t have a clue and how this was the first time in years Tay was able to surprise her. Nine hadn’t seen Dee all week and was counting down the hours until he’d see her tonight. Fuck!

  Ever since this whirlwind thing started, his head had been in the clouds. Tay had told him about this way back before anything had happened between him and Dee. She’d only mentioned it a few times since. But lately, all he ever thought about was Dee.

  There was no way he could get out of it, and because it was a dinner show, Tay had mentioned she’d been trying to get tickets for months. It was always sold out. No way could he even try to sneak Dee in. Besides, they hadn’t talked exclusivity or the seriousness of this relationship again, and he wasn’t sure how Dee would interpret his inviting her out with his moms.

  They went over the time and how he should arrive early and meet his aunt and a couple of Tay and Dulce’s friends there. The first surprise would be when they arrived and Dulce saw what she was in for. The second surprise would be that he and the others were there to celebrate with them as well.

  Not only was it a late show that would run into the evening hours, there’d be dancing and cocktails after, and Nine was sure he was expected to hang around for that as well. As alarming as it felt sometimes, there was no denying it. Nine had it bad for Dee now. For a moment, he actually considered coming up with a lie and asking if there was anyone else who could take his ticket. Normally, he’d be all for this. Just like the spa day with Dulce, anything that made his moms happy made him happy. Despite the time that’d passed, he was still trying to make up for all the shit he put them through. But now .
. . God damn it.

  “She’s gonna be so excited,” Tay gushed, making Nine feel guilty about even trying to get out of this. “We haven’t done anything special for her birthday in years.”

  Exhaling as all hope of getting out of this withered, Nine smiled. “Yeah, she is. I’ll be there early.”

  He hung up, muttering under his breath. Only hope he had now was that Dee would still be up to seeing him even if it was late tonight. Because otherwise, he’d be looking at waiting another whole day since tomorrow he had a couple of big jobs he couldn’t get out of and would likely run until the end of the work day.

  With thoughts of trying somehow to get out of this still lingering in his head, he absentmindedly walked into a wrecked bumper sticking out from the work bench it sat on. “Fuck!” The stinging pain had him clutching his groin area.

  One glance down and he saw the jagged edge of the bumper and then the blood around his torn pants. “You okay?” Byron asked, looking down at his stained pants.

  “Yeah.” Nine frowned, more pissed than he knew this should make him. “But I gotta go change. Don’t wanna walk around looking like I’m on my fucking period.”

  He rushed off and up the stairs to his room. Once he had his pants off, he could see the wound wasn’t as big as the blood that soaked through his pants would indicate. He was just relieved it missed his dick because it was pretty damn close to it. “That’s gonna scar,” he muttered as he finished cleaning it out and threw on a clean pair of briefs.

  Walking out into the bathroom, he found the Neosporin and applied some to the wound. As he got a better look at it in the mirrored shower doors, he couldn’t help but smile. Ever since he started getting inked as a teen, his first thought whenever he got a new scar was, I’ll just get it covered with a tat. This one was right above his cock and roughly shaped like a D.

  Thoughts of having his tattoo artist detail a letter D and add a heart shape around it lifted him out of the foul mood, until he remembered he’d have to cancel his plans with her tonight. With a groan, he stalked back to his room to get a clean pair of pants on.