by Hadley Quinn
“And there are things about you that she admires as well. The point is…we all make changes and progress at different intervals, Mel. Everyone’s trails are blazed a different way. You can only move forward and use what you’ve got inside you to get where you want to be. It’s different for everyone. Do we fuck up along the way? Hell yes. But when you can pick yourself up on your own and move on…that’s where tenacity separates the losers from the winners. You’re doing that, and I admire you for it. You’re an inspirational person, whether you realize it or not.”
Melanie was quiet for the next two minutes, and Jay thought that she’d fallen asleep. But just when he was about to return to his back, she softly said, “I will never ever make this baby feel like he or she isn’t wanted or loved. Never.”
It wasn’t just a statement but a promise, and Jay knew that she meant it. His hand slid across her waist and settled on her stomach out of instinct. “This baby is lucky to have you for a mom, sweetheart. You’re gonna give him—or her—an amazing life. I have no doubt.”
When she didn’t respond, he went to remove his hand but she stopped him by placing hers on top and she held it there. Jay waited for the awkward tension to settle in but it didn’t. He was actually comfortable lying there with his arm around a female that had become one of his best friends.
“Jay?”
“Yeah, hon.”
“Your voice is extremely sexy in the dark.”
He lightly laughed but absolutely loved the compliment. “I try, just for you,” he teased.
Chapter Nine
Jay was up at dawn, and even though he believed he actually slept a few hours, he felt like strange dreams and thoughts had been going through his head all night.
He carefully slid off the futon and left Melanie asleep. She looked so tiny wrapped around a pillow to the point it was barely visible, and he pulled the blanket up to her shoulders.
Jay walked through the house in search of Grady. The place was a mess and there were a couple of guys still around, crashed on various couches or chairs. He finally found Grady asleep on his own bedroom floor. Jay helped himself to the shower, and when he came out, his buddy was somewhat sitting upright on the bed.
“You two comfortable enough last night?” Grady asked Jay. “Wish I had a spare bedroom, bro.”
“Nah, it was fine.”
“Where’d you sleep?”
“Uh, on the futon.”
“I thought your friend was sleeping there,” he stated sleepily, and then he chuckled. “Ah, I see.”
“No, you don’t see, fucker,” Jay laughed.
“She’s a babe, man. You cannot stand there and tell me the two of you are just friends. Don’t lie to me, Jay.”
“I’m not lying,” Jay answered. “Melanie knows me as well as you do, so obviously she knows what to avoid. Anyways, clear your mind and meet me at her mom’s house in an hour, okay? I need to get on the road.”
“Yeah, okay man,” Grady stood. He was heading for the bathroom as Jay left the room.
***
They’d been an hour into the ride home to California and Melanie still had barely said a word. Jay knew that after she took a shower at her mom’s, she talked to Serena most of the time Jay and Grady were loading the Boss onto the car trailer. Her expression was neutral when she finally came outside, so he didn’t know how it went. But the fact that she’d been silent around him pretty much told enough.
It was nine in the morning, and even though he wanted to keep driving, he pulled into the parking lot of an IHOP. Finally a smile appeared on Melanie’s face when she said, “Oh thank heavens, my baby wants stuffed French toast sooo bad.”
After that, the ride returned to normal.
When Jay backed the car trailer up to his detached garage, it was almost two in the morning. He felt like he hadn’t slept for two days, which was pretty much the truth. He mumbled some instruction that Melanie would have to wait until the morning before he took her home to Teague’s, but he didn’t even remember crashing on his bed until he woke up beside her. Well, not exactly beside her… What the fuck, he was spooning her. But not only that, his hand was wedged between her legs. Thank God she still had pants on, but Jay knew how touchy feely he was when he was drunk with alcohol—or in this case, exhaustion.
The clock read four a.m. Why couldn’t he sleep longer than a couple of hours? He felt like he’d been at an all night rager. He slid his body away from hers and tried to remove his hand, but Melanie made a little sound that was very close to being a moan, and then she scooted her ass back into his groin and pressed against him.
“Don’t leave,” she whispered, holding onto his wrist.
The throbbing in his head quickly moved into his pants as his body responded to her touch. The darkness, the feel and smell of her pressed against him, and the fact that he enjoyed being this close to her seemed a little too surreal. But Jay didn’t want his exhausted lack of judgment to ruin his friendship with Melanie.
“Honey, I think you’re sleeping so I’m just gonna—”
He tried to move again but she continued to hold his wrist. “I’m awake, Jay. And having you this close to me is the best feeling in the world. Please don’t leave.”
“You’ve got me totally turned on, Mel. I can’t be this close to you and—”
She reached back between them and pressed her hand against his erection. “I know,” she said quietly as she massaged his length. “And I’m turned on, too. Big time. I’m asking you to do something about it, Jay. Do I have to beg? My hormones are all over the place and I need…something. Just perform a friend duty, okay?”
That almost made him laugh, but he was way too aroused and way too confused to make any sense of it. Whether she was talking about a one-time thing or not, he wasn’t sure.
Her hand slid into his boxer briefs and that’s when he realized that was all he was wearing. Holy shit, did he really take his clothes of while he slept next to her? He rolled his eyes in the dark. Of course he fucking did. His shirt was always the first thing to go just before he crashed for the night. He didn’t remember taking his jeans off, but that was nothing new.
“What are you doing, Melanie?” he asked, even though there was no explanation needed. Her hand was soft and warm and the way she touched him made his brain go numb.
“I’ll start. Maybe you won’t be so shy.”
Was she teasing him? He couldn’t tell, but shy wasn’t exactly a word he was familiar with. But what she was doing was making it so he couldn’t say no, and it was a clever move because he didn’t want her to stop.
But…
“Stop, sweetheart,” he sighed.
“Jay, just let me—”
“Turn back around,” he commanded, gripping her shoulder so she was completely on her side again, facing away from him. She did as he instructed and he unbuttoned her jeans at the same time. “Are you sure about this?” he asked. “Melanie, I don’t want you to regret—”
“If you let this change our friendship, I will slap you senseless, Jay. I swear to God.”
He paused to assess her words, but she was already sliding out of her pants. He wedged his knee between hers to separate her legs, and she placed her top leg over his to give him access. Strangely, he was very familiar with this female body as he ran his hand across her thigh. He’d imagined this more than a dozen times, but to actually touch her soft skin in such an intimate way affected him more than he expected. He’d forced himself to become numb to any and every sexual feeling he’d ever had for her, including all the times her sassy mouth made him want to shove her against a wall and kiss the hell out of her.
His fingers slid along the edge of her panties and he heard her let out a breath of air, but at the same time, she moved against his hand to encourage him. Well fuck, if this was what she wanted, who was he to deprive her?
And he was going to use that goddamn excuse to the fullest extent.
He slipped his fingers into her lacy waistband as he del
iberated the right choice of words. But nothing came to him, especially when he slid further down and realized how wet she already was. He went from smooth silky skin to her wet center and was still speechless as he touched her more intimately than he ever had. As he dipped his fingers deeper, she released a sound that shot through his entire body, waking corners of his soul he didn’t know existed. He liked her reaction so fucking much that he allowed himself the enjoyment of pleasuring her and pushed his reservations off the cliff.
“Yes, that feels so good, Jay,” she exhaled. “Don’t stop.”
“I’m not stopping until I know you’re satisfied, baby doll,” he whispered against her neck. “Tell me what you want.”
“Anything as long as it’s you,” she answered. “I don’t care, just you.”
That wasn’t exactly a response he was expecting, but he hardly let himself dwell on it. No matter how much they fought, he knew she was comfortable with him, and with Melanie’s recent bouts of insecurity because of the changes in her life, it was probably important to her.
When her body gave in to what his fingers were doing for her, the sound of his name on her lips did him in. Jay was torn between wanting to hear her voice and wanting to cover her sweet mouth with his own. But kissing her was crossing the line and he knew it would then become too personal. He had never even expected to come to this point with Melanie let alone get close to her with feelings and shit.
When her breathing became somewhat shallow and her leg went lax against his, Jay removed his hand reluctantly. Hell he wanted to taste her so bad, leaving her like this was going to fucking kill him.
Well, she did say he could do “anything.” And he didn’t really care if she wasn’t expecting more because a simple finger bang was not his definition of leaving a girl satisfied.
He moved down the bed and skipped any unnecessary words. She knew exactly what he was going to do when he pulled her panties down and spread her legs, and she didn’t say a word either until his lips kissed up her thigh and his tongue licked across her center. Again, the sound of her voice and her obvious enjoyment of what he was doing to her sent a jolt of satisfaction spiraling through him. Her encouragement was enough to cheer on an entire fucking team, but the affirmation was his and his alone and he going to enjoy every damn ounce of it.
He was aware of every sound, every movement, and every reaction to everything he did. He especially loved how sensitive she was whenever he sucked on her. That giggle of hers was weakening, especially when she tried really hard to stay still. It was a challenge that he beat her at easily because she couldn’t hold still if her life depended on it.
The calm before the storm was something new. She’d been fairly quiet for several seconds, which made Jay curious, but then he could tell the second her orgasm hit. “Ohhhh my God, Jay,” she moaned in a low voice. It was so fucking sexy he was a bit disappointed that their little friend adventure was going to end soon. She gripped his hair so tight, the pain felt amazing. Then she removed her hands just as quickly like she hadn’t meant to touch him. He wanted to tell her to put them back, but he was too busy putting in the effort to let her ride her release as long as she could.
When the moments of her pleased state settled in, Jay returned to his side of the bed. He was somewhat propped up on an elbow though, waiting for Melanie’s reaction or some kind of verbalized comment about what they’d just done as “friends.” For some reason he just wanted to know that everything was still the same between them. If he’d fucked that up, he wouldn’t be able to deal with himself. But silence was all he got for quite a while. Only a minute had passed, which wasn’t a lot, but it seemed like an hour.
“Thank you, Jay,” her soft voice broke the silence.
At the same time, she turned toward him, causing his entire body to freeze instantly. He thought she was going to curl up against him or expect him to hold her for the rest of the night and he was way too damn hard to allow it. But he felt her hands on his chest, pushing him back against the bed, so he willingly obliged. He did not, however, expect that her hands would now be against his hips, and she moved on the bed until she was straddling his legs.
“What are you doing, hon?” he asked, even though it was perfectly clear that she was sliding down his underwear.
“For a self-proclaimed bed master, you sure ask what’s going on quite a lot,” she answered him.
He could hear the smile on her lips, and just picturing it caused a five-second debate to go on inside his head. Fuck yeah, he wanted her mouth on him. A shower after she went back to sleep was more of what he was counting on, but leave it to Melanie to give him zero choice in the matter, because the second he felt her hot tongue run a line from base to tip was the second he lost every ounce of doubt.
Oddly enough, he was extremely relaxed. For once he was in the comfort of his own bed. That was a first. And he was with Melanie, the girl who had seen almost every side of him and was still a loyal friend, but also the girl that he’d allowed himself to fantasize about more than a dozen times since he’d met her. But this was definitely no dream and he was going to enjoy every moment of getting this out of his system. He was going to memorize her perfect amount of tongue, hard and soft, shallow and deep, hand and no hand— And hell, the soft noises that came out of her that matched the ones from earlier.
Jay could feel her shift on the bed, off to the side of him now. She was still working his cock like she owned it, and as far as he was concerned, he would gladly give it a permanent home with her. He wished the room had more light so he could see her in action. He also just kinda wanted to see her ass. The darkness made him think of a nightlight, which led to wondering if that’s why she was still awake…
But whatever the fuck she was doing to him now only allowed his thoughts to stray for two seconds because he released a groan that he wasn’t expecting. He was just about to warn her he was going to come but she told him to go ahead before he even said anything. That’s all she said. “Go ahead.” Granted, she was busy down below, moving him right along, but he appreciated the simplicity of it since this was only a friends-with-benefits session. Anything more that was said could only be awkward later on.
But hell, she either loved the fact that he was releasing like a kinked hose or she was just really good at faking it. Holy fucking shit, the mix of pleasure and relaxation was a welcomed relief, and Jay felt drowsiness settle in the second she was done and laid next to him without a word.
***
Jay was slow to wake the next morning. His face was shoved into the pillow but it felt different. When he moved it tickled his nose, and when he breathed in, he could smell her.
He pulled his head away from Melanie’s and she stirred slightly. Of course he had his arm around her again and of course he was right up against her. His leg was also entwined between hers and of course she was in just a pair of panties and a t-shirt.
He reached for the bedding—which was mostly on his side—and threw it over her, tucking it against her back as he scooted away. Jay could he hear a laugh come from under the blanket, which he’d accidentally thrown over her head.
Melanie flung it off her face and said, “You’re such a freaking bed hog. I’d be covered, but you keep stealing the covers.” Her back was still to him but she glanced at him over her shoulder. “And if you’ve noticed, I’m on my side of the bed not yours. You’re like a needy puppy that has to burrow in for a nipple.”
He could feel his jaw go slack and he quickly glanced toward her covered chest without meaning to. How much had he fondled her in his sleep? And what the fuck else did he do?
“I don’t mean literally,” she added with a laugh, turning on to her back. “I just know you like your space, and I tried to give it to you, but for the record, you kept trekking your way over until I finally had nowhere else to go.”
He shrugged as he climbed off the bed and found his pants. “Well I’m used to having the whole thing. Sorry if I bothered you.”
“Oh, I li
ke it,” she replied with a big smile. “I’m the affectionate one, remember?”
She was teasing him just like any other day and Jay was relieved that nothing seemed different between them. When he glanced at the clock to see how much sleep he’d gotten he yelled, “Ah, fuck!” and yanked his pants on. It was ten-thirty in the morning and he was three hours late to work. He scrambled around for his phone to check for a message from Beck or Kyle, but there wasn’t one. He called anyways, just to explain that he’d gotten in late.
“No worries, man,” Beck assured him. “It’s slow as fuck today anyways. I figured you got in really late last night and I wasn’t even expecting you.”
Then they had a short conversation about the Boss again. The first one was in the truck while they headed home because Jay was stoked about the car he was towing behind him. Beckett gave him the shocked and eager response he expected, and that made Jay even more excited to get started on it.
By the time he got off the phone, he could hear Melanie in the shower. He finished getting dressed as quickly as he could and left the room. So… The first five minutes of a ‘morning after’ reaction went well. He could only hope it wasn’t a fluke.
When she entered the kitchen, Jay was still searching for something decent to eat. He pulled out a package of frozen burritos, looked them over for a second, and was about to toss them back in the freezer when Melanie took them from him.
“That actually looks really good,” she said, removing one from the package. “I’m starving. Can I have two?”
“Have ‘em all,” he couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sure baby’s starving, too.”
She already had them both unwrapped and was working on a third and fourth when all she did was smile. “Want a pair?” she asked as she set four burritos on a plate in the microwave.
