Waiting to Fall: Book Two of the Waiting Duet

by Alyson Reynolds

  I choked out a laugh. “You really have a way with words today.”

  “I’m just keeping it real.”

  I snorted. “Please, just stop now.”

  She sighed dramatically. “Fine, but you know you love it.”

  I shook my head and kissed her hair.

  If you only knew how much.

  The only problem was she hadn’t actually answered my question. I was lucky that she was forgiving me after the shit that I pulled. It wasn’t time to push right now. Sooner rather than later, Cora was going to have to let me in.

  I giggled as Finn’s hand snaked up my shirt. When I turned down the next row of books, his hand smacked my ass. We were being loud and someone was going to find us in the stacks. Finn’s husky chuckle hit my ears as I turned to glare at him over my shoulder. Several people shushed us without truly looking in our direction. He grabbed my hand and tugged me deeper into the rows. I would forever associate the smell of old books with Finn Crawford.

  “This is a horrible idea,” I whispered. Finn’s lips slammed down on mine and I sighed into his mouth. My fingers threaded through his hair as I leaned into him. His hips pinned me against a bookshelf while his hands cupped my face.

  I didn’t even want to consider how he’d found this place. The green-eyed monster might make an appearance if I did. Finn slipped his hand up my skirt and I gasped. His lips brushed along the shell my ear.

  “You have to be quiet, Princess.”

  I bit my lip and nodded. This was harder than I thought it would be. Finn pushed against me and my hip knocked a few books off the bookshelf next to us. The loud thud made me jump, but not as much as hearing Nate’s voice.

  “What the fuck? Finn?”

  Finn tugged his hand back quickly and stepped in front of me, shielding me from our friend. My heart raced in my chest, but I couldn’t let Finn take all the blame for this. I tried to step out from behind his back, but he wouldn’t let me.

  “Nate, you need to go. I’ll talk to you about this later.”

  “Is this your mystery girl?”

  “Damn it, Nathaniel. Get the fuck out of here. Don’t make me punch you.”

  I could vaguely see him through the sleeve of his shirt, but Finn was keeping me completely covered. Nate held up his hands. “Fine, sorry. I’m gone.”

  I waited a few more seconds before straightening up. Finn rubbed the back of his neck. His tell. He was never a good poker player because when he felt guilty or was bluffing, he rubbed his neck. What the hell was up with that?

  “I’m so sorry, Princess,” he whispered. “We have to get you out of here. I don’t want him to see you as we go by, but I’m not leaving you here by yourself.” I could see him warring with his indecision.

  “Give me a second to get myself pulled together,” I said quietly as I pulled my skirt back into place and straightened my ponytail. “That was really close. And what did he mean by mystery girl? Is that what you’ve been calling me?”

  Finn whipped his head around to me. “That’s the part you focused on? Not the fact that we almost got caught by Nate?”

  “Well if we hadn’t been here in the first place, he wouldn’t have found us,” I hissed.

  He winced. “I know, it was a really bad idea and I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine, but you owe me. I’ll think of something you can do later, but right now I’m pissed at you.”

  He kissed my nose. “Fine. We can decide on a punishment later.”

  I smirked. He really had no idea what I was going to do to him. Right now adrenaline was kicking in and my focus needed to be getting out of here without being seen, not trying to find a place to fuck his brains out. Just my luck, Nate would be hiding around the corner waiting to see who mystery girl was.

  “Okay, here’s the plan. I’m going to sneak out the back way and you’re going to go distract Nate. Will you drop off my backpack at my dorm later? I left it in your room.”

  “Of course. I’ll text you to let you know when I’m on my way.”

  “Start thinking of things you can do to make this up to me.”

  He grinned wickedly and my lady bits tingled. That particular smile only appeared when he was thinking of all the naughty things he wanted to do.

  ____

  I was sitting at my desk reading a new romance novel I’d picked up when my phone chimed. As I looked down to see who had messaged me, Finn’s name flashed across the screen. Like always a huge smile covered my face.

  Finn: Ways to say I’m sorry for being such an ass

  Pizza

  Wine

  Kisses

  Me: This is a pretty weak plan dude.

  Finn: What if I added flowers to the mix?

  Me: Getting there…

  Finn: A romantic date, not just pizza.

  Me: And?

  Finn: I’ll give you multiple orgasms.

  Me: Bingo.

  I smiled even wider when my phone rang within seconds of my text. It would be funny if I sent him to voicemail, but I wasn’t so upset with him that I would be mean.

  “When do I get to start on this multiple orgasm situation?” He asked as soon as I answered.

  “What? No dinner first?” I teased. “I’m not that kind of girl.”

  “I’m planning on having you for dinner, but I’ll buy pizza for you.”

  I blushed and thanked my lucky stars he couldn’t see me right now. “You’re ridiculous. What are you doing right now?”

  “I’m standing outside your door holding your bag.”

  I leaned over from my desk and opened the door. He was standing in front of me holding my floral print bag with a big grin on his handsome face. Unconsciously I bit down on my bottom lip when I saw he had on those black hipster glasses that I loved so much.

  “I thought you were going to text before you came over.”

  “This is more fun. Where’s Hannah?” He asked as he walked inside, closing the door behind him.

  “She’s at her study group until nine.”

  His eyes flashed and he took a step towards me. “So you’re saying we have this whole room to ourselves for another forty-five minutes?”

  “Easy there cowboy, your sister is coming by anytime to pick up a dress.” He frowned and dug his phone out of his pocket. His fingers flew across the screen. “What are you doing?”

  His phone pinged with an incoming message and he smiled triumphantly. “She hasn’t left their house yet. I bet I can make you orgasm twice before she gets here.”

  My entire body tightened and his arms looped around my waist to move me to the bed. I laughed as he picked me up and tossed me down like I was a ragdoll.

  “I love that you still have on this skirt,” he said, as he tugged my panties to the side. I moaned as his fingers circled and teased me before slipping inside. “Naughty girl, why are you so damn wet?”

  “I was,” I gasped, “reading before you interrupted me.”

  His lips nipped at my neck and I arched against his hand. “What the fuck were you reading? You know what, I don’t even care, just keep reading it before we do this again.”

  I watched him through hooded eyes as he kissed his way up my leg. He grinned at me and I moaned lightly as he sucked on my clit through the white lace. My legs already felt like jello and we hadn’t even started. He moved back long enough to pull my panties down my legs and shove them in his pocket. I arched a brow at him, but then his tongue started working its voodoo magic on my pussy again and I was lost, panties totally forgotten.

  His arm wrapped around my leg and his hand sprawled over my stomach to hold me in place. He teased me, building me up to one hell of a release. His tongue moved slowly up my center and I writhed against him. When he released his cock from his pants and start jerking it as he licked me, I thought I was going to come just from that image alone. It was so fucking hot. I tightened around his fingers.

  “Are you close, Princess?”

  The comforter was clasped in my hands and I was
fighting back loud moans, biting down on my wrist to keep from crying out. I was so close and he knew it. He was drawing out my orgasm, taking his sweet ass time as he kept me right on the edge, but not actually letting me come.

  “Finn, please,” I begged. My voice was a breathy whisper. He had to hear the desperation in it.

  Every time he held me in place as I arched and tried to grind against him was sexy as hell. Everything he did was driving me insane, closer and closer to the edge. He peeked up at me through his dark lashes and I bit down on my lip. I was so close. My whimpers were getting louder, more moans than anything. His finger crooked inside me and found the perfect spot to send me soaring over the edge, all while his tongue continued to flick over my clit. He didn’t stop until my body stopped shaking.

  “That’s one.”

  The cocky tone he used made me glance up at him.

  I was lying there in a sated coma while he looked at me with that smug grin. As much as I wanted to make a smart ass comment, I couldn’t. I tasted myself on him as he bent down and kissed me. His tongue delved into my mouth and I clutched at his shirt, trying to pull him closer.

  “We don’t have time, remember? My sister will be here any minute.”

  I groaned and threw my arm over my face.

  “Why is it that I just came and I already want more? Plus, you said twice.”

  “You held on longer than I thought,” he teased. “Come over tonight.”

  “If she leaves early enough I will.”

  He tucked himself in his pants and buttoned them quickly. I could see just how worked up he was. I hoped that I could go later to help him work out some of that tension. He saw the look in my eye and winked before helping me stand up and straighten my clothes. His lips brushed my forehead once and he pulled back just as there was a knock on my door.

  For one split second I considered asking him if we could come clean. It would make things so much easier if we didn’t have to sneak around anymore. But then I wondered if that was part of what was so great between us. Did the secrecy make it hotter? Would there be anything there if we weren’t sneaking around? Finn straightened his shirt and I opened the door. Olivia looked surprised to see him standing there, but there was no suspicion on her face.

  “Hey guys,” Olivia said as she came in. “Did you get that dress out for me?”

  “Yeah, I did. Finn, I’ll text you later and let you know if I’m going to come.”

  My voice sounded normal. There wasn’t anything giving away my excitement or that we would be having wild monkey sex. All good things. Thank goodness Olivia didn’t question us hanging out more than normal, at least so far she hadn’t. She was still distracted with Nate and his decision about med school. We were definitely using it to our advantage.

  “Sounds good. Hopefully I’ll see you later then. Bye sis.”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets. My eyes widened as I suddenly remembered my panties that he’d shoved in there. Son of a bitch. His eyes flashed with amusement and he smirked, but he turned to go out the door.

  “Oh and if you come over later Cora, I’ve got you covered.”

  Smug bastard always had to have the last word.

  ____

  I sank back into the huge comfy cushions of the couch I was sitting on in the student union. It had taken some stalking, but I was able to get the best one of the lot. I was supposed to be studying, but I hadn’t even cracked a book yet. In fact my bag was still sitting at my feet unopened.

  My phone was in my hand, but I wasn’t really paying attention to what I was looking at. I jumped when my phone buzzed in my hand notifying me of an incoming text.

  Finn: A little birdie told me you have the good couch at the Union.

  Me: The little birdie would be correct, but I’m low on provisions.

  Finn: What are your demands?

  Me: Coffee and some of those butter cookies from Redfern.

  Finn: You make a tough bargain, but I get the corner right?

  Me: Fine.

  Me: There’s something I need to tell you…

  Finn: ???

  Me: Hannah knows.

  Finn: What the hell? I thought we weren’t telling people.

  Me: It’s a long story, but I’ll tell you when you get here.

  Things had been going so well. I hated to drop this on him now, but I needed to tell him that Hannah knew what was going on. I’d put it off for too long already. I took a deep breath. He wouldn’t be mad that Hannah knew, but he would be upset that he’d made me cry. He didn’t need to know exactly how bad it had actually gotten last week, but I’m sure he could guess. Hannah had been itching to tell him off for all the childish shit he’d pulled. Even though she wanted to throttle him, I was just thankful that I had someone to talk to about Finn now.

  Finally giving in, I grabbed a few books out of my bag and spread them out around me. I put one earbud in my ear and left the other one dangling so Finn wouldn’t scare the shit out of me when he walked up. He enjoyed scaring me anyway, so I wasn’t going to make it easy for him.

  My classes were actually interesting this semester and I loved that I was starting to get ideas of what I wanted to do after I finished up my degree. I hadn’t told anyone yet, but I wanted to become an investigative journalist. The only problem with my plan was that South Carolina wasn’t exactly a hotbed of activity that would get me a Pulitzer.

  “You look lonely over here, Princess.”

  I glanced up and smiled at Finn. “That was quick.”

  He kissed my cheek and handed me my coffee. I scooted over to make room for him to sit down next to me. “I’d already picked up the cookies,” he said, handing me the bag, “and was heading to the coffee shop when I texted you.”

  “Did you have breakfast at the Redfern or something?”

  His cheeks flushed. What the hell? Finn never blushed. “You said that you wanted them yesterday and I wanted to surprise you.”

  My heart melted a little bit. I looked down at the bag in my hand and picked at the edge of the white paper.

  “Thank you.”

  “Now, you owe me a story.”

  I groaned. “So I was kind of upset the night of the ice cream incident. She might have found me curled up in a ball crying on my bed. I don’t know how she knew there was something going on between us already, but she said that we would work it out. It shocked the hell out of me.”

  Finn grimaced. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Stop, we’ve already talked about it and we’re moving past all that shit.”

  “Can I make it up to you? Let me plan something for you.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Like a date?”

  He shrugged and popped a cookie in his mouth to buy a few seconds. “We don’t have to call it that.”

  I considered for a few seconds, long enough to make him sweat a bit.

  “Okay.”

  He looked shocked. “That’s it? You aren’t going to fight me on this?”

  “I wasn’t planning on it.” The corners of my lips turned up as I fought back a smile.

  “I had a whole argument prepared, bullet points and everything.”

  I laughed. “Well if you want me to say no.”

  “Definitely say yes.” He pulled his books out of his bag and placed them on the table in front of us. “I’m going to plan the best non-date you’ve ever been on.”

  I smiled and pulled my book back into my lap.

  “I’m going to hold you to it.”

  “Thanks again for letting me borrow your truck, dude.” I threw the last of the pillows and blankets into the backseat and shut the door behind me.

  Nate grinned. “No problem, but you really aren’t going to tell me who the girl is? It’s been like two months.”

  I shook my head. He had to know. Or maybe he was just trying to get me to admit it. “Not yet. We’re still trying to figure out if it’s serious.”

  “You’ve never gone to this much trouble before, so I would say it’s pretty dam
n serious, Finn.”

  I shrugged. “It’s nothing special.”

  “You’re kidding me right? Liv is going to be pissed if she finds out you are creating some wildly romantic evening, her words not mine, and I didn’t get details. I’ve never done anything like this for her. Shit man, you’re making the rest of us look bad.”

  Grinning, I replied, “There’s this thing called Pinterest. Girls have all sorts of stuff there. I was just lucky enough to find something doable.”

  Nate handed me his keys and shook his head. “Just don’t get arrested for public indecency.”

  I put my hand on my chest, pretending to be shocked. “What kind of guy do you think I am?”

  He laughed and I flipped him off as I climbed into the cab of the truck. I hoped Cora would like it, and from Nate’s reaction I was fairly certain she would. I tapped my fingers along the steering wheel, trying to get out some of my nervous energy before picking up my girl.

  Cora was waiting outside the dorms when I pulled up. She looked sexy as hell in tight jeans and a long black sweater. At least she had listened to me about dressing warm. Without thinking, I leaned over and kissed her cheek when she climbed into the truck. A light flush covered her cheeks.

  She cleared her throat. “So are you going to tell me what we’re doing yet?”

  “Nope, it’s a surprise.” I glanced over and she was biting down on her bottom lip. “What’s wrong, Princess?”

  “This is just a lot like a…date. We agreed that we would keep things simple, Finn.”

  I frowned. “This is just two friends hanging out, our non-date remember?” She still didn’t look convinced. “Can we please just live in the moment and not overanalyze things? Before we slept together, we would have done something like this, maybe I would have told you about what we were doing instead of planning it myself, but just let me surprise you this time. Please?”

  I watched her fight the indecision bouncing around in her head, but she finally nodded. We drove for the next ten minutes with her chattering away beside me about one of her classes and a group project she was dreading. I grinned to myself. Cora was always amusing, but I loved it when she got so animated. As we pulled into the old drive-in theater, her mouth dropped open in shock. I chuckled softly when her eyes darted to the pillows and blankets rolled up in the back seat.