by Aria Ford
The feeling was hard to describe. I guess some might call it walking on air, which was kind of what I felt like. My win and Tanner’s declaration that I was the best lay he ever had was making me a little giddy. I know Tanner had a lot of experience and there was a long line of women left in his wake, but I was the best.
Maybe he was only saying it to make me feel good, but it didn’t matter. I believed him. I was going to hold on to that. Thinking of Tanner had been my favorite pastime this weekend. I did little else. I didn’t go out on Saturday in favor of sitting home with a pint of no-sugar ice cream and my thoughts of sex with Tanner. If only there had been more to work with. In all the fantasies I had, it had always been a long, marathon sex session, not the ten-minute quickie in the pool.
I wanted him something fierce. Thinking of his dick buried deep inside me had a way of making me instantly wet. I wanted him. Again. What could be wrong with two healthy, young people choosing to be with one another? My brother needed to get a grip. The fact Tanner had been at my meet and Brian hadn’t, even though he was in town, said something.
My phone alarm beeped, telling me it was time to head to practice. I couldn’t wait to see Tanner, so I had been pacing my apartment, ticking off the minutes. For once, the coach had seemed pleased with my performance.
“Thanks,” I said when one of my teammates congratulated me on the way out. I didn’t want to waste even a minute and kept walking past. I had a date with Tanner.
When I walked into the pool area, there were several other swimmers in the pool. A single trainer was working with them all. I was a little disappointed to see we had company. I had hoped to have Tanner all to myself with no witnesses.
Tanner came in behind me. “Bummer. Why don’t we do some toning and strengthening? We don’t need to be in the pool.”
I shrugged. “Works for me. Where?”
“We can use the gym here, but it would probably be better if we went to a better equipped gym. Do you still have that gym membership?”
“Yes, not that I use it all that much.”
“You will. That is going to be part of our regular training. You need to strengthen your muscles. It will increase the power in every stroke, propelling you faster and farther,” he said.
“Fine. Let’s go. Are you driving or me?”
“I am not crawling into that tin can you call a car. We’ll take my truck.”
We headed to the gym. When we pulled into the parking lot, he stopped me from getting out. “Wait.”
“What’s up?”
“Let me take you out tomorrow.”
“What?”
Now I was confused. He went from not wanting anything to do with me to wanting to take me out. Hot and cold much?
“I want to take you out. Like, dinner, you know?”
As if I had to think about it. “Sure, that’d be great.”
“Good. Now let’s get in there and get your money’s worth out of that membership.”
I had to keep myself from bouncing across the gym parking lot. I have been crushing on him for years, and yeah, we’d had a nice quickie in the pool, but it wasn’t exactly the dream. A real date. Did that mean he wanted an actual relationship? So many questions and no answers. There was no way she could come right out and ask him about his intentions. Brian had made it very clear guys hated that.
We worked out for a couple of hours before heading back to the pool. Brittany was there, waiting for us.
“Finally. Where’d you two go?” she asked.
“To the gym,” I told her.
She nodded, looking at me and then at Tanner.
“I think we’re done for now,” Tanner said. “I’m going to head out. I’ll text you later,” he said, giving me a telling look.
“Okay, see you tomorrow,” I said, doing my best to hide the excitement in my voice. I didn’t want to appear too eager.
I grabbed my bag and made my way to the locker room.
“What was that?” Brittany squealed, following me into the locker room.
“What was what?” I asked, doing my best to play the innocent.
I was quickly changing into the shorts and T-shirt I had in my bag.
“Uh-uh, you are not getting off that easy. You got something to tell me, and I want to hear every detail. They better be dirty details. Hurry up and get dressed. I’m starving. Let’s get a pizza and then go back to your place,” she said, holding out her painted red nails.
I shook my head, “Why do you insist on getting manicures when you know the pool is going to destroy it.”
She shrugged. “Because I like nice nails. So do men, Lindsey. Maybe you should try it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. I’m ready; let’s go.”
We stopped by Papa Murphy’s and got a thin-crust veggie pizza to cook at my apartment. I popped the pizza in the oven, set the timer, and grabbed a couple of Diet Cokes out of the fridge.
“Okay, now tell me everything,” Brittany said, stretching her feet out to rest on my coffee table.
“What do you mean? I don’t even know what you keep insinuating,” I said with my most innocent expression.
“Bullshit, girl. I have known you way too long. Is there something between you and Tanner? There were literally sparks flying between you. I was a little afraid I’d get burned in the crossfire.”
I laughed. “No. Don’t be so dramatic.”
“Liar. Spill.”
I sighed. It wasn’t like she was going to run and tell Brian. Hell, we’d both been lusting after Tanner since we were like ten and he had hit puberty.
“I slept with him,” I said, only a little embarrassed.
She looked at me, stunned at first then squealed, “You did! No way! You bitch. Why didn’t you tell me?”
I laughed. “Uh, because I didn’t feel like bragging about a quickie in the pool.”
“Gross. Not our pool, I hope.” She wrinkled her nose.
“No, actually the school pool.”
She didn’t look all that appeased but brushed it aside. “And?”
“And what?”
“Details, girl. Give me details. Is he big? Is he good? I bet he’s good. With as many women as he’s slept with, he has got to have picked up some really good tricks,” she carried on.
I sighed. “It was over and done really fast,” I started.
“No! Don’t ruin my image of him. Seriously? He’s a minuteman?” She groaned, acting as if her world had been forever ruined.
“Not like that. It was, I don’t know, like heat of the moment. We were in a public place. It wasn’t like we had a lot of time for foreplay. And it was fabulous. Brief but amazing,” I said, slightly dreamy.
“You’ve got to do him again. Give him a chance to redeem himself,” she said with authority.
I took a long drink from my soda can. “I want to, but he says we can’t.”
“Oh my God. What did you do?” she asked in horror.
I rolled my eyes. “Not that. He says Brian would not be okay with us having a thing.”
“Bullshit,” she said, flicking invisible lint from her shorts.
Now I was feeling a little offended.
“He said I was the best he ever had,” I said in a haughty tone.
She threw her head back and laughed. “And you believed him?”
She had confirmed what I had been too afraid to believe. What if it had been a line? What if he was placating me? Tomorrow was a “too bad you’re a crappy lay” dinner.
The timer beeped, and I jumped up to pull the pizza out of the oven, grateful for the distraction.
“I’m happy for you, Lindsey. Really. I think he’s into you. You’re going to get him. You’ll see,” she said, winking before taking a bite of pizza.
I secretly hoped she was right. I didn’t want to start having feelings for him, but if I was being honest with myself, I already had them.
Chapter 9
Tanner
I took one last look in the mirror, something
I had done three times already. I had no idea why I was putting so much effort into my looks. I already knew she was into me. The woman had seen me whine when I scraped my knees and saw my heartache when my high school girlfriend dumped me. Maybe that’s what was so great about Lindsey. She had seen me at my worst and was still interested. We knew everything about each other. There was none of that weird mystery that you always had to worry about when you were dating someone new.
We were cheating today by going out for dinner and skipping practice. We both knew it, but in my mind, we could make up for it. Maybe do a two-a-day or train on Sunday. Tonight was important. I wanted to show her I thought more of her than a quick fuck in the pool. Even if we could never have a real relationship, there was no way I wanted her to think that’s what I thought of her. I would kick any guy’s ass for treating her the way I had. I had to make up for it.
I pulled up to her apartment, took a deep breath and headed up the stairs to the second floor. I knocked, fighting back the little bundle of nerves currently in residence in the pit of my stomach. I hadn’t felt like this since I’d been in high school. It was weird, and I didn’t think I liked it.
“Hi,” she said, pulling open the door.
I lost my breath, literally lost my breath, when I saw her. She was fucking hot. How in the hell had I not fucked her before last week? I stepped back to take in the sight of her wearing a red mini skirt paired with a black halter. She had her hair loose and hanging down her back. I could tell she was wearing a little more makeup than usual, but I didn’t mind.
“Wow,” I muttered, not sure what else to say, unable to find the words that would do her justice. “You’re beautiful, Lindsey. Truly gorgeous.”
She smiled, revealing a set of perfectly white, straight teeth. “Thanks. Ready?”
“Yes.” I nodded, but maybe saying that was optimistic. No man would have been ready in their fantasies for the way she looked tonight.
She grabbed a tiny black purse and shut the door. I waited for her, motioning for her to go in front of me. I placed my splayed hand at the small of her back and guided her down the stairs. Once we reached my truck, I opened the door and helped her get in. The skirt had ridden up her thigh, and it had been a darn short skirt to begin with.
I jogged around the front of the truck and jumped in.
“Where we going?” she asked.
“A little place I think you’ll love.”
“That sounds mysterious,” she said, her voice light and airy.
I drove to a little pub that overlooked the beach. It was off the beaten path. Tourists didn’t know about it, which meant it remained one of our best-kept secrets in the area. I loved to go there. It was relatively quiet, and the view of the ocean was spectacular.
We pulled into the dirt parking lot. “Oh, this is nice,” she said in a tone that was very obviously fake.
I laughed. “Trust me. You’ll like it. Fish and chips, clams, or even steak. These guys are master chefs.”
She nodded. “Sure, sounds good.”
I helped her out of the truck and once again placed my hand on her back in a protective gesture. We found a private booth toward the back of the relatively small pub.
“Hi, Tanner,” one of the waitresses said.
“Hey, Marge,” I greeted the middle-aged woman who had clearly smoked too much and drank one too many whiskeys.
“The regular?”
“Yep. Times two, please,” I told her.
Lindsey looked at me, more than likely not used to someone ordering for her.
“You’ll like it. Trust me.”
It was probably a little overbearing, but it was me. I wanted Lindsey to know the real me. I was alpha, aggressive, and maybe a little too domineering. That was me, and she needed to know all of me.
Marge brought back two cold Bud Lights in bottles and a platter of oysters, “Here ya go, hon. The rest will be out shortly.”
Lindsey looked at the beer and then at me. I thought she would scoff and demand a real restaurant. Instead, she surprised me by picking up the beer and taking a long swig.
“This reminds me of parties from high school days,” she said.
I laughed. “You didn’t do keg stands or use the beer bong?”
“I did, but then I graduated high school and realized I could drink beer from a bottle. Much more convenient,” she joked.
Our conversation glossed over my years in college, but Brian’s name was never mentioned.
“You kicked some ass at that meet on Saturday. I think you have a real shot at medaling,” I said, wanting her to know I was truly proud of her.
She smiled. “Thanks. It’s weird, huh? I mean, remember swimming at my house? We were all half-fish, but you and I, we seemed to have fins. At least that’s what my parents always said.”
“We’ve come a long way. I think your parents thought you were a little crazy. I don’t think even they could have imagined you would have really committed to swimming.”
“And you,” she started. “Your mom has got to be so proud. Tanner, you have really done well for yourself.”
I fought the urge to puff up and flex my muscles. “I’m buying her a new Beamer,” I said, eager to share the news with someone.
“No way! She is going to love it. You are such a good son. I would love to see the look on her face when she gets it,” Lindsey exclaimed. I watched as her lips wrapped around the beer bottle, her throat moving up and down as she swallowed. All thoughts of my mother disappeared. All I could think about was Lindsey’s mouth on me.
I was suddenly very uncomfortable. I shifted in my seat, trying to give the bulge in my pants a little room to breathe.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Fine. I’m fine.”
Marge showed up at the perfect time, delivering two big platters of classic fish and chips.
“Damn, this looks good,” she said, eyeing the crunchy golden strips of fish. “Don’t tell my trainer,” she whispered and winked at me.
I chuckled. “If I know your trainer, you have a grueling session ahead of you.”
She moaned. “Be nice. This looks too good to pass up. Bringing me here and not letting me eat is just cruel.”
I watched as she dipped a piece of fried fish in the homemade tartar sauce before putting it to her lips and taking a bite.
“Good?” I asked, watching as she took another bite. I was obsessed with her mouth, and I wanted it on mine.
“It is so good. I think this may be my new favorite place to eat.”
We both dug in, devouring the food on our platters. She only drank the one beer and switched to water. I followed her lead.
We chatted about the old times, growing up and some of the silly shenanigans we got into. Once our meals were finished, we sat and talked for another thirty minutes. I enjoyed her company. It was weird. I rarely allowed myself to open up to a woman. I liked to keep it all superficial, sex and maybe minor chitchat.
“Ready?” I asked, fighting the urge to kiss her.
“Yep.”
We stood, and I took her hand, leading her out of the restaurant.
The drive home was filled with tension, and we barely said a word. When I pulled into the parking lot, I put the truck in park and shut it off. We sat there for several long seconds.
“Do you want to come up?” she asked.
I hesitated a brief second and found I couldn’t deny her. “Sure.”
We climbed the stairs, neither of us talking. Once again, the sexual tension between us sizzled. I could practically feel the sparks flying.
She fished the keys out of her purse. I stood behind her, less than an inch from her body. I watched as her hands shook with nervous energy as she slid the key into the lock. In one smooth move, she turned the handle and pushed the door open.
I followed her in, gently shoving her inside, giving me enough room to shut the door behind me. I reached out to grab her at the same time my foot kicked the door closed.
“
I want you,” I breathed.
I didn’t give her a chance to answer. My mouth slammed down over hers in a hot, intense kiss that was filled with all the pent-up passion that had been mounting for the last several days. I plunged my tongue between her lips, gently biting her bottom lip as my tongue swept inside her mouth.
I was out of my fucking mind with lust.
Chapter 10
Lindsey
It felt like I was wrestling a tiger. Tanner’s hands were roaming my body as he pushed against me. His mouth was on mine, kissing, sucking, biting, and then licking. My senses were overloaded by his passion-filled kisses.
“You’re mine, Lindsey. You’re all fucking mine,” he was saying near my ear as he pushed me back and against a wall.
I wanted to answer him. Agree with him. Anything. I couldn’t. I was unable to form coherent words. I tried to mimic his actions. My hands ran up his sides, over those beautiful pecs and around his back. I ended up holding on to his back for dear life.
Before I knew what was happening, my little tank top was being yanked up my torso. My arms automatically went up as he ripped the shirt up and over my head.
“Tanner,” I mumbled, not exactly sure what I was asking for.
“I got you,” he forced out through kisses along my collar bone that trailed outward to my shoulder.
His hands were deftly working at unfastening my bra. I felt useless against his ministrations. I wanted to give myself completely, but felt like I was along for the ride instead of an active participant. I felt my breasts spring free. He yanked one strap down my left arm before pulling it off the other.
“Fuck, I love your tits. Perfect. Perfect,” he mumbled before his mouth opened and closed over one nipple while his hand massaged the other.
My fingers were digging into his back. I tried not to scratch, but the onslaught was more than my brain could process. All I could do was react. I reached for the bottom of his shirt and started tugging upward. I wanted to feel his naked chest.
“Bedroom. Now,” he demanded.
“Your shirt,” I managed to get out. I was topless, and he was still fully clothed.
