by Jami Alden
His brain struggled to compute. A little time off between relationships he understood, but how in the hell could a woman who looked like Sadie end up in a two plus year dry spell?
"Don't look so horrified," she laughed at what must have been his stunned expression. "People live without sex. Though I'm sure someone like you wouldn't know," she said and gave him a knowing look from under her lashes.
"Someone like me?" he repeated.
"Well it's no secret you were getting your share of action in high school I can't imagine that's changed."
"Oh really?" he said, his feet stepping in time as he maneuvered her through the crowd.
"Girls talk."
"Yeah? What do they say?"
"Lots of things." she said with a cocked eyebrow and speculative grin. His blood warmed even further at the idea of Sadie whispering about him and the things he did with other girls, maybe fantasizing about having him do them to her.
"Give me an example," he squeezed her hip in encouragement.
"Well, for example, Debbie Fleming reported that while your equipment was impressive, the whole thing was over in less than a minute."
Dylan felt his cheeks flame and his steps faltered, nearly sending them to the floor as he remembered his first time. It had been his sophomore year and he'd managed to convince Debbie Fleming, a senior to go parking with him. It had been urgent and awkward, and as Debbie had reported, embarrassingly short.
Sadie's laughter echoed above the music as he righted them and pulled her even more firmly to him. Heat surged between his legs, making his cock swell against the fly of his jeans.
Embarrassing as the memory was, he couldn't contain his own laugher. "Poor Debbie. At least she said I had nice equipment."
"I believe the word she used was impressive," Sadie said, her own cheeks flushing a delicious shade of pink.
He knew it was all kinds of stupid, but he couldn't stop himself from closing the last few millimeters between them. From pulling her hips into his so she could get an idea of just how impressive. "I'd like to think I've improved a bit over the years."
"I'm sure you have." Her teeth closed over her plump bottom lip as her cheeks flamed hotter.
His mouth watered at the idea of sucking it gently between his own lips. His muscles tensed as lust surged, hot and urgent through his veins. Every nerve in his body urged him to drag her out of there and take her back to his bed where he could show her every one of the skills he'd developed in the years since that bumbling encounter in with Debbie Fleming in the back seat of her mom's Subaru.
His lips tingled, on their way to covering hers as his head swirled with how much fun it would be to break Sadie's two year dry spell.
The thought was like a bucket of cold water pouring all over his bad intentions.
A stark reminder of why he could not cross that line. A woman who went that long without sex didn't take it lightly. She didn't do casual sex, and that was all he head to offer.
As the song wound down he started to pull away. But he couldn't resist pressing his lips to her smooth cheek. "Thanks for the dance."
###
Brady could feel every muscle in Molly's body tense as he pulled her close. Heat pooled in his stomach at the feel of her lush curves pressing into him. Her blond curls tickled at his stubbled chin, and he stifled a groan as her warm, floral scent washed over him.
From the first moment he'd laid eyes on her nearly a year ago, every cell in his body had gone on high alert. Blonde hair, big blue eyes. An angel's face on a body built for sin.
Every caveman instinct had gone haywire, urging him to grab her by the arm and drag her back to his proverbial cave.
Two things stood in his way. One, the big, sparkly rock she sported on her left hand. And two, the fact that for some reason he could never quite put his finger on, she had seemed to hate him on sight.
Oh, she was sweet as pie and nice as all get out to anyone else she interacted with. That snotty, tight-assed, too good for you thing seemed to be reserved especially for him.
Which told him she felt the heat crackling between them as much as he did, though she'd sooner eat a pile of dog shit than ever admit it.
Normally he would have given her a wide berth, ignored her bad attitude. After all, it wasn't like there weren't plenty of other women out there who liked him just fine.
But he couldn't resist busting her chops, pushing her buttons. Like an eight-year-old boy pulling his cute classmate's braids, if he couldn't get her to like him, he could damn sure make her pay attention to him.
"So Joshy boy is falling down in the bedroom department?" he said, tightening his arm across her back, anticipating her move to pull away.
"Like I said, he's been really busy," she said through clenched teeth. "Not that it's any of your business."
He didn't know what made him angrier. The idea of Molly giving it up for a tool like Josh, or that Josh wasn't availing himself to her gorgeous body every chance he could get.
Or worse, leaving Molly high and dry while he got it somewhere else.
"Yeah, you said that," Brady murmured, moving her across the dance floor, keeping perfect time to the music. "I can see being too busy to plan a wedding." He slid his hand down her back, until it hovered just above the lush curve of her ass. "But if I were with you, no way in hell I'd ever be too busy for sex."
She made a little disdainful sound and tipped her head back. She somehow managed to look down her nose at him even though he was nearly a foot taller. Her blue eyes were narrowed in a glare, sparkling with irritation. "Please. You are the last guy in the world I'd ever get involved with."
Stupid for that to sting him. Not like she hadn't made it crystal clear from the get go.
He danced her over to the edge of the floor, past the jukebox until he had her in a corner next to the bar. He bent his head. "I wouldn't get involved with me either. I know I'm not the guy you want a relationship with."
"Nice that you're so self aware," she said and tried to push past him.
Blocking her with his body, he bent his head until his lips nearly brushed her ear. "But if you're looking for someone to fuck you long and hard all night long, I'm your man."
He caught her hand just before it connected with his cheek, brought it to his mouth and planted a hot kiss in the center of her palm. "Let me know when you're ready to take a walk on the wild side."
He turned, just in time to see Josh the tool walk through the door, scanning the crowd, no doubt looking for Molly.
The satisfaction he felt at seeing the flash of heat in her gaze, her soft lips parting instinctively with arousal, turned into a sour pit in his gut.
He shook his head, ambled up to the bar, ordered a Wild Turkey with a Coors chaser.
Molly was a smart girl. But like a lot of smart girls, she was wasting her time on a self-centered idiot who would never appreciate her.
Not that he cared, he though as he tossed back the shot.
Yeah, maybe a dozen or so more shots, maybe you'll actually believe that.
Chapter 6
It was a stupid cliché, but Sadie really did feel like she was walking on air as she and Dylan made their way back to the table.
Even the sight of Josh, slumped back in his chair, sipping a beer while Molly talked to him wasn't enough to stifle the warm glow emanating from her belly.
For the first time in her life, Dylan had finally seen her. Not as the awkward girl, the friendly acquaintance eager to help with Geometry because that was the only way get close to him. Not even as the surprisingly attractive woman she'd become.
For the first time tonight, he'd seen her like he'd seen other women. As someone desirable, someone he wanted.
She hadn't missed the flare of awareness in his eyes, the way his skin had seemed to heat while she taunted him with past gossip . And there was no missing the swell of his arousal brushing against her as he held her pressed against him..
Impressive indeed.
Yeah, Debbie had
thrown him under the bus, but Sadie was sure that was in part because just two weeks after he was with Debbie, he disappeared at a party with Andrea Goodman. And Andrea and all the girls after that had nothing but complimentary things to say about Dylan, size and performance wise.
He was so big I didn't even think it would fit, but it felt so good....
How many times had Sadie heard those stories, imagined Dylan touching her like that? Need hummed through her blood as she imagined him touching her, licking her, fucking her.
And she knew, she just knew, that he'd been thinking it too.
Her body hummed with energy despite her recent sleepless nights as she imagined what might happen when they got back to the ranch. Would he make a move tonight? Should she say something to make it clear she would be receptive? She tried to catch his eye, but Dylan had pulled out his phone and was fixated on the screen.
"Hey you!"
Dylan finally looked up from his phone, but his wide smile was aimed not at Sadie but at a point over her shoulder.
A cloud of perfume flooded her nostrils as she saw Molly quickly hide a grimace behind her own smile.
Sadie turned, her stomach turning over as she saw the woman standing behind her.
At twenty eight, Colleen Murphy was still as depressingly perfect as she'd been in high school, Back then she'd pranced up and down the halls of Sweetgrass County High in a cheerleading sweater that showed off her firm, high breasts and a skirt that showed every line of her lean, muscular legs. Sadie still remembered how she'd pulled her perfectly smooth brown hair into a ponytail that bounced perkily with every step she took.
And she still remembered the way Dylan's eyes had followed that ponytail—not to mention all of her other bouncing parts—the spring of their senior year.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and watched as Dylan stood and pulled her into his big, strong arms, his delighted smile mirroring Colleen's toothy grin.
Colleen pulled back and smiled in greeting at everyone else. "Sadie," she said when her eyes lit on her, "you look amazing! Talk about growing into your looks!"
For all that Sadie wanted to read a dig into the other woman's words, she didn't see anything but sincerity in her eyes. That was always the problem with Colleen. As much as Sadie had always envied her, with her perfect hair, perfect body, and ability to make guys like Dylan pant after her, she'd always been nice to everybody, including a studious nerd like Sadie. "You look great too," trying not to choke on the words.
Her smile froze on her face as Colleen pulled up a chair right next to Dylan and proceeded to catch everyone up on the last few years of her life, about her work in Billings as an ER nurse. Sadie didn't catch much over the roaring in her head, over the sick twisting in her stomach at the way Colleen kept touching Dylan's arm, throwing her head back to laugh at everything he said.
At the way Dylan grinned right back at her, the warmth in his gaze echoing the way he'd looked at her just moments before.
You wanted him to look at you like he looked at other women, she told herself harshly. Well he did, and now you see exactly how meaningless it is, how stupid you were to read anything into it.
The acknowledgement wasn't enough to ease the sting as she watched Dylan escort a laughing Colleen to the dance floor, hold her just as close as he'd held Sadie, their two dark heads bent close as she said something that made him throw his head back with laughter.
Guys like Dylan don’t ever end up with girls like you.
The disdainful words echoed in her head as clearly today as they had that long ago afternoon in the girl's locker room.
Sadie and Molly had been dawdling after gym class—Sadie's doing because she couldn't bear the idea of showering and changing in front of everyone, despite Molly's admonishments that everyone was too busy worrying about what they looked like naked to bother looking at her.
"I don't see you rushing to strip down," Sadie said, quickly pulling on her underwear under the cover of her towel. Then she turned her back to Molly, and slipped on her bra and t-shirt before letting the towel drop to the floor.
"I'm not the one making us late to calculus. Molly had put on he bra and pulled on her low rise flare jeans and was rubbing her hair with a towel by the time Sadie turned around.
"Have you decided what you're going to wear to prom?" Molly said as Sadie ran a brush through her wet tangles.
Sadie gave her a scoffing laugh. "I would if I were going."
"Come on, I told you you could go with me and Josh," Molly said as she tugged her shirt over her head.
"Right, I'm sure he'd be thrilled to have me tagging along."
"It won't be like that," Molly protested as she tried to put her blonde curls into some semblance of order. "It'll be a whole big group of us. We're getting a limo and a room at the Grand and everything."
"And I get to watch you all get drunk and make out all night? No thanks."
"I hate to think of you home alone when we're all out having fun." Molly said, her big blue eyes imploring. "It's still a week away, plenty of time to find a date."
Sadie shook her head. "There's no one I'd want to go with."
"Oh, I bet there's one person," Molly said teasingly. "Sadie and Dylan, sitting in a tree—"
"Shut up!" Sadie said and swatted her on the arm. "As if he'd ever."
"He might," Molly said. "I don't think he has a date yet."
"You really think Dylan Decker would take you to prom?"
Sadie and Molly whirled and saw Jennifer Kramer peeking around a row of lockers. Her wet hair was slicked back and nothing but a bra and panties covered her taut form sculpted by gymnastics and cheerleading. Her dark eyes were narrowed, and Sadie felt herself try to shrink, the same way she had the first time she'd been first subjected to Jennifer's withering stare back in fifth grade.
"He already asked Colleen. And even if he hadn't, guys like Dylan don't ever end up with girls like you."
She felt Jennifer's scathing look scrape up her body, and though she didn't say it, she knew exactly what the other girl was thinking. Nerd. Loser. Stork. Giraffe girl.
"And they don't end up with mean, shallow bitches like you, " Sadie said, miraculously finding her tongue.
"Hey, at least I have a date to prom."
"And at least I'll graduate with honors and won't have to do summer school," Sadie snapped. She turned to leave, her face burning, vision blurred with angry tears.
She heard Molly exchange a few choice words with Jennifer as she fled through the door.
"Don't listen to her, Sadie," Molly said when she caught up to Sadie. "She doesn't know what she's talking about."
"I know." But inside she was seething. With the knowledge that Jennifer was right. As nice as Dylan was to her, she knew he never looked at her twice. Never followed her with his eyes as she walked down the hall.
He didn't think about her like he thought about Colleen.
Later that afternoon as she made her way through the parking lot. She made the turn down the row where her car was parked, and the lump in her throat swelled to the size of a bowling ball.
As if to add insult to injury, Colleen had parked right next to her. She was sitting on the hood of her car. And sitting next to her, his arm draped loosely over her shoulder, was none other than Dylan. On her other side, wearing a shit-eating grin, was Jennifer.
Sadie watched, wishing the earth would swallow her up, as Jennifer leaned over and said something to the couple.
Any hope Sadie had that Jennifer wasn't talking about her disappeared when Colleen and Dylan's eyes immediately locked on her, then just as quickly dropped away.
But not quick enough that Sadie didn't see something in Colleen's and, worse, Dylan's eyes. Something infinitely worse than Jennifer's disdain.
Pity.
Fighting the impulse to round her shoulders and make herself disappear, she straightened up and walked purposefully to her car.
Studiously averting her gaze, she went to unlock her car.
<
br /> "Hey, Sadie," a too familiar voice said beside her. As always, she melted a little bit at the sound.
"Hey Dylan," she said, in what she hoped was a casual tone. She pasted on a smile and forced herself to meet his gaze.
"Listen, I wanted to ask you something."
"Yeah?"
"You don't have a date for the prom yet, do you?"
"No," she replied. Her heart started beating double time, tripping over itself as her mind raced with possibilities. Was he going to bail on Colleen so he could go with her? Had she misread the pity in his eyes? Had he been waiting for her to reveal her real feelings, namely that she'd been madly in love with him for years.
"Because Charlie Morris—he's in biology with me—he doesn't have a date either. Maybe you could go with him?"
Never let it be said she didn't have an active fantasy life, she thought as she let out a sharp laugh. It was either that or cry. She knew Charlie Morris, and liked him just fine. He was even cute, in a slightly built, perfectly groomed, totally opposite of Dylan way.
He was also, Sadie was 99.99% sure, as in love with Dylan as she was.
"That's really sweet of you to try to set me up, but I'm good."
Sadie had stayed home on prom night and watched Titanic so she would have an excuse for sobbing into her bowl of extra buttery popcorn.
From what she'd heard from the rumor mill the following Monday morning, Colleen and Dylan left before the prom king and queen were even crowned, so eager were they to get to the Grand, where they spent the night together.
Alone.
Now, as she watched Dylan dancing her across the floor, she wondered if they were going to hit the hotel later for a replay.
She didn't want to stick around to find out. When Josh stood up to go to the bar and Molly ordered another round, Sadie raised her hand. "None for me," she said, standing up too. "I'm taking off."
"You just got here," Molly protested. "It's only"—she paused to look at her watch—"nine-forty-five!"
"Even though I'm waiting to hear back from Mary, I still have to get up at the ass crack," she replied. And I'm afraid if I have to watch Dylan and Colleen for one more second, my vodka and tonic might make an encore appearance all over the floor.
