by Caisey Quinn
“Happy New Year, Hollis,” he says once the man moves to the side.
This is insane. Who’s life is this?
I grin up at him. “Happy New Year, Jonah.”
His lips lands on mine and they’re gentle. Probably because they’re split and swollen. But he kisses me deeply, sliding his tongue against mine as his hands grip my waist and pull me closer.
The entire place erupts into pandemonium, almost as loud as the knock out caused, but I can’t tear myself from Jonah’s side.
Then something occurs to me and I lean away from him. “If you could’ve just ended the fight like that whenever you wanted, couldn’t you have done it sooner than five rounds?”
He waves a hand toward the audience. “These people paid to see a fight.”
“Next year’s celebration might seem a little dull compared to this,” I say into his ear.
He grins, one eye so swollen it’s no longer opening, but he’s still the sexiest man I’ve ever seen.
“I’ll promise you one thing, Hollis Rossi. Nothing with us will ever be dull.”
With that, he kisses me again and I officially fall completely and irrevocably in love with Jonah X.
Count it out, Ref. This girl is done for.
23
JONAH
SILENT NIGHT, HOLY NIGHT
“You need a shower,” Hollis tells me in the back of the luxury sedan taking us to my place. I rinsed the blood and petroleum jelly off at the arena, but she’s right.
“I need a sponge bath and a massage,” I retort. “Think any nurses are available that might be willing to give me one this time of night?”
She slaps me playfully on the chest. I took several solid shots to that area so I wince involuntarily.
“Oh God, Jonah. I’m so sorry.” She leans over and cuddles up to me gently. I breathe in the scent of her. God, I missed her scent.
“Definitely going to milk this for all it’s worth,” I admit.
She peers up at me from under her lashes. “You’re a mess.”
“I’m your mess now, Rossi.”
Once we get to my place, Hollis helps me out of my clothes and into a warm bath. She even puts bubbles, epson salt, and some type of lavender smelling oil in it because she’s extra like that.
My favorite overachiever.
Soon my sore muscles are relaxed and another part of me is anything but.
Hollis sits on the side of the tub tending to the wounds on my face. When she finishes, I decide it’s been too long since I’ve been inside my girl.
Reaching out, I pull her into the bath with me, pajamas and all.
“Jonah,” she squeals over her laughter. “My clothes.”
“Sorry about that,” I say just before kissing her softly on the mouth. “Guess you’ll have to sleep naked tonight.”
Together we remove her wet clothes and toss them out of the tub. They hit the floor with a heavy slapping sound but I’m too busy positioning her above my cock to care.
When she slides down onto me, the water makes it difficult to determine how wet she is but I know how to remedy that.
“Wasn’t there something on your list about sitting on my face?”
Her mouth drops open into a small o of surprise. “You read that?”
I grin wickedly at her. “Hell yeah I read it. I was trying to figure out how to skip directly to that one.”
She shakes her head. “Here I was thinking you might not have seen it.”
This girl. God love her. I damn sure do.
She moves slowly up and down on my shaft, digging her hands into my chest.
“Um, did you notice that one also said not to fall in love with you?” She looks me in the eyes. “Or make eye contact during sex?”
I lean back against the tub. “How’s that working for you?”
Her pouty bee-stung lips curve into a grin. “Not so great. Pretty sure I was already in love with you when that list was made.”
“Five out of six ain’t bad,” I offer. “Let’s make it five and a half.”
Apprehension stills her body.
“Stand up, Hollis.”
Her gaze locks on mine. I give her round ass a firm squeeze and a light smack.
“But you’re hurt, Jonah.”
“My tongue is fully functional. Stand. Now.”
She does as she’s told and I lean my head back on the neck cushion. I make a mental note to thank Erma for buying it. Probably leave out the details of how I’m about to use it though.
“Come here, sexy girl.” I pull her down to me and inhale the scent of her arousal. Hollis and lavender greet my tongue.
I french kiss her clit while she adjusts her knees beside my head. She doesn’t place her full weight on my face so I brace my hands on the backs of her thighs and pull her closer, until I’m buried tongue deep in her delicious cunt.
“Fuck, you taste so good,” I murmur against lips even more swollen than mine.
“Jonah,” she breathes. “Oh God.”
All memory of any pain is gone as Hollis whimpers and whines above me. I slide my tongue from her slit to the hood of her clit, up and down, over and over until she begins to thrust against my mouth. Dipping my tongue inside of her, I move my hands to her ass cheeks and dig my fingers in.
I pump my tongue in and out the way I would my cock until she comes. Her legs clamp on either side of my head while she rides out her orgasm.
Once she comes down, I lower her into the tub and onto my throbbing cock.
Her chest and neck are flushed bright red as she rides me slowly. Her body wants to go limp after the intense pleasure, but she’s determined to please me first. I grin at her and she presses her forehead to mine.
“I never knew it could feel like this,” she moans against my mouth. “God, that feels so good.”
“There’s plenty more where that came from,” I tell her.
As her arousal amps back up, she rides me harder, faster. Water sloshes out of the tub as I come inside her clenching heat.
“Fuck, baby. Fuck,” I cry out, giving into my release completely. Her pussy milks my dick and I realize she’s coming with me. “Come for me, gorgeous girl,” I encourage as we let go together.
“OhmyGod,” she whimpers, again and again in an endless stream.
When her body finally gives out, she lies on my damp chest and closes her eyes. The look of peaceful bliss on her face tells me she’s happy and safe in my arms.
For the first time in my entire life, I know exactly how she feels.
After we dry off and make love once more in my bed, I wrap my arms around her naked body.
She’s struggling to look me in the eye and I need to know what’s wrong.
“Hollis?” I lower my head and force her to look at me. “Everything okay?”
She nods, finally lifting her chin. “Yeah. I just worry a little…about whether or not you’re getting what you need. You know, from me. Because I’m inexperienced and all.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. “Believe me, you have nothing to worry about. Before you, sex was…” I struggle to find the right word. My head is still foggy and I’m exhausted down to my bones. “Impersonal. It was a means to an end. Technically solid but no points for style.”
“I get points for style?”
I let my hand run down the side of her breast, her waist, and the curve of her hip. “You score off the charts for style, sexy girl. And everything else.”
“Good answer.” She kisses the bruises on my chest and ribcage softly.
Hollis is sexual without trying. The way she moves, the way she pouts, the way she touches her mouth when she’s deep in thought. Her every mannerism makes me think of carnal sensual acts without her making any effort to do so.
“So I was thinking,” I begin, once she’s curled up to my side and still. “About this condo you’re wanting to buy.”
She props up on one elbow to look at me. “Yeah?”
“I looked into it and honestly, it needs
some work. Paint, electrical upgrades, new appliances.”
She frowns. “It’s fine, Jonah. I had it inspected. There’s nothing wrong with the electrical or the appliances. I can paint myself.”
I sigh. “Well I talked to Elaine. I told her about all the things you do at the bar for your family and she said the WDA could use someone with those skills to run the Marketing Department, if you’re interested. But it’s a demanding position. You have to travel with me, run the website and the social media. You might be too busy to work on fixing up your condo.”
Her eyes widen as if she’s no longer sleepy. “Shut up. Are you serious?”
I chuckle. “So you’re interested?”
“Of course I am. But what about your assistant? Are you really going to hire her nephew?”
I shrug. “Probably. He’s a good kid and a fast learner. He’s also interested in walking the dogs.”
Hollis sighs beside me but my heart is still trying to escape my chest. I can’t remember ever being this nervous.
“I’ll have to interview him. See if he’s good enough for the boys.”
I smile and rub her back in small circles. “I can arrange that. But seriously, I don’t think the condo is the best place for you. It’s not the safest neighborhood and—”
“I can get an alarm system,” she says.
I pretend to contemplate this. “You could. But I was thinking, since we’re going to be working together, traveling together, and all that, you could just move in here.”
Hollis goes completely still and silent beside me. I don’t think she’s breathing.
It’s too soon. I’ve freaked her out. Damn. I’ve fucked up again.
Within seconds her face is mere centimeters from mine.
“Jonah, I need you to be clear. Are you asking me to move in with you?”
I swallow thickly. “It doesn’t have to be tomorrow. And I understand if you don’t want to because of your family or—”
“Jonah,” she breaks in, taking my face in her hands. “I want to. My parents won’t love the idea, but I’m an adult. They’ll come around.”
I breathe a little easier. “Good. Because kidnapping you would’ve probably gotten me punched again.”
She stills suddenly and I glance down at her face.
“It was just a joke, Hollis. I wouldn’t really kidnap you.”
She shakes her head. “I keep meaning to tell you something and then I get distracted. But tonight, all during the fight, I kept wishing I’d already told you.”
I prop up on my pillow to get a better view of her face, throwing up silent requests to any higher power listening that this isn’t something bad. That she hasn’t changed her mind about us.
“What is it?”
She inhales deeply. Whatever it is, she’s gathering the courage to say it to my face.
“I love you, Jonah.”
My chest swells at her words. At the sound of her handing her whole heart over to me for safekeeping. I pull her back to me so we’re face to face.
“I love you, Hollis. So much more than I could ever tell you.”
She yawns, letting her body rest against mine. “Then I guess you’ll just have to show me.”
I intend to.
Every single day for the rest of our lives.
24
HOLLIS
SHOULD OLD ACQUAINTANCES BE FORGOTTEN, AND NEVER BROUGHT TO MIND?
The packed snow crunches beneath the tires of the Rover. I can hear it because my window is down as I scan the gold numbers on the side of the brick ranch-style homes.
“Here it is. One-sixty-four Maple,” I tell Jonah, while looking at the GPS app on my phone.
Jonah is quiet as he shuts off the engine once my window is rolled up.
He comes around and opens my door, helping me out of the SUV so I don’t fall on the icy sidewalk.
“You okay?” I watch his face for any telltale signs he wants to back out of this.
He nods. “I’m good. Just wish I’d done this a long time ago.” He squeezes my hand. “Thanks for coming with me.”
I squeeze his hand in response.
We walk arm in arm to the front door, neither of us missing the ramp to the left of the stairs. I ring the bell. There’s movement inside and the gray and white striped curtains covering the window shift noticeably.
I hear Jonah inhale deeply as the door swings open.
An attractive redhead around my age with whiskey-colored eyes and a sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of her nose opens the door.
“You must be Jonah,” she greets us. “And…”
“Hollis,” I offer.
“I’m Jen. Joey’s sister. Come on in,” she says, stepping back so we can enter.
The house smells clinically clean, like a doctor’s office or a hospital room. There’s a scented candle burning somewhere and possibly coffee brewing, but neither masks the medicinal scent permeating the air.
“Joey just finishing bathing. He’ll be out momentarily.” She glances toward the kitchen. “Can I get either of you something to drink? I have coffee.”
Jonah’s answering smile is tight. He’s nervous. “I’m good. Thank you, though.”
“We have a long drive home,” I tell her. “I’d better pass or we’ll have to stop half a dozen times.”
“Please, have seat.” She smiles warmly. “I’ll go check on Joey.”
As we lower ourselves onto a comfy gray couch, I reach over and wrap my hand around Jonah’s bicep, giving it a small squeeze for moral support.
He glances at me just as a stocky man with ink-black hair wheels himself into the room. He wears a pale blue button-down shirt and khaki pants. His hair appears to be in need of a cut but a definite effort was made to style it. I can’t help but wonder if it was for our benefit.
My stomach tightens as I feel the tension and guilt rolling through Jonah.
“Forgive me for not standing to greet you,” the man, Joey I’m assuming, says.
He’s younger than I pictured, but definitely has a few years on Jonah judging from the gray tinting his temples.
The silence is thick and heavy.
“It’s a joke, man,” he says, chuckling lightly. “Did you lose your sense of humor along with your looks?”
Jonah shakes his head. “I should’ve come by sooner.”
The man scoffs at him. “For what?”
Jonah shrugs. “To apologize in person. To see if you needed anything. To help out. Something.”
Jen steps out from behind Joey’s chair. “You do a lot, Jonah. We appreciate it. The house. The in-home nurse visits.”
Joey watches us closely. “I used to watch you fight. I bragged to the guys I play basketball with, telling them I was your first opponent.”
He’s trying to ease the tension, but Jonah can’t relax. His back is straight and his shoulders are rigid.
I nudge him gently.
“I think I’m done fighting now,” Jonah says quietly.
Joey nods. “I caught the New Year’s Eve event. You definitely still have one hell of a left hook.”
Jonah pulls in a deep breath. “What happened shouldn’t have happened, Joe. I’m sorry that it did. That I—”
“I was a punk ass kid,” Joey breaks in. “We both were. But you were younger and stronger and I was threatened by you. The other kids looked up to you. They respected you. They feared me. I bullied the shit out of you. And everyone else.” He shrugs. “If things had gone differently, it could be you sitting here now. You just got the better shot in first.”
“I never meant to—”
Joey cuts him off again by putting his hand up. “You were a fourteen-year-old kid, Jonah. I know you didn’t mean for me to fall backward and hit the damn bathroom sink the way I did. That part was an accident. Or maybe God’s way of stopping me from hurting anyone else. In some ways, I got what I deserved. I was a dick fully intent on causing pain to relieve my own.”
I hear Jonah exhale beside me. “
No one deserves this. You were a kid, too. We’d all been through a lot of shit.”
Joey nods. “Look at us now. We came out okay.”
Jen smiles sweetly down at her brother. “If he hadn’t been hospitalized, I might never have found him. We went into the system at different times. I was adopted when I was five and had to scour the Earth to find my big brother.”
“I’m glad you found each other,” I say softly, not wanting to intrude on Jonah’s discussion. “But I know it kills Jonah knowing his actions caused you pain all these years.”
Joey nods and meets Jonah’s gaze. “Look, I won’t pretend I haven’t ever plotted your death or that I don’t have shit days where I wallow in self-pity, because I have and I do. But the truth is, I know where I was headed. Nowhere good. I was using and on the path to becoming a hardened criminal. When Jen found me, I was popping all the pills I could get my hands on and drinking myself to death on the floor of rock bottom. But she helped me and got me to seek help.” He gives her a grin full of gratitude. “I work part-time from home now, telemarketing stuff mostly and some tech-support, but I enjoy it. I play basketball with some guys who served in the military and honestly, my only regret is I wish I had a more honorable reason for being in this chair than because I was a bully that pushed a kid too far.”
He pauses while we all absorb what he’s shared with us.
“I saw the article after that reporter came sniffing around. Jen and I didn’t tell him anything, but he knew things.” Joey shrugs. “It got me to thinking, I should do more for the community home we grew up in. Like you do. The truth is, Jonah, I have the same problem now I had when we were kids.”
When he doesn’t clarify, Jonah leans forward. “And what’s that?”
“I wish I was more like you. More selfless and more generous. More concerned with the needs of others. Just…better.”
Jonah sits back and I can see how stunned he is all over his face.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you,” he tells Joey. “Not a day goes by that I don’t wish I could go back in time and change what happened that day.”
