The Harder You Fall

by L A Cotton

  “Fuck,” I rasped as she wiggled against me, sending sparks of pleasure shooting up my spine. “Not enough,” I whispered, my lips finding the hollow of her neck as I gathered her wild curls in one hand and pressed her closer. I wanted to taste every inch of her, devour her. I wanted to brand her with kisses and imprint myself on her soul.

  I wanted to bind us in every way possible.

  But something told me Mya would rip me a new one if I got down on one knee and spontaneously proposed. So for now, I settled for kissing her. For letting my hands wander beneath my jersey, tracing letters of love on her skin.

  “What do you want, Mya?” I kissed the corner of her mouth. “Tell me what you want.”

  “You,” she said softly. “I just want you.”

  “You have me, all of me.”

  “Show me.” Her eyes flared with lust.

  “Show you?” I arched a brow. “It would be my pleasure.” Guiding her down onto the bed, I settled over Mya and brushed my nose over hers, pecking her lips. Letting my tongue slide into her mouth, pouring every ounce of love I felt into her. We’d made it. We’d overcome the odds.

  Our past and present had collided in a way neither of us saw coming, but the future?

  The future was ours.

  Mya

  Three months later...

  “Mya Hernandez,” Principal Finnigan called my name and I moved across the stage, the chorus of cheers and whistles making my cheeks heat. My eyes found Asher across the stage where he stood with the rest of our graduating class, his eyes alight with happiness.

  “I love you,” he mouthed, and I grinned. God, I loved him. I loved his over the top boyfriend antics and the way he wasn’t afraid to tell me he loved me every second of every day.

  I loved him so much I was already dreaming of crazy things like moving into our first apartment and getting married and having cute blue-eyed, blond-haired, dark skinned babies.

  I was that girl now.

  Completely smitten. Completely gone.

  Completely his.

  And I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.

  After everything that had happened with Jermaine, Julia, and Asher’s dad, and even Kellie Ginly, I knew we could weather whatever storm hit us next. Because I wasn’t naïve; I knew there would be other people out there who didn’t approve of our relationship.

  They could all go fuck themselves for all I cared.

  Asher Bennet was mine, and I was his.

  And nothing was ever going to change that.

  “Fuck, you looked hot out there.” Asher hooked his arm around my waist and attacked my mouth, planting big wet sloppy kisses all over my face.

  “Ash...” I chuckled, pressing my hands against his chest. “Stop, we’re in—”

  “Don’t care, babe.” His warm breath tickled my ear. “I don’t fucking ca—”

  Someone cleared their throat and we both turned slowly to find Mr. Bennet standing there glaring at us. “Dad,” Asher mumbled. “Your timing is impeccable as always.”

  “Asher,” he regarded his son. “Mya.”

  Mr. Bennet no longer looked at me like I was dirt on his shoe, but he hadn’t exactly welcomed me into the family with open arms either. He was amicable. Polite and civil, but he made no efforts to get to know me.

  Strangely, I was okay with that.

  He needed to focus on his wife and helping her heal. Even if he had a problem with me still—and part of me knew he probably did—Julia called the shots now. And she loved me in a way I never saw coming.

  In a way I wasn’t sure I deserved.

  “Is Mom—”

  “A- Ash.”

  Asher broke away from me and went to his mom, falling into her open arms. We weren’t sure she would make it to graduation, but Julia was defying her doctors at every turn. Proving to everyone she was strong.

  “Mya.” Her eyes met mine over his shoulder, a faint smile tugging at her lips. “I- I’m p- proud of you.” She stumbled over the words a little, but her speech was improving every week.

  “I’m so happy you made it Mrs... Julia.”

  She beamed, gently pushing Asher to arm’s length. “W- wouldn’t m... m- miss it for the world.”

  “I love you, Mom.” Asher’s voice cracked. “I love you so damn much.” He reached back, searching for my hand. I slid my fingers into his and his shoulders immediately dropped, relief oozing from him.

  “My two favorite girls,” he said, glancing between us, so much emotion in his blue gaze my breath caught.

  “There you are.” Felicity breezed up to us, looking radiant in her gown. “Hi Mrs. Bennet, it’s so good to see you.”

  Julia smiled, happiness glittering in her eyes.

  “Where’s Jase?” Asher asked.

  “Talking to Coach Hasson. He’s no longer a Raider but he still can’t let go.”

  “You should know by now, Fee, baby, once a Raider, always—”

  “A Raider,” the two of us answered, sharing a smile.

  “Damn straight.”

  “Well, if you don’t mind, I need to borrow Mya for a little while.”

  My eyes slid to Asher’s and he grinned. “Fine by me.”

  “I’ll see you later,” I said.

  Asher’s parents were letting him host a graduation party, one last time before we headed to the Hamptons for summer vacation and then all went our separate ways for college. Since the guys had summer practice we were leaving early. It was hard to believe we would all be in different colleges. Lucky for me though, Jason and Felicity would only be across the river at UPenn so we’d still see each other.

  “Come on.” Felicity grabbed my hand, flashing me a knowing smirk. “I promise to return her in one piece.”

  My brows furrowed, trying to decipher the intent in her expression, but before I could figure out what the hell was going on, she was pulling me away from Asher and his parents, towards her bright yellow car.

  “No way.” I shook my head, gawking at the scraps of lace and silk. “No fucking way.”

  “Come on, he’ll love it. Tell her, Hails.” She flicked her gaze to Hailee who threw up her hands.

  “Don’t drag me into this. Besides, I’m with Mya on this one. It’s...”

  “Obscene,” I said.

  “It’s sexy,” Flick countered. “Jason loves it when I—”

  I clapped a hand over her mouth. “We don’t need to hear about how much Jason loves anything. I’m not wearing that.” Asher loved me regardless of what I wore, and it wasn’t like we needed any help in the bedroom. He was insatiable, and I was all too happy to oblige him.

  Felicity pouted. “I still think you should get it.”

  “It’s a party. A party Asher is throwing.” I gave her a pointed look. “I’ll be lucky to drag him away from the guys for ten seconds let alone long enough to seduce him with... that.” My nose scrunched up as I looked at the lingerie again. I wasn’t opposed to wearing pretty things, but it was too much.

  “You’re no fun.”

  “But you love me.” I nudged Felicity’s arm and smiled at her.

  “Yeah, I do. Come on, let’s look in the other section.”

  We wandered around the store, stopping to look at a rack of bras. “Does anyone else wish we were doing something low key to celebrate?” I asked, fingering a simple black bra with a small heart detail in the front.

  “You’re not feeling the party?” Hailee asked.

  “It’s cool, I just... our time together is limited. I thought it might be nice to hang out, just the six of us.”

  “If you tell Asher that, he’d cancel in a heartbeat,” she replied.

  “I know but I don’t want to ruin his fun.” Asher deserved a party. After a tough few months, he was finally in a good place. His mom was in and out of physical therapy, but she was home and doing okay. His dad had turned over a new leaf, being the husband he should have always been. And we’d recently had news Jermaine had pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a d
eadly weapon which meant there would be no trial and the prosecution were confident he would receive the maximum sentence.

  It wasn’t easy hearing my oldest childhood friend would spend a long time behind bars, but it was no less than he deserved and I’d made my peace with the fact I hadn’t been able to save him. Love wasn’t always enough, and that was okay. To make a relationship work it required compromise and trust, communication and respect. Both people had to accept responsibility for their actions and hold their hands up and apologize when they got it wrong. They had to fight for each other and stand up for what they believed. But most of all, they had to realize you couldn’t change someone who didn’t want to change themselves.

  “Know what I think?” Felicity pulled me from my thoughts.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I think tonight is going to be epic.”

  “Oh yeah,” I chuckled, “and why’s that?”

  “Because, my friend,” she looped her arm through mine, “we survived high school. And if we can survive high school, we can survive anything.”

  “Where is everyone?” I asked as we approached Asher’s house. It was steeped in darkness, no sign of life as we reached the door.

  “You’ll see,” Felicity replied cryptically, a knowing glint in her eye.

  “What did you do?” Hailee whisper-hissed.

  “Me? Oh, this isn’t me, this is all—”

  “Ladies.” The familiar cadence of Asher’s voice hit me and my stomach clenched. “Welcome to the party.”

  “Party?” I gawked at him. “You do know the definition of party is people? Noise and laughter. Music.” My eyes went to the house again as I strained to hear something—anything—which hinted at the chaos inside.

  Felicity shot me an amused look. “Don’t say I didn’t tell you so.” She disappeared inside, Hailee trailing after her.

  “What was all that about?” Asher’s eyes danced with intrigue as he closed the distance between us, hooking his arm around my waist and bringing me flush against his body.

  “Nothing,” I smiled coyly. “What’s going on, Ash?” My brow rose as my hands smoothed up his hard chest.

  “Don’t you trust me, Hernandez?”

  “Always,” I said without hesitation. “But you’re up to something.”

  “Maybe.” He kissed the end of my nose, one of his hands brushing my face. “Come on. I think this is a surprise you’ll like.”

  Taking my hand, Asher led me into the house. I’d never felt comfortable here but over the last three months it had become my second home. With his parents spending so much time at the hospital, we’d stayed here a lot. And even when his mom was finally released, I still came over. She loved spending time with us.

  A sultry beat drifted down the dimly lit hall, sending shivers up my spine. That, and the sight of Asher in dark jeans and a fitted Henley. He always looked good, but tonight he looked good enough to eat. I smiled to myself, still in awe of how a girl like me had caught the eye of someone like him. But Asher had taught me that what people saw didn’t define us. It was what was on the inside that counted. And our souls were the same.

  “Asher, what is—” The words died on my tongue as we entered the living room. Jason was serving the girls cocktails from the temporary bar set up in the corner of the room while Cam messed with the docking station, selecting a song he knew we loved.

  “Surprise.” Asher pulled me in front of him, pressing up against me and wrapping his arms around my waist.

  “But the party...”

  “Is right here. There is no one else I’d rather celebrate with tonight than you and my best friends, Mya. Congratulations, babe,” he whispered against the shell of my ear. “Tonight, we celebrate.”

  Asher

  “How the fuck did we get so lucky?” I asked my two best friends in the whole world.

  “It’s a question I ask myself every second of every day. She’s everything I never knew I wanted.” Jase took a long pull on his beer, not taking his eyes off Felicity for even a second. The girls were dancing together, laughing and smiling, twirling around without a care in the world.

  “This was a good call,” Cam added, shifting forward as he tracked Hailee’s movements. “I’m not sure I could have survived another party.”

  “Hey, my parties are fucking epic.”

  “Yeah, but this is a thousand times better,” he grumbled.

  “You’re not wrong,” Jase agreed as the three of us sat there watching our girls. The girls who had come out of nowhere and knocked us so far on our asses I wasn’t sure we’d ever get up again.

  “If I die tonight,” I proclaimed, the buzz of liquor simmering in my veins. “I’d die happy.”

  “No one is dying.” Cam elbowed my ribs. “Don’t be saying that shit.”

  “Sorry, man, I wasn’t thinking.” The pain in his voice sobered me. We’d all been through a lot senior year. Some happy, some not so happy, and some downright ugly. But we’d made it and now we had our whole lives ahead of us.

  “It’s cool,” he said. “I just… well, I guess with college approaching, it’s…”

  “We get it.” Jase glanced over at him. “But whatever comes our way, we handle it together. No amount of distance changes that. You’re still my best friends. My brothers. We’re Raiders and no matter what color jersey you wear, we’ll always be Raiders.”

  “College,” I breathed. “I’m so fucking relieved Mya will be there with me.”

  “Tell me about it. I thought I had it all figured out,” Jase said. “I thought I didn’t need anything except football. But that girl right there,” he tipped the neck of his bottle toward Flick, “I need her more than air, and it fucking terrifies me.”

  “Never thought I’d see the day.” Cam smirked at him.

  “Fuck off.”

  “Nah, man, it looks good on you. She looks good on you.”

  “You should see her when she’s riding my—”

  “And there’s the Jase we all know and love.” Laughter rumbled in my chest. “You think we gave them enough time?”

  “Yeah.” He slammed his bottle down on the coffee table. “I think they’re done.”

  “Thank fuck for that,” I mumbled, need pulsing through me.

  We each stood up and approached the girls. But I didn’t pay any attention to what my friends were doing. I only had eyes for Mya, for the way the black knee-length dress molded to her curves like a second skin.

  “Ash?” she gazed up at me as I pulled her into my arms.

  “Needed you, babe,” I whispered against her ear before flicking my tongue over her salty sweet skin. Mya curled her hands into my Henley, letting me sway us to the music. “Are you enjoying the party?”

  “Yes.” She grinned at me, her eyes glassy with one too many cocktails. Mya didn’t let her guard down a lot, but tonight, with our friends, she had. It made my heart swell watching my girl let her hair down and enjoy herself. It’s all I wanted; to see her happy.

  After everything, she deserved it.

  I turned her in my arms, pulling her body flush to mine, letting her roll her ass against me. My hands found the swell of her hips and my lips found her shoulder. I was hardly surprised to see Jase already had Felicity pinned against the wall, kissing her like he thought she might disappear any second.

  “Asher...” Mya turned into me. “I need—”

  “Come on.” Taking her hand, I pulled her out of the room and into the hall. But I couldn’t wait. I needed to taste her, to feel her skin on mine. Crowding her against the wall, I leaned in, kissing her hard. Our tongues slid together, dancing to their own rhythm.

  “Feel what you do to me,” I whispered against her lips. “Feel how much I want you.” Grabbing her hand, I pressed it against the growing bulge in my jeans.

  “The feeling is entirely mutual,” she breathed, pupils blown with lust.

  “Oh yeah, is that right?” My smile turned wicked as I dipped my hand underneath her dress, pushing the mater
ial up her thighs. Letting my fingers tease her soft skin. I moved higher and higher until I found her panties.

  “Ash…” It was a needy moan.

  “So wet,” I said, kissing the corner of Mya’s mouth as I rubbed her over the lacy material.

  “Remember what you said to me once?” Her words surprised me and I eased back to look at her. “You said you’d chase me to the ends of the Earth before you ever gave me up.”

  “I remember.” The words got stuck over the lump in my throat. It seemed like so long ago when we’d been dancing around one another.

  “Prove it,” she said, and before I could register her words, Mya ducked out from between me and the wall and took off up the stairs.

  “I’m coming for you,” I called after her, the soft sound of her laughter like music to my ears.

  “I’m counting on it,” she said as I gave chase, the two of us running down the hall toward my bedroom. Either Mya was quick or I was more buzzed than I’d first thought, because she made it into my room before I could grab her.

  The second I burst through the door, I ground to a halt, my mouth hanging open at the sight of her standing there in nothing but black lace panties and a matching bra. “I think I must have died and gone to heaven.”

  “I’m real, Asher,” she smirked, toying with the strap of her bra.

  “You sure, Hernandez? Because fuck… you look like an angel standing there.” I dragged a hand through my hair, trying to rein in my emotions.

  “Touch me and find out.” Challenge shone in her eyes as she began to back up, stopping only when the bed hit the backs of her legs.

  “Challenge accepted.” Peeling the t-shirt from my body, I quickly unbuttoned my jeans and pushed them off my hips. Mya’s hungry gaze pulled me toward her, until I was close enough to feel the heat from her body. “You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” I ghosted a finger down her neck and between the valley of her tits.