Tangled Up In You

by Jaclyn Osborn

  Once we’d finished eating, I took our plates to the sink and rinsed them off before putting them in the dishwasher. My dishwasher was on its death bed, making horrendous high-pitched noises lately when it was running, but I’d go as long as possible before replacing it. I added in the soap before starting it.

  When I turned back around, Corbin was a few feet away, standing with his hands in his front pockets.

  Ugh. This is it.

  “Can we talk now?” he asked. “Like no more bullshit how’s the weather shit but actually talk?”

  I nodded, not trusting my voice not to shake.

  “Do you wanna stay in here or go in the living room?”

  “I don’t think it matters, Cor. Let’s just get it over with.”

  His gray eyes narrowed. “Get it over with?”

  “Yeah,” I said, finding my confidence again. Or maybe I was just good at hiding my true feelings. “What’s done is done, and I don’t see a point in dwelling in the past.”

  “It’s how people move forward.” Corbin walked closer. “You know, talking like fucking adults and not running from the past.”

  “Funny you should talk about running,” I retorted, somewhat taken aback by the venom in my words. Looks like I’d held on to more anger than I’d thought. “When you got that damn call from the USC coach, you couldn’t pack your bags fast enough.”

  “Seven years later and you’re still pissed about that?” He crossed his arms as a defiant expression crossed his face. “If I remember correctly it was you who said we shouldn’t talk anymore. You. Not me. You cut me out of your life like I was nothing!”

  I flinched as he yelled, but I stood my ground.

  “And why do you think I did that, Corbin? Huh? You have a brain so why don’t you fucking use it?” I balled my fists and approached him. “You left me! Without so much as a fucking goodbye. We had a fight and you packed your bags and left.”

  The anger in his eyes waned as guilt took over. He squared his jaw and stared at me.

  “What was I supposed to say to you over the phone?” I continued, becoming angrier by the second. All the pent up rage was at its breaking point. “Beg you to come back home because I was lost without you? Tell you how much I love you and need you? Then what? So you could hate me for the rest of your life for getting in the way of your perfect future? I did what I believed was best for you.”

  His reaction was unexpected. I’d thought my words would piss him off and fuel his own anger, but instead it was like throwing water on the fire. It was as if he’d finally uncovered some truth he’d been desperately searching for.

  “That’s why you broke up with me,” he said, more as a statement rather than a question. But then his voice grew louder. “So you’re saying that you fucking broke my heart because you were doing me a favor? All this time, I actually believed you dumped me because you didn’t want me. And now you’re saying that it was just some bullshit reason that could’ve been resolved if you’d just told me the goddamn truth?”

  “No. You do not have the right to be pissed, Corbin,” I snapped, getting in his face. “What was it you said to me that day before you pushed me down and ran off? ‘I’m going to leave this town and make something of myself. All you’ll ever be is another kid who didn’t have the balls to chase what he wanted.’ I think that’s almost verbatim.”

  It was then I realized I was crying, and I angrily wiped at my eyes.

  “You were the one who didn’t want me,” I said, glaring at him through my tears. “So I let you go to spare you from making a mistake you’d later regret.”

  Corbin lifted his hand and cupped my cheek. I tried to jerk away, but then he used his other arm to grip my lower back and hold me in place.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. His lip trembled and his eyes brimmed with unshed tears. “If I could take it all back, I would.”

  “No you wouldn’t,” I said, trying to hold onto my anger. I knew once I let go of it, I’d give in to him. “You wouldn’t give up your fame, career, and supermodel girlfriend just to go back and choose me instead.”

  “What?” he asked, looking genuinely confused. “Girlfriend?”

  “Don’t play dumb, Corbin,” I said. When I tried to shrug from his hold again, he let me. “Just admit you’re fucking her.”

  “Veronica and I are just friends.” He ran a hand through the top of his dark blond hair before rubbing the side of his face, something he used to do when he was anxious. “When the rumors started about us after the perfume ad, I didn’t deny them because, as you’re well aware, I haven’t come out yet and yeah, maybe I was shitty for not being honest about myself, but she and I aren’t together. We talk a lot and she’s been my date to some of the athletic banquets and red carpet shit, but we’re just friends.”

  “I’m sure she’s tried to sleep with you, though,” I said, feeling my skin prickle at the thought. Damn jealousy. I hated it. “You’re the sexy Corbin Taylor after all. All-American athlete with a nice ass and pretty face. You’ve probably fucked the whole modeling department, cheerleaders, and anyone else who waved their pussy in your face.”

  “Enough!” Corbin grabbed the collar of my shirt and tugged me toward him. “Why are you acting like this? You know damn well that girls don’t do anything for me.”

  “No, I don’t,” I told him, shaking my head. “I don’t know who you are anymore.”

  “Yeah?” He pulled me so close our noses touched. “Well the feeling is mutual, Hunter, because I don’t fucking know you either.”

  And then he crushed his mouth to mine.

  At first, I tried to shove him away, but then I stopped fighting it. I moaned, and instead of pushing him away, I tangled my fingers in his short hair and brought him closer. His lips were soft and just as I remembered. The way they fit against mine was perfect.

  In that moment, I forgot that I was supposed to keep my distance. That I’d sworn to myself I wouldn’t let him past my emotional barriers.

  Strange how he was the one who’d left all those years ago, but having him back in my arms made me feel like the one who’d come home.

  Chapter 10

  Corbin

  I was seething with rage one moment and kissing Hunter the next. He just made me so damn crazy sometimes. I’d hurt him in the past and I regretted doing so, but he had to realize he’d hurt me too. I’d lashed out at him like an impulsive kid and said awful things, but he’d lied to me about our relationship, saying he was glad I’d left.

  So the hurt had gone both ways.

  But none of that mattered as I held him in my arms.

  Hearing his soft moans was like a memory that’d been suppressed for years and was now recovered. As the years had passed, I’d forgotten so much, no matter how tightly I’d tried holding onto the details. Everything had started to fade the longer we were apart—the feel of his warm body next to mine, the sound of his pleasured sighs, and the smell of his skin in the sun. Even the sound of his voice had begun to fade.

  But we’re together now.

  Maybe not tomorrow or the day after that, but as for that night, we could forget the past and embrace the present.

  “I’m so pissed at you,” Hunter growled between kisses. His hand tightened in my hair as he grazed his teeth over my bottom lip. “I don’t know if I want to punch you or fuck you senseless.”

  He pushed me against the counter and gripped my waist, holding me so tight that his fingertips pressed into my skin. When I broke from the kiss, he nipped at my jaw.

  “I’d definitely go for the latter,” I said, peering at him with heavy-lidded eyes. Something about him being aggressive was the biggest fucking turn on ever. He used to be more soft-spoken and sweet when we’d had sex.

  Our mouths collided in a hard, teeth-clashing kiss, and I moaned deep in the back of my throat. Fuck, he drove me wild.

  Hunter guided me away from the counter and pushed me backward. I couldn’t see where I was going, but I didn’t care about anything but the
taste and feel of him. I couldn’t wait to be buried balls deep in him. My dick ached at the thought, and my heart soared.

  It’d always been more than purely physical with Hunter.

  It felt like my heart had been encased in ice all those years and now he was hacking away at said ice with a sledgehammer.

  “Why are you smiling?” Hunter asked after tearing away from my lips. His voice rang of aggression, but his brown eyes met mine with tenderness.

  “Because I’m home,” I answered, caressing his cheek. His short stubble was sexy as hell.

  “Don’t say shit like that.” Hunter slammed me against the nearest wall before grinding his hips forward, creating an electric sensation to zap through every one of my nerve cells.

  “Why?” I asked, slipping my hand beneath the hem of his shirt and smoothing my fingers along his side. “I want to make love to you.”

  “We’re not making love, Corbin,” he said before softly biting my chin. “We’re going to fuck.”

  Then his mouth was on mine again. He grabbed my shirt and jerked me away from the wall. His teeth clanked with mine as our tongues fought for control. Damn, I wasn’t used to him being the aggressive one.

  After bumping into another wall, an antique pie hutch, and the edge of a doorframe, we finally made it to his room. He shoved me onto the bed before crawling on top of me. The weight of him was amazing, and I moved my hand down the muscles of his back, getting harder by the second.

  As we made out, he yanked off my shirt before going for my jeans. I lifted my hips so he could slide them off.

  Then it was my turn.

  I pulled his shirt up and over his head before tossing it aside and wrapping my arms around his torso. As I kissed his chest, I dipped my hand into the back of his pants and squeezed his ass. He groaned and rolled his body against mine. Finding his nipple, I flicked it with my tongue as I ran a finger over his entrance.

  I didn’t penetrate him yet, but I added slight pressure with my forefinger.

  “God,” he said on a moan, grabbing the back of my head and holding me in place as I sucked his nipple. His dick swelled and poked my abdomen through the material of his pants. “More.”

  When I stopped sucking him and withdrew my hand, he softly whimpered in protest.

  I smirked up at him before bringing my fingers to my lips and sliding them into my mouth, getting them good and slick. He watched me with a hungry expression. Without breaking eye contact with him, I moved my hand back to his ass and glided a finger across his hole. After teasing him with it, I slowly pushed one inside him.

  Hunter groaned and tilted his head back.

  Fuck, he was beautiful.

  As I continued fingering him, I kissed along his collarbone, feeling the way his chest started rising and falling faster. I captured his other nipple with my mouth and lapped at it as I added a second finger.

  “Ah! Corbin.” He pressed his ass more onto my hand and began riding my fingers, rolling his body up and down. And when I touched that special place inside him, he shuddered. “Fuck. Stop. I’m gonna come.”

  Immediately, I withdrew my fingers and released his nipple with a wet pop. I grabbed the waistband of his pants and slid them down. Hunter kicked them off before sitting back down on my lap.

  There was a wet spot on the front of his boxers, and my mouth watered.

  I wanted—no, needed—to taste him.

  Enfolding him in my arms, I flipped him to his back. He wiggled a little as I slid my finger under his boxers and teased the skin of his hip bone. The small dip there was to die for, and no longer able to control myself, I bent down to taste it.

  He jolted and tangled his hand in my hair.

  After I pulled down his boxers, his dick sprang free, slapping against the bottom of his stomach. I gripped his base, loving the meaty weight of him. I met his gaze as I stroked him.

  He bit his bottom lip as he watched me.

  “You like that?” I asked before teasingly licking his tip.

  “Mhm.” His slack jawed expression and the occasional twitches of his hard cock told me all I needed to know.

  It’d been a while since I’d given a guy head. With William and all the guys before him, I’d done the bare minimal in the bedroom, wanting to just satiate my lust as fast as possible so I could go to sleep or play Xbox. Yeah, that might’ve made me seem like an asshole, but I hadn’t seen a point in dragging out sex. There’d been no emotional connection and it’d been driven by pure lust.

  Foreplay was too intimate in my opinion. Not prepping each other, but giving blowjobs, teasing touches, making out, and all of that. The act of pleasing the other person with no gain.

  But with Hunter, I needed that intimacy. I wanted him writhing beneath me as I sucked his dick. I wanted to hear his pleasured cries and feel him lose control.

  “Corbin,” Hunter whimpered as I swirled my tongue across his slit. “Fuck.”

  I massaged his tip as I kissed a trail down his shaft and toward his balls. Each of his moans was like fuel to the fire of my own need, but in that moment, all I could think about was his pleasure.

  “Cor, please,” he begged as I teased his sac.

  That’s all I needed to hear.

  I slid his cock back between my lips and added the right amount of suction. His pre-cum was salty on my tongue, and I dove in for more. My hand worked his shaft, stroking with a slight twist to my wrist, as I sucked him off.

  “I’m… gonna...” Hunter gasped and his muscled body tensed. “Fuuuuck. Ah. Don’t stop.”

  Goddammit I was so hard. As his cries reached my ears, and he thrust his hips upward, driving his dick deeper into my mouth, I reached down and started pumping my cock. I was already so close.

  When I moaned, it caused vibrations on Hunter that completely sent him over the edge. Hot cum shot from his tip and down my throat as his body shuddered his release, and I jerked myself faster.

  Hunter lifted my head off him and watched as I touched myself.

  “Shit,” I panted, staring into his eyes.

  And then I came apart. I rested my face on the top of his thigh as I shot strings of cum onto the bedding. Hunter smoothed his fingers through my hair as I rode my high. Afterward, I couldn’t move.

  Hunter hadn’t been the one to touch me, but he’d certainly been the one who’d gotten me off. It’d been the best orgasm I’d had in a long time.

  I didn’t know how much time had passed before I fell asleep. When I woke up, my eyes were still groggy from sleep and my mouth was dry.

  “About time you woke up,” Hunter said. He locked his legs around my waist and flipped me onto my back.

  I gave him a lopsided grin as he straddled my hips. He was hard again, and surprisingly, so was I.

  God, it reminded me of our teen years. We’d have sex, sleep for an hour or so, and then wake up and go at it again. Our record had been five times in one day before, with us switching between top and bottom.

  “None of this means we’re back together,” Hunter said, hooking his hand on my side before leaning down and nuzzling my neck.

  The action pulled at my heart strings. It was something he’d done a lot in the past when he needed comfort.

  It was then that I knew the aggressive side from earlier had been a show. Hunter wanted me, but he was trying to stay emotionally detached from me while at the same time giving in to what we both craved.

  After a minute or so, he lifted up and began grinding himself on my lap. Not penetrating himself, but gliding our dicks together.

  I bit back a moan.

  “What if I want us to be together?” I asked, breathing heavier as he amped up my arousal.

  “Too bad,” he answered. He took both of us in his hand and started stroking simultaneously. “Mmm. We can do this, though.”

  Even though my body screamed for a release, I didn’t feel right doing this while he was in a weird mindset. His mouth might say one thing but his eyes said another.

  “Hunter, we need
to talk more about this. You’re—”

  “Shut up, Cor,” he interjected, releasing his hold on us and slapping his hands on my bare chest. “I’m tired of talking. Now fuck me.”

  I clenched my jaw. “No.”

  “That’s all you want, right?” he asked as tears brimmed in his eyes. “To fuck me and then go back to your perfect life once you’re done here.”

  Sitting up, I put my arms around him and looked up into his angry face. I hated that he thought I’d do that, but it also hurt because in a way… he was right. I had no intentions of staying in Willow for forever.

  Hadn’t I just been thinking that exact same thing earlier that day?

  At my lack of a response, Hunter gaped.

  “Wow,” he said, shoving me back on the mattress before standing up. He snatched his pants from the floor and put them on. “You’re a real piece of work, Corbin Taylor.”

  “You didn’t let me answer,” I said, rolling off the bed and approaching him.

  He held his hand up to stop me. “I don’t need to hear your answer. Your expression said enough. Get your clothes on and get out.”

  “I’m not leaving.”

  I didn’t want to go back to that empty house and face the silence. I didn’t want to think about how my life was falling apart and how it seemed no one cared about the real me. Everyone cared about Corbin the football player, but not Corbin, the goofy guy beneath the star who really just wanted to love and be loved in return.

  Hunter’s brow rose. “Oh yeah? But leaving is your specialty.”

  “I deserved that,” I said, reaching to grab him. He slapped my hand away and walked out of the room. “Hunter, stop acting like a moody teenager and talk to me.”

  I was still naked, and for some reason, I felt self-conscious about it. Quickly, I slid on my boxers and pants before chasing after him. Not having been in his house before, it took me a minute to find my way around. He wasn’t in the kitchen or the living room, so I tried the bathroom. Still nothing.

  That’s when I saw a door to the left cracked open and light shining out into the dark hall.