by Adam Kunz
“Noah!” Emma reprimands while jabbing him in the ribs with her elbow. “I think it’ll be best for everyone if I relieve you of this horn dog. Good night, guys, see you in the a.m.” Emma grabs Noah’s hand and leads him up to their room, leaving Colton, Jared, and me behind.
“Well, this is sufficiently awkward,” Colton says, clapping his hands together. “I guess I’ll be taking the room farthest away from the massive amounts of hetero sex then.” Colton moves in for a hug. “Are you going to be okay with Grabby McGrab Hands over there?”
I laugh under my breath. “Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, but you know where I’ll be if you need me,” he replies, pulling away to look at me pointedly. He gives me another quick hug and says goodnight before he picks up his bag and heads upstairs.
Jared takes a step closer to me, bringing him within arm’s reach. I can feel his body even without him touching me, and I can’t help but picture him with less clothes on. He places his hand on my shoulder and his eyebrow turns up. Instead of saying anything, he just moves past me into the kitchen and leaves me standing here a hot and bothered mess.
What was that all about?
I follow in hot pursuit and find him opening up all the cupboards as if he’s searching for something.
“What exactly are you looking for?”
He peers back at me over his shoulder with a cheeky grin. “Something,” is all he replies with.
“Something, huh?”
“What are the odds?” he says and then rises up from perusing one of the lower cupboards next to the refrigerator. He shows me a bottle of red wine and immediately begins looking for cups to pour it in.
“You ever notice how drinking wine makes you feel sexy?” I say, leaning on the island in the middle of the kitchen. I find myself fascinated by how feverishly Jared is trying to find two cups. His long, drawn-out reply of “maybe” causes my mouth to curl into a smile.
“I guess these will have to do,” he states, holding up two red Solo cups. He starts to open all the drawers, clearly looking for a way to open the bottle. I open the small drawer in the island next to where my elbow is resting and find one lying in there, but put it behind my back when I pull it out. I move to be next to him and he stops his search abruptly, turning to meet me.
“Looking for this?” I ask, waving around the corkscrew.
“Maybe,” he replies while gently grabbing my hand that’s holding the small metal implement. His touch is soft and the heat resonating from his smooth skin makes the ache return full-force between my legs.
He takes the tool from me and pops out the cork with ease. My body is so worked up that it takes every ounce of my being not to moan out in pleasure at the sound of the cork being popped. His grinning face lingering close to mine isn’t helping matters much either.
After pouring a good amount into each cup, he holds his up for a toast. I tap his cup with mine, causing his mouth to break out into a wide smile.
“To a weekend we’ll never forget,” he says before tapping our cups together.
I return his smile before bringing the cup to my lips to take a sizable gulp. Something tells me I’m going to need all the liquid courage I can get.
“I have a confession to make,” I blurt out, causing a little wine to dribble out of my mouth.
“Oh, and what would that be?” he asks, sweeping away the trail of wine from my chin with his thumb.
I’m suddenly struck with paralysis by the mere touch of his hand, and find it hard for my mouth the form words. “I ... don’t normally ... do stuff like this,” I stammer while setting my cup down on the counter.
“What do you mean?” he asks, placing his drink next to mine.
“This,” I say, pointing between him and me. “This is kind of foreign territory.” I let out a sigh. “I mean I’ve been with guys before, but we usually don’t drink wine like this until at least the third date in. I know that probably sounds weird to you-”
He lets out a small chuckle, cutting me off. “Laney, we’re just having a drink together. No need to get all worked up.”
I let out a nervous laugh and dodge his stare, feeling stupid for opening my mouth at all. This is probably something he does with all of his girls, and here I go making it awkward because I haven’t been with a guy in about a year or so, and I’m completely out of practice. Not to mention, I’ve never really been one of those girls who just falls all over a boy because he’s drop-dead gorgeous. So I’m not quite sure why I’m doing it now.
“Listen, I like you, okay? There, I said it,” he declares, causing me to jerk my head up to look at him.
“You do?” I ask.
“Yeah. I’ve liked you ever since I first saw you in Mrs. Jackson’s art class when you blushed after seeing me strip down. Most people just stare, but you got all flustered just like you are now, and it was cute. I’m still surprised I was able to keep him at bay every time I looked over at you trying not to look at me.”
“Oh my God, you remember that?” I gasp. The blush creeping up my face makes my cheeks feel like two hot plates on the highest setting. I’m having a hard time looking at him now and not picturing him completely naked with his huge junk flopping about between his legs.
He puts his thumb under my chin and gently turns my face to look up at his. “Of course I remember that. You’re very memorable.”
I go to place my hand on the island to support my shaky knees and instead hit my cup, knocking it to the floor. “Shit,” I mutter, breaking away from him. “That’s going to stain.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll clean it up.” He darts over to the kitchen pantry. “These might work,” he says after taking some paper napkins from the package he found and then hands me the rest.
“I’m lucky this is dark wood,” I comment, trying to sop up the spill with the flimsy napkins that keep tearing due to oversaturation. Jared grabs a few more from the package and continues to help clean up.
“See, it’s like it never happened.” His devilishly handsome face meets me when I look over at him, causing my blush to deepen even further.
“I’m not surprised I did this. I have a tendency to be accident prone in these kinds of situations. Maybe that’s why none of my relationships ever work out ... well, amongst other reasons,” I say out loud and then immediately wish I hadn’t. “Wow, that was probably an overshare.”
He laughs. “Actually, it’s kind of nice to know you feel comfortable enough to talk to me like this, even though you barely know me.”
“Yeah, but didn’t I just break some kind of cardinal rule about first dates? To not mention previous relationships?”
“Wait, this is a date?”
“Aw, crap, there I go again. Maybe it is time to call it a night,” I say, feeling absolutely stupid and wanting to bury my head under a pillow.
“No, it’s just that if I knew this was a date, I would’ve prepared more,” he states, causing my eyes to dart over to him with surprise.
“Can we start over? I feel like with everything going on recently I’m not a hundred percent on my game. Whatever little game I have, that is.”
“If that means I’ll get to spend some more time with you, sure.”
Inside, I’m grinning so hard that I think a smidge of it spills out onto my face. The blush returns in full force and I’m not sure how to reply. It’s kind of refreshing to be with a guy who isn’t bothered by what’s happened in my past. When most guys find out, they think I’m too much to handle or have way too much excess baggage.
“I’m actually surprised you haven’t asked me about my past yet. Most guys at least inquire about it by now.”
“Sorry to disappoint you,” he replies, collecting the wadded up napkins in my hand.
“No, that’s not what I meant. It’s a nice change of pace, to be honest. I usually feel like an insane person after talking about it with someone I barely know.”
“Hey, we’ve all got a past, Laney. And we all deal with i
t in our own ways. I’m in no position to judge. Now, with that said, I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t curious about what exactly happened to you. I just didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask you about it so soon,” he answers with a soft smile.
My eyes hold his gaze for a moment until I realize I’ve been wiping a dry spot on the floor for the past few moments. I laugh off my nervousness. “Well, I think that’s as clean as it’s going to get.”
Jared stands and heads over to the trash can to toss out the used napkins. When he turns back around to face me, his expression makes me think he’s scheming. He joins me by the island and leans back to rest on it while crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“I think I’m going to kiss you, but I don’t want it to go any further than that right now. Is that okay with you?”
I blurt out my answer. “Yes.”
He smiles at my quick response. Relaxing his arms to his sides, he moves closer to me. My heartbeat kicks into overdrive. His gentle hands cup my face as he draws closer, our eyes never breaking contact. Our lips touch ever-so-slightly before he intensifies the kiss by drawing my mouth in closer to his. His hand sweeps to the back of my neck, arching my head into a better position so the kiss can deepen.
He pulls away without even using any tongue. The only other person I remember who could kiss like that was Brent Lyles. Even with Brent not here, I feel emotionally conflicted for a moment because he entered my mind at all. I begin to feel guilty again for not calling him two weeks ago after he called my mom to check up on me.
Jared pulls away and releases his hold on me. “Just as I thought,” he says in a deep, warm voice. The grin that lights up his face means the kiss must’ve been good.
“What do you mean by that?”
His grin grows wider as he leans in close to my ear. “You like me too,” he whispers before giving me a peck on the cheek. “Goodnight, Laney. See you in the morning.”
“Yeah, see you in the morning,” I reply in a daze while watching him stroll away.
Tossing and turning in bed, my mind races with thoughts of Jared sleeping in the room next to mine. I’ve been lying here for a few hours after our little session in the kitchen, of which the first hour was spent reeling from his supple lips. I’m finding I can’t think of anything else but him right now.
Maybe that’s a good thing.
One thing’s for certain, focusing on Jared and not thinking about Robbie is a much healthier option. Now, if only I could start hallucinating about Jared instead of Robbie, I’d be much happier.
I roll over to check the time on the clock next to the bed. “It’s only two-thirty in the morning?” I moan, submitting to the fact I’m probably not going to be falling asleep anytime soon.
Feeling restless, I decide to go with the last resort and retrieve my meds. I dig through the side pocket of my rolling duffel bag, looking for the pill bottle, but it’s hard to see in the dark. As I resume the search through my bag with the assistance of the lamp on the nightstand, a faint knock draws my attention to the bedroom door.
I wonder who that could be.
“One second,” I whisper.
When I swing the door open, Jared’s standing there supporting himself with both arms outstretched, one hand on either side of the doorframe. The lamp’s light reveals his half-naked body as I soak up the vision in front of me, inch by glorious inch. My eyes trail down from the striking smile forming on his face, past his very lickable chest and abs, and ending at his snug pajama bottoms, which are hugging his toned legs and accentuating his package. He might as well not have worn anything at all, since the flimsy piece of fabric barely leaves anything to the imagination.
“What are you doing?” I’m finally able to ask after taking in the show.
“Couldn’t sleep,” he replies, his smile turning into a full-on grin. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“No,” I reply, quickly checking if my hair is draped over the scar on my neck. “Let me get this straight. You couldn’t sleep, so you decided to come to my room?”
His face turns a little more serious. “Yeah. I couldn’t stop thinking about how dumb I was for only kissing you once.”
“Oh, is that so?” I say, meeting his intent gaze.
He relaxes from his pose, dropping his arms to his sides and moving closer to me, crossing over the door’s threshold into the room. “So, what’s keeping you up?” he asks, but he sounds like he already knows the answer.
“I can think of a few things at the moment.”
He closes the door and takes another step closer to me, but I stand my ground. We’re almost chest to chest now.
“A few things, huh?” He reaches out and tries to brush the strands of hair in front of my scar behind my ear.
I try not to freak out and swat his hand away. Instead, I play it off by taking hold of his hand to bring it down to be by our sides while tilting my head and smiling at him. He doesn’t seem to be reading into my reaction when he lets out a small laugh before returning the smile.
“This is your one and only warning, Laney. You’ve got me so hard right now and dangerously close to a serious case of blue balls. If you want me to leave, just let me know. But if you don’t,” he begins to say and then leans in for a kiss.
Nia’s voice rings throughout my head as I watch his lips move closer to mine. In fact, it’s like an entire chorus of Nias all singing “Hallelujah” at the top of their lungs. It only takes a few seconds for me to make up my mind. I release Jared’s hand before wrapping both of mine around the back of his head, plunging them into his thick, smooth hair, and pulling his face toward mine. Our mouths intertwine and it feels like Jared’s tongue is giving mine a sensual massage.
When our mouths part for the first time after the intense embrace, I can feel his lips form into a grin as they rest right in front of mine. He gently grinds his hips into me and I can feel his rock-solid dick press up against my thigh before rolling slightly up and down as our bodies move in synch with one another.
Holy shit, this is actually happening!
Jared pauses and pulls back, leaving me gasping for air and yearning for more. He grabs the bottom of my T-shirt and begins slowly raising it up, revealing section by section of my upper body, before his warm fingertips graze over my bare breasts. I lift my hands above my head as he slides his behind the fabric while bringing it up and over my head. Thankfully my hair falls right back into place, covering my scar.
After tossing the shirt off to the side, he runs his hands down my stomach and stops at the waistline of my pajama bottoms. Maneuvering his fingers in between the elastic band and my skin, he trails them back and forth, teasing me instead of just pulling them down right away. The cheeky grin that appears on his face only makes me want him to ravage my body even more. Moving his hands down, my pants go with them and fall to the floor. I step out of them and stand before him in nothing but my panties, waiting for him to take me in his arms again before I start getting self-conscious.
His hands peruse every inch of my body, leaving no area untouched. A hot tingling sensation flows through each area after his hands caress there. The only way I can describe the feeling is like the sensation your mouth experiences while eating Pop Rocks. I can definitely tell he’s no stranger to foreplay.
I’ve been with guys before, but Jared is making me feel like a virgin all over again. We haven’t even made it to the bed yet and my head’s already reeling from the intensity of this encounter. My body is beginning to react in ways I’m not sure I’m ready to handle. I’m so wet right now that I’m pretty sure he won’t even need any lube to slide in.
“I’ve wanted to do this ever since the moment I laid eyes on you,” he whispers breathily while placing kisses just above my right breast.
A satisfied moan seeps out of me when he begins trailing his soft lips over to the right side of my neck and down my collarbone. The sensation is almost too much for me to take. I resort to clutching onto his back to release some of my pent-
up tension. As he starts working his way toward the left side of my neck, I’m suddenly pulled out of the moment. My body seizes up. Jared clearly realizes this when he pops his face up to meet mine.
“Something wrong?”
“Yeah, me. I’m the something wrong,” I reply and slink out of his grasp while throwing my arms up to cover my exposed chest. I plop down onto the bed while Jared stands there looking dumbfounded over how quickly we went from being all hot and bothered to completely fizzled out in one minute flat.
“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with you,” he says in a soft tone, taking a seat on the bed next to me.
“Yeah, there is. I’m sorry, but I can’t do this right now. But please believe me when I say I want to, and it’s most definitely not you,” I respond.
“It’s okay, Laney. I know you’ve got things going on right now that I can’t even begin to understand. I just hope you hear me when I say that I see absolutely nothing wrong with you,” he says with a slight smile.
“I’m sorry,” is all I can get out.
“Don’t be,” he answers before rubbing his hand across my knee. “Well, I think I’m going to head back to my room and give you some space.” He bends down and picks up my shirt from the floor before handing it over to me.
Taking the garment from his outstretched hand, I nod off to the side, not meeting his eyes since I feel so ashamed for stopping something so great. I watch as he stands up and moves toward the door.
Opening it, he turns back around and says, “Goodnight, Laney.”
“Goodnight,” I reply, feeling like I’ve blown any kind of chance I had with him. He now knows how messed up I truly am.
Dammit, Laney, you always get in your own way.
I awaken with a serious case of dry mouth and not feeling any better about what happened between Jared and me. Surveying my surroundings, I half expect sunlight to be beaming through the window, but the room is still dark.
It’s still night time?
Positioning myself to lean against the bed’s headboard, I allow my eyes some time to adjust. The light affixed to the top of the barn’s door is entering through the open sliver in the window’s curtain, providing some light in the room. Throwing back the covers, I move my legs to hang over the side of the bed and touch down onto the chilled wooden floor.
