by Eden Finley
“For forgiving my stupid brainless son for what he did four years ago.”
“Oh.” I wrapped my arms around myself, pretending to be cold. I wasn’t. I was trying to untie the knot that had formed in my stomach.
She gestured for me to sit as Ryan’s dad brought out our teas and put them on the coffee table. Their whole outdoor setup looked like a living room. I sat down on the wicker couch and was surprised to find the thick cushions on top were nice and soft.
“You’re the only girl he’s ever talked to me about, you know?”
“Ryan said something about him never bringing a girlfriend home before.”
“I don’t mean now, sweetie. I mean back then. You’re the only girl he’s ever asked me advice about. He might’ve only spoke to me about it because I yelled at him for his tattoo, but you made an impression back then, and I can see it in the way he looks at you now. His father had the same look on his big goofy face when we first met. You’re it for him.”
“Umm … it’s still really early. Anything could happen. I mean, we’ve really only been hanging out this last month.” I could hear the doubt seeping into my words even though I didn’t want it to.
She took a sip of her coffee. “It’s understandable you have doubts. It’s a new relationship, he hurt you in the past, and everything seems to be moving at warp speed for you both. Erikson men only know warp speed. Even the strongest of couples have doubts in the beginning.”
“Did you, with Mr. Erikson?”
“Please, call us John and Viv.”
I nodded.
“And to answer your question, yes. I did. Many. The apples don’t fall far from the tree, and I can tell you now that John was no saint back in the day. But you know what he told me when he fell in love with me? He said giving up the bachelor’s life was easy when he found the woman who was worth it. And anyone who didn’t understand that or thought it was wrong … well, they were lying or hadn’t met the right person yet.”
I smiled. Ryan had said nearly those exact words to me.
The anxiety from dinner eased, and I found myself relaxing now she didn’t think I was a skank or broke her baby boy’s heart all those years ago.
“We should get to bed,” Ryan said, poking his head out the door. “We have to be at the studio early in the morning.”
I stood and thanked Viv for the tea and the chat. She rose and hugged me again.
When Ryan and I climbed into bed not long later, he brought me into his arms and kissed my forehead.
“I love you too, you know.”
He pulled back so he could look into my eyes. “You don’t have to say it if—”
“It’s the truth. I haven’t allowed myself to truly think about it because I thought it was too soon. But I do. And that’s fucking scary.”
He laughed. “Thanks. I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“I mean, it’s scary because there’s so much more on the line now and we’ve only been together for—”
He covered my mouth with his hand. He was becoming really good at perfecting that move, but he only did it when he knew I was about to say something negative. “I don’t care how long we’ve been together. I met you on a crazy wild night four years ago and haven’t stopped thinking about you since. What we have is real.”
He removed his hand, and his mouth found mine. His tongue passionately worked over mine in a blatant attempt to show me how real Ryan’s feelings truly were. But when he rolled over to hover above me, I had to push him away.
“We’re so not having sex in your childhood bedroom with your parents down the hall.”
“You can’t tell a guy you love him and then not expect him to fuck you. Also, this isn’t my childhood bedroom—Mum and Dad only moved here a couple of years ago for Dad’s work.”
“What am I going to do with you?” I mockingly shook my head.
“Hmm … you could suck me off.”
I burst out laughing. “No. I’m not going near that thing in your parents’ house.”
He groaned and rolled onto his back. “Fine. You win.”
17
- HUNTER -
Of course, Sara telling me we couldn’t have sex only made me want it so much more.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get comfortable. After about an hour of tossing and turning, when I thought Sara had already fallen asleep, I was ready to give up.
“Are you kidding me?” Sara grumbled when I rolled over again.
I grabbed her hand and put it on my junk. “You try sleeping while this is going on.”
“Still?” She seemed amused now more than anything.
I couldn’t help it. She told me she fucking loved me. Of course, I’d want to bang her after something like that.
She lifted the covers and rolled over and then started kissing her way down my chest.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“You’re not the only one who can’t sleep because of Little Hunter. Maybe this’ll help you pass the fuck out before I get grumpy tired and kick you out of bed.”
I laughed. “I somehow think you’re already a little grumpy tired.”
“Damn straight, so if you’re going to fuck my mouth, you better hurry up and do it.”
I reached for the waistband of my boxers and pushed them down. “I love it when you talk dirty.”
She was on a mission, and the second her hot, wet mouth wrapped around me, I knew it’d be over fast.
“Fuck, Sara,” I hissed.
The soft moan coming from her reverberated through my entire body. I tried my hardest to keep my hips planted firmly on the mattress, but then her hand cupped my balls and squeezed with enough pressure to make a man go insane.
I thrust into her mouth, hitting the back of her throat. She’d usually pull away at this point and climb me, but she didn’t stop. She took me deep again and again until I was panting her name and coming on her tongue.
I muttered inaudible affections for her mouth as she made her way back up and kissed me.
“Now go the fuck to sleep.” She rolled and put her back to me.
“What about you?” I asked, reaching around and running my hand down her stomach.
“Too tired,” she said with a yawn. “Do me tomorrow.”
“Fuck, I love you.”
“Mm, you too,” she murmured.
***
“Georgie,” I called out and started dragging Sara over to her.
“Hi,” Georgie said with uncertainty in her voice. She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek, but I didn’t miss the weird stare she sent Sara.
“Georgie, this is Sara. The girl I told you about.”
“Ah, so you finally gave him a chance, huh?” Georgie said, shaking Sara’s hand.
Sara’s brows shot up in surprise.
“I may’ve been whining about the fact you were ignoring me while I was in Sydney,” I said.
“Wouldn’t shut up more like it,” Georgie said.
“What can I say? He’s persistent,” Sara said to Georgie.
“And awesome. Don’t forget awesome,” I added.
Both the girls laughed.
“Sara, this is—”
“Georgina Alexandra. I know. Instagram.” She shrugged.
Did I not tell her this was Georgie’s shoot? Shit.
“You need to get to makeup,” Georgie said.
“Right. On it.” I turned and kissed Sara on the cheek.
During the shoot, Sara and Georgie talked when Georgie wasn’t fiddling with the clothes, and they were often caught laughing and distracting me from my very important brooding stare. It was good to see them getting along, but their laughs kept pulling my eyes in their direction. And once my eyes landed on Sara, they kept travelling over her bare legs and the mini skirt that should’ve been illegal. If I had my way, no one would’ve been allowed to see her in that but me.
I caught her numerous times eyeing me from head to toe with a lustful gleam, and it took all of my restrain
t, and many thoughts of dead puppies, to make sure the shoot remained professional.
The other models—the female soon-to-be naked ones—turned up just before I broke for lunch, and I was worried I’d have to ask Sara to leave so I didn’t have a giant boner for their set. Nothing screamed unprofessional like hard-ons in ads. Unless it was for erectile dysfunction medication or condoms.
“Go, eat, relax, and be back in a half hour where we’ll get the group shots done,” the photographer said.
I quickly changed out of Georgie’s designs and back into my jeans and T-shirt and then went out to find Sara who was still talking with Georgie.
“Mind if I drag her away?” I asked Georgie.
“No problem, I need to help set up for the next round of photos anyway.”
The crafts table near the entry to the studio was stacked full with sandwiches, finger foods, fruit, and dessert, but I bypassed it, dragging Sara with me. There was only one thing I was hungry for.
“Where are we going?” Sara asked.
“A quiet place I can fuck you.”
“Here? Why?” She sounded unsure but I heard the underlying tone of interest.
“Because you’ve been staring at me with your fuck-me eyes all day and I haven’t been able to touch you. You’re driving me crazy.” The only quiet place I could find was the bathrooms at the end of the hall.
I led Sara into the men’s room and turned and locked the door behind us.
“I thought public restrooms were Cole’s thing?” she joked.
“Don’t even get me started on those two. I’m starting to think they’re a ‘let’s do it everywhere’ kind of couple.”
“Guess they could never say their sex life is boring.”
“Guess it’s a good thing we’re mixing it up then. Wouldn’t want to get boring, right?”
She smiled and whispered, “It could never be boring with you.”
A growl rumbled in my chest as I lifted her up and placed her on the bench next to the sink. The studio was in a relatively new building, so the bathrooms weren’t dirty and disgusting. I may not have been able to go through with it if they were gross. I had some standards—granted, not many, but some.
I kissed Sara with all that I had. She spread her legs so I was standing between them.
“This’ll have to be fast,” I said.
“I’m ready. I didn’t realise how hot I’d find your work. And it’s not even an underwear shoot. I don’t think I should come to any of those.”
I smiled and took her mouth again, working my hands up her skirt to pull her panties down. Two fingers stretched her, spreading her wetness.
“Ryan—”
I didn’t need her to ask for what she wanted, I knew. Undoing my belt and zipper, I entered her, buried to the hilt. I had to pause.
“Move,” she panted.
“Can’t,” I ground out. “Not yet.” My balls were tightening already, and I needed to calm myself.
I rubbed her clit in small circles with my thumb while I tried to slow my need. Her hips started moving on their own accord, and the small movements drove me to lose what little control I had.
I pulled out of her and then pushed back in hard.
She let out a half-moan, half-scream.
“You want people to think I’m trying to murder you in here?”
“If you do that again, yes. I don’t fucking care,” she breathed.
“Don’t make me gag you.”
She smiled and grabbed my free hand, placing it over her mouth.
I laughed and started moving inside her. We soon found our rhythm, both of us chasing our climax.
No one had ever felt as good against my body as Sara did. It wasn’t just chemistry making it the best sex of my life; it was the fact I was in love with this girl. Our connection went deeper than the physical stuff, and I didn’t even know it was possible for sex to be this way.
She finished first, biting down on my hand as she came. I didn’t slow at all and followed soon after when she leaned slightly back to take me at a different angle.
My thrusts slowed and I wrapped my arms around her back and buried my head in her neck. “Best girlfriend ever.”
“Don’t you forget—”
My hand went to her mouth again when I heard the door next to the men’s toilet open. There were giggles and chatter, and the sound travelled through the walls.
“You’ll get a chance to hit on him tonight at the wrap party,” one of the girls’ voices said.
“The designer reckons that short chick is his girlfriend,” another said.
“Really? I thought she was his assistant or something. She’s like a midget.”
I didn’t want Sara to hear this. I mouthed “I’m sorry” and removed my hand from her mouth.
“I heard he likes to go at it on set,” a third voice said. “He’s famous for it.”
I shook my head, held up one finger, and mouthed “one time,” but then she looked down, where we were still joined and I was still inside her. “Okay, twice.”
She smiled, but I couldn’t tell if it was genuine or not.
“Ignore them,” I whispered. “They don’t know anything.”
She nodded but then wiggled so I was forced to pull out of her. Hopping off the bench, she grabbed paper towels from the dispenser and used them to clean herself and then pull her panties up.
Sara didn’t even give me eye contact as she went to walk past.
“Hey,” I said, grabbing her hand, “I love you.”
She smiled again, but it wasn’t her usual smile. Something was off.
The girls’ voices were gone now and the coast was clear to leave, so Sara pulled her hand from mine and wandered back to the set with me trailing behind her.
We grabbed some food off the crafts service table, but before we could finish eating, I was called back to wardrobe to change.
I saw the three young models I’d be working with across the room getting oiled up. I gave them a polite chin lift but didn’t talk to them.
“They’re very disappointed you’re taken, you know,” Georgie whispered to me.
I laughed. “I know. I overheard them talking. So did Sara.”
“Shit. She okay?”
I shrugged. “She’s probably not going to be too happy when she sees the three of them draped over me, is she?”
“At least you’re wearing clothes. Unlike them.”
“Whose idea was this concept anyway?”
She scoffed. “Not mine. Mine were the ones we shot this morning.”
“That’s more your style.”
“Just suck it up and grit your teeth like me. We’ll get this done, and then you can go home and make it up to your girl.”
It was good in theory, but on set, the girls were relentless with the questions in between shots.
“Is she really your girlfriend?”
“Yes.”
“I heard you’re not a relationship kind of guy.”
“You heard wrong.”
“Is she into threesomes?”
“Holy hell,” I muttered. “I don’t know if she is, but I’m not.”
“But—”
“Girls, seriously, you’re all going to learn one day that not everything that’s said about you or your colleagues is true. Can we get this done so I can go home already? With my girlfriend.”
They finally shut up after that, but when my eyes searched for Sara’s once again, she was gone.
I gave Georgie a quizzical look, but she bit her lip and shook her head. I didn’t know exactly what it meant, but it was pretty safe to assume Sara left.
Perhaps it wasn’t such a great idea to bring her on set after all. This was supposed to ease her worries, not make them worse.
“Can we take a break?” I asked. “Give me five minutes,” I added.
“Five minutes,” the photographer grumbled.
Sure, he spent all morning setting up the lighting and set changes between concepts, but God forbid a fu
cking model asks for a five-minute break.
I approached Georgie. “What happened?”
“I … umm. Shit.” Her eyes darted away from me. “I may’ve done something bad.”
“You? What did you say?”
“I was just trying to reassure her about the girls. We were getting along so well, and I said that if she was cool with being around me, she should be fine with them who haven’t even slept with you. I didn’t realise she didn’t know about us, and … well—”
“Us? There is no us.”
She furrowed her brow at me. “In Sydney.”
“Oh, shit.”
18
- SARA -
“I didn’t realise you and Hunter knew each other before Sydney,” I stupidly said.
“We didn’t,” Georgie responded.
And that’s when it hit me. That’s when the other shoe dropped. That’s when I realised Ryan had lied to me, not only about not sleeping with anyone in Sydney but the test results too. His STD test was taken before he went to Sydney. He said he wrapped it every time, but what if that was a lie as well? What if there were more girls other than Georgie?
The walls of the large studio suddenly started closing in and claustrophobia set in.
What other lies has he told me?
I rushed out of the studio without much of a thought of where to go. I was over an hours’ drive away from home, and I wasn’t going to steal Ryan’s car, as much as I wanted to.
My hands shook as I called a cab. One pulled up ten minutes later. I was thankful Ryan either hadn’t noticed I was gone yet or couldn’t get out of his shoot to come after me.
After the cabbie dropped me at the train station, I jumped on the first one heading south.
My mind wasn’t really focused on what I was doing or where I was going. My body was on autopilot.
Tears pricked my eyes, but I’d managed to keep them at bay so far. I didn’t want to be the crazy lady crying in the back of a cab, and now I didn’t want to be the crazy lady on the train.
My stomach rolled.
We should’ve gone slow. I should’ve forced myself to stay away from him. I should’ve chosen Danny. Then I wouldn’t be going through this—the thing I feared was inevitable.
