by Claire Raye
“Do you mind?” Caleb asks, a hopeful look on his face.
Yes. “Nah, no probs,” I say with a smile. “I’ll head down now and take care of it. Stay here and get this finished.”
“Thanks, Adam,” he says, slapping me on the shoulder. “I really appreciate it. Ruby will run you down, she’s gonna grab us some food.”
I nod, dropping the roller into the paint tray. “No worries.”
The trip to the bar is quick, but once I get here, I realize me getting out of here anytime soon isn’t going to be an option. There’s been a fight in the bar between two college kids. Luckily both of them were over twenty-one, but as one of them was briefly knocked out, someone called an ambulance, which also means the police are now here.
I spend the next hour trying to diffuse the situation and get everything under control. Caleb calls to find out what’s going on and whether he should come down, but I tell him not to bother. No point ruining two nights with this shit.
After everything is sorted, I hang around for a bit longer, helping the staff with the clean up because everything’s behind thanks to two drunken idiots. I’m not even dressed to be here, still in the shorts and t-shirt I wore to Caleb’s and now covered in paint splatter.
It doesn’t stop Liv trying to convince me to shower at her place after work though.
“I’m good, thanks,” I say with a smile as I step out of her grasp.
“You sure? I’m close by,” she says, giving me a little pout.
“Me too,” I reply, waving her away. “Alright, I’m gonna head out, see you later.”
I walk out before she has a chance to respond and head back to my apartment. It’s now after midnight and I have no doubt Mila has long left my apartment.
When I eventually walk inside, the place is quiet and almost in darkness. “Shit,” I exhale, figuring she got sick of waiting for me and went home. But as I walk around to turn off the side lamp, that’s when I see her, fast asleep on my couch.
My heart flips in my chest at the sight of her, glad that she stayed but still having no idea what I’m supposed to do now.
Stalling, I head to the bathroom to take a shower while I try to work out what to do next. As I step under the hot water, I groan out loud at how good it feels. Who the fuck knew painting was such hard work? When I’m done, I wrap a towel around my waist and walk toward my bedroom, quickly grabbing a pair of sweats from the floor.
As I walk back out to the living room, I realize I should probably wake her up in case she wants to go home, but at the same time, I don’t want her to go. I know nothing is going to be happening between us tonight, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want her here.
Crouching down beside the couch, I put my hand on her shoulder. “Mila,” I say softly, gently squeezing.
“Hmmm,” she mumbles, not quite waking.
I brush the hair back from her face, leaning closer as I brush my lips over her cheek. “You fell asleep,” I whisper. “You wanna head home?”
“Mmm mmm,” she murmurs again, rubbing her eyes.
I slide my hand down her neck and onto her shoulder again. “You want to stay here?” I ask, even as I wonder if I should be even suggesting this.
“Yeah,” she mumbles, blinking her eyes open a little, trying to focus on me.
Smiling, I tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear as I whisper, “Come on, you shouldn’t sleep on the couch.”
I stand, leaning down as I slide my arms under her, gently picking her up and carrying her into my bedroom where I lay her in my bed. I watch as Mila pulls the duvet over herself, snuggling into my pillow.
I stand beside the bed, torn between whether I should get in or whether I should go back to the couch and spend the night out there. Just as I’m about to leave, Mila pats the bed beside her and says, “You can sleep here too.”
She doesn’t open her eyes and seems to fall straight back to sleep without waiting for my decision. Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly before I carefully lift the duvet and slide in beside her, setting the alarm on my phone before I switch off the lamp. Then, slipping an arm around her waist, I pull her close so her back is to my front as I bury my face in her hair and close my eyes and go to sleep.
The alarm sounds loud in the early morning, waking me as I reach over to silence it. Beside me, Mila grumbles, shuffling closer as she pushes herself against me, the two of us still lying in the same position as when I put her to bed last night. Only difference being this morning, my dick is once again awake and wanting her.
“Morning,” I whisper, my lips finding the back of her neck and kissing her warm skin.
“Hmmm, morning,” she replies, her voice heavy with sleep. “When did you get back?”
I nuzzle my nose into her hair. “Late. You were asleep on my couch.”
Mila exhales as my hand slides over her hip and under her t-shirt, my palm flattening against the warm skin of her stomach. I know if I move any higher or any lower, I’m seriously fucked.
“Why is it so early?” she mumbles.
I chuckle. “Because somebody signed us up for kickboxing classes that start at stupid o’clock, remember?”
Mila groans, stretching a little, which only pushes her body against mine again and making me groan. “Maybe we should skip it?” she suggests.
Fuck me, is it tempting. “The first class?” I ask, exhaling hard as Mila’s hand now covers mine and holds me against her. “Mila.”
She rolls over so she’s facing me, her chest pushed against mine. “No one would miss us,” she whispers before surprising the hell out of me by pressing her lips against mine.
I groan into her mouth, my hand now on her back, pressing between her shoulder blades to keep her close. Mila’s arm slips around my waist, her fingers digging into my back as she kisses me, her tongue slipping into my mouth.
This is it. The moment I cave and give in to doing exactly what I’ve wanted to do since I met this woman. She’s the first and only temptation I’ve had in what feels like forever and I’m suddenly questioning why the fuck I ever thought I could not do this with her.
The alarm goes off again, breaking the moment. “Shit,” I groan, pulling back as I reach over to silence it again. “We gotta get up,” I say and even I can hear the reluctance in my words.
“We don’t have to,” she says, opening her eyes.
I smile, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Trust me, I don’t want to, beautiful” I say. “But we are going to.”
Mila pouts and it’s fucking adorable. “You’re no fun, Cooper,” she says, making me laugh at the way she uses my surname.
“I thought I told you, Mila,” I say, lifting her hand to my mouth and kissing the inside of her wrist. “I can be a lot of fun.”
“Yeah?” she asks with a smirk. “When are you going to prove it to me?”
I smile, leaning in to kiss the end of her nose, knowing we are walking that dangerous line again, the one we almost crossed in my kitchen yesterday and the one we could so easily cross right now. “Oh, I will, but not when I’m on the clock,” I say. “Because trust me when I say, I wanna take my time with you, Mila. Want to take my time savoring you, tasting you, doing everything I’ve only imagined doing with you. I might have missed my chance yesterday but I’m not about to rush it now.”
Mila groans dramatically. “Fuck, Adam, you do not play fair.”
I smile, leaning in to press a kiss to the side of her neck, right over the mark I left there yesterday. “I promise it will be worth it,” I whisper, my mouth at her ear, before pulling back.
I have to force myself to roll away from her so I don’t totally cave and do exactly what I know we both want now. I can’t believe I’m showing this much restraint, especially given I’ve all but admitted to myself that this is happening.
Swinging my legs out of bed, I pull the duvet across my lap to hide my hard-on.
Mila groans as she drags herself out of bed, walki
ng around and stopping in front of me. I can’t stop myself from reaching over, hooking my hands around the back of her thighs and pulling her closer so she’s standing between my legs. Mila puts her hands on my shoulders, her beautiful brown eyes meeting mine.
“Go get this sexy arse of yours in some workout clothes,” I say, sliding my hands up to her butt. “And maybe I’ll let you kick my arse a little.”
Mila smirks, brushing the hair back from my face. “I think I might like that.”
Chuckling, I give her a squeeze before turning her around and smacking her on the butt. “Go, before you convince me we should just go back to bed.”
She glances over her shoulder, biting her bottom lip before she walks out of my room, looking so fucking beautiful I seriously cannot believe I’m stopping this.
Ten minutes later and we are both walking into the kickboxing class, towels and water bottles in hand. Mila is now dressed in leggings and a tank and fuck me if she doesn’t look amazing. I still can’t believe I managed to convince her or myself to get up and come to this class and I’m blaming that somewhat stupid decision on the fact it’s been over a year since I slept with a woman and I’m still trying to process the fact I want to go there again.
I mean it’s not like I don’t want to have sex with her, of course I fucking do. She’s gorgeous and fun and everything I could want in a woman. But it’s all the other things us hooking up implies, especially since I know it’s never going to just be a simple hook up between us.
“You nervous?” Mila asks, smiling as she claps her now wrapped hands together.
I laugh. “Yeah sure, tough girl like you? I’m super scared.”
She dances around a little, punching me in the chest. “Oh, I think you are,” she teases, lightly punching my shoulder this time.
I grab her arm, my fingers curling around her wrist as I yank her closer, her chest now pressed up against mine. Her eyes widen in surprise, her chest heaving a little as her breathing suddenly gets a little deeper.
“I think you might be right,” I whisper.
“Really?”
“Really,” I repeat, my grip on her wrist loosening as I slide my hand up her arm. “I’m pretty sure you can bring me to my knees, Mila,” I say, my words more honest than anything I’ve ever said to her.
“Me too,” she breathes out.
Chapter Fifteen
Mila
Adam and I have gone to kickboxing for the last week, varying days based on our schedules, but nothing more. We’re like two ships passing in the night with his work schedule and my school schedule, and it just never seems to play out in our favor. At first it felt like it was just the nature of everything, working late hours at a bar, me having class during the day and not finishing until it was time for him to go to work, but now I’m sitting here overanalyzing it. I can’t help but wonder if maybe he’s avoiding me or maybe I’m subconsciously avoiding him.
I’ve only been home from class for like five minutes and I’m already obsessing, looking back through our text messages over the last week and dissecting them. He always responded, but the playful flirting we had going on seems to have settled. At kickboxing, he’s always been doing exactly what the instructor asks, although I did catch him looking at my boobs a few times. He’s full of shit when he says he has no self-control, because over the last week, he’s had the self-control of a fucking saint.
Charlie walks in and I huffily toss my phone onto the couch next to me, watching it bounce erratically and then flop onto the floor.
“Guess who I just saw?” Charlie asks, her voice higher than normal and taking on a sing-song quality. Obviously, I know who she just saw, but I’m not letting her give me shit about it.
“I don’t know. Darth Vader?” I shoot back, looking up at her as she stands over me with her hands on her hips and a perfectly adorable smile on her face. She’s giddy over me meeting Adam, telling me I’m happier than I’ve been in months.
Her smile drops and she purses her lips at my comment, pausing a second before responding. “No, I saw Adam. He was leaving for work.”
“I’m sure he was. He’s always leaving for work right when I get home. I don’t think—”
“Don’t even say it!” Charlie snaps, pointing her finger at me. “Don’t say you don’t think he’s interested. He is. He actually asked if you were home when I saw him. So, stop that shit. He’s busy at work. Would a guy who wasn’t interested get up at six a.m. on a regular basis to go to kickboxing when he probably got in around three a.m.?”
She flops down next to me, hitting me with her blue-gray stare, blinking a few times while she waits for my answer.
“I don’t know. You’ve seen his body, maybe he just enjoys working out.” I shrug, realizing I sound like I’m fishing for support, and obviously I am. “He signed us up for six more sessions yesterday,” I admit sheepishly, realizing how stupid this whole thing is.
“I’m done with this conversation,” Charlie announces, folding her arms over her chest and staring at me with narrowed eyes.
“He’s fucked up,” I strangely admit to her, even though I don’t really think I believe it. We’re all damaged in some way and by saying it out loud I feel like maybe I’m trying to make excuses for why I don’t want to be with him. But it isn’t that at all. I say it because I want to help him, I want him to know he isn’t alone. That I’m equally fucked up.
“Perfect,” Charlie deadpans, but not in a way that is laced with sarcasm. “So are you.” She smiles sympathetically. She would never throw my situation back in my face and right now she’s encouraging me to take a chance. It’s something that feels totally right despite my own stupid reservations.
“What do I do?” I ask, feeling totally lost on how I even approach this and I have no idea why.
Charlie laughs, her blonde hair falling over her face as she shakes her head. “I don’t know! I’m single too, remember? Just go knock on his door and then take your clothes off.”
She’s laughing so hard she can barely get the words out and I have no idea why she finds my lack of a sex life so hysterical.
“I feel like it needs to be a little more controlled than that.”
“You’re overthinking this,” Charlie states, but giving me nothing else.
“Maybe I am. Maybe it just needs to be spontaneous,” I suggest, shrugging my shoulders. “We’ve had so many moments that were so close. My hand down his pants—”
“Whoa, wait, you never told me that!” Charlie yells, acting affronted that I left out that tiny bit of information.
“Yeah, the other day in his kitchen, we were so close and then he told me to be there when he got home and so I was, but he got stuck at the bar. I fell asleep on his couch and that was it.”
“Seriously? That was it? He didn’t come home and wake you up with his mouth.” She smirks, wiggling her butt a little as she sits next to me.
“Nope. I was asleep, he was tired and we both went to bed not even mentioning the half a hand job I gave him in his kitchen.”
The memory comes back to me instantly and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it regularly. It’s been front and center of my fantasies for the last several days, even maybe rubbing one out to thoughts of him.
“So…” Charlie says, eyebrows raised in question.
“He’s… Yeah, it’s going to be amazing if it ever happens.”
“Make it happen.”
Make it happen is easier said than done and another two days have passed, and Adam and I still have not hooked up. We’ve been texting and flirting at kickboxing and talking about getting together, but nothing ever materializes.
Classes have been busy, the bar has been busy, life has been busy. Maybe it’s just not the right time, but when I see him get off the elevator just as I come through the door that leads from the stairs, it feels like someone has finally lined up the stars. And maybe, just maybe I’m actually ready for this. I repeat in my
head not to chicken out. Is it chickening out if…? I push the thought from my head. It needs to go away. Out of sight out of mind. That’s why I transferred to Hawthorn in the first place.
“Mila,” he croons, smiling at me and just hearing him say my name has me wanting to throw myself at him. “You been avoiding me?”
I walk over to him, my hand on his chest, “Avoiding you? Never. But maybe you’re avoiding me.” His hand moves to my hip. Gripping it tightly as I take in a hard breath. Just being around him sucks the air from my lungs, making it hard to breathe, but I could not give a single fuck. I’d go breathless if it meant having his hands on my body. It’s been too long, and I’m done punishing myself.
“You have plans right now?” he asks, and I sense a small bit of hesitation, as if he’s nervous I’ll say yes.
“I need to check. I might have a date,” I tell him, and in that instant, something changes, his hand tightening on my hip, his jaw clenching.
“You don’t even need to try to make me jealous, Mila,” he murmurs, his lips now next to my ear. “Because whoever this other guy is, he doesn’t know that when I put my lips right here,” he stops talking, his mouth sucking where he marked me before, “it makes your panties wet and I will win every fucking time.”
“There isn’t anyone else,” I instantly admit. “And I know when I walk away, you’ll watch my ass as I go.”
“Like hell you’re walking away,” he asserts. “I don’t have to work, and I want your ass in my bed. Fuck that, I want your ass bent over my kitchen table.”
My body is now pressed against his, his dick hard and everything about this screams, this is it. This is what I’ve been waiting for. This intense connection, the wait, the chase, all of it.
“I just got back from a run. I’m sweaty…” I start, and Adam shakes his head.
“You’re about to get sweatier,” he growls, sucking at my neck.
