“And if we’re not in a place for me to go with you?”
“We’ll figure it out when it comes up, Ace. I can’t predict the future, so I don’t know what’ll happen.”
He had a point. I never thought I’d be okay with long-distance. If I were with someone, I’d want them in the same state as me. But I liked Zeke. As much as I wished I didn’t, I did, and there was no getting around that. I also didn’t want to lose him in a few months. This was all so complicated, and it’d be easier to walk away right now. I looked at Zeke across the table. That was what scared me about dating: the potential to be hurt. The uncertainty and the fact that I could end up with a broken heart. I knew there was the chance that we could make it work, but the other side of that was what had given me pause all these years when it came to dating.
“I want to keep hanging out and exploring this. I can be okay with taking this one day at a time,” I finally answered.
A wide smile overtook his handsome face, making his brown eyes sparkle He had such an amazing smile that it alone could get me wet. Which I was.
“Do you want to get out of here? I think what we just went through qualifies us to have some make-up sex,” Zeke said.
The two older women at the next table looked at us with smiles on their faces, and heat filled mine.
“Zeke,” I hissed. “Can you speak quieter?”
“Do you think people think we don’t do the deed?” he asked, quieter this time.
“So not the point, Zeke.”
“You never answered my question.”
“Since you still owe me a sexual favor, I’m more than ready to get out of here and make up,” I said. “But I’m not leaving my cupcake and coffee.”
“It’s more important than me, isn’t it?” he teased.
“Just a little.”
I went to the counter to grab a to-go box for the cupcake. Zeke had stacked my things neatly on the table by the time I returned. I guessed he was ready to get out of here. I handed him the box while I stuffed my things in my bag.
“My place?” I asked.
“I don’t care where we go, Ace. Just that we get the hell out of here and into a bedroom or a couch or a table. I’m not picky.”
I laughed. “But you are horny, I see.”
“Yep. Ready?”
I wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him. “Thank you for not giving up on me. I planned to reach out when I figured out how to broach the subject.”
“Of course. I’ll never give up on you, Ror. Or us.”
He kissed me one last time before I pulled away from him. Zeke took my bag and my hand. I waved at the older women and the barista as we took the patio exit out of the café. Zeke told me he’d meet me at my place with another kiss before he let go of my hand and handed my bag to me.
I hurried inside, dropping my bag in my room, and stashed the coffee in the refrigerator after getting rid of the ice. It was a good thing Stacey and I were neat freaks because the house wasn’t a mess. I went back to my room to put the clothes I’d thrown on the floor into the hamper. I started on the clothes I’d left on my bed from when I’d been trying to figure out what to wear today. I was hanging up a dress when the doorbell rang. I dropped the clothes on the floor of the closet, closing the door, and headed for the front door.
Zeke stepped inside, taking me into his arms as he kicked the door closed. His lips claimed mine as he lifted me, and my legs went around his waist. He carried me to my bedroom, wasting no time with pleasantries or pretending he was here for anything other than to fuck me right now. Zeke laid me down on the unmade bed, covering my body with his big one. His lips found mine again as my legs wrapped around his trim waist. Goodness, he was the best kisser I’d ever kissed. The fact that he could work me up so thoroughly with just his lips and tongue on mine surprised me. Kissing had always been my least favorite thing when it came to dating and the other sex. It always felt like I was going through the motions, which meant it didn’t do anything for me.
We were both breathing heavily when Zeke broke our kiss. He stared into my eyes.
“I don’t know how I would have handled it if you hadn’t given me another chance,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I freaked. I don’t normally do relationships, but I’ve thought about the things I want or don’t want when it comes to them. And long-distance seems hard.”
He nodded. “I agree, Ace. But can you promise that you’ll just talk to me next time? Don’t shut me out.”
I bit into my bottom lip as I nodded. “I promise I can try.”
“I’m cool with that.”
Zeke kissed along my jawline to my neck, and a shiver worked its way down my spine. His erection pressed against my core, so I ground my hips against it, making him groan. Zeke’s hands slipped under my shirt. The feel of his skin on mine worked me up even more. I wanted him so damn bad. I’d missed him these past few days. To go from seeing him every day and fucking just as often to nothing at all had been hard.
When Zeke worked my shirt up, I straightened it so he could pull it over my head. His deft fingers snapped the clasp of my bra and that fell off too. I threw it over the side of the bed along with my shirt. Before Zeke could start on my leggings, I grabbed the hem of his hoodie. He helped me pull it off along with the shirt he had on under it. I splayed my hands on his cut abs, working them up to his hard chest and tracing the tattoos there. His body was a work of art because of the tattoos but also because of how cut he was. It was clear he worked out a lot even if he hadn’t played in the league for a while.
Zeke watched me through half-lidded eyes that burned with passion. I trailed my index finger down the middle of his chest, to his stomach, and finally to the top of his jeans. His breathing hitched as I traced the outline of his bulging cock. I bit into my bottom lip.
“Do you know what I want to do?” I asked him.
Zeke shook his head. “What’s that, Ace?”
“Taste you.”
His groan was loud, and he gripped my wrist, pulling my hand away from his dick. I grinned.
“I thought this was about you collecting on the sexual favor you won,” he said, his voice low and gritty.
“This is the sexual favor I’m collecting,” I told him. “Would you believe I’ve never done it before?”
He huffed out a laugh. “No.”
“Okay, it’s only been a few times, and I want to do it now.”
“Ace, you know I don’t need you to do that. I don’t mind just pleasuring you.”
“And that’s why I want to do this, Z. You’re always so generous when it comes to me that I want to return the favor. Let me make you come for once.”
“You always make me come, baby.”
“You know what I mean. On your back.”
Before he could get on his back, I undid the button of his jeans. His throbbing erection forced his zipper down. Zeke climbed off the bed, and I slid to the edge. I helped him out of his jeans and boxer briefs after he kicked off his shoes. His cock was the biggest I’d ever had the pleasure of enjoying. I took him into my hand, stroking down the length of him. Zeke’s head fell back as my hand moved up and down his hard dick. My hand didn’t even circle the width of him. I flicked out my tongue to get my first taste of him. Zeke’s head popped back up, and he looked down at me.
His moan was encouraging enough for me to take more of him into my mouth. Zeke’s hand sank into my curls, but he wasn’t guiding my movements; it seemed like he needed to touch me. I took him deeper into my mouth, loving how it felt to have him there. I loved the taste of him and how much he seemed to be enjoying me sucking his cock. It had wetness pooling between my thighs and an ache building there. I rubbed my hands down Zeke’s length, finding my rhythm. His breathing was heavy, and his fingers gripped my hair. I worked my mouth faster over him.
“Fuck, Ace, that feels so damn good,” Zeke moaned. “I’m close.”
I deep-throated him, gagging, and Zeke swore. I did it again a
nd his fingers pulled my head back some. I loved his reactions and that he liked this so much. I worked my mouth over his cock at a pace that seemed to work for him and fondled his balls.
Zeke let out a loud groan and gritted out, “I’m coming, Ace.”
I knew he was warning me so I could take my mouth away, but I kept my mouth around his dick, sucking him in and out until he tensed up and unleashed into it. I swallowed every drop before popping off his dick and wiping my mouth. Zeke’s mouth crashed against mine.
“Thank you,” he said as he pressed his forehead against mine.
“You don’t need to thank me, Z,” I told him. “I got as much pleasure out of that as you did. You should feel how wet I am.”
“I plan to do just that, baby,” he said.
I slipped off my leggings, and we climbed into my bed. Zeke’s mouth found mine, and his dick was already getting harder nestled against my wet core. He kept his promise, and we both orgasmed a few more times before we were satisfied and fell asleep curled around each other in my bed.
“I hope you two didn’t do it on that couch,” Stacey said instead of a greeting as she stepped into the house.
My hello back was my middle finger as I slid off Zeke’s lap, and he chuckled. She had a point for that comment since I was making out with Zeke on the couch, but it still shouldn’t have been the first thing out of her mouth when she walked inside.
“Neither of those are actually responses,” she clarified.
“Would two middle fingers suffice for a response?” I asked.
“Your girlfriend really pushes my buttons daily. So, if she goes missing, know that it’s because of me. Don’t even pretend you don’t know who did the deed,” Stacey said.
Zeke laughed out loud at that. “You two are quite entertaining. I wish you’d been friends in high school so I would’ve had this every day.”
“That was because of you,” Stacey said.
“Yeah. You shouldn’t have dated her, or maybe we could be saying we’ve been friends thirteen years instead of just a measly ten,” I added.
“Right? Why is he here, anyway? We should be mad at him for depriving us of three years of friendship,” Stacey said.
Zeke was shaking his head with a smile on his full lips. “I’m not getting involved in this conversation.”
“But you kind of started it,” I pointed out.
“Well, this is me bowing out,” he said.
Stacey grinned at me and winked. “He’ll do. I’m going to change. Don’t think just because your boyfriend is here, you’re passing off your night to cook to me.”
“If she goes missing, know it was me too,” I said to Zeke.
“I heard that,” she called from down the hall.
“I wasn’t whispering, witch,” I called back. “I wanted you to hear it.”
Even though I couldn’t see her I knew she was flipping me off. Zeke seemed thoroughly amused.
“Duty calls. Here,” I said, handing him the remote control. “Find something before Stace gets back. If there’s no game on, then she’ll put it on the crime channel, and we’ll be stuck watching people kill each other in all kinds of ways for the dumbest reasons.”
“I take it you don’t want to watch that tonight,” he quipped.
“Not particularly,” I said. “But Criminal Minds is fine if that’s on.”
He chuckled, taking the remote control from me. I pecked his cheek before bouncing up and going to start dinner. I was keeping it simple and making baked skinless lemon pepper chicken, brown rice, corn, and a small salad. We couldn’t live off pastries, coffee, and cereal, or so we’d been told by both of our moms.
I stuck in my earbuds and pre-heated the oven before pulling the chicken out of the refrigerator. Stacey walking back into the living room caught my attention, and I glanced back. She sat in one of the overstuffed chairs. Zeke had settled on a sitcom, thankfully, and I knew she’d leave it on that channel because she figured Zeke wanted to watch it. She wasn’t arbitrarily rude unless it was me. I heard her ask Zeke how his rehab was going as I turned back to my task of preparing dinner for the three of us.
23
Mallory
I glanced up at the TV before my eyes sought out Zeke who was sitting on the couch with me. I’d decided to work from home today, hoping the change of scenery would help me write more words. It’d been a chill day for both of us since Zeke didn’t have to go to Burlington. He came over last night and spent the night. When we got up this morning, he decided to stay here with me. My feet were resting in his lap while his were on the coffee table in front of the couch. His eyes were cast down at his phone and there was a smile on his perfect lips.
I found myself grinning too. I was still getting used to dating him and having him back in my life. It was crazy, weird, and amazing that we were together after all these years. When I was in high school, I never would have imagined that the quiet, nerdy, shy girl would end up with the popular, basketball star. I stilled. An idea brewing in my head at that thought. I opened a new, blank document and started jotting down some plot ideas. My fingers were flying over the keys. Something they hadn’t done in months. An hour later, I was starting a new manuscript. I’d plotted out a new idea that ignited that passion I’d hoped Imagine Us would’ve had.
“Sounds like you’re working on something,” Zeke said, glancing at me. “Is the story giving you something now?”
“Nope,” I told him. “That story is a dead end and won’t speak to me. I’m working on something new. A new idea I got an hour ago. The words seem to be flowing so I’m going to ride this until I run out of steam.”
He squeezed my calf and turned his attention back to his phone, leaving me to focus. I popped in my earbuds and turned on my writing playlist. So far this year, I’d written a total of fifteen thousand words. It had been frustrating struggling to write every word for a story that wouldn’t give me anything. To have the words seemingly flowing easily made my heart race in a good way and my stomach clench in excitement. It finally seemed like I had a story that wanted to be told.
The front door opened, bringing in a rush of frigid air that snapped me out of my zone. I looked up to see Stacey walking into the house.
“Hey, babe,” she said. “Hi, Zeke.”
He gave her a head nod in greeting as I said, “Hey. Guess what?”
“Michael B. Jordan called to say that he will marry me now,” she said.
Zeke snorted out a laugh, shaking his head. Stacey gave him a death stare that only succeeded in making him laugh harder.
“Your boyfriend spends too much time here,” she stated. “If you could kindly explain to him my obsession with MBJ, that would be great.”
“Stacey,” I said, snapping my fingers. “I was trying to tell you something. Please get off the MBJ train.”
She unwound her scarf from around her neck and let out a harsh sigh. “Fine. If you insist. Tell me your news.”
“I wrote five chapters and seven thousand and fifty-three words today.”
Her mouth hung open and she gaped at me.
“Seriously?” Zeke inquired since it seemed like Stacey had lost the ability to speak.
“Yeah. I told you I had a new idea and putting the words on paper flowed better than anything has in a long time,” I said.
“Babe, that’s such good news,” Stacey said, walking around the couch and plopping down so she could give me a big hug. “I know how much this has been eating at you. So, it’s a new idea?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I was trying to work on Imagine Us, but I was still stuck. I was staring at Zeke and thinking about how we’ve found our way back to each other. I never could have imagined this would happen when we were in high school, and that had an idea brewing for me. I'm still going to use Imagine Us for the title, but it’s now a new adult romance at a high school. A romance between the bookworm and the star basketball player.”
“Glad I could help, Ace, even when I didn’t know I was,” Zeke said. I
smiled at him.
“Those kinds of books do well, but what’s the twist that makes your book stand out?” Stacey asked.
“I haven’t figured that out yet. It’s going to be Zeke’s and my story. In a way it always has been. But we left off in high school and trying to draft the story where we’re adults made it hard to write. The characters in this one will be the same but will go back to when they were in high school,” I explained. “What happened with Daniel our sophomore year still happens. The event, not that they will still be sophomores. The character based on Zeke will get his head out of his ass and approach the character based on me after defending her. This story will explore the what-ifs I’ve always had, but it’ll be a romance, of course. And I’ll advance the timeline so that they are eighteen when the series starts. It could totally be a trilogy! The storyline can follow them to college, where I’m sure they will break up, and then that sets up for the book I was trying to write.”
“I haven’t seen her this excited about a series since she had the idea for the last one she published,” Stacey said to Zeke. To me, she said, “You have time to figure out your angle for this story. Like you always tell me, the first draft is just a rough one that can be edited and rewritten. Ride the inspiration train to its conclusion.”
I smiled, hugging her again. The last few weeks I’d come to dread writing and opening my story every day. I did just about everything I could think of to avoid writing. But now I couldn’t wait to get started again. Now, I needed to outline this story, and the other two if I could, before I started writing again. I also had to talk to Valerie. That dimmed my glow a little. She’d been wanting me to draft the other story and pushing me not to give up. I wasn’t sure how she’d react.
“We should celebrate,” Zeke announced.
Doubletalk (The Busy Bean) Page 18
