Breakaway: A friends to lovers romance

by Heather M. Orgeron

  “Colton,” I mewled into his mouth, my body already coming undone at his touch. “Stop...I’m gonna—Oh God,” I moaned, digging my nails into his shoulders as I rode out my climax.

  Colton’s voice was gravel when he spoke. “So fucking beautiful, Allie.” His hands moved to the ties on the side of my bikini bottom, tugging until they both came loose and the scrap of fabric floated on the water’s surface. “I wanna feel you explode like that on my cock, baby.”

  Holy shit. That was so fucking hot. “Yes,” I whispered as he pulled the string at my back, leaving me completely naked. “God, yes.”

  Colt’s hands cupped my bottom and lifted. Tangling my legs around his waist, I devoured his neck as he walked us out of the pool and over to the cabana, positioning me in the center of the bed. “Don’t move.”

  Propped on my elbows, I watched the muscles of Colton’s shoulders flex with his movement as he worked at the ties on the bedposts. One by one, the curtains came down, cocooning us in our own little slice of heaven. It felt like we were the only two people on earth. Like we’d been transported to an alternate universe.

  Colton’s hungry eyes locked with mine as he joined me, his body perfectly aligned with mine. We were all hands and tongues and teeth. Skin to skin. Heartbeat to heartbeat. With my fingers twisted in his hair, I began rocking myself onto his erection. Colton’s hands gripped my hips, halting my movement. The head of his cock moved, sliding along my opening, causing me to let out a loud moan. My body tensed, pulsing with need as he held me still, sucking one of my nipples into his mouth.

  It was the most exquisite form of torture. “Colt,” I cried out. “Please...”

  “I’ve got you, baby,” he rasped. Positioning himself, he thrust forward, breaching my entrance in one fluid motion. “Are you okay?” he asked, stilling his movements. “I don’t—” He groaned, his brow furrowed with concentration. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “It’s okay,” I cried. “Hurt me, Colton...Just—just move,” I begged. “Please move,” I panted, rolling my hips into him, desperate for friction.

  I felt a tear sneak down my cheek as Colton gripped my ass, thrusting forward again with a loud groan. Holy shit. Colt captured my cry with his mouth, kissing me long and hard. Stretching me. Filling me. Owning me.

  With every thrust of his hips, we destroyed that invisible wall. There was no way we could ever go back now. The thought both thrilled and frightened me.

  COLTON

  WAKING UP IN THE morning to Alex hogging the covers was nothing new. Waking up to Alex sprawled naked across the bed, however, was, and I’d just decided it was the single most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Her long, dark hair draped over her breasts like a curtain, pert, pink nipples peeking through, begging to be lavished with attention. And, I mean, who was I to deny them?

  It was barely after seven in the morning, but the room was already bathed in sunlight. Thanks to the floor to ceiling windows, I couldn’t sleep. Allie, however, would be in bed ’til three if I’d let her. I wondered briefly whether she’d be upset if I—

  Well, there was only one way to find out. Bracing myself on one arm, I leaned in, running my tongue gently over the already erect bud. Alex stirred but quickly fell back into a deep sleep. I licked the pads of the index finger and thumb on my left hand and reached over to tweak the nipple farthest from my face. At the same time, I curled my tongue over the other.

  She moaned softly, and I pressed on, lapping and nipping, tweaking and pulling until Alex was writhing beneath me. Until her hands were in my hair, pulling. Until my name fell from her lips repeatedly.

  “Oh, God,” she cried out when I slipped a finger between her folds. “Don’t stop, Colt.”

  I didn’t. Not until she was screaming my name and I’d milked the last tremor from her release. Until she was covered in a light sheen of sweat, lying limp in my arms.

  “Is there anything about you that isn’t high maintenance?” I asked, my chest vibrating with laughter.

  Her sex-hooded eyes turned up to glare in my direction. “I’m afraid to even ask where you’re going with this.”

  I tipped her head up further, pressing a kiss to her warm lips. “If I’d have realized orgasms made you so agreeable in the morning, I’d have started dishing ’em out a long time ago,” I teased, earning myself a nip to the chest.

  “Let’s go make some breakfast,” I suggested when I felt her cozying into the crook of my arm like she was about to fall asleep.

  Lazy fingers thrummed on my chest. “You have fun with that.”

  When I rolled out from underneath her, she groaned, stretching out on her stomach.

  “Come on, Al.” As tempting as it was to stay in bed and fool around all day, I’d already made arrangements.

  “It’s so cold without you,” she complained. “Come back.” Her arm stretched out, fingers wiggling in my direction.

  After stepping into my boxers, I tossed a shirt at her. “Put that on,” I said, trying to maintain a straight face. “I have a busy day planned for us.” She harrumphed, turning her head the opposite direction. “Don’t make me do it,” I added in a warning tone.

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “Try me,” I deadpanned, quirking my brow.

  Begrudgingly, she sat up, her eyes narrowed my way. “Stop staring at my tits,” she ordered, pulling the tank over her head. “You want to get rid of them, remember?”

  “That was before I was allowed to play with them.” I winked. “I’ve since had a change of heart. They can stay.”

  “You’re too kind.”

  I bit my lip, watching and waiting for her to notice the T-shirt as she looked down, sliding both hands along her neck and lifting to pull her hair out from the back of her shirt. Alex’s hands came around to the front, stretching the shirt out in front of her, and her mouth fell open with a gasp. “Colton!”

  Finally! It was a black tank with a white screen-printed rooster beneath the word, “big.” “I thought you’d never notice.” I laughed.

  “Is this yours? Do you actually wear this?” she asked, aghast.

  “Come on now, I’m not that cocky,” I quipped. “I ordered it just for you.”

  She smiled with her whole face, shaking a finger at me. “You’re good, Colt.”

  I felt my chest swell with pride.

  “Are you sure you don’t wanna wear it?” she asked, staring up at me with those big doe eyes. “After all, you are a big dick.”

  Dang, Alex, I thought, laughing. “You keep it...Now that you’ve been inducted into the big cock society, you gotta represent,” I said, pounding my hand against my chest twice.

  Her jaw dropped, morphing into a huge grin. “I got nothin’.”

  “Come on,” I ordered, grabbing her hands and pulling her from the bed. “Let’s go eat.”

  I sent Allie out to the terrace while I whipped up some microwave pancakes and fresh fruit, strawberries, and pineapples—her favorites. Alex was quite impressed by my newfound ability to work a stove. I may have left out the fact that the pancakes came from the freezer. But, hey, a man’s gotta do what he can to impress his woman.

  After breakfast, we cleaned up and got dressed, then biked the seven miles to Marina Del Rey. It was still early enough that the trails weren’t completely inundated with people and there was a nice breeze coming off the ocean. Best of all, Allie hadn’t stopped smiling at me all morning.

  “Are we going fishing?” she asked while I was locking up our bikes near the dock.

  I glanced back at her over my shoulder. “Nope.”

  “Dolphin sighting?”

  My lips puckered in thought. “You might get lucky and see some dolphins.”

  Alexis held up a fist, using her other hand to reel up her middle finger just as my buddy Ryker pulled up in his boat. His big, lime green boat with the word “Parasail” in huge white letters.

  “Oh my God!” she screamed, jumping up and down. “I haven’t been since we were teenagers.”


  I felt like the king of the world when she looked up at me with those big brown eyes bursting with excitement. “Good surprise?” I asked, watching as her whole face lit up.

  She squeezed my hand hard enough to cut the circulation off. “Ahhhmazing surprise!”

  Allie and I boarded the boat, fastening our life jackets and taking our seats in the back. She looked around in confusion when it took off with just Ryker, his helper, Jude, and the two of us.

  “It’s just you and me.”

  “How’d you pull this off?” Her finger came up, cutting me off before I could answer. “Lemme guess...another ‘star of the basketball team’ thing?”

  I gave her a wink and shrugged. Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I pulled her in closer, kissing the side of her head. I couldn’t tell if this all really made her uncomfortable or if she was just bustin’ my chops. Allie and I had always had a playful relationship, and I hoped that’s all it was. I guess I didn’t really see any of this as weird anymore. Although Allie and I were in constant contact with each other, there are some parts of my life she wasn’t accustomed to. She’d better get used to it because if I ever made it pro, I had every intention of taking her with me.

  Any awkwardness or reservations she may have had vanished when they strapped us in, and we went soaring five hundred feet into the air. Allie’s face was exuberant. I couldn’t stop myself from staring.

  “What?” she asked, her face blushing.

  “I just like looking at you.”

  Her foot reached to the side, hooking around my ankle. I was suddenly regretting the decision to trap us in harnesses for an hour because with the way she was looking at me...I wanted nothing more than to put my hands on her.

  “I’m going to be a mess when I have to leave you.” We still had two weeks, but that dreaded day was already looming over us.

  My chest felt tight. “So, stay.”

  Allie let out a loud sigh, her head tipping to the side. “You know it’s not that easy, Colt.”

  “It could be, Al. It could be that easy.”

  Allie’s eyes drifted out over the water. I could tell she was deep in her thoughts.

  “Hey,” I called after she had been quiet for a few minutes. Alex turned back to look at me, her eyes a little glossy. “No pressure. I just want you to know that it’s an option.”

  A slow smile moved across her face. “Thank you.”

  “Come here,” I growled, moving both of my hands to the rope in the center so I could lean my body toward hers. Alex’s face brightened, following my lead. Her mouth found mine in the space between us. Our teeth clashed amid lips that couldn’t keep from smiling. It was such an adrenaline rush, our bodies firing on all synapses. I knew that nothing would ever compare to the taste of her laughter on my lips.

  We were still kissing when Ryker dropped us down, allowing our feet to skim the water. Still kissing when he lifted us back into the air and began towing us in. Only when we landed on the boat’s deck did our lips part, and instantly I wanted hers back.

  “Thanks, man,” I said to Ryker as he pulled up to drop us off at the dock.

  “No problem,” he answered with a knowing smile. “Hope you two had a good ride.”

  We left our bikes tied up there, walking a couple of blocks to Third Street Promenade, where we grabbed a bite to eat, and Allie shopped ’til she dropped.

  “We’re going to have to grab a Lyft to get this all back.” I laughed. Alex and I had completely forgotten the fact that we’d biked out there. “We can swing back for the bikes with the car when we leave and drop them at the beach house.”

  “Do we have to go home?” Allie whined. “I love this place so much, Colt.” Her eyes drifted around the outdoor courtyard lined with shops and street performers. “It feels like ours—like we belong here, doesn’t it?”

  “We’ll come back again soon,” I promised, not wanting to leave either.

  “How soon?”

  Biting my lower lip, I stared into her brown eyes. As soon as you move in, I thought, but I stopped myself from saying it aloud. I’d told her I wouldn’t pressure her, but it wasn’t easy. “Next visit,” I answered, placing a kiss on her forehead.

  When our car arrived, we loaded the bags into the back before climbing inside. Allie sat right beside me, her leg pressed against mine. She smelled like sunshine and coconut lotion. The apples of her cheeks were rosy, kissed by the sun. I spent the five-minute ride to the house memorizing every detail of the way she looked tonight. It had been the best weekend of my life, and I didn’t want to forget a thing.

  Before leaving the house, Allie and I paid one last visit to the rooftop cabana, making love by the ocean to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore.

  ALEXIS

  RING. RING. RING.

  Jeez. Whoever it was, was persistent. After the third call in a row, I’d decided it was probably important enough that I should answer. “Hello?” I groaned, my voice still drunk with sleep.

  “Alexis,” Dean breathed out, his voice cracking. “I’m so glad you picked up.”

  We hadn’t spoken in weeks. Not since the morning I broke up with him. I couldn’t tell for certain, but it sounded like he’d been crying. A huge knot formed in the pit of my stomach. Immediately, I started imagining all of the many horrible things that might have happened. “Hey, Dean,” I cooed. “Is everything okay? You sound upset.”

  “Yeah, uhh. It’s Dad...He was in an accident.”

  “Oh God, Dean. Is he—Is he going to be okay?” Memories of Mr. Ryan, who was like a second father to me, flashed in my mind.

  A loud sob broke my thoughts, nearly ripping my heart in two. “They don’t think he’s going to—” He couldn’t finish. My entire body began to shake as I broke out in a cold sweat, his words ringing in my ears. His cries suffocating my heart.

  “Dean,” I cried, clutching my hand to my chest as warm tears streamed down my cheeks. “No.” I gasped for breath, but it was no use. It was as if the air had been sucked from the room. This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t real.

  Dean cleared his throat, taking a moment to compose himself. At his next three words, I began shoving my belongings into my suitcase. “I need you...” He needed me.

  I jotted down the hospital information, promising him that I’d be there as soon as I could, and booked the next flight home. All I could think about at that moment was getting to the hospital as fast as possible. I needed to be there for Dean. I had to see Mr. Ryan before he— No. I wouldn’t even think that way.

  After packing the last of my things, I attempted to call Colt, but the sound of his ringtone came drifting through the bathroom door. He’d forgotten it on the counter. Brilliant. There was no time to wait. My plane would be departing in two hours. My only option was to leave a note.

  Dear Colton,

  I miss you already, and I haven’t even left...

  As soon as I finish writing this, I’ll be on my way to the airport to catch the next flight home. Dean’s dad was in a bad car accident this morning, and it doesn’t look good. I know that you understand how much Mr. Ryan means to me, and why I need to be there right now. Still, I hate leaving without saying goodbye—truthfully, I hate leaving at all. The past few weeks, especially last weekend, were the happiest I’ve been in years.

  This is a conversation I hoped we’d have in person, but I don’t want you to come back, find me gone, and assume the worst. So, this letter will have to do. I’ve made my decision. Hell, if I’m honest, I made it the minute I hopped on that plane to come to LA—to come to you. You’re the reason I couldn’t say yes. I know that now, without a doubt. There’s no way that I could ever marry Dean feeling the way I do for you. I’m in love with you, Colton Fowler. I think maybe I always have been.

  Thank you so much for everything. The summer, this weekend, your big cock—the shirt, you perv. I’ll call you later tonight when I get settled.

  Love always,

  Allie

&
nbsp; xoxo

  After folding the note in half, I wrote Colton’s name really big on the outside, then set it on the nightstand, placing his cellphone on top. There was no way he’d miss it. Colt would come straight for his phone the minute he got home, and he’d find my letter.

  The three-hour flight back to Texas felt more like three days. It was crazy how time always seemed to stop at the most inopportune times. I’d gotten myself so worked up by the time we landed that I was ready to bowl over the line of slow-moving passengers just to feel my feet on solid ground. God, I hated flying.

  When I finally got off that plane, I hightailed it to the baggage area, locating my mother almost immediately. With her arms flailing above her head, she stood beaming up at me as I moved down the escalator at a snail’s pace. When I got to the bottom, she was there, wrapping me in her familiar embrace. It was then when I finally felt safe enough to allow myself to fall apart. Right there. In the airport.

  “Oh, honey,” Momma crooned, finger combing my hair as she held me tightly to her chest. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed her ’til she was holding me in her arms. Burrowing my nose into her neck, I breathed in a deep whiff of her perfume, holding it in and allowing it to sooth the hurt for just a moment.

  I was afraid to ask, but I needed to know. A lot could happen in three hours. “Is he—?” I choked on a sob, unable to finish the question, but Momma knew what I was trying to ask.

  “He’s alive—” her face contorted into a frown “—but it’s not looking good, baby.”

  I nodded, trying to swallow down my tears. I had to get my shit together before I saw Mr. Ryan and before I saw Dean.

  On the way over to the hospital, I filled mom in on my summer with Colton, intentionally leaving out the parts where we’d been hooking up. Until I was certain of what would happen between the two of us, I was not getting our parents involved. But I had hopes that maybe soon...Just the mere mention of him had my heart clenching in my chest.