“Yes.”
I know where it is, and I know there’s only one place to sit out there. It’s a big wicker birdcage looking thing filled with a cushion and pillows. One side is open, and I had actually hoped to use it as a refuge of sorts when things got rough. There goes that plan. I’ve got five minutes to change out of my yoga pants and t-shirt, because this feels like a little more than just a talk between employer and employee. I don’t know what it is, but it’s more. Whether I want it or not. And yeah, I want it.
Knox
I feel like I’m fourteen again, going on my first date. I made sure Cohen and Martha stay away, and then I filled this little oasis with candles, sparkling cider, and a charcuterie platter Martha made up for us. I’m going to need more calories than this starting tomorrow, but after a long flight, the light meal is perfect.
To be honest, this whole house is perfect. Open and inviting with walls of windows, modern appliances mixed with wood, and a massage/spa room, it’s a perfect place to come home to after training. There’s a nice pool and hot tub in the back of the house, and a second, smaller pool just off my bedroom that’s connected to my bathroom by an outdoor shower.
The chicks are going to be in love with this place when we throw the parties, and I would normally be looking forward to a non-stop night of blow jobs. There’s currently only one mouth I want on my cock, though, and I don’t think she’s the type of woman who would be willing to share. I don’t know how I feel about that, but I don’t feel freaked out or scared, so that’s something.
“It’s really pretty out here,” Waverly says from behind me.
I turn and try to catch my breath. She’s not dressed up. At all. But, damn. She has on a long, flowy, off the shoulder white top with a slit up the front that lands somewhere above her waist, giving me just a glimpse of her creamy skin. Underneath are unicorn leggings. Her hair is loose and tumbling over her shoulders and her feet are bare. She’s got no make-up on, because she doesn’t need it, and it takes me almost a minute to be able to speak.
“You look really pretty.” Smooth, Edwards, real smooth.
“Thanks.”
“Do you want to sit down?”
“Sure.”
She climbs into the wooden cage daybed, sitting crossed legged on one side. I hand the food and drinks in to her, and join her, mirroring her pose. “It’s kind of cool in here.”
“Yeah. I saw it in the pictures, and thought it would be a nice place to hang out.”
“With me?”
“Not exactly, but this is nice.”
Nice? Not what I’m going for. I need to up my game. “Is the food okay? I wasn’t sure what you’d had on the plane.”
“I had the same thing everyone else did. Or at least everyone in my section.”
“I didn’t have the catered meal. I ate some chicken.” More like a lot of chicken, but I don’t need to tell her about my daily caloric intake. She probably knows, anyway.
“The food is good,” she says, putting some meat and cheese on a crostini and taking a bite.
And now I’m jealous of a bread product. “I brought cider, but I can get water or something else.”
“You seem nervous,” she tells me, tilting her head to the side like she’s trying to figure me out.
“We didn’t exactly get off on the right foot, and then you fainted the next time we sat down together for a talk,” I remind her.
“You were a complete ass the first time we met, and I was a little shocked during our second encounter.”
“Third time’s the charm, then.”
“The third time was on the plane. Nothing physical happened, so we can say it went okay.”
“You let me hold your hand. I’d say that’s more than okay.”
“Holding my hand is a win for you?”
“Most definitely.”
Instead of saying anything, she turns her hand over and holds it in front of me. I don’t hesitate to take it, and intertwine my fingers with hers. We hold hands for the next hour while we talk about nothing important, and awkwardly eat and drink with our other hands. I could stay here all night with her, but training starts tomorrow, and we both know I need to go to sleep. I walk her to her room and keep hold of her hand, because I’m not ready to say goodnight yet.
“I want to kiss you.”
“Okay.”
I let go of her hand to cup her face with both of mine, and then I kiss her like she’s the most precious treasure I’ve ever been given. I know she’s not mine yet, but as I brush my lips over hers again and again, I can’t help but hope that she will be.
She runs her fingers through my short hair as I reluctantly pull back. “Goodnight, Wave.”
“Goodnight, Knox.”
4
Waverly
Knox’s life isn’t glamorous, or even fun. At least not for me. For the past few days, I’ve gone with him everywhere, under the guise of analyzing his strokes, and researching his opponents. In reality, as he’s swimming for hours at a time twice a day, I’m sitting poolside and weeding through his fan mail. The emails and Facebook messages are endless, and frankly, a little embarrassing.
I’ve seen more bikinis, bare breasts and vaginas than I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m the first to speak up about women of all shapes and sizes being beautiful, but the sheer volume of the pictures, and differences, is a little overwhelming.
“You get used to it,” Cohen tells me with a laugh.
I look over my shoulder at him, and shake my head. “I’m not a guy, so I doubt that.”
“Not holding any back for your spank bank?”
“Yeah, no. And it’s really kind of gross if you do that.”
“Hey, just because they want Knox to be the one doing it doesn’t mean I can’t reap some rewards, too. Best friend privileges, and all.”
“I thought you were the nice one, but you’re a pig.”
He shrugs. “I’ve never denied it, and frankly, neither has my good friend over there,” he says, motioning to Knox.”
“I guess I’ll see that at the party tomorrow,” I say, my voice shaking just a little.
“He likes you, Wave.”
“We’re just friends.”
“Friends who spend all their free time snuggled up together.”
“We’ve only kissed,” I blurt out, and then cover my mouth.
It’s true. We hang out in the cage every night after dinner, talking and kissing until we’re both ready to collapse. Then he walks me upstairs, and walks away. I know he needs his sleep, but doesn’t he need…anything else? There’s no way I’ll ask Cohen—or Knox—but I do wonder about it.
“There’s nothing wrong with kissing,” he says, but he looks a little sympathetic.
“I should get back to work,” I tell him, because I don’t want to hear what else he might have to say. Plus, I really do need to get back to the emails and messages.
I can’t let myself get distracted by the man himself, and what we are and aren’t doing. If he wanted more, he’d ask for it. Just because he hasn’t, it doesn’t mean anything’s wrong. At least that’s what I’m going to keep telling myself until I believe it.
Knox
I knew this party was going to be great, and I wasn’t wrong. There’s not a spot in my backyard that isn’t being filled by a hot chick in a barely-there bikini. The guys from my training team are here, and we invited a few other guys we’ve met, but the women definitely outnumber the men. There’s only one woman I want to see, but so far there’s no sign of her. I head inside to see if I can find her there.
“Hey, Knox. Want to go upstairs and play?” a girl in a tiny blue bikini asks me, as she blocks my path.
Not even my cock is on board with the idea of a guaranteed suck or lay, so it’s not hard to let her down. “Sorry, not today.”
She pouts, and reaches out to touch me. I pull back, but not before she grazes my junk. I look up to see Waverly midway down the stairs. She’s frozen in place with her mouth in
an “O.” I don’t know what she thinks she’s seeing, but whatever it is, it’s not good. I dodge around the chick who just felt me up, and run up the steps.
“You look amazing.”
It’s not a lie. Her bathing suit is black, and one piece. There’s a twisted strap thing holding the gathered top up under the weight of her glorious tits, and her muscular body is on display even while covered up. She’s hands down the hottest woman I’ve seen today.
“My ego doesn’t need stroking, Knox. You can go back to your friend. I know you have these parties to hook up. I wouldn’t want to cramp your style.”
“What if it’s you I want to hook up with?”
“You haven’t tried to do more than kiss me all week.”
I should tell her I’ve wanted to take it slow, to see if I could try and be a relationship guy again, but I don’t. Now isn’t the time, and I honestly don’t know if I’m ready to tell her yet. So, I just shrug and pretend to be the guy everyone thinks I am.
“I love kissing you. You didn’t seem to mind.”
“I didn’t…I don’t.”
“Knox, you promised to swim with us.”
Waverly’s eyes grow cold, and her mouth turns into a hard line. I don’t need to turn around to see the two girls in bikinis who’d cornered me earlier. I got away by promising to swim later, even though I meant never, but they didn’t pick up on that. Probably because I didn’t say it. Old habits die hard. Not as hard as the look I’m getting from the woman I want to be in the pool with. She thinks the worst of me without me doing anything wrong, and that hurts.
Even though I know it’s petty, in this moment, I want to hurt her back. It’s not hard, and I don’t have to even think about it; I just give in to what I know. What I’m good for.
“Be right there, ladies.”
“I thought you were different than what you seemed,” Waverly says, swallowing hard.
“I’m not. What you see is what you get.”
“Now I know. Enjoy your party.”
With that, she turns and walks back up the stairs. Her held is held high, and her shoulders are squared, but I see them tremble just a little. It takes every ounce of willpower I possess to not run after her. She deserves better, and until I can promise her that, I can’t be the guy she wants, or needs. I just proved I’m not there yet, but I won’t be the guy I was before. Even just a week with Waverly has shown me he’s not around here anymore.
“Actually, ladies, I’m not up for going in the pool right now. I’m sure you can find one of the other guys to play with you.”
“But we want you.”
“Not gonna happen. Have a nice night.”
I walk away, and head into my room. Once I’m in there, I check under the bed, in the closet, and in my bathroom, too. I lock the inside door as well as the ones leading to the patio from my bedroom, and my shower, and pull my curtains closed. I’ve learned not to take any chances. I can still hear the music and laughter, but it doesn’t call to me like it once might have. I sit on the chaise lounge, with no lights on, and nothing to keep me occupied except for my thoughts. Eventually, I drift off to sleep, dreams of a redheaded siren in a black bathing suit dancing through my head.
Waverly
Tears are streaming down my cheeks when I make it into my room. I’m proud of myself for walking all the way here, and not giving in to my urge to run. I was humiliated enough already without adding that to the mix. I can’t believe I was so stupid. Right up until he left with those women, I believed him. Believed he liked kissing me, and holding my hand. If I’d been thinking clearly, I would’ve realized he wanted someone to hold another part of his anatomy.
Not me, though. He never even hinted at that with me. Stupid. I’m so damn stupid.
I need to talk to someone, and of course, Ken is the first person who comes to mind. He’s also the last person I can call to talk about something like this. I could call Matisse, because Lord knows, she’s not the least bit shy about her sexuality, but she’d tell Ken, and then he’d fly out here and yeah, not what I need to happen on my first mission.
I thumb through my phone, and call the person I’m supposed to call if anything happens on the mission that I can’t handle. Isa didn’t sign on to help a virgin with her non-existent sex life, but here I am, calling her just the same.
“Wave, is everything okay?”
“Not really.”
“What happened?”
“It’s not the mission. I mean, it is, but it isn’t.”
“What did he do?”
“Who?”
“There’s only one man you’d be calling me about, and I can hear you sniffling.”
“I shouldn’t have called. This isn’t your job.”
“Oh yeah, this is definitely being part of the Society. If you were here, we’d be bringing you ice cream and booze.”
“I don’t want to be that girl. The stupid one who’s crying over a man.”
“We’ve all been that girl. Now, go ahead and spill.”
“I’ve been kissing him.”
“When did it start?”
“Is that important?”
“For the betting pool, yeah.”
“You all bet on me kissing Knox? Oh my God.”
Could this get any more embarrassing? I’ve worked at the Society for a few years, so I know they’re all a little out of hand sometimes, and play jokes on each other. I should’ve expected this, I guess, but I’ve always been on the edge of their group, so I didn’t.
“This is us. Are you really surprised after all you’ve seen in the hospital wing?”
“No, but I…I didn’t think I’d be part of all your craziness.”
“Welcome to the madness. Now come on, when was it?”
I sigh, and give up the information she wants. “The first night we got here.”
“Dammit. I thought it would be on the plane. That means Aiden won. He’s going to be insufferable.”
Despite my current situation, I burst out laughing. “Sorry about that, boss.”
“It’s all good. I was closest after him. Now, what happen to turn things around.”
“Well, like I said, we’ve been kissing all week. Just kissing. And talking. We hold hands, too.”
“This is sounding like a good thing.”
“It was, and now it isn’t.”
“There’s a party going on?”
“Ainsley told you.”
“Her team reported it, and it’s on my tablet. I just brought up the feed, and wow, those are a lot of bikinis.”
“I’m not wearing a bikini.”
“You rocked the ones Stella gave you, so why not? Not that you have to wear one, but I’m curious by nature. If you hadn’t guessed that already.”
Everyone knows that about Isa. It’s why she has multiple college degrees. “I guess I didn’t want what I was wearing or not wearing to matter.”
“It shouldn’t, but let me guess, it somehow did.”
“He was talking to me, and he said I looked good and he loved kissing me.”
“So far it seems like he was doing things right.”
“Then some women came up and said he promised to swim with them.”
“Oh-kay, and he just went with them?”
“Yep. I mean, I may have glared a little, but he went.”
“I’m going to play Devil’s Advocate for a minute, okay?”
“Yeah.” I need help, and even if I don’t like what I hear, I need to hear it.
“Knox gets kicked around in the press for being a player. He goes along with it, but I didn’t see him being like that when he was here. He was flirty, yes, but he didn’t bring anyone to the apartments, and from what you’ve said, it doesn’t seem like he’s brought anyone back to the house since you’ve been there.”
“He hasn’t.”
“Here’s where things get tricky; What if he was planning to blow those women off, but you were already judging him, so he did what was expected of him? What you
expected him to do?”
“He still went.”
“Yes, and that’s on him, but take it from someone whose husband used to give out necklaces to women like candy on Halloween—when a man finds the right woman, it gives him a reason to be who he’s always been meant to be.”
“That’s…umm…necklaces?”
“Yeah. Jake gave his women necklaces,” she says with a sigh.
“Did you get one?”
“Damn straight, I did. I got the best one, and the man himself on top of it.”
“I kind of feel like I should apologize to Knox, but then again I don’t.”
She sighs again. “Where do you want this to go? I mean, are you just looking for sex, or are you hoping for more?”
“You know I’m a virgin.”
“So was I before I met Jake, and then we had enough sex to classify us as a new Olympic sport. Hell, we still have that kind of sex.”
“What if I don’t like it, or if I’m not enough. I mean, Knox has been with all those women.”
“Necklaces, Wave. Necklaces. And Olympic sex.”
“Jake loves you.”
“And I love him. I won’t say it wasn’t hard, and that I didn’t have the same worries you do, but if you think Matisse, Stella, or Tegan didn’t ever worry, you’re wrong.”
“Really?” She just named the three women we all know are more than comfortable with their sexuality and their sex lives before they found their guys.
“They haven’t come out and told me, but I was there for Stell and Teeg, and we were both there for Matisse. I’m pretty sure there’s no women alive who hasn’t thought of the women who’ve come before her. You just have to realize you’ve got the now, and then you fight for the future. If you want it.”
“I don’t know if I want forever. I never let myself think about that.”
“You don’t have to decide now, and Wave? You also don’t have to rush into sex. I know what you witnessed when you were younger, and I get why you’re scared. Whatever you decide is okay.”
“Thanks, Isa. Talking to you really helped.”
It helped, but I’m still confused. She gave me even more to think about, but I need to think about those things. I hang up, change clothes, and go to sleep. When I wake up, I’m hoping the overnight guests will be gone, and I can maybe decide what to do about all of it. Maybe.
Waverly (Socierty Girls #4) Page 4
