It took a little bit of work for him to get all the way in, but once he did, my eyes rolled back into my head.
We kissed, touched wherever we could reach. Sometimes he went fast and other times he went slow. Everything he did just made me want more. I held on to his back just so I didn’t fall off this crazy ride. Every time he kissed me breathless, I felt the buildup again.
He reached between us, letting his fingers run over the sensitive area and that was all it took for me to fall off the edge again. Judging by the way he slowed himself, he went with me.
Porter dropped his head to my shoulder, his hot breath hitting my skin rapidly. I wanted him to stay there, yet he was crushing me.
“I need you to move a little.” My voice came out strained. He shook his head, which made me snort. “I can’t breathe.”
He sighed. “Fine.” But he pushed up onto his arms and kissed me one more time before shifting to lie beside me.
As my heart rate tried to come back to normal, he said, “I’ll be right back.”
This part was familiar. He was gone, the water in what I assumed was the bathroom ran for a minute, then he was back beside me, pulling his covers over us.
“My turn.” I quickly outmaneuvered his arms as they tried to pull me toward him. But I needed to pee, which I did then came back and crawled in beside him.
A few more minutes couldn’t hurt.
“I could lie here like this all night,” he said against the side of my head. He was nuzzling me. I hadn’t pictured Porter as one to snuggle or nuzzle.
The thought of spending the night with him had never crossed my mind. I’d have to explain things to Laney if I stayed. I didn’t know if I was ready for that. After a lifetime of other people’s expectations, I kind of liked the idea that this was just for him and me.
I gave him a pat and let him get comfortable beside me. “So I’m really never allowed to use your real name.”
“No.”
“Ever?”
“Nope. I’m not a Eugene. I don’t like it and I don’t answer to it.”
“So… when you’re getting married and your bride is next to you… When she says her vows, she has to say ‘Porter’?”
“Yes,” he mumbled, showing exactly how tired he’d become.
“That’s… ” But I didn’t know how to finish the sentence.
He sighed and rolled onto his back then nudged me to curl into him. “Rhian, you’re one of very few people who know my real name, honestly. Yes, the guys I grew up with. Laney. Maddie. My parents know, but it took me years to get them to call me by a nickname. Don’t give me hell on this one.”
“I won’t. I’m just figuring out the rules.” I wet my lips and took a deep breath. “Are you telling me that all the women you’ve been with, none of them knew your name and they were OK with it?”
“Yup. Well, no not all of them. The ones I went to school with obviously knew, but can we not talk about that while were naked in my bed?”
“OK, OK.” I held my hands up in defeat. “I have to get going anyway.”
“What?” He sprung up into a sitting position. “Why?”
“Why what? Why do I have to go?” I figured this was as good of a time as any to get dressed again. I snagged my panties and slid my legs into them while still technically in bed. Then I found my bra, shirt, and skirt.
“Yeah.”
“If I don’t come home, Laney will ask questions.”
“Why is that a problem?”
I sat back on the corner of the bed to put my shoes on. “I’m not ready for her to know that we had sex.”
He scowled and got up. I shouldn’t have looked, considering him naked made it hard for me to stay resolved. “And why is that?” His boxer elastic snapped quietly against his skin. Bummer.
“Why don’t I want Laney to know we had sex?”
“Yeah, but first is that all this was? Sex?”
I shrugged. “I assumed this wasn’t like a thing.”
“‘A thing’?” He shook his head then smiled as he got out of bed and walked over to me then dropped to his knees in front of me, pushing mine legs apart so he could settle as close to me as possible. “This is definitely… something.” He dropped a kiss to my neck. My eyes shut involuntarily. “I’ve never wanted to spend time with someone like this, Rhian, but I do with you.”
I nodded because that was exactly how I felt. I mean, I’d had boyfriends, but I wanted to be with him. “Then it’s a thing, but I’m still not ready for Laney to know.”
“Why?”
I swallowed hard. “Because the way she sees you and the way I see you are entirely different. I doubt any of them would believe you are the way you are when you’re with me. They know your reputation and that’s not how this is.”
“No, it isn’t. But fuck what they think. I want to be able to touch you even if someone else is around.” He trailed his fingertips up my leg. “Or kiss you without worrying who will see us.” He cupped the back of my head and ran his lips across mine, barely touching them. Everything was drawing me back in.
“Can’t this just be between us for a little while? Let this just be for you and me for now?” I asked quietly. “Besides, I’m sure there is a horde of women who are going to be seriously disappointed if you’re not up for hookups. Have to get them used to the idea as well.” I’d meant that as a joke, but he scowled again and I made the mental note not to joke about his previous sex life anymore. He seemed not to mind when others did it, but when I did, he clearly had a problem with it.
“Fine. But to be clear, we’re a thing I don’t want to see you with someone else.”
“I won’t. We are a thing.” This might’ve been the dumbest conversation I’d ever had.
One last kiss and he stood to finish dressing.
“What’re you doing? I can drive myself home,” I told him.
He shook his head. “I have to get my car.”
“Oh, right.”
We drove back to my house. Laney wasn’t home yet, so there was no danger of her seeing us when he kissed me goodbye against the side of his car for another ten minutes. And I tried not to think about the way my parents had treated him. If we were together, then it was likely he’d have to encounter them again and I dreaded the day.
I didn’t care what they thought. But I hoped they wouldn’t scare him away.
Chapter Fourteen
Sunday morning meant waking up to stare at the ceiling way earlier than I would’ve liked. Seemed my body was getting used to the idea of being awake in the morning even when I had nothing to do. Probably not a bad idea in case I ever got a job. I shuffled off to the bathroom then headed out to the kitchen for a drink.
“Well, aren’t you a sleepyhead?” Laney asked, already eating a bagel. I only grunted in return as I pulled open the refrigerator door and pulled out a jug of ice-cold water. “Do you have plans for today?”
“No.” I probably should’ve asked why she wanted to know before answering, but I’d have to take my chances. “Why?”
“Zac asked if I wanted to get lunch and I thought you might want to come.”
Bet he didn’t want me to. I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure he’ll be super excited to have me as a third wheel.”
Laney nudged me with her hip. “You’re never a third wheel, but actually, it’s not just me and him. He has Dylan and Porter’s coming. I think that’s everyone.”
My heart sped up a notch, but I tried to make sure she didn’t see it. “Oh. Then yeah. I’ll go. How much time do I have?”
“We’re supposed to leave at eleven-thirty. It’s a splurge, but we wanted to take Dylan to the restaurant that looks like a rainforest in Auburn Hills.”
“Sounds good to me.” Of course, I still had Daddy’s credit card if I needed it and I was seriously considering using it this time.
Last time I’d logged into my checking account, it looked like a deposit had been made and I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew who’d done it, but I neede
d to call him to confirm. So I probably should leave the card alone.
I excused myself to take a shower and get ready. The idea of what I’d wear today completely changed now that I knew Porter was going to be there. Raggedy shorts and old T-Shirt wouldn’t do.
The shower was quick and I only had a towel wrapped around me with wet hair clinging to my shoulders while I called my brother.
“What’d they do?” Tegan asked when he picked up on the other end.
“Nothing,” I told him. “I don’t think. Well… I’m sure there’s something, but I’m not taking calls from them right now.”
Silence hung between us for what felt like an eternity. “Oh. What’s up?”
“I noticed a deposit in my checking account and I can’t imagine Mom or Dad did it without me having to ask.” I pulled the towel from my body and wrapped it around my hair.
“No, they wouldn’t.”
“So… ” I let that hang out in the air as I found a cute summer dress with thin straps and a flowy skirt to wear.
He finally sighed. I always won our silent standoffs. “Fine. I did it. I thought you could use the help.”
“Tegan, you don’t have to take care of me.”
“That’s not what that is. It’s hard to find jobs right out of college. It’s just a cushion.”
“Well, thank you.” I began towel-drying my hair. “I have something to ask you.”
“Shoot.”
“Is it crazy that I applied for a teaching position?”
He chuckled into the phone. “No. I figured that’s where you’d end up.”
“Tegan. That’s where Mom and Dad want me. I can’t do it. But I was reading this article online from a science journal and it just reminded me why I love science so much.”
“You can. If you want to.”
“But they’ll think they were right,” I told them.
“Who cares. That’s how I got through,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“I told them I was an education major but did Biology and never told them.”
“That… ” Well, that was fucking genius. “You asshole!” I burst out. “You should’ve told me. I could’ve done that.”
He chuckled into the phone. “You should’ve thought of it.”
“Or my brother should’ve told me.”
He sighed. “I probably should have.”
“OK, well, I need to go, but I’m still mad at you.”
He laughed into the phone again. “I can live with that.”
“Goodbye, brother,” I told him.
“Hang on,” he said before I could end the call. “Do you know that they’re having a fundraising dinner Wednesday night?”
“No. As previously stated, I’m not taking their calls. It’s a shame I’ll miss it.”
“Rhian,” he said sharply. “You have to come.”
“I actually don’t.”
“You do because I have to go and what would it be like to go without you? You make everything better.”
Couldn’t argue with that. He and I had always clung to each other’s company at the various fundraisers we’d been forced to go to when we’d been kids.
“Seriously?” I asked him. “It’s a six-hour drive.”
“Fly. You can come in Wednesday morning and go back out on Thursday or if you’re feeling generous, Friday.”
“Ugh.” I groaned. There were two options. I could go so he didn’t have to be tortured alone or I could completely ignore it knowing he’d be tortured alone. Without having to consider it too long, I knew I wasn’t throwing him to the wolves alone. “Fine. I’ll be there, but only if you make the flight arrangements and get them to pay for it. And I’m wearing one of the black dresses hanging in my closet at home. I’m not shopping for this thing.”
“Perfect. I’ll let them know.”
I ended the call with just enough time to finish drying my hair and applying a bit of makeup before Laney was calling for me.
“Come on,” she called while banging on the door. “They’re here.”
They meant Porter and Zac, but I cared more about the Porter part. With one last quick look in the mirror, I headed out to greet them.
“Hey, Dylan,” I said with a big smile. The kid was bouncing with energy.
That was when I saw him. Porter was just wearing jeans and a T-shirt, as was Zac, but nobody made it look better than Porter. He smiled at me and did that guy head nod. As if we hadn’t seen each other naked last night.
I couldn’t blame him. I was the one who’d insisted we not tell Laney yet. And yes, I realized that she’d probably be upset at first that I’d kept something from her, but I decided that until I knew how far this whole thing was going to go, there was no reason to say anything. Porter wanted to see me more than once but did that mean a relationship? I didn’t think so.
Once we got outside, Dylan’s energy expanded. It wasn’t that he was overactive or doing anything wrong, he just rattled on a mile a minute.
Laney laughed at the way he was talking Zac’s ear off. “If you want to take your own car, I totally understand.”
“Is there room in the back for three of us?” I asked.
She shrugged. I took that to mean no. “We’re taking his car because there’s something wrong in the front end of mine that I need to get fixed. Might be tight with the car seat.”
I was already nodding because that made the decision for me. I could get to the restaurant on my own. “I think I’ll drive myself.”
“Zac,” she called out. “Rhian’s driving herself.” He gave her a thumbs up then pulled his car door open to let Dylan climb in. Porter was over talking to him, but I would’ve sworn that I felt his eyes one me the entire time.
At least until he began coming toward us.
“I’ll ride with her.” His deep voice touched places in me I didn’t even knew I had. “Make sure she doesn’t get lost.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. “I have a GPS.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Laney said, not giving Porter the chance to reply. She patted me on the back and skipped off to her boyfriend.
He nodded his head toward my car. Instead of getting behind the wheel, I gave Porter my keys because I liked it when he drove. I didn’t know why. We settled in right as Zac pulled away from the curb.
“Come here,” he said, his eyes heating me from across the car.
I pushed up onto my knees so I could lean over the center console. He sunk a hand into my hair and clasped the back of my neck then brought my lips down to his. There was no pretense to this kiss. It was everything last night had been and if I didn’t stop it soon, we’d be having sex in the front seat of my car when we were supposed to be on our way to Auburn Hills.
“Good morning,” I said with a smile.
“Would’ve been better if this had happened in my bed this morning.”
“True.” I settled back into my seat. “But then we wouldn’t be getting lunch.”
“We would’ve had breakfast.”
I shook my head and sighed. “We should probably go.”
He chuckled as he got us on the road. Thirty minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot outside of the restaurant and headed in. Laney had sent a text saying they’d gotten a table and would wait for us. Our kissing had given them a head start.
When we joined them inside the restaurant, Dylan was still completely taken with the décor. His eyes grew even wider when the thunder rolled and the sound of rain fell all around us. The tigers beside us let out a loud roar. It ended just as quickly as it began.
We ordered and as we waited, Porter let his fingers trail up my thigh. I slapped it away as quietly as I could, but he kept coming back for more. Trying to ignore him, I reached across the table and pointed at something on the kids menu in front of Dylan. The place where the activities are.
“Do you know what that is?” I tapped the drawing in question.
“No.”
“That’s the ox
ygen cycle. Do you know what that is?” I asked him. He shook his head. “Well, look. People and animals breathe in oxygen from the air. But when we breathe out, it’s called carbon dioxide. That carbon dioxide goes into trees. The trees then use photosynthesis, or the sunlight, to turn it back into oxygen for us to breathe. That’s why the rainforest is so important.”
“Because of the trees,” he said.
“Exactly.”
Dylan then turned to Zac to try to retell him everything I’d just said. His little voice was adorable as he tried so hard to remember it all. I watched with a small grin on my face.
“That was nice of you to explain all of that,” Porter told me quietly.
“It was the simplified version. Not a big deal.” I brushed him off but the way Dylan had watched me as I showed him the cycle, made me a little happy.
The five of us talked through our lunches. I wasn’t sure that Dylan was going to be able to eat most of his. He was so excited by everything around us.
The lunch with Zac and Laney was fun and relaxing. It also inevitably came to an end.
On the way back to East Branch, Porter held my hand and still slid his fingers up my leg. Only this time they went under my skirt and flirted dangerously close to my panties.
“You’re relentless, you know that?” I asked him.
“I do.” He turned down our road, but I didn’t want to go back yet.
“Can you keep driving for a minute? I wanted to talk to you.”
He took a quick left to go away from Laney’s house. “What’s up?”
“Nothing, but I wanted to tell you that I’m going home on Wednesday. Only for a couple of days, though.”
He glanced at me and the back to the road. “Why? You didn’t seem close to your parents when we were there.”
“I’m not. But my brother asked me to attend this fundraiser dinner with him.”
He didn’t look convinced.
“Trust me,” I said. “I wouldn’t go back on my own. But he asked—it’s kind of a thing with us. This way neither of us will be on our own with them and bored out of our minds. He’d do it for me.”
A Little More Touch Me (The Fallout Series Book 2) Page 12
