Dasher walked into the coffee shop and looked around the space for me. I spent a few seconds taking him in. I couldn’t believe that we actually touched on the fact that there was something brewing between us. I knew he was still with Paisley, and if I said that I was ready, he would leave her. I couldn’t do that to someone else.
I knew what that felt like. I knew what it was like for someone to replace you within months.
I waved my hand to catch his attention and his face split into a gorgeous smile. He started to walk my way and the server had laid out our drinks in the meantime.
“Hey,” he breathed as he slid into the booth.
“Hey yourself,” I answered then turned my laptop towards him. “Look.”
Dasher’s gaze scanned the messages and then raised his brows in pride. “Wow, are you becoming famous already?”
“Haha,” I rolled my eyes. “What do I do?”
"Well," he cleared his throat. "You start off by asking yourself if this is something you really want to do."
“I do,” I answered.
“Do you have the time to do it?”
“I will make the time,” I said adamantly.
“Does this help you with what you want to do in the future?”
“Most definitely.”
“Okay,” he nodded. “So now that you’ve said your vows, you are ready to commit.”
I gasped as I played our conversation in our head. “Well done, Camden.”
“Thank you, Thorne,” he grinned. “Anyway, I decided to try my hand at producing music.”
I smiled at him. “What does that entail?”
“A part of it, the part that I want to pursue is getting into the originals,” he said. “So it’s like getting singers and having them allow me to arrange their music.”
“That sounds impressive,” I said with awe. “How likely is that to happen here in New York though?”
"Quite likely," Dasher pulled out a flyer. "Broadway is the best place for me to find singers. I could convince them to help me create an album. It worked for my friend Austin. Back in Miami, he helped create an album for the Tortured Heroes."
“Ask him for some ideas then?”
“Yeah,” he looked away. “That isn’t possible anymore. He passed away a year ago. Although, maybe I could get in touch with his brother, Jace.”
“I’m sorry about your friend,” I said with a guilt-ridden face.
“Thanks,” he said and sipped his coffee. “The girls and guys want to go out to the new salsa club that opened down on Brighton Beach.”
“Is Paisley coming with?” I asked. I really did not want to have to deal with his girlfriend while I was with my friends.
“Paisley and I have been over for a couple of weeks now,” Dasher said with his head tilted and his eyes waiting for my reaction.
While inside I was doing a happy dance, on the outside I did not react. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. She was playing me on behalf of my brother,” he shrugged.
“Wow,” Aria shook her head. “Your brother is a piece of work hey.”
“Are you game for salsa night?” Dasher asked effectively ending that conversation.
I shrugged. “Sure.”
An hour later I was decked out in a light blue wraparound dress that flared nicely when I twirled. I left my hair in loose curls which made my hair look short and sit directly on my shoulder. My makeup was minimal and I put on low heels. I tried my best to look like a Spanish chick that planned on owning the dance floor.
Yeah, I loved dancing.
I stepped into the lounge and my mouth dropped open. Firstly, he smelt amazing, like cinnamon and spice. Secondly, he was dressed in jeans, a buttoned-down shirt and a formal suit vest over it. His dark hair was mussed. Dasher looked like a dream.
I collected myself before he caught me staring. He did a double take and gave me a thumbs up.
“You look beautiful,” he grinned, his dimple popped and made me sway on the spot. Staying away from this man was harder than anyone realized.
“Thank you,” I blushed. “You look hot.”
He smiled and took my hand in his. “Your carriage awaits, princess.”
We reached the salsa club within the hour. It was an underground thing that was hidden behind a vault. Dasher made his way to the table that seated Clay, Parker, Katya, Olivia, and Leo. I grinned at Leo.
“I told you the underground thing worked.”
Leo flipped me off and grinned into his drink. I noticed Katya giving him the side eye. I figured quiet and shy Kat was interested in the loud as hell club owner. That would be fun to watch. I caught Parker’s gaze.
“Where’s Sophia?”
“She’s at her grandma’s,” he shrugged. “I felt like I needed a night.”
“No judgment there,” Leo murmured.
Dasher returned with drinks for him and me. We watched the few stragglers start their dancing. The beat was getting to me. I couldn’t help but tap my feet and shake my shoulders.
“That’s it!” Clay stood and grabbed my hand.
I laughed as we made our way to the dancefloor.
“Ready to show these people what real dancing is?” he flirted.
“Hells yeah!” I laughed.
Clay and I moved like a well-oiled machine. He moved me from side to side and even threw me in the air a couple of times. I was having the time of my life. At the final dip and I glanced up and found Dasher standing over us.
“Can I cut in?”
Clay spun me outwards and directly into Dasher’s arms and within seconds another woman was in his. I shook my head as Dasher started swaying me around as if my body were his puppet. The beat of echame le culpa rippled through our bodies and I found myself getting trapped further and further into his spell.
The song slowed to a romantic Spanish song and my back was to his front. Both our hands were at our sides with our fingers twined together. His lips were on my neck and my eyes were closed. I knew he could taste the salt of the sweat on my body and that did not deter me one bit. I swayed with him to a dozen songs.
I was in the powder room freshening up when Olivia came in. "I see you two are finally getting close."
“We were just dancing, Liv,” I rolled my eyes and applied a fresh coat of lipstick.
“Maybe you both should think of doing more than just dancing,” she shrugged.
“Are you drunk?” I asked in shock. “Were you not the one who warned me to be careful?”
“That was months ago,” she sighed. “The two of you are literally dancing around the fact that you are hot for each other. So give it a try.”
“I’m not ready!” I snapped.
“How do you know?”
“Because—” I stopped short. She was right. How did I know?
“You think you are not over Holden because you haven’t given yourself the chance to even begin liking someone else,” she says and she tucks a curl behind my ear. “Heartbreak is inevitable. Dive and drown or envy from the shore.”
I watched her walk out with shock all over my face. I could not believe that Olivia of all people was giving me the go-ahead. The problem was whether or not I wanted to take it.
I stepped out of the ladies’ room and found Dasher leaning against the wall as he sipped on a cocktail. He looked adorable and more importantly, he had been through so much. I wanted to try and give him even a little bit of happiness if that was what he wanted.
Tonight, I was going to convince him that we could be a thing.
Dasher
I couldn’t do it anymore. The attraction was too much and I needed her almost as badly as I needed music. I watched as she made her way to me with determination on her face. Oh, I knew that look. Aria was ready to self-destruct but this time I knew it was with me.
Sure, maybe I should have stopped it. Maybe I should have pushed her away. Instead, I let her push me out of the vault. We got outside and she spun on me.
“I know,” she pan
ted. “I know we shouldn’t. I know this may ruin things. I know that we are both in miserable places right now, but I don’t care. For tonight. I don’t want to care.”
I nodded once and walked to the TT. I held the door opened for her and watched her dress rise higher up her thighs as she slid in. There was no holding back now. I wanted her in a way that I have denied in the past six months.
We reached the house in record time and she ran up the stairs with me close behind her. There was nothing sinister or self-serving about this moment.
We had just stepped through the threshold when I picked her up by her waist and spun her around. I pushed her flat against the door, effectively shutting it and plastering my mouth on hers. We moaned at the same time. This was a long time coming. Initially, I felt nothing towards her, not even a lick of a romantic notion, yet each day as I got to see who she was and the passion inside her, I fell deeper.
She gasped into my mouth opening so sweetly for me. She tasted like the fruity drink I got for her. Her tongue felt warm against mine. Our kiss became sloppy as we broke apart and tried to fight the other to taste each other’s skin.
Her legs wrapped around my waist and clenched tight, pressing my hardened cock against her core. I needed her. I needed her, bad. I took her to my bedroom, still kissing her as if I couldn’t take my next breath without it being fused to her lips.
“Dasher,” she whispered.
I rose up and looked down at her. She looked angelic in her blue dress and blonde curls flared against the backdrop of my blue comforter. She was beautiful. In her petite, broken way, she was beautiful. There was nothing that would stop me from wanting every bit of her.
“Aria,” I said used my palms to flip off each shoe.
I let my hands trail up the backs of her calves, massaging and kissing as I made my way under her dress. Sure, I could’ve taken it out, but there was something sexy about being under a woman’s skirt and her having no idea what was coming next.
“DASHER!” she screamed as I gave her one long lick through the fabric of her underwear. She was soaked for me.
I moved the obstruction to the side and then assaulted her directly.
“Oh!” she went on and on, as I devoured her like my last meal. She tasted incredible.
I needed more than what she gave me, so I sucked deeper and slid two fingers inside without any warning whatsoever. My girl was a goner. She exploded into my mouth. Gifting me with that sweet release that I was waiting for.
I moved out from under her dress and brought her panties with me.
“What the hell was that?” she gasped.
“That,” I held her moist underwear to my nose, “was just the beginning.
I pulled the string of her wrap around dress and it parted for me like a gift wrap on Christmas day. She was bare naked.
“No bra?” I tsked.
“Didn’t think I’d need one,” she said breathlessly.
“True story,” I replied.
I removed my vest, unbuttoned my shirt and then removed my jeans. I watched her eyes widen with each article of clothing that I took off.
“Like what you see, princess?”
“Is that even a question?” she asked while she used the nail of her index finger to circle my nipple causing gooseflesh to rise all over my body.
"I need to skip foreplay just this once," I said through gritted teeth. I reached over her to the nightstand and rummaged in the drawer till I came up with a condom. I tore the foil package off with my teeth and in record time sheathed myself.
Her eyes widened when she saw me take myself in my hand, I didn’t have time to spare on appreciating her reaction. Instead, I drove into her with one brutal thrust.
She screamed. I moaned. Fuck, she was tight. I held myself over her for a few seconds and let her get accustomed to my girth. Once I felt her start to impatiently wriggle under me, I dropped my weight on her. I felt the breath whoosh out of her as I held on tight and thrust into her over and over.
Her little gasps in my ears spurred me on. Her nails digging into my back made me grind unto her harder. Finally, my name on her lips had me releasing at the same time as she did.
After I disposed of all evidence and ensured that she was fine, I slid in next to her. She was on her stomach. Naked and tempting. I wanted so badly to take her again. I needed my cock to calm down. She was staring at me as if she was seeing me for the first time and that made me feel a little off balance.
“So…”
“Don’t ruin it,” I cut her off. “Let’s just go with it.”
“What is it,” she rolled her eyes. Those big sparkly blue eyes had haunted my dreams for so many months. “We can’t just go back to being normal after today.”
“That’s a given,” I snorted and threw my arm behind my head. She still gazed up at me with those fearful blue eyes. I wished I could’ve found the asshole that hurt her and carve out his brain and give it a little shake. Who leaves a woman like this? Then I realize that up until this point—where she made the move—I was terrified of entering her life and ruining it.
“After tonight,” I admitted. “I don’t think I can go back to just being your friend or roommate.”
“So what are we?” she scrunched her nose cutely. “Fuck buddies?”
My mouth dropped opened. “What?”
The look on my face must have made her nervous because suddenly she closed up. “I-I didn’t mean for it to sound—”
"Is that what you want to be?" I frowned. Did she not think I was capable of more? Was she afraid I wouldn't take care of her the way I let Emma down? Fuck, there went my insecurities wreaking havoc on my brain.
“No,” she said softly. “I don’t want to be a fuck buddy, I want to be more, but I don’t know if you’re ready for that sort of thing, especially after Paisley.”
“Paisley and I were not real,” I sighed and used my fingers to trail up and down the curve of her ass. The gooseflesh made me smile as I spoke. “She was my way of getting back at my brother and trying to stay away from you.”
Aria grinned and then leaned on her elbows as she looked at me. “You’re saying you want to do this then?”
It was strange in this day and age to find a girl who remembered what it meant to be shy and unsure about a new relationship. These days it was fuck first and date later. Although looking at Aria I remembered that long ago she had come home from a one-night stand and I caught her making out with Leo.
Could I trust her? Could I trust her with my heart that was already iced over? Could I trust someone who still has mental breakdowns every time she hears her ex’s name?
I looked at her and her solemn blue eyes. For now, I could believe that she was a victim of a very cruel joke. I didn't know exactly what happened, but I'd have to wait until that point.
“Yeah,” I said after a while. “I want to do this.”
Chapter Sixteen
Aria
Waking up felt rather different. There was a certain tingle in my brain and an excitement deep in my belly. I knew that when I stepped out things were going to be either really good or really bad. I snuggled deeper under my comforter not wanting to leave the confines of my bedroom.
I slid out in the middle of the night and locked myself in my bedroom. I don’t know if Dasher noticed or if he was maybe grateful for my exit. I was a coward. I wouldn’t deny that. Sighing to myself, I rolled out of bed and slid my feet into fuzzy socks. I straightened the hem of my sleep-shorts and made sure there was no appearance from the nips through my white tank.
I padded down the hall softly and noticed that Dasher’s door was closed. Taking a deep sigh of relief, I went about putting the coffee to brew. I watched the liquid swirl in the glass bowl when suddenly, warm hands wrapped around my waist and Dasher put his lips to the skin under my ear.
“Why’d you run off?” his voice was gruff with sleep.
“I felt a little shy,” I said and rolled my eyes at how stupid I sounded.
“That’s stupid.”
“I know,” I chuckled. “I just thought the very same thing.”
“This isn’t going to work if you’re gonna become a different person,” Dasher sighed and was about to move away.
I caught his hands to my waist and turned my head to the side. “Don’t be the one to run away this time. It’s new.”
I put the pan on the stove and began preparing an omelet for us.
“You got breakfast while I shower?” he asked as he rubbed his lower body against my ass. “Or would you like to engage in required shower sex?”
I laughed aloud. "Go, I'll get breakfast."
“You’re no fun,” he pouted.
I leaned forward and licked his jutting bottom lip. “Go!”
He walked towards the bathroom but constantly looked back at me with a pout on his face as if to beg me with his puppy dog eyes and lush lips to take him up on his offer.
My gaze tracked around the kitchen as I thought about it. For months we danced around each other. For a year I had tried to get over Holden. I wanted to feel loved not only mentally but physically by someone for the last four years. This was my chance. Whether or not we fell in love or crashed and burned, Olivia was right, I needed to dive.
I switched off the stove and moved the pan away. I stripped off my shirt and hopped out of my shorts. I pushed opened the door to the bathroom just as Dasher pushed aside the curtain to step in.
I pressed myself against his back and felt him stiffen in surprise. His body relaxed once my lips were on his skin. He felt so incredibly mine at that moment. I walked into the shower with him.
Dasher spun me around and pressed my back flat against the cold tiles. His pupils were dilated with lust and the water made his hair look like ink. I sucked in my bottom lip and looked up at him from beneath my lashes.
“Fuck,” he gritted. “You know just how to slay me.”
His kiss was bruising and punishing. It felt as if he tried to teach my lips a lesson for tempting him the way they did. The press of his hard body to my soft skin made me thighs shake with the anticipation of feeling him between my legs again.
The Wreck of Our Hearts Page 11
