Southside High

by Mankin, Michelle

Lace

  “It doesn’t even look like the gym,” I said, taking it all in.

  In deference to the winter wonderland theme, paper snowflakes were everywhere. They dangled from the rafters on strings and were piled into snowdrifts, dusted in glitter and sparkles. Small, medium, and large, they were all different patterns and different shapes.

  “It’s beautiful.” I turned to look at Bryan.

  “It certainly is.” He wasn’t looking at the gym. He was looking at me, and his gray-green eyes sparkled more enchantingly than all the glitter in the world.

  I wanted to ask him a million questions—about the kiss, Missy, the record deals, but on the other hand, I just wanted this. A night for the two of us, no War between us, and Bryan looking at me the way I’d always wanted him to.

  “Shall we dance?” He offered me his arm.

  “Yes.” I took it, curling my fingers into the material of his jacket, wishing—wishes were allowed tonight—that I could remove the black jacket and the crisp white shirt to discover the man underneath.

  He led me out onto the crowded dance floor where couples in their finery swayed to the slow beat of “Faithfully.” A mirrored disco ball slowly twirled overhead, casting tiny beams of brilliant light downward to transform the wooden boards and the dancers into something nearly magical.

  I lifted my arms and twined them around Bryan’s strong neck, shivering from the whisper of his silky hair on my skin and the warm stamp of his hands low on my back.

  I wanted to lose myself in this bliss, but those niggling questions remained.

  Why had War asked Bryan to take me?

  Why had Bryan agreed?

  There was something at play I couldn’t see, and the curtain with the answers behind it could be ripped aside at any time. But rather than preemptively pull it back myself to see what was behind it, like I might have in the not-so-distant past, tonight I gave myself over to the moment. I surrendered to the bliss and the man who seemed to conjure it.

  The Journey song that wasn’t my favorite ended, and another slow song started with a little slide guitar and a couple of poignant piano notes. I didn’t recognize the tune, but Bryan did.

  Sliding his hands lower, pulling me closer, he began to sing softly. He had a beautiful voice, but rarely employed it. He was the brilliant guitarist; that was his role in the band. But he played a different role tonight. He was my king, and I was his queen, seduced by him and the words that slipped from his chiseled lips about knowing a woman, her thoughts, her dreams, and loving her.

  I sighed, tangled my fingers in his hair, and laid my cheek against his hard chest, right over where his irresistible heart lay.

  “Jackson.”

  A hand tapped my king’s broad shoulder, and I lifted my head. It was Chad with Missy.

  “Cutting in,” Chad said, and I stiffened.

  “Okay.” Bryan gave me a brief hooded look that I couldn’t read. “One song.”

  Nodding to confirm, Chad released Missy, and Bryan relinquished me. My enchanted heart screeched like a needle on a record as I watched my king twirl Missy away. She looked too pretty in a slinky cobalt-blue gown with silver piping.

  “So, you and Bry, huh?” Chad asked, taking and placing my limp arms around his neck. He was so tall that even in my heels, I had to stretch to keep my arms where he’d placed them. “I’ll bet you’re ecstatic, finally being together. Bry looks like he does onstage when he’s doing one of his solos, and you’re wearing a look I’ve never seen before, well-satisfied lady.”

  Sighing, I looked away. “I wish.”

  “You aren’t a couple?” His hands at my waist, Chad peered down at me.

  “No, War got sick. He couldn’t bring me. Bryan’s just my escort.”

  “Huh-uh. An escort would bring you and let you dance with whomever you wanted to while he hung out over there.” He gestured to a group of guys and girls by the punch bowl. Spaced well apart, they were obviously single, some looking at their phones, others just looking bored.

  “But—”

  “Do you want Bry, Lace Lowell?”

  “You know I do.”

  “And I know you, so get him.”

  “The way you got Missy?” I narrowed my eyes at him, then glanced over at her, cocking my head when I realized how far apart she stood from Bryan.

  “Don’t think any guy really gets Missy. But that’s not gonna stop me from trying to.” Chad looked so determined, and not the least bit unhappy about the challenge.

  I had a sudden thought. “Hey, where’s your boot? Shouldn’t you—”

  “Hush.” He placed his hand over my mouth for a second. “It’s prom. I’m taking the night off from doctor’s orders. Anything goes.”

  “Not anything. Not with my date.” Bryan clapped his hand on Chad’s shoulder. His gaze narrowed beneath his tousled brown hair. “Cutting in.”

  “The song’s not done.”

  “You’re done,” Bryan said, and his lips curled back from his perfect white teeth.

  Chad grinned and released me. “About fucking time you acted like this around her.”

  Bryan reclaimed me, holding me closer than before, and I forgot about everything except Chad’s advice.

  Bryan

  It should have been enough. Dancing and touching Lace, holding her as if she were truly mine. But it wasn’t enough. Having a little, I only wanted more.

  Because I couldn’t resist her, I was back inside her uncle’s house, and it was well past midnight.

  Just outside the front door, she’d pried the truth about Missy from me. I’d admitted settling for others only because I couldn’t have her.

  Armed with my confession, Lace led me inside and stood before me, a goddess of war with my tuxedo jacket like the spoils of conquest around her shoulders. Alarm bells pealed inside my head, but I didn’t plan to heed them. How could I, when trying to do the right thing disappointed her?

  “Good night, Lace, I . . .” Seeing the disappointment on her face, I placed my hands on her shoulders and gently drew her to me. “You’re not going to cry, are you?”

  Her eyes were swimming, and her tears were my downfall.

  I was doomed. We both were.

  “I never cry,” she said stubbornly.

  “What’s this,” I asked softly, running a fingertip under her eye and revealing the moisture.

  “I’m just tired. The cold wind . . .”

  “You’re lying.”

  “So are you, Bryan Jackson.” Her defiant hands fisted. “Denying what’s between us.”

  She handed me the tuxedo jacket and kicked off her shoes.

  Sirens blared loudly now, but I ignored them. Anticipation coursed through me as she flashed me her attitude. Tossing back her hair, she peeled off one of the thin shoulder straps of her dress, and then the other.

  Boldly, she looked at me, daring me to resist her. I managed it for a moment. But she was a goddess, my goddess. There was no way I could keep my promise to War, and to her brother.

  My nostrils flared, teased by her vanilla perfume. A dark hunger arose, one that I’d attempted unsuccessfully to sate with others.

  Seeming to sense the razor’s edge I teetered on, Lace gave me a triumphant smile. Reaching back, she released the hook on her dress and lowered the zipper, leaving a black and pink pool of chiffon puddled at her feet. With her slender shoulders back and her proud chin lifted, she stood before me nearly naked in a strapless blush corset, matching panties, and gartered stockings.

  God, she was more beautiful than I’d imagined. More beautiful than any woman I’d ever seen.

  On fire, I reached for and claimed her, crushing my lips and my body to hers. She wrapped her arms around my neck like she had when we’d been dancing. The connection didn’t extinguish the flames, though. It fueled them.

  My hands in her hair, I twisted and tugged it. Her lips parted, and I plunged my tongue between them. The touch of her tongue to mine made my cock lengthen as if she’d stroked it.

/>   “Babe, you’re so hot,” I rasped, breaking the seal between our mouths to rain worshipful kisses across her cheek and to her ear. “Looking at you is foreplay. Dancing with you was agony. Kissing you sets me on fire.”

  “Oh, Bry.” She mewed my name like I’d dreamed of her doing.

  “I have to have you,” I whispered heatedly.

  She tugged on my neck. Removing the bow tie, she brought my ear to her lips. “Then have me.”

  Fuck yeah. I scooped her into my arms and carried her up the stairs. On the landing, I glanced around. There were several doors. “Which one is your room?”

  “First door on the right.” She worked on releasing the buttons on my shirt while I strode down the hall.

  Stepping inside her room, I pushed the door closed with my foot, then set her down, reveling in the softness of her sleek skin.

  “Dammit,” she said softly. “These buttons are so small. They’re driving me crazy.” She’d only managed three of them.

  “Let me do it.” I sat on the edge of her bed and beckoned to her. “I’ll get the buttons, if you get the laces on my shoes.”

  Her expression serious, she dropped to her knees on the rug in front of me. “Teamwork.”

  I nearly spilled in my trousers at seeing her like that. Her mouth was inches away from my cock. Her tits were pushed up in her corset, so high I could almost see her dusky nipples from my position.

  “You’re so beautiful, Lace.”

  “You’re beautiful too.” She glanced up at me through her lashes, her lips slowly curling.

  “I want to kiss you again.” I wanted her pretty pink lips wrapped around my shaft. I wanted her mouth on my skin. Mine everywhere on her. So many fantasies and not enough time. My heart raced like crazy.

  “Stop distracting me,” she said, holding her bottom lip between her teeth as she tugged on my laces. “Get your shirt off.”

  I did as she instructed and then gripped her arms, lifting her to her feet just as she whipped the second sock away. I went right for her mouth, tasting and taking each moan, and feeding her my hot groans.

  “Bry,” she whispered as I licked my way across her lips. “So good. You taste so good.”

  “You taste like vanilla and sunshine.” And warmth I wanted to bask in. Sweetness I wanted to swallow.

  “Your skin is like velvet.” She smoothed her hands over my shoulders and down my arms. “Your muscles are hard like steel.”

  “That’s not the only part of me that’s hard, I assure you.”

  Her gaze dipped, and my cock gave an eager leap.

  I tucked a curled finger under her chin and lifted it. “I want you,” I said, not messing around. “All the way.”

  “All the way is what I’ve always wanted with you,” she said softly, yet without guile or artifice.

  “I’ve dreamed of touching you like this.” I brushed her silky hair forward and started working on the tiny fastenings of her corset. “I’m taking your things off, but just so you know, I’m keeping my pants on until the last moment.”

  “Why?” she asked, looking perplexed.

  “Because I’m only a man, not a superhero, and I’ve never been so fucking turned on in my entire life.” With shaking hands, I tucked her hair behind her ears while cool air rushed over her pretty skin without restriction like I wanted to. “And because you matter more than anyone.” I smoothed my hands over her slender shoulders, holding her gaze. “And because I want this to be good for you.”

  “You know I’m a virgin.” Her corset removed, she was half-naked now, but she didn’t seem shy or nervous.

  “Yes.”

  “I wanted you to be the one.”

  “I will be the one.” My voice was rough. The only one. “If I can control myself.”

  “I trust you, Bry.”

  I almost said the words then. What she meant to me. The reason I’d do anything she asked of me.

  The curve to her mouth deepening, she dropped her gaze, following her fingers as she glided them down my arms. “Touch me.”

  She brought my hands to her breasts. I cupped them, round, perfectly formed, so incredible.

  Arching her spine to bring them more fully into the frame I provided, she said, “I want you to make me yours.”

  “Ah, Lace. It would be my pleasure.” I swept my thumbs across her budded nipples, and she moaned. “And yours too,” I added arrogantly. I would see to it.

  Her nipples were diamond-hard, and my cock was at least that hard, pounding against my zipper.

  Lifting her, I turned and laid her on the bed. Looking at her with her hair spread out on the white sheets, I lowered my head to taste her. Lips first, I explored her wet mouth, tonguing her deep. Her hands urgently roamed my back and ass as she whimpered and writhed beneath me.

  I left her mouth and moved to her tits, sucking one dusky nipple, then the other.

  “Bry, no more.” She pounded on my back, and I almost smiled. “I need you inside me.”

  “I want that too, babe.” I pulled back.

  My hair in my eyes, I unbuckled my belt and lowered my zipper. A glance to the side revealed she was watching me with rapt attention.

  “Fuck, Lace. Don’t look at me like that. I’m trying to go slow.”

  “I don’t want slow, Bry,” she said, sounding and looking piqued. “I want you now.”

  “I want you now too.” I got my slacks off and grabbed a condom packet from the pocket before I kicked them away. Tearing the wrapper open, I rolled on the rubber.

  “You’re so big.” Staring at my cock, she licked her lips.

  “Babe,” I said, grinning. “Are you trying to kill me looking at me like I’m a feast?”

  “I’m trying to get you to . . .” She sucked in a breath when I dipped my fingers in her panties, whipped them down her shapely legs, and tossed them aside.

  “Your skin’s so soft.” I grasped her thighs and separated them. Moving between her legs, I could see how wet she was. I wanted to taste her, so I did.

  “Bry,” she said breathily, grabbing fistfuls of my hair to pull me away. “Inside me, please.”

  What she wanted, I wanted. Positioning myself, I thrust inside her all the way. I couldn’t hold back anymore.

  She gasped.

  “You okay?” I asked, immediately going still.

  “Yes, just a little burning.” She grabbed my ass and squeezed. “Don’t stop. Please move.”

  So I moved, sliding in and out of her. She was so slick and tight.

  “That feels so good.” Her eyes on mine, she smiled.

  It felt better than good, like heaven, knocking on the door of it. I picked up the tempo. Her hands on my ass, she moved with me like she heard the same irresistible melody. Again and again, I drove into her.

  “Bry,” she cried, lifting her hips to make each stoke deeper. “I’m close.” Her features wondrously tight, she strained for it, rhythmically squeezing me.

  It rose within me, a feeling like no other, wild and untamable like she was.

  “Yes, Lace.” Hammering into her, I took her higher. “Come with me.” If I was at the heights, she had to be there too. Stiffening, I let out a guttural groan, and she moaned.

  In perfect harmony, we hit the crescendo together.

  No longer separated.

  One.

  War

  “Where is he, Diz?” I roared into my cell. “Where’s Bry?”

  “Don’t know,” he said after a beat. “But yelling at me isn’t gonna make him appear.”

  “Yeah, okay,” I muttered, taking the anger down a notch. I didn’t need Dizzy any more pissed at me than he already was.

  “You feeling any better?” he asked.

  “Slightly more human.”

  The little bit of smack I’d tried for the first time at the strip club in LA was mostly to blame. The RCA rep had given me some under-the-table money to sweeten their offer, which I’d used to purchase the stuff, and I’d loved it. It made me euphoric, which had bee
n awesome. Just what I needed with all the stress on me.

  But the downside?

  I felt so good that I hadn’t properly eaten or hydrated while in LA. Then fast forward to the welcome-back-to-Seattle party at Kyle’s, where I might have done too much of everything. Afterward, I’d gotten as sick as a fucking dog.

  Missed prom, missed a day where I should have made my woman mine. Now I only had one day to have her sweet side before the deadline to choose record labels. Then the hammer would drop, since neither deal included Lace. She’d be pissed, but she’d get over it.

  “Thanks for making that drugstore run for me,” I said, playing nice. “The Gatorade helped.”

  “No problem.”

  “So, is Lace at the house with you?” I asked, acting like my interest wasn’t sharp.

  “Yeah, man. She’s here.”

  That was good. But was she alone? I didn’t like that Bryan had been MIA since the prom.

  “I’m coming over,” I said. “I need to talk to her. I texted, but haven’t heard back from her.”

  “She’s still pissed at you. The way she sees it, you haven’t done anything to smooth things over.”

  “I know she’s freezing me out. I know why.”

  But we were even after Kyle’s, and I got her a date for prom. She really needed to give me a fucking break. What other guy would wait this long to have sex with his girlfriend?

  “If she tries to take off,” I told Dizzy, “let her know to stay put. I need to talk to her.”

  • • •

  Lace

  “It was just prom,” Bryan said to Dizzy, his voice was clear, even though he was on one side of the closed bedroom door, and I was on the other. “Getting laid is a rite of passage. It didn’t mean anything.”

  Stunned, I staggered away from the closed door. I had whisker burns on my skin in several unmentionable places, but what Bryan said burned a hell of a lot more.

  Stupid, Lace. Believing what we’d done was more than it was, or that he’d meant the words he’d said after the second time we had sex.

  Fingers curling into my palms, I stared at the bed. The sheets were tangled, probably still warm from the second time. I touched my neck, remembering the ribbon and what we’d done with it. My cheeks heated, I moved closer to the bed. Maybe it had meant nothing to him, but it had meant something to me.