Meant To Be (The Callahans Book 4)

by Monica Murphy

  “Mmm hmm.” I kiss her. Drown in her. Slide my tongue against hers, thrusting deep, mimicking what I want to do when I’m inside her. The blow job was amazing. Eating her pussy got me all horny again.

  Now I’m dying to fuck her.

  “You brought a condom?” she asks.

  “Babe, I brought three.”

  She laughs. “I don’t think we’ll use all three.”

  “Don’t say shit like that. I take it as a challenge, remember?” I grab one of the condoms resting by my phone and tear the wrapper off, rising up on my knees so I can roll it on. My dick kind of hurts, it’s so damn hard and eager, and I grip the base, my gaze going to hers as I slowly start stroking.

  Her eyes fall to where my hand is moving, her lips parting a little. Her tongue sneaking out to lick at the corner of her mouth. She is always hungry for my dick. Does that sound crude? Kind of awful?

  Well it’s fucking true.

  And I’m hungry for her. All the damn time. I’d feast on her perfect pussy every single day if I could. Not that I can. Not like her parents would be down for me moving into her bedroom. I would if I could though. I’d love nothing more than to sleep with my girl. Fall asleep with her wrapped all around me. Wake up in the morning with her cute ass snug against my junk. I’d fuck her nice and slow from behind first thing, reach around and touch her clit. She’d arch her back and make those sexy little noises—

  “You’re wasting quality time touching yourself when you could be touching me.”

  Her snappy voice makes my eyes fly open and I glance down at myself. I was sitting here jerking myself while she’s within touching distance. Fucking distance.

  What the hell is wrong with me?

  “Though it’s kind of hot, watching you do that,” she admits, sinking her teeth into her lower lip, her eyes big and her cheeks flushed.

  I really love that flush she gets every time we’re together like this.

  “Hotter if I wasn’t wearing a condom,” I tell her as I move so I’m hovering above her, one hand planted by the side of her head, my other hand still wrapped tight around the base of my cock. “We should do that next time.”

  A gasp escapes her when I brush my dick against her clit. “Do what?”

  “Touch ourselves in front of each other.” I do it again, dragging my head back and forth through her soaked folds. I keep this up, I’ll lose it and come too quick, but it feels so damn good, I don’t want to stop. “What do you think?”

  “I don’t know.” She lifts her hips, as if that’s going to make just the tip slip in but I withhold myself from her. “What are you doing?”

  “Say you’ll do it for me, or you don’t get the dick.” I laugh at myself, shaking my head. It is so much fun being with her. Seriously, who knew it could be this good?

  “Eli.” She pouts.

  “Say it, Ava. Say, ‘yes Eli, I’ll touch my juicy pussy in front of you until I squirt all over my fingers.’” I’m grinning.

  She’s groaning. And not because she’s hot for it either. “That is so disgusting.”

  “No, it’s so damn hot. I would give up a lot of shit to watch you finger yourself until you come.” Ah fuck, it’s so true. Just saying those words out loud has my dick jerking in anticipation.

  “Only if I can watch you at the same time,” she says, her eyes falling closed when I reward her for what she just offered.

  I slide inside her. Just a little bit. Just enough so she can feel me. And hell, I can feel her too. Hot and tight and wet. She’s too tempting. I ease in a little more, not for her but for me. I cannot resist her.

  Ever.

  “Deal. We’ll get off for each other. Sounds fucking fun as hell.” I slide all the way, as far as I can, until I’m fully inside her and I hold myself there, my eyes tightly closed as I breathe in deep, trying to calm myself.

  She wraps her legs around my hips and I sink even further. A groan leaves me and I start to move. She moves too. Slow for only about a second, before we start picking up tempo. Until we’re fucking like eager rabbits, me pounding into her willing body again and again, our damp skin making a slapping noise with my every thrust. I’ve lost all control. I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore. Nothing’s calculated or planned. I just fuck like an animal, with no thought, no care. I’m just feeling. Doing.

  Savoring.

  I crack my eyes open to find hers are open too, and she’s watching me, her body jolting with my thrusts, her tits jiggling. Leaning down, I kiss her. It’s a dirty, sloppy connection of lips, with zero finesse and plenty of tongue and she’s moaning. I swallow every sound, drinking from her lips like I’m dying of thirst and when she goes tense beneath me and her inner walls start milking my dick, I know she’s coming.

  And I am too, right after her, the sound of her name falling from my lips as the orgasm washes over me. I’m a stuttering, shuddering mess, and when it’s over, I collapse on top of her, trying my best to not let my entire weight press down on her, but she wraps her arms around me and holds me there.

  Like she wants to absorb me.

  “Oh my God,” she whispers against my cheek, right before she kisses it. “Does sex just keep getting better every time we do it? Because I don’t know if my heart can take it.”

  “It’s only ever been this good with you,” I tell her.

  She makes a scoffing noise. Like she doesn’t believe me. I lift up a little so I can stare into her beautiful green eyes. “It’s true. Maybe it’s because I love you so damn much.”

  Her eyes go soft, and her lips curl. “I love you too.”

  I bend down and kiss her because I have to. After coming like that, making those sorts of declarations, the moment calls for a sweet, tender kiss. I love this girl, just like I said.

  So damn much.

  I got rid of the condom in the bathroom and came back to find Ava wrapped up in a pile of blankets, looking sexy as hell with only her bare shoulders showing, the flames bathing her smooth skin in golden light. Her hair shines extra bright too and I come to a stop for a moment, staring at my princess. My girl who fights for what she wants. My girl who is currently wearing the #1 pendant around her neck and nothing else.

  Meaning she’s branded as mine and no one else’s.

  She turns toward me with a smile on her face. “There you are. I missed you.”

  “I think I’ve been gone for all of two minutes.” I join her on the floor, slipping beneath the covers and reaching for my phone at the same time. It’s only nine-fifteen. We still have forty-five minutes so I’m going to enjoy this time with Ava. I want to talk to her about what happened to me. Ryan’s call. What it means. I need to get it all out.

  But first, I want to know what happened with her.

  “Was it bad today?” I ask, reaching around her shoulders and tugging on the ends of her messy hair. “Dealing with all the Cami fallout?”

  “It wasn’t so bad. Better than I thought it would be.” She shrugs. “Like I told you, the vice principal gave me two Saturday schools. Plus I’m off the team for two weeks.”

  “Are you upset about that? Two weeks is a long time.” I’d fuckin’ lose it if I got kicked off the football team for two weeks.

  “I’m sad, yet I’m not. At least it gives me two weeks of freedom away from Cami. And two weeks of spending more time with you.” She leans her head against me, and I tug her in even closer, tangling my legs with hers. We’re propped on the pillows facing the fire, her hand resting on my chest, my fingers drifting down her arm. “I’m liking that part a lot.”

  “Me too.” I pull away slightly so I can kiss her forehead. “But I know you like doing cheer.”

  “Do I though? My mom and sister convinced me to try out. It’s fun, I’ve made new friends, but do I really enjoy it? Love it? Not with Cami trying to boss me around all the time.” She dips her head, her hair falling and covering her pretty face. I reach out and brush it back with my index finger so I can see her. “It’s a relief not dealing with her righ
t now. Though I saw her at Starbucks earlier.”

  “What happened?”

  “She tried to insult me, but I threw some crap back in her face and she eventually left.” Ava smiles. “I must be pretty powerful if I can drive a person out of Starbucks.”

  “You’re the most powerful girl I know,” I tell her sincerely. I wish she knew just how much she affects me. How much she means to me.

  Maybe she does know.

  Ava rests her hand on my thigh. “My parents weren’t that mad either. Well, I got the ‘violence isn’t the answer’ speech, but my mom never really liked Cami in the first place so was she really that upset? I don’t think so. I talked to her right after school. Somehow we ended up talking about birth control, too.”

  Oh shit. “What do you mean?”

  “As in, she thinks I should be put on it. The pill I guess?” Her gaze meets mine. “What do you think?”

  “I think that would be awesome.” Going bareback in Ava’s pussy? Talk about a dream come true.

  “We’re still using condoms,” she says, killing my dream, just like that. “You’ve been with other girls. What if you—give me something? And the pill isn’t foolproof.”

  “How foolproof is it? Ninety eight percent maybe? I could pull out.” I’d be down for that too. Whatever she’ll let me do, I’ll do it.

  “I don’t know. I’ll ask when I go to the doctor.” Her gaze lifts to mine. “How many other girls have there been?”

  “Uh.” I squirm a little bit, because this sort of thing makes me uncomfortable. I’ve never discussed it with a girl before. I’ve never had a steady girlfriend so that’s why. “Do you really want to know?”

  “Yes, I do,” she says firmly. “I’m not going to judge you for it. Or ask for names and addresses. I just want to know.”

  “Two.”

  She frowns. “That’s it?”

  “What did you expect? Me to say like twenty?” I laugh uncomfortably. “Would a bigger number make you feel better?”

  “No. Absolutely not. I just thought there had been more.” Her lips form the faintest smile. “I’m glad it’s only two. Now three.”

  “No one compares to you,” I tell her, threading my fingers through her hair.

  Ava leans in and kisses me, murmuring against my lips, “Tell me about your day.”

  So I do. I tell her about my brother calling and acting like it was no big thing. Telling me he’s coming home this weekend so he can watch my game.

  “But that’s great,” she says when I’m in the middle of the story. “Aren’t you glad he’s finally coming to see you?”

  “I guess,” I say with a shrug, wanting to hang on to my anger for a little while longer. It’s my go-to emotion lately. The one that’s got me through all this family bullshit the last few years. “I hope he doesn’t bring my parents to the game.”

  “Why not?”

  “What if they get into an argument in front of everyone?”

  “You won’t know if they do. You’ll be out on the field,” she points out.

  “True, but people will talk. I’m tired of rumors and drama. It’s all bullshit,” I spit out, sounding bitter as hell because yeah, I am bitter as hell.

  “You’re going to deal with that no matter what. Not only because of who you are, but also who you’re with.” She laughs. “Me.”

  “Like I’d leave you because of that. I’ll suffer through the drama and rumors when it comes to you.” I drop a kiss on her shoulder and she giggles. “But seriously. I don’t know how I feel about Ryan showing up, acting like he hasn’t been gone for the last few years.”

  “Maybe he didn’t know how else to act. Maybe he’s feeling just as awkward and angry as you are about everything,” she says. “You should give him a chance, Eli.”

  “I don’t want to,” I mutter, sounding like I’m about five years old and the world’s biggest grudge holder.

  “The least you can do is hear him out. Let him explain himself. And you should tell him how you feel, too. You can’t keep it bottled up forever.” She hesitates before she continues. “Maybe I can sit with him and watch the game.”

  “Hell no.” This is my immediate response. I can see from the hurt in her gaze that she didn’t expect me to react so strongly. “Bring Ellie with you or something.”

  “That’s a great idea. I probably will. But why can’t we all sit together? I’d love to get to know your brother. Unless you didn’t tell him about me.” She sounds sad, and that is the absolute worst sound in the world.

  “I told him about you,” I admit, and she brightens, her eyes sparkling once more.

  “You did?”

  I nod. “I said we were serious.”

  “Are we?” Her voice lowers to a whisper, and that lingering doubt she still has almost does me in.

  “I’m not just using you for sex,” I crack, making her laugh. “And hell yeah, we’re serious. Do you really think I’d be wrapped up in a blanket naked with you in a cold ass cabin in the middle of a rainstorm if I wasn’t serious?”

  Another shrug from Ava. I think she eats this shit up.

  “I’m dead serious about you. I love you.” I kiss her. Once. Twice. “I love you so damn much, I think about you all the time. You consume my thoughts. My dreams. When I leave you, I immediately miss you and think about the next time I can see you again.”

  “I love it when you say stuff like that,” she says dreamily.

  “I know.” I kiss her nose. “I love your pretty face. And your smart brain. Your smart mouth too.” She laughs. “I love your body. Your pussy.”

  “Stop.” She puts her hand on my mouth and I lightly bite her finger, making her drop it with an exaggerated scowl.

  “But what I really love? Is your heart.” I reach between the folds of the blanket to touch her chest, my palm pressed right in between her breasts. “It’s big and passionate and gives zero fucks. I love that about you, Ava. You fight for what you want, what you believe in. You tried to kick Kayla’s ass because of me.”

  Ava scowls. “She said mean things about you.”

  “And now you’re beating up Cami because of me.”

  “She said shitty things about you, too.” Her scowl deepens.

  I skim my fingers over her face, trying to soothe her. “Don’t let any of them get to you like that. Fuck them. Fuck Kayla and her judgy personality. And fuck Cami and her black soul. They can’t touch us. Together, we’re untouchable.”

  “I love you, too,” she says, her voice trembling, her eyes locked with mine. “I love you so much, it almost—scares me.”

  “Why would it scare you?” I’m frowning. I don’t like to hear her say things like that.

  “I’m afraid it’s so good between us, something—or someone—is going to come along and snatch it out of our hands.”

  “Baby, you can’t say words like snatch and expect me to keep a straight face,” I tell her just before I crack up.

  She elbows me in the ribs. “I’m being serious! Aren’t you afraid that someone is going to try and destroy us?”

  “Like I told you. You and me? We’re untouchable.” I kiss her again because I can. “Don’t worry, babe. We’ve got this.”

  I believe that. One hundred percent. Does that make me a fool?

  Maybe.

  Twenty-Six

  Ava

  “You sure you don’t mind driving to the game?” I ask as I slide into the passenger seat of Ellie’s car.

  She slams her car door and glances over at me. “Of course not. I figured you’d want to go home with Eli anyway.”

  “You’re right. I do.” I smile, thinking of what we did a few nights ago at the cabin. I couldn’t see him last night. He had his team dinner to attend and I had to study for my environmental science test. Cami tried to make some snide remark about me sitting in the stands watching them cheer tonight during lunch, but I blew her off, informing her I wouldn’t even be at the game.

  She got flustered, called me a bitch and t
ook off. Considering I had witnesses, I made sure and told Brandy that Cami is going around campus insulting me. Trying my best to get her in trouble, I guess, which is dumb, but also oddly satisfying.

  “This ought to be interesting, us showing up at this game tonight,” Ellie says as she turns onto the main road that leads to the highway. She offered to pick me up at my house, and I wasn’t about to turn that down.

  “Eli asked if I was going to wear purple and gold.” I make a face. “I don’t know if I can do it.”

  “Clearly you’re not,” Ellie says with a laugh as she glances over at me. I’m wearing jeans and a black sweatshirt. That’s about as neutral as I can get. “He didn’t give you his jersey to wear?”

  I slowly shake my head. “He didn’t.”

  And that was kind of disappointing, but I didn’t dwell on it. How can I? At least I’m able to go to his game. Plus, I’ll hopefully get to meet his brother tonight too. I have no qualms in approaching him and introducing myself, if I can figure out who he is. I want to meet Ryan.

  No matter how reluctant Eli is over it.

  He keeps his family somewhat of a secret and I don’t understand why. Is he embarrassed? Maybe. Is he ashamed? I suppose I would be if word around town was my mom’s a raging alcoholic. I guess a rumor started in gossip mags a long time ago when I wasn’t even born yet that my dad was having an affair with the nanny. Crazy. Has anyone ever seen the way my father looks at my mother? He’s always looked at her like that. As if she’s everything to him. He’s still madly in love with her all these years later.

  But there are rumors and there are facts, and Eli has told me his mom drinks too much. The rumors are true. And that’s embarrassing. I can kind of understand why Ryan stayed away for so long. Maybe he didn’t want to deal with it.

  Maybe he didn’t know how.

  “Do you think people would’ve given you grief for wearing his jersey?” Ellie asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

  “I don’t know.” I shrug. “Why should they care? Don’t you think people at our school would be angrier? They’d call me a traitor or something stupid like that,” I say irritably.