Her lips parted, and her breathing grew shallow. I didn’t know if I was scaring her, turning her on, or just shocking her. I didn’t care.
I released her hair and reached down to grab the hem of her dress and pulled it up over her head. She even raised her arms to help me.
“Your breasts are fucking fantastic. Your cleavage is distracting. And the way your bikini nearly reveals your heart-shaped ass.” My hands slid around her waist and then moved up. I was in a trance as I watched in the mirror as my own dark hands moved up her creamy flesh. I stopped just shy of her tits. I wanted to cup them and make her ache with need just from my touch.
“Your legs are killer, down to your little shriveled pinky toe.”
She shifted against me like I’d made her self-conscious.
“You give way too much to your kids, your loser boyfriends, your friends, and not enough to yourself. You take care of everyone. You want everyone to be happy around you. You’re beautiful for a thousand reasons, Cora. You need to see that.”
“Gerard…” Her voice was breathy, husky, like I was affecting her.
I opened my mouth to speak, as my hands slipped up over her breasts…
The loud blaring song on Cora’s phone startled both of us. My hands dropped away, and I stepped back. I hadn’t realized I had her pinned against the sink, with my half hard cock cushioned against her ass.
Cora darted away from me to find her phone. A moment later, she cursed.
I hadn’t been able to move with my reflection threatening to mock me and Cora thinking God only knew what. “Everything okay?”
“It was Nick.”
My entire body stiffened and that was enough to kill my erection. Unclasping my fists, I went out into the main part of the room. She was staring down at her phone.
“Why didn’t you answer and tell him to fuck off?”
“I don’t want to talk to him. He’s been texting me too. He found out about the trip from his boss.”
“I suppose he was pissed about that too.”
Cora nodded, her shoulders slumping forward. “I’m not a dumb person. Why do I end up here every time I date a guy?”
“Do you want to talk to him?”
“No.”
I moved to sit on the bed and grab the room service menu. “Why don’t we just order room service, and find a movie or something to watch? We’ve had a long day in the sun.”
She smiled a little. “Yeah, okay.” She climbed onto the bed next to me and put her head on my shoulder. “It was a good day though.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Yes, it was.”
8
Cora
Gerard’s arms were wrapped around me when I woke up. My body was heavy with sleep as I started to come to. My tank top had ridden up my ribs and Gerard’s hand was plastered against my stomach. Flashes of us standing in front of the mirror made me flush. I’d never been so turned on and confused in my life. His hands roaming my body, the pure command in his voice and the way his eyes devoured me. I didn’t know I could feel things like that.
I could curse Nick for calling. I really wanted to know where Gerard was heading because he barely cupped my breasts before the moment had been shattered. And I craved more. I wanted him to touch me. Everything inside of me ached for it.
The more I woke up the more I realized how much us were touching, practically from shoulders to toes. Including…
He was hard. His hard cock was pressed against my ass. As I slowly came out of my sleepy state, the thought of him having an erection while he was wrapped around me, left me with questions, but more than anything had me thinking about all kinds of things a week ago I’d never really thought about with him. And now I was wet, and my pussy was throbbing.
I swallowed my desire, debating the best course of action. If I moved, if I slipped from his arms, I could’ve gone to the bathroom, got in the shower, and hopefully taken care of my needs before he woke up. Or, I could do what I seemed more than content to do, which was staying right where I was, in my best friend’s arms, daydreaming about how easy it would be to take off my pajama shorts and let him give us both relief.
And I wanted to entice him to do just that. But how? I was hardly a seductress. And the blood-filled part of my brain couldn’t help but worry about the friendship. We couldn’t just fuck once and have it be that.
“Mmm, what time is it?” Gerard’s voice was like a husky purr in my ear, and his hands tightened a little around my middle, his hand just shy of the bottom curve of my breast.
I looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand, and murmured back, “Just after eight.”
His body tensed a little, and he pulled away. He rolled onto his back and threw his arm over his eyes. “It’s still early. What are you doing up, Red?”
Disappointment immediately dampened my desires. I pushed myself out of bed. “Just go back to sleep, Ger.” I headed to the bathroom and closed the door before I turned on the light. I sat down on the edge of the tub and put my head in my hands. He rolled away from me so fast, he might as well have shoved me out of bed. Clearly, it wasn’t me that had him in that state. I’d misunderstood the reasons why he was holding onto me, why he was sporting morning wood. It wasn’t about me at all. If it had been, he wouldn’t have moved away, right? Was he dreaming about one of his models? That thought left me feeling a little ill.
I took a long, cold shower, fighting the emotions threatening to bubble up. Despite my hurt feelings and disappointed libido, my body still wanted relief. But the cold shower at least took the edge off. I didn’t even know why I cared. Gerard had always been my friend. My best friend. I had never looked at him as more than that.
I blamed Mexico. And Nick.
When I couldn’t stretch out my shower any longer without seeming like I was avoiding him, I dried off and dressed in a pair of shorts and a tank top. I didn’t know what was on the plan for the day, but I needed to get out of the room, clear my head, and have at least a cup or two of coffee.
Gerard had other plans. He was sitting on the bed, dressed for the day, with a pair of tennis shoes sitting near his feet. “Hey, Red, how do you feel about some hiking today?”
I shrugged. “The first thing I need is coffee. I’m surprised you’re not still sleeping. You were pretty out of it when I got up.”
He stood rigidly in front of me. “Cor, we should talk about —”
I raised an eyebrow. “Your erection? You want to talk about your erection?”
His eyes finally met mine. “Not particularly, but it’s not very gentlemanly press your cock against your best friend’s ass when she’s trying to sleep.”
That was the first time I’d heard him use such a word. He liked to throw around sexual innuendos as much as the next guy, but this felt different.
“There’s nothing to talk about. You’re a grown man. And you were asleep.” I grabbed my sandals and headed out into the hall.
I didn’t know what was worse; thinking he’d been asleep, thinking about another girl, or thinking that he’d been thinking about me. And the fact that he wasn’t avoiding the discussion of his cock against my ass, made me think there was really nothing to it. Morning wood was a thing.
I walked all the way to the restaurant completely distracted by my dilemma. I grabbed a plate of breakfast and sat down staring off into the morning.
My phone chirped.
Colton: Your boyfriend was at the school today.
Cora: What?
Colton: Nick was looking for you. He was convinced you were missing.
Cora: I’m not returning his phone calls or text messages.
Colton: Good to hear. I assured him you were safe in Mexico with a big hunk of man.
Cora: You didn’t.
Colton: He wasn’t too happy about it either.
Cora: What the hell does he care?
Colton: I think he’s jealous.
Cora: Lot of that going around this week.
Colton: How are things going wit
h your friend? You get him to go down to low places with you?
Cora: Colton!
Colton: What? Angela wanted to know too.
Cora: I don’t know what’s going on. I think I’m more confused than ever.
Colton: It’s a hard line to cross.
Cora: I feel delusional, but I feel like it’s line he wants to cross.
Colton: Help him cross it.
I glanced up from my phone when Gerard sat down in front of me. I turned the screen off and put it back in my bag. He was scowling a little.
“Red, are you going to avoid me all day?” He sat across from me in the restaurant and set a coffee in front of me. “I just want to know, so I can be prepared.”
I sighed. “I’m not avoiding you. I needed coffee and breakfast. And now that I have them, you can tell me what you were thinking as far as a hike. I didn’t really bring shoes for that.”
“It’s nothing intense. There are some ruins not far from here. Your sandals should be fine, if you’re interested.”
I smiled. “Sounds fun. How far? Where are we going?”
“We’ve got some options, but I was thinking that Tulum would be a nice drive.” He reached across the table and stole a piece of bacon off my plate. “But there’s also Chichen Itza, or El Rey.”
“Tulum sounds great. Maybe we can find a fun radio station to rock out to on the way.” I pulled my plate a little further out of his reach, even though I knew it wouldn’t stop him from taking anything he wanted. “Or were you thinking an actual tour?”
He leaned forward and all but growled, “I want you all to myself.”
His deep, raw voice made a shiver run down my spine. But I didn’t trust that he had any interest in flirting with me. Not after how he’d pulled away this morning. “I want my breakfast all to myself, so why don’t you go get your own plate?” As if to prove my point, I shoveled a big bite of scrambled eggs into my mouth.
He laughed and reached over again. “I’ll get another plate when yours is gone, Red.”
I was tempted to dump the whole plate onto his head. It would’ve been so easy, and he’d deserve it for twisting my insides up as badly as he had. But for what would be a few minutes of glee for me would’ve just been extra cleanup for some staffer, and my teacher brain kept telling me that revenge would just lead to more and more retribution until we were both miserable.
Instead of stooping to my students’ level, I passed him my plate and shrugged. “I was about done anyway.”
“Is everything okay with you today? You seem off.” He picked up my fork and started eating.
“I just had weird dreams. No big deal.” Dreams like my best friend having a huge hard-on for me.
I picked up my coffee and stared aimlessly out of the window, watching people walk past on their way to excursions or the beach. It seemed like everyone had somewhere to go, something important to do, and normally I’d be right there with them. But if we were going to drive to these ruins alone, and then hike around them alone, I was completely okay with sticking around the buffet a while longer.
Gerard got up to get a second plate and brought me a warm muffin on his way back. “Just in case you’re still hungry.”
I took it and pulled the top off, smirking at him. “If someone didn’t steal all my breakfast, I wouldn’t be hungry.”
He settled back at the table and grinned. “You’ve never had a problem sharing food with me before.”
“And you’ve never been so overtly dickish about it.” I tossed a blueberry at him. “It’s fine. I’m just a little grumpy. As soon as the coffee kicks in, I’ll be right as rain.” Though my libido was still throbbing with all sorts of dirty desires where my best friend was concerned, and it was making me grumpy too.
“All right, I’ll drop it.” He nudged my chair leg under the table. “Are you going to need to go back to the room before we leave?”
“As long as my sandals are going to be okay, all I should need is sunscreen.”
“We should get you one of those big, floppy hats that hides half your face.”
I rolled my eyes. “Because then you won’t have to look at me?”
His joking demeanor changed in an instant and he leaned forward across the table. “Because I don’t want you to burn your pretty face, Red.” He reached up, and for half a second, I thought he was going to cup my cheek, to pull me closer and kiss me. But all he did was run his thumb over my lip. “What’s really going on? You’re bordering on surly.”
I felt the creeping heat of a blush moving up toward my cheeks and I looked away.
“Cora?”
“Nothing. I don’t like that Nick has been calling, texting, and now he’s infiltrated my job looking for me. Colton took care of it before Nick filed a missing person’s report. But why the hell does he care so much all the sudden?”
“Maybe he’s slightly less of a moron than I gave him credit for if he realized what he threw away. You’re not thinking about calling him, are you? Taking him back?”
I adamantly shook my head, but the deep darkness of my soul wasn’t so confident in my answer. I didn’t want him back, but if Nick loved me…if he wanted to be with me…wasn’t that better than lusting after my best friend and ruining the one good relationship in my life?
“Please let me talk you out of it, if you start considering it,” he said softly. The concern in his eyes seemed to know what I was thinking.
“I will. I promise.”
He finished eating breakfast quietly, and I returned to staring out the window.
A couple of times, his foot bumped up against my leg, and my heart fluttered, thinking he was trying to covertly touch me, to play footsie. But it always fell again, and his expression didn’t change.
What was wrong with me? I was reading into every move, every touch, over-analyzing things Gerard had been doing for years. Why? Because suddenly my libido realized he was a man? I wasn’t this girl…this woman. Gerard wasn’t some rebound, he wasn’t a casual hookup. He was my best friend. And I wasn’t so desperate to be loved, that I needed to look where I shouldn’t be for a man. Nick was hardly the last man I would date, and I didn’t need to ruin a friendship because I was lonely and didn’t want to end up alone.
And yet, when he didn’t think I could see him, he looked at me like I was his whole world.
With the radio blasting and the windows down, it almost felt like I was in college again, and Gerard had shown up to drag me off to some exotic location for spring break. Every year, it was as if he’d studied my school schedule, timing it just right to catch me as I made it back to my dorm after the last class before break.
I suspected my roommates helped him, or someone on campus must have, but it always made me feel special, like I was the most important person in his world and that he wanted to see me and only me.
Still, we never made it to somewhere like this on our road trips. Usually it was Florida or California, maybe Texas, anywhere with a beach, free-flowing alcohol, and women who conveniently forgot to wear bras under their white T-shirts.
Tulum was completely different.
“What are you thinking about?” He wrapped his arm around me from behind as we waited in line to pay for admission to the archeological site.
“College. Spring breaks. All those road trips we took, all those drunken nights on beaches.”
“Yeah? Missing old times?”
“I never told you, but this would’ve been so much more my scene. Seeing history up close, experiencing culture, getting a feel for a place’s soul.”
“You didn’t have to tell me, Red. I knew.” He kissed my cheek and pulled away to get our tickets. “But you were in college. And just like in high school, your nose was in the books. If you weren’t studying, you were working. I knew the only way you were going to get the real college experience, to really live the wild parties, the drunken nights where you could barely remember your name, you needed a nudge. Or a kidnapping.” He reached out and took my hand as we hea
ded down the well-marked path toward the ruins. “If you’d ever said something, if you ever told me no, I would’ve made something like this happen instead. We would’ve gone to Rushmore, or Yosemite.”
“You weren’t in charge of making sure I had fun. You had more than enough fun for the both of us those years.” I squeezed his hand and stopped just as the first structure came into view. “You always grabbed life by the balls. You could’ve gone anywhere, done anything. Hell, you probably have.”
He pulled out his camera and directed me into a pose near a tree. I guessed he was framing the ruins behind me as I smiled for his picture.
“I wasn’t cut out for college. I had to learn life the hard way, not from books, but from falling on my face.” He reached out for my hand again as we continued down the path. “But I haven’t done everything I wanted, Cora.”
I tried to ignore the fact that his constant touching was giving me butterflies as we paused for another photo. “Oh? What haven’t you gotten to do?”
He smirked. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Barring murder, I’d believe just about anything.” I made a face as he snapped another picture.
He laughed. “You should be happy to know I’m not hoping to do any murder anytime soon. Although I could do without some of your ex-boyfriends in the world.”
I stuck my tongue out at him. “You’re not killing my ex-boyfriends.” I reached out and grabbed his camera. “Your turn. Strike a pose.”
Gerard groaned and pulled me in close. “Only if we selfie it. You’re not taking a picture of just me.” He took the camera and held it out in front of us. “Smile, Red.”
Love Struck Page 8
