by L. L. Ash
His head lowered, resting against my shoulder and my eyes rolled into the back of my head while he moved. I gyrated against him as best I could, but the precarious balance we had was easily upset, so I stayed relatively still.
It wasn’t long before the friction had me panting and moaning and throwing me over that cliff of exquisite torture to simmering pleasure. My legs squeezed around him tighter and I pulled at his damp hair furiously as his speed increased. As I was floating back down Ty tensed up and I felt that familiar throb, but this time it brought shooting warmth into my womb. Shivers racked me as Tyler’s forehead pressed against mine and he looked at me, a genuine smile lighting his face. Not humor, just happiness.
He chuckled and I felt his arms give before he lower me to the tile floor. We stared at each other for a long minute, wrapped in the other’s arms before hesitantly letting each other go to clean ourselves up. Not another word was spoken. Just touches and looks were shared between us.
When we were done, I smelled like a man and Tyler smelled absolutely delicious. I got my clothes back on and Tyler wandered to the closet again, getting on a pair of his boxer briefs before rummaging through the clothes hanging in his massive closet. He pulled down a white button up shirt and buttoned it up as I watched. Something about this familiarity was heartwarming, and I thought he must have felt the same thing because he kept looking back at me and smiling.
After the shirt was on he grabbed some black trousers and pulled them on before threading a black leather belt through the loops. Socks and black dress shoes were next.
He took a minute to pick a tie then looked at me and smiled again before asking, “A little help?”
I got up and put my arm around him while I checked out the dozen or so designer ties hanging on a special tie rack.
“This one,” I eyed a hot pink tie with black stripes.
“Yes Ma’am,” he said and pulled it off the rack, popping his collar and stringing it around his neck.
“May I?” I asked him.
His eyebrow raised, but he handed the tie ends to me. I tied it expertly, the little bunny going around, up, and through the hole. Tyler was impressed.
Finally he pulled a black linen dress jacket from the closet and laid it out on the bed before making his way back to the bathroom. He opened a jar of pomade and rubbed some vigorously in his hands before threading his fingers through his hair to add some structure to his loose locks.
He looked so spiffy and official my guts turned again in excitement. If he wasn’t headed for a meeting I’d pull him back into the bad and undo all the work he’d put into getting dressed.
After washing the pomade from his hands and brushing his teeth he grabbed his jacket, donned it then looked at me and grinned.
“Now you’ve seen the process,” he told me, seeming a little embarrassed.
“You get ready entirely too quickly.”
I was a little jealous.
“Well you didn’t have to watch me shave,” he said and ran a hand down his cheek and chin.
I rolled my eyes but he took my hand with a smile and pulled me to the door. He stopped at a little wooden box near the door and dug out some cufflinks before heading to the main house. I felt awkward as I followed Tyler into the kitchen as he managed his cuffs alone.
Scott was there, dressed in a similar suit and drinking a mug of coffee. I wasn’t sure if it was a new one or if he was just nursing on the first one, but it didn’t really matter. He eyed me for a moment before saying, “Tyler, a word please.”
Tyler looked up at him, flipping the clasp on his second cuff link before looking back at me and said, “Please, go ahead and eat. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Scott and Tyler left the kitchen and disappeared behind the wall separating the living room and dining room.
“Please, explain to me exactly what’s happening here. Last time we talked you were positive you were furious at her and now you invited her to stay the night in your ROOM? That’s a big deal for you, Ty.”
“I know it doesn’t make sense,” I heard Tyler say quietly. “Sam and I talked all night. We understand each other and we finally are on the same page. We were both just too scared and we sabotaged it. It’s that simple.”
“You’re sure?” Scott asked.
“Yeah Dad. I love her. I can’t live without her, and I know that now.”
“Well, she is certainly attractive enough to make a man scared,” Scott said jokingly.
“She does things to me I didn’t even know were possible,” Tyler said as their voices approached.
“Well, for future reference,” Scott told him as they entered the kitchen again. “I’ll knock and WAIT before entering, but a heads up when you have a girl over doing…. things.… would be helpful.”
Tyler laughed as he poured 2 cups of coffee.
“We didn’t have sex last night,” Tyler said, then met my eyes conspiratorially as he handed a mug to me.
Technically we hadn’t. We’d waited until morning.
Scott rolled his eyes and plopped a container of creamer on the table in front of me while Tyler handed me the sugar after pouring some in his own.
My cheeks heated and Scott looked me over again.
“I’ll tell you, Sam,” he said to me, meeting my eyes. “I understand you’re a little shy about things, but the walls are thin in here so secrets don’t remain secret very long. Besides that, Ty doesn’t have a filter at home so we share just about everything.”
“So I can tell,” I murmured and Tyler laughed into his mug, trying to drink the hot liquid.
There was a long silence between us as we all drank from our perspective mugs, and finally the weirdness got to me.
“Well, I guess I should take off,” I said and stood up.
“Won’t you stay?” Tyler asked, putting a hand on my shoulder, trying to get me to sit again. “The meeting won’t last longer then a couple hours.”
“I need to go home and change,” I told him in a whisper, eyeing Scott who smiled, then tried to cover it with his mug.
“Ok, well I’ll text you after we’re done. We’ll get lunch.”
I nodded and grabbed my keys out of my pocket, clutching them until the keys bit into my palm.
Tyler walked me to the door and said, “Don’t let my Dad intimidate you. He likes you. He’s kinda mad at you right now after you broke my heart, but he’ll warm up quick.”
“Oh great,” I said with a sigh.
“I’ll text you,” he told me as I opened the door. “I wish you’d just stay.”
“I don’t feel comfortable staying here without you,” I admitted. “Especially now that I know your dad doesn’t like me.”
“Oh he likes you plenty. He’s MAD at you. There’s a difference. He’ll be your biggest fan soon enough.”
I gave him a little smile before moving into the hall. Tyler pushed the elevator call button and we waited in silence until it dinged open.
“I love you,” he said quietly, looking me in the eye.
“I love you too, more than anything,” I said back before pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
I waved as the doors closed and Tyler put his hands in his pockets before the doors shut him out completely. I sighed and leaned against the side of the car as it went down.
It took me a good ten minutes to walk through the casino back to the car then headed home. I was grateful I had the late shift today or I’d probably have been late. The clock said 9:43 when I got into the car. When I got home Dad was pacing the living room.
“There you are!” he practically shouted. “I’ve been calling you since last night, Sam. You scared the hell out of me!”
My stomach fell to my feet. I pulled my phone out and tried to see if there was any missed calls, but the battery was dead.
“Oh Dad, I’m so sorry….” I told him. “I don’t know when my phone died but I should have called you when I knew I wasn’t going to be back til this morning.”
“Where the
hell were you?” he asked, sounding exasperated.
“I met with Tyler last night to talk….”
“You’re sleeping with that boy again?” he asked, the fury coming back onto his face.
“We worked everything through yesterday,” I explained. “We’ve forgiven each other and we love each other….”
“The boy’s using you for the free sex, Sam,” Dad said cruelly.
My cheeks burned in outrage.
“Maybe you still see me as a little girl, Dad, but I’m smart and I know what I’m doing. I love him, and we’re committed to each other. He’ll probably be the man I marry someday so you better get over whatever grudge you have against him.”
“Married?” He asked in horror. “You’re far too young to get married Sam!”
“I didn’t say we’re getting married tomorrow, but I can’t live without him in my life Dad. He’s as much a part of me as you or Mom are.”
His lips pressed together and he said quietly, “I don’t like who you become when you hang out with him. At least when you were dating Connor you remained you, and I knew you were safe and he was taking care of you.”
“Tyler cares for me Dad. He meets every need I could ever imagine.”
He shook his head and fell into his recliner.
I turned and fled to my room. Anger was flowing through me and the last place I wanted to be was here with Dad. I packed a bag full of clothes, sure that Connor would shelter me. I stuffed my makeup bag in there, grabbed my toiletries and any other little thing I could think to bring like my ipod, my laptop and my phone charger. When I went to the door with a big bag packed, Dad’s face got all red again as he demanded to know where I was going.
“I’m going to go stay with Connor until you’ve chilled out and gotten over your problem,” I told him and left the house, sorely tempted to slam the door.
I got into the car and went straight to Connor’s house. He answered the door in nothing but low hanging athletic shorts, with squinting eyes and a hand over his brows, shielding him from the sun.
“Did I wake you up?” I asked.
“Worked the late shift last night,” he said and yawned.
“Can I stay here a few days?” I asked him and he perked up.
“What’s going on?”
“Dad’s freaking out and I can’t deal with that on top of everything else.”
“Everything else? Why would he freak out?”
Connor motioned me in and I made myself comfortable on the compact couch he had sitting in one corner of the room across from the TV.
“Well, Tyler and I made up.”
“You what?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.
“We got together last night. We had a really good talk and we have forgiven and we are kind of starting fresh.”
“And your dad doesn’t like Tyler,” Connor said, catching on.
“Right.”
“Ok, so you want me to get in the middle of this?” he asked with a half smile on his face.
“No, I just want you to shelter me. I’ll buy your groceries.”
“If you cook, you have a deal,” he said and flopped back onto the bed. “You going to sleep on the couch?”
“I was hoping you’d let me share the bed,” I admitted.
“After everything, you think Tyler will tolerate that?” he asked, a wan smile on his face.
I sighed. I hadn’t consider what Tyler would say about staying with Connor.
“I’ll talk to him,” I said and plopped my bag down by my feet before laying back on the couch.
I remembered to plug my phone in before falling back asleep.
My phone dinging woke me up. I fumbled around for it and before catching it and seeing who the text was from.
-Lunch?
It was Tyler.
-Sure. I have work at 4 though.
-Work?
-I bag groceries at Smiths.
-You’re serious? I thought you didn’t want to do that.
-I promised Dad I’d get a job and I couldn’t find anything better so…
-Well lunch shouldn’t last 3 hours.
-Ok where do I meet you?
-I’ll pick you up.
-I’m at Connor’s.
-Address?
I paused before sending the address.
“Con?” I called to Connor.
He groaned and rolled over in annoyance.
“Whu-hu-hu-hut?” he whined.
“Tyler wants to pick me up from here. Can I give him your address.”
“Sure, whatever,” he said and rolled back over, digging his face into the pillow.
I sent the address to Tyler and he replied telling me he’d be there in 15.
Chapter 10
My wait until Tyler showed up was anxious. After the amazing night and morning we had I didn’t want to upset things. When a knock rang Connor jumped out of bed.
“God dammit!” he mumbled and angrily strode to the door. “A guy can’t get sleep in his own freaking house.”
Tyler stood on the other side, trousers still on, but his jacket was missing and his shirt sleeves were rolled up past his elbows.
“Connor,” Tyler said with a dip of his head.
Connor grinned and they threw their arms around each other like old chums.
The sight was strange and shocking to say the least.
After a series of pounding each other on the back they turned to me and a grin lit each face.
“What the hell did I miss?” I asked them.
Connor laughed as he fell back into bed and Tyler approached me.
“We spent a lot of time together the last few weeks. Clubbing, barhopping and strip clubs. Things single guys do.”
My eyes turned to slits at the mention of strip clubs.
Tyler’s mouth twisted. He was trying not to smile.
“We spent a lot of time talking about you,” he told me finally. “Mostly, we did that.”
“I’ve lost my appetite,” I informed him and sat back on the couch with my arms crossed over my chest.
“Awww, Sammy baby,” Tyler said and sat next to me. “Someday I’ll remember to leave strip clubs out of the conversation.”
Connor laughed and flipped over, suffocating himself with his pillow.
“Guys, get out of my house so I can get some damn sleep, PLEASE.”
Tyler pulled me up and I grabbed my phone before following him out.
“What’re you doing at Connor’s place?” He asked as I stuffed my phone in my shorts’ miniature pocket.
“I’m staying with him for a few days while Dad cools off. He’s not too happy we made up and that I didn’t tell him where I was last night. My phone died and he couldn’t get ahold of me.”
Tyler sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair.
“I’m going to have a long road ahead of me with him, aren’t I?”
I nodded and walked silently the rest of the way to the car.
We drove to the restaurant and sat down before any more words were spoken.
“What is it that he doesn’t like about me?” Tyler asked as he glanced at the menu.
“I don’t think it’s you in particular. It’s the fact that I’m growing up and he doesn’t like it.”
“He didn’t have a problem with Connor,” he said.
Besides the surprise I felt at him knowing that privileged information, I acknowledged the truth of it.
“That’s because Dad loves Connor. He proved himself at a young age and Dad has trusted him with me forever.”
“So over time I can prove myself?” he asked hopefully.
I shrugged. I didn’t know.
“Hi, I’m Katie and I’ll be your server this afternoon,” a young vibrant woman said as she stopped at our table. “What would you like to drink?”
“Do you have any beers on tap?” Tyler asked her.
“We do. There’s a local microbrewery that supplies us.”
“I’ll have their darkest then,” he said and
looked at me.
“Just water for me,” I told her and she nodded with a smile before turning back to Tyler.
“Sorry, but I gotta see an ID to make the order for your beer.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been carded at a restaurant,” he said as he dug out his wallet.
He flipped it open for her and she looked intently before nodding.
Suddenly her face lit up and she said, “Wait, Harrison? You related to the folks that own the Triton?”
“Oh, nah. That’d be nice though,” he said with a smile.
“Yeah, could you imagine all that money? I’d never have to work another day in my life!”
She laughed as she walked away with our order.
“Why’d you lie to her?” I asked in a whisper across the table.
“Because girls like her are like gnats. They smell dollar bills and they’re impossible to get rid of.”
“Oh,” I said and fiddled with my cloth napkin.
“Does that bother you?” he asked as he put an elbow on the table, leaning against it as he looked at me.
“I’m not sure,” I told him truthfully. “I never thought that hoteliers in Vegas were like super stars.”
“Oh, no, definitely not like super stars,” he said. “Not many people know the owners by name and even fewer by sight. But the ones who do usually are after money.”
I nodded in understanding, as Katie came back up to us with our drinks.
She put Tyler’s drink down first, his brew a dark gold with a perfect thin head of foam on top. Katie grinned at him and batted her eyelashes before plopping my glass of water in front of me and tossing down a straw.
“Y’all know what you want to eat? Or do you need a little time?”
“Are you ready Sweetheart?” Tyler asked me with a wink.
“You order first Babe,” I said, catching onto his little game. “I’ll be ready in just a minute.”
Tyler closed his menu and looked at Katie who looked a little crestfallen after the sweet exchange.
“I’ll just have a cheese burger. Medium rare with no pickles or onions.”
“You got it cutie,” Katie said and turned to me.
“Fish and chips,” I told her and batted my eyelashes at Tyler while grabbing his hand across the table.
