Chapter Fourteen
Dean
My hand was settled onto Ivy’s knee as I drove to the pizza place. One car behind the other, and I was bringing up the rear. I raced through lights to make sure I didn’t lose Hayden and Grace, and Tristan looked at if he was driving like a batshit maniac. My thumb caressed Ivy’s soft skin as we pulled into the parking lot, and I could tell she was itching to eat. Her stomach was growling just loud enough for me to hear and her cheeks kept flushing every time it happened. But I simply smiled at her before I brought her hand to my lips to kiss.
“Come on. Let’s get my beautiful date something to eat,” I said.
“Hey! Saw you rushing through some lights,” Hayden said as he got out of the car.
“Because Tristan was driving like an asshole.”
“Hey, I was doing no such thing,” he said. “It’s just that Emilia kept grabbing my-”
“That’s enough of that!” Emilia exclaimed. “Come on. Who’s hungry?”
“Emilia, you have to tell me everything,” Ivy said as she slid away from me.
“What in the world were you doing to that poor man?” Grace asked.
“Nothing he doesn’t do to me on a regular basis,” Emilia said.
“I could get behind that,” Ivy said.
She tossed a wink my way as Hayden slapped my back. I smiled at her before we all headed inside and sat ourselves down at a massive booth. The guys were on one side and the girls were on the other, all facing our dates for the night as if we were headed to a high school prom. We ordered our drinks-- beers for the guys and wine for the ladies-- and then we started blurting out random pizza orders while the waitress waited for us to finalize things.
“What about a Hawaiian pizza with bacon?” Emilia asked.
“Doesn’t a Hawaiian pizza already have bacon?” Ivy asked.
“Nope. That’s ham. But we could put bacon on it,” Grace said.
“Oh! They have roasted red peppers! That’s happening tonight,” Emilia said.
“Please don’t do that to me,” Tristan said.
“Do I even want to know?” Hayden asked.
I watched Tristan jolt in his seat and I laughed. Emilia had kicked him underneath the table to get him to shut up. It felt wonderful being around these guys. Like we were all one massive happy family. I couldn't stop staring at Ivy, however. Her sparkling brown eyes and her long, beautiful hair. She looked magnificent, even stuffed into a booth with all of her friends. Her eyes roamed the menu while the other girls continued to throw out ideas for food, and after thirty minutes of batting back and forth, we had our massive order ready.
“Okay,” Hayden said. “I think we’re ready. Can we get three large pizzas? One Hawaiian with bacon added to it; one with pepperoni, mushrooms, and roasted red peppers; and one three-meat pizza with bacon and olives added to it.”
“And can we get a small order of garlic breadsticks that come out, like, as soon as possible?” Ivy asked.
“I can get that going for you,” the waitress said. “Give us five minutes on the breadsticks and they’ll be out.”
“Perfect,” she said.
My foot settled against her leg underneath the table as everyone talked. But our eyes connected and never let up. She looked stunning in her dress, and I couldn't take my eyes off her. It physically hurt for me to not have her in my purview. I slid my foot up and down her ankle and watched as her cheeks flushed. I felt her foot sliding back against mine, her bare toe traveling up my ankle. Running over my sock. Dragging my pant leg up until she could touch my bare skin.
“You good?” Grace asked a little too loudly.
Ivy jerked back and banged her knee against the table.
“Ah, shit,” she said.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“Yeah, just… fuck you, Grace.”
“What? You look a little flushed,” she said as she tossed me a grin. “I figured you might’ve needed some water.”
“Or a room,” Tristan said with a murmur.
“Hey, I’m just glad to see Ivy so happy,” Hayden said. “I mean, Zander’s my partner and all, but what he did was wrong.”
“Zander?” I asked.
Ivy shot Hayden a look and everyone’s eyebrows shot up to their hairline.
“Who’s Zander?” I asked.
“Thanks a lot, Hayden,” Ivy said. “It’s no one. He’s not important.”
“Is he an ex of yours?” I asked.
“Really, we shouldn't talk about that right now.”
“You can if you want to, you know.”
The table fell silent and all eyes were on us.
“You don’t have to, and I won’t be upset if you do. But if you do want to talk about it, I’ll listen,” I said.
“Isn’t that, like, some kind of rule?” Ivy asked. “Don’t talk about exes while on dates or something?”
“I mean, we’ve already had one date,” I said. “We followed that rule then.”
“Wait, you guys have already been out?” Emilia asked. “When!?”
“Hey, you’re holding out on us,” Grace said. “So spill.”
“Do you want me to talk about our date or my ex? You can’t have it both ways,” Ivy said.
“Why not?” Tristan asked. “You’ve been so busy with work we’ve hardly seen you. And from the little Emilia has told me, I want to pound the man’s face in anyway. Give me more of a reason to hate him so we can like this one more.”
Tristan patted my shoulder, but my eyes were solely on Ivy. I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable, so I slid my foot back to her ankle. Rested it against her and watched her visibly relax back into her seat. The waitress came and brought us more drinks and I watched her take a long sip of her wine.
Then, she started answering everyone’s questions.
“Dean and I had a date the night before last,” Ivy said. “I asked him out for dinner, then had to cancel for work. So I made it up to him by having him over and cooking him dinner.”
“Wait, you asked him?” Tristan asked.
“In his defense, he asked me four times before that and I said ‘no’.”
“Yep. Sounds like you,” he said.
“Did you make him your lasagna? Is there any left over?” Hayden asked.
“So I take it a lot of people know about your lasagna,” I said with a smile.
“Oh, you’re so lucky. I love Ivy’s lasagna,” Grace said.
“That’s what we should’ve done. Forced Ivy to cook us lasagna tonight,” Emilia said.
“Anyway, that was our first date. This is technically our second, I suppose,” Ivy said.
“You suppose?” Hayden asked.
“I mean, it just… It just feels like I’ve known him longer than that. That’s all.”
I grinned at her as her eyes panned over to me. She took the words right out of my mouth. We’d been talking for a couple of weeks and we were only on our second date, but it felt like I’d known her for so much longer than that. The connection we had during our first date was unmistakable. Unlike any other tether I’d ever had towards a woman. She was magnetizing, and she had me ensnared.
And I was going to enjoy it as long as I could.
“Don’t worry. You’re not the only one who feels that way,” I said.
“Ooooh, yes! We like him, Ivy. Keep him,” Emilia said.
“I plan on it,” she said with a grin.
My heart leapt for joy at that statement.
“So give us the dish on Zander,” Tristan said.
“Really?” Ivy asked. “You’re just going to ruin my moment that easily?”
“Oh, he’s a pro at that,” Emilia said. “There’s no romance with him.”
“Hey, I do romance just fine,” Tristan said. “I just love your laugh a little too much not to make it lighthearted and fun.”
“Aww,” Ivy said. “How can you be mad at that face?”
“Easy. You be mad at it,” Emilia said.
We all fell apart in laughter as the garlic breadsticks were set in front of Ivy. The girls went to town and we all watched as they ate. The table fell silent for a little while and I watched some of the color return back to Ivy’s face. She really needed to take better care of herself. If she wasn’t careful, she’d pass out at one of her events from malnourishment. Her energy seemed to be coming back and the warmth of her skin grew. Her eyes sparkled with life and her smile grew broader. All signs of her blood sugar levels rising.
“Feeling better?” I asked.
“Much,” Ivy said with a groan. “I feel like I can finally fulfill Tristan’s need for gossip. He’s just one of the girls in that way.”
“Don’t hate the player, hate the game,” he said.
“I don’t think that phrase means what you think it means,” Hayden said.
I chuckled before my eyes fell back onto Ivy’s somber face.
“What happened?” I asked.
“So, you’re familiar with Hayden’s charity, right?” she asked.
“I am. I’ve donated to it a couple of times. I think it’s great.”
“Well, Zander is his equal partner in it. That’s how we met.”
“How long did you two see one another?” I asked.
“A year. Exactly. He dumped me during our anniversary dinner.”
“He did what?” I asked.
“Yeah. It um… it was blindsiding. He kept talking about how things were progressing faster than he thought with the foundation and how I traveled so much for work that he could never keep up. Which was, again, blindsiding. Because he’d never expressed an issue with my traveling ever. Not until that point.”
“What an asshole.”
“Right?” she asked. “I cared for him. I did love him.”
“Do you still love him?” I asked.
“No. I don’t. It’s easy for me to compartmentalize.”
“She’s really good at it,” Grace said.
“I can love with all my heart until there’s a reason for me not to any longer. Then the ties are cut just like that,” Ivy said. “It hurt for a few days and the girls were there to stay with me that weekend. And then I woke up Monday morning and continued on with business as usual.”
“It takes a strong person to do something like that,” I said. “How long ago was this?”
I watched something akin to shame blanket Ivy’s face. She grew nervous. Her foot pulled away from mine underneath the table. So the relationship was recent. That could’ve been the only reason for her reaction. Emilia started rubbing her arm and the guys were side-glancing me, and I immediately felt like an idiot for asking.
“If you want me to stop, just say so,” I said. “And you don’t have to answer my questions. You’re under no obligation to.”
“I just don’t want you to think that you’re…”
Her eyes met mine and I understood.
“A rebound,” I said.
“Yeah,” Ivy said breathlessly. “I don’t want you to think that. I don’t do those. They aren’t healthy and they aren’t right to the other party.”
“Then I’m not a rebound. I believe you.”
“The breakup happened a month ago,” she said.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
I watched the guys smiling at me from the corners of my eyes as the girls watched her reaction. She snickered and shook her head and I felt her foot slowly glide beside mine. She took another bite of her breadstick before she brought her eyes to me, and I could see some of the worry slip away from her gaze.
Good.
I wanted her to feel comfortable talking with me.
“I’m okay,” she said with a small smile. “Zander was… good. Great. A decent man with a good heart and a passion for helping children. He took care of me. Never once talked down to me or tried to manipulate me in any way. But he wasn’t very communicative. If something was bothering him, he never wanted to talk about it. If something irked him, he never wanted to address it. Everything had to be sunshine and rainbows, or it wasn’t for him. And it blew up in my face.”
“I’m so sorry, Ivy.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s a fault in his personality. One that I paid for. And there were signs. There always were. I guess I just enjoyed his want to always be happy, so I let it slide. I didn’t question his flash of emotions whenever I had to duck out and go to work. I didn’t question his lack of responses whenever I was in another country doing something because I always blamed it on the time difference. He never told me it was an issue. Probably because he knew I would leave him over it. I would never compromise my job for anyone, Dean. You need to know that now.”
“I wouldn't do it, either. I understand.”
“That man probably knew I would leave him if he tried to question what I was doing with my career, and that’s what kept his mouth shut on the matter. At least, that’s the only reason I can come up with. I’ll never know because-- newsflash-- he never talks about the bad stuff. He never owned up to how he really felt at any given moment. A man can still be a man and be emotional. And emotional encompasses more than simple happiness.”
“It does,” I said.
“So, anyway. That’s Zander from my point of view and my experience with him.”
“Well,” Tristan said. “Looks like I’ll have to kill him. Anyone got a spare body bag?”
The table chuckled as the pizzas were set in front of us.
We all dove in, the mood quickly changing back to a light-hearted pace. But every once in a while, I checked in with Ivy. I’d rub my toe up her leg and draw her attention before asking her if she was okay. A single head nod and a smile would tell me everything I needed to know, then we returned to the conversation at hand. The minutes ticked by and we all filled our stomachs, roaring with laughter and regaling everyone with stories from our pasts. Hayden and his hotel ventures. Tristan and his wild nights. Grace and her work at the floral shop with Emilia and Ivy with her misadventures with snotty models and even snottier designers. I even had a few interesting stories to tell about some of my patients-- though I never revealed any names. It felt good to be talking with people about my work. About the people I encountered and helped on a daily basis.
It was cathartic for me, and the familial dynamic was something I’d missed in my life.
I picked up the tab for everyone before someone else could snag it. I wanted to impress Ivy a little bit. I was smashed between two billionaires, for fuck’s sake. I wanted her to know that I could take care of her friends like the two of them could on a night out. We all worked our way out of the booths and I left the waitress a good tip. We’d sat there for long enough, so I wanted to make sure she was compensated for her time.
Then I offered my arm to Ivy and we said goodbye to her friends.
“I like you more than Zander already,” Tristan said. “Make sure she gets home safe.”
“Treat her right,” Hayden said.
I shook hands with the guys as Ivy said her goodbyes to the girls. I escorted her back to my car and I opened her door for her, offering her my hand so she could get in. She smiled up at me with that broad smile of hers. The one that crinkled her eyes and sparkled the yellow specks her brown orbs held. I wrapped around and dipped down into the car, then I struck it up and turned my head towards her.
“So, where do you want to go next?” I asked.
She feigned a painful thought process, her face twisting up into this cute little scrunch. I wanted to take her back to my place. To fall into bed with her and blanket her scent across my sheets. But I also didn’t want to be presumptuous. If she was ready to go home, then that was where I would take her.
But when she turned her eyes towards mine, I watched them darken.
“I haven’t seen your place yet,” she said.
“Trust me, it’s not much,” I said.
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
She settled back into her seat and I cranked up the car. I was excited to get her into my apartment, but I wasn’t excited at what I had to show her. I had no idea the kinds of houses she’d probably been to with Emilia and Grace as friends, and I knew my bland apartment with flickering lights wouldn't hold half of a candle to her friend’s homes. Still, she wanted to see it, and I wasn’t going to deny her what she wanted.
I pulled up into my apartment complex and walked her up the stairs before I opened my front door and ushered her in.
I turned on the light in my small hallway before my hand fell to the small of her back. I ushered her in and shut the door behind us, then locked it. Her heels clicked across the floor as her eyes took in my place. It really wasn’t much. Dark green walks. Minimal furniture. Scuffed up hardwood floors. Terrible scratchy carpet. The light bulbs gave off this terrible yellow hue and needed to be changed soon, and the entire apartment had this sort of darkness hovering over it.
“Told you it wasn’t much,” I said.
“But it’s what you need, right?” Ivy asked.
“Yeah. I spend the majority of my time at the hospital. I have no need for a fancy home yet. I pay my bills, I rent out this place, and I toss everything else into my investments.”
“There’s nothing wrong with having only what you need. That’s how I live,” she said. “Though this place could use a splash of color.”
“Then by all means, give it a go,” I said.
“What?” she asked.
“If you want to add some color to the place, then I won’t stop you from doing it.”
“Wait. You would let me decorate your place.”
I put my hands in my pockets and walked towards her, the two of us standing in my small living room.
“I would,” I said. “I can’t decorate worth a damn, and if you think you can do something with the place then we’ll go shopping.”
“Seriously. Like, you’re being serious.”
“Very serious.”
“And you’ll take me shopping.”
“I’ll even let you use my card,” I said with a grin. “You know, because I’m a gentleman like that.”
“Oh, my hero,” she said with a giggle. “But if you’re serious-”
“I am,” I said.
“I do have this weekend off. We could go into town, maybe, Saturday morning? Oh! We could get breakfast at Delivery’s beforehand. Go shopping. Come back. I could start decorating. If we need anything else we could go back out Sunday. Order in some food Saturday night to celebrate.”
I smiled as Ivy planned out the rest of my weekend with her.
“I think that sounds fantastic,” I said.
“Oh! I’m so excited. I haven’t decorated a place since I did my own place. And I promise you, I’m good at decorating on a budget.”
“I might live a minimalist lifestyle, but it isn’t for lack of money, Ivy. I don’t care what you spend.”
“A word of advice? Never say that to a woman,” she said.
“I didn’t say it to any woman. I said to you.”
Her eyes connected with mine and I reached out for her. I slid my hand from my pocket and created a gap for her to fill. She walked towards me, her heels softly clicking on the floor. A sound I hadn’t heard in a very long time in this apartment. Her hands fell to my chest and she tilted her head back, keeping her eyes on mine as my arm settled around her. My hand traced a pattern on the small of her back as I grinned, watching her cheeks flush underneath my touch.
“You are a beautiful woman, Ivy.”
She giggled and shook her head before I gripped her chin with my free hand. I brought her gaze slowly back to mine before I ran my hand along her lower lip. That beautiful pout of hers that attracted my eyes every time I chanced a look at her.
“I look forward to my weekend with you,” I said.
Her eyes danced between mine as her hands fisted the collar of my suit. She drew me closer, her lips approaching mine as I pulled her closer into me. I felt her stand onto her tiptoes, closing that small gap between us before her lips pressed against mine.
That pillowy pout.
That warm wetness.
I couldn't resist her a second longer.
I breathed in her scent and tasted her sweetness. Her tongue shot electricity through my veins. I gripped her. Clung to her. Backed her into the wall of my living room. I felt her legs sliding against mine. Struggling to keep her balance as I tried to feel every part of her. I wanted to memorize her curves. Steal her warmth for my own and blanket her in my strength. Her head fell off to the side, allowing me more room to press into her. Allowing me a second chance at becoming close to her.
And I would make sure she never regretted it.
Our clothes slid off our bodies, like oiled skin to water. They fell to piles on the floor, until we were clad in nothing but our skin. I slid my hands down her form, my fingertips traveling along the sharp curves of her decadent body. I fisted her excess, jumping her against the wall until she wrapped her legs around my waist. The warmth that flowed from her body was unmistakable. The wetness she splashed against my body was fierce. I was thunder and she was lightning, and as I groaned into her mouth I became painfully aware of every part of her.
Her breasts pressed against my chest.
Her excess filling the divots of my muscles.
Her arousal trickling down my cock.
I slid into her effortlessly, feeling her sigh with content. Slowly, I rolled. Slicking myself in her until her hands fisted my hair. Her tongue lapped at my lips. Raked along the roof of my mouth. Her legs locked around my waist and pulled me deeper into her. I could feel her throbbing. Pulsing. Churning with a white-hot passion that sizzled every color in my vision. Goosebumps ricocheted along my body as my hands pressed into the wall, marking my territory as I pinned her to me.
“Dean,” she said with a whisper. “Please go faster.”
I planted my feet into the floor and snapped my hips. And oh, the sounds that fell from her lips. Groans and whimpers. Moans and gasps. Until my entire living room was saturated in her. She jumped along the wall until I moved back, settling her back into place before my next assault. My lips fell to her beautiful neck. Long and luxurious, and chiseled to fit my face exactly. I nuzzled my nose against her skin. Blew upon the nibbles I left behind. I watched a shiver shake her entire body, and I felt her engorged peaks twitch against my chest.
“Fuck, Ivy.”
“Dean.”
“You feel so good.”
“Don’t stop.”
“So warm.”
“Dean!”
“Ivy, don’t stop what you’re doing.”
I couldn't stop talking to her. I couldn't stop saying her name. I stumbled from the wall and fell back onto my couch, feeling it give way underneath me. The particle board frame cracked and sent us to the floor with nothing but cushions underneath us. But it didn’t matter. Not to me. Not to her. All that mattered was her body rocking against mine. All that mattered were her knees planted into the couch beside my thighs. All that mattered was how thick I grew against her walls while her pussy tightened around me.
I guided her. Manipulated her. Sank my fingerprints into her hips. She bounced in my lap and panted in my ear, her forehead settled on my shoulder. Her nails raked down my chest as I pressed kiss after kiss into her cheeks. Her neck. Her shoulder. Her breasts. My hands rose up her body and took control, feeling how she gave way to me. How her body followed my every movement. I drew her nipple between my lips. So soft. So luscious. I massaged it with my tongue and sucked at it with my lips until Ivy couldn’t contain herself.
“Dean. Dean. Please don’t stop. Harder, Dean. I… I can’t… it won’t…”
In an instant, her back was against the cushions of my broken couch. I slid deep into her, feeling her body undulate with mine. Fire surged through my veins and electricity threatened to blind me as it fried my mind. All I could hear were the sounds dripping from her lips as my couch scooted across the hardwood floor. Scraping against it. Scratching it up. Decimating the minimal living room I had in the first place. The couch heaved with our movements. Raked along the wall. Our fingers threaded together and I pinned them above her head, perched as her face morphed.
Contorted.
Puckered with her impending ecstasy.
“Dean! Yes!”
I slammed into her one last time before I raked my trimmed curls against her clit. Her toes curled against my thighs and her legs pulled taut. I watched her. I watched her eyes roll into the back of her head. I felt her pussy pop around me, milking me and pulling me deeper. She caved to me, in the most finite way a woman could to a man. I watched her pleasure barrel over her like a raging tide against a stormy shore, and I loved the way she looked. Her lips puckered so tightly she couldn’t breathe. The light sheen of sweat that sparkled in the nighttime light that came through my windows. The way her body jumped and jolted and shook around my cock.
She was beautiful.
A vision of heaven sent only for my eyes.
Her pussy pulled me deeper and I found my own end. I tightened my grip on her hands as grunts fell from my lips. I fell to her. I blanketed her. My sweat dripped from my brow and met its death on her neck. She felt too good. Too much like home to give her up. My dick poured into her, emptying itself as my grip on her finally released.
And instead of pushing me away, she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me close.
Home.
That was what Ivy felt like.
My couch was left in tatters, splintered to seal its fate. We laid there on the curves cushions, the couch tucked away in a corner it had no business being in. I felt Ivy’s heart fluttering against my chest. I felt her shaking as her pussy continued to massage my dick. I slid my hands underneath her and pulled her against me, sitting myself upright as the room spun and tilted. I felt light-headed. Weightless. Like I was floating among the clouds while zooming through space. Ivy’s body sank into mine. Collapsed, like she had no more left to give.
I ran my hands up and down her back, feeling her gasp as she tried to catch her breath.
“I’ll have to add that to the list,” Ivy said.
“Hmm?” I asked.
“Your couch. Add that to this weekend’s list.”
I chuckled into her ear before I kissed the shell of it. And the shiver it elicited drew a smile across my cheeks. I slid my fingers through her hair, untangling the knots as my cock retracted. Sliding from her body before the evidence of our torrid affair dripped from between her beautiful thighs. It slid down my balls. Coated the couch underneath my body. Leaving behind a stain that would forever mark this couch as ours.
As broken as it had become.
“Ivy?”
“Mhm?”
“Would you like to stay with me tonight?”
I felt her smile against my skin before she picked her head up from my shoulder. Her eyes were half-hooded with delight and her smile was lopsided. I rose my hand and cupped her cheek. Her skin was flushed with a healthy glow and her lips were still swollen from my kisses. I drew her in for a small, sweet kiss, and I felt her melt into me. Fall against my body as my arms cloaked her back. I stood from the couch, my legs wobbling as Ivy clung to me.
Like there was nowhere else in the world she’d rather be.
“Yes.”
My hands fell to her ass and I held tightly onto her. Walked her into my bedroom before I kicked the door closed. I walked us over to my bed and pulled the covers back, then settled her down gently. Ivy was precious. A porcelain angel sent for me to enjoy. To care for. To indulge in. I smoothed her hair back from her forehead before pressing a kiss to it and I watched her smile.
It lit up my world to see her so happy in my presence.
I had no idea what this woman had done to me, but I wasn’t going to fight it. I wrapped around and slid into bed with her, then felt her immediately gravitate towards me. Her head on my chest. Her hair tickling my skin. Her arm slung around my waist and her leg tangled up within mine. Just as she had been that morning at her apartment. I smiled and kissed the top of her head, listening to her breathing as it evened out. Her chest rose and fell against my side, filling me with a peace I had yet to experience with any other person in my life.
For years, I’d had no one. And now, I had Ivy.
And that meant I would do anything to make sure she stuck around.