Chapter Eight
Paul
My smile hadn’t faltered since breakfast. I enjoyed messing around with Andi and I wasn’t even fucking her … yet. The more I made her smile, the more I couldn’t concentrate on anything but her. I wanted to lean across the table at breakfast and taste the orange juice on her lips, but my gut told me that she was guarding something.
We were escorts, but not all escorts slept around. I didn’t feel right asking her if she slept with her clients. The thought of her being with someone else made my stomach churn and I didn’t know why. It was good if she wasn’t sleeping with her clients, but I did. Was it right of me to not want her to sleep with her clients?
What was wrong with me? I just met this chick.
So I sat back and joked around with her instead of asking her for real. Granted, I did ask her to fuck me and if she would have said yes, I would have said, “Check, please!” and dragged her ass into the Jeep and fucked her right there in the back with her legs spread wide and me balls deep.
But she hadn’t and when we went home, she did her thing and I left to meet Gabe and Autumn at the range.
I needed to talk to Gabe.
When I got to the range, I knew my smile was still plastered across my face. I usually had one. I was that type of guy; I hid my sorrows well. It was confirmed when Auttie saw me.
“Someone’s happy,” she observed.
“I’m always happy.”
She shook her auburn brown hair ponytail and scrunched her eyebrows. “No, you’re like overly happy.”
Gabe clapped me on the back. “He got laid.”
Autumn chuckled. “What’s new?” She started to get her gun ready while we watched.
“I think I found my match.”
Gabe’s head tilted a little. The popping of gunfire could be heard in the distance of the outdoor range. “Your match?”
“Andi.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “Who’s Andi?”
“I think I’m in love.” I wasn’t in love, but like me at first, I knew he’d think Andi was a dude. “Andi, man … I could look at that ass all day!”
His green eyes blinked at me. “What? You’re in love with a man?”
I saw Autumn set her gun down on the wood shooting bench and walk the few feet to us. “Did you just say that you’re in love with a man?”
I laughed a full-on belly laugh. “Andi’s a chick and my new roommate. Mark sent a girl to live with me.”
“When do I get to meet her?” Autumn asked.
“She just moved in last night, Auttie.”
She shrugged. “And?”
“And—”
“So you haven’t fucked her already?” Gabe asked.
I shook my head. “No, but man, she’s feisty and I like it.”
Gabe stared at me for a few seconds. “Does this mean you’re ready to move on from Vanessa?”
I gave a sarcastic laugh. “I’m over that bitch.”
“Whatever, PJ. You’re my best friend. You haven’t dated anyone the entire time I’ve known you. You think you’ve never told me about Vanessa?”
I stared back at him. I didn’t remember discussing Vanessa with him, especially in detail. We’d always dealt with his problems. If he hadn’t gotten help, he would have drunk himself to death. Luckily, Autumn had bumped into him at the right time and showed him that there was more to living than a bottle of whiskey every night.
“You don’t even know what that bitch did to me.”
“You’ve told me a few times while you’ve been drunk.”
“Whatever,” I huffed.
“We all have our demons, PJ. You were there for mine. I’m here to help you with yours if you’re ready for that. Maybe Andi’s here,” he pulled Autumn to his side and kissed the top of her head, “to show you that your first love is not always meant to be your last.”
I shook my head. “Again, I just met her last night. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
He nodded and cracked a smile. “I wasn’t the one declaring my love five minutes ago.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and rolled my eyes. “Touché, Cap. Touché.”
“Are you two girls ready to shoot or what?” Autumn asked.
As I drove home, I thought about what Gabe had said. I hadn’t really thought about Vanessa in years. Sure I’d thought about her, but I hadn’t thought about her.
I couldn’t.
Each time I did, I thought about what it meant to kill a part of me, to take that decision away from me. At the time, I was young and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t regret joining the Army, and maybe her decision was for the best, but I still hated Vanessa for not giving me the choice to make the decision, too.
Was Gabe right, though? Was I ready to settle down and start a family now? Was having Andi show up on my doorstep and giving me these thoughts a sign that it was time to leave the past in the past finally? Maybe Andi wasn’t the one, but maybe she was the one who could remove the numbness from my heart.
When I pulled my Jeep into the garage, there was a white Acura on the right side of the driveway. It had no plates on the back of the car, but I’d bet my new roomie got new wheels because I hadn’t seen the car earlier.
The water in Andi’s shower was running and I groaned as I walked by on the way to my room to change, thinking about her under the hot water lathered with soap. I thought about the way it would cascade down from her shoulders to her thighs passing every place in between to rinse the suds off. How she would squirt shampoo into her hand and then work it into her damp hair, massaging her scalp and then turn and rinse it off. How she would do the same with the conditioner, but this time as the cream stayed in her hair, her hands would glide down to squeeze each tit then pinch her nipples until they puckered. She’d moan at the way it went straight to her pussy, turning her on as she’d think of me and her hand would travel from one of her breasts, making its way down her stomach to her coarse hair and slip between her legs.
She’d throw her head back, leaving her body in the spray of the warm water and began teasing herself by applying pressure with the palm of her hand that stayed between her legs. Using the water with her arousal, she would start sliding her fingers through her needy pussy lips, making sure she took the time to massage her clit with her two fingers.
She’d groan out my name, wishing it was me using my fingers as she slipped one then two inside her, pumping in and out. She’d have to use the wall of her shower to brace herself from falling as she thrust over and over, bringing herself closer and closer to release. Knowing she was at the brink of exploding, she would take the hand holding herself up and widen her stance to brace herself as she slid her free hand down to viciously rub her clit causing her to moan. And then, as she came with a jerk, images of me would flash in her head because she’d want nothing more than to have me fucking her—hard.
Damn, I really needed to get laid!
After changing, I turned the corner to head to the kitchen and ran smack into a warm, wet, Andi. My dreams were coming true. “Gorgeous,” I smirked. My arms wrapped around her, clinching the towel and preventing it from falling as hers went to my chest to steady herself.
“I … uh, I forgot my clothes in my room.”
“Are you sure you didn’t want me to see you naked?” I smirked.
A blush crept up her face. “No, I really forgot my clothes.”
“Are you going to make this a habit?” It didn’t go unnoticed that I was still holding onto her in the middle of our hallway.
She shook her head. “No, I have my first date tonight and I’m nervous.”
“Why are you nervous? It’s the same as D.C. isn’t it?”
She paused for a split second. “I’m sure it is. I just wish it wasn’t tonight. I needed more time to get situated.”
“I know how you feel. I had my first date the day I moved to Vegas.”
“Geez, they don’t waste time.”
“Gotta make that money, gorgeous.”
She bit her bottom lip before responding and I had to fight every urge not to bend down and kiss her. She was naked in my arms and only a few inches from my lips. “Right. Well, I better get to it.” She took a step back and I let go of the towel.
It dropped.
So did my gaze.
She hurried to pull up the towel as words spilled from her mouth. I assumed she sputtered words of embarrassment, but she had nothing to be embarrassed about. I wasn’t listening to anything she was saying because I was focused on her. Her naked body was even better than what I’d imagined it to be. She was toned in all the right places but lean; I could tell she took care of her body. I knew I was going to dream about her until she was mine. She had to be mine. The passion between us was there. I could feel it—almost taste it.
I grabbed her wrist lightly before she could retreat to her room, and cupped her face with my free hand. She tried to look down at the floor. “I know we just met, but there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You have a perfect body, Andi.”
Her gaze met mine under hooded lids. “But that’s the thing, we just met.”
“You’ve never slept with one of your clients or had a one-night stand?” Her cognac eyes widened and I had my answer before she spoke. I took a step forward and brushed a strand of her hair out of her eyes. “Listen, gorgeous, I’ve been on plenty of dates with women and when I tell you that you have nothing to be ashamed of, I mean it. You’re fucking perfect. So what if I caught a glimpse of you naked? I hope it’s not the last time.” I cracked a smile, hoping she’d follow my lead. She did and I breathed a sigh of relief. How in the world this shy chick went on dates for a living was beyond me.
“Are you wishing for naked Thursdays?” She laughed.
“Are you referring to the TV show Friends?”
She smirked and stepped out of my grasp. I watched as she walked toward the doorway of her room.
“You really are after my heart, gorgeous.” I clenched my hands over my heart as if I were having a heart attack and backing up toward the kitchen.
She laughed, shaking her head as she closed herself in her room without another word.
I waited as long as I could for Andi to be ready for her date before I had to leave for mine. Not gonna lie, I wanted to see her dressed up. She walked down the hall in a simple dark blue dress and I immediately regretted my decision to wait. I was jealous. Now I knew without a doubt I’d be thinking of her while I was on my date—which was a bad thing.
“Damn!” I said, dragging out the word. “What would you say if I was the one who bought you for the night?”
Her eyes lit up. “Did you?”
“I wish, gorgeous, I fucking wish. Whoever this guy is, he is one lucky motherfucker.”
“I wouldn’t make you pay for it.” She grabbed her purse.
“Is that right?” I motioned for her to follow me to the garage so I could walk her out.
“I guess we’ll see.”
“We will. Oh, and Andi?” She turned to look at me. “Don’t think about me too much on your date.”
She laughed and got into her car. I noticed she always laughed and avoided me when I made references that probably made her uncomfortable. I still thought she was guarding something …
Maybe even hiding something.