Chapter Sixteen

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Dominic

 

 

 

As we exited the shower tent, I took a furtive look around for Davis and Audrey but was relieved when I came up empty. One look at Leah and me and they would know we’d been up to something. For one, the front of my shirt and jeans were wet from when she’d kissed me while still stark naked. Not that I’d give up that experience, because the feeling of her slick, naked body in my hands was something I wouldn’t be forgetting any time soon. But it was kind of a dead giveaway, as was the look on her face. She practically glowed and I could barely pull my eyes away from her. She kept looking over at me with this adorable, secret little smile, and it took everything in me to keep my face impassive. Under normal circumstances I’d be taking her hand and pulling her close to me as we walked, leaning down to kiss her whenever I felt like it, probably saying something stupid to try and make her laugh. But under these circumstances everything just felt wrong and bordering on awkward. I couldn’t do anything I wanted to do or say anything I wanted to say, so that left me struggling to know how to act at all.

“You look so serious,” she said in a teasing tone. “Back to bodyguard mode, I guess.”

“Davis texted a minute ago. He and Audrey are on their way back from the first aid tent.”

The smile dimmed, and she looked at me like she was searching for something. “You know, I won’t…”

Whatever she’d started to say was cut off as Audrey rushed in, followed shortly by a grim Davis. Since Davis was usually the picture of relaxed cool, it was obvious he was losing his patience with Audrey.

“Hey, party people!”

“Hey, girl. How’s your ankle?”

Audrey winced as if she was in pain, even though she had literally just skipped over with no apparent discomfort of any kind. “It still hurts. There was this big rock I tripped over outside the bathroom. I should sue the festival.”

Jaw clenched, Davis gave me a look that said he was about two seconds from going off on this girl. “I doubt you could sue when there’s no evidence of injury. No sign of swelling or even so much as a mark.”

“I have weak ankles, okay? Stop acting like I made it up. Why would I even do that?” She turned to Leah and the withering look she’d just given Davis was replaced with a bright smile. “Are you thirsty? Let’s go get a drink.” She through her arm around Leah’s shoulders and Leah reciprocated with a low, bubbly laugh. “You seem like you’re in a good mood,” I heard Audrey say as they started walking. If Leah gave a response to that, I didn’t hear it.

Davis fell into step beside me and we started trailing the girls. He muttered as we went, “I swear to God, I can’t deal with much more of her. There was no rock. She made the whole thing up for obvious reasons. Which brings me to address your wet clothes and the fact that Leah looks like she just got laid.”

I choked, coughing into my hand loudly enough that Leah turned back to glance at me with a curious look on her face. I said in a sideways mutter, “Nobody got laid. You’re being paranoid. She took a shower. That’s it.”

“Whatever. We’ll talk about it later. I can’t believe we have another day of this shit.”

I discovered throughout the day that Leah was incredibly sneaky. She tortured me with touches and loaded looks every time Davis wasn’t looking, and he never caught her. Once he took a break so he could piss and get some food, and Audrey wandered off at the same time while looking down at her phone. Leah waited about five seconds before pulling me into the space between two vendor tents and leaning up to kiss me. Of course I kissed her back, because we were momentarily alone and I was dying to feel her mouth and tongue again, but after a minute I pulled back.

“Look, Leah…”

She quietly interrupted me. “What I was going to say earlier? I won’t tell anyone. Not ever. You can trust me.”

“I do trust you, but there’s also Davis to consider. He already knows something’s going on.”

“Don’t worry about Davis. He won’t say anything. I can get him fired, remember?” She smiled and it was clear she was joking, which didn’t really reinforce her case.

“Yeah, and I also know that you won’t.”

She shrugged. “If he gets you in trouble, I might.”

I started to say that this went beyond me getting in trouble, that this would get me straight up fired, but then she leaned up again and I caught her mouth with mine, twisting my fingers through her hair and tasting her with a hunger I couldn’t get rid of. It was like after all these weeks of what could only be called foreplay, shit had started between us that we couldn’t stop. Every time I tasted her, touched her, I wanted more.

“Well, that’s hot.” Audrey’s voice brought us back to reality, and we both looked over to find her casually standing there, watching with a bored expression on her face.

Guiltily, we broke apart, and when Leah didn’t say anything, I had no choice but to speak up. “This goes without saying, but we need you to keep quiet about this around Davis.”

She gave a little scoff. “You’re right, it should have gone without saying. Dude, I’m on your side. You don’t think I really hurt my ankle on a rock, do you? I took ballet for twelve years. I’m not clumsy. So, you’re welcome.”

I didn’t know if she actually expected me to thank her, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen, so instead I just gave a short nod and ushered Leah back into the crowds. Into Leah’s ear, I said quietly, “Stop flirting while Davis is around. He’s not stupid, and it’s driving me fucking crazy.”

“I’ll be good,” she promised.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. We listened to some decent bands and then sat for awhile on an open space of grass because the girls were tired of standing. Leah kept her hands to herself, but I did catch her snapping a picture of me with her phone. She gave me a quick smile when she caught me noticing. I wondered if it would be weird to ask her to send me a copy of her photo project when she was done putting it together. I found myself curious to the moments she would choose to capture from the summer. For analytical purposes only, I mean. Definitely not because I wanted to see if I made any appearances.

We headed over to the main stage at around seven, because there was a bigger name band playing at eight that Leah and Audrey wanted to see. Audrey had some friends she knew meet them there, and Davis and I kind of kept to ourselves in back while we watched the group talk. Once the band started playing, I noticed that one of the guys in Audrey’s group was standing next to Leah, leaning down to speak into her ear so she could hear him over the music. She laughed and grabbed his arm for balance as she stood on tiptoes to say something back to him. I thought of her fucking list and wondered if she was still trying to make that hookup happen. Not if I had anything to say about it.

I watched them both take out their phones and begin typing, and it looked like they were exchanging numbers or something. Slowly, I pulled my phone from my pocket and pulled up her name in my text messages, my thumbs moving quickly over the screen.

Just because I asked you to stop flirting with me…does not mean to go and flirt with that loser.

Her back stilled and she was still looking down at her phone. I knew she was reading my message. After a moment, her reply popped up. How rude. He’s not a loser, he’s an economics major at Harvard.

She put a shocked face emoji that told me she wasn’t really offended, but I still sighed. At every turn I was reminded just how wrong she was for me, even without my job standing in the way. I’d never even known someone who went to an Ivy League school. Most people I knew had never gone to college at all, unless you counted trade school or one semester at the community college. Suddenly annoyed, I didn’t even bother replying. What the hell was I playing at here?

But then my phone buzzed, and I lifted it to check the message. I’d like to remind you that you were inside me a few hours ago. Only one I want to flirt with is you. She inserted an emoji blowing a kiss, because Leah loved her emojis, and my dick twitched at her blatant reminder. Fuck, like I needed a reminder. I could still remember how smooth and silky she’d felt around my fingers, and how her muscles had gripped me as she came. And I could pretty much guarantee I’d never forget the image of her boldly stripping out of her bikini in front of me and standing naked for my eyes to feast on. There was no way I wasn’t touching her after that, even though it was the worst possible place on Earth for me to put my hands on her.

Even though I never should have put my hands on her at all.

If we’d been anywhere other than that shower I wouldn’t have been able to stop her from returning the favor, and that was the only reason I managed to step away. Well, that and I knew Davis would be looking for us. Hell, if we’d been anywhere but that shower I was pretty sure I’d still be tasting her and fucking her even now. That shower quickie had been like the crumb of an appetizer before a seven course meal, and I wasn’t even close to being satisfied.

Staring at her words, my thumbs finally started typing a response. I’m not really going to forget that any time soon.

Her back was still to me, and Harvard was leaning down to say something in her ear. She nodded, looking up toward the stage, but from her position I could tell she was still holding her phone in both hands. A few seconds later, a new message popped up. Me neither. I’m thinking about it right now.

I nearly groaned. Jesus. Stop.

That was probably the craziest thing I’ve ever done. Not that I did anything, it was all you…but you know what I mean.

That made me pause. Getting fingered in a public shower stall was a little bit out there, but not the craziest thing I could think of by far. Really?

Well sexually I mean. Yeah.

Now was one of those times I really wished I wasn’t texting, because I had far too many thoughts and questions to type out. Because we were semi in public? Or…

She didn’t respond right away, and so I sent another message. Suddenly all I could think of was Davis saying she never dated in high school, and my mind was swimming with implications of that. You have done other stuff, right? Sexually I mean.

OMG. Yes. I mean because we were in public. I’ve done sex stuff lol

A wave of relief hit me. The last thing I needed was to be messing around with a virgin, on top of everything else. But then she kept typing, as if she felt the need to give me more information on that subject.

I was with a guy at college

Okay, wait. I typed back, ONE guy?

Yes. At a party. Why do you think I want more experience?

At a party. For fuck’s sake. So what you’re telling me is that you’ve only had sex one time?

She turned around and glanced at me with an unsure look on her face, and I tried to keep my own face absent of the confusion and uncertainty I was feeling. I held up my phone to show her I was waiting for a response. She faced forward again.

Yes. So? Why are we even talking about this?

I don’t know. You brought it up.

Are you totally turned off because I’m not an experienced sex goddess?

I paused, weighing my words carefully. Finally I settled on a truth. Nothing about you could turn me off. You’re a sex goddess to me.

She sent a blushing emoji, then turned and gave me a quick smile that was cute as hell. I couldn’t stop myself from returning it, even as I was thinking about everything I hadn’t said. I didn’t know exactly why it was such a surprise to me. She had this fumbling, awkward side to her that, coupled with Davis’ claim that she didn’t date, should have led to the possibility that she could be a virgin. Or, in this case, the next closest thing. But she was also bold and sexy as hell, evidenced by when she took her bikini off for me without breaking eye contact. I guess it didn’t really matter, her experience or the lack of it, but it made me uneasy because it made her more innocent than I wanted her to be. It made her more susceptible to getting hurt when this thing between us finally fizzled out, or blew up in our faces.

Audrey ended up taking some kind of painkiller that turned her into a mumbling, incoherent Gumby. We got her back to the hotel and into bed, then I went into our room to take a shower. When I got out, Davis was ready to go in, and he looked tired and completely fed up. He gave me a look as he passed by me on his way to the bathroom.

“I’ll be out in five minutes. Stay there.”

“Okay.” I looked at him like he was being an asshole, something I always did when he pulled his strict supervisor voice on me. “Where am I going to go?”

He didn’t bother to answer, but when he came out closer to ten minutes later, he didn’t waste time with bullshit as he pulled his shorts on under his towel.

“This was such a bad idea. I knew it as soon as Thomas assigned us. I’m being forced to take care of Drug Addled Barbie in there, and you’re sneaking around with the boss’s daughter.”

“Whoa. No. I am not sneaking around…what the fuck are you talking about?”

“I’m not stupid, okay? I’ve been in this game a lot longer than you and I don’t miss a thing. Something happened in the shower when T pulled her broken ankle stunt, and stuff has been happening ever since. I’ve seen the way you look at each other, and don’t think I haven’t seen the texting going on between you. You’re not covert, dude. You’re obvious as fuck.”

I clenched my jaw. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. It’s going to lead to you getting fired and Leah getting hurt. I don’t really care that much about the first one, honestly. I mean, I like you, but if you’re willing to throw this job away, that’s on you. But Leah, I care about. You don’t know how sheltered she’s been, man. Her dad has kept her locked away since she was fifteen, and he was protective even before that. She doesn’t know anything about guys like us. She doesn’t know anything about guys, period. She’s never even had a boyfriend that I know of. And she’s vulnerable right now. She’s getting her first taste of freedom and she’s going a bit wild. But that’s not who she is. Underneath it all, she’s still the same naïve girl she was before.”

“I know who she is, okay?” I said testily. “And why am I the bad guy in this scenario? I’m not some villain taking advantage of her.”

“I’m not saying you’re the bad guy. I honestly don’t think you feel like you’re taking advantage of her. But you are. You’re here to do a job and keep her safe. Anything more personal than that is crossing a line, and you know it.”

I couldn’t deny the truth in his words. Even though it pissed me off, I knew everything he was saying was true. “I know. It’s just, she has this…” I trailed off, stopping myself from mentioning her list. I shook my head. “She thinks she needs to do all this crazy shit while she’s here. I’m not trying to hurt her, I’m trying to keep her from getting hurt. It’s a distraction, that’s all. And she knows it. She’s not as helpless as you think, alright? She’s not thinking hearts and flowers when she looks at me. She’s just looking for a thrill before she goes back to her fancy school and gets on with her life.”

The words left my mouth with a bitterness that surprised me. Because it was true. Leah wanted more experience and if she didn’t get it from me, she’d get it from some other guy. That’s all it really was to her. A thrill, a bit of rebellion. It was how countless rich girls had looked at me since I’d been in security, and normally I had no problem ignoring them. Leah was the only one I’d ever wished would see more.

Davis was looking at me with a slightly guarded expression on his face, and I had no idea what he was thinking. I cursed myself for saying as much as I had. Finally he said, “It’s not your job to distract her, Dom. It’s dangerous, and it won’t end well. Trust me, it’s not worth it. I’m not going to say anything to Thomas, but just take a step back. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Fine.” I was done talking about it.

“I’m going to go check and make sure T’s still breathing. I’ll be right back.” He gave me a final disapproving look before going into the other room.

Not even a minute later, my phone buzzed with a text.

Were you guys fighting?

Still in a bad mood from my talk with Davis, all I typed was, No.

I heard you, she replied.

Then why are you asking?

Just making sure everything’s ok…jeez

Everything’s fine.

Ok…can you come talk to me for a minute?

My fingers hesitated over the screen, and then Davis came back through the connecting door, shutting the door behind him and cutting me a glance on the way to his bed.

“For fuck’s sake,” he said. “Are you texting her again?”

The disgust in his voice sharpened my temper, and I wondered what the fuck it even mattered at this point. “Yep,” I replied shortly, as my thumbs started typing a quick reply. Be there in a sec. “I’m going to go talk to her for a minute.”

I heard his sigh over the creak from the bed when I stood up. “Just do whatever,” he said. “You will anyway.”

I didn’t bother to respond to that, just slid my phone into my pocket and left the room.