~Trevor~

“That was worth the drive,” I say as Riley and I pull onto the interstate headed toward Portland.

“Absolutely,” she says with an enthusiastic nod. “I know that Addie and Jake come out here a lot, and now I know why. It’s beautiful. I’m glad we came early in the day. There wasn’t anywhere to park when we left.”

“And now we have the rest of the day to do anything,” I reply, and pull her hand up to my lips. Even the skin on her hands is soft. I enjoyed being with her and her nana yesterday. Seeing them together showed me a side to Riley I didn’t realize was there. She’s always funny, and now I know where she gets it.

Nana is a spitfire.

And someone I could see myself being friends with.

But today, I’m going to keep Riley all to myself.

Her phone buzzes and she pulls her hand out of mine to answer it.

“What the hell?” she whispers, and reads the screen. I’m driving too fast to glance over.

“Is everything okay?”

“Just a second,” she says, and is quiet while she finishes reading, then lays her phone in the cup holder and turns to face me in the seat.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“You tell me,” she replies, and I glance over now to find her face flushed, her eyes narrowed, and her hands practically shaking with anger.

“Uh, babe, I didn’t get a message on my phone. If you’re going to be pissed at me, you’re going to have to tell me why.”

“Angie,” she says. “Who the fuck is she, Trevor? Because she just sent me a pretty threatening message on Facebook, I saw her name on your phone the other night, and I need to know if I’m poaching on someone else’s man.”

What in the ever-loving fuck is she talking about?

I’m silent as I wait for the next exit. I pull off the interstate and into a random parking lot, throw the car out of gear, and reach for my own phone.

“Are you going to ignore me?” she demands, and I hold my hand up, stopping her.

“Give me a second,” I say, my voice deceptively calm. I never bothered to read Angie’s message from the other night, so I bring it up and quickly read it.

“Jesus,” I mutter, and rub my fingers over my lips. “What did she say to you?”

“Does it matter?” she asks. Her arms are folded over her chest, and she’s leaning away from me. Totally unacceptable.

“Yes. It matters. Please read it to me.”

She rolls her eyes and reaches for her phone, finding the message.

She calmly sets the phone down, and I’m completely struck dumb.

“Well?” she asks.

“I’m so fucking shocked and angry right now,” I begin, and grip on to the steering wheel like it’s Angie’s neck. “I need to gather my thoughts.”

“Oh, good,” she replies with a nod. “Well, while you’re gathering your thoughts, let me tell you some of mine. Why would you pursue something with me if you’ve already got something going on with her?”

“I don’t,” I reply, and swallow hard, then turn in the seat so I can look her in the eye. “I’ve known Angie for about fifteen years. She’s a gamer. I’ve met her exactly once in person. I don’t game alone with her, ever. She’s part of the group.”

Riley’s lips are still puckered, but she’s listening, so I keep talking.

“She lives in Des Moines or Dallas or Duluth. Some D city.” I wave that off. “Anyway, all I know is what she’s told us, and who knows how much of that is true?”

“She clearly has a thing for you,” Riley says, and sighs. “And frankly, I’m too old to deal with this kind of juvenile bullshit.”

“If she has a thing for me, I had no clue about it, and that’s the truth.” I hold my hands up in surrender. “I am not lying about this. I’ll talk to Angie and set her straight.”

“Set her straight on which part exactly?” Riley is good and pissed now. “I mean, did you hear that? She doesn’t make any fucking sense! Are you dangerous, or are you in love with her? Because she basically just said both.”

“She’s a fruitcake,” I mutter.

“What did she say to you?” Riley asks, and I bring the message up on my phone and hand it to her. “It’s so nice of her to offer to be there when I break your heart and she can pick up the pieces.” She passes the phone back to me and laughs humorlessly.

“None of this was initiated by me.”

“I just—” She looks out of the passenger-side window and bites her lip for a moment. “I’m so sick of men and their drama. I knew there’d be another shoe to drop.”

“What does that mean?”

“Just take me home,” she says, resignation in her voice. “I think I just want to be alone today.”

“You know, it’s ironic that this is the drama.” I pull back onto the freeway, rage roaring through my bloodstream. I want to punch someone. I want to scream. “Even my ex-wife wouldn’t stoop to this. So it’s not my ex, it’s not one of my sisters, it’s motherfucking Angie.”

I shake my head and drive, frustration taking over the anger now. At Angie, me, and Riley, because obviously she still doesn’t trust that she’s the only one I’m interested in.

So I’m going to convince her.

Rather than drive her home, I take us to the apartment. Riley is staring at me as I pull into my parking space.

“Did you not hear me when I said I want to go home?”

“I heard you,” I reply, turn off the car, and get out, walking over to open her door for her. “Come on.”

“I’m done with you today,” she says stubbornly.

“Well, I’m not done with you.” I take her hand and guide her out of the car, into the building, and up to my place.

“Don’t look now, but your caveman side just kicked in,” she mutters.

“So be it.”

I unlock the door and lead her inside, and when the door is shut, I press her up against it and cage her in.

“You’re going to hear me out.”

She licks her lips and watches my eyes, and I know I finally have her full attention.

“I don’t give two fucks about Angie. She’s not even a blip on my radar. It’s you, Riley. You’re the one I want. Jesus, I don’t even see anyone else.”

She frowns. “What do you mean?”

I drag my fingertips down her cheek. “You still don’t get it, do you? I’m so crazy about you I can’t see straight. When you’re with me, no one else exists.”

I brush my lips over hers and feel her soften against me. My hand slips under her shirt and up her smooth side to cup her breast.

“Every inch of you is perfect for me.” I drag my nose along her jawline to her ear. “I love the way you respond to me. Look at those goose bumps on your neck.”

“I can’t see my neck,” she says, making me smile.

“My mistake.” I pull away and lead her to the bedroom, where a full-length mirror hangs behind the door. I place her in front of it, and I come up behind and watch my hands roam over her body, still over her clothes.

Her cheeks are flushed again, but instead of anger, it’s from pure lust.

“You have nothing to be jealous of,” I whisper in her ear, and watch her bite her lower lip as I let my thumb press on her nipple over her bra. My cock is nestled nicely against her ass, and it’s all I can do not to strip us both bare and fuck her against the mirror.

We’ll get there, but not yet.

She lets her head fall back onto my shoulder.

“No, baby, I need you to watch this.” She returns her gaze to mine in the mirror. Her eyelids are heavy. Her nipples are puckered.

She’s fucking gorgeous.

I tug her shirt over her head and let it fall to the floor, and then unhook the front of her bra and watch as it falls open, revealing her breasts.

“You think these are too small?” I ask, my voice thick. She nods once, her eyes glued to mine. My fingers brush the tight little nipples, and then I let them rest in my hands, enjoying the light weight of them. “They’re a handful for me, Riley, and I don’t have small hands.”

A small smile tugs at the corners of her mouth.

“Not to mention I fucking love this little freckle on the left one.”

“The left one is bigger too,” she whispers.

“I admit, I haven’t seen every breast in the world, but I’ve been told that’s pretty normal.”

The smile spreads farther across her face, and it almost brings me to my knees.

“When you smile at me, it’s like a light has been turned on in a dark room.” I kiss her earlobe and continue to fondle her breasts. “I’d do anything for that smile.”

“And your curves.” My hands drift down to her jeans, unfasten them, and slowly lower them down her sexy legs. “I love every curve on your body.”

My hands drift down her calves, to her feet and back up again.

“Your inner thighs are so fucking soft, Ri.” I place wet kisses on her thighs and feel her knees shake. “You’re not going to fall, are you?”

“Oh, I’m falling,” she whispers, and takes a deep breath. “This is the best torture ever.”

“It’s not torture at all,” I reply, and kiss my way over her round ass and up her spine. “I’m just telling you how amazing I think you are. Hasn’t anyone ever done that before?”

She shakes her head no.

I can’t stand it anymore. I scoop her up in my arms and take her to the bed, pull her panties off her, and take her in.

“Shame on every man who has had the privilege of seeing you naked.” I lean in and kiss her neck again, smiling at the way her hips move in response. “You’re so smart.” I place a kiss on that little place where her collarbones meet. “So damn funny.” Now I kiss right between her breasts. “Kindest person I know.”

I lick around her navel and the piercing there. “I fucking love this piercing.”

“I used to have my clitoral hood pierced,” she whispers, catching my attention.

“Used to?”

She nods. “I took it out.”

“Why?”

She shrugs one shoulder, like it’s no big deal, but I know better. I climb back on top of her, my clothes brushing against her nakedness, and make her look me in the eye.

“Why?”

“Because a guy I dated made fun of it, so I took it off.”

“Fucking asshole,” I reply, instantly royally pissed off at every fucker she’s been with. “He didn’t deserve you.”

“No.” She brushes my hair out of my eyes. “He didn’t.”

I kiss her deeply, then continue my journey down her body. She’s spread open, her pussy already wet, her clit hard and ready for me.

“I can’t get enough of you.” I look up at her and smile. “That’s the honest truth, Riley. I can’t fucking get enough of you.”

“I’m right here.”

I let one finger slip down into her wet folds and watch as she tosses her head back, her eyes close, and she moans long and loud.

“This, Riley? Right here? This is mine, sweetheart.”

“Oh yeah,” she groans, and tilts her pelvis up for more. I circle her clit with my fingertip, then dive back down into her, spreading her delicious wetness all around.

“I can’t get enough of your body.” I lick her now, from anus to clit and she fists her hands in the covers at her hips. “I can’t fucking get enough of making you laugh.”

I reach up and tweak one nipple and she yelps.

“I never get tired of talking with you, hearing your thoughts on everything and anything.”

I suck on her clit, sending her into the stratosphere, and I’m so fucking hard, my cock is pulsing against the fly of my jeans.

“I want you, Riley. I never stop wanting you. That’s just it.”

I free my cock and slip inside her, making us both moan in relief and pent-up lust.

“This is the most satisfying and addictive thing I’ve ever known. You.”

My hips are moving fast, pumping in and out of her. I’m full of frustration and lust. I need her to see. To understand.

“This is us, Riley, you and me, and no one else. No one else exists for me. Do you understand that?”

“I do now,” she says breathlessly, and grips onto my hair, wrapping her legs around my waist. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”

“Just don’t do it again,” I reply, and reach down to grab her ass, tilting her up so I can sink farther into her, grinding against her, and making us both see stars. The orgasm moves fast down my spine and through me, and the next thing I know, we’re tangled up together in my bed, trying to catch our breath.

Finally, she shifts next to me and cups my cheek in her hand.

“This wasn’t how I expected us to spend the day, but you’ll get no complaints from me.”

“Good.” I smile and tuck her against me, kissing the crown of her head. “I need you to promise me something.”

“Okay.”

“If you have questions, ask me. I’ll never lie to you, Riley. We can’t have any doubts between us, especially if we’re going to make a go of this after I go back to L.A.”

“You’re right,” she says as she traces patterns through the hair on my chest. “I promise to talk to you before I jump to conclusions.”

“Thank you.”

“What are you going to do about Angie?”

“I don’t know,” I reply honestly. “There’s a whole group of guys who play with me, and know her as well as I do, but I’ll talk with them. I don’t want to kick her out of the group without giving them a heads-up.”

She nods. “I don’t like feeling jealous. It’s new to me.”

“You’re not normally a jealous woman?”

“Not at all,” she says. “That’s something that used to bother some of the guys I dated. They’d try to play games with me, thinking I’d get jealous and go running back to them, but that doesn’t work on me. I guess I never cared enough about any of them to feel threatened or jealous.”

“Why is it different now?”

“It just is.” She’s quiet as she gathers her thoughts. “I’ll never be a crazy jealous person.”

“Good, because that’s a lot of drama.”

“Exactly. I don’t do well with drama. I don’t need or want it in my life. My mom was always a dramatic person, and it drove me nuts.”

“Are you not close to her?”

“Not really. I mean, it’s not like we don’t speak or anything, but we also don’t have Sunday dinners together. I see her a few times a year.”

I nod, loving that I continue to learn more and more about her.

I’ve fallen in love with her.

“You were mad,” she says, and smiles up at me. “That was interesting.”

“Not at you,” I reply. “I was frustrated and pissed at Angie. I don’t know what her deal is, but she’s about to be very disappointed.”

Riley sighs and nuzzles my chin with her nose. “I’m hungry.”

“Me too. What do you want me to feed you?”

“What do you have?”

I take a quick mental inventory of the kitchen and wince. “Nothing that I could whip together into something edible.”

She nods thoughtfully. “We could order in.”

“Given our current state of undress, and that I don’t plan to let you get dressed again, that’s our only option.”

“Should we order pizza again and I can shock the shit out of the delivery kid?”

I narrow my eyes and growl. “No. No, we shouldn’t.”

“Possessive much?”

“Did you completely miss the last hour?” I ask, and bite her shoulder. “Perhaps I should go over it again.”

She laughs and then moans when I suck her nipple into my mouth.

“Oh yeah, I need a refresher course.”

“I thought you were hungry?”

“We’ll eat later.”