I TOOK A DEEP breath, my head still tipped down at my goal.
A twinge of excitement battled with annoyance. I’d lost at my game. Again.
I peeked up at West from under my lashes. “Double or nothing?” I offered.
West shook his head, keeping eye contact. “I don’t think you can afford those stakes.”
Chelsea cocked her head. “Yeah, ’cause, like, lifeguards don’t make that much, do they?”
“I make enough to afford a whole outfit.” My voice was like syrup.
Chelsea looked confused, and Theo choked on his beer.
Trevor and Dylan were walking by to the pool tables and West snagged Dylan’s arm as he passed. “Chelsea, have you met our single friends Dylan and Trevor?”
Chelsea put her palms against the air hockey table, straightened her arms, and leaned forward, pressing her breasts up between her stiffened elbows. Right on cue, both boys looked down and changed directions. “Nice to meet you,” she cooed.
Dylan sauntered around to her side. “I believe the pleasure will be all mine.” Trevor chuckled behind him. Hooking his arm around her waist, Dylan tugged her in his direction. “Why don’t you come with me and be my lucky charm while I beat this asswipe at pool? I bet you’re magically delicious.”
“What?” I heard her ask as they moved off. I rolled my eyes. The line was wasted on her. I wondered if that one had come off a dollar bill too or if he’d thought it up on his own.
“That one’s above the bar,” West said, reading my mind and moving closer. “Come on, sweetheart, dance with your ex, for old time’s sake.” He took my hand and pulled me toward the dance floor. “I’ll bring her back soon, Theo.”
As I followed him, I gazed down at our hands. He’d laced our individual fingers together and seeing those digits all tangled up suddenly brought back some very intimate memories. I swallowed hard and tried to channel Rue’s casual love-’em-and-leave-’em attitude.
Once we were swallowed up by the crowd in the middle of the dance floor, West spun back toward me, yanking me into his arms. The unexpected move had me tripping over my flip flop and threw me right up against his chest. He tightened his arms, keeping me there. The song was a fast one, but only our lower bodies were moving to the beat. My arms slid hesitantly up his and settled into a loose loop around his neck. Our hips moved together, rubbing, and through the friction, I felt him grow and lengthen. He glanced down between us and then back up at me.
“So, this weekend—”
“Will be a date, not a hook up,” I interrupted, before he got the wrong idea about me. Hell, the wrong idea? I’d slept with him before our first date. I couldn’t get much easier than that.
“I was thinking a picnic. Close to the water. We’re going to get you over this fear of yours.” He continued like I hadn’t interrupted him, and heat invaded my face. Okay, so maybe I was the only one already thinking about sleeping together again. “Wear a swimsuit under your clothes.”
“Why?”
He shrugged, and his eyes dropped down to our hips again. “In case we decide to get wet.” One side of his mouth quirked.
Heat flared in my core, and I dipped my hips a little lower, coming back up against him. He made a rough sound of pleasure in the back of his throat and tugged my head closer. Leaning down to my ear, he said, “I like you like this. Not all done up like last time. Your shirt falling off you shoulder.” He tugged my sagging sleeve. “Makes me want to finish the job.” He pressed his lips under my ear, letting his tongue touch the side of my neck.
The song changed, and I made myself pull away before I made an utter fool of myself by dissolving into Jell-O right there on the dance floor. “Saturday? Noon?”
He nodded and let me make my escape, his eyes watching me as I backed away. He had a crooked grin on his face, like he knew exactly what I was doing and why.
LATER THAT NIGHT, I lay in my bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. Unable to stop thinking about West. His hands holding my hips on the dance floor. His eyes laughing at me across the air hockey table. His ab muscles contracting against my stomach. And his tongue barely touching my neck but promising to do so much more.
I groaned and flipped over onto my back, staring at the ceiling. It was going to be a long night. Biting my lower lip, I slid my hand down my stomach, my fingertips toying with the lace trim of my panties. Maybe this would help me get to sleep. Raising my knees up to get more comfortable, I traced a line down my center, reveling in the silky whisper of my panties pressing against my folds. I lifted my hips to slip my underwear off when I heard a soft tapping sound.
I froze and turned toward the window, straining my ears, my hips still raised in the air. The hum of the air conditioner kicking in startled me, and I rolled my eyes at my own paranoia, my body relaxing back against the bed. I hooked my thumb under the material at my hip and tugged. The tapping sounded again, louder this time.
Definitely coming from my window.
Easing from under my covers, I grabbed the metal baseball bat I kept under the bed and moved closer to the window. Carefully lifting one of the slats of the wooden blinds up, I peered out onto the front porch, squinting into the faint light emitted from the streetlight. A large, shadowy shape was just visible, and I jumped back, shoving my fist into my mouth to smother my shriek.
“I know you’re awake in there. Might as well come out and talk to me.” West’s voice floated to me from the other side of the window.
I sagged in relief and twisted the blinds so I could see out. West lounged against the wall, one leg bent at the knee with his foot against the house. I opened my window a couple of inches.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed.
He shrugged, the muscles in his arm contracting with the movement. “Couldn’t sleep. Thought you might want to go for a walk.”
I looked back at my clock. “At midnight-thirty?”
“Midnight-thirty?” he repeated, amused.
“Twelve-thirty. Whatever. It’s late!”
“So?”
“So . . .” I sputtered, unable to come up with a good response.
“The beach is deserted and beautiful this time of night. Come walk with me.”
“I thought we had a date for Saturday?”
He laughed. “Does that mean you’re off-limits until then?”
I opened my mouth and then closed it again. Well, no, not exactly. I let the silence drag out for a long minute before a grin teased the corner of my mouth. “Give me a minute to change.”
Closing the blinds again, I quickly added gym shorts, a bra, and a lightweight, long sleeved Vanderbilt shirt to the tank and panties ensemble I had been sleeping in. Stepping into a pair of flip flops, I slipped out the front door and closed it behind me.
West was still dressed in the same clothes he wore earlier—jeans and a tee. I walked over to him, hands on my hips. “How’d you know I would still be awake?” I cocked my head to one side and regarded him.
He smiled. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I hoped the feeling would be mutual.”
“I was asleep until you knocked and woke me up,” I lied, unwilling to feed his ego.
“No, you weren’t. I could hear you moving around from out here.” He raised his eyebrows, daring me to lie again.
I was glad the streetlight didn’t provide much illumination so he couldn’t see the blush staining my cheeks. Dear God, he could hear me getting ready to get myself off? Thank goodness I hadn’t been five minutes further into it.
Ignoring his comment, I started down the steps. “Where are we going?”
He followed me and pointed to his beat-up truck parked on the street. I hadn’t even heard his engine when he’d pulled up. “Back by my house. The beach is perfect right now.”
“I didn’t hear your truck,” I said as I hopped in the passenger side.
He climbed in and looked at me, the dome light between us lighting up his face. He held the steering wheel with his hand but made no move to start the car. His thumb tapped against the steering wheel and turned back toward the windshield. “I’ve been out here awhile,” he admitted.
“Creeper, much?”
His cheeks reddened, and seeing him embarrassed made my lips stretch into a huge smile. He faced me again and pinned me with a more serious look than I was expecting. My smile faded. He reached his hand out and captured a lock of my hair, running his fingers down it until his hand dropped back to his lap. “There’s just something about you,” he said. His lips lifted and then he started the truck, and the moment was broken.
We didn’t speak on the ride back to his place. Once he parked between the stilts holding his and Wyatt’s house up, he came around to my side and opened my door, taking my hand and helping me down.
Without releasing my hand, he tugged me around the house and stopped by the stairs leading to the small deck off his room. I narrowed my eyes at him. “I didn’t come over here to—”
Squatting, he tugged my flip flops off before kicking off his own shoes and continuing to walk down to the beach. “To what?” he called back over his shoulder.
Biting back a sharp retort, I shook my head and trailed after him. When I started walking along the hard, packed sand midway between the foamy licks of the ocean and the soft, sinking sand near the dunes, he snagged my hand again, redirecting me closer to the water. I resisted, trying to maintain my current path. He was undeterred, his grip solid, and I had no choice but to follow him, losing our silent battle of wills.
“Where are you taking me?”
“I told you, we’re going to get you over this fear of yours. Starting with a walk in ankle-deep water. Ankle deep, Sadie. You can handle it.”
I tried to free my hand from his grasp. It didn’t work. “I can’t see though. It’s dark. What if there’s something there?”
“What if there is?”
“You’re wearing jeans,” I pointed out, trying a different tactic.
“And they can get wet.”
I looked at him helplessly, and he stared back at me, a mischievous grin softening his features. He pulled me closer to where the waves began lapping at our feet as they rushed up to reclaim the beach for themselves. I squealed and jumped when a larger wave splashed over my ankles.
West laughed and kept walking, keeping my hand tight in his. “You’re enjoying this too much,” I said, grumbling.
“Walking in the moonlight on an empty beach with a beautiful girl? Yeah, I am.”
His words melted my lingering resistance. I probably would have followed him anywhere at that moment.
He started rubbing his thumb against the sensitive skin above my wrist as we walked, and I didn’t even notice the tickle of the waves against my ankles for several minutes.
I didn’t notice much of anything except for the nerve endings prickling up and down my arm in response to his slow caresses.
I relaxed by degrees, listening to the soft slurping sound of the wet sand trying to trap our feet with every step and the lullaby of the waves rushing up the shore and then retreating. My arm rubbed against West’s as we meandered up the beach. The silence between us felt comfortable, and my mind wasn’t racing with ways to fill it. I let the calm seep through me. Trusting West to lead me, I tilted my head back to gaze up at the stars. You could see so many from here, away from the city lights.
It was beautiful.
When I looked over at West, his eyes were locked on the curve of my neck, and I stumbled. His
hand tightened around mine until I regained my footing. “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “I got you.”
I bit my lip. I liked the sound of that far too much.
Six steps later, my foot landed on something slimy. I squealed and started hopping on my tiptoes, whimpering.
West raised his eyebrows and continued his steady pace up the beach, pulling me with him. “You gonna live over there?”
My fear mixed with irritation. Who knew what my foot had come in contact with? I turned back to investigate, but West just kept tugging me forward.
“You’re fine. Get over it. Keep walking.” I could hear the laughter in his voice, and I glared at him.
I kept up with him, but now I was on hyperalert, trying to peer through the sudsy water in the dark at the sand where my feet were about to step each time.
West jiggled my arm. “Stop that. Just walk.”
“But what if—?”
“What if what? You step on something? Then you step on something.”
“But what if it . . . hurts me?” My voice cracked on the last words, and I realized how stupid I sounded, but I couldn’t help it.
“Then I’ll save you from whatever evil ocean crap might wash up on the exact speck of beach you plant your perfect, dainty foot on.”
“It’s not funny.” I half-whimpered, half-laughed.
“Yeah.” He glanced at me. “It kinda is.”
Just then my other foot landed on something decidedly squishy. Slimy was one thing, but squishy? Oh, hell no.
I squeaked and ran a few steps like a chicken on a hot plate until our arms were stretched to their max between us and then I stopped, yanking my hand from his. “I think that’s enough for tonight.” Yeah, I was trembling like a baby, but I was done.
West stopped next to me, nonplussed. “So, now what? You just going to stand here all night? The tide’s coming in.”
I started to hightail it higher up the beach, but West caught me by the wrist before I could get more than three steps away. Sighing, he said. “Are you really that scared?”
Hot, embarrassed tears pricked the backs of my eyes, but I refused to cry in front of West. Willpower alone held them back as I nodded.
Turning his back to me, he faced the water, his shoulders drooping with resignation. “Well, I promised.” He crouched down and patted the top of his back. “Come on.”
I looked at him blankly. “Come on, what?”
“Hop on. I told you we’re taking a walk in the water, and I meant it. If you’re that scared, I’ll do the walking for the both of us. You can ride piggyback.”
I rolled my eyes and wiped away the one traitorous tear that had escaped. “You’re not carrying me. We’re almost a mile from your house.”
He glanced back over his shoulder at me. “Are you trying to get me to flex? Prove my strength? ’Cause I can do that for you.”
I snorted and crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m not doubting your strength per se. But, West, I’m not exactly tiny, and we’re almost a mile from home.” I said the last words slowly, emphasizing them in case he didn’t hear me the first time.
He remained crouched over. “Two choices. Hop on or walk through the water.”
A slightly larger wave rushed us, reaching mid-calf, and I leapt at him, scrambling up his broad back. West teetered and then wrapped my legs around his waist before reaching up to tug at my arms. “Sadie?” he croaked. “You’re choking me.”
I readjusted and looped my arms more across his shoulders than his windpipe. My chin settled into the slope where his neck and shoulder met, and I couldn’t stop myself from inhaling him. His scent was drugging. They should make candles that smelled like that.
Gripping me under my knees, he started back the way we came. I shifted from side to side as he walked, my open legs pressed against his back, my breasts plastered against him, my nipples hardening from the friction. My breath caught and then began to speed up.
The muscles in his arms and torso and flexed, moving sinuously under me. I exhaled and couldn’t resist trying to press my pelvis a little firmer against him, trying to get some pressure where I wanted it most. West bounced me up higher on his back and picked up his pace. Oh, dear God, yes. Somehow that motion bunched up his tee between my thighs a little more, giving just enough pressure to drive me crazy. I buried my nose against his skin and breathed in his citrusy, sweaty scent.
We were halfway back, and I was halfway to release.
There was just something about West that my body craved.
His voice floated across the salty air, his tone conversational. “I know I’m good, but I’ve never gotten a girl off before with a piggyback ride. If you finish back there before we get home, I’m writing ‘I’ll give you a piggyback ride’ on a dollar bill and posting that baby at the bar tomorrow. Is faster better?”
I stiffened, trying not to move at all, trying not to even breathe as the mortification washed over me. West tried to jog, but I bounced against him roughly, and his steps slowed, my rigidness hindering his stride. “Hey, babe, relax back there. I’m not complaining. Trust me. I am not complaining one bit.” Amusement radiated off of him.
All of a sudden, I tipped hard to the right. West’s leg seemed to just sink into the sand, and I gripped him desperately. He tried to yank his leg free, but stumbled with my extra weight, and we both fell over, splashing sideways into the waves.
Caught by surprise, my hair covered my face when I first surfaced, and I couldn’t see anything. I was lying on my side with West’s shoulder pinning me down. The water wasn’t deep, but I was practically horizontal, and when the next wave rolled through, my head went under, and I sucked in a burning lungful of seawater. While I hacked and choked, West yanked me up and dragged me higher to the edge of the waterline. He scooped the wet strands off my face and rubbed my back as I coughed and spit into the sand.
“Sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to land on you.”
I nodded, trying to slow my breathing back to normal. Jesus, that saltwater burned.
When I raised my face to his, West looked at me apologetically. “I feel like we’ve done this before,” he tried to joke.
I tried for a smile. “You can’t blame this one on me.”
“Really? Because I was pretty distracted with you pressing and rubbing against me, all but moaning.”
My face flushed, and I was glad yet again it was night and he couldn’t see.
He lowered his head and put his mouth right up to my ear. “It was so damn unexpected, it’s no wonder I couldn’t walk right.” His hot breath burned the side of my neck, and I couldn’t help but close my eyes and bite my lip. I leaned toward him, and his lips brushed my ear, his tongue tracing the rim. I let out a shaky breath. “Sadie? As much as I want to rip your wet clothes off right here, right now, I’ve learned that sex on the beach is a little overrated. Sand gets in places it shouldn’t, and, yeah, it doesn’t always end well.”
I jerked away from him. I was such a slut. I was all but panting because a hot guy was touching me. Oh Lord, what was wrong with me? I braced my arms on my bent knees and stared down between them at the sand.
West stood next to me and hauled me up by the armpits. I wavered for a second, and he grabbed my waist to steady me. “You gonna be okay there, babe?”
I took a step away from him, causing his hands to drop. “I’m fine.” I didn’t know what to feel. The dunk in the ocean was exactly what I needed. My body seemed to catch fire whenever I got to close to West, but from what I’d heard, that kind of thing happened all the time to him. I didn’t want to be just another mindless fuck.
That made me pause.
What did I want to be to him?
We slogged back toward his house. My shirt hung heavily on me, clinging to my body, water dripping in a steady rhythm down my legs as we walked.
West walked awkwardly next to me, holding his jeans at the waistband.
“Problem?” I asked, watching him clutch at his pants and take wide, stiff-legged steps.
He quirked a brow at me. “You ever try walking in wet jeans with a raging hard-on? Not that easy.”
A small, satisfied smile crept across my face. At least I wasn’t the only one affected tonight.
We walked a little farther before West cursed and stopped. “I give up.” He turned away from me, and the next thing I knew, his jeans were slipping downward, before getting hung up at his knees. He tried to get one leg free, but the wet denim was uncooperative, and he lost his balance, falling on his ass in the hard sand. Laughing, he wrestled with his jeans until they were off and then picked them up, tossed them over his arm, and started walking again.
I was a step or two behind him, choosing to stay there so I could sneak a peek at his sand-encrusted, wet boxer briefs. Catching up to him, I rubbed my hand over his ass, brushing the sand off. “I think you have something here.” West stopped mid-step and looked over at me, his eyelids closing partway. “There. That’s better.”
West shook his head at me. “Yeah, I think I have something here too.” Grabbing my hand, he pressed it against his erection. “Now, that’s better.”
I cupped him and ran my hand up his length once before I lost my nerve and pulled away. Wrapping his arm around my wet shoulders, West pulled me into his side and kissed the top of my head. “Oh, Sadie. What am I going to do with you?”
I have a few ideas. But I couldn’t bring myself to speak up. I wanted to be more than a quick lay, more than a convenient fuck.
I wanted to be . . . more.
When we got back to the steps where we left our shoes, West started up to his room. “C’mon. Let me get you some dry clothes.”
I followed behind him. When I stepped through the sliding glass doors, West was rustling through his dresser. Snagging some drawstring gym shorts and a shirt that would come to my knees, he herded me to the bathroom. “Here. I know you have to be freezing. Take a hot shower and warm up and then you can put these on. I’m going to run over to Wyatt’s bathroom and do the same.”
I was tempted to ask him to stay, to share this shower, but before I could work up the courage, he was gone, pulling the door shut behind him. Jumping in his shower, I quickly cleaned myself, washing my hair as best I could without conditioner. It was still tangled in places, especially by the nape of my neck. When I got out, I pulled his shirt over my head and took a deep inhale. Between wearing his shirt and using his shower products, the smell of West surrounded me. I liked it. After wrapping my hair up turban style, I slipped back into his bedroom.
He was already waiting for me, perched on the side of the bed. A hairbrush lay next to him. He saw me looking at it and held it out to me. “I found this in Wyatt’s bathroom. Not sure what chick left it here, but I thought you might need it. It looks clean enough.”
I was oddly touched by his thoughtfulness. I pulled the towel off my head and sat next to him, wincing when I tried to pull the brush through my snarled strands. West’s hands took the brush from me.
“Here, let me. It’s my fault your hair got all messed up in the first place.” West grabbed my hips and moved me until I was positioned sideways on the bed between his outstretched legs. Pushing me forward at the waist so he could reach the ends of my hair, he started working the brush through the tangles, gently tugging the knots free.
My scalp tingled as he worked, and I relaxed, slumping forward and letting him do as he pleased. By the time he finished, I was almost asleep. He dropped the brush and ran his hands through my damp hair, the locks sliding smoothly between his fingers.
I sighed in utter contentment and leaned back against his chest. “You ready to take me home?”
His hands tightened around my upper arms. “What if you stayed here tonight? We could have a sleepover. Old-school style. No sex, just two people sharing a bed.”
I arched an eyebrow. “No sex?”
“No sex. But if you ask nicely, I might go for a cuddle.”
“Why no sex?”
He hesitated and ran his hands down my arms and back up again. “You’re different. You make me want to do things the right way with you.” He leaned his forehead against the back of my head. “But I’m also a selfish bastard, and I want to go to sleep knowing you’re in my arms. Knowing I get to wake up to you.”
I melted farther back into his chest, nuzzling against him. “A sleepover sounds good.”
He smiled against the back of my head.
“You know you’re too good for me, right? That I don’t deserve you.”
My answer was muffled against his pectoral muscle.
Hugging me to him, he scooped me up in his arms and lifted me off the bed before yanking the covers back with one hand and depositing me on the mattress. “Lady’s choice. Which side do you want?”
Picking the same side I woke up on before, the one closest to the door, I settled stomach down onto the bed and flipped my wet hair up onto the pillow while he went around to the other side. “Hey, West?” I whispered. “Pretty please, with a cherry on top, can I have a snuggle?”
“Fuck, yes,” he breathed, spooning against my back. He wrapped an arm around my waist, slipping his hand under my borrowed shirt to rest against my bare skin, and wedged one of his thighs between mine.
His warmth and scent surrounded me. His breath pulsed against the back of my neck. I’d never been more comfortable than I was at that moment, tucked tight against his body. It felt right, like I belonged there.
I was just drifting off to sleep when I thought I heard him whisper, “Damn, I could get used to this.”
So could I.