Chapter Twenty-Seven
Brooklyn
I didn’t mean to fall asleep, but I had, and I panicked that it’d freak Shane out that I didn’t leave, like I was already some clingy girlfriend when we were so undefined. Only when I tried to get out of bed to find my phone and see what time it was, his arm circled my waist and then he hauled me back to him.
“Where do you think you’re sneaking off to?”
I twisted to face him, our noses a couple inches from touching. “Oh, you know. The bar, the casino, or the strip club. I haven’t quite decided yet.”
“I’ll save you a trip and strip for you.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“But you don’t have any clothes on.” I lifted the covers, not for confirmation but because I knew he was naked and I needed another look. Damn.
He trailed his fingers over my hip bone, the callused pads sending zips of electricity over my skin. “That’s why I’m sorta offended you haven’t thrown any dollars at me yet.”
I laughed. “Where would I even tuck them?” He opened his mouth, and I covered it with my hand to stop whatever highly-inappropriate comment he was about to make. “Forget I asked. When I go to find my clothes, I’ll check my pockets and see how many bills I can toss your way.”
“You can toss them at me in the morning. We should stay in bed. As you pointed out, we’re already naked”—this time he lifted the covers and looked me up and down, making a low sound of approval—“and now that I’ve gotten my hands and lips on you, I’m in no hurry to let you go.” He moved his lips to my neck, his argument compelling enough I momentarily forgot why I thought I should leave.
He’d called himself my boyfriend when I showed up, so maybe he wasn’t worried about clingy, and maybe this was fast, especially after my breakup, but it’d been building for weeks. Not to mention we didn’t have a lot of time together, what with his training and—
“Oh, crap,” I said. “What time is it?”
Keeping one arm around me, Shane fumbled around for his phone on the nightstand. He squinted at the bright light. “One thirty.”
“Oh jeez. I bet Finn’s texted or called to check in, and if I don’t answer he’ll freak out and call Liam, and Liam’ll loop in Dad, and then suddenly they’re all charging into a party, barking threats to dismember people if they don’t point them to me.”
“That seems very precise.”
“Because it’s burned into my brain. Halfway through junior year, the night I was going to take things to the next level with my first boyfriend. After they busted up the party he never so much as looked at me again. In fact, all of the guys gave me a wide berth from then on.”
“Good. I’m glad they scared them off. I guarantee those guys didn’t deserve you, anyway.”
I shot him a look. “Well, now you’re the guy.” Earlier I’d counted my brothers and Dad as one complication, but they were more like three giant, obtrusive obstacles. “My dad and brothers can’t find out about this—it’d be a disaster. You know that, right?”
It was going to be a disaster either way in the long run, a fact I wished I could forget for a little while. It wasn’t healthy to pretend that things would magically work out just because I really, really, really liked this guy who drove me crazy in every possible way. As if the universe would be all Well, since you threw in that extra “really” your relationship will go smoothly, despite your family, and his career, and your impending move to a whole other city. And oh, the fact that you also want different things out of life.
“Even Finn?” Shane asked.
“Especially Finn. For the most part he’s the carefree, casual-cool guy, but in some ways, he’s more protective than the other two.” While we’d always been close, those nights we’d hidden in each others’ rooms to escape our parents’ relentless arguing brought us even closer. That was the first time Dad had cheated on Mom—not that we knew the why until later.
Shane gave me a doubtful look, like I didn’t know my family as well as he did. He’d seen my brothers calmly solve the confrontation with Conrad at the bar, but he hadn’t been there when Finn found out the guy had cheated on me and it took three other massive fighters from our team to hold him back. The finger got pointed at me when it came to Conrad’s departure from Team Domination, and I’d willingly take the blame, but Finn’s threat to dismember him probably didn’t leave my ex with a lot of warm, fuzzy feelings. Hard to work with a coach who wanted you to get your ass kicked.
Shane folded my hand into his. “What if I explain that you’re on my team as the girl who helps me relieve stress?”
“I guess that’s fine if you don’t want to keep on doing frivolous things like breathing.”
A crooked grin spread across his face, so he clearly didn’t understand the situation. “Look, I just had killer sex with this incredible woman that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about for weeks, so nothing you say is going to bother me right now. In fact, seeing that you’re worried about me makes me even happier.”
“You’re impossible.” The sex had been amazing. More intense and satisfying and better than anything I’d ever experienced before. I might tell him if he weren’t already too damn cocky for his own good. The gleam in his eye made me suspect he already knew, and my heart went to fluttering on me. I’d told myself not to let him affect me for so long that it took me a second to remember that I was giving in to it.
I reached up and trailed my fingertips along his whiskered jaw, another thing I couldn’t stop doing. There was something so sexy about his whiskers and his Adam’s apple, and how big and masculine he was in general, and just mmm.
And here I was getting distracted again. The feel of his erection jutting into my hip wasn’t helping. I gave him a quick peck on the lips, and he groaned as I got out of bed. “Let me at least check my phone,” I said. “I’ll never be able to do any kind of relaxing until I do.”
I picked up a T-shirt of his off the floor, resisting the urge to sniff it, since it smelled like him, and then padded to the living room, where we’d left a trail of my clothes leading from the front door.
When I dug my phone out of the pocket of my jeans, I saw that Finn had texted, and for once, luck was on our side.
Finn: Hey. I’m staying with Liam tonight so you and your boyfriend can have the place to yourself. This means you automatically agree to dishes all week. Sucka!
I smiled and shook my head. I almost texted him about the breakup, but it made a good cover, so I sent a quick “Thanks and good night” reply. I’d come clean about Trey later.
Still, I hated not saying anything. Finn and I didn’t keep secrets from each other, and I wished I could tell him I’d had a phenomenal night and why, but the risk of it going wrong was too high.
Strong arms came around my waist and soft lips hit my neck. “How long do we have until the search party arrives? I have an idea for my last dying wish.”
I melted against him as he worked his magic with his mouth. “He’s actually staying with Liam tonight, so we’ve got the night.”
“Perfect.” His hard cock pressed against my ass as he pulled me tighter to him, and all the places that were pleasantly sore from our earlier session reawakened.
He reached around and over my hip, his fingers dipping lower and lower. I moaned when he stroked me, automatically arching into his fingers. He moved his lips right next to my ear, his hot breath hitting my neck. “Still in a rush to leave?”
“I think I can spare twenty—”
Shane pushed a finger inside me, and I shuddered, my knees nearly buckling from the extraordinary sensations twisting through me.
“Make that thirty minutes,” I said on a shaky breath. “We do have some lost time to make up for.” He added another finger and pumped into me. I reached back and gripped the back of his neck, draping myself over him, wanting to hold on to him as he drove me higher and higher.
The pad of his thumb pressed against my clit, the pressure combined with the pumping of his fingers sending shivers of electricity through my entire body, stronger and stronger, until they consumed me. He drew out my pleasure as long as possible, leaving me a heap of blissful, limp limbs that would’ve collapsed right to the floor without his support.
Then I was in his arms, and with a few large strides, we were back in his bed. I looked up at him and he looked down at me, and everything felt familiar yet new and my heart expanded, getting way ahead of itself.
We’d agreed to let ourselves want this for a night, and I’d had the genius idea to see where that took us. Right into screwed territory, where this thing between us deepened and impossible attachments formed, that’s where it took us.
He lowered his lips to mine and kissed me long and slow, like we had all the time in the world. Then we were falling into each other again, and I wished for reality to stay far away, or for the night to never end, because once you’ve had a taste of heaven, how could you ever go back?