by Piper Rayne
“Ms. Clarke.” He rounds the desk and studies me. “I don’t have you on the list for tonight.”
“Do I need to be on the list?” I ask, using his desk to prop myself up.
“Well, Mr. Warner has a permanent list. Let me see if you’re on there.”
“A permanent list?” My gaze blurs to follow him walk back around the desk. He types into the computer and I inch over the edge of the tall desk. “Tell me Connor, just between us, are there any other women on that list?”
He glances up, his non-verbal scolding telling me my answer. He’s not at liberty to say. “Ms. Clarke,” he sighs. I’m not sure if he’s upset with my intoxication or my curiosity. “You are on the list but let me ring him just to make sure he’s home. I haven’t seen him this evening.”
Spotting the chairs in the lobby, I make my way over on unsteady feet and sit down. “Whatever you say, Connor.”
I hear Connor talking for a moment, then his voice turns hushed and I know he’s probably telling Reed what bad shape I’m in. I should’ve listened to Chelsea and Hannah, but they over-served me and I’m horny and on edge about telling Pete.
My eyes close and what feels like a second later my body is lifted like an angel has me in his arms.
“Thanks, Connor. I got it from here.”
Reed.
I release a contented sigh. My eyes flutter open and I see that he’s carrying me into the elevator. My hand runs along his stubble and I can’t fight the smile on my face. “It’s you.”
He chuckles. “Is this what girl’s night entails? Getting shitfaced?”
I rest my head on his strong shoulder and then somewhere between staring at his beautiful blue eyes and luscious lips, we’re in his condo, where he lays me down on the couch.
“Is this where I’m sleeping?”
“I need your phone, Victoria.” He places my purse on the table.
“Do you have another woman in your bedroom?” My eyes finally focus in on his shirtless self, pajama pants hanging way too low on his hips to be appropriate.
“What?” he asks with a crease in his forehead.
“Who’s on your permanent list?”
“My permanent list?”
I sit up and the room spins for a second.
Oooooooooogggghhhhhhhhofofofofofofofffff
A huge burp escapes and my hand flies up to my mouth. “Excuse me.” Even with how drunk I am, I feel the heat rushing up my neck to my cheeks.
He chuckles. “I need to call your mom, babe.”
I pick up my purse and then put it in his lap. “It’s in there.”
My head falls back to the cushion and the weight of my eyelids wins. I feel him pick up my arm and use my thumb to open my phone and I’m suddenly too tired to protest or think of how ridiculous that is.
“Hi, Mrs. Clarke. This is Reed Warner, Victoria’s boyfriend.” There’s a pause. “She’s here, but she’s had a few too many drinks with the girls. Are you okay if she stays here tonight?” Another pause. A laugh because my mom is oh so funny. “You can handle Jade, too? Great. I’ll bring her home in the morning.” Another chuckle on his part. “Have a good night.”
He rounds the couch and I attempt to pick up my head, but it falls back down to the couch. “Good news, babe, your mom said you can spend the night.” He laughs, his two arms sliding under me again and picking me up.
“I thought I was sleeping here.”
“You sleep in my bed.” He carries me down the hall, sets me on the bed. He gently takes off my shoes, strips off my clothes, and places a t-shirt over my head before tucking me into bed.
“You’re sweet,” I say, my hand running along his cheek, my thumb pressing into the cute dimple on is left cheek.
“You’re drunk.” His smile says he’s not mad. “I just have to finish up some work. I’ll check on you in a few.” He walks to the door, turning off the light.
“Reed?”
“Yeah?”
“You won’t listen to Pete, right? You won’t let him bully you into not dating me?”
The light flicks back on and his footsteps on the hardwood floor grow closer. The mattress indents and he takes my hand in his, kissing my knuckles.
“Is that what you’re worried about?”
“That and your permanent list.”
He laughs. “You don’t need to worry about either. Pete can’t bully me into giving up the best thing I’ve ever had. Just because he’s an idiot and fucked it up, doesn’t mean I’m going to do the same.” He kisses my knuckles. “And, so we’re clear—you’re the only woman on my permanent list. Not even my mother is on there. I added you and Jade after last Friday.” He bends down and kisses my forehead. “Now, go to sleep.”
The mattress rises without his weight on it anymore and I slip into sleep at peace with his answer because I believe him.
When my eyes open next there’s still darkness filling the sky and I’m in bed by myself. Pulling the sheets back, I sit up and stay in that position for a second assessing how I feel. When I notice the bottle of water placed on the nightstand, I crack it open and down half the contents, feeling my hangover setting in already.
The echo of papers rustling, and buttons being punched on a computer comes from outside the bedroom and so I follow the noises to Reed’s dining room table. He sits there bare-chested in his pajama pants, a beer in his left hand, a pen in his right, looking over some papers sitting beside his computer.
“Hey,” I announce my arrival into the room.
He slowly glances over, and his smile warms my insides. Raising his hand, he holds it out for me and I walk over.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“Don’t be. I quite enjoyed working out here knowing you were in the other room.”
My fingers entwine with his and he slides the chair back, pulling me onto his lap.
“Still, you saw me at my worst.”
He buries his face in my neck, kissing the delicate skin. “I liked taking care of you. I guess I’m kind of a caveman.” His free hand slides up my thigh, his fingers bypassing the edge of my panties. “Not to mention, I’m due for a break.”
“Oh yeah?”
He stands, holding me to him and I swear his muscles don’t even flex. We only venture to the other side of the table, where it’s not filled with paperwork. He lowers my body until my feet find the floor. Once I find my footing, he swivels me around, so I face the expansive window and the dark waters of Lake Michigan.
His hand slides down the edge of my panties and his chest presses to my back, his hot and wet mouth at my ear. He doesn’t say anything, but his rapid breathing is enough to tell me he’s as ready as I am.
Fisting my panties, he slides them down my legs, his mouth following on the back of my thighs. I can’t see what he’s doing, but from the shuffling of clothes, I’m assuming he’s taken off his pajama pants.
When he stands back up, his chest presses against my back, his cock poised between my ass cheeks.
“Tell me I don’t have to leave you to get a condom?” he whispers.
“You’re clean?” I ask, sounding needier than I thought I would.
“Yes.”
“Then no, we don’t need anything.”
He exerts some pressure between my shoulder blades, forcing me to bend forward more. His dick slides farther down my ass cheeks, teasing my slit. He doesn’t ask me any more questions, trusting that I wouldn’t trick him into a pregnancy, and me trusting the fact that he’s clean.
Slowly, he enters me from behind and my back arches, but he flattens his palm on my lower spine to keep me in place.
The pace is painfully slow and gentle until he’s coated in my wetness. He gains speed quickly and it’s different than the other night. Tonight is all about primal need and releasing tension, not soothing words and building trust. Pulling my arms back, he grips them in place on my back and takes control of the rhythm.
In and out, my ass slapping against his pelvis, his balls swinging and h
itting my clit with each thrust. I’m not sure if it’s waking up in his bed, or the alcohol in my system that makes me hornier, but it takes no time at all for me to hit that edge.
Knowing it, he releases my hands and they land on the window with a slap of my palms. His large hands cup my breasts, pinching my nipples, his mouth wet on the back of my neck.
“Harder,” I pant, and he increases his speed. “I’m going to come.” My mouth clamps down, and I bite down on my lip.
“Come,” he says, his thumb sliding between my lips. “Come, baby.”
I bit down on his thumb and release the exquisite tension only Reed can make me feel.
Right after I come, he pumps into me a few more times, one hand pulling up the back of my t-shirt and gripping my shoulder to keep me in place.
He pulls out and I feel his cum spray all over my back with his contented groan. I moan, too, loving the feeling that he’s somehow claiming me.
When we’ve both caught our breath, he eases off the shirt I borrowed and uses it to clean off my skin.
Leaving everything in a pile on the floor, he picks me up and I wrap my legs around his waist.
“Time for us to get some sleep.” He kisses me, his tongue exploring my mouth the entire way to his bed.
Then as he already did hours before, he tucks me in, but this time he slides in next to me. My eyes lose the fight, but he whispers in my ear. “Don’t worry, babe, I’ll take care of Pete.”
I head to dreamland knowing Reed would slay any dragon that came my way, but Pete is my problem and I’m the one who needs to warn him before he conquers the castle I’m currently living in.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Thankfully, Hannah lets me off early on Friday so I have time to run home and meet Pete before we go together to pick up Jade from school. This will be the first weekend that I won’t be with her and as much as I can’t wait to spend it with Reed being an adult and doing only adult things, I’m going to miss her.
“I don’t want to see him,” my mom says as I run around the house, trying to clean it up.
“You don’t have a choice. I wasn’t going to drop her off at his parents.”
I pick up all the handicap bathroom stuff I bought to have installed and throw it into my room. Another day.
“Your aunt wants to meet Reed,” she changes the topic again.
“She will when things are a little farther down the road.”
She sits in her chair, People magazine half opened, her reading glasses on the tip of her nose. “She lives in Montana, and she’s coming to visit this weekend. She won’t see Jade until Sunday. The least you can do is have Reed come to dinner, too.”
“Mom,” I sigh. “Can we talk about this after?” I straighten all her magazines and books into neat piles on the bookcase. The woman refuses to read on a digital device. Claims it’s not the same as holding the words in your hands.
“Sure, but I’m not sure I want Pete to set foot in this house.”
“Do it for Jade.”
“Jade should know what an ass her father is. She’s going to find out when she’s older and it’s going to break her heart.” She flips the page of her magazine.
“So, your advice is for me to break her heart now?”
She peeks over the edge of her magazine and blows out a breath. “I suppose you’re right, I just hate all the pain he’s caused you. It’s going to be all I can do not to kick him in the nuts.”
“Mom!”
She closes the magazine and throws it on the table I just organized. “I hope Reed kicks his ass.”
“No one’s kicking anyone’s ass.”
The doorbell rings and my mom slides to the edge of the recliner, ready to answer it.
“I got it.” I wave her off.
She rolls her eyes, grabs the magazine again and buries her head behind it. Great, this should be wonderful.
I open the door to find Pete in his relaxed look. Gray jeans, white t-shirt with a black coat slung over the top and open. For a second, I remember how excited I used to be when he’d show up at my parents’ house to pick me up. How I thought he was the best guy ever and I’d love him forever.
“Pete,” I say, trying to keep the disdain from my tone.
“Vic.” He steps over the threshold before I actually invite him in. Typical. “Where’s Jade?” He looks around and spots my mom in the recliner. “Diane, nice to see you.”
She peels back the corner of her magazine. “Jackass,” she regards him, and he glances at me, annoyed.
I shrug.
“It’s been two years, Diane.”
“Not long enough,” she singsongs, hiding once again behind the magazine.
I move to put on my coat. “I figured we’d walk down there to pick her up together. I have something I want to talk to you about.”
“If you changed your mind about this weekend, I don’t want to hear it. I haven’t seen her in months. My family is expecting her—”
I cut him off with my hand. “That’s not it.”
“Cool your jets, Rico Suave,” my mom chimes in from behind her magazine.
Pete sets those brown eyes my way, asking what the fuck?
“Okay, Mom, you’ve made your point,” I say.
She shuts the magazine a second time. “I’m not sure I have. If Pete has a few hours, I’m sure we can rehash all the reasons why I think he’s a piece of shit.”
“Mom,” I sigh.
“I’m not sure what you want from me, Diane.” Pete has his hands splayed out at his sides.
“I could send you an email detailing all your faults and suggestions on how to fix them.”
“Great, can I do the same?” he snips.
I swivel Pete’s shoulders so he’s facing the door and ease him toward it. “We’re going to get Jade.”
“Uh-huh. Be careful, Chicago drivers aren’t so great. If Pete stumbles off the sidewalk, don’t go being a hero, Victoria.”
My shoulders fall, and I stare at my mom from behind Pete’s back with a look that suggests she lose the attitude.
“Always a pleasure, Diane.” Pete nods and opens the door.
“How very polite of you. Winnetka can teach you how to talk to people but seems to have failed on teaching you how to treat people.”
I shut the door and turn to find Pete already lighting a cigarette.
“Nope, not around Jade.”
He inhales. “After dealing with your mother, I deserve one.”
“Just don’t when you’re around her, okay?”
He exhales, and a puff of white smoke follows. “Sure. Whatever.” He shrugs.
He’s probably lying, but it’s not like he has her all the time.
“How far to school?” he asks.
“Just down the road. A couple blocks.”
We step inline, him taking the street side of the sidewalk.
“So, what do you have to talk to me about? Not enough money to cover expenses?” He takes another drag of his cigarette and gestures to the neighborhood as if asking how that would even be possible.
“Don’t be like that.”
He swings his arm around my shoulder and squeezes me closer to him. “Oh, Vic, that’s our relationship. We go back and forth. Married or divorced, that won’t change.”
I roll my eyes and push him off of me.
“Besides, I’m kidding. You know I don’t mind paying for Jade.”
I half smile, not sure where this man emerged from.
“I wanted to let you know that… I met an old friend of ours recently.” I hear the hesitation in my voice and I’m sure he must pick up on it because he stops walking and turns to look at me.
“Who?” He takes another drag of his cigarette and exhales smoke in my direction. My stomach rolls from the smell.
“Reed Warner,” I say his name like I’m not even sure if that’s his name, which of course I am. I may have actually written Mrs. Warner on a scrap paper like a teenage girl this week, ripped it up and threw i
t away.
Looking nonplussed Pete starts walking again. “Reed? I think he’s more an old friend of mine than yours, right?” The way he asks the question is almost accusatory.
“Yeah, but he stood up in our wedding.”
He purses his lips staring up at the sky like he didn’t remember. “Oh yeah.”
“He was your best man,” I remind him.
“Yeah, yeah, I know.”
He so didn’t remember. This is Pete, somewhere after ‘I do’ and ‘It’s a girl,’ I lost him. I lost him to success.
“Well, it turns out he’s a Big Brother to a boy that Jade is friends with.”
“Wait.” He holds his hand up. “The boy trying to be a man thing?”
“Yes…No… I mean, yeah, Reed is Henry’s big brother. You know the program.”
“He still does that? Why?”
“I don’t know, Pete, maybe because he’s a nice human being?”
His face is laced with confusion. “Did he lose his license to practice law or something?”
“No, he’s the assistant district attorney. He’s doing it because he wants to.” I stop us because we’re nearing the school and I need to get this out before we get there.
“He’s an ADA? What a pussy. He makes dimes when he could be making dollars. What the hell is wrong with him?”
“Okay, let’s forget the whole Big Brother thing and what path he’s gone down to practice law. There’s more.”
He eases his stance, his eyes narrowing on me. “You’re not one to beat around the bush, Vic, what is it?”
Finally, a light bulb went off.
“We’re dating.” The words rush out of my mouth like the Colorado Rapids.
“You’re dating Reed Warner? Our best man?”
“According to you, he was just your best man.”
“Don’t be snide. You’re dating Reed?”
I nod.
He huffs and tosses his cigarette butt on the sidewalk.
“I thought you swore off lawyers?” He digs into his jacket for another cigarette.
I pull out my phone to check the time. We still have five minutes before Jade gets out.