I had a feeling the trucks hadn’t even been unpacked and were sitting by the garage waiting for us to get to them. Gus had gone straight into celebration mode. The trophies Darren and I won were sitting on one of the tables, and it looked like a bar’s worth of beer filled multiple large inflatable coolers positioned around the edge of the field.
“How did he do this so fast?” Maya asked as we walked out into the middle of the party in progress.
“I have no idea,” I said. “Sometimes things happen here that defy logic and reason. I have a feeling there is a fairly complex and potentially secretive phone tree that exists for just such purposes.”
“A secret phone tree?” Maya asked. “That’s pretty next-level stuff.”
“You never know what you could be getting into around here,” I said.
Maya shook her head and laughed. I gathered her up in my arms, spinning her around before putting her down so we could dance. It only lasted a few perfect moments before somebody shouted out that the pizza was there.
We stepped away from each other and watched as delivery drivers carried armfuls of pizza boxes onto the field and over to the picnic tables. They spread them out and Merry, Lindsey, Kelly, and Bryn walked over to start opening the boxes up. Vince came up behind Lindsey and leaned down to kiss the side of her neck. He murmured something into her ear, and she nodded. She said something to Kelly beside her, and the other woman looked over to see Remy where he was playing with Nick.
Vince and Lindsey wandered off toward the garage, and Maya and I made our way over to the tables. It looked like whoever had ordered pizza ordered one with every combination of toppings they could think of.
We all looked around and realized we didn’t have any plates or napkins. I figured that’s why Lindsey and Vince went down to the garage to get. There was a small storage room at the back that held extra items so if there was an event on property, we didn’t have to go all the way up to the main building to get supplies.
They came back a few minutes later carrying plates, cups, and napkins. Vince was carrying the guitar that usually stayed in the breakroom. Soon, we were all lounging around eating, drinking, and listening to Vince strum on the guitar.
I kept looking over at Maya throughout the evening. She had made fast friends with the other women and was soon hanging out with them. Every now and then I got a meaningful smile or a wink from one of those women.
When that happened, I tried to stay as neutral as possible. I knew what it looked like to have Maya there at the race and with me during the celebration by the track, then here at the complex with me. I could tell what everybody was thinking, and even possibly what they were wanting.
I knew I wanted it. It was a struggle to come to terms with that realization, but I finally couldn’t fight it anymore. I wanted her, but I knew she didn’t want me, so I fought as hard as I could to control how I felt about her.
Nibbling on a piece of veggie pizza because he wouldn’t allow himself the meat and heavier cheese, Colby, Darren’s best friend, came up beside me. He must have noticed exactly how I was looking at Maya because he burst into a tirade of jokes and teasing.
It didn’t much matter to me. All I was focused on was her. As long as she didn’t overhear it and get upset, I would happily take the ribbing if it meant she was there with me.
17
Maya
The party at the compound was an absolute blast. I couldn’t remember ever laughing that much. And it wasn’t just how much I was laughing and how much fun I was having that took me by surprise. Throughout the night, I couldn’t help but notice how much Greg was watching me.
He seemed drawn into everything I was doing, but not in a strange or controlling way. More like he was just making sure I was comfortable and didn’t want to take his eyes off me. I felt them on me virtually every moment of the night. And I wasn’t the only one who noticed. Both Kelly and Lindsey mentioned it to me.
I figured if they knew him at all, they wouldn’t lie about it. So, I pointedly didn’t drink much. I enjoyed a single beer that I sipped and nursed throughout the night. There was no need for me to create any confusion.
The last thing I wanted that night was confusion. I had plans for when we got home, and none of them involved me and not knowing what was going on or not being in control of my body.
I didn’t say anything to any of the women. This wasn’t about them or the validation that we might get by letting everybody know something was brewing between us. Instead, I kept it quiet and just continued to enjoy the night. Finally, it was time to head home.
I hadn’t noticed Greg drinking much, so I wasn’t uncomfortable when it came time to climb in my dad’s truck and head back to the apartment. In my original envisioning of the night we would spend together, I was dignified and in control. I moved slowly and wooed him into wanting to be with me.
Apparently, imagination me had far more self-control then actual me. As soon as the door closed behind us at the apartment, I pounced on him. I pressed against him with my chest until he was up against the door and brought my lips to within just an inch or two of his.
“Why are you staring at me?” I asked. “Huh? See something new?”
My mind nearly went blank when Greg cupped his hands around my face and leaned forward to kiss me.
“Not new,” he said softly, searching my eyes.
The kiss absolutely blew my mind, but there was still enough left to be completely shocked when Greg lifted me up into his arms and carried me off to the bedroom.
I felt his arms wrap around my waist, and suddenly I was airborne. A laugh bubbled up out of my chest as he walked me backward toward his bedroom, kicking the door open and plopping me down on the bed. I bounced back up to my feet, clawing at his shirt, my lips searching for his skin and finding it on his neck. His hands roamed across my back, down my waist, and cupped my ass, pulling me to him and squeezing. I raised up on my toes as he did and finally got the buttons of his shirt open.
Greg wore a soft cotton undershirt underneath, and I ran my fingertips across it, feeling the toned body beneath. The rippling muscles that caused divots in his shirt and raised his chest felt strong and thick under my touch. Trailing kisses down his neck to his chest, I pulled on the hem of the shirt, and he helped me to remove it. Tossing it aside, it wrapped around a lampshade and dimmed the light in the room even more. I didn’t mind.
“Your turn,” he muttered, his voice low and husky, and a tingle went down my spine.
I stepped back, letting my eyes take in the majesty of his chiseled chest and abdomen. I pulled on the bottom of my shirt and yanked it over my head, letting it fall by my side, and our eyes made contact again. The heat in that gaze was like an inferno, and it only broke when I reached behind me to unhook my bra. As my heavy, heaving breasts tumbled out of the cups, his eyes trailed down, and a groan of appreciation rumbled out of him. I smiled and tossed the bra away, and he closed the space between us with one step.
Taking my chin in his hand, he pulled me up to kiss him again. The kiss was soft, and patient, but had a white-hot desire behind it. He wanted to take his time, to appreciate my body and this moment, and I felt the heat from my core burn through me. His kiss lasted at once for just a moment and for hours. Time was lost in the embrace, and suddenly it felt like nothing else existed but that room, that moment.
His lips moved across my cheek and down the slope of my neck. I felt his tongue brush across my collarbone and took in a breath. Kneeling in front of me, he let his tongue slide between my breasts and then sweep low under one. Inch by inch, he rose to the sensitive, taut nipple and took it into his warm mouth. A strong grip covered the other and kneaded me, and I moaned at his touch.
A free hand slid up one of my legs, and I stepped apart to give him better access. As his fingers traced my thigh, I hitched another breath and groaned loudly when they brushed my hot, wet core to run up the area between my leg and my hip to the waistband. Now with both hands, he pulled my pants do
wn, and the cool air on my pussy caused me to break out in goose bumps. He dropped the pants and the panties together onto the floor, and I kicked out of them. I was naked, and his kisses began to trail down to the newly nude area of my body.
I let one hand slide through his silky hair as he kissed down the center of my belly until he reached the mound underneath. I gasped when his tongue slid out to sweep across my lips and then cried out when they slid through my folds, yelping in ecstasy as he found my clit. He encouraged it, teasing it with the tip of his tongue, and suddenly I felt the pressure of a thick finger sliding into my opening.
I held his head in place as his finger brushed across the top wall of my pussy and his tongue lapped me up. I was barely holding on, the tension so immediate inside of me that I felt like I was about to lose control already. Pressing down on him, pushing him into me, he took the silent guidance and his tongue moved faster, his fingers sliding in and out of me. I shook as I came, my legs vibrating and collapsing as I fell back to sit on the bed and pulled his face until he stood over me, gaining a few moments of relief from the overwhelming sensation.
His lips pressed into mine, and I slid my tongue inside his mouth to match his. I could hear him unbuttoning and unzipping his pants, and when the kiss broke, he stood up straight. I let my eyes take him in, wandering down the broad shoulders to his cut chest and ripped abs, down to the v that delineated where his hips began. As his pants dropped to the ground, my eyes widened, and I moaned as his massive, thick cock sprung out at me. He was hard and long. I reached for him, wrapping my fingers around his incredible staff and stroking him.
Grasping my ankles, he pulled me to the edge of the bed, but I sat up. Before he could fuck me, I wanted to return the favor. Placing my lips on his stomach before he could object, I kissed down his center until I reached the base of his cock. I felt his hand slide under my hair to hold the back of my head, tendrils falling between his fingers. I let my tongue slide out and trace down his shaft until it reached the head and swirled around it. He let out a grumbling sound from deep in his chest, and it encouraged me to press forward. Wondering if I could fit him into my mouth whole, I wrapped my lips around his head and let my tongue brush underneath. Then, I slid forward, taking him deep into my mouth.
His cock brushed the back of my throat, and there was still enough to grip with one hand. I dared not push him any further down and instead slid back, stroking him as I did. He did not guide my movement, but his hand balled with my hair as if to encourage me to continue. I did, taking him again into my mouth deeply, letting my free hand gently massage his balls. As my speed increased, so did his moans of pleasure, and I felt the adrenaline of my aching, hot core press me on.
Feeling like I couldn’t take it anymore, I let him slide out of my mouth with an audible pop and looked up at him, our eyes swimming in each other again. He nodded back toward the top of the bed, where the pillows were, and I grinned. Shimmying back to the pillows, I let my legs fall apart and put my hands on the mattress.
He climbed onto the bed, never taking his eyes off me, roaming across my body and making me feel like the sexiest thing he had ever seen. The feeling was mutual. This time, when he reached forward and grabbed my ankles, I let him pull me down and closer to him. He curled over top of me, his cock brushing through my folds as it searched for my opening. My breasts pressed up into his rock-hard chest, and I felt delightfully smothered by him. Letting my ankles cross behind his back, I prepared myself as he found the dripping slit and plunged deeply into me.
For a second, I couldn’t exhale, and stars danced in my vision while my eyes clenched shut. An explosion of sensation, somewhere blurring the lines between discomfort and pleasure, filled me from top to bottom, and when I gained the ability to make sound, I cried out. He held himself there but for a moment to let me get used to his girth, and then he rocked back and drove even deeper into me. I simultaneously wanted to push him away and pull him deeper. But this time he waited, letting me adjust, the walls of my pussy forming around him.
Slowly he rocked into me, punctuating every thrust with an appreciative sound from deep inside his chest. My hands trailed across his back, and soon the pressure built back up and I felt like I was on the verge of an orgasm so strong it would shatter me into a million pieces. I clenched my legs around him, and my voice rose higher in pitch as his thrusts got harder, faster, and more desperate. He was closing in on a climax, too, and the knowledge that we were going to come together drove me even deeper into the spiral. Suddenly, the wave crashed over me, and I cried out as he sank into me and his body went stiff. His cock pulsed and throbbed as he came hard, and my body drained him.
18
Greg
The first thought when I woke up Sunday with Maya beside me was maybe I should have regretted it. She was the one who initiated everything, but that didn’t change that we had done the one thing we were never supposed to do. Not that we ever discussed it, but there was an unspoken agreement. We were friends, and that was it.
Our friendship had to transcend everything else, even if that was searing attraction and undeniable desire. We had only ventured close to even discussing that agreement one time. Just one time in our entire friendship, and it was a disaster. It went so poorly, in fact, for the last five years I had let Maya believe I didn’t even remember having the conversation with her.
And yet, here we ended up. When she rolled over and her warm, naked body pressed against mine, all that regret went away because I drowned it in desire. And I overrode all feelings of regret by kissing her.
I was so wrapped up in her that I didn’t even bother to go to the garage on Sunday. It didn’t upset me to think about the equipment still sitting around in the trucks, or my bike not getting cleaned and fixed immediately. For the first time ever, I didn’t have the compulsion to completely dismantle the week before so that I could start a new one fresh.
Being there with Maya was so much more important.
But then I woke up Monday morning right back in the well of potential regrets. I opened my eyes while she continued to sleep beside me. Maybe I manipulated her and took advantage of her still-fragile state. After all, she was scared and alone, and I offered her not only a place to live and be taken care of, but also friends and a pseudo family.
It would be easy to see where something like that could be seen as manipulation. Maybe she tumbled into bed with me because of built-up emotion, pain, and anger, and a desire to get back at Marshall. Wasn’t it the old adage that the fastest way to get over somebody was to get under somebody else?
Was that what was going on here?
At the same time, waking up with Maya cuddled up in my arms and her head rested on my chest after an entire day and night of lovemaking was pretty much the best outcome I could ever think of, so I couldn’t bring myself to really regret it. This was a moment I had been thinking about for years, even if I never said it. Even if I never even allowed myself to fully come to terms with it and admit it to myself, it was something I’d wanted for a long time.
I had to wait for Maya to wake up so I could see how she felt about it. This could really go either way. It was possible as soon as she was conscious and didn’t have the option of just lying in bed with me for the rest of the day, reality would strike. She could think through what happened between us over the course of the last thirty-six hours and decide she had made a mistake.
Or, she could be as happy about it as I was. The only real way to know was to ask her. She was still sleeping soundly in my arms, and I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want to disturb her, and I especially didn’t want to hasten her waking up and having that conversation if it was going to end badly. I just wanted to savor these moments for as long as they lasted.
It didn’t take much longer. She stretched, sliding languidly against the sheets and nuzzling her face down deeper into my chest. As she woke up, she tilted her head to look into my face. She blinked up at me, and a grin slid up across her lips.
�
�Good morning,” she murmured.
“Good morning,” I said softly. “You don’t need to get up yet. Get some more sleep. I have to get up and go to work, but you should rest.”
And it was all she needed to hear. Her eyes fluttered shut again, and it seemed that before I even got to my feet, she was deeply asleep again. She needed that rest. It was Monday, and she was due at the bar that night. If she didn’t get enough sleep, she wouldn’t be able to stick around all night and do what needed to be done.
I leaned down and touched a kiss to the middle of her forehead, then one to her lips before heading to the compound. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to getting to the garage. Unloading the truck and putting away all the equipment wasn’t my most favorite activity. It felt almost like a tease. I spent hours unloading everything but wasn’t able to actually ride.
One thing I had going for me was that my second bike was coming along extremely well. It wouldn’t be too much longer before it was finished, and I would be able to take it out onto the back roads to enjoy it. While I was designing it for the purpose of having a secondary race bike that could be used for specific tracks or riding techniques, I also wanted to be able to really have fun with it.
Unpacking the equipment was the perfect opportunity to talk to Gus and Kelly about the bike and get their input. I didn’t want them doing it for me or taking it over like a project. But I also didn’t want to take up time they needed for their own work. That meant walking back and forth hauling supplies and equipment was a chance to talk about it without it being a distraction.
I knew neither one of them would see it that way. If I asked for more help and input than they were already giving me, they would happily offer it. And if they were going too far and I told them to back down a little so I could do it myself, they would without question. I just never wanted to upset any of them.
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