by Jessa York
“Miss Ivy is sending an SOS from the lobby. We need to skedaddle,” Alex announced, shooing us out the door.
“Oh, there you are, sweetheart,” Evan’s mom said to Holly as we walked down the winding set of stairs. Holly was right, she didn’t look her in the eyes.
We greeted each other as Evan made the introductions. “You look stunning,” he whispered into Holly’s ear before kissing her cheek. My heart melted as I watched her gaze up at him, her eyes filled with love.
“Are you drunk?” she asked sarcastically, poking him in the chest.
“Only on you,” he said, kissing her lips this time. I felt a bit like I was eavesdropping, seeing as I stood on the other side of Holly so hearing their conversation wasn’t difficult.
“Stop, your mother already thinks I’m a trollop,” she said, making Evan chuckle in his deep voice.
He grabbed her hand, pulling her closer. “You’ve picked up the best vocabulary in England. I love it. Don’t worry about my mother. She’ll get over it.”
One of the house staff opened the gargantuan front doors. All of us looked at it, glad for the distraction. As soon as I saw who was walking in, I nearly fainted right there. “Jake, buddy,” Evan said, dragging Holly behind him. “I’m so glad you guys could make it.” He shot his hand out first to Jake then to Melanie.
Panic swelled inside me, my stomach clenching as my eyes froze on the sight before me. Oxygen was suddenly in scarce supply. I forced air into my unmoving lungs so I wouldn’t faint.
“Wouldn’t miss it, man. My friend gets engaged, I’m there,” Jake said, slapping him on the back. “Holly, this is my fiancée, Melanie.” As they all said hello, Alex slithered up beside me, gripping my arm.
“Did you know they’d be here?” he asked, a grim look on his face.
Turning my head, I spoke into his ear. “No, I didn’t know he and Evan were besties.” And I hadn’t. Holly had been gone for months. She’d never mentioned any of Evan’s friends. Had she?
“Oh honey,” he said, draping his arm around me. “This majorly sucks right now. Do you want to leave?”
I wanted to leave on the first flight to Australia and never look back. “And miss Holly’s engagement party?” I looked at him as I tried stoically to hold back the tears I felt behind my eyes. “Never. This is her day.”
He hugged me hard. “If at any time this evening you want me to do some ass kicking just let me know.” That made me snort despite my heart breaking even more.
“I remember that,” Melanie said as she, Jake and Evan all cracked right up.
“And then Evan came out of the locker room in his birthday suit.” Jake slapped his hand down on the table making the dishes clatter.
“Yeah, that was real cool, jerk,” Evan said, taking a breath between laughing.
“I taught you a valuable lesson in how to lock your locker,” Jake said, making them all burst out again. Melanie put her arm around Jake’s waist as she sat beside him. His arm naturally curled around her shoulders.
My body locked up with rage as I sat there, a captive witness, watching the man I wanted currently snuggling up with another woman. I so wished I could pick up the heavy, crystal water pitcher in front of me and chuck it at Jake’s head.
Evan took a drink from his wine glass. “A simple reminder would have sufficed,” he said, looking at Jake over his glass.
“But it wouldn’t have been near as fun,” Jake chided him back.
“Christ on a cracker, they are one tight circle,” Alex whispered to me, nodding toward the friends seated down from us. “The professor doesn’t seem to be uncomfortable with your presence at all. Permission to kick his ass?”
The nausea I felt right now, observing Jake and his fiancée laugh and joke so easily together with Evan and Holly was getting worse. There was no way I could eat. Smiling over at Alex, I said, “You’re a really good friend, you know that?”
“Umm, yeah, I know that,” he said, bobbing his head back and forth. “Just say the word and I’ll get up in that man’s business.” His words were comforting but my stomach was still unsettled.
“If you’ll excuse me,” I said to those around me as I stood, eager to take a break from this dinner party. After asking one of the attendants where the restroom was, my head began to feel dizzy. The facilities were further than I thought, or maybe I made a wrong turn in this huge place.
Entering the bathroom, I was relieved to see a couch. I chuckled, thinking this bathroom was actually nicer than my house. The front half was carpeted in thick, plush, dark pink. Alex would love this.
The wallpaper displayed large, graphic, pink roses sitting on a black background. As I rested on the lush couch, I took off my shoes. My feet seemed swollen inside of them. Who knew your feet got fat when the rest of you did? Sitting back, I dug inside my purse for something sweet. Mmm, a sucker would do the trick.
I ripped off the clear plastic, enjoying the strawberry flavor as it invaded my mouth. The silence in here was a nice contrast to the noisy table I’d just left. How Jake could act so normally when I was sitting there only a few seats away dumbfounded me.
Our tutoring sessions had been few and far between the last week since our make out incident at my house. I’d stayed after class a couple of times. George wanted help as well, so she made a nice buffer for us. Her down-home attitude and humor made me feel as comfortable as I possibly could under the circumstances.
My phone bleeped in my purse, making me groan.
Alex: Girl, where you at?
Me: Bathroom.
Alex: I went searching for you there. Did you leave?
Me: I think I walked three blocks to find this bathroom. So maybe?
Alex: ARE YOU STILL IN THE HOUSE?
Me: Yeah, yeah. I’m taking a break from the “fun”.
Alex: I covered for you as well as I could. Get your ass into the living room, STAT. You’ve been gone half an hour.
Me: Which living room?
I must’ve passed at least two rooms that I would define as living rooms on my way here.
Alex: Sigh. The one with all the people. Now hurry up!
Darn, my reprieve was officially over. Standing up, I fixed my dress, making sure everything was in place. My feet protested as I shoved them back into the too tight shoes. Looking in the mirror, I liked what I saw. Alex had done a fabulous job on my hair.
A couple more hours. I could do that.
Sucking up my pride, I opened the door slowly, hoping nobody would see me. Poking my head out, I distinctly heard Jake’s voice. Spotting him over by a huge window with Melanie, I quickly ducked back into the bathroom.
My heart pounded in my chest, but I didn’t close the door to give them any privacy. As if seeing them snuggled up together at the table wasn’t bad enough, now I was going to hear them talk their lovey dovey words to each other.
A sane person would close the door.
“I can’t do this anymore, Mel. I have to tell her what we’ve been doing.”
She grabbed his arm, her eyes wide. “You can’t. My parents will disown me if they find out about me and Angelique. Who will cover for us?”
His hand slid overtop of hers. “You’ll have to figure something else out. I’ve got to move on. I can’t keep doing this indefinitely—pretending like this anymore. There’s someone in my life now.”
My stomach twisted at his words. Had he been covering for Mel and her lover?
“Your student?” she asked in a hushed voice. “The girl from your childhood? How long do you think that will last?”
“I’m in love with her, Mel.”
Oh my gosh, what did he just say? Butterflies took up residence in my belly.
Melanie stepped back like he’d shot her. “You—what?”
He moved forward. “I honest to God love her. Everything about her.”
I gasped, clutching my hand to my chest as I struggled to breathe. Jake loved me? Me? My heart beat double time as though it was trying to jump right o
ut.
Melanie drew in a sharp breath, covering her mouth with her hands. A noise similar to a sob exploded from her lips. Then she launched herself into his arms. “I’m so happy, Jake. Oh my God, I can’t even believe this.” She kissed him on the cheek. “I thought you were just being—you. If I’d known you were serious about her—” Jake set her down. “What am I going to do?”
“You and Angelique will figure it out. I can’t stay away from Paige anymore, Mel. It physically hurts not to touch her and be with her how I want.”
I could feel tears threaten behind my eyes. His words had completely overwhelmed me.
“Look at you all Mr. Romantic. She must be—hey, did you say, Paige?” she asked him, head quirked to the side.
“Yeah, the one that’s here.”
“How’s that for coincidence?” she hugged him again, then their words were too hushed for me to hear. My world spun around me. Jake loved me. I smiled for the first time in what felt like forever—probably looking like a big idiot but I didn’t care.
Melanie hurried off down the hall as Jake watched her. He twisted around, heading in my direction. Instead of ducking back into the bathroom, I leaned on the doorway, doing my best to strike a pose. From the look on his face, it was a good one.
He halted in the middle of the hallway, his eyes running down my body then back up again. “Professor Richter? I have a problem I need your help with.”
“Is that right?”
“Mmm hmm,” I said, backing up, holding the door open. “Come here and I’ll show you.”
He smiled the most handsome smirk at me. “I’ll see what I can do to help.”
Striding forward, he took my breath away as he grabbed my waist, picking me up. When his mouth crashed down on mine, the tears stinging the back of my eyes lost the battle. “Did you hear us?” he asked, kissing down my neck, causing a serious ache down below.
“You love me?” I asked, running my fingers in his hair.
“Paige Flores,” he said, kissing me lightly on the lips. “I love you, and I love your bogus Monopoly rules, and your shameless Battleship cheating. I love how stubborn you are because it makes you equally as passionate in bed. I love how hard you work and never give up even when most people would have. And I love how hot you look in that dress and those heels.”
Backing up, I smiled, wiping my eyes. “This old thing?”
“Yes.” Jake’s eyes raked me from head to toe.
“Lock the door, Jake.” Then I started unzipping the side of my dress, letting it fall to the floor. Stepping out of it, I walked backward to the couch as he slipped the lock shut with a clink.
“You are so beautiful, Paige. I can’t tell you how hard it’s been to stay away from you.”
“I thought you were going to help me with my problem?” I said, bending my arms behind me, undoing my bra. Once it was off, I dropped it beside me. The cool air made my nipples hard instantly.
He swallowed before pushing away from the door. Stalking toward me with an almost feral look in his eyes, he took his suit jacket off tossing it on the floor. “You forgot something, Miss Flores. Let me help you with these.” Kneeling down in front of me, Jake’s fingers caught in the waistband of my thong, slowly sliding it down my legs.
Soon, his mouth was on my core as his powerful hands held me to him no matter how much I squirmed. Jake licked around my throbbing bundle of nerves, careful not to add too much pressure. I held onto his hair pulling him closer. One hand curved up the back of my thigh until his fingertips dug into my ample butt cheek. He forced my pussy harder against his hungry mouth. I nearly detonated on impact.
Laying me down on the couch, he stood, taking off his shirt. The muscular chest and arms I’d been dreaming about exposed. Much too slowly, Jake’s hands found the latch on his belt, undoing it.
“I need to be inside you,” he said, taking his wallet from his pocket. Once he was covered, he laid on top of me, spreading my legs. “Tell me if you need me to stop,” he said as I felt him right there, ready to take me.
The vein on the side of Jake’s neck pulsed in time with his cock now against me. He ran the head of it up and down my slit, wetting it. There was no way I could suppress the groan that had bubbled up. “I’m not a unicorn anymore, Professor Richter. Go for it.” I smiled at him.
“You’ll always be my unicorn.” Then he drove inside of me hard, not soft and slow like all those months ago. The shock of having Jake inside of me again was accompanied by a fleeting moment of pain as my body adjusted to his size.
It didn’t take long to get used to his steady rhythm while he pushed in and out of me. “I missed you so much,” he whispered, not interrupting his movements one bit. His manly, musky smell filled my senses, intoxicating me.
His hand traveled up my ribs, grasping my breast. He cupped it, lowering his mouth. Arching my back, I helped him get there more quickly. Heat coiled in my belly as his tongue swept over my nipple, flicking it. Then his hot, panting mouth covered it, sucking in deep.
A flood of wetness escaped as my walls tightened around him. “You’re so wet, baby,” he murmured against my breast. Moving to my other nipple, he grazed it tenderly with his teeth before licking around it. “These tits of yours are incredible.” His mouth sucked my nipple, creating an electric shock of sorts directly to my clit.
“Jake, oh God, yes,” I moaned while he picked up his pace almost immediately. His mouth found mine, kissing me or punishing me. I wasn’t sure which.
“I’m going to blow my load, baby. I can’t hold off. Come with me,” he grunted, threading our hands together, raising them above my head. Beads of sweat formed on his chest as it rubbed against my breasts.
“Yes, right there,” I gasped when he hit a spot inside of me that had me seeing sparks. My pussy clamped down on his cock, sending him over the edge.
Letting out a breath he’d been holding, Jake plunged inside me, gasping as he came. It was a spectacular sight—his big, strong body overtop of me, finding his release.
He kissed my face, then down my neck. Gazing at me he said, “I love you.” His lips touched mine before moving back a bit. Opening his mouth to speak again, he was interrupted by a banging on the door.
My eyes widened as I said, “Oh no.”
Jake slid out of me then dealt with what he needed to do. I scrambled around on the floor looking for all of my unmentionables before pulling on my dress. “Slow down, you’ll rip it.” Jake came up behind me, fixing the shoulder straps. He moved my hand away from the zipper so he could take over. After my dress was done up, he kissed my cheek. “I think we’ve been caught. Are you ready for this?” he asked, grabbing both of my hands with his as his head cocked toward the door where there was now non-stop knocking.
“Not really.” I sighed, squeezing his hands. Jake smiled down at me, leading me to the door as he unlocked it.
It practically burst open on us. “Oh my God, why was this locked for so long? You weren’t answering your phone, we were worried you’d—” Alex stopped dead in the middle of his questioning when Jake appeared behind me.
“She’s fine. I was just helping her out with something,” he said, rubbing his hands on my shoulders then down my arms.
I was pretty sure Alex’s eyes were going to pop right out. “Jake, what the fuck?” Evan said from further in the back.
“Evan, language,” his mother said, tsking him.
“Christ on a cracker, there’s more action going on in this house than a bunch of Labradors at a sweat sock convention,” Alex said.
“Shows over, everyone. Paige is found. We can all go back to the living room for drinks,” Evan’s dad said, attempting to get everyone moving.
“The show’s just starting. And apparently, you’re the star. Come with me, missy,” Alex said, grabbing onto my arm, removing me from Jake’s grasp. I swung my head back to look at Jake but he was busy dealing with Evan who was now up in his face.
What a mess.
28
&nbs
p; Jake
“Were you going to keep up the ruse forever?” Paige asked, my hand trailing over her hip which made it rather difficult to concentrate.
After Evan had reamed my ass out, I somehow was able to sneak Paige out of his place. I’d have to call him tomorrow and smooth things over.
All I was thinking about at the time was getting my woman back to my place and continuing with our much needed make up sex. Which is exactly what we’d done. Twice.
I brought her hand to my mouth, kissing her very purple mood ring.
Chuckling, I answered her, “I didn’t think about how long we’d keep it up for.” And that was the God’s honest truth.
“Would you have married her?” Paige’s gorgeous eyes peered up at me.
“No, sweetheart, I wouldn’t have married Mel. I’m a good beard but not that good.”
“Why didn’t she just tell her parents? I mean, so what if they’re mad? They’ll have to eventually give in and accept her.”
Her views on the world were sometimes so idealistic. It made my heart happy to know people like her still believed human beings were mostly good. “Mel’s parents are very—traditional. They would never accept who she really is.”
“They’re bigots who would rather lose their daughter than try to understand her?” Paige’s face contorted into an angry, venomous look.
I nodded my head, watching as her eyes filled with tears. “If my kid told me they were gay, I’d love them no matter what.”
Wiping Paige’s cheeks with my thumbs, I said, “Of course you would.” My eyes jumped all around her face, taking in every nuance. I hated that she was sad enough to cry. But I loved how protective she was of Mel, even though they’d never even had a conversation.
“Why are they so mean?” she sniffed, laying her head back on my chest. Her arm hugged me as her fingertips dug hard into my flesh.
If only I had an answer for her. “They are a very powerful family. She’s expected to carry on the family name and their history.”