Her breath was ragged in my ear. We didn’t slow our movements or re-memorize the lines of our bodies this time. This was a climb to the top. A race to come hard and with the fever infecting us. I could erase the past. She could still be my future, I thought as I pumped inside her. Faster. Harder. She cried and screamed. Her nails, scaling my back.
“More,” she groaned, grinding her hips upward. “Jesus, Roman. It’s so good.”
“It’s everything,” I growled, mimicking her pleasure with my own.
I licked her throat, thrusting like a man possessed. The bed jerked hard enough to bump the bedside table, and both glasses of water fell to the floor. Sophie’s eyes darted to the broken shards, but I took her face in my hands, kissing her until I knew she couldn’t stop coming on my cock. Squeezing and sparing no mercy for me.
“Oh, fuck,” I growled in her ear. I gripped her wrists over her head. She took my ear between her teeth. How did I have this much self-control? I didn’t know, but the tightening in my spine was the last call to pull out before I erupted inside her.
I dragged my lips over her luscious mouth before I spilled my orgasm on her body again. I gulped as it sputtered from my body and coated her breasts, making her nipples glisten.
I groaned from exhaustion and satisfaction, my body splayed out next to hers on the bed.
“Sorry, you’re going to need another shower.”
Her head rolled sideways. Her fingers curled through mine. “Join me this time?”
I nodded and we walked to the shower.
* * *
I didn’t remember setting my alarm, but I was glad I had. I had to get my mom to work. She was never late. I couldn’t be the reason it happened for the first time in the nearly twenty years since she opened Sew Lovely.
There was a gorgeous woman in my arms. I hated to disturb her. I pressed a kiss on her temple. She only snuggled closer.
“Don’t do that,” I warned. “I already don’t want to leave.” Something about naked Sophie did things to me I couldn’t explain.
“Your mom, though,” she mumbled without opening her eyes. “Work…car…”
“Right.” I brushed my thumb over her lips. If I kept touching her, kissing her, studying her, I’d never get out of bed. I threw one leg on the floor. It was a test to see if the rest of my body would follow.
Sophie whined. “Will you come back?”
I gazed at her peaceful body. “Lunch?” I asked. “I’ll bring you lunch at the shop.”
She nodded, half into her pillow and half toward me. I leaned down, giving her another kiss before gathering my clothes. I threaded the T-shirt over my head and stepped into the jeans. I paused in the doorway, watching the way her body rose and fell with quiet breaths.
God, this girl had been my entire world for so long. It was always Sophie and hockey. How had I let it slip through my hands? I had everything once. I turned from the doorway and let myself out the kitchen door.
I jogged down the metal stairs, noticing rust spots every few steps. I wondered if the staircase was something I could help her fix. I crouched to eye one of the spindles near the joint where the final step met the asphalt. It looked weak and rusted through. One bump or a misstep and it could snap in half.
I stood and turned abruptly when it felt as if someone was watching me. I caught a whiff of cigarette smoke. He was maybe ten or twelve feet away, dark eyes set in a hard line in my direction.
“Can I help you with something?” I asked. I didn’t like how he stared at me. I didn’t like how he kept glancing at Sophie’s windows and back at me.
“I was about to ask you that.”
I shook my head. “No, I’m good, man.”
He seemed to be guarding the spot, or Sophie’s staircase. I was hesitant to leave. He puffed on the cigarette. From his casual stance, I thought he had been there a while. Maybe even watched me leave Soph’s apartment.
“You know Sophie?” he pressed.
I held my keys in my hand. I hadn’t made any movement closer to the Buick. “I do. You?”
He tossed the butt on the pavement and kicked it with the sole of his boot. “I work for her.”
“At Golden Page?” I raised my eyebrows. He seemed like an unlikely hire for Sophie. There was something dark about him.
“Surprised?” he challenged.
“The shop doesn’t open for a couple of hours. Just don’t know why you’re hanging out here so early. Inventory or something?”
“Sometimes I check on things for Sophie.” It was a vague explanation.
I wanted to question him, but the truth was I didn’t know this guy, and I didn’t know if what he said was true. Unless I marched back upstairs and roused Sophie from her sleep, I didn’t have a way to verify that this dick was for real. It was clear by the way his muscles tensed under his shirt that he was built and wasn’t intimidated by a guy my size. But was he someone Sophie leaned on now? A blue flame crept along his neck. It didn’t feel right.
“Six a.m. You must be dedicated.” I waited for his reaction. A clue that would tell me whether I needed to stick around a little longer.
“I do a lot around here.” He reached into his pocket for another cigarette, lit it, and tucked the lighter in his back pocket. “It was nice meeting you.” He nodded at me.
“Yeah. My name’s Roman Sorrow.” He hadn’t bothered to ask. It wasn’t often I threw my name around. Sometimes I kept it out of conversation. This time I wanted it to have an impact. “In case I see you again.”
“Russell.” He passed me, narrowly missing my shoulder when he walked by. A puff of smoke entered my space.
I waited before he was out of the parking lot before I opened the car door. He walked away, and it made me wonder how early he had walked over. I made sure he was out of my rearview mirror before I drove off in the Buick.
15
Sophie
The clock over the register ticked and tocked. I tried to look away, but I had a way of catching fleeting glances of the second hand every minute. If I was being honest with myself, I was scared shitless. Scared that lunch would come and go and Roman wouldn’t show up. He said he would, but he’d said a lot of things in the past.
Tick tock.
Tick tock.
There was a glaring difference this time. I had walked into danger willingly and knowingly. Trying to convince both of us I was comfortable whatever the outcome. One ex seeking a fun and nostalgic romp in bed with the other. It was every bit fun and every bit nostalgic. I hadn’t missed out on either of those components last night.
But what was the cost? Was it opening the lid on a box of memories? Was it persuading myself I could suddenly let go of one of the most powerful chapters in my life? What happened next? Had we written everything there was to write? I had a feeling we hadn’t.
I had been in a deep post-sex sleep haze when he left my bed. Could I have misunderstood about his offer to bring lunch?
Tick. Tock.
Tick. Tock.
I exhaled and bent over the counter, doubting everything I had said or thought in the past twelve hours.
Tick. Tock.
Tick. Tock.
The relief was as consuming as the anxiety when the door jingled and he walked through. I smiled wider than I intended. He’d be able to read my expression in two seconds, but my face couldn’t contain that I had been prepared for massive disappointment until I saw him.
He revealed a white paper bag that was hiding behind his back. “I’ve got lunch.”
“No tomatoes?”
“Never.” He sauntered toward me. The lunch looked more like a prize in his hand than a paper sack. “I’ll squish any tomato that tries to live on your sandwich.”
I giggled. “Chivalrous of you.”
He shrugged. “I try.” I saw the sexy sideways smirk on his lips. I wanted to hurdle over the counter and kiss him, but I found a way to stay steady. “The line at Danny’s was almost out the door,” he explained. “I guess people call
ahead or something.”
“Oh, yeah. They do. Only one place in town to get a club sandwich,” I reminded him. Lee regularly picked up lunch for Billy’s office. Orders were placed no later than 10:30.
“I don’t know what I was thinking.” His eyes trailed to register. “Do you close for lunch? Do you have a clerk or something?”
“I can flip the sign around. Steal fifteen or twenty minutes.” I rounded the corner and turned the sign on the door so that it read Sorry We’re Closed to anyone who passed on the sidewalk. I clicked the lock in place.
I didn’t know why that one single sound echoed between us. It seemed like I had made an announcement. A declaration to Roman. He heard it, too. With one giant step, he closed the gap and pulled me toward him. I circled his neck as his lips crashed into mine.
I moaned when his mouth moved with precision, kissing and biting the corners of my lips. The pencil fell from my bun, and my hair cascaded down.
“We. Should. Move.” I wrapped my legs around his waist when he hoisted me in the air.
There was something stalling him. He looked at the white bag on the counter.
“We need that,” he growled into my ear.
“I’ll eat the sandwich later,” I whispered, knowing I was already too needy for anything other than his body.
He shook his head, taking a step backward and plucking the diner bag. He held me close with his other hand. “Trust me. You’re going to be interested in my first stop this morning.”
“Ohh?” I dove toward his mouth, kissing him, tasting him, devouring him. This was all I was interested in.
Roman staggered toward the back of the store. We plowed into a wall, and the Charlotte’s Web display fell over.
“Sorry,” he mumbled.
“Leave it,” I begged. His hand was climbing up my backside, gripping my ass with firm squeezes. I began rocking into him, oblivious to the world going on outside this sphere of heat and sex.
Roman pressed me into the wall, unzipping his jeans and shrugging them down his solid thighs. I was desperate for him. To feel him consume me and lay claim to me again. He grinned as I heard the sound of foil tearing.
“Did you stop at Johnson Brothers?” I asked.
He nodded, and I knew he was rolling the condom over his shaft. “First errand of the day. Corner pharmacy.” He pried the thin fabric of my panties to the side to gain access.
“Oh, shit,” I groaned as I braced for the collision. He gripped my waist and sank me onto him entirely and fully. I stretched and pulsed around his generous cock. I was sore in places I had forgotten until Roman reintroduced me to them last night. But this was good pain. Exquisite pain as our bodies melted together.
He rocked into me. “Fuck me, Soph. This is insane.”
I unclasped my hands from his neck and flattened them on the wall, gripping for leverage. I didn’t care that we had torn down book posters and destroyed half the children’s section. We were far from the windows. Roman was inside me. I couldn’t think of a single thing I cared about other than this.
He rooted deeper and deeper. I groaned for him to release me. To ride up the cliff and drop us off the other side.
He panted into the side of my neck. “Fuck, I’m going to come.”
I nodded, signaling I was on the verge, too. The tingling in my toes was spreading like a spiderweb along my thighs and wrapping my core, pulling my nerve endings in opposite directions.
“Oh, God, Roman.” I slammed my hands on the wall as I came in multiple waves.
He growled, pushing into me. Thrusting with the force of his entire body at his disposal. Pinning me to the wall. Holding me. Keeping me from falling.
Our foreheads met as he grunted a few short breaths, and I knew he had come. I smiled, and he kissed me. I expected him to drop my feet to the floor, but he growled a low sexy, sound and curled his hands around my back. It was as if he was inhaling me.
“I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning, but I really don’t want to move now.”
I bit my bottom lip. “I don’t think we can stay next to Peter Pan like this.” I giggled. His jeans had fallen to his ankles, and he had pushed my dress above my ass. I knew I’d feel the wall burn tomorrow, but I didn’t care.
“Peter had a thing for the mermaids, didn’t he?”
I laughed. “You remember that.”
He nodded. “How many times did you drag me to those after-school sessions?”
I gazed into his eyes. “As many as I could before or after hockey practice.” I brushed a damp tendril of hair off his forehead. I liked the longer layers on him. I was getting used to it. Part of me liked that there was something new about him.
“The Dires made me choose a charity. Community volunteer work. We all do it.”
“Oh, really?”
“I chose the kids’ reading program. Almost the same setup we did in college. The only difference is there are cameras now, and parents want my autograph.”
“Do you still read Winnie the Pooh?” I asked. I couldn’t believe he volunteered in a literacy project. I didn’t care if it was forced.
“Sometimes.” He smiled. “Sometimes I do, Soph.”
I sighed. Why couldn’t it have stayed like this?
He carefully lowered me to the floor. I felt heavier once my feet were no longer in the air. I wiggled my panties and dress back in place while Roman hustled to the bathroom for a second. I had set up our sandwiches in front of the bean bags when he returned.
“This okay?” I asked.
He dropped into one of the bean bags. “Did I get the order right?”
“Yes. No tomatoes and extra bacon.” I was famished. I had been too nervous to eat breakfast this morning. I was operating on sex fumes, and I needed food.
Roman extended his long legs in front of him. He practically took up half the play area. I wasn’t going to feel guilty for how we had defiled this space. Next time, we should try the vampire romance collection. Next time? I was already going there.
He took a bite of the club sandwich. “I’m glad you opened the door last night.”
“I am, too.”
“Because you didn’t have to. I didn’t think you would.”
I broke off a piece of bacon. “I almost didn’t.”
“Dinner was good, too.”
I nodded. “It was. The best margaritas I’ve had at Sombreros.”
He shook his head. “I just still can’t believe it.”
“Believe what?”
“You watched game seven.”
I swallowed. “Not the others, but that one, yes. I watched it with the entire town it felt like.” I placed the layers of club sandwich on the wax paper.
“What did you think?” His voice was low and dark. I saw the deeper shades of cobalt in his eyes.
“I thought you played hard. I thought the Dires were going to win. Everybody did.”
“No. What did you really think? What did you think about me?”
My gaze dropped to the floor. “The truth?”
“I can take it.” He pulled open a bag of chips and scattered a few for us to share.
“It felt like I had lost. Like someone had ripped a lung out of my chest. Like I couldn’t take a breath without searing pain.” I thought I had cried my last tear over hockey. Now one filled my bottom lids and dared to spill onto my cheeks. “All I could think about was you. How you were feeling. How you blamed yourself. How you wouldn’t forgive yourself for that goal. How you probably thought the Stanley Cup was yours to win or lose.” I finally lifted my eyes to his and the tears released.
“Soph…”
I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, sniffing awkwardly. I exhaled. “That’s the last thing I ever thought I’d tell you. Admit that hockey was still under my skin. That maybe you are a little, too.”
“It hit you that hard? Even now?”
I nodded. “So how far off was I? How bad was it that night after you lost?”
“Soph, I need to tel
l you something. About why I’m—”
We jumped when the banging started. “Oh, shit.” I leapt from the bean bag and peeked around the corner. We were completely blocked from sight, but there were three moms on the sidewalk with strollers, and two were holding toddlers. I counted seven little ones total.
“Anyone in there? Hello?” They were relentless.
“It’s the mommy playdate group,” I groaned. “I completely forgot. Quick, grab the trash and the sandwiches. I’ll let them in if you can handle this. I’ll try to stall for a few seconds.” Thank God we were dressed.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got it.”
I turned around. “Oh, and tell Peter not to tell.”
He laughed, and I dashed toward the door.
16
Roman
“How are you spending your time in Penny Hill? You’ve been home a few weeks now.” Dr. Falcon sat comfortably on a couch across from me. The window framed her head. I didn’t know if the sunlight backlighting her made her appear more angelic or not.
I’d been cautious, extremely careful to keep private details to myself every time we met. Dr. Falcon didn’t seem to mind. She asked the same series of questions each session. I gave vague, impersonal information.
I took a drink of water. “Actually, I’ve been hanging out with someone.”
“Oh?” Her facial expression didn’t alter much. “What do you and the someone do when you hang out together?” There was an even tone in her voice. Always calm. Always focused. Never too pushy.
“Drinks. Dinner.” I left out the sex.
“Sounds like maybe these are dates.”
“I think they are.”
“So it’s a woman.” One of Dr. Falcon’s eyebrows arched higher than the other.
“Yeah. It’s a woman.” I rubbed my hands together. My stomach suddenly churned. I hadn’t mentioned Sophie before.
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