by Lyla Grace
His hand caresses my hair. “Do you have any idea how amazing you are?”
“That good, huh?” I tease.
“You really can’t take a compliment, can you?” he asks.
And there is that uncomfortable little push I need to get away from him. I try to move, but he doesn’t let me. Instead he holds me close, forces me to look at him so I can really hear what he is saying. “The sex is amazing, Livie. But I was talking about you. You are amazing and beautiful and smart.”
“You don’t have to say that,” I say shyly.
“You’re right. I don’t. Actually, I don’t have to say anything. I’m saying it because I want to, because it’s true. And if no one has ever told you that before, then I’ll be damned if I am not going to tell you every chance I get.”
“Oh, yeah?” I try to sound playful, hide the emotions that are on the verge of seeping out. “What if I start to think I am too good for you, Stud?”
“You are, but hell if that’s going to stop me.” I laugh until I realize he’s serious. Shit.
Now I look like a damn crazy person--not that it’s the first time, I’m sure. His words leave me feeling raw and exposed. I just don’t get what it is that he sees in me, what he finds so amazing about me. “Sorry, I uh….”
“Don’t apologize. I get it. But you need to understand something.”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t give a damn what anyone else made you think about yourself. What I see is a gorgeous, strong woman. I intend on doing everything in my power to make sure that you see her, too.”
I squirm in his arms. This conversation has taken a turn I am not ready for. Why does he keep talking about the future? As though he believes this is something that’s going to continue, to last, to turn into something more.
I maneuver my body off of his. Wrapping a blanket around myself I sit in the corner of the couch. “I don’t do relationships, Landon,” I explain in hopes of getting him to back off.
He slides over next to me. “I know. You’ve told me. I’m not asking for that.”
“Then what exactly are you asking for?” I search his eyes looking for an answer, something to help me make sense of all this.
“You.” There is something in the way he says it that unnerves me.
“Just me? No relationship? However I want this to go? You’re willing to do that?”
“More than willing. But, I do have two conditions of my own,” he says. I raise an eyebrow. All he wants is me, but now there are conditions? This should be interesting. “One, you can do whatever you want; I just ask that you not do anyone else while we are still…you know.” I nod in agreement. “Two, I need you to trust me, Livie. I know you have a hard time trusting people, and with good reason. But I need you to understand that I will always be honest with you and I expect the same in return.”
Condition number two is a little harder to swallow. But the thought of being without him is worse. So I accept his terms. “Landon, are you sure about this?” If he wants me to be honest, then I will give him honest. “I don’t have a lot to offer you, aside from sex. I’m afraid you’re going to get hurt. And that is the last thing in the world I want to do.”
“I’m sure.” He kisses me soft and slow, sealing our arrangement, promising me that I am safe with him. A strange feeling washes over me; for the first time, I actually do feel safe.
Chapter 8
Landon
By no means am I complaining, but damn, this girl is running me ragged. I know she said I had to play by her rules, but who knew there was going to be so many? Apparently surprises are out. Flowers are a no-no. But sex in public, private, and anywhere else she deems necessary is a go. Again, I’m not complaining. But hell if I don’t feel a little used here. Though I have to admit when she showed up in the locker room, stark naked, up against my locker…well, hell if that isn’t every guy’s fantasy come true.
Flashback….
A long hot shower was just what I needed after a practice like that. Thank God the coach wanted to talk to me, because now the locker room is empty and I can take my time without listening to Ramirez talk about his new damn car or Chase talking about his newest sexual excursion. I make my way back to my locker, but I am most definitely not alone. There, with her right hand against the locker and her left one on her hip is one hell of a gorgeous and very naked Livie. “Hey stud.”
“Li…Livie? What the hell are you doing here? Where are your clothes?” What the hell is wrong with me? That should be the last question I am asking. I should be thanking God and whoever else helped in leading this woman to the decision to show up naked to surprise me. Yet, I still feel the urge to shield her from the prying eyes of the empty locker room.
“Well, after watching you shower, I had to take them off. It was getting too hot in here.”
“How did you get back here?”
“I have my ways.” She presses her naked body against me, nails gently sliding down my torso until they land on the towel, the only piece of fabric keeping me from what my now rock- solid cock desires, her tight wet pussy. She makes away with the towel, her hand taking hold of me. “Glad to see that despite your protests, you’re happy to see me.”
The feel of her hand on my cock, mixed with that challenging gleam in her eye, undoes me. I press her against the bay of lockers, my hands on either side of her face as she continues to stroke me. “You make me fucking crazy,” I breathe into her ear. “I can’t control myself around you.”
I take in her body with my eyes first, my hands following suit, tracing the outline of her curves until my hand reaches her hip. I slip my fingers between her folds and smile when I find her already wet and wanting, just as much as I am. Momentarily I take satisfaction in the fact that while I may not have all of her yet, I know that at least a part of her wants me as badly as I want her. Her hands release their grasp on me as my fingers assault her, coating her in her own juices. She grips the metal behind her as I can hear her sharply inhale. If this is the game she wants to play, I definitely plan on winning. I can feel her weaken as I stroke her, sliding another finger inside her. I reach my other arm around her waist to brace her.
“Trying to play dirty, gorgeous? I can play dirty too.” I remove my fingers from her and bring them to my mouth, tasting her, taunting her. “You taste so good.”
“Please, Landon,” she begs as her body writhes in my arms.
Checkmate; she wins. The sound of her voice when she begs is damn near an orgasm in itself. My hands are on her hips, digging into her flesh as I raise her up, her back firmly pressed against the side of the lockers. I can feel her legs lock tight around my waist.
“Say it again,” I command.
“Please, Landon.” In one swift thrust I bury myself deep inside her. “Fuck, Livie--you feel so damn good.” I hold still deep inside of her, allowing her body a moment to adjust to me all the while taunting her. Waiting for her to beg, to make her lose at her own game.
The words come quicker than I expect. “Fuck me, Landon,” she pleads.
I slowly start to slide out of her. “No, Landon, I need you. I need you deep in me, please.”
All restraint is lost at the sound of her begging. I heed her demand and thrust into her, deeper and harder this time. I can hear her gasp from the movement, her legs tightening around me, urging me to continue. Hell, there is no way I could stop now, not with how hot and tight she feels. I sink my teeth into her shoulder, trying to hold on. She feels too damn good, too damn everything right now. I don’t know how long I am going to last, here. I am delving deep into her, places I have never hit before. And then I feel it, I feel her tighten around me, her orgasm nearing, and there is no way in hell I can hold back now. She cries out, literally cries out, and it is the sexiest fucking sound I have ever heard.
“Holy fuck, Livie!” I pull her tight to me and ride out this simultaneous orgasm with her. And fuck if in that moment I didn’t just fall completely in love with her.
; We stay that way a few moments, trying to catch our ragged breath, not wanting to break this connection. When she looks at me, I can see the same raw emotion coursing through her that I feel in myself. I know she will never admit it, at least not yet, but it’s definitely there. So much is said in those moments of silence, so much more than words could ever speak. And when I see her cover her chest with her arms, vulnerability shining through, I kiss her, soft and slow. Such a vast difference from the fast and rough we just had.
“You are the sexiest fucking woman I have ever known.” It’s not what I want to tell her. But it’s the only thing I can express to her without spooking her. I watch as a slow smile spreads across her face, easing away the self-consciousness that had just been there. “You’re pretty damn sexy yourself, Stud.”
Now, as I walk back into the locker room after last night’s romp in there, I damn near blush. That is, until I see Ramirez leaning up against my locker. Luckily, the view of his hairy ass makes it easy to momentarily forget Livie. Like I said, momentarily.
“So, how are things with Matthews’ sister?” he asks
“Yeah, come on, Sutton. Give us some details,” Green urges.
“She is one fine piece of ass,” one of the guys yells from across the room.
“Yeah, I would hit that. Make her scream out my name,” Smith chimes in.
“I heard she gives the best fucking blow jobs…” Green says.
My vision blurs as the words Green just spewed send me into a blind rage. I have him and his big mouth pinned up against the damn wall in seconds. He wasn’t the only one making comments, but he was the closest. “Shut your fucking mouth. Do you hear me? No one, and I mean no one, talks about her like that.”
“What the hell is going on in here?” Coach asks as he enters the locker room with Chase following behind. “Matthews, get Sutton off of Green and get this shit under control. We have practice in five minutes, ladies.”
“Landon,” Chase warns. If he had heard what came out of Green’s mouth…Green would be dead. But his voice is the calming sound I need to shove myself off of Green.
“You ever fucking talk about her like that again…I will kick your ass. You hear me? She is not locker room talk,” I yell as I head back to my locker.
“You had to know they were going to give you some shit about this, right?” Chase asks.
“Giving me shit is one thing. Disrespecting her, that’s another.” I grab my gear and head out onto the field.
Practice is horrible. Though I definitely make sure to take my aggressions out on the guys, tackling their sorry asses to the ground every chance I have. Coach chews our sorry asses out on the field before we head back into the locker room. If we have any chance of making it to the Super Bowl, our practices need to go way better than they just did. The group of guys that played out there today were messy and pathetic. This is supposed to be our year. We have developed this team for the past four years, filled positions with the right guys; we know the drill like the back of our hand. Except today. Today we played worse than a fucking high school football team.
“Okay, you want to tell me what the fuck is going on?” Chase asks as he blocks me from entering the locker room.
“Seriously? I told you, they were talking shit about Livie. I’m not just going to stand by and let that happen,” I tell him. I am so frustrated with him that I want to explode--lay into him just the way I did the guys during practice. Because Chase is her brother, a very overprotective brother at that, and I don’t understand why he isn’t more pissed himself.
“I get it, and I don’t like it any more than you do, but is it really anything different from the shit they say all the time?” he asks.
“Just because you’ve turned into one of them, don’t give me this bullshit, Chase. Had they ever said anything about Harper like they said about Livie, you would have killed them.”
He nods in agreement. Maybe it’s not the best analogy. He and Harper were married; Livie and I are barely dating. But still. You don’t let people talk like that about someone you care about. He turns and heads into the locker room and hops up on one of the benches.
“Okay, assholes, here’s the deal,” Chase says when we are all back in the locker room, heads hung and beating ourselves up. I’m sure it’s going to be one of Chase’s famous pep talks. I have always envisioned him giving himself them in the mirror before each game--probably before each night out, too. The idea of his ever-so-confident ass pepping himself up brings me a little joy at his expense. Who am I to deprive myself of that? “You guys want to give Landon shit about having FINALLY gotten laid…be my guest. You disrespect my sister in any way, and I will help Landon beat all your asses one by one? Got me?” Chase hops off his high horse and back down to the ground and turns to me. “What you up to tonight?” he asks.
“Um…I was planning on going to see Livie.” I swallow hard.
“So are you two a thing now?” he inquires.
He has the right to ask. But how the hell do I answer? “I’m not sure. We’re, uh….”
“Friends with Benefits?” a low throaty chuckle comes out of his throat.
“Seeing where things go.” Sure, why not--that sounds good.
“So I guess that means you don’t want to be my wingman tonight, huh?” he asks.
“Since when does Chase Matthews need a wingman?”
“Since his best friend started banging his sister and he never gets to see him anymore.” Well, shit. I guess these past couple weeks I have been spending a lot of time with Livie.
“Actually, I think she said something about going out with Becca. I’m in, man,” I say as I slap him on the back.
I give Livie a quick call to let her know about the change in plans. Insatiable woman that she is, she uses every play in the book to try and get me to come over. Little does she know that as soon as I am able to ditch her brother, that is exactly where I intend to go. Chase may be my best friend, but Livie? She is a whole different story. Pretty sure amazing sex trumps best friend every time. At least it has for the past several months, in Chase’s case.
We walk into Shooters and Chase heads over to table in the corner. Shooters is a nice quiet bar filled with a bunch of people sitting around, bullshitting, watching a game on TV, the exact opposite of Chase’s typical scene as of late. Part of me worries something is wrong, but another part of me is hoping that the old Chase is finally coming back. I know what his divorce did to him; I had to watch it firsthand. Watching him self-destruct has been difficult, having to let it happen for him to be able to process and get through all this has been even worse.
“So what’s the deal?” I ask him.
“What do you mean?” he retorts.
“You miss me so much that you have to bring me to a nice quiet bar to spend time with me?”
“Miss your sorry ass? Never. I’m just a little burnt out on the club scene and the whole revolving door of women.”
“Your dick finally ran out of steam?”
“No, asshole, it didn’t. I just….”
“Just what?” I feel like I am on the cusp of breaking through to him.
His expression changes in an instant. He nods his head toward the door. “God, are you whipped. You plan this shit?” I turn to see what the hell he is talking about, and my eyes fall on Livie and Becca walking into the bar. I sure as hell didn’t plan it, but I couldn’t be happier to see her. Our eyes meet and a wicked smile crosses her face. I can’t help but watch her hips as she sashays our way.
“Hey, boys,” Livie greets us. She puts her arm around my neck and leans her body into me. “Mind if we join you?”
Mind? Of course I don’t mind. I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her onto my lap, keeping her close to me as possible. Chase, on the other hand might have a thing or two to say about it--but something is off with him tonight. He seems…preoccupied. “What are you guys doing here anyway? This isn’t your normal…” Livie’s voice drifts off as she watches Chase stare off into
the distance. “Who is she?”
I am a little confused until I realize her question is directed at Chase. Why hadn’t it dawned on me? This is about a girl. With Chase, it is always about a girl. I turn to follow his gaze that is clearly directed at a blonde that just walked in and took a seat at the bar.
“So you’ve been guilt-tripping me about Livie when this whole night was just a set-up to get you in some girl’s pants?” I ask. I can’t be angry, except maybe at myself. I know Chase well enough, and I shouldn’t be surprised that this is his end game.
“Who is she?” Livie asks.
I’ve never seen her before, and I can’t imagine how or why he would know that she would be here tonight. But Chase doesn’t answer.
“Fine, I guess I will find out for myself, then. Come on, Becca,” Livie says as she hops off my lap. My body instantly misses the connection.
“Ollie, no!” Chase shouts after her. “Will you control your woman?”
Laughter rings though my ears. Apparently Livie heard Chase’s comment. I can’t help but laugh myself. Livie is far from my woman, and even farther from being someone that anyone stops from doing anything. I can see Chase fidget in his seat. I’ve never seen the guy squirm before. Somehow, despite being in a monogamous relationship for the majority of his life, the guy has a way with women. He is the embodiment of a smooth operator. I don’t know what he would say or what kind of bullshit lines he gives them, but he always has them swooning within minutes.
That’s why I can’t put my finger on what’s different about this girl. Who exactly is she that he would step out of his comfort zone to meet her?
“Does this mean that the old Chase is back? That maybe you’re ready for a relationship?” I ask. It’s the only thing that makes sense, the only thing I can comprehend.
He bursts out in laughter. Okay, apparently I was way off base.