The Perfect Wave

by A. J. Pryor

  “How did she have access to that kind of money?”

  “Roan, my daddy is a billionaire, so we all have access to more money than most people see in a lifetime.”

  “You mean your parents never monitored what you were spending?”

  “It happened right after her eighteenth birthday so she had full use of her trust fund. My parents had no clue.”

  “So if your sisters are so bad, why are you the black sheep?”

  “Because I’ve walked away from it, to do my own thing. My mother has no idea how my sisters behave. They act like the perfect Baker girls she wants them to be while I won’t put on a show anymore.”

  “Jess, don’t ever stop being you.”

  I had to smile. “I promise I won’t.”

  For the rest of the week, I tried to avoid my mother as best I could, but she was bound and determined to bring every single uptight male into the house she could find. Each night at dinner, there was a new man waiting to meet the Baker girl who had arrived from California. It was as if we lived in the 1800s—so ridiculous. Luckily, Ivy’s reputation preceded her, and even though these men knew they’d been invited to meet me, their eyes were on my sister, and she did not disappoint. Our pool house got a lot of action during my visit.

  By Friday, I couldn’t wait to get home. I had bonded with my sisters, which was a pleasant surprise, but I needed to get away from my mother’s plans for my life. Daddy insisted I take the jet home—he wouldn’t hear of me flying commercial if he could help it.

  As I was walking out the front door, my mother stopped me.

  “Jessica,” she said, “I hope you take into consideration what we talked about. That boy you’re so involved with will not be welcomed. I’ve already done some digging, and I don’t like what I see. You need to remember this is your family and your home. I know you’re an adult, but do you really want to throw your family to the side for a boy who I can guarantee you will not live up to your expectations? Trust me; I’ve been there myself. That boy is going to break your heart.” She was so sure, it gave me pause. I hoped I was not making the biggest mistake of my life by handing my heart over to Roan. Because at this point, I couldn’t get it back.

  was stoked - both potential clients I’d met with in Mammoth signed on to work with me! One guy consistently rated as the top up-and-coming boarder of the year. The kid was only sixteen, and, if it all worked out, I would take his career and skyrocket him to fame. His talent spoke for itself; I needed to get his face out there, so he could develop a fan base beyond the locals on Mammoth Mountain. He would train all year and hopefully be able to enter the X Games the following January.

  Pulling into my driveway late at night, I wasn’t surprised to find Jess waiting for me on my front porch. We’d talked for much of my drive home and only hung up when I was thirty minutes away from Venice. I’d have to get her a key. There was no need for her to be outside in the cold.

  Five nights away from her, and I couldn’t keep my hands off her when I saw her. As I drove into my driveway, she followed me into my garage, and without thinking, I pulled her into my Land Cruiser.

  “I missed you, Locks.”

  Straddling me while I still sat in the driver’s seat, her hands ran through my hair. Our lips collided and she eagerly began to grind her body into mine. “Come on, Locks, let’s go inside.”

  Shaking her head no, and unbuttoning my pants, she breathlessly said, “I don’t want to wait another minute.” Placing her hand on the garage door opener and pressing the button, I heard it close behind us. I lifted myself so she could slide my pants down my hips.

  “In the car? You want me to take you here?” I asked as I frantically stripped, thrilled at the idea of doing it in a car – something I hadn’t experienced since high school. It was awkward then; now, it was smoking hot. My cock sprang free, and within seconds, she lowered herself onto it. She was wearing a dress and clearly nothing else.

  I groaned as all her slick folds enveloped me. Her heat, which had been burning before was blazing now. I could feel every one of my nerve endings stroke her as she fit herself perfectly along my shaft. This was pure bliss.

  I held her hips tight, hoping I wasn’t causing any bruises, but there wasn’t a lot of space to move, and she was driving me mad. Her lips didn’t leave mine as she continued to slowly ride me. I ran my hand behind her and grabbed on to her backside, squeezing her butt cheeks and moving my finger along the seam of her rear. Her insides clenched around me and my eyes rolled back as intense pleasure rocked down my legs and up my spine.

  “Oh my God, Roan, what are you doing?”

  She was shocked to feel my finger back there, but she didn’t stop sliding along the length of me. “Just feeling around. Locks, don’t worry. I won’t push any further than this. Relax and enjoy it.”

  “I’m not worried. I’ve never . . . never felt so . . . wow, whatever you do, don’t stop!” Her eyes closed, and her movements became more focused and precise. She knew exactly what was going to tip her over the edge, and I was going with her.

  “Locks, I’m gonna come any second.” My legs were tensing beneath her, my hips bucking up into her as I tried to get as deep as possible.

  “Me, too,” she screamed as her body trembled and her insides gripped me, coming hard. I released, electricity shooting through my veins, sweat coating my skin and my arms firmly encircling her.

  “I have wanted to do that since the first time I saw you drive up in this car. You have no idea how hot you look in this thing, Roan. Like some rugged man from the wild.”

  “Locks, you can welcome me home like this anytime.”

  I held her to me and ran my hand over her hair. “I really missed you this week.”

  She looked up at me, a smile playing at her lips. “Show me your house, Roan. I’ve never been inside before.”

  Venice Beach was an eclectic city bursting with artists, surfers, and students. It was a luxury to live on the canals alongside successful artists. I’d bought the house for a steal, the owner needing to move suddenly. It had been updated a few years prior, giving it all the modern amenities, including granite and stainless steel in the kitchen and marble in the bathrooms. There were sliding glass doors leading out to a patio that overlooked the canals. Many days I would sit there and watch the ducks in the water or the artists walking along the bridges and sidewalks. I loved it, and from the expression on Jess’s face, it seemed she did too.

  It was definitely a bachelor pad and had absolutely no feminine touch. Decorated with memorabilia from my clients’ wins and photos of endorsements I’d secured for them. There was also an entire bragging wall for Blake’s accomplishments. I would have loved to represent him post-college, but he would be better off with someone more specialized in his sport. I had already lined him up with a friend of mine at a partner agency who couldn’t wait to get his hands on Blake as he neared graduation.

  I gave Jess the five-minute tour, which ended at my bed. Our bodies once again merging together in a tidal wave of heat and passion.

  It was late, I had no idea what time, but Jess was resting her head on my shoulder. A few times, I felt her almost fall asleep, her body relaxing deep into mine. Then she’d stir and snuggle in deeper. In her sleepy daze she whispered, “You are the love of my life, Roan Anders.”

  I nuzzled my face in her hair and breathed her in. “Where do you see yourself in five years, Locks?”

  She wrapped a leg around mine. “Here. Hopefully, right here.”

  I smiled and kissed the side of her head.

  “What about you, Roan. What are your dreams for the future?”

  I stared at the ceiling and thought about how my life had changed so much since I met Jessica. A few years ago, my answer would have been to travel the world, and take my clients to places they hadn’t been before, making them as successful as possible, while I surfed in every remote destination. Most of that had already come true for me and now that this precious girl was in my arms, I needed t
o re-evaluate what was important. I looked down at her face, knowing she was waiting for an answer. “One day, I want to own my own agency. I hope Blake finds something he’s good at besides football, in case he doesn’t make it pro. Most importantly, Locks, I want to mesh my life with yours.”

  “You’ve got that last one covered,” she said with a smile, wrapping her body as close to mine as humanly possible.

  “I hope so, Locks.”

  “You never mention your parents. You talk as if Blake is your son.”

  I sighed and pulled her close to me. “They’re around.”

  She turned and looked at me, her eyes catching mine and in their silent way asking me to continue.

  “Hard to believe, but Blake was sick a lot as a kid. He’d get these extreme fevers, sometimes go into seizures. My parents were still together then and they were attentive to us. Nevertheless, I loved Blake fiercely, yes, as if he was my own; I was eleven years older. When he’d wake up in the middle of the night burning up, I knew what to do; I’d be there first for him. As much as I liked taking care of him, I also liked that feeling it gave me – like I was making a difference for the first time in my life.

  “It kind of became our thing. So I’ve always tried to be that person, the one who never lets him down, because my parents did a crap job of letting him know he was number one.

  “They were great parents when I was a kid and they were pretty good for the first part of Blake’s life. It wasn’t until he was around eight, all hell broke loose in my family. I was at college and didn’t realize how bad it was at home for him with our parents hating on each other. He really needed me, but I wasn’t there.”

  She moved on top of me, her entire body spread out across mine, which made me laugh. She was offering me comfort for something that felt like a lifetime ago. I wrapped my arms around her as she laid her head on my shoulder.

  “Why was it so bad? What did they do?”

  “Well, my mom cheated on my dad, and he found out. Dad was too heartbroken to watch out for Blake, and my mom was relieved she’d been caught and could escape the demands of motherhood and being a wife. So, she didn’t care what affect her actions had on Blake. When he was ten, their divorce finalized. At that point, Blake had begun to act out in school, had terrible manners, and was failing the fifth grade. I came home for the summer, moved in with my mom, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do, and set him straight.”

  She tried to hide her yawn and squeezed me hoping I would continue. “How did you get him to shape up?”

  “You sure you want to know?”

  She nodded her eyes wide.

  I continued, “By showing him photos of all the girls I’d slept with and telling him his only chance was if he went to college. If he got shitty grades and acted like an ass, no girl would get within a ten-mile radius of him.”

  She sat up, glared at me, and exclaimed, “Roan, he was ten!”

  “I know, so stupid. But I also told him to throw his excess energy into something he was good at—football.” I pulled her back down and kissed the top of her head.

  I could have told her about Luana, in fact, this would have been the perfect time—but I didn’t.

  woke up and wanted to get some waves in before I started my day. I left Jess asleep in my bed. When I’d been in the ocean for at least an hour, I was ready to go back home and crawl under the covers with my girl.

  It was a cold morning, and only a few other people were out. My body was frozen. After I peeled my wetsuit off and zipped up my hoodie, I wrapped a towel around my waist so I could change into my shorts, and then I was ready to head home.

  Quietly I walked into my house, not wanting to wake Jess if she was still asleep. I shivered as my wet hair dripped down my back. The house was quiet, and I slowly walked toward my room. Everything was how I’d left it when I took off at six-thirty that morning.

  Her blonde hair was tucked under the blue sheets of my bed, and she was snuggled deep into the gray down comforter that rested on top. I stood in the doorway and watched her breathe. I never in a million years thought I would fall in love. My life had been full enough with my brother, the ocean, and my career—in that order. There seemed no room for anything else.

  However, Jessica was next to Blake in my heart now. I didn’t think I could exist without either one of them. She had been my friend for the past four months—someone who always made me laugh, made me question myself at every turn, made me want to be a better person, and generally made me happy. The desire to touch her—kiss her—the first time I’d laid eyes on her had been like a riptide, pulling me in the opposite direction of where my life was headed. Watching her in my bed now confirmed that waiting had been the right move. I fell in love with my best friend, and couldn’t imagine life any other way.

  I stripped out of my clothes and slipped back into bed beside her. She turned in my direction, and I scooped her up, holding her body close to mine.

  “Roan! You’re freezing.” She yelled, shocked. “I can’t believe you did that to me.”

  I shook my wet hair, droplets landing on her face and all around the bed.

  She was struggling, trying to get out of my arms and laughing in disbelief at the same time, as I continued to hold her warm body to my cold one.

  “It’s cold outside, Locks. Give me some of your heat.”

  She was still naked from the night before. I moved her on top of me and held her tight, kissing her below the ear.

  She straddled my legs and ran her hands along my chest. “Where would you like me to start?” Her fingers trailed down my stomach, landing at that strip of hair, which led her directly where I needed her.

  My eyelids lowered as she seductively slipped a finger in her mouth then ran it around one of my nipples. Involuntarily my hips lifted, as my cock began looking for a way in.

  “Patience,” she teased as she glided her finger around my other nipple.

  No longer cold, my hands grasped her hips and slid her body so that her warmth rubbed along my raging hard on. As her head fell back and her eyes shut, my thumb found that sweet bundle of nerves that made Jess explode into a million pieces.

  She was close, her body moving faster, her breath getting heavier. Without warning, she lifted off my body, fit herself over my straining cock, and rode me, taking all of me into her warmth in one gentle move, heating me from the top of my head down to the tips of my toes.

  As she took me deeper, fire hit my balls and spread up my back and out to every limb. I was cresting and could feel my balls and legs tense up. My entire body was wound tight as I firmly gripped her hips, both of us crashing over the edge together.

  Her head rested on my chest, as her ragged breath calmed and her skin slid against mine. “That was like nothing I’ve ever felt before,” she whispered into my ear and then put her cheek back on my chest.

  Knowing exactly how she felt, I continued to hold her. “Do you ever have that feeling that you’re missing something? That somehow life is floating away and there’s nothing you can do to stop it?”

  Her head lifted and she studied me.

  “You know, like you want something solid in your life, but you can’t get yourself to commit?”

  “I’m pretty sure the commitment issues were all yours Roan, but go on.”

  Tickling her sides, I continued. “I never felt anchored before. Life pulled me in every direction, and I was happy to go along for the ride. I never knew what it was like to feel tethered to someone, other than my brother, but now that I have you . . . it’s stupid, but I like it. I like being connected to you.”

  Pure joy erupted on Jessica’s face. “It’s not stupid, Roan. It’s perfect.”

  I was alone in my house a few hours later. Jessica had left to meet Casey for lunch and I was finishing some paperwork. My phone rang. Unease ran through my body as I recognized the number.

  “Ricky?”

  “Hi, Roan.”

  This was not going to be good news. Ricky Lee was Lu
ana’s brother. When I’d dealt with him five years ago, he got Luana into a treatment facility for her mental breakdown. Not long after, his vibe changed and he made it clear that the blame for her demise rested solely on my shoulders. I firmly disagreed.

  “I hoped I’d never hear from you again, Ricky. What’s going on?”

  “Roan, I’m worried about my sister. She’s crying every day and has quit her job. Says she can’t go back there with all the memories. Word is, you were in town a few weeks ago. I can only assume, this has to do with you.”

  “Shit, I should have given you a heads up. When I saw her, she assured me that her mind frame was much better. Said I didn’t need to worry about her any more. I have no idea what happened between then and now, but, while I was there, our contact was kept minimal at best.” I paused, then finished, “But, she’s called me since I’ve been back. I just delete them, unopened.”

  He groaned and paused before continuing. “Luana bought a plane ticket to Los Angeles, Roan. I still have access to her bank account and frequently check to make sure she’s staying on track. The purchase came through this morning. She is most certainly not over what happened between the two of you.”

  Dread, then anger poured through my veins at the idea of Luana thinking she could come to Los Angeles. My life had been forever changed five years ago because of her, and it seemed she was determined on doing it again. I could only guess her target was Jessica because I wasn’t giving her the attention she craved. I couldn’t let Luana get to Jess.

  “Ricky, she can’t come here and you know it. Screwing fourteen-year-old boys is a crime in this country. Don’t think for one second I won’t have her arrested.”

  “Settle down, Roan. I am not allowing her to get on that flight, but something happened between the time of your visit and today. Find out what it was and fix it. My sister was getting better until you showed up.”