by L A Cotton
“I… nobody’s ever asked me that before,” I confessed.
“We go at your pace. Always. But I’d really like to get my hands on your body.”
I melted at his words. Because I wanted that. I did.
“You need anything? A drink? Food? I don’t want you to think I’m only after one thing here. I mean, I am…” He smirked playfully. “But I’d be happy to hang with you and talk. I’ll take whatever I can get.”
“I… I want to. Go upstairs, I mean.”
“Thank fuck,” he breathed, practically dragging me upstairs to his room. The second we hit the top step, he pushed me up against the wall, kissing me hard. Bruising my lips and stealing the air from my lungs.
“Jesus, I can’t get enough of you. Why can’t I get enough of you?”
My laughter filled the air.
His hands were all over my body. In my hair, running down my waist, shoving under my t-shirt and tracing the flat of my stomach, the curve of my breasts.
“Wait.” I grabbed his t-shirt. “You really want this? You really want me?” I hated the vulnerability in my voice, but I had to know before we went any further.
“You need me to show you?” His eyes were hooded with lust.
“What are you—”
Bryan scooped me up in his arms, and I shrieked as he carried me into his bedroom. I didn’t even have the chance to get a look at it. He threw me down on the bed with a gentle thud and yanked his t-shirt over his head. My eyes immediately widened at the sight of his body, the perfect dips and planes of his tanned abs. Holy crap, he was gorgeous.
“See something you like, Kitty Cat?”
“I…” I gulped, unable to tear my eyes off him as he kneeled on the bed and crawled toward me. Bryan slid his hands up my ankles and calves, pausing when he reached my skirt. A silent question flared in his eyes, and I nodded.
I was shaking, my body trembling with nerves. But nothing about this felt wrong. Not a single thing.
“I can’t wait to taste you, Caz. But first…” His hand dipped under my skirt and found my center, rubbing me through my damp panties.
“Oh God.” I brought a fist to my mouth, my head falling back as pleasure rocked through me. It felt good, so freaking good.
Bryan chuckled. “You’ve seen nothing yet.” He made quick work of pulling off my skirt and panties. I had to fight the urge to cover myself up, but he pinned my thighs gently, spreading my legs wider.
“I think I’m hungry, after all.” Dropping to his elbows, Bryan dipped two fingers inside me. The sudden intrusion made my breath hitch, but then he was there, licking my clit, swirling his tongue around and around, making me cry out.
“God, it’s… God!” The words stuck in my throat. But he didn’t stop licking me, pressing his fingers deeper, curling them in a way that made my legs tremble.
“You taste so fucking good,” he rasped. “I’m going to be doing this a lot. All the damn time.”
Strangled laughter spilled from my lips along with a chorus of ‘Oh God’ and ‘More’ and ‘Don’t stop.’
An intense wave began to build inside me, coiling my stomach tighter and tighter until I felt sure I might drown in pleasure.
“Bryan, wait… it’s too much… I’m not—”
He did something extra with his tongue, curling his fingers at a different angle, and I shattered. Splintered into two, soaring off the bed.
“Fuck, yeah,” he groaned, lapping at me like a man starved. Then he was crawling up my body, grinning down at me. “Hey.”
“Hey.” I kissed him, tasting myself on his tongue.
“You’re blushing.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t expect… that.”
“Happy to be of service.” He grinned.
I swatted his chest.
“Seriously though, are you okay?” he asked, and I nodded. “Because I want this, Caz. I really fucking want this.”
“Me too. I want this, I mean.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Thank fuck, because I was prepared to do some serious groveling.”
“I think you did a pretty good job with that.” I smiled. I couldn’t stop smiling.
“I don’t know. Maybe I should do it again, just to be sure.” He ran his nose along mine, kissing me. My hands ran up his chest. “Yeah, I should definitely do it again.”
“Maybe I want to do it to you,” I said, boldly.
“Your turn will come.” Bryan eased back, gazing down at me. “But first, I plan on making absolutely sure you know exactly how I feel about you.”
I was pretty certain I already knew. But I wasn’t about to tell him that.
Not when he was kneeling between my legs, looking at me like I was all his dreams come true.
Chapter Five
Carrie-Anne
“You look pretty,” Mom said as I entered the kitchen. “Anyone would think you’re trying to impress someone.”
“I… there’s a guy.”
“Isn’t there always, sweetheart?” She gave me a knowing smile.
But she was so wrong. Because there wasn’t. Not in my case anyway. But now there was Bryan. And he was sweet and funny, and God, he was so sexy.
I still couldn’t believe what we’d done last night—what he’d done to me. It was amazing, so much so I could still feel his mouth on me there.
My lips curved and Mom’s brows knitted. “So, you like a guy…”
“Actually, I’m seeing a guy.”
“You are?”
“Jeez, Mom. Don’t sound so surprised.” My stomach knotted.
“No, baby, that’s not… I’m just surprised. You never even mentioned a guy before and now you’re telling me that you’re seeing someone.”
“It’s new and I wasn’t sure…”
“I get it. High school crushes can be intense. When I met your father—”
I smothered a groan. “Seriously Mom, you want to go there? Now?” Irritation skittered up my spine. She always did this. Always turned everything into a trip down memory lane. Made it all about her and Dad. “You do know you guys are getting divorced, right?”
“Carrie-Anne, that’s not fair.” Hurt flashed in her eyes, and guilt flooded me.
“Sorry, Mom. That was uncalled for.”
“No, baby. It wasn’t. I know things between me and your father are… complicated.”
That was one word for it. I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes.
“Anyway.” She let out a soft sigh. “Tell me more about this new guy.”
New guy. I snorted. She made it sound like he was one of many. He wasn’t.
Bryan was… he was the first guy I’d liked in forever. The first guy to kiss me, to make me come undone. The first guy I’d ever contemplated letting touch me.
My cheeks heated again with memories of us at his house, on his bed, tangled up in each other.
“Bryan is… he’s nice, Mom. I think you’d like him.”
“And does this Bryan have plans for college? Is he academic? On the debate or mathlete team?”
“No, actually. He’s a football player.”
She gawked at me as if I’d grown a second head. “He’s… a football player?”
“Yup.” I glanced down at my coffee, not liking the confusion in her expression. My own mother was surprised that I was dating—I guess that’s what we were doing now—a football player.
Because I wasn’t that girl.
I wasn’t the girl who got asked out by a popular guy.
“That’s… lovely.”
“Wow, Mom. Don’t sound so enthusiastic.”
“I’m sorry, baby.” She chuckled. “I’m just surprised, is all. I always imagined your first crush would be a guy with similar interests to you.”
“I like football.” It came out defensive. “Anyway, he’s going to be here soon, so I should go wait for him.” I climbed off the stool and made a beeline for the hall.
“He’s picking you up?” she called a
fter me.
Oh my God.
I whirled around and levelled her with an irritated look. “Is it really so hard to believe that a boy, a football player nonetheless, could actually like me?”
Her expression dropped. “Carrie-Anne, that’s not—”
My cell phone vibrated in my pocket right as a car horn beeped outside. “Just forget it, Mom. I need to go.”
She opened her mouth to say more, but I spun on my heel, grabbed my backpack, and got the hell out of there.
The second I spotted Bryan’s car, my heart fluttered. He grinned up at me as he leaned over to push the passenger door open.
“Hey,” I said, climbing inside.
“Hey.”
The air crackled between us. It had been so easy last night, so urgent. But this morning was different. I was nervous, terribly so. And we were about to go to school—together.
That was a big deal, wasn’t it?
At least, it was to me.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, making no attempt to drive.
“Nothing.” I forced a smile, keeping my eyes ahead.
“Kitty Cat,” he said softly, so softly my stomach clenched. “Look at me.” My eyes slid to his and he smiled. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s my mom… I kinda told her about you and she wasn’t exactly supportive.”
“What did she say?”
“Oh, you know. That she expected my first crush,” the words tasted sour on my tongue, “to be president of the debate team or class valedictorian.”
She hadn’t said those exact words, but I read between the lines.
“And you’re upset because she called me your first crush or because I’m neither of those things?”
I let out a heavy sigh, slinking back into the seat. “I don’t know. I guess I just thought she’d be happy for me. Excited even. Instead, she reminded me of how everyone else will act when we arrive at school together.”
“Hey.” Bryan leaned over, sliding his hand into my hair and cupping my face. “It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. I like you, Carrie-Anne. And I think you kinda like me.” He smirked. “Their opinions mean nothing.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re one of them.”
“One of who?” He frowned.
“The popular kids. You should probably be more worried than me. They’ll all want to know why you’re stooping to my—”
“Stop.” His thumb slipped over my lips, silencing me. “I want this. I want you, Kitty Cat. And I’m fucking stoked to call you my girl.”
“Your girl, huh?” My lips curved of their own volition. “I like the sound of that.”
“Nothing anyone says or does is going to change the fact that I’m fucking crazy about you, okay?”
“Okay.” I nodded, aware of him leaning in.
Oh God.
He was going to kiss me. Right outside my house, where anyone could see us.
But as his lips dusted mine, all my concerns melted away. A deep groan rumbled in Bryan’s chest as he deepened the kiss, gently nudging his tongue against mine. He tasted like mint and coffee, a combination that shouldn’t have worked but one I was already addicted to.
“Jesus, Kitty Cat.” He broke the kiss, touching his head to mine. “We should stop before I can’t.”
Soft laughter spilled off my lips. “That was nice.”
“Yeah, well, my thoughts are anything but nice right now. Come on, let’s go give everyone something to talk about. Okay?” His eyes searched mine for any trace of panic.
But I felt grounded after that kiss.
I felt ready to take on the world.
Bryan
By the time we pulled up at school, Carrie-Anne had retreated into herself again. I got it. This thing between us was new and people would probably be surprised by the development. But honestly, I didn’t give a fuck. I liked her.
I liked her a whole freaking lot.
Carrie-Anne was cute and smart and quirky. And I loved pushing her buttons and getting a reaction. Man, I lived for it. The way her cheeks would flush and her eyes would narrow with irritation. The little huffs of frustration that would escape her pouty, completely kissable lips.
It turned me the fuck on. I realized that now. All the time I’d spent teasing her and going at it with her, it was foreplay.
The best fucking kind.
“What?” she said, as I pulled into a parking spot and cut the engine.
“You’re cute when you’re worried.”
“I’m not worried.”
My brow lifted, and there it was—that sexy little huff of frustration. “It’s going to be okay, you know?”
“Easy for you to say, everyone loves you.” She rolled her eyes, glancing away.
“Hey.” I unbuckled my belt and leaned over to cup her face, forcing her to look at me. “This, you and me, it isn’t about anyone else. I want you Carrie-Anne. I want to be with you. Everyone else can get fucked as far as I’m concerned.”
And if anyone had anything to say about it, they could say it to me.
“You never cared what anyone thought before, don’t start now.” Moving closer, I slid my hand along her jaw and kissed her.
A soft whimper escaped her, and I grinned, pecking the end of her nose. “Better?”
“Yeah.” She smiled back. “I think so.”
“Okay, let’s do this.”
I climbed out first, going around to open the passenger door. Carrie-Anne inhaled a shaky breath, hitching her bag up her shoulder.
“Ready?” I grabbed her hand in mine, already aware that we had an audience.
I sent the group of kids a hard look, relieved when Gav and Kaiden appeared.
“Come on, I want to introduce you to some people.”
“I know who Kaiden and Gav are, Bryan.”
“I know you do, but I want to introduce you as my girl.”
“Oh.” Her cheeks pinked and I loved that I’d put it there.
Me.
Gav smirked as we approached them, his eyes homing in on our joined hands. “This is… new.”
“Guys, you know Carrie-Anne.”
“Hey.” She buried in closer to my side.
“Hey,” Kaiden said, shooting me a knowing smile. At least he wasn’t going to give me shit about it, unlike Gav who looked ready to burst.
I pinned him with a warning look. Don’t mess this up for me, asshole.
“So you two are… what exactly?”
“Don’t be an asshole, man. Carrie-Anne is my girl. Isn’t that right, babe?” I grinned at her, fighting a smirk of my own when her cheeks turned five shades darker.
“I hope you know what you’re getting into with Hughes—oof, what the fuck was that for?” Gav rubbed his side where Kaiden had elbowed him.
“Ignore him, he’s just jealous he doesn’t have a girlfriend,” Kaiden said.
Girlfriend. I liked the sound of that. My eyes dropped to Carrie-Anne, remembering how it had felt last night to touch her, to put my mouth on her and make her come apart.
She glanced up at me, smiling, and my heart did some weird little flip in my chest.
One day in.
One day in and this girl already owned me.
I was so fucked.
The four of us started to make our way toward the school building. As we reached the doors Pacey Trevors appeared, a sly grin on his face.
“Thatcher, Hughes,” he said. “Gav. What do we have here?” His eyes landed on Carrie-Anne, and she froze like a deer caught in headlights.
“Keep walking, Trevors,” I said.
His head whipped up to mine and he frowned. “You and… frigid Carrie. No fucking way.”
“Watch your mouth.” Anger skittered up my spine.
“Relax, Bry.” Gav inserted himself between us. “Trevors is leaving, right?”
“Yeah, I’m going.”
But he didn’t go, and he was still looking at Carrie-Anne. My fist curled at my side, itching to wipe the smirk off his
face.
“Pacey,” Kaiden said firmly, and he bolted into action.
“Yeah, I’m going. See you around, assholes.” He chuckled, melting into the stream of bodies making their way into school.
“Man, I hate that guy,” Gav said. “You okay, Carrie-Anne? Don’t let him get to you.”
“I-I’m fine.” But the way she clung to my arm suggested she wasn’t.
“Give us a minute, yeah?” I said to them. “I’ll meet you inside.”
“Sure.”
Grabbing Carrie-Anne’s hand, I pulled her away from the morning crowd and curious stares, and led her around the side of the building.
“Bryan, what the hell are you doing? We have class.”
“This will only take a second.” I moved with purpose, desperate to get her alone. Once I knew we were far enough away from prying eyes, I crowded her against the wall, pressing my hand against her head.
“I need you to know something.”
“O-okay.” She gulped, gazing up at me with confusion.
“I want you, Kitty Cat.” I cupped her face, gliding my thumb down her cheek and letting it rest against the pillow of her lip.
“What… now?” Her eyes almost bugged out.
“No, not right now.” Laughter rumbled in my chest. Although now she’d planted the seed, I could imagine lifting her against the wall and burying myself deep inside her warm, wet heat.
But this was Carrie-Anne we were talking about, and we hadn’t gone there yet. She was a virgin. Her first time—our first time—needed to be special. It needed to be all kinds of epic.
“Oh.” Relief washed over her.
I leaned down, brushing my mouth over hers. “But soon… when you’re ready.”
“I’m… I’m ready. I mean, I think I am. After last night, I feel ready for… more.”
Fuck, I hadn’t expected that.
“The fact you can’t even say the word, suggests you’re not ready yet. But that’s okay, I can wait.” I could barely keep the smile off my face as I gazed down at her.
Jesus, what had she done to me?
I thought I’d been lovestruck over Peyton, but it was nothing compared to the wild, intense feelings I was having about Carrie-Anne. And I realized then that Peyton was just a crush. She was lust and laughter and a good time.