by Aly Martinez
“Ummm…bottom drawer,” I mumbled, dumbstruck.
She tossed me a wink and pulled out two before passing me one. She clinked the neck of her beer against mine and then tipped it to her lips. I watched in a weird combination of astonishment and confusion.
Shit. Maybe Levee is insane too.
Placing my bottle on the counter, I closed the distance and attempted to take the phone from her hand. Levee laughed, backing away.
“Stop,” she mouthed.
“She’s not my girlfriend. I swear—” I explained, but she silenced me with a finger over my lips.
Pulling the phone from her ear, she pressed the speaker button and dropped it on the counter. Lexi was talking a million miles a minutes and using present tense in reference to our relationship.
I opened my mouth to object when Levee covered it with her palm and wrapped her other arm around my waist, sliding it down into the back of my boxers. Raking her teeth over my earlobe, she whispered, “Is she the one your mom called a bitch?”
A relieved breath rushed from my lungs. Levee was, in fact, insane, but at that moment, it was working in my favor. I nodded, and she leaned away long enough to taunt, “Wait, Lexi, was this before or after he got my name tattooed…” She trailed off while inspecting the ink on my torso. Finding an empty space, she finished with, “On his left side.”
“What?” Lexi screamed.
I attempted to stifle a laugh, only barely keeping it packed down because Levee began dragging openmouthed kisses over my neck.
She paused to say, “Yeah, it’s huge. You definitely would’ve noticed it. I can send you a picture later if you’d like?”
My eyebrows popped up in question before she whispered into my ear, “You can Photoshop that, right?”
I shook my head. Then I shrugged and nodded.
I wouldn’t…but I totally could.
After lifting her to sit on the edge of the counter, I nabbed the phone and handed it to Levee. Whispering, I said, “You are an evil, evil woman. I wasn’t sure I could fall in love with you more. But stop giving her more fuel to be a bitch and hang up.” I gently glided my thumb over her peaked nipple, causing her to gasp.
She smiled, placing a lingering kiss on my lips as she took the phone from my hand and blindly pressed the end button. Locking her legs around my hips, she stated, “You really traded up for me. You know that, right?”
I laughed. “Yeah, I know. Although I figured you’d be serving up my balls as sashimi right about now.”
She laughed. “Why? Because you have a crazy ex?” Wrapping her arms around my neck, she nuzzled her cheek against the scruff on my jaw.
“No, because most women would have bought into all of that shit she was spouting.”
She sighed and leaned away to catch my eye. “I trust you, Sam. And, as hard as it may be, you’re going to have to trust me too.”
I twisted my lips in annoyance. “It’s not hard to trust you.”
“It will be when a magazine publishes pictures of me hugging some guy with the headline that he’s my new boyfriend. You would be amazed at the shit they find to publish about me. Every picture snapped, no matter how innocent, is fair game for them to manipulate.”
“Yeah, I heard you were pregnant with Henry’s love child last month. I’ve been waiting for you to tell me,” I teased, rubbing her stomach.
She slapped my hand away. “One baggy shirt and suddenly I’m knocked up by my best friend.” She groaned and then whined, “It was my favorite shirt, too.”
I chuckled, tucking a curl behind her ear. “I trust you, Levee.”
“That’s easy to say now—”
I cut her off by teetering her on the edge of the counter. “It’s easy to say, period. Give me a little credit here.”
Her shoulders fell as she dropped her forehead head against my chest. “I know. It’s just that I’ve never dated someone who wasn’t in the public eye before. I don’t want to lose you over a tabloid headline you pick up at the grocery store.”
“No, I’m not famous, but I’m not stupid either. Let’s make a deal. You deal with my crazy ex for me, and I’ll deal with the entire fucking world for you.”
Her head popped up with a smile. “Wow! That makes me seem really high maintenance.”
I exaggerated a sigh. “You really are. But I promise you, if the world ever becomes too much and I get jealous over pictures of you dry-humping small-cocked Thomas Reigns”—she laughed, slapping my chest—“I promise I’ll talk to you first, okay?”
Her whole body melted into my arms. “I love you, even when TMZ says otherwise.”
I kissed her neck and teased back, “I love you too, Lexi…I mean, Levee.”
She barked a loud laugh. “Hilarious.”
“I thought so.”
“So, why’d you two lovebirds break up anyway? She seems like such a delightful young lady.” Her voice was thick with sarcasm.
Shrugging, I replied, “She was sleeping with her personal trainer. Showed up two hours late to Anne’s funeral because of it.”
Levee’s eyes flared wide, and her mouth gaped for only a second before she shrieked, “That bitch!”
“She’s nice enough, just—”
“Nice enough?” she asked, incredulously. “I’m gonna put a hit out on her!”
“Okay, hold on there, Tony Soprano. No one’s putting a hit on anyone.” I paused. “Just to be clear, you don’t have those kind of connections, right?”
“No, but I have money! I’m sure I can buy some connections,” she answered in all seriousness.
I fucking love her.
Dipping down, I folded her over my shoulder.
“What kind of person does that? Your sister had just died!” She continued to rant as I carried her back to the bedroom.
“Let it go,” I said, tossing her on the bed.
“I can’t let that go!” she replied, lifting her arms so I could tear the shirt over her head.
“Okay, then don’t. But can you open your legs so I can eat your pussy while you mentally defend my honor?” I smirked, crawling up the bed after her.
“Such a bitch,” she mumbled, dropping her legs open wide.
They were the last audible words I heard from her before my mouth sealed over her clit. A long, garbled moan escaped her throat as her hand snaked into my hair. I’d fucked her twice already, but my cock instantly became hard beneath me.
She writhed against me as I dipped a finger inside her, curling it before twisting the way I’d learned set her ablaze. This time was no different. Circling her hips off the bed, she fisted the back of my hair.
“Roll over,” she ordered.
Levee was like that. As much as I loved licking her pussy, she loved my cock. She was never able to wait long before pleading for it. And, more often than not, I was more than willing to give it to her.
But not this time.
After prying her hand from my hair, I pinned it to the bed at her side. I alternated between sucking and nipping at her clit and thrusting my tongue in and out of her wet opening. Her other hand found my hair as she continued to beg me to roll over. My only response was to pin her other hand to the bed as well.
“Wait, wait, wait.” she said, sitting up even as she ground herself against my mouth. Then she sucked in a deep breath, which she held.
“You want me inside you?” I asked between licks as her whole body coiled in impending release.
“Yes,” she squeaked, still not exhaling.
“Not until you come.” I sucked hard on her swollen nub, flicking it with my tongue.
Falling back to the bed, she cried, “Oh, God!”
Her orgasm sprang to life as her cunt began to pulse against my mouth. That was my cue. Pushing up to my knees, I spread her legs wide and flipped her on her side. Straddling her thigh against the bed and pulling the other over my shoulder, I drove inside her harder than ever before. A string of cuss words flew from her mouth as she continued to pulse around me.
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Levee and I were in love—there was no doubt about that. But we were still getting to know each other on so many levels.
Not our bodies though. They were sexual soulmates.
Levee ground her hips in a rhythm that she knew could snatch the orgasm from my balls. And I worked her deep, making sure the metal of my barbell found just the spot that would still her merciless hips.
It was a constant give and take of driving each other toward the brink, all while furiously fighting away our own releases.
At some point, one of the two of us would fail. This particular time, I wasn’t too proud to admit that it was me.
“Fuck,” I cursed as my cock shot off wrapped in her tight warmth.
Needing to take her over the edge with me, I dropped my thumb to her clit and rubbed a tight circle as I continued to pump inside her. My orgasm was already shredding me, but the moment her muscles began to clench around me, a whole new wave of ecstasy tightened my balls, leaving me utterly empty in its wake.
But, as my eyes opened and I watched Levee’s lithe body trembling beneath me, I’d never felt more full in my life.
Yes, I was coming down from an unbelievable orgasm with an even-more-so unbelievable woman, but I had no doubt whatsoever that the feeling currently expanding in my chest was the great I’d always been searching for. It was by far the highest high of my life, and even as her body continued to milk me and I softened inside her, I couldn’t even enjoy it.
In my life, after every high came the lowest of lows.
And, while looking down into her sated eyes, which were staring up at me so filled with love that it nearly ached, the fucking pendulum swung all over again.
I SPENT TWO glorious days lost in Sam before I came back up for air. I wished I could’ve stayed tucked in his bed forever, but he had work to do, and unfortunately, I did too. Really, I didn’t want to do any of it though.
Sure, I needed to return the hundreds of calls I’d ended from Stewart and let him know that I was taking an indefinite hiatus from music. I was positive it wasn’t going to go over well.
I also needed to fire Devon. My heart broke at the idea, but no more than it had the day he had taken it upon himself to come between me and Sam—that killed.
And, after all of that was done, I needed to head up to my house, change all the locks and security codes, and then relocate half of my wardrobe to Sam’s closet. There had never been a question of his place or mine when we’d gotten back. His shop was out back, and he had Sampson to take care of, so his place was the obvious choice. But, above and beyond all that, I loved Sam’s house. I’d only spent one night there before I’d left, but somehow, it felt like home. I wasn’t necessarily moving in for good, but I wasn’t planning to go back home any time soon, either.
Sam had been up for hours when I finally dragged myself out of bed long enough to do my hair and makeup. I took my sweet time, hoping another day would slip to night so I could avoid my to-do list, but an hour later, when I slid my heels on, the clock only read eleven in the morning.
Grabbing my new phone, I decided to procrastinate on Twitter for a while before starting my day.
It was the wrong decision.
So. So. So wrong.
The very first message to pop up on my feed was a video of a bald little boy no older than three, connected to more wires than I could count. He looked so weak, but as someone offscreen turned my song “Discovery” on, he started shimmying and shaking in his hospital bed. The song only lasted for a few seconds before it cut off, and the boy immediately broke into tears when it ended. It was turned back on and he started dancing all over again. My stomach wrenched as I pressed play repeatedly, only pausing long enough to read the tweet.
@LeveeWilliams You should come to Indiana and meet your biggest fan.
It was a harmless message that had been retweeted over three thousand times, but it was like a knife to my gut. I really should do that.
It would have cost me nothing to be on a plane that same night, but I knew the real price would be paid when I started the vicious cycle all over again.
I’m on a break.
Yet my fingers still typed out in response:
@SandyJoe176 Absolutely! I’d love to meet that handsome little guy. My manager will be in touch.
My finger hovered over the send button for entirely too long.
Visiting one sick kid wasn’t the same as exhausting myself in hospitals every opportunity I got. What would be the harm in just flying out for one day? It wouldn’t even have to be a full day. I could be back in time for dinner. Or, better yet, maybe Sam would go with me and we could make it a fun trip for both of us.
My finger inched closer to the send button.
Surely, he’d be on board with something like this. He knew how important visiting sick kids was for me. I mean, he couldn’t expect me to give it up completely.
“You’re not Spiderman.”
Shit.
I pressed play on the video once more, my finger still hovering over send as I watched that little boy’s eyes light when my song came through the speaker of my phone.
It’s the right thing to do. No matter how it affects me.
But what about how it affected Sam?
Before I even realized it, I was on my feet and heading out to Sam’s shop. I slung the door open and was instantly greeted by the loud grinding of a power tool. Sam was in the corner, hunched over a table, a cigarette dangling between his lips. The room fell silent as his gaze swung to mine. I must have looked panicked, because he immediately dropped the tool on the table and marched in my direction.
“What’s wrong?”
“Can we go to Indiana?”
He spun to drop his cigarette into an ashtray before turning back to face me. “Depends on why you want to go, I guess.”
“There’s a sick little boy who sent me a video on Twitter. I think it would be a really nice thing to do. It’s not like I have a lot going on right now. But I bet it would mean a lot if we showed up. I could have Stewart get in touch with his parents and make it a big surprise,” I rushed out in one long breath until I ran out of air.
He arched an eyebrow.
I sucked in deeply before exclaiming, “We could both go! Make it a romantic getaway!”
He stared at me for a minute before silently flipping his palm up, requesting my phone. I sidled up beside him as he pressed play on the video.
My eyes bounced between his face and the phone as I watched him smile warmly at the child on the screen. When it ended, he tossed an arm around my shoulders, and just like I had, he pressed play again. I cuddled into his chest, wrapping my arms around his hips. Closing my eyes, I listened to his strong heartbeat as I awaited the verdict.
“What do you want to do, Levee?” he asked when the video ended.
I didn’t open my eyes as I answered, “I want to go.”
“And you think that will help him?”
“I don’t know.”
“But you think it might help you though, right?”
Yes. “I don’t know.”
Sam sucked in a hard breath, my head rising as his chest expanded. “You know I love you, right?” he said.
I didn’t answer that question, nor did I release my hold around his waist even when his arms fell away from me. “You’re going to tell me no, aren’t you?”
“No. I’m not telling you anything. If you want to go, go.”
I craned my neck back in surprise. “You want to go with me?”
“Nope,” he answered shortly.
“Why…why not?” I stuttered.
“Because you’re supposed to be on a break. You’re supposed to be going to see your therapist tomorrow. You’re supposed to be firing Devon, contacting Stewart, cleaning out your closet.” He paused, raking an angry hand through his hair. “You’re supposed to be fucking moving in with me.”
Shit. Maybe I am moving in permanently.
I finally stepped away. “What do you expect me t
o do, Sam?”
“The things you promised!” he roared before collecting himself. “If you want to go, do it. But that’s on you,” he snapped, turning his back on me.
My guilt morphed to anger. “See, that’s exactly the problem. It is on me!”
His back was still to me as he lit a cigarette. “Two days.” He laughed without humor.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I was more than ready for an icy gaze as he turned to face me, but I was nowhere near ready for the level of disappointment that showed on his angry face. “It means two days ago, I agreed to play Spiderman and bring you home with me. It means I love you so fucking much that I was willing to risk your life just to spend more time with you. And two fucking days later, I’m already failing.”
My stomach sank, and the air between us became too thick to breathe. “You aren’t failing. I just wanted to visit a kid!”
He lifted the cigarette to his lips for another drag. “Then what?”
I opened my mouth to reply, only I didn’t have an answer at all. I had no fucking clue what came next. It was just an impulse to help someone. It wasn’t the spiral down I was quickly realizing he was convinced I was going to take.
“That’s what I thought,” he whispered on a cloud of smoke. “Eventually, you’d end up back on that bridge.” He wrenched his eyes shut.
“Sam, I won’t let that happen again. I swear.”
Scratching the back of his head, he announced, “I think you need to go back to Maine, Levee.”
“No!” I cried, taking a giant step toward him. “Listen to me, please. I won’t go to Indiana. It was just a gut reaction to seeing that video. I came out here to get your honest opinion.”
He looked at the ground, shaking his head. “Well, you got it, didn’t you?”
“Look at me,” I ordered, and his eyes immediately lifted to mine. “I don’t need to go back to Maine. I made the appointments with the doctor. I’m trying here.”
“Are you?” He tipped his head in question. “I mean, are you really?”
“Yes, I really am.”
He put his cigarette out and lit another. “Then why haven’t you called Stewart? You’ve told no one about the break you so adamantly promised me you were gonna take. Henry didn’t even know when I mentioned it last night.”