by Aly Martinez
Her kind, sweet, and saintly hand, which I couldn’t even hate anymore.
Damn it!
“WELL WELL WELL! LOOK WHAT the gimp dragged in.” Quarry spoke and signed when we walked into the locker room after the fight—a fight he had easily won with a knockout in the third round.
“Oh my God, you’re huge!” I squealed as he lifted me off my feet in a bear hug. “Look at you, all grown up.” I stepped away and teasingly raked my eyes up and down his body as he proudly flexed and struck different poses. “Damn, Q. if I had known you were gonna look like this, I might have let you feel my boobs all those times you tried.”
He busted out laughing. “Who says I didn’t? You’re a pretty deep sleeper.” Smirking, he dodged the punch I halfheartedly threw at his shoulder.
“You little perv.”
“Dude, where the hell have you been?” He fluidly signed every word as he spoke.
I hated every single second of it.
While we’d waited for Q to shower and change, Flint had filled me in on Quarry’s hearing loss. He’d told me that it had started really going downhill around his sixteenth birthday. Thankfully, because of Till, they were all already fluent in sign language, and Quarry was already attending a private school for the deaf, so it hadn’t been a drastic change for him. To hear Flint tell it, though, it was “no big deal.” I had a sneaking suspicion that Quarry probably didn’t feel the same way.
“Well, I’ve spent the last three years in various mental health facilities trying to get over the horrifying images I saw of you getting out of the shower the night I left.”
“Shut the hell up.” He laughed.
“I’m serious, Quarry. I hear penile implants are all the rage these days. You should look into it.”
“You got jokes, huh?” he said without signing, but only because his hands were busy scooping me up off the ground and tossing me over his shoulder.
I was howling with laughter as he spun in a circle.
“No,” Flint suddenly barked when one of Quarry’s hands disappeared. “Don’t you fucking dare,” he growled.
Q’s shoulders began shaking with laughter beneath me before he placed me back on my feet. He looked at Flint, but his words were directed at me out of the corner of his mouth. “Apparently, I’m not allowed to slap your ass anymore.”
“Anymore?” I asked, also staring at Flint, who didn’t appear to be even remotely amused.
“Okay, so you’re a really deep sleeper.”
I punched him in the shoulder, hurting my hand because he’d flexed just before it had landed. “Son of a bitch.” I shook it out as Quarry laughed.
His laughing stopped as the door creaked open behind me. I was more focused on my poor knuckles than anything else though. It wasn’t until I saw the way the sound had transformed Quarry’s bright-hazel eyes into a deep, sexy smolder that I decided to spin to see who had joined us.
An obviously excited girl came barreling into the room.
“Ash, move,” Flint urged, but my eyes were glued to her as she all but flew toward us. Her jet-black hair was cut into an adorable pixie cut, with a large chunk of pink covering her sweeping bang. Her jeans had holes that had no doubt been there when she’d bought them in the knees, and she was rocking skull-patterned Converse I was jealous of.
“Ash, move,” Flint repeated roughly.
Thankfully, I followed his order and stepped out of the way, narrowly avoiding being plowed over. The girl never even slowed as she launched herself into Quarry’s waiting arms. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she didn’t waste a second before crushing her mouth over his in something that couldn’t even be called a kiss. It was rabid and came accompanied by moans from both parties. Quarry’s hands slid from her waist to her butt, squeezing as he carried her over to the table in the corner and sat down without ever breaking the hasty make-out session.
“Uh . . .” I turned to Flint. “Should we leave?”
“I’m not sure yet. Give it another minute to see if she goes for his pants. That’s usually my cue.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Quarry let out a loud groan and Flint’s eyes flashed over my head.
“Yep. We should go.”
I didn’t dare turn around as we rushed from the room.
“What the hell!” I laughed when we got outside.
“Don’t feel bad. That’s pretty much how we all met Mia.”
“And what? We just stand out here until they finish?”
“Oh God no. I’m not listening to that shit. They’ll meet us at the restaurant.” He popped his elbow out, and I all-too-quickly accepted.
Till rounded the corner. “Yo. Where’s Q?”
“Too slow. Mia got there first,” Flint replied.
Till curled his lip. “He got his hearing aids in?”
“Yeah. He was just talking to Ash.”
Till walked past us and banged his fist on the door. “You got two minutes. Then I’m coming in. If I catch you with your dick out, I’m ripping it off.”
Flint erupted into laughter. “Good luck with that.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Till responded then pounded on the door again. “One minute.”
“Come on.” Flint led me out the back door to his SUV. “You have fun tonight?”
“I really did.”
His lips twisted in a smirk. “Even the part where you had to sit with Eliza for three hours?”
“Well, it wasn’t as fun as this next part is going to be, but yeah, it was good.” I pushed to my toes to take his mouth.
He raked his teeth over my bottom lip. “What’s the next part?”
“Fuck,” I cursed as Ash took my cock to the back of her throat.
The moment we’d pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot, I’d found out exactly what the next part was.
My hands were tangled in her hair as she hovered over the center console, milking the come from my cock. She swallowed like a fucking champ and continued to work me until I couldn’t take anymore.
“Ash. Stop.” I tugged at her shoulders, but she continued swirling her tongue around the head, showing no signs of stopping. “Ash,” I groaned. Using her hair, I dragged her up, occupying her obviously frantic mouth with my own. I could still taste the saltiness of my release lingering on her tongue, but I couldn’t have given two shits. It was in her mouth.
She scrambled over the console to mount me. “I want to feel you inside me.”
“Baby, not here,” I managed to say before she threaded her fingers into my hair to deepen the kiss.
“Please. I need to feel you,” she pleaded, rocking against me.
Shit. “I don’t have a condom.”
She let out an impatient groan. “Just pull out.” Then she moved her oral attack to my neck.
“Um. No. As much as I’d love to feel you bare, that is not a chance I’m willing to take.”
She sighed in frustration. “God, why are you so responsible?”
“Because the day I get you pregnant, you will have my ring on your finger. Also, knocking you up now would really impede all the plans I have for fucking you over the next few years.”
She laughed against my neck and shifted off my lap. “Only you would use words like impede during sexy talk.”
I might not have been willing to fuck her in the car, but I wasn’t done with her yet, either. I followed her with my upper body into her seat. Palming her breasts, I said, “You want to come, Ash?”
Her eyes heated as she nodded.
I looked around the empty back parking lot of the restaurant, knowing that my entire family was probably in the front, waiting for us.
Fuck it.
“Take your pants off and open your legs,” I ordered, pressing two fingers into her mouth.
She swirled her tongue around them in a familiar way, sending blood rushing back to my softening cock. I popped my fingers from her mouth while she fumbled with tearing her jeans and panties down her legs.
“This needs t
o be quick, so I want you to talk to me. Tell me what you like.”
Her eyes grew wide. “I like when you touch me?” She phrased it as a question.
I smirked. “I got that much. But how?” I glided my damp fingers over her pussy, spreading her before pushing two fingers inside. “Like this?”
Her head fell back against the headrest.
“Or like this?” I asked before dropping my thumb to her clit.
She all but clawed her way up the seat.
Like that.
“Oh God,” she panted as I hurriedly circled the sensitive bud.
She undulated as my fingers continued to pump inside her. I wished it were my cock, but as I watched her lose herself, it was almost better. Her hips rolled into my every thrust until she finally stilled. Her nails bit into my forearm as her whole body tensed. Then a strangled cry escaped from her throat and her cunt pulsed around my fingers.
My thumb continued to circle her clit until the orgasm faded into hypersensitivity.
“Flint, please,” she breathed, pushing my hand away—a command I unfortunately had to follow.
“Get dressed. We’re eating dinner. Then I’m taking you home for dessert.” I lifted my hand to my mouth, licking her arousal off each finger.
She watched me intently as she tugged her pants up. “Are you sure? You just had that for breakfast.”
I laughed, dropping my hands to button my own jeans. “Oh, I’m positive. Now, let’s get this over with.”
“OH, I SEE HOW IT is. I get yelled at for getting some in the locker room, but when Flint comes limping in looking like he just had an orgy, everyone smiles,” Quarry said and signed when the hostess led us to the group already seated in the back.
A gorgeous Hispanic girl slapped him upside the back of his head, while Mia giggled, snuggling under his arm.
“Dumbass,” Flint mumbled. “Everyone, this is Ash. Ash, this is . . .” He leaned forward to look all the way down the table. “Jesus, why are all of you here?”
Everyone laughed; then all eyes landed on me.
Great. No pressure.
“All right,” he huffed, pointing at the end of the table. “That’s Leo James and his wife, Sarah.” He swung his arm to the Hispanic girl sitting at the other end next to Quarry. “That’s their daughter, Liv. Then you know Max, of course.” He pointed to a guy covered in tattoos with his arm draped around the back of a blonde’s chair. “That’s Caleb Jones, and his wife, Emma, who is Sarah’s sister.” He waved his finger back to the end of the table. “The ugly guy is Aiden Johnson, and the ogre next to him is Alex Pearson. They run security for Leo, who runs security for Till and Slate.” He sucked in a dramatic breath before continuing. “You already know Till and Eliza and Slate and Erica.” Lifting his hands to sign, he finished with, “Oh, and the pink flamingo next to Quarry is Mia March.”
They all laughed as Mia lifted her hands and signed what I could only assume were choice words.
“She loves me,” he told me, signing something back.
She flipped him off as Quarry barked out a laugh. Then he tipped her back for a kiss that made the entire table groan in disgust.
“Hi!” I waved with both hands before sitting in the chair Flint had pulled out for me.
All eyes followed me as I sat down.
“Quit gawking and go back to talking,” he demanded, and apparently, I wasn’t the only one who naturally followed his orders, because within seconds, everyone started chattering again.
“Who the hell are all these people?” I asked quietly as Flint settled beside me.
“Your search party,” he answered matter-of-factly, waving a waitress down to order our drinks.
Not. Awkward. At. All.
The girl across from me interrupted my inner embarrassment. “Hi, Ash. I’m Liv. Q’s told me a lot about you.”
Quarry suddenly became unstuck from Mia’s mouth and tossed his arm around the back of Liv’s chair.
“The good or the bad stuff?” My eyes flashed to his arm and then back to her.
“Good. He told us you were a pickpocket.”
My gaze shifted to Quarry. “That’s the good stuff?”
He shrugged, ignoring me to go back to signing with Mia.
“I have been known to lift a wallet a time or two.”
Flint choked on a sip of water. “A time or two? You have my wallet right now. Beautiful, don’t think I missed you swiping that while I was doing the intros.”
“No way,” Liv breathed. “Like right now?”
“Yeah, but what he doesn’t know is I got his keys too.” I placed them both on the table as Flint patted his pockets down, cursing.
“Badass,” she breathed.
Mia reached over Quarry to catch Liv’s attention, pulling her into their silent conversation.
I looked up at Flint, who was watching them talk while Q sat like a king guarding his harem. “What’s the dynamic there?”
“Liv and Q have been best friends since they were kids. She lives in Chicago, so she’s only around sporadically. He started dating Mia about two years ago. They’ve been joined at the pelvis ever since. Mia is all kinds of scrappy. You should have seen the brawl that almost ensued the first time she met Liv. They got over it at some point though. Now, Mia and Liv are best friends and Q’s the third wheel.”
“Is Mia deaf too?”
“Yeah. She lost her hearing as a kid. Brain tumor.”
“Oh, damn,” I whispered.
He snuck his hand under the table to rest it on my thigh. “She’s fine now. Well, fine enough to jump Quarry on every flat surface in Till’s house.”
A laugh bubbled from my throat.
“I give her hell, but she’s a cool chick. She keeps Quarry’s ass in line, so we all love her.” He began perusing the menu.
“Hey, Flint,” Slate yelled from the end of the table. “What ever happened with that potential fight for Griff in Atlantic City?”
“Oh, let me tell you this bullshit. Four figures. Four. Hang on.” He turned to kiss me. “I’ll be right back.” He snagged his crutches and headed down to Slate and Till.
Just as he got close, Eliza excused herself, and Flint filled her chair.
They had a heated discussion both verbally and through sign. I guessed the bad stuff was spoken in sign, since Till looked over his shoulder every time one of them lifted their hands. I couldn’t help but laugh at how animated Flint was with his hands. For such a stoic man, sign seemed to really bring out the drama in him.
Suddenly, Eliza slid into Flint’s vacant chair beside me. “So, whatcha wearing on your date tomorrow night?” she asked with a huge grin.
She was really taking this pretending thing to a whole new level.
“Um . . .” I raked a hand through my hair. I had exactly three outfits: jeans and a tie-dyed T-shirt, jeans and a black V-neck T-shirt, and jeans and a Grumpy Cat T-shirt. It wasn’t a hard question to answer. “Jeans and a T-shirt.”
“You want to come raid my closet? What size dress do you wear? I mean, you’re taller than I am, but we’re about the same size, right?” She scooted over, measuring herself against me.
I might not have hated Eliza anymore after our conversation at the gym. However, going on my first date with Flint while wearing her clothes was never going to happen. Never.
Not even an eternity after never.
Never.
“Thanks, but I think I have something.” I smiled tightly.
“Okay. If you change your mind, let me know.” She must have read my brush-off, because she didn’t delay in heading back to her seat.
But she had planted a seed that quickly grew into panic. What the fucking hell am I going to wear on my date with Flint? I had twenty-one dollars to my name. Shopping wasn’t exactly an option.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Why do you look like your head’s about to explode?” Flint asked, finishing the game of musical chairs.
“I need to get a job.”
Hi
s eyebrows popped up, and he scrubbed a hand over the stubble on his jaw. “You going to stay here long enough to work?”
“Well . . . I’m not sure. But I . . . I . . .” I hadn’t exactly made my mind up yet, but I also hadn’t thought about leaving again. “I’m considering it.”
His hand settled back on my thigh before drifting up between my legs. “You’re staying.”
“I’m considering it,” I repeated, spreading my legs to allow him more room to play.
And play he did.
I had just come in the car and I was incredibly sore from the last twenty-four hours, but my body craved him. I bit my lip, trying not to show any reaction while his hand traveled up and down the seam of my jeans.
I figured that, if he could secretly grope me at a table in front of his family, I could do the same.
He caught my wrist just as it brushed over his dick. “Jesus,” he whispered, sliding his hand back to my knee and placing mine on top of it.
The waitress appeared beside him. “Are you guys ready to order?”
I hadn’t even looked at a menu yet, but Flint eagerly answered. “Yes. Two steaks, medium-well, baked potatoes, and salad with ranch.” He paused and looked over at me with a smirk. “In a to-go box, please.”
Twenty minutes later, when the food arrived, Flint announced that I was tired. It wasn’t exactly a lie. I was ready for bed.
Probably not to sleep though.
We got several knowing looks as we said our goodbyes, but no one argued. Not even Quarry—who offered Flint a high five that got left hanging. After promises of future get-togethers, Flint and I headed home with two steaks in tow.
Sated and naked in Flint’s bed, I tipped my head up from his chest and asked, “Hey, you think you can get me a job at the gym like you did Max and Donna?”
“No,” he answered curtly.
I looked away, embarrassed that I’d even asked. “Okay.”
“Don’t act like that. I originally got Max and Donna a job doing housekeeping on the weekends when the afterschool program was off. There is no way I’m getting you a job cleaning the men’s locker room.”
I sat up. “Oh, I could clean the hell out of that locker room. I’m good at cleaning.”