Pleasured By You

by Steph Nuss

  “Okay, just let me see what Bayler thinks,” I said, looking around the beach for her.

  “You’re with Bayler?” he asked curiously. “What are you doing with her?”

  “Everyone’s at the beach house this weekend for the Fourth, remember?” She was walking toward the coast, dripping wet from her swim. Good God, she looks good wet.

  “Oh yeah,” Rook replied. “I forgot you guys were there this weekend.”

  Lifting my arm up in the air, I attempted to grab her attention while everyone settled on the beach around her. I was the only one not down there yet. The guys had their surfboards ready, and the girls were setting up for another sunbathing session. Finally, she glanced my way, and I motioned for her to come over.

  She jogged up the steps to the house, tits bouncing as she went, damn near making me come in my shorts. You’re on the phone with Rook, Haney. Get it together.

  When she got to the deck, she smiled and ran a hand over her wet hair. “Hey, what’s up?”

  “Rook has an idea for Vail’s birthday party,” I said, as I tapped the speakerphone. “Okay, Rook, you’re on speakerphone. Bayler’s here. Explain what you wanna do.”

  He went into detail again about his plan, but this time he told her about an idea for the birthday cake. He thought it would be cool to do a Pretty Little Liars-themed cake, and I could tell by the smile on Bayler’s face that she agreed with him.

  “I think that sounds awesome, but yeah, we might have some issues getting everyone here,” she said, nervously eying me.

  “I can make sure everyone gets here,” I said.

  “How?” Rook asked.

  “Yeah, explain,” she said.

  “The moms are going to want to be involved,” I stated, knowing Rook’s mom too well. Tanya Ballard loved her son. She wouldn’t necessarily want to chaperone, but she’d want to know all the details. “I say we have them ride up with the kids. Rook’s mom will ride with the guys. Vail’s mom will ride with the girls. I’ll already be at the beach house, setting up everything that we need, and Bayler can bring Vail with her, thinking it’s just the four of us hanging out like we normally do.”

  “But what are our moms supposed to do during the party?” Rook asked. “I love my mom but I don’t want her at the party, man.”

  Bayler and I laughed, and I answered, “I’ll make sure they’re not around during the party. Bayler and I will be the chaperones.”

  “How?!” he asked again.

  “Just let me worry about it. Now, when do you want to have the party?”

  “How about next Friday?” Rook asked.

  I glanced over at Bayler, silently asking her what she thought. “Vail has dance on Friday afternoons, but we could come up afterward. Who all were you planning to invite?”

  “Yeah, how many people were you thinking of inviting? This isn’t going to be like Animal House.”

  Rook laughed. “Awesome movie.”

  Bayler slapped me on the arm and whispered, “You let him watch Animal House?”

  “The late, great John Belushi is in Animal House,” I answered, rubbing my arm. “Of course, I let him watch it. Every person in America should see that movie.”

  “Yeah, when they’re in college,” she said, shaking her head at me.

  “Could we please get back to the party planning?” Rook asked.

  “Yes,” Bayler and I said in unison, smirking at one another.

  “So, I have down five guys and five girls; four of Vail’s friends and four of mine that I know will get along with hers. So, there will be ten of us altogether plus you two.”

  “That sounds good,” Bayler said. “Do you have Taylor and Shae down from her dance class?”

  “Yes,” Rook said sorely. “I know who her friends are, Bayler.”

  “Okay,” she said, abjectly. “I was just making sure.”

  “All right, so, you need to invite those people, and tell your mom what we’ve decided about transportation so she can discuss it with Vail’s mom and the other kids’ parents. If she has any questions, just have her give me a call. I’ll take care of everything else.”

  “Thanks, guys!” Rook exclaimed. “This is going to be the best party ever! Vail’s going to love it.”

  “Yeah, she is,” Bayler agreed, nodding.

  “Okay, we’ll talk to you later then.”

  “Later!”

  I ended the call and peered up at Bayler. She leaned against the railing, gazing out at the water, and I couldn’t help my eyes from lingering along the curves of her body. The water glistening off of her tanned skin made me thirsty for her, but I’d have to quench that thirst later.

  “Quit staring at me like that,” she said, nudging my arm.

  “Like what?” I mused, pushing her back.

  “Like you’ve seen me naked.” She anxiously looked away from the beach and turned her body toward me. “How exactly are you going to take care of everything for this party?”

  I took a deep breath and smiled. “For transportation, I’m going to rent a couple of limos for them, and I think I’ll send the moms off to a nice, long spa day while their kids enjoy themselves at the party. When it’s all over, they’ll ride back to the city with the kids.”

  “You’re not paying for everything,” she said sternly. “This is my Little’s birthday party. I want to do something to help.”

  “But it was my Little’s idea,” I retorted. “And you are doing something. You’re making the cake.”

  She put her hands on her hips. “I make cakes almost every day.”

  “And you’re bringing the birthday girl.”

  “Fletcher,” she cursed, shooting daggers at me.

  “Fine. What about the food and snacks? Rook said his mom would do them, but I don’t want her to have to bring all the stuff with her.”

  “I can do the food,” she said, smiling proudly.

  “And I’ll bring the food with me so it’s all set up before you guys get here.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “So, next Friday, we’ll be here with ten fourteen-year-olds.”

  “Looks like it,” she laughed, and then sarcastically added. “I can’t wait.”

  “Speaking of birthdays,” I said, nudging her arm again, “when’s yours?”

  “When’s yours?” she quipped, blushing slightly.

  Leaning closer to her, I gazed into those green eyes dancing with mischief. “I asked you first.”

  “It’s in the winter,” she said, shrugging.

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it,” I said, studying her further. She was avoiding the question, and that had me wondering. “Did we fuck on your birthday?”

  She covered my mouth with her hand. “Jesus, could you say it a little louder. I don’t think the Brits next door heard you.”

  “Ooh, we did, didn’t we?” I asked, completely amused now. “When was it? I’d ask if it was good, but we both know the answer to that.”

  She rolled her eyes and pushed me away from her. “You’re ridiculous.”

  “Come on,” I begged, grabbing her hand and pulling her back. “Tell me. I’ll tell you mine. My birthday’s November first.”

  Her eyebrows rose in a surprised manner and she pursed her lips together.

  “Come on,” I repeated, in a softer, less teasing voice. “I mean, I’m proud I got you in your birthday suit, but I’m actually starting to feel a little bad for not knowing it was your birthday.”

  “We need to get back to the beach before they wonder what we’re doing,” she said, biting back laughter.

  I looked down at our friends, who didn’t give a damn where we were. They were too preoccupied with surfing or catching some rays. “They’re not even watching us.”

  She huffed out a breath and stared back at me amused. “Fine. You want to know my birthday, then you’ll have to prove how good your memory is.”

  “I couldn’t forget a single night with you.”

  Laughing, she put a hand on my che
st and began to walk away, but as she passed me, she stopped and whispered hotly in my ear, “On my birthday, I was wearing a red dress that I felt sexy as hell in.”

  “New Year’s,” I answered quickly, reflecting back on that night: the first time we ever had sex. Red never looked so good on anyone else until I saw her in my club. Glancing over at her, I noticed the shocked expression covering her face while amusement shimmered in her eyes. “Your birthday is January first?”

  “Yep.”

  “That dress was killer,” I said, nostalgically, not only referring to the dress but also the sex.

  “It really was,” she remarked.

  “But I’ll always prefer your birthday suit.”

  Laughing uncontrollably, she leaned against me for support. “Yours is quite preferable, too.”

  I brushed an errant hair behind her ear. “I missed you this morning.”

  “And I hated leaving you,” she said softly. “But I’m excited to watch you surf.”

  With that confession, she stepped away and started down the steps toward the beach. I instantly felt the heat from her body vanish along with her. From high up on the deck, I watched her. When she sat back in her beach chair next to Paige, I turned my attention to the guys, who were surfing.

  And that’s when I saw Maverick staring up at me.

  Fuck.

  Hurrying down the stairs, I rushed to do damage control. If he saw what I think he saw, I knew he’d have questions. The normal Fletcher Haney he knew didn’t have private conversations with women unless he was trying to get in their pants. He didn’t let any of the women he slept with know about Rook or his family and friends. He kept women on the sidelines of his perfect life, just waiting for him to call and give them a chance to play.

  I didn’t even know who the fuck that guy was anymore.

  “Hey,” I said, grabbing Mav by the shoulder. “How are the waves this morning?”

  “They’re all right,” he said, cooly. He nodded toward the house and glared at me. “What was going on up there? What were you and Bayler talking about?”

  “Rook called,” I stated, reaching for my board. “He has the hots for Bayler’s Little, Vail, so he wants to throw a birthday party for her here next weekend. He called to ask if it was okay and talk things over with Bayler and me since we’ll be the ones handling everything.”

  “I see,” he mused, smiling now. “So, Rook has a crush, huh?”

  “I think she’s more than a crush,” I said, propping my board up in the sand. “They might be dating, but I don’t want to ask him about it. When he starts talking about her, he doesn’t shut up. All I know is that they talk a lot.”

  “Oh man, that’s hilarious,” he said, laughing. “Have you had ‘the talk’ with him yet?”

  “What talk?”

  “What the hell do you mean ‘what talk?’ The sex talk, you idiot.”

  “Why do I have to have that talk with him?”

  “Because his dad isn’t here anymore, and trust me when I say, no high school boy wants to have that talk with his mom.” He shuddered at the thought, probably bringing back old memories from his high school days. Maverick’s dad wasn’t around a lot, always working or screwing the newest temp in his law firm, so both parenting roles fell on his mom’s shoulders.

  “You really think I need to talk to him? He’s a smart kid. Surely, he knows he needs to wrap it up.”

  He shot me an incredulous look. “It doesn’t matter how smart he is, girls make boys stupid.”

  True, I thought. “But they just seem too young to have sex.”

  “Says the guy who lost his virginity at fifteen to the school nurse,” he laughed, patting me on the shoulder.

  “Fuck,” I muttered, wiping a hand down my face. “I have to talk to him.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  It was the day of Vail’s surprise party, and I was headed to her dance studio. Her class was almost over, but I’d never seen her dance before so I decided I’d stop in early and watch for a bit. Hell, I didn’t even know what kind of dance she did. She hadn’t talked about dance the way she went on about her books and TV shows, so I was eager to see what she did here.

  Pulling into the parking garage, I found a spot for my Porsche and killed the engine. As I walked inside, I went through my mental checklist for tonight. Everything for the party was ready to go. Fletcher had the food and cake with him in the Hamptons already, and he had agreed to set up all the decorations at the house. The cake was a two-tiered marble, covered in black fondant embellished with lacy white fondant and topped with five white fondant masks from the Pretty Little Liars poster. Instead of creating the masks to look like the show’s actresses, I made them look like Vail and her friends. Then I took red frosting and wrote “Happy Birthday, Vail!” on the lower tier. With kids, I knew I’d have to go simple with the flavoring and focus my skills on making it look stunning. When Vail’s mom saw the finished product, she almost cried, knowing her daughter was going to love it.

  But right now, the moms were each in a limo of their own. Tanya Ballard was with Rook and the boys. Felicia and two of Vail’s friends were waiting for the other two from her dance class. Walking down a hall, I rounded a corner and heard hip-hop music blaring from inside a room. I went to the nearest window, peeked inside and that’s where I found Vail. She was in the center of the room dancing with Taylor and Shae.

  “You can go in and watch if you’d like.” I turned around and watched an older woman walk by me.

  Turning the knob, I quietly entered the room and took a spot against the wall with the other spectators. I was completely shocked. Never in my wildest imagination would I have thought Vail was a hip-hop dancer. From her pale skin to her petite frame, she looked more like a ballerina. But in tennis shoes, leggings and a baggy shirt, she was freestyling to the beat of a Miley Cyrus rap song with her friends moving in sync next to her. They were killing it, and with each move they made, the rest of the class cheered them on, fueling their energy further.

  It was exhilarating to watch, and part me hated that I didn’t already know this about her. She could move and bend her body in ways that physically hurt to watch, but she made them look graceful and easy, and she looked like she had a blast doing it.

  When the song came to an end, an older guy around my age gathered Vail and her friends in a hug and then dismissed the class. I continued watching as Vail and her friends grabbed their things, chatting away. They started to make their way toward the door, but I waved at Vail and she broke away from them.

  “Hey!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here? I thought we were meeting at my house.”

  “I wanted to come see you dance,” I said proudly. Seriously, a hurricane could hit and it still wouldn’t be able to wipe the smile off my face. Wrapping my arms around her tiny body, I squeezed her into a hug. “You’re so amazing. I had no idea you danced to hip-hop!”

  “I give off the ballerina vibe, don’t I?”

  I laughed. “Yeah, a little bit.”

  “Well, we should get going,” she said, pulling away from me. “I need to change out of these clothes.

  “Sure, let’s go.”

  As we walked out of the building, I led her over to my Porsche. For most of the summer, we’d taken a cab or rode with Fletcher and Rook in his Lexus, so Vail hadn’t seen my car yet. It was my baby, and I refused to leave it behind in Texas when I moved.

  “Who’s car is this?” she asked, as I hit the unlock button.

  “It’s mine,” I said, opening the driver’s side door. Vail opened the passenger door and hopped in. “Vail, I’d like you to meet Cayenne.” I rubbed the dashboard and laughed. “Cayenne, this is Vail.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Vail said to nobody in particular while biting back laughter.

  I started her up and listened to the turbo engine roar to life. “You just wait, V. One of these days you’re going to have a car you love, and you’ll understand.”

  “Sure,” she said sar
castically.

  She programmed the radio to a song she liked as we cruised through the streets of Manhattan. While I’d told her we’d meet at her place, I had a surprise back at mine waiting for her, so I headed that way. I’d bought her a sleeveless tunic hoodie dress, a pair of leggings that I knew were just her style, and all the black Converses she’d been eying since we’d met. I didn’t expect her to wear the shoes to the beach, but I hoped she’d want to wear the rest to the party.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, looking out the window. She glanced over her shoulder at me confused. “I thought we were going to my place so I could change.”

  “Change of plans. We’re going to mine,” I said, smiling.

  “But I don’t have any of my stuff with me.” She broke into panic mode, her voice growing more worried. “I need to go home and get—”

  “I have things for you at my place.

  “Really?” she asked incredulously.

  “Yes, really. Consider them early birthday presents.”

  Her birthday wasn’t actually until Sunday, but when we walked in to my place and she saw the red plaid dress hanging up, she gasped.

  “That’s for me?” she asked in disbelief again.

  “Yeah, you like?”

  “I love!” She grabbed the hanger and held the soft material up to her body. “Seriously, Bayler, I love it!”

  “You can wear it over your bikini, and then wear the leggings later if you get cold.”

  “But I didn’t bring a bik—”

  I stopped her by holding up my hand. Walking into my room, I found the two boxes I had wrapped for her and brought them back out to the living room.

  “You really didn’t have to get me anything.”