by Hazel Parker
* * *
“Let’s go out to see a movie.”
The way Gray blinked confirmed that he didn’t expect me to say that. It was actually a surprise for me, too, mostly because I never really bothered to invite him out before. Mostly, it was me visiting the race track to check out his race, secretly enjoying the thrill of the newly-discovered sport and play my so-called part in the girlfriend thing.
After that party kiss and all the hidden emotions it took out of me, we quietly decided to keep the girlfriend thing strictly on a touching basis—an arm on the waist, a hand on his, and the likes. It had worked so far, but there was no denying that something brewed between us and was just waiting to rise to the surface. We were still friends, but we were so careful around each other that we might as well have been tiptoeing. I was tired of it, and I wanted things to be back to normal between us.
I wanted him, too—sometimes so much that it boggled my mind. But I wasn’t going to broach that topic, because Gray didn’t, and he clearly didn’t want to, based on how friendly and casual he was acting. Maybe the kiss was a mistake for him.
“You want to watch a movie?” he asked. He was still standing by the door, as I’d accosted him the moment he came in from practice and didn’t even give him time to step in. I watched him step in now, wearing black jeans, a plain white shirt, and looking so fresh and showered that my mouth watered. I gulped down the thirst and ignored my racing heart.
The man was too handsome for his own good, but I wasn’t going to be beaten down by it.
“I want us to hang out together,” I said stubbornly. “Watch a movie, eat popcorn. As friends do.”
He obviously noticed the way I emphasized the word friends. What he didn’t notice was the tenseness in my body as I prepared for him to reject my invitation.
But Gray tilted his head, placing his small duffel bag beside the door. Then he smiled.
“Let’s.”
* * *
The nearest movie theater was way across town and I spent the ride killing time by being extra cheerful and talking nonsense about the movie we were about to watch. It was an action flick, one that was a blockbuster and promised to be full of car chases and shooting bad guys, which I believed was what he needed. Gray was a bit subdued, which had me concerned.
“Is…everything okay?” I asked once I was no longer able to take it. Gray glanced in my direction, then nodded his head.
“Just had a bad practice day,” he said.
Automatically, I placed my hand on his arm. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Nah, its fine. How’s work?”
His arm was so warm, and I had to take my hand away and get back in my lane. I looked ahead and nodded. “It’s great. The client loves my articles and wants to take me on as a permanent writer ahead of time.”
“That’s great,” he murmured, his voice sincere.
“Thanks,” I murmured back.
Silence settled in again, and I did my best to fill it up. Finally, we arrived at the theater, purchased our tickets, and took our seats at the back with a huge tub of popcorn between us. This was the first time in a while we’d sat side by side without any pretending going on or any other eyes on us, and it felt refreshing.
It also felt nerve-wracking. Like we were on a first date.
The movie started and I tried my best to concentrate. Sip on coke, eat some popcorn. React to the gunshots. Laugh at some parts. It was a basic plot really, but with great special effects and it helped ease the nerves slowly. The theater was especially cold, the air conditioner turned up, and soon I found myself shivering while watching some pretty hot make out scenes between the actor and actress.
“You’re cold,” Gray suddenly murmured beside me, his mouth especially close to my ear. I shivered all the more at his closeness, then startled when he pulled the armrest between us up. Without a word, he pulled me closer and wrapped an arm around me. “Better?”
I swallowed. Not only was the cold gone, but a certain heat was spreading inside me, and a delicious tingle that simmered quite pleasantly.
“Better,” I said as calmly as I could.
He re-settled the tub of popcorn between us, and the silence resumed as we continued watching. A few minutes later, I was shivering again and wished I wore jeans instead of thin leggings.
A hand dropped to my knee. Then he began rubbing up and down, his touch strictly purposeful and never breaching the top part of my thigh. All the same, my breath hitched.
“Anything I can do to keep you warm?” he asked innocently.
Kiss me. Touch me. Press against me and let me feel your—
“I’m fine,” I blurted out, my cheeks turning hot. I knew I should leave it as it was and focus on the movie, but everything on the screen became a blur. I noticed Gray’s arms had goosebumps. He must be chilled as well.
Instinctively, my hand went to his knee. It felt so natural. But I felt him freeze all of a sudden, which puzzled me. I glanced at him, watching his face still focused on the screen. Then I looked down.
I froze, too.
There was a very visible bulge underneath his pants—large, larger than I was used to seeing. I gasped, realizing my hand was inches away from it. My fingers itched, and I had to fist them. Oddly enough, the action had the bulge jumping, and I felt his thigh tensing against my touch.
He was aroused.
Something achingly hot pooled in my belly then slid down in between my legs and had me biting my lower lip.
I wanted him bad.
The suddenness of it had panic hitting me in the chest. Before I knew it, I was mumbling an excuse and standing up, then stumbling out of there and into the hallway. I walked away quickly, not stopping until I was nearing the restroom of the theater. I pushed the door open and walked over to the sink, the bright lights illuminating my shocked, pale face.
Footsteps sounded behind me.
“Kate.”
I whirled around, watching with wide eyes as the door opened and in came Gray. He looked lost and just as shocked as I did, but also contrite. We stared at each other, our gazes clashing, and instead of assuring me, it only served to heighten up the emotions inside me—particularly the desire brimming on the surface and threatening to overflow.
“I’m sorry,” I said, trying to find the words to make everything normal again. I could hear the desperation in my tone, and I tried to reel it in. “You should go back and enjoy the movie. I just need a few minutes…”
But instead of going back, Gray stepped forward. I thought he was going to approach me, but he walked over to the space beside me instead. He placed his hands on the edge of the sink tiles, then faced the mirror. Frustration brimmed in his gray eyes.
“I want you,” he said. Just like that.
It wasn’t what I expected him to say, and the words washed over me like electricity, hot and full of charge. I didn’t know what to say other than I wanted him, too, but he was speaking again before I could say it out loud.
“But I want to be your friend so much, and this is killing me,” he continued. “You’re my only female friend, Kate. And Paul…he’s one of the few friends I trust.”
I bit my lip, then looked down. I wrapped my arms around me, suddenly feeling hot and cold at the same time.
“I want to be your friend, too,” I murmured. “And…I definitely felt something when we kissed.”
His hands tightened on the sink tiles. “Damn it.”
“Language,” I whispered.
A choked laugh came out of his throat—one that, frustratingly enough, turned me on. There were only inches of space between us, with the two of us facing opposite directions. The tension could have been cut with a knife; it was that thick. But we didn’t move out of respect, out of propriety.
“We can go back to our seats,” he finally said. “Keep the armrest between us, and just…be friends.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched his hands tighten
on the sink some more, and my thoughts drifted to how it would tighten around my waist—on how those fingers would cruise all over and touch every inch of my skin. My breath caught in my throat, and my body ached.
Realization slammed through me like a rock breaking glass, so abrupt.
“Friends turned lovers are still friends,” I found myself saying.
There was a distinct stilling of Gray’s body beside me. Slowly, I looked up. I waited for him to meet my gaze.
When it finally did, the arousal I felt earlier hit me with an intense blast at the desire I saw brimming in his. Then I was moving forward and standing on tiptoe.
And I was pulling him towards me, consequences be damned.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
GRAY
Friends turned lovers are still friends.
The words rang over and over in my ear, said so softly and with such a sweet tinge to them. The thing that I should have done was leave before things escalated, but for some reason, my feet were incapable of moving, rooted in place more than ever.
Then Kate was there, moving closer and looking so achingly beautiful that I could only stare at her. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed me like it was the most natural thing in the world, and in her kiss was a world of desire and passion that threatened to undo me.
My mind went blank. I kissed her back without thought, reacting to what instinct was telling me. We kissed like we were thirsty, and I knew it was an extension to our kiss at that party—all the unresolved tension and frustration rolling into one and forming a ball of heat between us that spread through our bodies. My cock reacted to it, which was still so shocking in itself as I felt it grow hard inside my pants.
Damn it.
Soft noises came out of her throat, making me weak in the knees and my dick weep in pleasure. I groaned in response and kissed her hard, thrusting my tongue inside her and feeling her tongue readily collide with mine. My hands were close to sliding her leggings down and touching her where I wanted to the most, and I had to fight hard to reel the urge in.
I broke the kiss first—again.
“We can’t do this,” I said, backing off slowly. I watched her coffee-colored eyes shining with arousal, her mouth swollen from my kisses.
“We can’t,” she agreed softly.
“We need to…go back.”
“Yes,” she whispered. Her pink tongue slid out to lick her lower lip, and my eyes strayed there. My stomach dropped.
And then I was cursing and yanking her back, then crashing my mouth against hers.
She moaned almost instantly. She opened her mouth for me readily, and the eagerness in her fed my desire and had me pulling her until we were pressed body to body. I backed her towards the sink and lifted her up in one move, sitting her down there with a plunk.
“It’s cold,” Kate gasped against my tongue. She licked my lips before biting the lower part, and the next groan that reverberated from me couldn’t be contained. I spread her legs and slid in between them, my erection pressing against her warmth.
“I’ll keep you warm,” I murmured, right before my mouth and my hands moved everywhere.
I cruised my lips down her throat, where I found her taste concentrated and all the more intoxicating. My hand moved up, fingering the edge of her shirt before I finally slid inside to touch the warm skin of her waist. I felt her belly flutter, felt her breathing come out sharper when I kept sliding my hand up until I was touching the edge of her lace bra. My tongue slid down her shoulder, then up her neck.
My hand cupped her breast over her bra.
Even with the barrier, I felt her nipple pucker and felt my cock rage in response. With a harsh grunt, I ground it against her thigh and felt an answering response pulsing inside her. The desire to take her roared inside me, and I rubbed my palm back and forth against her tight nipple, trying to stem what I was feeling.
But it wasn’t working. All I wanted to do was yank her bra down and palm her bare, then tear her shirt off—then, suck those nipples until she was screaming for it. The ache was so intense, and I realized I was repeatedly grinding against her, and we were humping on the sink—and the little moans coming out of her mouth were like dangerous little teases that made me want to yank her pants down and just plunge my cock in that tight little—
My body shook from my thoughts.
I stifled a curse. Then I yanked my head back up and kissed her again, over and over. When I pulled back, I waited for her to meet my gaze, and she did, those blurry eyes making every bit of resistance melt.
“We need to go home,” I rasped.
Kate’s whole body was shaking, and her hair was all tangled up. Goddamn. She was so fucking hot. She nodded her head. “But we haven’t finished the movie,” she blurted out.
A rough laugh slid out of me, the amusement warring with the desire. “I don’t care about that damn movie. I want to fuck you hard.”
Her mouth formed into an O, and my blood went hot. “Oh…okay.”
I laughed again, then kissed her once more.
Then I was pulling her out of the restroom before I could do something we would both regret. Who wants to fuck for their first time in a public bathroom?
* * *
The car ride was tense, with my cock raging and for once not from the driving but from her mere presence beside me. On the passenger seat, Kate was quiet—very quiet, unlike her usual chatty self. I could sense the anticipation between us, so strong and filling the car space with an electric, tingly vibe that made sweat flash hot and cold in me.
Her legs were tightly pressed together, and her gaze was pointedly staring straight ahead. Her mouth was clamped shut, and her hands were fisted in front of her.
My own hands weren’t any different, gripping the wheel as if my life depended on it. I urged myself to focus on my driving, to drive slower and eliminate the risk of me crashing this car because of too much anticipation.
“I want to jump you right now,” Kate blurted out all of a sudden.
Christ. Not helping.
“We should talk about something else,” I suggested, and I could hear the tightness in my tone. “We should talk about you.”
For some reason, that had Kate groaning as she covered her face with her hands. “I feel really, really bad.”
I shot her a look before focusing back on the road. “Why?”
“Because,” Kate began, then stopped. She took a deep breath, then removed her hands and fisted them back on her lap. “You’ve never done this before. And here I am…here I am unable to stop thinking about it.”
That made something swell inside me, and it wasn’t just my dick. It had to be my ego because my heart had already swelled from the moment she decided to kiss me. I found myself smiling slightly. “Kate, I’m not that innocent. In fact, I’m not innocent at all.”
“You said you’ve never had sex before,” she pointed out.
I nodded. “That doesn’t mean I didn’t do everything else.”
She hesitated before finally asking, “What have you done?”
I knew she was asking me out of genuine curiosity, and the least I could do was answer her honestly. I scanned my brain for all those car times with women I had. “Obviously, they’ve done a lot of things to me, like a blowjob and lots plenty of handy work.” She didn’t make any offended sound, and I let myself continue. “As for me, I’ve kept it at a minimal. I often use my tongue and my hands to make a woman feel good.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched her swallow. “How did you…make them feel good?”
I took a deep breath, unable to believe our conversation had taken this turn. At the same time, I couldn’t get myself to stop. “I kissed them. I lavished their body with kisses, then used my tongue to…lick their breasts and to…tease their nipples. I used my fingers to make them wet, then make them open up for me.”
“So only your…fingers in their…?”
“No,” I said, licking my sudden
ly dry mouth. “My tongue, too.”
There was a pause before she voiced out her next question—one that had all the blood rushing down my groin. “So you’ll use your tongue…on me?”
I almost closed my eyes and groaned again. Instead, I clenched my jaw and kept talking.
“Yes. I’ll slide your pants down. Then your panties. I’ll slide my fingers inside your tight entrance until you’re wet for me, Kate. I’ll thrust it in slow movements, waiting for you to adjust and loosen up for me. Then I’ll quicken my fingers and touch your clit.”
Her breath whooshed out, and her hands held on to her thighs. But she didn’t make a single sound, and there was no stopping me.
“Then, when you’re begging for it, I’ll use my tongue on you. I’ll lick you, Kate. I’ll lick you until you’re so wet and so ready for me.”
This time, her breath hitched, a sexy little sound that had my arousal strengthening.
“What kind of tongue-licking do you want, Kate?” I asked softly. “Do you want soft strokes? Do you want hard strokes?”
“Both,” she choked out. “Gradual buildup.”
“That’s the best kind,” I murmured in agreement.
The apartment building was almost in sight, and I could have sobbed from relief. Instead, I kept driving.
“I’m not wearing any panties.”
She shouldn’t have said that.
She really shouldn’t have said that, because if she hadn’t, maybe we could have made it at least to the parking lot.
I cursed. Then I swerved to the side and stopped the car on the road near the beach. In one swift move, I hurriedly unbuckled my seatbelt. In another, I was pulling her off her seat and settling her on my lap, where I proceeded to capture her mouth in a hard, desperate kiss.
She tasted as potent as she did earlier, and I couldn’t get enough. I practically swallowed her, and she swallowed me back, our hunger for each other knowing no bounds. Her hands went up to run through my hair, and mine went down to slide beneath her shirt again and keep touching her skin. Then I touched the edge of her pants, intending to slide it down and see if she really had no panties on—if she was bare and ready and wet for me.