S.O.B.

by J.C. Valentine

  Carrying the giant bouquet of flowers into the kitchen, I take a moment to inhale their scent before dumping them in the sink. He thinks a couple of laughs and a few flowers will make me want to fall into bed with him? Then he’s a fool.

  Speak of the devil. I’ve just pressed the button on the disposal when Levi descends the stairs.

  Instantly, I feel the heat of guilt creep into my face, and I move to plant myself in front of the sink in order to block his view. But the noise is loud enough to garner his attention.

  Smiling, Levi enters the room and heads straight for the refrigerator, pulling out a jug of chocolate milk. “What are you doing over there?”

  “Reducing some garbage,” I say with a shrug.

  “Yeah, I know. It interrupted my beauty sleep.” Craning his neck, he attempts to see past me. “That’s not the neighbor’s dog, is it? I know he can be a little rowdy sometimes, but it’s no reason to stuff him down a drain.”

  “You don’t have any neighbors,” I point out.

  “Oh, that’s right.” He nods slowly, pondering this as a suspicious smile begins to creep across his face. Before I have time to react, Levi is all motion, leaping at me and moving me aside by my shoulders.

  I freeze, knowing what he’s about to see. The disposal has done its job, grinding the flowers down, but not fast enough. Levi’s expression flattens when he sees the green stems sticking out of the drain.

  I half expect him to shout or scold me or make another wise crack, but Levi just reaches over and turns the water on. I’m holding my breath, studying him closely, just waiting for his reaction...but it never comes.

  In a low voice that rumbles from deep within his chest, Levi says, “It works better if you run the water.”

  Turning away from me, he starts off toward the stairs again and I know—I’ve hurt him. Instant regret slams into me and I reach out. “Levi, wait.” My hand on his arm stops him in his tracks, but Levi doesn’t turn around. He just stands there, staring straight ahead, his back and shoulders rigid, and the tension continues to grow.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t—I thought it was just another joke.”

  Waiting for him to say something is torture, and when he finally does decide to speak, I hear the defeat in his tone despite the lightness he tries to inject into it.

  “Nothing to be sorry for. Like you said, it was just another joke.”

  This time he doesn’t stop when I call his name. I wait for him the rest of the day, ordering Chinese takeout for dinner and setting up a movie for us to watch together. We’re supposed to carve out some time to work on his flexibility, too, but he leaves me waiting. Wondering.

  Levi Black has checked out on me, and even though I have every right to be angry with him, I’m the one who feels like an s.o.b.

  ***

  Bump…Bump...Bump.

  I toss and turn in my bed, listening to the repetitive sound that’s slowly driving me insane. What the hell is that noise?

  Bump...Bump...Bump.

  Focusing my attention, I get up on my knees and listen.

  Bump...Bump...Bump.

  The abstract of naked women hanging over my bed vibrates subtly as the noise continues, and I release a low growl of annoyance.

  Damn Levi.

  Leaping from the bed, I march into the hallway and pound my fist against his door. “It’s seven in the morning, asshole!”

  The jerk doesn’t answer me, but I know he’s in there. Standing outside his bedroom door, I can hear the bumping sound even clearer. My nerves twitch as I grab for the handle and shove the door open, but I’ll be damned if he’s going to keep this up.

  Decorated in rich, masculine tones, Levi’s room is a mirror image of mine. He’s lying on the bed, his head at the bottom and his feet buried in pillows. In his hand is a soccer ball and I watch as he pulls his arm back and throws it at the wall.

  Bump.

  “Do you know what’s on the other side of that wall? My head,” I answer as he continues to throw the ball. “What’s your problem? Are you still butthurt over the flowers?”

  His head twists on the blankets and he scowls at me. “I told you, I don’t care about the flowers.”

  “Then why have you been moping around up here in your room for the last twelve hours?”

  “Your face was starting to annoy me.”

  “Ha, I’d almost believe that if you didn’t get a hard-on every time you looked at it.”

  “You can leave now.”

  “Make me.” He throws the ball again and I snort a little laugh. “See, moping.” Even if he won’t admit it, I know he’s upset, and I can’t bring myself to walk away. For some reason, I feel the need to fix this.

  Entering his room, I give myself a little tour, checking out his stuff. There are photos on the wall taken of him with his coaches and teammates over the years, some friends, and some action shots of him running the ball down the field. I’ve never actually been to one of his games before, but he wears the look of an athlete well. There’s something about a sweaty man that makes my stomach flutter.

  “So, soccer huh?” Glancing at him over my shoulder, I catch his eyes as he watches me move around the room. “Three months is a long time to be away from something you love.”

  The ball flies from his hands again. Bump.

  “I bet you can’t wait to get back into the game.”

  Bump. Bumpbump.

  The last two are thrown so hard, the sound of the ball smacking against the drywall causes me to flinch. Levi’s expression is set in stone, but I can tell something’s eating at him. Could the flowers have really upset him this much? Frowning, I cross the room and sit down on the side of the bed facing him.

  “Want to talk about it?”

  “Nothing to talk about,” he grunts, then whips the ball again. It crashes back into his waiting hands and he repeats the process.

  “Tell that to the ball you’re abusing.” The remark is meant to make him smile, but he doesn’t. Whatever is on his mind, it isn’t good. And I have a feeling that I have something to do with it.

  “If you’re mad at me, I’m sorry about the flowers. I shouldn’t have destroyed them.” He casts me a doubtful look. “No, really. It ended up clogging the disposal, and I spent hours under the sink trying to figure out how to remove the hardware so I could clear it out. Bad move on my part. Rest assured, the next time I throw flowers away it’ll be in a trash can.”

  Catching the ball, Levi presses it between his palms, warping it. “If I had known you harbored such a profound hatred of flowers, I would have ordered a box of chocolate instead.”

  “I don’t have anything against flowers,” I correct him. “Just the kind you send.”

  He chuckles under his breath, and I feel a margin of relief. “And chocolate?”

  “Three weeks from now, they’re the only thing that will save your life.”

  “Guess I’d better stock up then.”

  Watching Levi lay there, squeezing the ball in his hands, I feel embarrassed. What kind of woman grinds up flowers? I love flowers! I’ve been denying my feelings for him for so long that when he actually did something nice for me instead of insulting me or trying to embarrass me, I reacted like a crazy person.

  “Are we still friends?”

  Blowing out a heavy breath, Levi rests the ball on his chest and turns his head, giving me a heart-wrenching look. “I don’t know if I can be your friend, Vista.”

  My chest constricts painfully. “Why?”

  The pause feels like an eternity, but when he finally speaks, his words cause my heart to crash in my chest. “Because what I’m feeling isn’t very friendly.”

  I clear my throat and run my hand over the duvet, unsure of how to feel about what he’s said. “Because you’re mad at me?” I venture, even though I know damn well and good that’s not what he meant.

  Releasing the ball, Levi raises up, propping himself on one elbow, the upper half of his body turned toward me. His blue eyes are intense
as he looks into mine. “Because I want to fuck you.”

  8

  Vista’s lips part on a gasp, and it takes every ounce of control I possess to keep from leaning up that last inch and covering her mouth with mine.

  “Come on,” I say, rolling over and climbing off the bed. “Let’s go do something fun.”

  Grabbing a discarded t-shirt from the back of the desk chair, I pull it over my head. When I turn around, Vista’s still sitting there on my bed, looking a little dazed, and just the sight of her there in her little t-shirt and shorts so short they should be outlawed, makes me want to throw her down on my sheets and touch her ‘til she screams my name.

  I never should have told her I want to fuck her. Once words like that are shared, they can’t be taken back and now it’s all I can think about, and I’m betting the same is true for her. Something tells me she’s not even close to ready to go there though. That’s why I have to get out of here. I need a distraction, but the thought of spending any amount of time without her is unthinkable.

  “Where are we going?”

  Vista’s sweet voice in my ears threatens to send me over the edge. I back out of the room slowly, hoping she’ll follow, and she does. Thank God.

  I grin at her. “It’s a surprise.”

  At least she’s smiling now, instead of looking like a deer in the headlights. “I guess that means I should get dressed.”

  “Or don’t,” I say with a shrug. “In fact, wear nothing. I got all the body heat you need.” God, just stop talking, man.

  With a coy look, she runs off to her room to get ready while I head downstairs to put on my boots. I haven’t been riding in...too long. I love my car, but my bike is my first love. It’s the first thing I bought for myself when I got signed to MLS, but touring the country for games hasn’t left me with a lot of time lately to enjoy her.

  My phone goes off as I’m slipping my arms into my riding jacket and I take it from my back pocket. It’s Vincent and I don’t even have to answer it to know what he’s calling for.

  “Hey, man, what’s up?”

  There’s a lot of noise going on in the background, so I guess he’s at a party, or a club. There’s no telling with Vincent. Wherever the fun is, he’s always there, no matter the hour.

  “I got two words for you. Booze and pussy.”

  “That’s three words, dumbass.”

  “I got a couple more for you. Fuck you.” He belts out a laugh. “Anyway, I got this girl here who’s dying to meet you. You want me to bring her to you, or are you coming to us?”

  My eyes lift to see Vista coming down the stairs. My dicks stirs as I take in the pair of skintight black jeans and multicolored tank top with ruffles that shows off just a hint of cleavage. Damn, just a hint, and I’m hard as a rock. I must be crazy.

  “Naw, man. I’ve already got plans. Rain check, okay?”

  “Dude, seriously? These women are fine as fuck. You can’t say no—”

  I end the call while he’s still speaking because I honestly don’t give a shit about other women right now. “You look—damn.” I scratch my fingers through my beard, taking her in.

  “Damn is good,” Vista says with a soft, flirty smile.

  “You ready to go?”

  She draws in a deep breath, and nods. “As I’ll ever be. Where are we going again?” She asks, eying my leather jacket and boots.

  Scooping up my keys, I push her out the door and into the waiting elevator. “You know I’m not going to tell you.”

  “Oh, I’m sure I can draw it out of you somehow,” she says, her eyes traveling down my body. I know that look, but I doubt she even realizes what she’s doing.

  “You think you’re the only woman to try to seduce me, princess?” The elevator lets us out on the ground floor, and I lead her toward a back exit that lets out onto the building’s parking lot. The instant she sees what we’re heading for, Vista’s eyes practically shoot out of her skull.

  “You own a motorcycle? We’re going to ride on that?”

  I grin as I remove two helmets from the saddlebags. “That’s right, princess. Just something to add to the list of things you didn’t know about me. And here’s something else,” I say, passing one of the helmets off to her. “When it comes to keeping secrets, I’m a steel vault.”

  She rolls her eyes as she turns the shining black helmet in her hands. I can’t even begin to restrain my smile. I had it specially made for her last week, and when she sees—

  “You’re such a bastard,” she laughs, shaking her head.

  “You like it?”

  With a manufactured look of annoyance, she turns the helmet toward me so I can see the laser work I had done on it. In bright yellow script is the word Dummy.

  “I think this one is yours.”

  Taking it from her hands, I shake my head as I place it on top of hers. “Nope, mine is the one that says Pussy Magnet.”

  “No way!”

  Finished clipping her helmet on and making sure it’s snug, I wink at her and then turn away, tossing my leg over the seat. “Climb on, princess.”

  Coming up behind me, I hear her whispered “Oh, my God,” when she catches sight of the back of my helmet. What can I say? She was warned.

  Grabbing onto my shoulders, she climbs up and adjusts herself so that there’s a little gap between us.

  Nope. That’s not going to happen. “You’re gonna have to get a lot closer than that if you don’t want to fall off, princess.”

  A moment passes, and then Vista leans forward, wrapping her arms around my middle. Still not close enough for my taste, though. Reaching back with both hands, I grasp the back of her knees and drag her ass forward so she fits right up against me nice and snug.

  “Much better, don’t you think?” Like this, I can feel the heat between her legs against my lower back. My jeans are instantly too tight, and I have to reach down to shift myself.

  Damn, but this is going to be one hell of a ride.

  Firing up the engine, I instruct Vista to hold on tight and relax, then we take off.

  I’ve only had a person on my bike one other time when I was already out cruising and Vincent’s truck broke down and he needed an emergency pickup. Otherwise, no one rides with me. Riding is the one time when I can break free from everything and clear my head.

  Having Vista with me isn’t a distraction though. With her at my back, leaning into the turns with me, her hands pressed flat against my stomach, I feel more at peace than I ever have riding alone. It’s strange, but there’s something calming about having her here. Almost like by sharing this experience with her I’m letting her see a piece of me that no one else is allowed to see.

  That should scare me, but weirdly enough, it doesn’t. I kind of like it, actually.

  When we cross over the city line, I take a detour onto an old country road that’s low on traffic and I open the engine, sending us flying down the deserted street at a pace that’s probably not safe but is definitely exhilarating.

  Vista’s arms wrap around me tighter and her helmet touches mine as she brings her chin up to rest on my shoulder. I don’t even know if it’s possible, but I swear I can feel her heart beating against my back, keeping time with mine.

  Together, we speed down the barren road, snaking in and out of the curves. The landscape is a blur, but that’s not what I brought her out here for anyway. In the distance, hidden between some trees, is a path. It’s old, rocky, and forgotten, and the only sign that anyone has been down it is the single groove running down the middle created by my tires.

  As our turn comes up, I throttle down. When I see it, I take us off-road. The ride is teeth-rattling bumpy, but I love it. I love everything about this place—the trees, the weeds, the dirt that kicks up under the tires, and the clouds of gnats that scatter as we barrel through them. It’s a rustic paradise.

  A few minutes in, when my ass is starting to grow numb from all the vibration, we’re there. A rotted out cabin with a sloped porch and collapsed r
oof stands like a haunted sentinel warning us away, but this is my place now and I never scared easily.

  Rolling to a stop, I cut the engine and wait for Vista to climb off first. I follow, removing my helmet and hanging it on the handlebars before turning to help her with hers. I watch her face carefully the whole time, eager to know what she’s thinking, but she’s not giving anything away.

  Hanging her helmet with mine, I turn and walk away, leaving her to decide if she wants to follow or not.

  “I know you don’t think I’m going in there.”

  I look behind me to see Vista staring up at the hollowed out shack in horror. For a moment, I keep my mouth closed, letting her mind run wild.

  “You’re kidding, right?” she screeches. “It’s a wreck! It looks like a swift breeze could knock it down.”

  In truth, it probably could. It was probably a nice place at one time though. Sometimes I imagine that it used to belong to a family—maybe one with kids—and they used to spend their summers here.

  “I don’t know,” I drawl, giving it a once-over. “I think it’s pretty charming. A little paint, a couple new boards...”

  “Windows, siding, a roof,” she adds. “Come on, Levi, I know you’re not that crazy.”

  “How sure are you?” I challenge, taking a step toward her. A thread of satisfaction winds through me when she stands her ground. I already know she wants me, but now I know she trusts me, too. “Come on,” I say, holding my hand out. “The big surprise is out back.”

  Reluctantly, she slips her hand into mine. I give it a reassuring squeeze, and then I guide us through the tall grass and thicket of weeds, careful to point out rocks and divots in the earth so she doesn’t trip or fall.

  And then we’re right where I want to be.

  “Oh...wow,” Vista breathes, and I know how she feels.