I glance between her and then Hallie, finding a panicked look on Hallie’s sweet face. Her eyes are wide, as she worries with trembling lips.
“Hey Zara,” I finally speak for myself, “we went to school together.” Zara squints and I wait to see if she’s going to figure it out. I try not to laugh when her eyes almost cross from focusing too hard before she blinks a few times.
“I don’t remember, but I can honestly say I’m sorry I don’t. You’re hot.”
Again, Hallie groans, this time bringing her hand up to cover her face.
“Levi Moretti,” I utter and watch for a sign that she remembers. Zara remains quiet, staring at me like she’s thinking really hard. Then a sly smile covers her lips and she swivels around dramatically to face Hallie.
“Oh my shit!” She bounces in her chair. Hallie quickly leans over and attempts to cover Zara’s mouth. Only she isn’t letting that happen. “Did you tell him how you always dreamt about him? All the erotic thoughts you had with him as the star player? More like star of Hallie’s dreams.” Zara lets out a laugh, but Hallie has turned beet read.
And now I’m smiling, eager to hear more.
“Stop it.” Hallie practically begs her friend to stop talking. A look of pure mortification engulfs her face.
“She used to talk about you all the time. Levi said this, and did you see what he was wearing today?” I place my hand on Hallie’s bare thigh and she mumbles something I can’t quite make out. “He smells so good, Zara. I need to find out what cologne he wears so I can get some.” She continues on, only furthering Hallie’s discomfort. “I don’t know why he’s with that girl. She’s such a bitch. He deserves better. I mean, she flirts with everyone when he’s not around. Everyone. A guy like that should be with someone that knows how amazing he is.”
“You can stop now, Zara.” Hallie again begs her friend for silence. When I try to nudge her to gain her attention, she refuses to even look at me.
“Okay, I think it’s time to get you to your room so you can sleep this off,” Jax tells Zara and she pouts. But I don’t miss the relief that washes over Hallie’s face when she mouths a thank you to the guy who is now trying to hoist up Zara.
“I thought you and I were gonna, ya know,” she says in an attempt of a sexy voice that ends up a slur, and then tries for the flirtatious wink that looks strange, like she has something in her eye instead.
“Not my thing,” Jax assures her. “I prefer my woman conscious when we, ya know.” He repeats her earlier line with a chuckle. Zara actually pouts and bats her eyes at the man.
“I guess I should make sure she makes it upstairs safely.” Hallie stands, and suddenly, I feel panic of my own. I wasn’t ready for her to take off just yet.
“I can walk with you, if that’s okay?” Please say yes.
“You don’t have to do that. I’m sure your friend and your brother are looking for you.”
“Nah,” I assure her, standing to push in my chair and hers. “Besides I was enjoying our talk.”
“Me too.” The shy way she tucks her hair behind her ear sends a thrill through me. I want to do it for her and so many other things too. “I can get her settled and then we can hang out, but I think I should stay in the room. Just in case she wakes up and—”
“I’m okay with that.” She smiles and I realize I may have sounded a little too overly eager. “I’ll just text Kane and let him know where I am so they aren’t looking later.”
I walk behind her and the other two for a few seconds as I type out a message to Kane. Tucking my phone back into my pocket, I ignore his response when my phone vibrates with an incoming message. I know without a doubt the message is something vulgar about me going upstairs with the girl in red.
When Hallie looks back over her shoulder as if to see if I’m still behind them, I can’t stop myself from reaching out and grabbing for her hand. When she slows to let the others get a little further ahead, I keep ahold of her hand.
She pauses just enough to allow me to step up to her side and we begin walking side-by-side.
“So, why didn’t you ever say anything?”
“What?” she says, attempting ignorance, but I can sense she knows exactly what I just asked.
“Back then, all that time we spent together, why didn’t you even mention how you felt?”
“I can think of several reasons, but the main one being a certain someone who would have humiliated me if she ever found out how I felt. Not to mention the fact that your entire life revolved around her, so why would I ever mention it?”
“I was an asshole,” I declare, threading my fingers through hers and she doesn’t pull away.
“You were never an asshole,” she says, looking up at me with kind eyes that make me want to stop walking, maybe even kiss her, but I let her drag me along and hold off on the impulses I feel. “You were just a guy that loved a girl.”
“The wrong girl,” I mumble.
“Regardless, I wasn’t up for rejection. So admiring you quietly was much better than being the nerdy girl who was crushing on a guy she could never have.”
By now, we’ve reached the elevators and I’m looking at her side profile. I immediately notice the way she is biting at her lip nervously and shifting the weight of her body from one foot to the other.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t see you then.” How much different my life would have been if I had.
“It’s okay.” She shrugs and I turn to face her just as the elevator rings announcing its arrival. She releases my hand and steps inside, placing her hand on the side to hold the doors open. “You coming?”
Nodding, I step inside the elevator and position myself directly behind her. The car is full, which gives me the excuse to get even closer. One hand rests on her hip and I press my chest to her back, enjoying the way she leans her body into me a little further.
“I really like your hair like this,” I murmur to her. It’s short, but it suits her, showing off her perfect face “You really are a beautiful woman, Hallie.” Her chest rises and falls with each breath she takes and it excites me more knowing how I affect her.
“Thank you,” she finally breaths a response, only confirming what I already know: She still has a thing for me. Even after all these years of not seeing one another, the interest is still there.
We remain in this same position the entire ride to the sixth floor. Her friend uses the man at my side to hold her up as she rests her head on his shoulder. When he and I make eye contact, he chuckles. Poor guy has no idea what he’s getting himself into with Zara. She would have eaten him alive had she not been completely smashed.
When we pause in front of the door marked suite, Hallie pulls a keycard from her small bag and scans it through the device on the door. It makes a clicking sound as she turns the handle and opens up the room. Stepping inside, she flips on a light and tells the guy to take Zara into the room on the left.
He struggles to guide her in that direction and I follow him to offer a hand.
Once Zara is in the room, Jax and I excuse ourselves so Hallie can get her friend settled.
“Can you just tell her I’m gonna take off?” he asks and I nod in agreement. “I’ve got to work at noon tomorrow until ten so I’m gonna head home to grab some sleep.”
I follow him to the door, closing it once he’s outside.
As I turn back toward the suite, I see Hallie step out of the room and look around. “Did Jax leave?”
“Yeah.”
She nods looking around the room once more. It is nothing compared to the Loft I am staying in but it is still spacious. A larger living room in the center separates what I assume are two bedrooms.
“Do you want a drink?” She hurries to the bar and pulls out two glasses. Her hands shake, showing that she is nervous now that we are alone in the room, with the exception of Zara who is passed out. “Whiskey, right?”
Walking toward her, I observe her movements as she gathers two cubes of ice from the small freezer and place
s them in a small tumbler. “I don’t know if it’s the same kind you were drinking.” I step around the bar and place my body directly behind hers. “It’s all we have though,” she practically whispers.
Moving her hair to the side, I kiss the side of her neck and watch as her eyes flutter shut. “You can stop being so nervous, Hallie,” murmur as I kiss her once more, this time closer to her ear. “We’re just hanging out; there are no expectations here.” She nods. “And whatever you have is fine. I’m here for your company anyway, not the whiskey.”
Looking back over her shoulder, her lips are now so very close to my own. I remain just where I am, not giving her any space. If she wants more, she will have to gain it all on her own.
“You’ve always made me so nervous.” Her confession surprises me. “I used to have to count in my head when you were close to keep myself from doing something stupid,” she admits.
“Like what?”
Her chest rises once more as she takes in one deep breath. “Like try to kiss you.”
“What if I want you to kiss me now?”
CHAPTER 7
Hallie
What if I want you to kiss me now? Words I had dreamt of so many times and now he’s spoken them. To me. I can barely breath.
“But just so you know firsthand, I’ve wanted to kiss you since the moment we sat down at that table outside of the club.” My heart is racing so hard and so fast that I’m surprised he can’t hear its pounding beat. This moment? It feels like a dream.
“So, if those thoughts are running through your mind, you should act on them,” he counters, causing my already pounding heart to nearly leap out of my chest. If only he knew about all the other thoughts screaming inside my head. Thoughts that nearly make me blush for what seems like the hundredth time tonight. “I’d be more than happy to accept.”
I smile when he dips his head closer to mine, my gaze dropping to his mouth, just as his tongue sweeps out to moisten his lips. It’s been longer than I can remember since I felt this kind of rush. The warmth flooding my body. The heavy need to feel a man against me, to kiss him and to taste him.
“I’m …” I begin only to stop myself quickly.
“You’re what?”
More nervous than I have ever been before in my life, I carefully contemplate what to say. If there was ever a time to quickly get over my shyness, it’s now. There is still that same girl inside of me in regard to this man that worries of the rejection.
“Unsure of how to control myself around you,” I quietly utter. A confession that shocks even me. It is the last thing I ever expect to say out loud.
“Then don’t,” Levi turns me in his arms to where I’m now facing him. “For once, maybe we should just not think so much and just do. Just feel. See where this thing takes us.”
When I tilt my head back and look at this gorgeous guy standing before me, taking him fully in, I find my hands have a mind of their own as they begin to venture up his chest, pausing just beneath his well-defined pecks.
It’s even better than I had let myself imagine a million times over in my dreams. I remember watching him playing football on the field and dreaming of being the one he smiled at as he pulled off his helmet and looked out into the crowd. I was that crazy girl who fantasized over and over about having him as my boyfriend. No one knew it, and I liked it that way because those dream were all my own.
Yet, now here I stand, in front of the guy I thought of so many times that it felt borderline stalkerish.
Just as I’m about to let my doubts lead me, Levi dips his head, closing the distance that remains between us, and places his lips on mine.
My body leans further into his on its own volition. Holding me firmly, he curls his arms around me while continuing the assault of my lips. I have never been kissed like this before. Wholeheartedly possessed. Like I was the air he needed to breathe.
I whimper when I feel his tongue skim over my lips and shiver as he applies just a small amount of suction on my lower lip.
“Mm,” I hum against his mouth as our tongues dance together. A kiss from Levi is so much more than I bargained for, all consuming and toe-curling.
Gliding my palms up his chest, I drag the tips of my fingers through his hair and pull gently. The groan he releases as he squeezes my hips harder is the biggest turn-on. Suddenly, my waist is being firmly held as I am being hoisted up and placed on to the bar behind me.
He parts my legs, sliding his hands up my thighs, dragging my skirt along with him. Stepping between my legs, his lips find mine once again and continue to kiss me senseless. And I can’t help but wonder what his delicious mouth would feel like on the rest of my body.
It’s not the alcohol that is making my head spin and the room move as I slide closer and wrap my legs around him, holding him in place. It’s him. He is the potent shot of heat I feel everywhere.
He makes that sexy as sin growling noise and I feel his erection against me as he shifts forward with a teasing thrust. In desperation, I start moving against him and his moans deepen.
Reaching between us, I press my palm over his hardness and shift my hand, applying just enough pressure.
“Hallie,” he says my name in a breath, making me smile at how desperate it sounds. Never had I ever thought that I would hold any amount of control over Levi Moretti. And right now, I’m owning him as much as he is owning me.
Careful to make this as alluring as possible and gain that last amount of satisfaction from being in control, I squeeze him in my hand just before moving upward to the buckle of his jeans.
His lips crash against mine in a heated, intense kiss and I pause as I momentarily lose my thoughts. “You’re perfect,” he growls against my mouth, a sound that makes me even more hungry for him. The way his tongue rolls and the light gentle sucks he gives, my head feels like it’s going to explode with all the possibilities.
“Honey, we’re home,” I hear faintly, only I can’t stop myself. I grip on to Levi tighter with my legs and hold him securely in place. I’m stroking him through his pants, fisting his shirts with my other hand to keep him lips on mine.
I need this, God how I need this.
“Holy, live porno show.” Immediately, I freeze. Pulling back, I look into Levi’s eyes and see him looking behind me. It’s then I know that we are no longer alone. It’s like a bucket of ice cold water has been dumped over my head.
“Don’t stop. Please continue on as this shit is hot,” Robyn adds and then I hear Lucy’s drunk giggle. “You don’t mind, do you, Lucy?”
“Oh no,” she says in a slurred voice that indicates she is most definitely drunk. “Is it wrong that I want to watch them?”
This is all the awkward, and I can’t handle any more.
“I guess I should go,” Levi states before he steps back, applying a small amount of pressure to his cock as it still remains extremely noticeable behind the zipper of his jeans. “I think they’re too drunk to notice.”
“I wouldn’t count on it. They … well … Robyn anyway … have an eye for that kind of thing.” She would for sure notice his erection was out there screaming help me.
With a gleam in his eyes, he grabs me by the waist and lifts me off of the bar before I have a second to try to stop him. Leaning in close with one hand resting on each side of me, he offers a soft kiss to my lips. “Meet me tomorrow for a late breakfast?”
That crazy flip thing happens in my stomach when I think of seeing him again.
“Ten,” he adds and I nod with a smile. “Meet me on the Terrace?”
It was a large balcony restaurant overlooking the grounds of the hotel.
“I’ll be there,” I answer. He plants another soft kiss on my lips before stepping back and walking around the bar toward the doors. I spin around fast to watch him go and notice I’m not the only one checking out his backside. Like the wanton woman he’s turning me into, I picture what his ass looks like naked from behind while he thrusts his hips forward again and again.
T
hat’s enough perving on Levi, Hallie.
I let out a small giggle before biting my lip quickly to stop my thoughts from going too far.
When he reaches the door, he pauses and looks over his shoulder back at me. “You should have said something all those years ago, Hallie.”
As he steps outside of the room and the door closes behind him I can’t manage focus on anything but his final words. Words that surprise me, sending a shred of regret through me for not declaring my feelings to him back then.
“That man is …” Robyn doesn’t finish. She doesn’t have to; I already know.
But that doesn’t stop a very, overly drunk, and loose-lipped Lucy from adding in her own thoughts. “Fuckable, really, really fuckable.”
I know the look on my face is one of shock when I stare at the tiny girl before us, the always prim and proper one whose cardigan is now half off her shoulder. Whose button-up shirt beneath has the top two buttons undone. Whose hair is a wild mess like someone has been combing their fingers through it and tugging along the way. Whose mascara is smudged and has her looking like a raccoon. All are accompanied by a goofy ass smile. My librarian-like Lucy looks like she’s been ravaged in the best way.
“I found her on the bench outside the club. She was straddling her little friend and I had to drag her away from him. It was awful,” Robyn informs me with a snicker. “I got pictures,” she adds with a smile.
Tomorrow, Lucy was going to regret tonight; I already knew this. We would hear about it all day. I just hoped that I wouldn’t be around for it.
Instead of standing around listening to Robyn drill me over the events of my night, I say a quick goodnight and escape into the room were Zara lay snoring. Closing the door behind me, I grab my bag and slip into the bathroom for a shower. As the hot water cascades over my body, I let my mind wander back to the way Levi kissed me and the feeling of his hands over my thighs and gripping my hips.
Tomorrow morning really can’t come quick enough.
CHAPTER 8
Blackout: A Romance Anthology Page 72