Rocco

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  I expected him to say something, but he didn’t. Instead, he rolled over me, nudging between my thighs and pushed inside me. It wasn’t hot and fast like it was all the other times, and I tried not to read too much into it. He was just grateful that I understood where he was coming from. This had nothing to do with feelings on either side. No, we were just fucking. In a very slow, passionate way.

  I gasped when his lips latched onto my neck. I gripped his back and pulled him closer, needing to feel his body close against mine. Something close to feelings pulled at my chest, tightening until I felt something similar to a tear in my eye. Shaking my head, I brushed off those insane thoughts and wrapped my legs around Rocco, forgetting the insane feelings that were rushing through me.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Rocco

  Warmth spread all around me. I was never this warm at night, but right now, it felt like I was standing right next to a fucking furnace. I cracked my eyes open and saw that Brooke was wrapped up in me. And worse, I was wrapped up in her. I was fucking spooning her. She was just laying there, but it was me that had broken my own fucking rule. I was practically molesting her in her sleep. My right arm was underneath her, my hand grabbing her boob, and my left hand was cupping her pussy. It was fucking warm and wet, and my dick stood at attention. It felt so fucking right.

  And after that conversation we had, all I wanted to do was make love to her. I shook my head and growled to myself. I didn’t make love. That required feeling something for who you were with, and Brooke was not someone I could feel something for. Even though she was the one to point out that I needed to take care of shit with the Clapp lady. The things Brooke had said, about me loving my daughter, it was like she really understood. I lost it and needed her in a different way than I had before. Every time that I thought I knew who Brooke was, she totally shocked me, and that was making this whole thing very hard to navigate.

  There was only one thing to do, I needed to extract myself from her as quickly as possible and make sure that she never knew what had happened last night. If she knew that I broke my own fucking rules, I’d never hear the end of it. The problem was, I really fucking liked being wrapped around her, and that was a major problem for me. If I thought it was dangerous before when I realized how much I wanted her and could fall for her, it was downright deadly now.

  “Is there a reason that you’re snuggling me?” Brooke said quietly.

  Shit, I should have moved faster. “I’m not snuggling. I was feeling you up, Sweets. Haven’t you ever had morning sex?”

  “Hmm,” she murmured. “Is that why you’ve been wrapped around me since I woke up two hours ago?”

  Fuck. “You’ve been awake for two hours?”

  “Hmm. I was warm and I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want to be accused of breaking the rules that you created. I figured it was safest for you to wake up knowing who broke the rules.”

  “It doesn’t mean anything,” I said, my voice gravelly, betraying the nonchalance I was going for.

  “Of course not. It’s not like one night of snuggling means you want to marry me.”

  “Of course not.”

  “And I would never assume that just because you did it last night that you’ll ever do it again.”

  “It was a fluke.”

  “I know,” she said matter-of-factly.

  But I knew that she knew it was not a fluke. In fact, I was pretty sure that she knew exactly what was on my mind right now. I didn’t know what else to say, so I let my hands do the talking. My fingers slowly started massaging her pussy, relishing in the feel of her juices slipping against my fingers. It was so damn sexy how wet she was. And when she whispered my name, I thought my cock would break off against her ass, it was so hard.

  Spreading her legs, I slipped into her from behind and gripped her to me, pounding into her as hard as I could in this position. “Fuck, you’re sexy.”

  “Fuck me harder,” she moaned.

  I groaned and gave her what she wanted. I needed a better position, but having her wrapped up in me was just what I wanted. I loved her skin rubbing against mine, and her breasts in the perfect place for me to grab and hold on. Everything about this woman was fucking perfect. And that made me want her even more than I already did.

  She moved her hand to the back of my head and scratched at my hair, like she was trying to find her grip. I bent forward and bit her shoulder as I took what I wanted from her. God, I was so fucking lost in her. I felt her walls closing in around me and then she was biting back a scream as she came. I pressed my fingers to her clit, making her fall over the edge a second time I as I released inside her.

  Panting and kissing her neck, I sucked at her salty skin and ran my fingers from her pussy up her body, tracing every curve. God, I was already falling for this woman. The thought had me pulling back instantly from her. There would be no falling. There would be nothing more than lust. I pulled out of her and stared at my dick. Shit.

  “Goddamnit!”

  “What?” she asked, rolling over in confusion.

  “I forgot the damn condom again.”

  She smirked at me, that devilish grin making me hard again.

  “What?” I snapped.

  “So, that’s three rules.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “No sleeping in bed with you, always use condoms, and no snuggling. I’m pretty sure that’s gotta be a record for how quickly you broke those rules.”

  I flung the covers off and stomped out of the room, all the while she was fucking laughing at me. I was so fucking screwed.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  I felt the burn in my arm, but I was so distracted in the shower, thinking about Brooke and what I had allowed to happen, that I missed the code of the day to get into Evie’s room. Now she was in there fucking crying and there was nothing I could do about it.

  I called Knight for the third time, cursing him for not answering when I needed him. He finally picked up the fourth time that I called him.

  “What the fuck do you want?”

  “I’m locked out of Evie’s room.”

  He chuckled on the other end. “I was wondering how long it would take for you to fuck that up.”

  “I didn’t fuck it up. If you didn’t have this crazy fucking code, I wouldn’t be locked out of her room right now.”

  “Interesting.”

  “What is?”

  “Well, it’s never been a problem before, which means that you were fucking distracted. And you don’t get distracted when it comes to your daughter. Which also means that not only are you out of your fucking mind for Brooke, you don’t know how to deal with that, because she doesn’t want kids.”

  “Are you gonna help me or do I have to break down the fucking door?”

  “I wouldn’t recommend doing that.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, you idiot, I didn’t just put a lock on the door. I took measures to ensure that anyone that tried to enter her room without authorization would more than likely die from heart failure.”

  “How?”

  “Ever been electrocuted?”

  I stood there for a minute, wondering how the fuck he thought that was safe to have around my curious toddler.

  “Don’t worry,” he cut in. “The code has to be entered incorrectly at least twice for that to happen. Or someone has to break down the door.”

  “Gee, that makes me feel so much better,” I said sarcastically.

  He sighed. “Just relax. I’ll reset the system and send you another code.”

  “Isn’t there some easier way to do this?”

  “Yeah, you could fucking pay attention.”

  He hung up before I could come up with a smart-ass remark. I felt the burn in my arm just seconds later and quickly memorized the numbers. By the time I got in to Evie, she was hysterical and trying to climb out of her crib. I rushed through the maze of lasers and over to pick her up, rubbing her back to soothe her. I felt like a shit fat
her for being so distracted, and all of it over a woman. I needed to have my head examined. Evie was my number one priority and she always would be, especially when the woman I was sleeping with had different plans for her life than I had for mine.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  I was just heading out after a really long fucking day, and I was ready for a beer. But the beer would have to wait because I had a daughter to take care of. I felt terrible for thinking that way, but being a single father sucked. I remembered when Evie first came to me and I had wanted to give her away. I’m not sure that I really considered doing it, but I was fucking lost. I hadn’t ever thought I would be a single father. Sure, I had dreams just like all the other guys, but I kept those hidden. I didn’t want to attract every woman with a womb in need.

  My phone buzzed and I groaned when I pulled it out to see a list for the store from Brooke. I really didn’t want to stop, and I was tempted to tell her that she just had to wait, but then I saw tampons on the list and froze. I couldn’t tell her no if they were on the list. What if she already had her period? What if it was set to arrive tonight? Could that happen?

  I felt the sweat bead on my forehead and swiped it away quickly. I just had to get to Florrie or Lola. Surely one of them would do this for me. I ran through the building shouting for both of them, but neither answered. I could feel the walls closing in as I thought about the aisle that every guy avoided in the grocery store. I once saw a man in a sweater vest down that aisle. He looked fucking confused as all hell, and when I nodded to him, he gave a weak smile and raised a box of tampons in salute. That would never fucking be me.

  “Dude,” Hunter said, grabbing me by the shirt when I almost bowled him over in my rush to find a woman. “What the fuck is your problem?”

  I turned to Hunter and Derek, who had been walking out of Derek’s office and laid out my fears.

  “Brooke needs tampons.”

  “So, go get her tampons,” Hunter said slowly.

  “You don’t understand,” I said pleadingly. “I’ve never been down that aisle. I avoid it at all costs. I don’t know what the fuck I’m looking for.”

  He shrugged, “So, get her a little of everything.”

  “You want me to get her some of everything? Are you fucking crazy?”

  Derek looked at me like I was weird. “I got Claire a year’s supply of tampons when I was trying to date her. It’s no big deal.”

  “You went alone?”

  “No, she was with me.”

  “Right, so it didn’t look fucking stupid,” I spat. “I’m a single man. I have no wedding ring. I can’t just walk into the store and go down that aisle and start picking shit out.”

  “I’m not following,” Hunter said.

  “Look, you know what to get,” I said to Derek. “You go for me.”

  “Whoa,” he laughed, holding up his hands. “Claire’s on the nest. That gives me at least a year of not having to go tampon shopping for her. There’s no way I’m doing your dirty work for you.”

  “Well, how am I supposed to know what to get?”

  “Dude, you’re a fucking medic,” Hunter said, gripping onto my shoulder. “Grow a fucking pair of balls and look at this from a medical standpoint. Brooke is a woman, and women get periods. There’s nothing you can do about it, but go to the store and make sure she has what she needs. Just keep thinking like a doctor.”

  “Right,” I nodded, trying to let the panic subside.

  “Oh, and don’t forget the chocolate,” Derek said as they walked away.

  “What chocolate?” I yelled, but they just laughed and walked away. Now I had to get fucking chocolate?

  I ran out to my truck and drove to the store, trying my best to stay in medic mode. It was just blood. It was a natural part of life and I could deal with this shit. I walked through the automatic doors of the store and sniffed, puffing up my chest as I made my way to the doomed aisle. With every step closer I took, I felt my confidence waning. The chip aisle, the snack aisle, and finally…feminine products.

  I turned at the end of the aisle and turned in to face my doom. It was empty right now, so I had a good window of getting what I needed and getting out without being stared at. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man approach and stand next to me. He stared down the aisle, the same as me.

  “First time?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” I said, my voice coming out as a croak.

  “Me too.”

  We stared in silence for a moment. “So…how do I know what to get?”

  He shrugged. “I was planning on just grabbing the first thing I found.”

  “But what if it’s the wrong thing? Won’t you just have to come back?”

  “Shit,” he grumbled. “I hadn’t thought about that.” He held out his hand to me. “Mike.”

  I stared at it. “I think it’s best if we don’t exchange names. It feels too much like we might repeat this someday.”

  “Right. Well, I guess here goes nothing.”

  I nodded and took a deep breath. Together, we took our first steps into the aisle and breathed a sigh of relief at getting the hardest part done and over with.

  “Tampons,” I murmured to myself as I scanned the shelves for what I needed. My eyes widened in surprise when I saw all the options. How was it possible that a woman needed this many choices? They had a hard enough time making up their minds about shit, did tampons really need to be another thing for them to debate over for an hour?

  “Holy fuck,” Mike said, running his hand over his head. “This is fucking ridiculous. How am I supposed to know what to choose?”

  “She didn’t give you any specifics?”

  He shook his head. “You?”

  “Just tampons.”

  “Just tampons. Why the fuck would they say that? We both know that no matter what we choose, it won’t be the right thing. There’s no such thing as just tampons.”

  “Okay, let’s look at this from a logical point of view. On a scale of one to ten, how pissy does your woman get during her time?”

  “Ten being royally pissy, or one?”

  “Nobody fucking explodes at one. Of course ten is the highest.”

  “I would say…angrier than when I forget to load the dishwasher, but not as angry as when I didn’t stand up for her to my mother.”

  I snorted. “Well, those are two very different extremes.”

  “Okay, so the mother being ten…I would say a seven.”

  I nodded. “Okay, so seven must be pretty emotional, so I would say that she’s got a pretty heavy period.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well, I figure that if her period is light, she has nothing to be pissy about, right?”

  He ran his hand across his chin. “That sounds about right.”

  “So, I would say, go with the super tampons.”

  He reached for it, but then paused. “Look at this.” His hand moved to the right and he grabbed a different box. “A mixed bag. Can’t go wrong with that.”

  I snatched the box and read it over. “This is fucking perfect.”

  He went to grab another, but paused. “That’s the last one.”

  “Oh. That sucks.”

  “Hand it over.”

  I pulled the box out of reach. “No, it’s mine.”

  “But I had it first.”

  “And now you don’t.”

  “You wouldn’t even know about it if it weren’t for me.”

  “Look, I feel your pain. I really do, but you’re married. You can recover from this. My woman is just living with me. There’s not as much leeway where she’s concerned.”

  “I feel really fucking bad for you, but I just don’t care. Now, give me the fucking box!”

  “No,” I said, holding it above my head. He was shorter than me and couldn’t reach it, but I made the mistake of laughing at him. Next thing I knew, he punched me hard in the gut. I wasn’t prepared and bent over slightly in pain. He snatched the box from my hand and took off down the aisle. I ran a
fter him, tackling him to the ground just as he got to the end. We went flying into an end display, taking out everything in our path.

  “What is going on?” A man in a red vest walked up to us. Manager was listed on his nameplate.

  “Last box of mixed tampons.”

  “So, go get something else,” the manager said irritatedly.

  “But…neither of us know what to get,” I admitted.

  He sighed and took the box out of Mike’s hand. “Rock, paper, scissors.”

  “No,” I said firmly. “I am not playing that for a box of tampons.”

  “Then neither of you gets it,” the manager snapped.

  I glared at Mike, but he was already flexing his hand and getting it warmed up. Fuck, I really hated this. I always lost this game, and I had a feeling that this time wouldn’t be any different. I took my place across from Mike and stared him down, hoping to intimidate him.

  “Alright, gentlemen, we’ll do best two out of three.”

  “What’s going on?” another man asked.

  “We’re playing for the last box of mixed tampons.”

  “What’s the bet?” another man asked.

  “I give two to one odds for the big guy.”

  “Nope,” another man said. “The other guy wants it more. You can see it in his eyes.”

  And so it continued as one after another, people of all ages came to join in on the betting for who would win the game. It was fucking humiliating, but everyone around us seemed to think this was an epic showdown.

  “Can we fucking get on with this?” I finally snapped.

  “Alright. Final bets are placed,” the manager shouted. “We’ll start the first round. Rock beats scissors, scissors cut paper, and paper beats rock. Gentlemen, take your positions.”

  I rolled my eyes at him, but got in my fighting stance.

  “On the count of three, you’ll say ‘rock, paper, scissors, shoot’, and then you’ll display your choice.”

  I took a deep breath as the manager counted down. “Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” I threw out my scissors, but Mike put out rock.