by C. Morgan
While I might’ve been an asshole, I was one who’d carefully kept track of what’d driven her crazy in the past, and I didn’t hesitate in putting that knowledge to work. Within minutes, I had her writhing underneath me as she called out my name into my mouth. I swallowed the sounds of her pleasure, seeing her through her first orgasm before kissing my way down her delectable body to deliver the second.
She muttered a few weak protests, but as soon as my mouth latched onto her, she stopped pretending not to know if she could come again and hung onto my hair for the ride. Her thighs started quivering again soon after, and then she mashed a pillow over her head to muffle the sound of her voice when she screamed as the next climax approached.
Once it subsided, I tried to keep my mouth on her but she tugged at my shoulders until I gave up and brought my face back to hers. Without saying a word or breaking eye contact with me, she undid my pants and took them and my underwear off, but not before snagging my wallet from my back pocket and getting a condom out of it.
Still looking at me much too fucking intensely, she reached down to roll the latex down my shaft before bringing my tip to her entrance. Surprisingly, the fact that she was looking at me as intently as she was didn’t freak me out. I even kind of liked it.
As I slowly sank into her, I realized why. It was because I liked her. I liked feeling that she could see me for who I really was and knowing that I could trust her with that guy. She might not have been mine last night, but she was mine now and knowing that made all the difference.
Chapter 37
RUBY
Brysen rolled off me, collapsing by my side and grinning like a maniac as he draped one arm around my waist to pull me closer and dropped the other over his eyes. “Fuck. If this is how much sex people have in relationships, then I’ve been going about things all wrong so far.”
Breathless and feeling like my bones had turned to pudding, I nudged him in the ribs half-heartedly. “You’re the one who showed up at my door this morning. Remember that?”
He chuckled, lifting his arm to peek out at me. “I came to apologize.”
“And then you just kept coming,” I teased.
“I didn’t hear you complaining.” He tickled the bare skin on my stomach and I squealed but didn’t move away from him. Stilling his hand again, he snuggled deeper into my side and let out a contented breath. “It turned into a much better day than I ever thought it would.”
“Yeah.” I sighed happily, turning on my side to face him as I slid one of my hands under my cheek. “It’s been wonderful. I told you I’d heard good things about makeup sex.”
“You were definitely right.” His lips tipped into a smile before he adjusted the position of his head to look at me.
Those deep green eyes were shining with a bright light that’d only been getting brighter all day. He hadn’t shaved before coming over this morning, but the dark stubble on his jaw only added to the happy, relaxed look he was sporting.
Although I couldn’t see myself, I knew my cheeks were likely to be as flushed and rosy as his were after the day we’d had. It really had been wonderful. We hadn’t left my bed except to grab some snacks from my stockpile or to quickly head to the bathroom. I’d had the fastest shower ever earlier, but I’d have to grab another one before we went out later.
I wasn’t in any hurry to leave the sanctuary my room had become for us, though. All my guilt about not being productive had evaporated sometime between the sex, the long talks we’d had under the covers, and the speculation about all the unknowns in his future.
Who knew that a day not studying or working could feel like it was one of the best days of my life? I certainly never would’ve guessed it, but that didn’t make it any less true. Having spent the day getting real with the real him definitely felt like it’d been a much better use of my time.
He’d shared all his thoughts that’d led up to his decision with me, as well as all his fears and worries about what lay ahead. We’d brainstormed different options that might be available to him and Emily to continue with their education without their parents’ backing, and we’d even come up with a few that could be viable.
Before we’d gotten sidetracked again, I’d received a text from Hadley asking if I wanted to join her and Dax for drinks, burgers, and fries at the Clubhouse later. I’d expected Brysen to tell me to go by myself but instead, he’d surprised me by saying that he owed Daxton an apology as well.
“Hadley means a lot to you,” he’d said. “If we’re really going to be doing this, then I need to make things right with her and Dax. I don’t want you feeling like you’re sitting in the middle of some feud between us when none of it was even his fault. He was just trying to protect you, but that’s my job now.”
So overwhelmed by the sincerity of his words and how much they meant to me, I’d kissed him with abandon and one thing had led to another. Again.
Now that we were both sated and thinking clearly once more, there was just one more thing I wanted to talk to him about before it was time for us to start getting ready. Maybe it wasn’t even necessary to have a pointblank conversation about it considering his comment about people in relationships not having so much sex and then later, the one about it being his job to protect me, but I wanted to know where we stood before we left this room.
It’d been a day of honest, no-holds-barred conversation and in keeping with that theme, I didn’t want to feel later like I’d missed the opportunity to get clarity. Lifting a hand to brush my fingertips along his strong jaw, I focused on him again and found him looking back at me expectantly.
“Where did you just go?” he asked softly. “I could practically smell the smoke coming out of your brain from how hard you were thinking.”
I smiled. “I didn’t go anywhere. I was thinking about you, actually. Are you still going to check on Emily before we meet Dax and Hadley?”
He nodded. “Jess should’ve arrived by now. I’m glad she could come. I just want to say hi and make sure Em’s okay, then I’ll meet you back here.”
“That sounds good,” I said, then glanced down at the watch on his wrist. “How much time have you got before you need to leave?”
“Why?” He waggled his brows at me playfully. “You want to see if we can fit in another round?”
“Nope,” I said immediately, smiling as I shook my head against the pillow. “I think I need at least an hour or so to recover. There’s something I want to talk to you about, though. I just don’t want to bring it up now if you need to go.”
“Shoot,” he said without hesitation, tightening his grip on my waist as he brushed some hair off my forehead with his other hand. “We can talk about anything you want. Emily and Jess are spending the night. If I don’t see them before we go, I can always see them later. I can even just check on her on the phone again. I’m pretty sure Jess is taking good care of her. They were friends first and they’re still best friends. Emily needs her around much more than she needs me right now.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, but okay.” I took a deep breath, readying myself for the possibility that I was about to push him too hard, too fast again. “You said you want me by your side for this new journey you’re about to start. You’ve also said a few other things today that have made me wonder what you want us to be to each other from now on. Are we just friends with benef—”
“No,” he practically barked the word before clearing his throat and gentling his tone. “Obviously, it’s not only up to me, but you asked me what I want, so that’s the answer I’m going to give you. I want you to be with me, Ruby. I want you to be mine just as much as I’m yours.”
“So you want me to be your girlfriend?” I asked as a hummingbird prepared to take flight in my chest.
He smiled and covered my cheek with his hand. “If you want to put a label on it, then sure. Will you be my girlfriend, Ruby Sprite?”
“I will,” I whispered, totally cliched tears filling my eyes as I leaned forward to kiss him ag
ain. This time, however, we broke apart before things got out of hand.
Reluctantly getting out of bed, I chose some clothes from my closet and put on my robe while he got dressed. We kissed again before he left, and I couldn’t help but stand in the hallway with my shower caddy in one hand and my clothes in the other, staring at his broad shoulders and tall, sexy figure before he disappeared into the stairwell.
A goofy, girly smile spread across my face once he was gone. Holy shit. Brysen Burke is my boyfriend.
It felt completely surreal, but since I could feel him on me and in me with every move I made, I knew it was true. All through my shower, getting dressed and getting ready, I couldn’t shake that silly smile. It was still on my lips when he came back to get me and even though I expected him to ask me about it, he never did. He simply returned it and took my hand in his as we walked to the restaurant.
The night with Brysen, Dax, and Hadley filled my soul. When I really thought about it, it was because I felt like I finally had the part of my life that had always been missing. I’d given so much of myself to my studies that I’d never let myself have any room to feel like this.
Whole. Loved. Joyful.
It was like I was discovering a whole new part of myself with every breath I took, and I loved it. Maybe Brysen is onto something. Pushing boundaries and living a little is invigorating.
Hadley and Dax had already been waiting when we arrived. There had been a pitcher on the table and four glasses—even though I hadn’t told them Brysen would be coming with me. They hadn’t looked at all surprised to see him there, though.
Brysen had released my hand to offer his to Daxton as soon as we got to the table. “I’m sorry about being a dick before. You were only trying to protect Ruby and I get that now. To be honest, I got it back then too. I just didn’t really care about what shit I caused or who I caused it with. As long as there was something happening, I was happy.”
“I get that,” Dax had replied easily, slapping his hand into Brysen’s without even needing to think about it. “Trust me, I’ve been there. No hard feelings here.”
“Good.” Brysen had motioned me into a seat, then he’d pushed in my chair before sitting down beside me.
Before we’d even settled in, Dax had poured us each a beer and he slid it over as he started talking to Brysen about some event the rowing team was hosting at a local high school in the coming weeks. Brysen didn’t even blink before he fell into the conversation with him, reminding me that they’d actually gotten along before the fight.
It looked like it really had been that simple for them to clear the air. Boys. Sometimes, in some ways, they have it so much easier than we do.
Hadley flashed me a knowing grin as her gaze darted between me and Brysen, but she didn’t ask while he was right next to me. Instead, we got to catching up and soon, we were all laughing and talking like the four of us had been hanging out together forever.
I had a feeling we would all become close friends if things kept up this way, and the feeling warmed me all the way through. Eventually, Hadley even convinced me to let my hair down and come dancing with her while the guys went to throw darts.
Usually, I wasn’t much of a dancer but I had such a ball of a time jumping up and down and laughing with her on the floor that I wasn’t even worried about how uncoordinated I had to be looking. We were well into the third or fourth song when I felt a pair of arms winding around my waist from behind.
For about half a second, I smiled and leaned into him, but then I realized that he felt all wrong. It wasn’t Brysen I was dancing with. When I whipped my head up, I saw a stranger had come up behind Hadley as well. She’d also frozen in place and together, we both turned to look at the guys who’d decided they were dancing with us without even asking.
“No,” I said unequivocally as I moved out of the guy’s grip and saw Haddie doing the same beside me. “It’s not happening, dude. We have boyfriends and we’re not interested.”
The guy didn’t look like he was about to accept my answer, but I saw Brysen spotting us from the corner of my eye and smiled inwardly. He was storming across the crowded dance floor in no time, bodies parting for him as if they knew instinctively to get out of his way.
Daxton was hot on his heels, but my attention wasn’t on him. A thrill raced through me as I watched Brysen’s approach. I knew things could get messy, but there was something exciting about knowing that my man was coming to my aid.
My man. How cool is that?
Despite the situation, I grinned. I’d never needed rescuing before and even though I was enthralled by Brysen’s willingness to go to bat for me, I was even more excited about the idea of taking a risk of my own.
Acting without thinking, I looked around and grabbed a beer off a nearby table. I hadn’t even realized that we’d ended up on the other side of the dance floor, but it sure came in handy now.
Turning my focus back on the guy who was still standing in front of me, I tossed the stranger’s beer right into his face. As he yelped and sputtered, his hands flying to his eyes to wipe the liquid away, I planted my hands on my hips.
“No means no, asshole. You should’ve learned that by now.”
I heard a slow clap behind me and when I turned, I saw that the stranger whose beer I’d taken and who had a front row seat to my performance, was Clark. He smirked at me, raising his voice to be heard above the music.
“You owe me a beer,” he bellowed. “I’m going to collect, Sprite. Just you wait.”
“I’m good for it,” I promised as I reached out to grab Hadley’s hand. She and the guy who’d been dancing with her were both staring at me, but Hadley was grinning like a proud mamma bear while the guy was scowling.
“Let’s get out of here,” I called. “The last thing we need is for another night here to end in a fight.”
She nodded, checked over my shoulder for Dax and Brysen, and then started laughing. We ran just when the guy roared something about his eyes being on fire, and the guys caught up with us just before we reached the door.
The four of us spilled out into the night full of laughter and we kept running when the guys followed us out. The sound of Brysen’s genuine, booming laughter made me feel all tingly inside, as did the fact that he was actively running from a fight instead of starting one.
What was that I was thinking during that tussle of theirs before? Ah. Yes. The kind of guy who would run from the fight just as fast as I would is one I could fall in love with, and that’s definitely turning out to be true.
Chapter 38
BRYSEN
After shaking the assholes who’d been following us, we finally slowed down. Ruby’s hand was in one of mine and Dax was holding Hadley’s, but he raised his free hand to me and grinned.
“The mighty Brysen Burke running from a potential fight instead of starting it,” he commented. “Put it there, bro. You deserve a high-five.”
“I deserve a high-five?” I laughed, raising my hand to smack it into his regardless of how fucking childish it felt. “What are we? Six? Don’t I at least deserve a shot or a blowjob or something?”
He winked, but then jerked his head toward Ruby. “I think you need to talk to her about that. Sorry, Bry. You’re just not my type. Anyway, even if you were, the only person I’m allowed to give head to these days is Hadley.”
The girl in question turned bright red in the dim, orange streetlights spaced evenly along the path we were on, but she shrugged and grinned back at him. “Hey, if you’d rather give Brysen his reward than getting one of your own for not being an idiot hothead tonight, be my guest.”
“That’s not fair.” He pouted as he let go of her hand and slung his arm around her shoulders, pulling her right up to his side. “We both deserve rewards, don’t we? There were no grabby dicks injured in this evening’s episode of Brysen and Daxton are growing up.”
“The growing up part is your reward,” she joked, bumping her hip into his as she wound an arm around his waist. “Goo
d things come to those who don’t act like tools.”
“Is that true?” I asked Ruby, swinging our joined hands between us as I tried fluttering my lashes at someone for the first time in my life. “Good things will come to me if I don’t act like a tool?”
“I thought we’d already established that.” She laughed, the apples of her cheeks pink from the dancing, the run, and now the cold. She looked so happy, relaxed, and carefree that it sparked a strange feeling deep inside me that I could only identify as joy. Funny. I like it, though.
I squeezed her hand. “Fair enough. I’ve already got the best thing that could’ve happened to me right here.”
Dax’s hand came down on my shoulder, and he roared with laughter as he patted me on the back. “Wow. You’re learning fast. I’m proud of you. It took me significantly longer to realize that, that’s not even to think about how long it took me to say it to her out loud.”
“That’s because you were too hung up on plotting my social and academic demise to acknowledge how you felt about me,” Haddie retorted.
I shrugged. “Well, up until very recently, I was plotting the social demise of just about everyone who looked at me, so there’s that.”
“So, wait.” Dax glanced at me as we kept walking side by side around campus. “Does this mean you’re hanging up the old boxing gloves and the shit stirring spoon all at the same time?”
“I think I am.” I let Ruby’s reassuring warmth sink into me as she cuddled into my side when she heard the question. “It’s time for me to get serious if I’m going to be doing this on my own.”
“I know that feeling,” he said, all traces of lightness and humor disappearing from his voice as he sighed. “It’s worth it, though. I can tell you from personal experience that it’s much more fulfilling to be on the other side. None of us are Peter Pan, man. We all have to grow up at some point.”