We continue to zip through the mud and the trees. I have to admit I am having the most fun out here with Luke. Justin never wanted to do anything like this. He cared more about going to the mall and hanging out with his friends playing Xbox. Luke is definitely a good ol’ boy and I like that about him. He is just so fun and carefree. I lose track of time and myself when I am with him. I become completely engrossed with him. He enamors me with his wit and charm.
The death on wheels comes to a stop and Luke twists his neck around and smiles at me. “We are out of gas. I didn’t think to check before we left.” He smiles again mischievously as I smear mud across his smug cheek. “Oh Izzy, you have no idea what you just got yourself into.” He has an amused, all-knowing, wicked grin on his muddy but perfect face.
I scoot back from him slightly. He throws his leg over the side, getting off and steps into a deep mud hole while chuckling.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I shift my eyes, looking for an escape from whatever he is planning. On either side, no matter which direction I go, I will be ankle deep in mud.
“Come on.” He stretches his hand out to me and I shake my head no.
“I’ll carry you to safety,” he offers and I am not sure if I should trust him.
“You promise no funny business?” I eye him with caution as he steps beside me where I am perched. My choices here are limited. A—I sink down in the mud. B—I sit here while he goes to get gas. Or C—I trust Luke not to be a dick and do anything funny.
“Arms hooked around my neck and legs around my waist Iz; I’ll give you a piggyback ride.”
“You just want to feel my boobs pressed against your back,” I tease.
“If I wanted your breasts smashed up against me, Izzy, I wouldn’t have to ask. And you wouldn’t be covered in mud darlin’, you’d be slick with dirty sweat sex.”
At his words, my mind instantly flashes to exactly that…Luke pressing down on my naked body, both of us drenched in sweat from having the hottest sex ever. My cheeks flame, because I know without a doubt, that sex with this man has to be amazing.
“Come on, the gnats are starting to circle.”
I really don’t have many options so when he turns his back to me I do as he said. My boobs are smashed against his hard back and my face is buried in the back of his sweaty neck. He smells like pure man and the woods—so fucking sexy.
With my extra weight, he sinks down deeper in the mud and I become self-conscious of whether or not he is able to carry me. I’m not on the skinny side. He doesn’t seem bothered in the slightest. We make it a few feet from where we got stuck and he drops to his knees and falls back on me planting me flat in the mud. Oh my God, the jerk!
“You weren’t muddy enough.” He chuckles as I shove at him angrily.
“Get off me you big lug!”
“Mud is a good look for you,” he says, flopping down beside of me.
“Yeah, well, shit brown is a perfect look for you because you are a shithead.”
He laughs surprised by my insult. “I have been called many names by a woman before but I don’t think shithead has ever been on the list.”
“I find that very hard to believe.”
“Why is that?” He asks, turning serious.
“Well…you do have quite the reputation.”
“And that means what, Izzy?” His eyes have gone dark and I am afraid I have hurt his feelings.
I didn’t mean…well, actually I did but, I didn’t expect it to hurt him. Luke doesn’t exactly hide the fact that he is a womanizing whore. I need to fix this. He is looking off and I feel a coldness between us.
I dig my fingers down in the mud and smack him over the face with a clump. He smashes a handful on the top of my head. The two of us are rolling around happy as two pigs wallowing in shit. He has my arms pinned over my head now and leaning down over me. My God, he is just so beautiful to look at. I swear he could be a mud model if there was such a thing. Hell, there probably is. People have weird fetishes. The mud actually feels good on my skin. Maybe I am a mud weirdo! Because this shit feels good.
Luke looks like he is thinking hard about something. It would be easy to lean up and kiss him right now, but I know I won’t. I’m not drunk today. My cheeks flush as the night before forces its way to the front and center of my thoughts.
Me falling out of Luke’s truck when he got me home; licking his neck as he picked me up and carried me inside. I can still taste his salty sweat from where we were dancing. The way he smelled, like sex and liquor, lingers in my nose. How sexy he looked when he tucked me in. He was a pure gentleman. He even kissed my forehead, telling me he would be on the couch in case I were to get sick and need something. And then I was a big jerk, stripped down to my under clothes and asked him to do me!
I snap back to the present and I swear he knows why my cheeks are red. He smears mud on my nose and rolls away from me. I am breathing hard, my feelings are mixed and all over the place.
Luke
I never knew a woman could look so hot covered in mud. But Izzy, she isn’t like most women. It would be easy to claim her lips right now. Those velvet pink lips are calling to me. I know if I kissed her, right now our hormones would take control. I know that we are both attracted to each other, but I want to do things differently with her. The past few years everything has been about sex for me. I like Izzy too much to do that to her. If and when I ever kiss her again, it will be because I know I can give her what she would want from me. I can tell she has been hurt in love before and I don’t want to be that guy that uses her for sex. Izzy is the kind of girl who wants the fairytale.
Her cheeks blush and she looks deep in thought. I wonder if she wants me to kiss her. The tension between us is strong. After last night, I know she wouldn’t pull away if I tried. It was so hard to walk out of her room when she stripped down to her bra and panties, telling me to have my way with her. Izzy has banging curves. She isn’t fat, but she isn’t a stick either. Her curves fill her body out in all the right spots. She is a full-figured goddess. A total Betty.
Smearing mud on her nose, I have to move away from her. Being that close to her I am afraid I will lose control with her and ruin the friend thing we got going here. I help her up out of the mud that we now are both caked in. There is a hose hooked up at the storage shed over where the house was going to be built. There should be a gas can in there too. Iz can get hosed off while I refill the tank and load the ATV back onto the trailer.
*~*
After taking care of the ATV, I join Izzy at the shed so I can get cleaned up some too. Damn! Iz is standing barefoot on the cement pad outside of the shed; water is cascading over her chest while she rubs the mud away with her free hand. She is a walking and breathing Playboy video right now. She catches me gawking with my tongue hanging out. Her cheeks blush but she quickly recovers as I just stand and stare.
“Come on, I’ll rinse you,” she says playfully.
Swallowing hard, I pull my t-shirt over my head and watch as she tries not to check me out. I nearly jump out of my skin when the cold water sprays across my back. Her free hand rubs across the smooth flesh of my shoulder blades. Her fingers feel nice. I tense slightly as she traces the outline of my clover tattoo. I got it when I first moved here hoping my luck would change.
Izzy’s fingers continue to torture me as she washes the dirt away. My eyes are closed and my lips are parted as I wish she would take control and kiss me right now. Fighting the urge to be with her is killing me right now. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up with her. She continues her torture of rubbing the pads of her fingers around the base of my neck all around my collarbone. A groan of appreciation slips from my lips and I feel stupid. Women never make me feel self-conscious, but Izzy, man, she has me overthinking every move I make. I don’t know how to proceed with her.
I want her, but I want to respect her. I am afraid if I sleep with her too soon, I’ll do what I always do…bail.
Izzy
Sinking into the warm water, I already feel much better. I get comfortable and open up my book. I have a feeling this is going to be a good one. A hot tattooed biker with a beard, hell yes! I get two chapters in when my reading time and relaxation is interrupted when I hear my door shut and Kiki calling out, “Hey bitch!”
She comes on into the bathroom when she spots me from the hall. She really has no respect for privacy or boundaries. At first I was put off by her, but now she has grown on me.
“So tell me how your date went today. And don’t even deny it. I already ran into Luke at High Bar earlier and he was all smiles. So spill it. I need the juicy goods.”
Groaning, I hand Kiki my book so it doesn’t get ruined. She lays it on her lap. “Fuck, maybe I need to start reading; this bearded, tattooed hottie on the cover is sexy!” She mock fans herself. “But tell me how was he?”
“The book? I haven’t gotten very far but so far I am loving it.” I grin and sink further down in the water knowing she meant Luke, not my book.
“Come on Izzy, wouldn’t you rather tell me rather than I hear it from Stixx?”
“I am sure whatever story she has will be more exciting. Nothing happened. He slept on my couch and we went mudding.”
“Luke took you mudding? That man doesn’t take women anywhere. He is sweet on you girl. I gotta’ get to work and I am so borrowing this.” She takes my book with her as she goes.
“Kiki bring that back!” I yell at her but I hear the door shut. “Argh!” I smack my fist down and water splashes in my eye. Damn it! The lavender is burning my eyeball. I try to reach the towels but I can’t. I stretch my fingers, begging them to reach just a bit further.
“Damn Iz, you need some help.” I stiffen, that is not Kiki! I squint, trying to keep my eyeball from being on fire.
I see Luke trying not to stare at my tits on display. I am beyond mortified. He steps into the bathroom with his head turned away from me. He reaches me the towel I was trying for and steps back into the hall, closing the door for me.
“Uh, Kiki was coming out as I was getting ready to knock, she told me to come on in. I didn’t realize you were, uh, naked,” he calls from the other side of the door.
Who knew Luke could show such manners. After getting the sting out of my eye, I wrap the towel around me once I am out of the tub.
Cracking the door open, I peer out into the short hall to see Luke sitting on my couch. I make a quick run for my room and throw on some comfortable clothes; my favorite gray yoga pants and my Jax fanatic t-shirt. I love watching Sons of Anarchy. I missed the final season. My mom bought me the DVD; I just haven’t gotten around to watching it yet.
“So what are you doing here?” I ask, flopping down on the couch next to him. Now that my evening has been ruined, I might as well make the best of it.
“You left your phone in my truck. Here,” he says while getting up and digging in his pocket. “It kept chiming so I figured I’d bring it over.”
“Thanks. Have you had dinner yet?” I am trying to act natural and ignore the fact that Luke has now seen me naked.
“No, you hungry?” He looks eager. Interesting.
“I was thinking of ordering a pizza and watching TV since Kiki stole my book.”
“You inviting me?” He grins at me.
“Yeah, I’ll order while you find us a movie. Help yourself to my collection. I keep my movies in the bottom drawer of the stand.”
Swiping my thumb across the screen of my phone, my face pales when I see the missed calls and text messages from Justin. He is vague. Just says he needs to talk to me. We have nothing to talk about. He made his feelings pretty damn clear when I walked in on him and Toby sucking face. If I hadn’t been so upset, it might have been hot to watch. But Justin was my fiancé and Toby…that is something I never wanted to see, ever. To say I was devastated would be an understatement. Toby loved blabbing about the incident to everyone on campus. Justin got upset with him, but the damage had been done and my heart had been broken.
Luke
Trying to find a movie in Izzy’s collection is tough. She has mostly romance movies based off Nicolas Sparks novels. I see she has Sons of Anarchy so I decide it looks like a safe choice. I don’t want to risk anything romantic. I’m trying to show her we can be friends. The last thing I need is for her to think I am trying to seduce her by picking something overly romantic. Holding the DVD up to her, she gives me a thumbs up as she orders us a pizza. Delivery charges for here at the resort get a bit pricey, but it’s well worth it. Pop’s Pizza has the best sauce in all of Endings, South Carolina.
I notice Izzy keeps looking through her messages on her phone with a pained expression on her face while the previews play. “Hey, you okay?” I squeeze her knee gently. “I can go if you aren’t into this.” I can tell her mind is a thousand miles from here right now. I don’t want to make her uncomfortable. I already scared the shit out of her by barging in the bathroom on her. I wouldn’t have just went in on her like that. Kiki told me to go on in and said she is in the back. I didn’t know she was in the bathtub. My mind instantly flashes to her breasts all wet and soapy. Fuck, her tits are nice.
Quit thinking about her tits dude or you are going to get hard. I scold myself mentally.
“No, I’m sorry I am being so rude. I want you to stay.” She puts her phone on the side table and smiles weakly.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not really…it’s my fiancé.” I stiffen and she corrects herself by throwing in that he is her ex. “I was so blind. I was so stupid. We’re friends, right?” I am not sure if I really want to hear about her and some other dude but she did say he was an ex but they were engaged so it must have been serious. He must be the loser that hurt her. I need to put my feelings aside and be here for her. I meant what I said about being her friend.
“Of course, whatever it is Iz, you can talk to me. I’ll listen.” I try to reassure her. But the thought of her with another guy hurts. I know I haven’t spent as much time with her as say a fiancé would, but I care about her.
She hits pause on the movie and turns into me. “Well since you are a dude maybe you can give me some perspective. Justin and I had been together since middle school. He was my everything. My first kiss, my only boyfriend, all of it, there was only ever him. As we got older, he would put me off when it came to intimate things. He would, ya know…God, this is so embarrassing. We would fool around but it never went further than kissing and touching on occasion. He cheated on me… and I walked away. He wants to talk.”
A knock on the door interrupts her story. I get up and pay the guy while Iz gets plates ready. We get our slices and settle back on the couch.
“Any man that would ever step out on you or even look at another woman when he had you is an utter fool. Iz, I have seen you. You are kind, you are smart and you are beautiful. Any man would be lucky to have you.”
“I guess that was the problem, he didn’t want me. He wanted another man.” She looks away from me.
I was not expecting that, at all, but it explains why a man would cheat on a girl like Izzy. “Damn, that has to be rough. But you have to know his sexual preference had nothing to do with you. It doesn’t mean there was something wrong with you. You know that, don’t you?” I scratch the back of my neck, unsure what to do or say. I’d love to kiss her and show her that a man would appreciate what she has to offer. Fuc
k, I’d show her that I could appreciate her. Make her feel wanted. Show her desire.
“I do know that Luke. You know that night I first came here, when I kissed you? It was because I wanted to see if I could get a rise out of a man like you.” Her cheeks are painted red right now, but it so damn sexy.
I brush her hair back from her face. Our movie has long been forgotten and I am sure the pizza is getting cold.
“What kind of man am I?” I ask in a husky tone, fighting the urge to claim her lips and her heart right now. I know it’s too soon though, but God do I want to kiss her again.
She turns her face toward mine. My heart is hammering in my chest. I am going to just go for it but then she cuts me off. “The kind that better eat his pizza before it gets cold,” she says, grinning and starts the show back.
Her phone continues to vibrate and she eventually shuts it off and shuts down any further conversation about this ex of hers. I feel that I should say or do more, but I don’t want to push and freak her out. I have strong feelings for Izzy, but I don’t know how she feels about this ex of hers and if it has messed with her head so much that she isn’t willing to trust anyone. I decide to keep my mouth shut and enjoy my time with her. Now that her phone is off, she is back to being relaxed and comfortable with me.
By the end of the third episode, she is asleep on my lap and I hate to move her but I have an early shift tomorrow at High Bar. I slide out from under her easily enough. Her arm curls around the pillow I placed under her head. I go into her room and quickly take a blanket from her bed to cover her with and I turn the TV off for her. Flipping the lights off, I lock her door from the inside and pull the door shut. “Goodnight Izzy,” I say softly into the night.
Izzy
I awake sometime late in the night after Luke has gone home. It was sweet of him to take care of me. I hope he doesn’t go blabbing to anyone about what a loser I am…about Justin. I don’t think that he would, but people here love to gossip. Luke is the first person I have told about Justin. Kiki doesn’t even know about him. Gah, Justin. I get up and switch my phone on and the last message he sent me stops me dead in my tracks.
Drunk on You (Happy Endings Resort Book 3) Page 4