I was confused. “Do what?”
“The next twenty days. I mean, I agreed, right? And maybe if we just did it fast, the awkward part would be over.”
I rubbed my temple because she was saying what I wanted to hear. She didn’t hate me for what I said the day before or what I said at the beach. She was telling me she was still going to help me, but I didn’t want what she was saying. “I don’t want that.”
She scooted farther back on the bed. “Oh. I thought after today...”
I gripped her legs, then pulled her forward again. “I don’t want fast, Tenley. I want...” Jesus, this was hard to admit and not sound like I dropped my man card on the beach. “I want to take my time with you. With us.”
Her eyes danced back and forth over mine. “Me too.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. This was going to be painful… for my balls. “And not tonight.” I grabbed my clothes and stepped past her into the bathroom. For a good five minutes, I looked at myself in the mirror. You will not do this tonight no matter how good she looks. Not with a house full of people.
I pushed away from the counter, then started the water in the shower.
There was a soft knock on the door as I was about to get undressed.
Don’t open it. Don’t fucking open it.
I opened the door. There stood Tenley, playing with the hem of my shirt. “Since we are taking this slow, I was thinking maybe tonight we could just take the first step.”
My hands gripped the wood of the molding and the edge of the door with white-knuckle force. “What step?”
I wanted to know, yet I didn’t. I was positive I was about to fail part three of this test when I barely passed the part of walking away a second ago.
“We’ve already seen fifty percent of each other’s bodies. What if tonight we saw the rest?” I smiled. She knew she had me when she started talking numbers. She took three steps back and continued, “I’ll stay on this side of the door, and you can stay right there.”
There wasn’t a need for me to answer. My answer came when I took off my shirt and tossed it in the sink. Then I waited.
I could see the debate going on inside her head. Was she really ready to do this? Yes, she was.
Slowly, she peeled my shirt up and over her head. My memory didn’t hold a candle to the real thing. It'd been twenty-four hours since I saw her, and I never wanted to wait that long again. Her skin was kissed by the sun, leaving a line where her bathing suit had been. Her breasts were full and heavy and the shape of teardrops. Nipples the color of that lip gloss in my shower were hard. With each breath she took, I watched as her chest moved to the rhythm.
I licked my lips, dreaming of the day I got to taste them. But I wanted to see more. “You first, baby.”
I wasn’t sure why I decided this was her nickname, but, this time, Tenley seemed to like it. She didn’t hesitate to slip her fingers under the cotton of her panties. With a smile, she shimmied her hips, lowering the fabric. My dick grew hard in my swim trunks.
The lips of her pussy weren’t bare. And to my surprise, I liked it. It screamed real woman. The Bermuda triangle she talked about was trimmed neatly enough that I could tell she told the truth… the color of her lipstick did match everything. I wanted to get lost there for hours.
Motherfucker.
I gripped the top of the doorway, knowing I needed to stay on this side. If I moved, there would be no stopping what would happen next. We hadn’t even kissed yet, and there I was, thinking about those lips painted in her lipstick shade as she swallowed me down.
Foreplay, I reminded myself. And this was one hell of a buildup.
“Preston, I want to see you.”
I blinked. And when I felt strong enough to hold myself back from rushing her, I untied the string on my shorts. “Sit on the bed,” I demanded.
“Why?” she asked.
“I don’t trust myself not to touch you right now.”
She sat, watching as I pulled my trunks lower until she could see the tip of me. “Spread your legs for me.” Her eyes snapped up to mine. “I want to see all of you.”
She had to think about it for a second, but in the end, she opened her legs. She was goddamn gorgeous. And wet.
“Preston.” She said my name the way I heard her last night. Breathy. Only this was quieter.
It was almost my undoing, but I stuck to my word. I lowered my shorts, showing Tenley exactly what she was doing to me. She bit her lip while I talked things out. “I’m going to take a shower.” I gave myself a few good tugs followed by a squeeze. “A cold shower. When I get out, I want you dressed and in bed. Tomorrow, we’ll talk.”
I took four steps back, then hopped in the shower, not bothering to close the door. I took a cold and fast shower. Tonight, I wouldn’t be taking care of anything. The next time I came, it would be with Tenley.
The lights were off, and Tenley was in bed when I walked back into the room. I laid on the blankets I had placed on the floor.
“You can sleep up here. I promise I’ll be good,” Tenley said.
I couldn’t promise I would. “It’s not a good idea.”
“I just want to be close to you. I want to know you’re still my best friend after what happened today.”
There was no way I could tell her no after that, so I climbed under the covers beside Tenley. “Good night, Tenley.”
“Promise me nothing will change,” she begged.
“I promise.”
“Good night, Preston.”
I fell asleep to the sound of Tenley’s soft snore, and her body pressed against mine. I didn’t know how I could promise nothing would change when everything already had. And I wanted it to change even more.
12
Preston
Always kiss her like it’s the first time.
THE NEXT MORNING, I woke up alone. Tenley had left me a text, saying she had to leave early but didn’t want to wake me. She had a sunrise yoga class to teach.
I didn’t know how she managed to get up early after staying up and drinking like we did. As for me, I had slept like a rock, though I tended to be a light sleeper, especially if I was sharing a bed with someone. Or it could’ve been because the person I was sleeping with wasn’t wiggling around or kicking me or stealing all the covers. Let's just say, my ex wasn’t a cuddler.
I stayed in bed for a good hour after reading her message, thinking about what happened. I waited for the previous night's events to turn weird in my head. They never did. Yes, things were happening out of order, according to my list, but I was okay with that. In fact, I was more than okay with it. I just wanted to make sure Tenley was okay too, then somehow show her that even though we shared a crazy hot experience, probably the hottest of my life, things didn’t have to be different between us. And when this ended, we could easily fall back into our normal roles as best friends.
I texted her back. Orange Blossom Festival tonight?
Originally, I had planned on hitting the annual carnival with Keaton and Isaac along with Tenley, but we could easily ditch them. They would ditch us anyway by winning over some chicks with their good looks and bad pickup lines within the first ten minutes.
Tenley: I thought we were going.
Me: I mean just us.
Tenley: As in a date?
Me: If you call dressing up in some cute outfit (you, not me), me picking you up (even though you are next door), the two of us riding all the less than safe rides until our stomachs turn, and me bringing you home a date, then yes.
Tenley: Pick me up at 7.
Me: Sounds good.
Tenley: Wait. Since this is a date, you’d better make it 7:30. I’ll need extra time to get cute as you say.
I couldn’t help the smile that crept up on my lips.
Me: In that case, I’ll give you until 8.
Tenley: So extra cute then?
Me: Now you’re talkin’.
All within a text, I had my first official date with my best friend. I waited
for that to feel weird too. It didn’t. It felt natural and easy as though I was going to enjoy a date for the first time in a long time.
I had an extra bounce—a manly bounce—to my normal walk as I took the steps downstairs two at a time. I heard Keaton in the kitchen, so I headed there to say the obligatory thanks for the party and room to crash in. He was cooking eggs with his bare ass hanging out and some girl, not naked, sitting on the counter next to him.
“Dude, there are other people in the house,” I reminded Keaton while I concentrated my gaze on his head.
He turned around. “My house, I’ll wear what I want.”
I covered my eyes with my sunglasses. “Kudos to you. I’m heading out. Thanks for having me.”
“Was there having involved?” The dude had zero class. Unlike me, he liked to kiss and tell. His sex life was an open book, and he had no shame. Obviously, since his junk was on display for all to see.
“Not going there.”
“Not going there with Tenley? Or not going there as in you won’t tell me? Because after what I saw last night, I’m thinking your BFF is now BFFWB.”
“So is this what they are teaching you in med school? Text lingo?”
“Avoidance, I get it. And I’m learning lots of things in med school. Big words even your nerdy brain couldn’t handle. I just choose not to rub it in your average face.”
“I’m sure you are, Dr. Valentine.”
“See you tonight?”
I didn’t know what to say to him without getting more of the third degree. And I think I spent more time in a room with him than I should have with his naked ass. “I think I’ve seen enough of you today so probably not.”
I went home, managed to get some work done, then showered at seven thirty. At eight on the dot, I knocked on Tenley’s door. As I double checked my pocket for my wallet, she opened the door. My heart stopped before thudding loud enough for me to feel it throughout my body.
What the hell was that?
I had to clear my throat before I could speak. “You look beautiful.”
Even though I knew what was beneath, Tenley in clothes was almost better. She was a vision in yellow. The thin straps of her tank top showed off her bronze shoulders. It was cropped just enough that her belly button was playing peekaboo. Light denim jeans rode low on her hips and hugged every curve from her waist to her ankles. The strappy flat sandals matched the color of her shirt also showed off the pedicure she must have given herself to look “cute” for me. Cute was not the word I would use right now. Sexy, hot, flawless, and drop-dead gorgeous were a few that came to mind.
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she said. My eyes, which were still taking in her white glittery painted toes, looked up. For the first time, I realized her eyes weren’t just brown. Apparently, they were chameleon and could change color because tonight, they were a combination of green and brown. I blinked to break the trance I was in as I wondered why I never noticed all of her before. With her hair pulled back from her face, I could tell she was hardly wearing a stitch of makeup—makeup she didn’t need. Tenley was a natural beauty.
Shit. I wasn’t supposed to notice these things tonight. Showing her we could still be best friends and act normal around each other even after seeing the other naked was what I was aiming for.
“This old thing.” I pointed at my cargo shorts and unbuttoned button-up shirt with a white T-shirt underneath. It was a lie. If I wasn’t trying, I would have grabbed one of my many comic book shirts, but I actually did make an effort to impress the girl. I bought a new pack of white shirts and the one I was wearing over it just a few hours ago. “You ready?”
“Let me grab my purse.” She spun around to grab the wallet she called a purse hanging on the coat rack in her entryway. Her arms reached for it, exposing more of her stomach, and I bit back a groan.
Behave, I reminded myself.
Tonight wasn’t about the list or ogling or touching Tenley. Though in just the first five minutes of being around her my arms wanted to wrap around her waist, pull her flush against my body, and touch the soft skin on her stomach.
“All set,” she said. We stepped into the hallway, which was a much safer zone than staying in her apartment. She locked her door, then we headed downstairs to my waiting Jeep. Like I always did, I opened the passenger door, then pressed my hand to her back to guide her inside. It was a mistake. I had done the same movement a thousand times, but this time, my palm tingled at the feel of her skin against my fingers. Tenley glanced over her shoulder and smiled.
At that moment, I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to stop her from sitting on the seat and push her against the door so I could kiss her right then and there. The way she licked her lips, I thought she wanted it too. But I took a step back, three to be exact, and didn’t do a damn thing.
Apparently, tonight was going to be a lesson in how far I would torture myself before I snapped. Again, I chalked it up to not having sex in three months, so my little brain was trying to take over. Not tonight, bud.
She buckled up, and I shut the door behind her. While walking to the driver’s side, I cleared my head of all dirty thoughts and locked them outside for about ten seconds.
“Are you putting the top down?” Tenley asked when I sat in my seat.
“Do you want me to?”
“What’s the point in having a vehicle that goes topless and then leaving the top up?”
My guy brain fixated on the word topless. Her topless, to be specific. Even more specific, her topless and bottomless on the bed last night. I shifted in my seat, adjusting the semi I was now sporting. Not a cool move on a first date. Actually, adjusting one’s self is never a cool move. It was an open invitation for the world to take notice of what was hidden under your pants. And though I did take pride in what was, in fact, under mine—hence the name I gave him, Thor’s hammer—Tenley didn’t need to be subjected to him just yet.
I turned the ignition, thinking of anything and everything to deflate what was stirring in my pants, then pressed the button to lower the top... no, roof. “Anything you wish, baby.”
It was now the fouth time I’d used the term. It was also the third time she smiled when I used it. My girl liked being called baby, and the truth was, I liked the way it rolled off my tongue. A little more than I should.
During the drive, Tenley fiddled with the radio as I shifted the gears nonstop. It was a busy Saturday night in Naples, as usual, so we were lucky to find parking close to the festival. It seemed the family crowd was leaving for the night, and the twenty-one and older crowd was coming out to play.
At the ticket booth, I paid for the all-inclusive entrance fee, which came with one of those fancy plastic bracelets that got us on any ride we wished.
“Where to first? Lady’s choice,” I said with a sweep of my hand, gesturing to the large parking lot filled with entertainment, food, drink, photo booths, games, and rides.
“I’ve been thinking about two things all day.” I was hoping one of them was me. “Zeppole and one of those piña colada shakes with the homemade ice cream.”
Clearly, her thinking about spending the night with me wasn’t first on her mind. A girl’s gotta have her priorities in order. And if those priorities consisted of fried dough covered in cinnamon and sugar, who was I to say otherwise. As we made our way to the long line of people waiting to consume the piping hot goodness that was zeppole, I placed my hand on her back again. The moment I did, I decided I never wanted to take it off her. It felt oddly right to guide her, only without the odd part. It just plain felt right.
We walked around the perimeter of the festival while we consumed our drinks. I held the bag as Tenley ate her fried dough from it until nothing was left. It was normal and something we did every year prior except this time, when her lips were covered in sugar, I didn’t point it out to her. I wiped the sweetness away with my thumb and tasted it myself.
All the green flecks left Tenley’s eyes, and they turned to milk chocolate. She watch
ed my every move while I kept my eyes fixated on her. If it wasn’t for the person who bumped into me from behind, I might have leaned in for a real taste of her lips.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Keaton said with his arm wrapped around some girl who wasn’t the same as the one from this morning.
“Hey, Keaton,” Tenley greeted our friend who had bad timing. The moment was gone. Her eyes changed back to the color they were before, and the bitter of the cinnamon had taken over the sugary sweet flavor on my tongue.
“We’re headed to the Ferris wheel, want to join us?” he asked.
I wanted to say no so I could spend more time alone with Tenley, but I was the only one who did because she agreed. The next thing I knew, we were following them. I was dragging my feet as Tenley was pulling me forward. Everyone was talking and laughing, but I didn’t care to join in. For no reason, I was acting like a nonsocial dick. Keaton and his nameless date were ushered in their seat followed by Tenley and me in the next.
As we climbed in the chair, I didn’t know or understand why I was feeling annoyed that our twosome had become a foursome. It wasn’t a big deal.
“Are you all right?” Tenley asked. It only further annoyed me when I heard Keaton and his date trying to talk to us from above.
“I’m fine,” I told her while I stared at the ground getting farther away as we climbed higher. I didn’t want to direct my mood at her.
“Did I do something to make you angry?”
I looked at Tenley, wondering why she would think that. I was the one being the ass because I didn’t get to keep my girl all to myself. My girl. Just then, the ride moved faster, and my thoughts picked up with it. I knew what else was wrong. It wasn’t just that Keaton interrupted us. It was because he barged in on the moment when I was this close to kissing Tenley for the first time.
But even if he hadn’t broken the moment, would I have kissed her? I kept delaying the moment, kept delaying touching her, thinking maybe I was moving too fast for her when it was me. Because what if I did it all wrong instead of right.
All the Right Moves Page 8