by L. A. Witt
He was out of breath when he touched his forehead to mine. “So, fair warning. I’m a train wreck.”
I laughed as I smoothed his hair. “I’m a combat vet with some old injuries, a little PTSD, more credit card debt than I care to admit, and some really stupid allergies.”
Samir smiled. “I’m a hopeless animal lover who drives way too fast, will never pay off my student loans, and has a minor addiction coffee.”
Pulling back enough to meet his eyes, I grinned. “So, that’s all out of the way.”
“And you’re still onboard?”
“I’m still onboard.”
“Me too.” His smile turned shy. “Any chance I could convince you to come by my place when you’re off work?”
“I’m not off until three.”
“I did mention the addiction to coffee, right?”
“Yes, you—” Movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I glanced down in time to see Casey’s bald head going through the crowd. “Shit. I have to go.”
Samir didn’t protest.
I jogged down the steps with him right behind me, and paused just long enough to lock the VIP room door. As we headed through the crowd in the dark hallway, I added over my shoulder, “After my shift? See you then?”
“Absolutely. You know where my place is, right?”
I glanced back, and we both grinned. “I remember,” I said. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Then I continued into the lounge to help the other bouncers.
Chapter 8
Samir
The coffee didn’t keep me awake nearly as much as the sheer anticipation. And fear. I was utterly terrified he was going to change his mind. Kind of like I’d changed mine earlier.
Except we’d cleared the air.
And now he had time to think about the shit we’d talked about.
It was easy to say he was onboard when he was thinking with his dick. When we were wrapped up in each other, getting mildly frisky. Now that he’d had a chance to lose his hard-on and think a little, all that other shit I’d told him would probably catch up.
I groaned, rubbing my face with one hand and clinging to my coffee cup with the other. Why had I told him all that crap? I couldn’t just leave well enough alone and stop at “my ex is a fucking lunatic who’s going to be a thorn in my side for a while”? No, why not also mention the part where I’d be in debt until I died, remind him I was a slave to my pets, admit I drove too fast, and throw in a coffee addiction just to be funny?
Fuck. Fuck!
I checked the time on my phone. Almost three.
So far, no text to let me know he was bailing. That was promising. Wasn’t it?
I shook myself and got up. “Shouka, let’s go.” I patted my thigh, and she groaned as she got up off the couch. With a big yawn, she stretched. When the leash jingled, she woke right up.
I clipped it to her collar, and we went outside. She had a yard to play in, but I did like to take her out on the road sometimes. Night walks were a bonus because there was almost nobody out. As much as she loved people, people didn’t always love hundred-plus-pound rotties.
I took her to a little park across the street that was well-lit, and I kept the leash slack and just followed while she wandered through the grass.
My phone buzzed, and my heart sank. Welp. Should’ve known he was—
On my way.
I blinked. Seriously?
I read it again.
On my way.
Yeah. Yeah, he was on his way. Holy shit.
I laughed, probably sounding like an utter tool, laughing in the dark while my dog wound the leash around my legs. I pulled my leg free a second before she would’ve dropped me. No sense breaking my neck right before Elliott showed up.
After Shouka had done her business, I took her back to the house. I gave her a treat like always, and of course, the cats came in to see if she actually ate it.
As she gobbled it, a chunk of the treat fell on the floor. Mehrang was the fastest—he bolted in, snatched it up, and ran off. Shouka watched him go, then glanced at me like eh, what can you do?
I laughed. “You know, one of these days, I’m going to tell the other dogs at the dog park that you let those cats walk all over you.”
Her expression didn’t change. After a moment, she wandered into the living room. A second later, a grunt and a house-shaking thud told me she’d sprawled on the floor. I just chuckled and shook my head.
The doorbell rang. Shit, already?
Smiling like an idiot, I hurried out of the kitchen and down the hall.
“Damn,” I said as I opened the door. “I thought I drove too—”
I froze.
Jesse smirked. “Am I interrupting anything?”
Somehow, I found my breath. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I think we need to talk, Samir.”
“At three in the morning?”
“Well.” He shrugged, the smirk broadening. “Your lights were on, so you weren’t asleep.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What’s going on? Why are you here now?”
Headlights appeared at the end of my street. My heart sank. Fuck.
“Jesse,” I said. “You need to leave. We have nothing to talk about.”
He turned and casually watched the car approach. It slowed as it came near my driveway. And of course, Jesse had parked in the space next to my car, so the car—Elliott, definitely—parked on the curb.
Facing me again, Jesse said, “Looks like I am interrupting something.”
“Yeah. You are.”
The car door slammed. Elliott got out, but he stayed by the car, looking up at us with no expression on his face. From across my small front yard, he met my eyes, and his eyebrows flicked up slightly. An unspoken, Your call.
I took a deep breath. “Get out, Jesse. Elliott?” I motioned for him to come up the walk.
His taillights flashed with the locking of the doors, and he started toward the house. Jesse watched him. Eyes narrow. Shoulders square. He didn’t look the least bit intimidated, but the faintest twitch at the corner of his mouth told me he wasn’t stupid enough to think he could take on Elliott. Or maybe he was. Either way, I suspected he wouldn’t be a problem for very long.
Elliott fixed his gaze on Jesse. All the way up the steps, he didn’t look anywhere but right at him. Not even at me. When he reached the top, they were chest to chest. They were almost the same height, but Elliott was much broader. As they faced off, there was no doubt in my mind who could snap whom in half.
“Are we done here, Jesse?” I finally asked.
His jaw worked. Slowly, his eyes slid toward me. They stopped. Looked me up and down. Slid back to Elliott.
Finally he gave a snort of derision, shook his head, and started down the steps. Elliott and I silently watched him go.
Once Jesse was clear of the walk, I motioned for Elliott to come inside. I turned the deadbolt just as Jesse’s car door slammed, and when the engine turned over, I released my breath.
Elliott touched my shoulder. “You okay?”
I nodded. Cursing under my breath, I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands, suddenly exhausted despite the caffeine and half an evening of anticipation. My body felt like lead. “God, I am so sorry.”
“Sorry?” Elliott gathered me in his arms and kissed my cheek. “Your ex-boyfriend shows up and harasses you in the middle of the night, and you’re telling me sorry?”
Hating myself for it, I leaned into him. “I warned you he’d be a pain in my ass for a while, but this wasn’t how I saw tonight playing out.”
Elliott stroked my hair. “What was he even doing here?”
“I have no idea. I thought he was you.”
His hand stopped mid-stroke. “What?”
I drew back and met his gaze. “You’d texted me. Said you were on your way. So when the doorbell rang, I thought it was you.”
His eyes widened. “Did he know I was coming?”
“Do you think he might’ve been at Wilde’s earlier?” Elliott’s eyes flicked toward the door. “He, uh… He came back last night.”
My knees almost buckled. “What?”
Elliott swallowed. “That was why I texted you this morning. To make sure you were okay. He showed up. Rattled some cages.” He paused. “While I was here.”
“Serious?”
He nodded. “I didn’t get a chance to mention it earlier. I—”
“No, it’s okay.” I shook my head and raked a hand through my hair. “Christ. He must’ve been there tonight. Heard us talking about coming here.” I pulled away from him and let the wall hold me up, but even that wasn’t enough. Slowly, I slid down the wall and pressed my elbows into my knees as I rubbed both hands over my face. “Fuck…”
“Hey.” He crouched beside me and held me close again. “You think he’s dangerous? Or just a pain in the ass?”
“I don’t know.” I pressed my thumb and forefingers against my eyes. “Sometimes I think he’s just a persistent asshole. Sometimes…” I was not going to cry. Not now. Not in front of the man who’d accepted the degree of basket case I’d already told him I was. No sense pushing my luck.
Elliott kissed my temple. “Have you thought about getting the cops involved?”
“I have.” The shakiness of my own voice hit me hard. I fought the sting in my eyes, but it was relentless. “And nothing ever happens. When I have the balls to call them, it’s never bad enough for them to do anything. When he’s actually done something—busted a tooth, given me a fucking concussion—I’m always too scared to do a damned—” My voice cracked. A hot tear slid free. “Fuck. I’m sorry. I’m—”
“No.” He held me closer and stroked my hair again. “Don’t you dare be sorry.” He kissed the top of my head. “This isn’t your fault, Samir.”
The words broke me, and I finally just let myself break. By all rights, Elliott should’ve put up his hands, backed away slowly, and jumped off this crazy ship. We’d had like two conversations, and he’d been there so I could kick out my asshole boyfriend, and we’d spent one long, perfect night having sex, and…
Why was he still here?
Why was he holding me like he had some vested interest in me being okay? He’d come here to get laid, not keep me upright when my own life was killing me. This didn’t make any sense, but I couldn’t make myself pull away from him. I wasn’t sure I could if I’d wanted to. And I definitely didn’t want to.
Something pressed against my leg. I knew without looking it was one of my cats, and felt around blindly for him. He trilled softly when I petted him. Then the purring started. Another cat bumped my other leg.
Elliott loosened his grasp on me, and another trill told me he was petting the other cat. “Hey buddy.” He chuckled. “Easy, guys. There’s enough attention to go around.”
I lifted my head. As I wiped my eyes, I looked down to see both cats next to me, alternating between curious looks at him and concerned ones at me.
Heavy footsteps and clicking claws came down the hall. We both turned as Shouka joined us.
Elliott smiled. “Looks like the whole family is here.”
If he only knew how true that was.
My knees were starting to ache from crouching like this, so I pushed myself up. So did Elliott.
“We should, uh…” I wiped my eyes again. “Let’s go sit somewhere more comfortable.”
He nodded. We started toward the living room, but he gently caught my elbow and nodded down the hall. Toward my bedroom.
My stomach twisted. “I think the mood’s kind of dead, don’t you?”
“That’s not what I had in mind.” He laced our fingers together. “Just might be more comfortable. And more room for…” He nodded past me, and I glanced back to see both cats and Shouka following us.
Okay, so he had a point. The couch got crowded when it was the critters and me, and Elliott wasn’t exactly a small guy. And the bed did sound a hell of a lot more comfortable.
In the bedroom, we toed off our shoes, and I tucked them into the closet so the cats wouldn’t mess with them. As I shut the closet door, Elliott lay back on the bed on top of the covers, and when I turned, he gestured for me to join him.
Don’t mind if I do.
I lay beside him, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. Of course, before I’d even rested my head on his chest, the mattress shook with the arrival of the cats, followed by Shouka.
Elliott petted Nima with his free hand. “They really do stick close, don’t they?”
“Well, when…” I hesitated. Mehrang jumped onto my hip and sat down like that was a perfectly acceptable perch. I didn’t make him move. Sighing, I scratched his scruff. “They’re usually happy to go off and do their own thing or find something to destroy, but they do stick close when they know I’m upset.”
His arm tightened subtly around my shoulders. “I’m sorry you’re upset. I don’t blame you, though.”
“Yeah, well.” I focused on Mehrang because I couldn’t look Elliott in the eye. “You got another face full of my idiot ex, and you saw me cry. Probably not what you were expecting tonight.”
“Samir.” He stroked my hair again. “I’ve done multiple combat tours. You think I haven’t seen men cry before?”
This time, I did look up at him, craning my neck as best I could in this position. “Really?”
“Stick a bunch of kids in a warzone, you better believe it’s going to happen sometimes. And it’s not just the young guys. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“It’s not that.” I exhaled. Then I gently nudged the cat off so I could prop myself up and hold Elliott’s gaze without straining. “You didn’t sign up for this, you know? Tonight was supposed to be…” Hot. A hookup. No stress. I moistened my lips. “You’ve known me all of two days. I’m a stranger. And now I’ve pulled you into the middle of—”
Elliott cut me off with a soft kiss. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be.”
“You’re here because you thought you were getting laid.” It came out a lot bitchier than I’d intended, but he just smiled and slid his hand up into my hair.
“That’s why I came, yeah. But I’m still here, aren’t I?”
“Why?” I whispered.
He chewed his lip as he caressed my face. “I don’t know, to be honest. I don’t know what it is about you, but I want to be here.” His thumb traced a gentle arc along my cheekbone. “Yeah, I’ve only known you a couple of days, but I’m already curious as hell to see where this might go.”
My heart fluttered. I’d spent the last few years being reminded at every turn that first Ollie, then Jesse, were doing me a favor by putting up with me, and that I was lucky to have them. And I’d believed them. Completely. I’d never gotten far with relationships before Ollie, and it wasn’t hard to sell me the line that I was unwanted.
Now this? Someone who’d known me all of forty-eight hours, and… How the hell?
I swallowed. “For all you know, we’ll fuck a couple of times, get sick of each other, and fizzle out after a week.”
Elliott shrugged. “Maybe? I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out when we get there.” He stroked my cheek. “Look, neither of us has any idea if we’re relationship material, if we’re just good in bed together, or if we can even pull off being friends. We just don’t know. And I do know you’re coming out of a relationship, so maybe anything more than sex is too much right now. If it is, that’s cool. I’m game for whatever. But don’t think for a second you’re going to scare me off by being rattled by that asshole. I’d be worried if you weren’t.”
Deep down, I knew that everything I’d experienced at the hands of my last two boyfriends was terrible, and that it wasn’t normal. Still, after that much time, it was hard to imagine anything else. The things Elliott said… They were surreal. Not like he’d spoken in a foreign language,
but like he was throwing completely alien concepts at me.
His brow furrowed a little. “If you want me to go, just say so. We don’t—”
“No!” I covered his hand with mine and slid my fingers between his. “That’s the last thing I want you to do.”
His smiled, lifted his head, and pressed a lingering kiss to my lips. I curved my hand around the back of his neck and deepened that kiss, and we sank into a warm, tight embrace. Not surprisingly, my body responded immediately—my cock started hardening, and my heart beat faster as Elliott’s hands slid over my shirt and my jeans. So much for killing the mood.
I shifted a bit, then straddled him. Elliott groaned as my clothed erection pressed against his. He curved his hands over my ass and pulled me down so we rubbed together even harder, and he broke the kiss just long enough for a strained, “Fuck,” before I claimed his mouth all over again.
It was impossible not to be turned on when he kissed me and touched me like this, but damn if there wasn’t still that skin-crawly feeling from a close encounter with my ex. Just breathing the same air as him—especially twice in one day—made me feel dirty, and not in the delicious way Elliott did.
I licked my lips. “I could go for a shower. Care to join me?”
Elliott grinned. “I love the sound of that.”
Chapter 9
Elliott
Samir had the most amazing body. It wasn’t like I’d never seen him naked before, but showering together slowed things down. Gave me a chance to really look at him and touch him like we had all night. Because we did have all night, or at least what was left of it.
Standing under the rushing water, I held his lean, powerful body close and explored his mouth like it was the first time we’d ever kissed. Admittedly, there was some relief driving me too—that I’d gotten here when I did and things with Jesse hadn’t escalated. Maybe they wouldn’t have. Maybe Jesse had just come here to rattle Samir’s cage. Either way, I was beyond relieved that Samir was okay—as okay as could be expected—and that we were here and Jesse was gone.
You don’t deserve him, Jesse. I slid my hands down the smooth, wet skin of Samir’s back. You had no right to do the things you did. I bent to kiss Samir’s neck, reveling in the feel of his hot skin and the way his low moans vibrated against my lips. I can’t undo what you did to him, but you better believe I’m going to do him better than you ever did.