by L A Cotton
Lily let out a soft moan, a shiver running through her as she rocked above me. I smothered a groan. Having her seated above me was some kind of sweet torture, straddling the line between heaven and hell.
“I like kissing you,” she said, pulling back and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“I like kissing you too.” I smirked, making her blush harder.
Damn she was responsive.
Sliding the hand around her neck down to her hip, I gently circled her over my dick. Her lips parted as she tried to swallow a moan.
She wasn’t the only one.
“Does that feel good?” I rasped.
She nodded so I did it again.
“Oh God,” Lily breathed. “I can feel you.”
“Want me to do it again?”
This had to be at her pace, despite how much it was killing me.
I wanted her.
I’d wanted her that night in the boat shed. I wanted her every time I saw her around school, and I wanted her now. So fucking much. But she was a virgin for Christ’s sake.
And she was Coach Ford’s daughter.
Fuck.
What the hell was I doing?
“Kaiden.” Her name on my lips was my undoing and I leaned in, brushing my mouth over hers.
“Open up for me, Lily.”
She did, letting me slide my tongue against hers again, licking and exploring her mouth. She tasted so fucking good, I never wanted to come up for air. My fingers gently dug into the curve of her hip as I pressed into her, trying to create as much friction as I could.
Anything to feel her.
Another soft moan escaped, and Lily rolled her hips over me, seeking out the same friction I needed. “It feels good,” she whispered around an uncertain smile.
“Yeah.” I swallowed thickly. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want.”
“I like it… it feels…” She did it again and I watched her. Eyes wide, simmering with lust, lips parted, and skin flushed. She was so fucking beautiful. Lily took my breath away every time I looked at her.
“Kiss me.” Her voice was cracked with lust, making my body ache for her.
I leaned up, sealing my mouth over hers again. Lily’s fingers twisted in my t-shirt, pulling us together, until she was crushed against me. She rolled her hips faster, chasing the release I knew was building inside her. The urge to touch her, to feel her, was so fucking strong, I almost sat on my hands just to stop myself from going too far.
“Oh God, Kaiden,” she cried, rocking back and forth over me. It was borderline painful being so close to her… and yet, so far away. But this wasn’t about me. It was about Lily.
About her taking what she needed.
She buried her face in the crook of my neck, full on riding me. My hands slid underneath her skirt and around to her ass, squeezing as I helped move her over me. She felt good, too fucking good, despite the layers of clothes separating us. I could imagine how good she’d feel wrapped around me.
“Kaiden… I’m…” She cried out as her body trembled above me. Her lips lingered on my neck, sending tremors through me.
My dick was still rock hard behind my jeans, desperate for more. But she wasn’t ready, and it was a line I wasn’t sure we should cross.
At least that’s what I tried telling myself.
“You okay?” I asked, thickly, and Lily peeled herself away from me to meet my eyes.
“That was… I…”
“Breathe.” I smiled. “Did it feel good?” She pressed her lips together and nodded. “Imagine how it’ll feel when it’s the real thing.”
Fuck.
Why did I say that?
Her eyes widened with surprise, but then a slow smile tugged at her lips. She was thinking about it too, imagining me sliding into her warm, wet heat.
I was so screwed.
Flushed and breathless, Lily brought a hand to my jaw and scraped her fingers against my skin. “When can we do that?”
It was my turn to look surprised. “I… fuck, Lily. You can’t say things like that to me.”
“Why not?”
“Because do you have any idea how much I want you right now?”
A smile played on her lips.
“But I’m not going to rush you into something you’re not ready for.”
Her brows furrowed. “Who says I’m not ready?”
“Just trust me, okay?” I kissed her. “We have time.”
“But we can do that again? Soon?”
Laughter rumbled deep in my chest. “Come here.” I pulled her against my chest, our noses almost touching. Silence settled between us, her ragged breaths matching the pound of my heart against my chest.
“I like you, Lily Ford. I like you a lot.”
“Why do I feel like a huge but is coming…” She quirked a brow.
“Your old man will chop off my balls if he finds out I’ve been anywhere near you.”
Her eyes glinted with mischief. “So we’ll just have to make sure he never finds out.”
“You want that? To sneak around behind his back?”
“I’m almost eighteen.” She lifted her chin defiantly. “I’m old enough to make my own decisions, Kaiden. You don’t know what it’s like to always be in the shadows. Watching but never living. I’ve spent the last four years being wrapped in cotton…” She trailed off and I got the sense she’d said too much.
“No heavy stuff,” she added with a little shake of her head. “Not tonight.”
“Fine. No heavy stuff.”
“But more kissing would be okay.” Her face lit up and I chuckled at her newfound confidence.
Cupping her cheek, I ran my thumb down her face and smiled. “I think that can be arranged.”
I don’t think I’d ever sat and made out with a girl for as long as I sat in Lindsey’s basement with Lily. We didn’t come up for air until Ashleigh appeared at the top of the stairs and informed us that if we didn’t want to make everyone suspicious, we should probably join the rest of the party.
I didn’t want to let Lily go. She felt too good in my arms. But as we hit the top step, she let go of my hand and gave me a small smile.
“Come on, let’s get a drink and find the others.” Ashleigh laced her arm through Lily’s and the two of them melted into the crowd.
I grabbed a beer and made my way outside to find the guys, hardly surprised to spot Bryan trying to win Peyton’s affections. But as I got closer, I realized he wasn’t flirting with her so much as holding her up.
“What happened?” I asked.
“She’s wasted, man.”
“Fine,” she murmured, her head lolling. “I’m fine.” She tried to escape Bryan’s hold, but he pulled her back into his body.
“Babe, you’re not fine. She needs to go home. Have you seen Lily and Ashleigh?” His mouth curved into a knowing smile and I rolled my eyes.
“Don’t go spreading anything,” I warned. “Either of you.”
“Relax, man,” Gav said. “We know what’s at stake.” He gave me a strange look, one that looked a lot like a warning.
Just then, the girls appeared. Lily quickly glanced away, but I caught the slight flush to her cheeks.
“Oh my God, Peyton.” She hurried over to her best friend. “What happened?”
“My guess is she drank one too many of those hideous shooters Lindsey is handing out like candy.”
“I need to take her home.”
“Gav can drive you,” I said. “We’ll make sure she gets home okay.”
“Thank you.” Lily finally gave me her eyes.
“I’m going to find Aaron and Cole and ride back with them,” Ashleigh said, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Lily,” Peyton murmured. “Lil?”
“I’m right here, let’s get you home.”
We managed to get Peyton to Gav’s car in one piece. Lily climbed in first and Bryan slid her drunk friend in beside her. I went around the other
side and got in next to Lily.
“Hi,” she said a little breathless.
“Hi.”
Bryan took shotgun while Lily wrapped her arm around Peyton. My hand found Lily’s, threading our fingers together. She glanced down and then up at my face, a hundred and one questions swimming in her eyes.
“You’ll have to give me directions,” Gav said.
“Sure.” Lily directed him to her house.
“Is she okay?” I asked.
“She’s going through some stuff.”
“And she lives with you, right?” I’d heard Peyton tell Bryan at the arcade last weekend.
“Yeah, she’s staying with us for a while.”
“Cool.”
It was a dumb thing to say when clearly something was going on with Peyton.
Lily gave my hand a little squeeze, and I swear it was like lightning hitting my chest.
What was it about this girl?
Gav pulled up outside the Ford’s house and Bryan climbed out, opening the back door. “Hey, I got you.” He lifted Peyton out and carried her toward the house.
Lily peeked over at me and I said, “You’ll be okay?”
“Yeah, although my dad is going to be pissed.”
“I’ll see you at school Monday?”
She nodded before leaning in and kissing my cheek. “Goodnight, Kaiden.”
“Night, Lily.”
She hurried after Bryan and Peyton. The second she was out of earshot, Gav turned to me and said, “You are so screwed.”
I sank back against the seat and let out a frustrated breath.
“Yeah.”
I so was.
Saturday morning, I was woken by raised voices. Something crashed, the sound of glass breaking pulling me from my sleep haze. I sat up, running a hand over my face.
“Get the fuck out of my way, woman.”
The ferocity in Dad’s tone made me flinch, but it was nothing compared to the slam of the door as it echoed through the house.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I kicked my legs over the side of the bed and stood up, grabbing a t-shirt off the back of my chair and pulling it on.
The last thing I wanted to do was deal with another one of Dad’s moods, but I had no choice as I made my way downstairs.
“Mom?”
“In here, baby.” She sniffled, and I caught her drying her eyes as I entered the kitchen.
“What happened?”
“Oh, just your father being his usual stubborn self. Don’t you worry about it. I’ll make you some breakfast. Pancakes?”
“You don’t need to do that, Mom.” I perched at the counter.
“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s the morning after game day. Of course I’m going to make my boy breakfast.” She began gathering the ingredients. “How was it? I heard you won.”
“You listened?”
They wouldn’t come. There wasn’t any way my old man would step foot into Dawson Stadium unless it was to watch me play against the Raiders. And it wasn’t fair to put Mom in the middle.
“Of course, I listened. I’m so proud of you, Kaiden. Of how you’ve handled everything.”
“The team froze me out.”
“I’m sorry, baby. They’re just loyal to their captain, but they’ll come around.”
“Yeah, it still sucks though.” I leaned over and grabbed the jug of juice and poured myself a glass.
“You are not your father, Kaiden. Thank God,” she mumbled, but her expression quickly fell. “I don’t mean that. I just…”
“It’s okay, Mom. I know.”
“You went to the party after? I didn’t hear you come in.” She glanced over at me while mixing the pancake batter.
“Yeah.”
“And did that happen at the game or at the party?”
Shit. I’d forgotten about the bruise along my cheekbone.
“The game.”
“You’re a terrible liar, Kaiden.” Her lip curved wryly. “I don’t like the idea of you fighting, baby.”
“Does it matter if I say the guy deserved it?”
“Nice try, but no.” She chuckled. “I don’t want your anger and frustration about the situation to ruin your senior year. You need to find a way to harness it, baby. To turn it into a positive.”
Lily’s face flashed in my mind. How good she’d felt rubbing herself on me, how serene she’d looked falling apart. We hadn’t even touched, not really, but it only made everything ten times more intense. I’d gotten home and climbed in bed and jerked myself off to the image of her flushed and breathless above me. I came so damn hard I’d had to stuff my fist in my mouth to stop myself from yelling her name.
Gav was right. I was totally screwed.
“Kaiden?”
“Yeah?” I blinked over at her.
“You seemed a million miles away.”
“Just tired.”
“Let’s get some breakfast in you, keep your energy up.”
“Sure thing, Mom.”
This was how she fixed things, how she covered up one of Dad’s outbursts. She added the batter to the pan, focused on the task at hand. But I saw the cracks. The worry lines around her eyes, the permanent frown marring her forehead.
“You could leave him, Mom,” I said. “I’ll be leaving for college next year. You don’t have to stay with him.”
Her expression fell. “Oh, I don’t know about that, Kaiden. I know your father can be a difficult man, but he’s my husband. We made vows. For better or for worse.”
“Life’s too short, Mom.” And she deserved better, so much better than a drunk who was bitter at the world.
“I’m sure things will get better. He’s just going through a rough patch,” she said. And I wondered who she was trying to convince more.
Me.
Or herself.
Chapter Seventeen
Lily
“Can I come in?” I peeked around Peyton’s door. She was in her oversized Raiders hoodie, sprawled in the middle of the bed staring up at the ceiling.
“I’m not good company right now.”
“You think that matters to me.” Slipping into her room, I closed the door and crawled onto the bed tucking myself into her side. “I’m worried about you.”
“You don’t need to be, I’m fine.”
“That might work with my parents, but it doesn’t fly with me.” I side-eyed her. “I know you, Peyton Myers.”
She released a long, shaky breath, as if she was purging herself of her pain. “Just when I was finally feeling settled… I don’t want to go back to her… to that.”
“Maybe you won’t have to. My dad said—”
“I know what your dad said, Lil. And I love him for it, I do. But she’s my mom. She doesn’t have anybody else.”
“Well, she’s clean, right? That’s a good thing. Maybe this time—”
“Don’t do that. Don’t say maybe this time is the last time… do you know how many times I’ve hoped that it was? How many times I’ve watched her get clean then fall back into old habits?” She rolled on her side and I did the same. “Sometimes, I think it would be easier if she just did it, OD’d and never woke up. Then at least I wouldn’t live with this constant pit in my stomach wondering if today is going to be the day, ya know?”
I didn’t.
My parents loved me. Sure, they smothered me sometimes, but they were always there for me and my sister. Jason and Felicity Ford were as solid as parents came.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, holding out my pinky finger.
“Yeah, me too.” She hooked it with hers. “I love you, babe.”
“I love you too, Peyton. And I know it doesn’t feel like it now, but it’s senior year, baby. Everything will work itself out.”
“Who are you right now and what did you do with my conservative, shy, yet wonderful best friend?”
My lip curved as I tried to smother a smile.
“Lily… What. Happened?”
“You swear you won’t tell anyon
e?”
“Pinky promise.” She shook our hands. “It’s about Kaiden, right? Oh, tell me it’s about Kaiden.”
“We made out… at the party.”
“You what? Lil, this is freaking huge. Good for you, girl.”
“That’s not all…” Heat flooded my cheeks. “We uh… I… there was some clothed dry humping.”
“Lily Ford, you dirty dog.” She grinned, and I buried my face in my hands. “No, babe. This is a good thing. A fucking great thing. And Kaiden is so sexy and surly… I bet he’s a real—”
“Enough.” My hand shot out, covering her mouth. “You can’t tell anyone. I mean it, Peyton. If this gets back to Dad…” A shudder ripped through me. I didn’t want to think about what would happen if he ever found out.
“Relax, your secret is safe with me. So… when are you seeing him again?”
“I don’t know… we didn’t swap numbers.”
Why hadn’t we swapped numbers?
“Hold on.” Peyton leaned over to retrieve her cell phone from the nightstand and started texting someone.
“What are you doing?”
“Asking Bryan for Kaiden’s number.”
“Peyton, no! I don’t want him to think—”
“What? That you’re interested. Yes, yes we do. Now, shoo.” She lifted her arms out of reach. It pinged almost instantly. “Got it. Where’s your cell?”
“I don’t know about this. My dad—”
“Doesn’t have to know. You like him, right? And he likes you. Life’s too short to make decisions based on how others will feel, Lily. Don’t you want to spread those wings a little?”
I dragged my bottom lip between my teeth, torn between wanting to take a risk and not wanting to step out of my comfort zone. The party was one thing, being swept up in the moment. But this was different.
“Okay, give me your cell.”
“What? No!”
“Okay, so you text him.” She gave me a pointed look.
Retrieving my cell from my back pocket, I opened up a new message.
“Hello?” Peyton muttered. “Lily, babe, you’re killing me. You can think of something better than that.”
* * *
I added some words.