by J. Daniels
I took my hand off my dick and rubbed my face as she continued.
“That might’ve been the nicest gesture I’ve ever heard about. I didn’t tell her that ’cause I knew she’d tell you, but I was thinking it. And I saw how you were with your sister, wanting to protect her and get her safe, and then there’s just how you are with Syd. You’re sweet with her. Like you care about your friend being happy and wanna show that by being good to his girl. She’s my best friend. I want everyone treating her good and you treat her good. That means something to me.”
I dropped my hand to my thigh and looked at Tori then, hearing in her voice what all that meant to her and wanting to see it in her face. And I didn’t know what she saw when I looked, but whatever it was, it had her coming closer.
She pulled her legs to the side and slid them beneath her, then she was up on her knees and right in front of me, putting my face between her hands and breathing against my mouth. “And then there’s what you did for my dad,” she continued, staring deep into my eyes. “And what you’ve done for me. All of it. Being there for me and taking care of things and making promises. Just being you, Jamie. And I guess…well, the point I’m trying to make is…” She paused to swallow. Her chest started heaving, and three breaths later, she declared, “Now he’s the second best.”
I blinked. Everything started burning up. I tried to breathe, but I couldn’t.
Tori was telling me I was the best man she’d ever known. She was giving me that.
Kerosene.
My chest was already on fire, and Tori Rivera just dumped a bucket of kerosene on the flames.
“Jamie?” she whispered, dipping closer, her eyes anxious as they searched mine.
“Changed my mind,” I said, reaching between us and getting my dick ready that was so fucking hard now I could feel my heartbeat in it. “You got somethin’ you wanna share with me, some point you need to make, no matter what I’m doin’, what we’re doin’, if my dick is out or if we’re already fuckin’, you share it, babe.”
Condom on, I squeezed the base of my dick.
Tori gasped when I palmed her ass hard and lifted her off her knees, getting her legs out from under her so she could wrap them around me.
Her arms slid around my neck. Her ankles linked around my back. I held her weight with one hand and moved the other between us, positioning my cock.
“Don’t care what it is, I want it the second you’re wantin’ to give it. You hear me?”
She nodded, mouth opening and head dropping back as I slid in the first inch.
“Oh, God,” she panted.
I lowered her slowly onto my cock. Another inch. Another.
God, she felt so fucking good.
Tori moaned deep in her throat and closed her eyes.
“Didn’t think you could top what you already gave, then you give me that.” I rammed deep, thrusting my hips and sinking all the way inside her. Tori cried out. I slid my one hand around her back, slid the other up to her neck, gripped firm and tipped her head down, forcing her to look at me.
She opened her eyes, parted her lips, and whimpered.
“You fuckin’ give me that,” I repeated, seeing understanding brighten her eyes. I pulled her closer. Our lips touched. “Nine months was nothin’, babe. I would’ve waited years for you.”
Tori gasped against my mouth. Her limbs tensed.
“Gonna fuck you now,” I said as I tipped forward, putting her back on the floor and my hips between hers, getting her beneath me.
She was whispering yes and please as she kissed my mouth, my jaw, my neck. Her teeth found my shoulder when I dragged my hips up and sank home.
I dropped lower and kissed her, sliding my tongue along hers, and then I was pushing back and putting weight on my knees. “Gotta watch you,” I said when she started whimpering and reaching out.
The sun had set now, and the glow from the fire warmed half of her face. I held her hips up and started thrusting, pulling her into me, sinking deeper.
Deeper.
Deeper.
Fuck.
She was swollen and so fucking wet, her thighs glistened. I felt her tightening. I heard her breaths growing tenser. Quicker. Her nails scratched at my stomach and sank into the backs of my thighs. And then she was coming, back arching and head falling back as my name rolled off her tongue in soft little begs. I fucked her harder. Faster. I sank deeper. I wanted her to feel this tomorrow. And next year. And if there was life after this, I wanted her feeling me in it.
Tori came down but only a little. I kept her there. Right there. I wouldn’t stop building it.
I groaned, slumped forward, and held fistfuls of her hair, powering into her, our bodies slapping together, our mouths desperate, hands desperate, voices desperate.
We were fucking but we weren’t. This was more. It meant more.
I loved her.
God…fuck, I loved her. I had for a while.
Tori kept clinging to me, kept pulling me closer, kept kissing and licking and biting, and I fucked her wild. I was insane for this girl. Crazy shit was coming out of my mouth, words I didn’t realize I was feeling until it was too late and I was speaking them against her lips and in her ear when I took her from behind. Hand wrapped around her throat, I told her I needed this, that nothing had ever felt this good and that I wished I wasn’t wearing a condom. Forever and feel me and love me, say it. And it was a game, me telling her you love me and her shaking her head and moaning in my ear, no, over and over when we both knew. We knew.
It was a game, but it was our game.
Tori moaned and pleaded, “Harder,” and sank back against me, getting me deeper, and then she was coming again, body trembling in pleasure as my fingers rubbed her clit.
“Jamie…oh, God, Jamie!” she cried, reaching back and grasping at my hip as I kept pumping.
“Close,” I groaned. My spine burned. “Fuck, baby, come on.”
I pulled out and stood, tearing the condom off and stroking my cock as Tori spun around and knelt in front of me with her hands under her tits.
“Do it,” she whispered.
I groaned and pushed her hair out of her face so I could watch her lips part and the heat in her eyes as I shot my cum all over her chest, and she wasted no fucking time dipping her head and licking it off.
And when she was finished, Tori slowly lifted her head, dragged her tongue across her bottom lip, savoring me, and smiled.
My chest was so fucking tight, I was waiting for it to split wide open.
Tori’s eyes widened. She looked down and moved her hand between her cleavage, saying, “I, uh, missed some. Can you—”
“Get you a towel,” I offered, watching her head lift and then drop slightly.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
I bent and grabbed the condom and wrapper, disposing of those in the kitchen trash on my way to the bathroom. I washed off. I got the hand towel damp, returned with it, and handed it off to Tori so she could clean herself up. And while she was doing that, I claimed the pillow and stretched out on my back in front of the fire.
My eyes closed. I felt her warm body pressing against my side and the soft cotton of another blanket pulling across my feet.
“I’m cold,” she whispered.
Eyes opening, I wrapped my arm around her, hand palming her ass and hauling her closer.
Her head hit my chest, her arm curled around my stomach and her leg bent and pressed on top of mine.
With my other hand I drew the blanket up and covered her to the tops of her shoulders.
I didn’t need the blanket. She made sure of that.
Those flames were still burning.
“I heard it might just be his pressure being high,” I said after my head hit the pillow, letting her know I had been updated on her dad. “Travis said he gave him a prescription to take. Told him to get some tests done.”
“Does your brother make house calls a lot?” she asked softly, watching the fire.
“No.�
�
“Ever?”
“No.”
“Does he even live in Raleigh?” she questioned, head popping up and round eyes meeting mine.
I smiled and grabbed her arm, giving it a tug until she dropped back down, head hitting my chest again. “He lives in Durham. Doesn’t make house calls, but we’re close, and if I ask him for shit, he does it. Goes both ways,” I explained.
“Do you have any other siblings?” she asked, blinking at the fire.
“None you haven’t met already.”
“I’d like to meet Travis, too, if that’s okay. I want to thank him.”
“Think we can arrange that.”
Her head dropped in a nod. She sighed.
I closed my eyes again.
“I like your heart,” Tori whispered seconds later, and my eyes shot open.
Fuck.
“Baby,” I breathed.
“I would’ve died waiting years,” she added.
The arm I had around her tightened. I lifted my head and saw Tori was watching me with blue eyes wide and focused.
“I would’ve,” she whispered, then she snuggled closer, pressed her cheek to my chest again, gave me a squeeze with her arm around my waist, and closed her eyes.
Just like that. Denying she loved me and then she gives me that.
I didn’t press for the truth anymore. I didn’t ask Tori if she was ready to admit she loved me.
I dropped my head onto the pillow, kept my hold on her and closed my eyes. For tonight, this was enough.
It was everything.
Chapter Seventeen
TORI
Fifteen minutes later
His breaths were relaxed now. Slow-paced and sleepy.
I peeked my eyes open and blinked at the flames dancing behind the glass. I pressed my hand flat to his heart.
“Jamie,” I whispered.
Nothing.
He breathed out and stayed deep inside his dream.
I shifted until my chin was resting on his ribs, then lifted up and peered into his face. Eyes closed. Lips touching, not parted. And head turned. The glow from the fire crawled up his shoulder to his neck. His face was shadowed.
“Jamie,” I whispered again, watching him. Listening.
Nothing. His body didn’t move aside from his chest lifting with his next breath.
I dipped my head and touched my lips to his skin, hand over his heart still and eyes focused and inspecting.
I breathed out. I breathed in.
“I love you,” I whispered. Then I waited.
Nothing.
His arm around my back didn’t tense. His lashes didn’t flutter. His mouth didn’t smile or open to tell me know that, babe and then maybe, maybe admit the same.
Jamie didn’t move. He didn’t speak.
He never heard me.
Chapter Eighteen
JAMIE
I woke up alone on the floor with the blanket thrown over my waist.
The fire was out, meaning the timer either turned it off or Tori did, and the light was on in the kitchen, but when I sat up and stood, pushing my hair out of my face and looking around, the room was empty.
It was pitch black outside. The clock on the stove read 12:07.
If she fucking left…
“Legs,” I hollered, rounding the couch and crossing the room when she didn’t answer.
The laundry room was next to the kitchen, and I stopped in there and pulled on a pair of mesh running shorts before cutting through the dining room I never used as a dining room—had a pool table set up in there—getting to the front door, swinging it open, and peering outside.
The streetlamp at the end of the driveway was shining on Tori’s car. It was parked behind my Jeep.
She hadn’t left. Good.
Now where the fuck was she?
I closed and locked the door, then hit the stairs and took them two at a time. The upstairs hallway was dark, so when I reached the top, it was obvious which room Tori was in.
My old room.
Fuck yeah. I was gonna get to see her in there. Been wanting that.
I stopped in the doorway, going unnoticed, and pressed my shoulder against the frame, pulling my arms across my chest as I watched her.
Tori was dressed again, wearing the frayed jean shorts and steel blue sleeveless top she showed up in that felt like silk and billowed at her waist. Her back was to me and her hair was down—long, tangled waves that looked messy from fucking. She was barefoot and stood on her toes to peer at the trophies on the back of my old dresser. Her calves tensed. Her hands curled around the beveled lip of the wood, keeping her balanced.
I loved her barefoot in my house. I loved her clothes on my floor. I wished they were still there.
“Wow…seven? Really?” Tori mumbled under her breath, pausing to stretch higher on her toes, then whispering, “That’s so cool.”
“Seven what?” I asked.
She startled with a gasp and spun around, hand pressing to her chest as it heaved. “God, Jamie, you scared the life out of me.” She took several deep breaths and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “Wear a bell or something.”
I smirked and pushed off from the frame, crossing the room and repeating, “Seven what?”
Tori looked from my bare chest to my face, then glanced behind her and pointed over her shoulder. “You were seven when you won that trophy. That just seems so young to me.” She turned back around. “Was that the first competition you ever won?” she asked, looking up into my eyes after I reached her.
I nodded, knowing which trophy she was talking about. I didn’t need to search it out and, instead, kept my gaze on her and the red glop she had smeared on her bottom lip.
It glistened near the corner of her mouth.
“How’d you know I was seven?” I asked, taking her face between my hands and bending down. Her eyes froze. She pulled in a breath a second before I drew her lip into my mouth and sucked, tasting sweet strawberry filling on my tongue. “Been eatin’ my Pop-Tarts?” I teased, leaning back but keeping hold of her face.
Her mouth twitched.
“I was hungry,” she admitted softly, sucking a little on her lip now, too. “And the, uh, trophy was dated.”
“Doesn’t explain how you know I was seven.”
“I may have looked at your license. I know you’re twenty-eight.” She watched my brow arch, then looked back into my eyes. “Your wallet was on the counter,” she explained on a quick voice. “I saw it when I was getting my snack and was curious what your middle name was.” She tipped her chin up and smiled, whispering, “Jamie Carter McCade. I like it. I like that you’re four years older than me, too.”
“Yeah?” I mumbled, sliding my thumbs along her soft pink cheeks.
She nodded, then her face fell. “Is it okay that I did that?” she asked, eyes troubled as they jumped between mine. “I just looked at your license. I didn’t look through the whole wallet.”
I shrugged, explaining, “Lookin’ ’cause you wanna know shit about me. I want you knowin’, babe. You can look all you want.”
Tori smiled again, liking my views on her snooping through my shit. “’Kay,” she murmured.
“What else do you like?”
She smiled bigger. I felt her warm hands take hold of my hips.
“Well, just going off your license, I like that you’re six-three and an organ donor,” she shared, stepping closer until I felt the fabric of her shirt against my stomach. “And that you’re a Scorpio. The Aries in me really likes that.”
I slowly shook my head. “Jesus,” I chuckled. “You follow that shit? You sound like Quinn.”
“No,” she giggled. “Not really. I just know which signs I’m compatible with and which ones to stay away from.”
“Yeah?” I dipped my head until our foreheads touched. “Should’ve checked my wallet nine months ago, babe. Saved us the time.”
“No way. Then we never would’ve had our bet.”
“And?”
“And I liked our bet,” she admitted sweetly, rubbing her hands up and down my back. “Didn’t you?”
“Like what we’re doin’ now better.”
“Yeah,” she sighed. Her nose wrinkled. “This is okay.”
My brows grew tight.
Tori watched this happen and laughed quietly, then she linked her hands behind my back. “You have eleven trophies in here and eight in your other room,” she stated.
“Yeah.”
“Plus six in that office downstairs.”
I smirked. Fuck yeah. She’d gone around counting.
“And one in the bathroom,” she continued. “Which, I really don’t understand that placement but I’m assuming it’s there so guests will see it.”
“Piss excellence. Might as well have a trophy for it,” I told her, face serious.
Tori leaned back, studying me. “You did not just say that.”
“Said it. You read the plaque?” I questioned. “Says on there what I won.”
Her eyes shifted away, then her head turned, her brows knitted, and she started biting the inside of her cheek. She was thinking hard. And she looked really fucking sweet doing it.
“Babe,” I laughed, ready to give up the lie.
“It said, East Coast Surf First Place Champion, 2002.” Her head snapped back and she made a face, half smiling, half scowling. “Ha. You did not win that for using the bathroom. Nice try.”
I stared down at her, at her smiling lips and her bright eyes and the freckles splattered on her nose, trying to breathe but fighting against an impossible weight pressing heavy on my chest.
“You know what it says,” I mumbled, sliding my hands to her waist and holding tight there. “What year I won it. Twenty-six trophies, all saying different shit, and you can spit that out like it’s nothin’.” I turned her and started backing her up across the room, taking the four steps to reach my old bed.
Tori gripped my biceps, eyes soft and curious and smile slowly fading. “I have a good memory,” she revealed. “A really good one. Just a glance and—”
“How long you been awake, babe?” I interrupted.