Ray of Love (Ray #3)

by E. L. Todd

  I grabbed it with both hands so no one could steal it from me this time. “Thanks.”

  “You’re lucky I’m so nice.” He leaned against the couch as he ate, digging his hands into the fries in between bites.

  “I know.” After he gave me that basketball, I shouldn’t have tackled him at all, no matter how much he teased me. “But I think you’re fucking bomb.”

  He stopped himself from taking another bite and smiled. “Is that your way of telling me you love me?”

  I stared into his eyes and saw one of the most important people in the world. Rex was my family by blood, but Zeke was just as good even though we didn’t share a strand of DNA. He was someone who had always been in my life, and he would always be there. He was special, more than words could say. “Yes.”

  ***

  “What are the teams?” Zeke dribbled beside me as we walked down the sidewalk to the courts.

  “Tobias and me against you two.” Rex and Tobias walked in front of us, talking about their night out at the bars.

  “You never want to be on my team,” I argued. “Even though you always get your ass kicked.”

  “I’d rather get my ass kicked than be your ally.” Rex didn’t turn around as he spoke, nearly giving me the cold shoulder.

  “But it’s not even competitive.” I wore my leggings and a gray sweater. Once we started playing, I would get hot and have to remove it, but for now, it was too cold outside. “Zeke and I are too good.”

  “Fine,” Rex said. “I’ll be on Zeke’s team. You and Tobias pair up.”

  I wanted Rex to be on my team for once. When he covered me, he was particularly vicious. He had no problem throwing elbows around and pushing me off to the side like a rag doll. The other guys wouldn’t even touch me. Ironically, if Zeke or Tobias even bumped me by accident, Rex would turn into a nightmare. “Whatever.”

  We got to the court and started the game. Tobias was a good player, but we didn’t have the same chemistry Zeke and I did. Somehow, we could communicate without actually saying anything. Zeke knew exactly when to get open and when to fake his passes. And I always figured out what he was doing.

  Tobias and I were in the lead, but not by much. Switching up the teams definitely made things more competitive, but that was because Zeke and Rex were practically one person. I thought Zeke and I clicked, but they were connected on a whole new level.

  At halftime, I was drenched in sweat and my body ached. I ripped off my sweater and tossed it on the ground outside of the court, not even caring I was getting my nice Nike sweater dirty. My hairline was wet from perspiring, and I could hardly catch my breath.

  “We’re still in the lead.” Tobias rested his hands on his hips as he caught his breath. We stood under our hoop and tried to take a short break before we were back at it. “If we keep it up, we’ll still win.”

  “Yeah…but it’s only halftime.” I wiped my forearm across my forehead to remove the sweat. But of course, my head produced more a second later.

  “We’ll be fine. We make a good team.”

  “Yeah.” I looked across the court and saw our opponents talking. Rex grabbed his water bottle and took a long drink. Zeke pulled off his long-sleeve shirt and stood shirtless underneath the hoop. His fair skin was flawless with muscles etched everywhere. His shoulders were rounded and outlined with strength. I could see every little muscle connect down his arm, forming a perfect physique that could be used in an anatomy lab. He had no fat, so every detail was noticeable.

  His chest was wide and powerful, his two pecs were slabs of muscle that could move a mountain. His stomach was the best. An eight-pack that had little rivers running everywhere. His slender waist narrowed into his hips where a small patch of his happy trail could be seen.

  Day-yum.

  I’d seen him shirtless before, but it was so long ago, I couldn’t remember. And I already knew he had a nice body. Even in t-shirts, his arms and shoulders looked great. But now that I was face-to-face with his pure physical beauty, I couldn’t stop staring.

  Shit, he was hot.

  Had he always been that sexy?

  I seriously needed to stop staring. Zeke was my friend, and it was weird.

  Just stop staring.

  God, I couldn’t stop.

  I had the random urge to catcall him, something I’d never wanted to do in my life.

  “You all right?” Tobias’ voice penetrated through my haze.

  “All right?” I asked. “Shit, I’m great. I’m superb. I’m totally cool. Why wouldn’t I be?” I sounded defensive, even to my ears.

  “Well…I’ve been trying to get your attention for nearly a minute.”

  “Sorry, I was thinking about a play we could do.”

  “Cool. What play?”

  “Uh…never mind. I don’t think it’ll work. Rex already knows it.”

  “Damn.”

  We met in the center of the court and began the second half of the game. Now that I was five feet away from Zeke, I had chills. My spine couldn’t relax, and there was a numbness inside my fingers.

  Don’t stare.

  Don’t.

  Goddammit, I looked!

  Get a hold of yourself, Rae.

  It was just because I hadn’t gotten laid in three months. That was all. My hormones were out of whack, and my body was eager for this dry spell to end. That was it. Nothing more.

  Once we started the second half, I focused on the game and not Zeke’s ridiculously perfect physique. I paid attention to Tobias and getting that ball through the hoop and scoring as many points as possible.

  Until Zeke covered me.

  With his massive chest, he blocked my view of the hoop. His hand was in my way, so I couldn’t toss the ball to Tobias as he ran by.

  Shit, this was distracting.

  Sweat formed on Zeke’s chest and trickled down the delicious muscles of his body. I wanted to touch him just to see how hard he was. And I wanted to touch him somewhere else to see how hard he could get.

  Oh wow.

  This was bad.

  Really bad.

  Zeke slapped the ball out of my hand and sprinted to the other side of the court, getting a turn over and scoring a point against me.

  No one had ever stolen the ball from me before.

  I wasn’t thinking.

  Rex jogged by. “Losing your touch, loser?”

  I didn’t know what was happening, but losing my touch was the least of my problems.

  ***

  His face was between my legs, and his mouth did exquisite things to my throbbing pussy. His tongue gently moved inside me, making sweet love to me with just his mouth. Then he pulled out and circled my clit, pushing me to the edge of an orgasm.

  God, it felt good.

  My fingers dug into his hair and nearly pierced his scalp. I moaned as I moved my hips and pressed my pussy farther into his face.

  He moved his large hands to my thighs and separated them wide, exposing more of me to enjoy. “I could do this all day.”

  “Then please do.” I gripped his arms and dug my nails into his skin.

  He sucked me hard into his mouth before he crawled up my body. “But I want to fuck you even more.” He pressed my thighs back and shoved himself deep inside me with one simple thrust.

  “Oh god…” I gripped his biceps and felt him thrust into me with his enormous package. “Zeke.”

  “I love this pussy. And I love you.”

  “Yes…I love you too.”

  He pounded into me hard, fucking me like an animal but somehow making it feel romantic.

  And then I came. “Zeke…Zeke.”

  He kissed me on the mouth until my high died away.

  The sensation brought me into consciousness just as the orgasm faded away. I opened my eyes and realized I was in my bedroom, but Zeke wasn’t there. The area between my legs was wet, but not from his saliva.

  The details of the dream didn’t leave my mind, even when I woke up. It seemed like it had just happen
ed—his hands were all over me and his cock was pressed deep inside me. The haze over my eyes made me want to return to that dream, to feel that intimacy.

  But I couldn’t believe I had a sex dream about Zeke.

  That was new.

  Chapter Four

  Rex

  My alarm went off, and I hit the snooze button three times before I finally got up. “I hate working…”

  Kayden threw the covers off and got out of bed. She wore one of my t-shirts, looking sexy as hell in the baggy clothes. “It’s not that bad. Just getting up is the hard part.”

  “I can’t wait until I make enough money to hire a manager. Then I can just pop in once in a while.”

  “I think you’d get bored.” She came to my side of the bed then straddled my hips.

  I leaned against the headboard and felt her sit on me. When I felt her bare skin, I realized she wasn’t wearing any panties. She did the sluttiest things sometimes, and damn, they were sexy.

  I pulled down my boxers so my cock popped up, and I was ready to go. I slid inside of her, not surprised she was already wet. I gently sank into her and closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying her.

  She slowly rode me, her eyes locked to mine. “What would you do all day if you didn’t work?”

  “Fuck you.”

  She continued to grind against me. “Well, I have to work, so I won’t be here.”

  “Quit your job. I’ll pay you to do this all day.”

  “While that sounds tempting, I’m not sure if that’s a respectable career.”

  “Oh, it is.” I grabbed her hips and pulled her farther down my length. I loved every inch of her pussy. I’d never fucked the same woman for so long, and I’d been doing this for four months now. But it never got old.

  She increased her pace slightly, taking my length more and more. Soon, she started to pant, making those sexy little noises I’d come to love.

  I was right at the edge and ready to dump everything inside her. But I held on and waited for her to finish. Having a beautiful woman ride my cock first thing in the morning like she needed it to get out of bed was sexy as hell.

  Within seconds, she reached her climax, moaning with satisfaction. She threw her head back and rode my cock all the way down from her high, her nails digging into my bare shoulders. Her breathing became deep and shallow as the sensation passed.

  After she was finished, I could come without feeling like a jackass. I pressed my length completely inside her before I released, wanting to ensure her beautiful pussy got every drop I possessed.

  The climax was amazing, the perfect way to start my day. “Now I want to go to work even less.”

  “Just remember, when you get off work, I’ll be waiting. Actually, we’ll both be waiting…”

  ***

  Zeke and I met at our favorite wing place for dinner. We ordered the atomic wings with fries and two enormous beers. The game was on in the corner, but I had a hard time concentrating because I was thinking about that little vixen.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  Zeke finished his wing then wiped his fingers on a napkin. “What’s up?”

  “So…I’ve been sleeping with this girl for a while.”

  “What’s a while?” he asked.

  “A few months…”

  Zeke’s eyes popped open like they might roll out of his head. “A few months? You?”

  “I know…pretty weird, huh?”

  “Super weird,” he said. “That’s a record for you.”

  “Yep.” A big one.

  “The longest relationship I remember you having was three weeks with Vanessa.”

  “Oh yeah…I forgot about her.” I had been walking down the street when she stepped out of a tattoo parlor. She’d just gotten her tongue pierced, so we decided to give it a try. And spoiler alert, getting head with a piercing was awesome.

  “Three months… That’s a relationship.”

  “Whoa, back up.” I placed my hand in front of his face. “I know it’s not a relationship. She said she wanted a fling, and I wanted a fling.”

  “Flings don’t last months.”

  “But the sex is so good, man.” Just thinking about it got me hard. “She’s perfect.”

  “Have you slept with anyone else in this timeframe?”

  “Why would I?” I blurted. “When I can just text her and ask for awesome sex?”

  He gave me a knowing look, like he was aware of something I wasn’t. “Rex, this actually sounds kinda serious. Who is this girl?”

  I definitely couldn’t tell him that. “Just some woman.”

  “Does this woman have a name?”

  I tried to think of something on the spot. “Bonnie.” I’d never even met a Bonnie and neither had he.

  “You’ve been sleeping with Bonnie for a few months,” he said. “You must feel something more than just lust.”

  “I don’t.” We fucked and had a great time. That was it.

  “Well, I can promise you she definitely feels something.”

  “Trust me, man. She doesn’t.” I knew Kayden in a way he never would.

  “I know women. And women won’t be a fling for that long. They’ll move on to find someone who will commit.”

  “Not this chick.”

  “Even if she doesn’t feel something now, which she does, it’s only a matter of time before that happens. If you really don’t feel anything for this girl and never will, you need to cut her loose. Because you’re going to rip her heart out.”

  Those words hit me hard. The idea of hurting Kayden made me sick to my stomach. I wanted to keep up our arrangement, but I’d rather die than break her heart. She wasn’t just my friend. She was like family. If some other guy hurt her, I’d break down his door and murder him in cold blood.

  Zeke watched me as he drank his beer. “You understand what I’m saying?”

  I nodded because I knew he was right.

  “I would do it soon. Get out before it gets messy, you know?”

  “Yeah…” I released a sigh of despair.

  Zeke caught on to it. “But if you really like her, just do the relationship thing.”

  “That’s not for me, man. You know it.”

  “That’s not true. If you meet someone you really like, you can do anything.”

  “But I’ve never been the monogamous type. I don’t see myself getting married. I can’t even figure out what I’m doing next week.”

  “You don’t need to know what you’re doing next week, or even forever. You just need to know who you want by your side when you do figure it out.”

  It was the wisest thing I’ve ever heard him say, and I was speechless.

  “Speaking of forever…” He pushed his beer aside and dug into his pocket. “Rochelle and I have been happy for a long time now…”

  As in, six months. But whatever.

  “And I think she’ll be a great partner to share my life with. She’ll be a great mom, a great wife…” He pulled out a small box and placed it on the table. “So I’m going to ask her to marry me.”

  Holy fucking shit.

  This was real.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  Zeke waited for me to react, to wear a big smile and congratulate him.

  But I didn’t know how to do that. I was in shock. This relationship had moved way too fast from the beginning, and it still didn’t feel right.

  “Rex?” His smile faded when he saw my speechless look.

  “I just… I guess I’m surprised.”

  “Why?”

  “It seems a little soon, don’t you think?” I knew I was an ass for saying that, but I had to be the voice of reason. Fucking around and playing house was fine, but marriage was some serious shit.

  “Soon?” Zeke said the word like he wasn’t even sure what it meant.

  “Zeke, you’ve only been with Rochelle for six months…”

  “Yeah, but it feels right.”

  It felt right because he wanted to hurry up and settle down so
he wouldn’t be hurt over Rae anymore. But could I really say something that harsh to him? “Zeke, I really like Rochelle. She’s a very nice girl—”

  “But what?”

  “I think…sometimes…you might be…”

  “Just spit it out, Rex.”

  I hated myself for saying this. But I would hate myself more if I didn’t. “She’s a rebound, man.”

  “A rebound?” He stared me down coldly, like the insinuation was unforgivable. “From who? I wasn’t dating anyone before Rochelle.”

  “Don’t make me say it, man…”

  Zeke kept his gaze locked on to mine.

  “You were going to go for Rae, but then Ryker got in the way. Right after that, you found Rochelle. I think you were more devastated than you let on, and now you want to hurry up and get married because you don’t know what else to do.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest and clenched his jaw.

  “I hate saying that. I really do. But that’s what I think.”

  “I love Rochelle, Rex. In case you haven’t noticed, she makes me happy.”

  “And I’m glad she does. This has nothing to do with her personally.”

  “Is it really so unlikely that I happened to find the woman I’m supposed to be with?”

  “Because you convinced yourself of that?” People did crazy things to protect themselves from pain.

  “I’m over Rae, Rex. I’ve been over her for a long time. She’s single now, and you don’t see me going for her. Because I love Rochelle.”

  “No. It’s because you know she doesn’t feel the same way.” I hated doing this, but could I call myself his best friend if I wasn’t straight with him? If I didn’t talk to him before he made the biggest mistake of his life?

  He clenched his jaw tighter.

  “This relationship is going way too fast. If you’d been dating her for at least a year, it would be different. But you guys powered through this relationship toward the end and skipped the beginning and the middle. Don’t act like that’s not true.”

  “Every relationship is different, Rex.”

  “Why do you need to marry her right now?” I countered. “Why don’t you wait a few more months? Preferably a year?”

  “Why wait? I’m ready to get married and start a family.”

  “But you need to wait for the right person. Are you sure it’s Rochelle?”