Rooter (Double H Romance)

by Smith, Teiran

  Rooter unclasps his belt slowly and winks, teasing me. God, if he only knew what that does to me. I lick my lips and back away so I can better see him. Never taking his eyes from mine, he unzips his jeans and lets them fall to the floor. My eyes go straight to his boxer briefs and I suck in a breath when I see his hardness straining against the black fabric.

  He closes the distance between us, reaches around me with one hand and deftly unclasps my bra. I let it fall to the floor and he cups my left breast.

  “So beautiful.” His jaw is set and lust blazes in his eyes.

  His gaze falls to my bare chest and he flicks my nipple with his thumb. He brings his free hand to my other breast and does the same with it. I throw my head back and moan with pleasure as he caresses me with his hot hands.

  “I love looking at you and touching you.”

  He lowers his hands and unzips my jeans. He takes his time as he pulls them past my hips. I grasp his shoulders as I step out of them. His hands glide along the outside of my thighs as he stands back up to face me.

  “I want you so much.” He strokes my face softly. “Are you ready?”

  I nod.

  “I need to hear the words, baby.”

  “I’m ready,” I murmur.

  Rooter pulls the comforter back and lays me on the mattress. He hovers over me, propped up on his elbows. His hardness is pressed against my center and he leans down and places a wet kiss on my neck, just below my ear and blows on my skin making me shiver.

  I place my hands at the small of his back and arch my spine until my nipples graze his chest. He grinds into me before leaning down and gliding his tongue along the edge of my nipple.

  “That feels so good,” I murmur and brush my fingers through his short hair.

  “Yeah, baby,” he says huskily, “talk to me.”

  He flicks the tip of my nipple with his tongue over and over again, sending shockwaves of desire straight to my core. He moves to my other breast and repeats the act.

  “You’re perfect,” he groans and continues to work me with his mouth.

  He makes his way down my body leaving a trail of wet kisses to my belly button. He looks up at me through hooded eyes and dips his tongue in. His eyes stay on mine as he licks me from one hip bone to the other. I bite my lip and moan.

  Rooter maintains eye contact with me as he slides his fingers into my panties. He’s testing me, making sure I’m okay with this. Once he appears confident I’m ready, he slides his fingers lower. The instant he comes into contact with my clit, I throw my head back and moan. It feels so good. This is the touch I’ve been craving for so long.

  His finger circles my clit slowly and I can’t contain the pleasure I feel. “God, yes,” I moan. “Keep doing that.”

  He circles me a few more times and then moves his hand lower still, sliding his fingers up and down my wetness. He draws in a breath. “You’re so wet, babe. I want to taste you.”

  I close my eyes in delicious anticipation of what’s coming next. Yes. I want him to taste me. I want to know what it feels like to have his mouth on me. There.

  He pulls his hand out of my panties and with the way he says the word “babe” I know something is wrong. I look down and he’s holding up his hand for me to see. His fingers are covered in blood.

  I clasp my hands over my face, mortified. Oh God no! This cannot be happening. I want to run away, but I’m frozen in place.

  Rooter crawls up to my side. “Hey,” he whispers and pries my hands away from my face. I keep my eyes screwed shut. “It’s okay.”

  Unsure what to do, I cry. I don’t have anything here to take care of myself with. Rooter picks me up and carries me into his bathroom. He puts me down and washes his hands.

  “Tell me what you need. I’ll go to your house and get it.”

  I look to the floor, squeeze my legs together, and clear my throat. “Tampons, clean underwear—the cotton kind—and something to sleep in. It’s all in my dresser.”

  Rooter tilts my chin up and kisses me on the lips. “I’ll be right back,” he says and disappears from the bathroom.

  While he’s gone, I hop in the shower to wash away the evidence of what just happened. I’m not sure how long I stay in the shower, but when I step out, everything I need is sitting on the counter and the bathroom door is closed. I take my time getting ready. The idea of facing Rooter after what happened is nearly unbearable. He has to be completely disgusted. I would be. I am. How did I let this happen? I always keep track of my period. Now, when I have a reason to keep track of it, I don’t.

  I’m startled by a knock on the door. “Babe?” He speaks softly. “Everything okay?”

  “No.” I answer honestly, sitting on the lid of the toilet with my head in my hands.

  “Are you dressed?” He asks.

  “Yeah.”

  He opens the door, walks in and crouches before me. “Hey, don’t be embarrassed.”

  I can’t make eye contact with him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

  “You have nothing to apologize for. It’s a fact of life, babe. Not that big of a deal.” He stands up and holds his hand out for me.

  I peer up at him for a moment. He doesn’t appear grossed out at all. How is that possible? I take his hand and follow him to the bed. He climbs in first and then holds his arms open for me to scoot in against him.

  “Are you comfortable?” He asks and wraps his arms around me from behind. “Do you need anything? Tylenol, ibuprofen?”

  “I’m okay,” my voice shakes.

  “Close your eyes and sleep,” he murmurs and kisses the back of my head.

  Chapter 30

  Bad News

  My eyes open at ten minutes to seven in the morning. I’m lying on my stomach and Rooter’s arm is draped across my back. His light snores bring a smile to my lips. Dopey stares at me with his head on the side of the bed and wags his tail. He needs to go out. I reach out and pet his head. Rooter’s arm pulls me snug against him.

  “Go back to sleep, babe,” he mumbles. “I’m not going in until later.”

  “Dopey wants out.”

  Rooter groans with displeasure. “Of course he does.”

  “I can take him,” I offer.

  Rooter kisses the back of my head. “I got it,” he says and gets up. “Go back to sleep.”

  My cramps remind me of last night’s events. Not that I’d forgotten. While I’m not quite as mortified as I was, I’m still a little embarrassed. I can’t believe Rooter acted like it was no big deal.

  Through the window, I hear Rooter and Bear’s voices from the driveway, but can’t make out what they’re saying. After a couple minutes Bear fires up his Harley and rides away. Shortly thereafter, Rooter appears in the bedroom doorway, stretches his arms over his head and yawns.

  “There’s a problem at the shop.” He walks to his chest of drawers and removes a pair of boxers and a dark gray t-shirt. “I’m going to grab a quick shower and head over there. You can stay here and sleep.”

  I sit up and throw my legs over the side of the bed. “I’ll go on home. I have a lot to do today before work anyway.”

  “Okay.” He walks over and leans down to kiss my forehead. “I’ll see you when you get home from work.”

  I look at his face trying to decipher whether he’s thinking about last night. Is he really okay with it, or was he as grossed out as I was? As I still am? Honestly, I hope he forgets about it altogether. However, the fact I know I’ll never be able to forget it means he probably won’t be able to either.

  “And stop freaking out about last night,” he says as though he’s reading my mind.

  I look up and smile at him sheepishly.

  When I enter the house, I hear the water running in the bathroom upstairs. Eager to find out how Miranda’s two nights with Bear went, I sprint up the stairs and knock on the bathroom door before letting myself in.

  “Hey,” I say and sit on the toilet lid.

  “How was dinner with the rents?” Rents is o
ur word for parents.

  “It was good.” I smile giddily and clasp my hands together. “How was your second night with Bear?”

  She pokes her head out again and mouths, “Oh. My. God.” She rolls her eyes back in her head emphasizing how good it was.

  I laugh. “That good, huh?”

  She shuts the water off and yanks the towel from the curtain rod. “We haven’t even had actual sex and I’ve had more orgasms these past two days than I had the entire time I was with Chris.”

  “Two nights together and no sex?” Miranda isn’t one to give it up easily, but being she spent two nights with the guy, I assumed it’d happened.

  “Just about everything but,” she giggles and opens the shower curtain. “I wasn’t aware women could actually come from cunnilingus.”

  My eyes go wide. It’s just like her to use that word rather than saying oral sex. “I wouldn’t know.”

  “Two nights and still nothing?” She asks and drags her brush through her wet hair.

  I proceed to tell her everything that’s happened over the course of the last two days. When I’m finished, she’s left standing with her mouth hanging open.

  “That sucks, but periods aren’t a big deal to some guys. It never stopped Chris.”

  “What?” I ask, disgusted. “You had sex on your period?”

  She shrugs and goes back to fixing her hair. “Yeah.”

  I blanch. “That’s gross!”

  “It’s only a little blood.”

  I shake my head. “No, thank you.”

  Miranda laughs and runs the flat iron over her already straight hair. I’ve never understood why she does this. It looks exactly the same after she irons it as it did before.

  “So tell me more about you and Scary Beary.”

  “He’s so freaking amazing, Soph,” she says and grips the closet doorway to stay upright while she slides on a pair of black heels. “We talk for hours. He’s such a good listener, and so funny. And he’s unbelievably sweet.”

  “He seems like a good guy,” I admit.

  “You have no idea.” She pulls me into an embrace. “And I have you to thank for meeting him.”

  It’s pouring rain when Ryan and I leave the Grand later that night. I make it halfway to my car when I come to an abrupt halt and gasp. I blink to make sure what I’m seeing is real.

  “What the hell?” I say and sprint to my driver’s side door. All four of my tires are slashed and the words whore, slut, bitch, and cunt have been carved into the door. I call Rooter immediately.

  “Babe?” He answers on the first ring.

  “My tires have been slashed.” I stand in the rain utterly drenched, staring at my vandalized car. My entire body shakes from shock and anger.

  “I’m on my way,” he says. “Can Ryan wait with you until I get there?”

  “Yeah.”

  Candace is the first person who comes to mind. If it had only been the tires I might’ve thought it was Mike, but the only person with the motive to key those specific words on my car is her. Ryan grabs me by my shoulders and leads me to his car. He opens the passenger door and helps me inside.

  After what seems like eons, Rooter’s truck pulls into the parking lot. He parks on the driver’s side of my car and gets out to inspect the damage. I jump out of Ryan’s car and dart over to him.

  “That bitch did this,” I say to him.

  “Who, Candace?” He asks, staring at the curse words on the side of my car.

  “Yeah.” I stand with my hands on my hips.

  He shakes his head.

  “Why are you shaking your head?” I wave my hand at the words on my door. “This is her!”

  “Get in the truck,” he orders, irritated.

  What’s up his ass? “I should say goodbye to Ryan.”

  Rooter waves at Ryan from where we’re standing and pulls me toward his truck. He opens the passenger door and helps me up.

  “This was Mike,” he says when he gets in and backs the truck out of the parking space.

  I shake my head. “I don’t think so. It was that bitch. I know it.”

  Rooter exhales sharply and pulls out of the parking lot. “Candace doesn’t know where you work.”

  I give him my best are you serious face. “She could’ve followed me.”

  “Sophie, I realize you hate her,” his voice escalates with each word, “but I’m telling you she did not do this.”

  “Why are you always defending her?” I shout.

  “I do not always defend her!” He yells back. “But right now I am because I know she didn’t do it.”

  The way he says the word “know” catches my attention. I jerk my entire body in his direction. “How do you know?”

  He clenches his jaw and squeezes the steering wheel with a death grip. “Sophie, Mike did this. Plain and simple.”

  “Tell me how you know!” I demand.

  His nostrils flare and he punches the steering wheel. He makes a hard right into a fast food restaurant parking lot and slams his foot on the brake bringing us to an abrupt stop. Because I’m not wearing a seatbelt my shoulder slams into the dash. It hurts like hell, but I’m not injured.

  “What the hell?” I ask, rubbing my shoulder.

  Rooter turns and looks at me like he’s going to say something, but changes his mind. He takes my hand into his and grips it tightly. In his eyes is a level of intensity I’ve never seen. Not when he attacked Mike for hitting Miranda, and not even when those thugs broke into my house. I can literally feel the anger rolling off of him. Something is wrong. Something other than my slashed tires.

  “Rooter, what’s going on?”

  He looks away from me to the windshield, still gripping my hand. When he speaks, he sounds defeated. “This entire day has been completely fucked up. I might as well make it a little bit worse.”

  His words trigger fear within me. Whatever he’s about to say isn’t good.

  “What is it?”

  He makes a steeple with this fingers covering his nose and takes a deep breath. “The reason I know Candace isn’t the one who vandalized your car is because I was with her.”

  I take a deep breath and close my eyes, trying desperately to keep my emotions under control. I trust Rooter. If he was with her, he must’ve had a good reason. “Why were you with her?” I ask and open my eyes.

  He turns to me with the saddest eyes I’ve ever seen. He reaches out, strokes my cheek and swallows. “She texted me earlier this evening. Said we needed to talk. I told her to forget it. That I wasn’t playing any more games with her.”

  He turns back to the windshield, leans his head against the headrest and closes his eyes. I almost tell him to stop; that I don’t want him to tell me what happened. I can sense that whatever he’s getting ready to say will crush me. Crush us.

  “She texted me a picture,” he shakes his head and exhales, “of a positive pregnancy test.”

  My mouth drops to the floor. All the oxygen has been sucked out of my lungs and I begin to hyperventilate. I shake my head furiously. This is not happening.

  “I went over there to call her out on more bullshit,” he continues, “so she took another test. It was positive.”

  “You’re sure it’s yours?”

  “I can’t be sure without a DNA test,” he rubs the back of his neck, “but there was one time… the condom broke.”

  I gasp. I want to punch something. Anything. So I lunge at Rooter and wail on his face and his chest. “How can you be so goddamn stupid?”

  Rooter grabs a hold of my hands and pushes me back against the passenger door. He glares at me with wild eyes. “You’re right. I am stupid. Sophie, I’m so sorry.”

  I’m tired of hearing him say he’s sorry. “Take me home,” I snarl and push him away.

  The truck has barely come to a stop and I throw the door open and jump out into Rooter’s driveway. He runs after me and catches up to me before I make it to my door.

  “Sophie, please talk to me.”

 
“I can’t. Not right now.” I need to get away from him so I can think. “Like you said, this day has been completely fucked up and all I want to do right now is sleep. Alone.”

  “I know you’re mad—” I cut him off.

  “Mad?” I scream and spin around to face him. “What I am goes way beyond mad, Rooter! There is no word in any language that can describe what I’m feeling right now!”

  “I’m not comfortable leaving you alone knowing it was Mike who slashed your tires.”

  I stomp up the front porch stairs. “Well, you sure as hell aren’t staying here tonight.”

  Rooter hurries past me and barricades the door. “I’ll sleep on the couch. Who knows what that whacked out fuck is liable to try next.”

  “Then send Bear over, because you’re not stepping one foot into this house.”

  Rooter appears to consider my words. “Promise me you’ll talk to me tomorrow and I’ll leave.”

  I roll my eyes and grip my keys so tightly it hurts. When I speak, it’s through gritted teeth. “We’ll talk when I’m ready and not before then.”

  “Tell me we’ll talk tomorrow or I’m not leaving.” He crosses his arms in defiance, but the panicked expression he’s wearing tells me he’s anything but confident right now.

  I’m getting dangerously close to kneeing him square in the balls. “If you don’t leave, I may never speak to you again.”

  “Tell me you’ll talk to me tomorrow,” he demands.

  I ball my hands into fists and shout. “Fine! Just leave!”

  “Say you promise we’ll talk tomorrow.”

  I purse my lips and close my eyes. “I promise to talk to you tomorrow.”

  Rooter steps away from the door and waits while I unlock it. When I step over the threshold, he reaches out and takes my hand. “Good night, Sophie.”

  The moment I close the door behind me, every emotion I’m feeling hits me all at once and I sob. I run as fast as I can into Miranda’s room and throw myself onto her bed.

  “Sophie,” she says, startled, and turns on her lamp. “What happened?”