by Ali Parker
Billboards bigger than seemed possible were above our heads when we reached the perpetually packed Times Square. Lights so bright it looked like daytime slammed my eyes, making me wince. Cameras were everywhere, with people posing for selfies all around us.
For once, none of the cameras were pointed in my direction, and I was thankful for it. Alicia clung to my hand, her jaw looking like it was about to become unhinged as she gaped at our surroundings.
“This is …” She trailed off.
I knew what she meant. I remembered my first time here, and the memory still took my breath away. “Unlike anything you’ve ever seen before?”
She nodded dazedly as we walked. “I’ve always wanted to see this for myself. Experience it.”
“I’m glad you got to see it.” I wasn’t lying. Seeing Alicia excited and happy was making me feel the same way. “Want a picture?”
“With you?” She frowned, chewing her lip. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
“It’s just for us, right?” Alicia deserved a keepsake of this place, this night. I’d much rather have taken a picture only of her, but I knew she’d never look at it again if I did. Her apartment had pictures of her with her family or friends in it, but none of her alone.
“Right,” she said, digging her phone out of her purse and extending her arm like so many others around us were doing.
We snapped a few photos, and then I took a few more of the square itself before we decided to head back to the hotel. Alicia was full of random facts about New York suddenly and was sharing them all with me.
As we walked into the hotel lobby, she asked, “Did you know approximately 360,000 people visit Times Square every day?”
“I didn’t.” But I could definitely see it as a true figure. “You tired yet, or do you feel like coming up to my room?”
“I’ll come up with you for one more drink,” she said, checking the time on her watch. We’d been holding hands all night, but I let hers go to fish my room key out once we reached the suite.
Opening the door, I walked in ahead of her to flip on the lights. “You want a beer or more champagne?”
I realized she wasn’t following me across the room when I heard the soft click of the door after I was already almost all the way to the bar on the other side of the room. She didn’t answer my question, and when I turned toward her, a drink was the last thing on my mind too.
“Fucking hell.”
Alicia was standing just inside my doorway, her dress in a pool around her feet. White lacy underwear showcased her creamy skin, begging to be torn away. I was back across the room in less than a heartbeat, her body so close to mine, I could feel the heat radiating from her.
“You’re so damn beautiful,” I murmured, lifting a hand to toy with her bra strap. She closed the last few inches of space between us by stepping forward, raising her mouth to offer me her full lips.
I took them. I would take anything and everything she had to offer. My thoughts about her were confusing me tonight. My feelings were a mess of things I couldn’t make sense of, but I could push all that away.
This, right here? Her lips moving beneath mine, her soft little gasps, and the way her body fit with mine? I understood this. More than understood it, I owned this. Wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her close to me, I kissed her until every ounce of confusion I felt tonight was gone.
Swinging her up into my arms, I picked her up and carried her to the bed. Her hair sprawled out across the pillow. She spread her legs wide and wrapped them around me.
Fuck yeah, I definitely understood this.
16
Alicia
I leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to Jared’s lips where he hovered over me. Groaning loudly, he kissed me back with fervor. He sucked my bottom lip into his mouth and tunneled his hands into my loose hair. He gripped my hair with his left hand, and he trailed the right down my side, digging his fingertips into my hip.
His mouth dominated mine, another primal groan escaping as I sighed into his mouth. My nails dug into his back at the encouragement of the raw sound, tracing his strong muscles to his shoulders and those biceps I’d admired while he’d been jumping around on stage earlier.
Savoring the feel of them, I traced the shape of his lean muscles. His arms were defined but didn’t bulge. Jared’s breath hitched as I slid my hands under the hem of his T-shirt, running my fingers over his hip bone and then up over his abs.
He seemed to hold his breath as I reached his happy trail and tugged lightly at the hairs there. A low moan caught at the back of my throat as he pinched down on my nipple he was playing with. My back arched into him, my hips ground against him, but it still wasn’t enough.
Having decided to be bold and take a chance by dropping my dress just after stepping into his room, I was only in my skimpy underwear, but Jared was still fully dressed.
Can’t have that. I tugged urgently at his shirt, and he released me to pull it over his head. Our lips met again as soon as his shirt was gone. His body was hard and hot against my skin, his heartbeat thundering and his breathing as ragged as mine.
Sucking a nipple into his hot mouth, he set my nerve ending on fire even before reaching around my back to unsnap my bra. It joined his shirt in the great beyond somewhere in his suite. I didn’t care where.
He covered my body with his, resting his jean-clad legs between mine and holding my hips down as his tongue drew lazy circles around the sensitive bud of my nipple. As if his tongue had a direct line to my core, wet heat pooled between my legs.
“Not yet,” he growled in my ear when I tried to push his jeans over his ass. Pressing his hips to mine, I could feel how hard he was, but he was really going to make me wait.
“Jared,” I moaned.
“Soon, baby,” he whispered against my stomach, trailing kisses down my body. “Stay still for me for now, okay?”
My hips refused to obey my, or his, command to stay still. I squirmed against his hold, and he hissed as my core made contact with his. Moaning from the moment of relief that swept through me, my hips bucked. My body felt like it was on fire, and he was the match that lit me up.
He placed both of my wrists in his one hand when I tried to reach for his jeans again and moved the other to roll my panties off. Cupping my pussy in his hand, he groaned. “Fuck, you’re so wet already.”
“Not already. After all night with you,” I breathed as he dipped his fingers into me and then withdrew them again.
Running his fingers over my outer lips, he rasped out a quiet, “Fuuuck, Alicia.”
My need skyrocketed to almost painful levels as he repeated the movement until I felt like I was going to explode if he didn’t touch me properly.
“Jared,” I pleaded. He finally relented, sliding a thick finger into me and pressing his thumb to my sensitive clit.
“God, you feel so good.” He groaned as he slid another finger into me. “Can’t wait to get in you.”
“So don’t wait,” I moaned, but he didn’t move off me. His thumb circled around my clit again and again. The world fell away until the only thing keeping me from floating into oblivion was the heat of his body pressing onto mine. There was nothing but Jared.
Lights explode behind my eyelids as he kept drawing his circles, whispering, “Look at me, Alicia.”
I did and then exploded into a million pieces around his fingers. A lightning bolt of pleasure ripped through my body until my entire existence was reduced to a ball of light.
Something flashed in Jared’s eyes as my breathing slowed, and I became aware that I wasn’t, in fact, a ball of light but a human being. It was gone before I could make out what it was.
Slowly, I became aware of his heavy breathing and the way his hips were moving against me as if of their own accord. I drank in his expression, the hunger in his eyes.
“Jared, I need you inside me,” I whispered to him, knowing what he needed.
In a flash, his jeans and briefs were gone, a condom r
olled on, and he was positioned at my entrance. My muscles clenched as he sunk into me, stretching me so perfectly.
“Alicia,” he groaned, as his eyes slid open. His eyelids fluttered shut like he was fighting for control.
The man really was too sexy for his own good. Already, I was so close again. Then he started moving in me, and before I knew it, my world was narrowing to nothing but this feeling. I was still so sensitive that I was climbing to the edge again in no time.
He thrust into me over and over again, bringing the peak closer fast. I felt the muscles in his back tense. He was close too. The knowledge was all I needed to push me right over the edge. I clung onto his shoulders as the light swept me away and as his thighs started shaking against mine.
When we resurfaced, we were tangled on the bed. My eyelids were heavy, and I knew I was going to fall asleep soon.
My dress was lying all the way over by the door where I’d stripped it off on a whim. To get to it, I was going to have to cross Jared’s entire suite bare ass naked.
Get over it! How many times had he seen me naked by now? A lot. And he’d never made me feel uncomfortable for it. Not once. Quite the opposite was true, actually. He made me feel like a goddess when I was naked.
Pushing aside my insecurities about walking away from him still naked, I sat up in bed with the sheets still tangled around me. Jared eyed me lazily, resting his head on his bent elbow. “Going somewhere?”
“Yeah.” I much rather would’ve stayed with him if I thought it was an option, but while I’d stayed over once or twice before our big fight, we were still adjusting to this new normal. I didn’t want Jared to think I was turning this into more than I was. “I’m seconds away from falling asleep, I better get back to my room.”
“Why?” His dark eyes captured mine, a fine line forming between his eyebrows.
I hesitated, trying to get a read on what was going on in that head of his. Jared was very different tonight than he usually was. He’d been forthcoming and open, easy to talk to, playful, indulgent about taking photos with me in Times Square.
It felt like something had changed between us, like he’d come to some kind of decision or realization about me or us he wasn’t sharing with the class. “Because if I don’t go now, I’m going to pass out here, and you’ll have to deal with my snoring.”
“You don’t snore,” Jared scoffed, grabbing my wrist gently and pulling me down to his chest. “That loudly.”
Swatting his arm, I let him drag me back down to the bed and then marveled at him when he rolled over me and held himself up over my body, trapping me. “Stay.”
His eyes implored me to listen to him, to stay with him, but his jaw was tight. Raising my hand to cup the side of his neck, I gazed into his eyes. “You want me to stay with you?”
“I do.”
“Okay,” I agreed, still staring into his milk-chocolate eyes, memorizing every golden fleck and every nuance in the way the light in the room hit them. With something being different about Jared, I was afraid my time with him might be coming to an end.
Again.
The thought alone nearly ripped my heart out. Losing him—for good this time—was going to hurt. Badly. I didn’t even want to think about it yet, but was there any other explanation for the way he was acting suddenly?
Was that even an explanation for how he was acting? Because despite his insistence that he hadn’t been on a real date since high school, that was exactly what tonight felt like to me. A date. A dream date with my dream man.
Was I crazy for thinking like that? I had to be.
Instead of worrying about it anymore tonight, I was going to take advantage of the rest of this perfect night and stay with him. Everything else could wait until tomorrow.
The corners of his lips twitched upward before he dipped his head to kiss first one and then the other side of my mouth. “You’ll stay?”
“I’ll stay.” There really wasn’t even a question about it to me.
Jared nuzzled my neck and then rolled over onto his back, patting his chest. Without a word or voicing my confusion over this latest turn of events where he apparently wanted to cuddle after sex and not just fall asleep even if I was there, I rested my head right over his heart.
The steady beat of his heart lulled me to sleep, his arms warm and comfortable and surprisingly caring. Just before I drifted off, I murmured against his chest. “Thank you, Jared. Tonight was amazing, so thanks for everything tonight. And sticking to your word and being on your best behavior during the interview earlier.”
17
Jared
I woke up with something warm wrapped around me. At first, I didn’t know what it was. Cracking open an eye, I was relieved there was no pain in my head and my mouth didn’t taste like something crawled in and died.
Only the faintest glimmer of early morning light shone through the gaps between the curtains in my hotel bedroom and the wall, which meant it was early. Way too fucking early for me to be awake. I hardly ever woke up before noon.
As I came to, I came to two realizations.
The first was that waking up without a hangover for once after the successful day we’d had the day before was strangely satisfying, and the second, much more disturbing one, was that I’d slept next to Alicia. As in, I actually slept with a woman. In my arms.
We’d slept together before, but I never asked her to stay like I did last night. It had always kind of just happened. We would fall asleep after sex sometimes, sleep next to each other, and never talk about it again. This time, though, I’d asked her to stay. I’d gotten on top of her when she tried to leave and physically kept her in bed with me until I could see her eyes change when she made her decision to stay.
Insanity, that had to be what this was.
I couldn’t explain the feeling I had, waking up next to her. There was some peace, some terror. I should’ve wanted to run screaming to the hills, but I didn’t. I didn’t want to move a muscle that might wake her.
Alicia had one arm draped around my stomach, her head resting on my shoulder. Surprisingly, she actually looked comfortable. Her lips were gently parted and her breathing even. She looked young, carefree, relaxed. In a word, beautiful. She truly was gorgeous.
Running my fingers through the ends of her hair, I couldn’t stop staring at her. I soaked in what she felt like lying next to me, the feel of her silky hair between my fingers, and I kind of wanted to stay right here with her as long as I could.
Absolute. Fucking. Insanity.
A knock at my door cut into my thoughts. I ignored it at first, but whoever it was, was persistent. Another knock came not ten seconds later, followed by Nick’s insistent voice. “Jared! Wake up. I need to talk to you.”
“Fucker,” I breathed, moving away from Alicia reluctantly. She sighed, and I froze, convinced I’d woken her up regardless of trying my best not to. Turning onto her side, she burrowed her face into the pillow, let out the cutest little noise and stilled again.
I grabbed my jeans, pulled them up, and went to the door while still tugging a T-shirt over my head. Nick stood waiting on the other side when I opened it, his eyes glassy and red-rimmed. He still wore the same clothes I’d seen him in before I left last night.
“You haven’t slept.” It wasn’t a question. “If this is about the party carrying on somewhere else, I’m not interested.”
“It’s not that.” He shifted on his feet, spearing a hand into his thick, black hair. He was uncomfortable, and Nick didn’t get uncomfortable.
A feeling of trepidation hit me square in the gut. “What’s wrong?”
“Last night got a little out of control.” Stepping back like he was trying to avoid an incoming blow, he said quickly. “We were doing shots and … shit, man. I don’t know how it happened, but Caleb’s in the hospital with alcohol poisoning.”
“What?” Blood fled from my face, and my body went colder than it had when we’d done that ice bucket challenge for charity.
Nick
shuffled back more, his tired eyes on mine. “He was admitted an hour ago. I stayed until they hooked him up to some IVs and came here.”
“Is anyone still with him?” My mind was racing too fast for me to keep up, my vision getting blurry as I got colder.
Caleb was my little brother, and he was lying in a hospital somewhere in a strange city, completely out of it probably. If they’d left him alone …
Nick paused and then shook his head. “They told us we couldn’t stay with him, so we—”
“You did this to him, and then you just left?” I was yelling now, no longer caring if I woke anyone up or who overheard us.
My fist was clenched and shot out ahead of me before I could even think about controlling it, and it caught Nick square in the jaw. “How about doing the right fucking thing for once in your miserable fucking life?”
He stumbled back and hit the wall on the other side of the hall, cursing as his hands flew to his jaw. Flexing it while rubbing his reddening skin, his blue eyes narrowed and shot flaming daggers at me. “I didn’t do shit to him. He did it to himself, man. No one was pouring alcohol down his throat.”
Sadly, he was right. I didn’t doubt my brother had drunk himself to this point. He’d never needed anyone to hold his mouth open while he guzzled the stuff.
If anyone was at fault here, it was me. He was my brother, and I let it get to this. I was laying into Nick for not doing the right thing, whether that would have been cutting Caleb off or at the very least not leaving him alone, I didn’t know in that moment, but Caleb was still my responsibility.
Logical thought and reasoning had fled as soon as Nick told me what had happened, though. I should’ve been pissed at myself, but instead, I looked at Nick with anger at him twisting my features. He’d been with Caleb when this happened, so why hadn’t anyone stopped him?