by Parker, Ali
“I don’t need to be wined and dined.” She tightened her grip on my arm and started walking toward the games. “We can just grab some tacos and beer, then I’ll let you kick my ass at some of these games to prove your masculinity.”
“You’ll let me win?” The corners of my mouth were already twitching into a wide grin. Heidi was definitely different to any of the girls I’d dated before. “I’m pretty good at these, I’ll have you know. How about you let me worry about my masculinity and just give me your best shot?”
She laughed. The sound was free and genuine, straight from her belly. She’d even thrown her head back a bit. “Okay then, tough guy. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
“How about we put some stakes on this. Make it interesting.” I cocked a brow at her, watching her hazel eyes light up with more than just the colored reflection of the lights bouncing off them.
She let go of my arm and held out her small hand for me to shake, her arm covered in those colorful tattoos I was yet to properly examine to see what they were. “So you’re a betting man, huh? Confident. I like it. What did you have in mind?”
Putting a finger to my lips as I pretended to think, I bypassed about a dozen ideas I would have liked to have won better than what I was going to propose. “Do you cook at all?”
At least that way when I won, I would already have a good reason to see her again. Unfortunately, Heidi shook her head. “Not anything you’d want to eat. I can buy an awesome take-out dinner, though, and we could have it on the beach?”
“Deal.” I reached out and took her offered hand. “What do you want if you win?”
Heidi went through the same motions I had before tilting her head, her eyes shining with what I could have sworn were some of those same inappropriate ideas I’d bypassed. “Surprise me.”
“Surprise you?” Fuck, I should have thought of that.
She nodded, her voice a little huskier than before when she answered. “I’m up for pretty much anything, just be sure to make it good.”
I smirked, because how could I not, and nodded. “Oh, I’ll make it good all right.”
To my surprise, Heidi turned out to be much better at the games than I’d have thought. She was also completely fun and uninhibited. We won stuffed animals for each other, and when she handed me another one, I just had to ask. “How did you get so good at this? Isn’t New York like all high-rises and businesses?”
“A little place I like to call Coney Island. No high-rises there. I used to go there a lot. How did you get so good at it?”
“I used to come here a lot.” Rayce used to pick me up from school once he got a car. He brought me to the boardwalk to blow off some steam before taking me back to the home, at least on the days he hadn’t been teaching me how to steal.
“Okay, Mr. Vague and Mysterious,” she teased before turning a little more serious. “How about a little side bet?”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Information gathering. Each game you lose, you have to give up a fact about yourself that the other doesn’t know.”
I nodded, knowing I was going to have to filter my answers a bit. I wouldn’t lie to her outright, but there were plenty of facts about my life that weren’t first date-worthy. “Since I lost at that last game, I’ll start. My favorite ice cream flavor is banana.”
Her nose scrunched up, her chin dropping. “Are you serious? That sounds disgusting.”
“It’s not. They make it best at a place not far away from here. Maybe we can stop there after this.” Heidi rocked her head from side to side, considering before she nodded.
“Okay, but only if you try my favorite. It’s cherry vanilla. That fact was for free, by the way. Don’t say I never gave you anything.”
For the next couple of hours, we played games and exchanged facts after each one. I learned random facts like how Heidi was an only child, detested olives, and loved rock music. I told her that I was an only child, too, was allergic to nuts, and liked classical and country music. She looked at me funny when I admitted that last one, but I just shrugged and kept playing.
Throughout the night, there was barely any time when we weren’t touching somehow. Either she was holding on to my arm, or our hands were brushing, or our legs or feet were touching. The contact was all innocent, but fuck if it wasn’t charging the air between us and making my libido sit up to take notice.
Heidi must have been feeling it, too, because she surprised the shit out of me when the next fact she shared wasn’t quite as innocuous as the others had been. “I’ve always wanted to have sex in a public place.”
My brows shot right up, my cock stirring as I decided to run with this new line of sharing. When I lost again, I turned to face her and made sure I looked her in the eyes. “I’ve had plenty of sex in public places.”
Heidi’s reaction was what I had expected, but it was sexy as fuck on her. Her cheeks flushed, her pupils expanded, and her breathing caught before it sped up. Before she could reply, however, the announcement I had been waiting for came. “The boardwalk is closing in thirty minutes. Please make your way to the exits and enjoy the rest of your evening.”
She exhaled and shook her head slightly, then planted her hands on her hips. “I thought you said to just wait. I’ve waited all night and nothing has happened.”
“The night is still young.” I grabbed her hand and led her to a nearby food truck that sold drinks too. I got us each another beer and then motioned for her to take a seat while we waited for the place to empty out.
Heidi narrowed her eyes in question, but she didn’t say anything out loud. We talked some more for the next twenty minutes or so and finished our beers. When most of the tourists had cleared out and the ten-minute warning was given to exit, I took her hand again and led her back to the rides.
One of the security guys seemed to be around my age and lifted his brows when we approached. Before he could tell us to get out, I pulled a wad of notes from my pocket and slapped them into his hand when I shook it. “Gravatron.”
I kept my voice low enough that Heidi wouldn’t be able to hear it, then waited for the security dude to nod before taking her hand again. “There’s one ride here that is almost always closed down because it’s too dangerous, do you want to come inside it with me?”
The lights around us were already starting to go out in the restaurants and around the gaming area. Some of them would stay on all night, but most were turned off. In the ensuing darkness, I could barely see the excitement that sparked in Heidi’s eyes. “Sure, I’d love that. How did you convince that guy to let us in?”
“Call it my version of Floridian discount and extended hours.”
She laughed, shaking her head as she looked up into my eyes. “Sure, okay. Let’s call it that.”
The Gravatron was a ride that was enclosed. It pushed riders to the inside wall of the ride and was one of my all-time favorites. We were barely strapped in when the ride started up and gravity pushed us deeper into the pleather-covered walls.
Heidi whooped with excitement, a wide grin on her face for the duration of the ride. When I knew the ride was almost over, I started pushing my way toward her. It was dangerous, but I’d done it before with Rayce. We used to try to see how many spaces we could move throughout the ride. I had become something of a pro at it as a result.
Heidi noticed me coming toward her, the laughter and whooping coming to an abrupt end as she stared at me wide-eyed. “What the hell are you doing?”
As the ride came to a stop, I was right in front of her. Pressing my palms against the walls of either side of her head, I lowered my mouth to hers. “This.”
The word had barely escaped my lips when they slanted over hers. One of my hands released the wall to wind into her hair and to keep her firmly in place as I kissed her exactly the way I’d wanted to since the first time I’d laid eyes on her.
Chapter 14
Heidi
Gosh, that boy could kiss. No, not boy. Man. Definitely man.
Will’s kiss was like a force of nature, unstoppable and glorious in its effortless beauty. No boy I’d ever encountered kissed like that.
It was like he put his whole body into it. No part of this was only lips and tongues. It was more like his whole mouth: lips, tongue, and soft brushes of his teeth. He even rubbed his nose gently along mine.
The rest of his body was there too. His hips and chest pressed against mine, his hands in my hair and on my neck. Hell, even his legs were touching mine. One slipped between my knees, while the other was pressed tightly against the outside of my thigh like he was using it to steady us.
I felt his arms against my shoulders and chest, the front of my biceps. Heck, in the brief pauses when he broke apart for air between our increasingly frantic kisses even his breath was there to form part of his kiss.
Like I said, whole body. Obviously, I also felt the telltale bulge between his legs pressing into my stomach, but he didn’t push it crudely into me or anything. It was almost like he was content to just kiss me without taking it any further. Almost, but not quite.
His hips were doing this twitching thing that let me know he was having trouble keeping them still, which was a good thing, because I was pretty sure I was going to implode if he did plan on putting a stop to this after just kissing. Not that this was just ordinary kissing.
I was also having trouble keeping my hips still. I couldn’t help it. They rolled and rocked against him of their own accord, and I had no willpower to stop them.
Will let out a low groan, then dropped one of his hands and cupped my left breast. He managed to create enough space between us for his thumb to slip over my hardened nipple and tease the pebbled flesh. I gasped into his mouth, my head dropping back against the padded wall at the pleasure that surged through me from that one tiny motion on his part.
“Jesus. How are you this responsive?” His question was asked on a ragged breath, his voice hoarse and thick. “I’m not gonna make it if all your reactions are like that, sweetheart.”
“Better unbuckle then, cowboy. I can get loud.” I wanted to giggle a little at my cowboy reference, given that he’d admitted to liking country music, which had been the last thing I had expected him to say.
Will stole my giggle away and turned it into a moan when his fingers trailed up on the inside of my thigh, easily finding their mark, considering how short my skirt was. Thank God for easy access clothing.
He pushed my panties aside with absolutely zero hesitation, which made my teeth sink into my lower lip. There was nothing that turned me off faster than guys who fumbled around and waited for you to make every move.
After they had obtained consent of course. Once that was given, which it obviously had been in this instance, I liked it when the guy took charge a little. Or at least knew what he was doing.
Will definitely knew what he was doing, running his fingers through my slick core and working me to a mind-numbing orgasm so fast that it would have been embarrassing if it wasn’t so damn good.
Eventually, I stopped moaning and writhing against his hand for long enough to use my own. Finding and then quickly undoing his buckle and button as fast as my trembling fingers allowed, I shoved his pants and underwear roughly out of the way, then lifted one of my legs.
Will understood what I wanted immediately, wrapping his hands under my thighs and lifting me up against the padded wall. I hooked my ankles together behind his ass, reaching between us to guide his rock-hard cock into me.
He sucked in a sharp breath as I felt his blunt tip against me, but then dropped his forehead to my shoulder and let out a low, almost growling, sound. “Wait. I promised your friend I’d heard the word condom, remember. Hang on to my shoulder for a sec.”
I did as he asked, feeling more than seeing his hand reach into his pocket and after a few seconds, heard the foil wrapper when he found what he was looking for. A bit of maneuvering later, he was sheathed and finally sinking into me.
My only regret about that moment was that I hadn’t had time to see him fully naked. He felt fucking good, long and thick, hitting me in all the right places. It just would have been nice to actually see him.
Next time, I promised myself as his mouth claimed mine in a deep kiss and he started thrusting. Our chests rose and fell together on ragged breaths, the aching of my muscles from helping to hold us together in that position not nearly enough to distract me from the intense pleasure of having him inside me.
My second orgasm for the night ripped through me with the strength of a hundred wild horses thundering across a valley, leaving me shattered and panting in its wake. Will released another sound, much louder than the rest had been, primal and almost violent, before his hips lost their perfect rhythm and he followed me over the edge to bliss.
When he finally went still against me, I waited for my legs to regain feeling from their jellylike state before releasing him and sliding down to stand on my own two feet. Between the terrifying, yet exhilarating ride and then the ride Will had just taken me on, I was going to need a few minutes before my knees were going to allow me to walk.
Will kept his hands on my hips as though he knew I might need some support, only letting me go for a few seconds to tuck his junk back into his jeans before his steadying touch was back. He grinned down at me, his pale-blue eyes still hooded but dancing in the ambient, purple lighting inside the Gravatron.
“I’d say you can cross public sex off your fucket list now.”
I lifted my brows, feeling them push together. My mind was still a bit hazy after that awesome fucking orgasm he’d given me, so I didn’t feel too embarrassed about not knowing what the hell he was talking about. “Fucket list?”
“Yeah.” His grin morphed into a smirk. “Like a bucket list, but for fucking.”
“Right,” I replied slowly before what he had said really clicked and I started laughing. “That’s brilliant. How have I never heard of that before?”
“Probably because I just made it up.” He shrugged, but I could see a hint of pride in his expression.
I looped my arms around his neck and lifted up on my toes just enough to press another kiss to that stupidly talented mouth. Crap, if I’d thought he looked like the kind of guy who could kiss, I’d been tragically wrong. What he did wasn’t kissing, it was fucking art.
“Credit to you then, Mr. Campton.” My lips brushed against his as I talked. “That’s an excellent term to have coined. I know I’ll be adopting it from now on.”
His head dropped a little to one side, a slight frown forming a V between his eyes. “How did you know my last name?”
“Your business card.”
He dragged a hand down his face, shaking with quiet laughter. “Of course. I’m sorry. You fried my fucking brain.”
“I know the feeling.” I lowered myself so I was standing on my feet properly again, then leaned my forehead against his chest for just a second. To my surprise, his arms came up to fold around my waist, and he held me to him.
The man was a magnificent lover, right down to the mandatory—yet often neglected—cuddle, even though we were in the middle of a shut-down ride. Standing there in the circle of his arms, I actually found myself burrowing a little deeper into him.
Too many people didn’t know how to cuddle these days. Having found one who knew what he was doing, both during and after sex, I wasn’t going to waste any part of the opportunity. We stayed like that for a few minutes, until Will finally released me and stepped away. “We should probably get going. Extended hours only last so long, even for locals. We’re dangerously close to overstaying our welcome, I think.”
He surprised me again when he held out his hand to me, wrapping our fingers tightly together when I laid my palm against his. Oh, he’s too good this guy.
“Exactly how many women have you pulled this trick on?” I asked, even though I wasn’t totally convinced I wanted to know the answer.
Will scratched his chin with the hand not holding mine. “What? The
Gravatron?”
I nodded but didn’t say anything. His moves had all been far too smooth for that to have been his first time. I wasn’t stupid and I wasn’t sentimental. I was okay with this having been a one-night stand or even just a bit of fun.
We’d been flirting all night and we’d obviously both been into the idea of taking things between us further, but that didn’t mean we would be getting serious from here. Knowing that didn’t make it easier for me to imagine him doing exactly what he’d just done to me with countless other women inside this very ride.
I screwed my eyes shut against the unwanted mental image, opening them again only when we suddenly jerked to a stop. Will’s finger suddenly appeared under my chin, lifting it. I obliged the unspoken request and looked into his eyes.
“You’re the first, Heidi. The only lucky lady to have made it onto my fucket list under Gravatron.”
“You’re kidding.” I hadn’t meant for those to be the words to come out of my mouth. “How did you know how to move while the thing was still going?”
“I’ve had practice, just not in the way you think.” While I didn’t know Will very well, I did believe he was telling me the truth.
As much as I would never have admitted it out loud, I liked that I was his first. I like it a lot.
Chapter 15
Will
“How long have you been doing this job, son?” My client was another older man, and a very talkative one. He had shown me to his breaker box, but then he hadn’t left me to do the work the way clients usually did.
“Not that long, to be honest.” I twisted the handle of my screwdriver, watching it shave off some of the rust clinging to the nail. “Only a couple of years.”
The man whistled under his breath, peering over my shoulder so I could see the warm smile spreading on his face. It was a little weird, but I guessed the guy was just starved for company. “I’d never have thought it was so short. You’re damn good at it.”