by K. A. Linde
“No. By all means, I never want to see you again either,” she spat. I honestly couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not.
“Fine. Don’t fucking move.”
I stood from my seat, already feeling like an idiot, but it was clear that Aribel had made me an idiot. “Excuse me,” I called out to the busy coffee shop sitting just off-campus.
“Grant, what are you doing?” Aribel hissed.
Gradually, the coffee shop quieted, and eyes moved over to me. I thought I recognized some of the faces. From the flicker of recognition throughout the crowd, I was sure people recognized me.
“Sorry to take up your time, but I’m Grant McDermott.”
Someone whistled, and then I heard a catcall from the other direction. At least I had their attention.
“I just wanted to make a quick announcement. This is my friend Aribel.”
She blushed bright crimson as I addressed her.
“I wanted everyone to know that I haven’t slept with her, that’s all. Feel free to tell your friends.”
I sat down and was about to open my mouth to ask her if that had proved my point, but she had already grabbed her bag and was rushing to get out of the building.
“Fuck,” I grumbled. I tucked my helmet under my arm and darted out after her. “Ari!”
“Leave me alone, Grant!”
“Come on. Where are you going?”
“Just leave me alone!” she called back over her shoulder.
I jogged to catch up with her. There was no way I was letting her get away like this. “Ari, hold up.”
She whirled around when I reached her. “You totally humiliated me in there! All you think about is yourself. Did you even think before telling a bunch of strangers that you didn’t sleep with me?”
“I was just trying to prove that I like you, Ari. You make it so fucking impossible.”
“You like me?” she gasped out. “That’s how you want to show it?”
“I’m not a fucking flowers-and-chocolates kind of guy. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve never done this before!”
“That’s not an excuse! I’ve never been with an asshole rocker who thinks he’s God’s gift to women, but you don’t see me humiliating you in public! Or better yet, sneaking out of your house and then not speaking to you for three days!” she threw back in my face.
“Well, I’m sorry, but the biggest cocktease on the planet fucked with my head, and it took me—”
“Cocktease?” she roared. “I am not a—”
“Would you shut up for one minute?” I yelled right back. “Fuck! Just let me talk, woman.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.
“I was going to say, it took me three fucking days to get my head back on straight, and I realized that I can’t escape you.”
“Escape me? What do you mean?”
“I’ve never dated. I’ve just never cared. Never, babe,” I said, running a hand back through my hair. “But I fucking care about you.”
Date Two
Grant and I spent the next afternoon at the movies. I was prepared for one show before going home.
I was still pretty pissed about everything that had happened. Yes, he cared about me. Yes, he liked me. Yes, he had done all these things with me that he had never done with anyone else before. But still, the way he’d responded to it all made me want to throat-punch him.
The asshole had weaseled his way back in. I could no longer deny that I liked Grant. The three days without him had proven that, and once the anger from him humiliating me had fizzled out, I’d still wanted to see him.
Somehow, he’d managed to pick the movie I wanted to see. He’d said it was what he wanted and that he had been dying to see it since it came out last weekend. I hadn’t even told him that I liked comedies.
Grant slipped his hand into mine as we exited the theater, and he pulled me back toward him.
“What?” I asked.
“Shh,” he said with a mischievous smile.
I narrowed my eyes but held my tongue. He walked us down the hallway we had just come through. Are we taking a back exit to the parking lot?
When the hallway was empty, he opened up another door and gestured for me to walk inside.
My eyebrows rose. “Grant, what are we doing?”
“Just go inside.”
He smacked my ass, and I glared at him.
“Come on, Princess, play along.”
I didn’t say anything. I just walked inside.
Grant walked all the way to the back row of the empty theater, and we took seats just as whatever movie we had just stumbled into started playing.
His arm came down across my shoulders, and he nuzzled my neck. “I think we should have come to this showing first,” he murmured.
“Why is that?”
I should have been freaking out that we had walked into a movie without paying, but whatever he was doing to my neck was distracting.
“I was having trouble keeping my hands to myself in that crowded theater.”
“You always have trouble keeping your hands to yourself.”
“You like it.”
I didn’t reply. His hand ran down my side, and then he pulled me into his lap.
We made out through the next two movies.
Date Five
Two weeks later, Grant told me to bring a bathing suit and nothing else. It was October in Jersey. Is he out of his mind? Where the hell are we supposed to go swimming when it was forty degrees outside at night?
Grant parked his truck outside of a hotel. Well, there’s my answer. His friend worked at the place and had slipped him a key card to the indoor pool. After dark, Grant and I snuck inside. Actually, it was more like Grant dragged me inside. First, the movies, and now, breaking into a hotel swimming pool?
“We’re not breaking in,” Grant tried to reassure me. “I have a key.”
“That you basically stole from an employee.”
“Darlin’, if we get caught, I’ll let them haul me off to jail. Just don’t hurt my truck, all right?”
I rolled my eyes and slipped out of my clothes. I self-consciously covered my stomach as I stood before Grant in my blue-and-white striped bikini. He’d seen me in less, but I couldn’t help it. His eyes roamed my body, and I quickly skipped into the heated pool.
What he couldn’t see before, he had his hands all over as soon as he’d gotten into the pool. “Have you ever broken into a pool before?”
“You just said we didn’t break in!”
His eyes shined with amusement.
“Gah! No.”
“Ever done anything illegal?”
“I’ve drank alcohol before,” I answered lamely.
“Drugs?”
I shook my head.
“Stolen anything?”
“Nope.”
“Do you at least speed in your car?”
I smiled up at him.
“Damn, you’re picture-perfect, Princess.”
“I once slapped a guy across the face for grabbing my butt at a bar,” I offered with a shrug.
He responded by grabbing my ass. Typical.
He held my slick body against his, and all I saw were the deep chocolate orbs and flecks of gold catching the moonlight through the windows. He seemed more contemplative than usual. Normally, he just wanted to attack me.
“What do you like to do when you’re not studying?”
“I’m always studying.”
“You’re not right now. Are you saying you like to do me when you’re not studying?” He winked.
“Wouldn’t you already know if that were the case?” I shot back.
“Indulge me, Ari.”
His lips grazed mine tenderly, and for the hundredth time since we’d decided to give this a shot, I thought that I was definitely going to let him do whatever he wanted.
“Horseback riding,” I finally answered, coming to my senses. “I did it as a kid, and I almost always go when I’m at home.”
/>
“I could see you on a horse.”
I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, but I kept going with his game. “I like to bake cupcakes.”
“Coincidence—I like to eat cupcakes. German chocolate.”
I giggled and shook my head. “I used to play piano, but my hands are too small.”
He grabbed my hands and brought them up to his eye level, inspecting them thoroughly. His lips touched every inch of skin from my pruney fingertips to the small scar near my thumb where a dog had bitten me in high school and on to the other one.
“Your hands are perfect.”
Date Seven
My last class was canceled on Tuesday afternoon, which gave me free time to plan out my date. We’d been doing whatever Grant wanted for over two weeks, and I thought it was about time to plan something myself.
Cheyenne eyed me suspiciously from behind the kitchen counter while I was baking cupcakes. After Grant’s outburst in The Coffee Bean, we’d thought it best to keep everything on the down low. I wouldn’t lie to my roommates about what was going on, but I wasn’t exactly being forthright with information, not that that was new.
“What are you doing?” Cheyenne asked.
“Making cupcakes.”
“For whom?”
I shot her a look.
“Grant?” she offered.
I just shrugged. What did she want me to say? Yes, I’m dating Grant. No, it isn’t a big deal.
“Are you guys, like…together now?”
“Something like that.”
Cheyenne bit her lip and jumped from foot to foot. “How was the sex?”
“Can we not?” I asked, turning my back to her.
“Give a girl a break! I’ve been dying to have sex with him since the first time I laid eyes on him. I’ve heard he’s amazing.”
Heat pooled in my chest, and I ground my teeth together. I didn’t want to think about Cheyenne having sex with Grant or the innumerable other women who already had.
“We haven’t had sex, Cheyenne,” I responded irritably.
“I mean, if you just don’t want to provide details, that’s fine,” she said in a tone that made it seem far from fine.
I whipped around with the whisk in my hand, dripping chocolate batter onto the floor. “I’m not providing details because we haven’t had sex! So, just drop the subject, all right?”
“Sorry,” she whispered. “Touchy. I just didn’t think Grant…did that.”
“He doesn’t.”
Suffice it to say, that wasn’t the way I’d wanted to start my first planned date night with Grant. Now, I was all grouchy when baking usually calmed me down, and all I could think about was sex.
I showed up at Grant’s place right after band rehearsal let out. When Vin saw me waiting outside, he snickered and punched Grant. Miller and McAvoy pulled Vin behind them, completely ignoring whatever vile comments were likely coming out of his mouth.
“Hey, babe,” Grant said as he walked up to me. “What’s that?” The other guys stood around apparently wondering the same thing.
“I, uh…” I began. I hadn’t expected an audience. “I brought you something.”
“The only thing girl’s ever bring Grant is pussy,” Vin said under his breath.
McAvoy smacked him across the back of the head. I just rolled my eyes and ignored him.
Grant took the box from my hands. His smile grew tenfold when he opened it up. “Cupcakes.”
“German chocolate. Your favorite.”
I knew I was blushing hard, but the look on his face was worth it.
“I don’t think you can fuck cupcakes,” Vin said loud enough for me to hear that time.
“Then, I guess you don’t want one,” I snapped right back.
“Wait…” Vin said, trying to correct himself to get a cupcake.
All three guys busted out laughing in unison.
Vin glared at them. “Shut the fuck up, assholes!”
“You walked right into that,” Miller said.
“Who said I was going to share anyway?” Grant asked.
He slid the box under one arm and his other around me. My world spun. He was talking about more than just the cupcakes.
Grant devoured four cupcakes before we even made it to the concert I was taking him to. It wasn’t even a far drive. I didn’t think he’d said anything the whole trip besides mostly moans and groans about how good they were. I guessed the key to a man’s heart really was through his stomach.
When I pulled up to the concert venue, Grant’s eyes narrowed. “You’re taking me to a show?”
I giggled. Oh my God, Grant McDermott makes me giggle. “I thought you would want to see what music I like.”
He hopped out of the car eagerly, and before I could walk two feet, he covered my mouth with his. His hands were on either side of my face while my fingers played with the dog tags that were perpetually around his neck. He broke away first, which was unusual. His eyes searched my face, and then he kissed the tip of my nose.
“What was that for?” I asked a little breathlessly.
“Music speaks to my soul.”
“So do cupcakes apparently.”
He smirked. “I can see how you have an unfair advantage at this date thing. You’re way better at it than me.”
I laughed and shook my head. “No way.”
“You have more practice.” He leaned in really close to me. “I can’t wait to show you the things I have more practice with.”
The concert couldn’t have gone on for a second longer with the heat building between us all evening.
Once we were back at his place, we couldn’t get out of my car and up the stairs fast enough. I’d never felt this blind lust before. It was both terrifying and exciting. I couldn’t decide which feeling was more overpowering. I tried to tell myself to stop overanalyzing every emotion hitting my body and just enjoy being.
Grant had the door to his bedroom closed and me laid out on his bed in a split second. My jeans hit the floor, and my underwear followed. He wasn’t wasting any time. My body shook beneath him. I knew that we’d done this before, but my mind kept skipping several steps ahead. Was I ready for that?
When he started kissing down my stomach, my brain shut off. His breath landed hot on my opening, and he started licking and sucking me in ways that had me writhing beneath him. Damn, he’s good at that.
His fingers slid inside me, and I squeezed my eyes tighter until the pressure lessened. Then, he was moving in and out of me, and my breathing became labored. Everything felt like it was vibrating, like I was unraveling from the inside out, and I didn’t even know what to focus on.
“Ari,” Grant murmured, glancing up at me, “you’re close.”
I grappled with the sheets and tried to hold off the intensity building inside me.
Holy fuck!
“Just let go, babe.”
Let go of what?
Oh my God. His mouth. His fingers. Him.
My body pulsed as I felt something rush through me all at once. My back arched slightly, and I just let go.
“Fuck, that’s sexy,” Grant groaned.
I gingerly peeled my eyes open and saw he was staring at me. I knew I should reciprocate. I wasn’t sure I could hold off on him having sex with me if I didn’t. I felt incredible, and really he deserved to as well.
“Grant…” I whispered.
“Ari, I know. You’re not going to have sex with me.” He chuckled humorlessly, standing up.
I sat up, reached out, and touched his jeans hesitantly. “I thought, um…that is, if you want…maybe we could try something else.”
Grant’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. “What do you have in mind?”
I turned crimson from head to toe. My hand slid up his leg, and over his dick. He looked at me like I’d just offered him the world. Maybe I had?
“Yes, whatever you want, yes.”
I laughed lightly. He was so eager, and I was so hesitant. What a pair.
As if seeing my uncertainty, he stood and stripped out of his jeans and the navy blue boxer briefs that apparently had held him in very tightly. My eyes bugged, and I tried to hide that fact. He was tall, and the correlation between that and size meant something…but damn.
He extended his hand to me and then scooted me off the bed. His lips found mine softly. “Calm down.”
He placed my hand on his dick, and with a breath, I started gliding it up and down the length of him. A groan escaped him at my touch. I couldn’t keep a smile from tugging on my lips.
“Like this,” he whispered, his fingers tightening around my small hand.
I gripped him harder and kept pumping. As I watched him, I couldn’t help licking my lips. He was so unabashedly sexual.
Grant ran a finger against my bottom lip. “You keep licking those lips, Ari, and I’m going to want them around my cock.”
I took a deep breath and then sank to my knees. I thought he stopped breathing. I could do this. I’d done it before. I’d done it at times when I didn’t even want to. But I wanted to do this for Grant.
My lips wrapped around the head, and then I slowly took more of him into my mouth. Grant pushed farther in, and I gagged as he hit the back of my throat. My eye instantly watered, and I closed them to blink the tears away as I quickly retreated. Yeah, I pretty much feel like an idiot.
“Sorry,” he grunted. “You just feel so fucking good.”
I started again, drawing him in and sucking him back to the head in a slow rhythm. My knees were already killing me, and dear Lord, my jaw was on fire. I wasn’t going to be able to open my mouth in the morning. He’d probably like it that way.
I pulled back too fast and felt my teeth nick him. Ugh!
“Fuck!” Grant stopped me entirely and wrenched me to my feet. “No teeth.”
“S-sorry,” I stammered.
He breathed out heavily. “It’s okay,” he said through gritted teeth. “Just get on the bed.”
Oh man, am I that bad?
“Hey,” he said. “You’re going to get my dick nice and wet, and then wrap your lips around him. The faster you go, the faster I go. Focus on the tip, and we’re golden. No teeth.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
He kissed me solidly on the lips before lying back on the bed. I guessed I hadn’t sucked that bad if he wanted me to keep going.