by Frankie Love
I thrust deeper in her, her own hand on her hood, moving in desperate circles. But I know she’ll never get herself off how she needs with her hand alone. I need to buy my baby a dildo that she can use anytime she pleases.
I move against her, feeling her shoulders drop, her cries turn to moans, her body thrumming with relief.
We come together, our bodies awake and on fire. Our bodies needy and primed. We come hard, knowing we have both fallen harder.
For one another.
Chapter 8
Mason
Everyone seems a little less on edge the next morning. I spent all afternoon with Noah on the PlayStation—and it felt good to do something other than being angry about not being outside in those amazing waves.
All five of us have breakfast in my hut and spirits are up. I’m glad, but damn, watching Chloe smiling so much as she looks at Enzo and Ethan makes me wish I wasn’t in so much pain so I could be the one to please her like the other guys are able to do.
It’s not jealousy—hell no. I want my girl to be happy, and right now, she looks so well taken care of. But damn, I want a chance to take care of her too. I just want my body to recover, I want to pull her into my lap, have her ride me into oblivion, then I would lick her cunt until she forgot where she was.
But that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. I may not be at the hospital anymore, and surgeries are done, but I have several more weeks where I need to let my wounds heal properly. I have a row of staples from my hip to my knee, my skin is still tender and not all of it was mine, to begin with. The road ahead will require more of my friends and lover than I ever imagined asking of them and it kills me I can’t handle my shit on my own.
As breakfast is wrapping up, I notice Ethan looking at his phone.
“Holy shit,” he says reading an email. “This is crazy.”
“What?” Noah asks, handing Chloe a fresh cup of coffee.
“It’s an email from Black Bull about the ExSports games next week.”
“ExSports? That’s weird.” Enzo frowns.
“Why’s it weird?” Chloe asks.
I try to explain, “Black Bull has always had some issue with ExSports—some corporate drama—so we’ve never been allowed in the games so long as we have a contract with Black Bull.”
“But now?” Noah asks grinning.
“Well, now, apparently the conflict of interest is resolved and there’s an open spot for a team. They want us to go,” Ethan explains.
“Next week?” Enzo asks. “But we still have a bunch of videos to shoot here. Hell, Black Bull was who sent us here in the first place.”
“That doesn’t matter anymore,” Ethan says. “Listen to this.” He begins reading a portion of the email, “As your major sponsor, Black Bull requires your presence.”
“Requires?” Noah rolls his eyes. “I’m so fucking sick of these guys. Since when did we let anyone tell us what we can or can’t do? I’m over it.”
“Well, over it or not,” Ethan says. “We’ll lose our sponsorship if we don’t play by their rules. Truth is, we’re on thin ice already. We’re not putting out enough content.”
“I’m so sick of this grind,” Enzo says running his hands through his hair. Can’t we just stay here for a while, in paradise?” He pulls Chloe toward where he’s sitting on the couch and she falls into his lap. His hands run over her back, toward her ass, they stay there.
Yes, being here in Tahiti with Chloe is the only thing I want too... but we have a job, and it affords us this kick ass life.
Ethan is right. We can’t fuck it up. But that isn’t what worries me. Sure, we’re working for the man in some ways, but we also have a pretty slick gig. And yeah, staying in Tahiti longer was the plan—but that isn’t the real issue either.
The real issue is that in my condition there’s no way in hell I can fucking compete in ExSports next week. I can’t stand or walk—let alone get on my goddamn surfboard.
My injury is going to hold this up for everyone.
As if sensing this without me having to say a word, Chloe reaches over and takes my hand. I’m propped up on the bed, feeling so damn stuck, but then Chloe’s hand meets mine, and the world is right for a moment. Her hand is warm and full of fucking love. I feel it, and right now, I need it.
“We can’t go,” Chloe says. “Mason isn’t well enough to compete.”
Enzo, Ethan, and Noah share a look. To be honest, I don’t want to know what that look is supposed to mean... but I can take a pretty good guess. They may love me like family—but they don’t want to lose their dreams over a fucking shark bite.
“Well, uh, there’s more to the email,” Ethan says clenching his jaw, not meeting my gaze.
“And what’s that?” I ask, bracing myself for a blow.
“They know you are in no condition to compete, they’ve gotten the doctors reports and our tracking your recovery just like all of our followers are.”
“And?”
“And,” Ethan says, clearing his throat. “They have found a short-term replacement.”
I may have been bracing myself but I did not prepare myself for that.
I run a hand over my jaw, fucking pissed.
“We don’t have to do it,” Noah says. “I mean, you’re our best friend.”
I shake my head, trying to keep myself together. I can’t believe I got bit by a fucking shark. Everything was going so well—our career taking off, having a dream job, getting along with my best friends from childhood and then meeting sweet, perfect, Chloe. Then BOOM, now it’s all fucked up.
“We’ve dreamed of ExSports since we were teenagers just fucking around. This isn’t some insignificant thing. No way in hell can you say no,” I tell them, and I mean it.
But it hurts to say those words and still hate the fact I won’t be with them on the ground, running.
Enzo shakes his head. “Mason, you’ve always been so solid, such a good friend—doing this without you would feel like we were punching you in the throat.”
“I mean, it,” I say, squeezing Chloe’s hand tighter. “You’ve got to do this.”
“You’re sure, Mason?” Ethan asks tentatively as if he thinks I’m gonna fucking break. “If I tell Black Bull yes they’re going to hold us to our word.”
“Good. Be a man of your word, then,” I say, resolving to be positive for my friends even if I can’t be with them competing. I know they’d do the same for me. “You guys just better win this thing.”
The guys laugh, and Chloe leans over and kisses me softly. “You have such a good heart, and I’ll be at your side, promise.”
Her words comfort me, but I also know she is relaxed and calm this morning because she was off duty yesterday. When we get to LA, I have to find someone else to be my nurse. Chloe deserves to smile more and work less. I want her happy. Her life has been so hard, and the last thing I want is for her to resent her place here and feel like she’s only here to take care of me.
“So, who’s going to be my replacement?”
Ethan looks back at his phone, scanning the email. “Uh, guys...”
“What now?” Noah asks.
“The guy on our team is Drew fucking Riley.”
Chapter 9
Mason
I groan, wondering why, out of all the fucking replacements, mine has to be that douche canoe. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”
“What’s wrong with Drew?” Chloe asks.
Ethan raises his eyebrows. “He uh...” He looks over at me, and I hate it. I do. I do not want this team to become ruined with my drama, but right now, it seems riddled with it.
I exhale, meeting Chloe’s eyes. “My ex-girlfriend cheated on me with him.”
“Oh shit, really?” Her eyes dart around the room. “Baby, I’m so sorry.”
I try to let the reality of Drew being around next week roll off my back, but it’s hard. And the idea of him being around Chloe? It kills me.
“Black Bull really wants us to compete alongside that
fucker?” Noah asks.
“No way in hell,” Enzo says, having my back through thick and thin.
“Sorry, man, but we don’t have a choice,” Ethan says. “Black Bull will drop us. Are any of you prepared for that?”
“We could get another sponsor,” Noah suggests.
Ethan shakes his head, tension written on his face. “I get emails from Black Bull every day, voicemails from corporate, we’ve signed clauses and contracts and you can’t just walk away from that shit. Not to mention, we’ve been saving and investing our income so we can be independently wealthy in a few years when our bodies stop working for us.”
I try not to flinch at the words. The truth is my body gave out for us this week and it has screwed us over in more than one way.
As hard as it is to hear what Ethan has to say—I know he’s absolutely right. My teammates have no guarantees on how long their bodies will be strong. Today they are—they shouldn’t waste what they have.
“We aren’t dropping anything,” I tell them. “Listen, I’m not gonna let a fucker like Drew Riley mess up our lives. I’m not giving him the power. Hell, I haven’t seen the guy in over a year. We’ll go to LA and you guys will dominate. Understood?”
The guys tell me they do.
“Let’s drop it then, okay? From now on let’s focus on the ExSports. Nothing else.”
Chloe looks at me with wide eyes.
“What?” I ask.
She bites back a smile. “I’ve never heard you speak with so much... force.” Her eyes are bright and I realize she likes this side of me.
“Uh, we’re gonna go call Black Bull and make a game plan with Drew, okay?” Ethan says.
The guys give me fist bumps before heading me out and leaving me alone with Chloe.
“That was intense,” she says.
“It’s a lot to take in, you know?”
She sits on the edge of my bed, nodding. “Yeah, I do. A lot of changes you weren’t anticipating.”
“Are you okay with going to LA, Chloe?”
She twists her lips. “I don’t have a problem with LA, per se. I do have a problem with you hurting though.”
“When you say it like that I feel so fucking weak, baby.”
“That’s not how I mean it. What kind of girlfriend would I be if I said I didn’t care? I hate to see you in pain and missing ExSports. Then whatever the thing with Drew is... it’s a lot, Mason.”
“I don’t want to talk about Drew Riley.” I know my words are cold, but hell, I hate that guy and talking about him with Chloe—my Chloe—it’s too much.
Chloe purses her lips. “I’m not asking you to do anything you don’t want to do, Mason.”
Smirking, I ask, “Then why do you look like you want to smack me upside the head?”
“Because you’re being a guy. I mean, you just brought up an ex-girlfriend and aren’t going to tell me about that?”
I run my hands through my hair. “Who wants to talk about shit from the past? I want the here. The now. I want you.”
She softens then, lacing our fingers together. “I want you too, so badly.” She licks her lips looking me over. God, she is so fucking beautiful and I want her so much.
But I know what kind of pain meds I’m on, how my body is still in recovery mode, and as badly as I want to toss her on her back and give her everything I’ve got—I have to wait.
“I also want to know more about you, Mason. I know your family asks a lot from you. I also know you do what you can to help them, but who has been taking care of you?”
“I’ve been taking care of myself, Chloe.” I run a thumb over her knuckles.
“But I’m here now.”
I close my eyes. “I want to be the one taking care of you. Having you do everything for me? It kills me. And that’s why I’m gonna see if my sister can come to LA to help while we’re in LA, so you don’t have to worry about me.”
Chloe is silent and she runs her fingers over the hem of her tank top. I can see she’s working over the words I’ve just said, but I want to know what’s going through her mind.
“Say something, baby,” I urge her.
“Mason,” she starts, then shakes her head. When she lifts her face I see there are tears in her eyes. “I’m scared to meet your family—your sister. I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”
“I can’t let you spend all your time with me. The other guys need you too.”
She sniffles, wiping her nose. Not saying any more.
“My sister has been asking for months to come hang out, you’ll love her.”
“So, that’s what you’re going to do then? Have your sister come?”
“I think so.”
“Fine,” Chloe says, her voice even and her mouth in a straight line. I haven’t seen this side of Chloe before—the one who is mad. “Then I’ll let you call her and make your plans. I’m gonna go…”
I pull her back to me, not wanting her to walk away like this. Angry.
“Chloe, my sister, Amy, is really sweet. And she isn’t going to judge us.”
Chloe snorts uncharacteristically. “And you know that how? Do other people in your family have this kind of arrangement, Mason? In case you forgot, I’m one woman sleeping with four men. It’s not exactly traditional.”
“Why do you care so much about what people think?”
“This isn’t random people. This is family. Your family. And in case you forgot, I haven’t exactly had positive experiences with family.”
Her words hit me hard and I feel like shit for hurting her, but she’s also not realizing something important.
“Not all family runs away, not all family judges, Chloe.”
She shakes her head. “I need time to think this through, Mason. It’s been a long morning and I need to breathe, okay?”
“I love you, Chloe, and if you don’t want my sister there, I won’t ask her. I’d never do that if you didn’t want me to.”
“I love you too, Mason,” she says, leaning over and giving me a soft kiss.
When she walks away, I wish I were in better shape so I could pull her right back to my lap, hold her close, and make her forget her worries for a while.
Maybe it’s good she has the room to leave when she needs to, to have the space she needs to process.
But damn, I’m missing Chloe; craving her. And the last thing I want is to hurt her.
Chapter 10
Chloe
I crawl into bed after the conversation with Mason, my head throbbing and just wishing things were more simple.
The fact that Mason has a sister to call, to come help when he needs it, brings all these feelings of mine to the surface. Feelings I usually try to squash.
A few hours later, Enzo comes to my hut, carrying Advil and offering me his ears.
“Tell me the problem, Bella,” he says, handing me a glass of cold water.
I swallow the pills and then sink into his open arms. The curtains of the hut are open and the warm sea breeze begins to clear my head.
“I feel a thousand things all at once, Enzo.”
He pulls me to the bed, cradling me. “Let’s start with one thing.”
I explain how Mason suggested having his sister come out to help. “I feel like if Amy shows up, we’ll have to hide. We won’t be able to be us.”
He kisses my forehead. “Look, this kind of love is unconventional, but it’s ours, Chloe.”
“But I’ve never done families before. I’m terrified of meeting your dad or Noah’s picture-perfect parents. And siblings? I had never even considered that. I just want it to be us, forever.”
“That isn’t realistic. And I don’t want to hide my love in the closet, tuck it away. I’m proud of what we’re creating.”
His words are so sure, his love so cemented, I start crying even harder. “Now I’m scared you’ll doubt that I believe what we have is real.”
“Shhh, Bellissima, I don’t doubt you. It’s scary to tell people about our relationship, but maybe
it’s okay for it to be scary. Maybe getting through this will strengthen what we already have.”
“I want to believe that, but then this Drew guy is coming, and Mason is bitter because he can’t play, and it all feels messy.”
Enzo tucks a loose hair behind my ear, kissing my forehead. “You’re right. It isn’t perfect. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t going to turn out okay.”
I roll on top of Enzo, then, wanting so badly to believe him, because I want to believe him. I want his words to be true. I want this to end up okay.
I run my hands under Enzo’s t shirt, feeling his ladder abs and getting wet at the idea of him pressed inside me.
“What if everyone hates me?” I whisper as he lifts up my tank, undoes the buttons on my shorts, I inhale sharply and the salty air fills my lungs. “What if people think cruel things about me? I see the looks I get here...”
Enzo palms my breasts, drawing me toward him. “Chloe, you don’t need to be scared. You have four men who love you, completely. Four men who worship you. Who choose to be with you.”
I lift my ass and scoot out of my shorts and panties, pushing down Enzo’s shorts, needing him inside me to trust his words.
They are so hard to accept. No one has ever cherished me or loved me unconditionally. I don’t know if I’m able to accept this kind of love. A love so pure and true, so freely offered.
“You are stronger than you know, Bella,” he says. I stroke his large shaft, it’s so huge, uncircumcised and able to pleasure me differently than the other guys.
“How do you know I’m strong? You met me when I was so weak.”
He pushes my hands away, sits up on the bed, holding me in his lap. “Don’t say that, Chloe. You are strong. You’ve been through hell and back, your childhood was a mess, and look at you. Look at yourself.”
I try to see what he sees, but I can’t. Tears stream from my eyes, trying to understand.