I pressed my thumb to her clit, winding her up.
She whimpered, “Yes.”
It was like the girl cast a single-word spell.
Yes.
She went off, an orgasm streaking through every cell of her body. Energy and light.
She writhed on me, walls clutching my dick so damned perfectly.
Taking every inch of me hostage.
Held by this girl.
The way I’d always been.
Yes.
Bliss.
It exploded, splintering out.
Blinding my eyes and battering my senses.
I came with a shout that I released right at the center of that giving heart.
She sagged her sweat-slicked body against mine, and I burrowed my face in the sweet essence that radiated from her neck.
Nikki sighed, my name her breath.
Couldn’t believe that I was holding her like this. I tightened my arms around her waist and held her as we drifted on that energy that swam around us.
Soft, lulling waves.
Comfort and all things right.
Light.
Yes.
Yes.
I’d give this girl my life.
26
Ollie
“Someone has some explaining to do.”
Couldn’t stop the roll of my eyes as I climbed into Rex’s huge-ass work truck.
“You think I could at least get in before you start riding my ass? Might be just as easy to roll down your window and shout it at me where I’m standing on the sidewalk.”
Drive-by style.
When I’d gotten his texts at the ass crack of dawn, claiming that he needed my help with a project, I knew I was in trouble. Wasn’t like I wasn’t asking for it, mauling Nikki on the dance floor right in front of our friends before I’d dragged her off like some kind of madman.
I just couldn’t hold it back a second longer.
That band had stretched too thin before it had finally snapped.
Rex kicked up a smirk that he punted my direction. “Pretty sure it’s not me doing the whole ass riding.”
Punk had the nerve to waggle his brows.
I shook my head, but there was no stopping my grin as I hopped inside his truck and snapped the seat belt into place.
Rex pulled away from Olive’s, the diesel engine loud as he accelerated down the road.
From the side, I looked at him. “So, did you actually need help this morning or did you just need to say I told you so to my face, sooner rather than later?”
Low laughter escaped him. Totally at my expense. “Little of both, man, a little of both.”
We headed out of town toward the old buildings on Row that he and Broderick would be turning into luxury condos and God knew what else.
It still impressed the hell out of me that my best friend, who had been little more than a handyman, had taken the small construction company and built it into a massive enterprise.
Each project got bigger and more complicated. Dude was leaving his stamp all over this small city.
“You don’t have a crew for this shit? It’s barely nine in the morning, on a Sunday, mind you.”
He kneaded the steering wheel as he made a right, hitting the two-lane road that led out of the north end of town. Taking another right up about half a mile would lead to the lower lake where we’d spent all our time as kids, and the old warehouses that lined the river up on Row were about a mile up from that.
“Yeah, yeah. I know, your lazy ass always wants to sleep half the day away.”
That was not the case this morning.
This morning, the only thing I’d wanted to do was stay wrapped up in Nikki instead of leaving her naked and twisted in my sheets. The girl so damned gorgeous, all lit up in the emerging morning light.
Rex leered over at me like the punk he was, pure suggestion bleeding from his words. “You do look a little tired this morning. Didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night?”
I chuckled under my breath.
Asshole.
“Nah . . . didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night,” I admitted, fingers scraping at the seam of my jeans, needing to do something with my hands. Agitation and residual need clamored through me, leaving my insides scrambled.
My mind was still trying to catch up with what had gone down last night.
Thing was, my heart was already there.
The girl inevitable.
Should have known it all along.
After we’d finally given in?
It was on.
Nikki and I had gone at it again and again. Hard and rough and tender and soft and every-fucking-thing between.
We’d collapse in each other’s arms, drifting off for a half hour or so before one of us would, once again, be seeking the other in the night.
Had taken all I had to peel myself away from her sleeping form when my phone had lit up with a string of texts, Rex prodding me out of that place that had become a sanctuary.
“About time, man,” he said with a harsh shake of his head.
Didn’t even know if I should deny it or play dumb.
He was right.
It was about time.
“So, what changed?” he attempted, stealing a glimpse at me before he looked back out through the windshield.
Trees hugged the narrow road, whooshing by as he wound deeper into the area where the woods became dense, giving way to the tall, thin, spindly trees that made up the forest that surrounded the lake and river.
“Not sure what you mean.”
Deflecting.
Sometimes that was all I had because I didn’t think I had an answer for that.
“Are you kidding me?” Rex laughed an incredulous sound and gave a harsh shake of his head. “You’ve been tiptoeing around this thing with Nikki for years. Don’t act like you haven’t wanted her all this time. Second she’d walked into the room, your spine would go stiff. Willing to put down bets your dick did, too.”
I rubbed my hand down my beard, taunting him. “Looking at my dick now?”
“You wish, asshole. They don’t make glasses that thick.”
“Now who’s wishing?” I tossed back.
Both of us laughed for a second before we fell into silence.
“Seriously,” he prodded, “what changed?”
Could feel him pushing, edging me a direction I wasn’t sure I was ready to go.
I blinked through the protective anger that wound back through me when I really evaluated it.
Yeah.
I’d felt something coming.
Something wicked and dark.
But there’d been a tipping point.
“Finding her apartment that way . . . knowing she could have been in danger . . . that someone might have hurt her?”
My teeth ground so hard I could hear my jaw popping in my ears. “It . . . brought everything crashing down. Turns out the punk had been leaving notes on her car, too. Just the idea of someone hurting her made me want to hunt down any fucker who even looked at her wrong and silence that threat forever. I guess that was the moment I realized I could no longer stand the thought of her being anywhere else than with me.”
He blew out a strained breath. “So, this wasn’t you pulling any of that one-night bullshit? You know Nikki doesn’t deserve that, and you know she wants more than that.”
He slowed and took a right onto the bumpy dirt road that wound down the hill.
The glittering river stretched out below us, trees reaching for the sky like they were offering up prayers to the sun.
In the distance, the roofs of the old buildings jutted up through the cover of the branches, a reminder that this area had once not been so desolate.
My chest clutched when we wound around a corner that opened to a field of purple blazing stars that swayed in the breeze. A million memories slammed me. One after one.
“This way.”
“Follow me.”
“We’ll be together forever.”
; Sydney’s sweet voice as she’d run and explored and looked at the world with so much wonder in her eyes. Nikki and I in tow.
I pushed out a sigh. “Why do you think I’ve been ignoring it for so long? Last thing I want to do is hurt her. Makes me insane to hold something so precious and know that, chances are, in the end, I’m going to crush it in my hands.”
“And why would you do that?” Wasn’t so much of a question as a challenge.
I looked out over the landscape. “Men are prone to destroying beautiful things.”
He swallowed hard. “Maybe. Unless they finally open their damned eyes and see that beauty for what it’s worth. Make the choice to build it up. Protect it and keep it.”
Unease wound through me, and I swore my throat was closing tight.
Didn’t want to go there.
But Nikki deserved for me to.
To stop fucking hiding.
“What happens when you want to protect it and fail anyway?” It was a wheeze I forced out. My inadequacy a glaring defeat.
Rex came to a stop in a small clearing that had been made.
Equipment and machinery had already been delivered and was set up within a temporary chain-link fence as they prepared for construction.
He hesitated for a moment, squeezing the wheel, staring out the windshield to the splintered wood and crumbling stone of the weathered building. “We do our best, Ollie. We live and we love. We cherish and we hold.”
He killed the engine, set his hand on the latch, and looked over at me. “We fight with everything we have, even when we know we might lose.”
He clicked open the door. “We do it because we can’t do anything else. Because we love so hard, loving is the only thing we can do. Rynna and my kids? I love them so damned much, Ollie. With every single thing I have. Never thought I’d get that chance, and I’d be nothing but a bastard and a fool not to recognize it.”
His message slammed me on all sides. Pointed and demanding. Forcing me to evaluate the way I’d been living.
He climbed out and moved toward the bank of the river, staring out over it. I got out and followed.
“Do you remember playing here? Growing up? Running wild?” There was something somber in his tone.
“Of course, I remember.”
Pretty much had spent the last fourteen years living in the past.
“We were all close.”
I glanced at him, no clue what had climbed into the tone of his voice.
“Yeah. Not many people get lucky enough to grow up the way we did. Remain friends the way we have.”
Saw the way the muscles in his arms twitched and bunched, apprehension in his stance. “I need you to know you aren’t alone in the regrets, either, man. That you don’t shoulder that alone.”
A gust of doubt rustled through, my nerve endings zapping with unease.
“You’re wrong, Rex. She was my sister. My responsibility.”
Wasn’t trying to be a dick. It was just the cold, bitter truth.
His eyes flashed in a kind of grief I didn’t quite understand. “It was my fault, too. I was there that night. Remember? You think I don’t wish I could go back and change everything? I’d give anything to. But I can’t. And neither can you. Both of us have to accept that.”
“I was responsible for her.” My words were a low, harsh rasp.
He dropped his head, his hands landing on his hips as he struggled with what to say as he stared at the ground. “Ollie—”
“Just don’t, Rex.” Shooting my hand out between us, I cut him off before he could get whatever bullshit he was going to say out of his mouth. Didn’t need another person to tell me it wasn’t my fault when I knew full well that it was. “I don’t need a therapist. I need a friend. That’s it.”
Something moved through his eyes.
Regret and . . . guilt.
Glaring guilt.
I tried to process it.
He blew out a breath toward his boots. “Fine. Just forget it.”
Good damned idea.
Yesterday was hard enough without Rex trying to make it more difficult. The worry about Nikki had only compounded it.
Since the threat was gone, I just wanted to forget it all.
Push it into the past where it all belonged.
Question was if I was capable of that.
I forced some lightness into my words. “Ready to tell me why you had to go and drag me out of my bed when I’d finally gotten Nikki into it?”
He laughed a little, shooting me a grin. “Sorry about that.”
“Not cool, man. You owe me big.”
“Maybe this will suffice.”
“What’s that?”
With his chin, he gestured toward the row of run-down buildings. They’d been near falling down when we’d played in them, and time sure hadn’t improved them. They were covered in graffiti, there was garbage everywhere, and the frames were sagging toward the ground like they didn’t have the will to stand for much longer.
“Back building will become upscale condos, one of which will go to Nikki. First two will be what becomes the hotel and shops.”
He looked down the riverbank before he eyed me carefully. “Plan to put in a couple of restaurants and a bar. Broderick and I want you to open a second Olive’s here.”
Stunned, I stared at him, minutes or an hour passing, waiting for the punch line. “You’re serious,” I finally managed when he didn’t say anything.
“Hell, yeah, I’m serious. You know Olive’s is the best bar in Gingham Lakes. Brody plans to make this a destination. Only the best. So, of course, it only makes sense to add the best bar to the list of attractions. He’s funding the upfront costs, but you’ll have shares in the entire development.”
“You want me to partner with you and Brody?” Still wasn’t making sense of it, shock lurching through my senses.
“It’s not like we weren’t partnered on Olive’s to begin with.”
“Yeah . . . but I hired RG Construction to redo the building.”
No risk on his end.
He looked over at me. “You act like you haven’t been investing in this city. Taking failing businesses and breathing new life in to them.”
“But it’s always been my money on the line.”
If I failed, it was on me.
It’s your fault.
I trusted you.
You were supposed to take care of her.
You promised, you’d take care of her.
It should have been me. It should have been me.
In silence, we both stood there while I contemplated. Warred with all the reasons I shouldn’t do this.
I inhaled sharply, filling my lungs with the scent of the river and damp earth and possibility. “You guys really trust me to be a partner?”
“Wouldn’t ask you if we didn’t.” Rex started back for the truck before he paused to look at me from over his shoulder. “Think maybe the only person you need to prove to that you can be trusted is yourself.”
I stood there, staring at him as he hopped back into the truck.
Business done.
My attention darted between him and the old buildings, imagining what this place would look like one day, while Rex just sat in the truck, giving me time.
Finally, I hefted out a breath and strode back for the truck. I hopped inside, slamming the door shut as I said, “I’m in.”
He started the engine. “Good.”
I scrubbed a sweaty palm on the thigh of my jeans. “And don’t count on Nikki needing that condo.”
Rex laughed, loud and with a grin. “Had a feeling you might say that.”
27
Ollie
The low grumble of my bike filled my ears as I eased into one of the parking spaces in front of Pepper’s Pies. The damned grin plastered on my face was so big that there was no chance I could wipe it off.
Inside, heads turned at the sound of my rumbling bike, but the only one that mattered was the girl who stood in front of one of the
booths right by the window, her head jerking up and those eyes meeting with mine through the glass.
My chest tightened.
That feeling hitting me hard.
So intense that I could feel it riding through my veins. Itching through me. Same way as I was itching to get my girl on the back of my bike and those long legs wrapped around my waist.
Kicking the stand and killing the engine, I swung my leg over the side just as Nikki was peeking her head outside.
A smile danced on her pretty face. “What are you doing here?”
I glanced at my watch. “You get off at two.”
“And?” It was a playful challenge.
“And I missed you. You have a problem with that?” I all but growled, stalking her way, looping an arm around her waist and tugging her against me as she stepped all the way out onto the sidewalk.
Hands clutching my shoulders, she bent back, swaying as she smiled up at me. “No, Beast. I definitely don’t have a problem with that.”
“Good,” I told her. “Go get your stuff.”
“Bossy,” she tossed back as she started toward the door.
I swatted her sweet ass. “You have no idea.”
She yelped and then giggled. “Why do I get the feeling you’re going to take all kinds of pleasure in educating me on that fact?”
A smirk caught on one side of my mouth. “Maybe you do have an idea.”
Her laugh was low.
Sexy.
“Oh, Ollie. We’re gonna have so much fun.”
My smile went soft.
Yeah.
We were. And we’d wasted too much time, and I was so over that. “Hurry up and get that sweet body back to me.”
“I need to change,” she said as she was stepping back inside.
“I’ll wait.”
Those pink lips twisted in a teasing pout. “You’d better.”
Like I was going anywhere.
Not without her.
Five minutes later, she was bursting back out the door, pretty much skipping her way over to me where I was waiting by my bike.
She looked so young when she was like this.
Free and excited.
“Come here,” I told her, taking her hand and guiding her to stand between my knees. I situated the helmet I’d brought for her on her head, tucking some of those warm, honeyed locks back away from her face.
Lead Me Home: A Fight for Me Stand-Alone Novel Page 25