“Think what?” Mason asked, totally interested.
An idea popped into my head and I don’t know why I ran with it. “I personally think Roman was just stirring shit for Hads. She talks enough about how she’d…hook up with him. Roman probably thought it was funny to ask me out in front of her. What he thought that was going to do, I don’t know. Maybe he thinks jealousy works well on getting people to make a move or something?”
“What do you think?” he asked.
“About what? Hads and Roman?”
“No, the jealousy thing.”
I shrugged again and hoped my answer wasn’t going to be too pointed. “I think if someone doesn’t feel the need to make a move until there’s a reason to be jealous, then maybe they weren’t really feeling it after all.”
Mason nodded slowly. “Makes sense, I guess. What does Roman think of your theory?”
I laughed just thinking about it. “He thinks lighting a fire under someone’s arse is a legitimate seduction strategy.”
“You guys talk about that stuff a lot?”
I nodded, then stopped myself. “Well, you know Roman and boundaries. If it’s none of his business, he just has to know about it.”
“I didn’t even know you guys were friends.”
I breathed out heavily. “Well, we weren’t really. We just both happened to be at the lake during the holidays – you know, since he moved next door and all – and we got chatting.” I shrugged again. “I dunno, we get along.”
Mason nodded. “Cool…”
“But, just friends!” I said quickly, thinking about what Hadley would do. “We’re so just friends. God, even Celeste couldn’t make Roman boyfriend material.”
And, Celeste was known to try to make Gaston boyfriend material. To which Hadley informed her that “You let Gaston have his wicked way with you, then you go home to Beast.” I personally wasn’t so sure that even being excellent in bed was a good enough reason to go anywhere near the arsehole.
Mason shook himself like he was shaking some thought off. “Nah, it’s cool. I mean, kinda weird. But honestly, you seem…”
“What?” Cue panic-mode.
“Dunno. You just seem…brighter since I got back. More…here.” He ran his hand through his hair and gave a rough chuckle. “Ah, I don’t know what I’m trying to say. But, if you and Roman are friends… Then cool, I guess.”
Mason sure did look like it was cool. But, I felt like that might be weird behaviour for the guy who was supposed to want to ask me out. I looked up into those blue eyes and tried to figure out if it was actually cool or not.
“So…you don’t care if I’m friends with Roman or not?” I hedged.
And of course, at that moment, Hadley appeared.
“Who else will I use to get into his pants?” she asked with a truly sinful grin.
I shook my head. “Oh, I don’t know,” I replied sarcastically. “You could not because…no.”
Hadley sighed loudly. “Fine. Keep him to yourself.”
“It’s not about keeping him to myself,” I said quickly, throwing a quick, awkward look to Mason. “I don’t want him, comprende? It’s about you not getting hurt Hads.”
“Such faith you have in your friend!” Hadley cried dramatically.
“Oh, I’d say the same to him if this conversation were reversed.”
Hadley held her hand up. “Fine. Bitch.”
“Love you, too!” I yelled at her retreating back and she flipped me the bird.
I laughed and turned back to Mason, the semi-weirdness of the situation making my laughter die a somewhat strangled death.
“It’s so not up to me to dictate who your friends are, Pipe,” he said with a smile that I was pretty sure was sincere. “I’ll tell you what you did miss on Saturday night, though…”
Suddenly, the mood shifted away from weird tensions and it all just felt normal again.
“What?” I asked.
“Hads and Tucker flirting.”
“No!”
“Yes,” he laughed.
“Proper flirting?”
His grin widened. “I don’t think they realised it. But, I think there’s definitely potential for something there.”
I looked over to where Hadley could have been definitively snubbing Tucker on purpose. In true Tucker form, the guy didn’t seem to notice. That is, if Hadley was snubbing him. But, my best friend wouldn’t possibly be so shallow and childish. Would she?
Well yeah, probably. That was yet another thing about Hadley’s flirting technique that I just didn’t understand. But, I definitely wanted to know more.
“Tell me everything,” I demanded with a smile that Mason returned.
h
There was a knock on my window. Without thinking why there might have been a knock on my window, I rolled my chair away from my desk, my pen hanging from my mouth. I blinked in surprised when I saw Roman crouching on the roof outside in the pouring rain. I cocked my head in question, my smile fading as I saw the dark expression on his face.
I hopped off the chair quickly and opened the window.
“What’s–”
He’d climbed inside and was kissing me like the world was about to end before I knew what was happening. His hands slid up my top and he pulled me close. He was soaked and he tasted like alcohol, but that didn’t stop him exuding a heat that wasn’t just a physical temperature. My heart fluttered in my chest and my stomach tightened.
I pushed him away for a moment. We were both breathing hard. Roman’s face was cold and there were new cuts and bruises on him, but his eyes were so full of…just everything. He moved in again and I only just got my head together to put a hand on his chest.
“Roman, what’s…? Are you okay?”
“No,” he growled, his hands tightening on me.
“And, drinking and fucking is going to help that?”
“Old habits die hard,” he said, his eyes about as hard as his voice.
“I’m not judging you, Roman,” I said softly and I cupped his cheek. He closed his eyes and he leant into my hand.
Suddenly, his eyes flew open and he pulled me to him again. I got entirely distracted for a moment by his kiss and gave him back as good as I got. I was halfway through taking off his shirt – and I was sure one of his buttons ripped off – when my brain stopped me.
I leant my head on his now bare chest. “Roman,” I panted, “this isn’t– Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Okay. What do you need?”
“I need you to stop talking and kiss me.” His voice was still low and rough.
So yeah, a large part of me wanted that, too. But, I wasn’t sure that was going to help him. It might, but I had to check.
“Roman…how–”
“Because I need…” He stopped talking and groaned in frustration.
“Honesty, Lombardi.”
“Don’t make me say it, Barlow. I want to feel better, not worse.”
“That makes no sense.”
He groaned again and held me close, head bowed against mine. “Why do you always insist on making me sound like a nancy wanker?”
“Well, you just sound like a drunk idiot at the moment. So anything’s a step up at this point.”
“Why do you have to make everything harder, but easier at the same time?”
“You’re still not making sense.”
He grunted. “You’re the only thing that makes sense right now, Barlow. The only thing that makes me feel anything but anger. You’re the only fucking thing in my life that makes anything better. And, I need to feel better. I need you, Piper.”
“I’m here, Roman. I’m not going anywhere. Just, tell me what happened.”
“Nothing.”
“Roman,” I said sternly.
He sighed as his hand ran absently up and down my arm. “Rio and I found ourselves in a…predicament.”
“Are you hur
t?”
“I’ve had worse.”
“That’s not what I asked.
“I’m fine.”
I pulled back to look at him and I hated the sadness in his eyes. They were so vulnerable and deep and I was in serious danger of losing myself in them. I lay a hand on his cheek and I could see the desire swirling with the sadness, the need to just lose himself in something good. Whether I was actually something good, I didn’t know. But, he seemed to think so, at least at that moment.
So, I didn’t even think about it.
I had the power to make him feel better.
Even if it was only temporary.
And so help me, I wanted to use it.
I was sliding his shirt down his arms before my lips met his again. His arms wrapped around me and lifted me up. He pressed me into the wall and his lips trailed down my neck.
“Roman…my parents are sleeping down the hall,” I panted.
“Then, you’re going to have to be quiet,” he growled softly and kissed me again.
I’d felt his body on numerous occasions now, but I never got sick of the feeling of it under my hands. He was lean and muscular and his skin was oddly soft. I didn’t know why that was a surprise; I guessed it was just because everything else about him seemed so rough. I also never got sick of the way he twitched and almost-laughed as my hands ran over certain places because it was a little bit tickly.
Only, that night, there wasn’t any almost-laughter. I ran my hand over his abs and he winced.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
He nodded. “Fine.”
“Can I do–”
“Barlow?”
“Lombardi?”
“Shut up, love.”
He pressed himself against me and kissed me again. I ran my hands through his wet hair and hugged him to me.
For all the light I’d seen in him lately, there was something different about him that night; darker, harder, deeper. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it and something about it made me not want to look too closely at it. I wasn’t sure if that was because I’d find something I didn’t like or something I liked too much.
He grabbed hold of me tightly and swung us around, backing me up to the bed. He knelt on it, keeping a firm hold on me as he lay me down and followed. Before I was lying flat, he pulled away only enough to get my jumper over my head, then pulled me down the bed so my hips were more in line with his.
Roman had never been so dominating and I flushed just realising I didn’t hate it. I never thought I’d be in for anything I would consider even semi-rough. But it seemed, when it came to Roman, I was in for anything. A part of me knew that was probably not healthy, but I couldn’t help it; I was completely convinced that Roman could do or suggest anything and I’d feel safe with him.
His kiss was like lightning, his touch was like silk, and I felt entirely encircled in protection. It was ridiculous; Roman was in a shit and I was supposed to be making him feel better. But, he soothed every ounce of tension I didn’t realise I was holding in.
As he undressed me and I returned the favour, I just stopped thinking and got swept up in the reciprocal comfort we seemed to give each other. The guy knew how to heal me and – as he lost himself in me – he seemed to heal a little too.
Chapter Nineteen
A New John Film?
Roman had got over whatever funk he’d been in by the time he’d left a little later. There had still been a tenseness to his shoulders and that muscle in his jaw twitched, but his eyes were softer as he kissed me goodbye.
A few nights later, we were babysitting Maddy for Carmen. Maddy had asked if I could come and have dinner with them and been a total sweetheart. We’d all had dinner together, played Snakes and Ladders for a while, read her a couple of books and then put her to bed…three times. But, she finally seemed to be asleep.
“What are we watching?” I asked, wriggling in next to Roman to pass the next few hours until Carmen came home.
“You right?” he laughed.
I grinned at him. “Yes. Now, what do you want to watch?”
He grabbed the remote from me. “You’ll love this. I found you a new John Cusack movie.”
“No!” I breathed, looking at him in awe.
He nodded with a wry smile. “Yes. I did. And Netflix finally has it. So I thought I might, just maybe, suggest we watch that.”
“You’re not only advocating we watch a John Cusack movie, but you looked it up for me?”
He shrugged nonchalantly and just a little awkwardly. Had he not been Roman, I might have decided I was in love with him. But since it was Roman, I was more interested in paying him out.
“Let’s not make a big deal out of this, Barlow,” he said, noticing the teasing look on my face. “If you don’t want to watch it, we don’t have to.”
He scrolled through, heading for the horror section.
“No!” I cried, grabbing for the remote, but he pulled it out of reach and smiled down at me. Our faces were far too close together and I smiled at him. “No, let’s watch that one… Please?”
“You going to beg me, Barlow?” he asked, his eyes dancing.
I gave a mock-huff. “I’ll do no such thing. But, I will make it worth your while…” I winked at him and his eyebrow quirked as the corner of his mouth did.
“Will you now? And how might you manage that?” he asked. I ran my hand over his crotch and started undoing his jeans. “Oh, Barlow. You think you can tempt me with your body? Babe, you’re good, but you’re not that good.”
I smirked at him with complete confidence and I saw a touch of concern creep into his eyes. When I slid off the couch and nestled between his legs he looked at me in question. I shook my head and put a finger to my lips. The question in his eyes burned brighter, but he nodded. I pulled his erection out of his jeans and boxers and ran my hand over it.
“Barlow…”
I put my finger to my lips again and shook my head. Something else burned in his eyes, but he nodded again and seemed to be telling me to proceed. I licked my lips slowly before I placed them over him and he gasped in a totally satisfying way.
I’d never gone down on a guy before. I wasn’t sure I had any idea what I was doing, but Roman seemed to enjoy it. If his breathing and the occasional exclamation like ‘fuck, Piper…’ was anything to go by…
The next thing I knew, he’d picked me up and pulled me onto his lap. He was kissing me fiercely and then he was inside me; skirt and undies be damned. He held me tightly like he couldn’t get me close enough. I completely understood that sentiment; I was feeling much the same way about him.
“Fuck, love. Slow down,” he panted, resting his forehead to mine and holding my hips tightly so I wouldn’t move.
I could feel him pulsing inside me and I smiled. “You going to cum, Lombardi?” I teased, rocking my hips.
He grunted obscenely. “You keep that up, yes.”
I trailed my lips to his ear. “And, that’s bad how?”
“Because it’s been a while since I came before the girl, Barlow. And I’m certainly not doing that to you.”
I rocked my hips again.
“Barlow, I am serious here.” His tone was certainly hard.
“So, this becomes about whether little Piper Barlow can make the great Roman Lombardi lose his control?”
He scoffed, his hands running up my sides. “I think we’ve long-since established that as fact, Barlow. Try again.”
I rolled my hips slowly and he groaned against my lips. “Tell me, Roman, has any girl managed to make you cum before you were ready?”
I knew the stories of Roman’s stamina; he was said to be able to control himself to the point he could get you off as many times as he wanted before he let go. I can’t say I’d seen all that much evidence of it, but I was never dissatisfied.
He breathed heavily. “You want the company line or the truth, Barlow?”
“What do you
think, Lombardi?”
He thrust into me deeply, only once, and I wanted more. “Not in a long time. But, this is far from the first time you’ve been damn close…”
When we looked into each other’s eyes, there was something almost vulnerable in his and I stopped for a moment.
“Roman?”
“Piper?”
We were so close to a moment. But, we didn’t do moments. I opened my mouth, but didn’t really know what I thought I wanted to say. So, I smirked at him and rolled my hips again. His smile went from soft and questioning to rueful.
“You trying to prove something?” he asked.
“Maybe,” I said with a smile.
“Babe, you’ve already come top of everything I keep score of. You’ve got nothing left to prove. I–” He frowned. “Damn it, not again. Condom,” he said in answer to my questioning look.
I moved against him. “You make a habit of forgetting it, Lombardi?”
“Only that once with you…” He frowned again. “Twice now.”
“Then, what’s the problem?” I asked, undulating my hips. I could have stopped us, but I was happy to take responsibility this time. “Pill, remember?”
He grinned as his hand reached between us. He pressed his thumb against my clit as he started thrusting again. “You’re going to kill me, Barlow.”
“No, Lombardi. I’m just going to rock your world.”
His grin widened before he kissed me. Heat and passion mingled as the pleasure mounted. We came hard together, my name on his lips and his on mine.
“Tell me,” he panted, me still on top of him. “Was that my influence, or John’s?”
I laughed and batted him as I slid off his lap to standing.
“That, love, is not an answer,” he chuckled.
I smirked at him. “It’s not, it is?”
We cleaned ourselves up and settled in to watch the movie.
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