“Who’s Caleb?”
“He’s um…” I bit the corner of my lip, suddenly shy. “He’s a really good friend. This really sweet insecure guy who has the world at his fingertips but was really depressed and lonely. We got close after he had a bad breakup, and I’ll be honest that I had feelings for him.”
“I see.” Luis kept dragging his fingers up and down my thighs. “What’s he like?”
I shrugged, laughing a bit. “Nothing like me? He’s sophisticated and intellectual and thinks casual clothing consists of button downs or polos.”
“Huh. I think I saw him come visit you about a month ago.” At my surprised glance, Luis made a face. “I wasn’t stalking you, dummy. But my windows face the front door, so I can see who comes by if I’m dancing.”
“Right…” I couldn’t help but notice the way the pressure of Luis’ hands had increased on me. The way his lips had pursed a little. “Anyway, I don’t have feelings for him anymore. He’s getting married.” Luis relaxed, and I bit back a tiny grin. We were seriously like two foolish teenagers. “But Landon was threatened. Like… he hated how I commented on Caleb’s social media so much, always pointing out I Was the first one to like or comment. Meanwhile, it was because I wanted Caleb to keep posting and knew he wouldn’t if no one responded.” Social media had turned everything so absurd and awful. A like or a comment had suddenly become capable of invalidating someone’s entire existence. Being disconnected was so fucking freeing. “Anyway, he saw some texts about how I’d taken Caleb to a speed dating thing, and we really got into it. It was the first time we had an all out fistfight. He fucked me up. And when he found out I ran to Caleb’s house, he was enraged. I was scared to go back.”
“Fuck, baby.” Luis grabbed my arms and pulled me over so that I was laying against him. It was cramped and uncomfortable, but his arms being around me felt right. “I wish I’d known.”
“Why?” I asked with a snort. “So you could hit him when you had the chance?”
“Fuck yeah.”
Even while smiling against his chest, I shook my head. “Nah. I wouldn’t want you to. He’s a snake, and he’d get you arrested. Then I would end his fucking life.”
Luis’ hands on me tightened. He kissed the top of my head. “What happened next?”
“Things got bad. That’s when the cheating stuff became really obvious, like he didn’t care anymore if I suspected even though he never left any obvious evidence I could find. I wanted to leave him so bad, but… I don’t know. There was part of me that still felt like I had to catch him. I needed proof. I have no idea why I was obsessed with any of this, or why the fighting wasn’t a big enough reason, but it just led to constant humiliation. And all my friends knew.”
“Is that why you took a job that would send you out into the middle of the ocean?”
“Yes. You’re the first person to immediately get that, by the way.”
“I’m pretty smart.”
“You are.” We lay there for a moment, silence all around us, as he stroked my back and hair. “What was your first impression of Landon?”
Luis scoffed. “That he was a wack fucking hypebeast who ran around wearing Jordans and designer hats like it made him cool, but he was obvious a corny-ass wannabee. I couldn’t stand him.”
I burst out laughing so loud my voice echoed off the tiles. “Oh my God. That is classic.”
“Am I wrong?” Luis asked. “For real. And he’d sit out front on the steps smoking his vaporizer like a fucking idiot. It’s a vaporizer… it leaves no odor. Take your bitch ass in the house.”
I kept laughing against his chest, shoulders shaking. “God, I hated him and his vaping. He used to go on and on about the best brands and was totally obnoxious about anyone who smoked cigarettes.”
“Yeah, he tried to pull that shit when I moved in. My mom smokes a lot and was talking to the lady across the street, and he made some comment about them being cancer fiends. I wanted to deadass punch him in the eyeball. He’s lucky my cousin didn’t hear.”
“It sounds like you couldn’t stand him.”
“I couldn’t. I always got bad vibes. But he was thirsty for my dick for months and finally I was desperate and gave in.” Luis sounded uncomfortable, as if he should have known how bad Landon was. “If I’d known he was selling drugs on the side, or how he treated you—”
“How could you?”
“I don’t fucking know, but I got bad vibes for him. So did my mother, and she is usually spot-on with that shit. It added on to her worrying about me living here. First impressions matter a lot to us.”
“Yeah?” I looked up so I could see his face. He was so fucking sexy, even when angry and musing over something he couldn’t control, I was obsessed with his stubble, his goatee, his mouth… “What was your first impression of me?”
That mouth twisted into a huge smile. “I thought you were amazing.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, liar.”
“I’m not lying! Do you even remember the first thing I said to you?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, so you know. You were so fucking pissed, like enraged, and I half expected to get cut, but goddamn you were gorgeous. That had nothing to do with how bad I felt—”
“Uh-huh. Suuuure.”
Luis smacked my ass. “For real. I mean, okay, maybe that’s why I offered to let you have revenge sex with me… And why I was so tempted to kiss you. But it was also because I connected with you instantly. Now, don’t get it twisted, I’m not saying the sight of you crying and upset turned me on, but what I’m saying is…” He seemed to struggle with his words as I waited on the edge of a cliff, wondering if I’d start falling depending on what he said. “There’s times in life when I meet people and instantly get that vibe I was talking about before. My mother is the same way, and I get it from her I think. She’d basically say… me da mala espina. Basically, that someone is giving her a vibe of okay, you’re a bad person. I need to watch you. I got it with that dude Bronson, but I kept him close so I can keep an eye out. But with you?” He shook his head slowly. “I wanted to be close to you, and I’m never like that with people. I’m never soft and compassionate. You could ask Ashton or Val—they’ll tell you. I barely ever say that I’m sorry because I hate being wrong. But something about you was… straight up different.”
I fell from that cliff headfirst.
He squeezed me. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Just.” I shook my head. “Yes. I’m fine.”
He chuckled, probably knowing I wasn’t entirely fine. “But besides this spiritual connection and whatnot, I felt like a monster. I knew it wasn’t my fault, but I felt like it was my fault. And part of that was because of that fucking connection. I knew I had to make it right with you. I just had to.”
I was Alice, and I was flailing down that hole. I dug my fingers into him. “I’m sorry for taking it out on you. Like unbelievably sorry.” I closed my eyes, amazed at how good it felt to simply lay against someone. To absorb the warmth from their skin and bask in affection that was rarely given. “I know this probably sounds like bullshit given how I treated you, but I’m grateful for meeting you, Luis. And I appreciate you getting over that whole coffee thing and being my friend.”
“That whole coffee thing.” Luis snickered. “You’re like a fucking vengeful but superhot demon when mad, papi. Swear to God.”
“I’m sorry!”
“Yeah, whatever. I’ll get my revenge one day.” He started rubbing my back again, but this time his hand was lower and his long fingers brushed my ass. “So, if we’re friends now, does that mean you’ll say yes if I ask you to come to my next show?”
“What show? The strip club thing—”
“No, Man-dated Attraction.” He shook me a little. “I want you to come watch the shit we just practiced. It’s next weekend.”
“Um…”
“You don’t even go anywhere, so if you don’t come it’s just because you’re sitting home by yourself s
moking weed and drinking cheap wine.”
I snorted out a laugh. “Wow, way to call me out.”
“Well, I’m saying though. I want you there!” He stuck out his lower lip again, giving me puppy dog eyes. “Please?”
“Ugh. Fine. I will go. But do not make a spectacle of me being there and force me to talk to anyone.”
“I won’t. I swear.”
I eyeballed him suspiciously, but he smiled so brilliantly that I couldn’t help but smile in return. When he kissed me, soft and gentle like he claimed to never be, I didn’t want him to stop. I wanted to exist in the weird fucking bubble of the bathtub forever.
North Shore - chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Luis
Charles was silent beside me, and it had me more nervous than the time my mother had caught me smoking weed out the bathroom window in ninth grade. She’d torn my ass up with her slipper then proceeded to make me watch fucked up documentaries about junkies to make me realize why I needed to live a drug-dree life.
As much as I’d sucked my teeth and rolled my eyes, arguing about how weed wasn’t even that serious, that shit had worked. Goodbye marijuana, hello health nut. Although, she’d also sat my ass down and made me watch documentaries about people with brain damage after I’d announced I wanted to pursue boxing professionally and not just as an extracurricular activity. It hadn’t deterred me that time, though.
For as long as I could remember, she was the only person capable of putting me on edge. She was the most important person in my life, even if that made me a mama’s boy, and it was only her opinion that had mattered to me since my teenage years. No one I dated had even come close to making me doubt my choices or my attitude. They’d been blips on my radar in between one goal and the next, because I’d always viewed people outside of my close circle as temporary whereas the blueprint to my life plan was the real deal. But here I was, sweating in my white T-shirt and jeans even as the cab driver blasted us with too-cold air, because I couldn’t figure out what was up with Charles. It was like sixty-five degrees outside and homie was trying to turn his cab into the arctic.
“My man, can you turn that shit down?”
The driver clicked it a notch lower without looking at me. I sneered. Charles kept looking out the window as we crossed the Verrazano. He’d been staring out the window since we’d entered the cab, and I was obsessively categorizing every detail about his body language to figure out what was going through his mind.
His body wasn’t tight the way it got when he was consumed with anger, but he didn’t look distant and sad either. I’d caught that expression a few times when we were sitting on the floor watching videos together. His eyes would lower and he’d go so quiet and still, like he was lost in a memory that made him want to detach from the present. I couldn’t pick out any of those signs right now, though. He just looked pensive.
I reached over to rub the back of his neck, slow and careful like I might get bitten. He responded by scooting over and leaning against me, head tucked into the crook of my neck. Some of my worry faded.
We rushed over the bridge, moving over the East River as container ships and the orange blip of the Staten Island ferry passed below. The Statue of Liberty was dwarfed by the rest of the skyline, but it always drew my eye. In a city that changed every time I blinked, it was one of those symbols that couldn’t be moved or modified even if half the people in the country didn’t seem to understand what it stood for anymore.
Charles’ lips brushed my jaw, drawing me out of my thoughts. I looked at him, startled, and was met with big dark eyes drilling into me with enough heat to ward off the air conditioner. My stomach flipped.
“See something you like?” I teased softly.
“Yes.” One of his hands slid over to my thigh. He could probably feel my muscles tensing from the attention. “You were really great tonight, Luis. The crowd loved you.”
“But did you? You acted so damn funny that I still can’t tell.”
Charles wrinkled his nose. “Must you always call me out?”
“Yes. You acted mad funny.” I kissed the tip of his nose. “And you’re still acting funny now.”
“I’m just thinking.” Charles pressed against me tighter, half turned in the seat so he could plaster his body to mine while holding my gaze. It wasn’t the first time we’d sprawled all over each other, or tucked up into each other, but there was something different now. The wild gleam in his eyes, the way he kept dampening his lips, and especially his hand slowly rubbing up and down my thigh. “I got so caught up in my own head that I didn’t really appreciate how amazing you were up there, so I was like… replaying it in my head and appreciating you all over again.”
“Yeah?”
“Yup. It’s not just your dancing that had that crowd drooling.” He spoke with a quiet intensity that was almost too intimate for this cab ride. Even with the Plexiglass divider between us and the driver. “It was you. You’re so authentic. It’s a performance but never an act. When you threw those punches, everyone could probably tell you know how to fight for real. Same with everything from that tough guy glare of yours, to the way you strutted around like you’re hot shit, and the way you moved your hips when you were grinding all up on his ass.” Charles’ hand moved up a little higher, his fingertips dragging along my groin. “Everyone was probably imagining what a hot fuck you are.”
I inhaled sharply. “You be careful now.” My thighs spread a little wider.
Charles’ hand moved up higher, fingers tracing the shape of my dick beneath the fly of my jeans. My breath hissed out, and I widened my thighs as far as they could go. He responded by rubbing me in earnest, all while watching me.
“What are you doing?” I breathed. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Me appreciating you.” Charles kissed my jaw again then trailed damp little kisses down to my throat. “Is that bad?”
“Fuck no it’s not bad, but…” My breath hitched when his fingers went from teasing to squeezing. “Just trying to make sure I don’t randomly get cut if I wander into this uncharted territory without my Understanding Charles manual.”
Charles snickered against my neck, shoulders shaking. “Can you not fuck up this vibe with your smartass commentary?”
“Look, I just don’t want to die when you rapidly change your mind and get pissed at me.” I tilted his chin up and brushed my mouth against his in a wet kiss. “You’re like those gorgeous creatures who lure sailors in being all enchanting and beautiful, then you kill them.”
“Mmm. A siren.” Charles bit his lower lip, eyebrows hiking up, as he toyed with the button of my jeans. “I kind of like that. But you don’t have to worry. I’m not in a bad mood. I’m just really into you right now.”
The words resounded in the small space. They imprinted on me, burrowing into my flesh and manifested as hope that clashed with lust just enough to spark a fire in the center of my chest. I smiled, just a bit, and tilted his chin up so our lips were barely grazing.
“Yeah, I like you too, Charles.”
I expected a wise crack, but he kissed me instead. I parted my lips for him, and he swept his tongue inside to slide against mine. We’d been kissing and feeling on each other nearly day for what felt like a month now, but this kiss was different. There was a hunger in the way he attacked my mouth, and an impatience in the way he restlessly shifted on the seat.
He wanted me to touch him. The way he moaned pleadingly when I gripped his hair made it plain as day. But if I went any farther than tugging his curls and sucking on his hot tongue, I was going to rip his leggings down and fuck him raw right in the back of this cab.
“Fuck, baby,” I said, voice a hoarse whisper, when he kissed down and dragged his teeth against my throat. He sucked on the knot of my Adam’s apple, all while rubbing the heel of his hand against the hardness trapped beneath denim. I arched into his hand, and he pressed harder, sending sparks of fire flying through me. “You’re gonna make this hard to part way
s when we get back to the house.”
“So let’s not part ways,” he whispered against my throat. “I want to show my gratitude.”
“For what?” I gritted out.
“For you being here. With me.”
My brows twitched together, and I woke up just a little from my daze. “You don’t have to—”
The cab came to abrupt stop. A quick glance out the window showed that we were home. I fumbled for my wallet, but Charles wasn’t deterred. He was sucking on my throat then worked his way up to my ear, hand still sliding between my thighs. The cab driver studiously ignored all of this while I squinted at the meter and forewent a wad of jumbled singles, fives, and tens to swipe my credit card.
“Go open the door,” I panted as Charles began rubbing my dick in earnest. “C’mon, baby.”
Charles squeezed me one last time before sliding over to the door on his side. He left the cab, and I was so distracted by his metallic accented ass in those skintight leggings that the cabbie had to clear his throat so I could hit the right buttons. With my erection raging and my heart pounding out of my chest, everything was taking too long. It was an eternity before I signed the tiny slip of paper and shoved it at the cabbie and managed to escape the car.
I took the steps two at a time up to our front door, and stepped into the dark vestibule to find Charles leaning against the window sill with his leggings down around his hips. His thighs were spread, dick gripped in one hand, as he pressed his head against the window behind him. There was no shade or curtain, but he clearly didn’t give a damn about someone peeping. I didn’t care either, so I stepped between his thighs and sucked his lips into my mouth.
I kept one hand on his face, angling it up so I could tongue him, and used the other to get my jeans open. Once upon a time I’d thought I was pretty smooth with adequate game, but all that was nonexistent with Charles. I fumbled with my zipper, snapped the waistband of my boxer briefs trying to get them down, and nearly came as soon as Charles grabbed my dick. He wrapped his long legs around me, crushing our lower bodies together, and wrapped his long fingers around our cocks.
North Shore Page 15