“This is it,” she said, breaking the throbbing silence between us. The building was tall and stately with ivy crawling up the brick exterior. It looked warm and welcoming, expensive as hell, but not unapproachable, unlike my own place just ten minutes closer to downtown.
I pulled into a spot and got out to open her door. There was a locked entrance, and as I cleared the hood of the truck, I saw a uniformed doorman standing behind a large desk, watching me openly. He’d know Faith, of course, but from where she exited my vehicle, he couldn’t see us.
When her feet were on solid ground, Faith slid to the side so I could close the door, but she made no move to walk away.
Her sweater had fallen off that shoulder again, and with my pointer finger and thumb, I plucked gently at the collar. “This is … evil.”
Faith burst out laughing, her eyes shining. “Is it?”
I lifted an eyebrow. “You know it is.”
Instead of answering, she licked her lips. “I had a really great time, Dominic.”
“So did I.” Carefully, I slid the offending sweater so that her shoulder was covered, allowing my thumb to graze the line of her thin strap and the soft, soft skin just next to it. And for a moment, the edge of my finger touched the gold chain of her necklace, which made my heart thud erratically in my chest.
Faith’s hand landed gently on my chest. “I’m glad I broke my rule.”
I grinned. “I’m really good at being a bad influence that way.”
“I’d invite you up,” she said, “but my roommate is home.”
She knew I wanted her. I’d told her. But still, this was the closest she’d come to verbalizing that she felt the same. And it triggered a devilish impulse to tease it out of her just a bit. I might not be the asshole she’d originally thought, but she was fucking right when she said I was a troublemaker.
I eased closer, sliding my fingers down the palms of her hands until her fingers curled around mine. Her breathing picked up speed, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Jaw clenched, I pulled those hands up toward my face and pressed a soft kiss to the inside of her wrist. Just for a moment, I let my nose drag against that same spot, letting out a quiet hum of appreciation at the scent I found there.
Against my truck, she looked ready to combust, pupils dilated and cheeks fetchingly pink.
That was when I stepped back. “I hope you’ll let me take you out again,” I said as her hands fell limply back to her side.
Her mouth fell open, and she blinked a few times. “What?”
Adopting an innocent expression, I gestured to her apartment.
Faith’s eyes took on a determined gleam, her hand shooting out to fist into the material of my shirt so she could tug me closer. With a husky laugh, I stepped against her, sliding my hands up the line of her neck into the soft fall of her hair.
She went up on tiptoe as I descended to take her mouth with mine.
Absolute perfection, I thought as I sucked on her bottom lip and let the heat of the kiss roll in waves over us.
It was no tentative first kiss, nothing like I’d planned to do or imagined on the ride over. Immediately, I tilted my head so I could take it deeper, taste her lips and tongue with a bold sweep of mine.
She moaned, pulling my shirt in an even firmer tug, tongue twirling around mine.
This was a wild current of lips and teeth, of moans pulled from the gentle line of her throat. I could kiss her forever.
Faith was an equal participant in this most delicious exploration, and as my hands tightened into her hair, her fingers spread open on my chest. We pressed against each other, the cab of my truck a solid wall for me to feel and feel and feel.
The sweet smell of her filled my nostrils, the soft push and pull of her lips on mine filling my veins with a roaring sense of power, of want. This was unfettered attraction, the likes of which I’d never experienced before her.
And what made it so much better was her reaction. The edge of her nails as she curled her hands up around the back of my neck, the way she tilted her chin up when I slid hot, open-mouthed kisses down the line of her throat. The shoulder of her sweater got shoved the hell to the side again, so I could bend at the knees and suck at the skin where that damned strap had taunted me all night. I wanted to leave a mark there, where it was smooth and flawless. And the way she arched closer, rolling her hips against mine, I thought she wanted me to do the same.
“Holy shit,” she breathed, practically climbing me as she tried to slide higher against my truck.
I could do everything, anything to her, fighting the clawing desire against the confines of my skin. But I wanted more from her than a quick, bright flare of relief. Finding her mouth again, I gentled the kiss, moving it into something different. This felt more luxurious, like I wouldn’t have to worry that I’d have another chance, another taste. A soft pull at her bottom lip had her sighing. Curling my hands around her back so I could feel all of her in my arms, I was able to pull away after a few sweet, close-mouthed kisses.
Faith smiled against the last kiss. “Yes, you can take me out again,” she murmured, hands gripping my shirt at my waist.
I pulled back, blowing out a breath at the sight of her all rumpled against my vehicle.
“Tomorrow?” I asked. It sounded eager, but I didn’t give a flying fuck.
Her eyes were bright and happy as she breathed out a shaky laugh, and the power of the satisfaction it gave me was almost unholy.
“I have dinner with my family tomorrow night,” she replied, smoothing her hands up my chest like she couldn’t pull her hands away. It was a feeling I recognized because my palms were curled around her hips, my thumbs pressing into the curve of her waist.
The shirt under the sweater, which I’d only gotten teasing glimpses of, was silky and wrapped tight around her body. I’d crawl in bed later, imagine peeling it off her. She’d taste sweet and soft and warm with it off her body. “What about the night after that?” she asked.
“Yes.” I kissed her again, sinking against those sweet, soft lips with a groan. She sighed happily, smoothing her hands around my back while I teased the seam of her lips with my tongue. She chased it, and my entire body lit like a firecracker when she sucked my tongue into her mouth. My hands tightened on her ass, goose bumps lifting the hair on my arms from what that brazen show of her own want did to me.
She wanted me. Dominic.
Faith pulled back with a happy smile. “I expected you to play hard to get and make me wait by my phone for a week.”
I kissed the tip of her nose, which made her laugh. “Life’s too damn short to play hard to get, sunshine.”
Her fingers curled briefly into the material of my shirt again, but she smoothed them out, flattening her palms over my sides. “Most guys don’t feel that way.”
“News flash,” I whispered against the curve of her neck. “I’m not most guys.”
Tell her. I heard that voice in my head, hardly above a whisper, but I shoved it down like it had been a scream. When I kissed a line back up to the corner of her delicious mouth, Faith turned into another kiss with a helpless moan. Her hands swept over my shoulders so that she could wrap her arms around the back of my neck, pressing her breasts into my chest. A car passed the building, honking loudly, and neither one of us so much as flinched.
My tongue licked into her mouth as we chased the kiss further, both seemingly unable to end this moment.
I didn’t want to end anything when it came to Faith.
This was even more than I expected from my night with her. Something bigger, more intense. If Faith had approached our date with polite reservation or even a hint of holding back, it might have been easier to convince myself that I was imagining how fucking incredible things could be between us.
But I wasn’t imagining it. And I definitely wasn’t alone in it.
When her teeth nipped at my bottom lip, my arms shook from the force of my own restraint crumbling.
It took every shred of discipline I poss
essed to pull back. But I did.
For a moment, all we could do was breathe heavily, bodies still intertwined against the side of my truck.
“Shall I plan another surprise for the day after tomorrow?” I asked.
She considered that with pursed lips. “I think the better question is can my heart handle you planning another surprise?”
A low chuckle escaped because I knew she’d say something like that. But this girl, she needed someone who’d help her see that it was okay to let go sometimes.
“A good surprise,” I promised. My eyes stayed locked on hers, and damn, it would’ve been so easy to lose myself in her again. Whatever this was, it was one of the most powerful things I’d ever felt, and based on the expression on her face, she was feeling the exact same thing.
“Well,” Faith murmured, her hands sliding down my arms until our fingers linked, “you certainly held up your promise tonight, Dominic Walker.”
“Did I?”
Faith smacked my chest. “Don’t fish for compliments. You know you did.”
With a laugh, I kissed her softly.
There was something intoxicating about kissing Faith when she could hardly stop smiling, like I’d be able to absorb some of that happiness. She was such a high into my bloodstream, it would be easy to end up addicted.
“Talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
I kissed her once more, rolling my forehead against hers when we broke apart. As she walked away, I felt my first true pang of remorse that I hadn’t told her who I was the moment I realized it. But now that the choice was made, I couldn’t ignore that nagging question of whether it would’ve played out this way, with this intensity, if I had. I couldn’t ignore that dark whisper that promised I’d do it soon.
“Soon,” I said out loud.
When she opened the door to her building, Faith turned, aiming a small smile at me over her shoulder. I smiled back, recalling what she’d said to me at the arcade.
Faith told me I had no idea what I’d just started. And it was the truth. Faith just didn’t realize how little she knew too.
Faith
Dominic: And you have dinner with your family tonight, right?
Me: Didn’t we talk about this last night?
Dominic: Did we? Too many blows to the head, I guess. Now that I have you, what are you doing, what are you wearing, and don’t spare any details.
As I was just about to enter my parents’ front door for dinner, I paused to reply with a happy smile on my face. Before I could even log into my laptop at work that morning, he’d sent me a sweet good morning text, explaining in great detail that he’d thought of our kiss all night and couldn’t wait to see me again.
Dominic Walker, unrepentant bad boy and closet romantic. Who’d have thunk it?
Me: Jean shorts, flip-flops and a plain old black T-shirt. Nothing that would cause much excitement.
Dominic: Speak for yourself, sunshine.
Dominic: Is this enough stuff for Keisha’s center? I went shopping after I was done in the weight room.
When I clicked on the picture he’d attached, I burst out laughing. Half his face appeared in the shot, and behind him was a pile of bags from a local sporting goods store that could’ve stocked three community centers.
Me: More than enough. We’ve got an event scheduled there next week, we could bring it then.
Me: If you’re open.
Dominic: If I get more time with you, I’m always open.
Me: Careful, hotshot … a girl could get used to this kind of availability from a guy who kisses like you.
I hit send, nose scrunched, uncertainty making my belly flip. My flirting skills were about as rusty as an old junkyard car, but whatever I was doing seemed to be ringing all the bells that Dominic Walker possessed. And when I clicked open his response, my cheeks heated instantly. Speaking of ringing bells … mine were going crazy. And not in a five-alarm fire-warning danger ahead kind of way.
He was setting off every single skin-tingling reaction that I wasn’t even sure existed anymore. They existed, all right. All were in working order because I kept having to remind myself that I was feeling all the big, hormonal, physical, heart-fluttering feelings after one date.
Dominic: Sunshine, you have no idea the things I’d like to get you used to. Give me ten minutes and a flat surface and I’ll show you.
Me: Only ten minutes? I’m so disappointed.
Dominic: Can you hear my male pride crying out in pain? It’s on now.
Me: *devil emoji* Gotta go in for dinner.
Tucking my phone into my back pocket, I’d barely made it inside my parents’ front door when Lydia’s hand darted out of the half bath and tugged me inside.
“What are you doing?” I hissed as she closed us in the tiny room.
She gripped my upper arms and shook me lightly. “Well?” Her eyes were all big and shiny and excited.
“Well, what?”
Lydia stomped her foot. “How was the date with the bad boy? You didn’t call me last night.”
“Why do we have to be in the bathroom for this?”
“Because Mom is down in my room looking for some jewelry that I swore I didn’t borrow.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Did you?”
“Like she would let me wear the Chopard if I’d asked,” she said. “Don’t change the subject. How was it?”
How was it?
Such innocuous words, such a simple question. Unwittingly, my lips curled into a dreamy smile, and Lydia squealed.
“It was…” I paused, letting out a ridiculous sigh. “Really good.”
“How was he?” Her eyebrows waggled.
“I wouldn’t know, thank you very much. He dropped me off at the door like a gentleman.”
“Shut up. Him?”
“I mean, we had the most epic makeout session by his truck before I went in,” I amended. So, so epic.
Lydia swiped a hand over her forehead. “Whew. Good.”
“Can I leave the bathroom now?”
“How epic, on a scale of one to ten?”
My grin had her squealing again. I flashed ten fingers.
“Oh, this is why I need to live vicariously through you, big sister.” She sighed.
I opened the bathroom door and walked out with her right on my heels. It reminded me of when she was little, just learning how to walk, and she followed me everywhere before she realized she could get most places faster on her own. “Why would you need to live vicariously through me? I know what kind of guys want a piece of this,” I said, gesturing at all her general flawlessness.
“Please. Like I have to explain to you why it’s so hard. Either they’re fanboys or frat boys, or they want some sort of leg up in this world.” She shook her head. “That’s why Walker is perfect for you. He doesn’t give a shit what people think, he doesn’t need a leg up anywhere, and your money doesn’t impress him.”
I laughed.
Dad walked into the kitchen. “Who doesn’t give a shit about your money?”
He dropped a kiss on the top of my head, and I gave Lydia a warning look.
“No one,” we said in unison.
He froze where he was looking into the fridge. “Now why does that make me nervous?”
My recovery came quickly. “I was telling Lydia about the last event we have at the community center before the Black and White dinner. O-one of the players is helping me.”
Lydia took the baton when I sent her a helpless look. She slid past Dad in the kitchen and wrapped an arm around his broad shoulders. “I was just telling Faith that I think he’s a good…” She paused, eyes wide. “Fit for her. I think he likes her,” Lydia finished on a rushed exhale.
Okay. So we were doing this now.
Because yes, based on the window of time last night when I considered risking public indecency with Dominic Walker, I thought he liked me too.
In the Pierson family rule book, I’d been the one to add No Dating the
Players. Because of He Who Shall Not Be Named. It was such an easy rule to follow. And the first guy to make me want to go there had the rockiest start of any Wolves’ player in probably the last decade. Give or take.
An excellent start, all around. I’m sure my parents would be thrilled.
Dad turned slowly. “Who’s a good fit for you?”
Silence descended like a bomb in the kitchen.
Lydia’s eyes widened when I didn’t answer. Dad’s narrowed.
I sucked in a breath. “Dominic Walker,” I said on the exhale.
He didn’t look mad, just shocked. And boy, I couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t like he kept Lydia and me surrounded by a moat, far, far away from the evil clutches of the team. Just the opposite. He trusted us around them because every member of our family remembered what I was like after that relationship ended. My dad had been the one to hold me through my tears the night I showed up at their house.
And he also trusted that most guys on the team knew we weren’t dateable material.
Dominic thought I was. Dominic thought I was a lot of things, apparently, based on what I felt pressed hot and hard against my stomach last night. Either he had a metal pipe hidden in his pants for the whole date, or he thought I was very, very … dateable.
Allie walked into the kitchen with a wide smile. She was removing her earrings when she caught the father-daughter stare off happening across the expanse of the island.
“What did I miss?” She glanced at Lydia. “What’s happening? I always miss the good stuff.”
Lydia said nothing, simply pulling a bottle of wine out of the fridge and handing it to her. “Just … pour a glass of that. You’ll get caught up.”
“A big glass?” she asked under her breath.
Lydia nodded slowly.
My dad sighed, wiping a hand over his mouth. He dropped my gaze long enough to give Allie a kiss. His eyes softened when he did. It was always like that with them and had been from the beginning. Even though I was six when Allie moved in next door to our house, I was old enough at the time to remember the change in him when they got together.
Before her, I was the only one who my dad melted for, the only one who saw behind the armor he erected in order to do the job he did and maintain his sanity. Until Allie.
The Lie : a bad boy sports romance Page 13