Clean Slate

by Isla Olsen

  Lawson lets out a heavy sigh. “I think you two should try talking to each other for once, instead of always trying to guess what the other’s thinking.”

  * * *

  Taking Lawson’s advice, I decide to head over to Slater’s place to talk things out. Truthfully, I don’t want to move back to Chicago. I mean, it’s nice to know there’s a company out there that wants to hire me, but just knowing that feels like enough right now. I don’t feel like I’d be missing anything if I turned the job down, especially considering these past few weeks have shown me how great it can be to work for myself. I’m really keen to explore that further.

  But I do feel like I’d be missing a lot if I gave up on this second chance with Slater.

  I let myself in when I get to his place, just like I have every other time I’ve been here over the past couple weeks. I know we don’t actually have plans to meet right now, but I figure that shouldn’t matter…unless that tiny niggling voice in the back of my head is right and he really doesn’t want me to stay…

  As I move through the hallway I can hear voices in the kitchen. It’s Slater and Chance, which I guess shouldn’t be too surprising given they both live here. I’m about to interrupt them when I realize the tone of the exchange seems kind of serious.

  “So, it’s still possible?” I hear Slater saying.

  “Technically, yeah,” Chance replies. “But I definitely don’t recommend it. Both you and Web have already invested so much in this—time, cash…there’s so much on the line. Is it really worth it?”

  “It is,” Slater replies, his voice adamant. “He is.”

  There’s a tense beat of silence before Chance finally replies, “Slate, you know I love Zack, but Web’s your family. You guys are like brothers. Do you really want to screw him over for a guy?”

  “No, of course I don’t. But this isn’t just some guy,” Slater insists. “It’s Zack. I can’t let him get away again. I need to follow him this time. And it doesn’t take a genius to know I can’t run this business from Chicago.”

  I’m rooted to the spot, my eyes wide with alarm as the implications of what I’m hearing register in my mind. On the one hand, I’m feeling all warm and fuzzy from hearing how badly Slater wants to be with me. But on the other, I’m appalled at the thought that my idiotic paranoia could have cost Slater his business. Not to mention his relationship with Web.

  Having heard enough, I emerge from behind the corner. “You won’t be in Chicago,” I say firmly.

  Both men startle at the sound of my voice. Slater gazes at me with wide, apprehensive eyes, while Chance clears his throat awkwardly and glances away.

  Pushing away from the kitchen counter where they’d been having their conversation, Slater approaches me. “You don’t want me to come with you?” he asks, hurt evident in his expression.

  I offer an arched brow. “Did you honestly think I’d be okay with you giving up your business, and screwing over Web? Not to mention leaving your house unfinished and moving far away from your family…”

  “But—”

  I reach out and grab his hand, threading my fingers through his. Offering a soft smile, I tell him, “We’re not going anywhere. Neither of us are.”

  He looks at me in mild confusion. “But the job…”

  I shake my head. “I’m not taking the job. And I don’t need any more time to figure out whether I want to stay here. I already know the answer to that.”

  “And just so we’re completely on the same page…the answer is yes?”

  I let out a soft chuckle. “Yes, dummy. The answer is yes.”

  Slater’s lips stretch into a broad grin that lights his whole face. Then he wraps his arms around my waist and tugs me closer, crashing his mouth down against mine.

  “Okay, this is sweet and all, but could you two maybe wait until after I’ve left to start tearing each other’s clothes off?” I hear Chance ask in an exasperated voice.

  “You have ten seconds,” Slater growls before returning his lips to mine.

  He backs me against the wall, caging me in with his large frame. As soon as we hear the front door close behind Chance, we’re at each other, ripping away layers of clothing and pausing only once we’re down to our briefs.

  “Can I tell you a secret?” Slater asks as his lips trail over my neck.

  I let out a soft hum as his hands slide down my waist to settle on my ass. “Uh huh. I love secrets.”

  He draws his head back so he can lock gazes with me, those gorgeous chocolate-colored eyes full of raw affection, and maybe a little apprehension. “I never stopped loving you,” he admits.

  I offer a soft smile and tilt my head up to brush my lips to his. “Same. I tried really, really hard but I couldn’t do it.”

  His face splits into a wide grin. “Same.”

  His mouth finds mine again, his hands moving up to my waist and tugging me closer so our bodies are flush together, our cocks moving against each other in a desperate search for friction.

  Finally tearing his mouth from mine, Slater spins me around to face the wall. Taking my hands in his, he lifts them to brace against the wall, before sliding his palms down my arms and over my back. I let out a shaky breath as his lips touch my shoulders, his breath hot on my skin as he kisses his way down my back, making me shiver in anticipation. Once he’s on his knees behind me, his fingers curl around the waistband of my briefs, tugging them down and letting my raging hard cock spring free.

  “Jesus, Slater…”

  All it takes is one swipe of his tongue over my crease for my legs to start trembling. He lets out a chuckle in response and I feel the vibration of it all around my ass, prompting me to let out a moan of pleasure.

  With his large hands bracing my ass in a firm grip, he goes to town swirling his tongue around the sensitive nerves at my entrance. And then he pushes inside and I just about lose it. If I weren’t basically sandwiched between Slater and the wall right now, there’s no way I’d still be on my feet.

  “Slate. Jesus. Fuck. Ah, I need to come!”

  Much to my dismay, that prompts him to stop what he’s doing and get to his feet. I let out a little whimper at the loss of his mouth, but it dies the moment I feel the head of his cock pressing against my hole.

  “Not like that,” he murmurs in my ear, before piercing my entrance.

  He’s going so agonizingly slowly I can’t help myself from pushing back against him and taking more of his cock inside me.

  “Jesus. Fuck, Zack…” Slater pants out, and I can feel his hot, heavy breath on my neck.

  “Come on, baby, I need you to fuck me,” I say desperately, pushing my ass back again.

  “Jesus,” he mutters, wrapping his arms tight around me and finally giving me what I want by burying himself the rest of the way in one hard thrust.

  “Fuck, yes.” The words are mingled with a low moan of pleasure. Jesus, he feels so fucking perfect. He always does.

  Slater lets go of my waist, lifting his hands to join mine against the wall, threading our fingers together in a gesture that somehow makes me feel even more connected than we already were. He buries his head in my neck as he snaps his hips, thrusting inside me and hitting me exactly where I need it.

  It’s not long before I feel the climax building up in me and I’m ready to explode. But before, I can let loose all over the hallway wall, Slater pulls out of me and spins me around. A moment later, I’m in his arms, my legs wrapped around his waist as he thrusts inside me again.

  He slams me into the wall, his lips finding mine in a greedy, desperate kiss that I feel in every cell of my body. My hands fly into his hair, tugging at the strands and pulling him even closer.

  We groan into each other’s mouths, swallowing the sounds with our messy kisses as he continues to thrust inside me, winding me tighter and tighter until, finally…

  “Ah, fuck…” I tear my mouth from Slater’s, burying my teeth in the side of his neck as my climax rushes through me. It’s barely a second later tha
t I feel his hot cum filling me, his grip on my ass like iron as he hurtles over the edge.

  I don’t know how long we stay like that, with me braced against the wall, my arms and legs wrapped around Slater’s beautiful body as we exchange soft, slow kisses, but eventually Slater sets me back on my feet, his arm coming up to wrap around me the second he senses me wobbling on my still-shaky legs.

  “You know, you kind of ruined my plan,” he says, staring at me with unabashed affection.

  I glance at him, a little puzzled. “What plan?”

  An adorable blush touches his cheeks as he admits, “I wanted to watch your face when you came.”

  I let out a soft chuckle. “I guess you’ll just have to wait until next time. Or the time after that. Or the time after that.” I offer a wide grin and lift my arms to link around his neck again. “Trust me, babe. There’s going to be many, many, many, many opportunities…”

  He smiles hopefully. “You’re really staying?”

  I nod, and reach up so I can brush a soft kiss over his lips. “I’m really staying.”

  Epilogue

  Zack

  * * *

  “Okay, you can’t look.”

  “I’m not looking,” I insist.

  “You can’t even peek.”

  I let out an aggravated grunt. “Slater, for fuck’s sake, I swear I’m not looking.” Despite how tempted I am to defy him—and can you blame me with how secretive he’s been acting lately? —it’s not a feasible option considering his hand is currently slapped so firmly over my eyes it’s cutting off circulation to my eyeballs.

  Seemingly satisfied, Slater grabs my shoulder with his free hand and starts steering me forward. “Okay, just walk normally and I’ll let you know when we get to some steps.”

  “You could just carry me—that’d be more gallant.”

  “Then you’d be able to peek,” he says, clearly worried.

  “I promised you I wouldn’t,” I say in my most innocent voice. “Don’t you trust me?”

  He thinks it over for a long moment before finally letting out a heavy sigh. “Fine. But I swear, if you peek you are so getting punished later.”

  I let out a soft chuckle. “That’s not exactly an incentive, babe.”

  “I could punish you by withdrawing sex,” Slater suggests,

  “Ha! I’d like to see you last a day.”

  With a grumble of annoyance, he finally moves his hand from my eyes before slipping his arm under my legs and scooping me into his arms.

  I can’t help it; I open my eyes the tiniest fraction, just to give myself a clue…and find myself looking right into Slater’s beautiful and completely unsurprised gaze. He gives a rueful shake of his head but says nothing, so I take that as my cue that I’m allowed to continue peeking.

  I can’t see much at the angle he’s holding me at, but I’m able to tell we’re at Slater’s house—or ‘our house’ as he insists on calling it—which isn’t exactly surprising considering I knew we were driving out this way.

  He’s put a ton of work into the house over the past few months and it’s at the stage now where it’s close to being completely done. All it needs is the final touches, like the lighting, the bathroom fixtures, and the kitchen appliances—all stuff Slater’s not able to do himself, which of course frustrates the hell out of him.

  He opens the door and carries me through. From way down the hall, I can hear the soft chattering of voices and then a bunch of people whispering things like, “Shh” and, “Be quiet, they’re coming!”

  “There are people here?” I ask curiously, twisting my head about to strain my ears for more chatter.

  “Yeah,” Slater grumbles. “And they were supposed to stay quiet.”

  “Slater, you’re supposed to wait until the actual wedding night to carry him over the threshold!” someone who sounds a lot like Slater’s mom, Genevieve, calls out with a chuckle, clearly ignoring the instructions he’d given her.

  “Oh, he’s just being romantic,” a voice that most definitely belongs to Nora says.

  “I don’t know about that,” George says. “Maybe Zack just hurt his ankle or something. He looks like he’s in pain.”

  My whole body starts shaking with laughter, prompting Slater to curse under his breath.

  “That’d be an awfully big coincidence, don’t you think?” Harriett, I think, says to her brother.

  I’m not sure whether it’s because he’s given up on his plan going smoothly, or because it was supposed to happen at this point anyway, but Slater sets me down in front of him and tells me to open my eyes.

  When I do, I see a whole bunch of Goodes, as well as my mother, crowded in front of me, all standing under a big, glittery banner that reads CONGRATULATIONS!

  At first, I think this celebration must have something to do with the house, because, looking around, I can see that all the work that needed to be done is finished and the place now looks a hundred percent livable.

  But then I turn behind me to find Slater down on one knee, a ring box in hand. My hand flies to my mouth, my eyes wide with surprise.

  This is so not what I was expecting. We’ve only been back together for four months. But at the same time, I can’t deny that I’ve been happier in the past few months than I ever imagined possible, and despite that nagging logical part of my brain telling me it’s too soon, I know deep down this is right. So, for once in my life, I let my heart make the decision for me.

  A wide smile spreads across my face as I nod. “If that’s what I think it is, the answer’s yes.”

  Slater’s whole face lights up with his smile and he surges to his feet, wrapping his arms around me and lifting me from the ground. Everyone behind us starts cheering and clapping, which startles me for a second because I’d completely forgotten they were there.

  Slater sets me back down and opens the ring box, revealing a simple platinum ring with a beautiful woven pattern; it’s perfect. He removes the ring from the box and places it at the end of my finger. Lifting his glance to meet my eyes, he murmurs, “Will you marry me, Zack?”

  I smile affectionately at him. “I already told you, the answer’s yes. It’ll always be yes, no matter what you ask me.”

  He smirks at me, one eyebrow arched. “Even if I kill someone and ask for help burying the body?”

  “Even then,” I assure him, reaching up to wrap my hands around his neck and draw him toward me for soft, sweet kiss, which draws applause from the crowd behind us that I’d once again forgotten about.

  * * *

  Slater

  * * *

  I’m not sure whose idea it was to do the bachelor party in Vegas. It just kind of happened one night when Lawson was over and he and Zack were watching their favorite show—Real Vegas Weddings. Lawson joked that we should get married in Vegas, which was a suggestion that of course got shot down pretty quickly. But then the bachelor party idea came up and we ended up just rolling with it.

  So now we’re here in Vegas with all our closest friends, enjoying our last weekend before we tie the knot next week. It’s been fun, but honestly I’m kind of ready to ditch the bar crawl and take Zack back to our fancy suite right now. I don’t quite get that whole needing one last night of freedom thing; it’s not like getting married is a prison sentence. Well, at least it doesn’t feel that way to me.

  “Hey, babe, have you seen Jesse?” Zack asks as he sidles up to me while I wait to be served at the bar of the new club we’ve just arrived at. I think this makes it number five for the night. Ask George and Lawson—they’re the ones in charge of the itinerary.

  I frown at him. “No, I haven’t. It’s weird, I was just thinking I haven’t seen Web for a while either.”

  Zack’s brows shoot up. “What do you think the odds are that one of them has killed the other and is now on their way out to the desert to bury the body?”

  I offer him a considering look. “I’d say pretty high.”

  “Do you think we should look into getting new best me
n?”

  I wave a dismissive hand. “If they don’t show up by next week we’ll look into promoting Law and Axel.”

  Zack nods, his lips curving up in a wry smile. “Good plan.”

  Deciding to forgo the drink I’d been about to order, I take Zack’s hand and lead him away from the bar. I draw him close to me, tilting my head down to brush a kiss against the side of his mouth. “Can you believe it’s only a week away?”

  He grins, eyes twinkling with levity as he asks, “You sure you don’t want to just ditch next week and get married while we’re here?”

  I arch a skeptical brow. “And face Nanna’s wrath?”

  He chuckles. “Good point.”

  “What I would like to do while we’re here is make use of our awesome suite…”

  Zack’s eyes light in anticipation; he squeezes my hand firmly as he starts tugging me toward the club’s exit. “Let’s go.”

  * * *

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