“Um, I’m at home?” I replied, and phrased it as a question because really, where the hell did he think I was? “Why?”
“You’re meant to be here, that’s why! And then we all call you and you don’t answer? What’s going on with you just now, Maya?” He sounded royally pissed off at me.
“Adam.” I sighed because I was exhausted, and a night in a bar did not merit this level of drama to me. “I’m tired. I’ve had a really busy week, and I’ve been working my ass off. I’m in the bath just now trying—”
I got as far as that before he interrupted, sounding panicked. “You’re in the bath?” And then hung up. Well, that was charming. Dropping the phone back on the ground, I lay back again and tried my hardest to relax, but my bath had lost its tranquility, so after fifteen minutes of stewing I pulled the plug and got out.
After toweling off, I padded downstairs to make a sandwich, because it was too late to eat a real meal. When I was halfway down, though, I heard hammering at my door. Ah, and there was one of my cousins overreacting and coming to check my pulse—just what I needed. Why couldn’t they just leave it be for the night? I was finally nice and moderately relaxed after my bath, and happy in my towel, about to take a sandwich to bed with me…Holy shit, I’m sad. What 24-year-old lives their life like that?
More pounding on the door interrupted my sudden pity party, and I stomped over to the door, shouting, “Wait a goddamn minute, you asshole,” while I unlocked the bolts and threw the door open. “What the hell? I told Adam—” I stopped when I saw who had been hammering on my door—the one and only Ren. “What are you doing here?” I asked, totally at a loss as to why he would be pounding my door at 10:15 p.m. instead of balls deep in the same girl as my cousins. Don’t go there, Maya.
“Adam said you sounded upset on the phone,” he said, looking me over. He had his hands on either side of my door frame and seemed to be using his firm grip to keep himself there. I saw the heat in his eyes as he looked me up and down, and I realized that I was standing in my door with just a small towel on—one that only hit about 3 inches under my ass and showed a whole lot of cleavage, too.
“Oh shit,” I choked out as I turned to run up the stairs. Unfortunately, my towel got caught on the door handle, and it tugged the left side of the towel down, so he got a good flash of left boobage and half of the right before I grabbed the unraveled bit and ran.
As I got to the top of my stairs, I started to hyperventilate. Oh my God, I just flashed Ren, oh my God, my boobies just popped out in front of him, oh my God, I’m gonna die! I was chanting in my head. Why, God, does shit like this happen to me? I wasn’t sure that I could ever show him my face again as I paced around in my bedroom, going back and forth and thinking about alternatives. I could try climbing out my bedroom window and hide until he left, and then first thing in the morning I’d get in my car and drive to Brazil. With that plan in mind, I opened the window, looked down, and remembered I was shit scared of heights.
“Don’t even think about it, Maya,” I heard barked from behind me.
“Um, what do you mean? It’s just so hot in here that I figured I’d open the window,” I said, trying to sound dismissive, when inside I was now thinking, Get rid of him and drive to Brazil immediately.
“You have air conditioning, baby, so that’s not gonna work! Now look at me.” His voice was a continuous growl now.
Was he kidding? I’d all but shoved my fun bags in his face, and I was pretty sure he’d seen the coo part of my coochie coo, and he wanted me to look at him? So I did what every girl in my situation would have done—I walked to the bathroom to get my robe as if nothing was wrong, making idle chitchat with him as I did it.
“Was there anything important that you needed? Because I’m pretty beat, and I was just about to head to bed. If it’s to do with your house, then I’ll make a note of the suggestion and get back to you in the morning, if that’s okay?”I said as I tied the sash on my robe.
Not hearing a word from my bedroom, I figured he’d walked downstairs mid-conversation and left me to talk to thin air, making me look like an even bigger idiot. Instead, he was sitting on my bed next to the bags from Scarlett’s. They had obviously been looked through, seeing as how they were open, and now he looking through a photo album of my family that I had left on my dressing table that morning.
“Uhhhh…” was all I could figure to say, because come on—so far I’d flashed him, suffered from verbal diarrhea, bitten his head off, tried to escape out the window (and looked like a total twat when I got caught), and now this?
“You look like your mom. Is that your sister?” He was pointing to a picture of Mom and Lucy. “She looks like your dad, but y’all have the same face.”
I already knew this, but him making chitchat over family pictures threw me a bit. “Yeah,” I replied, biting my lip to stop myself from asking him why he was looking through my photos.
“Who’s this guy?” he pointed at a picture of me and my ex from prom.
“That’s my ex, Marc. Well, he’s just a friend now, but at the time he was my boyfriend.”
“You’re friends with your ex?” he asked, looking equal parts pissed off and incredulous. Huh. I wouldn’t have thought that those two emotions could be mixed.
“Yeah, before we went our different ways to college, we agreed that the relationship wouldn’t last that sort of distance, so we split up, but stayed in touch, and from there our relationship turned into a friend-type one,” I explained, shrugging.
“That’s fucked up,” he clipped, looking at me like I was a naive kid. Something about his reaction made me see red.
“Why? Because I remember the name and have the number of someone I’ve fucked?” I snapped.
For all of a second, he looked shocked, and then his face started to turn red and his scowl returned. He threw the book onto my bed and stood up and walked towards me.
“No, Maya, that’s fucked up because exes can’t be friends. It’s just not possible. One will always still have feelings for the other, and if you think he doesn’t still have those feelings for you, then you’re fuckin’ insane.” By this point, his toes were against mine, and he was leaning down into me, which, albeit hot, was pissing me off, too, because it screamed intimidation at me. “Now tell me why you stood me and your cousins up tonight,” he demanded, staring me straight in the eyes.
“Back up!” I barked.
“No,” he said, leaning further into me until there were only a couple of centimeters between our noses. “Why, Maya?” Him watching me so closely made me feel more defensive; if I told him that it was because of his girlfriend, he might turn around and say that it hadn’t been a date, just a drink with friends, and that would be humiliating. Then again, he had kissed me so hungrily today, like he couldn’t get enough; so what if he turned around and told me that they had an ‘understanding’ and that he just wanted to fuck me? My thoughts were making me more angry and hurt, and he was so close to me that we were breathing the same air—it was driving me insane.
“Move back, Ren.”
He was about 8 inches taller than me and built like a linebacker, and having all of that nose to nose with me while he breathed hot, angry breaths across my face was causing me way too many emotions—especially when there was a bed a couple of feet away from us. I stared straight back into his gray eyes, watching the pupils dilate, and then his mouth was on mine.
I don’t know who moved to who, but the next second he was nibbling and then sweeping his tongue across the sting and the seam of my lips—which of course led to me opening my mouth to him, because it would have been rude not to. All I could feel, see, and hear was Ren and how his tongue was licking along mine, the sexy way it was moving around my mouth, how soft his hair was in my hands, and how hard and perfect his chest felt against mine again. Then I was moving through the air, and I felt my comforter under me as he placed me gently on the bed, and then the weight of his body was on mine, and God it felt perfect. Nothing I’d eve
r felt before this even came close to the feelings that this guy brought out in me. I opened my legs so that he was cradled in between my thighs, and I felt his erection behind the zipper of his jeans pressed right on that perfect spot. I let out a moan at the same time as he let out a deep growling groan. He moved from my lips and kissed down my neck, sucking here and there and no doubt leaving marks—which at this moment in time sounded awesome to me.
As he kissed across my collarbone, I felt cool air touch my breast before his warm mouth closed around my nipple and sucked it in hard—holy shit, that felt good. He started to lash it with his tongue, and I could feel myself getting wetter, so I shifted and felt cool air brush against me and remembered that I was naked under the robe. As if he’d realized that at the same time, I felt his hand move agonizingly slowly down my body towards ground zero, causing me to buck my hips up against him in the hope that he’d move quicker. I felt him smile just as he flicked my nipple with his tongue, before moving to my left breast, mumbling, “Patience, baby,” just before his mouth closed around my left nipple.
It was like a bucket of ice water had been poured over me as soon as I heard the word ‘baby’; he was a manwhore who had a slutty girlfriend, shared his women with my cousins, and he couldn’t even remember my name. As the reality sank in, I started to push on his shoulders and wriggle around underneath him, feeling desperate to get him off me and to get the hell out of this mess.
“Maya?” he rumbled, looking at me with concern as he moved to the side of me, leaving his thigh still between my legs, which prevented me from closing them.
I scrambled to sit up, which only pushed my very turned-on lady garden against the rough denim of his hard thigh, making me groan, and for a second I reassessed why I was trying to get away from him.
“Baby?” he repeated, and with that, I remembered exactly why I’d been fleeing.
“Uh, look, I’m sorry. That shouldn’t have happened,” I explained, trying desperately to move away without rubbing myself against his thigh again. God, it was tempting, though; it must have been his jeans. Yeah, it was the jeans!
His strong arms came around me and stopped me from moving away from him as he placed his mouth next to my ear and mumbled, “Yeah, it should, Maya, and it’s going to happen again—a lot.”
Welp, at least, he remembered my name. That was one point in his favor. But no, I couldn’t be fooled just because he’d said my name—Ren probably knew the names of all of the females within a 100-mile radius for a couple of seconds, or when he knew he needed to say it to get some.
“Yeah, no, it’s not. I’ve made this mistake once before and never again. You’ve made your way through the female population of the area, have a girlfriend who, FYI, is as fake as my mom’s hair color, and now you’ve got new blood in the water, so you’re going after that before you move on to the next one. Reality check—you can’t share me with my cousins, because that’s just disgusting, not to mention illegal, so why bother?”
Throughout all of this, I was still wriggling in his arms, desperately trying to get some distance between us now as he lay still as stone behind me. “Honestly, and I’m not saying this to play hard to get, but I’m not worth it. Really, I’m not. And I’m not a one-night stand type of girl. I’ve done that once and hated myself for it, and getting involved with a manwhore player again—no no no, I can’t do that,” I rambled, shaking my head to emphasize my point.
“You think I just want to fuck you?” he growled in my ear.
“Well, yeah! That’s your MO, isn’t it? I mean, the word ‘baby’ just flows out of your mouth like…well’ I don’t know what like, but I do know why. It’s because you can never remember the name of the girl, so calling her baby, or sugar, or sweetheart—whatever makes her feel special—gets you laid. I know your type so well. Not only have I had it used on me more times than I can remember, but my ex was like you, so this isn’t happening. And you have a girlfriend, so it’s not like you’ll be stuck for company. So honestly, no, I’m not doing this.” I was shaking my head as I finished my rant and trying to get his arms to unlock from around me at the same time, but he wasn’t letting go.
“You have got to be shitting me!” he growled yet again. Seriously, I hadn’t even known it was possible for someone to growl, but he did it perfectly. I wondered if he usually had a sore throat by the end of the day.
I tuned back in as he said, “I’m gonna turn you around, and you’re gonna listen to me.” Since it meant that I’d be free from him, I nodded my head. His hands moved to either side of my waist, and I was suddenly lifted and turned around so that I was straddling him, before he moved up my bed to the headrest and sat up so that we were face to face.
As I went to ask him to let me stand up, or at least sit on the bed, he put his finger over my mouth and said, “Quiet, Maya, you’ve had your say, now let me have mine,” while looking me straight in the eyes. Well, shit, I guess that was only fair!
“Right, I dunno who exactly has told you what, apart from what you heard today, but my past is exactly that—my past. I can’t change it. Hearing about your past just there makes me feel sick and like I wanna go and hunt them down, so I get that this is hard, but you, Maya…Jesus. I’ve thought of no one but you since I saw you in Cooper’s that day, and that is no lie. Then you walk through my mom’s door, and I learn that you’re doing my home up, and it’s like nothing that has happened in my life is worth shit, but everything in my life from that moment onwards is worth more than everything. I’ve never wanted a relationship, but with you, I’m not settling for anything else.
“I wanted to give you time, to do this right, so I went to Jilly’s tonight so I could buy you a drink, and we could continue getting to know each other, but instead we’re here, and I’m thankful for that, because now I can tell you how it is. I’ve never called a woman ‘baby’ in my life apart from you; it’s never even occurred to me to call her baby or sweetheart or any other name because I never gave a fuck before you. Does that make me sound like more of a bastard? Probably, but it’s the truth—you would never be a one-nighter for me, it’s just not possible! And I sure as shit do not have a girlfriend. I don’t know who told you that, but they’re lying.”
I knew that my mouth was hanging open, and I so wanted to say something meaningful or, at least, question what he was saying, but all that came out was “Oh!”
“So are you going to let me prove it to you?” he asked, running his fingers gently down my face and then stroking my lower lip, his eyes following the path of his finger before looking back up into my eyes.
“Uh,” was what came out of my mouth, causing a smirk to curl up on his sexy mouth. God, I’m never lost for words. Why does he always do that to me?
“Is that a yes, baby?” he asked, nuzzling his nose against mine tenderly.
I took a deep breath in and then closed my eyes as I breathed out. “Okay,” I whispered, “we can try, but please don’t lie to me or use me.” I opened my eyes and looked into his gorgeous gray eyes that were a beautiful deep silver with a darker gray band around them; they were so unique, so…Ren.
“Never, baby, never!” He promised before he kissed me.
Chapter Nine
Ren
I woke up, rolled over, and looked around the large space while I thought over my conversation with Maya last night. I couldn’t believe she was giving me a chance. Ever since I had turned 10 and gotten over the whole ‘girls have cooties’ bullshit, I had never had to work for a girl. I hadn’t been lying when I’d said to Maya that I’d never had a girlfriend; even back then, there had been kisses behind the trees of our school, but I’d never committed. Sure, the girl may have thought I was hers, but I’d always shot that shit down because I’d never found myself interested enough in someone to commit. When I lost my virginity at 15, I’d discovered a whole new world and the joys of being sexually active. I’d used the theory that if I had a variety, none of them would try and tie me down with some form of commitment bulls
hit. Now, though, Maya had changed that for me, and I wouldn’t settle for anything less with her.
With the way I was feeling now, I was thinking I needed a plan to keep Maya tied to me forever so that I didn’t lose her, but I knew that I needed to take it slowly because she didn’t trust my reputation. My past was a huge issue for her, and I didn’t want her using it as an excuse later on down the line. My mom had told us about soul mates, but given how disinterested I’d been in a relationship and how my brothers and I had grown up, I’d figured we’d never get one, but fuck if I didn’t feel it now with Maya. I knew she was fucking gorgeous, but I didn’t think it was just that, because I’d had gorgeous women before and I hadn’t been interested in keeping them, so there must have been something more, something deeper, and it scared me and tethered me at the same time.
Last night when I was exploring her, all I could think was that I was in heaven, and I thanked all that was holy that she was giving me a chance that I knew I didn’t deserve. On Friday, I’d seen the look on her face and had kept trying to apologize, but I’d known it wasn’t the time or place; the look on her face had eaten away at me all day, though. I’d thought we’d hit a good place yesterday and that we’d have a drink at the bar and chat, but someone had apparently been telling her lies, and I knew who it was—fucking Francheska.
The only time that ache had gone away was when I’d had her in my arms and after she’d told me she’d give me a chance. If she knew she had no option and that she was stuck with me forever, though, I thought she’d cut my balls off and run, so I needed a plan.
I had never felt so much from kissing someone before; it had always been something I could do without’ so long as the chick was willing, that was all there was to it. When I thought about it like that, I felt like the biggest piece of shit ever. After our talk, we had explored a bit more, and I’d asked her to come with me to the lake today for a picnic to spend some time together and with some friends, too. Thankfully, she’d said yes, so I needed to get my ass in gear to get shit together.
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