by A. J. Logan
His cock teases my entrance, fueling my need for him. All of him. His eyes study mine as my breath hitches, knowing he could flip the off switch at any moment. This moment would be the worst, I wouldn’t survive. Uncertainty on his face, he tenses but slowly lowers his lips to mine. And it’s all the reassurance I need to know he isn’t stopping, just proceeding slowly on something that we both have longed for. Kissing me softly, his arms move under me, hands clutching my shoulders as his kiss deepens. Lifting my hips offers him all the encouragement he needs, and he thrusts forward, his cock filling me as I cling to his shoulders consumed with an overwhelming sensation as he remains inside me. Dropping his head to bury his face against my neck, he breathes my name, which only serves to intensify my desire. He remains rigid for a moment before slowly pulling out, then thrusting forward. A moan escapes my lips but is quickly caught by his mouth covering mine. My hips meet his as he moves inside me, rhythmically finding our pace until he goes rigid, spilling inside me as I hold tight, not wanting to let go.
“Fuck,” he groans, slightly relaxing his weight on me for a few minutes before shifting back to meet my gaze. I search his expression, and he seems to be doing the same. There’s a mixture of contentment and concern on his face, and I’m afraid of what he’ll latch onto until he lowers his lips to mine and whispers, “You feel like home.”
Clenching my eyes shut, I soak in his words, knowing with each one he’s sinking deeper into my heart. I’m not sure how that’s even possible because it dawns on me that he’s already fully embedded in it.
He tenderly kisses me, relishing in the remaining moments of bliss before slowly pulling out and shifting to the side. He falls to the mattress beside me, his arm lifting and moving over me while brushing a path with his fingertips up my stomach, skimming between my breasts as he keeps his eyes locked on mine.
We’re both unsure of what consequences will come from what just happened, but the only thing I want is to do it again, even if we shouldn’t. But I can’t bring myself to say it to him. Whether it’s spoken aloud or not, it’s the truth. But maybe if I hold on to some part of my heart, I can keep it intact if everything falls apart, as I fear it might.
Sliding off the bed, his hand catches my arm. I look over my shoulder as he asks, “Are you leaving?”
“No,” I whisper as his hand releases me. “Just going to the bathroom, I’ll be right back.”
His serious expression eases slightly before I look away, stepping inside the bathroom and closing the door behind me. Though I quickly clean up, I hesitate to walk back out into the room. Avoiding his eyes, I search for my clothes, feeling too exposed in front of him. Walking over to me, he hands me my T-shirt. I pull it over my head and, locating my shorts, I tug them on to cover myself before sliding back under the covers.
He leans over, feathering a kiss over my lips. “I’ll be right back.” He grabs his pajamas off the floor before stepping into the bathroom.
My mind is lost in thought when I feel the bed shift next to me before his arm drapes over my side and his chest presses against my back.
“We’ll figure it out,” he whispers, sensing my unease, but I’m not convinced.
Rotating, I turn to face him as he lies on his back, wrapping his arms around my body. Holding me snuggly against him, my head rests on his chest, my arm clinging to his side, I close my eyes but remain awake until his breathing finally steadies. When he’s finally fallen asleep, I hope the nightmares will stay away from him for a few hours. Nuzzling against his chest, my arm tightens around his waist, relishing the feeling because I already know come morning, reality will crash down around us. Brutally.
24
Elliot
Snuggling against her, I whisper, “I have to go,” before planting a kiss behind her ear as she stirs, sighing as she shifts away from me.
“Mh-hmm,” she says softly, watching as I climb out of the bed.
“I’ll call you later.” I give her a slow, lingering kiss before heading to the door.
The morning sun is already pouring through the window, so I pray no one sees me coming out of her room. I should’ve left hours ago, but I couldn’t let her go. I’m not sure what’s freaking me out more at the moment, the fact that I got in a few hours of restful sleep with her beside me again or the fact that now there’s no going back after last night, not that I’d want to. I just don’t know how to do this without collapsing everything to the ground. Asher is my best friend. Surely, he’ll understand. I hadn’t meant for it to happen, but it had, she’s become a vital part of my world, and I can’t lose either of them.
Stepping out of her room, I breathe a sigh of relief as I go downstairs to find the house empty. I’m thinking I need some time to figure out how the hell I’m going to explain this one. Hurrying out of the house, I drop into my car, speeding out the driveway as my phone rings through the car’s speakers.
My heart races when I see Asher’s name displayed on the touchscreen.
“Hello,” I answer, holding my breath.
“You hauled ass before I had a chance to ask you something.”
“What’s that?” A million different ways to begin to explain float through my mind, but none of them seem good enough.
“Wade said we’re going to his place tonight instead of yours. Is that the plan?”
My hands grip the steering wheel, squeezing tight. I’m relieved that is the something he wanted to ask. “Yeah, man. That’s fine. I actually have something to take care of, so I need to bail anyway. I’m sorry, dude.” But not about tonight … about last night. And about every lie, some small, some big. That’s the only thing he hates—being lied to—and I’m doing it at every turn.
“No problem. I’m thinking about skipping out too.”
We talk for a few moments before ending the call. I’m pulling into my driveway when I spot Susan’s car. It’s not that odd, but usually she gives me a call if she drops by on the weekend and I’m not home.
Entering the house, I call out to her, and she walks out of the kitchen, arms folded across her chest. Damn. She looks pissed.
Flashing her a smile, I do my best to soften whatever I did to irritate her. “Good morning!”
“Get in here now.”
Uh-oh. She’s mad mad so there’s no getting out of this one.
I follow her into the kitchen, spotting my principal sitting at the table. Shit.
Susan looks to me, her arm lifts as she eyes her watch. “Is there somewhere you’re supposed to be?”
Dropping into the chair, I avoid her eyes and Huntington’s. “I’m sorry.” And I really am. I had every intention on showing up for my detention, but once again, I flaked out because I was distracted with everything, mainly her. Last weekend I was so busy taunting Victoria and her date that I skipped out.
“And this isn’t the first time, apparently. Do you care to explain?”
“No ma’am. No excuses,” I say, looking to her before turning my eyes to Huntington. “I had intentions on following through when I said I’d be there every day and on time, but I didn’t keep my word.”
“I’m here to issue you one last warning. Take responsibility or you will be repeating your senior year while everyone else leaves you behind and goes off to college. Normally, I wouldn’t give out this many chances, but with everything—”
“Please don’t say it. I’ll be there. On time.”
Huntington stands from the table, extending his hand, and I stand to accept it. “I’ll see you first thing in the morning.”
I agree. Susan walks him to the front door, leaving me in the kitchen. I lean back in the chair before she returns shortly, having a seat in her usual chair.
“Let me have it,” I say, waiting for the remainder of the lecture.
“It looks like you’ve had a rough enough night as it is.”
Eyeing her, I’m unsure if I’m hallucinating or just blocking out the actual words she’s said. “So, you’re not going to tell me I’m an irresponsible idi
ot who’s about to flunk high school?”
“No. Because I believe in giving people another chance, and I believe you meant what you said. All I plan to do now is wait for you to prove me right, like I always am.” She winks, patting me on the hand as she stands. “I’m heading back home.”
Home. I’m home but it doesn’t feel like it.
“Elliot. Do you want to hang out with us today?”
“No, that’s okay. I have some homework I need to catch up on.”
“I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to do so tomorrow while you’re at school all day, unless you’re just making up an excuse to sit around and mope.”
Busted. “Do you ever get tired of being right?”
“Not one bit,” she teases before softening her voice. “If you want to hang out here, then so be it. I won’t force you out of the house, but if you change your mind, come by anytime.”
“Okay,” I say, but I know I’m just staying here. Moping is easier than pretending to be happy right now.
Susan gives me a kiss on the forehead before heading out. I run upstairs to shower and change, doing so quickly before heading back downstairs. Grabbing a water out of the fridge, I head outside to sit on the lounge chair. The blazing heat of the sun is better than the chilly silence inside. Looking to the house, I glance down at my phone. If I call her, I can ask her to stay over tonight, but last time I tried that, it didn’t go so well. She bailed and sent her brother to babysit me out of pity.
My head falls back with a frustrated groan. Damn, I want to be inside her again, but I can’t risk it until I confess to my best friend. Or until I can get some control over my shit because if I ask her over and she flakes out, it’ll sting worse this go-round and I’ll know that last night was pity sex.
Standing from the chaise, I toss my phone into the pool, watching it sink to the bottom. It’s the only way to keep myself from doing something reckless because every phone call I want—or need—to make opens a Pandora’s box that I may or may not be able to contain.
Walking back into the house, I grab a beer out of the fridge before returning to my trusty lounge chair. I down half the bottle, relax my head back, and soak up the warmth of the sun on my skin. I’ll figure it out tomorrow. Today, I just want to enjoy the one day where I have both of them in my life right where they belong—Victoria within my reach and Asher by my side—just as it should be.
25
Victoria
Glancing at my phone again, I note the lack of phone calls or messages. It’s ridiculous. I refuse to try again because the few times I’d gotten the nerve to call Elliot, it had gone straight to voice mail. I haven’t seen Asher since last night, so I have no clue if Elliot has said something to Asher or not, but I’d really like a heads-up before that happens. If he even plans on something happening again.
Heading downstairs, I hear my father’s voice boom across the room. “Where the fuck is he?”
Entering the kitchen, I see my mom cowered down, my father’s face beet red as he towers over her. Fear grips me as I hurry forward without thinking.
“Where’s who?” I ask timidly, stepping to the side of them as my dad keeps his glare on my mom, fear radiates out of her.
“Asher. Where is he?”
“I’ll find him,” I say, but my dad doesn’t respond. Although I promised to locate him, I fear the thought of my dad speaking with him while in such a rage. “Have you checked the gym? He mentioned getting up early for a workout.” Lie. But I can’t think of anything else to break the tension.
It works a bit as my dad looks to me, his anger fading slightly but not enough to put me at ease. “Run in there and check. When you find him, let him know I’ll be in my office waiting on him.”
I nod, watching as my dad stiffly walks out of the room, and my mom’s shoulders slump forward, her fingers pressing against her temples. “What’s going on? What did Asher do?”
“He didn’t do anything. Your father just needed to speak with him about some paperwork that’s missing from his office. I’ve reassured him that no one has been in there but he wants to ask Asher about it too.”
All that rage over some paperwork? “Do you know anything about it?”
Her eyes dart to mine, worry replacing the fear. “No. Of course not,” she says, pressing her hand against her chest as she steps past me before looking over her shoulder. “If you talk to Asher before I do, please tell him I need to speak with him first.”
Something tells me there’s a sinister reason for that. Why would she need to speak with him first if it’s just some misplaced paperwork that she doesn’t know anything about?
Quickly, I dial Asher’s number, but it goes to voice mail. Sending Quinn a text, I ask if she’s seen him but am even more nervous when she responds he was there last night but doesn’t know where he is now. I try Elliot’s phone again but it goes straight to voice mail. I dial Wade’s number and am alarmed when he says he hasn’t seen Elliot or Asher since yesterday.
What the hell is going on?
Running back to my room, I grab my key fob and head to the garage. Just as I step inside, the bay door for Asher’s spot opens. Sending a jolt of relief and fear through me.
Asher casually steps out of his car, slamming the door shut as I walk towards him. His scratched and bruised face causes me to gasp. “What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“Asher! What the hell happened to your face? I just tried to call you … and Elliot and Wade and Quinn … I was trying to find you because Dad is fuming, and you were nowhere to be found.”
“What’s wrong with him now?” Asher asks, with disregard, more than likely because he hadn’t witnessed the same scene I just had.
“Something about missing paperwork, but Mom wants to talk to you first. Do you know anything about it or why she would do something like that?”
“No, and she wouldn’t.” He steps forward but I shift in front of him, blocking his sidestep.
“What happened to your face? Wade said he hadn’t seen you, but I never could reach Elliot.”
“His phone is out of commission.”
“You were with Elliot? Is that what happened to your face?”
“Yep. We had a snag in the rope while climbing. My face took the brunt of the fall.”
“Is he okay?”
“Yep. It was my reckless move and thankfully he came out of it unscathed.”
“Were you with him last night?” I already know the answer but what I can’t understand is if Asher was with Quinn, and Wade hadn’t seen Elliot, then where was he? And more importantly, why wasn’t he with me?
Asher gives me a curious look. “I picked him up early this morning, but he skipped out on Wade’s house last night because he had something to do. He bitched about not being late for detention all morning, so I’m sure he’s at school now.”
“Oh,” I reply, confused by the overload of information as my brother stares at me.
“That it? I need to proceed to the next interrogation if you’re done.”
“Yeah,” I reply, not acknowledging his sarcastic comment.
He hesitates for a moment before asking, “What did Quinn say?”
“Just that she wasn’t sure where you were.”
“Okay.” Asher says before disappearing into the house.
Elliot hadn’t been hanging out with friends last night and hadn’t called me. His phone being out of commission didn’t mean he couldn’t have driven over here.
He’d done it again. He’d chickened out. Except this time, he hadn’t pulled away in the heat of the moment, he’d taken it all the way … and now he was backing out.
Walking to my car, I jerk the door open and drop into the seat. My destination is Golden Olympus Academy because there’s no way I can wait any longer to confirm what I already know.
Jogging up to the school, I step inside, making my way through the deserted hallways before stopping at the only occupied room in the school. Peeking through the doorway
, I spot a teacher I don’t recognize and two idiots that I do. Grant is looking at his phone while Elliot has his head on the desk, most likely sleeping.
“Can I help you?” the teacher asks as my eyes stay pinned on Elliot. I’m enjoying the shock on his face when he looks up to see me standing there.
“May I speak with Elliot for a moment? I just have a quick message to relay to him.”
A snort comes from Grant as the teacher agrees, signaling to Elliot that he may leave the classroom for a moment. Elliot doesn’t move for at least a minute before reluctantly standing and walking out into the hallway. I move to the right a few steps, out of Grant’s line of sight before turning to face him, my hand propped on my hip.