Robert walks out of his room wearing tennis shoes that look like they haven’t been touched in, well, years. His expression is fearful, worried, even ashamed.
My chest swells with sympathy, and I reach my elbow out to link arms with him. I can sense the weight of this moment, and I want to make sure he knows I don’t take it lightly. I look up at him and smile with brightness and confidence. Not in myself, but in him.
We stop in the doorway. The front door is all the way open, and Robert stares out at the outdoor hallway of the condo building. The palm trees sway gently, and the air smells like salt and wintry Florida sun.
“This is out of my comfort zone,” he mumbles in a shaky voice.
I tighten my arm around his. “You’re not alone.”
He meets my gaze and lifts his chin, smiling nervously. “Let’s go, Pinky.”
We lock the door behind us and head down the stairs to a small walking trail behind the building. I noticed the entrance to it when I pulled in the other day, and I’ve had this particular goal set firmly in my mind ever since.
Robert looks back at the condo as we make our way into the parking lot. He’s jittery and uncomfortable.
“Lean into the discomfort,” I say softly, gesturing for him to look forward instead of back. “Don’t let it win.”
He takes in a long, deep breath of outside air, his first in God only knows how long, and his face brightens and glows for a brief second.
I feel like jumping up and down.
“All right.” He nudges me and slightly picks up the pace of our walk. “Start talking, then.”
“I guess the truth of the whole thing is that I have no idea what’s going on. I know that Dylan is awesome. He’s incredibly selfless and caring and deeply kind. Although he’d never let his ‘soft side’ show to the world. Which is also a good thing, because I get to see it. So it feels like it’s only for me.”
Robert treads lightly on the gravel of the trail, which circles a small lake. “You see all the parts of him. He is a great kid, isn’t he?”
He beams with pride, and the fear and discomfort are slowly dwindling away from his eyes.
I decide distraction is good, so I keep talking. Besides, the ability to word-vomit about my Dylan confusion is actually the very thing I didn’t know I needed. “He is great. So, so great. I had all these preconceived ideas about professional sports and the athletic industry, and he’s really opened my eyes about all the good there is in it. This whole experience has. The thing is, we’re polar opposites in a lot of ways, but he has such a beautiful soul. He makes me laugh constantly, and I can tell he thinks I’m weird, but in a good way. Usually a good way.” I glance at Robert, who raises a bushy brow. “I think.”
He lets out a hearty laugh, and we continue walking around the track. As we reach the point where we entered the trail, he keeps walking.
Another lap! My chest lifts, but I force myself to keep a calm and cool exterior, as if I don’t want to break out into my happy dance right here, right now.
“Can I ask a question?” Robert eyes me, confidence and joy glimmering in his gaze.
I don’t even try to fight my smile. “Ask away.”
“Well, are you falling in love with him?”
Robert’s question washes over me like a tidal wave, and I feel the world shifting under my feet as I try to possibly conceive of an answer.
I swallow hard and squeeze my eyes shut. “Can I ask you a question?”
He narrows his gaze, feigning frustration. “Not an actual response, but fine.”
I look at the ground, watching his feet stride along the trail with more certainty and liveliness in every step. “Why do you want Dylan and me to be together? I mean…” I flip my pink ponytail jokingly and gesture at my entire being. “There’s no way I fit the mold of the perfect NFL wife you always thought he’d end up with.”
“I told you,” he mumbles. “I read energies, remember? I just knew as soon as you walked in.”
“Okay…” Not buying it, I skip a bit and bounce on my toes. “So what’s your method? What aura pairings did you recognize between Dylan and me? Did you use an astrological idea, or did you just feel it in your bones?”
Robert sighs deeply and runs a hand through his thick, salt-and-pepper hair. “All right, Pinky. I don’t actually read energies. But I didn’t lie!” he adds quickly. “I really do see you guys together. There’s a light in him when you’re around that I haven’t seen in a long, long time.”
I let myself drown in the warmth of that for a brief second. “So why are you so adamant that we’re meant to be? You don’t have any clue if we are,” I say through a laugh as we begin lap three.
“Well, when I saw you together, I had an idea. It occurred to me that maybe if Dylan found a girl—the right girl”—he points an assertive finger at me—“then, I don’t know, maybe Sherry would come back. Maybe if it was my doing…if I helped Dylan find forever love, she’d see it, and she’d believe in it again. She’d believe in me again. And she’d give me another chance.”
I let this raw honesty process in my brain, the purity and sweetness of it tugging at my heartstrings.
“I know, I know. It’s selfish.” He shakes his head and drops his gaze to the ground. “But I did mean what I said,” he adds quickly. “About you being good for him.”
I breathe in the cool air, and a smile pulls at my cheeks. “It’s not selfish,” I assure him. “In fact, I think it’s really beautiful.”
We walk in peaceful silence for a moment, and I try to quiet my brain, which is already firing off a million ideas about how to get Robert and Sherry back together.
It’s not my place. It’s not my business. They’re not my parents. Keep your nose out of it, Melody. But on the other hand…Dylan did say I can help his dad. And there aren’t any specific limitations on what that means.
“You know…” I say slowly, eyeing Robert as we round out another blissful lap around the lake. “You could always give her a call. I’d bet my bottom dollar she misses you, too.”
“Oh, no. Good gracious, no.” He waves his hand dismissively. “She doesn’t want to hear from me.”
“Robert!” I stop in my tracks and stretch my arms wide, taking in a deep breath and emphasizing the beauty of the sunny air. “Look where you are right now. And you’ve been totally killing it. Don’t you think she’d want to know you’re all out and about?” I wink and nudge him playfully.
“You know what, Pinky?” He straightens his back and lifts his chin high, a newfound confidence beaming in his eyes. “You’re right. It’s time to pick up the phone.”
I laugh as he marches back toward the building.
He frowns nervously. “Maybe we can just start with a text message.”
“Anything is something,” I say kindly, jogging up the stairs and feeling pretty damn good about today.
“That’s true for you and my boy, too, you know.” He raises his brows and gives a knowing smile.
“What do you mean?” I swing the door open after he unlocks it, and more tingly chills prickle across my skin at the mention of Dylan.
He gestures vaguely. “Whatever’s going on between you. It’s something.”
I fight a smile and narrow my eyes, swirls of mixed emotions charging through my mind and heart. “Yeah. I guess it is. Now let’s draft that ol’ text message, huh?”
Eighteen
Dylan
“You know…” I shout to Melody as I close the front door and drop my duffel bag on the ground. “I’m really starting to get used to that scented-vapor stuff.” I laugh and take an exaggerated inhale, filling my nose with the fruity sweetness that’s taken over my condo since Melody moved in.
She bounces out from the hallway by the guest room, her hair flowing in slow motion, and sunshine following her around. As usual. “Hi.” She smiles and steps closer. “I told you essential oils are for everyone.”
I stifle a smile and roll my eyes, unable to resist reaching out and
running my thumb along her soft, rosy cheek. “How was your day?” The question comes out somehow way more sexually charged than I intended. Maybe because I’m still holding her delicate face in my palm. Or maybe because we’ve both had the exact same thing burning in our minds for weeks now.
There can only be so many sparks before they turn into a fucking wildfire.
“It was actually…” Her wide smile is even more glowing than usual. “A wonderful day. I went to see your dad.”
I draw back in surprise, slipping into the kitchen to get a Gatorade, noticing that my hand is aching for her skin as soon as I walk away. “Oh yeah? How’s the old fart?”
She snorts and follows me, leaning against the counter. “He’s good. We practiced a Vinyasa flow, ate some cereal, took a…” She angles her head to the side, arching a brow and biting her sweet pink lip. “Walk.”
I almost drop the cold bottle of Gatorade I just grabbed from the fridge. “A what?” I choke on laughter and shock.
“You heard me, Rivera.” She flounces away, giving an exaggerated hair flip and throwing a proud look over her shoulder.
I grasp her wrist before she leaves the kitchen, pulling her back toward me, still reeling from the impact of what she just said. “How did you… How did he… Melody, I—” I sound like a total idiot, babbling and fumbling for words.
“I aligned his inner qi and taught him to find peace and balance in the presence of fear.”
“No fucking way.”
“Okay, fine.” She laughs softly and lifts a shoulder. “I bribed him.”
“Ha!” I can physically feel myself getting more and more attracted to her every second. I didn’t even think it was possible, but my body and my mind are more fiery than ever. “With what? Maker’s Mark?”
She twirls a pink wave and looks to the side. “Not…exactly.”
I gently hold her chin between my thumb and index finger, slowly turning her head back to meet my gaze. “What then, you little magician?”
She breathes out slowly and swallows, visibly fighting the same restless attraction that I am. “I told him…that if he took a walk with me, I’d tell him what’s going on with us.”
I frown and give her a half smile. “I sure as hell didn’t expect you to say that.”
She moves closer, our lips just inches from touching now. Her hand finds its way to the back of my neck, and suddenly it feels like every force in the world is pushing us into each other right now. “He’s got some silly ideas.” She’s whispering now. “About you and me.”
I lean into her, feeling her chest rise and fall against mine. “And…” I run my thumb along her lower lip, watching her eyes widen and getting more turned on every second. “What did you tell him?”
“That I think you’re really…awesome.”
I jut my chin at her, giving a teasing smile. “Is that so?”
She nods eagerly, the entirety of her perfect body pressing into me now. “And that I don’t really know what’s going on. But anything is…something.”
A swell of tingly warmth rises in my chest, and I can’t help the enormous grin that slides across my face.
For a moment, I drink it in. Her. This incredible, eccentric, borderline insane enigma of a woman standing in my kitchen. The woman who walks around in a goddamn cloud of magic and selflessness and got my dad to go outside. Out-fucking-side.
“I don’t know if it’s something,” I say under my breath, holding her close and tight to my body. “But I think I want it to be.”
In an electric second, our mouths are pressed against each other. Then, so is everything else.
Kissing Melody is hot and fast and desperate. It feels like I’m experiencing something I’ve spent years waiting for.
I slide my hands underneath her tank top and pull it over her head in a swift movement. Her flawless boobs swell as she arches her back against me, and I lift her onto the kitchen counter.
She giggles wildly and tugs my shirt off as I place her ass on the granite, kissing her neck and her collarbones and her chest.
Every muscle in my body is tight and aching with the need for release. My dick is harder than a diamond, and letting my hands and lips explore every inch of the goddess in front of me is making me harder.
I bury my face in the crook of her neck, savoring her sexy whimper and kissing her with all the pent-up passion and desire that has been building since she walked through the door. “Please…” I mumble into her. “No thunder this time.”
Melody lets out something between a gasp and a laugh as she tightens her sexy and surprisingly strong legs around my waist. “I wouldn’t care if there was an earthquake.”
I grab her hips with tender aggression, shifting them into me and feeling another hot wave of arousal surge through my chest and abs and cock.
Every move is frantic and desperate, and every inch of our skin that touches ignites sparks and fireworks and blistering heat.
“You look…” Melody kisses my jawline and traces the lines between my abs with her slender fingers. “So good.” She rocks against me. “It’s not fair.”
“What’s not fair,” I mumble, gliding my hands underneath her strappy sports bra thing, “is that this is still on.”
I pull at the stretchy fabric, taking a nanosecond to shake off my blurry vision and read the words written on the material across her chest.
Find the power inside you.
I feel my jaw slack and a dirty smile pull at my cheeks as I raise my brows at her. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Power is inside me,” she says teasingly. “And now, you need to be, too.” Her tone shifts to heavy and raw and sexy.
I cup the swells of her breasts and feel her heart pounding under my hands.
She kisses me hard and smiles against my mouth. I smile back. All I can do is smile. I’m more goddamn happy about banging Melody than I’ve ever been about anything.
She grazes her fingertips over my shoulders and biceps and back, sending a wave of chills rushing over my skin. Her hands find their way to my backside, where she slides them under my gym shorts and gives my ass a playful squeeze.
We both laugh breathlessly.
“So firm,” she teases, shoving my hips against hers and making it nearly impossible to maintain any kind of control over my body or mind. “It’s like you’re a professional athlete or something.”
“You hate professional athletes, remember?” I bite her bottom lip and gently suck on it, feeling her heart rate and breath going almost as crazy as mine.
“I’m about to hate you real good, Rivera.” Her eyes spark with fire and color and indescribable desire.
She pulls at the waistband of my shorts and boxers, shoving them off completely and gasping with excitement and satisfaction as they drop to the kitchen floor.
She wraps her hand around my throbbing hard-on, making me suck in a sharp and needy breath. The smallest touch of her fingers on me sends spirals of aching, hot lust coursing through me.
“Fuck,” I whisper, thrusting slightly into her grip, kissing her and slipping my tongue into her mouth, making her whimper again and arch into me, begging me to mimic that motion with what she’s holding in her hand.
I grip the tempting curves of her hips and pull at yet another piece of clothing made of that skintight stretchy shit. “My turn,” I mumble as I yank at the black leggings, rolling them off to expose miles of slim, toned, deliciously soft legs.
“You’re getting better at that.” She winks and spreads her legs wider around me so that the only thing separating my dick from her absolutely perfect pussy is a tiny lacy thong.
“I don’t know,” I rasp, yanking the string of underwear over her ass and down her legs, not caring how eager and needy I am. “I’m gonna want more practice.”
We’re both completely naked now. She’s still sitting up on the counter, her silky, tanned skin covered in a waterfall of pink waves.
My eyes fall on her tattoo again, and I run my thumb across it.
Unity. With Melody. Why is that the greatest thing I’ve ever felt?
“I feel so fucking lucky,” I say without thinking.
Shit. My jaw clenches as I force myself to remember this sexy, colorful, wild dream of a girl who’s naked on my kitchen counter is not mine. She’s not even remotely mine. She’s leaving in a couple weeks, and I’m not lucky because I can’t be lucky, because she isn’t mine.
I lift my chin for a second and meet her gaze, cursing my racing mind. Since when am I the one without a filter?
Melody smiles, beaming with sweetness and sex. She runs her hand through my hair and grips it tight, pulling my face close to hers and kissing me. “We’re both lucky. To have this moment.”
A stab of disappointment hits my chest, and I shake it off quickly, forcing myself to focus on the raw, hot, physical passion and not how temporary this moment might be. “Yeah. You’re right.”
I reach around her back and grab her phenomenal ass, shifting it against my hips and positioning her perfectly for every dirty thing I want, no, need, to do. “Bedroom?” I basically choke out the question, unable to handle the way her already dripping center is grazing the tip of my dick.
She bites her lip, the dirty half smile creeping across her mouth making her even more irresistible. “Nah. Let’s stay right here.”
I nod and run my thumb across her lip. “Say less, baby.”
Every fiber of my body wants to get inside her slick, hot center as fast as I possibly can, but I also want to savor every second of anticipation.
I reach down to the floor and fumble for my wallet in the pocket of my gym shorts, pulling a condom out and tearing the wrapper off with my teeth.
Melody is living, breathing energy, and having sex with her is the most passionate and electric thing I’ve ever done. I don’t know how many more times I’m gonna get to do it. I want to drink it in like it’s a game-winning field goal in the playoffs.
“What are you waiting for?” She giggles freely and leans into me. “Now’s not the time to be pensive.”
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