by Ella Fields
“Prince,” I hissed, tugging his hand once we’d reached the sidewalk.
He stopped, and my tongue glued itself to the roof of my mouth as he crowded into me. “You’re all I think about. Whether I’m asleep or awake, you’re always there. And I was willing to wait, I swear. But I can’t anymore.” His Adam’s apple shifted, his eyes taking on a vulnerable sheen. “It’s all or nothing, Petal. So what do you say?”
I didn’t hesitate. Didn’t care that people were still coming and going in the building behind us. “All. Everything.” I took both his hands, keeping my eyes on his. “Please.”
His lips parted, lashes bobbing as he blinked rapidly. “Well, since you asked so nicely.”
Then he was kissing me.
Not the chaste, flirtatious kisses we’d planted on one another’s lips or cheeks before, but a breath-stealing, soul-igniting, tasting the tip of forever kind of kiss.
His hands cupped my cheeks, and mine flattened against his Henley-covered chest as our lips found a soft yet frantic rhythm. The type of rhythm that spoke of lifetimes instead of stolen moments. The type of rhythm that set my heart soaring, thudding against my chest the same way his was doing against my palms.
We broke apart when one of his friends passed, hooting, “Finally, you pussy-whipped motherfucker.”
Laughing, I ducked my heating face.
Aiden ignored him, lifting it to press his mouth to mine again. “I don’t want to ever stop.”
“We have to,” I said, his nose nudging mine. “You have another class.”
“Fuck class, we need milkshakes.”
I couldn’t wipe the giddy smile off my face, the one that matched the feeling swimming inside, making each step to the cafeteria lighter.
With his hand in mine, he ordered our usual shakes. When we found an empty table, one of his teammates swaggered over as Aiden took a seat next to, instead of opposite, me.
“I’ve never seen this egotistical prick have to work so hard to bag—”
“And that’ll be all, Smithers.”
The guy with apple red hair stuck his hand out. “I don’t believe we’ve formally met. Aaron.”
I took his hand, letting him shake mine gently before pulling it back. “Stevie.”
“Yeah, I know.” He grinned. “The whole team practically knows.”
I could feel my cheeks warm yet again, but I laughed it off, and Aiden squeezed an arm around my middle.
I sipped my drink as he and Aaron talked about last weekend’s game, then waved when Aaron wandered off. “Judging by the way you guys were talking, you won?”
“Yeah,” Aiden said, taking a sip of his milkshake. “We won all right. Ever played?”
I shook my head. “My brother played for a season back in grade school.”
Aiden stared at his drink for a moment. “He decided he was more interested in music?”
“Definitely, and soccer. Being in a band has been his dream since I can remember.” I paused, then sucked a long sip of vanilla heaven. “Sorry,” I said afterward. “I know the last thing you probably want to talk about is the band.”
“You’re wrong.” He squeezed my hip, fingers digging, and I giggled. “If it involves you, no matter how much it might grate, I want to know about it.”
I looked at him, studying those faint freckles over his nose and the hard set to his jaw. It loosened when he met my gaze, and he licked his lips. “You’re almost too good to be true, Prince.”
He leaned forward, ghosting his lips across mine. “I tried to fuck someone else when you broke me. I’m not perfect. In fact,” he said, sitting back, “if it weren’t for meeting you, I’d probably still be working my way through campus.”
I knew what he was doing. “You can’t make me hate you.”
“I never want you to hate me. I just don’t want to be compared to him. I’m not perfect, but what you’re seeing, how we might make each other feel… of course it’s going to seem that way compared to how things were with…” He stopped there, not needing or wanting to say his name.
“Everett,” I said, needing to. “And I don’t think you’re too good to be true because I’m comparing you to him.”
Aiden raised a brow, taking a drink.
I took it from him and set it down, talking low as he looked at me with humor dancing in his eyes. “I’m serious. I want you because you’re you. All of you. The smartass, the player, the flirt, the guy who doesn’t mince words ever, even when he’s angry… all the bad as well as the good. All or nothing.”
Our hands linked, and I leaned in to lick the froth from his bottom lip. His mouth stole mine, moving fast and hard, the taste of vanilla malt and second chances heady between our soft breaths.
“All or nothing,” he repeated, pecking me before pulling away. “So…” He cleared his throat, shifting in his seat. “Your mom. She teaches music, so she can sing, right?”
I smiled at his clear discomfort. “She sure can.”
“And your dad can sing, but you’re the odd duck who can’t do anything musically inclined.”
“Hey,” I said, laughing. “I play a mean triangle.”
“I bet you do,” he said, wrapping his lips around the straw and sucking.
I laughed again and finished my drink. “She’d love you, you know. They both would.”
“Yeah?” he asked, nudging my shoulder with his.
I nodded, nudging him back. “Yeah.”
My limbs were so tense, I could feel a knot forming as Aiden slid into home right before the tag was made to win the game.
The crowd, already standing, roared their applause. Their screams, clapping, and stomping feet rattled my skull.
Now that things had changed, I wasn’t sure what to do when the game had ended, but I figured I’d just follow the crowd’s lead. When they started dispersing, I trailed them out of the stadium and into the parking lot.
This was the first home game Raslow’s baseball team had played in the month we’d been officially dating, and although Aiden had invited me out of town with him to the other two they’d played, I couldn’t go due to work and studying for finals.
School would be out in less than a month, and I was a little shocked at how fast the time had flown. Especially when it used to drag—month to month spent waiting and pining for something that would never be. Since meeting Aiden, even when we were just friends, the days flashed by in a blur of smiles, laughter, flirtatious arguments, heated ones, nerve-tingling touches, jokes, and kisses.
We hadn’t slept together yet, and I knew he was trying to give me time. That he was waiting for me to make the first move. And I was ready. I’d been honest when I’d told him I was done and that I wanted him. All or nothing.
The air was still balmy as we filed outside. The team appeared fifteen minutes later, greeting fans, friends, and loved ones.
My smile bit into my cheeks when Aiden snuck up behind me and spun me around. When my feet met the ground, I immediately cupped his damp cheeks, bringing his head down to mine. “You need to wear those pants tonight,” I whispered.
“Oh, do I?” He grinned, then pressed his lips against mine in a hard, wet, and moan-inducing kiss.
“Let’s go,” I said, pulling away.
He didn’t need to be told twice and waved to some of the guys on the team, only stopping a few times to shake some young kids’ hands. My heart warmed at the way he made them smile with such ease, simply by being him.
He opened the door of his Audi for me before tossing his gear in the trunk. The vibrating hum of the engine did nothing to curb the excitement brewing between my legs.
“What are you doing?” I asked minutes later when he turned into the drive-through.
“Ordering us some burgers. I’m starved.”
Opening my purse, I tried not to grumble and fished out my phone, finding nothing but the background picture of me and Adela. Sighing, I tucked it back inside and ignored the smirk I knew was sitting on Aiden’s face. “I’m good, tha
nks.”
Finally, burgers sitting in a brown bag on my lap, he turned back out onto the road. And a minute later, he turned into a gas station.
“What?” I sputtered.
He unclipped his seat belt, jumping out. “Need some gum and a Gatorade.”
Frustration curled my hands as he strolled, all lazy grace, toward the bright entrance.
When he returned, I chewed my lips to keep my annoyance masked. It didn’t work. When he tossed the gum into the console and the drink into the cup holder, and then just sat there, I snapped, turning to him to yell… I didn’t know what because he was smiling.
My eyes narrowed. “Okay, what are you doing, Prince?”
“Not much fun, is it, Petal?”
Confusion creased my brows. “What?”
He tutted. “So impatient.”
“Aiden,” I warned.
“Waiting. It’s not fun to be kept waiting, am I right?” He grinned. “Or am I fucking right?”
I groaned. “You’re an idiot, is what you are.”
He barked out a laugh, then finally started the car.
I seethed, even as laughter tried to burst free, the whole way to his apartment.
He had the place to himself, courtesy of his dad, and I was thankful for that when we finally got inside, and I exploded. “I thought you were okay with us being friends all that time.”
Eating his burger, he tossed his bag by the door and his drink on the glass coffee table. He swallowed before talking. “Petal,” he said through a laugh. “I was fucking messing with you. Come here.”
“No,” I said, and he raised his brows, shoving the rest of his burger inside his mouth, then uncapping his drink. “I needed.” I stopped. “Ugh, I was…” I couldn’t even say it and nearly stomped my foot as heat climbed up my neck to decorate my cheeks.
Chuckling again, Aiden took a long swig of his drink, swishing it around his mouth before he came for me. “Horny?” he supplied.
I nodded, feeling that excitement return when his eyes dipped over my face and settled on my lips. Who was I kidding? It never really left. Even when he made me mad, I still wanted him.
“Then we’d better fix that. I like seeing you angry-needy.” He ducked, hoisting me over his shoulder. My Chucks flew off when I kicked my legs as he carried me down the maroon-painted hall to his room, where a large king-size bed decked out in black linens sat in the center.
Clothes lay strewn on the ottoman at the end, some on the floor, and a gaming console perched in tangles on the table below the large flat screen on the wall. I’d been in here before but never for long.
Never for this.
Dumping me on the bed, he made quick work of ridding me of my panties, then tugged my denim dress up and over my head. “You’re too fucking beautiful for this world.”
“Kiss me,” I said, reaching for him.
“With pleasure.” He climbed onto the bed, his tongue mating with mine, his fingertips driving me crazy as they brushed over every inch of skin.
When he moved them between my legs, I sighed with anticipation and relief. “Want them, do you?” he whispered against my lips.
“Yes.”
He hummed, biting and tugging my lip as he fell back to the bed. I frowned, dismay settling in until he said, “Let me tell you what I want.”
“I swear to God, Prince, if you play any more games…” I was so turned on, so frustrated, that I didn’t even care I was naked. Vulnerability took a hike in the face of desperation.
Sitting up, he crooked a finger for me to come closer.
I shuffled over on my knees, which he gestured for me to spread, his hand climbing up my thigh. Two thick fingers trailed through me, and I shivered, needing more but not wanting his touch to leave.
“Now, what I want is for my fingers to be buried inside you and soaked.”
Air wheezed out of me at the hoarse command and timbre to his voice.
“Sit on them.” I did, and they slowly filled me. “Yes, fuck yes.”
Feeling my heartbeat in every limb, I trembled as he dipped the fingers on his other hand into his mouth, sucking. Then, eyes heavy on mine, they met my slick flesh. With the slightest bit of pressure, they skimmed over my throbbing clit.
I was gone. “Shit, Aiden,” I whimpered and moaned, fucking his fingers as I crashed and burned.
With a damp hand on my hip, he held me down when I tried to move away. “That’s it, come completely undone, beautiful.”
When the waves retreated and my vision cleared, I stared down into his adoring, lust-fogged gaze, then I climbed off and pushed him to his back. My lips found his, my hands sinking into his hair as I whispered, “I already have.”
Looming clouds threatened to steal the morning glaze that bathed Raslow in golden warmth.
“No, we’re doing fine,” I reassured Mom, staring out the kitchen window.
“You always say that. Lord knows how many times we’ve helped Hendrix since he left. We can spare a little to do the same for you.”
This was the third time she’d offered since I’d moved out and started college. I was being honest, though. Yes, money was tight most weeks, but I had enough to get by.
Still, I got the feeling she wanted to help, so I offered, “Well, I could probably go for some new clothes soon…”
“Excellent,” Mom chirped, a door closed and noise echoed as she likely walked down the street to her building. “I’ll drive up this weekend, and we can go shopping.”
Shit. “But school’s out soon, I could just—”
“Gotta go, my next client’s probably already waiting for me. I’ll see you Saturday morning.” She made kissing noises, then ended the call.
I gaped at my phone, unsure what I was supposed to tell Aiden. After last weekend, we’d made plans for a repeat.
Puffing out a frustrated sound, I shoved my phone in my bag and left for work.
The morning passed with its usual rush, and Adela came by between classes to fill me in on the date she’d had last night.
“Sounds like that guy I went out with in high school.” I snapped my fingers. “What’s his name?” I smiled, remembering, and slapped my hand on the counter. “Clive.”
Adela crinkled her nose, trailing her finger over the petals littering the wooden countertop. “I bet Clive’s car didn’t smell like stale Cheetos, but at least this guy tried to touch me.”
“A hand massage, though?”
“I don’t know what y’all are bitching about.” Sabrina walked in from the back room, sorting through a box of cards. “A hand massage sounds divine.” She plonked the box on the counter, and I snickered as I plucked a few cards out, placing them on the pile by the register.
“It was creepy,” Adela said. “The first time the guy takes me out, and all he wants to do is love all up on my hands.”
I eyed them. “You do have nice hands.”
Sabrina hummed, grabbing them to inspect for herself. “Great cuticles, too.”
Adela groaned, but I knew she was lapping up the attention.
The wind chime over the door sang, and I looked up from Adela’s hands to find Aiden nearing the counter. He flashed that I-can-make-you-do-anything grin, edging in next to Adela, who was tipping her head back, brows raised high.
The sight of him in jeans and a worn leather jacket just about liquefied me where I stood.
Adela heaved out a sigh. “Warn a girl before you turn from sexy to drop-dead sexy.”
His brows furrowed. “What?”
“The jacket,” she supplied, finally lowering her gaze.
“One second.” Sabrina walked around the counter, and Aiden’s eyes grew when she raised her hands to his head. She swept some of his hair back, then pursed her lips. “God, it’s like Scott Eastwood and Henry Cavill had a love child.”
Aiden grinned, his features creasing with adorable confusion as he looked at me.
Sabrina caught it and laughed. “I’m gay, so don’t worry your handsome little brai
n over it. But Gloria and I still love to look. And my,” she said, quirking her lips at me as she headed for the back room, “you sure are fun to look at.”
Aiden’s cheeks tinted, and Adela visibly melted. “Oh, Jesus. Dump her gorgeous ass and take me out. But first, tell me, do you like hands and Cheetos?”
Aiden wiped a hand down his cheek. “I’m so lost right now.”
Adela and I both laughed, and she patted him on the shoulder. “Probably for the best. Later, lovebirds.”
I was still smiling when she’d left, then I turned that smile to Aiden, who was watching me with that electrifying intensity. Grabbing the flowers by the window, I walked around the counter and set them in a pot with matching arrangements.
Try as I might, though I didn’t exactly try too hard, I couldn’t erase the feeling that threatened to burst in my stomach whenever I thought of our weekend together. Whenever his eyes were upon me.
He was a gentleman, sure, but his filthy, sweet words as he got to know my body and helped me get to know my body in ways I didn’t know existed haunted me.
I didn’t know why I hadn’t expected that. And I didn’t know they—that he—would affect me so entirely. In ways so consuming, even when we weren’t in the same room.
To distract myself, I fiddled with a cluster of petunias and daisies. “No class today?”
“Everyone’s cramming, and besides, Tuesday’s aren’t the same, knowing you’re not on campus.”
“You should still be there, but I won’t lie. I like having you here instead.”
His arms came around me, and courtesy of my messy bun, he could rest his lips in the crook of my neck. “What can I say? You leave a lasting impression every time I see you.”
“Still?” I pressed, leaning back into his hard body.
“Still.” The warm silk of his lips pressed into my skin. Once, then twice. “I fear it’ll soon be everlasting.”
I think I sighed loud enough for him to hear, judging by the way his arms tightened around my waist. “I missed you too.”
“Thank fuck for that.” Another kiss, then his hand reached out and his fingers caressed the petals of a sunflower. “What is it about these flowers, besides the obvious, that you love so much?” If it weren’t for the soft way he’d said it, I’d wonder if he were jealous.