Pulling Veronica that way, I reach the desk and nab a hundred-dollar bill out of my wallet, shoving it at him. His head jerks up and he straightens. “How can I help you, sir?”
“Take that money and get lost for fifteen minutes.”
The kid nods effusively, snags the hundred, and scurries off.
I drag Veronica into the coatroom and shut the door behind me.
And then my mouth is on hers. I’ve got her in my arms and backing her up to the far wall, coats to the left and right of us. She’s immediately responsive, arms going around my neck and her tongue reaching out to meet mine.
I press my body into hers. I try to pull her leg up to wrap it around my waist but her dress is too tight. That problem is easily solved as I take the material and hitch it over her hips.
She doesn’t even bother to fight me. I continue to kiss her, my fingers going right between her legs and into the crotch of her panties where I find her already wet for me.
She groans as I press a long finger into her, hips jerking against me. I want to get her off hard and fast, so I attack her clit and it takes only seconds—we’re talking fucking seconds—and she’s exploding. I suck her cry into my mouth as I continue to kiss her and let her fall down from the orgasm.
When I pull back from her, I expect to see a dreamy smile on her face, but instead she’s glaring. “I thought you wanted to talk?”
Oh yeah. I guess I did. “You’re not to see anybody else but me.”
Veronica cocks an elegant eyebrow. “You can’t tell me—”
I kiss her again to shut her up. It’s hard, domineering, and I wait until she submits to it with her arms going back around my neck before I tear my mouth away from hers.
Leaning down so we’re almost nose to nose, I growl, “We’re exclusive. If you’re fucking me, you’re not seeing anybody else. Not to fuck, not to date. Got it?”
She looks exasperated. “I don’t think—”
I kiss her again.
When I pull back, this time she’s smiling. Tipping her head so our eyes lock, she murmurs. “Fine. I got it.”
“Good. After the party, I’ll take you home. I hope your boyfriend won’t mind.”
Veronica snickers as she uses her hands to push her dress down, wiggling her hips.
“What’s so funny?” I ask.
She straightens and smirks at me. “He’s only a friend, and he’s gay.”
I blink at her stupidly. That whole show of fabulous jealousy that Baden told me to pay attention to and accept what it was telling me was all because of a gay dude. “Are you sure he’s gay?”
“Yup. He’s a very good friend. My virtue is totally safe with him. But that was an impressive display of jealousy.”
“I wasn’t jealous,” I growl.
She lifts up on tiptoes and kisses me, both her hands going to my cheeks. “If it helps, had you shown up with a girl, I would’ve been jealous too.”
That pleases me, and I smile.
“It helps,” I admit.
CHAPTER 18
Veronica
I glance down at my watch and then to Janelle. “He’ll be here soon.”
Janelle nods, completely laid back. We’re standing outside the entrance to her high school’s gymnasium where her work is going to be exhibited in an art show. She’s got three pieces inside, and she’s giddy with excitement.
When Janelle asked me to come to her show, I was delighted as well as touched. But I wasn’t sure how Riggs would feel about it as we have purposely avoided doing things together by some silent agreement, not wanting Janelle to know about us.
I suspect it’s because while we’ve agreed to be monogamous, we’re not in a serious relationship. It’s still built around sex, and that’s not something we want to teach a seventeen-year-old to aspire to. So when she invited me, I couldn’t help but ask, “Will Riggs be okay with this? I don’t want to step on his time with you.”
I was stunned when she said, “Riggs is the one who suggested I invite you. You know, since you’re the one who effectively got me booted from my old school, and that’s how I ended up here. A lot of this success is due to you.”
I laughed. “That’s not exactly how it happened.”
Janelle replied perfectly. “I choose to remember it that way.”
We’re waiting out front because Riggs is running a little late. He had a practice skate today, so we agreed I would bring Janelle, and he would meet us here.
“There he is!” Janelle says excitedly, pointing his way.
And yes, there he is. Looking incredible in a pair of dark charcoal slacks and a dress shirt, hair slightly wet. He’s running across the parking lot holding a huge bouquet for Janelle.
He practically skids to a stop in front of us. “Sorry I’m late. Coach was a tyrant in practice.”
Riggs holds out the flowers to his sister. “For the budding artist. Here’s to you having a fantastic first show, and I’m quite sure there will be many more.”
Janelle takes the flowers, murmuring, “Wow. No one’s ever given me flowers before.”
Damn, that makes me sad. This beautiful young girl never experiencing something like that. I’m glad it was her brother who did it the first time. She’ll never forget this.
Riggs’s eyes come to me and he smiles. With his arm, he makes a sweeping motion to the door. “Shall we go in and see how talented my sister is?”
“I think we shall,” I agree, and Janelle and I walk in before him.
The last two weeks since Riggs’s impressive performance at the engagement party, we’ve only been able to see each other three times between his road schedule and my schooling. But there’s no doubt things are different. We don’t attack each other upon first sight the way we used to. Sex was always first and foremost the priority of our get-togethers.
But things have changed. We talk on the phone and text to check in with each other. One time I casually suggested we eat dinner when he came over, so I made grilled chicken.
Another time he showed up as I was trying to change a battery in a chirping smoke detector. He immediately shooed me away from the ladder and handled it. He then said I needed to change all the batteries and went around my condo and did exactly that.
When he was done, he said, “You call me if you need help with these types of things.”
That admittedly caused some fluttering in my belly.
Riggs has also shown more interest in my school activities, asking questions about my dreams and vision for the future. In turn, I’m trying to learn more about hockey, and he is all too happy to teach me what I need to know. Still, it’s really about the sex for us, but we are committed to monogamy, and it’s better than ever. There are no limits between us.
And in a very interesting turn of events that solidified things have definitely changed between us, we discussed safe-sex practices and decided to do away with the condoms. We both have safe histories, and I’m on the Pill.
And yeah, sex got even better without the condoms. It’s more intimate, and it speaks to things we’re too afraid to address.
Riggs and I follow Janelle through a maze of art exhibits that have been set up around the gymnasium. Janelle is exhibiting her watercolors. It doesn’t mean that watercolor is where her true and final passion is. She loves sketching and is also working with clay, but watercolor is something she’s keen on right now.