“Well, well, how the mighty have fallen,” she teased. She crawled to me, and I bet she didn’t know how sexy she looked with her ass in the air and that come-hither smile on her lips. When she reached me, she crawled into my lap, and my chest rumbled with pleasure.
“I don’t care how you look as long as I get a dance with you.” In a perfect world, that’s all we’d be doing. Until my control snapped, and I took her home…
She gasped and brought her hands to her neck as if clutching imaginary pearls. “What will the villagers think?”
“I’m sure they’re already thinking it.”
Her playful expression disappeared in an instant. “We can’t be reckless. Barbie—”
“I promise not to dry hump you on the dance floor,” I said before she could finish. Bee was my friend, but Four was my woman, and I was getting that dance whether it scandalized the world or not. I skimmed my lips over her cheek until I reached her ear. “That comes later, and we won’t be pretending.”
Four let out a short, sardonic laugh. “Most girls are promised a diamond ring and a house with a fence. I get humping.”
She squealed when I flipped her over onto her back as I nestled between her legs. “You’ll get all of that… babies too, and sooner than you think.”
She frowned, suddenly looking wary. “How soon?”
“Not before you’re ready,” I promised. She didn’t know that if I had my way, it would have been yesterday. And she didn’t know that it scared me like hell to be away from her. She had dreams of racing professionally, and I had dreams of being an architect. One day, those dreams would become a reality, and that day was bearing down on us.
Right now, the only thing keeping her from starting her season was her mother. Four wanted to wait until she was better, which meant I had at least a year to get my shit together.
Meaning my pride, ego, and insecurities.
I almost laughed at the thought. I never thought I’d see the day I’d wave my confidence goodbye.
But for Four, I’d give up anything.
Including her if—
No, not Four. Never Four.
I’d always find a way to give her what she needed because I knew the last thing she’d ever want is for me to lose her.
“Good,” she said with a yawn that left her eyes glistening and red when she was done.
“I guess that means I won’t be getting any tonight?”
“You’ve had plenty,” she remarked sleepily.
Rolling away, I started to pull the blanket over her and stopped. Reaching for her shorts, I started tugging them down her legs.
“Ever,” she groaned irritably. Her eyes remained closed, but her nose wrinkled, and her mouth balled into a pout.
“Relax. I’m just preparing you for easy access in the morning.” I saw a hint of a smile on her lips right before I crawled under the covers and pulled her into me. My hand settled at her waist, and I fingered the edge of her cotton panties. “You’re lucky you got to keep these.” Drawing the waistband back, I let it go, and it snapped against her skin.
I paid for that with an elbow to the stomach.
Chuckling, I settled down, but for some reason, sleep evaded me.
“You could wear those flats you wore on Valentine’s day.”
That night, after we all helped Wren win Lou back after she discovered his unwilling involvement in her parents’ death, I took Four to the park where I used to play as a kid, and I made her a picnic. Afterward, I made love to her under the same tree where I swore to my friends that I would never fall in love.
I’m not sure how many times I’ve replayed that night in my head since then, but I knew now that it would forever be my favorite memory. I could still taste the sweet salt from Four’s tears.
My lips parted, and I started to recount that night with her, to ask if it meant as much to her as it did me, when I realized that she never responded to my suggestion.
When I leaned over, I realized it was because she had fallen asleep.
She looked surprisingly peaceful despite all the shit surrounding us, and I swore right then that I’d do whatever it took to shield her from the storm I knew was coming.
ETA to Prom… 34 Days
I was flipping through the pages of my sketchbook when I heard a soft knock on my door. I tossed the book onto my desk and crossed the room to sit on the edge of my bed. Four stepped into my room while reading from her phone.
“This could have been yours, but you slept in the wrong bed last night.” Her head cocked to the side when she met my gaze. “Is that your idea of a good morning text?”
“It got you in here, didn’t it?”
“You could have just come to my room.”
“Not for what I have in mind.”
She stared back at me with a mixture of wariness and excitement. “What do you have in mind?”
I crooked my finger, waving her over, and like a curious kitten eager to play, she came to me. Standing between my legs, she waited dutifully while I trailed my fingers up the side of her bare legs, feeling her soft skin.
“I missed you.”
“It’s only been one night,” she retorted with a laugh.
Ignoring her statement, I kissed her stomach, bared by the loose cropped top. “Did you miss me?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
Throwing her onto my bed without warning, I stood while she erupted into a fit of giggles. She was still smiling when I hooked my fingers in her panties and started pulling them down. “You walked over here like this knowing Jamie might see you?”
She watched me with sparkling eyes as I dropped my basketball shorts. “Jealous?”
I skimmed a thumb over her clit repeatedly and watched her belly dip as her breath caught, and her eyes lowered until they were slits. “Murderous.”
Pleasure shot through the roof when I slid my finger inside her and saw the picture I’d sent her had been more than enough foreplay, but once I started, I couldn’t stop. I pulled her down until her hips were hanging off the bed, and the moment her thighs fell open, I sank to my knees and buried my head between them.
I’ve never needed the taste of someone as badly as I needed the taste of Four. If she hadn’t agreed to be mine, I undoubtedly would have sold my soul for just a drop of it. The smell of the soap I paid an outrageous amount of money to have patented to her was so potent, I could almost taste the berries, melon, and vanilla.
Too impatient to waste time removing her shirt, I climbed on top of her and settled between her legs. Holding her gaze, I slowly slid inside her and heard the hitch in her breath when I had nothing left to give.
Much later, when I had my fill, and she was sleepy-eyed and barely able to stand, I carried her to my shower and soaped her up after shampooing her hair.
“Why do I feel like your maid?”
“Serves you right,” she said with a lazy hum. “I was done after round two.”
“Round three was just to be thorough.”
“And the fourth?”
“Well, that was to make things even.”
“I want you to remember this when we get older, and you have trouble getting it up.”
“For you? I don’t think that’s possible.”