A Dose of Pretty Poison: A Brother’s Best Friend Romance (Pretty Poison Trilogy Book 1)

The fact that it’s a Friday night and I’m sitting at home is pathetic. Normally, I would be sitting at a bonfire at Cam’s right now—drinking a beer and trying not to make it obvious that I would rather be fucking his sister. But Mother Nature apparently had different plans, and you can’t exactly have a bonfire in the pouring rain.

So instead, I’m sitting on my couch. The TV is on, but I’m not paying much attention. Texting Laiken is a much more appealing option.

Do you think if I leave my skylight open during the storm, that it’ll fill my room like a pool?

I snort and shake my head. Only she would even think to do something like that.

I think you should try it and find out. I’m sure your parents will love the idea.

Hmm, fair point, but your sarcasm is noted.

I don’t know who you think you’re with, but sarcasm is all you’re going to get out of me.

The response she sends shouldn’t get the reaction out of me that it does, but the grip on my phone tightens.

Technically, I’m not WITH anyone. I’m single as a Pringle and ready to mingle. Ooh, I should try speed dating.

My thumbs hit the screen a little harder than necessary. I know she’s only kidding, but the mere thought of someone else’s hands on her is enough to make me stabby. Relationships may not be my thing, but that doesn’t mean I’ll ever be okay with her dating someone else.

Toxic as fuck? Sure.

Give a fuck? Nope.

You try that and let me know how it works out for you. 😈

The three little dots appear, and I sit there watching it, anticipating her answer.

You failed sharing in kindergarten, didn’t you?

God, she’s such a brat. It’s like she knows exactly how to get under my skin, and then make me smile so I think it’s okay. No wonder she works with kids. This gaslighting probably works wonders on them.

I hate you.

You don’t. You’re just still mad that I beat you in a race.

I knew she was never going to let me live that down.

Hey! I’ll have you know that Coach said if we were to race again, I’d give you a run for your money.

I bet he told you you’re good at hockey, too. 😏

Laughter booms through the room as my head falls back against the cushion. There’s nothing I can say to her that she doesn’t have a comeback for. People think Mali is bad, but that’s just because Laiken’s sass only comes out when she’s comfortable with you. When the two of them are in rare form at the same time, look out. You’ll learn that death by insults is an actual thing.

“Who has you smiling like an idiot?” Devin asks as she comes in from the kitchen.

I drop my phone face down on my lap. “Oh, I was just watching a funny video.”

Her brows furrow. “Without sound?”

Shit. “Yeah. It, uh, was muted, but it was still funny.”

She watches me intently before calling my bluff. “Okay. Show me.”

“What?”

“Show me the video,” she says, leaning on the back of the couch to get a good view of my phone.

I look over at her, rolling my eyes as she waits expectantly. “You know, I begged Mom to return you to the hospital and bring home a boy instead.”

“You were three and didn’t know any better.” She tries to grab my phone for herself. “Now let me see the video, you weirdo.”

I grab it just as she gets her hands on it, and the two of us start to fight over my phone. The problem is, she has a much better hold on it than I do, and the fact that she’s standing works to her advantage. Just as she starts to slip it from my grasp, I panic.

“I was watching porn,” I blurt out.

Devin drops my phone like it’s diseased and holds her hands up with a disgusted look on her face. “Wait, you were laughing at porn?”

Well, we’ve come this far. May as well really mortify her.

“Yeah, he slapped her in the face with his dick and left a mark.”

She stares back at me completely dumbfounded. “I swear, I will never understand what girls see in you.”

Taking a pillow from the couch, I toss it at her and chuckle as it hits her in the face.

If it wasn’t for our dad leaving, I don’t think we would be as close as we are. But she was only twelve when he walked out and never came back. I was hurt, as any kid would be from something like that, but Dev took it hard.

Almost as hard as Mom did.

I quickly fell into the man-of-the-house roll, and one of those things entailed being there for my sister. It made us closer, in a way. Maybe not as close as Cam and Laiken are, but I can definitely understand Cam’s protective nature when it comes to her.

If anyone were to hurt Dev, I’d skin the fucker alive.

“I’m surprised you’re not hanging out with your friends,” I tell her.

She shrugs. “I was going to see a movie with Paisley, but I have to pack.”

“Pack?”

“Yeah. I leave tomorrow morning,” she replies. “Valerie, Quinn, and I are going to Myrtle Beach for a night. We’ll be back Sunday, probably late morning.”

I hum, trying to recall those names. “Do I know them?”

“No. We met at the new gymnastics place I’m assistant coaching at. And don’t even let the thought go through your head. I refuse to bring them here.”

Yeah, definitely not where my mind was going. Not when all my thoughts seem to be glued on Laiken.

“Jeez,” I mock. “I hook up with one of your friends one time during a sleepover and suddenly I want them all.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “It’s not you wanting them that I’m worried about. Do you know how annoying it is for your friends to constantly talk about how hot your brother is?”

“Can’t say I do,” I answer. “I don’t have a brother, and if any of my friends called you hot, I’d elbow them in the face.”

My subconscious glares at the screaming hypocrisy that just came out of my mouth, and I get it. I’m a walking double standard. Add it to the list of things that are damning me to hell.

“Good thing I don’t think any of your friends are attractive.” She pauses. “Except maybe Isaac. He’s got that rich guy vibe.”

I narrow my eyes to slits. “First of all, not considered one of my friends, and second, if he even so much as says your name, I’ll make him regret the day he was ever born.”

“I’m telling Mom how deranged you are.”

“Where do you think I got it from?”

She chuckles as the microwave goes off and grabs her food before taking it to her room. Meanwhile, the gears in my head are already turning.

If Devin isn’t going to be here tomorrow night, that means I’ll have the house to myself. Mom works overnights at the hospital—the glorious life of a nurse—and since it’s an hour away, she sleeps there after a shift, so she doesn’t risk falling asleep at the wheel. Sometimes, depending on how busy they are, she doesn’t come home at all until she has a day off.

It’s a shitty schedule, and I can tell it takes a toll on her, but that’s what happens when your husband walks out and leaves you to support your two kids on your own. She may have let it knock her down for a while, but once she picked herself back up, she became determined to still give us the best lives she could. And she succeeded.

I glance down at my phone, see a waiting text from Laiken, and I smile at the idea that comes to mind.

Aw, did I hurt your big man ego?

🖕Devin almost saw my phone. I’m changing your contact in my phone to a guy’s name.

That’s going to make for such awkward sexting. I can’t wait.

SATURDAY MORNINGS ARE THE only day where hockey practice is earlier than Laiken’s shift. The practices usually suck when we’re all hungover after Friday night bonfires. But since none of us were drinking last night, we’re unusually lively for ten in the morning.

Except Owen. He’s still hung over.

Laiken sits in the stands, waiting for her shift to start while we run some drills. She alternates between writing in a notebook and scrolling through her phone. Regardless, her attention isn’t on me, and I don’t fucking like it.

Lining the puck up just right, I push it off my stick and send it flying into the glass. The loud bang that echoes through the rink startles everyone around, but especially Laiken. Her eyes widen as she jumps, notebook falling on the floor and her hand going to her chest.

It wasn’t supposed to be funny. It was meant to get her attention. But from her reaction, I can’t seem to stop laughing, and neither can Cam. Laiken flips me off, and once I’m sure no one is paying attention, I bounce my eyebrows a couple times—silently saying yes please.

Skating past her during the next drill, I wink. She rolls her eyes, but I see the way she smiles as she looks down at her phone.

All I want is to get my hands on her again. To lay her down on my bed and feel her beneath me as I slide my cock into her. I may be the furthest thing from desperate, but I’m fucking starving for her.

If I don’t get her alone soon for longer than a few minutes, I’m pretty sure my balls are going to shrivel up and die. They’ve been through enough lately with the constant teasing.

It’s like the world’s longest edging, and I don’t even get my name in the Guinness Book of World Records.

IF IT DIDN’T MEAN no more Friday night bonfires, I’d highly consider staying sober the night before every morning practice. Sure, I guess I could not drink, but what’s the fun in that? Sitting around the fire with a beer in my hand is my own personal heaven. Well, one of them.

I walk out of the rink with the guys, watching as Owen nearly runs a kid down by not paying attention.

“Shit, sorry,” he says, then winces. “And sorry for saying shit!”

Lucas chuckles. “Such a role model you are.”

“Fuck off.”

I shake my head as I see the two other kids within earshot of him. “Batting a thousand, dude.”

He waves it off. “Like they don’t hear worse from their parents.”

Okay, he kind of has a point.

“Meeting me at my place?” Cam asks.

“I wish,” I answer. “Instead, my lucky ass gets to sit at the surf shop for the next eight hours and tend to the morons who buy a board under the assumption that surfing is easy.”

At least once a week, someone will come in who clearly has no idea what they’re doing and buy a surfboard based on how it looks alone. And when I tell them about the lessons we offer, they practically laugh in my face.

It’s standing on a board, not rocket science.

Okay, well, don’t come crying to me when you break the board and nearly drown because you thought you knew everything.

“I’d rather do that than carpentry,” Cam counters. “There’s nothing fun about your constantly drunk boss making you run the company for only a small percentage of the profits.”

“So, quit. Find another,” I suggest.

He shakes his head. “Just because I’m only making a small percentage, doesn’t mean it’s not a bigger percentage than I would get anywhere else. And besides, maybe if he drinks himself to death, I’ll get the company.”

“Doesn’t his son work with you?”

“Yep. Useless little twit.”

I snort, and just as we start to reach where his Jeep is parked beside my truck, I feel my empty pockets.

“Motherfucker,” I grumble. “I forgot my keys inside.”

He opens the door to his Jeep and climbs in the driver’s seat. “Better be sneaky. I forgot something once and Laiken roped me into helping tie kids’ skates before I left.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I tell him. “Later, man.”

I start walking back toward the ice rink and watch as Cam drives out of the parking lot, with the rest of the guys following suit.

Perfect.

Kids run around in circles, hyped up on an unfair amount of natural caffeine. Seriously, where does that all go when you get older? Because if I did even half of the shit they do, I’d need a damn nap.

Dodging a few NHL-not-so-hopefuls, I glance around for Laiken and when I don’t see her, I head straight for the girl’s locker room. She’s just coming out the door, and she squeals as I grab her.

I spin us around and press her up against the wall, out of view from any innocent eyes. “What are you doing tonight?”

She hums, only to giggle when I kiss her quickly, just because it’s been too long since I was able to. “I have a hot date, actually. It’s a menage a trois.”

The smile drops off my face, until I see the way she’s trying her absolute hardest not to laugh. “It’s you and ice cream, isn’t it?”

“Don’t say it like that. My relationship with Ben and Jerry is sacred.”

“Mm-hm.” I pinch her side. “I think you just like getting a rise out of me.”

Her grin widens. “I mean, it’s pretty amusing.”

“So glad I could entertain you, princess.” I kiss her again, and she melts into it. “For real, though. Plans tonight?”

“No. Why?”

“Well, my mom has work, and Devin is away for the night with some friends, so my house is going to be empty.” I slide my hands down her body to her waist. “I was thinking maybe you’d want to come over.”

Her brows furrow, and she presses her hands against my chest, gently pushing me away. “That sounds a lot like a booty call. What kind of girl do you think I am?”

Okay, that’s not at all how I thought this would go. “N-no, that’s not…I didn’t…”

She puts her fist to her mouth as a laugh forces its way through, and I close my eyes as I exhale.

“Do you get off on fucking with me?” I ask.

“A little bit. Yeah.”

The smile on her face could rival even the most loved views in the world. And if I was the romantic kind, I’d tell her as much. That won’t happen, of course, but damn. Happiness looks so fucking good on her.

“That’s all right,” I tell her, bringing my lips to her ear. “Now you have two things to pay for, and I always collect.”

She moans quietly and leans into me. “That’s just mean.”

“Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet.” I kiss the top of her head and then her lips as she looks up at me. “I’ll text you and let you know when I get out of work.”

“Okay,” she agrees.

I walk backward as I check her out one more time, and then I spin around and head out—refusing to admit how excited I am for tonight.

Not to myself, and sure as fuck not to her.

THERE AREN’T MANY DAYS when I wish it was busy in here, but today is definitely one of them. If I was constantly dealing with customers, the hours might not feel like they’re standing still. I swear, I thought it was almost time for closing, only to look at the clock and realize it was three hours past the time I got here.

So, I started to busy myself with taking the inventory I’ve been putting off for a while.

Picking up my phone, I see a new message from Laiken. It’s a video of the little girl she was telling me about the other day. She’s tiny—small enough to where you can’t see what she’s doing when she gets too far away. Honestly, she reminds me of Laiken.

The first time I ever laid eyes on her, she was on the ice. I remember watching her and wondering why someone would waste their time skating around like that when they could be playing hockey, but I was still impressed by her. She may not have skated anywhere near as gracefully then as she does now, but she’s always had a natural skill that other people would kill for.

Reminds me of someone else I know. 😘

She’s going to be better.

Somehow, I doubt that.

The thing about Laiken is that she has the tendency to not acknowledge how good she really is at something. She’s been doing it for as long as I’ve known her. Ice skating? Calls it a hobby. Singing? Claims she doesn’t have what it takes. Cheerleading? Takes her team to Nationals as captain and says she wasn’t good, everyone else just sucked worse.

It’s like she can’t wrap her mind around the fact that she’s talented at so many things—so she tells herself she’s mediocre.

The store phone rings and snaps me out of my thoughts.Owned by NôvelDrama.Org.

“Wax and Waves,” I answer.

“Hey H,” Marc says. “How’s it going?”

Looking up, I notice a few people in the store, but I’d be an idiot not to take the opportunity that’s in front of me. “Eh, it’s dead in here.”

He hums. “Really? No one at all?”

“Nope. Haven’t seen anyone for hours.”

“Mm-hm,” he says, and I chuckle as I hear his voice through the phone and outside the door. “So, the people in the back are what? Ghosts?”

Marc walks in and I smile guiltily as I hang up the phone.

“In my defense, we haven’t sold a single board all day,” I tell him.

“Excuse me?” a customer asks. “Could I have some help in the back? There’s a longboard I’m interested in.”

Oh, sure. Just make a fucking liar out of me.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I tell Marc as I see him smirking. “You don’t have to sit here for eight hours at a time. It’s brutal.”

He laughs as I follow the customer back and help him bring the board to the front. Usually, I’d help measure him and make sure it’s the right size, but with the way he was talking about the different specs, there’s no point. He knows what he’s doing. Once he swipes his card, I hand him the receipt and hold the door open for him as he leaves and heads for the beach.

“Okay, so we sold one board today,” I correct myself to Marc.

He snorts as he looks over some of the reports from the last month. “Who is she?”

Nope. Not doing that. “Who is who?”

“The girl you’re trying to get out of here to see.”

I should deny it. The more people who know about us, the higher the risk of it getting out. It’s the epitome of the saying two can keep a secret if one of them is dead. But if there’s a chance of him letting me leave a couple hours early, it may be worth telling him there’s someone.

Pushing my hair out of my face, I exhale. “It’s not serious.”

“It never is,” he shoots back. “Do you like her?”

Ugh. “She’s all right.”

The little voice inside of me telling me I’m a fucking liar is a nuisance I have to mentally swat away like a bug.

My phone vibrates on the counter, and I grab it before Marc sees the name. I really do need to change her name in my phone. God forbid Cam was here and saw her texting me. There’s no way that would go over well.

“That her?” Marc questions.

Not going to lie, I wasn’t in the best place when Marc came into my life. I was fighting a lot at school, acting out at home. It was a year after my dad left, and I blamed every single person in the world for it. And when he gave me a job as a favor to my mom, I felt like I was being punished.

Little did I know, he wasn’t punishing me at all.

He was saving me.

Having me here every day after school meant I wasn’t getting into trouble. It meant I wasn’t hanging out with the wrong crowd, or getting offered drugs I probably would have tried just for the sake of teenage rebellion. It kept me on the right track, and in a way, he became the dad I always needed.

“Yeah,” I say as I swipe open my phone.

Laiken: So, what’s the attire for tonight? Trench coat chic?

I start texting her back, not even aware I’m smiling until Marc says something about it.

“Get out of here, H.”

My brows raise as my head snaps up to him. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, I can handle the rest of the day,” he says with a shrug. “Any girl who has the ability to make you that happy just with a simple text is pretty special.”

“Wait, no. We’re not—”

He snickers. “You’re not dating. Right. Got it.”

If he wasn’t letting me leave right now, I’d probably flip him off. But in the interest of not making him change his mind, I decide against it. I grab my keys off the back counter and thank him as I leave.

Now to get home and make sure my room doesn’t look like a bomb went off in it before Laiken gets there.

IT TAKES ME FIFTEEN minutes to clean my room, and by clean, I obviously mean shove everything scattered on the floor into my closet. I’m getting laid tonight, you really think I have the patience to do this shit the right way? Come on.

Thankfully, my mom keeps the rest of the house pretty tidy, so the only other thing I need to do is get rid of the dishes I left in the sink. I turn on the sink and grab the sponge like I know what I’m doing, but I quickly realize I’m a little more spoiled than I thought.

Fuck it. Why do we need twelve plates anyway? There’s only three of us. One won’t be missed.

Tossing it into the trash can, along with the fork I used, I close the lid and walk away.

Problem solved.

As I start pacing around the room, waiting for her to get here, it dawns on me that this is the first time I’m having a girl in my bed. Wait, what the fuck? I rack my brain, trying to think of any time where I hooked up with a girl here, and there was one of Devin’s friends once, but that was in the living room. Anyone else, I’ve always gone to their place or met them somewhere.

It’s not that Laiken means more to me or anything. It’s just that we don’t have many places we can go to hook up. Can’t go to her place because Cam can’t find out. Public places are tricky because we risk getting caught by someone we know. After the game was a one off. If I didn’t get my hands on her that very second, I was going to self-destruct.

Yeah, it’s simply the circumstances. She’s not…This isn’t…

Fuck.

A car pulls into the driveway, and I force myself to stop overthinking as I step onto the porch. Laiken gets out the passenger side as Mali rolls her window down.

“Excuse me, Mr. Wilder. What are your intentions with my Laiken?”

Lai’s face turns beet red as she turns to glare at her. “Mali.”

“What? I need to know he’s not trying to steal your virtue,” she argues then focuses back on me. “Well? I’m waiting.”

“Hi, Amalia,” I say, knowing she cannot stand when people use her whole first name.

Her lips press into a thin line. “Wrong answer. Laiken, get back in the car. We’re going home.”

Laiken sighs and stares up at the sky. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“Get back in the car and I’ll take you to the strip club!” Mali shouts. “We can make it rain on dem big booty hoes!”

My brows raise and I chuckle as Laiken mutters for the love of fuck under her breath. She turns to me and smiles.

“Do you have a hockey stick I can borrow?”

I nod toward my truck. “Check the bed.”

Walking over, her grin widens and she grabs a hockey stick—holding it like a baseball bat. Mali shrieks and curses as she throws the car in reverse and floors it into the street.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” she yells and quickly drives away.

Once she’s gone, Laiken sighs in relief. “Any ideas on where to bury a body?”

I snicker and open the door for her to come inside. “I’d offer to figure it out, but I’m not sure I want her haunting my ass.”

She purses her lips. “Okay, good point. I guess she gets to live, for today.”

“Mm-hm.”

Wrapping my arms around her, I bend down and kiss her softly. She takes a deep breath and exhales, like the entire day was spent waiting for this moment.

Fucking same.

“How was work?” she asks as we pull away.

“Boring, but Marc showed up and let me leave early.”

“That was nice of him.” She holds up her empty Starbucks cup. “Garbage?”

I nod toward the corner of the room. “On the other side of the fridge.”

She walks over to it, going to throw away the cup, when it occurs to me at the last minute. The fucking plate. But it’s too late. She presses her foot on the lever and it pops open, revealing the perfectly fine dish I threw away.

Staring at it for a second, she tilts her head to the side and starts to giggle. “Did…did you?”

“You know what, maybe Mali should have taken you home with her,” I say, only half joking because I’d very much like to avoid this situation.

She narrows her eyes for a second, but she’s obviously not about to let this topic slide. “Why’d you throw away the plate, H?”

I look up at the ceiling, then over at the wall, then at the floor—anywhere but at her. “Because I didn’t want it in the sink.”

“And you didn’t think just washing it was an option?”

Fucking fucker fuck. “I don’t know how, okay?”

Her jaw drops and I can tell by the look on her face, she’s loving this. “You’re twenty! How do you not know how to do the dishes?”

“Because I’ve always just gotten takeout or ordered a pizza,” I explain. “And if I needed a dish, I just left it in the sink and my mom or Devin always did it.”

She bites her lip in an effort to keep from smiling too much. “You’re adorable.”

My eyes roll. “Yeah, yeah. Can we drop it now?”

“No.” Taking the plate and fork out of the trash, she puts them back in the sink and comes over to me. “Come on. I’m going to teach you.”

“What? No. We don’t—”

She grabs my hand and pulls me toward the sink. “We do.”

I huff and stand in front of the plate that I’d like nothing more than to shatter into pieces. I should’ve just broken it before I threw it away. Could’ve avoided this whole thing. But no.

“Okay, take the sponge,” she says, and I grab it with my right hand. “Now put some of that dish soap on it, but not too much.”

“How do I know if it’s too much?”

“You’ll know.”

Turning the bottle upside down, I squeeze it and it squirts out, covering the sponge with the blue liquid. Laiken’s eyes widen as she laughs and grabs the bottle from me.

“Okay,” she says. “Maybe you won’t know.”

I drop the sponge in the sink and go to walk away, but she stops me.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Her laughter is still dying down. “All right, turn on the water and run the plate under it.”

“This is stupid,” I grumble.

She kisses my shoulder. “No, you not knowing how to clean a plate is stupid. This is necessary.”

I do as she says and look to her for the next part.

“Now use the sponge to scrub it.” As I drag the sponge around the plate, not a lot seems to be happening. “No, like you need to apply pressure.”

“I’m going to break it,” I tell her.

She shakes her head. “You’re not. Imagine it’s a clit.”

I stop what I’m doing as laughter booms out of me. “What am I going to do with you?”

“With me?” she asks, surprised. “You’re the one who doesn’t know how to do the dishes. I can only imagine what else you don’t know.”

Looking over at her, I smirk. “I’ve spent my time mastering other skills. And if you weren’t forcing me to do this, you’d be on the receiving end of those skills right now.”

She licks her lips as she stares up at me, but then she turns back to the sink. “Nice try. Come on, time to rinse.”

My jaw clenches as I run the plate under the water and watch as all the soap washes away, leaving nothing but a clean surface. Laiken smiles proudly and takes it from me to put in the drying rack.

“See? That wasn’t so hard.” She picks up the fork and hands it to me. “Now this.”

I mutter a few choice words under my breath as I follow the same steps with the fork, and hand it to her once I’m done.

“Thank fuck that’s over,” I say, but she scrunches her nose.

“Now the sink.”

“The sink?” I balk. “Why the fuck do you need to scrub the sink?”

“Because.” She gestures toward pieces of food inside it. “You don’t want all that sitting there. It’ll harden and get gross.”

Motherfucker.

You know, when I invited her over, this was not even a possibility on the list of things I thought we would be doing. And if I had any idea this would turn into a lesson in domestication, I would’ve eaten over the sink instead of using a damn plate in the first place.

I finish scrubbing the sink and rinse it away, when an idea comes to mind. Turning off the water, I turn to her and she smiles back at me.

“You did it,” she says. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you for teaching me.”

Her eyes are locked on mine, so she doesn’t even see it coming, but she feels it the moment my hands touch her cheeks, covering them in suds as I bend down and kiss her hard. And when I pull away, she presses her lips together firmly and exhales.

“You did not just do that.”

“I did,” I admit, taking a step back.

It’s as if I can see the idea pop into her mind as she looks away for a second and her brows raise. Her hands reach down and she pulls her shirt over her head, using it to wipe the bubbles off her face. But it’s the lace bra she’s left in that has me struggling to remember how to breathe.

“Now that’s just cruel,” I growl, letting my eyes graze over her.

“Is it?” she teases. “Are you going to do something about it?”

“You’re damn fucking right I am.”

Within seconds, I lift her up and sit her on the counter, slotting myself between her legs. I start kissing her neck while my hands slide up her back until they reach her bra clasp. Breathy moans leave her mouth as I nip and suck on her skin, careful not to leave a mark even though it’s so tempting.

Her bra pops open and I drag it down her arms, letting it fall on the floor next to her shirt. Her tits are perfect, and I immediately cover one with my hand while taking the other into my mouth. Laiken leans back to give me some more room. Her head rests against the cabinet as she laces her fingers into my hair.

“God, you do that so well,” she breathes.

I lightly bite down and she flinches, showing me just how sensitive she is. And her reaction is even better than I was hoping. Releasing her with a pop, I smirk.

“Oh, this is going to be fun.”

Lifting her up, she squeals, but I swallow it down as I cover her mouth with my own. I walk down the hall to my room, and she holds onto me tightly, licking into my mouth as she kisses me. Once I lay her on my bed, I stand up to admire how fucking perfect she looks—all wanting and needy for me.

“You’re stunning,” I murmur.

The compliment catches her off guard, but before she can think too far into it, I lean down and lightly drag the tip of my tongue from her belly button, up to the center of her chest, and then to her neck. She squirms, arching her hips up to seek the friction I won’t give her yet.

We’re all over each other, hands gripping wherever possible to pull each other closer. But when she starts to undo my jeans, I stop her.

Her brows furrow. “Do you not want to?”

What? “That’s crazy talk. Of course, I want to,” I tell her. “The other night was amazing, but I took your virginity in the front seat of my truck. I wasn’t lying when I said you deserve better than that shit.”

“Well, we’re in a bed now. So why aren’t you fucking me into the mattress right now?”

God, she’s a dream. A whole ass fantasy come to life and put in mine just to test the shit out of me.

“I’m going to, but there’s no rush this time.” I connect our lips once more. “I’m going to enjoy every fucking inch of you, and if you don’t leave here without feeling me every time you move, I didn’t do my damn job.”

Grabbing her hips, I roll her over so she’s on top of me and slide my hands down to her ass. I pull her down as I arch up into her. It’s exactly the friction she was craving, and she whimpers into my mouth.

“Too many clothes,” she pants. “Please. I need to feel you.”

“Oh, you’re going to feel a lot, baby,” I growl.

She continues to grind against me, and it’s embarrassing how easily I could come in my pants right now. My balls ache and my cock is hard as steel, desperate for release, but I refuse to make this another quick fuck.

Sitting up, I take her with me and spin around to put her on her back again. My fingers undo her jeans, pulling them down along with the lace panties that match her bra. I make a mental note to have her put just those two articles of clothing back on after this.

Her pussy is so wet, glistening in the light. I run my hand over it and bask in the way her whole body tenses up. I lick my lips as I tease her entrance. I’ve wanted to get my mouth on her since the first time I watched her come apart on my fingers.

“Tell me, Rochester.” I look her in the eyes. “Has anyone ever put their mouth on your pussy? Made you scream out as you ride their face?”

She swallows and shakes her head. “No.”

“Good,” I tell her as I drop down. “Fucking keep it that way.”

The moment I drag my tongue up her slit, I know I’ll never be able to get enough. Her sweet taste coats my tongue, and the way she presses her head back into my pillow as the sounds of her moans fill the room—it’s everything.

I wanted to tease her for a bit. To make her pay for the banana stunt and for torturing me with endless blue balls the last few days. But that would take a level of self-control that I clearly don’t have.

My tongue dips into her pussy just before I slide it back up. I pucker my lips and suck her clit into my mouth, and her whole body convulses. Smirking, I slip two fingers into her and feel the way she clenches around them.

“Holy shit,” she breathes. “Holy fucking shit.”

The faster I pump my fingers in and out of her, the faster I lick and suck at her clit. She can’t stay still, no matter how much I try pushing her hips into the mattress. And when she reaches down to grab a handful of my hair, I groan against her.

“Don’t be shy, baby,” I mutter, my tongue still darting out to taste her some more. “Go ahead. Grind on my face.”

She starts out slow, barely pulling me down as she arches up against me. But after a minute, she starts getting more comfortable. More desperate. She fucks herself against my mouth, and I shove my fingers deep inside of her, curling them upward to hit the little bundle of nerves inside of her.

“I need you,” she begs. “Please, Hayes. Need you inside me.”

“No fucking way,” I murmur against her. “You’re going to be a good girl and come on my tongue. I want to taste every ounce of your pleasure. Make me fucking drown in it.”

She whimpers, and her breathing quickens as she chases her orgasm. All my senses are overtaken with her. Her taste. Her smell. It’s all so goddamn intoxicating. Each time she pulls me closer, I have trouble breathing, but I’d gladly suffocate for this.

“That’s it,” I hum. “Come all over my face, baby. Such a good little princess for me.”

The way she instantly explodes the minute that last line leaves my mouth has me more shocked than ever, but right now, I have a job to do. Her pussy tightens as she clenches around my fingers, and the grip she has on my hair doesn’t loosen as she pulls me into her. I suck on her clit, circling it with my tongue and making her orgasm last as long as possible, until her whole body relaxes.

“That’s not a skill,” she says through labored breaths. “That’s pure witchcraft.”

I lick my lips and suck her cum off my fingers. “You’re fucking delicious.”

Standing up, I commit the look of her lying naked on my bed to memory as I pull my shirt over my head. Laiken bites her bottom lip as her eyes rake over my abs. And when I drop my pants and boxers in one swift move, she looks at my cock like it’s her favorite toy.

It fucking better be.

I take it into my hand, jerking it slowly as I walk over to the nightstand and pull out a condom. Ripping it open with my teeth, I go to slip it on but she sits up and looks at me through hooded lashes.

“Can I?” she asks, and it looks every bit like innocence and sin wrapped into one.

Not trusting my voice to answer right now, I hand her the condom, but she has other plans first. She wraps her hand around my cock, making me hiss at the contact. Pumping it a couple times, her tongue darts out and she licks the tip like it’s a lollipop then moans quietly as she tastes the precum that lingers there.

“Teach me.”

All the air is instantly expelled from my lungs. “Lai.”

She licks from halfway down my shaft to the tip. “Like that? Does that feel good?”

“Does that…”

I can’t even finish repeating her question because she opens her mouth and wraps her lips around my dick. The muscles of my ass tighten as I do my best not to come, and my hand rests on her head, gently pulling her off.

“Baby,” I say softly.

There’s hesitation in her eyes as she looks up at me. “Did I do it wrong?”

I’m shaking my head before the question is even fully out of her mouth. “No. No, you’re perfect.” I rub my thumb over her lips. “Such a talented little mouth. I just know that if I don’t get inside of you soon, there’s a strong chance I’ll lose my mind.”

Her mood shifts and she slides the condom down my length. Once it’s securely in place, I push her backward and place one knee on the bed. Lining myself up, I press into her slowly. The way she stretches around me is the same as the other night, and she tries to hide it, but I see the way she winces at the pain.

I go slow, but I don’t stop until I’m fully bottomed out inside her. My head falls back as I tell myself not to come. We rarely get the chance to do this, and I’m not about to waste it by only lasting two seconds. I focus on my breathing, and as soon as I feel like I’ve stepped back from the edge, I pull almost all the way out, just to slide back in.

“I love the way you make me feel so full,” she moans. “Want to spend every second with you inside me like this.”

Leaning over her, I wrap my hand around her throat. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” She nods, and my eyes narrow as I watch her intently. “You’re such a good girl, aren’t you?”

Her eyelids flutter closed, and she moans, wrapping her fingers around my wrist.

I pull out, flipping her over and lifting her ass in the air, only to thrust back into her pussy again. The angle is so much better, my cock rubbing against her walls and feeling the way she’s getting close again already.

I wrap her hair around my hand and use it to pull her head back as I start to thrust in harder. “Look at you, taking my cock so well. My good girl.”

The sound of my skin slapping against hers mixes with our moans. And the higher pitched hers get, the closer I know she is. I slap her ass, hard enough to leave a mark, and she screams out.

Her breathing slows, and I wait for her reaction. If I wasn’t paying so much attention, I may have missed it. But the way she whispers do it again burns itself into my brain and takes up permanent residence.

“Fucking hell,” I groan, slapping her again and watching the way her ass cheek jiggles.

The fact that my handprint lingers on her skin speaks to the part of me that wants to claim every inch of her. Lock her away where only I can ever reach her. The only part of me that has ever even considered more than just mutual sexual gratification.

I move my grip from her hair to her neck and pull her toward me, until my chest is pressed against her back. Grazing my lips against her ear, I nip at the lobe.

“So proud of you, baby,” I murmur into her ear. “You make me feel so good.”

Her head falls back against my shoulder as she gives in to the pleasure. I take my hand off her hip and move it to her pussy, putting pressure exactly where she needs it.

“Give me it, Laiken.” I rub circles right over her clit, and she shudders from how sensitive she is. “I know it’s there, and I want it. Come all over my cock. Show me how good you are.”

Only a few more seconds of rubbing and a tightened grip on her throat and she loses it. The second I feel her pussy squeeze my dick, I let go of her throat and bend her forward—slamming into her with everything I have as I shoot everything I have into the condom.

She pushes back against me and moans at how deep I am, and I chuckle. Second time having sex and she’s already a rock star, just like every other thing she tries in life.

With one last slap to her ass, I pull out and crash onto the bed beside her. She rolls over to face me as the two of us wait for our breathing to calm.

“You are every guy’s wildest dream, you know that?”

She blinks back at me, her head resting on her forearm. “Even yours?”

I know I shouldn’t, but there’s no stopping myself as I roll over and kiss her lightly. “Especially mine.”

The smug grin on her face is one I should regret, but I don’t. Not when she looks as happy as she does. And definitely not when we’re both in post-sex bliss.

Speaking of… “So, any other…interests you want to share with me?”

Her cheeks pink, and she looks away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Mm-hm. So, if I were to wrap my hand around your throat and call you my good g—”

She covers my mouth with her hand, stopping me from finishing what I was saying. She sighs and looks up at the ceiling, and I can tell she’s nervous.

“I don’t know what it is,” she admits. “There’s just something encouraging about it, and I like it.”

I roll onto my side and put my hand on her face, turning her head until she’s looking at me. “Hey, you don’t need to be embarrassed. Not for that. It’s sexy as hell.”

She smiles and leans in to kiss me, slowly and lazily. When she pulls away, she presses a quick peck to the tip of my nose and sits up, throwing her legs off the edge of the bed. My gaze immediately locks on the tattoo she has going down her spine.

It’s subtle, a light gray ink against her skin, but it looks so good on her.

I sit up and ghost my lips over it. “Do your parents know you have this?”

She looks back at me over her shoulder, exhaling as I press a few light kisses up her spine. “No. They would kill me. That’s why it’s in a place I can hide it.”

“From everyone but me,” I specify.

Her eyes roll as she giggles. “Can’t hide anything from you.”

“Glad you’re catching on.”

I’VE NEVER BEEN ONE for cuddling. The whole concept of lying together, not knowing where one of you ends and the other begins just for the sake of being close, it always felt like more of a romance thing to me. I had no interest in it. But as Laiken laid her head on my chest as I started the movie, I couldn’t find it in me to stop her.

I couldn’t find it in me to want to stop her.

My fingertips graze her back as she sleeps. She passed out a little over an hour ago, and I’ve just been lying here, replaying the last few days in my head.

I know I should wake her. Get her back to her car so she can get home. But I don’t want to.

Not yet.

I just want to lie here, where there’s no judgment, no fear, no second guessing. Just let me feel the weight of her head on my chest as the smell of her hair relaxes me in ways that beer never has.

Let me have this, before I can’t anymore.