Worth the Chance (21 page)

“I don’t understand?”

“Neither do I. I…I…I loved you.” Her words are a bit slurred, but she’s very much in control of her mind. “And you picked Missy over me.” Tears stream down her face, every inch of her body soaked with water dripping everywhere.

Reaching in, I turn off the spray of water, drenching myself in the process. Wrapping a towel around her body, I hastily dry her off before lifting her and cradling her in my arms. Carrying her to the bed, I gently lay her down and crawl into bed next to her.

Brushing her wet hair from her face, I lift her chin and force her eyes to meet mine. “I didn’t choose Missy over you. You were so young and sweet and innocent.” I pause, thinking of the right words. Although I’m not sure any words are right, since I don’t truly understand my own actions still to this day. “And I was a fucked up loser who’d just got expelled. I didn’t want to hurt you, Liv. You trusted me, and all I’d ever done is ruin things. I didn’t want to ruin you.”

Sadness etched on her face, it breaks my heart to know how badly I must have hurt her. “I didn’t touch Krissy either.”

“I know.” A lone tear slips from her face.

I hold her tight until I eventually hear her breathing slow and I know she’s asleep. And then, I just keep holding on.

Chapter 37

Liv

I wake to a throb in my head that reminds me of how much I drank the night before. I’m content, a warm body holding me tight, but then I remember the night before. Drunk. Shower. A whole conversation about Missy. And Krissy. Ughh…the thought makes my head pound louder.

A full bottle of wine presses on my bladder and I slip from the bed, still wrapped in the damp towel from the night before. Looking in the mirror, I scare myself, wet bed head and streaks of makeup dried down my face. It’s not fixable without a shower.

I wash the makeup off my face and I’m just about to put the conditioner in my hair, when the shower curtain opens, revealing a naked, and very erect, Vinny.

He grins and steps in behind me. “Morning.” He kisses my wet shoulder.

“You’re blocking all the warm water,” I scold. He is, but I’m kidding and he knows it.

“I’ll keep you warm.” He turns me, wrapping his arms around my waist, takes a small step back and holds me tightly so we’re both under the stream of hot water.

We stay that way for a few quiet moments, until Vinny pulls his head back, looks down at me, and asks, “We okay?”

“I think so.”

“Think?” Putting his fingers under my chin, he tilts my face up, forcing me to look at him.

“I’m just a little scared.”

He exhales. “So am I, Liv.”

I nod.

“Turn around.” Vinny suds up my back, taking his time at my shoulders, rubbing a full day of stress free from my aching muscles.

I groan. “God that feels so good.”

“Turn.” I obey, dropping my head as he works his fingers into the top of my shoulders from the front. His thumbs dig into my collarbone while the tips of his strong fingers work their way on either side of my spine at the nape of my neck.

My tense muscles relaxed a few minutes later, his hands caress their way down my sides, coming to rest on my hips. His voice changes, lower and raspier, “Open your legs.”

I comply. Reaching up, he repositions the showerhead so that it’s spraying only on me. Warm, strong streams of water run over my back, as his hands continue their descent downward. His fingers glide across my clit, two fingers settling in to gently rub small circles. The taut bundle of nerves sends a current through my body, my skin reacting with goosebumps even though warm water blankets it.

Leaning forward, he takes one nipple into his mouth and teasingly tugs at it as he bites down and pulls with his teeth. I moan as the two fingers on my clit reach lower, slipping inside of me, his thumb replacing the pressure on my waiting swell.

My breaths coming faster and more shallow, I quickly find myself heading toward my climax. Sensing my body’s reaction, Vinny growls, “Don’t come.”

As if there was anything I could do to stop it from happening, the feeling of euphoria quickly taking hold of me. “I can’t,” I pant, so close to the brink, needing to free fall over and wash away all of my thoughts, if only for a short time.

Withdrawing his fingers, for a second I want to kill him, leaving me dangling, perched on the edge.

“Turn around, grab the wall.”

Desperate to get back to the place where I just was, I comply quickly, turning so my back faces him, bending at the waist and palms pressed firmly against the tiled wall, he wastes no time. Entering me from behind, with the water and my own slick juices, he easily slips into me. I feel every thick inch of him as he gloriously stretches me, seating himself fully in one agonizingly slow, incredible thrust in.

“Slow or fast?”

Oh god. He’s giving me a choice. Just hearing him say the words is almost enough to bring me back to the edge. “Fast.”

His big hand tightens on one hip, the other snakes around underneath me and lifts me at the waist, bringing my ass up slightly higher and positioning me for what he’s about to deliver. I gasp as the hard-driving thrust of his thick cock begins to pound into me with a fury.

Holding me immobile, pinned to the wall as he powers into me, over and over, I moan his name as my core clenches around him, my orgasm beginning to form again in the distance. “Fuck!” he growls, leaning over me, his wet, hard chest pushing firmly into my back as he sinks his teeth into my shoulder. A sting of pain rushes throughout my body, turning my waning orgasm into a tsunami that washes over me, taking my ability to function with it. My body trembles as it works its way through, leaving me completely vulnerable to his strength, unable to even hold myself up.

***

Hair still damp and skin pruny from a shower so long the water goes cold, Vinny settles in on a bar stool, watching me make us both breakfast.

“You look like a pro in there,” he says as I slide a potholder on. I open the oven door and pull out the biscuits just as the timer rings. I tip the oven door shut with my foot and grab the pan just in time to turn the eggs.

“I like to cook, but I don’t get to do it often.”

“I like to eat, maybe you should come by and make me dinner every night.” He grins.

Laughing, I shake my head and pull down two plates from the cabinet. “My personal chef services are pretty expensive.”

“Maybe we can take it out in trade?” Vinny arches one eyebrow with a sinister smile. The man has a one track mind, it’s a good thing I like what he’s playing.

Plating the eggs, bacon, and biscuits, I set down breakfast in front of him and walk around to the other side of the bar to join him. “That depends on what you have to trade.”

Catching me as I’m about to sit, he pulls me onto his lap, teasing me with a piece of bacon at my lips, pulling it away as I open my mouth to bite, “You’ll cook, I’ll feed you.”

Leaning forward, I steal the entire piece of bacon with my mouth, nipping at his finger in the process. His eyebrows arch in surprise, but there is no hiding how his eyes dilate instantly at the feel of my bite on his skin. Grabbing my ass firmly, he growls. “Do that again and I’m gonna be feeding you here on the kitchen counter, and your food’s gonna get cold while you’re busy taking what I’m gonna put in that sexy damn mouth of yours.”

My stomach flip flops and I lean in to cuddle into his neck, needing my goosebump laden skin pressed up against him, wanting to show him the effect his words have on my body.

Blind to what’s happening around us, I completely miss the clickety-clack of Ally’s sandals on the wooden floor, not noticing her entering the room until she’s in the refrigerator. “Don’t you two have jobs or something?” she asks as she smiles and pours herself a heaping glass of orange juice, guzzling the tall glass in one long gulp.

“Thirsty?” Vinny teases.

I attempt to hop off his lap, but his grip on me tightens, keeping me locked into place.

“Very. And hungry too. Wanna share that egg sandwich, Liv?” She helps herself to a bite that consumes almost half of my breakfast, before I even have a chance to respond.

“Help yourself.” Shaking my head, my response a moot point, I smile anyway.

“Can you drop me at school on your way to work? I have to work on a project
with a group
.” Her happy face falters as she groans the last three words of her sentence.

“Not a good group I take it?”

“Five girls. I was hoping the big guy with the goatee would be in my group.” She wiggles her eyebrows for effect.

Chuckling, Vinny shifts me on his lap to grab his breakfast. “I’ll drop you. I’m heading to the gym. It’s on my way.” Two bites and the entire plate is gone. Perhaps I need to rethink the quantity of food I prepare. I’m definitely not used to cooking for a man that burns more calories in the gym than I consume in a month.

“Do you have your truck or motorcycle?” Ally clasps her hands together excitedly, her posture reminding me of a little girl waiting to find out if her mom bought her a new pony she’d been begging for.

“Bike.” Vinny stands, setting me on my feet, and turning me to face him. Pushing a lock of hair behind my ear, his voice low so only I can hear him, “That good with you?”

Nodding my head, finding it sweet that he cares enough to clear my best friend riding on the back of his bike, I ignore the tiny bit of jealousy I can’t help but feel at the thought of another woman with their arms wrapped around Vinny. Even if she is my best friend.

“Nico’s back today, I’ll be at the gym all day, then I have to take a road trip tonight.”

“Road trip?” My brows furrow.

“Something I have to take care of for my mom.” Sadness darkens Vinny’s eyes, his voice reaching for casual, but his clenched jaw and forlorn eyes offering a window into his heart.

“Can I help?”

A genuine smile warms my heart. His hand slides down my cheek, and gently glides to the back of my neck, “Just offering helps.” He squeezes the back of my neck and lowers his mouth to mine, kissing me softly, sweetly, on the lips. “Have a good day, Beautiful.”

Chapter 38

Vinny

“How’s the little bambino?” I ask, hitting the speedball.

“He’s perfect, but full of energy, just like his mother.” Nico smiles. “Elle’s a good sport, my niece is upstairs ‘helping’ her babysit.”

“The seven-year-old that wears the pink tutu and cowboy boots?”

“The one and only. I ducked out the door when Elle was changing him and I heard her ask what was inside his
pesticles
.” Nico laughs.

Finishing up with the speedball, we move to the ring. “We’ll spar for a while, then I have Kojo coming in to work you out on the mat.”

“That guy freaks me out. I’m not sure how he even hears out of those cauliflower things he’s got growing on the side of his head.” I throw a warm up kick as Nico brings up the deflecting pads.

“Yeah, well cauliflower or not, he’s got a gold medal in wrestling, and you don’t. You want a real shot at Lamaro, you gotta focus, pick up as much as he can teach you in the next two weeks.”

Swinging my leg high in the air, I follow the pads, striking each time with a kick almost dead on center of where I aim. Kickboxing is my strongest discipline.

“What’s going on with Delilah?” My kick knocks Nico back three steps. Just the mention of my mother’s name brings back years of pent up anger. Maybe I should drag her ass to the championship, sit her cage side with a pipe in her hands to keep me pissed while I take it out on Lamaro.

“Trouble, what else is new,” I grumble a response, switching to alternating between leg strikes and punches.

“What did she do now?” Raising the pad higher, Nico motions for me to hit him with a series of jabs. We’ve been together so long, we can basically train like mutes, words unnecessary for most of our communication. Yet he always talks anyway, sticks his nose into my business. Been that way since I was a kid.

“Making bad decisions. Hanging out with losers that pull her down into their crap.” I hit Nico with a series of jabs and a strong right, the momentum forcing him back into the ropes.

“Don’t let her take you down with her this time. This is your chance Vinny. Chances like this don’t come around too often. You’re distracted, Lamaro’s gonna pick up on it, deliver you a beating. You’re focused, things gonna go a whole different way than the bookies are expecting.” Nico takes the pads off and stills, wanting all of my attention. “You can take this guy, Vinny. Your right hook and brushing up on your technique with Kojo. You’re ready. Just stay fucking focused.”

***

Hours later, I’m standing in a puddle of my own sweat, maybe even a few of my own tears, after the torture Kojo ran me through for three straight hours. I down a liter of water and peel my still soaked shirt from the floor.

On my way up from the floor, I catch a glimpse of long shapely legs sticking out from beneath a chocolate colored skirt that makes my mouth salivate even though I’m pretty sure I’m dehydrated from my water loss. Liv. I’m surprised to see her, but it’s a good surprise. I watch as Sal points her in my direction and she looks up smiling, her eyes taking in every rigid muscle of my chest, and she licks her lips unconsciously as she makes her way to me. I don’t move, instead waiting for her to come to me.

“Hey.” I wrap the towel around my neck.

“Ready for our road trip?” She lifts a bag I hadn’t even noticed she was carrying, distracted by the sight of those legs, my mind visualizing them wrapping around my back.

Titling my head, for a half second I think perhaps I’ve forgotten a conversation we had, but then she smiles. It’s mischievous and sweet, and makes me want to grab her and never let go. I squint, not letting her see I made up my mind she was coming the minute she smiled, pretending I’m deliberating her coming along for the ride. She stands her ground, hitching her shoulders back and readying for an argument. Her boldness turns me on. A lot.

Closing the two steps to stand in her personal space, I lean in, towering over her, my face still unreadable. Never wavering, she looks up at me through her long, thick eyelashes, the hazel color of her eyes turning deep green with conviction. Her eyes never straying from mine, I lean my sweaty forehead against hers and wrap my hand around the back of her neck, pulling her close to me. “Ten minutes, let me shower.” Kissing her chastely on the lips, she smiles up at me in silent victory.