Bad Impressions (Revive Me #1) (16 page)

And that was why I hadn’t tried to contact her since I’d headed home.

It was also why I’d now knocked back my fourth beer and was currently reaching for my fifth.

I needed to dumb down my senses and try to fucking relax.

The entire thing had made me more fucking angry than I’d been in a long time.

I was sick of the entire town judging what they didn’t understand. And, these days, Ollie was just another one of them. He’d reacted far worse to the news of me and Soph than I’d imagined. And then he’d had the nerve to call me his best friend. How could he be so vehemently against me being with his sister, if I was really his closest and most valued friend? It was all bullshit.

Ever since that day with my dad, he’d pulled away from me. At a time when I’d needed someone the most, he’d looked the other way.

But Soph hadn’t.

She’d been trying to comfort me that night when I’d drunkenly confessed to her that I hadn’t been handling what had happened very well. The night we’d slept together for the first time. I hadn’t known it at the time, but I sure as fuck knew it now. That night had changed everything between us.

Maybe it was selfish, but I couldn’t bring myself to even consider letting her go. Whatever Ollie and the goddamn town threw at us, I wouldn’t let go.

She was mine.

But all that was moot if she didn’t see things the same way.

As much as I hated it, she had me held hostage.

***

A sharp, relentless rapping jolted me awake. I found myself face down and sprawled out on the couch.

Groaning with annoyance at being woken up in my groggy, drunken, fucked up state, I forced myself to sit up and try to figure out what the hell that aggravating noise was. I glanced at the coffee table and saw there were only three beers left unopened. Somehow, I’d made it through nine of the things.
Shit. That’s gonna hurt in the morning.

It took me several more moments to realize the noise was coming from the front door.

I struggled to get up off the couch and then made my way towards it.

“Yeah?” I called out in a drunken drawl.

Even in my drunken state, my brain screamed at me to check first.

If it was Ollie, I wasn’t gonna open it. I was in no state to go a few rounds with him.
Who knew if I’d be able to hold back being this drunk?

It was too dangerous. For
him
.

“It’s Sophie,” a small voice replied.

Sophie? She’s here? Now?
I didn’t even think twice about it.

I lunged for the door, almost tripping over in my haste.

I hauled it open and she stood on the doorstep smiling warmly at me.

My foggy brain remembered something then and it came rushing to the surface.

She hadn’t said shit to me or tried to contact me in the last few hours. She’d just basically dismissed me in favor of her brother and the rest of the town. And, in that moment, I couldn’t separate emotion from fact, so I ended up snapping, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

She didn’t seem startled at all. Instead, she just smiled and stepped into me.

Placing her hands on my chest, she gently eased me back so she could step into the lobby. “It’s okay. You’re drunk.”

Enjoying her hands on me, I let her do it.

She released me for a second to lock the door and then she grabbed my hand and led me back into the living room. I slumped onto the couch and, before I could stop her, she sat down beside me.

I rubbed my eyes tiredly. “Look, Soph. You should go. We’re not gonna discuss what happened right now.”

“I’m sorry.”

I gazed at her through glazed eyes. “What?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t leave with you. I needed to talk to Ollie.”

I sighed with exasperation. “You always try to please everyone.”

She shifted her weight on the couch and sidled up close to me. “Right now, I’m gonna please
you
.”

I didn’t get the chance to ask what she meant by that, because in the next second, her hands were working to undo my jeans.

A moment later, they were on the floor along with my boxers and my cock was in her hand.

Her eyes widened. “Already so hard,” she said with disbelief.

Yeah, I was already hard. As soon as she’d laid her hands on me at the door, I’d been ready and raring to go. The woman just did things to me.

I reached out for her, but she batted my hand away. “Just relax.”

“Soph—”

“It’s
my
turn to please
you
. Just sit back, baby.”

She ran her hand up and down my cock in a slow, sensual rhythm, rubbing the head with her thumb at the start of every down stroke.

“Ah, fuck,” I groaned.

Resting my head back against the couch, I closed my eyes and savored her soft fingers all over my eager cock.

It was fucking ecstasy. She had the most amazing grip—just the right amount of pressure.

I opened my eyes as her hand left my shaft and slid down to cup my balls. She played with them eagerly.

Her eyes met mine and she flashed me that sexy-as-fuck grin of hers.

And then her lips wrapped around the head.

She barely paused to adjust her mouth to my size before taking the rest of me all the way down her throat. I heard her gag for a second, but she found a way to recover and continued to drive me deeper until I felt my cock hit the back of her throat. The sensation was fucking amazing and I shuddered beneath her.
Fuck me, she’s really fucking good. Jesus Christ.

Her mouth worked a skillful rhythm, just like her hand had and she was building me up so damn quickly that I wasn’t sure I was actually in any sort of control anymore. Her mouth was devouring me wildly and determinedly.

She was driving me out of my mind.

I was panting, grunting and cursing as she worshipped my cock like no other woman ever had.

I fisted my hand in her hair and tugged lightly, gasping, “I’m gonna come.”

But she didn’t stop. She picked up the pace.

“Fuck!” I grunted as I came hard, exploding in her mouth with wild jerk after wild jerk.

She lifted her head and licked her lips, smiling at me. She looked so damn proud of herself. And she had every goddamn right to be.
Holy fucking shit.

“Christ,” I breathed, resting my head back against the couch.

She climbed onto my lap and laid her head on my chest.

The last thing I remembered was wrapping my arms around her waist and closing my eyes.

Chapter 22

~Sophie~

I watched Brad open his eyes. Judging by the look there, he instantly regretted it.

“Hungover, huh?” I teased.

He grunted a response and then he raised his eyebrows at me sitting on top of him with a mug of coffee in my right hand. “Is that for me?” he asked, hopefully.

“After you rehydrate and take those two pain meds.” I gestured to his left beside table.

He snatched up the glass there and downed the pills and all the water. And then he reached for the mug in my hand. I smiled and handed it to him. He adjusted his weight in the bed and leaned against the headboard as he sipped at his coffee.

“Thanks,” he said, after a moment.

“When you’re done with that, there’s breakfast waiting for you downstairs.”

Unease played on his face. “Soph—”

I blew out a breath. “I didn’t make it, you ass. I picked up some breakfast sandwiches from town. You don’t have to look so scared.”

His brow furrowed. “You went into town on your own? You don’t have a car and this damn place doesn’t have a bus service.”

“I had Tiff drive me in.”

“Good.”

“It’s only a twenty-minute walk. It just happened that she was nearby.”

“I don’t want you walking into town alone. It’s dark in the mornings now.”

I laughed. “Right, because Marsden is such a crime-ridden town?”

He didn’t seem amused by my comment. “I want you safe.”

I rolled my eyes. “Stop being such a caveman. I can take care of myself. You know that.
You
were the one who taught me all those self-defense moves.”

“Not the point.”

I folded my arms across my chest and glared at him, getting increasingly agitated with his attitude. “Then what is?”

“It’s my job to protect you.”

I shook my head at him in disbelief. “I never knew you were that much of a ridiculous alpha-male. You know I don’t like that, Brad. I don’t like being controlled.”

He grabbed my arms and demanded, “Look at me.” When I did, his tone softened as he said, “The last thing I want is to control a free spirit like you. I…overreacted. Sorry. I would tell you that it won’t happen again, but I’m not sure I can live up to that.”

“Why not?”

He smiled. “Because, you’re my little princess, Soph. You’re…everything to me. And I worry about you all the time. Not because I don’t think you can take care of yourself, but, because I can’t bear the idea of losing you.”

Shocked, all I could do was stare at him, open-mouthed.

“Soph?” he pressed, amusement dancing in his eyes.

“That was…I didn’t know you could be so romantic.” I ruffled his hair. “Aww!” I teased.

He batted my hand away. “Shut up,” he said, laughing.

I climbed off the bed and ordered, “Get up and come get your breakfast.”

He chuckled. “Wow.”

“What?”

“I could get used to this.”

“Not likely. I’m just taking pity on you this morning.”

“Oh really?”

“Yep. You were really messed up last night.”

“Yeah, I remember the beer.”

“Do you also remember falling asleep with your…thing hanging out of your pants?”

I saw the recollection on his face. He grimaced at the memory. “Shit, did I…I let you blow me…on the couch? Yeah, oh fuck, I did.”

“
Let
me?” I asked, confused by that odd choice of words.

“I was wasted, Soph.”

“And?”

“
And
you should’ve kept your distance. You know after the first time we were together last year, I never wanted to do anything with you when I was smashed again.”

“You didn’t want to talk, so I showed you how I felt another way,” I said, winking at him.

The tension drained from his face then and his lips curled into a sly smile. “And your message was
very
well received.”

“I’m glad,” I said, flashing him a coy grin.

“That mouth of yours is extremely talented, darlin’.”

He tried to reach for me to pull me back onto the bed and I knew exactly where things were headed.

I pulled away, shaking my head. “Uh uh. Breakfast first,” I chastised him as I quickly stepped back before I caved. It wouldn’t take much. Just the mere suggestion in his eyes had heat pooling between my legs. But I knew he needed to eat first and down a hell of a lot more water, or he would end up feeling crappy for the rest of the day.

“Exactly. Breakfast,” he said, his gaze focused between my legs as he licked his lips.

“Nice try,” I said, walking to the door quickly, before I ended up pouncing on him.

I heard him grumbling after me and the bed creaked as he reluctantly climbed out of it.

***

Brad’s hand gripped mine tightly as we walked through town.

After we’d eaten and then fooled around in the shower for a good hour, I’d let him convince me to head into town…together. Our first appearance together as a couple.

Ten minutes had barely passed since we’d arrived and I was already regretting it and thinking, perhaps, it hadn’t been the greatest idea in the world.

My entire body was racked with tension and nerves and all I wanted to do was to turn around and head back to Brad’s place. But I’d already failed to convince him of that when I’d tried to tug him back to his truck about two minutes after we’d arrived.

“They’re staring at us, Brad,” I whispered in his ear. “And not in a
we’re-happy-for-you
way.” In fact, people were shooting daggers our way and demonstrating their disapproval in a very clear manner.

“Those death stares are directed at
me
, not you.”

I looked up at him in surprise. “What?”

“Look closer.”

And I did.

Sure enough, the animosity
was
directed entirely his way.
Oh my God.
“This is Ollie’s doing.”

“No doubt,” Brad muttered.