Drawn To You (Paloma's Edge) (21 page)

“Jake’s hot,” Brianna said as she finger
combed her sandy brown hair. “He can sleep over here.” She patted the side of the bed she was on with her other hand and my mouth quirked up.

“What about Pierce?”

“What about him?” she asked nonchalantly, and I pursed my lips.

“You couldn’t peel your eyes off of him the other day. And he’s really single now.”

Brianna threw me an incredulous look. “They’ve un-friended before.” She turned her lips down. “And not to gross you out, ’cause he’s your cousin, but Pierce looks good enough to eat without his shirt on. How couldn’t I have admired him in only his swim trunks?”

I titled my head to the side. “Same could be said for Joel and Rylan.”

“And if I get to see Jake without his shirt on, I’ll likely be in a momentary trance too,” she countered. “You’ve got Chase for your viewing pleasure whenever you want it.”

Nodding, m
y face heated. “You can actually be with a great guy who you can’t take your hands off of when you wanna date again.”

“I am
looking over the hot items on the menu for the time being.”

I
smiled. “No harm in that. And thanks for allowing Jake and Mariska to sleep over if they want to. Uncle Anton and Aunt Deborah don’t need more guests in their house.”

“Or to be around Cassidy,” Brianna said. “Has Pierce talked to you since last night?”

“I texted him about them coming over tomorrow,” I replied, “He’ll come to La Floridita after work tomorrow night.”

“He didn’t mention Cassidy?”

I’d told her about Pierce playing the conversation he’d recorded with Cassidy to everyone at dinner the night before. “No.”

“Have you seen her?”

“I didn’t get the chance to. I’ve rarely seen her in the mornings and I don’t think she’s been in her room most days. Have a good night.” I jumped off of the bed and headed to the door.

“You too, Beth.”

***

Chase’s guestroom was dark when
I went inside. When I found the night table, Chase’s phone’s screen’s light went on. My gaze snagged on his massive body on that bed.

“
Babe, is that you?” he asked, the words carrying in the room despite how he gentled his voice. It was crazy how just hearing him made me feverish, and I was practically always chilly. Once Brianna had said Chase’s name, I’d tried to stop thinking about how sinfully perfect his body was when he’d undressed in front of me in the bathroom and I’d washed him.

I shook my head at myself, taking off my sandals. I
lay on the bed with him. “It’s me.”

He
slanted his body. His hazel eyes were all I needed to see in the pitch darkness of the windowless room. “I’ve forgotten how your lips feel,” he told me.

“Then it’s my job to remind you.” I pinched his chin a little and he smirked. I titled my head, my mouth meeting his firm and soft lips. At some point, I had gripped onto his short hair. My body
cleaved to his until all I could register was the pulse of his cock against my navel. Deepening our kiss, he stroked my tongue as his breathing increased and his groin twitched against me in stronger invitation that I couldn’t ignore. A pained expression flickered across his face.

Chase
cupped the back of my head, the pressure of his nails sending a sharp sting of desire flowing from my nipples to my core. He groaned and I found myself getting more excited by the sound. Pulling in a breath, he jerked his head back a little, our chests apart, but our legs were locked together. “Chase,” I whispered. “Let me take care of you a little for a change.”

“Babe
.” He swallowed roughly, a sheet of perspiration on his face as he warred with himself. “You’re so fucking sweet.”

As his eyes fell closed, I tugged at his waistband
and undid the tie, and the crotch of his shorts opened. His cock jutted out, his veins straining. Before I wrapped my hand around his length, I reached for the nightlight and he emitted a long and heavy sound.

“Where’s your lub
e?” I asked. I felt like I was in need of oxygen by asking him, but I wasn’t some passive participant who didn’t want this as much as he did. I wanted to please him however I could, at his pace.

“Under the bed,” he
gritted out and I moved fast to get the bottle. When I had it, I placed it between my thighs. Coughing, Chase settled his hand on my neck. “Go ahead.”

With his eyes barely open, the anxiety in his face was replaced with an aroused calm that I hadn’t seen in his gaze, or in his face since we’d really gotten physical. I brought my hand to his fit stomach, running it on the little trace of hair below his belly button. When I took him in my hands
again, he was solid. I lightly stroked his cheeks with my hand, knowing his was drawn up tight. Any pressure that was too forceful or too fast and he’d come fast. And he deserved the same diligence from me that he’d given me. I circled my thumb on the swollen head of his penis and spread the drops of pre-cum from shaft to tip. He took the lubricant bottle from between my thighs, and when I met his gaze, he had already poured some on my hands. I rubbed him at a snail’s pace, watching as his face tensed from my stimulation on his sensitized skin.

“Fuck.” His voice came out thick and he pulled in a heavy breath, “Babe, that feels
good.”

“Is this how you like it?” I gave
him a quick squeeze and ran the tips of my nails on his sac. Back bowed, sweat ran down his neck and chest. I proceeded to stroke his shaft up and down and swirled my thumb and index finger around his head repeatedly. When he was almost too close, I decelerated.

Chase
answered me by pulling my neck so that we kissed. At first it was gentle. And then he pinched my nipples. The shock to my body made my lips part and he skillfully flirted his tongue with mine. I pushed his chest away as he twitched in my hand, needing my undivided attention. His cock swelled up more in my hand, his balls even heavier under the clutch of my other hand. The muscles in his face and body strained as I pumped him faster and faster. My heart pounded in my chest as he spurted in thick streams over my hands and on my shorts.

I
slid my top off, wiping off my hands, and pulled my shorts down and slid underneath the thin covers.

Chase
pressed me down with his chest and laid his head between my breasts.

***

Chase

Beth brushed her fingers over my chest. We’d been awake for about an hour and a half, but we had enjoyed the silence. I hadn’t had such a good sleep like I had last night in months. Beth had, hands down, given me the best hand job I’d ever had. As she faced me, her rosy nipples tightened. The flush that she’d had last night was returning full force.

A furrow lined Beth’s
eyebrows and I could see the wheels turning in her head. Frowning, she covered her mouth and got up, but I held her arm and she lay back down beside me. “My breath is fierce is in the morning.” It sounded like she’d knocked back a few drinks the night before and just woke up, but I knew differently. She was still incredibly sexy.

Beth moved
closer to me, the tips of our noses rubbing each other’s. “You brushed your teeth already, didn’t you?” She crossed her arms, pushing those tits farther up. It was like she was asking me to suck on those nipples. I felt her raise my chin up with her tiny hand. I chuckled a little and gave her a nod.

“Your breath is fine,” I assured. “What’s on your mind?”

She stroked my jaw and then my scar, but her eyes were trained on me. “I was thinking about where you’re from,” she replied. “I don’t think you’re from any part of Florida.”

“And why’s that?”

“I don’t know. My first impression, I guess.”

“I am from Vermont,” I said. “My family still lives there.”

Her face brightened at the mention of my family
. “Have you visited them? Have they come here to see you?”

“No and no.” I laughed. “We don’t speak.”

“Oh, okay,” she murmured. “Do you have any siblings?”

“I’ve got an older brother.”

“When’s the last time you spoke with him?”

“Years ago
, just like my parents.” Worry creased her cheekbones. I really hoped that she wasn’t comparing my non-existent relationship with my family to her and her mom’s. They were totally different. “Babe, it’s okay. It’s for the best.”

She
clearly wasn’t convinced, but she didn’t say anything else about it. “I applied to a bunch of schools and got wait-listed for most, including UM. I slacked big time during my junior year of high school. The admissions counselor I had told me to take at least six credits of foundation courses offered during the summer and a remedial course at my community college to demonstrate that I could handle a college education.” She smiled as I talked and I took her hand away from my face, kissing her palm. “And then the coach told the counselor that if my test performance on the field was satisfactory that he’d put me on the team—if I was admitted as a regular student, of course. When I came here, the coach liked my performance and that I’d stayed in shape.” I sighed. “And I liked it here. Still like it very much.”

Her smile
widened. “Enough that you see yourself staying here after you graduate?”

“If I can earn enough to live in my own apartment, or house, then yeah.”
She brought her hand back to the side of my face. “You?” I asked

“I
wanna stay here. It’s a beautiful town.” She rose from the bed. “I am gonna take a shower.” She tapped her chin as if she was pondering something. “Or
we
can take a shower.”

“Babe, if we shower, we won’t be seeing your friends today. Especially after last night.”

A ghost of a smile touched her lips and she took one of the sheets from the bed and covered herself. The bottle of lubricant was next to her feet and her cheeks flamed hotter than it had minutes ago.

***

Gavin, Bri, Beth, and I cleaned the house as best we could after we’d had breakfast and had gone to the local mart to get groceries. There were clean pillowcases and sheets to put on the big-ass couch that three of us guys could sit on, and a blow-up bed for Mariska in the event that they slept over. I could tell that Beth really wanted them to. She’d been so excited when both of them had called and texted her that they were ahead of schedule.

“Too bad I am working tonight and tomorrow,” Gavin said as he put charcoal in the bottom of the grill and set the chimney starter. “But
we’re gonna have ourselves a nice dinner.”

“And it’s not too hot,” I said
. “I am gonna find out if they finished seasoning the meat.”

“Done,” Bri
told us as she and Beth came out to the backyard with drinks in their hands. “And we’ve got the condiments arranged.”

“Thanks,
girls,” Gavin said.

“You’re very welcome,” Beth said with a smile
, and handed Gavin and I cups. We sipped the homemade iced tea they had made for dinner yesterday. Bri nodded.

“Are Rylan and Joel coming here or meeting us later on tonight?” Beth asked as she sat down
on my lap. God, I loved how she didn’t hesitate to do that.

A slight smirk lifted up the side of Gavin’s face
. “Joel missing dinner with his friends if he isn’t with one of his girlfriends?” He raised a brow at Beth. “Nah, that’ll be the day. He’s the one who paid for all the meat, the bread, and the corn.”

Beth shook her head at herself. “What was I thinking?” she asked as her phone dinged with a message from
Jake.

Jake
: We’re here.

She slid off of my lap. “I am gonna let them in.” She jerked her head at me. “We’ll be right out.”

“Okay,” Gavin and I said at the same time.

“Need me to get the meat?” I asked him. Beth gestured Bri to come with her.

Gavin bobbed his head.

The three of us were in the kitchen when Beth opened the door. Mariska and Jake came inside. Mariska had a multi-colored tote over her shoulder that must have had everything she needed to stay over someone else’s house. She was pretty tall compared to most chicks around here, even taller than Bri. She and Beth hugged each other for minutes and then Jake, swallowed up my girl in his embrace. I decided that I could bring the meat to Gavin in a few minutes. He wanted the grill to be steaming anyway. And from the tickled expression Bri gave me, she knew why I wasn’t going to wait for Beth to introduce me to her two best friends in the backyard.

***

Bethany

“How’ve you been?” Jake asked in a whisper, and I patted the top of his head. He was casually put together in his white shirt, blazer, premium jeans, and white and navy blue low-top Nikes.