The Troublemaker Next Door (11 page)

“Jesus, Flynn. Why don’t you just
give
them your money? I taught you better than that,” Brody bit out with disgust.

Flynn glanced down at his cards. Hell. He’d bet everything on a pair of fours. He’d thought he had three of a kind, but turned out he didn’t.

Mike shuffled the cards and shook his head. “I know that look. Little brother has a woman on the brain.”

Brody said nothing.

“Yep,” Cam chimed in. “I’ll bet she’s pretty, has long, silky red hair, and a pair of—”

“Watch it, asshole.”

Cam grinned. “Pair of roommates just as pretty.”

Flynn felt like a grade-A fool. So much for keeping the teasing between them.

“Gee, Flynn,” Cam asked with mock innocence. “What’s it like to be so in looovvee?”

The others laughed and made kissing noises.

“You guys are so immature.”

Mike laughed especially hard at that. He had to wipe his eyes. “Oh man, I needed that. Speaking of immature, answer your cell once in a while, dumbass. Mom has been calling nonstop trying to reach you, and I know this because she’s bugging me about it. Why aren’t you calling her back?”

“You know why.” Flynn glared at the dickheads laughing at him. “She’s throwing me at Maddie and waiting to hear wedding bells. Christ. Okay. The woman’s a knockout, and I like her. Doesn’t mean I’m tripping down an aisle or anything. Why don’t one of you get a date and give Mom something to really talk about. Like an honest-to-God miracle.” He laughed at that one, pleased when the three of them suddenly found him less than amusing.

“Let’s see,” he continued. “Cam hasn’t been laid since the Steelers last won the Super Bowl. Um, 2009 ring a bell?”

Cam flipped him the finger.

“Brody is downright pathetic, which we all know.”

“I don’t kiss and tell.” Brody stuck his nose in the air.

“That’s because you’re too busy teaching Colin your tricks. You know, Mike told me that the other day the kid was practicing next door. Bragged to Abby about how Ubie is teaching him all kinds of things.”

Brody didn’t look happy at the news. But he masked it well. To Cam and Mike, he probably seemed annoyed to be on Mike’s radar. But Flynn knew he had a thing for Abby.

“And let’s not get started on Mike,” Flynn added in a louder voice to be heard. The others watched him with two parts glee, one very large part aggravation.

“Flynn, shut it,” Mike growled.

“Mike, hometown hero and all-around good guy, is soon going to join the priesthood, to make dear ol’ da so vera happy.”

The others laughed. Mike swore. “Your fucking accent sounds more like you just walked off the short bus than Irish, dickhead. And in case you’ve forgotten where you come from, we’re Scottish.”

“Sure thing, Laird Michael. Of course you’d be more than familiar with our Scottish heritage. Sword, bare chest, kilts, and all.”

Mike flushed. “Shut up, Flynn.”

“What’s wrong, my big strapping lad? Don’t want the guys to know about—”

Mike tackled him to the floor and put him in a headlock in seconds. Flynn felt faint from lack of oxygen. In a low whisper, Mike threatened, “You breathe a word of that, I’ll make you eat through a straw out your ass.”

Unable to finish the taunt, Flynn tapped him and mangled an “okay.”

Once released, he kept his mouth shut. If Mike didn’t want the others to know he’d once modeled for a romance cover, who was he to say?

“I have
got
to figure out what you have on him.” Brody shook his head. “Whatever it is, it’s still strong.”

Flynn coughed, trying to find his voice. “Fucking bruiser.”

“That’s right.” The smugness had returned. Mike cracked his knuckles and looked at Cam and Brody. “Anyone else?”

Cam looked bored by it all. “If we’re just going to watch some sap get pummeled, why not turn on the championship? Some mixed martial arts is better than Flynn strangling on the kitchen floor.”

“Ass.” Flynn glared.

Mike nodded. “Not sure who’s fighting tonight, but I’m game. Brody, grab the food. Cam, the beer. And don’t make a mess.” The guys grabbed their assigned items and dashed into the living room, joined by the sound of the television.

Before Flynn could escape, Mike grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back, choking him again. “You okay?”

Annoyed, he pushed his brother away. “I’m not delicate, you big bull. I’m fine, I—”

His phone buzzed. Hell. His mother had taken to texting him now to get his attention.

“Might as well answer it. She won’t stop until you do.” Mike’s resignation bespoke experience.

Biting the bullet, Flynn pulled out his phone and read his latest text. He barely contained his shout of triumph.
Finally
, she’d called him. “Hot damn. I’m going to the movies. Later, losers.”

She waited for him down the street, and he had a brief fantasy of picking up a sexy hooker who would promise to do anything and everything he asked for a buck. He pulled up next to her and rolled down his window. Holy shit, she’d packed a bag. Would he be setting himself up by hoping she’d spend the night?

“Do me a favor,” he said when she moved to open the door.

She stopped. “What?”

“Lean closer so I can see you.”

She did, and to his delight, he could see cleavage and the delicate cups of a black lace bra.

“Now ask me what I want, and tell me how much it’ll cost me.”

“How much it—” She burst into laughter and entered the car. “Funny guy. First the phone sex, now this. You
should
be paying me, you know. I only look this good through perseverance and by avoiding pasta.”

“From what I hear, you’re not missing much, especially if Vanessa’s cooking.”

She cringed. “Yikes. I take it Colin filled you in on his dinner the other night?”

“Don’t get me wrong, it was nice of Vanessa to feed the kid. But I thought spaghetti noodles were supposed to be soft.”

She sighed. “They are. That’s why I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that night for dinner.” She glanced out the window as they drove. “I didn’t thank you before, but what you said about my mom helped. So thanks.” Turning to face him again, she smiled.

God, she looked so pretty sitting there so close to him. “I—”

“So I was thinking we could see a movie at your place.” She sidled closer, as close as the seat belt would allow. “And we could see something I picked out.”

“Sure.” He swallowed, hoping against hope he hadn’t misread the situation. What if by texting him about a movie, she actually meant they should watch a movie? “Ah, what’s in the bag?”

“I thought I might spend the night. But if you have plans, I could…”

“
No.
”

She glanced at him in surprise.

“I mean, no, no plans. I have plenty of space for you to stay.”
And
plenty
of
condoms
if
we
need
them.

Fifteen long minutes later, he pulled into his parking space and walked with her up the stairs toward his unit. They entered and, after a few minutes, sat together on the couch, ready for the picture to start. In his back pocket, he had two foil packets. He’d also put his phone far away from him on the kitchen counter, his ringer on silent.

“So what’s the movie?”

She shushed him, and he crossed his eyes at her but fell silent. He made no overt moves, though his body couldn’t help hardening each time she moved on the couch and brushed against him. She wore a thin button-down purple shirt and jean shorts, and her sandals sat a small distance away by the front door. Even her toenails had a sexy red polish, one that matched her trimmed red fingernails.

Shadows caught on her sculpted calves when she crossed her ankles in front of her. She leaned forward and he caught tantalizing glimpses of her back and midriff. He wanted so much to kiss her stomach and trail his tongue down her slender frame.

Fuck, he ached. He shifted in his seat, trying to relieve the pressure on his balls.

“…hope it’s okay.”

What had she just said? “Sure, whatever.”

Then some chick’s mournful crooning polluted his speakers, and two women ran to each other on a beach, crying and laughing.

He swung incredulous eyes her way. “You brought a chick flick? To actually watch?”

She frowned. “I told you I wanted to see a movie. What did you think I meant?”

He didn’t want to ruin any possible chances for sex later on. “Nothing.”

A few seconds passed before he noticed the smile she tried to hide behind her hand.

“What?”

She cleared her throat. “Nothing. I just love this movie. It’s so sad, but such a great film about the bonds of female friendship when the brunette dies and her best friend raises her daughter.”

Probably too much to ask that the women took off their clothes and went down on each other before one of them died.

He leaned his head back on the couch, wondering if she’d notice if he fell asleep. After a while, he glanced over and froze.

Maddie’s blouse lay unbuttoned, exposing a black bra that showed more than it covered. The transparent cups showed off her plump nipples. But what killed him were her fingers pinching one bud into standing tall. Her other hand…
fuck
me
sideways
… was moving beneath her shorts. She’d unbuttoned them, and he could see matching sheer material over her fingers plunging into her pussy.

“Mmm.”

He could barely breathe.

She tilted her head back. “I’m so hot.”

“Jesus.” Flynn knelt between her legs and pulled down her shorts in one move. Then he eased her panties down and watched her finger-fuck herself. “Keep going, baby. Don’t stop.”

He ripped off his shirt and took off the rest of his clothes in seconds. Flynn pushed her shirt off her shoulders but didn’t want to impede her hungry fingers. He noticed the front closure on her bra and unfastened it. He didn’t ask but latched on to her breast like a starving man.

When the contact put his cock in touch with her thigh, he felt her hand move, and then slick fingers circled his shaft.

He groaned and moved to her other breast.

“Oh, Flynn. That’s good, so good.”

Her throaty encouragement made it difficult to stay the course. Especially when he knew her fingers had been deep in her sweet pussy. He wanted to slide inside her, to come hard in that hot core. He shivered with the need, pressing inexorably forward.

Forcing himself to release her breast, he tried to put some space between them. He sounded like gravel but couldn’t help himself. “Put a condom on me or I’m coming inside you right the fuck now.”

“Mmm.” She reached up and kissed his neck, then nibbled her way to his ear. “Where is it? Get me the condom. Let me roll it over you. Every thick inch of you.”

He pulled back to look at this hedonistic creature—someone straight out of his deepest fantasies. She seemed too good to be true, and though he knew he shouldn’t trust his hormones, he could feel himself being led by his dick.

“What’s wrong, Flynn? Don’t you want to be inside me?”

“Yeah, I do. Stand up.” He didn’t give her a chance but yanked her to her feet in front of him and sucked her clit into his mouth. She keened and gripped his hair. He groaned. “Oh yeah. That’s good.”

He pulled her ass close, running his fingers over her seam and teasing with little prods to her anus. Her clit was hard and tight, a ripe fruit ready to burst all over his tongue. Flynn devoured her, kneading her ass as he licked and stroked. He shoved his tongue as far up her pussy as it would go, not getting deep enough inside.

“Flynn. Please,” she begged, out of breath and trembling. “Make me come.”

He doubled his efforts, gratified when she smoothed her hands over his hair and clutched his shoulders. She dug her nails into his skin, and the pain nearly got him off.

“Flynn.
Flynn
.” She shattered, coming all over his lips and tongue as her pleasure took her over. In a daze, she moved where he positioned her, bent over the back of his couch while he hurried to shove a condom over himself.

“Now feel it while I fuck you.” He rammed himself inside her, sliding right through the slick, tight passage. “Your pussy is so hot, baby. So fucking perfect.”

He fucked her, deep strokes taking him balls deep before pulling all the way out. Each time he slammed inside her, his balls slapped her and she moaned his name. He couldn’t be sure, but he swore she tightened around him again.

The cries coming from her throat were soft sobs of pleasure. So incredibly sexy because she uttered them in breathless pleas. No fake orgasm, but the real deal from a woman he’d already satisfied. She made him feel so fucking good.

“Oh God. Oh God, I’m coming again. Yes,
yes
.” She shook beneath him as he neared his own end.

The indescribable desire blossomed as he gripped her hips and surged into her time and time again. Claiming, taking, fucking until he couldn’t stop the swell of ecstasy that shot out of him in jets of milky seed.

“Christ, Maddie. Oh yeah, take it. Take all of it.”

His knees felt weak after he gave her one last push and collapsed on top of her.

Conscious of his weight, he pulled out and took her with him to the floor, lying on the carpet in front of the couch. He couldn’t move, exhausted from another out-of-this-world session with Maddie.

“Oh, wow. You just keep getting better.” She sounded drowsy.

“Same back at you. Holy shit, Maddie. I could feel you gripping me when you came, right through the condom. It was incredible. My heart won’t stop racing.”

He wondered if it was possible to fall in love after that kind of heart-hammering sex. He wanted to call it making love, but he’d been as fierce as Maddie seeking her pleasure. Then his.

She grinned and stroked his chest. “You should have seen the look on your face when you thought we were going to watch the movie. I wish I’d had that on tape.”

He tickled her until she begged him to stop. “No, you have to say Uncle. Uncle Flynn.”

“Uncle Flynn, now stop.” She laughed. “Naughty boy. You aren’t my uncle. I thought guys always wanted you to call them ‘daddy.’”

He smacked her ass. “Funny. But if we’d had a camera in here, I’d have centered it on you. Then I could watch all over again, the way you came all over my lips, the way you moaned when you came a second time. Beautiful, Maddie. So beautiful.”

She blushed but didn’t look away from him. Her eyes darkened and she kissed him. Unlike before, this touch felt soft, affectionate. Caring.

He should have run fast and far away. But something inside him softened. Good sex, the woman in his arms, he didn’t much care. He only knew he didn’t want this feeling to end.

***

Maddie yawned and woke in unfamiliar surroundings. It took her a minute to remember she’d stayed the night at Flynn’s. He had her in his arms, her head on his chest, her body half across his, hugging him like a body pillow. She felt comfortable, cherished even.

At the thought, she tensed. She had a bad feeling she’d started to fall for him. As in, moving from
like
into something approaching that other L word. The one that didn’t seem to work for the women in the Gardner family.

The light streaming through his window indicated early morning. She figured she might as well get up, though she felt no rush to leave the warmth and safety of his arms.

She pulled her head back and studied him as he slept. He seemed softer, more boyish at rest. His black hair curled around his neck, so soft and thick. She rubbed a few strands between her fingers, taken with their contrasts. Dark against light. His arm bunched and hugged her tighter. A glance at his chest and arms turned her on all over again.

Flynn was so strong. His body didn’t have an ounce of fat, unlike hers. Whereas she had softer padding, his chest and legs felt like iron.

And speaking of iron… She turned, putting her back to his front, spooning. He groaned and angled his cock under her ass, prodding first her anus before he moved and fitted himself against her warm, moist opening. Though conscious they needed a condom, some crazy part of her wanted, just once, to feel him inside her.

Internal warnings of disease and the slim chance of pregnancy faded under her desire, and she pushed back, taking the head of his cock inside her.

“Maddie,” he groaned and pressed his large hand against her belly, pushing deeper inside her. “Oh yeah. You’re so hot.” He continued to move until he seated the entirety of his length inside her. A familiar rhythm took over, and she had a hard time telling him to stop when he rubbed her clit with one hand and pushed on her belly with the other, thrusting in and out and rushing her impending orgasm.

“Condom,” she whispered, despite wanting nothing more than for him to come inside her. So sexy, so natural to feel a part of each other.

“Yeah.” He continued to pump, and then he ceased. “Wait,” he croaked when she shifted. He held his breath and then slowly let it out. He withdrew from her body in a rush. “Don’t move,” he growled. He leaned back, fumbled in the drawer, and then she felt his hands under her, between her legs. “There we go. Again.” This time he pulled her over his sheath-covered shaft and rocked in and out of her.

His fingers plucked her clit as he thrust, and she tightened around him until he couldn’t mistake her impending orgasm for anything else. His thrusts grew faster, slapping against her with intensity.

“Yeah, with me. Now, baby.” He grunted and ground his fingers against her. The dual sensation of being filled while he stimulated her clit sent her over the edge, and they came together in a loud, blissful moan.

Sometime later, he stirred and planted kisses along her shoulder and neck. “Helluva way to wake up.” He sucked hard and nipped the base of her neck.

“Ouch.”

“Just wanted to remind you I’m here.”

She laughed and tightened her inner walls, and he groaned. “Hard to forget when you’re inside me.”

“Yeah, deep.” He kissed her shoulder again. “I’ve never been inside a woman without protection before.” His admission thrilled her. “It was a close thing, Maddie. I wanted to come inside you really, really bad.” When she said nothing, he added in a softer voice, “You don’t have to worry. I’m clean, and I pulled out before I was close enough to, ah, fill you.”

She sighed. “It was my fault. I was awake. I should have said something. But I…” Should she admit she’d wanted it? Would that change their relationship from casual to something deeper? Could fucking each other’s brains out be considered
casual
? Right now, she and Flynn connected. Physically, he remained a part of her. But emotionally, she worried she might be growing to like him too much.

I
can
do
this. I can keep a distance and still be friends.

He stroked her hair with a gentle touch. “What’s wrong, Maddie? You can tell me. Was I too rough? Did I freak you out? I swear I meant to pull out sooner, you just felt so good.”

“No. I don’t blame you.”
Let
it
go.
“It was perfect.”
Tell
him
you
’
re on the Pill. Let him know it
’
s safe to go all the way without worries.
The imp on her shoulder continued to push. But she knew if they started having sex without protection, she would count on him being totally loyal to her, without question. It would feel like the start of a real relationship. And the thought of having to give Flynn the man-up or man-out speech and watching him kick her out made her want to cry.

“Maddie?” He stopped stroking her hair.

“I don’t think I can move.” She groaned and felt him relax. “You feel so good inside me. I got cocky.”

“I think I got cocky.”

She pulled away from him and turned over. She leaned up off his chest and looked down at him. So handsome. A thoroughly sated male looking up at her as if he intended on keeping her in his bed for the rest of the day. Man, she had it bad. And by it, she reminded herself, she meant
lust
.

“A comedian, eh?” The urge to lean down and press her lips to his grew. So she dragged herself off him. “Dibs on the shower. Sucker,” she threw over her shoulder and laughed into the bathroom.

Flynn cooked them both breakfast after joining her in the shower. The man should have been named Mr. Insatiable. He’d brought her to climax again while he’d jerked off, and watching him masturbate climbed the list of things to fantasize about when she next found herself flying solo.

As they ate—now clean and dressed—at his kitchen island, he asked, “So you sticking around, or do you want me to take you home?” He acted as if the decision didn’t bother him either way.

“Well, I don’t want to put a kink in any plans you might have.”

He grinned at the word
kink
.

“Grow up.”

“You know, that’s just what I told Brody the other day.”