Текст книги "Something for the Pain"

Автор книги: Victoria Ashley

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Текущая страница: 2 (всего у книги 14 страниц)

MY HEART IS RACING SO damn hard that it’s making it hard to concentrate on the road. Alex is following behind me in his massive truck and I can’t stop looking back at him through the rearview mirror to check his expressions. I never meant for him to get upset about Lucas asking me to move in with him, or about our open relationship. There was no way I would have agreed to live with Lucas unless I knew for a fact that Alex would move in as well. Alex and I just have that connection. He would do just about anything for me and the same goes for me over him.

We have experienced everything together growing up, even our first kiss. Even though I was only eleven and he twelve, still, it was with him. Nothing can replace that. I was so scared that no one would want to kiss me. As soon as I told Alex about my fear, he smiled, licked his lips, and pulled me in for a kiss. It was soft, heartwarming, and over before I could breathe. We never spoke of it again, but it still haunts me to this day. I may have been young, but the spark I felt was unforgettable. He stepped up and made sure I knew that he cared and would always be there for me. I love him for that. Always will.

This . . . this is no different for me. I really do want him here for this big moment again. I want my first real place to be with him. He’s my world and he knows it. The only first I couldn’t give him was my virginity, because it would have ruined everything. I can’t even picture losing him as my best friend, and that’s what would happen by letting my feelings or sexual attraction for him get in the way. That is exactly why I gave it to Lucas instead. Alex means too much.

Pulling up in front of the huge brick house, I smile and kill the engine as I look behind me to see Alex pull up half way in the grass. He’s always been good at shitty parking. I know he does it on purpose, but after all these years it still makes me laugh.

He jumps out of his truck and runs his hand through his thick, dark hair, before pulling my car door open and reaching for my hand. “You had better sell me on this house, Tripp. It better be good enough to make my cock hard.”

I can’t help my eyes as they look down at the crotch of his fitted jeans. Damn, those are some nice jeans. He catches me looking, so I quickly pull my eyes away and clear my throat, as if that makes it any less obvious. I’m not a shy person, but I’m trying my best with him. I need him too much to ruin what we have. “Oh trust me. This house even gives me a lady boner. You will love it.”

His hand quickly reaches behind me to shut my car door. Then he flashes me a sexy grin, pops his neck, and pulls me by my hand. “It’s that good, huh?”

I don’t even get a chance to answer, before he reaches down and snatches the key that is hanging down in front of me. I feel the back of his hand accidently brush against my private, giving me instant goose bumps. “Hey. Watch it. That was pretty damn close to my . . .”

He licks his lips and his eyes trail down my body. “Pussy,” he growls. “I know.”

My face heats and I can barely even speak “Yeah . . . no, I mean . . .” I take a deep breath. “Just watch yourself, Carter.”

He chuckles as he sticks the key into the lock. “I was looking for your lady boner.”

He opens the door and then looks back at me with a sly grin. Fuck me, those dimples do things to a woman’s body. “I didn’t find it. I guess next time I’ll have to search deeper.”

The intensity of his gray eyes lock with mine, causing me to swallow hard and try to hide my blushing face. I don’t know if he has figured it out over the years, but his words and teasing leave me extremely hot and bothered. I try my best to hide it, because I know he’s only joking, but the fact that it sometimes makes it hard to breathe is definitely something I have stopped trying to internally deny. Hiding it from my best friend is almost as hard as not breathing. I find it extremely hard to hide anything from him at all.

“Well, lead the way, beautiful.” He steps back and leans against the door with his legs crossed in front of him. “I’m waiting to get hard.”

I laugh softly, but turn my face away to get better control over my wandering eyes. “And how will I know if it makes you hard?” I tilt my head a little in question, but keep my eyes looking straight ahead.

“Oh you will see it. Trust me.” I hear the door close before I feel his body pressed against mine. He’s so close, yet not close enough. I want him to touch me. I crave it. Just once. “So far, I’m not impressed.”

I spin around with quickness and look up at him, about to hand him his ass. “What do you mean?” His face turns up into a smile to show me that he’s only trying to work me up, so shutting my mouth I give his chest a shove. It doesn’t even make him shift. Not a single inch. Not like when we were kids and we used to play fight. Back then he was tall and twig like, giving me an actual chance. Now . . . mmm . . . now he is all man: tall, thick, strong, and sexy. “You seriously need to stop working out so much. I can barely even move you now. Is that all you do when you’re not tattooing.”

He bites his bottom lip and crosses his arms across his firm chest. “That and have sex. What the hell else am I supposed to be doing? I’m kind of limited.” I watch his teeth as they dig into his full bottom lip before letting go. He’s always had a thing for biting his bottom lip. Doesn’t he realize how damn sexy and distracting that is? I’m sure he must be aware of it.

So. Stop. It.

“Okay . . . you could have kept that to yourself.” I wave my arms around, motioning around the huge empty space, preparing to give him a tour. “Well, this is the living room, as you can see. It’s a good size. Fireplace over here, huge picture windows over there, and it leads straight into the kitchen.” I turn behind me. “This way over to the right leads to the stairs and the hallway.”

He looks around with his arms crossed and his forehead crinkled. His almost silver eyes are unreadable at the moment. He’s trying to make me nervous. He knows he’s got a good poker face too. I hate it!

I exhale and start walking towards the kitchen with him following at my heels. “Alright, pain in the ass. You’re playing hardball. Maybe the kitchen will better impress you.”

Alex steps in behind me and looks around. His eyes scan over the stainless steel stove and fridge before his eyes stop on the bar in the back right corner. His eyebrows scrunch together in thought. “Are you going to be our sexy little bartender?”

He takes a few steps toward the bar and stops in front of it. I step up beside him, and before I can speak he picks me up by the hips and sets me down on top of the bar. He grins at the sight of me and then releases my hips. “Or you can just sit there and look pretty. Either way, I think the kitchen is my favorite so far. He looks down at his jeans and bites his bottom lip. “It’s getting harder by the second, but I need it to be rock hard. That’s not going to be easy. Come on, Tripp.” He picks me up and sets me back down to my feet. I can’t help but take notice of his hands lingering for a few seconds too long. “Show me this sex pool you told me about. If that doesn’t do the trick then I don’t know what will.”

Closing my eyes for a quick second, I take a breath and exhale before following him back into the living room and down the hall. The thought of his dick hard is now clouding my thoughts. How the hell am I going to sell him on this house when all I can think about is having him inside of me?

He stops walking and turns around to look at me so I can lead him to the right room. I give him a half smile and pass him up. I walk to the very back of the hallway and push the double doors open. The smell of chlorine hits me hard and the moisture in the air makes me smile. He has to fall in love with this room.

“This is the pool; one of them at least. It’s pretty private back here, so it shouldn’t be a problem for you to bring your girlies over. You won’t be bothered.”

He looks at me, smiles, and then walks past me and into the room. “Hell yes,” he groans. “It’s fucking hard now, Tripp.”

I feel my stomach flutter and my heart rate pick up from his choice of words. I can’t tell if it’s because I am happy that he’s going to agree to moving in or because the thought of him hard makes me want to jump on him and take him for a ride. He’s my best friend, but dammit I still want to. I shouldn’t even be questioning myself, but I can’t help it.

“Umm . . . good, I guess,” I say in response as I step up beside him in front of the water.

When I look down at his hand, I notice him adjusting the crotch of his jeans. I give him a shove and he looks over at me with a grin. “Damn, Tripp. Are you trying to make me wrestle you? You know it’s been a while, but you’ve been pretty damn pushy today. I still have the skills to take you down.”

I can’t help but to laugh. “I pushed you because you were playing with your dick. Are you seriously hard right now?”

He pulls his hand away from his jeans and sure enough I see a huge bulge. I can tell it’s not fully hard, but damn! “Well, what the hell do you expect when you call this the sex pool? Am I not supposed to get aroused at the thought of fucking someone in here?”

I pull my eyes away from his crotch and punch his arm. “Oh come on, Tripp. Don’t be ashamed to look. We’ve known each other our whole lives. You don’t really think I haven’t sneaked peeks at your body from time to time, do you? Don’t lie to me. You know you’ve imagined how big it is before. I’ll even give you a look if you want. What’s mine is yours,” he says huskily.

Why is that sexy?

He bites his bottom lip and reaches for his belt as he steps closer to me in a teasing way. The thought of his erection being so close to me has me so nervous that I reach out with both hands and push him into the pool. My hands instantly go up to cover my mouth as he falls in with a huge splash.

I burst out in laughter as he quickly resurfaces and jumps out of the pool, while wiping his face off. His shirt is clinging to his muscular body and water is dripping down his face and lips. It’s the most glorious sight I have ever seen. Just when I think he’s about to yell at me, he yanks his shirt over his head and reaches into his pocket to toss his phone aside. He grins and closes the distance between us.

“You’re getting it now.” I take in a deep breath as his cold, firm chest presses against my breasts. “You ready for me to get you wet, Tripp? I’ve been waiting for this for a long, long time.”

He’s too quick for me to even attempt to make an escape. He picks me up, wraps my legs around his waist, and walks over the edge of the pool. I instantly take notice of his partial boner pressing firmly between my legs; which only makes me wish we were naked.

We sink to the bottom with his hands gripping onto my bare thighs as he holds me close. As soon as his feet hit the bottom of the pool, he pushes up with his muscular legs and we both swim back up to the surface.

I fight to catch my breath while wiping water off of my face. “Dammit, Alex!”

I hear him laughing behind me, so I turn around to yell at him, but he’s too quick and is already back behind me again. “What’s the matter? You didn’t expect me to get you so wet?”

I lean my head back and bite my lip in frustration. Him and this damn teasing. He’s really getting a kick out of this. “You’re lucky I love you so much,” I bite out.

I feel his body press behind me, before he wraps his arm around me and starts pulling me back to the edge of the pool. Once there, he picks me up and gives my ass a boost until I am on my knees, catching my breath on the smooth, wet cement. My body gets heated from the skin to skin contact and feeling his finger so close to slipping inside me. All it would take is one little nudge. It’s the closest it’s been before and it steals my breath away. I chose to wear a thong today, so not only did my dress ride up, but also I’m sure he just got a full on view of my ass in his face.

I quickly get back to my feet and turn around to face him, now embarrassed. He’s just standing there, staring up at me, his eyes unreadable. “Aren’t you getting out?”

His eyes quickly scan over my breasts before moving down to my exposed thighs and staying there. “Yeah. I’m coming.” He smiles and I give him the middle finger. “No, I didn’t mean it like that.” He laughs while pulling himself halfway out of the pool. “You have such a dirty mind,” he says in a serious tone. “I’m not sure I can handle living with someone with such filthy thoughts. You just might corrupt me.”

I place my foot on his shoulder and give him a shove back into the water. He comes up laughing and flashes me his charming smile; the one that gets any and every girl in bed. For me, this smile makes me forgive him for anything that he ever does; it lets him get away with everything. This smile melts my heart. It’s the one thing that kept me sane as a child. Whenever I was sad he would flash that smile and point at his dimples and all of my worries disappeared. Now, he just flashes the smile. It still has the same effect.

“Come on, Alex. Stop teasing me. You know I will be devastated if you don’t move in. I already have your room picked out.”

He smiles up at me and jumps out of the pool. I stand here in silence for a moment and watch as he wipes the water down his firm, tatted chest. I’ve always loved the way his muscles flex whenever he moves. I find it sexy and hypnotizing, especially now that he’s wet. It almost makes me wish that he were just a stranger, with no strong connection, so that I could have just one night to do anything that I please with his body. That would be to have him and no consequences afterward. I never once expected Alex to grow up to be so painfully sexy.

Oh the things I would do to you if I could.

“Well, when you put it that way . . .” He walks over and kisses my forehead while wrapping his arms around my head and squeezing. “How can I say no? Show me to my room.”

“Thank you!” I grab him by his arm and start pulling him through the room excitedly.

He pulls me back a few times to slow me down and catches me when I almost slip. “Careful, Firecracker. I don’t want to have to rush you to the emergency room before I get to see my room.”

I slow down and turn back for my sandals when I realize that they are now in the pool. Screw all that. Then I look down at his black Chucks that are soaking wet and laugh to myself. “Why do you still call me firecracker? I colored my hair red once when I was fifteen.”

He picks up a strand of my hair and examines it. “Your hair has always reminded me of a shiny new penny with all the copper tones in it. Even under all that brown and copper though, there has always been red in your hair. You can only really see it in the sun though. I like it. And plus, your face always turns all red when I tease you. You’ll always be my firecracker.”

I shake my head and roll my eyes. “Oh yeah. Why don’t you just write a song about it.” I tease. “That sounded pretty deep coming from your mouth.”

He follows me down the hall toward the stairs. “Maybe I will. You know I still play my guitar each night. I can’t write songs for shit but for you I would try.”

I stop and he does the same. I look him up and down, standing there shirtless and wet as I try to hold back my desire to kiss him. Our eyes meet for a split second before I pull myself out of my trance, clear my throat, and reach for the railing. “Alright,” I say, changing the subject and my thought process. “Well, there are two rooms upstairs,” I continue, as he follows me up with his hands on my hips for support. “The other one is downstairs and down the hall from the pool and rec room.”

We stop in front of the first door and I reach for the handle, but then stop and smile at him. “This one . . . is not your room.” I head for the back of the hall and his smile broadens, because he loves being teased. “This here is your room.”

He walks past me and pushes the door open. His eyes widen as he takes in the sight before him. “Wow! Did you do all of this?”

He walks over to the wall by the window and touches one of his own favorite drawings that I attempted to paint. Yesterday, I spent the whole day painting music notes and some of his drawings onto the back wall of his room. I even brought his favorite plush pillow that he leaves at my aunt’s house so he can sit on it whenever he plays his guitar for me.

“Yeah. I just thought it would be a nice spot for you to have to play your guitar.” I walk over and open the window. “You can sit here with the window open and play for the cars passing by.”

I plop down onto his pillow—chair—thing. I’m really not sure what to call it. It’s not really any of the above, but a mixture. “Like how you used to when we were teenagers. Do you remember? Right before your mom . . .” I stop myself and clear my throat. “I remember you sitting on your screened in porch by the window, playing all night. I would sometimes drive over late at night just to listen to you play. It helped me sleep better. Actually, you were sitting in that same spot, attempting to play Memphis’ guitar the day we met. Remember?”

He smiles to himself and then grabs my hand to help me to my feet. “Of course I remember that shit.”

He plops down on his huge pillow and pulls me down onto his lap, and then adjusts me to make sure I’m comfortable before speaking. “I was sitting there playing the guitar and I was so pissed off because I kept messing up, so I decided to quit. Then I heard a little voice coming from outside the window say something like, “Please play some more.” I looked out and there you were; the cutest little girl with a penny colored ponytail. It was the shiniest damn hair I had ever seen. My father was gone . . . at work, so I played some more.”

We both laugh as he wraps his arms around my waist and squeezes. “Is that your room down the hall?” He asks with a hint of humor.

I lean my head against his shoulder and smile. “Yes. You know I have to be upstairs. We even get to share a connecting bathroom.” I point to the bathroom door. “That leads into the bathroom and my room is on the other side. We’ll just have to be sure to lock both doors so we know when the other is using it.”

He brushes my hair out of the way before resting his scruffy chin on my shoulder. “Why did you choose for my room to be upstairs instead of Lucas’?”

I twist my neck back to look at him. “Because it reminds me of when we were kids and you used to climb through my window. Hell, I still catch you climbing through my bedroom window instead of using the door. You know Tara doesn’t mind you coming over whenever you want. We are adults now.”

We both stop laughing and look up when we hear footsteps enter the room.

Lucas looks down at us and flashes a half smile. “You two having fun without me?”

I feel Alex stiffen beneath me, and then he helps me to my feet before getting up as well.

“Lucas,” Alex mutters while pushing the pillow back against the wall. “We were just breaking in my room.”

I shake my head and laugh while giving Alex a light shove. I know that it doesn’t bother Lucas, but sometimes I wonder why he makes those kinds of jokes so often. “Shut up, dick-lick.”

Lucas brushes his blonde hair out of his face and nods his head at me with a chuckle. “Dick-lick?” He raises an eyebrow and heads for the door. “That’s a new one.” He stops in the doorway and waits for us to join him. “I see you guys have already taken a dip in the pool. I’m also guessing that she’s talked you into saying yes?”

Alex runs his tongue over his bottom lip and nods his head as if trying to hold something back. “Do you even have to ask?” He turns to me and gives me a kiss on the forehead before his gray eyes find mine. “I should grab my shit and get going. I need to be at Ravage for an appointment soon.”

“See ya later, man,” Lucas says while pounding his fist with Alex’s. “We’ll be moving some of our stuff in over the weekend. I’m sure Tripp will fill you in on the rest of the details later. Cool?”

Alex nods his head and starts backing up. “Sure thing.” He turns back to me and winks. “Talk to ya later, Firecracker.”

“I’ll call you in a few hours,” I say in response, ignoring his silly nickname for me.

Lucas watches as he walks down the stairs before turning back to me and pulling me against him. He presses his lips against mine and grips my ass in his hands. “You look so damn sexy wet. I hope you’re in the mood, because I can’t help myself right now.”

He kisses me again before licking his lips and pulling away. “I told you he’d agree to move in. I just hope he doesn’t mind us having a little fun once in a while. I’m not going to hold back just because he’ll be living here too.”

I let out a little breath and force a smile. “He’ll be fine. I’m sure he’ll have a ton of girls over anyways. He will hardly even notice.”

Saying the words out loud only makes my heart ache.

“Yeah. Well who knows, maybe he will share with us. I don’t mind sharing.”

I let out a nervous laugh and try to hide the fact that for some reason that bothers me.

“Maybe,” I whisper.

Maybe I want him all to myself . . .