Chapter 10
10
Charley
T he basketball game ends on TV. I don’t know much about basketball, but Cade was right about that girl. She was amazing. The confidence she had. How good she was. It must be addicting to have thousands of people chanting your name during games. Kind of makes me sad I never got into sports.
The TV turns off, and I look over at Cade, who’s gotten more comfortable as the night’s gone on. His shirt is currently off, draped across the bottom of the bed. Good thing the game was so interesting or I would’ve been staring at him all night.
He intends to stay. It’s not a joke anymore, and oddly, I kind of like it. I asked questions, and we had a full-on conversation. There was no yelling about interrupting his show or being called stupid for not understanding something.
“I’m going to get ready for bed,” I tell him, lifting off the mattress and grabbing my bag. The tension in the air thickens, like everything is highlighted by how late it is, and we all know what people do in hotel rooms at night.
I slip into the bathroom and let out a charged breath. Quickly, I change into my pajamas and think about not going to the bathroom in case he can hear me pee through the door, but who am I kidding? It’s my room. So, I do all the essentials, including brushing my teeth, and then stand with my hand on the door. I take a moment to gather myself before walking out again.
On tiptoes, I prowl like a burglar to my bed.
A slight chuckle sounds from his side of the room. “What are you doing, Sunshine?”
“Sunshine?” I drop my bag on the chair and turn.
“I thought it would be a funny nickname for someone who likes thunderstorms and black cats.” His gaze drops to my lips, and I scurry to my bed, getting under the covers. “Do you mind if I use your toothpaste?”
“Sure, I left it in there.”
He stretches to his full height, and I get a spectacular view of his back muscles flexing and twisting with his movements. As soon as the bathroom door closes, I stare up at the ceiling. When I was in middle school, I used to beg whoever was listening for something to happen to me. Something other than going to school, making meals, and spending alone time in my room.
By the time I was in high school, I’d given up the idea. I sort of just accepted my life because no one else was going to take care of my dad. No one knows he really exists anymore. Another thing I think about often. I’m the only interaction he has.
I gave up on trying to get him out more.
I gave up on so much stuff.
When the bathroom door creaks open, I don’t look over. I hold my breath while Cade shuts off the lights. “Is complete dark okay?” He chuckles to himself. “I forgot who I was talking to. You probably sleep in a coffin.”
His statement catches me off guard, and I laugh—loudly—before throwing my hand over my mouth.
“There she is,” he says. He must slip into the other bed because it groans under his weight. My eyes haven’t adjusted to the darkness yet, so I stare into an empty black hole, yet…there’s something different about hearing another human close by. “I’m taking my pants off to sleep, but don’t worry, I have boxers on.”
“Oh, okay.” My heart pounds. The sound nearly fills my ears. I wish I could be as comfortable with anyone as Cade is with—let’s face it. I’m practically a stranger. A sadness creeps in, festering like an open wound. Pushing it aside, I try not to dwell on it, but the question keeps popping into my head. What have I been missing while I’ve been taking care of Dad?
“Tell me about your friend,” I whisper.
“Brady?” he answers, and I like the sound of his hushed, low voice, like we’re both too scared to break the easiness between us. “He was a good guy. The best friend anyone could ask for. Funny, a heck of a football player. He was a prankster. He would constantly be pulling some sort of joke on us. Rubber ducks in our locker room lockers. He once bought every pair of clearance underwear on sale at this mature ladies’ store that was going out of business and filled Reid’s car with them. I swear, he still found a couple under the seats a year later.”
The way Cade tells the story, I can see it in my head. Friends laughing together. It sounds…awesome. “I like that,” I tell him. “What else did he do?”
“He got on the morning announcements once and rapped one of Shakespeare’s sonnets because our English teacher gave him a terrible grade just to be a jerk.”
“He sounds…popular.”
“I guess you could say we were,” Cade offers, still in his quiet voice. “It’s different when you’re on a sports team. Especially a good one. You don’t have to try that hard to get people to like you, but none of that mattered because we had each other.”
“What happened to him, Cade? You said it was on the field?”
He doesn’t answer for a little while, and I almost tell him he doesn’t have to say anything.
His voice is raspy. “It was a fluke, they said. He got hit in the exact right spot at the exact wrong time, and his heart stopped. Just like that.”
The backs of my eyes heat, that tingling sensation when I’m about to cry starts, and I breathe in deep. “That’s awful, Cade. I’m sorry. Did you ever think about quitting after that?”
“No. Not once. If anything, I wanted to do it for him.”
“I think that’s awesome,” I whisper, trying to keep my voice from cracking.
“Your turn,” Cade says, shifting toward me on the bed. I mimic him, moving my hands under the pillow.
“I wish I had memories of my mom, or something to tell you about her. She died giving birth to me, so I never really knew her. My dad doesn’t like to talk about her. The only one who did was my grandmother on my mom’s side. She would bring her pictures out to show me. Ones from when she was a little girl all the way up to pictures of her pregnant with me. Pictures can tell a story, but it’s not really the same, you know? Especially when you weren’t there when they happened. You can’t remember the sound of her laughter even though you can see she’s laughing. You can’t hear her voice while she holds up her cake or remember the way people sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her. I’m not saying it isn’t nice to have the pictures, but pictures aren’t enough, you know?”
Cade blinks a few times. “I see what you’re saying. We take pictures to remember what we’ve already experienced.”
“Mmm,” I agree. “That sounded really poetic coming from a football player.”
“I’m a man of many talents.”
“Modest, too.”
“There’s no room for modesty when you’re me,” he says with a grin.
“You have an answer for everything. Have you realized that?”
“I wish,” he counters. “Because I’m still trying to figure out how to keep you like this. Talkative, smiling. Maybe a little interested in me?”
“Oh, now you’re pushing it.”
“See?”
I bite my lip. Being around Cade is easy. He doesn’t give me a chance to second-guess myself. He’s too busy talking or cracking jokes.
“You keep telling yourself no while I execute my master plan.”
“What’s that?”
“Worm my way into your heart.”
“You’ll have to let me know how that works for you.”
“I have a feeling I won’t have to tell you.”
My eyes flutter closed. When he first said he was sleeping in the room with me, I imagined some awkward scenario, but it’s far from that. “Goodnight, Cade.”
“Goodnight, Sunshine.”
Despite myself, I smile at the nickname.
A heavy weight threatens to pull me under. It’s almost like coming out of a sleep paralysis episode, but the figure behind me moves, and my eyes fly open, heart palpitating.
“Shh, you’re okay.”
Cade’s voice.
I try to move away, but strong arms hold me in place. “You had a nightmare. You’re okay.”
Suddenly, I’m all too aware of how close he is. His arm is slung over my body, my ass nestled in his crotch. We’re spooning.
“Cade?”
“Who else would it be?” he asks sleepily.
“Cade, how did we get like this?” I shift and feel a hard poke in my backside.
“Mmm,” he grunts. “Sorry.” He moves his hips away. “You were kicking the sheets and whimpering, so I came to rescue you.”
“Rescue me?”
“As soon as I laid down next to you, you stopped.” His groggy voice sounds only half alert.
I take stock of the situation. Other than roasting due to how much heat Cade is throwing off, I feel so safe encapsulated in his arms like this. Like his body is a shield, a suit of armor.
His muscles relax again, and his hips move forward, once again poking me. I’m not too na?ve to realize he has a morning erection, but I am na?ve enough to freak out that I’ve never felt an erection, never mind a morning erection.
Heat pools in my center, and my breathing comes in short pants. The air feels heavy with innuendo and purpose. I could run away like I normally would—maybe tell Cade to back off—but it’s so warm, so safe, and I kind of like the need pulsing through me right now.
I’ve never been this close to someone in this way before, and a surge of bravery rears up. Cade’s muscular front brushes against my spine with his even breaths. If I think about it like a science experiment, I wonder what would happen if I shift back.
Suddenly, the only thing I want to know is the size of Cade Farmer’s dick.
I move, slowly at first, then once again with more purpose. He moans in his sleep, his strong arms tightening around me. I feel more of him, but I still don’t feel it all.
I angle my hips backward again, riding up his length, then down. I bite my lip to keep from moaning myself. Heat expands between my legs, but still, Cade hasn’t stirred.
I do the same thing again, taking my time, sliding my ass against his cock until I lift too far and his dick catches at the apex.
“Sunshine,” Cade breathes. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing,” I squeak out, trying to scramble away, but he holds on, his leg looping around mine to keep me in place along with his cage-like hands.
We lie there, my heart still pounding in my ears. There’s a tiny bit of shame and embarrassment that he caught me grinding on him, but that’s overpowered by desire.
“Did you feel something you liked?”
This can’t be happening. I can’t. I’m not ? —
“Was it this?” Cade shifts forward, his cock harder now, running up my backside. “It’s the consequences of sleeping next to a beautiful girl all night.”
“Don’t…”
“It’s about time you saw yourself clearly because I guarantee you I’m going to rub my dick raw with thoughts of you for many nights to come.”
His words only make my arousal worse. Or better, depending on how you look at it. My hips move ever so slightly of their own volition, as if they know how to seek out what they want before I can make the conscious decision.
“Talk to me, Charley.”
“You’re in my space,” I sigh out.
“You like it.”
God, he has no idea. Especially this. I’m overpowered by him. I don’t get touched—period—let alone like this. Every fantasy I’ve ever had plays out in my head. Sometimes, when you have a life like mine, that’s all you get. But this is one come to life.
“If you need me, just ask.”
“I don’t think you know what you’re asking,” I say breathlessly, my fingers tingling with the need to touch myself.
“Fine, I’ll tell you what I would need.” He grabs my hips, strong fingers sinking into my flesh. He pumps against my body, his movements slow, languid. “A few more minutes like this and I’ll come in my boxers like a teenager.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that,” he says, his fingers slowly making their way to my front.
Paralyzed with anticipation, I don’t tell him to stop. I don’t want him to, but at the same time, I’m torn. “I’m not like those other girls,” I force out.
“I know that, which is why I’m in your bed right now.”
“I don’t do this,” I reinforce. His hand lifts my thigh gently, propping my leg up against his. He sneaks his hand through the opening of my sleep shorts, his fingers tracing the line of my panties. “Cade.”
He kisses my shoulder. “Make your own memories, Sunshine.”
I nearly pass out. How did he know the exact words to say? I shift my hips toward him, nudging his hand to explore me further. He slips a finger underneath my panties, and I suck in a breath when he runs the pad up and down my slit.
“I can’t think straight,” I state, voice shaking.
“I can do the thinking for the both of us.”
He sits up, pulling me against him, his cock grazing my ass again, but he has better leverage with his finger as he finds the bundle of nerves in tiny, swirling movements.
I widen my legs for him, my whole body shaking.
“Open your eyes.”
I shake my head.
He leaves my clit, and I almost groan out in frustration, but he places his hand lower, finding my hole. His finger rims my entrance, pushing in only to pull out again.
“Cade!”
“Look at me.”
He pushes all the way inside, and I moan, long and hard. He stays there until I start to shift against him.
“Look at me, Sunshine.”
“What if it breaks the illusion? What if I overthink things?”
“Charley, I’m going to make you come this morning, but I really want to see your beautiful eyes when I do it.”
Slowly, my lids flutter open. I’m rewarded with a drag and pull as he strokes my channel. I turn my head, catching his gaze.
“Fuck,” he groans. He picks up the pace, bringing me close to the edge. Just when I think I might explode, he ventures to my clit again, rubbing the pad of his thumb over me in short, tight circles.
I’m mesmerized by the ticking of his jaw, by the earnest look in his eyes. I rub my ass against his dick, and a vein pops in his neck. “I thought about you all night. If I didn’t think you’d hear me, I would’ve jacked off.”
His hips work in tandem with his finger until I’m nothing but a vessel for stimulation. It’s hard to keep my gaze on him when the most ridiculous sounds come out of my mouth. Need. Want. Pleasure.
He kisses my shoulder. “Let go.”
“I don’t know if I can.”
“I’m safe. I promise.”
His raw gaze makes me believe him. My lids flutter closed in the most vulnerable way.
“Let go,” he says again.
At his command, my body submits fully to his touch.
“That’s it, Sunshine.”
My moans get louder, more insistent. My cares fall away. “Cade, please.”
“You’ll get there. Enjoy it.”
My toes curl, and my mind blips out. Full-body trembles take over, my moans and pleasure the only noises in the room, and just as he promised, I get there. Impossibly, my cries get louder until I shout my orgasm into the pillow.
My body collapses afterward, spent, satisfied, my unbridled breaths filling the room.
“That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
My eyes fly open, and I start to pull away, but Cade holds me in place. “Don’t do that. You shared that moment with me. Remember that.”
“I-I know.”
“Don’t go hiding away because I intend to do that again.”
“But—” I stop talking because I don’t know if there is really a but. That was amazing and scary and embarrassing all at the same time. “I don’t know how this happened. I don’t even have any friends, and now you’re…” His hands are still on me, so I nudge them out of the way. “You’re touching my…”
I grapple for the right word, but Cade doesn’t have a problem coming up with one. “Pussy, Sunshine. I touched your pussy. Tamed it, maybe,” he snickers. “It’s okay. Really. I wanted to. You wanted to. We’re adults.”
I take a deep breath. “I’m just going to need a moment to process.”
“It did sound like I blew your mind, so take all the time you need.” He kisses my shoulder again. “In case you’re wondering, you need confidence to do what I just did, too.”
“Is that the reason for the cocky vibe I’m getting right now?”
He maneuvers my shoulders to the bed and lowers himself on top of me. “Girl, I’m on cloud nine. I could hear you call my name like that right now.” He bites his lip, staring at me.
I swallow and peer away. “I’m freaking out again.”
“Would you freak out if I tasted you?”
He lowers his head, and I squeeze my knees shut. “Cade. I’m not used to— I’m new at this.”
He lifts up, his brown eyes unsure as he maneuvers my chin to look at him. “Sunshine, are you saying no one’s touched you before?”
I wiggle out of his grip. “Okay, I need space.” My feet hit the floor after a mad scramble.
“It’s okay if it’s yes,” he pleads. “I just wanted to know.” He sits up, scoots over to the side of the bed, and reaches out to grab my hands. “I’m honored, and I’m sorry if I pushed you.”
I don’t like it when he says it like that. It sounds like he made me. “I definitely wanted you to,” I say softly. “It’s…weird for me and there are all these changes at once.”
“Let’s focus on one thing,” he says. “That I make you feel safe, and that you only do what you want to.”
“That’s two things.”
“Okay, two connected things.”
I slide my gaze down his body—past his taut, muscular abs—and stop at his dick, still hard in his boxers.
“Do you mind if I go into the bathroom and take care of this? I’m getting the sense you’re not ready for that right now.”
“Can I watch?”
“Watch me embarrass myself because this isn’t going to take long?”
“I want to see.”
He keeps his heated stare on mine while reaching inside his boxers with one hand and pulling them down with the other. When his cock is free, I suck in a breath. Unbelievably, a flash of heat starts again in my core.
He wipes his hand in the precum at his tip and uses it as lube. “You were so beautiful. Your tight ass nestled against me, wanting me. All those sexy moans. Damn, Charley.”
He strokes his thick shaft, eyes never leaving mine.
“I bet you taste so sweet.”
My legs start to wobble. He holds out his free hand and leads me back toward the bed, his dick still in his fist. I lie down, my pajama top creeping up my rib cage. He angles toward me, positioning himself on one elbow while he reaches out to lift my shirt closer to my chest, his eyes burning a hole where my skin is.
“What are you picturing?” I breathe out.
“Right now? Your tits.”
My nipples peak at his attention. I don’t know where I get the courage from, but I lift one side of my shirt up to reveal my bare breast.
“Fuck me,” he groans. “They’re better than I imagined.” His hand jerks. “Soft. Creamy. Untouched… Jesus .” His breaths quicken. “Can’t get enough.” A guttural moan escapes his throat, and he covers the head of his dick with his fist as his hips shoot forward.
He turns his head into the bed, a soft sound of pleasure escaping his lips.
I’m mesmerized. A heady sense of power washes over me. Confidence like I’ve never felt before flutters across my body until a smile pulls my lips apart.
That. Was. Fun.