CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Come dance with me
JAKE
I’m in a bad mood tonight.
And it’s not because Eli convinced all of us to wear cowboy hats out tonight. They actually look quite good on us.Vanessa is the reason for my bad mood.
For the past ten minutes I’ve been watching her dance with some random guy, and I’ve never felt more jealous in my life. I want her to be looking at me, talking to me—not hanging out with some random fuckboy on the dancefloor.
I feel like a creep as I take a sip of my beer, eyes glued to her.
Sometimes I feel like there’s more going on between us. We have this shared intimacy and yet she still keeps her walls up.
A random girl with big blue eyes and bleach-blonde hair clings around me, talking my ear off about the Music Hall of Fame, but I don’t care about anything she’s saying. She’s nothing compared to Vanessa. No matter how hard I try to keep the conversation going and force myself to flirt with her, I realize how much I hate this.
I hate not celebrating with Vanessa.I hate how private we are.I hate not being able to touch her around my friends.All I want is to be able to dance with her and kiss her in public without her freaking out.
I always thought that I would just sleep my way through college until I got drafted and then try to settle down. I never would have expected that in my final years of college I would find a girl who makes me question everything.
“Y’know, if I were you, I would’ve asked her to be my girlfriend after the first hookup.” Nate takes a swig of his beer as we watch Vanessa dance carelessly.“Shep, you gotta tell her how you feel before it’s too late.”
Sometimes Nate is too good at reading people. I feel like he knows what I’m thinking before I say it out loud.
“Who said I have feelings for her?”
Nate looks at me, giving an are you kidding me stare down.
“Okay, buddy. Keep lying to yourself. While you choose to ignore your feelings, someone else is feeling her up on the dance floor.”
I watch as the guy she dances with runs his hands up her torso. I want to break each and every one of his fingers. Okay, maybe I do have feelings for her. But Vanessa and commitment don’t go hand in hand. Why would I put myself in a vulnerable position only to be turned down again?
I arch a brow at Nate. “How come you always have great relationship advice and yet I never see you with a girlfriend?”
“We’re not talking about my love life.”
Eli clasps mine and Nate’s shoulder, yelling over the music, “Yeah, ’cause Nate has horrible luck with women. Remember that girl you took out in the summer who thought a goal was a basket and brought you a baseball to sign so she could sell it when you go pro.”
Eli breaks into a laughing fit and Nate shoves him off, shaking his head at his friend.
“Ignore him. You know I’m right—so when are you going to get your head out of your ass and do something about it?”
Nate is right. That’s what aggravates me.
Vanessa is amazing. Once someone else realizes it, she’ll be scooped up and I could miss my chance. I want to be the person she confides in and trusts. I want to be the person she turns to, the one to hold her when she’s upset, the one she looks for in a crowd. I don’t want to let her slip through my fingers. But I don’t know how to talk to her about this because she’s set her boundaries, and I need to respect them.
Maybe there’s another way for us to take a step forward—starting with me interrupting her dance.
“All right, fuck it.” I turn toward the bartender and order a shot of whiskey.
“Jake Shepherd needs liquid courage? Since when?”
“Shut up, Murphy. I can’t wait for the day you fall for someone and decide to tell her about it. You’ll be shitting your pants.”
Eli puts his hands up in defense and backs away slowly. I knock the shot back and head toward the middle of the dance floor, where Vanessa is moving her gorgeous hips to the music.
She’s in a world of her own, dancing with this stranger who I’ve become very envious of. The music changes from an upbeat twang to a slower song, and the guy spins her around, twirling her with one hand. Vanessa only notices my presence when she twirls around and I grab her by her belt loop. As I tug her into me, her belt loop breaks with the force of my pull, creating a decent sized hole.
“Hey!” Vanessa puts her hands against my chest, stopping us from colliding. Fuck. Her touch warms my entire body. As if she notices her hands are still on me, she smacks my hand away from her waist. “These were my favorite jeans.”
A deep laugh escapes me as I look down at the hole along her hip bone.I slowly trail my eyes up her body, taking in all of her. When my gaze lands on her face, I notice she pulled her beautiful plump lips into a straight, taut line, her eyes narrowing on me, like a tiger ready to pounce on its prey. She’s so cute when she pretends to be mad at me.
I lean low, down to her ear so I can talk to her over the music.
Her chest rises and falls quickly, and with all the confidence in the world, I whisper in her ear. “Don’t worry, I’ll buy you a new pair.”
I grab her by her waist and pull her back into me. I can see the stranger from the dance floor still has his eyes on Vanessa. He looks at me briefly, giving me a look that says what the fuck .
I just stole his girl, and I don’t give two fucks. Vanessa was mine first, and she always will be. Even if she hasn’t realized it yet.
“Come dance with me, Ness.” I nudge my nose against her cheek, begging.
Her eyes question me. “Why? Did the blonde ditch you, so now you’ve come for your second choice?”
Her question swallows me up. She was watching me tonight too? Good.
“You’ve never been a second choice to me, Ness.” I grab her chin and bring her lips to mine. It’s a risky move—one I don’t know she would be comfortable with, especially since we’re out with the whole team.But she doesn’t pull away. She wraps her hands around me, her fingers immediately playing with my curls. Fuck I love when she does that. Her nails play with my hair and my scalp, sending an electric jolt down my neck.Vanessa could suck the life out of me with her kiss and I would thank her for it.
She tastes like cinnamon whiskey, which is unusual for her, but I like it. It reminds me of crisp leaves and late autumn nights spent by the fire.
Vanessa looks up at me, with a greedy smile. “I don’t really care for the club, wanna go back to the hotel?”
Hell yes. I don’t know if I can make it all the way back. I would take her here if there weren’t a hundred watching eyes. I want to take her back and show her how badly I need her. I never want her to feel like she’s a second choice when it comes to me.
in the elevator going up to her room. I want to take her in the shower, on the bed, on the desk—fucking everywhere.
I think I want it all with her.
But for now, I’ll take her to her room and show her just how much I love being around her.
I pick her up by her waist, hauling her over my shoulder, and start walking toward the exit. On our way out I use my free hand to wave at Nate. He gives me a knowing nod, then focuses back on Eli and the rest of the team, who are taking shots at the bar with some players from the other teams. Normally I would be with them, celebrating and bonding, but I would rather spend my night buried in Vanessa.
We get outside the club and Vanessa pounds her fists on my back. “Let me down, Shepherd, before I hurt you!”
“You couldn’t hurt me even if you tried, Ness.”
I bend over and slowly put her down. As I do, she runs her hands down her outfit and I take a second to appreciate how fucking sexy she looks. She’s wearing black jeans with holes across both knees—and a broken belt loop thanks to me.
Oops.
This girl has nothing else on but a little black tank top that I want to rip off her body the second we get back to the hotel.
“Are you okay to walk back or will your heels hurt your feet going that far?”
She rolls those gorgeous eyes at me. “I’ll be fine. And if I’m not, I’m sure my amazing friend Jake will give me a piggyback ride.”Her smile beams up at me.
“If your feet start hurting, just jump on.” I pull her into me, hanging my arm over her shoulders, guiding us back to the hotel.
“Are you okay?” Her question throws me off. “Y’know, with the whole fight with Andrew. We didn’t really talk before you stormed off.”
I shake my head at her. “I’m fine. Meyers barely split my lip, it’ll be healed in a day. Trust me, I’ve had much worse done to me.”
Her eyes go wide when I say that. I can only imagine what she’s picturing in that creative mind of hers.
“The worst hit I ever got was in my freshman year at BCU. It was one of our last games of the season and we were playing Northeastern. Their left winger came out of nowhere and checked me into the boards, knocking the wind out of me .” She winces and holds her side, as if she can feel a phantom pain. “I broke a rib and had a slight concussion.”
“Yikes, talk about a rough sport.” She blows out a whistle, in the cutest tune.“Should we talk about why you fought him?”
This girl never gives up.
“I feel like we should just forget about it. I didn’t handle the situation properly and I’ve learned my lesson.”
She nods at my response, allowing the topic to die, never to be brought up again.If I learned one thing, it’s that Vanessa is very stubborn and independent. I know she appreciated me sticking up for her, but she didn’t like the way that I handled it.
The hotel isn’t far, but at the halfway point I lifted Vanessa into my arms. I knew those shoes wouldn’t last long. Her lips are on me the second we hit the elevator. Traveling up her neck, I nip and suck at her gentle skin. The only thing stopping me from taking her right here is the ding of the bell indicating we’ve reached our floor.
Vanessa pries me off her and tugs me down the hall to her room. We’re a heated mess of kisses and gentle touches as she gets the door open.She fiddles with the buttons on my jeans as I toss off my plaid jacket and white T-shirt. Vanessa pulls the jeans down my legs and palms me through my boxers. I’m already hard but her touch has me straining against the fabric.
“Is it rude of me to say that I’ve been waiting for this all weekend?”
The giggle that falls through her lips is soft. “No, you’re just being honest. But doesn’t waiting make the anticipation grow?”
I point down to my dick as I say, “If it grows any larger I might explode.”
My statement causes her to laugh again, but this time it’s a hearty laugh—that sound is going to be on repeat in my head all week.
Her pants and shirt find the floor and my eyes immediately fall onto her body, which is covered in the sexiest lingerie I’ve ever seen.
Holy fuck.
“Do you like it?” she asks so innocently, as if she’s not the devil disguised as an angel.
The dainty black lace has red flowers embroidered over her nipples. The bra barely covers her, but I’m not complaining as the thin material holds up her beautiful tits. My eyes travel down her body. The black lace panties match the pattern of her bra. Her ass is so perfectly round, everything about her is fucking perfect.
As if she can hear the idea in my head she says, “You cannot rip these ones. This is my nice set.” I hear the smirk in her voice as she says the last few words. Her nice set .I wonder how many other guys have seen it before. Actually, I don’t give a shit if anyone else has seen her like this because right now I have her.
“What are you thinking about right now?”
I realize that I’ve been silently staring at her. “I’m torn whether I want you to keep this pretty little thing on while I bury my cock in you, or if I want to peel it off slowly, teasing you as I do it.” My words come out thick with desire, and by the look on Vanessa’s face, I know that she loves the husky tone.
“Did you bring your blue friend with you on the trip?”
My question causes her to immediately blush and tear her gaze away from mine.
“No…” She lies so prettily.
“Where is it?” I look around the room, finding her bag on the floor, tucked by the window. I walk over, shuffling her clothes around. I don’t find her blue dildo, instead, tucked away in the front pocket, I find a tiny little purple vibrator.
Hmm, travel-sized. This will definitely come in handy.
“This little buddy and I are going to be great friends.”
I toss the toy onto the bed and grab Vanessa. Her skin is cold from the night air, but it feels so good against my warmth. I mentally curse myself for not offering her my jacket on the walk over. I need to be a better gentleman.
I lay her down on the bed and my lips find their way back to her neck. I suck and nibble at her tender skin, trailing wet kisses down her body.The softest moans escape from Vanessa’s mouth, encouraging me to go down farther—to the spot she really wants me to kiss.
I get to her lace panties but don’t slip them aside. I would love to rip them off and offer to buy her a new pair, but I already promised to buy her new jeans because of my stunt earlier.Instead, I fan my hot breath over her, which makes her squirm under me. I place soft, featherlight kisses to her over her underwear. The intimate touch causes her to buck her hips, wanting more pressure.
I grab the small purple vibrator from the spot on the bed next to me. I turn it on, playing with the different settings. The toy has multiple vibrations, spanning from long and steady to short bursts, or a mix of the two.
“What do you prefer?” I ask. I always want to learn what gets her off.
Her cheeks are the prettiest shade of pink as she responds, “Long and steady.”
“Of course you do.”
I turn it on and place the purple toy directly on her clit. Vanessa immediately moans in pleasure, loving the way this feels against her swollen bud. I move the vibrator in small circles, making sure to keep just enough pressure without overwhelming her.
I use my other hand to slip under her panties and run my forefinger up and down her pussy. She coats my finger as it glides up and down, until I finally plunge into her. A gasp escapes her lips as I start to slowly thrust my finger in and out of her while simultaneously pleasing her with the vibrator.
Vanessa’s fingers twine themselves in my hair, pulling gently on my curls. As I keep moving my finger in and out of her, I add a second finger.
“ Fuck, please add another.” Without any hesitation, I follow her command, and she moans in acceptance.
I accidentally move the vibrator a little lower and the sexiest rasp escapes her beautiful, parted lips. “Do you like that, baby?”
Her teeth bite down on her bottom lip as she nods.
I keep pumping my fingers and I can feel her pussy throbbing around them. “Jake, I’m gonna come.”
“Good, come for me.” I thrust my fingers deeper and rub the vibrator in a circular motion again, which sends her over the edge.
Her fingers move from my hair to my biceps, and she claws at me as she comes undone.Vanessa’s body goes limp for a moment, and I allow her to enjoy the euphoria she’s experiencing. I turn the vibrator off and toss it on the side table—I’m not done using that on her.
As I position myself next to her, she moves and peels my boxers from me. My dick practically springs free as the spandex material gets pulled off me.
I’ll never get tired of the way Vanessa’s eyes pop when she takes me in. I don’t like to brag about how big my dick is because that’s just an asshole move—but let’s just say I’m packing enough that Vanessa’s mouth waters as she debates how to proceed.
Her pretty white manicured fingers wrap around me, pumping me at an agonizing pace. Before another thought can make its way into my brain, she wraps those gorgeous plump lips around me.
Oh fuck, I could come just from her lips on me.
Vanessa’s head bobs up and down as she takes me deep into her mouth. Most girls have issues fitting me all the way in, but Vanessa never backs down from a challenge. As her mouth works me, she has her hand still wrapped around my base, pumping as she moves up and down. The sensation sends a wave of pleasure through my own body and I can feel the familiar tingle in my lower back, telling me if she continues to do this even for another minute, I’m going to burst.
Slowly I lean up, cupping her face and bringing her to me.
“Please tell me you brought condoms.” Her words are whispered against my lips.
My eyes scan the room until I find my jeans thrown haphazardly on the floor. “In my wallet, back pocket of my jeans.’
In an instant, Vanessa is upright scrambling through our discarded clothes until she finds the shiny wrapper.
She’s back on the bed, ripping open the condom and sliding it down my dick. The feeling of her fingers on me again has me pushing back all the feral thoughts coursing through my head.
Vanessa adjusts her body, placing both legs on either side of mine. She holds my dick in place, slowly lowering herself onto me. The second the head of my dick enters her, I just about explode.
She wraps around me perfectly, as if she was molded just for me.
“Ness, fuck, that feels so good. Take all of me.”
She follows my instructions and fully lowers herself onto me, taking me all the way in. Before I can even catch my breath, she’s moving again. As she rides me, on the way down she grinds her pelvis into mine, which feels like fucking heaven.
Where has this girl been my entire life?
I put my hands on her hips, stopping her movements—because if I don’t, I will bust right here. “Are you down to try something a little different, angel girl?”
She looks down at me with intrigue. “What do you have in mind?” Her voice is hoarse, filled with lust.
“Come to the edge of the bed and get on your hands and knees.”
I move to stand at the end of the mattress, but make sure to grab the little purple toy on my way.
As I stand at the edge of the wooden bed frame, Vanessa positions herself so perfectly with her back arched. I trace small shapes on her ass, my thumbs gripping onto her soft skin by her hips.
I position myself at her entrance and enter her again. Fuck , it feels like coming home—as cliche as that sounds, I don’t give a shit. I rock my hips, thrusting into her. Her hand immediately cups over her mouth, silencing her loud moans.
“Take your hand away right now. I wanna hear you moan my name so everyone on this floor knows who’s making you come.”
I grab the purple vibrator and turn it on—this time changing the setting to the small bursts of vibrations. My arm wraps around Vanessa’s waist as I find her clit and hold the vibrator there.
“ Oh my god , Jake.” My name sounds smooth coming from her lips.
I thrust harder, burying my cock in her. I make sure to keep that vibrator pressed against her as I move my hips. That lower spot on my spine starts to tingle as I get closer to my own orgasm. My movements become quicker, building up to an intense release.As I am about to spill into the condom, Vanessa screams my name, clenching around me as she experiences her second orgasm of the night. My name coming from her lips will be my undoing.
Her pussy squeezes my dick and practically sucks the life out of me. As I come, my thrusts are hard and slow, wishing I was filling her and not the condom.
She exhausts herself, falling flat onto the bed. I fall right next to her, both of our breaths are shallow as our chests heave up and down from our workout.
“That…was amazing,” she says in between breaths.
I peel the condom off, wrapping it in tissues and tossing it to the side for now.
“Yeah?” I lean on my side, resting my head on my closed fist.
“No one has ever used a toy on me while having sex. Most guys saw them as competition.”
“Well, toys are my friends, not my enemy.” Any guy who doesn’t use them is scared that it’ll outperform them. Me? I embrace them.
“Thank God for that.” She smiles at me. Her big toothy grin sends a sharp tang in my chest.
We lie there for a moment, I stare at her as she looks up at the ceiling, mulling in the post-orgasm bliss. The only interruption is her phone lighting up on the nightstand. She leans over to look at the caller ID, immediately declining the call.
“Who’s that?”
“My parents. They have been trying to get a hold of me to discuss our plans for Thanksgiving, but I don’t want them to ruin my weekend.” Vanessa peers up at me from her pillow. “I’ve had a lot of fun with you.”
“I’m glad I was able to make your first visit to Nashville memorable.”
She stares off into space, getting lost in the popcorn texture of the ceiling. I can tell that there’s still something on her mind.
“What’s on your mind, Nichols?”
It takes her a moment to come back to me.
She lets out a sigh. “I don’t really want to go home for the holidays. I know exactly what it’s going to be like. My mom is going to pretend that we live the perfect life in front of her family. My aunts will make comments on what I’m studying and my uncle will tell me that I’m wasting my life and my mom’s money on a hobby. It’s the same script every holiday.”
I can’t imagine how heavy this must weigh on her. Home is supposed to be comforting, filled with warmth. But Vanessa’s family life sounds cold and harsh, filled with taunts and demeaning comments.
“I’m sorry that your parents are like that.” There’s not much else I can say to make her feel better. Some people have shitty situations and sometimes the best thing you can do is be an open ear for them. “Anything else you wanna get off your chest?”I try to change the subject, in hopes of making her forget about her family.
She quirks her mouth to the side, the way she does when she’s stuck deep in thought. I’ve seen that look too many times during late-night study sessions.
“Well, there’s been something on my mind, but I don’t know.”
“Ness, it’s me, c’mon.”
She bites her lower lip, taking her time. “Do you think maybe we could…never mind.” She turns away from me for a moment, not wanting to make eye contact.
“What?” I press harder, wanting to know what she was about to say.
Vanessa turns back to me, her face has the familiar tinge of pink that she gets when she’s flustered. “Feel free to say no, but I was thinking we could update the terms to our friends with benefits?”
I honestly have no idea what she’s about to say, but whatever it is, I’m willing to do it for her.
“Like what?”
She fiddles with the blanket in her hands, twiddling her forefingers. “What if we were exclusively friends with benefits? So, I only sleep with you, and you only sleep with me. No jealousy or whatever that was tonight that caused you to rip my favorite pants.”
When she offered the friends-with-benefits deal, it was like I had struck gold. But there’s a selfish part of me that wants her all to myself.
I don’t want to scare her by answering too fast, but I also don’t want her to think that I want to see other people. Because I haven’t been with a single person since we hooked up back in Vermont.
I rest my head on my fist. “You wanna make this a regular thing?”
She nods.
I steady my breath before answering. “I’d be cool with that.”
Vanessa tries to hide her smile, but I get a glimpse of it before she directs her attention back to the ceiling. “Cool.”
We lay together silently, and after a few minutes, I hear steady breathing indicating that she’s asleep.I move slowly, trying to cause as little movement as possible, and grab my phone from my jeans.
Jake:
Is it cool if I bring a friend to
breakfast?
Dad:
Girlfriend? *peeking eye emoji*
Autumn:
Ooh is it the photographer?
Jake:
She’s just a friend. Don’t be weird about it. She was having a bad day and I thought you guys might cheer her up.
Mom:
Will the two of you stop teasing. Of course, she’s
more than welcome to join us.
I tuck my phone back into my pocket and fall asleep with the small brunette in my arms.