19. Lake
19
LAKE
T here’s nothing sweet and timid about the way Pen launches herself at me the second we’re inside. The door slams closed behind me as her arms wrap around my neck, throwing me off-balance.
Again.
“Take your clothes off,” she demands, pulling back enough to unzip her jacket and kick off her boots. She makes it look effortless.
Sexy.
I try to follow her lead, but my boots are wet against the hardwood floor, and I have to grab onto the wall for support as I curse and fumble to keep up. It’s harder than it looks but not half as hard as my dick is in my pants.
God damn, she’s pretty.
“Stop moving,” I growl, as she whips her sweater over her head and tosses it to the side. She’s just out of reach, her brown eyes twinkling with mischief as she sashays toward the hall.
“Gotta move faster, Lake.”
One boot hits the mat, and the other ends up somewhere in the kitchen, my jacket a tangled mess on the floor. Pen laughs and then squeals as I rip my shirt over my head and stalk toward her.
“Where do you think you’re going?” She’s a couple of paces ahead of me, her hand on the knob of her room when the unadulterated need to have her in my bed floods my veins. I hook her around the waist, and she shrieks as I manhandle her, throwing her over my shoulder as I walk us the rest of the way to my room.
“Lake!”
She giggles, her hands running all over my back as I push into my bedroom and kick the door closed. When I toss her onto the bed, she gasps, her tits bouncing and making my mouth water because those are mine now.
All of her is mine.
“What are you thinking about?” Pen whispers, her eyes a little uncertain as she leans up on her elbows.
“How sexy your tits look,” I tell her with a shrug, undoing my belt and stepping out of my jeans with far more finesse than moments before.
She huffs and grabs one of the pillows behind her and chucks it at my head, her aim far worse than it had been with the snowballs. It gives me the advantage and I dive for her, wedging my arm under her and rolling us so she’s straddling my lap, her blonde hair falling over her shoulders.
“You’re such a guy,” she breathes, her cheeks flushed and her chest heaving.
“So, sue me.”
Gripping the back of her neck, I pull her mouth down to meet mine while my other hand flicks the clasp on her bra. Pen moans against my mouth, pulling the straps from her arms and leaving her bare to me.
And I have to look, a shuddering breath leaving me, my mouth dry as my lips part.
She’s not even all the way naked.
“Lake?” The hesitation is back in her voice, and I swallow hard as I lift my gaze to hers.
“Gimme a second,” I whisper, the words sounding like gravel.
“Lake.”
“I know,” I tell her even though I don’t know anything except that she’s here and mine and just so damn precious I don’t want to ruin it.
Because I only get this moment once.
“I love you.” My declaration hangs between us as her mouth opens and closes. “I’ve loved you for so long, Pen, and I don’t need you to say it back but I just… I need you to know I love you.”
“Not just friends?” she purrs as she leans down until she’s completely lying on top of me.
“No, not just friends,” I confirm, her fingers raking through my hair as she rocks her hips against me.
“Show me, Lake. Show me how you love me.”
It’s permission.
An affirmation.
And it’s enough to quiet the nerves rattling around my head as I roll us and pin her to the mattress, her hair fanned out on my pillows like some kind of angel from above.
“I didn’t think you’d be so nervous,” she hums, taking one of my shaking hands and cupping her breast.
“I can’t believe you’re not,” I retort, leaning down to suck her nipple into my mouth. She gasps, her fingers tangling in my hair as she arches up into me.
“It’s been a long time since—ah!” she moans as I pinch the sensitive bud gently between my teeth before moving to the other side and doing it all again. “Since this was fun and?—”
“Ow,” I wince as she yanks my hair. It’s not sexy; it’s solely to get my attention.
“I’m not sorry,” she says, her eyes searching mine, seemingly catching up with the holy shit we’re finally having sex moment I’d been having. “I’ve only been with Carter. And we learned together but it was never great and I need it to be great. I need toe-curling. I need can’t form words or remember my name and then I need you to do it again.”
“No pressure,” I deadpan even though I get it.
“I need this, Lake, and I need it with you, because you’re right—I love you and not like friends, and I need to be loved tonight.”
“I didn’t expect you to say it back, not yet.”
“Loving you is easy.”
“I’ll take care of us.” I murmur, my heart in my throat as her glassy eyes search mine, because this moment is something palpable—something just for us.
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Evermore.