Chapter 17
Landon
My heart starts beating quicker. Is she saying what I think she’s saying?
“Changed your mind about what exactly?” I ask.
“About you. About distractions. Or whether you’d even be a distraction, if we kept it light and fun.”
“Huh,” I say as I process what she means.
“When I was in Europe and we were texting, I really liked that we stayed in touch every day, instead of only at random times. I couldn’t—it wasn’t hurting my tennis, and in fact, I love that you totally get the athlete life.
It was like you knew what I needed to hear each day, even though we’re still getting to know each other. ”
My chest warms at her words. It feels good knowing that she liked talking every day. That I helped her.
“Plus our nights—they’re the best sex I’ve ever had, Landon,” she says with a more confident tone. “I want more nights.”
“I think we’re on the same page with that one,” I agree quickly with a smile.
“I know you’re not into commitment, and so this may not be what you want at all. But I’d love if we could…keep distracting each other when we can be in the same place?”
Her comments have my mind turning over at a mile a minute.
On the one hand, I’m excited that she wants to spend more time together, and yes, fuck. On the other hand, she doesn’t have it quite right as I reflect on my conversations with Grace and Johnson yesterday.
It’s not that I’m uninterested in commitment, but more that no one ever inspired me to get over my own baggage before. Made me grow up and move past my parent’s BS. Past the worry that factors outside of me and whoever I was with could shape our relationship.
My excuses largely washed away in my conversations with Grace and J yesterday. So while I’m just getting to know Rori, there’s nothing that feels wrong about exploring more.
I decide to make her get really specific about what she wants.
“Are you saying, like date, but keep it casual?”
“Yeah. I guess. Maybe we can just not put a label on it?”
Huh. Not sure I love that.
“But there’s one more thing,” she says, the last sentence coming out slowly, like she’s hesitant again.
She squeezes a couch pillow to her chest. “I don’t think I could handle it if you’re hooking up with other women. That may be ridiculous to ask for after just two nights together. But I know myself, and it won’t work for me.”
My response comes easy. “Rori, I’ve had little interest in other women since New Year’s, and even more so since our night after the photo shoot.
Don’t get me wrong, it caught me by surprise, but I realized pretty quickly after being approached a couple of times in January that I don’t want to go down that road right now. ”
Her arms relax around the pillow, and a genuine smile spreads across her face. “Okay.”
She may be calmer, but my mind continues to spin.
A vague “no labels” situation, on its own, sounds like it could lead to a lot of uncertainty about where we stand. I’m not interested in setting myself up to be burned before we even get started.
But the fact that we’re on the same page about seeing other people changes things. I think I can go with what she wants if we’re not leaving that up in the air.
I’ll take it for now. It’s a big step for me anyway.
Settling my thoughts with that decision, I scoot a couple inches closer to her on the couch and grab one of her hands, threading her fingers with mine. On instinct, I bring our joined hands to my mouth, kissing the top of hers, before resting them back on my lap.
Her pupils seem to dilate a little, and she stares at where our hands meet.
“So let me make sure I understand,” I say, rubbing my thumb along the side of her hand. “You don’t want any labels. But we’ll stay exclusive and see each other as often as we can with our schedules?”
She lifts her head, looks me in the eye, and nods.
“I’m in, Rori.”
She beams in response, prompting me to bring my free hand up to the side of her face. She leans into it with her cheek, with my other hand still joined with hers on my lap.
The moment is the most intimacy that we have had since the photo shoot. In its own way, the most intimacy we’ve ever had.
And I’m not scared by that, I realize.
We sit there for a moment, looking at each other. Then a beat later, Rori bites her bottom lip, maybe out of anticipation, or maybe to evoke a reaction from me.
Either way, react is what I do. A small groan escapes my throat at the gesture, and I cannot keep my eyes from dipping to her mouth. Suddenly, I’m following an inevitable path to her lips, moving towards her until our mouths connect.
The kiss is soft and gentle, our first one in months.
If the night ended here, I would consider it a success. Her warm, soft lips are my destination.
But she starts moving her mouth, adding dimension to our kiss. We stay at that pace for a minute, our lips separating and then coming back together softly, until finally she lets out a pleased sigh that rips through my restraints.
Shifting my hand from her cheek to the back of her head, I go in with more serious intent this time, parting her mouth with my tongue. She reciprocates a moment later, taking over control of the kiss with a heated moan.
It feels so damn good to hear her sounds again.
After more time passes, she sighs again into my mouth, and it reawakens my awareness of our surroundings. I bring my hands down to her bare legs, rubbing the smooth skin all the way up, where her tiny denim shorts cut off the top of her thigh.
I cannot help but chuckle, breaking the kiss. “You were trying to torture me with these, weren’t you,” I say as I fondle the hems.
“Uh huhhh,” she says with a small laugh, laying her head in the crook of my neck.
“Well, it worked,” I say as I kiss the top of her head.
Snuggling into me tighter, her attention turns to the TV, which is still playing whatever show she put on when we sat down. “Landon, we’re going to need to rewind this episode,” she says. “I’ve missed everything.”
I grab the remote, figuring out how to restart the show. She’d picked a reality competition about a baseball player looking for love. Twenty ladies are competing to “win his heart” or something like that.
As the episode starts to replay, Rori begins explaining some of the character’s back stories to me. We’ve both sat up, and I loop my arm around her body in a half hug. She slides her ass closer to me so our legs are touching too.
“Tracey’s a teacher from Missouri, and it was really cute, last episode they did a video of all her kids telling her good luck. And then Becky, she’s super bitchy, everyone hates her…”
I nod and gently stroke her arm with the hand that’s wrapped around her.
And then it hits me. I’ve never had a night like this with a woman. Relaxed, staying in, fooling around, watching TV. It’s all standard for relationships, but I have been avoiding just this scenario for eight years. Do I like it?
“This is nice,” I blurt out, responding to my own question.
“Hmm,” Rori says as she turns her head to me and then snuggles in a little tighter. “Yes.”
We stay like that through two episodes. Now, around eight PM, the Florida sun is beginning its descent, and a range of colors is coming through the window.
“Oh wait, I forgot to ask,” Rori says. “When do you need to drive home?”
“No time specifically,” I say, not sure if an overnight is what she had in mind. “Grace is watching Grover, so the pup’s all taken care of.”
Rori takes a beat and then flips off the TV. “Here’s what I’m thinking. How do you feel about going for a dip in my pool? It’s so pretty watching the sunset out back, and the landscaping makes it completely private.”
Rori dressed in a tight swimsuit, water dripping off her curves? Yes, please.
“Let’s do it. I have a gym bag in my car with some extra shorts too. I’ll go grab it.”
She nods, and I walk out of the cottage to grab the bag, which is normally stocked with extras I might need after a training session. No, I didn’t pack it specifically for this trip.
I might have glanced to make sure it was there before I left, though.
Coming back into the house, I see that Rori has grabbed a couple of towels and is heading back to her balcony doors. I follow her there, and when I slip through the glass doors she’s opened for us, I notice wood stairs leading off the deck to the small pool.
A combination of trees and shrubs create a visual barrier in every direction from her neighbors, protecting the backyard from anyone’s view. Nice.
Dropping my bag on the deck, I walk down the stairs where Rori has already set down the towels on two lounge chairs.
“So, Landon,” she starts with a mischievous look in her eye. “How do you feel about skipping those shorts for our swim?”
She ends that very compelling statement by biting her bottom lip again and taking her shirt off, leaving only her bralette on for now.
A mix of a groan and growl escapes me. “So skinny-dip?” I say gruffly.
“Yes,” she says, eyes lit up.
Unable to help myself, I reach out and put my thumb on her bottom lip, mimicking the action she made a moment ago when she was biting it.
As her lips part slightly at my touch, I slip my thumb fully into her mouth. She immediately starts sucking on it—shit, the sensation is a straight shot to my dick. And I’m not the only one turned on. I see her nipples have gone as hard as diamonds under her bralette.
“Ahhhh, Rori,” I say as I start losing myself in the feel of her mouth.
She grabs my hand and pulls my thumb out. “I missed this,” she says as her hand goes down to my rising dick and rubs it over my shorts.
Fuck, this woman is going to own me.
Trying to keep myself under control, I move my hands to her face and go in for a heady kiss, my tongue entering her mouth instead of my thumb this time. Nonetheless, I feel myself losing it as her hands work me over my shorts, like a high school boy unused to a girl’s touch.
With a lot of regret, I step out of our embrace to put a little distance between us. “Plenty of time for that. Let’s get in the pool before we miss the sunset.”
“Okayyyy, if we must,” Rori says with a singsong voice.
But she isn’t done making me suffer. She strips off her bralette while keeping her eyes locked on mine, revealing her perky tits.
“I missed those,” I say, unabashedly admiring them as she wears a pleased expression.
Next, she leans down to unbutton her shorts. This part she does slowly, lingering on the zipper after releasing the button, then slipping the zipper down.
Intoxicated by the show she is putting on, I watch as she lowers the shorts inch by inch. Finally, as they reach the stone deck around the pool, she stands back up, fully naked.
Her beautiful pussy, pink and glistening—my girl is definitely turned on herself.
Shit, she hadn’t worn panties tonight.
“Oh, you’re dangerous, aren’t you, baby?”