Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES
COLSEN
I’m so hard that I can barely think straight.
Everything between me and Taryn was going in the direction I was hoping for until her “but.”
That single word has the effect of an ice-cold shower on me, and I take one step back, putting some much needed distance between me and her tempting body.
But I immediately miss the contact with her soft body and I keep my fingers laced with hers as I try to figure out why she just hesitated.
“Did I do anything wrong? If so, I need you to tell me. If you want to stay here just because you’re tired, it’s totally fine. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”
Taryn shakes her head. “It’s not that. It’s just that we just met and I…”
“I mean it, pretty girl. I’m willing to wait if this was as far as you wanted to go tonight. I can drive you back right now, or if you want to stay, we can just cuddle.”
Her green eyes widen. “Would you be ok with just cuddling?”
I nod, lifting her hand to bring her knuckles to my lips. “Absolutely. Would I love to explore that sexy body of yours a little more? Sure. But I don’t want you to feel like you have to do anything more than what you’re comfortable doing.”
Her gaze shifts from my face down the length of my body to the obvious bulge in my jeans.
She doesn’t need to say anything to express her thoughts right now.
“Yeah, of course I’m hard. But I’m not an animal, and I can keep you in my arms and just sleep if that’s what you want.”
The corners of her lips tip up in a little smile. “What if that isn’t what I want?”
“I’m a little confused.” I admit. “You said you wanted to stay. Did you change your mind? Or did you want me to sleep on the couch? I’m ok with that too. I can tuck you in just like you did with Tucker.”
Finally, Taryn puts me out of my misery.
“No, I want to stay and I want to sleep in your bed with you. And I don’t want to just cuddle.”
My pulse quickens and my cock perks up at her words. “Then why did you sound unsure a second ago? When I say I don’t want to do anything unless you want it too, I mean it.”
“I know.” She exhales. “It’s just that you and Tucker were competing for who got to take me home. And now we kissed and I want more with you but I also want more with Tucker.”
Oh, I get it. Or at least I think I do. “So what you’re saying is that you like us both? And that you still want to hang out with Tucker when he’s a little more… present?”
Taryn nods, but lowers her gaze. “I’m sorry. If that changes your mind, I understand.”
“Pretty girl,” I coax her to look at me, lifting her chin with gentle fingers.
“No, it doesn’t change my mind. Look, I would deny what I’m going to say even under torture, but Tucker is a great guy.
He can be a jackass with all his pranks, but deep down, he’s got the biggest, most honest heart in the world.
I trust him with my life on and off the ice.
So I don’t blame you for being into him.
If you’d tried to see both of us behind our backs, I would have been very disappointed.
Your honesty, though, is refreshing, and it tells me that my first impression about you was right. ”
Some of the tension in her shoulders eases at hearing my words. “Good. I had so much fun tonight, and the way you and Tucker laugh and joke and compete with each other was one of my favorite things about hanging out with you guys. And I would like to hang out with you and Tucker again.”
“I’m sure that can be arranged.” I chuckle. “But I want to make one thing clear. While I love Tucker like a brother and I understand why you like him, I do want you for myself. And I know Tucker will fight to make you choose him, too. We’re even more competitive than you’ve seen tonight.”
She considers my words. “So where does that leave us? If something happened between us, would Tucker have your same reaction, or would he be upset?”
“He’s going to be ok, as long as you keep being honest with us. We talked about it earlier at the pier, when you went to the bathroom.”
“Really?” Taryn smiles. “You talked about me?”
I pull her closer until her soft chest is smashed against mine. “We just realized that we both want you, and we agreed that we would both pursue you and see where things go. No pressure to choose until you know us better.”
“Ok.”
Her smile does something to me. Something other than making me hard for her. A warmth that I’ve never felt before spreads in my chest.
I’m not crazy enough to think that I’m in love with her. We’ve literally just met. But aside from the explosive physical attraction between us, I like every side of Taryn I’ve seen so far. I’m excited to get to know her better.
“Ok,” I murmur, repeating her last word. “So, are you staying tonight?”
She presses her lips against mine and I have to fight the urge to hoist her on my shoulder and run to my bedroom.
“I would love to stay.” She smiles, pressing another, briefer kiss on my lips. “I just need to make sure I text my friend Jodie to let her know before I forget. She was staying at Talia’s, but I don’t want her to get worried in case she gets back to our room before I do.”
I reluctantly release her from my arms. “It’s a good idea to let your friend know where you are.
I have to get up early for practice, but you can sleep in and close the front door behind you if you want to leave before I’m back.
” I open my bedroom door for her and usher her in.
“While you text your friend, let me check on Tucker one last time.”
TARYN
Jodie reads my message straight away.
We agree to meet in our room and have breakfast together tomorrow morning.
I exhale a shuddering breath as I set my phone down on one of the nightstands in Colsen’s bedroom.
The room is very similar to Tucker’s bedroom; the only difference is in the color scheme. This bedroom’s decor is all in blue while Tucker’s was in green.
“Hey pretty girl.”
Even if we just met, being in Colsen’s arms feels natural.
His lips are warm; his kisses begin soft and coaxing, but the intensity between us grows with every touch, every brush of his tongue against mine.
Colsen’s mouth grows more urgent and insistent, and my body responds to every kiss, every touch with delicious tingles.
Pleasure floods all of my nerve endings when he kisses his way down the column of my neck.
As the hot hockey player kisses the exposed skin of my chest, I feel ready to melt into a puddle of goo.
“This ok, Taryn?” He murmurs, tracing the straps of my dress, hinting at his intention to lower them.
“Yes.” My voice is breathy, full of desire and anticipation. And nerves.
I’m not wearing a bra and I haven’t been naked in front of a guy before. Or I guess I have, but I can’t remember anything about my first time.
“Taryn, you’re so fucking beautiful.” Colsen’s hazel eyes darken as he lets my dress fall at my feet.
He looks at me as if I were the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.
“Kiss me, Colsen.”
He gives me what I want. But rather than taking my lips, Colsen drags his open mouth down the swell of my breasts.
“Oh.” I gasp when he closes his lips over one of my nipples, swirling his tongue over the pebbled peak. “That feels… oh my God.”
I can feel more than see his smile, as his mouth is still on me.
My back arches to give him more access, and my reward is a graze of his teeth.
A jolt of sensation travels from my nipple to my clit and I think I could probably come just like this.
He keeps kissing, licking, and sucking, dividing his attention between both breasts.
“You have the most perfect tits I’ve ever seen, pretty girl.” He sinks down on his knees, keeping his gaze locked with mine as his mouth continues its journey south.
A giggle escapes me when Colsen’s tongue traces the elastic band of my panties on my lower stomach.
“What… what are you doing?” I gasp as I feel his mouth closing over my clit through the lace of my underwear.
He sucks, using his teeth to graze my sensitive nub at the end. My clit throbs, the pleasure so intense that it almost hurts.
“I want to taste you, pretty girl.” Colsen’s fingers hook into the sides of my panties. “I want to kiss you until you come on my tongue.”
Oh, good Jesus.
I want this. I want this so much, but my nerves get the best of me and I tense up after Colsen lowers my panties, helping me step out of them.
“Taryn, are you ok?”
I close my eyes, fighting the urge to squirm under the heat of his gaze. “I am. I’m more than ok, it’s just that I’m nervous.”
His fingers caress my hips as he keeps his eyes on mine. “There’s no reason to be. Did I do anything to make you feel uncomfortable? You know we can stop any time.”
“No,” I shake my head. “It’s not you. You’re perfect. It’s just that I haven’t done this many times.”
Colsen rises to his feet. “Define what you mean with not many times, please?”
I brace myself for the possibility that my inexperience could be a turn off for him.
But I guess if it is, then I’ll know that Colsen and I aren’t a match.
“Just once. And he didn’t go down on me.” Or at least, I don’t think he did. I don’t tell him that I can’t remember anything about my first time. Or that I can’t ask the guy who knows how it went down because he’s a little dead.
“Just once?” He sounds surprised. “Are the men in South Carolina blind? If you had gone to college in Star Cove, you would have been asked out fifty times a day.”
There is no judgement in his tone, just genuine surprise.
“It’s not like I was never asked out.” I explain. “But I was busy. Between maintaining the GPA required by my scholarship and dance team rehearsals, I didn’t have a lot of time for dating. Besides, the one guy I had a crush on didn’t even know I existed.”
Colsen shakes his head. “I don’t know that guy, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that he must be an idiot or in need of an eye test not to notice you.”
I can’t help but smile at the certainty of his tone. “You’re good for my self-esteem, you know that?”