22. Sophie
My knees wobble at the hungry look in Xander’s eyes. My gaze falls to his lips, which are curved up in a teasing smile.
My clit pulses. I already know Xander is going to wreck me with his mouth.
I am so ready.
He helps me up onto the cushions and moves over so I can lie down. He sits down next to me on the edge of the couch. And then he reaches behind his neck and pulls off his shirt, revealing his bare, chiseled torso.
My jaw drops and I gasp.
I’ve seen plenty of muscled bodies before. I work in sports medicine after all.
But Xander is on a whole other level.
I let my gaze drift across the hard lines and ridges of his chest and his abs. He is a literal wall of muscle.
I reach out and run my palm along his hot, lightly tan skin.
“Wow, look at that,” I murmur.
I zero in on his impressive eight-pack. I lightly drag my index finger along the ridge of his abs, then I run my fingers through the dark hair in the center of his chest.
He wags an eyebrow at me. “Do I pass inspection?”
I bite my lip and nod.
“Don’t tell me you’re into waxed chests,” he teases.
I shake my head. “No way. I love chest hair. It’s so manly.”
I lick my lips as I rake my gaze along his naked body. “You’re perfect,” I murmur. “Like, Photoshop perfect.”
He chuckles. “What’s Photoshop perfect?”
“You look like your body’s been edited in Photoshop. But it hasn’t. You’re just flawless.”
A pink flush paints his cheeks as he smiles down at me. “You’re adorable, you know that?”
“And you’re ridiculously hot. Like, nuclear explosion hot.”
I press my eyes shut and cover my face with my hands. “Wow, I sound so stupid.”
“Hey.”
At Xander’s gentle tone, I pull my hands away and open my eyes.
“You are not stupid. You are so fucking cute and sexy.”
The embarrassment fades as I take in the adoring look on his face.
He rests his hands on the waist of my jeans. “Can I?”
I nod yes. He slowly slides off my jeans. Inside my heart is racing and my nerves are going off like firecrackers.
I’m about to get naked in front of the panty dropper who happens to have the body of a Greek god.
Insecurity flashes through me as he pulls off my jeans, and then moves to slide off my sweater.
I’m left in thin, pale blue cotton panties and a matching bra.
I glance off to the side, too nervous to meet his gaze. It’s not that I’m embarrassed or ashamed of my body. I’m not—not normally.
I’m actually pretty happy with the way I look and feel. I’m a healthy twenty-four-year-old, and I like to stay active doing yoga, going to spin class, and jogging outside when the weather is nice.
But after seeing Xander’s flawless physique, I can’t help but feel self-conscious. I don’t have anything close to a perfect body. I’ll never be as in shape as Xander, no matter what I do. Part of me wonders if he’s disappointed at what he sees. He’s a professional athlete after all. And he’s bedded tons of gorgeous women who I’m sure had perfect bodies.
I can’t stare at the coffee table forever. So I take a breath and force myself to look at Xander.
The look in his eyes is dazed as he runs his gaze all over my body.
“Jesus fuck, Sophie,” he mutters, almost like he’s angry.
He glances off the side for a second before he meets my gaze again. That hungry look in his eyes from before is back, but this time, it’s about a hundred times more intense.
“Your body…” he mutters before he looks me up and down. “So fucking perfect.”
My heart flutters. I bite back a smile. Every ounce of self-consciousness melts away. Because it’s clear Xander likes what he sees.
I glance down at his cock, which is rock hard again.
“Already?” I ask.
He nods, gripping a hand on my hip. “Can’t help it. Seeing you like this is too much, Sophie.”
He moves so that he’s on his knees on the floor. He leans down and captures my mouth in a slow, teasing kiss. He rests his palm on my stomach. I moan into his mouth, relishing how big and warm his hand feels on my body.
As our kiss amps up, he slides his hand between my legs. He cups his palm against my pussy. My clit throbs.
I gasp, breaking our kiss. Just the pressure of his hand is driving me wild.
“You want my mouth on your pussy, gorgeous?” Xander asks, his lips hovering over mine.
I nod and whimper. Heat flashes in his eyes.
“God, Sophie. I can’t handle it when you make that sound.”
He kisses my mouth once more before dragging his lips along the side of my neck. He dusts kisses outside of my bra and down my stomach.
Pleasure rockets through me. He only has his hand on my pussy and already I’m on the verge of another orgasm.
“I’ll get to those perfect tits in a minute,” he murmurs against my belly button. “But first I need to taste you.”
My head spins at the sweet things coming out of Xander’s mouth.
He moves between my legs, gently pushing them apart. He presses his palm against my pussy harder. I grip his wrist and grind against his hand. It feels so hot and so good and I don’t want him to stop.
A low chuckle falls from his lips. “As hot as it is to watch you and feel you grind against my hand, I’d rather you grind against my face.”
When he pulls away, I whine at the loss of contact. But then he lowers his face to my pussy and licks the crotch of my panties.
A lightning bolt of pleasure strikes my clit.
WOW.
Even through the fabric barrier, his tongue feels like heaven.
Through my panties, he finds my clit and flicks back and forth. It’s not long before I’m yanking my hand through his hair and I’m grinding against his face, just like he wanted me to.
Heat pools between my legs. The pleasure and pressure wind tighter and tighter. My legs start to shake. My breath quickens, and my heart hammers in my chest.
Xander drags his tongue roughly against my clit, then again, then again. And then I break.
My orgasm thunders through me. I thrash against the couch and howl his name.
“Xander!”
I scream and whimper, my throat aching with how intense this is.
As I start to come down, I feel him soften his tongue against me until he finally pulls away.
He moves so he’s kneeling on the floor beside me again. I grab his face and pull him down to kiss me.
“I could get used to you screaming my name like that,” he growls when we break apart.
I shake my head, mystified. I tap my thumb against his lips. He smiles.
“That’s how good your mouth is with my panties on?”
He chuckles. He flashes that wicked grin once more as he starts to pull them off. He nods.
Just then my phone rings.
I let out a shaky breath as he drags my panties down my legs. “Ignore it.”
We do just that and the ringing stops. But a few seconds later, it starts up again.
I huff out a breath. “Damn it.” I sit up and ask Xander to hand me my purse. He stands up and walks over to the kitchen island, grabs my bag, and hands it to me.
I pull my phone out and move to turn it off, but then I see who’s calling me.
“It’s my dad.”
I look up at Xander right as the phone stops ringing. He’s looking at me like he’s not quite sure what to do or say.
“This this the first time he’s called me in days…”
“Oh. That’s good then?”
I nod. “He normally calls me once a day, but ever since he found out about you and me…” I trail off when I realize how awful this sounds.
Xander’s expression turns sad. He nods like he understands.
A few seconds later, I get a text from my dad.
Hi, honey. Can we talk? I want to apologize for how I’ve been acting. I feel awful and you deserve an explanation.
I stare at my phone, shocked at the message my dad has sent me.
I don’t realize how long I’ve been quiet until Xander sits down next to me.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
I nod and show him the text. He reads it and looks at me, a small smile on his face.
“That’s a good sign, right?” Xander asks as he hugs his arm around me.
I’m heartened by the sweetness in his tone. But Xander is being so amazing right now. We were in the middle of a filthy fooling around session and now he’s sitting next to me on the couch while I make him read text messages from my dad.
I try to smile at him. “Yeah. It is.” I let out a sigh and rest my head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry about this, Xander.”
He squeezes me tight. “Sorry about what?”
“About how I just killed the mood by bringing up my dad.”
“It’s okay. Really. I know how important your dad is to you. And the fact that he’s reaching out to you after this past week is a great sign.”
I wrap my arms around him and cuddle into his chest. “Thank you for understanding.”
When he kisses the top of my head, I melt into him.
“I should call him back,” I say.
“Of course.”
Together we get dressed. Xander heads to one of the other rooms in his condo to give me a moment alone to talk to my dad.
When I call him back, he answers on the second ring.
“Sophie, honey.” My chest aches at how relieved he sounds to hear from me.
“Hi, Dad. I got your text. Sorry I missed your call.”
“It’s all fine, honey. I just…I’m so sorry for how I went quiet on you this past week.”
“It’s okay?—”
“It’s not okay. I was a jerk.” He lets out a heavy sigh. “I think I just needed some time to process the news of you and Xander together.”
A protectiveness surges through me at hearing him mention Xander’s name.
“That’s fine that you needed time, Dad. But to shut me out like that…” My voice trembles. “It’s been hard not talking to you. We used to talk every day before this.”
“I know, honey. I’m so sorry.” His voice breaks at the end. He clears his throat, obviously trying to collect himself.
I’m quiet as I process the sound of my dad crying. The last time I saw him cry was a few years after we lost my mom. I walked past his office and the door was cracked open. I saw him flipping through their old wedding album. His cheeks were wet with tears.
My chest feels like it’s going to crack in half. My dad’s not someone who cries a lot, only when he’s in deep pain. And I can tell that he’s in so much pain right now over me.
“I understand if you don’t want to speak to me, honey,” he says.
“I do, Dad. I love you.”
He lets out a shaky breath. “I love you too, honey. So much. I just want to say that I’m so sorry for how I acted. You’re right. You’re an adult. You’re a lovely and intelligent young woman. And you can date whoever you want.”
I close my eyes and smile. “Thanks, Dad.”
“I just need to know that Xander is treating you well.”
“He is.” I glance down at my feet, a giddy smile tugging at my lips. “He’s a great guy.”
There’s a pause on the other end. “If you say so, honey, then that’s good enough for me.”
Despite what he says, I can tell that the idea of me with Xander still bothers him. But he cares enough about me to show his support and apologize, and that’s enough for me.
“But you’re still my little girl, honey. No man will ever be good enough for you in my eyes. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth.”
I let out a weak laugh. “That’s okay, Dad. I get it.”
“Will you come home and we can have dinner together?”
“I’d love that.”
I tell him I’ll be home soon. We say goodbye and I hang up the phone.
I walk down the hall to the bedroom where Xander is. He’s folding a pile of shirts on his bed.
“Hey.”
He looks up and smiles at me. “Hey. How did it go?”
“Really good. He apologized for how he acted. He said he’s okay with us being together. And he finally admitted that I’m an adult and can live my life how I want without him interfering.”
Xander raises his brow like he’s surprised and impressed. “Wow. That’s great.”
He rubs the back of his neck. “I guess that means this fake relationship is working out pretty well so far.” He half-smiles.
The word “fake” skids through my brain. It feels so wrong to call this thing between Xander and me fake after everything we’ve shared with each other.
I’ve met his mom. He opened up to me about his family, and I opened up to him about my mom and my past relationship.
Not to mention what we got up to on his couch…
None of that feels fake. Not even close.
I look at Xander and take in the easy smile on his face, how relaxed he seems about all of this. I bet he’s not over-analyzing our relationship right now.
I need to take a page out of his book instead of overthinking everything.
“I told my dad I’d have dinner with him tonight.”
“Yeah, of course.”
I grab my things and follow Xander out of his condo and to the parking garage. We climb into his car and he drives me home. Instead of going to the guest house, I have him drive up the main driveway to my dad’s house.
I unbuckle my seatbelt and look and Xander. “I’m so sorry again that I had to cut things short earlier when we were on the couch.”
He flashes an easy smile, leans forward, and kisses me.
When we pull apart, he thumbs at my mouth. “No more saying sorry, okay? You have nothing to be sorry for. I had an amazing day with you, Sophie.”
Tingles flash across my skin. My heartbeat kicks up. This guy is seriously amazing.
“I’ll make it up to you.”
He grins at me. I kiss him one more time before hopping out of the car. I notice he waits as I climb up the porch steps to the front door. When I turn around and blow a kiss at him, he flashes the sexiest grin.
My stomach does a cartwheel. It’s such an arresting sensation that I have to stop for a moment before I open the door.
Because in that moment, I realize that I could fall hard for Xander Williams.