Chapter 22 #3
Layla throws her head back, exposing her neck on a scream, her core convulsing as she comes.
She holds me close to her as she does, her moan long and loud, the sound drawing a smirk from me.
I lower my head and pepper kisses along her neck, savoring the way she shivers from my touch.
“Good girl, baby,” I murmur. “Look at how radiant you are when you come.”
Fuck me it’s a miracle I didn’t come right along side her, if she so much as touched me though, I would in a heartbeat.
The sound she made will be playing on a loop in my mind for eternity, especially when I go home and wrap my hand around my cock.
Layla’s heaving as she slowly comes back down to earth. As I slide my finger out from between her legs, she examines me with hooded eyes and it gives me immense satisfaction to watch them widen as I bring my fingers to my lips and suck.
A shiver rolls down my back and I have to adjust my jeans, averting my eyes.
I’m seriously a second away from fucking coming.
Especially after tasting her.
I fucking tasted Layla Carson.
Oh my god, I’m going to come.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I think of everything I can to stop my orgasm before I embarrass myself—fucking baseball, cooking shows, muffins, a zebra.
But it’s hard, so fucking hard, because this is Layla.
My Layla.
The Layla I’ve dreamed about for nearly two years, the one I thought would never give me the time of day, and now look where I am. Sitting on a couch in a bookstore trying not to come.
“Kieran?”
“One sec.”
Taking a deep inhale, I open my eyes. She’s already smiling down at the very evident tent in my jeans.
“And you keep saying you’re like everyone else.”
Her head snaps up to me at that. “Am I not?”
“No.”
Leaning forward, I place a featherlight kiss against her forehead because…fuck, I don’t know why. “How was that?”
She bursts out laughing as she smooths her dress down. “How was that? Jesus, Kieran, that was—was—” She sighs before falling back, not realizing she’s all but snuggling into my side. “Amazing doesn’t cover it.”
“Live up to your fantasy?”
“Better than any fantasy I could have imagined,” she whispers.
“Good, because there’s more where that came from.”
The happy bubble I was in pops as she tilts her head up to look at me and whispers, “We should talk about ground rules.”
Ground rules.
Right, because this is an arrangement. Not just us.
Locking down my reaction at the reminder that this isn’t a real date, I smile at her and say, “I’m all ears.”
“Well, we probably should keep this between us.”
I frown. “You haven’t told Bella?” If she’s keeping this from her best friend, is that because she’s ashamed to admit she’s doing this with me? I can’t stop the words from pouring out of my mouth. “What am I? Your dirty secret?”
Layla scrambles to sit up, facing me fully as she places her soft dainty hand against my chest, right above my heart that may as well belong to her.
“God no, Kieran,” she swears. Her hands move to cup my cheeks, maneuvering my head to face hers.
“I promise that’s not it. I’m not ashamed of you.
I’m embarrassed that I’m almost twenty-six and I had to ask a friend to help teach me things. ”
“Oh.”
I should probably say something else but I can’t muster up the words. My heart is still beating frantically, pain striking through it that we’re going to hide this. But I guess that makes sense, considering she doesn’t want to actually date me.
Swallowing bile at the reminder of that, I shake my head, trying to clear my desolate thoughts.
“Can I tell Grayson at least? Not details of course, but I don’t like lying to him. He’s my family.”
She brushes her thumbs across my cheeks, back and forth, the motion so soothing I find my shoulders relaxing. “Of course, and so you know, I already told Bella. I’m sorry, I should have asked you beforehand.”
My heartbeat finally picks up at that. Maybe I’m not a dirty secret to her after all.
“It’s okay. She’s like a sister to me.”
Smiling at that, Layla pulls her hands from my face, making my fingers twitch at my sides, begging to move her touch back on my body. “I just don’t want to announce to the world that we’re friends with benefits,” she explains.
“That’s fair. Any other rules?”
Chewing on her lip, she plays with the fabric of her dress. “Should we put a time limit on this?”
I frown. “Why would we do that?”
She shrugs. “Well, maybe we should. I’ve never been intimate with someone but I’ve heard that it’s hard not to get attached once you start having sex. What if we stop when one of us feels like they’re catching feelings?”
Too late for that, I want to mutter, but instead I find myself nodding because it really is too late for me. I’ve fallen for her already and there’s no coming back. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
“And…and if you meet someone that you want to start seeing, I’ll understand. I don’t want to hold you back.”
A muscle feathers in my jaw. When will she understand that it’s only her?
“I’m not interested in anyone else.”
“Well, just in case you meet—”
“I won’t.”
My lips twitch as her eyes flare. “You sound far too absolute about the uncertain.”
“I know what I want.”
“And what’s that?”
“Y—”
“Hello, hello, chickens!”
Layla all but jumps out of her skin as Anne comes barreling back into the store, giving us a wide grin. “Want to check out any books to wrap up your time?”
Layla scrambles away from me, flattening her dress down. “My gosh, you gave me a heart attack!”
“Sorry, love! I did knock a few times, but you two were just so engrossed in each other.”
I snort as I rise from the couch, thankful my dick deflated the moment Layla called me her friend. I glance back down at the cushions, wondering what the chances are that I could buy the whole couch and put it in my bedroom. Probably slim.
“No books—”
“Plenty of books,” I cut Layla off. Smirking, I round the store and collect all the books she pointed to that she wanted to read. “Let me just grab them.”
Layla’s jaw is practically on the floor as she hurries after me.
“Kieran!” she hisses. “I don’t need you to buy me books.”
“Need and want are two different things.”
“But how do you even remember—”
“I always remember when it comes to you.” Turning to her, I show her the large stack in my hands.
“Am I missing any though?” I read the spines again, wracking my brain, and it dawns on me which title I’m missing, but by then, I realize she’s also fallen silent.
The look she’s giving me is different, more… weighted.
“What?”
“Bella was right.”
“About?”
She shakes her head before spinning and muttering under her breath, “Underestimated.”
Layla’s Life List
Have a water fight
Go to second base
Have an orgasm in public
Go on the best date of my life