Chapter Sixteen
BANG.
BANG, BANG.
My peaceful dreams are shattered one by one with each incessant knock that resounds through the room.
Who the fuck is pounding on a door this early?
I try to ignore the noise by focusing on the woman in my arms. The one who, miraculously, has not woken up yet.
She must be exhausted to sleep through the sound because I’m a pretty heavy sleeper, and even I can’t deny that the force with which that person is hammering on the door across the hall is waking up the entire damn floor.
I crack my eyes as annoyance trickles into my blood.
That was a damn good dream they interrupted.
There’s barely any sunlight filtering into the room, just a small sliver that is beginning to crawl its way across the floor from the crack in the blinds.
The bangs resume but with yelling this time.
Sydney’s entire body shoots up, tearing out of my arms. Her first few steps out of the bed are a stumbling mess, and I quickly follow behind her, steadying her as she reaches out an arm.
She blinks around rapidly, trying to clear the grogginess.
“Whoa, there. What are you doing, love?”
“I—” She looks up at me, confusion marring her face. “I thought I heard Aleks.”
I raise my free hand to my chest in fake pain. “Are you having dreams about my best mate while I’m cuddling you in bed? That hurts, Syd.”
“Ugh, I must still be wired from the tournament.”
She sighs, padding back to the bed. Her knees barely land on the mattress when the voice outside becomes clearer.
“Parker, you lazy fuck, wake up.”
Sydney’s body freezes, head whipping to mine. She stares at me like a deer in headlights. Then her eyes dip down my body and widen even farther before a look of absolute panic takes over.
“Why are you naked?” she whisper-shouts.
“That’s what you’re focused on right now?” I whisper-shout back.
Granted, my dick is currently at half-mast after being plastered against her bum all night. But it’s not the first time she’s seen it.
She lets out a strangled moan before shuffling quietly to the door. She perches on her tiptoes to stare out the peephole. Her raised shoulders drop slightly at whatever she sees across the hall. She spins back around and opens her mouth to say something before the knocking resumes, a lot louder this time.
Almost like…
“Sydney!”
…It’s now directly outside her door.
Syd’s face blanches at Aleks’ voice. She raises her index finger to her lips and mimes a “shh” motion. I zip my lips and throw away the key before raising my hands innocently and walking farther back into the room.
She cracks the door open slightly and the glow of the hallway leaks in as she peeks her head out.
“Aleksander, someone better be dying, otherwise I have no idea why you thought it was a good idea to assault my door this early in the morning.”
“What are you talking about? You said we had to meet in the lobby for breakfast at eight a.m. It’s half past.”
“What?” Syd’s knuckles tighten on the doorframe.
“Yeah. We tried calling you, but it went straight to voice—” his words cut off as Syd slams the door shut. She sprints to the bed and starts flinging the covers around.
“What are you doing?”
“My phone. Where’s my phone?” She’s frantically running around the room now.
“Sydney?” Aleks calls out.
“Oh my God.” Panic starts to take over, and I see her hands begin to shake.
I grab hold of her, trying to steady the nerves coursing through her body. She attempts to wiggle out of my grasp, but it just makes me tighten. I run a hand over her head, smoothing down her hair in slow repeated movements. “Stop. Take a deep breath.”
She lets out a shuddering breath, but her chest continues to rise and fall in short puffs.
“Sydney?” Aleks starts knocking on the door again.
If she wouldn’t hate me for it, I would rip the door open and tell him go suck a dick.
Instead, I cup her face in my hands. “Hey, it’s going to be fine.”
Her worry-filled eyes stare back at me. “I forgot to charge my phone. We slept in. I never do that. Aleks is at the door, you’re naked, and we’re going to be late. The flight—”
“Is literally my private jet. They aren’t going to leave me behind, Syd.”
“But everyone’s downstairs.”
“So?”
“So? I told them to be down there early because I knew they would all run late, and instead I’m the lazy one!”
“Babe, no one is ever going to accuse you of being lazy. It’s okay. You’ve got this. It’s all going to be perfectly fine. You—” Aleks pounds on the door again. “You just need to get rid of him,” I sigh, placing a kiss to her forehead.
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, holding it for a concerningly long period of time before exhaling. When her eyes reopen, there is nothing but cool determination. I watch as she collects herself and pads back to the door. Her shoulders straighten, and she pops the door open to poke her head out again.
“Sorry. I’m still feeling a little under the weather. Guess I overslept.” Her voice is steady.
“Oh, need us to grab you anything? You didn’t seem that great last night either.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll be down in fifteen. Just entertain yourselves until then.”
“No rush, it’s Parker’s jet fuel we’re burning. He can afford it.” Wanker. “He’s still asleep, by the way. No shock, but I think his phone’s dead as well.”
“I’ll deal with it. Don’t worry.”
“Okay.” There’s a wariness to Aleks’ tone. “See you down there.”
Syd shuts the door with a soft click before turning around and sliding down onto her bum. I go over and crouch in front of her, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“That was great, love.”
“That was a mess,” she huffs. The exhaustion of yesterday is back on her face. As much as she likes to claim that she’s just a little tired, it’s clearly more than that.
“Nah, could’ve been worse.” I take her hands and pull her to her feet. “You know; this wasn’t exactly how I thought our first morning after would go.”
She gives me a teasing smile. “Really? This isn’t what you had in mind?”
“No, my vision included a lot more cuddling and a lot less Aleks.”
Sydney laughs until her eyes dip down my body and she chokes. Her skin turns that cherry-red color, but she doesn’t seem able to rip her gaze from my dick. The very same dick that is growing harder every second she looks at it.
“Syd. You keep looking at me like that, and I’m not sure you’re going to make it downstairs in ten minutes.”
She sucks in a breath, and her eyes rip back up to mine.
“You’re the one walking around naked.”
“And you’re the one who made me come in my briefs.”
She makes a choking sound, and somehow, her face gets even redder. A part of me wonders just how far I can push her. She has these little moments of sexual confidence, but more often than not, she retreats back into her shell.
I see the heat behind her eyes. The want that she tries to hide so badly.
Sydney can keep putting up walls, but they’re made of glass and I see right through them.
I take a step toward her, and she takes one back.
We repeat the same dance over and over until she bumps up against the bed.
“What are you doing, Parker?”
“Admiring you.”
I run a hand down her body, feeling her hot skin beneath the pads of my fingers. I toy with the sides of her panties and twist the lace tight.
Her fingers twitch at her sides, reaching out to touch me before pulling back. She conducts a silent battle in her brain. Without saying any words, I already know what she is thinking. There’s a part of her that wants to give in to her attraction to me again, but there is still that little voice that tells her to keep her distance, to retain some shred of professionalism.
It’s that little voice that is keeping us apart.
But it’s getting smaller and smaller the more time we spend together. Because as her feelings for me get louder, that voice gets softer. I know I’m getting close; I have to be.
Because as much as I like Sydney, sitting in this halfway zone with her is taking a toll on me. I didn’t think it would, but it is. I told myself that getting even a slice of her affection would be enough. But it was easier to survive when we were dancing around our attraction since there was nothing more to compare it to. Now that I’ve held her in my arms and tasted her lips and seen her come, it rips something inside of me when she brings the shields back up.
Syd wins against her silent debate, and her hands come up to rest on my chest. My body sings in relief at the contact.
Little by little. Piece by piece. She’s coming around. As much as I complain about how slow this process is, it really is worth it. Anything regarding Sydney is worth it because she’s a priceless gem.
My dick twitches, and I ignore the urge to push her back onto the sheet and devour her. Instead, I lean forward and plant a soft kiss on her mouth. She sighs into me, and I melt against those pillow-soft lips.
“I’ll see you downstairs, sweetheart.”
I give her ass a cheeky slap before forcing myself to step away and collect my clothes from around the room. With a final—very naked—bow, I leave her room.
In hindsight, I probably could have spared the extra few seconds to put on my clothes before darting across the hall.
But I’m Parker Covington, and I really don’t give a fuck.