Chapter 20 #2
“What did you think?” Sean asked.
“He’s fantastic.” I didn’t have a good enough ear to tell for sure, but the way he enjoyed playing told me all I needed to know.
“Disappointed he doesn’t sing?”
I shook my head. “His hands were made for the guitar.”
Sean snorted. “Should I add hands to your fetish list?”
I turned toward him in exasperation. “That’s not a—” His teasing grin made me roll my eyes.
“You never sent me any feet pictures.” Sean gave me an exaggerated pout.
With everything that had happened since, I’d forgotten he’d once mentioned feet. “Were you serious about that?” I asked. I glanced toward the stage again. Stacey had a hand on Jack’s arm. Some of my giddiness faded.
“If I was?” Sean asked.
I lifted an eyebrow. “I’d consider it.” I didn’t understand the interest, but I’d always thought my feet were cute, with high arches and regularly painted toes.
“Really? Anything else you’d consider?” Sean shifted closer. “Because I need you to know, there’s nothing you checked ‘interested in’ that’s a no for me. Consider my prior kissing offers very open-ended.”
Some of my smile faded.
“This isn’t me pushing,” Sean said. “This is me putting it out there again in case it’s something you’re tempted by. You feel comfortable with me, don’t you?”
“That’s part of the problem,” I whispered. “I can’t lose you, Sean.”
His teasing faded. “That’s not an option. I’m not going anywhere. We can be friends or something more. Have sex with me or don’t. None of that matters. You call, I’ll always be there.” He kissed my forehead. “I love you, Hailey. I don’t see that ever changing.”
“You—” My throat closed as I met his eyes, which didn’t look away from mine.
“I jumped the gun a little that night we were drinking. I might be jumping it a little now, but you’re so very lovable. I was a goner pretty quickly.”
My heart didn’t race at his confession. It felt more like something I already knew, deep down. Sean loved me. His love was like settling into a warm bath, the heat of it sinking into my bones.
“My love might be a little confusing,” he continued.
“I have a big heart, and you fit in it, but my heart isn’t exclusive.
That may not be enough for you, and I’m fine staying friends if that’s the case, or even keeping things casual.
I won’t love you any less, whatever you decide.
” He brushed my hair behind my ear, his touch lingering against my cheek. “I’m here. However you want me to be.”
“So you want to—” I broke off, glancing around us. No one was turned our way, and Jack continued to talk to the band, though he’d moved away from Stacey and the other women.
“Touch you?” Sean asked. “I’m dying to touch you, Hailey, but again, I’m perfectly fine if you don’t want to go there.”
“It might not work,” I whispered. “I might not be able to—” My hands clenched together.
“It’s not always about the destination. Touching each other that way is an expression of love, one that can be very enjoyable, even without an orgasm.”
I flushed that he’d said it out loud.
“It’s like a hug.” Sean moved slowly as he put his arms around me, pulling me against his chest. “You like hugging me, yeah?”
“It makes me feel safe,” I admitted.
“Just safe? Or do you like how it feels, too? My hands on you, my body close.”
I rested my head against him, and the warmth of his hands spread over my back. His beard teased at my forehead, and the thump of his heart, a little fast, sent a swirl inside my stomach. “I like how it feels,” I said.
“Me too.” He pulled back, glancing toward the stage. The band was moving into place, and the murmuring around the bar quieted in anticipation.
Jack stared in our direction. His smile had faded.
Sean’s hands turned me on my barstool until I was facing the stage again. I rested my head back on him, and his arm moved across my upper chest, holding me close.
Jack missed a note, but then he seemed to catch himself, staring down at his hands on the guitar.
Toward the end of the first song, Sean moved his lips next to my ear. “Want to watch him from closer?” he asked.
I wasn’t sure what he meant. All the tables closest to the stage were occupied.
“Dance with me?” he suggested.
There were often a few people who danced in front of the stage when the bands played. I’d never been tempted to join them, but the idea of being closer to Jack playing was tantalizing. “I’m not much of a dancer.”
“That’s not a no.” Sean stood, his hands tugging me up. “Lead the way. I’ve got you.”
I wound my way through the tables, watching Jack’s gaze follow our progress.
When I stopped at the edge of the open dance space, Sean nudged me closer, right in front of where Jack played.
He settled in behind me, his arm sliding around my upper chest again, pulling me back against him while his other hand found my hip.
His body seemed to cup mine from behind, and when he moved, my body followed. I was off the beat at first, but the more I relaxed into him, the more our rocking and swaying moved together, as if part of the music.
Jack flicked his damp hair back, knocking a bead of sweat loose enough that it slid down his gorgeous nose. His eyes locked on mine, so much closer than when I was at the bar, his hands moving against his guitar.
I imagined I was in his arms instead, and heat gathered low in my stomach. Sean’s body wasn’t immune to our movement, and his interest pressed against my ass as we continued to dance. His breath ghosted along my neck, increasing the tingling sensation growing inside me.
As one song blended into the next, perspiration dampened my forehead, the back of my neck, and beneath my breasts.
I was more aware of my breasts than I’d ever been before.
They shifted and swayed with our dancing, the nipples beading against my bra when Sean’s grip on my hip tightened, pulling me more firmly against him.
“That’s it,” Sean murmured in my ear, sending more tingles down my neck. “You like him watching you move, don’t you?”
He didn’t need me to agree. It was as if he was moving my body for Jack to look at. There was an intentness in Jack’s gaze as it remained locked on me, one that sent a shiver through my body.
“I feel…” I didn’t know how to describe the heavy heat of my body.
“Like sin,” Sean said, his fingers teasing the waistband of my jeans. “You’re so fucking sexy like this, Hailey. He sees it.” Sean let out a deep chuckle. “He wishes he was the one touching you. Do you want it to be him?”
“Yes,” I admitted. My hand found Sean’s, linking our fingers together on my body. “And no.”
Sean hummed against me. “I saw what you checked on that list, honey. What if it was both of us?” He pressed a kiss to my neck that made my body clench. “What if we took turns making you feel good?”
I was on fire at the thought. My free hand reached behind me, finding the back of Sean’s neck as he nuzzled near my ear. The way my back arched from the position lifted my breasts, the dip in my shirt showing the edges of my bra.
“You like that thought, don’t you?” Sean’s lips brushed my ear, sending another shiver through me. “Both of us focusing on you. Taking turns licking that sweet pussy like you’ve been wanting.”
“Sean,” I gasped, his words making me dizzy. No one had ever said anything like that to me. No one had looked at me the way Jack was looking, as if he’d die if he looked away.
The friction of my body against Sean’s no longer felt like dancing. My skin had never been this hot before. I ached between my legs, and Sean’s hand teased me where we held it against the top of my jeans.
The song ended, and we grew still, my breath puffing from between my lips as my body shook with the need to writhe against Sean’s erection.
Jack dragged the strap of his guitar over his head, setting it down at the edge of the stage before hopping off and coming right for us. A laugh drifted from one of the other band members onstage.
“We’ll end with one more song for the night,” the lead singer said into the microphone.
Jack reached us, his face drawing close, his forehead touching mine as his hand found the opposite hip from where Sean still gripped me.
The rest of his body didn’t yet touch me, and I wanted the inches between us to close. A tremor ran through me as sweat dripped down his temple. Our noses brushed together.
Sean chuckled in my ear. “It’s about time that control broke.”
“Sean,” Jack warned, but his eyes were on me. “You okay with this, Hailey?” he asked, his voice rough, sending another lick of heat through me.
I wasn’t sure what part he was asking about, my mind imagining something beyond what we could do in public. “Dance with us?” I asked.
“Not sure I can resist,” Jack murmured. His chest brushed against mine, drawing out a choked sound as his leg shifted between mine.
Sean lifted our joined hands, placing mine around the back of Jack’s neck before letting go, his hand trailing down my side, leaving a line of heat to where he found my hip again, gripping firmly.
Then we began to move, swaying and shifting with the beat of the next song, this one slower than the ones before.
Each brush of their bodies against mine ramped up the ache that had been growing. Jack lifted his head so our foreheads wouldn’t bump, but his eyes never let me go. His pupils had taken over, making the brown darker than I was used to.
Sean’s arm remained wrapped around the top of my chest, anchoring me in the moment. His hardness still pressed against my ass when we moved, and his breath made my neck tingle.
Jack wasn’t immune either. His interest wasn’t as obvious, as if he was trying to keep it to himself, but every time my thigh brushed against the front of his jeans, his eyelashes would flutter, as if his eyes wanted to close.
His chest continued to tease my breasts, making my tight nipples even more sensitive. When his thigh brushed against the seam of my jeans, my body clenched and shuddered, making my hold tighten on their necks so I wouldn’t melt to the floor.
“Almost there, honey,” Sean murmured into my ear.
Almost where? But then I realized the song was slowing down, drawing to an end. Our bodies grew still, the press of them together somehow even more intense from the lack of movement. My breathing was a rapid pant, my heart racing in my chest.
Sean unwound my hand from the back of his neck, moving it to join the other one around Jack’s neck instead. “I think our girl could use some water. Keep ahold of her?”
Jack nodded, his throat working as he swallowed.
My hands shifted to his shoulders for a better grip, my legs too shaky to trust.
He squeezed my waist. “Hailey—”
“Gonna introduce us to your girl?” the singer in the band asked, smiling from behind Jack’s shoulder.
Jack turned us, his hands finding mine and wrapping them together with his around my waist, hugging me from behind.
“This is Hailey.” He introduced each member of his former band, but my mind was too full of heat to remember their names.
I nodded at them instead of trying to find words.
I waited for him to correct the ‘your girl’ comment, but he didn’t.
“Never seen this one abandon a chance to play before,” the drummer said, grinning at Jack. “Didn’t know he had it in him.”
“I’ve never seen her dance before,” Jack said.
“Here, honey.” Sean was back with two glasses of water. Jack released me so he could take his own.
Suddenly feeling parched, I folded the straw, draining half of the glass before coming up for air again.
Jack took his with him toward where the band was breaking down, shaking hands and accepting shoulder slaps.
Stacey appeared at my elbow, following my gaze to Jack. “I’ve never seen him let loose like that.”
“Jealous?” Sean asked, his arm wrapping around my chest again and pulling me back against him. Some of my tension loosened as I relaxed into his hold.
Stacey laughed, shaking her head. “Just surprised. Jack is a sweetheart, and that drew my interest, but he was never really my type.”
I studied Jack as he laughed with his former bandmates. He looked happy, a certain glow returning to his eyes now that they weren’t quite as intense.
“You two look good together, though.” Stacey turned toward me. “His looks grow on you the more you’re around him, don’t they?” she asked.
I frowned at her. “I’m not sure what you mean. I’ve always liked the way he looks.”
Sean chuckled, his grip tightening on me in a quick hug. “We know you have. Don’t we, Jack?”
I hadn’t realized Jack had returned. His cheeks were flushed with color, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. Why are we talking about this?”
“Just some girl talk,” Stacey said. She made an aborted move to hug him but ended up placing a hand on his arm instead. “It was good to see you.” Then she headed over to the lead singer, her arms wrapping around him from behind.
Jack shifted closer to me, the glass I clutched in my hands pressed between our bodies. My knuckles rubbed against the buttons of his shirt.
“Do you want to stay here tonight, Hailey?” he asked.
I blinked up at him. “You mean…?”
“It can mean whatever you want it to mean.” He glanced around the bar. “I have others closing up tonight, so I don’t have to stick around down here. Want to come up to my apartment?”
“Am I invited, too?” Sean asked.
Jack hesitated, then nodded. “Don’t think I don’t know what you were doing. I’m not—” He breathed out. “We’ll talk about it.” He turned, picking up his guitar and the leather jacket he’d discarded between sets. There was a tension in his jaw that made me anxious.
“Is he mad at us?” I asked Sean as we followed Jack toward the back.
“Nah. He’s just all wound up by how you looked dancing.” Sean chuckled. “And you said you weren’t much of a dancer.”
I let out a surprised laugh, and Jack glanced behind him, his lips tilting up in a smile that helped my nerves ease as I followed him to his apartment.