CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
WALKER
Waking up next to Sonya may just be the best feeling in the world, and I’m not sure I know what to do with that. Sleeping with her was one thing, but somehow, sleeping next to her is the thing messing with my brain. It feels wholly too intimate for what this is supposed to be, but when she asked if I wanted to come home with her, I couldn’t bring myself to turn her down. It was an easy decision to make, and whatever leftover uncertainty I have thins out when she squirms against my side.
I don’t know how long I’ve been laying here, just breathing her in. Counting her breaths every time I feel them on my chest, her body half draped over mine despite there being plenty of room for both of us. She chose this. Her breasts press against my side, her head on my shoulder, her hand on my chest, her leg nestled between mine. She’s as close as she possibly can be without me being inside her, something my body has yet to protest.
Every time she shifts, so do her hips and try as I may to not let my mind wander, my dick hasn’t gotten the memo. When she grinds against me, it twitches with excitement as if we didn’t spend the whole night in and out of sleep, learning the rhythm of each other’s bodies.
I am more than satisfied, but I’m coming to learn I’m greedy when it comes to Sonya. I always have been, and I am more than eager to get my fix of her.
When she stirs in my arms, her hips grind back into mine again . I let out a low groan and squeeze my eyes shut to try and calm myself down. The last thing she needs is my horny ass waking her up, but when I open my eyes, I see the corner of her lips twitch up. Her teeth dig into her bottom lip to hide her snicker, but I feel it against my side, the way her chest rumbles, trying to hold back laughter.
“Oh, is that how it is now?” I ask, tucking some of her hair back. Her face is dazed with sleep, and I don’t think I have ever seen a more beautiful sight. “Just going to torture me?”
Her eyes are warm when she tilts her head back against my bicep, showing me more of her face. Her dimples dig into her cheek when she smiles, stirring something to life in my chest, knowing for the very first time, I am the thing she’s thinking about when she wakes up. It shouldn’t please me as much as it does, but then again, there’s a lot that shouldn’t be happening lately. What’s one more thing?
She grins. “It’s not torture if I plan to follow through,” she says, pressing her lips to my chest before hooking one leg over my hip and sitting up. With her body above me, she grinds her hips back down, spreading her hands down the length of my chest.
“Sunny.”
She hums. “Yes?”
“What do you think you’re doing?” I ask, sliding my hands up her thighs and towards her ass. Somehow, her smile widens, and I realize, unlike the rest of the world, Sonya Cartelli might be a sunshine person at all hours of the day.
“Getting in my morning cardio.”
She rolls her hips forward, and my grip tightens. A smirk creeps up onto my lips when I feel just how ready she is for me, her eagerness contagious. “I’m sure you are.”
“Exercise is important, Walker,” she says, leaning down to press her lips to the bottom of my jaw. Her fingers slip into the ends of my hair, and just when I’m about to sit up to bring her body closer to mine, the silence in her room is interrupted by the ringing of my phone on her nightstand, and our bubble pops.
A groan falls from my lips, reality hitting me square in the chest. My head falls back against the pillow, and my hand drifts from Sonya’s legs to my hair, pushing it off my forehead. “Did you want me to grab that for you?”
“No,” I say, opening my eyes to find the pinched look on her face. “It’s Flynn. We’re supposed to be going to the library this morning for LSAT prep, and I’m going to go ahead and guess I’m probably late.”
Her nose scrunches up. “Gross.”
“Gross indeed,” I tell her, moving my hands to her waist. Shifting on the mattress I set her in my empty spot and move to stand while scanning the floor for my clothes. I find my boxers near the end of the bed and go to pull them on, trying to hide my delight at the disappointed look on her face. “Don’t miss me too much, Sunny.”
“Too late,” she says, reaching for me. I know I shouldn’t, based on the fact Flynn’s calling instead of texting, I’m already late, but I can’t help myself.
I want to be in Sonya’s orbit. I feel good around her, more than good, and it’s a feeling I can easily get addicted to. It’s only been one night, and just the idea of leaving her has me going through withdrawals, eager to be back by her side.
“You should be a little later.” A mischievous look fills her face, pulling me closer until my knee is pressed into the mattress between her legs. “Flynn’s already going to be mad. She can’t be madder if you stay just a little while longer.”
“A little longer, huh?” I ask, tilting my head to the side. “Meaning…”
“Enough time to fuck me before you go,” she says, lifting her legs up to wrap around my hips and trap me against her very warm, very naked body. “Or else I’ll be extremely needy all day, and it’ll be all your fault.”
The corners of my lips lift, pressing tighter against her. My efforts are rewarded when she rolls her hips up, a moan slipping from her lips and sealing me to my decision. “Well, we can’t have that, can we?” I ask, kissing below her ear before working my way down her neck.
She shakes her head, hands clawing at my shoulders and arching up to press into me. She’s just as eager to have me pressed against her as I am. “No, we cannot.”
Pushing up on my hands, I find a lust-filled gaze on her face and knowing I’m the reason it’s there ties my chest in knots. It’s not going to hurt anyone if I take a little longer to satisfy that look on Sonya’s face. At least, that’s what I tell myself when I find her lips, and her arms wind around my shoulders.
“You can tell Flynn it’s my fault,” she says between kisses.
Smiling against her mouth, my fingers tangle in her hair. All I want, all the time, is to have her this close. It was bad before. A force neither of us ever acknowledged, but now, having experienced more than just her friendship—I’m desperate for her.
She fills in my empty spaces, and I don’t think she even knows it.
I’m not sure that she should know it. This deep fucking need I have for her after only one night. It’s complicated and confusing. Not something I can easily untangle, and I know if I put it off, it’s only going to get knotted up the further we go, but I can’t bring myself to care. She holds me steady in the dark, breathes air into my lungs when she smiles at me.
And I’m too selfish to give that up.
“Walker,” she pleads with me, her chest brushing against mine when my fingers dip between her legs. When my thumb finds her sensitive bundle of nerves, a whimper slips past her lips and sends a shot right down my back.
I will never get sick of hearing that sound.
Her nails dig into my shoulders, telling me I’m doing something right as her whimpers continue to fill the room. The soundtrack to us and this moment.
A groan falls from my mouth, finding her again while fumbling with the top drawer of her nightstand for a condom. I make a mental note to stop at the drugstore and stock up my own supply. Given Sonya’s stamina, it seems like I am going to need them.
“Walker,” she moans my name when I slide in, slowly at first to allow her to adjust and then a little faster. My hands move further down her waist to her hips, holding her steady. “Harder,” she says, biting down on my bottom lip when she tries to shift, wanting me closer. “ Please .”
The plea in her voice does me in, flipping a switch as I drive my hips forward. Sonya claws at my shoulders, her nails leaving a mark on my skin to claim last night and this morning. Burying my face in the crook of her neck, her cry of pleasure is music to my ears and sends me straight over the edge. The muscles in my back tighten before turning to complete liquid. My weight rests on her, and when I go to move, her arms tighten around my shoulders, and her legs loop tighter around my waist.
“Not yet,” she heaves beneath me. “I like the weight of you.”
A low chuckle escapes me. The words wrap around me like a warm blanket, and I can’t help but smile against her skin. Pressing my lips to her cheek, I hold them there for a fleeting moment before pushing myself up and climbing off her. “You can have more of it later,” I tell her, shifting to stand. “I need to get going, or Flynn will really have my head.”
She smiles, sitting up, and slowly, her eyes slide down the length of my body. “I was serious before. You can blame me,” she says, sliding out of bed and over to her dresser. “Tell her I was being needy.”
“I’m sure she’d love to hear that.” Removing the condom, I toss it in the waste bin next to her dresser and start searching for my clothes on the floor.
She shoots me a wink over her shoulder, pulling open the top drawer for a pair of pajama shorts. She slips into them before grabbing the oversized sweatshirt with the Millboro Mustangs logo stitched on the front, sitting on the back of her desk chair and pulls it on.
“Okay, maybe don’t include the needy part,” she tells me, walking towards me as I finish pulling my sweater on. “But I am. Very needy. You’ve got your work cut out for you, Cowboy.”
“Oh, I’m very aware.” Her eyes lighten, warmer than ever, and pride takes over. She knows exactly what she’s doing, and she’s not shying away from it as she reaches for my belt hanging open through the loops of my jeans.
“Good,” she says, adjusting the length on either side. “Just making sure.”
Her gaze doesn’t waver as she slides the leather through the buckle, doing it up. A grin crosses her lips, her hands sliding over my waist before pushing up on her toes to press her lips to my cheek.
“Thank you.”
“Anytime,” she hums, falling back on her heels. “They’re probably all in the kitchen waiting for your walk of shame.”
“I’d expect no less from your friends,” I tell her, picking up my jacket from the floor before pulling her bedroom door open.
“Well, well, well!” Bekah’s voice is the first I hear when I reach the bottom of the stairs, finding her propped up on the living room couch with a book in her lap. “Fancy seeing you here, Bodie. I don’t remember having a fourth roommate.”
“Ignore her,” Sonya says, pressing into my side.
“No, please don’t! Whatever will I do?”
“I had no idea you liked me so much, Bekah. You doing okay over there? Jealous?” I ask with the tip of my lips.
She rolls her eyes. “As if,” she says, burying herself back in her book as if I was never even here to begin with. I suspect she’s just waiting until I’m gone to bug Sonya about our little sleepover.
“Do you want a coffee for the road, man?” Everett asks me from his spot in the kitchen.
“Yeah, that’d be great. Thanks, Everett.”
He nods his head and turns to grab a to-go cup from one of the cupboards to fill up from the full coffee pot. Sonya heads for the cabinet, pulling out a packet of sweetener I always put in my coffee like it’s second nature. It brings a smile to my lips, knowing she knows how I like it.
“Where’s Reid?” Sonya asks, taking the cup from Everett when he’s done filling it up to pour the packet in.
“He was out early this morning,” Bekah answers from the couch. “I think he was meeting up with a study group or something. God knows he’s the only person willing to get up at seven on a Saturday morning to study.”
A laugh falls from my lips because as committed as I am to being the best student I can be, not even I would be willing to get up that early on a weekend. I’m not sure if the guy has an off switch. He’s always eager to learn, ready to absorb all the world has to offer him. Before I met him, I’d say I was just as eager, but he’s on a completely different level.
“Shoot.” Sonya frowns, popping the lid on my coffee. “Would either of you be willing to let me borrow your car so I can drive Walker home?”
“Sunny, it’s okay. My place isn’t that far of a walk.”
“You didn’t drive here?” Bekah asks.
I shake my head. “No, Flynn drove last night, and I kind of," I pause and consider whether to give them the truth or not. "Ran here.”
“You ran here,” Everett says, setting his coffee mug down. “In the snow?”
“Yeah, well, I had places to be.”
Before either of them can berate me for being a man obsessed, the front door opens, and Reid steps inside, shaking the snow out of his hair. He stops when he feels all our eyes on him, his book bag hanging off his shoulder with two books tucked under his arm.
“Morning,” Reid says, about to slip out of his boots when Sonya holds her hand up.
“Can you give Walker a ride back to his place?”
“Good morning to you, too, Sunny,” he says with a laugh before slipping his book bag off his shoulder, holding it out for her to take from him.
“Sorry,” she says, resting her hand on one side of his face before leaning in and pressing her lips to his cheek. “Good morning, Reid. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Come on, man.” He nods his head towards the door for me to head out first. “Beks, I got our next book,” he says, holding the two books out to Sonya that I now realize are identical.
“I thought it was my turn to pick our next book,” she whines from the couch.
“Yeah, I know, but it’s about a book editor and agent. It’s right up your alley.”
Bekah perks up at that and tosses the book in her lap to the side to perch over the back of the couch. A laugh slips out from my lips at the sight of her, arm stretched out and body half off the couch.
Sonya rolls her eyes, resting her free hand on my chest as she leans up to press her lips to my cheek. Her above-average height makes it easier for her to reach me without me having to fold completely over for her. “I’ll see you later, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I say quietly, just for her. “Later.”
“Thank you, Reid.” She waves to him before bringing the book over to Bekah, who has settled back into the corner of the sectional. I lift my travel mug in Everett’s direction, a silent goodbye before slipping out the front door and heading for Reid’s truck sitting in the driveway. He clicks it open for me, shouting something into the house before heading for the driver’s side.
“Thank you for this, man,” I say when we both slide in.
“It’s not a problem.” He pushes the key into the ignition and brings the engine to life, but instead of reaching for the gear shift, he just sits and stares straight ahead. The pull between his brows tells me he has something to say, but in typical Reid fashion, he’s unsure if he should.
“Whatever you need to say, just say it.”
Swallowing, he blows out a breath. “She’s going to break your heart.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb, Walker. You and Sunny. You’re doing the friends-with-benefits thing, and it’s not my business. Not really, but you’re my friend, and I see the way you look at her. She’s never just been your friend. It’s always been something more, hasn’t it?”
My immediate instinct is to tell him the truth.
Yes, I’ve thought about Sonya like that. Of course , I’ve thought about Sonya like that. Who wouldn’t? She’s beautiful, intelligent, and funny. And maybe if she had been at a different place when we first met, I wouldn’t have hesitated to ask her out, but she didn’t want a boyfriend, and I just wanted her. Anything she was willing to give, so we settled into our friendship, and I wouldn’t change it, even if I could.
I got to see her unapologetically herself, without the fear of rejection looming in the background. She’s one of the very best people I know, and my absolute favorite at that.
So, instead of telling him the immediate truth, I tell him what my truth is now. “She’s my friend,” I say, bringing my mug to my mouth. “And you’re right. It’s none of your business.”
“Just…be careful, alright? I don’t want either of you getting hurt.”
I nod my head, but I know it’s too late. I’m already in too deep. There isn’t an escape plan set out for me to back out, just the road ahead, and fuck if I’m not ready to see where it leads.