Chapter 8
CHAPTER
EIGHT
GUNNER
I t takes me a moment to remember where I am, but the musty smell of cardboard and the howl of the wind outside brings the memories of yesterday back in full clarity.
I stretch my arms out over my head, my joints cracking with the motion. Man, I slept like a rock. Yesterday was a long-ass day with the game and the hard loss, the bar, the fight—if we can even call it that—the storm, and the sex. Oh, the sex. Speaking of…
Opening my eyes, I prop myself up on my elbows and look around the room. The bathroom door is open, and the lights are off. Unless Penny has crawled into one of these boxes of toilet paper, it’s safe to say she’s not here. Where she’d be, I have no idea. Snow drifts cover the window, allowing only a few-inch gap at the top to see that the white flakes are still falling. I sure hope they’ve cleared the runways so we can get out of here and back home.
Retrieving my discarded boxers from the floor, I put them on before heading to the bathroom. After I brush my teeth, I return to the bed and check my phone. I have a few texts from the guys, but nothing from Penny indicating where she may be.
The fact is, she may be long gone. I wouldn’t be surprised if I pushed her too far last night. While she wanted it in the moment, the light of a new day could be bringing major regrets.
With that thought, the door opens, and Penny enters. She’s wearing my T-shirt with her pencil skirt and her thin-ass jacket over the pair…and of course, her tall heels—the perfect footwear for any record-breaking snowstorm. Her red hair falls down her back and over her shoulders in big, bold ringlets. The look is mesmerizing and hot as fuck. That wild, curly hair does something to me. Her face is still makeup-free, and I was serious last night when I said she didn’t need all that stuff on her face if she didn’t want it. Her natural beauty is unique and captivating.
I’m so focused on her appearance and what it's doing to me that I don’t notice the plate in her hand until she’s standing before me with a wide smile. A grinning Penny is a little off-putting, another facet of her that I’ve never seen. She’s always so serious at work, and she’s especially somber with me.
“You’re up.” There she goes with that smiling thing again. “I thought I’d venture out to see if I could find us some breakfast. First, let me just say that we’re not going anywhere. Everything is shut down. They’re expecting a bunch more snow today on top of the insane snowfall yesterday. I had a cup of coffee with Frank’s wife, Alice. She’s so nice. But all she had to offer was yesterday’s uneaten donuts. So…” She lowers the plate to my eye level. “Happy birthday.”
The plate holds four donuts with different brightly colored frosting and sprinkles on each one. I swear my heart stops beating as a lump of emotion fills my throat. I haven’t eaten a frosted donut with sprinkles since the last birthday I celebrated with my mother during my senior year of high school. She didn’t make it to my nineteenth birthday, freshman year of college, because she was dead by then.
“You don’t like donuts?” she asks.
I force down all of my emotions. I may have fucked Penny, but we’re not friends. I’m not going to share my deepest regret with her, nor am I going to let her see my pain—the ever-present heartache I feel whenever something reminds me of my mother.
Clearing my throat, I say, “No, they’re fine.”
“It’s not a birthday cake or anything, but they’re festive and really…our only option.” She sets the plate on the bed and kicks off her heels before removing her jacket and skirt. “God, that skirt is uncomfortable.” She sits across from me on the bed, the plate of donuts between us.
“Should we make a wish?”
“We did that at the party last week. I think we’re good.”
She shrugs. “True, but it wasn’t our real birthday, you know? Seriously, let’s just do it. Close your eyes and make a wish.”
I do as instructed because I can’t come up with a good reason not to. When I’ve spoken my wish in my head, I open my eyes.
“Done?” she asks.
“Done.”
“Okay, you get the first pick of the stale donuts,” she offers.
I pick up the one with pink frosting and multicolored sprinkles because it looks just like the last one my mother got me. I take a bite, and a wave of nostalgia hits me. All the little things my mother did for me in the moments of quiet because she wasn’t able to love me out loud come back. She would give me secret looks and smiles, a squeeze of the hand, a whisper of praise, and an early morning birthday donut. In her weakness and inability to protect or stand up for herself, she kept me as safe as possible by keeping me invisible. She allowed herself to remain the target so I wouldn’t be. And because I couldn’t save her, she’s gone.
In all its sweetness, this donut reminds me of the good, but it also brings memories of the bad crashing down, and there was so much bad.
She chews her donut. “Oh my gosh, these are awful. So stale.”
“They’re stale?” I ask.
“Horribly stale.”
At this moment, I realize all the donuts I’ve eaten in my life have been stale because this is exactly what they’ve tasted like. It makes sense. I’m guessing my mom got them a day or two before my birthday, whenever she could get away unnoticed. She could’ve even bought day-old discount ones at the bakery. Money was always tight. As I’ve only ever eaten donuts with my mother, it never dawned on me that I was eating stale ones.
I take another bite of the donut while closing off my traitorous emotions. A self-induced pity party isn’t something I condone.
Penny continues, “But I’m not sure if we’ll eat anything else today, so they’ll have to do.”
“It’s really that bad out there?” I take another bite of the donut.
“According to Alice, yeah. It might take a couple of days to dig everyone out and clear the roads, especially with the snow still coming down. I mean, I really hope it’s not as bad as they say, but I guess we’ll see.”
My thoughts immediately go to our game schedule. “We play Tampa Bay in three days. We better be back by then.”
“Let’s hope so.”
The conversation is pleasant, and it’s clear we’re still on that break we discussed last night, which is good. Consecutive days in this small space with someone you despise would be awful. However, a friend—especially one with benefits—is manageable.
“Did you have any birthday traditions growing up?” Penny asks, and my whole body stiffens.
“No. Birthdays were never a big deal.” I opt to keep things simple. “You?”
“No, and for the same reason.”
It’s obvious there is more to her story, just as there is more to mine. It’s also clear that neither of us wants to talk about it. Instead, we chat about the team and our performance this season. It’s neutral territory, one in which we share a mutual investment. It’s a safe topic that will keep our faux friendship thriving and fills the silence.
After breakfast, I follow Penny on the path between the boxes to the bathroom, where we brush our teeth.
This entire situation is surreal. Never in a million years did I imagine I’d be standing in some motel bathroom in Canada beside Penelope Stellars, let alone having some of the best sex of my life with her.
Memories of last night play in my mind like some fantasy porn reel tailored just for me. Because let’s face it, Penny—in body—is my ideal woman. Her curves, wild, fiery curls, pale skin, and doe eyes drive me crazy.
I stare at her reflection in the mirror, thinking of her now and then, and my pulse quickens. It’s probably a good thing that she doesn’t wear her hair down at work. It’d be impossible to hate her the way I do because she makes me wild with longing.
Penny spits and rinses out her mouth with water. I follow suit.
“What are you thinking?” she asks, raising a brow.
I shake my head, huffing out, “Nothing.”
Her gaze leaves my face, dropping to the obvious bulge in my boxer shorts. “Nothing?”
My body betrays me. It’s clear I want her, and she knows it. Cautious isn’t a word that is normally used to describe me, but our situation hangs on a small precipice of joviality. Everything is cool between us, and we need to keep it that way since we’re stuck here. We’ve avoided all mention of last night’s adventures, but the reasons for why are unclear. For all I know, she could regret it, and if that’s the case, the last thing I want to do is make her uncomfortable.
This isn’t my normal. If a woman wants me, I know it. With Penny, it’s just not black and white. Our current cohabitation brings a whole shit ton of gray.
“Nothing?” she repeats. “Interesting. Well, I’m definitely thinking something.” She crosses her arms in front of her, grabbing the hem of my shirt and lifting it over her head, leaving her standing in just her panties.
I swallow hard, the intensity of my need growing.
She shimmies off her panties and stands before me completely naked. I’m not shy about scanning her body. I want to see every inch. She was beautiful in the moonlight, but this view is even better. She’s the opposite of last night when she wanted to cover up. Pride fills my chest, knowing she’s no longer ashamed of her curves with me, and I aided her with the newfound confidence. She has the most gorgeous set of tits I’ve seen—big, natural, and pale with a smattering of tiny freckles. My mouth waters, imagining sucking on her taut nipple. Raising my hands, I reach out to touch her breasts, but before I make contact, she takes a step back.
I lift my gaze, and she wears a smirk. “I believe I recall you making me say what I wanted out loud last night. In fact, I remember screaming it, so I believe a little reciprocation is in order. I need to hear the words. Everything you’re thinking, I want to know.”
“You know,” I say, my voice low.
She shakes her head. “I want you to say it.”
I advance, stepping toward her until her back is against the wall. I lift her chin with a finger, and our brown stares lock. “I think you are the sexiest woman I’ve ever met. Everything about you drives me crazy. Right now, I want to bury myself so deep inside you that all you can do is scream my name. Is that clear enough for you?”
Her lips part, and her chest rises and falls as she breathes heavy. “Yeah. That’s good.” Her voice is weighted with need. Leaning in, I press my mouth to hers. She welcomes my tongue in with a sigh. The kiss is raw and deep, and utterly tantalizing.
When I pull away, she whispers, “Shower first?”
My heart races, and I’m feeling drunk with longing. I nod, and reaching past her, I turn on the shower. I remove my boxer shorts, and when the water is warm, we step in.
The hot water sprays across my back as we kiss. After a few minutes of perfect kisses, she lathers up some soap and massages my skin. Her touch feels so good, and I close my eyes to really experience every moment.
Unable to wait any longer, I reach between her thighs. Her breath leaves her mouth in a moan as I insert two fingers inside her. I begin what I hope is a tantalizing rhythm, and based on her vocalizations, I’d say it is. She splays her hand against the shower wall to steady her quivering body. I kneel in front of her and pull one of her legs over my shoulder. Without slowing my pulsating fingers, my tongue begins a cadence of its own, flicking against the spot that needs it the most. She whimpers from the sweet, torturous sensations and throws her head back, facing the shower ceiling, moaning loudly.
“Omigod, omigod, Gunner,” she chants, her body meeting my movements.
As my tongue works, my fingers rub against her G-spot, and her moans grow louder. Her inner walls begin to pulse around my fingers as her hips rock to counter the motion of my mouth. She’s so close. She lifts one of her hands off the shower wall and threads it through my wet hair, pushing my head against her core. I consume her with everything I have, hungry for her release to wreck her body.
“I’m so close. Don’t stop. Don’t stop,” she begs in desperation.
And then she’s falling into ecstasy. She holds my head against her core as her body starts trembling. I feel the evidence of her release around my fingers as she continues to moan into the steam of the shower. When she starts to come down from her high, I remove my fingers and stand.
Her eyes are hooded, drunk with lust, and she’s so irresistible. Grabbing the soap, I move to wash her, but before I do, she drops to her knees.
I inhale sharply when she grabs my length and works it in her slick hands from the tip to the base, over and over again.
Holding me at the base, she covers me with her mouth, working her tongue in circles around the tip. She begins a delicious rhythm, greedily taking me in her mouth with moans of pleasure. She removes her hand from my base and grabs the back of my thighs, pulling me as far into her throat as she can take, still working her tongue around me.
“Oh, fuck…”
The sensation is too good.
The fire building at my core erupts and sends a deep, raw, mind-blowing burn through my body, out to my fingertips, down to my toes, up to my scalp, and everywhere in between, scalding me with fierce pleasure. At the peak of my sensation, my hand grabs her head as I empty inside her mouth, and she takes it all. I groan loudly as waves of pleasure shake my body.
I moan as Penny slowly removes her mouth, licking along my length as she does. She swirls her tongue around the tip, and the visual alone almost makes me want to come again. I fall to my knees to meet her, and my lips attach to hers. Our tongues tangle, and I kiss her hard as the water falls around us, streaming down my face and over our lips as I consume her.
I break our kiss. “Let’s finish washing up and move this to the bed.”
She splays her hands across my chest. “And why is that, Gunner?”
I like this playful side of Penny. Who knew that all that was needed to break her free of her icy exterior was a solid orgasm? “Because I want to fuck you. Again, and again, and again. I want your body to be so wrecked with pleasure that you can’t stand straight. I want to fuck you until we pass out from exhaustion, and then I want to wake up and do it again. How does that sound?”
Her tongue peeks out, and she licks her lips as her pupils dilate. “I like that plan.”
The truth is, at this moment, I don’t care about our game against Tampa Bay in three days. I hope we’re snowed in for a good while because I know nothing will be the same when we leave this storage closet of a motel room. Once we check out, I’ll never see this side of Penny again. I’ll never feel her come around me or hear her moans of pleasure. I’ll forever be chasing sex with this level of chemistry. I will once again be her annoyance, and she’ll once again be a moody witch.
No, something about this place and these circumstances have transported us to this twilight world where things are different. And I want to savor this time with Penny while I can.