Chapter Eight
Cole
W hy does he want to meet for lunch?
Normally I wouldn’t think twice about it. Me and Travis eat lunch all the time together since we’re on similar work schedules and work locally. There was just something serious and somber about his request.
Travis is playful and fun.
It has me on edge.
Since he bought last time, and apparently spent an entire paycheck on dinner, I figure I’ll pick up the tab this time. We’ve decided to meet at a pub near the university that’s known for its greasy, but delicious appetizers.
They have a great selection of beer, too, but I’m on the clock and in uniform. Travis never drinks during work hours either, so I’ve ordered us both Dr. Peppers and a basket of onion rings to start.
The bell on the door to the establishment jingles, alerting me to a new patron. Travis, dressed in his Ellison Electric work shirt, dirty jeans, and steel-toe work boots, strides in. He flashes me a smile in greeting, but it doesn’t meet his green eyes. This vibe I’m getting from him is really putting me on edge.
“Hey,” I say, as he sits. “How’s it going?”
He rambles about work for a few minutes. The older his boss gets, the more responsibility he gives him, hence his late-night invoicing and bookkeeping. I’m pretty sure the old man is priming him to take over.
After the waitress grabs our order, I give Travis a hard look—one that says, get to the point already.
His features turn stony. “We have to talk about Savvy.”
I stiffen, worry trickling its way in. “Okay. Is she all right? Everything seemed good with her this morning.”
I’m not about to mention how good it felt to have her lips on my cheek.
“I guess,” he mutters. “She just, uh, told me some shit last night while you were upstairs jerking off.”
Heat floods to my cheeks. It’s not like I’m embarrassed that I was doing exactly that, or that he knows I was doing that. I’m embarrassed, because of how he’s looking at me with mild disappointment, that he knows who got me riled up and in need of release.
“What?” I ask, feigning confusion. “What are you talking about?”
Travis cracks a smile that does wonders to calm me down. “Dude, I’ve lived with you our entire adult lives. I know what turns you on and when you need to get off. Hell, you’ve done it with the door open enough times, I’ve learned your patterns.”
Great.
My best friend knows my orgasm schedule.
“Perv. Who even keeps up with that shit?” I ask before shoving an onion ring into my mouth to keep a dumbfounded expression off my face.
He snorts out a laugh. “Like you don’t know what kind of porn I watch or the countless times I’ve had phone sex with a woman.”
I guess he has a point there.
I’ve jerked off from overheard conversations between him and those women more times than I can count.
“So?”
“So,” Travis says, growing serious again, “we have to be careful.”
“Because of Savvy?”
“Yes.”
I rub at my temple, the beginnings of a headache forming. “We’re two guys she rooms with. We can’t hide who we are forever.”
The waitress returns with my grilled chicken sandwich and Travis’s plate of three different kinds of hot wings. He polishes off a third of his meal before circling back to our conversation. While he inhales his favorite food in the entire world, my stomach roils with nerves.
“She told me some messed up stuff about the Monahans.”
I snap my head up and meet his stare. “What kind of stuff?”
“Stuff she probably doesn’t want me blabbing to you. But you’re my best friend and you care about her, so I’m going to tell you.”
With each word he says thereafter, my blood turns colder and colder until I feel like a frozen statue, unable to move or speak.
“You can’t confront her about this. She didn’t want to tell you because she thinks you’ll overreact.”
I scoff at his words. “Overreact? I want to fucking arrest every male in that house.”
Knowing I had that bastard on my radar yesterday makes me crazy with anger. I knew I should have gone after him to give him another ticket.
“Well, you can’t,” he says. “My point in telling you this isn’t so you’ll teach Owen and his boys a lesson. It’s so you will proceed with caution with Savvy. The last thing she needs is more horny bastards in her life.”
It’s a rare day when Travis is the voice of reason.
I am disgusted for lusting after her.
We’re no better than the Monahans.
“We have to be strong,” Travis says gently. “I think Savvy is deliberately pushing boundaries with us. If we truly care about her, we need to be stronger than her advances.”
I think about how she put her feet in my lap last night and made me rub them. The male parts of me took over. I gladly put my efforts into massaging her feet, unable to ignore how hard my cock got because of it. This morning, she kissed me. It was a friendly, good morning peck, but it wasn’t appropriate.
“We need to be her protectors,” I agree slowly.
“Exactly. We can chalk up our reactions to us being bachelors who weren’t prepared to have a gorgeous teenage girl invading our space. Now that we know what she’s been through, though, and what she means to us because of Charlie and Serena, we have to do better.”
“We have to.”
He offers me his fist to bump across the table. I meet it with mine, signifying I understand the assignment.
Savvy has had a shitty life.
We can make it better for her.
If that means ignoring the baser male parts of us, so be it.
She’s worth a little discomfort.
Main Street is a nice part of the area we live in. The business owners have worked hard to rehabilitate the buildings that have been around since the 1900s. Each shop, restaurant, bar, and service-based establishment have lent their effort into keeping the vibe similar.
Small-town but sophisticated.
Cute but modern.
Because of the hard work they’ve put in, the area is virtually free of crime. This is relieving knowing Savvy now works here.
I’ve long since changed out of my uniform into jeans and a T-shirt, and since the evening air is pleasant, I’m waiting outside of Smoke & Sugar, leaned against the Explorer until Savvy gets off work.
Finally, she exits the building and waves to whoever locks the door behind her. She’s in her work outfit—tight black slacks and a black Polo shirt—and still wears her black and gold name tag. Her long hair has been swept up on top of her head in a neat bun. Without her hair distracting me, I’m forced to focus on her wide green eyes and supple pink lips.
My cock twitches.
Fuck.
I’d been so resolved to be a better man after me and Travis’s lunch talk, but all it takes is seeing her and my body reacts. I hate myself for it.
“Hey,” I say, forcing away my chaotic thoughts.
She makes her way over to me and gives me a hug. “Hey. I’m beat.”
Since the goal is to make her happier, I hug her back, putting all my focus on her wellbeing. She melts in my arms, and then, to my shock, tilts her head up, kissing my cheek again.
“Savvy,” I rasp out. “We need to talk about this.”
She stiffens in my arms. “About what?”
“How touchy you are. The kisses.”
Hurt flashes in her eyes making me feel like an asshole. “Did Travis tell you what I told him?”
I may be a cop, but it doesn’t automatically give me the skills to lie in an interrogation. I’m sure my face gives her the answer.
“Unbelievable.”
She jerks out of my grip and storms over to the other side of the car. I groan, run my hands through my hair, and stalk after her. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
“Savvy,” I growl, stopping the door before she can close it. “Don’t be like that.”
Her head whips around so she can glower at me. “Like what?”
“Pissed off because…”
“Because what, Cole? Say it. Don’t dance around the subject. I’m not a child.”
Right now, she doesn’t look like one at all. In fact, with her furious glare, she reminds me of a few women after I broke things off with them.
“Sweetheart,” I murmur.
She stands back up, putting her body right in front of mine. Her finger jabs up at my face. “That is a problem.”
I frown in confusion. “What?”
“You call me sweetheart and say it with such…longing.” Her eyes water and her bottom lip trembles. “You want me. I can see it. But you force yourself to behave. Why?”
Because it’s the right thing to do.
Instead of saying that, I reach up to touch my thumb to her lip to keep it from quivering. She relaxes at my touch and her eyes turn soft. I hate that I love my effect on her.
“Things are weird between us because you feel it too,” she murmurs. “Why can’t we just let things evolve how they want to?”
I slide my thumb off her lip and cradle her cheek in my hand. My forehead rests against hers. Maybe she can somehow see all the rampant, confusing thoughts inside my head.
“I had a bad day,” she whispers. “I saw you and it was suddenly better.”
Fuck, she’s breaking my heart.
“I want to make you happy,” I say in agreement. “I don’t want to be the reason you’re upset.”
She tilts her head up until her breath tickles over my lips. “Then stop fighting this current between us.”
Her lips meld to mine and I freeze, unable to move a muscle. A tiny gasp of content escapes her. It wakes my body up. On instinct, I part my lips. Our tongues meet in a tentative swipe that sends buzzing ripples of pleasure down my spine and straight to my balls.
She tastes sweet like sugar.
I don’t even like desserts, but whatever flavor she is, I want seconds and thirds.
I’m dizzied by how right it feels with my tongue lashing against hers. Her palms have found my chest, rubbing up and down over my pectoral muscles. My cock is achingly hard, and I know she feels it pressed against her stomach.
She bites on my bottom lip and tugs, causing me to groan with need. One of my hands finds her perky ass, and I pull her against me. The feel of her body on my throbbing cock makes me see stars.
I curse against her lips when I feel her hand drift down between us. A wave of pleasure explodes through me she palms my cock over my jeans.
Fuck, this feels good.
So good.
But it’s wrong.
The sudden thought, and in Travis’s voice no less, is a jolt of reality that zaps through me. As the fantasy-come-to-life fades and the realness of what we’ve done creeps in, I feel a swell of panic.
“Fuck,” I hiss, gripping her wrist. “Savvy, no. We can’t do this.”
It takes a monumental effort to pull away from her and to remove her eager hand away from my dick. When I see her hooded eyes and puffy lips, I almost ignore my morals and go in for another helping of this sweet girl.
“That was the best thing to happen to me all day,” she says in a soft voice. “Why can’t we do it?”
My self-control hangs on by a thin, fraying thread.
“Because it’s wrong,” I rasp out, trying to convince myself as well.
“Why?”
There’re probably a thousand reasons I could give her—she’s too young, she needs us to care for her, she’s our best friend’s daughter, she’s still in high school, she’s vulnerable after having been creeped on by the Monahans. I don’t mention any of the obvious ones.
“Travis. I can’t do this to him. I promised.”
A tear streaks down her cheek, and she gapes at me as though I’ve betrayed her in some way I don’t understand. “I see how it is.”
“See how what is?”
“Where I stand in this…situation. It’ll always be you and him against me.”
I scowl, confused at her words. “What the hell, sweet—uh—Savvy? We’re doing this to protect you!”
She angrily swipes at her wet cheek. “Under the guise of heroism, he breaks the poor girl’s heart. Take me home, Cole. I’m tired.”
After she climbs back into the Explorer, she slams the door. The finality of it makes my chest echo with unfamiliar pain.
How did I manage to fuck up an already delicate situation?
More importantly, how do I fix it?