Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
~JOSIE~
“ A h, look at that,” Brax growls in my ear.
I was in the middle of packing for my overnight trip with Maddie when Brax sat on the side of my bed, pulled me onto his lap, spread my legs wide on either side of his knees, and then pointed us toward my closet mirror.
The lower half of my body is completely exposed, spread wide for him. The top is covered by one of his old T-shirts.
I’ve managed to commandeer at least half of his collection as my new sleep shirts.
That’s when I sleep with anything on—which isn’t often these days.
“Look how wet you are for me,” he says and kisses my neck as his gaze moves up and down my reflection in the glass. “Look at how pink and swollen you are. Are you sore?”
“No,” I whisper, completely hypnotized by watching what he’s doing to me. We’ve always had an adventurous sex life, but this is new.
And damn sexy.
He tugs the shirt up over my head and glides his hand over my breasts while the other goes back to driving me out of my mind down there.
“It’s like playing a guitar,” he murmurs. “When I strum you like this…”
I moan as the muscles of my core instinctively tighten.
“You make that sound. But if I pluck right here…”
I gasp and let out a little squeak, and Brax grins at me in the glass.
“You do that. What if we do this? Keep your eyes open and watch, sweetheart.”
I didn’t even realize I’d closed my eyes. I lick my lips and avidly watch as the very tips of his two middle fingers disappear inside me.
“Jesus, yes.”
“I get words with that, huh? Okay, what about…?”
He presses the heel of his hand against my clit, and I jerk, crying out, “Brax! Holy shit, Brax.”
“I get my name with that one. I’ll make a note of it. I think I like it best. Keep your eyes open, Josie.”
“I can’t.”
He bites the top of my shoulder, redirecting my attention.
“Do it. Watch this. God, you’re so fucking gorgeous.”
I can’t help but stare as I grow wetter, and he pushes me not just over the line into oblivion but so far past it, I couldn’t tell you where it was.
The next thing I know, I’m on my back on the bed, and Brax has my hands pinned to the mattress above me as he pushes his cargo shorts down his hips, impatient to get inside me.
When he slides in, we both groan with pleasure.
“Fuck,” he whispers in my ear. He’s moving fast, as if he’s on a mission. As if he can’t help himself.
It doesn’t take long before he pushes in and grinds himself there, coming apart inside me.
When he’s done and out of breath, he grins down at me.
“I guess that was more fun than packing,” I say, making him laugh.
“Hell, yes.” He pulls away and rolls onto his back, setting my arms free. “I couldn’t help myself. You were just strutting around the place practically naked.”
“Uh, I was walking around, wearing a shirt, gathering things for my super-fast trip today.”
“Walking, strutting. Same thing. You’re hot as hell, and I can’t keep my hands off you. Also, that was a gorgeous show in that mirror. I’ll never look at it the same way again.”
“I won’t, either.” I grin at him and see that he’s relaxed and content. “What are you going to do while I’m gone?”
“We have a gig tonight,” he says and reaches over to trace my collarbone. “What time are you heading out?”
“Maddie’s getting off work in,”—I check my watch—“shit, she’ll be here in fifteen minutes. She wants to leave right away so we can get checked into the hotel and have dinner before the game. You made me late.”
“Not sorry,” he says as he links his hands behind his head and watches with a satisfied grin on his handsome face as I hurry to get dressed and throw some clothes and toiletries into a bag. “Jesus, you’re only going for one night, Josie.”
“So?”
“You’re packing for a week.”
“I don’t know what I’ll need,” I reply and shove my curling iron into the suitcase. Granted, I haven’t curled my hair in at least five years, but what if I want to tonight ? “I need to be prepared.”
“Is this a fancy ball?”
“No, it’s a basketball game.”
“Then why do you need high heels? Hey, I haven’t seen those before.”
“They’re new.” I cradle them to me and kiss the toe of one red shoe. “I don’t like a lot of fancy things, but these shoes are to die for. I can wear them with jeans.”
I gently slide the heels into their dust covers and place them in the bag.
“Later, I want to fuck you when you’re wearing those shoes and nothing else.”
That makes my head come up. I narrow my eyes at him, and when I hear the front door open downstairs, I toss a towel over his dick area, and he shoots me a grin.
“Are you dressed up there?” Maddie calls up.
“She knows you too well,” Brax says, and I stick my tongue out at him. “Come here and say that, sweetheart.”
“We’re covered,” I call back with a laugh. “And I’m almost ready. Just throwing a few extra things in my bag. I’ll take a shower before the game.”
“Oh, good. You’re bringing your curling iron. Hey, Brax.”
“Hey. You know, I’ve never seen either of you with curly hair.”
“But we might want curls tonight ,” Maddie says, echoing my thoughts. “And now we’re prepared.”
“Women are weird,” Brax says, shaking his head as Maddie hurries away to gather her things. “I hope you have a good time. Text me to let me know you arrived there okay.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Okay, Dad .”
“It’s my job to make sure you’re safe.”
Now I raise both eyebrows. “Why?”
“Because I love you.”
It’s said so simply, so matter-of-factly, that I almost stumble. I cross to him and take his face in my hands, staring into those gorgeous eyes of his.
“I love you, too.”
I brush my nose over his and then kiss him long and deep, but before he can wrap his arms around me and tumble me back onto the bed, I back out of his reach.
“No more sex,” I say, pointing at him. “I have to go.”
“We should probably do it again,” he says, “since we just said the L-word.”
“We don’t have to do it every time we use that word.”
“We probably should.”
“No.”
He grins. “You can’t resist me.”
“I am resisting you. But I’ll make it up to you when I get home.”
Brax sighs as if I’ve just shot down all of his hopes and dreams, then stands to get dressed.
I hurry over and shut the bedroom door.
“Your lack of modesty might be a little concerning.”
He smirks, not at all uncomfortable in his tattooed skin.
“Nudity doesn’t bother me, babe.”
“Clearly.”
“Did you see that game-winning shot at the end, right at the buzzer?” Maddie demands as we walk out of the arena toward her car.
“I was right there,” I remind her.
“It was the best ,” she says. “And we were so close to the court. I swear, someone sweated on me.”
“Ew. That can’t be sanitary.”
“And Lebron totally winked at me.”
“I don’t think he did, Mad.”
“He did, too. You were looking at your phone or something and missed it. Man, basketball players are hot. I like my men tall.”
“That’s not tall. That’s tall. ”
“Exactly. I like them tall. ”
“That really narrows down the pool of possible men, if you’re holding out for someone over six-foot-five, Mad.”
“Hey, a girl can dream, right? Stop raining on my parade. That was so fun. I love the football games back home, too, but this was even better than that, and we didn’t even have a box.”
“We probably could have scored one,” I say, considering. “I’m sure someone knows someone.”
“I didn’t even think of that,” she says and stares at me for a full ten seconds. “Holy shit, maybe we can get box seats next year.”
“Maybe you’ll fall in love with a player, and you can go to every game and cheer him on with the other wives.”
“Don’t play with my emotions,” she says, shaking her head. “That’s not nice. You’re my sister. ”
I laugh as she unlocks the car doors, and we both get inside. We’ll have to wait for a few minutes before we can leave as the swarm of people and cars try to empty out of the parking structure, but we don’t mind.
“I don’t even know who your favorite player is,” I say, thinking it over.
“Blake Howard,” she says immediately. “Not just because he’s hot and six foot eight, and holy crap he’s hot , but also because he’s won the dunk contest two years in a row, and he can shoot threes like it’s nothing.”
“Was he out there tonight?”
She looks at me as if I’ve just asked if he’s in the car with us.
“Dude, he shot the winning buzzer-beater from behind the three-point line! Were you even there?”
“Oh, him . Yeah, I get it. He is hot. I don’t know their names, Mad. I’m sorry. Hell, I hardly know the football guys’ names in Seattle, and that should be in my DNA by now.”
“You never really loved sports much,” she says with a shrug. “That’s okay, I love you anyway.”
“Thanks.”
She grins and then puts the car in reverse so we can finally go back to the hotel.
“So, things look like they’re going well with Brax,” she says and stops at the stoplight outside the garage.
“Yeah, we’ve worked some stuff out, and now we’re just plugging right along.”
“Good. I like him.”
“I’m glad. I don’t know how Mom and Dad will feel about it, though.”
“I thought Brax and Dad used to be tight,” she says, looking both ways before turning left.
“They were. Before . I don’t know what Dad’ll think about me getting back together with Brax.”
“Well, remember when we were kids, and he left for a while, and then Mom took him back? Shit happens, you know? He’ll probably understand better than you expect him to.”
“You could be right. He said he loved me today.”
“Dad?”
“No, Brax. We’re back to saying it again. And I feel it. I’m not just saying it.”
“But?”
“I don’t know. Fool me once and all that jazz... I don’t think things will go the way they did before. I think we both learned from that time and are moving forward.”
“But you don’t want to let your guard down all the way just in case he rips your heart out and eats it for breakfast again.”
“Yeah.” I sigh, comforted that my sister gets me. “I still have some guards up.”
“I think that’s probably normal. He really did a number on you before.”
“Why are you so gung-ho about us getting back together? You were the one who had to give me your shoulder to cry on, buy me ice cream, and agree that he was nothing but a piece of shit.”
“That’s my job because I’m your sister,” she says and pulls into a parking spot near the hotel. “And I was mad at him, too. But if ever there were soul mates, the kind that our parents are, or the others in the family are, it’s you two. You fit together. And you’re better when you’re with him. You’re way happier, that’s for sure.”
“He does make me happy.”
“As long as you’re happy, I am, too. It’s not my job to hate him forever for hurting you. But I will keep my eyes open, and I’m here if you need my shoulder or some ice cream.”
“You’re the best.”
“I know. Let’s go talk about basketball some more.”
“I can’t wait.”