4. Harlowe
CHAPTER 4
HARLOWE
T he next day, I went over late in the morning. This time, I rang the bell and opened the door because he was expecting me. Imagine my surprise when I saw him on the couch with his leg up but without the brace on.
“Before you yell at me…” He held his hand up. “My trainer wants me to wear it less to slowly test my range of motion.”
“Uh-huh.” I wrapped my arms under my breasts.
“Whether you believe me or not, he did.”
“When is it time for pain meds?”
He shook his head before I finished speaking. “I’m done with those. Didn’t take any yesterday, either. I only did it at first for the swelling.”
Carefully, I sat on the very end of the couch where he was, but he swung his leg over to the coffee table so I could fully sit.
“When is everyone getting back?” I asked. “I assume they’ll all come rushing over here.”
He shrugged. “Probably. Camden said the team was leaving at one, but she and my parents and all the girlfriends were leaving…” He grabbed his phone and turned it on. “About right now if everything’s on time.”
“Oh.” My stomach dropped and my shoulders slumping that made me think this was disappointment I was feeling. “So you don’t really need me today. Cincinnati isn’t a long flight. Like an hour max, right?”
“Something like that.” His lips pressed into a thin line.
“You could stay,” he said, making me furrow my brows. “Wait for them to get here. You’re right. They’re probably all coming straight here. You could stay. Celebrate.”
I blew out my breath. It was incredibly appealing that he was asking, but there was one big problem. “Your dad will be here, right?”
He grunted. “Yeah.”
“I think I’ll probably pass, then.” Their dad just wasn’t a pleasant person to be around in general, but I’d always gotten the feeling that he thought I was after one of his sons, given that their family had money and mine didn’t on that level. I didn’t know for sure, but I still tried to steer clear of him.
“Harlowe, it’ll be fine. He won’t say shit.”
I scrunched up my face. “It’s more the vibe. Makes me feel itchy.”
He snorted. “Good way to put it. So you’re going to go?” But it almost sounded like he didn’t want me to.
“Yeah, I guess so. Unless you need something.”
His gaze froze on mine, like he was trying to determine if he needed anything.
Then, though I thought it was a dream, he reached out, cupped his hand around the back of my neck, and pulled my lips to his. At first, I was going to pull away and tell him to never fucking kiss me again.
And then I realized… I really didn’t want to.
It was like all of the unrequited feelings I’d had since I’d been fourteen bubbled to the surface. I crawled closer to him, each mouth trying to devour the other. When I was close enough, he cupped both sides of my face, like he thought I might move away.
Oh, no. This kiss would end eventually, but I wouldn’t be the one ending it.
Brooks slipped a hand up my back, pulling me to him, so I lifted one of my legs over his lap so that I was straddling him. When he finally broke the kiss, he trailed his lips down my neck to the front of my chest as he slid his hands under my shirt. I didn’t realize I’d curled my fingers into his hair until he looked up, his eyes dark with desire.
“Do you want to do this?” His voice was low, sending a shiver down my spine.
What a fucking question. I’d wanted to do this since I was fourteen.
It wouldn’t be long before his family was here and there was no chance in hell I would reject him. Not for this one time. Something for myself.
Instead of answering, I leaned back and pulled my shirt quickly over my head.
He groaned and buried his face between my breasts. He nipped and sucked as he undid the clasp of my bra and pulled it down my arms. Where it landed was a problem for later.
Brooks Briggs was kissing me. His wet mouth was on my skin. Well, right then, he sucked one of my nipples into his mouth. All I could focus on was his touch. The burn of his warm hands on me. The way he handled me. Somewhere in the back of my brain, there were warning bells going off, ones meant to keep me from making a mistake, but they weren’t loud enough for me to pay attention to.
He slipped his hands into the back of my shorts but they were tight and he couldn’t get anywhere so instead, he unsnapped the button on my shorts and pushed them down as far as they could go which admittedly wasn’t far. As I yanked at his T-shirt, he sat up so that he could pull it over his head putting all that golden skin on display.
My body threatened to catch on fire from all the heat rushing through me as I trailed my fingertips up his chest. Brooks was warm and inviting, like a fireplace you could curl up in front of. He cupped my breasts and squeezed.
Suddenly, he moved so that he was on his back on the couch. For a moment, I worried about his knee. When he said, “Climb on,” I forgot all about it.
“What? No.” He wanted me to sit on his face, which was one position that made me feel the most vulnerable. I didn’t love it. I mean, it’d feel good, but fuck.
“I figured you wouldn’t want me on my knees in front of you.”
“You can’t.”
He wasn’t supposed to put all of his weight on it.
“That’s what I said, but if you think we’re doing this without me tasting you, you’re out of your mind. Unless you don’t want me to. Which I don’t think is the case. Is it the position?”
I bit my lips together and nodded so he sat up and pushed his hand into my hair so that the palm was against my cheek. “If it makes you uncomfortable, we won’t do it, but trust me when I say you have nothing to worry about.” When I didn’t answer he started to push himself up more. “Switch.”
“No.” I didn’t want him on his knees, as he’d said. “Lie down.”
“I don’t—”
“Lie down,” I said again, so he did.
First, I stood up and pushed off my shorts and panties. Once again, Brooks groaned, looking at me naked for the first time and that groan went right to my core. He was beautiful, could have anyone he wanted, yet right this second, he was looking at me as if I were the only woman on the planet and he wanted me right now.
What did it say about me that I didn’t care I was sure it was just this one time?
And why now? Why was he willing to have sex with me now? Not that I wanted him to think about it too much so he wouldn’t change his mind but I was the only woman—only person—he’d really been around for days. Was it that I happened to be accessible?
The bigger issue was probably that I didn’t care.
He settled onto his back and I kissed my way up his stomach and chest before kissing him again. It was all a distraction of my nerves. I wanted to do this. He wasn’t making me. Still didn’t mean I wasn’t nervous.
Then I hovered my pussy over his face. He grabbed my hips and brought me down onto his tongue, making me squeal and try to pull away, but he kept me right there. I had to brace myself with one hand on the back of his couch and the other on the arm.
When he sucked my clit into his mouth, my arms began to shake. I let the feeling wash over me. This wasn’t my first time having a man do this to me. Not even close—though sitting on his face was new—but I was about to cum in record time. Brooks knew what he was doing.
I bit my lips together as the waves of pleasure washed over me, leaving me a shaky mess. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I lifted off him.
“Switch,” he told me.
Right then, I would’ve done anything he asked. My eyes were still closed when I lifted off him so he could get up and then I fell down onto the couch.
“Are you on anything?” he asked, making me open my eyes finally. I shook my head. There hadn’t been a reason for me to need anything in a while and here I was not even thinking about birth control with him. Good thing one of us kept their head on straight.
He reached over and grabbed his crutches then hurried off down the hallway toward the bathroom—not up the stairs. Then he was back with a condom in his hand. He bit it between his teeth so that he could put the crutches down and take his shorts off.
The site of him had my mouth watering. Without thinking about it, I reached out and closed my hand over his erection then I sat up and took him in my mouth, almost causing him to fall over.
Shit. His knee.
Looking up at him, I said, “Sorry.”
He shook his head. “No reason to be.” But he sat down, his cock standing tall, so I moved onto my knees next to him and sucked him back into my mouth. As I did, his hand ran over my ass and down the back of my leg before he pushed two fingers inside me. I hadn’t been expecting it, so I groaned. Before long, he was pulling my head away.
“You gotta stop.” His chest rose and fell rapidly as I bit back a smile.
Before I made another move, I pulled my hair out of the bun I’d put it in this morning because it was so hot. Right now, I was hot, but for totally different reasons. As I did that, Brooks ripped the foil package open and rolled the condom down himself. Then I threw a leg over his lap like I had at the beginning and sunk down onto him, making both of our heads fall back. The noise I made would’ve embarrassed me with anyone else.
I was full. So full, in fact, I didn’t think I’d be able to take another inch. As I rose and fell on him, he gripped my hips to encourage me. His mouth was on mine. He was everywhere.
Just when I thought he was going to release he pulled me hard against him. “I need to feel you under me.”
My heart took off like a roller coaster, threatening to break out of my ribs.
I blew out a breath but lifted off him and lay down on the couch so that he could hover over me. I wasn’t even going to ask about the knee. Right now, neither of us cared.
It was a different angle when he pushed inside me again, one that I knew for certain I wouldn’t be able to do if he were any bigger.
His mouth covered mine again as he drove into me. I’d fantasized about this so many times, but the reality was much, much better.
Brooks moved faster and faster until a guttural sound came from his chest and he slowed to a stop. He’d found the release he’d given me twice. Even if he didn’t know it had been twice. His head dropped to my shoulder as he slowly pulled out of me. Then he pushed onto his hands and kissed me again. This time, it was a kiss that wasn’t leading anywhere.
That was when the awkwardness set in for me.
Apparently, sitting on his face was totally fine, but looking at him after doing it was the real issue.
“Do you want to—”
“You can go first,” I told him. He wet his bottom lip and nodded then pulled his shorts on before grabbing the crutches.
Once he was down the hallway, I realized he had more than one bathroom and we both could’ve gone, but whatever. I had an escape plan. While he was in there, I hurriedly got dressed. As I was putting my shoes on, he came back.
“You leaving?” he asked from where he’d stopped near me.
“Yeah,” I said, giving him a small grin. “Your family is going to be here soon. I should make myself scarce.”
“Or you could stay.”
But I shook my head. I couldn’t be in the same room as him and Camden right now. She’d know that I’d just had sex with her brother in a second.
“All right,” he finally said, but his face changed. Almost like he was putting a mask in place.
What we’d done couldn’t change anything. I’d just willingly broken the cardinal Camden rule. My best friend was going to hate me when she found out.
I got up off the couch and asked, “You’re sure you don’t need anything before I leave?”
A slow smile spread over his face as he raised a single eyebrow. The heat flashing across my chest threatened to melt me.
“All right, then.” I grabbed my purse and hurried to the door. “See ya later.”
I was out that door and to my car quickly because I didn’t want to chance him trying to stop me. Not that he would. He probably did this with women all the time. It didn’t mean anything.
Though I’d never had a one-time thing with anyone in my life, it couldn’t mean anything to me, either.
Now I had to figure out how the hell I’d be able to face Camden without her figuring this out or I could very well lose my best friend.