Chapter Four
Leah
“Cute,” I said as GJ opened the front door and flicked on the light in her entryway.
Her apartment, however, was more aligned with her clothes than her personality. It was carefully organized, all of the furniture coordinated. Her bed was even made; not so tightly that it was like she was expecting company, but just enough to show that she liked to do it for herself.
I nearly let out a sigh of relief. This was—admittedly—a much-needed change of pace from the apartments I’d gotten used to seeing during my escapades. I didn’t think Kai even owned a vacuum.
“That’s a nice way of saying that it’s small,” GJ said as she stepped into the room.
It was small. Everything was laid out in a box—her kitchen lined one wall, her bed lined another wall, and the bathroom was to my right.
She had a small balcony through a sliding door directly across from me.
There wasn’t much to explore beyond the surface, no square footage I couldn’t see from here.
“No, I mean it. I really like it.” A tiny part of me envied the freedom of having space to herself. I had no idea what that felt like. “It’s really well-decorated, actually. Like, it looks expensive in here.”
“My sisters. I gave them a budget, and they did what they had to do.” GJ waved her hand at the space around us, like she barely even noticed. “It’s never been my strong suit. Theo and I had a nasty old couch at our place.”
There wasn’t an ounce of sheepishness in her voice. The confidence was sexy. Even as the alcohol I had consumed going to the party exited my body, I didn’t have any regrets about being here.
Mags flashed into my mind briefly, along with all of the years she’d told me that teammates were off limits. For a beat, I considered turning back around just to avoid the meltdown she would have if she found out.
But I was already here. And this was the kind of thing—GJ was the kind of person—where things only ever happened once.
Or at least, only happened over the course of one night.
I’d heard enough stories about GJ’s stamina to know that if we did have sex, it’d be dirty, but it definitely wouldn’t be over quickly.
Mags didn’t have to know. I could get this out of my system, remind myself that I was hot and cool and didn’t need Kai, and that would be it.
We were standing close to each other in the doorframe, body heat radiating off of us. There was barely an inch between us. The air was heavy with the familiar anticipation and knowing that we probably were going to have sex tonight—we just needed one of us to initiate.
But I also didn’t mind taking my time—there was something nice about being able to be here with her, pretending that this might be something more than just a one-night stand. I hadn’t had anyone new on my radar since Kai, either romantically or sexually. This was exactly what I needed.
I wandered into the room, easing some of the tension between us.
The bed nearby was a reminder of what we’d both come here for.
I kept waiting for my liquid courage to dissipate, but instead, I felt increasingly confident in my decision.
Just being here made me feel better. The way GJ was looking at me, the way I’d taken control of the situation. I’d needed this; my ego needed this.
GJ followed behind me, meeting me in her living room, which was just a couch and a massive TV. I’d kicked off my heels at her front door, so our height difference of a few inches was more noticeable than before.
“Do you do this often?” GJ asked, sending a flutter through my body.
“What? Sleep with my sister’s teammates?”
GJ’s full lips turned up in a smile. “Sleep with anyone.”
“Don’t worry, I know exactly what this is,” I said, my eyes trailing down to GJ’s lips.
GJ closed the gap between us, our chests nearly touching. She put her hands delicately on each side of my face, her thumb tracing my jaw. By the time she leaned in and kissed me, my nerves had turned into excitement and relief.
For the first time ever, I was going to have sex without the anticipation of what would come next. I wasn’t going to worry if she liked me, if she’d call. Finally getting out of my head made fooling around so much more enjoyable.
Her lips were soft, and I could feel her carefully gauging what I wanted.
She kissed me slowly, testing the waters.
It didn’t take her long to match my style of kissing.
It wasn’t too wet or too aggressive or too gentle; it was just right.
It was obvious GJ was an expert at fooling around with someone new.
Even though I’d come here for sex, I let myself get swept away for a moment in how good it felt to kiss GJ.
It was fun the way we’d become hungrier as we learned what the other person liked.
Our kisses went from cautious to full-on making out with a sense of urgency and need.
GJ’s hands trailed down my body, moving to my waist, where she pulled me in closer.
I opened my mouth for her, and we were off to the races, desperation swelling in me as I got increasingly turned on.
I reached for GJ’s shirt, unbuttoning the loose material. GJ shook it off and let it fall to the ground, and then pulled my shirt over my head. We stepped back toward the bed as GJ’s mouth traveled from my lips to my neck. The wetness pooling between my legs told me everything I needed to know.
She guided me back toward the bed, and we eased onto it together, careful about putting her hands on my waist to soften my landing. She hovered over me—me fully on my back, her standing at the edge of the bed.
Her lips traveled from my mouth to my jawline to my neck, trailing in a slow, careful, and thoughtful way I’d never gotten from anyone else before. Not even the people who I’d been dating treated me so gently.
I pulled her toward me and kissed the soft skin of her neck before bringing my lips to hers again. The action was pointed—hot, hard, fast. She took the cue like I hoped she would, no longer acting like she had to be soft with me just because it was our first time together.
She dragged her mouth to my nipples, putting pressure on them with her tongue and fingers. A rush of pleasure coursed through me, and I wiggled impatiently.
“Breathe,” GJ said, surprising me. She hovered so close to my skin that I could feel her breath on my chest. “Let me take my time with you.”
The urge to protest swelled in me, reality coming right back to me in a tidal wave I didn’t want. “You don’t have to.”
GJ kissed the soft skin of my stomach. “I want to, especially if this might be the only time I’ll be able to have you.”
I couldn’t even think of an appropriate response, probably because the logical part of my brain was reminding me of how stupid it was to argue against something like that.
I had someone—and not just any someone, but someone effortlessly sexy and cool and confident—telling me that she wanted to give me a good time.
If anything, she was insisting on me having a good time.
I didn’t know what kind of alternate dream reality I’d accidentally stumbled upon, but this was definitely a new experience for me.
All of it was—from picking her up at the party to willingly deciding to go against my sister’s wishes and flirting with her teammate to coming home with that same teammate.
And now, someone who would be nothing more than a one-night stand was offering me more enthusiasm than people I’d slept with for months ever had.
It was hard to process all of it through the haze of foreplay and how badly I wanted GJ. All I knew was that I was done talking, done thinking. I wanted to relish in my escape from reality.
“Do you want me to keep going?” GJ asked.
I nodded. Surprisingly, none of my hesitation came from the risk of going home with her.
It was already too late to turn back; the line had already been crossed.
With her hands and lips on my skin, it was impossible for me to walk away, even when I knew this was probably a bad idea.
Even if we stopped now, I would’ve still fooled around with my sister’s teammate—I might as well try for an orgasm at this point.
The only thing that was giving me pause was that GJ was nice to me, something I was going to have to unpack at a later date when I wasn’t mostly naked in front of her.
“I want to hear you say it,” GJ said, brushing a piece of hair from my face. The softness and desire in her expression were laid out so plainly for me; I had to avert my eyes to avoid blushing.
“Yes,” I breathed. “I want you.”
“Good girl.”
Being called a good girl wasn’t new to me.
I’d tried out a lot of different things over the time I’d been having sex, asking my partners to call me things, patiently wading through the waters of whether I liked the new nickname they wanted to give me in bed.
I wasn’t afraid to try something, especially if I knew it would help maintain my partner’s attention for just a little bit longer.
But no one had ever said it to me in the way GJ had, with the same steadiness, the same certainty. It sounded so natural coming from her lips that I was certain she’d probably said it a thousand times before to a thousand different people.
Fortunately—or maybe unfortunately—my insecurity was reserved for partners where feelings were involved. All of the women who’d come, literally, before me in GJ’s bed before weren’t my business. If anything, I was grateful for their service.
GJ reached for my waist, and I lifted my hips to make it easier for her to slide my pants off. She was gentle about it, her fingers gently brushing against my skin as she trailed down my thighs and then calves.