Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
There’s a long list of things I rarely do because of my heart condition. It isn’t that I can’t drink, or do those other things on the list, but with so many things out of my control, I do the things I can to take care of myself.
So Rhett is correct when he calls me a lightweight for the second time as we make our way to the dance floor and I stumble over my own feet. I’ve had three beers and I’m definitely feeling it.
He holds me upright as we join his friends in the middle of Sigma’s basement.
Looking uncertain, he keeps his hands at my waist as I dance in front of him.
He’s just standing in place, but he makes it look good.
Ripped jeans and a plain black T-shirt set off the blond of his hair and those steely blue eyes.
I took a lot of dance lessons growing up, but those mostly only get showcased on the ice.
Without my skates, I’ve never felt that same confidence.
But the way he stares at me like I’m this amazing, beautiful creature he can’t believe he’s with, gives me the boost I need to cut loose. The alcohol is also probably helping.
Olivia and Josie are still with us, squealing as they get right in the middle of the circle we’ve formed. Rhett’s friends are nice, and they’ve been so welcoming to me and my friends.
Speaking of his friends, Ginny dances behind me, rubbing her butt against me playfully. I turn so my back is to Rhett while I dance with her.
“You’re a good dancer,” she yells over the music.
Rhett’s hands rest low on my hips.
“Thanks! You too.” I smile at her. I like Ginny. She’s sweet. Her blonde hair whips around her shoulders as she moves. Her boyfriend Heath is like Rhett—standing behind her, not really dancing.
Dakota, the only single one, I think, moves between us all as she dances, hands over her head.
She has the kind of confidence that makes her fun to watch on the dance floor regardless of if she had any skill or not.
She does, though. Her cropped shirt lifts with each movement, grazing the bottom of her bra. Red, the same color as her hair.
Josie joins her and they are the center of attention. Rightfully so, she is a great dancer and she’s stunning with her light blue hair. Their ability to let go and live in the moment pushes me to be bolder.
I swivel around and smile at Rhett, then dance backward toward Josie and Dakota. They welcome me by opening up to let me move between them. They grin and cheer me on as I dance in the middle of the circle, giving it everything I have and just having fun.
When the music changes and I glance over at Rhett, his eyes flash with heat that makes my already accelerated heart rate speed up and my chest tighten.
“Holy shit, Sienna.” Dakota steps in front of me, blocking Rhett from my view. “You’re amazing.”
“Thanks.” I gulp in air. This basement is hot and the alcohol and dance workout I did makes my skin sticky. I lift my hair and fan my neck. “I’m gonna sit the next one out.”
“She’s going to sit several out.” Rhett appears beside me, his strong arms circle my waist and he lifts me up, carrying me away from the group.
“What are you doing?” I squeak and giggle in surprise as he moves through the basement toward the stairs.
He doesn’t answer or set me down until we’re upstairs.
Pinning me against the wall, one hand at my waist, the other on the wall above my head, he captures my mouth in a bruising kiss.
I forget I asked him a question until he pulls back and says, “I needed to do that. You ready to go? We can stay longer, of course, if you want to keep dancing, but I have all kinds of things I want to do to you right now.”
“Like?” I ask, breathless and my sex clenching at his words.
His mouth opens, he pauses, and then shakes his head. “I can’t come up with a nice way to say I want to fuck you into next week.” He holds his hand out to me. “What’ll it be, angel?”
Who needs nice? “I think I’ve had enough dancing.”
We catch a sober ride to Rhett’s apartment. It’s quiet, everyone else is still at the party, but we don’t turn on a single light as we kiss our way through the living room, down the hallway, and finally into his bedroom.
His phone rings. The screen lights up his pocket in the darkness.
“You’re ringing,” I say, not removing my lips from his.
“No, you are.”
He takes my phone out of his pocket and hands it to me.
“It’s Elias.” Shit, I know he’s checking in on me. I texted him a picture of me drinking with the girls and like the overprotective brother-type he is, he’s going to worry until I assure him I’m fine. “Just give me one second.”
I answer, not moving away from Rhett. “Hey.”
“Hey, I’m headed to bed. Everything okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“With Roy?”
“Mhmm.” I press my lips to the man in front of me.
“Okay. Be good-ish. Call me tomorrow.”
“Bye.” I slip the phone into my pocket. “Sorry about that. He worries.”
Rhett’s brow furrows. “About you being with me?”
“No, it isn’t that.” I shake my head. “He knew I was out drinking.”
He waits for me to elaborate.
“Elias has the same heart condition I do, so when one of us does something that puts us more at risk, we get a little protective.”
He nods slowly like he’s finally piecing it together. His hands slide under my shirt and lazily stroke my skin.
Now that we’re not in a frenzied lip lock, I’m nervous. I like Rhett. He’s different than I expected. Nice, fun, stupid hot. Speaking of stupid, hooking up with him might be just that. I no longer think he’s a player, but that doesn’t mean this won’t still end in heartbreak.
We messed around a bunch last night, but tonight feels different. Sex is imminent, and I know myself well enough to know that taking it to the next level will only increase my feelings for him.
“And are you okay?” he asks, sliding one of those hands up my back, sending a shiver up my spine.
“I’m perfect.” Wrapping my arms around his neck, I jump into his strong arms and kiss him to show him just how okay I am. Josie is right. The regret of not knowing would be worse than any disaster that’s heading my way.
He lays me down on his bed, kicks off his shoes, and pulls his T-shirt over his head. I move to kneel on the mattress in front of him and undo his jeans. God, he has a great body.
Anticipation and excitement make my fingers move fast, but Rhett’s jeans are a real challenge to get over his legs.
He chuckles, helping me, and then I’m eye level with a serious bulge covered only by black boxer briefs. He stands there, unmoving, as I inch them down. His dick springs free.
I hesitate, swallowing. He’s long and thick. A bead of precum leaks from the tip.
“It’s so pretty.”
His chest puffs out before the sound of his laugh fills the room. “Pretty?”
“Mhmm.” I run a hand along the V of his hip. “Are you going to tell me it’s handsome or some other masculine term?”
“Hell no.” His voice is gruff and his ab muscles contract as I glide my hand south. “You keep staring at it like that and you can use whatever adjective you like. Besides, girls like pretty things.”
That we do.
As I bring my mouth to the head of his cock, I suddenly wish I were more of a drinker because some liquid courage would be great about now. I’m all sobered up and second-guessing every movement.
“Ah fuck.” His words are deep and throaty. His fingers thread through my hair and then one hand grips my neck, pulling me off his dick and guiding my face up until he slams his mouth down over mine in another crushing kiss.
Guiding me with that big hand at my neck and another snaked around my waist, he forces me onto my back.
He’s muscular, but lean and watching his body move over me is the sexiest thing. His hand stays at my neck as he kisses his way up my stomach, stopping to bite each nipple, and then slanting his mouth over mine in the most tender way that I’m not expecting.
I shift my hips under him, grinding up into his dick. He groans and the grip on my neck tightens.
“One second.” He shifts to open a drawer on his nightstand, grabs a condom, and covers himself.
At first I think it’s light from the window shining in, but when he positions himself at my entrance, I giggle at the neon yellow color of his dick.
“It looks like a banana.”
“Glow in the dark, baby.”
“Afraid I wouldn’t be able to find it?” I tease.
The thick head of his cock pushes in an inch and I suck in a breath.
A wicked grin pulls at his lips as he pulls out that delicious inch. Sitting on the bed, he pulls me up and onto his lap. He lowers me slowly down onto him. His penetrating gaze is millimeters from mine and he catches every whimper and moan as he fucks me.
His fingers tangle in my hair, pulling my head back so he can suck on my neck. All while he pumps my body down onto his over and over.
When my breaths come quicker, he grips both of my hips to increase the pace and angles my body backward so he can kiss and suck my boobs. I detonate in his arms. He’s doing all the work anyway, but I’m a rag doll as my climax goes on so long it blends with his moments later.
My heart flutters and I lean forward and rest my head on his shoulder. He’s still buried inside of me and he wraps his arms around my waist and brushes my hair away from my face so he can place a kiss on my forehead. And his heart hammers against me in perfect rhythm.
I fight a yawn as we get ready for bed. I finger-brush my hair and Rhett gives me a T-shirt to sleep in.
“Green,” he says as he snuggles up behind me.
“What?” I fight my eyes to keep them open.
“At the bar, you guessed my favorite color was blue, but it’s green.”
“Mine is blue.”
“I wonder what the third question was.”
“I don’t know.”
“I wanna know you,” he says quietly. “All the things.”
I’m smiling when I fall asleep. It doesn’t take long. Exhaustion pulls me under and I can’t remember ever being so content. I’m woken by a phone ringing. My first instinct is something is wrong with Elias, but this time it’s Rhett’s phone ringing.
I nudge him. “Your phone’s ringing.”
“Hmmm?”
I nudge him again.
Without opening his eyes, he feels around for his phone and then brings it to his ear. “Hello?”
A feminine voice replies, zapping me from my happy, sleepy place. His eyes open and he sits up. He brings the phone away to look at the screen, then jams it back to his ear. “What the hell, Carrie? It’s three o’clock in the morning.”
I roll onto my back while he continues to talk to Carrie on the other end. My brain buzzes with possibilities—none of them good. Thirteen missed calls last night and now this? I’ve zoned out, stewing in awful thoughts, until his deep voice, still thick with sleep, mutters a string of curses.
“I’m so sorry. I was half asleep and I didn’t realize who it was.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, it was nothing.”
I wait for him to say more, but like this morning, he doesn’t seem to want to talk about it. He pulls me into his arms with a heavy sigh, and neither of us speaks again.
I don’t sleep well the rest of the night. When it’s finally light outside, I creep from the bed and get dressed, then request an Uber.
“You’re leaving?” He sits up and runs a hand through his bed head.
“Yeah. I have practice this morning.”
He glances at the window to the early morning sky and then raises a brow.
Pulling on my shirt, I kneel on the end of the bed.
“I didn’t sleep,” I admit. “What’s going on with the phone calls?”
He sits up. “It’s my ex, Carrie. She won’t stop calling.”
I have a thousand questions. “Why? What does she want?”
“I’m not even sure anymore. It’s been almost a month since we broke up and she’s blowing up my phone at the most inopportune times.”
“Oh.” I don’t know why I assumed he’d been single longer, but knowing he was with someone just a month ago—someone who cares so much for him she still calls in the middle of the night—makes me uneasy.
“It’s over,” he says. “And I’m sorry that I answered. I wasn’t thinking.” His arms circle my waist. “Don’t leave.”
“I really do need to practice.”
He bobs his head slowly. “Okay. Hang later?”
I hesitate. “I’ll text you.”