Chapter 15 Lane
I’m scribbling down notes when a hand rips the pages away from me. I watch as Lois tosses them in the air.
“Can I help you?”
She twists, leans forward, and before I know it, she’s slipped one leg over mine to straddle me.
“Whoa, whoa, Lois! What the hell?” I immediately tense up with my hands in the air.
“What do you think?” she purrs, trying to push me down.
I fight back, laughing as I grab one of her shoulders, keeping her at arm’s length.
I’m expecting a dig or a fresh attempt at teasing an explanation out of me, but she giggles, staring me straight in the eye.
Just when I think she’s about to speak, she slowly, deliberately rolls her hips, writhing as she pulls her T-shirt over her head. My laugh twists into a strangled sound.
“Fuck, what…”
I forget how to speak at the sight of the sexiest bra I’ve ever seen. It’s all pearly gray lace, and so sheer that her nipples are poking right through. I swallow hard. This is Lois, for Christ’s sake!
“That brownie was a bad idea. Sugar high, huh?” I manage, but I can’t take my eyes off her breasts.
“Touch me,” she orders. Her voice sounds different.
I blink, pushing back on the adrenaline coursing through my veins.
“Come on, Laney. I know you want to.”
It’s hard to pretend otherwise when she’s grinding on my rock-hard dick like that.
Her palms drag slowly down my chest, nails grazing just enough to make me shiver.
Her hips keep moving with intent, each roll devastating.
My hands grasp her hips, instinctively pulling her into me when I had meant to push her away.
A moan escapes her as she’s biting her lip and tossing her head back.
This is insane. This is seriously insane!
This is Heartbreak, for God’s sake. I repeat it like a mantra, but her perfect tits are bouncing inches from my face, and I’m losing my fucking mind.
I don’t know how long I can hold off. Or if I even want to.
A rush of heat surges through me. “What about Kirk?”
“Who?” She laughs softly and leans over me. “Kiss me.”
My lips move to meet hers without an ounce of protest, but Lois shakes her head, grabbing a fistful of my hair and guiding me toward her chest.
“Here. I know you’ve been fantasizing about it since the pool.”
She lets go of my hair, reaching behind her back to unclasp her bra, and my heart starts to pound faster with every inch of fabric that slips off her skin.
I don’t think I’ve ever wanted someone this fucking badly.
This is probably a massive mistake considering she lives here, but my head is spinning as my mouth hovers a breath away from her nipples. I need to taste her.
Instinctively, I close my lips around one of her breasts. Fuck, she tastes so good. She arches into me, and I tighten my grip on her. I’m sucking deeply, pressing her closer. Her skin is hot against my tongue, her nipple stiff as I tease it.
“Oh, Lane,” she whimpers, breathless.
“Lane,” louder now.
“Lane!” she shouts suddenly, her voice deep and gravelly and wrong.
I open my eyes with a jump. My pulse is racing, and it takes me a few breathless seconds to figure out what just happened. My hands grasp at my crumpled sheet.
“Lane! Get up, buddy!”
I stare into my pillow, unscrambling my thoughts. I don’t need to flip over. I recognize the sound of Carter barking at me from my bedroom doorway. It was a fucking dream. Just a dream.
I don’t know whether I’m disappointed or relieved, but there’s no time to think. I listen as Carter walks around the bed, his legs swinging into sight.
“Well, would you look at that. Congratulations, brother!”
“It’s not what you think. All we did is sleep.”
“I could tell. Even when you’re sleeping, you guys just can’t play nice, huh?” He eyes the mattress. “You were sleeping back-to-back. Right on the edges of the bed. It’s so…” He sighs and shakes his head. “Platonic.”
Right. Tell that to dream-me.
“Got space for one more?”
“Get lost,” I growl, aiming a pillow at his head.
As Lois stirs, Carter stifles a laugh. I sit up as quietly as I can, and we look at my bedmate.
“Give me that salami,” she mutters sleepily.
I raise an eyebrow and glance at my friend. There are tears shining in his eyes as he bites down on a fist, trying to keep the laughter in. I shush him away.
I slide out of bed and turn back when I get to the doorway, spending just a little too long gazing at Lois as she sleeps. Dream Lois was wild. She turns onto her back, like she can feel my eyes on her, and stretches her arms over her head, flashing me a full view of her breasts.
“Fuck,” I mutter, slipping out of that godforsaken room.
In the kitchen, Carter sits on a stool, a huge smile plastered over his face.
“I missed the episode where you switched the couch over for the bed,” he starts.
“You could have fucking made coffee!”
“I was waiting for you. So you and Lois—”
“Cut it out, man! She was helping me out with the script and fell asleep.”
“And you just let her?”
“I was wiped out, I didn’t even notice,” I snap back, flicking on the coffeepot.
I keep my back to him while I shake my mind free of the last few traces of my dream. I place two mugs between us and sit down across from him, yanking on my boxers, frowning.
“What’s the problem, Laney?”
“Nothing.”
He tilts his head to meet my lowered gaze and clears his throat with a satisfying sound.
“Just as I guessed.” He smiles smugly.
“What?”
“You had a sex dream! I can see it in your eyes—plus, you’re sweating like crazy.”
“And that’s a big deal, because…?” I slam my mug down.
“The fact that you dreamed about Lois is kind of a big fucking deal, yeah.”
This guy’s a fucking mind reader!
“We spent four hours on the script, dude. That’s all there is to it.”
“Okay,” he deadpans.
“I’m serious.”
“Okay,” he says again with the same tone.
“Fuck off.”
“Okay.”
He jumps up and starts air-grinding while mouthing the letters “L-O-I-S” like a lunatic.
“Stop that,” I whisper-shout, wagging a finger at him.
He carries on miming.
“Is this some big scene you’re workshopping?”
Lois’s voice echoes across the living room. Carter swivels around to face her.
“Lois! Sleep okay?”
“Meh.” She yawns. “I had the weirdest dream.”
“Really?” Carter shoots me a look, grinning like the damn Cheshire cat. “What kind of dream?”
“There was food everywhere, and there was this huge—”
“Salami?” He winks at me.
“Cheesecake.” So innocent. “This diet is grinding me down.”
She pads over to the coffeepot, and when she starts tugging her shorts into place, I look away. Fuck me. She drains her mug at record speed, checks the calendar pinned on the wall behind her, and sighs as she gazes out the window.
While Carter wanders off to make a call, I decide to make myself useful. “Need a ride to school?”
“No, I’ll walk. Work off yesterday’s brownie.” She pouts.
“What’s with the face?”
She shrugs. “No reason.”
She bends over the couch and starts rummaging through her bag for clothes, before stalking off to the bathroom without a word. Just before she leaves, she pauses. She turns to face me.
“How would you feel about me cooking us dinner some evening?”
“What’s the occasion?”
“No occasion,” she says flatly.
“Sure.”
“How about next Friday?”
“Uh, sure.”
“Cool.”
And with that, she steps aside to make way for Carter and vanishes.
She’s being so weird this morning. Last night’s fun and games feel like a distant memory—now something seems to be bothering her, I can tell.
I suddenly remember how I lost my shit with Ethan, and the bitter taste of regret floods my mouth.
Is that still on her mind? It must be, and I can’t say I’m surprised.
I fucked up—big-time. Why couldn’t I hold it together last night?
Why didn’t I just explain why seeing her on that bike made me freak out?
“I’m going downtown to see Becca,” Carter announces, tucking his phone away.
“Sure thing.”
He slips on his jacket. “You’re thinking about your brother.”
Goddamn mind reader. I take a deep breath in. “Last night when I left your place, I headed over to pick Lois up from class, and when I got there, she was about to catch a ride home with her teacher. On a bike.” The words tumble out of me, and I only breathe once they’re out.
Carter nods. “What with the anniversary of his death coming up… You kind of freaked out?”
“Worse than that,” I continue, “I completely lost my shit, dude. I nearly punched the guy in the face.”
“So does Lois know?”
I don’t answer that. I don’t have to.
“I don’t understand why you’re keeping this to yourself, Lane.” Carter shakes his head.
“I don’t like talking about myself.”
“Yeah, but this is Lois.”
“What does that even mean? I barely know her. It took almost a year before I was ready to tell the others.”
“What’s really going on here?” He takes a step closer, burying his hands deep in his pockets. “Were you jealous, seeing her with that guy?”
“No fucking way!” I shake my head. “And anyway, she’s in love with her ex. She’ll never hook up with anyone else.”
“By which you mean you, or her teacher?”
“Carter. I’m not into Lois, okay? So quit suggesting I am.”
“Do you see her as a friend?”
I rub my face, sighing. “Yeah, I think so—in a way.”
“Let me tell you something, buddy. I’ve got friends who are girls, and none of them mess with my head like that. I know relationships aren’t your strong suit—or social interactions in general—so let me give you some advice.”
“Right. I’m all ears, Dr. Carter,” I deadpan.
“Sleep with her.”
I bark out a humorless laugh, and he grins at me, pleased with himself.
“Plus, Lois—”
“Yes?” She steps out of the bathroom before he can finish. “What were you saying about me,” she adds, suddenly suspicious.
“I was just telling Lane that you should sleep with—”
“Carter,” I hiss, shooting him a warning look.
“—a guy. Or a girl, come to think of it. You know, to forget your ex.”