Chapter 22
twenty-two
. . .
Demi
This last week had been absolute madness, and Romeo was definitely feeling the pressure. The entire town was promoting the fight now. If you wore one of the Golden Boy shirts, you would receive ten percent off at Whiskey Falls bar and The Golden Goose.
Someone had posted a video of Ronny and Romeo arguing on social media, and it had taken on a life of its own. Leo had jumped on the bandwagon and had been thrilled to point out that he knew Romeo’s weakness now.
Me.
He posted photos of the altercation where Romeo kept me tucked right behind him.
He made a video playing the clip over and over of Romeo telling Ronny to stay the fuck away from me.
And people ate it up. It had gathered millions of views, and local news channels were asking to come and interview Romeo daily.
It was a lot.
But my boyfriend had kept his head down and tried to ignore all the noise and focus on his training.
Joey had stepped things up, as these final weeks of practice were grueling.
Romeo was training harder than ever, and yesterday, Teacup and I had barely been able to stay ahead of him on his seven-mile run.
The weather was warming up, and I loved being able to help with this part of his training.
When he ran through town, everyone was out there, cheering and honking their horns, but out at my grandparents’ house, it was peaceful and quiet.
He could clear his head and focus on his run.
And I got to enjoy the view.
He was chiseled perfection.
I watched him sleep as he rolled toward me, his eyes blinking open as his hand found my hip and he pulled me closer.
It was the first day in weeks that we’d been able to sleep in, which wasn’t even really sleeping in, because the sun hadn’t come up yet.
But normally, he was up at 4:00 a.m. to get his run in early.
Joey thought he needed the rest this morning and wanted him to take a day off from running, but he’d be in the gym later today.
“Hey, baby. Are you watching me sleep?”
I snuggled up against him. Cedar and sage were now my kryptonite. My fingers roamed his chest, and he groaned.
“Yes. You rarely sleep, so I was enjoying the view. Are you sore?”
“I think I’m in a constant state of discomfort, if I’m being honest,” he chuckled. “I’m always a little sore.”
“Well, those guys really pushed you hard last night, and you ran hard in the morning, too. Can you take a day off from work today?”
“Nope. I need to catch up on payroll and the books and get the schedule going for next week. We just keep growing, so I need to hire another trainer.”
My fingers were trailing along his shoulder and down his arm, and I pushed to sit up. “How about I give you a massage before we both have to get up?”
“How about I bury my face between your thighs and start my day with you on my lips?”
“Massage first. Pleasure second,” I teased, as my teeth sank into my bottom lip at the thought of it.
Romeo always knew how to please me. Even when he was exhausted. Even when I knew he should just get some sleep. He said that he slept best after hearing me cry out his name.
How could I argue with that?
I urged him to roll onto his stomach, and I moved to the bathroom to grab some lotion and then climbed on top of him, straddling his waist. I squeezed the lotion into my palm and rubbed my hands together before pressing down on his shoulders, causing him to groan.
I worked his muscles slowly before moving down his back.
“That feels so fucking good,” he said.
“It will help loosen you up, too.” I pulled his briefs down, and my fingers dug into his firm butt.
“Wow. You’re really going there, aren’t you?” He chuckled as I moved down his thighs, adding more lotion to my hands.
“I want to make you feel better. I know how exhausted you are.”
“The best I feel every single day is when I’m with you.
When I tune out all the noise. When I’m sitting on the couch, watching a movie with you.
When I’m watching you eat or laugh. And, of course, my all-time favorite time of day is watching you fall apart when I’m buried deep inside you,” he said, his voice deep and gruff.
“I feel best when I’m with you, too,” I whispered. My feelings were so deep for this man that I found it overwhelming at times. “Are you going to miss me when I’m gone?”
I was going to meet Slade for his family counseling session. He asked me to come, and he was there, doing his part, so I agreed. I had a lot to say to him and a lot of anger over what I’ve learned since he’s been gone, but it didn’t mean that I didn’t love him.
“I wanted to talk to you about that,” he said, rolling onto his back, and I squeezed some more lotion into my hands.
“Okay.” I settled on top of him again, one leg on each side of his waist before leaning down and pressing my palms into the tops of his shoulders.
“I talked to Lincoln, and he and Brinkley happen to be going to New York at the same time. They said they could pick us up, and we could fly with them on their plane, and they’d take us to Boston.
And then they’d fly us back on our own because they’re staying for a few days since my brother has meetings there and Brinkley’s got work. ”
His brother was a famous NFL player, but I hadn’t met him yet. Romeo talked about him and Brinkley often.
“Really? That’s so nice. You really want to come with me?
” I asked, pausing as I worked my fingers over his chest. I hadn’t asked him to do that.
He had issues with my brother that were fair, and I didn’t expect him to want to support Slade in any way.
Not to mention his training was a full-time job, on top of running the gym.
“I love you, and you’ve supported me through all this shit with the fight.
Now you’ve been dragged into the middle of Leo’s madness, and he’s talking about you every fucking day.
You’re out on Teacup, early in the mornings, racing my ass before work.
I want to support you, too, baby. This works both ways.
” His tongue swiped out to wet his bottom lip, and his hooded gaze had me squirming as I rocked against him, finding him hard as a rock beneath me.
Everywhere.
“This is a little different. I’m going to visit a man who made your life a living hell all those years ago.”
“He’s your brother, and I know that you love him. And I love every part of you, Demi Crawford. Even the part that forgives people who don’t always deserve it.” His gaze softened. “You’re meeting with your dad after work today, right?”
“Yes. He says he has a lot to say to me, and I want to hear him out. I know he and my mom have started marriage counseling. It’s all just…
messy, you know?” I sighed. “And I love you, too. All of you. Even the part of you that doesn’t want to tell me how much pressure you feel.
How exhausted you are. How frustrated you are by Leo’s taunting.
And now you’ve got Ronny freaking Waterstone posting about us, too. It’s a lot.”
“It’ll all settle down after the fight is over. Ronny’s trying to save face because now the whole world knows he’s a fucking creep. He can blame us for this coming out all he wants, but if he’d stayed the fuck away from you, none of this would have happened.”
“I could not agree more. He brought it on himself.” I slid down his body and worked his abdomen, one muscle at a time. Now, I was trailing my lips behind my fingers, and Romeo sucked in a breath. I moved down his thighs, taking my time on each leg.
I crawled between his legs and pulled the front of his briefs down, and his dick jolted in response, standing straight up.
I wrapped my fingers around his thick length and stroked him up and down as my gaze locked with his.
“Fuck, baby,” he whisper-hissed. “Why does everything you do feel so fucking good?”
I loved that I affected him the way that he affected me.
It made me feel sexy and powerful.
This man was everything I wanted.
Everything I needed.
I pumped him faster, and he reached for me. “I need to be inside you. Right. Fucking. Now.”
I reached into my nightstand drawer and pulled out a condom before tearing the top off with my teeth. I rolled it down his throbbing erection, and his eyes never left mine. Then his hands found each side of my hips and lifted me effortlessly, lining me up right above him.
He slid me down slowly, filling me completely. My head fell back, and I rocked up and down as we found our rhythm.
He sat forward and wrapped his lips around one hard peak, teasing and licking, before moving to the other side.
I was so turned on I could barely see straight.
His hand moved between us, knowing exactly what I needed, just like he always did. He pressed his fingers against my clit, and I gasped. I was already so close.
He leaned back to look at me. “Come all over my cock, baby. I want to feel you.”
That was all it took.
His hands. His fingers. His mouth.
Romeo.
It was too much.
I dug my nails into his shoulders, and his name left my lips on a cry as my entire body went over the edge.
My vision blurred.
I continued to move as he gripped my hips and thrust into me.
One.
Two.
Three.
It was my name on his lips when he followed me over the edge.
He rocked me against him over and over, riding out every last bit of pleasure.
And I was completely lost in this man.
I found my father in his study, and I walked in as he moved to his feet. I held up my hand to stop him. We needed to talk, not hug. I had a lot of questions, and I wanted to keep my head clear for this conversation.
“Let’s talk first,” I said, sitting in the chair across from him.
My mom said he’d meet me here after their session, as they were still going through a lot, and it would take some time. She was over at my grandparents’ house, working on the white party with Grammie and the decorating committee.