Chapter Twenty-Two #2
“Oh …” Lake shook her head. “Don’t say anything to them about the underwear gagging. That’s just speculation on my part. I’m not trying to spread rumors.”
“Seriously!?! You honestly think I’d say something about that to them?”
She tried to hide her smile, but I saw it in her eyes before she let her lips free from the confinement of her teeth. “No.” She laughed. “But oh my gosh! You should see your face. You look horrified.”
“You’re such a …” I shook my head, rubbing my hands over my face.
“A what?”
“A pill. An evil plotter. A handful … more than a handful. So all of that about your parents was just to get a reaction out of me.”
Her head jerked back. “What? No. The only part I was joking about was mentioning the panty-gagging, because I know you never would. But the rest? The skinny dipping? The PDA? The loud sex? All true.”
I rested one hand on my hip while rubbing the back of my neck with my other hand. “And the gun?”
“He probably owns at least a dozen, but he’s never used one on my boyfriends. He came close with Ben, but my mom swooped in as the voice of reason to save the day.”
“What did Ben do?” I looked up.
“Took my virginity … in the green bedroom. Did you know they make dirty conversational hearts? It’s true.
I’m not proud of this, but all it took was a candy heart that said, ‘Let’s make love,” for me to hike up my skirt and rip off my panties.
It didn’t even matter that he gave me two more right away that said, ‘Bend Over’ and ‘Lick me.’ I’ve been permanently banned from that room, which is a shame because it’s the only one with a king-sized bed; the rest are queen. Hope you work well in small spaces.”
“We’re not having sex here.” I shook my head, partly to affirm my declaration and partly to rid my head of Lake having sex with some other guy. I was jealous of a dead guy. That was a new, pathetic low for me.
“So you’d say no if I offered to wrap my lips around your cock right now.”
“Jesus, Lake …” I had to turn and adjust myself again. I needed a cold shower to cool my balls and wake me up from this nightmare of a long weekend that had only just begun.
Her laughter always left me powerless. I was such a sucker for her smile.
“I love playing with you,” she snickered.
Yeah, I loved when she played with me too, but my preference was more physical and less psychological.
I turned. “Your mom grabbed your ears.”
“Oh my God! I know. It wasn’t until she actually did it that I realized it’s been going on for years. If you would have asked me, I would have said she cradles my head, but no. She grabs my ears. She’s ruined my ears! They’ll never go back to their original position.”
I grinned. Lake was her own universe, and when I had the pleasure of being part of it, I wasn’t a famous football player and I wasn’t the man still grieving his father. I was the guy who wanted to make being with her a full-time profession.
“I love your ears. I love the way you moan when I drag your earlobe between my teeth.”
I also loved how her breath caught when I said things like that to her.
She swallowed hard. “Ivy”
“Ivy?”
“Yes.” Her shoulders lifted. “The other day you said you didn’t know my middle name. It’s Ivy.”
“Very earthy names.”
“My parents claim they weren’t hippies, but … I’m not so sure.”
“My middle name is James.”
“I know.” With a slight head shake she rolled her eyes.
“You do?”
“Duh. If you Google your name, the entire right column is about you: full name, date of birth, height, current team, education, parents. Yep, it’s all there.”
“You’ve Googled me?”
“I may have.” She picked at some peeling skin on her arm.
“To find out my stats?”
She shrugged. “Among other things.”
I sat on the bed next to her, ducking my head to see her face that she tried to hide with her chin tipped down. “What other things?”
“Just stuff. Okay? Like places you’ve been photographed or …”
“Or?”
“Or maybe who you’ve been photographed with.”
“Did you go online to size up your competition?” I chuckled.
“Maybe.” She pinched her lips together.
“And?”
“It’s pretty stiff.” Lake shot me a quick, wrinkle-nosed look. “You don’t go for the average chick.”
I shook my head. “Actually, I don’t date that much.”
Her jaw unhinged. “Uh … I can do a search on my phone right now and prove that you are incorrect.”
“Photos don’t mean shit. If I lean too close to a waitress in a loud bar or restaurant to give her my order, some idiot snaps a picture and just like that, said waitress and I are an item.”
“Yeah, well, then you must hang out at some pretty fancy places that only hire really sexy women to work there.”
“Did the sun fry your brain a bit too? Because this is a new side to you. Jealousy doesn’t suit you.”
“I’m not jealous. I said I knew your middle name. You asked how. I told you and it led into this conversation. I’ve said nothing out of jealousy. I’ve simply made observations, that’s all.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, it sounds a little like jealousy.”
“You’re such a dope. Jealousy is: Who was the blonde? How did you meet? Did you have sex? How much? Did you love her? Do you miss her? I bet you’re thinking about her right now. When’s the last time you talked with her?
But if you’d listened to me you’d know I didn’t actually ask you anything. I said I looked at some online photos of you. Then I made the observation that the women in all the photos were very attractive. That’s it. Period.”
“Lake?” her mom called. “Get down here. Luke and Jessica just arrived!”
She sucked in a quick breath. The excitement in her eyes and the smile on her face eased my anxiety, but just a little.