9. Travis – Now
nine
Travis – Now
“T hank you.” I tipped the driver after he unloaded our backpacks from the trunk and hung them on the trolley.
“Of course, sir. Thank you.” He discreetly pocketed the tip and waved our driver on.
We weren’t quite regular visitors to Vegas, but we’d been here before, and the Bellagio was our preferred hotel. It was in the center of the Strip, and our usual suite overlooked the fountains. On the odd occasion that Rusty came, he enjoyed looking out over them. We always booked him a seat just in case he decided at the last minute to join us. This time we hadn’t been so lucky, but it was probably for the best given Jacques couldn’t get our suite.
It didn’t really matter what room we ended up in. We were only here for two nights, and from what he’d told me, Carina hadn’t been to Vegas before. He wanted to give her the full experience—shopping, food, shows, dancing, and gambling if she wanted it. I doubted we’d be spending much time in the room itself.
We got checked in and wandered over to the drop-off zone. Jacques had ordered a driver for Carina, too—her flight landed an hour after ours—so we’d decided to meet here at the hotel rather than in the crowded airport.
Jacques’s breath caught, and I looked across the lobby trying to see who he’d spotted. I didn’t have to search for long. There was only one woman who was alone, and she was utterly gorgeous. Curves for miles, long, dark, wavy hair with blonde tips, and a sweet, if hesitant, smile. She looked like a deer in headlights, her eyes comically wide as she scanned the room.
My guy was out of his seat in an instant, and the crowds parted as he strode on those long, sexy legs toward her. We’d been together for years, and I would never tire of watching either Jacques or Rusty move. They were the men for me. We still had an open relationship—we had to so that speculation didn’t run wild about why Jacques and his roommates didn’t date—but these days, it was rare that we hooked up with a woman. It was always separately nowadays, though—Jacques and I hadn’t shared a woman since he'd joined the NHL. Threesomes were begging for controversy that none of us wanted.
Jacques was the most eligible bachelor in San Diego, and every one of his moves was monitored by a gaggle of fans. The last thing we needed was one of our hookups announcing to the world that we’d banged her together. Everyone knew it happened all the time. But we didn’t want that kind of bad press, especially after Jacques’s surprise appointment as Captain of the Seals during his second year in the NHL.
Captaining in a player’s second year was practically unheard of, and there were far more experienced players that probably deserved the spot. But Jacques had quickly become the center of the team—literally and figuratively. He was the level-headed one who was friendly, didn’t fuck around, and acted with a maturity way beyond his age. He’d stepped up to rally the guys when their original captain had been lackluster, and team management noticed. They gave Jacques the temporary gig when the captain got traded just before the team’s second season began. He’d continued to do a great job, and team management had appointed him as permanent captain partway through that year.
I watched as Carina spotted Jacques and her smile became genuine. She really was stunning. I stood up and strolled over to them as they hugged tight.
When they pulled apart, I held out my hand. “You must be Carina. I’m Travis, Jacques’s roommate.”
She was barely up to my shoulder, and her gaze followed my hand all the way up to my face. She flushed, a pretty pink breaking out on her cheeks, and said, “Hi-ey…. Carina…. Yeah. Yes, I’m Carina.” She flushed a deeper pink and let out a flustered laugh before fanning herself. “Sorry, it’s warm in here.”
It really wasn’t. The air-conditioning was blasting the massive lobby with frosty air so that it could keep the worst of the desert heat at bay.
“Let me take those to where our luggage is.” I gestured to her backpack, and she handed it over, then pulled up the handle on her rolling suitcase.
I passed the bags to the concierge and rejoined Jacques and Carina as she tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and smiled shyly at our guy.
“I don’t mind what we do. Your mum suggested we come here for a few days to have a girls’ weekend—shopping, shows, a massage, that sort of thing—but I don’t expect you and Travis to hang around me.”
“We came to Vegas so we could spend time with you. Travis and I can give you a fun weekend, can’t we?” he asked, but it wasn’t a question. The look in his eyes screamed desire. His pupils were blown, and I could see his pulse point hammering in his throat. He was turned on, and I was a goner. It was exactly the look he’d given me the night we’d first met. I’d fallen hard and fast for him—I’d wanted him with a vengeance then. I still wanted him now.
I swallowed.
The weekend had just taken an interesting turn. If Carina gave him any hint she was into him, they’d be hooking up. If she wanted to take a walk on the wild side, I’d just been officially recruited.
***
I played porter, carrying most of the bags we’d accumulated. Carina wasn’t an expensive shopper. She’d gravitated toward H&M and a few of the other outlet-type stores, but Jacques was spoiling her, insisting we go into the boutiques and that she try on everything she oooh’d and aaah’d over. She protested at first, but Jacques shushed her and said it was his job to spoil her rotten this weekend.
She was… lovely. Sweet with a melodic laugh that I wanted to hear more of. Her head was on a swivel as our rideshare had driven us down the Strip, taking in all the sights and chatting nonstop with the driver about living in Vegas. She begged to stop for ice cream, then insisted on treating us to the biggest ones when Jacques had agreed, and she’d bought me a bag of purple Skittles as big as my head when I told her they were my favorites.
Carina giggled at my stupid jokes, and I loved the way she naturally wanted to be between us whenever she could. She didn’t say much about why she was in the States, but I knew from Jacques that her separation wasn’t amicable. I had a feeling she was finding herself again, which was perfect. Jacques knew how to make people feel good about themselves—he was caring and attentive—and I could make her laugh.
We walked into the next boutique, and Jacques went straight for a black dress. “Try this on,” he murmured close to her ear. He held her low at the small of her back, the move intimate as well as gentlemanly.
Carina’s eyes fluttered closed when he leaned into her, pressing himself against her back, and she sucked in a breath. I saw the way her nipples peaked under her shirt.
So did Jacques.
His eyes darkened, his pupils blew, and as he inhaled deeply, his nostrils flared.
“I can’t try that,” she whispered, her tone scandalized. But when she caressed the material, she moaned, “Oh, it feels divine.”
“Try it on,” I encouraged, taking a step closer. Carina was bracketed between us, and if it weren’t for the countless bags I was holding, I’d be even closer.
She looked up and stared, unconsciously licking her lips as I slid my hand along her belly to her hip and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “It’s made for men to take you out of it.”
She shivered but exhaled slowly and stepped away from both of us. “You two are insufferable flirts,” she chastised with a smile, a blush staining her cheeks. But she took the dress and sashayed to the changing rooms, an extra swish in her hips.
Jacques groaned and adjusted himself. “Fuck,” he breathed. “When do we get to the drinking part? I need to either get wasted or come so bad.”
“I’ll suck you off in the room or the club,” I promised just loud enough that he’d hear. No one knew us here—Vegas was sports mad, but they had their own hockey team superstars—so we had some anonymity on our side. Still, I’d never risk getting too close to Jacques in public.
Unless it was somewhere a little darker and more private. Then I’d gladly get very up close and personal.
I looked down at the way his cock was barely constrained by the tailored shorts he was wearing. The fitted polo shirt he was wearing did nothing to hide his erection either. I was faring even worse—my loose boxers and basketball shorts hid nothing, and my muscle tank kept riding up, using my dick as a shelf to sit on.
“Ah, guys. It’s a no,” Carina called. “I’m not decent in this dress.”
Jacques strode over to the changing room and didn’t hesitate to stick his head in behind the curtain. He whistled long and low, and I was over there in an instant.
Carina had her hands across her breasts, trying to hide how low the dress sat, and her eyes were wide. It wasn’t with fear, though. It was with the shock of us walking straight in on her.
The only flaw I could see in the situation was that she was hiding, rather than showing off. The dress hugged every one of her curves just right and was low cut, showing off the curves of her ample breasts. I let my eyes linger, taking in every gorgeous inch of the goddess standing in front of me. Her thighs were thick and her hips wide. Her waist was narrower, but she still had a shapely roll at her belly, and those tits…. Damn, I wanted to bury my face in them and never leave. Fuck me. She was stunning before, but in this dress, she was sex incarnate. Absolute perfection.
Carina looked between us, her eyes wide and her teeth pressing into her plump lower lip. I wanted to suck on it and hear her moan all breathy-like.
I swallowed and opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I tried again, but the only sound I made was a moan. “Fuck. Me.” I finally managed.
“See what I mean?” she said, her voice wobbly. “It’s far too revealing.”
“It’s fucking perfection,” I said on a rush of exhaled breath. I stepped inside the changing room, dropped the bags, and reached for her wrists. Then I tugged gently, uncovering her chest, and Jacques slipped inside too.
“You’re the most beautiful woman we’ve ever seen, and that dress really was made for you.” My mind tacked on “to be taken out of.”
“Let’s—” Jacques rasped. His voice was rough like he’d swallowed a box of sandpaper. He cleared his throat and started again. “Let’s go dancing tonight.”
I looked at my phone. It was 8.00 p.m. “Why don’t we go now? Get some dinner, then get an earlyish start?”
We’d been shopping for hours, and aside from the candy and ice cream, we hadn’t eaten much. I was starving. Jacques was, too, but I wasn’t sure whether he wanted food to go along with his newest obsession.
But Carina wasn’t a new obsession for him at all. He’d told Rusty and me forever ago that he’d wanted his mom’s best friend. Carina was her. He’d been attracted to her since he was a teenager.
“I don’t mind if you two go,” Carina said. “You don’t need to spend the whole weekend with me.”
“If you don’t want to come—”
“No, it’s not that. You probably don’t want to be hanging around me when you could go out and hook up.” She shrugged and seemed to curl into herself.
I hated that she wasn’t confident—especially about her body, because those curves were rocking.
“I’d rather spend the night with you, darlin’,” I admitted.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered. Her brows furrowed and her lips turned down in a frown.
Jacques leaned in close and brushed a piece of her hair off her shoulder. His smile was soft and his eyes full of heat. He explained, “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, and we’re both having fun. Of course we want to spend time with you.”
She shook her head. “It’s been a long time since I felt beautiful,” she whispered as tears sprang to her eyes. She blinked them away, but she couldn’t hide the way her lip trembled. We just needed to dispel every insecurity she had and show her how we saw her. It didn’t matter how long it took—we’d keep her close until she believed it.
“You are beautiful. We both love your curves.” Jacques hooked his finger under her chin and met her gaze, his own unflinching. “We wouldn’t lie to you, Carina. David was wrong. So wrong.”
“I’m old enough to be your mother.”
“It hasn’t been a problem so far,” I countered, stepping closer and taking her hand in mine. “Have you been uncomfortable with us?” When she shook her head, I smiled. “See? Age is irrelevant. It’s just a number.”
“And, anyway, you’re not old enough to be my mom.” Jacques chuckled. “She’s a few years older than you.”
“She’s also my best friend.”
“Excuse me, ma’am. Do you need any help with sizes?”
Carina’s eyes widened, and her mouth popped open in a cute little “o.”
“We’re fine, thank you,” Jacques replied and shrugged when Carina squeaked. He murmured to her, “Why don’t you get changed, and we’ll take you out to dinner. Let’s dance the night away.”
“You’re wearing that dress,” I ordered and slipped out of the changing room.
***
Music pulsed through the speaker system, the strobe lights flashed, and the smoke machine wrapped around us, blocking out the rest of the world. The dance floor moved beneath me like I was on a ship, and my whole body buzzed. My head was heavy, or was my neck too rubbery? I swayed on the spot, pressed up against the gorgeous woman in front of me. Jacques was behind her—always the ass man.
I plucked the latest round of shots from the waiter in our section of the VIP area. They were lemon drops, too delicious to stop at one. I had to have drunk at least eleventeen.
Carina had never done shots before, but she was loving it. I tilted her chin up and tried to pour the drink into her mouth, but I was swaying so hard, I think I missed. Her pout made me frown.
I pushed her hair off her shoulder and grasped those luscious breasts, separating them so I could get my tongue deep into her cleavage. She giggled and I licked along her chest, lapping up the spilled liquor.
“Another round,” I shouted.
The waiter appeared again, and this time, Carina reached for the glass, tossing it back like a pro. I yelled in triumph, grasped her hand, and held it up. She was the champion of the night.
Then Jacques did the same. I watched his Adam’s apple bob in his throat as he swallowed the shot, and I remembered the way he’d sucked Rusty’s dick before we’d left, drinking him down as he came. I groaned and slapped his sexy hockey ass, as desperate for a piece of him as I was for Carina.
Her eyes lingered on me when I tipped my drink down my throat. She tangled her fingers in the hairs on my chest and tugged. The sharp pain, like a jolt of fuck-me-please, seared me. My mind whited out, my entire body going offline as my dick pulsed. I cheered, threaded my fingers through Carina’s hair and tugged her against me. She stumbled forward, giggling, and I spun around, dragging my body down hers until my head was cradled by her fan-fucking-tastic tits.
Carina ran her fingers through my hair and tilted my head back, pressing it into her chest. I drooled—full-on Homer-Simpson-over-a-pig-on-a-spit drooled .
She giggled and ran her hands down my arms, lifting them until they were above my head. I wanted to stay there all night. But my legs were numb.
I swayed as I stood up. The lights blinked on and off. Everything was jolty. People’s faces were different colors. Where did Carina and Jacques go?
Hands spun me around, and my breath left me in a rush. There they were! “You’re still here!” I shouted.
Another round of lemon drops reached us, and we drank them down. Jacques laughed and swiped his hand over his face. Then Carina reached for him. She held his hand up and licked from his palm to the ends of his fingers, biting gently on his fingertips before she released him. Jacques panted, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he watched Carina lick him like a lollipop. I watched as he palmed his dick, rubbing the bulge behind his zipper, and I wanted in on the action.
Carina licked her lips, and I pressed against her, letting her feel how hard my dick was. The catch of her breath reverberated through me. I slid my hands up her sides to the sides of her breasts and rumbled a groan. She was fucking beautiful. Perfection.
Carina slipped her hand into the back pocket of my jeans and gripped my ass, pulling me closer. Oh yeah. She was straddling one of my legs, grinding against me. This is how I wanted to fuck tonight. I wanted her naked, me between her legs and Jacques behind her, sliding into her ass. My cock pulsed, and she thrust her hips, arching into Jacques. She tangled her hand in his hair and pressed those fantastic tits against my chest. I pulled open her dress more, exposing more of her chest. I wanted to strip her out of it right here.
Her lips parted, and her tongue swept out, caressing the lip I wanted to bite. I leaned closer, and her sweet breath ghosted along my cheek. I moaned, and she turned her face, her lips touching the corner of my mouth. My breath caught. My dick strained against the zipper of my jeans, and I shivered, desire slamming into me like an electric shock.
I pressed my lips to hers, swiping my tongue over that pouty lip, and she opened to me. The floodgates spilled over, the desire inside me welling up and freefalling over the spillway. My steel-hard cock leaked precum and my balls drew up, a sizzle in my veins as I got to taste her. I thrust my tongue against hers, and the tangy lemon and sweetness from the shots flooded my senses. I couldn’t stop. I fucked her mouth with my tongue and glided my hands over her pillow-soft chest.
I kissed her until I was dizzy, then we broke apart, and I sucked in a breath, inhaling a lungful of her soft perfume. “Fuck, yes,” I shouted. “I just kissed the prettiest girl in the room.”
Carina giggled and slid her hand downward, her small palm covering my dick. I nearly came in my pants at her touch, but then more lemon drops were there in front of us.
“Shot, shot, shot,” I called out, and we each reached for one. I downed the drink and slammed the glass back down.
But the waiter was a clumsy dude. He dropped the tray.
I frowned. “Sir, you need to stop drinkin’ if you can’t hold your liquor,” I slurred. Why wasn’t my tongue working properly? Carina. It was her kiss. I was broken. I needed more.
I turned back to her, but Jacques was holding Carina’s face in his palm, his big, rough hand so different to her perfectly smooth skin. Sparks crackled between them, and I cheered.
“Yeah, baby,” I yelled. “You get some.”
Carina turned back to me, her eyes wide and pupils blown. Her breasts pressed against my chest, her nipples hard as she sucked in fast breaths. I wanted to touch those beauties again. I slid my hands up and over her big breasts and flicked the pebbled points with my thumbs. She cried out, and Jacques closed the gap between them, kissing her. I watched as his tongue slid languidly inside her mouth as he tasted her too.
Mmm, I want more.
I moaned. His kisses were drugging. When Jacques was in control, he didn’t hurry. He savored, focusing on touching and tasting until we were a desperate mass of writhing sensation. I wanted that for Carina. Jacques and I would show her exactly how gorgeous she was.
If only Rusty were here too. I knew he’d like her. I knew he’d find her beautiful too—and he’d tell her as much. He wouldn’t want to have sex with her like we wanted to—and that might make her believe him even more—but he didn’t have to want to sleep with her. He’d encourage us to go for it. He always did.
I kissed a line down Carina’s throat, licking at the sweat dotting her skin, and sucked a mark onto her collarbone. Her hips stuttered, and she pressed herself harder against my leg. The heat between her legs scalded me. My head swam with the dizzying pleasure of her touch. I wanted to bury my face in her pretty pussy. I wanted to taste her and make her scream. I wanted to do it with Jacques right beside me.
Jacques broke their kiss, and Carina took a moment to open her eyes. She looked dazed, her eyes unfocused and her lips turned up in a smile.
“Shots!” she cried after a moment and reached for two, downing them one after the other.
Jacques and I did the same, and he beat me to it again, capturing Carina’s lips once more.
That was okay. We’d take turns.
I slipped my thumbs under the neckline of her dress and marveled at the silky softness of her skin. I wanted her nipples in my mouth, my face pressed between her breasts as I drove into her and made her scream.
Carina stilled, and I froze. She broke away from Jacques and breathed, “Nooo.”
I dropped my hands and went to step back, but Carina held me tighter. Confusion punched me in the gut.
“Not you,” she clarified, then pointed to the speakers. “That. The song. Can we leave?” she asked. Tears sprang to her eyes. The high she’d been riding a second ago had disappeared. I hated it. I wanted her happy and turned on. She was having fun like that. Now she wasn’t. The stupid song. What even was it? The thump of the bass vibrated through me and the phrase Haaappy Togeeeetheeeer reverberated around the club.
Jacques nodded, swaying on his feet, and he grasped her hand. He charged forward, pushing through the crowd to get out. The room spun, and the hilly dance floor made it hard to climb over to get out. My feet got tangled, and I felt like one of those inflatable tube men you see at car dealerships trying to make it through the crowd. We finally did and spilled onto the street.
“That was our song. We danced to it at our wedding.” Carina pouted. “I hate him.”
“I fucking love him,” I slurred, draping myself over Carina. “Too stupid to hold onto you.”
“She was pretty.” Carina huffed. “And skinny. Really skinny. And her tits—" She held her hands up high near her shoulders. “—they’re so perky.”
“You’re beeeauuutiful,” I shouted.
“Stummming,” Jacques said, but he was squinting. Carina giggled and I snorted. That sounded funny. “No. Stunnnning.”
“Gooorgeous.”
A bride-to-be walked past us wearing the white sash with “bride” scrawled on it that girls wore for their bachelorette parties, veil, and tiara, and Carina cooed. “You’ll be a beautiful bride,” she called out, waving to the woman as we swayed together from left to right.
“So will you,” I said and turned her toward the road. We had to go to a wedding chapel. I’d show her how much more beautiful she was than every bride in there.
Carina smiled so wide and pretty. I stared at her and sighed. She giggled again and rose onto her tiptoes, then puckered her lips. I pressed my lips to hers and kissed her again, tasting her sweet mouth.
“I want to have sex,” Carina said wistfully. “I want to fall in love too.”
“Sex is good. I love sex. I love love too,” I commiserated. “You want to have sex with us?”
Carina nodded, and Jacques’s gaze darted to mine. He licked his lips and looked like he wanted to get it on right here and now. Damn, I wanted that too. Maybe I should kiss him. But no, we didn’t do that except at home. Maybe I should kiss Carina.
“Let’s get married,” Carina suggested, her eyes bright and a smile lighting up her face again. I loved that smile. She grasped Jacques’s arm and tugged on it, jumping up and down. “Let’s do it.”
“Yes!” Jacques exclaimed. He grinned like he’d won the lottery.
I threw my arms around them, and we nearly toppled over. I couldn’t stop laughing. This was the best night ever.
“We’re gettin’ married!” I yelled and rushed to the road to hail a cab.