Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
EVEREST
I should’ve known I’d met my match when she strutted into the laser tag arena wearing black jeans, a crop top, and hightop Converses.
If that didn’t give it away, the shit eating grin on her face should have.
I thought this would be fun, racing around, trying to avoid being hit and playing the knight in shining armor. But I sorely underestimated her skills.
Cove taps the sensor panel on her vest, squinting at me like she’s sizing up prey. “Hope you stretched, Everest. I’d hate to beat you too easily. I at least want you to make me work for the win.” She winks.
I snort, loud and embarrassingly. “Do you really think I’m afraid of losing? You’re five-foot-nothing. I can literally pick you up and move you.”
She steps closer. Way too close. My breath catches and my cock hardens. “Do it, then.”
When her tongue slips out her mouth, gliding across her lower lip as she gazes up at me though her mascara heavy lashes, my brain short-circuits. The arena lights flicker neon blue across her cheekbones, and her smirk is pure chaos.
“You cannot weaponize flirting,” I tell her.
“I can and I will,” she says smugly, batting her eyes playfully.
Before I can respond, the buzzer blares and the game starts.
Cove takes off in a dash, disappearing into the maze like a gremlin who thrives in darkness.
I chase after her, already sweating, already way too focused on the sound of her laugh bouncing off the walls.
I don't even care if I win, I’ve already won the best prize. Her.
I move through the maze, lights flashing on my face as I listen for her laughter.
We’re the only ones playing and I love it.
Then I see it. A flash of her pink hair; she’s squatted down behind a glowing barricade.
Just as I’m about to round a corner to come up behind her, she pops up.
The gun aimed right at my chest, the shining light making a bullseye over my heart.
“Oh look, a giant target.” That’s all she says before firing her gun. A dead hit.
“Cheating,” I grumble. Truth be known, I'm a sore loser.
“Winning,” she corrects, already sprinting away. I give her a ten second head start and then I’m rushing off in the same direction. She got one shot. I refuse to let her get another.
The whole match continues like that—Cove popping out of the shadows, tagging me, laughing when I curse for her outwitting me.
At one point she jumps onto my back, reaches over my shoulder, contorting her arm to aim the gun at my chest and fires again.
If it hadn’t been for her warm breath on my ear I could have gotten free and shot her.
But why would I not want to feel her body wrapped around mine.
When our time is up, we stumble out of the room, sweaty, out of breath, and laughing like idiots. Other than the carnival this has so far been one of the best days of my life and I don’t plan to let it end anytime soon. And when she opens her mouth I know she doesn’t either.
“Food?” she asks, pushing a strand of hair off her forehead.
“On two conditions,” I tell her.
“And they are?” she asks coyly.
“First, you promise not to shoot me during dinner.” I laugh, knowing it’s not what I really want to say. I just want to loosen her up before I ask for what I want. There’s only one thing I really want to know.
“No promises on that. And the second?”
“Second... you promise this isn’t just a one-time thing.”
That makes her go still for a second.
“I’m not saying I’m proposing or anything,” I add quickly, nervous as hell now. “But I’d like to keep seeing you. Without pretending it’s just about the game or the fantasy or… any of that.”
Cove looks at me for a long moment. Then she tips her head and offers the softest damn smile I’ve ever seen.
“I was hoping you’d say that,” she says. “But only if you promise not to ghost me after I kick your ass again next time.”
“Deal,” I say, holding out my hand.
She slaps it away and links her fingers through mine instead.
The diner she chooses to eat at smells like grease and heaven.
We sit in a booth with squeaky vinyl seats and order way too much food. Cove steals my fries without shame and I pretend like it bothers me that she’s doing it. The whole time I’m smiling so she knows I don’t care.
Halfway through our milkshakes, I catch her watching me.
“Do I have something on my face?” I immediately pick up a napkin and start wiping my mouth.
“Yeah, there’s this huge green booger hanging from your nose.”
I can feel the heat on my face instantly as embarrassment takes hold of me. I turn my head and frantically try to remove the obscenity away. Her laughter catches my attention just before I feel her foot under the table, brushing against my leg.
“I’m just kidding. I didn’t want to tell you what I was really thinking.”
I wipe my mouth and turn back to face her. “That wasn’t nice. So now you have to tell me what you were thinking.”
She bats her eyes at me, as she picks up a finger and flicks it back and forth through the ketchup on her plate. “I was just thinking how nice this was. Me, you. A date. How normal and natural it feels.”
I turn my head, taking a quick glance out the window, seeing her reflection in it as I gather the nerve to speak. “I feel the same way. When I’m not with you I can’t stop thinking about you. Not the person you are on screen but who you are when we talk, when we see each other in person.”
She raises a brow. “Does it bother you what I do for work?”
I sit there for a moment thinking about my answer.
I can see the worry in her eyes and it guts me.
“No. It doesn’t bother me.When we become a couple, I would never give you an ultimatum that you have to quit.
Because I’d know it’s me you want. It’s me you're thinking about as you tease your fans. When you come, it’ll be my name on your lips.
” I don’t know when I got so brazen but I lay it all out for her.
“Hmm.” She leans forward, gnawing on her bottom lip again and I’ve never been so jealous of a tooth in my life. “When we become a couple?”
I clear my throat. “That’s what I said.”
“You’re optimistic.”
I place my hands on the table, stare her straight in the eyes and speak. “Yes, but more confident than anything. I want you, Cove. In every way possible.”
Her eyes spark. “Everest.”
I freeze. Afraid I may have just scared her away or fucked this shit up.
She tilts her head, smiling slowly and wickedly. “Want to come home with me?”
My heart jumps. “To your place?”
“Yeah, that’s what home generally means,” she says. “I want you to stay the night. Just don’t fall in love with me.”
I laugh, as I let out an exhale of breath. “Too late. You may not see a future for us. Yet. But that’s okay.”
I pick up the bill from the edge of the table and pull out my wallet, pulling out enough cash to cover it and a nice tip.
“Ready to go?” She nods and we both stand and head out to our cars. She pulls out first and I follow her.
Her apartment smells just like her.
I’ve barely shut the door, before she’s grabbing my shirt, pulling me in, and kissing me with a kind of reckless abandonment that wipes my brain of any thought. It’s not rushed, not messy, but pure hotness.
“Bed,” she whispers against my mouth. “Before I trip and take us both out.”
She takes me by the hand and walks backward through her home and I follow her, heart hammering. Every touch feels electric. Every breath feels like we’re both giving in to this pull between us.
When we get to the room, she switches our positions, backing me up to the bed and pushing me down onto the mattress. Cove climbs onto me, straddling my waist with a devilish grin on her face that promises me she’s about to destroy me. “Time for me to collect my winnings,” she says softly.
My hands instinctively go to her waist. “I’m not even protesting.”
She leans over, pressing her lips to mine. We kiss, softly at first, then it deepens as our hands begin to roam each other’s bodies. Along the way our bodies shift and clothing begins to disappear until we’re both naked and panting.
She purrs as her eyes roam the length of my body, her eyes lingering on my hardened shaft.
“You’re perfect,” I mutter. “Can I taste you?”
“Fuck yes, you can.”
She shifts her body, spreading her legs for me. I move in between them, but I don’t go in for my meal right away, instead I decide to play with my food just a bit. I spread her pussy lips and blow warm air down the seam, swirling circles over her clit.
She lets out a moan that goes straight to my cock.
Flattening my tongue, I let it glide through her lips, landing on her clit.
I suck like I’m trying to get milk from a teet.
She writhes underneath me, enjoying what I’m doing.
I don’t stop there, my girl is already wet and I plunge my fingers inside her hole, fucking her with them, until her walls clamp down and she writhes around them.
“Everest,”she cries out and my heart pounds. This woman was meant for me. I just need her to realize that we’re the perfect couple. Sweet and spicy. Could there be a better pairing?
Once she’s ridden out the wave of her orgasm, she flips me off of her, then climbs on top of me, straddling my waist. She leans over, letting her teeth graze along my jaw. She’s in complete control and I’m letting her take the lead.
She lifts her hips up slightly. “Put your cock in my pussy.” Her voice husky in my ear.
Reaching between us, I let my fingers slip through her seam, causing her to gasp before taking hold of my dick, lining it up with her hole. She sinks down onto it, taking it all the way inside of her.
She places her hands on my chest, letting her nails dig into my skin as she rides my cock.
Cove takes the lead, each of us giving and taking, meeting in the middle.
As her pace increases, I take hold of her, thrusting my hips upward, meeting her move for move.
It’s messy and sweet and overwhelming and perfect.
We both come and she collapses onto me, my arms wrapping around her holding her tightly as I go soft inside her.
Finally, we pull apart and I clumsily find her bathroom and clean up, before returning to the bedroom, doing the same to her.
I toss the rag on the floor and she takes hold of my hand pulling me down into the bed beside her.
She rolls into my side, draping an arm over my stomach and rests her cheek on my chest like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
“That was amazing,” she murmurs, her voice barely above a whisper.
I press a kiss to the top of her hair. “Yeah it was. Imagine what it would be like having that everyday.”
“It could be good.” She pauses. “Remember, don’t fall in love with me.”
“Zero chance,” I murmur. “I’m already gone for you.”
She doesn’t answer, just holds me tighter.
And that’s the answer I need. She wants me, just doesn’t know how to admit it yet.