Chapter 40
I see her come in. Gabe’s sister is cute as hell, which is definitely not a thought I should be having. She’s with a group of friends and I watch as they push two tables together. She sits down and looks around, her eyes almost immediately locking on mine. I hold in a laugh as they widen before she quickly looks away.
That won’t do. I set my beer down on the bar and make my way over to her.
“Hey, Baby Bardot. Aren’t you a little young to be here?”
She tries to hide her face behind her curls while surreptitiously peeking up at me. “It’s Louie’s. There’s not an age limit.”
“Right, totally forgot.” I didn’t forget. “Well, I just wanted to come say hi.”
“Hi.”
“See you on Sunday,” I say as I turn and head back toward the bar.
“Bex, who is that guy?” I hear someone ask before I’m out of earshot.
I’m irrevocably in love with Rebecca Bardot.
I know this—have known this for longer than I’d care to admit. But she doesn’t know and I need to figure out a way to tell her.
We have had a perfect first date, and I’m determined to end it by telling her how I really feel.
Making our way upstairs, we can’t keep our hands to ourselves. Gabe let me know he was staying over at Jules’ tonight, so I know we have the apartment to ourselves. I fling the front door open and pull Bex inside behind me, immediately turning to grab the hem of her sweater.
“Can I?” I ask.
She bites her lip, a sheepish expression taking over her face. “I don’t typically do this on the first date…”
I tsk tsk, tapping my finger twice under her jaw. “What do brats get, Baby Bardot?”
I yank the sweater over the top of her head and then slowly slide my hand up her bare stomach over her chest, groaning at the way her pert nipples poke through her lace bra, and settle it loosely around her throat.
Her eyes darken, and fuck me, I love how this woman gets off on pushing the limits. “I’m not sure… will you show me?”
I walk forward and she backtracks until her legs hit the arm of the couch. “Take your clothes off,” I demand.
She listens immediately, kicking off her boots and stripping out of the rest of her clothes, leaving them discarded on the living room floor. I step back and admire her fucking perfect body before me, loving the contrast of having her fully naked while I’m still fully clothed.
“Good fucking girl. Now, give me your hair tie and turn around.”
“Yes, sir.” She tugs on the ribbon, letting the curls fall around her face. Handing it over, she turns, baring her round ass to me. I run my hands from her shoulders down to her wrists, pulling them behind her and tying them loosely—just enough to give the illusion of restraint.
I push between her shoulder blades, bending her over the arm of the couch, presenting me with a picture that I will never forget.
“You might have been a brat when we first got here, but you’ve been so good listening to me so I’ll let you pick… one or two?” I smooth my hands over her backside, not clarifying what I mean.
She peers over her shoulder, barely contemplating for a moment. “Two.”
I pull my hand back and give her a slap across her right ass cheek. The surprised moan she lets out has me straining against my zipper—I was already hard as a rock and now I’m worried that I’m about to explode.
“Fuck, baby. Does that make you wet? Need another?”
She just nods frantically into the couch cushion, so I even her out with a slap across her left side. She arches off the couch, arms still restrained with the ribbon. I bend down, soothing the sting with my hand and tongue. Pushing her feet apart, I move my mouth down to her exposed pussy. I lick a solid line from her clit up to her ass, lapping up her sweetness. She pushes back into me, riding my face as best she can from this angle.
I’m encouraged by every sound falling from her lips. I get lost in her little noises, working her over with my mouth and my fingers for several minutes until I can feel her start to tremble. Her orgasm explodes out of her, and I wait patiently as she rides every last wave.
Slowly, I stand and undo the tie around her wrists. I have to grip her around the waist as she stands and turns toward me, her legs still shaking from release. Sliding her arms around my neck, I bend and carry her bridal style back to my bedroom. I place her on the bed and stand to undress, but she stops me with her hand on my forearm. “Let me?” she asks, as if I could deny her anything.
She stands and slowly pulls my henley over my head, pausing to kiss up and down my stomach. When she gets down to my belt, she runs her hand over my straining erection before nipping it lightly. I watch with rapt fascination as she undoes my belt and jeans, sliding them down my legs. After getting rid of my boxer briefs, I’m finally as naked as she is. She wraps her hand around my cock, but now it’s my turn to stop her. “I want to be inside you.”
Bex meets my eyes and she must find what she’s looking for because she nods and crawls back onto the bed. I grab a condom, rolling it on as she lays down. I kiss from her adorable pink-painted toes all the way up her body until I’m finally at her mouth. Slanting my lips over hers, I let her taste herself.
“See how sweet you are. How could I not want to have you for dessert every night?” I ask.
“You can have me for breakfast, lunch, and dinner too,” she replies.
I nuzzle my nose against hers. “Yes, please,” I say as I line myself up and slide into the glorious heat of her, watching as her jaw drops in pleasure. We rock into each other a few times before I have to pick up the pace.
Remembering how much I loved my earlier view, I pull out and flip Bex over, yanking her hips up and sliding back in all in one motion. Bex gasps as I continue to move at a punishing pace, but her screams of “Harder!” and “More!” tell me that she’s loving it as much as I am.
We move together like that until I feel her come undone around me for the second time tonight. I quickly follow her over the edge, and I don’t think I’ve ever been happier.
After my soul re-enters my body, I discard the condom and find a washcloth to clean us both off. I get it nice and warm before I take it back to bed and gently scrub the inside of Bex’s legs. She gets up and kisses my nose before walking into the bathroom. I can’t help but stare as she closes the door. I can’t imagine ever getting tired of her naked body.
A few minutes later she comes back out. “I need to bring some skincare over here if I’m going to be staying the night.”
“That jizz looking stuff? I have an alternative you could use…” I pump my eyebrows a few times, laughing at my own joke.
“Oh my God, you’re the worst!”
“Bring one of those face rollers too. Those look like they could do lots of fun things.”
“That’s honestly one of the most terrifying things you’ve ever said.” She lifts the covers and slides in next to me, snuggling her back right up to my front.
I lean over and kiss her neck, sending a shiver through her naked body.
“Go to sleep, Baby Bardot.” I love you, I want to say.
Instead I just listen to her breathing even out as she drifts off to sleep.
I’m still awake. This isn’t completely uncommon for me, but tonight my mind is racing as I stay up and mentally berate myself for not telling Bex that I love her. It almost came out so many times, but when I think about scaring Bex off, it makes me want to vomit. So I held back. And I feel like a coward for that.
Around two in the morning, I finally sneak away, leaving Bex completely passed out in my bed. She’s such a deep sleeper; I can’t help but laugh at how she’s currently splayed out across the bed, overtaking another aspect of my life.
I close the door to the bedroom behind me as I walk out toward the kitchen to turn on the kettle for tea. I’ve had The Greatest Showman soundtrack stuck in my head for the last week, so I put on my noise-canceling headphones and blast the songs while the water boils.
I’m trying to quietly belt out “Rewrite the Stars” when I turn around and see a sleepy Bex leaning against the door frame, wearing one of my favorite old T-shirts and rubbing her eyes. Maybe I was singing louder than I thought.
I whip my headphones off with an apology ready. “I’m so sorry! Did I wake you?”
She nods while simultaneously letting out a big yawn. She looks a little bit like a lion right now, with her wild hair sticking out this way and that. “S’okay though. It was just—” Another yawn. “I noticed you weren’t in bed anymore so I got up to investigate. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just can’t sleep.”
“Do you need company?” she asks around yet another large yawn.
I chuckle, walking over to her and kissing her forehead. “No, baby. Go back to sleep—I’ll be there in a minute.”
Keeping her eyes closed she tips her head up and kisses my chin. I think she was aiming for my mouth, but she’s obviously only half awake. “Okay, I will. I love you.”
Three words that stop both of us in our tracks.
Bex freezes, eyes popping open to a comically wide degree.
“I—I can’t believe… I didn’t—”
She’s extremely flustered and my heart rate has skyrocketed. I need to calm both of us the fuck down. “Shh, it’s okay, Bex. I know you didn’t mean it like that.” I kiss the top of her head, but I can feel it shaking as I do so.
“No, that’s not—wait. I did mean it like that.” She looks up at me, her eyes pleading with me to understand what she means, but I need her to be extremely direct with me here.
She shakes her head again and her eyes look much more clear now—she’s definitely wide awake and aware of what she’s saying.
I clear my throat, “Can you explain what you did mean it like? Are you saying you—”
“I love you,” she interrupts, mouth moving at a frantic pace. “I’m in love with you. I wasn’t planning on telling you at 2 a.m. after watching you sing and dance around the kitchen, shaking your ass to Zac Efron and Zendaya, but none of this has been expected. And I do love you, Anders. It’s okay if you don’t love me, yet. Or ever. Or whatever. Actually that would be pretty shitty, but I didn’t mean to bombard you with this, and now I’m rambling and you’re just staring at me.” She finally takes a breath. “Say something. Please.”
I’m in awe of this woman. This woman that I love so much. This woman who is standing here telling me she feels the same way.
This woman that I haven’t responded to. Shit.
“Bex… I—I love you, too.” I wrap my hand around the back of her neck and pull her forehead to mine. “You are like sunshine coming up over a frost covered field. You melt away the things that hold me back and I feel… free with you. I think I’ve loved you in some way since the first time I saw you six years ago. And I have a feeling I will continue to love you for the rest of my life.”
“Damn,” she whispers. “Your speech was so much better than mine.”
I rock my head back and forth against hers, grinning so hard my cheeks hurt. “Well you said it first, so I had to find a way to show you how much I meant it.”
She pulls back and raises her eyebrow, lips tilting up. “Still need that tea or do you think we can go back to bed now?”
“Are you propositioning me after I just confessed my undying love?”
“Of course I am. Let’s go, lover.”
I laugh and follow her as she pulls me back toward the bedroom, tea long forgotten. Before we reach the door I stop suddenly, hauling her back into me for another kiss.
“I love you, Baby Bardot.”
“I love you, killer.”
Those are the last words we say to each other, spending the next little while with our mouths otherwise occupied, before I fall into the best sleep of my life.