Annabella's Oblivion (Hard World Tour #1) (45 page)

It was Drake’s song playing in the background and he seemed offended.

“
Dude, it’s rap.” Ariel wrinkled her nose.

“
What’s wrong with that?” Drake’s eyes narrowed.

“
It’s not a song.”

“
It is,” he insisted.

“
No, it’s not. It’s just a bunch of dudes saying words quickly. That isn’t singing, man.” Drake was ready to defend rap music till his last breath when suddenly Jane spoke up.

“
Everyone is allowed to put on a song they like, Ariel. That’s why we came up with this solution.”

“
Figures you’d take his side. And they say married couples don’t stick together.” She huffed and watched how my girl made a move for the ball.

“
No one says that. And besides, we aren’t really married and I’m not defending anyone here.”

“
Well, honey, we are, and I’m grateful for you sticking up for me. Thanks.” Drake smiled at her and winked. Making a frustrated sound, she spun around, not bothering to answer him, and that made him laugh.

Feelings or not, that girl had a thing for my brother, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

Bella didn’t hit the ball and the girls booed her, but she just laughed and gave the stick to me, making sure she fucking brushed against me again. I was really reaching the end of my rope here, and I gave her a warning look, but she blew me a raspberry.

Un-fucking-believable, and I loved every second of it.

As I made the move to the ball, focusing all my attention on it, she suddenly turned around and there was no ball. Her heart-shaped ass was on full display for me, and when she leaned back against the table, fuck me, I’d had enough of this.

Without saying another word, I passed the stick to Jeremy, who was damned amused, as my hands snatched Bella.

“
Oh, come on,” Ariel started to protest, but I just raised my hand.

“
Not another word from you.” She snapped her mouth shut, but I could see the smile in her eyes.

Whatever.

Bella made no protest when I moved her back to the storage room where we were alone and isolated. Her back pushed against the wall and, without waiting, my mouth attacked hers with full-on force. I took it deep and hot, our tongues seeking one another, dueling for dominance. Squeezing her ass earned me a moan. Then I lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around my waist.

“
You were driving me nuts on purpose,” I accused her, biting her lower lip, and she moaned again.

“
Yes.” My hips pushed forward and raised her hands above her head, pinning them to the wall.

“
You knew the consequences? Was that your plan all along, baby?” I bit her earlobe, then sucked on it to soothe her before whispering, “Did you want me to take you here, rough against the wall, where anybody could walk in on us at any minute? Where your friends are in the other room and probably know exactly what we’re doing?” Breathing heavily, she didn’t give me an answer. My erection pushed harder into her warmth as her hips moved forward.

“
Yes,” she whimpered, and I barely heard it, but it was there. Sucking on her neck hard, I intentionally left my mark on her, and then let go of her hands to push her shirt up to reveal those breasts of hers. I licked and bit them through her bra while her hands tugged on my hair, scratching my skull, but who the fuck cared about that? I squeezed them hard and then pushed my hands inside her pants, feeling how damp she was for me.

“
Look at you, all ready for me.” Unzipping her jeans, my hands removed them, along with her lacy black thong, that I made myself promise to explore when we got back home. Two fingers pushed inside her and she moaned. “So wet.” There wasn’t time for long foreplay and a lasting encounter. “I’ll give you more at home, okay?” She nodded as I opened my jeans and took myself out. Realization hit me then. “Fuck, I don’t have a condom with me.” No way was I taking her without one. I was clean and she was too, but there was still a risk of pregnancy, and we weren’t ready for that yet.

Fuck me. Yet? Her hoarse voice snapped me from my rather shocking thoughts.

“
I have one with me.” She pushed one in my hand and I quickly put it on.

As I entered her in one smooth thrust, I muffled her cry with my mouth. Despite what I said, I had no desire for others to hear the sounds my girl was making while she got off on me.

They were only for me. My sounds.

She was just that.

Mine.

My hands entwined with hers as I pushed them against the wall, keeping my thrust firm and steady. I could feel it would end soon, but I made sure to angle my cock against her clit with each move, which had her moaning inside my mouth. She struggled from my hold and I let go, only for her to place her hands in my hair and bring me closer. She deepened the kiss when finally it rocked and reached us at the same time. She cried out quietly inside my mouth and I groaned. For long moments, we kissed with me still inside her, and although it was quick and fast and in the storage room of a bar, it was still great and full of emotion, because it was with her.

“
I… I…” She struggled for words, and I had a feeling she was about to say the L-word, but I couldn’t let her.

Not before she knew the whole truth. I put my hand gently over her mouth.

“
I know. But not now, okay? I need to tell you something tonight. If you still feel like you want to say it after that, I’ll say it back. Okay?” She looked into my eyes, slightly confused, but she must have seen something there because she nodded. With a last kiss, I pulled myself out of her and gently put her down. I removed the condom and threw it away in the trash can. As I quickly put my clothes back on, I helped her, too. Her lips were swollen from my kisses, her hair was all over the place, and her shirt was slightly rumpled. She looked like a woman well-loved.

My woman.

“
Let’s go back to everyone and hope like fuck they’ve had enough and we can go home.” She laughed and I smiled back. Taking her hand in mine, we went back to the gang.

Annabella

I tried to quietly move around the room and not wake Ryan up. He finally fell asleep a few minutes ago, and by the looks of it, he would be out for a long time. Nick mentioned once how Ryan wasn’t a light sleeper, so he shouldn’t notice me leaving his place.

I picked up my clothes, went to the bathroom, and cleaned up my face. I tried to ignore my reflection in the mirror.

Slightly wincing from the pain inside me, which ached like a scratch, I slipped into my clothes. After we were done, Ryan made sure to clean me up with a hot, wet washcloth, and even wanted to run a bath for me, but I refused. I could do it at home. I just wanted him to fall asleep so I could leave.

What we had tonight, what we did tonight, was something I wasn’t prepared for.

I wanted to lose my virginity and get it over with.

But he made me feel other things, like emotions.

The fact that it was our first, let alone together, created the intimacy I didn’t want to have with anyone.

I didn’t want to be my mom, who was blindsided by love.

I wasn’t in love with Ryan or anything.

But I could be.

And that scared me.

So I did the only thing I knew to do when I was scared. I wrote him a note explaining my feelings and called for a cab.

I left his apartment quietly and made it to the hotel room, where I finally took the long, hot bath that eased some of my muscle, and helped me forget about our night together.

About everything he made me feel and how my body reacted to him.

I just needed to forget about Ryan.

He was dangerous to my heart, and that meant he couldn’t be a part of my life.

Annabella

My head was still dizzy from our lovemaking when we made it back to the pool table. Nate chose a seat nearby and sat me up on top of him while he declined the invitation to rejoin the game. I was cocooned in his arms as he gently played with my hair while my head rested in the crook between his shoulder and neck. It felt so good, and I wondered why I was afraid of intimacy before.

I wanted to stay here forever with him and be happy.

Because I was happy.

There was still guilt that Nick wasn’t here with me, but he would have wanted me to move on. He would have wanted me to be happy.

And I was ready for it.

Nate didn’t let me spill my heart out to him. He said something about me knowing the truth. What could he possibly tell me that could change my mind? He was there for me when my world shattered, and hardly anything could change how I felt about him.

The girls were still arguing with the guys over who won what; well, it was mostly Ariel, because with Jer’s mood, it seemed like he didn’t even acknowledge Sam was there. Drake, on the other hand, winked and flirted with Jane as she tried to avoid him, but made some contact. There was curiosity in her eyes, and I wondered if she’d ever give him a chance at winning her over.

I hoped they would get bored soon because all I wanted was to go back home and talk with my guy. I’d started to slowly doze off when the bartender—or rather the owner of the bar as I found out—came back.

I wondered where he had been, leaving the bar completely at our mercy.

“
Ryan, are you guys gonna be long by any chance?” Nate tensed under me, and I wasn’t sure what made him feel that way. I raised up and was about to ask him when the man addressed me.

“
I have to say, it’s nice to see you back, Bella. I’m sorry about Nick. I know you guys were close.” I tried to understand what he was saying as I looked at him, really looked at him for the first time since we came here, and it hit me who he was.

Noah White. He was on the football team with Nick, and he was actually always nice to us. His family used to own the diner in town, and sometimes his parents gave us food, which we hid from our parents and enjoyed for a few days. I knew nothing about him since I moved out, but heard from Nick that he finished college. But then there were troubles at home and he had to come back and take care of it.

I had no idea he had the bar, too.

“
Noah?” I smiled and stood up to give him a hug, aware that everyone was staring at us. “I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you.” He smiled back.

“
It’s okay. I watch the TV, so you know, I’m sorry.” His expression was sad and I just shook my head.

“
It’s okay.” I had to learn to deal with people being sorry and accept it as part of my life now. “So, you run the bar now? What happened to your family’s diner?” Sadness and shame flashed through his eyes but were quickly gone.

“
The bank took it. After my folks died, I had no money to maintain it and kind of went off the rails. Then this bar was available, and believe it or not, during weekends it has a lot of people coming in.”

Yeah, that was hard to believe, but I kept it to myself.

“
Then again, it was all thanks to Ryan. If he didn’t help me out, I probably wouldn’t have this one either.” That made me frown.

“
Ryan? As in Ryan Jackson?”

He furrowed his brows. “Well, yeah. What other Ryan do we have, right, bro?” He looked behind me at Nate, and suddenly I was aware of the silence that washed over the bar and how Jeremy and Drake watched the whole thing, anticipating a train wreck that was about to happen.

Then it dawned on me.

Ryan.

He said Ryan before when he addressed Nate, but I didn’t pay attention because I was shocked to see him again.

Ryan.

All the pieces started to make sense.

The familiarity of his eyes, of his presence, and how every time we made love something flashed in his eyes. The things he knew about me. The comments he made. The softness and protectiveness I felt. How the connection I was forming with him reminded me of Ryan.