Craving Lucy (9 page)

My hands gripped her ass hard and even as I did it I knew it would leave bruises on her. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to let her go as I helped her find her way toward the end of that orgasmic rainbow she was chasing as she rubbed against me. I’d make this up to her later, I promised myself. I’d make the first time we made love so much better than this. She needed this moment just as much as I needed to give it to her.

“H-Harris,” she moaned. “I love you, Harris.”

“Fuck, I love you, too.” I thrust up against her, watching her face as pleasure clouded her eyes and she whimpered. “Let go, sweetness. Let go for me.”

“Harris…” she cried in the next instant, her body beginning to shudder with the force of her approaching release. Her back arched as she pressed down against me one last time and I could feel her pussy clenching even through our clothes.

I gritted my teeth, trying to hold on to the last remnants of my control as I buried my face in her chest. My balls were too heavy, too tight. I was close, so damn close. Not even when I was a teenager, exploring the world of sex for the first time, had I been so ready to explode in my shorts. The feel of this girl—the one I knew I would spend the rest of my life loving—against me like this for the first time wiped out every other sexual encounter I’d ever had before.

With a breathy little moan, Lucy lifted her head and brushed her lips tenderly over mine. Her slight weight shifted just enough to the left and her pussy angled perfectly, pressing the right amount of pressure and heat, acting like the detonator that triggered the end for me. My body jerked as the first shot of white-hot release shot out of my cock. Her arms wrapped around me, holding on as I let myself go.

--

It was a long while before either of us stirred afterward. I held Lucy against me, lovingly rubbing little circles on the soft skin just under her shirt. Her arms were around my neck, her fingers stroking over my hair in a way that told me she didn’t realize she was doing it.

With the returning of reality, my self-hate began to settle in. This was not how things were meant to happen. I should never have touched her, not yet. I was such a creep, such a selfish bastard. Lucy deserved more than this, better. She was worth so much more than a quickie hump in my office after our first fight as a couple.

Lifting her head, she traced her silky soft fingers over my forehead. “Hey,” she murmured. “What’s wrong?”

“I promised myself that I wasn’t going to take things this far until after you turned eighteen. I feel like I’ve disrespected you and what we have.” I blew out a long sigh. “You’ve told me more than once that you weren’t ready for this, yet I’m already seducing you.”

She sat back, shifting her hips over my still sensitive cock. We both sucked in harsh breaths as I felt how wet she was. My cock decided it was ready to play again and hardened. Licking her kiss-swollen lips, Lucy angled her hips until she wasn’t directly on top of my dick. “I said I wasn’t ready for sex and we haven’t had sex. This was just foreplay. Really, really, good foreplay.” She cupped my face in both hands, refusing to let me break our locked gazes. “Nothing that just happened disrespected me in any way. You’re my boyfriend, Harris. You’re allowed to have a little fun with me.”

“You’re seventeen, Lu.”

“Yeah, I know. But only for a few more weeks. Stop worrying. You didn’t break any laws. It’s okay to touch me, I swear.” She leaned forward and brushed her lips over mine in a slow, soft kiss that was over way too soon. Putting her hands on my chest, she pushed away, getting to her feet. “Promise me you won’t ever hold back. That we can have more of this before my birthday.”

“Lu…”

“Promise me, or I’m not going to come back until after January second. I won’t take any of your calls and I’ll completely delete you from my phone.” She crossed her arms over her chest, giving me that look that told me she was determined.

Knowing how stubborn she could be, I believed her when she threatened not to come back until after her birthday. It was the second part of her threat that had me sweating, however. I would be okay if she didn’t come to First Bass again until after New Year’s, but not getting to talk to her wasn’t something I could deal with.

“You drive a hard bargain, sweetness.” I stood and wrapped my arms around her long enough to steal another kiss. Stepping back, I grimaced down at the wetness on my jeans. I couldn’t believe she had actually made me go off in my damn jeans. That was definitely a first for me.

“I have to get back to Caleb,” she murmured and I tensed. Was she really going to leave me after what had just happened? To go spend time with another guy?
Fuck, I need a drink.
“Will you come with me? He’s a nice guy, Harris. You’d like him if you would just give him a chance.”

“Fine,” I grumbled. “Just let me clean up and we can go.”

Her smile was worth having to go back up there and hang out with a guy I wanted to punch in the face. “Thank you. It means a lot to me.”

I took her hand and pulled her toward my private bathroom. “You need to do clean up, too. I have extra clothes I can change in to, but you’re going to be uncomfortable if you don’t do something about those wet panties…” My voice faded into nothing as I realized what I’d said and my body reacted to the mental picture I’d just put in my head. I’d made her wet, soaked her panties with her need for me. Fuck, that was amazing.

“Okay, just give me a few minutes. Good thing you have a hand drier in there.” She giggled and stepped into the bathroom.

Unable to stop myself, I lowered my head and gave her a quick, hard kiss. “I love you, Lu.”

Lucy

“Happy birthday to you,” came the deep voice of my dad as my bedroom door opened with a slight bang. He was balancing a dish with a homemade cake in one hand that had two candles on top—one of which was shaped like a one and the other like an eight.

I had known it was coming even before I’d fallen asleep the night before. It always happened, so I didn’t know why I was startled awake with it. They always scared the life out of me.

As he entered the room, my twin little brothers were right behind him, singing along. Mom was the last in the room and I sat up in my bed as she came around to the left side of my bed to press a kiss to my cheek while the others sang their hearts out to “Happy Birthday”.

“Make a wish, Lu,” Dad urged when the song was over.

Knowing it meant a lot to him that I make a wish, I closed my eyes and wished for the one thing I wanted more than anything in the world: for him not to go all ape-shit when I told him about my relationship with Harris later. Opening my eyes, I blew out the two purple and glitter candles to the cheers of Luca and Lyric.

Setting the dish with my cake on the nightstand—the one Mom always insisted on making even though they had a ridiculously big one for my party every year—Dad sat on the edge of my bed and reached for my mom’s hand before taking mine. I swallowed hard, sensing that whatever he was about to say was going to make me ugly-cry.

“Your mom and I want to tell you how proud we are of you, Lucy. I know at times it’s been crazy being our daughter, but we love you so damn much, baby.” He lowered his lashes, hiding his ever-changing eyes from me and I knew that he was fighting tears of his own. “I know you have plans with your friends today, but we wanted to tell you…” He broke off, his jaw clenching.

Mom squeezed his hand and took up where he’d left off. “We just want to say that we’re glad you’ve decided to finish this last semester of high school instead of taking the early acceptance at Georgetown. It was your decision to make, and we would have supported you no matter what you had chosen to do, but we’re glad we get to keep you for a little longer.”

I blinked back my tears and lowered my gaze to my comforter. I didn’t know if they realized it or not, but I’d been selfish in my decision not to take the early admittance to Georgetown. If I’d taken it, then that would have meant leaving my friends to finish out the last semester of high school. That hadn’t been the reason, though. Two months ago, when I’d gotten that letter saying that I’d been accepted into the spring semester of Georgetown’s English program, it had only taken me about two minutes to decide if I was going to take it or not.

There was no way I was going to go move almost the entire length of the country away from Harris. We hadn’t even been dating when I’d gotten the letter, but I’d known I wouldn’t have been able to handle that kind of distance between us. Now that we were so close, when I knew that he loved me just as much as I loved him, there would have been no way I could have left. It didn’t matter how prestigious of an honor it had been to get into such an elite program as it was, or how much work I’d put into the essay I’d written.

Georgetown wasn’t going to be the school I chose in the fall, either. I would move into my own apartment in the city this summer and when the fall semester started up, I would go to UCLA. It hadn’t been my first choice in schools or even my third, but I didn’t feel like I was making a bad decision in staying closer to home.

Staying closer to Harris.

Clearing my throat of the lump that was there, I lifted my eyes back to meet my dad’s. “I love you guys so much. Even when I do leave for college, I’m not going far. You’ll still have to deal with all my annoying issues.”

Dad’s eyes brightened, letting me know that he was on board with me staying close to home, while my mom’s eyes narrowed. “What are you saying, Lucy? You aren’t going to pick Georgetown?”

“Layla—”

“No, Jesse. I want to know.” She pulled her hand out of Dad’s and stood there, frowning down at me with her hands on her hips. “You’re going to UCLA? Is that really what you want? Are you going to be happy with the English program there?”

“Mom…”

“No.” She shook her head, looking more upset than I’d seen her in forever. “Ever since you were ten years old you’ve been talking about the programs at Georgetown and Harvard and even Columbia. UCLA was a last choice for you, in case the others didn’t want you. Which was a stupid thing to think because they were all tripping over themselves months ago to get you to come a semester early.”

Luca and Lyric jumped off the end of my bed where they had been sitting, watching us for the last few minutes. As the tone of our mother’s voice rose, they knew it was best to get out while they were still not the ones in trouble. “See you at breakfast, Lucy,” they called as they ran from my room.

I didn’t even glance at them. I was too focused on Mom. She was so upset that there were tears in her eyes. “Why is this such a big deal?” I demanded. “I thought you would be glad I was going to stay closer to home.”

“Of course I want you close to home. If possible, I would keep you locked in this room for the rest of your life, baby. But I know that isn’t going to happen.” She combed her fingers through her long hair, pushing the thick cinnamon tresses away from her face. “You’ve had dreams that I’ve always been determined to help you fulfill, Lucy. You have such talent, such a bright future. Georgetown can give you so much more than UCLA.”

“Let’s just calm down for a minute,” Dad tried to cut in.

“Sometimes dreams change.” Fresh tears burned my eyes and I tried to hold them back. “I’m sorry that I’m disappointing you, but...”

“You aren’t disappointing me, Lucy. I just don’t want you to wake up in four years and regret your school choices. I don’t want you to waste your talent somewhere you won’t be truly happy academically.”

“I will be happy at UCLA. They might not be Georgetown when it comes to their English program, but it is in no way below par.” I pushed back my covers and climbed out of bed. Going to my mom, I wrapped my arms around her waist and met her gaze without flinching. “I want UCLA, Mom. Please, will you accept that and be happy for me?”

Her jaw clenched, the muscles working for a few seconds before she blew out a long sigh and finally nodded her head. “Yeah, baby. Okay. If that is really what you want, I’ll stand behind you.”

“Is it safe to talk now?”

Mom and I both turned to look at Dad who was still sitting on the edge of my bed. I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing at the frustrated look on his handsome face. “Sorry, Daddy.”

Jesse Thornton stood and wrapped his arms around us, kissing first the top of my head before brushing his lips over my mom’s. “Since that is decided—and yeah, I’m gonna say it, I’m glad you’ve decided to stay close to home, Lu—I think we should get downstairs and start on breakfast for the birthday girl.”

“Yeah.” Mom nodded. “Pancakes or waffles, Lucy?”

“Surprise me,” I told her as she and Dad left my room. I waited until the door was closed behind them before falling back onto my bed.

Rubbing my hands over my face, I reached for my phone. I couldn’t believe that Mom had been so upset about my college choice. I’d honestly thought she would be just as easy to please about my staying home as my dad was. Shaking my head, I turned my attention to my phone and smiled when I saw that I had a message from Harris.

Happy Birthday! I love you.

The text had been sent at 12:01 am. I must have just fallen asleep when he’d sent it. Flicking my thumb over his name, I lifted the phone to my ear as it began to ring on the other end. I knew he was awake. It was Tuesday and he was probably already knee deep in work at First Bass since he’d had the night before off.

“Did you tell him yet?”

I blinked at his greeting and let out a small laugh. “Considering I’d just woken up and have already had a scene with my mom, no. I haven’t told Daddy anything yet, Harris. But I will, I swear. The day won’t end without me telling him.”

For the last week Harris had been asking me almost daily if I’d told my dad about us yet. I knew it was bothering him, keeping our relationship from not only my dad but also his own so that Jesse wouldn’t find out by accident. I’d assured him repeatedly that I would tell him today no matter what, though. It was time to tell him. Time to get it out there for the world to see. I was tried of hiding how I really felt about Harris Cutter from my family.

“You and Layla had a scene?” From the sound of his voice, I could picture him frowning. “Everything okay?”

I sighed. “It is now. She just had a little meltdown over my decision to go to UCLA rather than Georgetown.”

There was a long silence on his end and I wondered what was going through his head. After what felt like a lifetime, he finally spoke again. “You’re staying here?”

I wished I could see his face. I needed to know what he was thinking, how he felt about my decision. I hadn’t told him about it, hadn’t told anyone, really, until that morning. “Yes,” I answered simply.

“Fuck, Lucy.” He let out a harsh breath and I could picture him leaning his head back against his chair with his eyes closed. “Do you know how much I’ve been dreading the end of your school year? I thought… Hell, I thought you were going to leave me and then I’d lose you because of the whole long-distance thing. That sounds selfish, because I know how much you want Georgetown, but seriously, sweetness, I think I’ve given myself at least one ulcer thinking about it.”

“I’m sorry,” I murmured and closed my eyes, hating that I’d made him stress when he didn’t have to. “I wish you would have told me. I could have eased your mind.”

“Are you going to be happy with UCLA?”

“Of course I’m going to be happy with it.” I shook my head, feeling like I was about to walk into yet another battle about what college I was picking. “Can you just accept that I’m going to UCLA without questioning me? I want to stay here, close to my family and to you. Is that so hard to believe?”

“No, of course not,” he grumbled. “But you’ve been talking about Georgetown since you were ten, Lucy. If you’re staying because of me, I want to make sure that you’re going to be happy.”

“Actually, I’m staying for me, so you can relax.” I pushed up onto one elbow. “Are we still on for three o’clock?”

“All set.” He paused for a second before speaking again. “Are you okay?”

“If you tell me you love me again, I will be.”

“I love you. Always,” was murmured in my ear and I couldn’t help but melt at my favorite words being spoken from his lips. “I’ll see you in a few hours, sweetness.”

“Can’t wait. Bye, Harris.”

Tossing my phone on the end of my bed, I forced myself to get up and shower. Leaving my hair damp, I dressed and went down to have breakfast with my family. Over the next few hours I was kept busy with calls from everyone wishing me a happy birthday. Even Caleb and Angie sent me a text telling me they hoped I enjoyed my day.

The Jacobson twins and their father had left the day after Christmas, much to Kin’s disappointment. After the argument that was heard around the world—because the paps had made sure of it—Carter and the twins had thought it would be better for Kin if they left a week early. Seeing how upset Kin had been over the last week, my mom and Aunt Emmie had only had that much more reason to hate Jillian Montez. I seriously feared for that chick’s social standing if she didn’t slack up on Kin. Aunt Emmie was not someone you wanted as your enemy when your goal in life was to become as popular as a Kardashian.

I wasn’t even completely sure what the disagreement had been about. Kin hadn’t wanted to talk about it and I had refused to believe anything the tabloids had to say about it. They never printed the truth and I wasn’t about to hurt my friend by looking at one of those damn trash magazines.

At two o’clock, I started getting ready. I left my hair curly today but with enough product in it to keep it in cheek. I pulled the craziness into a ponytail and then started on my makeup. Harris and I were doing the only thing I really wanted to do today.

Getting ink.

When he’d given me my Christmas present, I’d known exactly how I’d wanted to spend my birthday. He’d given me a necklace with a silver and diamond Celtic knot charm on it that represented friendship. I loved that necklace and hadn’t taken it off since he’d helped me put it on. I’d asked him the next day if he was up to getting the friendship Celtic knot inked with me and he’d been more than willing.

I loved that it was something that we could do together, that would mark up both of us as belonging to each other, without being something cliché. We were getting them on our wrists, his on the right and mine on my left, because he wanted them to line up when he held my hand. I’d already told my parents, told them the meaning behind the matching ink we were getting, and they’d had no objections to it. Not that it would matter if they had. I was eighteen today and they no longer had a say in whether or not I got a tattoo.

At a quarter to three I went downstairs, knowing that it was time I told my dad. I didn’t know what Harris and I were going to do after our tattoo appointment. He’d mentioned dinner and then maybe back to First Bass for a little while. I was hoping he would bring me home himself tonight, but didn’t know if that was going to be possible or not.