Girl Code (26 page)

We headed back to Miami hours later than we were supposed to the following day. We were supposed to be checked out and on the road by nine in the morning. Instead, we checked out late, at twelve-thirty. We had slept in until about ten, because we had stayed up until nearly four in the morning. After our second round of incredible sex, we pulled on some clothes and went to find food. After we had eaten, we lay in bed talking and cuddling, but then we found other uses for our mouths and hands and fingers. I woke up in the morning with Leo inside of me, and it took another hour to get out of bed. When he tried to follow me into the shower, however, I had to put my foot down, and lock the door.

I was exhausted during the car ride back, and every muscle in my body was sore and achy. My body had contorted in ways I didn’t think possible. It was a good kind of pain, though. I would take it all again.

“You’re going to be late for the bachelor party,” I said to him as I eyed the clock. We were stuck in a cluster-fuck of traffic on the highway. It was two-thirty in the afternoon and we were still a good four hours from Miami without traffic, and his friend’s bachelor party started at seven.

Leo shrugged. “I don’t really care. I don’t even want to go. I’d rather stay home with you.”

“That’s sweet, but please don’t be that kind of guy. Your friends will think it’s me forcing you to stay home, they’ll think I’m some kind of bitch that has whipped you.”

Leo lifted his chin and puffed out his chest a little. “No woman, not even you, amore, can whip me.”

I gave him a flat look. “I could wrap you around my finger so quickly it would make your stupid head spin.”

“You can’t,” he said, grinning. “But it’s very cute of you to think so.”

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the traffic on the road. A thought occurred to me. I don’t know why I didn’t really think about it sooner. I had been with Leo for over two weeks and only met two of his friends, and that was just because we ran into them at the restaurant. The introductions had been brief—I didn’t even remember the couple’s names. He often talked about his friends, but he never invited them over or accepted any invitations they extended to him. He was taking me to his friend’s wedding, but I still thought it was odd that I hadn’t really met the guy or his soon-to-be wife. I hadn’t really met anyone, and I had been so content with spending time with Leo, I hadn’t thought about it.

“Why haven’t I met any of your friends?” I asked Leo, looking at him curiously.

I almost missed it, the light pink that shaded the tops of his ears, the way his fingers gripped the steering wheel and the flash of panic in his eyes. If I had blinked in those two seconds, I would have missed all of it. Anxiety began with a low hum inside of me, but I said nothing and waited for a response.

“I’ve been selfish,” Leo said, looking sheepish. “I haven’t wanted to share my time with you with anyone else. I never knew when you were going to pick up and go.”

That made sense, but my unease didn’t fade.

“Yeah, but come on, even when we met that couple in the restaurant, you pushed me out of there so fast, I don’t even remember their names.”

He shrugged again. “They aren’t people I generally hang around with. They’re friends of friends.”

“But…”

“Tabs,” Leo said, reaching over and taking one of my hands. “I was just being selfish, baby, I promise. You’ll meet a few of them tomorrow.”

“Yeah, and that’s really awkward, you know?” I said, trying not to sound whiny. “I mean, I know people take dates all of the time, but you’re in the wedding. I’ll be sitting with a whole bunch of people I don’t know at all, not even a little. It would have been good to know at least one person.”

He nodded and actually looked very apologetic. “You’re right, and I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. If you don’t want to go, I understand.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t want to go,” I snapped. “I just said it will be awkward.”

Leo knew me well enough to just shut up and drive, but he held onto my hand. After a little while, we were able to talk about something else. I wasn’t mad, but I was definitely feeling uncomfortable, and I didn’t know how to handle that—what to do about it—so I said nothing more on the topic.

We got back a little after seven. Leo took a shower and left soon thereafter. I had set myself up in the living room to work and ordered a sandwich to be delivered. I hadn’t worked in days and really had a lot to catch up on. I was still working when Leo came through the door a little before midnight, smelling like cigars, booze, and cheap perfume. He had glitter all over him, too, which made me wonder if all strippers wore glitter.
Is it a requirement? Is it in their contract that they must wear glitter?

Leo tried to hug and kiss me, but I put my hand up and said, “Shower.”

“Join me?” he asked, tugging on my arm.

“I don’t smell like the strip club,” I said. “You do. I wouldn’t come home from a male strip club and try to kiss you.”

“No problem,” he said, heading down the hall. “Because there’s no way in hell I’d let you near one of those places. The only guy thrusting his dick anywhere near you better be me.”

I rolled my eyes at the hypocrisy and went back to work until Leo came out a few minutes later, showered and clean. As he grabbed a bottle of water, I shut my computer down and put it away. He held his hand out to me and I took it and let him lead me into the bedroom.

“I hope you weren’t planning on sleeping tonight,” he said as we got into bed.

“I was really, really hoping for some sleep,” I said, and I really was.

“Mmm, I don’t think so. Not yet.” Leo pulled down my shorts and panties.

“You’re a sex addict.”

“Only when it comes to you.”

I tried to respond, but then he was pulling my shirt up over my head. I tried again, but his lips found mine and there was no way I was going to push him away. His kiss was so addicting. Feeling his tongue dipping into my mouth, my belly tightened and my skin warmed and my nipples hardened.

I wrapped my arms around him as he lowered himself on top of me. He had taken his shorts off while kissing me, and once again, we were skin to skin, and so close to taking it a step too far without the proper protection. I could feel him against me, heavy and engorged and ready to slide inside of me. I was wet for him, open, ready and warm for him.

“When was the last time you were tested?” Leo murmured against my neck as his fingers skated over my chest.

“Four months ago,” I answered as my fingers trailed over his back.

“I was tested three weeks before you came last month.” He pulled back and looked at me intently. “I haven’t been with anyone since. Have…have you…”

My heart fell. Like fell out of the sky and was still falling. I didn’t want to have that discussion, not at that moment. Not ever if I could help it.

It was so small, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he missed it, but he didn’t. Leo didn’t miss the tiny nodding of my head.

It was as if I had punched him in the chest, knocking all of the air out of him. “When?” he asked breathlessly. “When?”

“When I was in California,” I whispered. “Leo, just…just use a condom.”

He continued to stare at me though, and I could feel him softening against me.

“Was it…was it your ex? Xander?”

I closed my eyes for a moment, and he took that as an answer. He rolled off of me and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Is that why you were so reluctant to be with me?” he asked, looking at me over his shoulder. “You were kind of still with Xander? Or you still love Xander?”

“That had nothing to do with Xander, and you know it,” I said, sitting up. “You can’t possibly be upset about that. It happened before I got here.”

He pushed a hand through his hair and sighed. “I know. I know it’s not fair, but I just…I need to be convinced that this real.”

“I could say the same thing,” I said irritably. “It’s not like it’s been two years since you got laid. How do I know you’re not still hung up on whoever you were boning before I got here?”

His eyebrows shot up in amusement. “Boning? I haven’t heard anyone use that term since fifth grade.”

“Shut up,” I snapped and crossed my arms.

Leo turned to face me now, a big humorous grin on his face. “You are a
New York Times
bestselling author and that’s the best you can do? Boning?”

“Go fuck yourself,” I said crossly.

He moved onto the bed and straddled my legs as his hands went into my hair.

“Again, your language is so amateurish at best. How the hell do you sell books with such crappy dialog?”

Annoyed, I attempted to push him away and off of me by putting my hands on his hard chest, but he only chuckled before forcing my head back and kissing me. All of the fight left me as his tongue swept into my mouth and one hand palmed a hard nipple.

“We’ll both get tested as soon as possible,” Leo said as he grabbed a condom out of my unpacked suitcase. “I don’t want anything between us. Ever.”

I nodded my acquiescence. He rolled on the condom and kneeled between my parted legs.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to being inside of you,” he said, staring down at my sex as if it was a precious treasure.

He pushed into me slowly. I was sore from our all-nighter and morning romp, but it still felt incredible to feel his large erection stretching me and filling me. I gasped when I felt his balls on the curve of my ass and the head of his cock at the opening of my womb, pressing on it.

Leo started to curse softly in Italian as he began to move slowly inside of me. My fingers dug into the flesh of his ass, pulling him to me with each thrust. I moaned and whispered his name. The scent of sex began to perfume the air, blending with Leo’s citrusy, leather, and beach scents. The combination was driving me wild.

“Roll over onto your back,” I said huskily.

He didn’t question me or hesitate. He rolled over, pulling me with him. I sat up and bit back a scream as I came down on his thick cock, taking him deep and hard. Leo reached up to my breasts and began to pinch and pluck at my nipples as I rode him.

“I love looking at your face when I’m inside of you,” Leo said, reaching up with one hand and caressing my cheek. “Your cheeks turn pink, your eyes are bright…” He moaned and briefly closed his eyes as I moved my hips in a circular motion. When his eyes opened again, they were more green than blue. They looked hot, as if they were burning and on fire. “Your lips are parted,” he said with great effort through a groan. “You look so perfect. I would have never…” He groaned again and put his hands on my hips, pressing his fingers into my skin. “I would have never imagined you’d look so fucking perfect.”

He began to take control, as was in his nature, and thrust into me as he moved my hips. My cries of pleasure echoed throughout the room, making beautiful music with Leo’s moans and chanting of my name and calling me his beautiful love, his life in Italian. When my orgasm began to ripple through my body, my back arched, my head fell back, and Leo squeezed a nipple between his thumb and forefinger. I screamed, praying to whoever would listen and calling out my lover’s name. He growled through his orgasm, thrusting hard into me.

I collapsed onto him, my head on his shoulder and my hair everywhere. He wrapped his arms tightly around me. He swept my hair to one side and kissed the shell of my ear, whispering sweet words and then…

“Ti amo. Ti amerò, per sempre. Sposami.”

I love you, forever. I love you. Marry me.

Chapter Seventeen

“Where did you get this dress?” Leo asked me early the next afternoon as I tied his blue bowtie.

“I bought it,” I answered. “Obviously.”

“I mean when? I unpacked all of your stuff early this morning, and I didn’t see this.”

I gave him a look of disapproval. At the ass crack of dawn, Leo unceremoniously unpacked my suitcases and bags, insisting that I leave most, if not all of my things there as a symbolic gesture of my inevitable return, even though I still had a few days before I was to leave. I argued that he didn’t need any symbolic gestures, just my word, and besides, everything I had with me was my usual traveling gear. They were easy to pack things, and I had a little bit of something for all occasions.

“I went out this morning when you went to go help your friend with wedding stuff.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going?” he asked, sounding disappointed. “I would have given you some money or my credit card.”

“Why?” I asked, confused. I tightened the tie and stepped away to find my shoes.

“Because you’re mine,” Leo said simply. “And I take care of what’s mine.”

“I’m not one of your rental units,” I said, trying not to snap at him.

“No, you’re not an object, but you’re mine just the same, and I want to always take care of you.”

“I didn’t need you to take care of me,” I said, slipping on the red pumps. “I just needed a dress, which I was able to buy myself. So, I did.”

“Next time, I buy the dress, or whatever else you need or want,” Leo said, and he was absolutely serious.

I didn’t want to argue with him about it. I had a feeling it would be something we would always bump heads on, but for the time being, I just went with it.

“Okay,” I said and kissed his cheek. I started to walk away again, but he grabbed me around the waist.

“I do like your new dress, though,” he admitted, running a hand over my bare shoulder. “I like it enough to push it up and bend you over the bed.”

I giggled and pushed him away. “Not now. We’re going to be late.”

“When we get home, I’m pushing that dress up over your thighs and making you scream.” Leo said it like a warning.

The dress in question was knee length, white, with black hibiscus flowers smattered about, a red sash at the waist and spaghetti straps. It was a slimmer fit than the dress I wore in Disney.

“If you tear this dress or pull one thread out of place, I will kick your ass,” I warned him as I picked up my purse.

“If I tear the dress, that will be sexy as hell,” Leo said, kissing my neck. “And then I will buy you a new one.”

I shook my head, kissed him quickly, and then rushed him out of the door.

Gil and Leah, Leo’s good friend and his fiancée were getting married on a yacht. I was concerned with being stuck out on the water with a bunch of people I didn’t know, but I didn’t have to worry because the yacht wasn’t going anywhere, thank goodness.

In the car, I tried to keep the conversation light and normal. I did not want to talk about the five-hundred pound gorilla in the car. I did not want to discuss Leo’s post coitus proposal. I didn’t answer him. I pretended not to hear, or that the question was so moving that I had to put my tongue in his mouth until we were too sleepy to speak. He didn’t bring it up in the morning after unpacking all of my stuff, either, but I knew that he didn’t forget about it, that it wasn’t said just because he was having an orgasm. I knew by the way I would catch him looking at me, deep in thought, and maybe waiting for me to bring it up, but I didn’t want to bring it up. Marriage? I couldn’t think about marriage. We still had so many hurdles to leap, and we weren’t even a full forty-eight hours into our relationship yet. I know that I had known Leo for nearly half of my life, but there were nine years we weren’t together. Nine long years, and I couldn’t say yes to a proposal after two weeks of getting to know him again and less than two days of being in an actual relationship with him. I wasn’t the most responsible person in the world, but that would have been highly irresponsible, and perhaps a little stupid.

“After the ceremony, we’ll be doing pictures,” Leo said as we pulled into the marina parking lot. “It will be cocktail hour for you and the other guests. After they announce us, and after they have their first dance, I’ll be able to join you at our assigned table. I’m going to introduce you to Christina. She’s Gil’s cousin. She’ll be your buddy until I can meet up with you.”

“Okay,” I said.

We started to get out of the car, but Leo stopped and grabbed my arm. He looked so serious and…worried.

“Just…” he started, but seemed to lose whatever words he wanted to say. “After their dance, before we eat, I want to talk to you about something. I should have probably talked to you about it already, but…I didn’t. So, just remember your promise, Tabitha. Please.”

I gaped at him. He was really afraid I was going to leave, and if he were really afraid I was going to leave, it must have been for a very good reason.

“What aren’t you telling me, Leo?”

“I don’t have time to talk about it right now. After—”

“No!” I said sharply as I snatched my arm away. “You tell me now. You can’t say something like that and not tell me why.”

“I will tell you,” he said gently. “I promise. Just…let me go support my friend first. Whatever you do, whatever you hear, please wait for me to talk to you.”

The conversation was over. He got out of the car and closed his door. Reluctantly, I got out of the passenger’s side and closed my door, too. He walked around the car and held out his hand. I looked at it and then looked at him. He was wearing a mask. I had no idea what he was thinking or feeling and it only added to my escalating anxiety, but I took his hand and let him lead me onto the yacht.

We found Christina almost immediately, a tall, gorgeous blonde that I knew I had seen somewhere before. I tilted my head as we were introduced, trying to place her face, but she solved the mystery for me.

“Leo tells me that you are friends with Donya Stewart,” she said.

“Yes,” I said, with some surprise. “I’ve known her since, well forever. I can’t remember not knowing her. She is like a sister to my cousin.”

Christina pointed, like an
ah-ha
gesture. “Emmy.”

My eyes widened. “You know Emmy and Donya?”

“Chris is a model,” Leo explained, winking at her. “She’s worked with Donya a lot in New York.”

“And Emmy helped me keep my finances in check,” Christina added.

“Small world,” I said, nodding. I didn’t want to talk about Emmy. I didn’t want her to ask me about Emmy so that I’d have to admit that I not only didn’t want to talk about her, but had no idea what the hell was going on in her life, but fortunately, she didn’t ask.

She looped her arm through mine as if we were old friends. “Go away, you,” Christina said, waving Leo away. “You’re late. I’ll take good care of your lady.”

Leo looked relieved, but at the same time, he looked apprehensive. “Thanks, Chris. I’ll see you in a while,” he said to me. He put a hand on the back of my neck and kissed me, briefly, but deeply. He kissed Christina’s cheek and moved away, looking over his shoulder at us every few seconds until he disappeared through a door.

Christina kept me occupied, telling me stories about her and Donya and her other modeling adventures. She asked a lot of questions about my books because apparently, she was a big fan. She told me how Gil and Leo became friends—they used to live in the same apartment complex when Leo first moved to Miami, and they used to go partying together and pick up girls together. She told me when she first met Leo, he was an absolute man-slut.

“Maybe that’s not something you want to hear,” she said. “But the best part of that is that he settled down, he tucked his dick away, and eventually, he took life seriously. He still had the occasional casual relationship with a woman here and there, but he did the serious thing, too. And now—” She looked at me with a huge smile. “—you’re all he’s ever wanted. I’ve been hearing about you since the day I met him.”

That warmed me, made me feel a little better, but I gave her a suspicious look.

“Did you sleep with Leo?” I asked bluntly.

She was unfazed. “Hell yes,” she said unapologetically. “He was hot—he’s still hot, but we actually had a relationship. It only lasted about a month before we realized we weren’t compatible, and my life was in New York.” She winked at me. “My life is still in New York.”

I should have felt all kinds of jealous, but I didn’t. She didn’t try to hide it from me, and other than mentioning how hot he was, she didn’t seem interested in taking him from me, either.

As other guests began to show up, Christina introduced me to many of them. I forgot most of their names, but I did remember Rohanna, because she looked at me with indifference, her husband Corey, because he looked slightly uncomfortable around me even though he hugged me, and I remembered Gale because she was very sweet. I had mixed feelings when I found out we would all be sitting together at the reception.

I sat between Christina and Gale for the ceremony. The groom, Gil, looked pretty nervous, but happy and excited at the same time. The bride was gorgeous in her strapless gown, and the deep blue of the bridesmaid’s dresses were pretty, and of course, Leo, the best man, was ridiculously good-looking in his tux and with the Miami afternoon sun shining in his hair. When he caught my eye and winked at me during the ceremony, Christina elbowed me and gave me a knowing look.

The wedding had been beautiful, and short and to the point, which I really appreciated. I especially appreciated the bar at cocktail hour. I was on edge, and even though I didn’t want to get drunk, I definitely needed something to help soothe my nerves. I ordered two screwdrivers and followed Christina to our table. Rohanna and Gale were already there; their dates were standing with several other guys at the back of the room, having a loud conversation about football even though the season was over.

“I like your dress,” Gale said to me after I had been seated for a few minutes.

“Thank you.” I smiled at her and took a sip of one of my drinks.

“I love black and white and red together,” Christina said admiringly.

“I like compliments from supermodels,” I said, grinning.

Two things happened very close together. My phone chimed, and when I checked to see who messaged me, I saw Leslie’s name. It only took her two weeks to return my text…

And Rohanna, who had been very quiet and texting on her phone since I sat down, finally spoke to me.

“You and Leslie were best friends growing up, right?”

I looked at her and nodded slowly, not really grasping how or why she was talking about Leslie. Maybe Leo told her, told all of them, about his past relationship with Leslie. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities, but it was weird that Rohanna was talking to me as if she personally knew Leslie.

“Ro!” Christina said sharply.

Gale looked wide-eyed and quickly put on a nervous smile when she caught me looking at her.

Rohanna ignored Christina and continued. “If you were such great friends, what makes you think it’s okay to start fucking her ex?”

“God, Rohanna,” Christina hissed. “You’re such a bitch. The only reason you’re even at this wedding is because you’re with Corey.”

“You promised you wouldn’t,” Gale said to Rohanna in a tiny voice.

I’m so slow. So damn slow. I still didn’t get it. I didn’t get why Rohanna was so angry, or why Christina looked like she was ready to jump onto the table in her white Louis Vuitton Monogram Canvas shoes and kick Ro in the face. I didn’t understand why Gale looked at her in disbelief and kept glancing at me with anxiety and maybe sadness. I didn’t put any of it together, but my South Jersey hackles did rise.

“I don’t know who you think you’re talking to,” I said evenly, but calmly. “And I don’t see how anything that happened between Leo and Leslie more than ten years ago, or between me and Leo now is any concern of yours.”

She snorted. “Are you kidding me? Ten years ago? Try three months ago. What kind of a friend
are
you? If it was ten years, fine, okay, but it was
three months
ago! Don’t you care? Don’t you care about what she went through with him? They were engaged. They got pregnant, they lost the baby, and then he dumped her and you just stepped into her place like it’s nothing.”

The only way for me to describe my emotions at that moment in time was…horror. I was horrified. I felt like my lungs had been ripped from my body and thrown into the ocean and torn apart by sharks. I felt like my heart stopped, died, and turned to dust in my chest. I felt as if I had stood still on a road to get run down by the biggest, baddest truck there was.

Then there was hysteria, disbelieving hysteria welling up my throat and bursting out into the open air into loud, hysterical, nonsensical laughter, and before anyone could fathom what the fuck was so funny, I let out a quiet, choked sob. Rohanna, who had looked so deadly only seconds earlier, suddenly looked at me with apprehension, and maybe a little regret.

“She didn’t know, you asshole,” Christina whispered harshly. She looked around to make sure that people weren’t paying attention to us, and they weren’t. They were all happily feasting on their hors d’oeuvres and sipping on their free cocktails and enjoying the sun and the gorgeous water lapping at the boat, making it rock softly.