Two Outta Three (Two Outta Three #1) (19 page)

He didn’t need to be told twice. He grabbed the hem of his shirt, ripping it off his head. I sucked in my breath as I took in his physique with awe. My eyes traveled down the slope of his shoulders, down to his pectorals where two nickel-sized nipples sat. I ran my tongue over my lips hungrily, imagining myself licking them. I continued to scan his body, my eyes dwelling on the eight separate muscles on his abdomen. I couldn’t help myself and reached out to touch him.

“Your turn.” He swallowed, causing his throat to bob up and down. He reached under my shirt, pushing it up as he dragged his hands across my skin. When the material bunched up at my throat, he smiled. “No bra?”

I shrugged. “Can’t sleep with that contraption binding me.”

Soon my shirt was off my body and hanging off the arm of the couch. Jesse took his time licking and sucking every part of me that was exposed. Each time I tried to do the same to him, he gently refused.

“Let me do this first. I’ve always imagined how it would be to taste you.”

“Okay.” I nodded eagerly.

He placed a soft kiss on my forehead and then another on my cheek. Soon he was trailing kisses down the length of my stomach before pausing at my belly button and circling a path around it with his tongue. I moaned, thrusting my pelvis forward. Jesse took it as a sign to start working the sweats off my legs.

“No underwear?” His face fell when he spotted my baby blue undies peeking out from beneath the oversized sweats.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t go commando.”

He pulled down the pants, planting even more kisses along the way. When he reached out to pull my panties down, I slapped him away.

“No, no, no. Your turn first.”

He grinned when I pushed myself into a seated position and wrapped my fingers around the drawstring to his track pants. I carefully undid them, trembling and trying my best not to graze the massive bump that had grown in the front. Yet, even this self-control couldn’t stop me from reaching out and trailing the V shape that led to his groin. All the while I couldn’t help but hear a little voice telling me that I was still in the throes of a very detailed and realistic sex dream.

I worked his pants off slowly, releasing the massive bump. I gaped when his penis sprung forward as if saying, “Hello there!”

He chuckled. “Well, I go commando.”

“Yes, you do.” My voice came out hoarse. Without waiting for him to undress me, I wriggled free from under him and hastily yanked off my panties. The look on his face was a comical mix of shock and amusement.

“I guess you’re all in?” he teased.

Years’ worth of unrequited love and twenty-three years’ worth of pent-up sexual frustration led me to exclaim, “Oh, yeah.”

Jesse stood from the couch, putting his penis eye-level to me. Thinking he wanted a little treat, I reached out to touch it, but he quietly took a step back. “In a bit.”

He bent over and picked me up, wrapping both my legs around him. Carrying me to his bedroom, he placed me down on the mattress. “You deserve to be treated like a princess, remember? No couch for you.”

For some reason his words caused an unsurmountable amount of emotion to well up inside of me. I fought back the tears, worried to scare him off.

I sank back into the mattress, relishing the feel of his lips and the softness of his tongue as he explored every inch of me. I wanted to taste him badly, but he made it a point to treat “ladies first.”

When his tongue found its way to my most sensitive spot, I moaned and felt my eyes roll to the back of my head. Though I had messed around with other guys before, none of those experiences were as pleasurable as this. I guess my dopamine transmitters, or whatever the hell they were called, were firing at a rapid pace.

When he sat back up, I reached out to touch his body and was happy to find he let me this time. I wrapped my hand around him, in awe of how it throbbed against my skin.

“I always wanted you to do that.” He swallowed. “As bad as it sounds, every time I messed around I always wished it was with you.”

“Please don’t mention other girls right now,” I said as I continued to pump him.

“Sorry.”

Somehow, with my hands still around his shaft, he managed to twist his torso so he could reach into his side table drawer, pulling out a purple square packet. I watched as his chest rose and fell, his breaths quickening as he ripped the wrapper open.

I dropped my hold on him and waited in excitement while he rolled the condom into place. As he gently guided me onto my back, he asked, “Are you sure you want this?”

I nodded.

“As your first?”

I nodded, but couldn’t help but smile. “So you admit a tip doesn’t count.”

He grinned and splayed my legs open. Placing both hands on either side of me, he pushed into me, only allowing the head of his penis to enter. “Does this count?”

I sucked in my breath and shuddered, feeling myself widening, ready to take the rest of him in. I gulped. “No.”

He pushed a little further, causing my sex to grow a bit wetter. “How about this?”

My pulse quickened and I could feel a rush of blood travel to my groin. “N-no, it doesn’t.”

Again he pressed just a tiny bit further. “What about—”

“Fucking Jesse, just do it!” I exclaimed.

With a soft chuckle, he thrust the rest of the way, pausing for just a moment. Although the sudden action caused some slight discomfort, I was surprised at how quickly my body conformed to his. With each thrust I grew more aroused, calling out for more.

As promised, Jesse started off gentle. It was as if he was trying to tell me—show me—how much he really did care about me…how much he loved me.

Our breaths quickened, and when he gently rested his chest on top of my own, I could have sworn our heartbeats were synchronized. I closed my eyes, listening to his sharp breaths. Each time he groaned was like music to my ears, only riling me up even more.

“Are you okay?” he ground out. A stray bead of sweat from his forehead dropped onto my cheek.

“Yes,” I gasped. “Yes, yes, yes.”

Soon those whispered yes’s turned into flat out screaming as I felt my body convulse against him.

“Oh, God.” A groan rumbled from his chest, vibrating against my skin. “I think I’m gonna come.”

Suddenly his thrusts grew more powerful as his body shivered above mine. His arms tightened against my sides as he held himself up and continued to push into me. The power and intensity caused my insides to tighten once again and soon I found myself overcome by orgasm. Before long I felt like a pile of pudding underneath him.

Still panting, he placed a kiss on my lips and then rolled onto his back. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

“Yeah, yeah. Me too,” I whole-heartedly agreed.

“I mean, that was a first for me too.”

“What do you mean?” My hand rested on my chest, pressing down slightly to relax my lungs.

In a tiny voice, Jesse replied, “I’ve never made love before.”

***

The sunlight streamed through the slit of the curtain, blinding me and jarring me awake. I reached out beside me and found the bed empty. The sheets felt almost as icy as the anxiety working its way through me. I sat up, still naked, and brought the sheets up to my chin. I gazed around the empty room and felt myself crumble a bit.

Jesse wouldn’t leave me again, would he?

“You’re in his bed, dumbass,” I muttered. “He wouldn’t leave you.”

Chapter 24

The night began to grow colder and soon not even the combination of my flimsy shawl and Jesse’s jacket could keep me warm. The cheers coming from inside the gym told me that they had just crowned the Homecoming Court and the dance would be ending soon. But where was Jesse?

“Raquel Rossi?”

“Yes?” I stood straight up, nearly catapulting myself off the bleachers.

I gulped as Mr. Elliott, our vice principal, walked over to me with two security guards in tow. Though the men didn’t look as menacing as the bouncers at one of the clubs Jesse and I had snuck into once, the looks on their faces told me they weren’t to be messed with.

“What are you doing out here? You know you’re not allowed anywhere but the gym,” Mr. Elliott’s loud voice boomed.

“I just needed air.” It wasn’t a lie.

“Air? You do realize you’re still walking on thin ice for skipping last week. Like I told you before, I am keeping a close eye on you.”

A sudden wind blew, causing my red dress to flutter around me. I noticed one of the security guards flinch. What? Did he think I was a witch or something?”

“Um, did you really need two security guards to take a seventeen-year-old down? I’m sure the evening news would have a field day if I told them about this.”

Mr. Elliott’s eyes widened. “We had a chaperone come in and say there were two suspicious individuals on the field. You don’t expect me to have come here without back up just in case—”

“A high school girl took you out. Right.” I pursed my lips.

The vice principal sighed. “Miss Rossi, please. If you don’t want to make this bigger than it has to be, then I advise you to return to the gym.”

“Hey, what’s that?” one of the security guards asked. He didn’t look much older than me and seemed to be enjoying the power trip.

Mr. Elliott followed his gaze and gasped. Within seconds his calm demeanor turned into a nasty one. He stomped over and picked up the flask I had stupidly thrown. I flinched as he waved it in my face.

“What is this?”

“A vintage apothecary jug,” I lied.

The security guards mumbled and snickered in the back.

“I’ll have you know there is zero tolerance for alcohol and its paraphernalia on campus.” He narrowed his eyes and glared at me. “If I can prove this is yours then it’s grounds for expulsion.”

“Expulsion? If you’re looking for someone to blame, why don’t you look for the kid who spiked the punch? Unless of course you enjoyed some of that too,” I said smugly.

He looked ready to blow a gasket. He reached out and grabbed my arm. “Come with me.”

“Where are we going?” I wasn’t sure what lines were drawn for student/teacher contact, but I was making note of everything just in case I needed something to help my case.

“To my office. We’re going to call your parents and the cops.”

“The cops?” I screeched. “Why?”

“Underage drinking,” he said simply.

Realizing he had no case on me, I smiled self-assuredly. “Well, tell them to do a breathalyzer because I’ll blow a zero. I can guarantee that. Besides, you can’t prove this is even mine.”

Mr. Elliott faltered a bit. “Well, we’ll leave that up to the cops. We’ll have them brush for fingerprints if we have to.”

He was bluffing and we both knew it. He had nothing on me. Unfortunately, as bad timing went, Jesse chose that moment to show up again.

“Wait!”

“Shit,” I muttered.

Mr. Elliott turned. Once he saw Jesse, an almost evil smile stretched across his face. “Mr. Tyler, you are breaking the statutes of your suspension by being on campus.”

“Rocky didn’t do anything!”

I pulled back my mouth and narrowed my eyes, trying to signal for him to stop talking.

Jesse either couldn’t see me, or chose not to care. “She was only here because of me.”

“Shut up, Jesse,” I snapped.

Mr. Elliott lifted an eyebrow but dropped his hold on me. “Oh? And why is that?”

“I got this, Jesse. Stop talking,” I interjected.

The vice principal threw me an annoyed glance. “Let Mr. Tyler speak.”

It was painfully obvious to everyone that Mr. Elliott didn’t care much for Jesse. He was waiting for the perfect opportunity to finally rid Bethel Falls High of him.

“The flask is mine,” my friend announced.

What an idiot!

Not wanting to see the look of glory on Mr. Elliott’s face, I focused on the way the field lights reflected off his balding head instead. His footsteps sounded squishy against the dewy grass and were interrupted by the loud thumps of Jesse’s boots as he scuffled towards me.

“You two in my office, now!” he growled while he turned back toward the main campus.

“Why does Rocky have to go?” Jesse asked with alarm.

“I think her parents would like to know exactly who she spends time with.”

As we marched through the school, I couldn’t help but feel as if we were walking toward the gallows. Elbowing Jesse, I hissed, “Why did you fess up? They had nothing on me! I would have walked away.”

“I’m not dragging you down with me anymore.”

“Jesse—”

“If the shit hits the fan, I will never let you get punished for it.”

***

Jesse did not return to the bedroom, but I figured he wouldn’t. In fact, had it not been for the slight soreness of my vag and the telltale condom wrapper on the nightstand, I would have thought I had been dreaming again.

I entered the bathroom and took a good look at the mirror, half-expecting to see the acne faced girl from yesteryear. With a slight shake of my head, I turned on the faucet and began washing up, preparing myself to face the day. I took my time yet again and when I finally entered the bedroom to look for my clothes, I was surprised to find Jesse sitting on the bed.

“Oh!” I was still naked as the day I was born and scrambled to cover myself up, which was stupid, given what we did the night before.

He smiled, raising his hands to cover his eyes. “Your clothes are on top of my dresser.”

My lips tightened as I dropped my arms and walked across the room. It wasn’t until I grabbed my clothes that I noticed Jesse had lowered his hands and was watching me.

“You look beautiful. You have always looked beautiful,” he said tenderly.

I pressed my lips into a smile as I quickly put on underwear and jumped into my jeans.

Jesse frowned. “Are you mad at me?”

I sighed. “I thought you left…
again.
”

He bowed his head and nodded. “I guess I deserve that.”

“Yeah, you do.” I arched an eyebrow. “Where’d you go, anyway?”

“I was just watching TV. You seemed so peaceful and I tend to wake up early.”

That explained his superior punctuality. “Oh.”

“They said the roads are as clear as they’re going to get. Did you want to start heading up?”

I really didn’t want to go. It felt great feeling tucked away with Jesse, but I knew we couldn’t stall any longer.

“Sure.”

Even saying the words felt like a twist to heart.

***

Jesse and I piled into the car with a bunch of snacks and drinks. You would have thought we were preparing for a cross country trip or even the end of the world by the stack of chips, cookies, and energy bars on my lap.

As Charleston flew by us, I couldn’t help but feel as if I wasn’t only saying goodbye to the city, but to Jesse as well. There was a question that needed to be asked, but neither of us wanted to address it. To make matters worse, traffic became unbelievably slow the farther we traveled north. It only gave us even more time to dance around the topic.

“So….is Rossi’s closed today?” Jesse asked after a few moments of silence.

“Yeah, I told Justin to make the call. Sounds like it should be.”

“Well, that’s good. Gives us time to get you back.”

“Yeah…”

More silence.

Jesse reached out and turned the volume up on the radio, trying everything to avoid the big talk.

It sucked.

A small part of me thought after what we did the night before we’d be holding hands. We’d be talking and laughing and planning our lives in Bethel Falls. However, sleeping with him and expressing our feelings did not change the fact he had a business in Charleston. He had a whole new life far away from the one I established. He was going to leave me again whether I liked it or not.

One hour passed. Two hours passed. Then three. Once we were finally nearing the home stretch, I knew it had to be said.

“Are you still moving back to Charleston?” I blurted out.

Jesse blinked, snapping the radio off. “I’m surprised this conversation took almost four hours to come up.”

“Goes both ways,” I said quietly.

He took a deep breath. “You know the answer to that.”

I nodded slowly and looked out the window. I was afraid if I looked at his face I’d burst out crying. “So you’re going to leave me again. Wonderful.”

“You can come with me, you know.”

My eyes bugged out. I didn’t see that one coming. “What?”

“You can move to Charleston. Start painting again. There’s a gallery close to my apartment. I didn’t get a chance to show you yesterday, but I think it would be good—”

“Why would I move?” I cut him off a bit rudely, I’ll admit.

“Well, I mean, I thought…” His voice trailed off.

“I have a job, I’m near my family. It’s stable.”

“But not as stable as me,” he concluded.

I shut my eyes and sighed. “When you brought me to Charleston I realized how much I didn’t know about you.”

“But that’s why—”

“No, let me finish.” I shook my head. “How can I pack up and move to an unfamiliar city with a guy that I’m just starting to figure out all over again?”

“Funny, we seemed to know each other last night.”

I shot him a look.

He snorted. “Okay, fine. Sorry. But you know it’s true.”

“And because you said it, it has to be.” My tone oozed sarcasm.

Jesse snorted. “And you know what else is true? The reason why you’re worried about leaving is because you don’t want to grow up.”

“Excuse me?” I was aghast.

“Think about it. You left for college only to come back to work at Rossi’s Novelties.”

“It’s a family business. Of course I’d come back to it.”

“Emily didn’t seem to care,” he shot back.

I rolled my eyes. “She’s the black sheep. If you haven’t noticed, the rest of family is still there. Stephanie is too! I don’t see you accusing her of Peter Panning.”

“Stephanie is different,” he replied. “You always wanted to get out of Bethel Falls.”

“That was before…”

“The gallery debacle?” He nodded his head proudly as if he had just cracked a puzzle. “Artists get criticized all the time. Actors get bashed and authors get one-star reviews. It’s a part of life. You either grow from the criticism or you stay stagnant. You, my friend, are stagnant.”

Did he really just call me a friend?

I felt my temper flaring. “Just because I don’t want to go with you I’m suddenly afraid of growing up?”

“No, just because you’re still hiding in comfort means you’re afraid to grow up. Is that why you let your mom push Ethan in your face? Is that why you were afraid to fess up to that kiss? Is that why—”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”

He inhaled deeply. “I want you to see that you have a choice. You don’t need to follow anybody around. Not even me. You decide what you want to do and only you.”