Shyly, I lift my head up, giving him access.
With a hand on either side of my face, he leans down, his lips gently touching mine at first, then becoming deeper. With a swipe of his tongue, I open my mouth, letting him inside. Tilting his head, he takes control of the kiss, his body pushing me back into the cold leather of the couch. When he finally pulls away, he kisses my lips once more before studying me through heavy-lidded eyes.
“After that kiss, are you still gonna try telling me you aren’t mine?” he rasps, lips quirking at the corners. “Because you felt like mine, melting for me like that.”
It frustrates me that he always has to make me face everything when I’m happy to just pretend I don’t have feelings for him and this is just a casual thing. Having to face reality means I have to make a proper decision, and I just don’t feel ready. I’m so afraid.
I make a soft sound of frustration. “You want me to admit it? Fine. I’m crazy about you. Inescapably, obsessively—”
He cuts off my embarrassing rant with his mouth.
I don’t complain.
He then lifts me in his arms and carries me to his room, placing me gently in the center of the bed.
“Don’t move,” he softly commands.
Wide-eyed, I sit there and watch as he disappears into the bathroom. The shower turns on, and soon I can see steam trying to escape from the door. My body fills with anticipation. When he walks out in nothing but a towel—and drops the towel on the floor—I can only imagine the expression on my face.
Shock. Lust. Want.
Drool?
His cock is thick, pierced, and beautiful. That’s how I would have described it if I were writing about it. He’s huge. And apparently not shy.
“Ummm.”
“I like to sleep naked,” he says, grinning wolfishly. “Since you admitted how you felt, I get to show you me without having to worry about you running scared. Don’t worry, I’ll take it slow with you.”
“Wait, what?” I mumble, still staring at his penis.
“My eyes are up here,” he says huskily. “Unless you want to fuck now? Because I’d be okay with that.”
My eyes narrow. “Think I’ll pass.”
I’m not ready just yet. I don’t know why, but I feel like I need to know Tracker a little more before we sleep together. “That’s what I thought,” he replies, sounding amused. “I need to sleep.”
“It’s only six p.m.”
He slides in next to me and wraps me in his arms. “Been riding all day, baby, and didn’t sleep much last night.”
I run my hands through his hair. “Go to sleep, then.”
He sighs contently as I play with his hair, which by the way, is nicer than mine.
When I know for sure he’s asleep, I slowly get off the bed, grab my handbag, and leave his room, closing the door softly. I hear laughter as I walk by the game room, so I curiously peek my head in to see Rake and Irish playing pool. There are two women standing next to them, dressed in short shorts and their bras.
“I guess Faye and Clover must have left,” I say when Rake notices me.
He laughs. “Yeah, they’re gone. You wanna play some pool?”
“It’s strip pool,” Irish adds, winking at me. “Sure as fuck hope you’re a bad player.”
Rake laughs again, slapping Irish on his arm. “You want to die, man? She’s Tracker’s. And no offense, Lana, but you’re like family, so I don’t wanna see that shit.”
I roll my eyes at that.
Irish nods. “Tracker claim her?”
“In the process,” Rake adds, sitting down on one of the stools. One of the women drops in his lap, wrapping her arm around him possessively.
“Yeah, I’m just gonna go now,” I say, waving ’bye and making a quick exit.
I’m at my car door when I hear her voice.
“He’s going to get sick of you,” Allie says in a calm tone. “It’s not you he wants.”
“And I suppose he wants you, then?” I ask in a dry tone.
She smiles sadly. “Actually, no. But it’s not me who’s going to end up hurt.”
“You need to move on, Allie,” I tell her.
She raises her eyebrow. “I remember you, you know. Took me a while to place you. But yeah, I remember you.” She laughs, a cold sound. “William, now Tracker. Have a thing for my sloppy seconds, do you? This isn’t high school, Lana. Taking Tracker is going to have a completely different consequence than taking William did.”
So she finally remembered me from school.
My mind flashes back to the first time I met Allie, which was eight years ago.
Is he smiling at me?
I look around me, behind me, but no one else is there.
He is smiling at me.
Fidgeting nervously, I push my long black hair back behind my ear and smile tentatively. I’ve been waiting what feels like forever for William to notice me. I’ve had a crush on him since I first saw him, our freshman year of high school. Four years later and this is the first time he’s smiled at me.
I’m not usually a girl who gets noticed. I’m not popular and I never put myself out there, so people tend to just walk by me without a second glance. I know William was dating the head cheerleader, but I heard a rumor that they broke up. Maybe it’s true? My best friend, Anna, always says that William isn’t worth my time. But Anna isn’t here now—she moved away and left me to get through senior year without her. It sucks, big-time. I don’t find it easy to make new friends—most people mistake my shyness for something else. They think I’m a snob. But I’m not. I just find it hard to connect with other people. Maybe it’s because I’m shy—or maybe it runs deeper.