Page 58 of Endgame

“What do you…”

“I want to see you use that toy on your pretty little clit while I stroke my dick. I want you to sit on the bathroom counter with your legs spread wide open while I look at your perfect pussy and watch your face as you let yourself go. I want you to see me watching you and see how that affects me. I want you to watch me come all over because the sight of you uninhibited like that drives me crazy.”

He held his breath, bracing himself for her refusal. Instead, she walked over to the bathroom vanity and slowly dropped her bottoms so she was bared to him from the waist down. He advanced on her slowly, his hands gripping her hips as he lifted her up onto the counter. Then he backed up, watching as she spread her legs wide. The sight of her wet and ready put him into a daze. He wanted between those thighs again so badly.

“Your turn,” she said, and he slowly removed his boxer briefs. Her eyes widened at the sight of his erection. “I’d almost forgotten how monstrously huge you are,” Lila breathed as she turned on the vibrator and positioned it just above her clit.

King took his cock in his hand and started leisurely stroking himself, his eyes never leaving Lila. The way she writhed and the sounds she made reminded him of how good they were together, and his dick wept for the chance to be inside her again.

Someday.

The room was filled with Lila’s soft moans and King’s guttural groans as they both neared their climax. “Can’t hold on much longer, La. Need you to come with me.” King’s voice was pure gravel and sex, and it was enough to get Lila off. He came right then too, the intensity of it almost causing his knees to give out.

Once they’d both come back down from their respective highs, they stared at each other, the silence thickening with every passing second. Then Lila jumped down and retrieved her underwear and shorts and gave King a little nod before slipping into her bedroom. He heard the finality of the lock firmly clicking into place behind her and wondered if he’d just fucked up everything. Again.

Chapter 32

Driving gave Lila time to think. And she had a lot of thinking to do.

Along with their propensity to vacuum perfectly symmetrical carpet lines as pristine as the mowed grass at Yankee Stadium and their proclivity to gather weekly for extended family dinners, the Alexanders were legendary for their love of driving. Which might seem to be a strange identifier, but there was something woven into the Alexander family DNA that practically dictated that road trips and long drives were necessary for their survival. Lila had fond memories of her Grandpa Alexander driving in his car, a custom-sized cup holder for his 64-ounce soda clipped to the inside of his door.

Her parents were the same, driving around the country in their decidedly fuel-inefficient Suburban, and Lila had fond memories of the open road, of seeing the landscape morph and change.

After what had happened with King in their bathroom, after what had continued to happen in the days since, Lila knew she needed a little space. After their first encounter, she’d been left reeling. Seeing King like that again, after all this time, was overwhelming. After the first time in the bathroom, she vowed it was just a one-time thing, something brought about by a sudden burst of lust that would hopefully wane quickly.

But then, the next day, she heard a faint knocking on her interior door and opened it to find King standing there, again stripped down to his underwear, a feral gleam in his eye, his arousal visible. Like he knew she needed relief as much as he did. Silently, she’d retrieved another vibrator from her stash and followed him into the bathroom. This time, however, she’d stripped down so she was just wearing her bra, much to King’s delight. Last night? She’d almost taken the bra off too.

They didn’t talk about it. Whatever happened between them in the bathroom stayed in the bathroom. And then they’d go to class and he’d come into the restaurant with the guys, and she’d go to his games, and they were the textbook definition of friends.

But it was all messing with her head. She tried to rationalize it by telling herself that everything was fine because they weren’t actually touching each other; that maybe this was a thing that friends could do together. The problem was, she wanted him to touch her. She wanted to be the one touching him. She wanted to feel him inside of her…and that was a huge problem. Because she’d been down that road, and it hadn’t ended well.

So she’d thrown an overnight bag into her old Toyota 4Runner that she’d aptly inherited from her Grandpa Alexander and made the hour drive north to her childhood home.

It was late, so the freeway was mostly empty. Normally, Lila would listen to a playlist or a podcast, but that night, all she wanted was silence as she processed things out on the open road. Her mom had left a key under the mat, and Lila let herself in quietly. Though it was well past midnight, Lila’s mom was up waiting for her in the kitchen, clad in one of her floral-patterned house dresses that she favored as pajamas.

And, even though it was barely fall, Diana Alexander had a cup of hot chocolate with extra marshmallows ready and waiting for her daughter.

“Thanks, Mama.” Lila took a sip, and of course it was the perfect temperature.

“Anything for my angel girl,” her mom replied with a tender smile, taking a sip of her own hot chocolate. They made some small talk about classes and how Wren was doing before Lila gathered up the courage to talk to her mom about what she actually wanted to talk to her about.

“So, Mom, first off, I’m sorry that I haven’t been coming home as much. Work and school are busy, but that’s not an excuse.”

“While we’d love to see you more, I completely understand why you’d want to stay down at school, especially now that you don’t have womb sounds for a roommate anymore,” her mom responded with a tiny grin.

“Are you still bothered by the fact that I live with a group of guys?”

Her mother seemed to measure her words carefully before answering. “Lila, I’ll admit that it’s been difficult in some ways to see you grow up and to see the way that your life is diverging from the things that your father and I had always envisioned for you.” She smiled a little sadly. “But I realized how narrow my vision was for you. Just because I didn’t graduate college, married young, and had a bunch of babies doesn’t mean that you should feel like you have to live that same life.”

Diana took another drink. “I love my life; I love being your mom. I was lucky to find a man like your dad who has always loved and valued me and grown with me. We’ve fit the roles that were prescribed for us, and they’ve worked out for us just fine. But I understand that the opinions I’ve formed about marriage and gender roles based on how I was raised don’t always fit into what’s happening now.”

She chuckled, “This is all my long-winded way of saying that although I may not always understand completely where you’re coming from, I will always love you, and I will always try to be open and listen, without judgment. And if you feel like living with these roommates is the best thing for you, then I trust that to be the case. Because I trust you, Lila. You are strong, and intelligent, and brave, and are capable of the world.”

Lila’s heart warmed as she received her mother’s loving words. It was one of the first times her mom had made her feel truly seen, and she was so glad she’d followed her gut and come home, if only for a day.

Her mom paused and then looked slightly pained. “And I’m really sorry we weren’t better about having the sex talk with you. Expecting abstinence until marriage is really naive, so I hope that if you are sexually active, you’re being safe. We’re trying to do a better job with your siblings.”

“I’m not going to pretend that this doesn’t feel awkward, but I appreciate you bringing it up.” Lila paused. “I’m being safe.” She reached over and squeezed her mom’s hand. “And thanks for always supporting me and loving me. You and Dad gave me a wonderful childhood full of so much love. I’m beginning to realize how rare that is.”

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