Page 57 of Rules in Love
“I think you mean a bit tipsy, Red. And I think I am too. I can’t remember why we’re here or where here is. I’m glad we’re wherever we are, though.”
A giggle I would remember forever hiccupped from deep inside her as she spun again, shimmied closer, and laid her head on my thigh. My fucking thigh!Do not get a boner!
Exhaling loudly, she blew a curl from her face, then glanced up at me. “What do you love most about America? Apart from meeting me, which is number one obviously.”
“Oh, obviously. Hmmm, let me think.” Hoping she may slide off me, I tried to move farther up the bed, but she came right along with me.She’s bloody closer to the trouble zone than she was before, dick.I stared at the ceiling and focused on her question. “Favorite thing… I think the people and their approach to success. People pump each other up more. Like at home, we have a tendency toward being knockers.”
Two ripe, delicious breasts were cupped in her hands and bounced. “I would have thought you liked knockers.”
I forced a smile and focused on her eyes. “Big fan of that type. But I mean more of the tall-poppy-syndrome knockers. Everyone loves an underdog, but they’ll also tear him or her down the second they make it. I haven’t noticed that as much here.”
“It’s a bit like that in England too. That’s a good one.” She nodded, then rolled to her side. That little nightie didn’t shift with her body, and her boobs were on full display. I tried to look away immediately, but I was a man, and she was a woman…with the most beautiful breasts and what looked like the loveliest pink nipples I’ve ever seen. A nun and the Pope would have had trouble diverting their gaze. Eventually, I did.Look at the ceiling. Think of nanna.
Seeming not to notice her flashing, she asked, “Okay, what do you dislike the most, then?”
“Bitch,” I said flatly, too distracted by a bothersome mold-like stain I spotted in the far-right corner of the ceiling.
Scarlett bolted upright, “Pardon me?” Her movement drew my eye for only a second before I looked away again. “Who are you calling a bitch, and why do you keep staring at the ceiling?”
“No! Not you. I’d never… I mean… I’m looking up here because of…that.” I pointed at what I thought was her chest.
“Oh, oops.” I heard the slip and shuffle of satin over skin as she thankfully adjusted her nightie. “Okay, you can look at me again. The knockers are gone.”
I released the breath I didn’t realize I was holding and smiled to see her cute face again. “Bitches, in general. I hate that so many guys my age, and some chicks too, call women bitches. Like, I get it in a joking manner between friends, like how Teddy does it. But just calling random women hoes and bitches? Yeah, nah. It’s disrespectful.”
A wicked smile played on her face.” And that is why you…”Oh God, she’s on her hands and knees. Shit, she’s crawling closer. “Must refer to me as ma’am, or your majesty, from here on in.”
“I like Red better.” I swallowed. “But if you stay in that position, I’ll call you whatever you want.”
Once shoulder to shoulder, Scarlett leaned in and pressed her lips to my cheek. “You’re so sweet.” Her hands shifted to my shoulders before she leaned over my body, crushing her boobs into my chest, stealing my air, and mirroring the soft kisses on my right side. “And such a gentleman.”
Again, she repeated that tortuous, maddening pattern. Sure, they were only drunken, sloppy, messy kisses on cheeks that edged closer and closer to our lips meeting, and I told myself it was all innocent fun. But the lingering looks between each one soon lingered a little bit longer. Breathing heavied. Myaccidentalgrazes of her bare skin became deliberate caresses, and fuck if it didn’t feel amazing and right.
This time, there was no one to interrupt. It was just us, and I knew if I was serious about being friends, I had to be the one to say stop. But before I could, Scarlett ghosted her lips all the way to the side of my face and breathily whispered in my ear, “Do you want to go to sleep now?” Deep and raspy, her voice was shaky, full of hope and uncertainty. It was also sexy and damn near impossible to resist.
Agony.Not taking her face in my hands and kissing her the way I wanted, the way she deserved, was agony. But I had to stay strong—for her.You can’t be what she needs.I nosed her hair, breathing in her scent, and fuck me, she smelled amazing. “No. No, I don’t. Not at all. But I think, after the chat we had, we probably should.”
She sighed heavily, her breath tickling every part of me as she pressed one last kiss high on my cheekbone, then sucked the lobe of my ear into her mouth, releasing in with a pop. “I thought you might say that.”
Everything suddenly felt different. The evening revelations had shifted things up to a level I so desperately wanted and feared. That was why, one by one, a wall of pillows was erected. We topped and tailed again, then both pretended to sleep.
The pillows were nowhere to be seen when I woke at six a.m. with a throbbing headache and Scarlett’s ass firmly wedged against my painfully hard cock. It had been there for the few hours of “rest”we managed. Conscious of my condition, I slid my hips back an inch or two, but she made a delicious moan and chased them, nestling back against me, then sighing happily. I tightened the grip I already had around her waist, splaying my fingers over her softness and massaging lightly. “Good morning, Red,” I whispered, smiling, pressing my nose into her curls, and inhaling her pure goodness. She muttered something, and I think she smiled as I could see her glowing cheeks rounding. Then, she molded her round ass cheeks further into me. “Lord, give me strength.”
After a solid hour of lying with a stiffy and watching Scarlett sleep, spread-eagled across her bed, breathing with her curls covering her face and her lovely round bum sticking and poking from the blankets, I snuck out and took another shower. My second boner issue in hours was handled with equal yet unsatisfying efficiency, and I was out and dressed before she woke.
Only time would tell where things went between us. I knew what I wanted. I was pretty sure I knew what she did, too, and I felt that a small portion of the weight I always carried had lifted. But whether or not I could listen to Scarlett’s all-too-familiar words—the same ones I’d heard from Nate, Jocie, and Evie so many times before—and finally let go and forgive my self-declared sins was an entirely different matter.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I buried my head in my hands. “What the fuck am I going to do?”
“Morning, noddy. What are you going to do about what?” Her raspy, sleepy voice had my dick ready to party again.
“Breakfast. I’m starving.”Do I say anything about last night? Wait and see what she does.
“Mmm. Me too. Some poor innocent pig has my name written all over its ass.” She sat up against the headboard, yawned, and stretched. I watched in awe as curls fell over her shoulders and perfectly highlighted her boobs and her pebbled, satin-covered nipples. “Speaking of food, I wanted to ask you something. There is a new Italian restaurant near my house. I was wondering if you wanted to join Teddy and me for dinner before Herman’s movie night next week.”
“Sure. That sounds good. I like melons.”
“That’s great, Finn. But I just asked you to come for dinner. Not what you wanted for breakfast.”
