Casting Stones (Stones Duet #1) (12 page)

The small hand on the clock of life begins to move again when the sound of someone yelling, telling us to get a room snaps me back to reality. Immediately, I realize how bad this must look. I’m straddled on this man’s lap practically dry humping him on a sidewalk bench. I feel as though I should be embarrassed by my reaction to his kiss, but his ragged breathing tells me he feels it too. With my eyes still closed, I pull my lips from his as my hands wrap around the nape of his neck and I tilt his head upward. I open my eyes to see the smile on his face matches the one in his eyes.

Once again, I lower my mouth and kiss his lips slowly, offering a final kiss.

I whisper, “I like kissing you.”

Shane grins at me. “I love kissing you.”

“Rule breaker.”

I wrap my arms around him and return the embrace. I feel his heart beating against my chest. It’s wild and frenzied. His arms are tight around my body and I love the way it feels.

Shane tilts his head back and looks up at the night sky. My phone vibrates and I loosen my hold when I reach around to retrieve it from my back pocket. As soon as I look at the screen and see all the missed texts, the warm temperature of the late summer air turns into ice when he lowers his head and looks at me with a confused expression.

“I thought you said your phone died.” His words have a sharp bite and a hint of accusation again as his finger freezes along the trail he had, moments before, been tracing on my thigh.

I panic…and scramble for some words, trying to cover my obvious lie. It doesn’t work. He sees right through it. He wraps his hands around my waist and moves me to sit beside him. He stands, notes the time and says it’s late. Even though he’s walked away to hail a cab and he’s not gone very far, he might as well be in freaking Alaska.

The heat between us just moments earlier has frozen solid. We’re skidding on thin ice as the chill between us becomes remarkably clear. It makes me a little sad, leaving my heart to ache. I hang my head in shame and shoot Simon and Jenna a quick text letting them know that I’m heading home.

I feel horrible for lying to him about my phone. I just should’ve told him where I was or been honest with him. Silently, I stand next to him while he waits for a cab. From the corner of my eye, I can see him ball his hands in tight fists, curling and slowly flexing.

“I’m sorry—” We speak at the same time.

“Listen, if you don’t want to go to dinner, it’s fine. Not a big deal.” He shrugs and then turns, pinning me with searching blue eyes that reveal a hint of distrust and vulnerability.

My heart drops at the thought of not seeing him tomorrow. Of not spending time with him. “Shane,” I touch his bicep and pull back when I feel a current flow from the tips of my fingers to my painted toenails. “I do want to go to dinner with you.”

“If you didn’t want to see me tonight, you could’ve just said so. You didn’t have to lie.”

“That’s not it,” I shake my head from side to side, my eyes blinking rapidly to ward off the tears that threaten to fall. I’m not a crier; never have been, never will be. I learned early on in life that crying makes noise and noise gets you found.

“What is it then?” he implores. His tall body is defensive.

“Well, every Friday night…it’s complicated.”

He snickers quietly with a tone laced with heavy sarcasm, “That’s what they all say.”

I wish I can say that the cab ride to the subway isn’t riddled with tension, but I’d be lying. I see the disappointment written clear as day all over his face and his indifferent response of “It’s all good or It’s cool” annoys me. On three separate occasions, the words almost slip out. I should be honest about why I lied, but I can’t do it. He, like most people, wouldn’t understand. Hell, some days, I don’t understand. I think about canceling our plans for dinner because he seems like a really good guy who doesn’t need to get caught up in my shit. But, like a coward, I stand before him, desperately wanting to kiss him again, but instead, I keep my mouth shut and simply thank him for the ride with a promise to call him tomorrow. I stare after him, hoping that he’ll come back and kiss me goodbye, but he doesn’t even glance in my direction.

I lie awake, wishing I could hit a rewind button and go back to my night with Shane. I smile, remembering all the things I like about him. His face. Those eyes. Those lips. His arms. His hands. I squirm just wondering what he can do with those fingers. Just before I drift off to sleep, I ask God for a favor. “Please don’t let me screw this up.”

Shane

IT’S NOT THE
bright sun pouring into my room that wakes me up; it’s the sounds of panting and grunting coming from the living room. The bedroom door creaks when I open it to see what’s going on. I do a double take and quickly shut the door when I see a pair of small tits bouncing up and down as she lowers herself onto his body. Collin’s prosthetic leg is on the floor next to their clothes. Her long brown hair swings from side to side as she moans louder, begging him to give it to her harder.

Collin has been in the city for just a week or so and he’s already got some chick spreading her legs for him. Maybe it’s because he’s a normal guy or maybe it’s Boston; either way, he’s having no problem getting these girls to have sex with him. I could easily get pussy if I wanted, but that’s the thing. I don’t want to fuck some random girl and have to sneak out in the morning or face that awkward conversation about whether I want her number or not. I did that for a while last year. I wasn’t trying to be a dick; I just didn’t want to think about
her
for a little while.
She
never gave me the chance to prove that I was sorry for that one stupid night and I know she thought I was a douche bag, so… fuck it. I went ahead and proved her right. And I’ve felt like shit every day since then.

I don’t know why the brunette chick’s tits make me think of Remy’s. There’s no denying that Remy has got way more than a mouthful just by the way they strain against her Polo shirt or the tank top she had on last night. I imagine pulling them from her bra, licking and sucking on her sweet nipples. I feel myself harden just thinking about her. Then anger shoots through me as I think about that douche bag Simon doing that to her or kissing her. It’s obvious they’re more than friends. I grit my teeth and wonder why she would lie to me about it. Feeling frustrated and pissed, I head into the bathroom to change quickly, knowing that a good hard run is what I need. My apartment is small even though I’m paying an arm and a leg for it. The only way to the door is through the tiny living room. I keep my head down and rush out when the long-haired chick collapses on top of Collin’s chest. Just as I close the door behind me, I hear her ask if they can do it again.

Against the old brick building, I stretch my arms and legs. When I reach into my pocket to set my running app, I realize that I left my phone and wallet in the bathroom. Shit! Even though I want to run up and get it, I don’t need to catch another glimpse of my buddy going in for round two or even three.

I ROUND THE
corner of Boston Public Gardens and steady my pace until I’m walking in a circle to cool down. It’s scorching out; it reminds me of the long days during my deployment overseas. My mouth is parched and sweat pours down my face, drenching my T-shirt. I search around for a water fountain because I don’t even have a single dollar to buy a bottle of water from the street vendor. I can’t exactly give him a sob story that I’ll pay him tomorrow. My eyes scan the pond that looks like an oasis right about now; if it were a river, I’d have no problem scooping up some water to drink, but this pond is dirty and probably full of bird shit. I survived two deployments in third world countries, I’m not about to die from Ecoli on American soil.

“You look hot,” a familiar voice calls out. Remy smiles and walks over to me as I continue cooling down. My eyes have a mind of their own because instead of looking at her eyes, they fall to her plump tits all snug in a yellow tank top that almost matches her hair. The color reminds me the lemon drops I used to love as kid. My sister used to hide them from me until I promised to do her chores as well as mine.

With a quick clearing of her throat, I force my eyes to look up and meet her green gaze. She looks beautiful and radiant. The green in her eyes is almost indescribable. It’s a cross between a fern and an emerald. I want to refrain from my body from responding to hers as a stupid crooked smile stretches across my face. The memory of last night is still too fresh in my mind.

“Hey,” I respond flatly. If my tone doesn’t indicate that I’m still a little pissed off about last night, my cold greeting does. She fucking lied right to my face.

“It’s a little too hot for a run, don’t you think?” She eyeballs my sweaty body as her bottom lip pulls in. “Here.”

“I’m good,” I raise my hand to reject the water bottle she’s offering. I know if I put my lips where hers were, my dick is going to spring to life and the thin material won’t hide my stiffness.

“Shane. Take a sip. You can waterfall if you want.” She demonstrates how to waterfall as if I didn’t know. As her head tips back, her mouth opens, and she pours water right in and onto her pink tongue —the tongue I tasted last night—the tongue I crave right now. The unexpected image of her mouth around my dick fills my mind.
Fuck me!
There I go. Stiff as a board.

I exhale a deep breath and relent. I walk around her, take a seat on the bench and look at the book that’s turned face down. I don’t see her laptop or papers. I cross my leg, resting my left ankle on my right knee. I know she’s staring at me; I can feel it. Half a second later, she’s sitting by my side, offering the bottle of water again. This time, I accept it, press my lips to the rim and take a swift drink.

A quiet moan escapes her lips as I take another sip before handing it back with a quick “Thanks.”

She nods and then takes a sip of water.

Watching her lips on the bottle isn’t helping my erection. I look down at her thigh that’s touching mine and wish I could place my hands back where they were last night and continue the trail led by my fingers.
Shit! Get it together, man!

I force my eyes to turn away as I change the subject. “Did you work this morning?”

She snorts loudly, causing my eyes to drift to hers just in time to catch the nodding of her head in confirmation and the pursing of her lips. “It’s was so busy and Jenna called out sick.” Her eyes roll upward as she sighs exasperatedly.

“She’s sick?” I inquire.

A grunt escapes. “No, she’s not sick. She went home with your buddy last night. What’s his name? Connor?”

I can’t believe him. Of all the women in Boston, he has to sleep with Remy’s friend. “That was Jenna this morning on top of Collin?” I shriek, my voice dripping with disbelief.

“You saw her?”

“Oh yeah, I saw her.” I shake my head and scrub my face, scratching my day old scruff.

“I hope she was careful.” Remy looks out toward the pond as concern dots her face.

I want to erase the look of worry on her face and replace it with a smile. “Hey, she’s okay. Collin’s a good guy. I promise.” I want to pull her into my chest for reassurance.

She looks down at the water bottle in her hand, lifts it and takes a sip. “I hope so. There aren’t too many of those guys around here.”

Part of me wants to scoop her up, lay in her in the grass and kiss her senseless to prove that good guys do exist, but I’m not sure she’d really appreciate that. She seems like a girl who doesn’t know what she wants.

I pick up the book she’s reading and ask her about it. She tells me it’s one of her favorites. From the looks of the dog-eared edges and tattered cover, it’s been read well over a hundred times.

The vibration of her phone buzzes against the bench. She raises her hips to retrieve the phone and smiles when she reads the incoming text. “Speak of the devil.” I watch as she taps a response to Jenna.

“Are we still on for tonight?” she asks quietly.

“Do you still want to go out tonight?” I ask tentatively because honestly after last night, I’m not really sure.