Landslide (39 page)

“We gotta stop,” I finally blurt out, panting and swallowing a deflated sigh.

“Can’t you ignore whoever keeps calling?” she asks, her lips hovering right above the hollow behind my ear, making me shiver and my eyes roll back into my head.

“Mmhm,” I mumble, “its just Payton,” the ass pirate. I’m honestly not sure how I feel about him calling every fucking minute and interrupting. “But still…we should stop.” Erica and I seriously need to slow our roll here, and his incessant calling helps with that, but goddamnit, he’s being rude and she feels so incredible, I really don’t want to stop yet. “Or, slow down…” A little to the left and down, please. A moan of thanks escapes me when her lips satisfy my unspoken request of them.

Her hands still held at her back, she rises up on her knees a bit, poising herself just so above the fabric covering my erection, leaving her hardly enough space to enticingly rub against the aching tip of it while she breathes a very good question across my lips. “Why?”
 

Because I want to make love to you for days on end, marry you, and raise a child with you, and not necessarily in that order. And you don’t want to do two out of those three things. From what you said a little while ago anyway. But I didn’t buy it when you said it and I still don’t.
 

Nevertheless, ripping open the Velcro on my trunks while simultaneously yanking her thong to the side and out of the way enough for me to plunge her down so that’s she’s effectively impaled on my painfully throbbing dick is definitely not the best course for me to take at this point. We’ve cleared the first hurdle to find that there’s obviously more than a little bit of mutual attraction between us, but now we need slow up. I can use some time to be sure she’s who I think and am hoping she is, and she needs as much time as I’m able to give her without spooking her to see for herself what I already know in my heart…that above everything she’s been through and all her justifiable reasons, she’s lying to herself about not wanting a family. Whether it’s with me or someone else she hasn’t even met yet remains to be seen; however, I know she still wants that for herself and she’s afraid of letting herself have it.
 

The decision firmly made, I straighten up and inch back, kissing her once softly before resting my forehead on hers and meeting her eyes. “Because we’ve both been drinking and I don’t think either of us is thinking clearly.”

She pulls back to get a better look at my face. “Are you saying you think you’d regret me in the morning?”

“Uh—I—” The blessed ringing of my phone again cuts my stuttered words off before I have the chance to dig a nice big hole for myself.

“Maybe I should go home…I can’t tell if you’re trying to be a gentleman or if you’re just not into this anymore—or, me, I guess.”

Just as she begins to slide from my lap, I realize what my halting the game so abruptly has her thinking and what’s she’s getting at, and it isn’t her trying to make me feel like an asshole. So I lock my hand around her wrist and pull her back to me.

“Sweetheart, it started snowing during dinner and I’m simply not gonna let you drive home tonight after you helped me clear three bottles of wine, so get that out of your head. And while you’re at it, you can stop worrying that you did something wrong or that I’ll wake up in the morning, take one look at you, and wonder what the hell I was thinking, because truth be told, I am mere seconds from showing you in no uncertain terms exactly how into you I wanna be right now…quite literally. But…I do think we should slow it down. The fact of the matter is, we
have
been drinking. And we might not be totally sloshed, but I think we can both admit that if we hadn’t drank as much as we did, we wouldn’t be in this situation right now.”

She lowers her eyes, nods, and then lets out a small self-castigating chuckle. “True. I know I definitely wouldn’t have been so quick to get naked revenge on Rachel, so you’re probably right.”

“Right. Plus, I wasn’t exactly prepared for any of this and I kinda doubt that you were expecting to be here right now either, thinking I was gay and all. I mean at the very least, we’re clear on that now I think,” I pause, ignoring Payton again, and lifting one eyebrow in arrogant question, now that I know my manhood is no longer in doubt where she’s concerned. She laughs and half-heartedly smacks me upside the head. “So look, I’m not saying that I can’t be spontaneous or that I would change tonight at all, but listen, beautiful, and hear me when I say this…there’s no need to rush into anything, least of all having sex, and…well, I honestly just don’t want the first time to be like it would’ve been tonight. Do you?”

She slowly rocks her head from side to side, weighing the question with her response before letting out a shallow sigh. “Truthfully, I don’t think I would’ve had any misgivings, even if it turned out to be a one-time thing. You know, I’m not looking for anything serious so it wouldn’t be a big deal, but, I can see your point, I guess. I mean, yes, I did survive that whole drunken Halloween fiasco with Steve Rogers, who did turn out to be gay by the way,” she laughs while my eyes narrow on their own accord and my jaw takes it upon itself to clench tightly, “And I’m not nearly as trashed as I was that night, but it was horrible enough that I certainly wouldn’t want to take even a small risk if it meant I might end up reliving any part of it.”

That was
so
not what I was getting at or even close to where I expected this conversation to end up. I open my mouth to say something along the lines of demanding she never compare me to fucking Captain America again, along with bitterly snapping that if it wasn’t for her grossly negligent one-night stand with him in the first place, I wouldn’t have been fucking blown up! I’m truly saved by the bell though when my phone goes off again, except this time, it’s a text and it’s not Payton’s ringtone.

“Gotta get up, sugar, that’s my dad,” I tell her while moving her off me so that I can get out of the hot tub and check my phone.

His text simply reads: Call me ASAP.

My fingers immediately dial and I’ve gone through like seventeen unthinkable scenarios by the time Erica is standing next to me, dripping wet and for the most part naked, and with sincere concern is asking, “Is everything okay?”

I shrug and open my mouth to say I have no fucking idea what’s going on when my dad answers on the second ring. “What’s wrong?!”

“Nothing’s wrong, Son, calm down. That giant homosexual BFF of yours just called and almost woke my sweetheart here…he thinks you’re ignoring him or some such nonsense. Why he thinks I’d have better luck getting a hold of you, I haven’t the faintest clue.”

“That’s because I
am
ignoring him, Dad, but he knows perfectly well that I won’t ignore you right now even if my goddamned house was on fire!”

“Christ Almighty, Cole…it’s almost one in the morning here. Call him, would ya? He tried to hide it, but I could hear the worry.”

 
I sigh. “Yeah, okay. Sorry he woke you.”

“I know you are, now call him before he calls me again, ‘cause I’m still not feelin’ too good and I’d like to go back to sleep. Love you, g’night.”

“Love you too. Night.”

I look at Erica trying to hide her smile and stifle her laughter just from hearing my side of the call. I roll my eyes at her and shake my head, and in that moment, I realize that some things do happen for a reason. Because the sobering reality is, if she hadn’t drunkenly boned that guy and I hadn’t run away from her like I had, I might’ve missed the opportunity to ever know Payton…because he probably wouldn’t be alive today.

“I’m gonna grab a smoke and go call him out on the deck,” I tell her, placing a kiss on the top of her head before grabbing a towel and my sweatshirt from one of the chaise lounges.

“Good. While you do that, I’m gonna use the bathroom.”

“Need me to show you where it is, or can I stand here and enjoy the view?” I ask as she turns her back to me to go inside, still pretty much naked.

“No, I can find it,” she answers over her shoulder just as she bends at the waist to grab a towel for herself, wickedly and
purposely
teasing me back by giving me an exceptionally good look at her scintillating ass.

“Oooh…” I breath out in devout appreciation of her blatant display before she stands straight again and walks inside without another word aside from what sounds like a hiccup, leaving me sort of regretting that I didn’t go with being an immoral bastard when I had the opportunity.

Sixty seconds later I’m standing in the snow on my deck, barefoot and freezing my stones off, sucking furiously on a cigarette and hearing Payton’s chipper, “Hey, bro, what’s up? Thought you didn’t love me anymore…”

“Fuck you, man, I don’t. And why the hell did you bail without telling me you and Erica rescheduled?”

“Oh, was that tonight?”

“You know goddamned well it was!”

He laughs. “I know. How’d it go?”

“Well, up until about the fifth time you called, pretty great.”

“Yeah? Did you guys kiss in a non-awkward way this time?”

“We drank all that wine you bought. She got naked, dude. In my hot tub. What do you think?”

“Oooh! Nice!”

“Yeah, pretty much. Except now I have blue balls the size of grapefruits.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, ouch. Thanks, dickhead.”

“Why thank—You don’t mean…? Shit, Cole, I didn’t mean to cockblock you, honestly. You know I wouldn’t do that to you guys.”

“Eh…I did it myself mostly. You definitely helped though.”

“Sorry, buddy. Wait…is she still there?”

“Yeah! She helped me down three bottles of wine, idiot, I’m not about to let her get behind the wheel tonight.”

“Well if you’re keeping her for the night, then why the fuck are you talking to me?!”

“You woke my dad up and told him to make me call you, you queer!”

“Oh yeah. Well, go find her and see if you can do something about juicing those fruits you got. Call me tomorrow.”

He hangs up without even giving me the chance to tell him to go fuck himself again or any other version of goodbye.

I finish the cigarette and looking around like an imbecile for a safe place to put it out, I realize that being covered in snow, the possibility that my deck and house will go up in flames is probably highly unlikely. I head back in, turn the hot tub off, consider the dishes for a moment and decide to just leave them until morning, and then I turn out the patio lights, all the while thinking about taking Payton’s advice, in my own way. It won’t really do anything for my boys, but I would love nothing more right now than to curl up in my bed with Erica in my arms and just sleep with her. That’s it, just sleep. Although the lights aren’t the only thing doused when I step inside my living room and see her shivering in front of the low burning fire, white as a sheet with a sheen of sickly cold sweat on her face.

“I—” she starts but is interrupted by a hiccup, “I don’t fe–
hiccup
–el very good all o–
hiccup
–f a sudden…” Then she slams one of her hands over her mouth and hurries to the bathroom.

So with my mouth hanging slack and my eyes contemplating the ceiling as the clear sound of retching reaches my ears, I shift uncomfortably and sigh in complete and utter disappointment, certain in the knowledge that my house catching fire from a crushed and soggy cigarette has a vastly greater likelihood than spooning with her tonight does.

Fucking Payton and his goddamned wine…

35

“Why Can’t I”

—Erica—

It’s been a week to the day since the sound of Cole turning the shower on woke me up on the floor of his master bathroom where I was curled around the toilet after vomiting most of the night. There was a humongous, long-haired cat with seal-point markings and startling blue eyes sitting right in front of my face staring down its nose and sort of cross-eyed at me like I’d done something to offend its regal sensibilities.

“Well, hello, pretty girl,” I said, pushing myself up into sitting and scratching it behind a chocolate brown, velveteen ear. Rather than showing any indication that it appreciated or even liked the attention, the cat promptly turned around, flicked its tail in the air, and decidedly exited my presence.

Any embarrassment I might’ve felt about the previous night or sleeping by the toilet promptly evaporated when my gaze lifted to Cole just beginning to get his mouthwatering body all wet before he took a bar of soap to it. “I didn’t know you have a cat…she’s beautiful, and huge, but I don’t think she likes me very much.”

He chuckled and glanced over at me. “That’s because Prince Sparkle Bottom prefers being called handsome, like most guys. Now Skull Eater on the other hand…well, she’ll lick your face raw regardless of whether you get her gender wrong or not.”

“You have
two
cats?” I asked, continuing to gawk at the right side of his body in full.

“Nope, just the one. Skull Eater is a two and a half pound, bow wearing, teacup Yorkie. She’s been having an extended playdate with her sister while I’ve been moving in. With the front door being opened and closed so much, I was worried we wouldn’t see her get out and then she’d be eaten by a hawk or an owl. Prince Sparkle Bottom weighs in at about twenty-three pounds though and he has the canines of a damned saber tooth so he can take care of himself. Plus, he’s a cat and you can’t make them do anything they don’t want to do, so he comes and goes as he pleases,” he explained, lathering himself up well and good and without turning an inch or looking at me.

“Huh.”

“You’re still staring, sweetheart.”

Completely without shame, I admitted, “I know. I can’t help it. You’re hot, Cole.”

His eyes swept to the side briefly to meet mine before he started chuckling again. “Thanks. You’re gonna give me a complex though if you don’t at least blink.”

“Uh, I’ve had your junk in my mouth, remember?”

His head slowly turned my way and looking me dead in the eyes, he purred, “Sugar, that’s not something I’m likely to forget even in death.”

“Mmhm…so then what was is it you said the other night about the grand scheme?”