Thursday Nights (The Charistown Series) (13 page)

Janie reached over to grab the condom from him, and she tore the wrapper with her teeth. His eyes shot open as he watched Janie roll the latex over his engorged cockhead and down to the base of his dick.

“Janie, baby,” he said, his voice was weak. “You need to put me in you…or I’m going to finish before we start.”

Janie wrapped her long fingers around Max’s cock, lifted her torso, and slid her body down on top of him in one fluid movement. They moaned in unison as their bodies connected, as close as two people could get.

“Oh God, Max, you feel so good…” Janie started to lift her body up Max’s cock and settle herself back down. Over and over she rode him as their heated flesh collided. Max tilted his head up and pulled Janie forward so he could lick her breasts and taste her skin. They continued their pace, slow and deep, groaning and panting, bestowing the pleasure that each thought the other deserved.

Max couldn’t take it anymore. He wrapped his strong, corded arms around Janie’s torso and flipped her to place her body under his. His smile shone bright even in the dimly lit room as he grunted.

“Hold tight, baby…”

Max slammed into Janie, and she let out a loud cry of pleasure as he continued to push, balls-deep, into her willing body. Both of them were covered in sweat, breathing heavily, and staring into one another’s eyes, but neither one wanting to sever the connection.

What are you doing, man?
Max asked himself.
You are making
love
to this woman…what are you gonna do?

As the thoughts floated in his brain, Janie shifted her legs and drove Max in deeper. The sensation was consuming. Max could feel the tingle start in the base of his spine. He reached down to rub Janie’s clit while he continued to move in and out of her warmth. He felt her tighten around him as she splintered into a thousand pieces with her climax. Her pussy gripped Max’s cock like a glove, and she continued to writhe while her pussy walls milked every drop of release from him. Boneless and sated, they laid woven together in Janie’s bed, with nothing but the sound of their breath and the smell of their lust in the air.

Finally—and reluctantly—they disentangled, and Janie got up and headed to the bathroom. Max assumed she was going to get ready for bed, but Janie turned around and grabbed her cell phone from the dresser before closing the bathroom door.

Janie looked at herself in the mirror. She looked well and truly fucked. Her cheeks were flush, her lips were swollen, and she even had slight beard-burn on her chin. She was a mess.

Nice
, she thought to herself, a
nice way to meet the new students
.

Looking down at her hands she noticed that they weren’t shaking, though. She was all right. Still worried about Lyla, but all right. Max had been there for her ––was still there for her—and she was all right.

She preformed her quick bedtime routine and then called Lyla.

Voice mail. Again.

“Ly, honey, it’s me. I wish you would call me just to let me know that you’re okay. What am I saying? I know you’re not okay. Well…I love you, Ly. I’m here. Please don’t shut me out.” Janie disconnected the call and sent a text for good measure, telling Lyla that she loved her and asking her again to reach out.

When Janie looked back in the mirror, there were tears in her eyes. She turned off the bathroom light so Max wouldn’t see her tears and got into bed. She rolled onto her side and immediately Max was spooning her. “What are you doing, Max?”

“I’m here, Janie,” was all he said as he held her close and kissed her shoulder softly.

Max held Janie until her body finally relaxed into sleep. Even though her back was spooned to his front, he could still feel the slight shaking from the tears she tried to hide from him. He had heard her leaving the message for Lyla and the quiet plea for a return call, but allowed her to maintain her privacy when she crept back into bed.

Self-hate filled his mind as he held her close, running his fingers through her silken hair and placing soft kisses on the crown of her head. Comforting her felt good…natural…but unacceptable. Friendship. That’s what he could give her. He was already in too deep, and he couldn’t risk his heart ever again. Tomorrow he was going to have to resurrect the walls that she had unknowingly blown apart. The lyrics to Maroon 5’s song, “Daylight” played through his mind. He knew it was late but the thought of closing his eyes and missing one minute of this time with her made him ache. He didn’t want to think about leaving, so instead he pulled her closer to his body and allowed her warmth to flow through his skin. He didn’t want to leave but he knew he didn’t have the heart to stay. So Max allowed himself the handful of hours that he had left to hold the woman that he had fallen for so unwillingly. He soaked up her soft scent and stroked her hair and listened to her breathe. He was in too deep with Janie Silver.
Fuck!

As the hours passed, sleep evaded him. If only he could trust again…This was
Janie,
not just some random woman. How was he going to fix this? How would he be able to walk away? Could they still be friends? Would she let him go? Did he want her to? He slammed his eyes shut tight, the questions battering him when he heard Janie’s voice.

Shit!
He held his body very still, but relaxed once he realized that she was just talking in her sleep. Her body tensed beside his as she called out for Lyla. And then his heart stopped when her sleeping lips begged for him. Holding her tighter, he placed butterfly-soft kisses on her fair skin, careful not to wake her.

One more hour and he would have to say good-bye. Max felt his chest tighten, his anxiety reawakening. He needed to get to the track. A few hours in his car at 150 miles per hour should help calm him down. His heart had already been gone for more than ten years, but he still had to protect what was left of his soul. And he knew he was screwed. Knowing what he was about to do, the sound of the alarm clock forced him to close his eyes in an attempt to shut out the inevitable.

Quickly turning off her alarm, she turned to make sure it hadn’t disturbed Max. Nope, he was sound asleep. Janie checked her phone next—no messages from Lyla. Her mind started to race again. She couldn’t just lie there thinking.

After showering and dressing in the bathroom, Janie looked at Max’s sleeping form.

“God, you are so beautiful,” Janie whispered almost inaudibly. She swiped her cell, closed the bedroom door, and went to the kitchen. She grabbed a cereal bar and left Max a note.

Max,

Thank you for last night. You’re an incredible friend…and maybe something more. You were exactly what I needed.

Chat soon.

J

Janie took her bags and left the house. First stop: Starbucks. Caffeine was a must to get through this day.

As soon as Max heard the front door close he sat up. He was such a pussy, pretending to sleep instead of facing that amazing woman and telling her that they had to go back to the “just friends” part of their relationship. He grabbed her pillow and held it to his face, inhaling deeply so he could memorize her scent.

Over and over the words played through his head as he got dressed and left the bedroom.
Just friends.

On the kitchen counter next to his keys was a note. Her flowing, scripted handwriting felt like a kiss on the cheek, but the words were a stab to his chest.

A friend...and maybe something more…

He felt like such an asshole. But that didn’t change the facts. He couldn’t stay. He knew he couldn’t trust, he couldn’t love blindly, and he couldn’t give his whole heart. So that was it.

She was wrong in her note—he wasn’t what she needed. He wasn’t what anyone needed. He stood up straighter and snatched the note off the counter. He shoved it in his pocket and walked out the door, refusing to look back.

Are you Sure You Can Spare It?

As Janie waited in line for her coffee, she heard the chime of her text alert. Janie took her first deep breath since Lyla left the previous night at the sight of her best friend’s name on her cell.

Sorry I left you last night. Hope you weren’t alone. OK here. Just need some time. Have a gr8 first day of school. Chat later. XO L

Thank God
, Janie thought, sending a text back.

Please don’t ever go silent on me like that again. I was scared! Max came by though… School’s out at 2:30. Call you then. XO

Coffee now in hand and worry fading, Janie plowed through her morning, meeting students and discussing expectations for the school year. Between afternoon classes she snuck glances at her cell in hopes of seeing a text from either Lyla or Max, each time slipping her phone away in disappointment. When it was finally the end of the day, Janie was ready for another caffeine fix. She headed to the teacher’s lounge, bags and half-full travel mug ready to go. She was like a tornado rushing for the coffee machine, whirling around only to collide with the broad, hard chest of the young, new Algebra teacher.

“Oops! Mr. Michaels! I am so sorry—I clearly wasn’t paying attention.” Janie couldn’t help the blush that crept to her cheeks and then cringed. “I hope I didn’t spill on you…”