Hard to Resist (15 page)

“It took them a little over month to finally let you go. That was way too long.”

“I know. It sucks. But screw my punishment. That’s over with now. I’ve got my phone back with a fresh batch of unlimited minutes so spill the beans. How is it down there in Miami?”

Pausing, I chew on my bottom lip. I know that Gracey is going to go out of her damned mind when I tell her about Nolan. She’ll probably even think I was faking my depression when Bryson and I broke up. It seems too fast to be back in the game of hearts but this is Grace I’m talking to. I tell her everything. But telling her about Nolan is going to bite me in the ass. She hates cheaters.

“I met this guy,” I mumble as I scoot to the edge of the sofa.

“Oh yeah?” she asks. A loud
POP
rings in my ear and I jolt quickly. “Sorry,” she says. “This gum is just too damn good to stop chewing. So much flavor! Go ahead, spill it.”

“Well he’s cute—”

“Describe him,” she demands quickly.

My eyebrows pull together as I reach for the pen that I had written my poem from earlier with. “Geesh, rush all of the answers right of me, why don’t ya?”

“Sorry,” she apologizes again. “I just missed hearing your voice. I want to know everything that is going on with you—anything that proves that you still have a life outside of that dickhead ex-boyfriend of yours.” I know she’s just rolled her eyes while messing with the cuticles of her nails. It’s another habit of hers, especially when she’s trying to be a smart-ass.

“Speaking of,” I murmur as I stand from the sofa. I can’t believe I’m about to ask but . . . “Have you seen Bryson lately? Anywhere?”

“Actually, yeah. I saw him with Mark at Target. They were picking up laundry detergent for Mark’s mom and you won’t believe who else was with them!”

“Who?”

“Sara the Slut.” My heart clutches and my mouth lacks with moisture as I stare down at the glass coffee table. “You would think that he learned his lesson about being with her after losing you but he’s still an asshole. He tried to act like he was too good to say hey to me while he was with her. I wanted to sock him right in his fucking face for it, too. But Mark said hi and even talked me out of boredom. I seriously think Mark has a crush on me, I’m just afraid to ask him how he feels. He’s always been kind of like a brother to us, you know?”

The line goes silent and I want to speak on Mark with her but I can’t. The fact that Bryson is still with Sara has really put me at a loss for words. I hate myself for feeling this way about him but I can’t believe it. I thought that he would leave her alone—especially since he tried to see me every single night and apologize. Was he faking his sincerity? Was he fucking her and then running to me to see if I would take him back? Grace is right. He truly is an asshole. “Um, hello?” Gracey whistles. “You still there, Nat?”

“Yeah.” I gulp while forcing myself to breathe again. A bulge of pain was lodged in my throat, preventing me from speaking. “I just don’t get how he can still deal with her. She’s worthless.”

“Oh, no,” Gracey snaps. “You are not about to get mushy right now. I called to talk to my girl—to Natalie Carmichael. I’ll be damned if I let you take even one sniffle.” The line goes silent again and it isn’t too long before I’m slouching down on the arm of the sofa. “So tell me about this guy that you met. What’s he like? How does he look?”

My heart starts to beat in a steady pace again as I circle my mind back to Nolan. I’m going to see him tonight. I seriously can’t wait to feel his lips and stare into his eyes. I can’t wait until he runs his fingers across my skin. I want to touch him right now. I want him to hold me. Thinking about Bryson makes me feel that way. It’s as if I’m getting back at him and letting him know that I’m good without him . . . even though Bryson can’t see shit that I’m doing right now.

“Nolan is beautiful, Gracey. He has a body to die for, lips to kill over, and he actually cares. He has his flaws,” I note, “but besides the minor things, I believe that something between us might ignite really soon.”

“Aww,” she coos. “That’s so cute. Snap a picture of him the next time you see him and send it to me. I need to see the guy that has made you forget about Bryson.”

“Yeah,” I breathe in agreement.

“Oh—Nat, I gotta go! Trey is calling. I haven’t talked to him all day. I promise to call you tonight. I love you, I love you! Muah!”

The call ends way before I can even fix my mouth to speak. Smiling, I stand to my feet again. I love talking to Grace and I’m so glad that she’s still the same. Nothing has changed with her. Even though she’s boy-crazy, I love her. But I seriously can’t believe that Bryson is still fucking with Sara. Sara is hideous and even though I can’t stand his guts, he can do way better than
her
. Receiving blowjobs will get tiresome to him soon. One day, he’ll want real love again. Sara can’t provide that but I could have.

Screw it.

He doesn’t deserve me and I won’t sit around and wallow in pity. He doesn’t deserve any kind of happiness in his life. But I do have to get these feelings off of my chest. Grabbing a throw pillow, I sit on it and slide my legs beneath the coffee table. I grab my pen, a sheet of blank paper from the stack, and immediately begin to write. And I don’t stop. Not even when I catch a cramp in my hand.

Chapter Sixteen

About three hours later and Nolan is at my doorstep. And he looks unbelievably hot. Too hot for words, actually. I scan him over in his white muscle T-shirt, snug dark blue jeans, and even his hair that was just how it was when I’d met him at the club. It’s cropped around his ears and gelled to prevent any strands from touching his forehead. I have to admit that it’s just like seeing him for the first time again. He looks amazing.

Leaning in, he plants a kiss on my lips and a surge of energy sweeps through me as my eyes widen. I begin to shove him away but once I realize that this feeling feels beyond natural, I sink against him while pressing a hand against his chest.

“Hey,” he breathes as he pulls away.

“Hi,” I say but it comes out as more of a breathy moan.

I step back to let Nolan in but he doesn’t bother to remove his eyes from me. He studies the length of my red-brown hair that I’d just flat-ironed, my mint-green blouse, and then my dark wash jean shorts.

“You look . . .” Pausing, he steps in closer. Somehow, the air seems thicker now . . . but only in a good way. “You look, great, Natalie. Can we skip Open Mic by staying here and fucking all over this apartment?”

My face spreads heavily as my cheeks spark. I bite at my lower lip but he brings his hand up to stop me. “You have got to stop talking like that,” I say.

“Why?”

“Because
you have to get to know me before you get to know her
,” I say, attempting to do my closest mimic to the way he’d said it during our date.

“Oh, trust me,” he chuckles as he reaches to pull me forward by my belt loop. A surge of heat drowns my entire body and even seeps through my bones. His lips hover above mine and out of instinct, I tilt my head up, craving for another kiss. “Once I get to experience
her
for myself, there’ll be nothing that can keep me away.” He winks then releases his finger from the loop of my shorts. He takes a step back and I let out the breath that I was holding in as I fold my arms.

“You wanted that kiss, didn’t you?” he asks. Looking up, I watch as one of his eyebrows rise. “We still have thirty minutes.” He steps in again but instead of reaching for the belt loop of my jeans, his arm curves to pull me in by my butt. I tense as my stomach presses against the bulge in his pants.

“No—Nolan we can’t.” I push against his chest but he keeps his hold tight. It’s seriously turning me on and as bad as I would love to ride him for hours, I can’t right now. I’ve just done my hair and got dressed. I can’t go out looking like I’ve been hit by a sex hurricane. I know that’s probably what it will be like with Nolan. I can tell by the frisky look in his grey eyes and the way that he’s cupping my ass as if there is nothing else he’d rather hold onto.

“We can’t?” he murmurs as he leans in to place his lips against my ear. My skin hums and I melt as the hand that is still pressing against his chest seems to give out and fall against my side on its own. “We’re grown, Natalie. We can do whatever the hell we want.” Pulling back, Nolan takes a look at my eyes. He studies the desire in mine. I can feel my lips puckering now, but I don’t care. I’ll go through with almost anything with this beautiful man at the moment.

“But we aren’t rushing this, remember?” he asks in a voice that is supposed to mimic the way I speak. His eyebrows pull up as he runs his fingers across my cheek. His touch is causing my skin to catch on fire. “I can wait.”

“But I can’t,” I breathe.

“You that tense?” he teases. “I can’t wait until the day that I can release it.”

“Why can’t you do it right now?”

His face falls as he pulls his hand away from my cheek. “If I do it right now, what will make you want to stick around with me? I like the fact that I have control over of your body. My dick, my way.”

“Oh, but I’m very sure that if I were to whip it out right now, you wouldn’t stop me.”

“I wouldn’t?” he challenges as a small smile plays on his lips.

“Nope. Not unless you’re just straight-up gay.”

His face falls into a deep slant and I cup a hand around my mouth quickly.
Oh, no
. I’ve pulled the gay card with him again. “I seriously hate when you test me, Natalie,” he mutters and before I know it, he is picking me up in his arms and making his way around the sofa. I think that he is going to go for the bed of my bedroom but he passes by it to get to the bathroom.

The door shuts behind us and he pushes my makeup products away to give my hips space on top of the counter. I’m not even allowed enough time to catch a quick breath before his lips are pressing against mine. Pulling me in by the loop of my shorts again, he presses his groin between my legs. My chest falls against his and he thrusts himself forward and backward against me, getting harder and harder. A trickle of heat slides down and touches my panties and I bite at my lower lip as he reaches to pull my shirt over my head. I reach for the hem of his and our lips part but they’re reconnected as soon as we toss the shirts on the floor.

Nolan’s lips trail from my lips to my cheek and then down to my neck. With ease, he pokes his tongue out to lick the curve of my breast. His eyes are still closed but once he realizes where his mouth has landed, he yanks my bra down and immediately begins to suck my nipple.

A shrill gasp escapes me as he pulls me in by my hips to keep his erection pressed against the center of my thighs. More heat flushes through my entire body and travels down to my panties. I groan as he moves his lips to my other nipple and sucks it. As he grazes his teeth against them, a spiral of pleasure burns my sweet flesh.

I can’t be the only one getting some kind of pleasure, though. I want Nolan to know that I’m great in bed as well. I know that if I’m great, he won’t stop thinking about it for a very long time. I don’t like to brag, but Bryson had made it very clear that I knew what I was doing with him. When his eyes would roll to the back of his head while I straddled myself on top of him late at night, I knew I had to be doing something right.

I reach down to unbutton Nolan’s pants quickly. His eyes fly open as he pulls away and watches my hands go to work. Hopping from the counter, I push him against the door quickly. When he’s bumped against it, I stoop down and yank on his jeans.

“Shit, Natalie,” he breathes. His voice makes me want to do nothing more than continue. My eyes widen as I pull his boxers down and study the size of him. Grabbing the length of him, I begin to stroke. His flesh is soft, even, and smooth. I hear him suck in a breath and as I look up, the back of his head falls against the door.

After stroking Nolan, I finally decide that something is missing. And then it dawns on me. The strokes aren’t smooth enough. He needs something more. I wrap my lips around the tip of him and he quivers but my hand doesn’t stop stroking. It’s a pleasurable multitask.

He sucks another sharp breath in as his grip tightens around the door handle. “Fuck, Natalie!”

After a few moments of licking, sucking, and him groaning with a few encouraging curse words, he finally pushes my mouth away but it is only to pull me up by the arm. He pulls me against him and his erection caves into my stomach. “I wanna finish off with a piece of you,” he murmurs against my lips with solid eyes. Scooping me up, he places me on top of the counter again. He reaches to unbutton my shorts, yank them down, and then begins to kiss me from head to toe.