More Than Exes (9 page)

I gripped the hem of her top and yanked it off her. My eyes devoured her delicate, bare shoulders, her chest rising and falling with each breath, and that lacy bra teasing at what was underneath. God, she was the sexiest girl I’d ever seen. But that bra had to go.

I unhooked it and tossed it into the front seat. Her breasts were even more beautiful than I remembered, round and lush, with large, taut nipples just begging for me to suck on them. I cupped them in my hands and kissed each one, using my mouth and tongue to make her sigh. I knew what she liked, what drove her mad with pleasure, what made her gasp and cry my name. And I did it all.

“Kyle,” she pleaded and tugged on my shirt.

I released her and sat back, letting her take over. She pulled my shirt off, and her eyes swept over me, taking in the sight of my inked skin, of everything that had changed since she’d last seen me. Her lips quirked up in a smile, and I knew she approved.

She leaned forward and kissed me again, her bare breasts crushing against my naked chest. I wrapped my arms around her, and she moved onto my lap, straddling me. I loved the feel of her like this, her skin against mine. Now if only our jeans weren’t in the way.

Her lips brushed across my neck, along the flames and waves dancing along my skin, and up to my earlobe. She traced the round black gauge with her tongue, and I dug my fingers into her hips to steady myself as twangs of hot pleasure shot through me.

“These are new,” she whispered. “I like them.”

She took my earlobe into her mouth and sucked, and I thought I might pass out from the sensation. And then she repeated it with the other ear, and I nearly did.

“Alexis,” I groaned, but she didn’t stop. Her mouth moved to my shoulders, to kiss the tattoos on my arms and chest, and finally to the small metal rings through my nipples. She dipped a finger through each, tugging a little, and I gasped.

“These are new, too.” She flicked my nipple and the piercing with her tongue, and I cried out, nearly jolting out of the seat. “Oh, I
love
these.”

I couldn’t handle any more of this. I needed her, naked and sweating and on top of me. We didn’t have much time, but even if we had all night, I didn’t think I could wait any longer. Not after being apart so long.

She must have had the same thought because she started yanking at my jeans. I let her have at it, watching the way her red hair fell over her face as she tugged my clothes down. Not all the way off, but enough to get the job done. Then she shimmied her own jeans down, followed by pink lacy panties that matched her bra. I watched with hungry eyes and couldn’t stop myself from touching her. I slid my hands along her shapely legs and up her thighs, but she pushed me back in the seat, taking charge again.

She climbed onto my lap, her knees on either side of my hips, rubbing herself against me. I looked up at her, pushing the hair away from her face. This was our last chance to back out of this, but I saw in her eyes that she wanted it as much as I did.

“Condom,” I said, my voice strained. “In my jeans.”

She grabbed one and ripped it open with her teeth, and wow, that was hot. She rolled it over me herself, her deft fingers working quickly but making me moan at the same time. She was much better at that than I remembered. How many guys had she been with since me, anyway? I pushed the thought away as she got the condom on and squeezed once, sending throbbing pleasure through me.

“Keep that up and I won’t last long,” I said through gritted teeth.

She laughed and placed her hands on my shoulders. I gripped her hips as she moved over me and then slid down, down, down, taking me in so slowly I thought I would die from the delicious agony of it. I filled her completely, her body sheltering me inside her. It was like coming home, and for a moment, neither of us moved, just enjoying the feeling of being one again. This was where we belonged: together.

“Kyle,” she whispered. “I’ve wanted this for so long.”

“Me too,” I said into her red hair. It was so good I wanted to cry out, to shout to the heavens, to scream it across the parking lot.

She began to move, slowly at first, rocking over my hips, gliding up and down. Our mouths met again, our tongues dancing together, our lips sucking on each other. Her breasts rubbed against my chest as she increased her speed, and I groaned. I loved letting her take over like this, letting her be in control, letting her find her own pleasure.

I dug my fingers into her hips, urging her on as she pulsed on top of me. One of her hands pressed against the window of the car, leaving an imprint in the steam we’d created. She moved faster and faster, her movements growing wilder, and it was hard not to explode inside her. But I held back, focusing on pleasing her first.

I took each of her nipples in my fingers and teased them, and she rode me harder, bucking like a cowgirl, losing control. Her hands moved up to the ceiling, steadying herself as she angled her hips so I went even deeper. I clutched her back, helping her along, lifting my own hips to thrust into her.

Just when I thought the pleasure was too much and I couldn’t hold back any longer, she cried out and closed her eyes, tightening around me. Feeling her body tremble, watching her face as she lost herself, it was too much for me. I let go, shuddering as I spilled myself into her, giving myself up to her completely.

She collapsed against me, and I held her close while we caught our breath. As our heartbeats slowed, I touched her cheek, stroking her soft skin. It was hard to believe she was really here with me, after so long. Being with Alexis was even better than I’d remembered, and there was no point fighting my feelings for her. I was already too far gone.

She took my hand and kissed each of the letters tattooed across my knuckles, spelling out the word
LIVE
. She went to kiss the
LOUD
on the other hand, but I flinched. It was still sore from punching Todd.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah. I hurt my hand earlier. It’s nothing. Don’t worry.” I pulled her close again and kissed her, hoping she’d drop it. I wasn’t ashamed of punching Todd or anything, but I didn’t want to bring it up with her, either. I had a feeling she’d be disappointed, even though she seemed to like the badder, bolder me.

When the kiss ended, she stroked my stubble and smiled. “I never thought… I mean, I hoped this would happen. But I wasn’t sure you’d ever take me back.”

Me either, but I’d been deluding myself thinking I’d be fine with just one night together. “Alexis, I can’t make any promises. I still need some time to figure things out.” I paused, tracing her lips with my thumb. “But I do want to give this a shot.”

“Oh, Kyle.” She buried her face in my neck, resting against me, and for a few minutes, we just held each other. I’d missed Alexis so much and been heartbroken for so long, but that was over. Time and distance may have kept us apart, but we were together again…and maybe this time it would last.

W
e returned to the club only minutes before Todd’s band went on stage, and the place had filled up so much we had to squeeze our way through the crowd to get a good view. My band was up next and I had to find the others soon, but I wanted to check out our competition first. Plus, I was curious if Todd had a black eye already.

“Perfect timing,” Alexis said, adjusting her camera. “I need to get photos of Rubber Horse’s set.”

“I thought that was just an excuse to come to the show tonight.”

“Yes and no. I don’t have an official assignment, but I did promise to take photos of them for their website.”

Did that mean she was friends with them? Or was she just doing them a favor? I hated the idea of her doing anything for Todd and his entourage. Hell, I hated the idea of him even talking to her.

They walked out on stage in their pastel shirts and boat shoes, and Alexis cheered. Not just polite cheering with the rest of the crowd, either, but loud, arms-in-the-air, full-out-rooting-for-their-band kind of cheering. Like she was a Rubber Horse fangirl or something.

“What are you doing?” I asked, horrified.

She peered through her lens at the stage. “What do you mean?”

“Forget it.” I shouldn’t blame her for cheering for a USC band since she went there and all, but a bad feeling seated itself in my gut that I couldn’t shake off.

Alexis gasped. “Oh, his eye! Did someone hit him? And now he has to play like that. Poor guy.”

He did have a shiner over half his face, which made me a little proud. Jared had taught me well. But Alexis was acting like she was actually concerned about Todd. “Are you friends with him or something?”

“Yeah, I’ve known him since we were kids. Our parents are good friends. Now that I’m at USC, we hang out sometimes.”

That explained it. One of her friends from that other part of her life that had never included me. I bet they played golf together and hung out on their families’ boats wearing nautical-themed pashminas. Even though the thought made me want to set fire to something, I knew I should drop it. It wasn’t my business who she was friends with or which band she cheered for. Even if it
was
Todd.

But then he grabbed his bass and flashed that cocky smirk, and I couldn’t let it go.

“How can you be friends with a guy like that?”

She shrugged. “Once you get past the frat boy clothes, he’s not so bad.”

“Are you kidding me? Todd once asked Hector if he swam here from Mexico!”

“He said that?” She frowned, eyeing me closely. “Hang on—how do you even know him?”

“Todd was our bassist for a while, but Jared kicked him out.”

“Ah,” she said, like that explained everything.

“What?” I asked. She didn’t answer, and that made me even more annoyed. “No, seriously, what was that ‘ah’ about?”

“Just that it makes sense now why you hate him.”

“I hate him ‘cause he’s a dick!”

She rolled her eyes. “No, you hate him because Jared hates him. And Jared hates him because he’s not Ben.”

I stared at her, trying to make sense of her words. “That’s ridiculous. We kicked Todd out because he’s an asshole. End of story.”

“He’s not an asshole! He’s kind of an idiot sometimes, but he’s not that bad, really.”

“Are we talking about the same Todd? The one on stage right now? Holding the bass?”

She propped her hands on her hips. “Kyle, I’ve been following your band all these years. I know you’ve been through a lot of bassists. No one will ever be good enough for Jared, not after Ben betrayed him, and you always go along with whatever Jared does because Ben was your best friend and you feel guilty. Admit it—this isn’t about Todd at all.”

“You’ve been gone for
three years
! You have no idea what we’ve been through in that time!” People around us were starting to stare, but I didn’t care. Alexis was wrong. Yes, maybe I’d felt guilty about Ben once, but that was years ago. And maybe we’d gone through a ton of bassists, but only because they did shit like never showing up for practice or stealing money from us. We’d had bad luck, that’s all.

“I know enough,” she said. “I know you still look at guys like Todd and judge them without giving them a fair chance, just like you always did.”

I took a step back, her words stinging. She was accusing
me
of caring about image? After she’d dumped me for not fitting into her life? After admitting she had changed her look to stop hiding who she was? Yes, I’d judged Todd, but on his words and his actions, not on anything else. How could she not see the real him? He must have her completely fooled.

Or maybe she just didn’t
want
to see it.

I was about to argue with her, but Rubber Horse started playing and the music blasting from the speakers drowned out any words I might say. The worst part was they were pretty good. They sounded sort of like Sublime or 311, a mellow stoner jam with a hint of reggae, and they even had a white-boy rapper. Not my kind of music, but they made it work.

Alexis snapped photos as they played, and I realized nothing had changed between us. Yes, she looked different and she’d come back to LA, but underneath she was still the girl who hung out with guys like Todd and then sneaked off with guys like me to hook up in the back of cars. I couldn’t go through that again.

“Be honest. Who do you want to win tonight?” I asked, yelling over the music.

Her mouth dropped open. “That’s not fair! I go to USC and they’re my friends, too—”

That said it all. “I figured. God, this is just like Princeton all over again.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You choosing your perfect, father-approved friends over me, just like before. It will never end, will it?”

She huffed. “I’m not choosing them over you! I want
both
of your bands to win!”

“But only one of us can!” I shook my head, and my hair fell in front of my eyes. I pushed it out of my face, and Alexis caught my hand, making me yelp.

Her eyes widened. “Oh my god, you’re the one who hit him!”

I rubbed it, trying to smooth out the ache. “Trust me, he deserved it.”

“For what? For not fitting into your scene? For saying something you didn’t like? I can’t believe you’d do that!”