Ricochet (10 page)

“Huh?”

“Are you hungry?”

“Am I what?” She was off her game, making this a little too easy.

Smiling, I rubbed my thumb against her cheek. “Did you want anything else?”

“Chocolate!”

I flinched because she’d pretty much shouted in my face.

That wasn’t what I’d expected her to say, but if that’s what she wanted to call it, I was game.

“Lonnie.”

OK, I was lost.

“You want chocolate and Lonnie?” I repeated the words slowly. She needed to hear how ridiculous she sounded.

“No. Yes.” She inhaled and closed her eyes. “Lonnie told me about this chocolate place. This place that sells chocolate.”

“OK.” I bit my bottom lip not only to mess with her but also to hold in my laugh and kept rubbing my thumb over her cheek. “We can go try it. I’m down to try
whatever
you want.”

With a short nod, she ducked under my arm and did some speed walking move in the other direction. I brushed off my shoulder, feeling like the man.

Whatever round this was, the point was mine!

“Lonnie texted me.”

“Yeah?”

We sat in the lobby, and Noelle was quiet, tearing up her chocolate while I centered my focus on the fountain in the middle of the room. The soft splash of the water was soothing, but the lull in the moment wasn’t distracting enough to make me forget about the work waiting for me upstairs.

“She asked if we wanted to go swimming.”

“Swimming?” The doors opened and a family—obvious out
-of-towners—hurried in bundled in winter gear. Behind them was another group of girls dressed as if they were ready to go to the club even though it was early afternoon. Weather was one of those things that were all about perception. But I vividly remembered having to put the heat on last night. I couldn’t imagine turning around and stripping half naked to go in a pool. “It’s too cold for that.”

“I said the same thing,” Noelle whispered to her lap, “But she said Grand Pequot has an indoor pool.”

I had no idea if that was true. I’d never stayed there before. But did it matter? “We’re not staying at Pequot.”

“True.” She sounded distant, which made me wonder how the conversation went. What she’d left out.

“What else? Did Lonnie say something to you?”

“Something like what?” The words were muffled around her candy, and I stared at her lips. I wanted them muffled around
me.
“Something like what?” She snapped her fingers to get my attention.

“Huh?” I made eye contact and,
fuck, I’d gotten distracted again. “What’s everyone up to?” I refocused. Not just on Noelle, but on the plans of the day. “I should get back to my room soon. Finish my report.”

She stood before I finished my sentence. “Oh, right. Of course.”

“Relax.” I shook my head and sighed on the cusp of being annoyed with her. “I said
soon
. Not now. I have some more time.”

She didn’t sit.

“OK then.” Taking her stance to mean our time together was over,
I rose and walked toward the elevators
. “What are you about to do?”

“I guess see if anyone else wants to go to the pool with me and Lonnie.”

When I heard her name again, I was reminded of something I’d been wondering since they saw each other the day before. “By the way, how long have you and Lonnie been cool?” It might have been a small world, but her knowing Lonnie was too much of a coincidence for me not to ask.

“Lonnie and I go way back, actually.” The smirk was back. It seemed Noelle liked knowing something I didn’t.

When she didn’t elaborate, I stabbed the up button with my finger and then used it to poke her side. “Way back like car seats or …”

“No,” she whispered, taking a step back to let someone pass. “Maybe way back is a stretch. She organized a few shows I danced in at school. I haven’t seen her for a while, though.”

“That’s cool.” There wasn’t much else to say in response to the half-assed explanation she gave.

The elevator pinged open and people spilled out, making way for us to get on with two other guys. I put my arm in the way of the door so it wouldn’t close and jutted out my chin signaling for Noelle to get in.

“I think I’ll wait for—”

“You can do that in my room.”

She didn’t argue, but I didn’t leave any room for challenge, either. I wasn’t feeling the way these guys were kind of leering and checking her out. Either she’d walk with me to my room and wait for Lonnie there, or I’d wait with her downstairs.

Taking a break, to walk around and spend time with Noelle proved to be the best thing for figuring out my report. With a clear head, I caught my mistake within minutes. This time she stayed quiet and out of the way
long enough for me to concentrate. But I think her presence helped me as well.

“Almost done!”
I spun in my chair and faced her. My cell rang.
“Fuck, hold on.”

It was an unknown number. Not a private caller but a number I didn’t recognize. I wanted to ignore it. But in case it was work related, I answered with my most professional voice. “Miles Bedford.”

“Miles?”

“Yes?” Someone had just punched me in the chest. The room spun. “Who’s speaking?”

“It’s me.”

I knew exactly who it was, months without hearing her voice weren't enough for me to forget the sound of it, after all these years.

“What do you want?”

“Should I go?” Noelle asked.

At the same time, the caller asked, “Do you know who this is?”

“No,” I answered Noelle.

Shaking her head, Noelle climbed off the bed. “You’re busy.”

“It’s Arianna.”

“Don’t you think I know that?”

Noelle’s eyes went wide.

“Fuck.” I pulled the phone away from my ear. This was a shit show. “Give me a second,” I said to Noelle, stopping her from leaving. “I should take this in case it’s important.”

“Of course.” The set of her jaw showed me she wasn’t happy but willing to appease me anyway. Something I appreciated.

I stepped into the hallway, making sure the latch blocked the door from closing all the way. I took a moment, a few calming breaths, before I brought the phone back to my ear. “Hello?”

“Who was that?”

“Excuse me?”

“I heard a female’s voice in the background.” The cautious tone Arianna used when she first called was gone. Now she sounded angry, maybe jealous. Audacity at its finest. “Is that your new girl or something?”

I didn’t like that Arianna heard Noelle’s voice. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel as though she had the right to question anything going on in my life. “She,” I lowered my voice to keep from yelling, “is none of your damn business. What do you want?”

“I’ve missed you.” She didn’t say it expectantly, like she’d wanted me to return the sentiment. It was said so matter-of-fact it almost threw me off.

Groaning in annoyance, I banged the back of my head against the wall. I didn’t have time for this—for her. “Arianna, you left—”

“You’re right.”
Her words were rushed.
“But I regret it so much. You—”

“It doesn’t matter.”

We talked over each other. Her trying to make a point and me not wanting to hear it.

“Let me repeat myself.” I paced the hallway. “You … left … me.
You
left. You don’t get to miss me. You don’t get to call me out of the blue like … Why
are
you calling me anyway?” How many times did I have to ask before she got to the point?

“My birthday was a couple weeks ago,” she started, voice low and pained. “You didn’t call.”

“Why would I?” I laughed. It was condescending. I meant it to be. She needed to feel and hear how much I didn’t give a shit anymore. I hadn’t realized it before, but I’d been waiting for this moment. Waiting to say my piece. Waiting to admit how much she’d hurt me. Now, life was giving me the opportunity, and I wasn’t about to squander it. “On second thought”—I stopped pacing and took a calming breath—“I’m glad you called. If you’d called before I’m pretty sure I would’ve hung up on you or I would’ve reminded you how bad you hurt me when you left, but in a way, that would’ve been a lie.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“Let me finish.” I had to grit my teeth to rein in my anger. She got to say everything she wanted to say when she ended things. It was my turn to talk. “Leaving me the way you did, it hurt like a bitch. I have no reason to deny that. Hearing you were with someone else so soon afterward cut deep. If it weren't for Warren and my sister, I’d probably be sitting around my house wondering what went wrong. But the only thing that went wrong was you. You were wrong for doing it the way you did. I was pissed and hurt, but I’m thankful. I didn’t realize how thankful I was until now. You saved us from a future of being miserable and resenting each other. You saved me from hating you later on.”

“Hating me, Miles? Wow?” That sarcastic tone was back. It used to annoy the shit out of me, especially when she’d bring that out in the middle of a serious conversation.

“I don’t hate you.” It was dumb I had to clarify, but she needed to understand she wasn’t important enough for such a strong emotion. “All you did was break up with me. That’s not cause for hate.”

“Do you ever miss me?” She skipped over what I’d said. Her voice sounded hopeful.

“Arianna, why did you call?”

There was a long pause that left me unsettled, before she sighed. “I guess I wanted to know how you’re doing.”

I faced the door, knowing Noelle was in my room when she could have copped an attitude and left at any time.
A smiled spread across my face.
“I’m good. I’m happy.”

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel.”

“It doesn’t matter how you feel.” My words were blunt, to the point. I was done with this conversation. Done with making Noelle wait for me while I went back and forth with someone who no longer deserved a minute of my time. “I have to go.”

Pocketing my phone, I leaned against the wall and waited. At any moment it would hit. I would miss Arianna. I would call her
back, ask her for a better explanation of why she’d left, or something.
The realization I missed her like crazy would cause my heart to stammer in my chest.
An epiphany would fall from the sky, reminding me how lonely, how meaningless my life had been since she left.

None of that happened.

“Miles?”

Noelle’s whisper echoed down the quiet hall, scaring the shit out of me.

“Sorry.”
She giggled when she saw my wide eyes.
“Are you OK?”

“Yeah.” My voice came out slow, confused. My heart raced. I fought the urge to demand some sort of explanation to why Noelle hadn’t sought me out after her birthday, after we hooked up that weekend. Before I registered taking a step forward, I was standing in front of Noelle and palming her cheek. Being near her without touching felt like some sort of torture. Everything I should have felt about Arianna, I felt with Noelle.

“Are you sure you’re OK?”

“I’m fine. I just … I had an epiphany.”

She tilted her head to the side, with wide eyes and a goofy smile. “Does it have anything to do with your computer being on”—she poked her thumb over her shoulder—“because it’s making some sort of beeping sound.”

I looked at the door and then at her. The sound was probably
an e-mail or someone from work trying to call me. I needed to make sure everything was set with my report, but Noelle’s words, and her
advice about not overworking
rang in my ear.

“Let’s go find the others.”
I slung my arm over her shoulder and pulled the door closed
as we passed. I needed a bit of a pick-me-up after my blast from the past.

“Is that what you’re wearing?” I asked, wide-eyed.

Widening her arms and doing a twirl, she nodded. “Yup.”

“Noelle, that’s not a costume. That’s … that’s underwear.”

“No, it’s lingerie and boy shorts, and it’s all I could come up with at the last minute.”

Where I was dressed in plain pajama-like pants with a wife beater, Noelle had on a corset with underwear, or as she called them, boy shorts. Whatever the fuck they were, she was damn near naked. But it matched the theme of the party: heaven and hell. She was wearing red to represent hell. It sure fit. The fucking devil, that’s what she was. If this was part of her plan, part of the game we had going on, I was ready to surrender.

The music seeped through the doorway, reaching out
to us and the others in line. The party vibe was in the air, making those around us smile. I was feeling it, too. There was a weight that had been lifted off my shoulders. I couldn’t wait to get inside and enjoy the night with my friends and Noelle.

But what she wore … Good God.

While I enjoyed the view—miles of beautiful dark skin—the fact other guys would be, and were currently, doing the same made me want to drag her upstairs. And it’s crazy because with Arianna I couldn’t remember ever being this jealous. I
wasn’t
jealous, period. But with Noelle, I wanted her all to myself.

Once inside the club, it seemed the dress code for the girls was
naked
. All the girls in the club, not just the ones with us, were dressed as skimpily as possible.

I snickered.

“What’s so funny?” Warren shouted.

“I was thinking how I was in heaven and hell with the girls and what they’re wearing.” I snickered again. “Get it?
Heaven and hell. Like the theme? Oh, forget it!”

He rolled his eyes, but I knew he found it a little funny, too.

Warren and I went our own way for a little bit while the girls—Erica, Lonnie, and Noelle—went theirs. Corey was already in the booth, and I realized the other girl, Teresa or whatever, never came downstairs.

Oh well.
One less cockblock tonight.

“How’s it going?” Warren found me leaning against the bar a while later.

Confused, I grimaced. Why was he trying to have a conversation with me, especially with all the naked ass scattered around us dancing? “Um … Everything’s straight with me,” I said slowly. “What’s up?”

“Lonnie’s pissed!”

As she should be.
Who would be happy being in the same spot with someone your man or girl fucked?

“She’s the reason I know Corey,” he screamed in my ear. “I should’ve realized she’d probably know one of the girls, too!”

He was being too hard on himself. He was a dumbass. There was no denying that fact. But he’d never flaunted the results of their breaks in Lonnie’s face. If he’d thought about it, this weekend would have gone differently. Or maybe it wouldn’t. Who knows? But he wouldn’t have tried to hurt Lonnie intentionally or mess with someone she knew.

“Don’t stress.” I clapped a hand on his shoulder for a split second and then dropped it. “There isn’t much you can do about it. When we get home, though, make sure you work overtime on damage control.”

He didn’t answer, and even if he had, I wouldn’t have heard him because I leaned away.

There was another DJ on, one of many who were in the lineup.

“This guy’s good,” I commented to … nobody because Warren wasn’t paying much attention to me either. Lonnie had made her way to us and was leaning the top half of her body in my direction.

“Yes?” I raised an eyebrow. My tone was neither friendly nor was it rude.

“To Elle!”

“What?” I leaned in to hear her better.

“Go talk to Elle!”

“Why?” Not that I needed a reason to talk to her, but Lonnie must have been telling me for a reason.

“Just go.” She pointed to the far side of the club near the DJ booth.

Noelle was
there dancing alone.
But she was distracted,
not in rhythm with the tempo
of the old reggae song playing.

“Hey.” I sidled up to her with a smile and pointed to her cup. “What’s that?”

She shook the cup then looked at me with a blank expression.

Now what
?

“Lonnie ordered it. I needed something strong; this is what I got.” She lifted it toward my mouth, and I took it but held it away from both of us.

Laughing, though I wasn’t amused, I asked, “Why did you need something strong to drink?” She could have all the hard liquor her heart desired, and I wouldn’t care. But if she drank because something happened, I didn’t like the sound of that. “Are you OK?”

“I’m fine.” She moved her shoulders in time with the new song. “Want to dance?”

“Yes.” I nodded because I really,
really
did want to dance with her. I wanted her in my arms. That would have to wait until I made sure she was OK. Something, yet again, seemed off. “But in a minute. What’s wrong?”

“I told you, I’m fine.”
She put her hands on my waist and skimmed a finger
under my shirt. My abs clenched. I chuckled and took a step back.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded and would’ve seemed fine if I hadn’t learned some of her facial expressions.

“You’re upset.” I bent so we were eye to eye. “What’s going on?”

“No, I’m not! Well, not anymore. I’m just … Listen, let me enjoy this weekend OK?”

She trailed a finger under my shirt again, and though it felt damn good and my body reacted, my head got in the way.

I heard, too clearly for my liking, the way she emphasized the word weekend. A reminder this was all we would have. I wasn’t for that this time.

So, even though it was hard for me, I had to stop her. I put my hands on hers to still her movements. Her nostrils flared while her shoulders tensed under my grip.

“Don’t do that.” I grasped her chin. “Don’t look at me like that. You know how bad I want you. You
know
I’m feeling you.”

“Do I? Are you?” She tried to act tough, but her voice betrayed her. She was hurt. “Or are you feeling the chase?”

I’d assumed the coyness, her playing hard to get, was just that—her flirting games—but she actually doubted me. If I’d known that before, I wouldn’t have kept the game going this long.

The tension in the air thickened, and the music suddenly became so loud it caused a ringing in my ear. None of that mattered.

Her words pissed me off. Gutted me. And I was officially done with the back-and-forth.
I twisted past the dancing forms and pushed her to a corner.
Facing her against the wall, I stood with my chest to her back and blocked everyone’s view of her.

“Listen!” My voice was harsh, snarling. At first, the cat-and-mouse we’d been playing was fun. Now it seemed the only thing we’d accomplished was a bad case of blue balls for
me and insecurity for Noelle. She needed to snap out of it. No.
I
needed to snap her out of it.

“Don’t
ever
question me again about the effect you have on me.” I grabbed her hand, put it against the bulge in my pants, and bucked my hips. “This is your answer.”
I snaked my hand around her waist and lowered it slowly,
continuing when I heard her whine and whimpers over the bass of the speakers. “Either you want me or you don’t, but no more playing games. I’m done with it.”

I slid my hand into her panties, pushed her harder against the wall, and started fingering her.

“Oh, God!”
She pushed her ass against me and rotated her hips.

“Any other day I would ask you to leave with me, go upstairs, and literally lay away any doubt you had. But we can’t do that because we’re here to support Corey.”

My fingers continued to move inside her while her whimpers got louder.

“But tonight, when we’re done and in my room, I’m
gonna fuck the shit out of this pussy and show you how bad I want you. We’ll see if you doubt me then.”

After hours spent drinking, grinding on the dance floor, and drinking some more, we both stumbled into my room like the drunken fools we were. Noelle, who at one point removed her shoes, stubbed the hell out of her toe on the doorframe.

“Fuck me!”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Not at her pain but at her choice of words because fucking her was exactly what I planned to do.

I sat her on top of the dresser and then
left the room to wet a towel with cold water.
When I came back, she was pouting and staring at her foot.
Adorable.
I wrapped the towel around her wounded foot, kissed the top of it, and slowly trailed kisses up her leg.

“Hey,” she whispered.

“Hey.” I pecked her lips, and rested my hands on the dresser. “You OK?”

She nodded and pressed her lips to my cheek and jawline before latching onto my neck. I lolled my head to the side and closed my eyes, bringing my hands to rest on her thighs.
The feel of her lips on the skin under my chin sent a sensation through me I couldn’t explain.
I wanted to feel it again. “Don’t stop.”

I urged her legs open while trying to undo the clasps on her corset. It was useless. The damn thing was stubborn, so instead of ripping it apart, I pulled it down in the front and freed her tits.

Licking, sucking, and lightly biting her breast, I loved the way she arched, the way she moved her hips against me to spur me on. The way she moaned when I licked. Whimpered when I bit. And went silent, swiveling against me, when I sucked on her flesh.

Needy and impatient for the next step, I stepped away, allowing her space to peel down her underwear while I undressed and pulled a condom from my bag. She sat on the dresser, legs splayed open,
finger against her pussy, waiting.

“So pretty.” I dropped to my knees and skimmed my nose against her clit. She smelled so good, so ready for me, and tasted better than I remembered. I lapped and sucked her clit for all I was worth until her body convulsed under the touch of my tongue.

I stood and dropped a kiss on her shoulder and tapped her thigh. “Turn around,” I said, aching to be inside her.

Grinning, she hopped down and then faced the dresser. I pulled her hair back, not roughly but enough to make her look up.

As I grabbed the base of my cock and slowly rolled on a condom, we locked eyes in the mirror. A slow smirk took over my features. Her eyelids were hooded, and she was breathing so hard a portion of the mirror fogged.

Bent at an angle,
I tried to reach her mouth over her shoulder.
Mouth to mouth, tongue to tongue, she swallowed the groans that escaped when I slid into her.

My thrusts were slow and deep, my arms wrapped around her front, holding her tits tightly.
I pressed my chest flat against her back and attached my mouth to her shoulder.
I wanted, needed, every inch of my body touching hers.

No words were exchanged. Just pants and whimpers, grunts and groans mixed with the slamming of the dresser against the wall. It started grating on my nerves, the
bang, bang, bang.
It was worse than a squeaky bed.

I moved us to the real bed and hoped we wouldn’t run into the same problem.
Coaxing her to the middle, I used my knees to open her thighs.
I hesitated to push inside her when she reached for my cock.

Pushing hard into her grip, I bent my head back with a moan. I had no idea why she was jacking me off. I was hard as stone already, but I didn’t question it or complain.

“Don’t stop.” It was a plea, not the first one of the night. But when I felt my abs tightening, I pulled away, only to gather her hands in mine and rest them on either side of her head. I pushed into her deep, fast, and without mercy.

She wriggled her hands away and gripped my shoulder. Her nails dug into my skin.

“Harder.”

That was the first command I’d heard from her all night, maybe even the first coherent word. I hugged her body to mine so tight my arms strained.

“Open your legs wider,” I told her, but grabbed her ankle to ease her legs over my shoulder before she had a chance to do what I’d asked. Everything about the moment was all-consuming. I went hard and fast hoping to give her what she was asking for. My legs burned but not as much as the pit of my stomach.

“Stay with me tonight.” I dropped her legs. Covering her body with mine, I repeated my request, whispering the words against the crook of her neck. I ended my demand with a soft kiss, a softer thrust, and a lick of the sweat pooling at her temple.

I didn’t care how pathetic, needy, or desperate I sounded. I didn’t want the night to end so soon and didn’t have time to worry about pride or saving face or acting as if I didn’t give a shit. If I didn’t say something, Noelle would be rushing out of my room, clothes half on, the second I pulled out.