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I shivered. Everything was moving so quickly. My head was spinning. Even if I agreed with him at some level, I was struggling. “I’ve spent the last three years hating you and now, because of your magic dick, I’m falling in love with you? I don’t know, it’s all pretty fucked up. I’m not sure my pride can take that kind of 180.”
“You think too much,” he said with a sigh. “Probably a direct consequence of not being fucked hard enough by the right person. I plan to rectify that as often as possible.”
My breath caught in my chest and a shiver of delight danced across my skin. God, I loved how that sounded. “But what if that’s all this is? Sex? A relationship is more than sex.”
“I know what I feel, Layla,” he said, his tone changing. He was no longer being flip. “Deep down, I’ve known for a long time but I wasn’t ready to commit to it. I’m ready now. I’m ready to do it right. We’re both seniors. Our lives at Oak Ridge are about finished. I’m going to law school, you’re going to get a job in broadcasting but at the end of the day, we both need someone who understands who we are.”
I frowned, lifting up to gaze in confusion. “But how could I possibly know who you are? I’ve been hating who I thought you were for the past three years,” I said.
“That’s surface stuff,” he said. “I like ketchup, not mustard, prefer romantic comedies over horror flicks and I’ve never seen a single episode of Friends.”
I balked. “That’s a tragedy.”
“Which part?”
“Uh, duh, the mustard part. What do you put on a corndog?”
He laughed. “I don’t eat corndogs.”
“Well, there you go, see? Total opposites.”
“Surface stuff,” he assured me and the way he said it, I believed him.
How had I never seen this side of Oz before? This sweet, sensitive, calm, yet decisive side? And oh, so sexy! He had this way of taking control that excited me in ways that I never realized I craved. If anyone would’ve suggested that I needed a man to take control in the bedroom I would’ve told them they’d fallen and hit their head but Oz made it deliciously wicked and I loved it.
“Hey, I have a confession to make and it’s going to suck,” he said with a frown.
“That sounds ominous.”
Oz sighed with a rueful sigh. “Yeah, it’s pretty shitty and I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I’m just going to have to hope you have a sense of humor.”
I started to scowl, not liking the sounds of where this was going. “Why do I feel this is going to change my good mood?”
“Because it probably will.”
“Alright, spit it out. Get it over with,” I said, drawing the covers back over my tits, just in case, whatever he had to say removed his right to see them.
Chapter 10
Oz
That damn bet with Rhett.
The thing about realizations was that they rarely happened before you did something colossally stupid — they happened after so that plenty of damage could be done in the aftermath of discovery.
I knew I had two choices. I could keep the bet a secret, tell Rhett he won, that I hadn’t sealed the deal and then hand over the pink slip to my baby and walk away knowing I’d gotten the real prize with Layla but sooner or later Layla would ask why Rhett was driving my lifted Dodge and the truth would come spilling out.
In my head it played out something like this:
“Oh, yeah, I bet that I could fuck you by Halloween but I realized what a douchebag I was being by making that dumbass bet and I didn’t want you to know so I never told you.”
Yeah, sure, that sounds great. There’s absolutely zero chance of spinning that into anything other than what it is — total crap.
And there was no way I’d come out smelling like a rose either.
But damn, I was “woke as fuck” now and I wouldn’t dream of making such a stupid mistake now.
Seeing as I didn’t want to chance Layla finding out about the bet later, I decided to just put it all on the table.
Or I could just man up, find the balls and just admit that I’d let my ego get the best of me and I’d made a stupid, immature bet that I couldn’t wiggle my way out of gracefully. Sure, eating crow never tasted good and it felt like it was going to choke you going down but I was man enough to admit when I fucked up so I could do this, right?
Sure.
So why did my stomach feel like I’d just eaten a rotten egg for lunch?
Because Layla wasn’t a doormat type and wasn’t likely to forgive and forget so easily and frankly, I didn’t want her to be. I didn’t want to get off lightly but then I didn’t want to lose her either. I was caught in a rough spot.
Layla was regarding me with wary suspicion and I didn’t blame her. The evening had taken a weird turn. We’d gone from wild monkey sex to we-need-to-talk seriousness.
“Okay, I’m just going to throw it out there and let the chips fall where they may,” I said.
“Very brave of you,” Layla said, narrowing her gaze. “Am I going to want to throat punch you?”
“Maybe.”
“Fabulous.”
“All right, so here goes,” I said, sitting up, wishing I, at least, had my balls covered. “I made a stupid bet with Rhett a few days ago before I realized what I really wanted and it involved you and my truck.”
She stared blankly, not putting two and two together. “What do me and your truck have in common?”
“Well, I bet that I could get you in bed before Halloween or Rhett could have my truck.” Hurt flashed in her eyes and I wanted to punch myself in the nuts. That was exactly what I didn’t want to happen. “It was totally stupid and immature and I regret saying something so insensitive. If I could take it back, I would. I’m sorry, babe. I mean it, seriously.”
“Don’t call me, babe,” Layla warned with a narrowed gaze. “You don’t get to drop that bomb on me and then call me babe as if we’re a thing. Seriously, use your head. I need to process this for a minute.”
“Of course.” I chewed my lip. “Should I get dressed? I feel kinda vulnerable right now with my junk within punching distance.”
“Probably wise.”
I jumped from the bed and pulled my clothes on while she did the same. The silence felt heavy, which sucked because only moments prior it’d been sublimely awesome, like fucking heaven.
The air still smelled like sex but the mood was frosty.
“I was stupid to say something like that,” I tried apologizing but Layla was in a different head space and it worried me because I had a feeling I knew where she was going and it was totally wrong. “Layla, don’t go there. It’s not what you think.”
“What do I think, Oz?” she asked, turning to face me.
“You think I orchestrated this whole thing, said all those things just to get you in bed to satisfy the bet but that’s not the case. If that were true, I wouldn’t have told you about the bet at all. I came clean because I have real feelings for you. I had a fucking epiphany, you know? I want a clean slate, nothing hanging over our heads.”
“But that’s something you would say to make me think that you were sincere,” she said, cocking her head as if studying me, as if trying to determine if I were lying. I hated that she couldn’t trust me but I wasn’t going to back down. “Oz, I think I was right in the first place, we’re just too different. Sex is one thing, a relationship is another. You and I are not meant to last.”
“I know it’s crazy. I know how it looks,” I said. “I can see how it reads but I also know that nothing has ever felt as right as you and I. I’ve been chasing this feeling for years without knowing that it was right here all along. The difference being, I recognize it as the truth, you’re still fighting it.”
I saw in her eyes, she knew I was right. Why she couldn’t admit to it, I didn’t know but I wasn’t going to back down. “When I’m inside you…the world disappears,” I said, moving toward her. Her mouth trembled as she took a step back but I followed until she could go n
o further, her back against the wall. I braced my hands on either side of her head, leaning in to claim her mouth, reminding her of what kindled between us.
I couldn’t explain it — it simply was.
All I knew was something wild and untamed that only answered to our voices had awakened inside us. I couldn’t go back knowing that it was there.
Neither could she.
So that left us to deal with the awareness and the knowledge that we had to figure things out.
“I want to spend my life fucking you raw,” I said against her soft lips. “I want to wake up with your taste in my mouth and your scent in my nose.” She gasped and I took the opportunity to steal her breath, my tongue sliding along hers. “I want to discover your limits and test your boundaries, baby girl.”
She groaned and I nearly buckled. I trembled as I fought the urge to take her again but I was already nearing my limit of endurance for the night. I was resentful of the fact that I needed food and sleep when all I wanted was to bury myself endlessly in that willing body.
When I thought of all the times I wasted spending time with other women, I just shook my head, irritated. Every woman paled beside Layla.
“Tell me you understand, baby girl,” I begged, holding her tight, pressing myself against her. Even now, I was semi-hard. She moaned. “I need to know that you understand I would never hurt you. I am so sorry for being an idiot. Just say the word and I’ll give Rhett my pink slip without thinking twice if it means we can forget about this stupid bet and never talk about it again.”
I half-expected her to punch me in my junk. I would’ve taken it. Some things were worth a shot to the crotch. When the moment stretched interminably long, her voice broke the tension.
“But I like that truck,” came her muffled response and I allowed her to pull away. Her eyes glistened with tears but a grudging smile tugged at her lips. Was it possible I’d passed through the gauntlet alive? I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high but I dared to seize the glimmer in the moment.
“It’s a pretty fucking great truck,” I agreed, risking a grin. “To be honest, I’ve had some hot fantasies of bending you over my tailgate, your skirt flipped over your hips after a game…man, the ways I’ve defiled you in my head are fucking epic and probably illegal in some states.”
“Is that so?” she said, wiping at her eyes. “Big talker.”
“Oh no, baby. I put my money where my mouth’s at — and right now, my mouth is planning to be all over that sweet body of yours.”
She giggled, the sound ricocheting through my body like a rush of sunshine, admitting coyly, “I’ve fantasied about going down on you in that truck.”
“Were you wearing your uniform? Please say yes. God in heaven, please say yes.”
Layla nodded, looping her arms around my neck. “Yes.” She kissed me this time and my body lost the tension cording my muscles. I curled my arms around her waist, drawing her close. She gazed up at me to ask, “So about this stupid bet…”
“It’s so lame,” I admitted with an embarrassed groan. “And really inappropriate.”
