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“Beth, I am taking you to one of the shows they’re having in Miami on Saturday. I was gonna surprise you, but after they performed, I remembered the Tainted Virtue bookmark on your desk and didn’t want you to feel like you missed out because you weren’t there tonight. You’ll get to see them live too.”
I jumped on his lap and as I was about to resume my spot next to him, his hands landed on my hips, stilling me. Honestly, I wanted to stay. His legs were muscular and strong, yet it felt better than this stiff, frilly sofa. “Chase,” I murmured. “The tickets had to be on the expensive side.”
My impression was that Chase was in a tight financial situation like me. I mean, why would he work for and live with his friend’s family for the summer if he could’ve lived with his own family and work wherever he came from? While everything Chase wore looked delectable on his powerfully built body, I could tell that the only name-brand items he wore were his sneakers and his shoes for work. Splurging could really hurt him and I didn’t want him to think that he had to buy my friendship. And I also knew that when guys got things for girls, most of them had expectations. At least, all of the guys Cindy had dated had. Although I liked Chase, I wasn’t going to hook up with him because he got me tickets for a Tainted Virtue concert. I loved that band, but my fan love had its limits.
“Hey,” he said. “Beth, I can afford the tickets. What’s going on?”
“I, uh, I am not gonna sleep with you with because you bought me tickets, Chase.” I blurted it out, but I had to let him know. If it ended the start of our friendship, then it was for the best. I wasn’t cool feeling indebted to a guy or becoming another notch under his belt.
Chase set me down next to him. “I don’t want you to do anything you don’t wanna to do. I’ve been looking for deals for their upcoming tours.” He reached for his glass from the floor and gulped the rest down and then took a deep breath. “I don’t have to entice girls to sleep with me. I never had to. Do I wanna sleep with you? Hell yeah, I do. I’d be lying if I said otherwise. But that’s not my goal right now.” He set the empty glass back down on the floor and cupped my chin with his hand. The coolness of his fingertips made me shiver a little. “I want us to do something that we both enjoy: listen to a great band.”
I was parched, and Chase must have known because he handed my drink to me. Concern filled his eyes. “I had to say where I stand.” I sounded as if I had the wind knocked out of me and I didn’t want to come across as meek. Glancing down, I tried to force a smile, and he brought me back into the warmth of his wide arm. He traced a circle on the front of my hand and I felt calmer. He didn’t look annoyed like I thought he’d be.
“You can tell me anything.” He returned to rubbing my shoulder.
Silence descended on us for a while and we remained on the sofa. When I tipped my head up, I watched as his eyes boldly roved over me, the spark of pleasure that he elicited throughout my body heightened when he placed me on his lap again.
“Did Pierce have a good time?”
He sighed. “Tainted Virtue’s performance made his night.” He furrowed his eyebrows. “Rylan, Joel, and I talked to him a little before the show and I could already see him collecting himself.”
“You help Pierce to relax,” I told him.
He ran his fingers from my shoulders and dug them into my scalp, which felt really good. His natural masculine scent couldn’t compare to the soap he used. As I was about to move in even closer to his chest, he brought my legs over his thighs. I had the urge to run my fingers underneath his shirt and over his chest.
“Joel and Rylan keep him grounded. They’ve been his boys for years,” he said. “I am his friend from college. There’s that difference, you know?”
“Pierce values your friendship just as much as he does with Rylan and Joel.”
“Yeah, Pierce and I are tight. I am just saying that those two can give him perspective when he’s pissed off. It makes sense since they’ve known Pierce forever.” He sounded so sensible, yet I still thought that he was trivializing how much he affected Pierce’s life. The brief conversation I’d had with Pierce about his friendship with Chase wasn’t the only reason I felt this way. It was also because of how I observed them interacting.
“Pierce can talk to you. And I don’t think he confides with Rylan and Joel more than you, or as much.”
I raised my hand to his corded shoulder and he heaved in a deep breath.
“Do you trust anyone other than your best friends Mariska and Jake?” he queried several minutes later.
“I trust Pierce. I trust Uncle Anton, Aunt Deborah, and Cassidy. I am on your lap. So there’s some trust here.”
He motioned with his head. “And you trust all of us to various degrees?”
“Yes,” I responded. “Who do you go to when you need someone to talk to?” I wondered.
“I go to Pierce,” he answered coolly. “And I can come to you, right?”
“Duh,” I said, and I hit his chest, aware that he hadn’t included Rylan or Joel as people he could trust. It looked like he thought he’d be bumming off Pierce’s friends if he included them in his life more. I hadn’t conversed with such a conscientious guy in my life. It was like he thought about things too much like I did. But I thought it was selfless of him. He didn’t want to step on their toes.
I definitely wanted to be someone he could open up with freely, fully, without limits. But being in his arms was all the trust I needed from him now. The way his eyes locked with mine made me feel like he was strumming my nub with his fingers. My breath caught in my throat. Leaning his face toward mine, the bridge of his strong nose almost brushed mine. He trailed his thumb up and down the pulse at my throat.
I wanted to cover his lips with my own and run my tongue down the side of his neck towards his chest and firm, sculpted stomach. Chase’s demeanor wasn’t tender anymore. Desire filled his eyes and made his countenance appear close to ominous. The heat in the flesh between my thighs grew warmer from the undeniably carnal feel of his hand falling to my thighs and drifting up to the side of my waist before he settled on my hip. Gripping the pocket on the side of his button-down shirt, I trembled. Chase turned his head to one side, teasing me with a feather-light stroke on my lips that drove me crazy.
“Chase—”
He nipped my bo
ttom lip and kissed me deftly. I didn’t realize that I closed my eyes until I opened them and watched as he started to slowly open his eyes also. He had such nice dark brown eyelashes that could be called pretty until the rest of his sharp features were taken into account. There was no way I could ignore his increasing erection as he returned his attentions to my mouth, sucking on my lower lip, further exploring me with his talented tongue. He rolled his fingers on my hardened nipples through my shirt, making my breasts feel heavier.
My muscles tightened as the electricity building between us blazed into strong, lingering sparks. A part of me wanted to run from him, run from this, because it was so addictive. The tip of his tongue tangled with mine, setting off pleasure centers in my mouth I didn’t know existed and caused me to ache for him to do the same for me below me waist.
