AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I see that,” she comments, a hint of jealousy creeping into her tone.
Now my eyebrows shoot up. “Does that upset you?” I taunt her. “Would you like to be one of my groupies, too?”
“No. Not one of your groupies.” The statement hangs between us, but when Stella speaks again, it’s not about my fans. “You can’t be mad about a stupid, staged stunt for the cameras,” she insists. “You’re not that egomaniacal. That’s more Gabe’s style.”
I think of how competitive our housemate had been that evening. I turn to do a lap, but to my astonishment, Stella jumps in with me, fully clothed.
“Will you talk to me?” she begs. “I’m trying to help.”
Abruptly, I stop swimming and spin around to face her.
“My father is going to see that game, and I’m never going to hear the end of it,” I growl, shaking her off. Diving under water,I don’t stop until I reach the shallow end. Resurfacing, I turn to face her again.
“Your father?” she repeats. “Why does he care?”
I snort and swim back toward her. “Because I’ll shame him. He’s going to see his only son, on the basketball court with kids ten years younger than him, getting his ass handed to him.”
Stella blinks several times, as if she’s trying to make sense of my statement.
“Those kids are elite players, and a lot of them will probably go pro,” Stella reminds me. “And the whole thing was meant to make us look like assholes. That’s why the producers set it up.”
“Well, they succeeded, and my father won’t ever let me forget it.” Stella inhales as if she’s searching for the words to say, but I don’t let her speak. “Don’t try to understand it. He’s military. He demands perfection. It’s bad enough I came to Hollywood in the first place, but every televised misstep…”
I shudder and try to shove the thought out of my head.
“Where is he now?”
I shrug. “South Korea, I think.”
Stella relaxes. “He probably won’t even know about this. You’re overthinking it, Forrest.”
“He’ll know. He’ll see it one way or another.”
“Well, screw him. I’d like to see him on that court,” she huffs angrily, and for a moment, I think I love her.
My shoulders sinking, I stare at her, fully dressed in the pool with me.
“You’re not with him tonight, or for the next two and a half weeks,” she goes on. “You’re here with me and those two inside.”
“Lucky me,” I murmur, wading closer to her.
She stops speaking and eyes me, cocking her head back as I tower over her.
“Let’s enjoy this time together and not let the real world drag us down.” Her prepared speech falters with my nearness.
“I like that idea,” I agree, brushing a damp strand of hair out of her face. “It’s kind of nice out here, isn’t it?”
She slips back onto the side of the pool, her clothes dripping back into the water as I draw closer. She bobs her head, her lips part, and I swim closer, my body touching the side of the pool now. Her legs spread to allow me between them. I haven’t been this close to her before, and I see that she really is just as perfect up close as she is at a distance. Her skin is flawless, the innocence of her dark eyes grabbing me as she glances at me through her peripheral vision. My hand reaches up to pull her view entirely toward me, wanting her eyes on me.
“Don’t look away,” I tell her, and she exhales as if she has been waiting for me to say exactly this. Her eyes half close, her head leaning in anticipation.
A part of me wants to ask her about Bennet and Gabriel, but honestly, I don’t really care. I just want her, the plumpness of her rosy lips drawing me in. Stella’s breaths quicken as she recognizes what’s coming next, but I hesitate, unsure if I should take the plunge, if this is what she wants, or if she is pitying me because of my earlier dark mood.
She makes the decision for me, dropping her lips toward me and crushing her mouth to mine. Instantly, a bolt of energy sparks through me, the very same that I felt from the first time I’d laid eyes on her, the moment I’d caught her from toppling off the pedestal in the studio.
Soft hands cup my wet face, and I pull myself onto the deck again, never losing my hold on those luscious, full lips of hers. Her lips part, a small sigh falling into my mouth, and I capture it with a shiver. It sets me back to explore her face, mouth trailing over her cheeks and over the curve of her chin. I absorb the sweetness of her skin, relishing her softness, the tightening of her fingers over my face as Stella both relaxes and tenses under my hold in unison.
Blood rushes through me faster now, desiring to free her of those sopping clothes and see what’s hidden beneath as I have imagined, alone in my room, so many times before. My hands peel away the painted-on material of her shirt, and I’m overcome with the scent of her pheromones, combined with the subtlest hint of her fruity perfume, which always lingers in the back of my nose. I catch whiffs of it at the most inopportune times now, when she’s nowhere around. It’s only going to get worse now, isn’t it?
