Always the One, page 15
part #1 of Always and Forever Series
“Trust me, babe, it was this or the motel with one star reviews and a rat infestation.”
“Touché,” she replies, looking over at the clock. “It’s getting late. I’m going to call and check in with L.” Losing her heat, I admire her flushed body as she moves across the room to grab her phone.
“Go call her, beautiful, I’m going to hit the shower.” I jump up from the bed and turn to look back at her. She’s smiling at me.
“Were you just looking at my butt, pervert?” I engage her, trying my best to make her blush. “I’m not just a piece of meat, woman. I’m a man with feelings. Geez, can’t a man get a little respect?” I throw my hands up and walk into the bathroom, smiling when I hear her giggle.
Before I slam the door in mock anger, I shout one last thing. “Chivalry is dead, where have all the good women gone?” Her laugh is the last thing I hear before I start the shower. I puff out my chest, swelling with pride and happiness. She’s turning me into a bag of raw feelings. I grab my body wash and get to work on cleaning myself up for the night.
Shayla
“ARE YOU EXCITED TO get to Park City?” Trey pulls my gaze from the place in my book I’m reading.
“Yes, I am very much so. You?” I ask, putting a crease in the corner of the page. I think I’m the only woman left who likes reading paperback; I don’t even own a Kindle or anything of that sort.
“I’m excited to spend some time with you. So yeah, I am. But spending some quality time with our friends and Pops is an added bonus.” Trey and his father have a very close relationship. Charles raised him perfectly, even as a single parent until Kathy came along. Trey may have a past with women and a lack of real relationships. But he’s never once treated me less than a perfect gentleman should. I can’t say much for all the women he slept with, but I got royal treatment, and I still am.
“I’m excited but nervous to see your dad. This is the first time he’s seen me as your girlfriend. I’m not the neighbor girl with glasses that you used to spend all your time with, I’m like, your girlfriend now.”
He reaches over and grabs my hand, delicately rubbing the inside of my palm with his fingers. “He was expecting us to get together. He was shocked we didn’t do this shit earlier.”
This is news to me, when did he say that? Yeah, we were best friends growing up, but we never acted like anything more. Besides the cuddling, sometimes hand holding during scary movies, oh yeah, and the freaking cuddling. Holy cow, maybe we knew the whole time we were supposed to be together—that we wanted to be together—and just buried our feelings deep down inside us. Lana was right. What kind of friends cuddle?
“You know people keep saying that, are we the only oblivious ones?” I ask.
“Well yeah, but I guess the natural chemistry couldn’t be hidden. To this day, I still tell anyone who asks that we were fucking meant for each other.” I stop his fingers from playing with my hand and lace our hands together.
“Really?” I absorb the next few seconds as they play out in front of me.
“Yeah, I do. Too many years and even more time together was missed out on. We were robbed of all that time to be a couple. So, I’m making it up to us, every day.” He really knows how to make a girl feel special, that isn’t something every average Joe would say. He kisses each of my knuckles and it makes my heart warm.
“Me too, handsome, me, too.”
Silences falls on us again, and I know we are both picturing what our lives would have been like if we got together sooner. It’s a somber thought, one that doesn’t fit in with this car ride or our current situation. We can’t change the past but we can enjoy the future.
I want to make this car ride fun; I mean how often will we get to do this? We’re both business owners, so getting a week off is not that easy to do. “Enough with the heavy, how about some music. I’m thinking eighties hits?” He smiles and with a quick nod I flip on my Pandora and select my favorite eighties classics. When the first few notes to Whitney Houston’s “I Want To Dance With Somebody” makes its way through the speakers, Trey instantly shouts and turns up the volume.
“Oh! Hell yeah! This is my jam, babe!” His face is joyous, completely unbashful. It’s infectious.
It takes a real man to admit that he likes a chick song. I can’t stop laughing as he moves his head to the beat, snapping his fingers in sync with the rhythm. Man, no way am I letting this pass up. Grabbing my phone slowly so he doesn’t notice what I’m doing, I open the camera and switch it to video. Hitting record right as the chorus comes on, I hold it at an angle so it looks inconspicuous. He throws his hand up in the air, keeping the other firmly placed on the steering wheel.
He’s singing along, unashamed, and moving his hands down his chest in repetitive motions. I seriously can’t feel my cheeks they are burning from smiling so big, and my abs are sore from all my laughing. I see drivers passing, pointing at him and smiling; yep, that’s my man!
“I want to dance with you, babe.” He’s pointing at me and making a come hither motion, before he goes back to waving his hand in the air. I can’t contain myself anymore, nearly peeing my pants when he starts with the spirit fingers.
“You know you love it when I make you laugh, baby!” he shouts over the music. “Now dance with your man, don’t leave me hanging.” By far, this is the best edition of road trip karaoke yet. Trey always does cute things like this with me. But this takes the cake. One minute we’re discussing relationships and fears, the next he’s making me fall in love harder with his humor, I have the perfect man.
“You’re crazy! Stop!” He keeps pulling at my hands, trying to get me to dance with him. Eventually, I give in and we spend the next five hours listening to eighties music, out-singing each other. This has been the best road trip ever, just like Trey said it would.
Pulling up to the hotel has my palms sweating and my stomach turning. I grew up with Trey and I know his parents very well, but this is different. I’m his girlfriend, and that holds new expectations, and I’m doubting whether I meet those or not.
“You ready, beautiful?” Grabbing my hand, he pulls it up to his lips and plants a gentle kiss that I can still feel when they leave their spot on my knuckles.
“No,” I reply.
He gives me a gentle smirk while he opens his door. “Baby, get out of the car. You’ve got this. We’ve got this.” I feel a little tinge of comfort with his words. Please, let them love me, let them love me for their son. Shit.
Getting out of the car, I follow behind him. Well, actually, I hide behind Trey, my hand squeezing his so hard it’s to the point of breaking it. We haven’t even made it to the lobby yet, and this is only day one. For the next four days, Trey and I are spending time in Park City with not only Lana and Kingston, but also Trey’s dad and stepmom, Kathy. A small smile curls at the corner of my lips when I think of Kathy. She really is like the mom in our group, other than Lana’s mom, Becky, she was the one I grew close with. Kathy’s an amazing stepmom to Trey. Honestly, you wouldn’t even know they aren’t related if you had no idea about his real mom. I’m not worried about her accepting us together; it’s Pops that I want to accept me.
Oh man, I hope this nerve-wracking feeling will dissipate and I’ll be able to remember, for the remainder of the trip, that this is his dad. The man I always called my second dad.
“Baby, it’s okay. Pops loves you and it isn’t any different now that you’re mine.” He moves his hand back and forth between us, signaling him and me. He’s right, I’m overreacting.
“I know, but I just want him to see me as your girlfriend, not the freckle-faced nerd who loved Star Trek and reading. Like I said earlier, the friend, who you used to run around with.” I add more emphasis on the word friend, stressing my point.
“Shay, my dad has seen you in the past ten years. You grew up a long time ago. Besides, I know you still love Star Trek…nerd.” He smiles as a small chuckle leaves my lips.
“Well, can you blame me, that Chris Pine is pretty dang sexy. I mean those eyes and those lips, yum, right?” I tease; he looks at me over his shoulder and I chuckle at his irritated expression.
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that. I’m way fucking hotter than that guy. My eyes are the only eyes you’ll look into, and my lips will be the only lips touching you or tasting you,” he gives back, with a cocky quirk of his brow.
“I mean I guess you are, Chris Pine is probably taken,” I continue joking; riling him up even more. Turning, he drops my hand then grasps me, pulling me to him by the hem of my black hoodie, I collide into his body.
“I’m an insanely jealous man, and I don’t like sharing you.” He leans in and takes my bottom lip between his teeth. Tugging lightly, he sucks it hard before letting it go again. “Besides, no other man can rock you to your fucking core like I can, baby. Lucky for you I know you are joking and you can’t resist this insanely good-looking man, so I won’t even give those comments any more of my time.” Leaving me there, he checks us in and I regain all consciousness while my libido is kicking into overdrive. Holy cow that was hot. He’s so full of himself and that is one of the many things I like about him. It counteracts with his insecurities, letting me know that the real Trey is somewhere deep in there, I just need to keep working on it with him.
Letting my mind wander again, once I’ve come out of my Trey-induced fog, I remember I brought some…select style nightwear for our trip, or for my first time. I’m more than ready to take this relationship to the next level, because all this temporary bliss is killing me and I want the whole package.
Lana didn’t make it an easy shopping trip when she went with me to find the perfect, “pop the magic bean” outfit. Yes, Lana, everyone, yours truly. She and Kingston really are the perfect match. Foulmouthed and overly sexual.
I know it’s a bit over the top and probably a bit cheesy, but I’m as virgin as they come. So the only experience I’ve had, or rather the vision of what tonight should be like, is from romance novels and made-for-TV movies.
The girl always wears lingerie for the guy, and the guy eats that stuff up. I’ve never had a boyfriend—sure, I went on dates with boys who never even tried to put moves on me—but just like Trey, commitment did not fall into my itinerary. Even though he physically pushed relationships aside, I just didn’t have any. I was too busy with school and keeping Lana safe during her time with Joel. So, alas, no time for boys. So, you could say my perception of reality in the dating world is…select.
I think I’m qualified to believe what I see in movies and read in books, right? The hot guy knows what he’s doing, and the virgin is dressed up in some over the top, sexy getup. So cut yourself some slack, Shayla, you are going to do great!
I fixate on remembering this mantra and say it repeatedly when I start to feel the need to back out or call it off. He would never know. I could just toss the lingerie.
No, you are doing it this time.
Actually, what I need to do is silence the voices in my head. They’re too damn loud.
After he checks us in we make our way up to the room. Everyone else is meeting us here tomorrow, so Trey and I will be spending the first night alone, with zero interruptions. So, the perfect night to have sex is tonight.
The château is beautiful and our room is extravagant. Trey didn’t disappoint. The king-sized bed is filled with fluffy pillows and a gorgeous white blanket that looks like a cloud. Across the room is a built-in fireplace with a fifty-five inch screen TV that you can pull out of the wall and angle it to wherever you’re sitting in the room. The bathroom is huge with his and her sinks and a separate room for the toilet and Jacuzzi tub. The best part though, that showcases the winter paradise, is the wall of windows that open up to a beautiful view of the snowy mountains.
“Can we move here?” I ask, gazing out at the view. His arms wrap around my shoulders and he rests his chin on my head.
“It’s a completely different world here than it is in Seattle.”
I agree. Seattle is hustle and bustle, people, noise, and constant movement, but here in Utah, where we grew up, it’s calm, serene, and peaceful. It’s like pushing a restart button whenever I come home. I need it.
“I’m thinking we should get some dinner at the hotel restaurant and then we’ll come back here and relax. Put on a movie?” he says, swaying me back and forth while kissing the skin behind my ear.
“Yes, let’s.” I feel a shiver run up my spine when he bites my ear softly, eliciting a soft moan from my lips. Really, I could skip dinner and spend the night locked in this room with him, so that’s exactly what I intend to do. Gathering what little voice I can muster from being so turned on already, I softly say, “I want you, Trey.”
“I want you all the time, baby, it’s all I think about. Does my girl need some attention before we go?” He turns me around and his hands move from my waist and glide up my shirt, gently stroking my back. I don’t think he understood what I meant. I mean, yes, foreplay is our specialty and we have become very familiar with each other intimately that way, so we can start there tonight, but I want it all, everything.
“Trey, I’m…I’m ready to give myself to you.” He stops and the smile he was wearing vanishes from his face. We look at each other for what feels like decades before he speaks again.
“Babe, are you serious? I mean I would love to, but I don’t want you to feel pressured to do this.”
“You’ve never made me feel pressured, and yes, I’m ready. I’m ready for us to make love.” The air in the room grows thick, the energy between us palpable.
Wrapping his arms tightly around me, my feet leave the ground and our lips connect. It’s soft at first, almost like we’re barely touching. He pecks my lips repeatedly and then looks into my eyes. They’re leveled with his now that he lifted me up.
“I want you too, baby, but only if you’re sure.”
I concede with a nod. I know I don’t need to say anything more. Inside, I’m a mess. More than anything, I want to do this though. Even though I’m prepared, I’ve never had another man touch me the way that Trey has, and sex—sex is something completely different. You’re giving every part of yourself to this person, like you’re becoming one. Honestly, there’s no one else on this earth that I would want to give that part of me to, no one else I would want to experience that closeness with. Trey Joseph Adams is the man of my dreams and the keeper of my heart.
“I’m ready. I want this with you, Trey.” He smiles, bringing his perfect lips back onto mine. They’re soft and warm; they taste just like mints and Trey. It’s like alcohol, you crave the sweet taste and the harsh burn warms your insides. I know he’s being soft, being gentle with me because this is my first time. Trey is all male and I expect sex can be wild and feverish with him, but he wants me to be ready.
Our kiss turns from calm to heated and passionate fast; his tongue seeks entrance at the seam of my lips. Every inch of my body is overly sensitized by his effect on me; I can feel him on every part of my body. Without hesitating, I grant him access.
I remember the lingerie I bought for him and reality hits me like a ton of bricks. This moment is raw, we don’t need any lingerie, this isn’t a movie or a book, this is real life. I’m living in the here and now, so forget the lingerie. I’ll give that to him another night, right now I want to be ripped from my clothes and thrown down on the bed, writhing under Trey and taking every hard inch of him. Two souls connecting in raw realness, no expectations needed.
Our lips don’t part as he lays me on the bed gently, and when we do finally come up for air he takes his time, moving his hands down my long torso to the button of my jeans. Something about looking up at him while he is looking down at me is so sensual. We’re both aroused and needy, and knowing we both want this only intensifies that sensation.
I bite my lip as he pops the button of my jeans and lowers the zipper, the dragging sound so loud in the silent room. Our ragged breathing and moans making the room seem so small, like there isn’t enough oxygen for our selfish mouths in the confined space.
Yanking the material at my waist, he slowly pulls them down my legs. Once they’re off, he leans down and his hands move up my sides under my top, taking it with him as he goes. Before I know it, he’s standing in front of the bed looking down at me. For the first time, I feel secure in myself and I feel beautiful. He doesn’t make me nervous…he makes me feel wanted.
“You are a fucking masterpiece, baby. I’m so far out of my league with you,” he says, rubbing his hand over his jaw, which is stubbled from the two-day car ride. “We have to go slow, baby, okay?” He drops to his knees, warning me or better yet preparing me that this is going to hurt. I bite my lip, thinking of the pain. Lana told me it’s not too bad, but Joel didn’t have quite the member on him that Trey does. I’ve touched and explored him in many different ways, so I know this will hurt, undoubtedly.
I feel my panties leaving my body and his soft lips kissing the inside of my thigh, it feels incredible. My back comes off the bed and I let out a small breath. “Trey…”
“So responsive. Fuck, baby, I want you.” He continues to leave featherlike kisses on both sides of my thighs until he reaches my center. He kisses just above my clit before moving down to suck it gently into his mouth. I start to see black dots in my eyes as he eats me like he’s been starved of me for days. Entering his two fingers into me, I tighten around him, trying to hold off my building orgasm.
“Give me one, baby, I want you to let go.” The rasp of his words are my undoing. I cry out his name as my hands grip the sheets and my back bows off the bed. I’m trying to catch my breath when he crawls up my body, lifting me up so he can remove my bra. Gently laying me back down, he starts in on my mouth, kissing me roughly with need. I can taste myself on his tongue, and surprisingly, it’s extremely sensual, leaving me even more needy than I was with my last orgasm. Moving from my lips, he kisses down my neck, lightly sucking and biting as he goes, until his mouth finds my erect nipple.
