“It’s amazing.” I tug Oliver’s hand and lead him to the covered deck butted up to the grassy sand with a long boardwalk leading to the sprawling beach and breathtaking panoramic ocean view. The old gray house with white shutters isn’t the most visually appealing house on this stretch of land, but it’s cozy, charming, and ours for the weekend.
Oliver sets our bags down and walks to the edge of the deck with this hands on his hips.
“Not what you expected?”
Oliver chuckles. “I didn’t have any expectations.” He turns and pulls me into his arms. “My neighbor has been full of surprises, so I’m learning to go with the flow.”
“She sounds amazing.”
“She’s unpredictable and dangerous…” he points to the cut by his eye “…but, yes, in the most amazing way.”
Lifting onto my toes, I kiss him. His hands cup the back of my head as his tongue slides against mine.
“Get a room!” Kai’s grumbly voice infiltrates our private bubble. “Oh, that’s right. You already have one. I’m the poor schmuck who will be sleeping in the den.”
“Kai Pie, I’m sure you’ll find some old rich lady to hook up with this weekend.”
“Shut up, Alex.”
“Is that why you broke up with Kate? Was she not mature enough for you?” Alex loves to prod Kai for a reaction, and he always goes for the bait.
“No, that’s not why I broke up with Kate.” Kai looks straight at me and his piercing stare and suggestive tone make me shudder.
“Let’s take our bags upstairs.” I nudge Oliver toward the door, avoiding all eye contact with Kai.
“Are you going to play nice this weekend?”
Oliver sets our bags on the bed. “With whom?”
I walk behind him and rest my cheek on his back while wrapping my arms around his waist. “With Kai.”
“What am I, a child?”
“It seemed so in the car.”
He chuckles. “What will you give me if I play nice?”
I slip my hand below the waistband of his shorts and stroke him. “I’m sure I can think of something?”
He thickens in my grip as his breath catches in his chest. I start to remove my hand, just intending to tease him a bit.
“Don’t stop.” He grabs my wrist and pushes my hand back down.
“It’s just a preview.”
“Well, I need a longer preview. Don’t stop until you get to the coming attraction.”
I laugh. “They’re waiting for us downstairs.”
“Then hurry up.” His words are tense and needy.
“Turn around.” I pull my hand out and this time he doesn’t protest.
Kneeling, I unfasten his pants as I look up at him and we both share sexy, naughty smiles. I run my tongue along his entire length and circle it over the head. His hips jerk forward and I smile in complete satisfaction.
“Take your shirt off.”
His forehead wrinkles. “For this?”
I nod and stroke him while my tongue continues to tease the head. He shrugs off his shirt and I look up at his firm, defined chest while a pleasurable smirk tugs at my lips.
“You like looking at me?
I nod and he smiles.
“Well I don’t,” Kai says from the doorway.
“Kai! Get out!”
Oliver turns and fastens his pants while I scramble to my feet, crimson with embarrassment.
“Sorry, Viv, didn’t mean to interrupt. Alex wants you to go with her to the store.”
I stomp my way to the door and shove Kai’s chest. “Tell her I’ll be down in a minute. Out!” I slam the door and turn around, leaning against it. “I’m sorry.”
Oliver slips on his shirt. “Don’t be.”
“I’m embarrassed.”
He feathers his fingers over my face and smirks. “You weren’t the one caught with your pants down.”
“I know, it’s just—”
“What? Are you embarrassed of me? You think I have a small pecker?”
“What?” My eyes widen.
“I’m kidding. I know you don’t have a comparison, but trust me—”
“Wait what do you … oh, the virgin thing.” I grin. “Oliver, I was a virgin in the literal sense, not the broad spectrum never-been-kissed way.”
His head juts back. “Really?”
“Really, and no, I don’t think you have a small pecker.” I start to wrap my arms around his waist, but he grabs my wrists and steps back.
“You’d better get going. I’m sure Alex is waiting for you.”
I squint my eyes. “You’re not upset are you?”
He turns and puts his hands on his hips with his head bowed. “No … just … it’s fine.”
Grabbing his arm I pull at him until he turns back to me. “You slammed on the brakes the second you found out I was a virgin and now the knowledge that your cock isn’t the first I’ve seen is an issue?”
He pulls away from me. “I said it’s fine … just go.”
“Unbelievable. You’re a real head case sometimes.”
“Don’t!”
I jump from the snap of his firm tone.
“Don’t … ever … call me that.”
The verbal slap stings. There’s that one percent again. The part of Oliver that is so foreign to me. It’s a part I don’t want to know, but I need to because it could make or break us. One percent seems like nothing, but I have a feeling it could be everything for us.
I hate that he can’t even look at me. “I’ll be back.”
Kai is the lucky recipient of my drop-dead look as I grab my purse. “I’ll be in the car, Alex.” Kai smirks and my hands clench, fighting back the urge to wipe that stupid grin off his face.
“What’s going on?” Alex asks getting into the car.
“My best friend is an ass and my boyfriend is a jerk.”
“Yikes. What now?”
“I can’t figure out what the deal is with Kai. Why did he tell me Kate left him? Why is he acting like such a dick to Oliver, and why does he look at me like he owns me?”
Alex cringes.
“What?”
She chews on her lip.
“What?”
With a quick sideways glance, she sighs. “He told Sean that he has feelings for you. That’s why he broke up with Kate.”
“Feelings? What’s that supposed to mean?” I cross my arms over my chest.
“You know what that means.”
“No, I don’t. Kai just got tired of Kate and he’s bored so he thinks he wants me, but he doesn’t. He just wants someone, anyone.”
Alex lifts her shoulders. “Maybe, but Sean made it sound like Kai came to some life-changing decision that you’re the one and only one for him.”
There is no response to that. I stare out the window, releasing a deep breath.
“What did Oliver do?”
I roll my eyes. “Nothing, everything … I don’t know. He’s hiding something, but I have no clue what it is.”
“Hiding what? Like a wife or something.”
I laugh. “No, more like something from his past that haunts him. I’ve met his family. They wouldn’t welcome me with open arms if it were some deal breaker.”
“Why don’t you ask him?”
“I can’t. Whatever it is feels like the line between Jekyll and Hyde.”
“You’re afraid of how he might react if you ask him?”
“I’m afraid of everything—his reaction, mine, losing him, losing us. He has this door down the hall from his bedroom and it’s locked with a dead bolt … a freaking dead bolt. Who has a deadbolted door to a bedroom or closet or whatever the hell it is?”
“Did you ask him about it?”