BLUE
My shoes came off an hour ago, my hair has lost most of its bounce, West has stolen every trace of lipstick off my lips, and I can’t remember a time I’ve had more fun. This is the first song we’ve sat out on since we walked into the gym, and I’m nowhere near tired. In fact, I’m practically buzzing with energy.
Guess I’ve taken Jules’s advice to heart and I’m living a little.
Resting his back against the wall, West grips my hips in front of him while we stare out on the crowd, hundreds of bodies moving to the same beat. Our whole crew is posted now, even Joss. As part of the dance committee, she’s spent most of the night working, so it’s cool she finally gets to chill for a bit. She and Dane share a laugh, but the music’s too loud to even guess what’s funny.
Gently grinding against West because the music still has a hold of me, I pan the room. Sterling’s standing to our left, wearing a suit that fits almost identical to West’s, but in navy blue instead of black. He slips one hand in his pocket and scans the gym, taking a slow drink from his cup. His head swivels a bit and I’m curious when it stops, following his gaze. I can only guess he’s just realized the tall blonde near the punchbowl’s been watching him.
I recognize her from one of the infamous X’s last posts. The woman is definitely Headmaster Harrison’s wife, filling the role of a chaperone tonight it seems. Only, she doesn’t appear to be interested in anything or anyone but Sterling. She’s beautiful, has the body of a woman who spends a fair amount of time in the gym, and the only thing that even hints that she may be up in age is that she’s married to Harrison. Otherwise, she’d pass for being in her late twenties, early thirties.
Whatever the case, she’s too old for Sterling, but doesn’t seem to care.
A slow smile spreads across her glossed lips and my eyes dart back to Sterling. His expression hasn’t changed, which gives the impression that he’s ignoring her. But when he turns without making a big deal of having had her attention at all, I’m now certain he means to ignore her.
My eyes lock with his, and the curious look on my face is likely what gives away that I caught the whole, strange interaction. When one corner of his mouth tugs up into a smile, silently acknowledging what only the two of us seemed to notice, he sets down his empty cup and weaves his way back into the crowd. Eventually, he finds a girl in the right age group to dance with and I glance back toward Harrison’s wife. Sure enough, her eyes are glued to him, causing me to see X’s post in a whole new light.
Apparently, the woman’s known for going after younger guys, and if she has it her way, Sterling might be her next victim.
“Ready to get back out there?”
West’s deep timbre pulls me out of my thoughts. I steal a glance at him over my shoulder, then answer his question with an action instead of words. Taking his hand, I lead us back toward the middle of the dancefloor. By the third song in, it’s like we never took a break at all. Sweat dampens my hairline, but I’m nowhere near wanting to stop.
Heat.
So much heat.
Where his chest presses against mine. Where his breath caresses my neck. Where his palms slip over the smooth material of my dress.
The music isn’t what moves us anymore. It’s the thick cloud of lust that’s been hanging over us all night. Which is why we seem to keep forgetting it isn’t just the two of us out here.
Twice, chaperones have made their way over to remind us to keep things PG. Both times it was because West’s hands lingered on my ass a little too long for their liking.
I feel all the eyes on us, especially coming from the corner beside the inflatable Frosty the Snowman. It’s Heidi and Ariana—Parker’s minions. They don’t have nearly as much nerve as they did when their queen was still attending CPA, but their hatred still burns bright. However, I’m having too good a time to actually care.
I want West so bad I can literally taste it. It’s like I can’t get close enough, but when I face away from him, grinding my ass against his dick, his hard-on says otherwise. It says we’re plenty close.
“All right. I fucking give,” he growls into my ear, splaying one hand over my belly ring while he speaks.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” I tease with a grin.
“Oh, so you haven’t been trying to drive me crazy all night?”
My smile turns into a laugh and I face him again, meeting that smoldering stare currently fixed on me.
“I’m just having fun.”
Another groan leaves him when my hands slip up from his shoulders and lock behind his neck.
“I’m doing my best to get through tonight without making it about sex, but shit, Southside. All I can fucking think about is how good you probably taste right now.”
He’s teasing me back, and it’s working. So well that I’m glancing over my shoulder to see if any of the chaperones are watching. Harrison’s wife is still manning the punchbowl, but two teachers have joined her. All three are chatting and laughing, which means they’re not paying much attention.
What I’m trying to say is, I think we can pull this off.
“Someone might notice if we leave at the same time,” I say against his ear. “Meet me by the pool in five.”
His stare darkens and I don’t miss the satisfied smirk that touches his lips when I turn to leave. Whatever plans he had to be a perfect gentleman tonight, they’ll have to wait for date number two.
My steps echo in the wide-open space as I pace a small section of tile outside the locker room. The smell of chlorine takes me back to a time that seems so long ago—when West and I were still at each other’s throats, while secretly wanting to get in each other’s pants.
Now, today, you’d never guess we’re the same people. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe we’re not.
I spin on my heels when a door unlatches on the opposite side of the pool. My heart’s racing for half a second, thinking one of the chaperones might’ve noticed me slip in, but my nerves settle when I lay eyes on him. The one I love, the one I trust with my life.
“Interesting choice of location,” West says with a slick smile. The sight of it has me wanting to do less talking and more everything else.
“It’s as good as any,” I answer, shrugging while my eyes stay trained on him. I’m also clocking each of his slow steps that bring us closer together.
Along the way, he sheds his suit jacket and leaves it draped over the arm of a chair he passes, inspiring me to undress too, starting with the shoes I unstrap and drop to the tile. He unties his tie next, and lets it fall to the floor before undoing the buttons of his shirt. His gaze moves to my shoulder when I push my dress’s straps down my skin.
Then, we collide.
His lips are hot against mine. And soft. So soft. Mine part as his tongue slips between them, feeling like he’ll devour me if I’d let him, which I’d never object to.
With his mouth still locked to mine, he slowly lowers my hand to the bulge at the front of his pants, revealing the result of my teasing. I caress the length of him, which causes a surge of tension to build between my thighs as I remember what he feels like inside me. As if having just heard this thought, he moves his hand beneath the dress’s fabric by way of the deep thigh-slit, then touches me through the silky, black fabric of my underwear. The touch is gentle, but it’s enough that I’m breathless now.
West cranes his neck and kisses a trail from my chin to my neck, thoroughly setting my entire body on fire. Impatient, I undo his zipper and push my hand inside his pants first, deciding half a second later to slip it inside his boxers instead. This time when I grip him, direct skin-on-skin contact has me thinking I’ll suffocate if I don’t have him soon.
I kiss his chest where his open shirt leaves taut skin exposed, not stopping until I’m on my knees, pushing his waistband lower, exposing that damn sexy V.
“What are you doing?”
I hear the breathy question he’s just asked, but don’t answer. Peering up, my eyes roam over his six pack, then his solid pecs that move rapidly, in sync with his panting. When my stare locks with his, he’s maybe wondering if I plan to tease him like I’ve done all night, but I answer the question in his eyes a moment later.
By lowering his boxers to his thighs, and then taking him into my mouth.
“Shiiiiit.” It sounds like every ounce of air just left his lungs, only for them to fill again when a breath hisses through his clenched teeth.
His fingers tangle in my hair and I grip his waist, taking him in deeper. When he starts mumbling incoherently, sounding dazed, I take that to mean he’s enjoying this. Seeing as how he’s made me forget what year this is on several occasions, I’m more than eager to return the favor.
“Damn, Southside.”
Hearing him groan those words, I peer up and take in his expression, only to find his obsessive stare already locked on me. He’s enjoying the show, so I give him one. My lips slide down his length like before, but I take him in a little deeper. Then again, and again, and again. Until I sense he’s had about all he can stand if I want him to last.
He’s so hard, and by this point, my own needs are calling so loudly I can’t wait any longer. It’s that insatiable craving that has me on my feet again, stepping out of the expensive dress a moment later.
West strips down too, taking a condom from his pocket before grabbing a clean towel off the rack mounted to the wall. He uses it to cover a chair beside the pool before dropping down into it. I stare with the same obsession I’ve seen in his eyes while impatiently waiting for him to sheathe himself. Then, he guides me down onto his lap, slipping in with ease because I’m so damn wet for him.
A needy groan falls from his lips as I ride him like there’s no chance someone can find us here. Like there aren’t hundreds of kids right down the hall. Yeah, it’s a big risk, but it’d be a lie if I said that doesn’t turn me on even more.
Holding both sides of West’s face, I kiss him slow and deep, riding him to the same rhythm. His thickness has me wanting to come already, but the unhurried pace helps a little.
Very little.
“Do you have any fucking idea what you do to me?” he asks, breathing the question over my lips when we finally come up for air.
“Tell me.”
He grips my ass and I grind into him.
“You make me insane,” he confesses. “I’ve thought about murdering every motherfucker I’ve ever caught looking at you.”
I smile a little, but mostly I’m focused on how good his body feels against mine. His hands slip back up to my hips, thrusting himself deep inside me. It can’t be healthy for my heart to be racing this fast, but there’s nothing I can do to stop it, because my heart is his. He controls it.
“I don’t want anyone else,” he confesses. “Ever.”
That word rings inside my head, ricocheting off all the emotional baggage, all the emotional walls I’ve built. The ones that, at times, have made it hard to imagine someone loving me forever.
But I didn’t mishear him. He said ‘ever’.
As in, I’m the last one he ever sees himself with.
As in… I’m enough.
My chest swells with a breath and I can’t help but stare at him, knowing he just meant every word he spoke. There’s this unmistakable sincerity in his eyes that won’t let me believe otherwise.
This moment has us in sync, one’s body moving in tandem with the other’s, until we’re both climaxing and, for me, it’s the most emotionally-charged experience I’ve ever had.
The high slowly subsides, but I still hear that word.
Ever.
It has me looking into West’s eyes again and he doesn’t shy away, because those weren’t just words he threw out in the height of passion. They’re what’s in his heart, what he feels when he looks at me.
I’ve had a lot of titles, been a lot of things to a lot of people, but as the days pass and I get to see more of the man beneath the mask, being West Golden’s girl might possibly be my favorite.
