Alex
The warmth of Valerie’s naked body next to Alex’s was always amazing. This was the only time being with a girl ever felt perfect. Not that he’d been with anyone else in years.
Not like this.
As much as they liked to think of their relationship as simple—carefree—unlike most of the couples their age, theirs was arguably more convoluted than most.
Still, as the years had gone by, one thing had become clear: Alex had never met any other girl who could make him feel the way Valerie did. It had never been just about sex with Valerie as it’d been with most of the girls he’d gone out with in the past. Even in the very beginning when they both agreed their relationship would be just that—friends with benefits—the friends part, the relationship they’d built, had always outweighed everything else.
Alex glanced down at Valerie, who slept soundly next to him. As usual, he couldn’t gaze at her without instantly admiring everything about her. Her soft blond hair spilled delicately over his pillow. He smirked, knowing Romero would certainly call him a pussy for even thinking it, but that pillowcase her beautiful head rested on—he’d likely not wash it now until the scent of Valerie had faded.
Then there was that stubborn little brow that even as she slept arched just so. How many times had those delicate brows said so much in just a movement—that she was furious at him, excited, aroused, or just very, very content. As she was now.
He reached for the small envelope on his nightstand. It was full of photos Sofie had dropped off earlier. He’d conveniently used them as excuse to go out and find Valerie tonight.
As expected, they’d both had a few laughs going through them. Alex didn’t know Sofie had so many old photos of the two of them. He pulled one out and stifled a chuckle so he wouldn’t wake Valerie.
The next photo took his breath away. It was of Valerie, so young and sweet, before all their drama. She sat in a booth at his family’s restaurant, smiling beautifully for the camera. He stared at it for a moment, stared at her striking big brown eyes, eyes he’d stared deeply into countless times and he’d never get enough of. Finally, he flipped to the next one, again refraining from laughing. This one was taken that same day, but in it, he sat next to her, smiling just as big. It’d only been a few years, and he couldn’t get over how young and innocent—naïve—they both looked. Both of them were oblivious—had no clue what was about to begin that day.
Alex had heard of Valerie from her cousin Sarah, who back then had recently started dating his brother Angel. Sarah had told him about Valerie being a “fan” of his for years since he and his brothers had been on the football team and on the popular side all through high school. At the time, he’d been a freshmen in college, and Valerie was still a senior in high school like Sarah and Angel. Alex had expected to meet a young, timid, and sweet girl he’d make squirm with his flirting as he’d done so easily when Angel introduced him to Sarah. He’d expected someone he could tease a little for his own amusement and then be on his way.
Instead, she’d been so impressively undaunted by him and his flirtatious attempts to unnerve her, even shot back with her own playfulness, he hadn’t been able to get enough of her. So he asked her out on the spot. And ever since, he still couldn’t get enough of her.
Alex leaned back against the headboard, staring at the photo of them that felt like a lifetime ago now. Just like when Sofie first showed it to him, he was unable to wipe the smile off his face and closed his eyes remembering the day he met Valerie . . .
He spotted her instantly the moment he walked into the dining room at the restaurant. Angel had mentioned Sarah and her cousin would be coming in for brunch today when he rushed out of the house that morning. Alex had to admit he’d been curious, so he’d been looking out for her from the moment he arrived. And then he saw her.
His first thought . . . she was tiny.
It was how he’d known it was her. Sarah had mentioned Valerie being a petite girl, and Angel had mentioned the light hair, but Alex hadn’t expected a blonde. He watched her as she filled her plate at the buffet. As petite of a girl as she was, her legs were impressive—eye catching. Maybe it was the high-heeled wedge sandals she wore or the short denim skirt that accentuated the pair of well-toned legs.
Her eyes opened wider as she took in the fresh enchilada tray one of the waiters put out replacing an empty tray. She didn’t have green eyes like her cousin, but somehow her blond hair made her big brown eyes stand out even more.
“Very nice,” he said under his breath still ogling her as he approached the booth where Sarah sat eating alone. “Is that Valerie?”
Sarah flinched, nearly spilling her drink, and looked up at him wide-eyed and already blushing. He apologized for startling her. Feeling guilty about obviously embarrassing her, he had mercy on her and brought his attention back to Valerie instead. She was still at the buffet.
“Well”—he smiled—“I’m partial to brunettes, but a cute little blonde every now and then could do a body good.”
“That’s really romantic,” Sarah said.
Alex turned back to Sarah, picking up on the sarcasm in her tone, and slid in next to her with a playful smirk. “You think so?”
As usual, Sarah timidly attempted to pretend he hadn’t unnerved her by sitting up straight and playing with her food. “I didn’t think you were here today.”
“I just got here,” he murmured, feeling a little evil about how easily intimidated by him Sarah was, but no way was he going to tone it down now. This was too much fun. “You missed me?”
Her cheeks tinged with color instantly, and he had to smile.
“No,” she said again, doing her best to stay composed. “Valerie asked about you, actually.”
That made him turn in Valerie’s direction again. She was already ambling toward them with a full plate. She wore a big smile and looked him straight in the eyes, self-assured, so unlike her cousin.
“Did she now?” he asked, raising a curious eyebrow as he took Valerie in again from top to bottom.
Valerie put her plate down on the table and sat across from him. Sarah immediately introduced Alex to Valerie then turned to her cousin with a humorous smile. “I think you know who Alex is, right, Valerie?”
“Of course I do.” She reached her hand out to shake his, squeezing firmly. “I’d have to have been buried for the last few years if I didn’t.”
“Really?” Alex said, his eyes going from hers to her smiling lips, and then it dawned on him. “I remember you now.” To his surprise, he caught the slight roll of Valerie’s eyes. “I saw that.” he said.
“I wasn’t trying to hide it.”
Her laugh was sultry—sexy—inviting. Just like that, she had his full attention, and he laughed too, unable to take his eyes off her. They were even bigger this close.
“You don’t think I remember you?”
“Nope,” she said simply and dug into her food.
He watched as she ate without a care, and for a moment, he was distracted by her tongue wiping her bottom lip clean.
He cleared his throat, remembering what she’d just said about him not remembering her. “You wanna bet?”
Valerie shook her head, licking her lips again then wiping her mouth with her napkin. “You’ll lose.”
That amused him. Her entire demeanor toward him, even though she’d just met him, amused him. He’d met plenty of girls in his life. Girls and women of all ages. Even women older than him were a little gun-shy when they first met. This wasn’t at all what he’d been expecting, not from any girl who, as Sarah had said, had been admiring him for years no matter what age. But least of all from a high school senior.
“Does that mean you’re scared?” he challenged.
“Of betting that you don’t remember ever seeing me before?” She lifted an eyebrow, and suddenly, every little thing she did had his undivided attention. “Of course not. But what are we betting for?”
Having never felt so instantly intrigued by someone, Alex decided to take advantage of the moment. He smiled big. “You have plans for tonight?”
Once again she didn’t even flinch. Instead, she lifted a shoulder. Alex’s eyes were immediately on her soft bare shoulder. Even the subtle tug at the corner of her lip got his attention. “I might.”
Their conversation was momentarily interrupted as Sarah coughed suddenly as if something went down the wrong pipe and Alex stopped to ask if she was okay. When he was sure she was, he turned to Valerie, getting right back to where they’d left off.
“You might?” he asked curiously. “What does that mean?”
Valerie shrugged. “All depends if anything better comes up.”
She took a spoonful of food and chewed while smiling sinfully at him. Alex was certain he’d never seen eyes twinkle quite the way hers did at that moment. They were beautiful, and right then, he knew he had to nail his impulsive idea of asking her out.
“Okay”—he smirked, surprised by how badly he suddenly wanted this—“if I win the bet, you cancel whatever plans you have and I take you out.”
“You’re on.”
Perfect. Alex sat forward with what he knew had to be a wickedly triumphant smile because it was exactly how he felt. “What time do I pick you up?”
Valerie and Sarah both laughed. “You haven’t won yet,” Valerie reminded him.
Alex glanced at Sarah then back at Valerie, realizing he’d jumped the gun, but he wasn’t worried. “Oh, yeah, that. Sure, I’ve seen you before. You’re Reggie Luna’s ex.”
Valerie’s blank expression confused him, but curiously, he found himself hoping Reggie was still her ex. She studied him then flicked her gaze at Sarah.
“I never mentioned Reggie,” Sarah said quickly.
“No,” Alex agreed just as quickly. “We played on the same team last year.” Then just for good measure, he added, “You broke his heart.”
Impossibly, her big eyes got even bigger. But he saw her try to regain her composure. “Did I?” She stared at Alex curiously.
“Sure did,” he said, not even trying to hide how smug he felt, but suddenly he wanted to make sure the guy was still her ex and they hadn’t since reconciled or anything. Not wanting to ask outright, he went about it another way. “So, why’d you dump him?”
Seeing her face turn bright red brought on mixed feelings. He’d managed to rattle her, and that should’ve been satisfying, but strangely it wasn’t. Alex had never felt so instantly drawn to someone, and he was sure it had everything to do with her self-confidence. She’d been so comfortable in her own skin from the moment their eyes first met. So seeing how easily the subject of her ex had affected her in just the opposite way was a bit disappointing—irritating.
Angel brought a halt to their conversation when he came over to announce he was ready to leave now that Alex had arrived. Fortunately, Valerie said she wasn’t done eating, and since Alex was nowhere near finished talking to her, he offered to keep her company so Sarah could leave with Angel.
A low moan and a slight movement from Valerie broke Alex from his thoughts of their first meeting. He glanced down at her, and she was still asleep, but the small pinch just between her eyes reminded him of one thing, and he was instantly hard. Valerie had admitted to him earlier this year about often having dreams of them making love and how real it felt right down to the amazing climaxes. He wondered now if that’s what she was doing.
Unable to help himself, he slid down slowly until he was lying next to her and pulled the sheet down below her bare breast. He licked his finger then caressed her nipple. Valerie’s body trembled in that unmistakable way she did when she was aroused.
Alex couldn’t help but smile then leaned over and licked her nipple softly. She trembled more and then shifted as he latched on and sucked softly. Her hand was suddenly on his head, and she ran her fingers through his hair.
“Alex,” she said groggily.
Alex sucked a bit harder before pulling away just long enough to ask, “What were you dreaming of?”
“Not sure.” He heard a muffled giggle just as he began to suck her nipple again and played with the other one with his fingers. “I’m pretty sure it was something naughty.”
“I knew it,” he said, sucking even harder and making her arch her back ever so slightly.
“And I’m pretty sure it was about you.”
He jerked his head up to see her smirking. In an instant, he was on his knees but refused to so much as crack a smile when she shrieked with laughter.
“I’m kidding!”
“You’re not funny, Z.”
“I thought it was funny.” She continued laughing, even as he pulled the sheet completely off her with a rough yank.
Normally, he liked torturing her slowly. It was as much a turn on to him as it was for her. Watching the faces she made, the utter pleasure she was getting from his torture, drove him fucking insane. But now he had other plans.
“You know what this means, right?” he asked easily, flipping her over and making her shriek even louder. He pulled her sweet little ass up in the air. “You know what it means, right, bad girl?”
“Yes!” she said, still laughing, then wiggled that beautiful ass for him. “And maybe that’s why I said it.”
Alex groaned, reaching over to his nightstand for a condom. Things like this happened so often between him and Valerie he’d gotten damn good at slipping a condom on in lightning speed. The second it was on he slammed into her with another groan.
He loved hearing Valerie cry out. While the buildup was his favorite, their spontaneous lovemaking was yet another one of the things he loved about their relationship. It was the only good thing about them arguing so often. Most times it went from heated accusations to tearing each other’s clothes off passionately, and Valerie was always game for it anywhere.
Alex stopped keeping track of the times he’d dropped her off at her dorm when she was still in school, and because her roommate was there, she’d jumped on his lap in the car and ride him right there in the dark parking lot.
He slapped her ass playfully as if he knew she enjoyed it, then squeezed it with a grunt as he dove into her deeper.
“Bad girl,” he said through his teeth, trying to hold off coming just yet, but it was building fast.
“Yes!” she said loudly, lifting her ass even higher for him. “I am bad girl.”
Damn this wasn’t helping. He slammed into her hard a few more times before burying himself in deeply for the last time with a loud groan. He let his head fall back as he held her waist firmly. “Ugh!”
All the energy drained out of him as it always did. Truth was, all kidding aside, her comment had pissed him off. Maybe if he knew for a fact she couldn’t possibly be serious, it wouldn’t have, but he didn’t.
They collapsed onto the bed next to each other, still catching their breath, and he knew it wouldn’t be long before she was out again. Next to eating and having wild passionate sex, sleeping was one of her favorite things to do. She always said she slept best after some good loving, and she wasn’t kidding.
A few minutes later, when he turned to ask if she was hungry, he almost laughed when he saw she was already dozing off. He turned on his side, resting his head on his fist, and gazed at her for a moment. This was another thing he did a lot. He loved staring at her delicate features: her long soft lashes, her cute little nose, and those lips he’d devoured so many times. Every time he stared at her in such a peaceful state, he had to wonder how someone so petite and sweet-looking could be so rambunctious and outspoken.
The photo he’d been admiring, the one of the two of them that first day he met her, was still lying next to her pillow. He frowned, remembering how that conversation where she explained about why she’d broken Reggie’s heart had started the long wild ride they’d been on ever since. That very conversation was why he couldn’t rule out that infuriating comments such as the one she’d made tonight weren’t actually just a joke. He squeezed his eyes as he thought back to that conversation again.
The day they met . . .
Tilting her head to the side playfully, Valerie bit into a strawberry as Alex squeezed his legs tightly. Watching her eat was decidedly one of the most entertaining things he’d ever done. He could probably do it for hours if it weren’t for the ache he was beginning to get in his pants.
“I don’t think I broke his heart,” Valerie said.
Alex shook his head. He knew this one for a fact. “He sat out during one of the most important games senior year because he fucked up his hand when he punched it through a window. And I heard his dumb ass did that because he got wasted after you dumped him.”
Valerie stared at him straight-faced. She didn’t look shocked, so she’d obviously heard the story. She just hadn’t expected Alex to know about it. Normally, Alex might not have remembered something like that in such detail, but for months before the incident, he’d seen several photos of Reggie with Valerie inside his gym locker door. It was just one of those well-known things on a high school campus. Reggie had been whipped as shit over Valerie. Reggie was one of their best running backs that year, and Alex remembered being worried when he heard they’d broken up that he wouldn’t bring his A game that Friday. So he’d been even more pissed to hear what the idiot had done. It was the only reason he remembered, but he was glad he did because now he was really curious.
As usual, Valerie seemed unfazed, but she did do a quick pout. “I didn’t mean to hurt him, but it was the honorable thing to do. If we’d stayed together, it would’ve been worse later.”
“Honorable?” Alex asked, confused.
“Yeah,” she said, spearing a slice of pineapple from her still-loaded plate. “I thought I was ready for the whole exclusive-relationship thing.” She shrugged, looking at him straight in the eyes again. “I was only seventeen. I was still having too much fun going out with my girlfriends and what not—being free. Heck, I still am. Having someone I needed to answer to and not just being able to come and go as I pleased got old really fast. It was suffocating, and I didn’t want to do him wrong, continuing on with him when I had a feeling”—she stopped and the side of her lip lifted in that cute way it did often—“okay, I knew if I stayed with him any longer I’d likely cheat on him. Maybe not sleep with anyone else, but even flirting with other guys or giving out my number or texting and stuff with someone I found interesting felt wrong when I was supposed to be with him exclusively.”
That little brow went up. So did that sweet little chin, the one Alex was already having visions of kissing his way down to her neck.
“Just so you know, I never cheated while I was with him.” Alex’s eyes followed her every movement as she lifted her sexy shoulder then dropped it and stabbed another piece fruit with her fork “The heavy, committed-relationship thing just isn’t for me, not now anyway. I have too many friends—girls and guys I like to do things with—and I don’t need anyone telling me who I can and can’t hang out with. Lying isn’t an option either. So I had to do the right thing and break up with him.”
In hindsight, Alex now felt stupid about how relieved he’d been that day to hear how she felt about exclusive relationships. He’d been so busy back then trying to keep up with his schoolwork and football the last thing he had was time to worry about dealing with a full-time girlfriend—one who would likely make demands on how much together time they had and would require him to give up all the quickies he had so much access to from eager cheerleaders and classmates in general. Hell, there was no shortage of them anywhere. A man, especially at that age, has needs but no time for anything complicated. So quickies, with no strings or hurt feelings attached, sounded ideal.
He’d been an idiot to think he’d be fine with that kind of arrangement with Valerie. The first clue should’ve been how taken by her he’d been from the moment he met her. But she’d reiterated her philosophy about relationships often and even in recent months had made a comment about loving her freedom. Of course, she’d been drunk and pissed when she said it. Though he’d heard more than once that drunks don’t lie. He and Valerie had been playing this game for too long. Like tonight her actions spoke louder than words. She’d be as accepting of Alex being free to go out with other girls as he was accepting of so much as seeing her with someone else.
There was no doubt about it. Things had been changing between them for some time now As busy as his life still was—as much as he had going on—he welcomed the change. Seeing Valerie with someone else had always ended explosively or close to it. All those times she hadn’t even been doing anything more than what she’d been doing tonight at the party. But all it took was a few stupid retorts from the guys she happened to be hanging out with, and fists would start flying.
Of course, Valerie would be angry, and they’d argue heatedly. Not always but most of those times, the night would end just as heatedly but in a good way. It was how things had been for years, and they were used to it, but Alex didn’t think he could deal with the not knowing for sure anymore. He was fairly certain he’d made his unspoken claim on her loud and clear. Valerie was his—always had been—but he needed more now. It was time to grow up.
Much later, after Alex had pored through all the old photos of him and Valerie, he was still staring at the one he’d forgotten Sofie took of him and Valerie that first time he met her. They were sitting in that booth while they ate. Sofie often did that even now, take photos with her phone of customers and employees interacting so she could pin them up on the wall in the back room.
Valerie stretched, groaning a bit. “What time is it?”
Alex put the photos aside and snuggled up next to her. He slipped his arms around her naked body, holding her firmly in his arms and kissing her neck from behind. “Does it matter?” he murmured.
“Yeah, it matters,” she said. “It was already late when you showed up at the party. I have last-minute cramming to do tomorrow, and you have to work.”
“So what?” he said again, kissing the side of her neck. “Stay here. You can study while I’m at work. I’m only working half a day. I’ll bring you food, and we can hang out when I get home.”
Valerie turned to study him for a moment curiously, and Alex knew what she must be thinking. He rarely asked her to hang out for the whole weekend. He was always too damn busy. When it wasn’t one thing, it was another.
“My study material is at home.”
“So we’ll get it in the morning,” he said, feeling hopeful that she just might say yes, “but come back and wait for me here.”
With her brows slightly furrowed, the corner of her lip began to lift. “Why?”
“Because,” he whispered, kissing her softly, and he knew what he was about to say next would surprise her even more, but this was part of the change. He was initiating this right now because he was ready for this. “I don’t want you to leave. Stay with me . . . please?”
For a moment, she seemed speechless, and then she smiled so sweetly it warmed him, confirming this was absolutely the right decision. “Okay,” she said, smiling even bigger.
With a groan, he hugged her even tighter, and it was time for round three.