Love Discovered in New York (The Washington Triplets) (10 page)

AFTER SENDING AN EMAIL TO
my sisters that simply said ‘no,’ I walked into the Berry Street Pool Hall with a renewed energy. I’d seen Colton almost every day since our tattoo date where we christened his new office and then had dinner at an African-Asian-American fusion restaurant. At the end of that date, I had him drop me off at Duke & Duchess so I could talk to Kelsey. He walked me to the door and wrapped me in his arms, threatening to not let me go until I gave him my number.

For the nine days after Colton gave me my tattoo, I inadvertently allowed myself to fall into a routine with him. If I had to work, I’d go to Inkwell to have lunch with him at a food cart or local restaurant. The three nights I didn’t have to work, we hung out at the movies, at a sports bar, and at a concert. All three nights ended with us having heart-pounding, hard-hitting, mind-blowing sex in his office or in his car. I didn’t have the nerve to go back to his apartment. Colton Davis was the best sex I’d ever had and I didn’t want to get caught up like I did our first night together.

Wearing a pair of tight black jeans and a gray off-the-shoulder top, I glanced at myself in the mirror behind the bar as I walked toward the back corner. I immediately saw Kelsey in jeans and corset styled top, standing next to a table.

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” I apologized, hugging her quickly. “Are they here already?”

“No worries. And no, no one has shown up yet. We still have ten minutes. Do a shot with me?”

I smiled at Kelsey. “You’re nervous. Don’t be. Tonight will be—”

“Hey,” Phil interrupted, startling me. Standing on the other side of the table looking like a professional football player, Phil appeared to have been working out in the two years since he and Kelsey broke up.

“Hi, Phil!” I chirped, smiling widely between Phil and Kelsey. “I’m going to go get some drinks. I’ll be back in a minute.”

They are so cute,
I thought as I walked toward the small bar.

I was three steps away from my destination when I felt a hand wrap around my wrist. Turning quickly, I snatched my arm out of the grasp and balled my hand into a fist. When I realized it was Colton, I immediately broke into a smile and punched him anyway.

“If I didn’t realize it was you, you would’ve gotten punched a lot harder and in the face.” I greeted him with a smile.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I hear you talking,” he said with a chuckle. “Sorry I’m a little late. I had a few last minute things to take care of at the shop.” Pulling me in close, he dropped his voice and continued. “Do you know how hard it is to focus on paperwork in the new office when I can’t think about anything but you spread out over my desk?”

My body came alive with those words and I moaned softly. He trailed kisses from my ear to my mouth before kissing me with raw, unabashed passion that made my heart skip a beat. His words coupled with that kiss caused a shiver to course through me. Vivid memories of the way he consistently handled my body caused my panties to dampen. Feeling how hard he was as my body pressed against his only amplified my desire. It was taking every ounce of strength I had within me to not climb him right there in the pool hall.

Colton pulled away slowly and a whimpering noise escaped me. I let my eyes flutter open to find his beautiful, brown eyes gazing at me. My heart was beating wildly and the pull I felt toward him was overwhelming my senses.

Each day I spent with Colton, I felt an even stronger attraction to him. I told myself it was because the sex was so good. And although I was addicted to his body and the way he handled mine, I quickly realized that the way he made me feel when we had sex was just as good as the way he made me feel during general conversations.

And that’s exactly why I need to walk away. It’s too risky,
I thought, feeling my skin heat under his gaze.
But the thought of walking away…

I let my thought trail off, turning away from him quickly. “We should head over to Kelsey and Phil.”

With his hand on the small of my back, we walked to the back corner of the pool hall.

After introductions were made, we played a couple of games of pool in between keeping up with a baseball game that was on the television mounted on the wall closest to us.

“My dad told me to tell you hello,” Phil mentioned to Kelsey as he sat down on a beat-up leather loveseat.

“My dad told me to tell you his shotgun is ready,” Kelsey joked, sitting next to him.

My dad basically told me he’d rather mourn the passing of his wife, my mother, by proposing to his mistress so…yeah, there’s that,
I thought irritably, turning away from them.

Colton pulled me a few feet away from our table and into his hard body, whispering, “Do you trust me?”

Without thinking, I answered honestly. “Yes.”

Something flashed in his eyes and I realized what I had said.

I started stammering to correct myself when he sandwiched my face between his hands, silencing my struggle to backpedal.

“Do you trust me?” He repeated with his face inches from mine. He was so close and my eyes quickly zeroed in on his lips.

I couldn’t open my mouth to speak so I just nodded.

“Well then you have to tell me.”

“What?” I whispered back in confusion as I dropped my head against his chest.

I inhaled deeply.
Why does he smell this good?
I wondered dizzily, completely distracted from my earlier thoughts.

He drew back a little so we could make eye contact again, but he had his arms securely tightened around my waist. “What’s the deal with your dad?”

I stiffened in his arms and averted my eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ve mentioned your sisters and your parents. But you don’t ever talk about them, not really. And you’ve never even mentioned your father outside of the general acknowledgement that you were born of two parents. But every time I’ve mentioned my father or just now when Kelsey and Phil mentioned their fathers, a look crosses your face.”

“I don’t get a look,” I protested, attempting to squirm out of his arms. I pushed against his broad shoulders and he just held me tighter.

“You get a look,” he confirmed and then he waited.

I continued to try to push away from him, but he didn’t relent. I glared at him silently and he just held me and stared at me with a slightly bemused look on his face.

“Fine!” I conceded, throwing my arms in the air. “My father is getting remarried next month.”

Colton’s eyebrows came together in confusion. “Didn’t your mom pass away six months ago?”

“Thank you!” I cried, flooding with relief that he saw my point. “It’s disrespectful. And obviously he was cheating on my mother.”

With a thoughtful expression, he asked, “What did he say when you asked him about it?”

I didn’t expect that to be his next question and it caught me off guard. “I…didn’t ask.”

“Why not?”

Why haven’t I ever confronted him about that? I’ve spent my entire life confronting him and my mother about any and everything else,
I thought, surprising myself with the realization. I remained silent as I contemplated.

“I know that’s a loaded question to ask someone. Especially a parent. But…” He shrugged, loosening his grip around my waist. His hands rested on my hips. “You have shown me time and time again that you’re the type of gir—woman,” he quickly corrected. “You’re the type of woman who will say or do whatever you want. So I’m surprised that you haven’t called him out on it yet.”

Because calling him out would mean that I’d actually have to have a conversation with him,
I thought, averting my eyes from his.
Colton’s right, I don’t back down from anyone. But I don’t have shit to say to my father. Unless you count an RSVP card with ‘hell no’ scrawled across the back in permanent marker, I haven’t talked to him since the funeral. And I can’t believe my sisters are considering going. We haven’t talked much, but I would at least think that we were on the same page about this. Our mother died six months ago and our father is getting married next month!

The more I thought about my family predicament, the more distressed I felt. My eyes prickled with unshed tears. I focused on the anger I felt and the tears that I hadn’t shed in months subsided. I felt Colton’s fingers flex against my hips, bringing me back to the present. Moving his head so that he was in my line of sight, he smiled and then kissed me softly against my lips.

His voice, his lips, and his touch were more than enough to distract me from sadness. The pit in my stomach transformed into a million butterflies from the tender kiss. I didn’t know what to do or how to respond since he’d never kissed me like that before. Our kisses were always sexy, hungry, passionate kisses. But that kiss was different.

That kiss was romantic,
I thought, my heart fluttering in my chest. I looked away from him immediately.

Colton turned me around and gently touched the skin around my newest tattoo. With my shoulder baring shirt, it showcased the tattoo beautifully. “Oh that reminds me. My dad wants to meet you.”

I whipped around quickly, my hair fanning out around me. “What?” I yelped, my eyebrows shooting up and anxiety running through my veins.

“To see the tattoo. Calm down.” He laughed. “Your face gives everything you’re feeling away, you know that?” With his arm slung around my shoulder, he continued, “I know you want to take our ‘hanging out’ to a whole other level. But like I told when we first started hanging out, I’m not looking for a relationship, Mya.”

Pushing him away from me, I bit my lip to keep from smiling. “This right here…” I gestured to his smirking face. “This is why this will be the last time we’re hanging out.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You realize you’ve said that every time we’ve hung out.”

“Well how do you know that this time I’m not serious?”

“I told you, your face gives everything you’re feeling away.”

I felt myself flush under his intense gaze so I grabbed a pool cue from the rack on the wall. “I want to play and I want to raise the stakes. You in or you out?”

“Oh hell yeah,” he said, nodding as he picked up his cue stick and took a few steps toward me. “And if I win, I get whatever I want,” he murmured against my hair.

“And if I win, I get whatever I want.” I slipped out of his grasp and spun around to Phil and Kelsey who were in a deep conversation.

“Guys,” I called out, interrupting them. Kelsey looked at me with a glow I hadn’t ever seen from her and it made me smile. “Colton and I are battling. Women versus men, winner takes all. All of what is to be determined. Are you in?”

“Sounds like an excellent idea!” Kelsey exclaimed. Phil stood up and then helped her up.

“Kelsey, let’s set a game plan,” I said, walking to the opposite side of the table as the men.

As soon as Kelsey grabbed her stick, she met me on our side of the table. The guys stood on the other side of the table drinking beer and pointing at the TV screen.

Kelsey looked around conspiratorially before whispering, “Okay, how are we going to beat—”

“Screw that! What’s up with you and Phil? You two look cozy and you’re glowing,” I pointed out quietly.

Kelsey laughed loudly. Looking over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t going to be overheard, she admitted, “The last week and a half has been like old times. But better. Different. I don’t know.” She covered her face with her hands, but I could still see her cheeks from her smiling so hard. “He got back in town yesterday and I think I’m falling for him again.”

“Are you two ready to lose?” Phil asked, baiting us.

“Let’s kick some ass, Mya,” Kelsey said with her hands on her hips.

The game was over ten minutes later when I prematurely hit the 8-ball in a pocket.

“I’m sorry,” I cried dramatically as I threw my upper body across the pool table.

“If you didn’t hit that ball in, I would have so it’s cool. Let’s just hope the guys will give us a break,” Kelsey replied loudly as she pretended to chew on her fingernails nervously from the other side of the table.

“I know I’m not going easy on Mya,” Colton replied from behind me.

I could feel his eyes on my ass from the position I was in. I pushed myself off of the table slowly, adding an extra wiggle to my movement before I turned around.

Colton chuckled softly before leaning so that his lips were against my ear. “I know what you’re doing and no matter how good your ass looks—both in and out of those jeans—I’m not going easy on you,” he teased sexily.

I giggled as he pulled away. With him so close, I decided to go a more direct route. Running my hands down his tight stomach muscles, I grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled him into me. “Well we didn’t shake on it so our deal isn’t official or anything. Maybe I can convince you to go easy on me.”

The way his eyes clouded over, I knew my whispered words had their desired effect.

Leaning down so that his lips landed right on the heart behind my ear, he trailed kisses down my neck. I gasped and my nipples hardened.

I opened my mouth to protest the P.D.A., but his mouth quickly covered mine with a heated kiss that took my breath away. When he pulled away, he looked me in my eyes and trailed the pad of his thumb across my bottom lip. “You seem to like it when I go hard on you.”

The throbbing between my thighs intensified and my panties were instantly soaked.

Turning in time to see Phil and Kelsey share a kiss, I didn’t feel bad about my plans for the rest of the night. “Kelsey, Phil, we’re going to head out,” I announced, pulling a few bills from my back pocket and tossing two twenties on the table to cover drinks and the table charge.

Colton gave me a look and pulled out his wallet. “What are you doing? I’m paying for this.” He picked up my cash from the table and handed it to me. He pulled out two twenty dollar bills of his own and placed it on the table.

I put my cash back in my back pocket. “Well then I’m paying next time,” I replied without thinking. After the words were out of my mouth, I caught what I said and started groaning inwardly.

If I take it back now, he’ll make a big deal out of it. If I ignore it, he’ll make a big deal out of it. Basically there’s nothing I can do, but take it,
I realized as I saw the sexy smirk appear on his handsome face.