12. Alex

12

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Nikki pulls upto the curb in front of my rental house and kills the engine. The street is dark and quiet since most of the people who live off campus are either in bed or at Brayden's party.

"Fucking Brayden."

She breathes out a short laugh. She's been vibrating with anger for minutes. The drive home was quiet. She didn't even bother to turn music on. Very unlike Nikki.

"I'm sorry he treated you that way," I say, unclicking the safety belt and letting it zip across my chest.

"You're sorry about Brayden," she says, not quite the same thing I said. Noticeably different, in fact.

I turn and find her eyes narrowed on me, her elbow resting on my steering wheel.

"‘Just the distraction you need,' you said."

I inhale through my nose and sink into the corner so I can look her in the eyes.

"I said that, yeah. But that was before—" Before I was willing to break my own rules.

"Alex, were you using me to get back at Brayden?" She doesn't blink. She simply stares at my eyes and waits for the read. Just like back at the house when she knew I was bluffing at that table, she knows the truth right now.

"I was." It's better to own it.

"Fucking damn, Alex!"

She gets out of the car, slams the door, and stomps down the middle of the street with her hands threaded behind her head. I wait a few seconds until she stops, then get out and move to the front of my car to sit on the hood.

Her head falls back, her eyes on the stars. I'm sure she's stringing together a few swear words, maybe even mixing English with Spanish the way her mom does. The way my mom does. Seems I'm always making the women in my life do that.

She turns eventually, taking her time to walk back to me, stopping out of arm's reach.

Her head tilts to the side.

"Why does he know so much about your dad?"

I chuckle, but it's not a happy one.

"Guess who Miss Arendale's first cousin is?"

Understanding hits her, at least I think. Her weight eases back as her lips part, and she hums, "Oh."

I push up from the car, relieved when she doesn't take a step back. She eyes me skeptically.

"You wanna come in?" I want her to come in. I'm still angry, but also, I'm still thinking about the way she felt sitting on my lap, the way her bare stomach felt when my hand slid across it. The way she smells and tastes. All of the pieces of her I have yet to explore.

"Yeah. I'll come in," she says, and I move closer, reaching for her hand. She crosses her arms quickly, though, sneering at me.

"You have to earn my hand," she says, jokingly. But also . . . there's some truth there.

We don't get to spend nights here often, and she'll have to go back to her dorm by morning. But it's rare to have the house empty. I should probably sober up a little and then spend tonight talking—really talking. The last thing I want to do right now, though, is talk.

I lock the door behind us then flip on the small hall light that shines on up the stairs. She leads the way and I trail behind her, trying not to be a total pervert staring at her ass. That's no different from before, however. Even when we were friend-zoned, I stared at her ass.

"Your room is actually clean," she notes, kicking the only discarded piece of clothing on my floor up in the air and snagging it. It's my favorite hoodie. It's also her favorite hoodie, and she hugs it to her chest and drops her chin, pressing her nose into the fabric.

"It probably needs a wash," I say.

She shakes her head.

"It smells like you." Her gaze holds on to me as I move across the room and sit on the edge of my bed.

"You wanna kick my ass in Xbox or something?" That's what we would have done if this conversation were happening a week ago.

She shakes her head. I bite my bottom lip, strangely nervous about how to go about this.

"I'm really sorry, Nik. About . . . about using you to get at Brayden like that. It wasn't right."

She inhales and sucks her mouth into a straight line before nodding.

I glance down at the floor, my muscles still twitching a little from throwing punches and shoving Brayden through a screen door. Fuck, I'm going to feel really embarrassed about that later.

I lick my lips, then bite the tip of my tongue before glancing up at her through my lashes. Her gaze was waiting for me.

"It wasn't all about making him jealous."

"No?" she whispers.

I shake my head.

"There was a part of me that really liked the excuse to see what it was like," I admit.

She smirks, then turns to the side and tosses my sweatshirt on top of my desk. She steps closer, and when I reach out this time, she willingly gives me her fingertips, balancing them individually, meticulously, on each of mine.

"And what was it like?" She quirks a brow.

A low laugh rumbles in my chest.

"The flirting bit? Holding your hand and maybe, touching you, like . . . right . . . here?" I brush the back of my hand across her bare stomach. She quivers. "That was a pretty great hall pass."

"Hall pass, huh?" She kicks one of her feet forward, tapping her toe against mine.

"Yeah, it was a hall pass. I knew it was temporary." It was supposed to be temporary. But then I felt her. Not just her body but the way she cares about me. I felt it all at once. And I kissed her. Everywhere. And we can't go back.

"We're way past temporary, Alex."

"I know," I agree.

My tongue pushes in the side of my cheek, my gaze fixed on the very hard peaks of her tits poking through her white cotton crop top. My eyes flit up quickly to hers.

"I know we need to talk. But I'm still pretty wound up from what happened," I admit.

"Me too."

I move my hands to the bottom of her shirt and gather up two fistfuls, bringing the material up her body until it stops right at the edge, showing off just enough skin. How did I not know she wasn't wearing a bra all night?

My gaze moves back to her face.

"I know we're friends, Nikki. But I want to fuck like we're enemies."

Neither of us blinks, but over the next several seconds Nikki draws in a slow deep breath that pushes her chest forward. I tug where I'm grasping her shirt and her breath hitches. She lifts her chin but holds my gaze. It's a standoff, and the longer it lasts, the harder I get.

I tug again, but she resists, shaking her head slowly and tsking.

"This isn't about Brayden," she says. It's not really a question, but she requires my guarantee. I understand. I owe her that.

"Not even remotely close," I say, tugging again.

This time, she obeys, moving into me until her knees hit the edge of the bed. I push her shirt up over her bare tits, rubbing my thumbs over her nipples then pinching the skin, tight. Nikki moves her hand into my hair, pulling my head toward her, coaxing my very willing mouth to suck on her.

I meet her request, covering her tit with my mouth as one hand sweeps behind her back and pulls her into me, hard. My tongue swirls the hard tip while my other hand rolls the opposite peak until they feel like pebbles to the touch.

I hold her nipple hostage in my teeth as I push her shirt up more, urging her to take it off. She tosses it to the floor before her hands move to my back and claw until my shirt is on the floor next to hers.

Her small frame makes it easy to sweep one hand under her ass as her legs wrap around me until she's sitting on my lap, straddling me. I kiss my way from her breast up her neck until my mouth locks on hers. It's not a tender kiss this time. It's possessive. And maybe there is a little bit of me proving something to Brayden in this act. I hate that he ever saw this. Nikki wouldn't say, but he did. He said it a lot. I hated it then, and I hate it more now. But this is not just him I'm proving something to. It's all men. Every male that looks at her and thinks they can. That they deserve her time. That they're worthy.

They do not. They are not.

Neither am I, but I'm taking what's mine anyway. If our friendship dies because of this, I need to know it was worth it. That I had something so great, so rare and beautiful, in my hands and devoured it. Lived it. Breathed it.

That I spoiled her for everyone else.

I stand up, holding her to me and walking her toward my door until her back is flat against it. Pinned between my body and the wood, I reach down and unzip her jeans, letting her legs down so she can kick off her shoes and strip them away completely. I tug her panties off too, then run my fingers through her soaking wet pussy. Her head hits the door as she moans, her nails digging into my bare shoulders.

"You like to be touched there by me. Don't you?" I want to know how many times she fantasized about this. If she ever touched herself and pretended it was me.

"Yes," she whimpers as my fingers glide along her wet skin then dip inside her. I push two in, not taking my time, and I finger fuck her hard against my door loving the way her eyes glaze over as she stares at me and her mouth hangs open, unable to form words.

I feel her clench around me so I pull out and drop to my knees to taste her. My hands claw at her ass, moving her feet forward enough to give me the angle to drive my tongue inside until she's literally riding my face.

I flick her clit with the tip of my tongue and she pulses, her breath stopping with a sharp cry, so I stop.

"No. Not like that tonight. That's for friends. My cock? That's for enemies," I say, standing and unzipping my jeans to pull my dick free. I wrap my hand around it while Nikki pushes my pants down my hips until they pool at my feet. I kick them, along with my shoes, away, and then I step into her until my hard shaft is pressed up against her belly.

"Do you feel that?" My hand is at her jaw, my thumb on her artery, her pulse beating wildly.

Nikki drags her hands up above her head on her own then glances up, inviting me. I move my hand from her jaw to her wrists. She drops her chin again and our eyes meet.

"Fuck. Me."

I feel myself swell between us at her words. So forceful. So dominant. No mistaking what she wants. Where her line is. There is no line.

I glance to my dresser where my condoms are, then meet her eyes. I know I should, but I don't want to. I want to feel all of her.

She nods her head.

"I'm on the pill," she says.

And that's all I need to unleash the animal trying to completely take over my body. Fisting my cock, I move back a step and lower myself just enough to guide my tip into her wet center. I pull out then slide my cock through her wet pussy a few times before guiding it back in, and this time I drive into her.

"Ahh," she gasps, and I relax my hips then pump into her again.

"Fucking so tight, Nik. You feel so fucking good," I say, rocking back then into her again.

I grab her wrists with both hands, the fact she's so helpless like this and willing to let me have her however I want making me harder. My body rocks into hers, my hips moving up so I can reach her very limit. She brings one leg up, hooking it around my waist, and I step in with more force so she can completely choke my middle with her legs.

"That's my girl," I say, my rhythm picking up while I fuck her against my bedroom door.

My mouth covers her, muffling her cries while I pummel her tight pussy, stretching her, feeding her, making her take all of me. Her hips push into me with every pump, meeting me at every stroke. I let go of her hands and she leaves them up, showing me exactly how bad she likes to be.

Fuck me if any other guy has had her like this. I'll make her forget if they have.

My tongue trails down her jaw and my teeth stop at her bottom lip, tugging it into my mouth and sucking while we shake the wall with our force. My hands cover her tits, my thumb rubbing raw circles around her pebbled nipples, then pinching them when her thighs clench even more around me.

"Do not stop fucking me, Alex. Never. Stop. Never. Stop. Nev—" Her words fall into whimpers as her body clenches around me, her legs squeezing me tight and her hands dropping to my shoulders so she can hold on through her orgasm.

I pump into her, feeling every wave, gritting my teeth to hold out just long enough so she doesn't miss anything she's owed. This will be the best she's ever had. I swear it. I'll make sure of it. If we fail after this, she will never forget the way her pussy feels with my cock inside. So full.

Her body collapses into me, and I hold her right leg up so I can drive into her a few more times until I come inside of her.

"Ahhhh," she moans as I lean into her, my spent body covered in sweat and sticking to hers against my door.

I pull out and take a few slow steps back as she languishes, her shoulder blades resting against the door.

"Spread your legs," I say as her gaze hits mine, her eyes still very much in a trance. She does as I ask.

I take her form in, her perfect breasts, which she squeezes as my gaze rakes over them.

"We'll fucking go again, Nikki," I say, and it's a promise.

Her hand trails down the center of her chest, down her stomach, and over the thin trail of hair until she touches herself. I lick my lips, seeing exactly what I fantasized about. My cum dripping from her, soaking her fingers as she rubs it over her still swollen pussy.

"Suck it," I say, and she drags her fingertips back up her body, drawing a line of our pleasure up and over her tit, being sure to coat her nipple in it before holding out two fingers and pushing them between her lips.

She tastes us. And it's the fucking hottest thing I've ever seen.

"Let's go again," I say, and she raises her hands back up the door.

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