9. Gianni

gianni

. . .

My heart banged hard against my ribs. My skin was stuck to Ellie’s. And my dick was still inside her.

Holy shit. I had sex with Ellie Fournier.

And it was amazing.

I picked up my head and looked down. Her expression was something between awestruck and aw, fuck.

“Well. That was...” I searched for a word that could even come close to describing what had just happened.

“A surprise.”

“Uh, yeah.”

She pummeled my chest lightly. “Let me up. I need some air.”

“Oh. Sorry.” I rolled off her and got out of bed. “Be right back.”

In the bathroom, I disposed of the condom and cleaned up a little, and when I opened the door, she was standing there naked.

Well, almost naked.

I looked at her from head to foot. “Two things. First, if I didn’t make it clear already, you have an amazing body.”

“Thank you.”

“Second, I cannot believe I fucked you with those hedgehog socks on.”

“I guess they’re your lucky socks too.” She tugged on my arm. “I need to use the bathroom.”

“Okay.” We traded places, and Ellie closed herself into the bathroom while I wandered back toward the bed in a daze, looking at it with a kind of wonder. My brain was on a loop.

Holy shit. I had sex with Ellie Fournier.

And it was good. Like, better than good. It was intense and fun and crazy hot.

What were the chances she’d be up for doing it again while we were stuck in this room together? I tried to calculate the odds, but really didn’t see them turning out in my favor. Most likely, that had been a one-time thing, a strangely enjoyable way for the two of us to get back at one another or finally satisfy our curiosity.

At least I’d given her two real orgasms. The thought made me smile with satisfaction.

I pulled the covers back and climbed back into bed. I was lying on my back, hands tucked beneath my head when Ellie shuffled back into the room.

Grabbing the blanket she’d been wearing earlier from the foot of the mattress, she wrapped it around herself and wandered toward the window. After switching off the light, she moved the curtain aside and stood looking out. Her dark hair spilled down her back, and I had the urge to touch it again.

“Still snowing?” I asked.

“Yes. Your car is buried. Everyone’s is.”

“I’ll clear it off tomorrow.”

Sighing, she closed the curtain again and went over to her bag. “I wish I would have thought to pack emergency pajamas. I don’t really want to sleep in your sweater.”

“Sleep naked.”

“I can’t sleep naked with you .”

I laughed. “Ellie, my tongue has been all over your body tonight.”

“That’s not the point.” She faced me and spoke in the know-it-all voice I was used to. “Sleeping naked next to someone is something that people in a relationship do. Not us.”

“ I’m sleeping naked.”

“Gianni! Can’t you at least put underwear on?”

“No, I’m saving my clean underwear for tomorrow. And I’m perfectly comfortable being naked next to you. It seems ridiculous to get shy about it after what just happened between us.”

She sighed. “Then can I have your T-shirt?”

“Sure.”

She walked around to my side of the bed and found it on the floor. Scooping it up, she shook it out for some reason before tossing the blanket back onto the bed and pulling the shirt over her head. Then she sniffed the collar. “It smells good.”

“Come closer. You can have the real thing.” I turned down the covers and moved over, making room for her.

But instead of climbing in, she walked around to her side of the bed. “No. You have to stay over there on your half. I’ll stay on mine.”

“Ellie, I’m twice as big as you. Half and half isn’t fair.”

“Well, try not to move around too much, okay?” She lay on her back and pulled the covers up to her chin. “Goodnight.”

“Night.”

Minutes ticked by in the dark.

There was no way I was going to fall asleep. All I could think about was the fact that she wasn’t wearing panties under my T-shirt. I rolled onto my side and propped my head on my elbow. It was so dark I couldn’t see if her eyes were open or closed.

“Are you watching me sleep?” she asked.

“You’re not sleeping.”

“I’m trying to.” She shivered. “I’m cold again.”

I reached for the plaid blanket she’d tossed at the foot of the bed and spread it over her. “Better?”

“I think so. Thanks.”

“You can always move closer to me.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because it might lead to other things.”

“It’s fine, I have another condom.”

“ No , Gianni. Goodnight.”

“Wait, I have a question.” I tapped her on the shoulder.

“What?”

“Was I as good as my dad in your dream?”

She sat up and hit me with her pillow. “You’re a jerk! I can’t believe I told you that. You have to promise you won’t ever tell anyone about it—or about anything that happened here tonight!”

I couldn’t stop laughing. “What happens at the Pineview Motel stays at the Pineview Motel.”

“Good.” She thumped her pillow down and huddled up facing the wall instead of me. “God, I’m going to regret everything about these twenty-four hours with you, aren’t I?”

“Oh, come on. We’re having a good time. In fact, this truce we have going is even more fun than fighting with you.”

“Ha.” She was silent for a few minutes but seemed to curl up tighter and tighter into a ball. Then she started to shiver.

“Permission to approach your side in order to share my body heat,” I stated robotically. “In a completely non-sexual way, of course.”

“Fine.” Her voice was small. “But only because I’m so cold.”

Smiling, I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her toward me so my body curved around hers—my chest against her back, her butt resting on my hips, my knees tucked behind hers. I kept my arm around her middle and inhaled the summer-day scent of her hair. I closed my eyes and felt seventeen again, bursting with reckless energy and stupid ideas. I recalled walking around at the Cherry Festival with friends and seeing her in that bikini, sash, and crown, posed above that dunk tank. Her legs were crossed at the ankle, her knees side by side, her thighs pressed tightly together.

But she’d opened those thighs for me tonight, hadn’t she? And she’d tasted better than a dream.

“Quit it, Gianni.”

“What?”

“I can feel you getting hard.”

“Sorry. I was thinking about earlier. I’ll try to stop.”

She was silent a moment. “What were you thinking about, specifically?”

I smiled. “The way you taste.”

“Oh.”

“Your hair smells good, and something about it reminds me of summer, so I started thinking about the Cherry Festival, and picturing you in your bikini, and remembering how hot you were sitting up there, and how your legs were all pressed together like a good girl’s, and then I remembered the way you spread them open for me, and my face was buried between them, and?—”

“Jesus. So that’s how it happens.”

“That’s how it happens.” I continued to get hard, and I knew she could feel it. “Want me to let you go?”

“I’m—I’m not sure. Now I’m getting all confused.” She squirmed a little, which only made things worse. “You are nice and warm. Can’t you just make it go down?”

“Maybe, but I’d rather make it go in and out.”

She laughed, which surprised me. “Think about something unsexy.”

“I’m trying. It’s not working.”

“Well, we’re not doing it again. One free blizzard bang is all we get.”

“What’s a blizzard bang?”

“It’s a sort of hall pass you get during really bad weather to make questionable sexual decisions.”

I laughed. “But it’s a one-time use?”

“Yeah.”

“Too bad.” I held her closer and started kissing the back of her neck, fully prepared for her to push me away or tell me to stop. When she didn’t, I slipped my arm inside the shirt she wore, placing my hand on her bare stomach.

“Oh God,” she whispered. “Don’t make me want this again.”

“Should I stop?” Slowly, my palm slid up her rib cage.

“Yes.” But she took my wrist and moved my hand over her breast. “I have so many reasons why this should not happen.”

“Such as?” I played with the hard peaks of her nipples.

“We’ve known each other too long.” Her hand snaked back and brushed over my hip.

“Definitely.”

“We don’t get along.” She slipped her hand between us.

“Nope.” My eyes closed as her fingers wrapped around my erection, which grew thicker in her grasp.

“We’re total opposites.”

“Well, you know what they say about opposites.” Heat prickled all over my skin as she worked her hand up and down my shaft.

“If I give in to you again, you’ll hold it over me for the rest of my life. You’ll remind me constantly that I couldn’t resist you, and then I’m just like every other girl you’ve ever been with.”

“Ellie, for God’s sake.” With my palm still covering her breast, I kissed my way down the curve of her neck to her shoulder. “You’re nothing like any girl I’ve ever been with. And I don’t want you to give in just because I wore down your resistance.”

“No?” Her breath was coming faster.

“No. I want you to give in because it’s what you want. Because it will feel good. Because even though we’re total opposites and not friends and I love giving you a hard time, you know I will always have your back.” I tugged her shoulder, rolling her toward me so we were face to face. “Our history might not be perfect, but it goes back a long way.”

“It does,” she whispered.

I pushed her hair off her forehead. “And you matter to me.”

“Okay. That’s enough.” She looped her arms around my back and hauled me on top of her.

“Enough what?”

“Convincing. Our hall pass is good for one more blizzard bang, but that’s it!”

“Works for me.” Kneeling between her legs, I lifted the T-shirt over her head, eager to get on with things before she changed her mind. “Should I go get the condom?”

“Gianni.” She sat up and ran her hands up my arms, over my shoulders, and into my hair. “Slow. Down.”

I grinned and pulled her onto my lap, my cock trapped between us. “Good girl.”

Straddling my thighs, she rocked her hips above me, sliding her warm, wet pussy over my thick, hard cock. She moaned softly, her hands in my hair, her tongue in my mouth, her breasts pressing against my chest. I put my hands on her perfect ass, and held her tight to my hips. It took all my strength not to come as she moved on me.

When I begged her to stop for a second, she laughed and kissed my jaw and throat before whispering in my ear, “What’s the matter, Gianni? Too hot to handle?”

Growling, I flipped her onto her back, and she squealed. “Yes. Yes, this is fucking too hot to handle. I need to put that condom on before I lose my mind or lose control and come all over my own stomach.” I hopped out of bed. “And then it will be you that makes fun of me for the rest of our lives.”

“Maybe.” She giggled, rolling to her side and watching as I blindly felt in my bag for the condom. “Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like it.”

I looked over at her. “Now you’re just talking crazy.”

“Hey, you’re the one who told me to say what I’d like in bed, and now you’re judging me for it.”

“I’m not judging you.” My fingers closed around the condom and I stood up, tore the wrapper with my teeth and rolled it on. “You just keep surprising me is all.”

“In a good way?”

“Definitely.” I took a running leap back onto the mattress. “Have I mentioned how glad I am that the rooms at the Pineview Motel only have one bed?”

She laughed. “I can’t say I’m sorry either.”

“Look at us agreeing on something.” Taking her by the arm, I pulled her onto my lap again. “Now where were we?”

“You were there.” Ellie straddled my thighs again, taking my cock in her hand and giving it a few tight pumps with her fist before positioning it beneath her. “And I was right about here.”

I held my breath as she slowly lowered herself onto me one hot, wet inch at a time, pausing occasionally to move up and down as she eased my hard length inside her. Her fingers clung to my shoulders. Her eyes fluttered closed. Her mouth fell open. When her ass finally rested on my legs, she exhaled slowly and opened her eyes.

My cock throbbed once inside her. Her lips curved into a wicked smile.

“Not. Yet,” she whispered as she began to move. “You have to wait for me.”

“Oh fuck. I want to,” I said, my voice cracking. “I really want to.” I put my hands on her hips but took them off her skin immediately. “God, I can’t touch you. I’m not sure I can even look at you.”

She laughed, grinding against me. “Okay, then just close your eyes and let me have my way with you.”

But it didn’t matter whether my eyes were open or closed, whether my hands were on her skin or fisting the blankets, whether I held my breath or inhaled the intoxicating scent of her hair. I was completely lost to the sensation of being inside her as her hips circled and swiveled, to the idea that she was using me for her own pleasure, to the insane realization that this wasn’t a fantasy—she was actually here in this room, in this bed, riding my cock like she’d never felt anything this good.

Asking God to grant me a little more control than I was capable of on my own, I wrapped an arm around her back and buried my face in her breasts, sucking one nipple, taking it between my teeth and flicking its stiff little tip.

She cried out and moved her hips faster, and I felt the telltale rush of heat unfurling at the base of my spine—but at that point, all I could do was pray she was with me. Her voice rose in pitch and my lower body tightened, and then I was coming inside her in hot, feverish bursts while she continued to move above me. I panicked that I’d finished way too soon, but the moment my orgasm subsided, hers began, and I felt her body contracting around me in quick, rhythmic pulses that rendered her silent and slowed the movement of her hips to near stillness.

When she caught her breath, she realized my head was still cradled in her arms and dropped her hands. But I stayed where I was, an arm around her back, my forehead tipped against her chest.

She squirmed. “Let me go.”

“Never.” I wrapped the other arm around her. “You’re mine now. And I’m going to keep you locked in this room to be my sexual prisoner forever. Or I’ll be yours. I’m not picky.”

“Gianni, come on.” But she laughed, and the sound made me feel ridiculously happy. “I need to get up and stretch out my legs.”

“Fine.” I released her, and she carefully lifted herself off me and then headed for the bathroom.

A couple minutes later, she came out and I went in. When I returned to bed, she was bundled up under the covers on her side of the bed, facing the opposite wall. I got in on my side, fully prepared to observe her no-touching rule.

I was lying on my back, eyes closed, just drifting off when she surprised me yet again by rolling over and tucking herself along my side.

“What’s this?” I asked, wrapping an arm around her. She’d put my T-shirt back on.

Her cheek rested on my shoulder. “This is staying warm, that’s all.”

“Okay, so to be clear—we’re not cuddling?”

“We are not cuddling. And don’t get any more ideas.”

“Don’t worry. Even my body has limits. I definitely need a break before morning.”

She slapped my chest. “You can put that thought right out of your head. This is over. We used both your condoms anyway.”

“True.” I stroked her back for a moment. “It was fun while it lasted.”

“It was.” She laughed softly. “I don’t even want to tell you this because you’ll get smug, but that’s the most orgasms I’ve ever had in a night.”

“Fuck yeah, it was.” With my free hand, I thumped my chest a couple times, caveman style. “But you know, as much as I would like to take all the credit, you deserve some too.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“I mean it. You were vocal about what felt good and what you wanted and how you wanted it. Maybe that was the difference.”

“Maybe.” She started to play with my chest hair. “Or you’re just talented.”

“In the spirit of our truce, let’s say both are true.”

“Works for me. But tomorrow, the truce is over, okay? We can’t start getting along all the time. My entire life would feel like a lie.”

“Deal. I’d never be able to stop messing with your head anyway. It’s too much fun—maybe not as much fun as the banging, but a close second.”

She was silent for a couple minutes, but I knew she wasn’t sleeping because her fingers still tickled my sternum.

“Ellie. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“What made you say yes to the second time?”

Her answer didn’t come right away. “It was what you said. About having my back.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Something about that made me feel really safe.”

“Good.” I was weirdly touched that she’d used those particular words, that I’d made her feel safe. Had I ever made anyone feel safe?

“It was the acknowledgment that no matter what things are like on the surface, our history runs deep. I felt like you were being truthful when you said I matter to you.”

“I was.”

“So that’s what pushed me over the edge—the notion that you’d never really do anything to hurt me, and you’d protect me if it came down to it.”

I swallowed. “I would.”

Except now I was thinking about something—that stupid offer from Fiona Duff. I hadn’t told Ellie about it. Was that the same as a lie? Would she see it as a betrayal? Would it hurt her to know that I’d kept that to myself?

“Ellie, I have to tell you something.”

“What?” Her voice was sleepy.

I swallowed, then spoke quickly. “Fiona Duff offered me the final spot on the 30 Under 30 List. And—and the cover of that issue of Tastemaker .”

It took her a second to process it, and then she sat up. “ What? When? ”

“When she gave me the check for tonight. You were already in the car, and she and her daughter ambushed me.”

“Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

I sat up too. “I don’t know. You were so upset already, and it seemed like it would be adding insult to injury. I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

“Until you fucked me.”

“Ellie, don’t,” I said forcefully. “You know that’s not true.”

“I don’t know what’s true right now.” Her voice had grown softer, quieter. Sadder.

“You can scream at me if you want,” I told her, half hoping she would.

“What good would that do?”

“I don’t know. Make you feel better?”

“It won’t. I wish it would, but it won’t. The truth is, I wasn’t impressive enough to get the gig. You were.”

“The circumstances going in weren’t equal,” I argued. “It wasn’t a level playing field.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“I told Fiona I wouldn’t do it.”

She shook her head. “Gianni, don’t be stupid. Take the spot.”

“No.”

“It’ll be good for you—and for Etoile.”

I hesitated. “That’s the only reason I’d do it. For Etoile. For Abelard. If you thought it would help.”

“I’m sure it would.” She sighed. “It’ll be great publicity for the summer rush.”

“Right. Summer. It’s just...” I ran a hand through my hair. “I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be at Etoile.”

Ellie gathered the blankets closer to her chest. “You’re leaving? Already?”

Exhaling, I leaned back against the headboard. “I had an offer for another show, and if I take it, I’d have to leave by the end of March.”

“Another reality show?”

“Yes.”

She was silent a moment. “When did you get this offer?”

“A couple weeks ago.”

“You’ve known for weeks that you’re leaving at the end of March and you’re just telling me this now ?”

“I haven’t decided whether to accept or not. I’m still thinking, and I want to talk to your parents. I don’t want them to think I’m abandoning Etoile.”

“Well, that’s exactly what they’ll think because that’s what you’re doing !”

“Ellie, come on. This is a hard choice for me to make. You know I love Etoile and being in the kitchen.”

“I don’t know anything for certain right now. A moment ago, I thought I did—and then you started talking, and everything turned upside down.”

“I haven’t decided anything yet. And I was going to talk to you about it.”

“Well, now you have.” She thumped a hip into the mattress and turned away from me, gathering the covers at her shoulder and scooting to the farthest edge of the mattress. “Goodnight.”

“Can’t we talk about this some more?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. If you want to do the show, do the show. And you’d be stupid to turn down Fiona’s offer.”

“I don’t want it.”

“It’s a great opportunity, Gianni.” Her tone was insistent. “And I refuse to be the reason you say no. Take her offer and go back to Hollywood. It’s where you belong. It’s what you want.”

“And you’ll never speak to me again?” At the thought, my chest grew painfully tight. “Is that it?”

“I’ll speak to you as long as we’re working together. And when you leave, you won’t care anyway.”

“Yes, I will , Ellie. That was my whole point tonight.”

She looked over her shoulder. “About having my back?”

“Well . . . yes.”

She turned away from me again. “Go to sleep, Gianni.”

“I can’t. Not if you’re mad at me.”

“Oh, Jesus. I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at myself. Now will you sleep?”

I wanted to keep talking, but what would be the point? In her eyes, I’d won a prize that she’d coveted, I was abandoning her family, and I’d hidden it all from her until right after we’d had sex—and all of it confirmed the idea she’d had about me from day one. I was kicking myself for confessing it all tonight, although I wasn’t sure it would have gone any better if I’d waited. Actually, it might have gone worse.

She was always going to be hurt.

Sighing heavily, I lay down again and stared at the ceiling.

I didn’t want that stupid magazine cover. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do the show. And I had mixed feelings about leaving Etoile so soon.

But one thing I knew for sure—I hated that tonight had ended this way. If I had more time alone with Ellie, I was sure I could make her understand my side of things. That I hadn’t hidden anything from her on purpose. That I was trying to protect her feelings as long as I could. That I wasn’t leaving Etoile because I was unhappy or thought it was too small town or something. That tonight had meant something to me beyond just having a good time.

But tomorrow, we’d get up and drive home, and she’d probably be cold and silent the entire way. Our relationship wouldn’t even return to its previous state of flirty antagonism—she’d likely ignore me entirely. I probably wouldn’t be able to get a rise out of her anymore. All the ground we’d gained inside Room 13 at the Pineview Motel would be lost.

Unless we were still stranded here.

There was that possibility—two feet of snow might keep us buried another night.

But I didn’t want to leave it to chance.