Page 65 of A Vegas Crush Collection #2

thirsty

Zoya

Tyler gets up and stalks into his kitchen. He pulls out a jug of orange juice and chugs from it. I follow, nervous I may have upset him. I peer at him like he’s a wounded animal that might lash out.

“You are no longer a bachelor. You can’t just chug from the bottle like that. Use a cup.”

“What are ya, the etiquette police?” He shakes his head but he’s chuckling.

“You have to teach the kids good behaviors.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

I suck in a breath, then shut my mouth, pursing my lips to one side. “I will give you that this apartment is really, really tidy. For a single man, and an athlete. I expected it to smell like feet.”

His lips quirk at this. “Really? Am I a smelly guy?”

“No.” I love the way you smell. And now, I love the way you kiss and wish we hadn’t stopped.

“Well, then…” He shrugs. “I grew up in squalor, Zo. I learned to be quite OCD about cleaning at a very young age.”

There doesn’t seem to be anything to say to that. “I—I’m sorry. For pushing you away just now. Are you surprised to hear I’m a virgin?”

He licks his lips and gives me a cocky look. “Kind of. Not really? I don’t know. I try not to make assumptions about things like that, but you’ve never seemed like someone who was easy. It caught me off guard, but mainly because I was in a bit of a haze. You really turned me on.”

I feel my cheeks heat for like the ninetieth time in the past hour. “Well, I feel the same.”

He steps forward, putting his hand on my cheek. The way he looks down at me, it pools like electricity in my belly, a dark spark of magic that I just have never felt before with anyone else I’ve dated. I’ve found men attractive, sure, but never have I wanted to go this far.

“I r-really care about you, Tyler.” My voice has a breathless quality to it that’s embarrassing. “I always had this vision…that I would find a prince charming type. I never felt connected to other guys and I thought it was because there was this one perfect guy out there waiting for me.”

“And I’m not that guy?” He has a sly grin on his handsome face. “You sure?”

“I’m not sure of anything right now. But you really are my best friend. You have become my best friend and I think…I trust you. I think I would be okay if it was you who took my virginity.”

His laugh is one of surprise. He leans in to kiss me and I am surprised at how feral I get.

I pull him close, parting my lips as he picks me up and sits me on the kitchen counter, his cock straining behind his jeans once more as he pushes himself in between my legs.

My fingertips dig into his back. I have no self-control right now.

Abruptly though, he pulls away from me, running his hands through his hair and stabbing me with an intense gaze. “Woman, you are gonna be the damn death of me.”

“I just said—”

“I know what you said. But for one, I’m probably literally the worst guy in the world for a nice girl like you to lose your virginity to.

And second, I don’t want you to just be okay with losing your virginity to me.

That sounds like, ’I like brussels sprouts okay when they’re cooked the right way. ’ That’s not sexy.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” I push my lips out in a pout.

Tyler levels me with that dark look he sometimes gets.

“Look, Smokeshow, if and when we make love, I’d want it to be so good for you.

I’d want it to be very special for you, and I’d want you to feel safe.

But more than that, I’d want you dripping wet and screaming for it.

I’d want you thinking of nothing else other than how badly you want me inside you. ”

I can’t stop the gasp that erupts at his beautiful, sexy words. The look on his face. The way his cock still strains beneath his jeans. My nipples go hard and my mouth dry as I pant to breathe in oxygen. Now I understand the slang term “thirsty.” Yes, I am totally thirsty for Tyler Lockhardt.

“There you go,” Tyler says, proud of himself. “So you see, Zoya Kolochev, that we have some work to do.”

“Sexy work?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Maybe. But also, I need you to know I care about you, too. As more than a friend, just so we’re clear.

You mean more to me than just a quick and dirty fuck, and I won’t take it for granted.

I want you in my life. You’re gorgeous, yes, but also caring and supportive and smart.

You make me feel calmer, more steady. I’m so glad we’re friends.

And I wouldn’t give that up for the world. ”

Swoon.

I have to take a deep breath to steady myself. His words go straight to my head, to my heart, to my core. I’d want you thinking of nothing else other than how badly you want me inside you. Alongside those words. My body is a live wire. I’m ready to begin my education right now.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to me though.

I’ve made myself come while thinking of him before.

More times than I care to admit. I’ve tried to box in my attraction to Tyler, to keep it limited to the times when I’m alone in my room.

But here it is, and now that the box is open?

It’s so much harder to close down than it ever was before.

“Wow. You admit you care for a woman and that friendship is more important than sex, and you have custody of your brother and sister all in one week. Are you growing up, Tyler?”

“God, I hope not,” he says with a laugh that turns into a yawn.

“And I didn’t say friendship is more important than sex.

I said I wouldn’t give up our friendship for the world.

You are such a surprise to me, Zoya. A beautiful, wonderful, amazing surprise.

I had no clue that anyone like you even existed in the world, let alone could be my friend.

You came out of fuckin’ nowhere and into my life. .. and now I need you in it.

Wow. I never expected to hear those words from Tyler’s lips. About me. I do not know what to do with them right now. Say thank you? Acknowledge I think I might feel the same way, even though I’ve never had sex? Question more?

“Okay then. You need a nap?”

He nods and yawns again, so I hop down and take his hand, leading him back to the couch. He lies down and then I do, too, his arm draped over my midsection as we spoon, our bodies molding perfectly together before we drift off.

So very perfectly.

When I wake up, I’m on my back and Tyler is nowhere to be found.

I sit up, rubbing my eyes and then checking my phone, which is on the table.

I’ve missed a study session with Jay. The realization gives me a flutter of anxiety.

First, because I really should have been studying today.

Second, because I had possibly given Jay the impression we might go on a date.

And now it feels wrong, like I would be hurting Tyler if I did.

But Tyler is not my boyfriend, right? He’s still just my friend and I still don’t want to date someone so immersed in hockey.

And then there’s my sister’s obsession with sleeping with him hanging over my head.

What to do, what to do…

I hear Tyler’s voice and follow it back to the kitchen, where he’s talking on the phone and eating lunch meat out of the package, the open bottle of orange juice back out on the counter. I hear him say, “See you later,” and then he ends his call, giving me a lazy smile.

“Hey, Sleeping Beauty. Good nap?”

“Great,” I say, suddenly feeling shy with him. “You?”

“Just what I needed. ’Til my pocket kept vibrating. It was Vik.”

“Vik?”

“Viktor. Demoskev?”

I shake my head.

“Big fucker? Plays crash-hockey on defense with me? Played Olympic hockey with your own brother? Not ringing a bell at all?”

“I don’t really follow hockey.” I shrug. “Sorry.”

“Well, he got in a fistfight with your brother a few years ago and it was all over the damn news.”

“Oh! I do think I know who you’re talking about. His wife had a baby boy at the party, right? Pam was obsessed with him.”

“Yes. He’s my friend. Married a girl in the PR department. Third player in a row to break the fabled non-fraternization policy. Though, to be honest, that policy’s a fuckin’ joke. Literally no one adheres to it.”

“Do you have relationships with the staff?” I can’t stop myself from asking, and I blush again. I vow that I must learn to stop this blushing thing right this instant.

“Do you mean am I fucking anyone who is currently on staff at the Crush? No. I am not. Though I do go out with some of the sales staff sometimes.”

“Oh.” I want to ask if he’s seeing anyone else, but I cannot bring myself to ask that question. Plus, it will look childish. Jealous. And I have no right to be jealous with him at all.

“So what did your friend Viktor want?”

“He and Scarlett are helping me find a nanny for the kids while I’m at work or on the road.

They’re interviewing a couple of people for me because I don’t know shit about what to look for in a person like that.

Viktor told me Scarlett actually said I’d probably look for the best-looking nanny so I could fuck her, can you believe that shit? ”

“Well...” I raise a shoulder.

He clucks his tongue at me. “I would never.”

I make a dubious noise and he glares at me.

“They’re saving my life, here. Helping me get the kids into a private school where other players’ kids go. There’s a preschool for Logan and a first grade for Haley. Nanny will come every morning to help get them ready for school, get them dropped off, then pick them up until I get home.”

“Sounds perfect. What nice friends.”