Page 13

Chapter 12

Shawn

I just left the girl and I already want to see her again. A bond that we have always shared felt like it snapped into place last night.

After chugging my double-double and eating one of each flavor of Timbits, I feel like I need a run. So I change my clothes and run to the flower shop down the street to get some flowers for Soph and Lee.

I step out of the shower, pull the warm white towel from the heating rack, and wrap it around my waist. Sliding my feet into my house slippers, I head out to the kitchen, tossing the leftover pizza into the oven for a few minutes while I get dressed. Picking out jeans and a graphic tee, I grab a set of Nikes to complete the look. The buzzer goes off in the kitchen, and I make my way to wrap it up in individual Tupperware containers for the girls.

The lobby of S.T.O.T is exactly what I pictured, like a sport-themed law office. I head up to the receptionist to the left of the entryway while taking in the crisp leather chairs and marble coffee tables scattered around the area.

“Excuse me, I’m here to see Ainsley Harris and Sophie Santos.”

I smile with my bag of food in one hand and two bouquets of flowers in the other. The click of heels behind me has me turning around.

“Oh, shit.”

Soph is standing there with her phone in her hand.

“Miss Santos, this gentleman is here for you and Miss Harris.” The kind receptionist cuts in.

“Thanks, Bridget, I’ll take him back,” Soph says as she waves me over, and I follow her down the hallway lined with different photos of all the sports teams in Toronto.

This office is pretty cool. I take it all in, but I feel the heat of Soph’s stare at my side.

“You guys totally fucked.” She looks over at me with a knowing smile.

“Um, I care deeply for Ainsley. Always have. “I reply awkwardly and keep walking.

“Well, duh. Just be kind to my girl, though. She is tough but not unbreakable.” She states with full confidence.

I smile, knowing Lee has got some girlfriends that will always have her back.

“Trust me Soph, I’m the last person who ever wants to break her and if someone does, I’ll pick you up so we can both go beat their ass.”

She smiles as we come up to rows of cubicles.

“I already like you.” She nods back at me.

I spot the back of Lee’s head as her voice echoes around us. She’s wrapping up a call.

“Thank you and welcome to Toronto, Mr. Costa.”

“Take it that went well?”

Soph calls over to Lee. She swivels around, and her face lights up as she sees me and the flowers I’m holding.

“Oh, Shawn! You’re here.”

She swiftly stands to give me a hug.

“Lunch for you both.” I hand over the bag with the containers of pizza.

“And flowers for Soph for knocking it out of the park with the condo and all the stuff stocked in there for Luna and Blaze.” I hand a set of flowers over to Soph.

She takes them and sits in her seat, spinning around.

“And for you too, Lee. A flower for each year we have been apart.” I hand the yellow flowers to her.

She takes them, and I see her swallow slowly. Leaning in to smell them.

“Thank you so much, Shawn. They’re beautiful.”

We all take a seat and eat up Pizza Gigi’s so fast because damn, they must put crack in the sauce because it was so fucking good. They talk about work and events coming up as we eat. After we ate, they had to get back to work; it’s the busy season, so they each gave me a hug, thanked me again for the flowers and lunch, and then I went on my way.

Making my way to the elevators, I hit the down button. My mind has been on a constant loop for the past 24 hours. It’s like Lee and I just picked up where we left off, and I want to see her every night and every morning like we did as kids.

I pry my phone out of my pocket and shoot her a text.

Books

I’m going to head to Loblaws to get some things for the week. How does some Oxtail Pelau sound for dinner?

Lee

Ummm HELL yes! Millie’s mom used to make that for us, and I haven’t had it in years! My place?

Books

Sure. I’ll cook it here and we can take my car to your place. Does 5:30pm work?

Lee

Yep, works for me!

Books

Got it! I’ll meet you at Bill’s desk downstairs. I want to drop some dinner off for him, too.

Lee

Perfect! Thanks, Shawn.

Books

Welcome, Sunshine.

* * *

T he dogs have gone out and been fed; the oxtails have been slowly cooking for several hours, so hopefully, they will melt in your mouth as you eat them.

I pack up our dinner for us and Bill. He always works the nights, and I know he must get hungry. It's the very least I could do after pulling me a solid and getting Lee some clothes for work. I lock up and head downstairs. Bill is standing at the front, helping someone with the door. I follow him over to the main lobby desk.

“Mr. Salisu, how can I help? Did I miss a message from you?” He says as I approach.

“Nope, just bringing you some dinner I cooked up. It’s a family favorite, and I thought you might enjoy some this evening on your shift.”

“Oh, how kind of you, thank you, sir. Are you headed out for the evening?”

Bill says as he puts the dinner I made him in the mini fridge under his desk.

I smell her before I see her, but she cuts in anyway.

“He sure is, Bilbo! I’m taking him to my neck of the woods to see if he can handle the Six outside of this lavish neighbourhood.”

Lee says and waves to Soph, exiting the building beside us.

“Oh, how fun. Well, you both be careful and enjoy your night.”

He smiles at us a little wider.

“Thanks, Bill!” Lee waves at him, and I follow along.

“Appreciate it, Bill.”

“Thanks again for the meal, Mr. Salisu.”

“Don’t mention it.”

I call back as we walk out of the building. Lee and I head outside, and a black SUV sits by the curb. Lee looks over at me with a mischievous grin.

“What are you thinking, Sunshine?”

“We should do this my way. Follow me!”

She grabs my arm, and we walk two blocks over after I tell the driver he can have the night off. We’re closer to where I was at Loblaws earlier today. She pulls out a PRESTO card, and we get on the next bright red streetcar.

Finding seats near the back, the first thing I notice is that it’s clean for public transportation, like REALLY clean. I look around and see everyone smiling and chatting with each other. They all seem so happy. Maybe they’re just happy to be going home from work, but it’s very on theme with the others I have met so far in the city.

Lee shivers as the coolness of the night is still ever-present in the streetcar. I loop my hand over her shoulder and pull her into me. She fits perfectly tucked into me as I cradle her into my chest, resting my cheek on the softness of her hair.

Fifteen minutes later, Lee pushes the red stop button next to her seat, and a bell chimes. We come to a stop, and we stand to get off. Walking ten minutes around the corner until an old hole-in-the-wall Greek restaurant comes into view. As we approach it, I can smell the hints of lamb and dill. It smells so freaking good. My stomach rumbles.

“Wow, you smell that every day? I get why you don’t want to cook.” I lean down to look at Lee.

“Tell me about it. The first few weeks I moved here, I ate my weight in red pepper hummus and Moussaka. Then they started giving me free Baklava, and I was hooked. Now it’s just a once a week thing.” She shrugs.

“I’m going to need you to bring some to work when you can. I love some good Greek food.”

She nods and then opens the door next to it.

“Of course!”

We step into a tiny stairwell that I don’t fit in, so I have to bend a bit. Heading into a narrow hallway, she stops in front of a faded brown door with a welcome mat that says ‘Grow through what you go through’ with vines covering it. I smile, and she looks over at me, knowing that I noticed it.

We walk into a small apartment, and the smell of lavender takes over me. I directly enter the living room space with one small couch, a chair, and a coffee table. The TV is mounted in the center of the wall that is next to me. Behind the couch is a tiny island with two barstools. The kitchen is compact but usable. Let’s just say I’m glad that I cooked dinner at my place. She smiles, clearly proud to be home, and slips off her shoes at the front door and replaces them with her house shoes. That must be a thing, not wearing shoes throughout your home. I turn around as she looks up at me.

“Let me just change out of this beautiful outfit and water a few of my plants, and then we can eat. Make yourself at home. You can use whatever you need in the kitchen.”

“Perfect! Do you have a saucepan?”

“Saucepan?”

Okay, so she doesn’t cook.

“Big pan with a lid for the stove?”

“Ah, yep! Sure do. In the drawer under the stove.”

She almost bounces out of the room, and I warm the food back up on the stove because the microwave would just ruin every bit of tenderness this meat might have. I put the lid on the simmering pan and walk around her space. I notice there isn’t a space big enough for a dining table, so she must just sit on the barstools on the island. But, there is a little space for her to put a desk and some small bookshelves in the corner. I see a photo of her college graduation with her family on the shelves and walk over to see more little trinkets she has on her shelves.

Out of the corner of my eye, a familiar bright red book Sonora recently read draws my attention. I keep browsing and reading the titles. Most of them are design, marketing, and pottery books.

Interesting .

I make a note to ask her more about that during dinner, but the rest of the books…

My girl here loves her smut.

I smile. I knew it. Last night, I could feel her strong desire to experiment with herself in the bedroom. She clearly finds it incredibly arousing, so I am eager to explore with her. I turn to see a couple of books on her desk. The one on top has a note sticking out of it. Opening the book to remove the paper that’s bookmarking the page and read the page of the book she is on.

Wow, okay.

Straight into primal play with some added in knife play, dark and kinky as fuck. Damn, I’m kind of getting hard just thinking about all the things she might be into after reading smut like this. I take a deep breath, opening the paper that was bookmarking the page in my hand. The top reads Kinks-To-Try List.

Oh motherfucking, fucking fuck. I suck in a deep breath while reading over the list.

Well shit. I’m fully freaking hard now. She only has six on her list, but clearly, she is leaving room to add more.

Ohhhh baby, I’ve already been able to knock off one of these kinks, maybe two, but just wait until I get to show you the others. I smile again, already brainstorming the things I wanna do. But how do I bring this up to her?

She definitely wants to squirt. She was so open with me about it already, and I cherish the trust she already is giving me. I don’t want to break that by snooping and finding this personal list of hers, but I would feel dishonest if I didn’t let her know I read it.

Shit. I can’t lie to this girl. As I hear Lee walking towards me, I put the list in my back pocket. I look over the book one more time to catch the title so that I can grab a copy for myself.

As she rounds the corner, my eyes rake over her in sweatpants, a white tank, and she didn’t fucking put a bra on. I immediately shift to hide my dick, and she looks me up and down slowly. My cock is so hard it hurts now. She sees the book in my hand and gasps, her watering can falling to the floor. I put her book down and go to get a paper towel to help her clean up the water spilt over the floor. She stands there with her mouth open.

“I, um, I like to read. The plot is so engaging…”

She says frantically, trying to clean her mess. I smile as I bend down to help her.

“You read smut for the plot, huh?” I smirk.

She turns deep red now, probably caught up in a clusterfuck of emotions in her head about how to get out of this. She stands up, scurries to the kitchen, and throws away the paper towels as I follow behind her. Walking over to the stove, she takes the lid off of the oxtails so she can bend down and waft it to her nose. She wants to carry on like I didn’t just read her lady porn and find her kinky list.

Not happening.

“So, you want to learn to squirt?” I say, diving right in, catching her off guard.

She jumps back from the dish like it was talking to her, not me.

“Oh, um, sure, I’ve tried to research it, and I’ve read about it, I don’t know, I just don’t think some women can do that, I guess. Even with our little ‘victory’ last night, I think it was just a fluke.”

“That was no fluke, Sunshine.”

“Yeah, well, seriously. We can just talk and have a chill night. I’m not going to jump your bones every time I see you.”

“Well, that’s a damn shame. I was really hoping we’d get to the Mile High Club.”

I say, pulling out the list from my pocket, watching as sheer horror takes over her face.

“I…uh...fuck. I just try to remember different kinks in the books I read, and sometimes I…uh…shit. My last boyfriend in college said I wasn’t ‘adventurous’ in the bedroom, and then Millie and I started reading this smut series we found on TikTok. The list, I just...”

She is spiraling, and as always, I’m there to catch her. I clear my throat.

“You mean you wanted to remember what kinks turned you on, so you can see how they play out in real life?”

She sighs, and I clamp my mouth shut at how sweet that noise sounds coming from her lips. Now I just want those lips around my cock again. Shit, I’m just as bad as her. This was just going to be dinner, get to know her again, not try to fuck her every time I spend over thirty minutes with her. But whatever, maybe we just need to make up for the time we lost.

Just chill the fuck out, man. Be Salisu Strong or whatever - see, I can use that shit in all aspects of my life. Get it the fuck together.

I chuckle a little to myself, but she cuts through my pre-cum meltdown in my head.

“Yep, that pretty much sums it up.”

“Well, we’ve already marked off one to-do list item, so I think that means we have to do them all, eh?”

She laughs.

“Eh?”

“Did I use it right?”

“I’ll let it count.”

I shrug my shoulders and grab a Sharpie off the kitchen island.

“Well, I’m marking off the edging/cockjamming because baby, you fucking crushed that shit. I would also cross off squirting, but I know you were holding back on me. So, we’ll save that for when you fucking drown me in that shit.” She gasps.

“Oh, believe me, Sunshine. This is all fucking happening. This is my list too, now.”

I write our names on the top of the page, staking my claim to every kink on the list below.

Looking over, I see Lee starting at the deck of cards next to the pens on the counter. Deep in thought as she slowly looks back at me. Her eyebrows raise and she cocks her hip, clearly more relaxed that she knows she has my full support of her smutty desires. Her pupils have doubled in size, and I can see the wheels turning in her head as she points to the food on the stove.

“How about we eat this food you made us because honestly it smells fucking amazing and I’m about to get hangry on you. Then, while we eat, we play a game.”

She says with a smile, like she is so confident in playing a game while we eat.

“A game? While we are eating? And talk about sex?”

“Ha, food and sex should always go together. Whether it’s used with the sex or proceeds from the sex, food can easily be foreplay or aftercare.”

She smiles enormously now, clearly proud of her response.

“Oh, you’re absolutely right. Have you ever had a Whataburger breakfast taquito with picante sauce after a good fuck? Amazing!”

I say, stepping over to move her away from the stove. She stares up at me, eyebrows drawing together.

Checkmate, baby.

“Are you fucking kidding me? You’re going to bring Whataburger into the conversation? I haven’t had it in years and now that’s all I freaking want! Ugh.”

I laugh at her little tantrum as she picks up the ceramic bowls, and I plate dinner for us.

“What’s the game, Sunshine?” I continue for her.

“Okay, it’s like twenty questions, but we keep going until one of us doesn’t want to answer the question or we can’t come up with a question to ask. Whoever can’t come up with a question or refuses to answer loses. Whoever wins gets to pick the kink they want to do first and where it happens.”

My eyebrows shoot up. Okay, this girl is literally perfection. A chance to reconnect and explore her kinks? Sign me the fuck up. I put a spoon in her bowl and hand it to her. However, what she fails to remember is the fact that I’m a freaking professional athlete. Competition is in my blood.

So let the games begin, Sunshine.