Page 19 of My Pucked Up Neighbor (Detroit Acers #5)

His lips crash against mine,hot and hungry, but there’s a tenderness underneath, like he's holding back just enough to remind me I matter. The kiss still makes my toes curl, but it’s different this time.

More deliberate. Like he’s memorizing me.

His hands slide along my hips, anchoring me as his mouth takes its time, his tongue exploring, tasting, and teasing.

Heat swells between us. I unfasten the top few buttons of his shirt, curiosity and want humming through me, then slide my hand across his bare chest. His muscles flex under my touch, warm and solid and so very real.

"You like what you feel, Little Fields?" he teases, voice low and rough.

I smile against his jaw and whisper, "You feel amazing. All that muscle should be illegal. And you're not hard to look at either, Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome."

His grin is wicked. "Neither are you. But fair warning, I may bite or nibble when provoked."

"Maybe I want you to."

He groans and kisses me deeper, mouth hot and insistent. His hands trail up my thighs, stopping just at the hem of my dress, fingers pressing gently as if asking a question without words. Every nerve is alive. Every inch of me wants him closer.

"You’re gonna ruin me," he murmurs against my neck.

"You started it," I whisper back, tugging him even closer.

He slides his hands beneath my dress, palms skimming up my thighs, coaxing a shiver from deep inside me.

When his fingers brush over the thin fabric of my panties, he groans low in his throat.

"Jesus, you’re burning up. That for me?" he whispers, voice thick.

I bite my lip and nod, barely able to breathe. "All for you," I say. He presses a kiss just beneath my jaw, slow and devastating. "Fuck, Little Fields… you’re gonna undo me."

I grin, breathless and bold. "Good. Maybe I like the idea of wrecking you."

His eyes flash with something fierce, reverent. "Then I’m all yours."

He lifts me off the counter like I weigh nothing and carries me to the bedroom, never breaking eye contact.

The world narrows to this moment, just him and me.

And this moment is everything I hoped it would be.

“You sure?”

I nod, but he doesn’t move.

“Mandy.”

“I want you,” I whisper, my voice trembling. “I trust you.”

His whole expression shifts. Like I gave him something sacred.

He kisses me again, like a promise. Gentle, reverent, unhurried.

When we reach the bed, he puts me down. I’m standing there, heart racing, hands unsure.

“If we do this,” he says softly, “I’m not going to be able to pretend it’s casual. And I don’t want your first time to be a one-and-done. Not when it’s you. Not when it’s me with you.”

“It’s not,” I tell him. “Not for me either.”

The next kiss is deeper. His hands skim my waist, steady and strong, grounding me.

He slides his hands under the hem of my sundress again. “Okay if I…?”

I nod, lips parted.

He lifts it slowly, and I shiver as the cool air hits my skin. My bra is navy lace, something I wore without thinking. Now, it feels like it matters.

His thumbs trail under the band as he kisses my collarbone. “You’re beautiful, Mandy. So fucking beautiful.”

I shiver. “You’ve seen girls half-naked before.”

“None of them were you.”

I can’t breathe. Can’t think.

He kisses my shoulder and reaches for the clasp. He unhooks it slowly, letting it slide off my arms. I instinctively move to cover my chest.

“Hey.” He presses a kiss to my temple. “Look at me.”

I do.

“You don’t have to hide. Not from me.”

I lower my arms slowly.

“You okay?”

“Just… nervous.”

“We don’t have to do anything,” he says. “We can stop, cuddle, order pizza…”

“I want this,” I interrupt. “I just don’t want to get it wrong.”

He shakes his head. “You can’t. We make the rules.”

I lie back, heart pounding, eyes never leaving his.

He kicks off his shoes and climbs over me, bracing himself so he’s not too heavy.

I reach for the edge of his shirt. “Can I…?”

“Please.”

I finish unbuttoning his shirt I'd already started in the kitchen, and slide it off his shoulders, revealing his chest. There are scars, faint lines and pale marks from hockey hits.

I press a kiss to one near his ribs. “How’d you get this one?”

“Blocked a shot in St. Louis.”

I kiss another. “This one?”

“Stick to the shoulder. Got stitched mid-period.”

“You’re insane.”

“Probably.”

I smile. My hands explore slowly as I want to remember everything. Learn him.

I trail my fingers across his chest, slow and deliberate. “You always this tense when a girl’s got you half-naked?”

He nods, jaw tight. “You’re killing me.”

“Good.”

He grins, then his hands trail down my sides. When he reaches my breasts, he pauses, eyes locked with mine like he’s waiting for a sign. I nod, breath shaky.

He lowers his mouth and kisses the swell of one breast and moves closer to the peak. His tongue flicks lightly over my nipple, and I arch, a quiet gasp escaping before I can stop it. He groans low in his throat, like my reaction does something to him.

He licks and sucks gently, hand cradling the other breast, thumb teasing in slow circles. My fingers slide into his hair as my back arches again.

“Oh my god…” I whisper, voice breaking on a breath.

He looks up, smug and tender all at once. “Feel good?”

I manage a breathless laugh. “You have no idea.”

Then his hands drift lower, his fingertips skimming, exploring, as he kisses down my stomach with aching patience.

One hand stops at the waistband of my panties.

“I can't wait to feel you come apart for me,” he murmurs against my skin, voice thick with need.

He kisses the inside of my knee, then hooks his fingers into the sides of my panties and slowly slides them down. I lift my hips to help. He moves slowly and carefully, like he’s unwrapping something rare.

When they’re gone, he kneels and lets his hands skim the outsides of my thighs.

“You are so damn stunning, Mandy. You have no idea.”

My voice is barely a whisper. “You keep saying things like that, and I’m going to fall in love with you.”

He kisses my thigh. “Then I better keep saying them.”

I laugh softly, breathless.

His kisses move down my body…stomach, hips, inner thighs…like he’s worshipping every inch. I tremble under the weight of it, of him.

He spreads my knees apart with both hands, slow and confident, and settles between them like he belongs there.

Then his mouth finds me.

He starts with gentle kisses that are feather-light and teasing. My breath hitches as his tongue flicks about, tasting every bit of me.

“Oh,” I gasp, my fingers clutching the sheets.

He hums low in his throat, the vibration making me jolt.

His tongue moves deliberately now, licking slowly, then circling, then pressing exactly where I need him. He finds my center like it’s instinct, like he’s done nothing else his whole life but figure out how to make me fall apart.

My thighs start to tremble, my hips lifting into him before I even realize I’m doing it. He holds me still with strong hands and keeps going, relentless in the most devastating, beautiful way.

“Nate,” I gasp, breathless and breaking.

“Come for me, baby,” he murmurs, and then his mouth is on me again, and I shatter.

His fingers slide between my thighs, gentle but sure, exploring slowly. When he finds how wet I already am, he groans, deep and low like it’s pulled from his chest.

“God, Mandy…” he murmurs. “You’re so ready for me.”

One finger strokes through my slick heat, and I arch with a gasp, and almost choke on my own breath. He circles carefully, teasing, coaxing pleasure out of every nerve ending.

I can barely hold still. My hips roll, seeking more, and he gives it, one finger slipping inside, followed by another, slow and steady.

I clutch the sheets, moaning softly. “Oh my god…”

He leans in, kisses my jaw, my neck, all while his fingers keep working, his touch steady, skilled, and relentless.

“You feel incredible,” he whispers, voice ragged. “Hot, wet and tight.”

“Put another finger in. I want to see how that feels.”

He does slowly and gently and I suddenly feel a gush of liquid.”

“Jesus, Mandy, you are so wet. Spread your legs even more. I want to look at you.”

He watches as he inserts three fingers and moves them in and out. I watch him do it and it’s making me squirm and move around involuntarily.

Then his lips return to mine, and I kiss him like I’m already falling.

“Ready?"

I nod. “Nate… I’ve never…”

“I know.”

He presses his forehead to mine. “And I’m honored.”

That makes something inside me crack open.

We kiss again. Slower. Deeper. His hands cradle my face.

He stands, takes off his pants and boxers, and returns to me. My eyes widen slightly. He smiles.

My hand trails lower, fingers brushing the hard length of him. He sucks in a sharp breath, his muscles going tight beneath my touch.

“Feel how hard I am, Mandy…” he groans, his voice rough and hungry.

He rolls on a condom and hovers over me, one hand braced beside my head, the other trailing down my thigh. He nudges my legs apart and settles between them, his body warm and solid and exactly where I want him.

“Breathe,” he whispers. “I’ve got you.”

When he slides into me, he goes slowly, so slowly it steals my breath.

I gasp, gripping his hand.

He stills. “Too much?”

“No,” I whisper. “Just… a lot.”

He kisses my shoulder, my jaw, my mouth. “I’ll go slow, baby. But I’m going to make you feel every damn second of it.”

And when he finally pushes in, my body arches beneath him. It’s more than pressure, more than stretch. It’s him filling me inch by inch, steady and careful, like he knows exactly what I can take and what I need.

A soft gasp slips out of me, part pleasure, part disbelief that this is really happening. He stills once he’s fully seated inside me, forehead pressed to mine, letting me feel every bit of him.

“You’re so tight,” he murmurs, reverent, like I’m something to worship. “So damn perfect.”

My body trembles, adjusting around him, every nerve sensing everything. I shift my hips experimentally, and his breath catches.

“Mandy…”

That single word wrecks me.

Then we move.

He pulls back slowly and pushes in again, setting a rhythm that’s deep, deliberate, and devastating in the best way. His hands slide under my thighs, pulling me closer, angling deeper, and I cry out, clinging to him like I might fly apart.

Every thrust sends sparks through me, friction building where we’re joined, heat curling tighter with every stroke. He’s everywhere, his mouth on my neck, his breath in my ear, and his body pressed to mine like he can’t stand an inch of space between us.

I fall apart the second his thumb brushes over the spot he knows makes me shatter.

My back arches. My legs lock around him. Pleasure crashes over me so hard I forget how to breathe. I call out his name as I come, gripping his shoulders like he’s the only thing anchoring me to the world.

But he’s not done.

He groans, low and rough, and his pace falters. His rhythm turns wild and I feel him lose it right there inside me, his release hitting hard, his mouth crushed to mine as he follows me over the edge.

We collapse into each other, breathless, tangled, wrecked.

And still, he doesn’t let go.

He pulls me to his chest, and I fit there like I belong.

Silence stretches between us. Soft. Safe.

“I’ve never felt more seen,” I whisper.

He kisses my temple. “That’s ‘cause you finally let someone see you.”

And I smile, knowing I wouldn’t change a single second.

***

I wake to the smell of bacon.

Sunlight pours across the bed, and I blink slowly, stretching under soft sheets that definitely don’t belong to me.

Nate’s shirt is wrapped around me buttoned halfway, sleeves rolled up and swallowing my hands. It smells like him. Clean laundry and spice, and something darker. Something that lingers on my skin.

I sit up and hear soft clinks from the kitchen.

When I pad out barefoot, he’s at the stove, barefoot too, shirtless, with shorts slung low on his hips. A pan sizzles as he flips eggs. There’s a bowl of fruit already on the counter, two mugs of coffee, and a carton of orange juice.

“You went out for groceries?” I ask, voice raspy from sleep.

He glances over his shoulder with a smirk. “Hope last night didn’t ruin you for future sleepovers.”

I cross my arms, still drowning in his shirt. “I might demand a cabin clause in our relationship contract.”

He laughs. “Add it. I’ll sign anything that keeps you in my bed.”

We eat on the deck. The lake sparkles like it’s in on the secret. Trees sway. Birds chirp. It’s too perfect. And somehow real.

Nate watches me from across the table, one hand cradling his coffee, the other stretched casually behind his chair like he owns the whole world, and me with it.

After breakfast, I change into a black bikini I packed mostly as a joke. But now I want to see what it does to him.

I step out onto the deck. Nate turns.

His jaw slackens. “You trying to kill me before lunch?”

I shrug. “It’s not against the rules.”

He walks over, eyes still locked on me, and loops his fingers through mine. “If we don’t get in the lake now, I’m not responsible for what happens on that deck chair.”

The water is cool and perfect. We wade in together, laughing when the chill hits our skin. I splash him. He retaliates. It turns into a full-blown splash war.

“You cheat!” I cry, wiping water from my eyes.

“You’re smaller. I’m leveling the field.”

“You’re six foot two and full of excuses!”

He lunges forward, grabs my waist, and pulls me into him. We’re both soaked. My legs wrap around his hips instinctively, and he holds me like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

We’re laughing, dripping, and breathless.

He presses his forehead to mine. “You make everything feel easier.”

I kiss him. “You make me feel like I can finally breathe.”

We stay in the water until our fingers wrinkle.

***

Eventually, we pack. He loads our bags in the SUV and we drive with the windows down, my hand on his thigh, his thumb brushing my knuckles at red lights.

On the plane, I lean into him, drowsy, cheek against his shoulder.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“For what?”

“For this. I didn’t know how much I needed to just... be.”

He squeezes my hand. Doesn’t overdo it. Just enough.

***

Back in Detroit, he walks me to my apartment. I fumble for my key, heart weirdly heavy.

This feels like an ending.

I turn to say goodbye.

But Nate steps in close. Close enough to knock every logical thought from my brain.

My heart stutters.

I kiss him.

It’s soft. Intentional. Not a goodbye. A promise.

He rests his forehead against mine. “Get a few hours of studying in.”

I smile. “I will.”

“And don’t forget about poker night on Tuesday."

I step inside, close the door, and lean against it.

And I swear, for the first time in a long time… I feel complete.