Page 15 of Never To Suffer (The Hollywoodland #4)

CHINESE

LILY ALLEN

The sound of Dani’s singing spreads out of the bathroom along with the steam from her first hot shower that didn’t involve going to her mom’s place.

I want to join her, washing the memory of the old apartment down the drain, but she needs this, and I have work to do.

Our mattress went into the trash, so I’m connecting a couple of sleeping bags, so we have some padding against the hardwood floors.

Next, I should unpack a few things, not that we have much.

Everything undamaged or salvageable sits in a handful of half packed boxes around the apartment, including a clothes hamper with our coffee cups and the coffeemaker.

There’s a noise, and it takes a moment before I recognize the song telling me the clothes are dry.

Dani hugged the washer and dryer when she walked in earlier, telling them both how much she’d missed them.

She stopped when she remembered that Jamie and Alexis had made out, and more, on top of them before Lexi moved out.

We’ve both been smiling non-stop since we stepped inside, and even without a single piece of furniture, it feels like a home.

There’s a knock at the front door as the shower turns off, and my stomach groans.

Perfect timing. I tip the delivery driver the hundred dollars my mom gave me earlier today to get myself a haircut.

It makes his night, and he thanks me about twenty times before I can shut the door.

The smell of cheap Chinese food and MSG fills the room as I walk to the kitchen to grab a bottle of wine and two of the coffee mugs.

“Oh, bringing out the fancy glassware instead of drinking straight from the five-dollar bottle?” Dani jokes as she leans against the corner in nothing but a towel, her wet hair dripping down her face.

My own private mermaid. Or well, my own until we figure out what to do next about this dating situation.

I kiss her hard, pressing my body against hers and getting the front of my shirt soaked.

I would open the towel and lift her onto the counter if I had free hands.

Instead, I let her push me back so we can go get some food in us.

Neither of us has eaten all day, too busy with rehearsals, my mother’s business event, and moving.

But when Dani doesn’t eat, she tries to make good on threats to gouge people’s eyes out.

So, I splurged on the wine and some delivery.

“So, what if we put a big, plush couch over here? Like the ones with the recliners in them and cup holders,” she says, waving her chopsticks around. It’s a game we play, acting out a life we can’t afford and decorating on a budget we may never have.

“Okay. But make sure you angle it so we can get the projection TV over on that wall, and I can get someone to come in and run the sound system through the house. Should only be a few thousand for that, but Star Wars will sound spectacular,” I reply before handing her chopsticks with a wink. “And anime.”

“Love it! Oh, and a four-poster bed in the bedroom.”

“Naturally,” I respond before sucking down a noodle. “California King size.”

“Perfect for the three of us.” Dani’s smile doesn’t betray her. The third person she’s thinking of? It’s the same one in my head. “And the dogs! We’ll need room for all five of them.”

“Yeah, but we’ll have to kick them out at night. No need for them to watch Skylar and I absolutely ruin you. And me. And them.” I laugh at the images in my head, but I’m also getting hard thinking about it. “Over and over.”

“I’ll find something cute with lace to wear for you both. One of those old-fashioned Hollywood wraps to go over it, the kind with the big, feathery poofs at the cuff and along the bottom.”

“Oh, absolutely. Anything less would be uncivilized, my dear. And besides, what else would you wear to tie us up and let them fuck me while I’m wearing that gimp suit you’d buy for my birthday?”

“Hey! Not fair! You’re killing our fantasy, Xan. I’d never put you in a gimp suit!”

I lean over, shoveling some of the rice into her container of food. “Oh, but you would tie us up?”

“Absolutely. Both of you. I’ll get some rope from my sister when she’s back. Oh! A paddle, too.” She bites her lower lip and giggles.

“Your sister? Damn. Okay, now who’s killing fantasies?!” I forget about the food when she leans over, pressing a handful of kissing to my lips until they threaten to become more. She stops without warning, pulling back an inch or two.

“Do you think they’ll ever come back? Sky, I mean?”

“We can hope. Something needs to put an end to this string of shit dates we keep bringing home, doesn’t it?”

We go back to planning for an apartment furnished with lavish crap we’d never own, laughing and feeding each other as we go.

These are the moments I wish my parents understood, when Dani and I are in sync with each other and the world of bills and responsibilities a distant memory.

They understood none of my choice to live in an average apartment with a woman I would die for but would rather make love to all night in cheap sleeping bags.

I question if my parents ever felt like this for each other.

Their idea of love involves a rare, robotic ‘I love you’ with nothing but a chill behind it.

They’ve been together for forty years, and my aunt jokes that my conception marked the only time they had sex.

My aunt taught me about snark and attitude.

I don’t have a drop of the ice-cold Maxwell blood running through me; she always envied that.

“Hey, daydreamer?”

“Hmm?” I hum, glancing up from the empty carton in my hand. I’m not sure when I finished it.

“Let's fall into our giant bed and surround ourselves in warm blankets. We can clean this up in the morning.” She stands up and undoes her towel, letting it fall from her beautiful, tattooed body. I’ve traced every one of those with my tongue a million times, and it never gets old.

She leans over, wiping makeup off my face using a damp part of the towel.

Her smile grows as she moves to another spot, revealing a little more of the face she recognizes.

“There’s my pretty little nerd. That’s much better. ”

“God, how are you so perfect?” I pull her down on top of me as I lay back, and she cackles the entire way, pretending to fight me off with weak smacks against my chest. I wrap one arm around her as the other hand gets tangled in her wild hair.

I’ve never worried we’d turn into my parents with their cold, affection-less marriage, because in all these years, kissing Dani has never become routine.

Never become just a thing we do out of societal norms. Each time, it’s electric and sends a jolt right to my cock.

I roll us to the side, protecting her head from hitting the floor before I bury my face in her neck, sucking and biting.

I’m not ready to leave her behind and spend a month away from her. I never am.

“Xander? Are you already hard for me?”

“Yeah, and I’m betting you’re already wet. Thinking about what Sky and I would do to you.” Her hands play in my hair as one of mine slides down her body and snakes between us. Her whimpers and sighs will have my grunts and groans accompanying them soon enough.

“You should have left your tie on. Might have been fun.”

“I’ll bring you a closet full of ties, and you can do whatever you want with them.

And me.” I grip her inner thigh and open her legs for me.

Two fingers slip through her, teasing her clit before sliding inside her.

The slower I move, the more she begs, gripping my shirt in her fists and pulling me down to her.

“Oh fuck, Xander! You’re going to make me cum too fast!”

“Oh no! I’ll have to do it again, won’t I?

” I pull my fingers out, licking them as she giggles and reaches down to unzip my pants.

My breath catches when she takes me into her hand, squeezing just enough to get that first pathetic whimper out of me.

I fall forward, caging her between my arms and breathing her air while she lines me up.

As I sink into her, and her legs find their spot around my hips, I can’t hold back the string of obscenities followed by a litany of promises to worship her forever.

Until I’m bottoming out and I’m left shuddering over her and gasping for air, the world fades away. I’m surrounded by her and only her.

I’ve memorized every move and every noise she’ll make for me before she does, because I’ve done nothing but study this woman and what makes her tick since the first time we kissed.

I interpret her mumbles and songs, bringing her to her highest high before I coax her down.

She tightens her grip around me, and I shift my hips in response, moving in quick, deep thrusts, like she begs me to.

“When I come back, I’m never letting you wear clothes in this place. That way, I can bend you over and take this pretty pussy anytime I want.” I thrust harder, both of us panting like animals.

“God, you’d be a menace. Oh, Xander…please!” Her words fail her, becoming quick, breathy squeaks as she reaches that peak.

“I love you, Beetle,” I whisper against her skin.

We’re both close. Too close, too fast. I can’t help it right now.

I’m desperate for her after spending the day with those stuck-up assholes.

Dani gets me; she understands who I am and loves me for it, anyway.

She understands that after dealing with so many frigid people today, I need her warmth, her softness.

“I love you, too! But Xander?” Her breathy voice drives me harder. “Oh fuck! Oh shit! Can you…maybe…wear the fancy suit…more often!”

“Only for you, Beetle. But first, I want you to ruin this one. Fucking soak it for me, baby.” I cry out for her as she throbs around me and my balls tighten.

We collapse together in a heap on the floor, surrounded by Chinese take-away cartons, an empty wine bottle, and all our possessions.

I stay inside her warmth, letting the exhaustion of the last few weeks take us both.

I can’t wait for my mother to ask why I need to pick up another pair of pants from my stash at the house.