Page 18

Eighteen

RIZZO

Well this is…unexpected.

I’d been excited to see my parents on my doorstep, don’t get me wrong, but I’d also been worried that it would be too much for Nat. I mean, we literally just said no pressure and we’d take things slow and then BAM she’s in the middle of a family reunion not five minutes later. But she’s taking it completely in stride and has assured me no less than ten times that she’s totally fine. I know she’s good at hiding her feelings, but I don’t think she’s hiding anything now. She really is totally fine. Happy even.

She and Ray were instant friends from the second she made him a perfect Manhattan and they figured out they share a love of old Westerns, and mom can’t stop grinning like she knows some big secret. They seem to really like her and the feeling of utter joy of all of us being here together, playing Pictionary beside a beautiful Christmas tree in my first real home…well, it’s not something I’m taking lightly.

“Ok, ma, I need you to focus, alright? We cannot let them beat us.”

“You mean beat you worse than we already are?” Nat chimes in and I cut a murderous look her way. I’m trying really fucking hard to keep my competitiveness in check, but it’s not easy. Ray laughs and they bump fists. They are, admittedly, killing us. I turn back to mom and point to my eyes.

“Focus on me. Right here. You got this.”

She nods and stands at the dry erase board that Nat had insisted I get for Ollie’s room. Turns out it was a great buy and works perfectly for game night. Mom looks at her card and nods again, perfectly confident.

“Ok…ready…go!” Nat calls, starting the timer.

Mom draws…a blob.

“Uhh, a ball? A globe? A pond…ma! Do more! I need more!” She adds smaller blobs to the bigger blob and I shake my head. “Are you serious?”

“It’s obvious, AJ! Just look at it…” Mom taps her marker on the blobs, as if that will help me suddenly see what it’s supposed to be, and I throw up my hands.

“Ma, those are fucking blobs of nothing! This isn’t a Rorschach test, come on!” Ray and Nat burst out laughing from their couch and I flip them off, which only makes them laugh harder.

“They most certainly are not just fecking blobs. It’s not my fault you’re shit at Pictionary!”

“ I’m shit?” I ask incredulously.

“Five…four…three…”

“Maaaaa,” I groan as Ray and Nat finish the countdown in unison. I collapse back into the couch behind me and pull a pillow over my face. Ray and Nat whoop and cheer and despite my competitiveness frothing at the fucking mouth in irritation, I can’t help but smile.

“It was an airplane!” mom says defensively. “How could you not see that?”

I remove the pillow and stare at her wordlessly. She stares back but then her lips curl upwards, clearly amused with herself.

“I need another drink,” I gripe and push off the couch, heading into the kitchen. I rummage in the fridge for a beer and when I straighten Nat is there, grinning, her cheeks flushed. I narrow my eyes at her.

“Are you here to gloat?”

“A bit,” she says with a cocky quirk of her brow. I can’t help but huff out a laugh. I also can’t stop myself from reaching out and wrapping a hand around her waist and tugging her towards me. She gasps quietly and I lean in, brushing my lips softly against hers. She melts into me, draping her arms over my shoulders and tunneling her fingers into my hair. I kiss her deep and slow, gently rolling my tongue against hers when she parts her lips eagerly. I pull away after a few seconds that feel like hours and smile when she speaks, a little breathless.

“What was that for?”

“For being you.”

She smiles widely and I lean in to kiss her again. I can’t seem to fucking stop. I really hope this thing with us works out because I’m not sure I can go back to being friends again now. I don’t know that I can give up kissing Natalie Morgan for the rest of my life. I’m fully aware that this puts me in a precarious position and sets me up for…heartbreak of all things. I don’t want to think too much about that now though. I’m trying very hard to just live in the moment and be grateful for every second I have. I’d told Nat not to jump into bed with me that night at Shep’s just because she was freaked out over what happened, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t affect me in that exact same way. Seeing how close the two of them had come to losing everything hit me much harder than I expected. I’ve never been unhappy with my lifestyle, or even close to ashamed of it, but now I have a feeling of…I don’t know, wasted time? Or at the very least, the need for change.

And that need for change centers directly on this beautiful woman currently wrapped in my arms.

“I think we’re going to hit the hay,” Ray calls from the living room. We pull apart and head back that direction.

“You sure, dad?”

“Yeah, airports always make me tired. Plus, gotta go to bed early so Santa can come.” He winks at Nat and she giggles. She pulls away and gives him a hug while Mom comes around the corner and wraps her arms around me.

“Do you need anything?” I’d already showed them the whole house and gotten them settled in one of the guestrooms upstairs before we’d eaten dinner and started our Pictionary war. Mom pulls back and puts a hand on my cheek, eyes sparkling with joy.

“No, sweetheart, we have everything we need. I think you just might too,” she adds with a knowing look, gently patting the pendant that she knows is below my shirt. I haven’t taken it off since she gave it to me my freshman year of college. It’ll will keep you safe, my boy. It’ll bring you the luck you deserve.

“It’s very new, mom. Like literally I’m talking fifteen minutes before you got here kind of new, so…just don’t go reading too much into everything yet.”

“Hmm,” she says with that look that says she knows I’m completely bullshitting her. Not about the newness, but about being unsure of what everything means yet. And ok, she’s right. I already know how I feel about Nat. I have for months. But I’m not ready to voice that yet and need time to wrap my head around it more, really understand it because fuck if I know how to deal with…being in love with someone. Even though I know that I love her, I still need to make sure that I can really do this whole relationship thing and not fuck things up before I go dropping L bombs all over the place. I know for a fact from listening to Nat talk about her parents that two people can love each other so damn passionately and still not be together.

Mom pulls away and wraps Nat in a hug, and I don’t miss the way Nat seems to break a little, squeezing mom tightly and closing her eyes. I know she’s missing her own mom so badly in this moment and I wish there was something I could do. Mom seems to understand without having any reason to—it’s not like she has any idea that Nat lost her own mother just before Christmas last year—just one of those magical mom superpowers I guess, and she holds Nat a little tighter, stroking her hair.

Ray slaps me on the back and I grin. He may not have been the one to bring me into this world, but he’s the one who taught me how to be a man in it, and for that I will be forever grateful.

“She’s a keeper, son. Hell, I think I might like her better than I like you.” He winks at me and I laugh.

“I can’t blame you there, dad. Not one damn bit.” He smiles and squeezes my shoulder once before stepping away to join mom where she’s finally let Nat go. She still holds one of Nat’s hands though and reaches out to gently cup her jaw in that mom way of hers and I swear the gesture heals a bit of Nat’s broken heart.

“We’ll see you two kids in the morning,” mom says, dropping her hands, and my parents head up the stairs. When they’re gone, I lean back against the counter and pull Nat to me again, settling her between my legs and resting my hands on her hips.

“You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. If it’s…too much. I won’t be upset or anything, I promise. I can drive you home—” She pushes up onto her tiptoes and cups my face, running her palms over my two-day stubble. She presses her lips to mine to shut me up. I tug her more fully against me and she moans quietly, slowly sweeping her tongue against mine.

“I want to stay,” she says before biting gently on my lower lip, making me groan. “Besides, I do believe we have… things to continue. Things that were interrupted earlier…” She curls her fingers into the top of my jeans and tugs me even closer with her grip on my belt buckle, making her point crystal fucking clear.

“Mmmm,” I rumble against her mouth, sliding my hands up her back and deepening the kiss. I can feel her heart hammering against my chest and my cock is suddenly very, very interested in the conversation. “Think you can be quiet, Natalie?” I whisper against her skin as I kiss along her jaw and down her throat. She gasps and shivers.

“I…make…no promises,” she pants, holding me to her, silently begging me not to stop. I better or I’ll fuck her right here in the middle of the kitchen—which I plan to do at some point, but maybe not when my parents are upstairs on Christmas Eve. I laugh against her throat and drag her earlobe through my teeth before pulling away and picking her up quickly, making her yelp.

I throw her over my shoulder, give her ass a playful swat that makes her giggle, and head to my room. I shut the door behind us and slide her down my body. She’s panting, eyes wide and hungry, and fuck if she’s ever looked so beautiful. I grip the bottom of her sweater and tug it up, and she immediately raises her arms to let me pull it off of her. The t-shirt comes next and I take a minute to groan in approval of the sexy, red lace bra she has on. She reaches out and pushes my shirt up roughly and I chuckle at her greediness as I reach back and grip the neck, pulling it off and tossing it to the floor. She runs her hands over my chest, lingering on my new tattoo that I know damn well she thinks is sexy, and down my stomach. My muscles flex under her touch, greedy for more. God I’ve fucking missed this.

“I can’t decide where I want you first,” I say quietly as she unhooks my belt and unbuttons my jeans. She reaches inside the fly and runs her palm over my aching shaft. I groan roughly and grip her nape with one hand, settling the other on her hip.

“What are your options?” she breathes, slowly moving her hand, stroking and driving me to near insanity.

“Well, there’s the bed…the wall…” I gnash my teeth and tear her own jeans open, shoving them down her thighs and tunneling my hand beneath her lace panties. She cries out when I sink a finger inside. “ Fuck, Nat . So wet already.” She makes a sexy little whimpering sound and I pump my finger in and out in time with her strokes up and down my cock. I don’t think I’ve ever been so hard, it’s verging on painful already.

“Then there’s the other wall…or the other…the floor…the bench…the shower… Dear God do I have plans for you in this room— this whole fucking house —Natalie.”

“Don’t write checks your ass can’t cash, Thirst Trap,” she rasps, rocking her hips onto my hand, begging for more. I oblige, sliding in a second finger and making her groan loudly. She strokes faster, harder, and I really wonder for a second if we’re both just going to finish like this. Hell, I’d be fine with it—it’s hot as hell. But, no, on second thought, there are other things I want to do right now instead.

I grin and push the heel of my hand against her clit, making her buck her hips and gasp loudly.

“Is that a challenge, Nat? You know how I deal with challenges…”

Her eyes flutter open and she meets my gaze. Her lips slowly curl upwards and I know the answer. I slam my lips to hers then, my control completely frayed and the intensity of my need burning like fire in my blood. I shove her panties down her thighs and she steps out of her jeans, kicking them away. I pick her up again, claiming her mouth as I walk her across the room. Her back hits the dresser and I lift, setting her atop it. She spreads her thighs and I settle my hips between them. Thank God this thing is the perfect fucking height. I might have eyeballed it for that very reason in mind when we were in the store. Sue me.

I reach behind her to unclasp her bra and she throws it to the floor after she tugs the straps down her arms. I immediately dip my head and latch my lips around one nipple, swirling my tongue before sucking hard.

“Ah, fuck!” she cries, burying her fingers in my hair and holding me exactly where she wants me. I’ve missed this so damn much. The feel of her. The way she isn’t shy to demand what she needs. How my entire body craves hers in a way I’ve never experienced before. I would normally draw this out, play and tease and make her come at least twice before I sank my cock deep inside her, but I don’t think I can do any of that right now. The desire clawing inside me is like an animal, frenzied and feral, and it won’t remain caged for long. We’ve had sex before, amazing sex, but this is something more now. We’re together. We’re starting something here, or at least trying to, and that makes this different. It makes it important. It ignites a fiery, desperate passion in my chest that I think might consume me completely if I’m not careful.

“Need you,” I pant, moving to kiss her again and running my hands over her breasts and down her sides, palming her ass. “Can’t wait much longer.”

“Good, me either. I’ll cash in the belt buckle later,” she says, a smile in her voice. “Fuck me, AJ. NOW .” Her words send a shudder down my spine and turn the blood in my veins to pure fire. No, not even fire. Lava. Molten and unstoppable.

“So demanding, Natalie…”

She groans in annoyed impatience against my lips and I chuckle.

“Hang on, gotta grab a rubber?—”

“You don’t have to,” she says quickly and I freeze, quirking a brow. She chews on her lip. “Well, I’m on the shot and you said you haven’t been with anyone else since we started hooking up, right?”

“Swear to God. And I get tested regularly. Kind of a requirement of being a responsible man-whore and all.” She laughs lightly. I don’t want to ask but I do.

“And you haven’t either?” If she has, it’s fine. It was her right. We weren’t anything to each other but friends. Still, I hold my fucking breath while I wait for her to answer.

“Yes,” she admits and even though I said it would be fine, my heart sinks. “I mean, no. No!” she quickly corrects. “I tried, once. I thought maybe if I just bit the bullet and hooked up with someone else it would get you out of my mind. We kissed for all of twenty seconds and it was horrible.” She shudders and curls her lip up and I can’t help but laugh at her expression. “I’m serious. It was like kissing a gorilla. I bolted.”

I reach out and brush the hair from her temple, sliding my palm along her cheek.

“And did it?” I ask in a low, husky voice, “get me out of your mind?”

“Not even close,” she says with a sigh. “I don’t think anything could do that, AJ.” I lean in and kiss her then, my heart thundering in my chest. She pulls back and holds my gaze. “So, with all that said…I want you with nothing between us.”

“ Fuck me ,” I say quietly.

“That’s the plan,” she says with a sexy little grin. I press her knees farther apart and shift her ass closer to the edge. I grip my cock and position the head in the right spot, hissing in a quick breath between clenched teeth when I meet wet heat. I never, ever have unprotected sex. Ever. This is a first and dear God I think I might not be able to last. No. Absolutely not. Anthony Fucking Rizzo is no two-pump chump. I’ll last if it fucking kills me. I take a deep breath to ready myself, mentally preparing just like I would for a game. Everything is just a matter of focus, whether it’s sex or handling a puck.

“You might want to hold the fuck on, Nat.”

She bites her lip and I shove my hips forward, filling her in one long, deep thrust. Fucking hell the feel of her all around me with nothing in the way this time is unreal. She leans forward and cries out into my shoulder, digging her nails into my lower back with one hand and gripping the edge of the dresser with the other. I laugh when I realize what she’s doing: trying to be quiet.

“I hate to break it to you, baby, but there’s no way I’m letting you be quiet tonight.”

With that promise, I begin to move, thrusting my hips and pounding into her hard and fast, the way I know that she loves. She holds on to me, scratching and biting and arching her hips to meet mine. The drawers rattle but thankfully the thing doesn’t bang too loudly against the wall, but honestly, at this point I couldn’t care less. I hook my elbows beneath her knees, tilting her back and spreading her wider, hitting an even deeper angle. She braces herself but with the sounds she’s making, I don’t dare let up.

“AJ, oh God, don’t stop…right there…” She throws her head back and cries out as she tumbles over the edge.

“Ah, fuck, can feel you coming…” I grit my teeth, not ready to be done yet. I pick her up again and sink to the floor, settling her over my lap, still feeling her spasming gently around my cock. She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls my face to hers for a deep, searing kiss. She grazes her palm over my cheek, rolling her tongue against mine in a slow, sexy rhythm as she starts rock her hips.

“That feels so good,” she moans against my lips, and I wrap the length of her hair around my fist, pulling gently to tilt her head back so I have better access to her throat. I lick and kiss and nip as she rides me, slow at first but then building speed. I use my other hand to help wrench her back and forth harder, needing everything she can give me.

“God I missed this. I missed how good you feel, how good we feel together,” she says between gasping breaths. I kiss my way back to her lips, sucking her bottom one between my own.

“I missed you too, Nat. I missed every. Last. Inch ,” I croak, punctuating each word with a tug on her hips. She pants, digging her nails into my shoulders with one hand but sliding her other to brush her fingers over my pendant. She settles her palm over it, right over my heart. I cover her hand with mine for a second, and then meet her eyes. “Show me how much you missed me, baby. Remind me how much you love riding this cock.”

“AJ,” she groans, half plea, half prayer, entirely sexy. She whips her hips faster and I rock mine as I wrench her downward. “Almost…don’t stop…fuck, fuck, fuck…”

She comes apart again and this time I capture her scream with my mouth on hers, kissing her like I’ve dreamed of these weeks without her. She doesn’t stop rocking her hips, thank fucking God, and I’m about two seconds from letting myself go completely.

“Nat,” I manage to bite out, “do you want me…to pull out…” God, I’m so close. I focus all of my energy on holding out a few more seconds. I need her answer, I need her to tell me.

“No,” she breathes. “No, AJ. I want you to come just like this .”

“FUCK!” I call out as that tight shiver runs up my spine and I come hard and fast, buried deep inside her, giving her everything I have. It’s fucking ecstasy. After a few more seconds, I collapse backwards onto the floor, pulling her with me to lie against my chest. We’re both slicked with sweat and breathing like we just ran a marathon.

“Holy shit,” she pants as I run my hands up and down her back. “That was…holy shit.” My lips curl upwards.

“You said that already.”

She laughs lightly before rolling off of me to sprawl on her back beside me. She reaches over and grips my hand, squeezing gently.

“What are the odds that your parents are mostly deaf and didn’t hear any of that?”

“Not good,” I tell her honestly, and chuckle when she covers her face with her hands, groaning. I somehow manage to stand and tug her hands away, pulling her up beside me. “Come on, you. It’s time for a shower.”

Her eyes light up at that and she goes up on her tiptoes to kiss me again before sauntering towards the bathroom door, putting an extra little roll in her hips just to drive me crazy, I know it.

The shower turned into her finishing what she started in the living room and me returning the favor while she sat on the built-in tiled bench. Now, we’re snuggled up in my bed, her back to my chest and my arms wrapped tightly around her. If she’s nervous about sleeping together for the first time—like literally sleeping—she’s doing a damn good job of hiding it. I should probably be freaking out a bit too, honestly, but I’m not. I feel perfectly content at the thought of going to sleep with Nat in my arms and waking up the same way. See , I tell myself. This relationship thing isn’t that scary after all .

I kiss her temple and she sighs, leaning down to kiss my forearm where it’s wrapped around her chest and my lips quirk.

“You freaking out?” she asks, reading my thoughts from just a moment ago.

“Nope,” I assure her. “I wouldn’t let you leave now for a million bucks, Nat. But you were the one that flipped last time I suggested a slumber party, if you recall. So…how are you feeling?”

“Ok, that’s fair. But you couldn’t make me leave for a million bucks,” she says sleepily, and I can hear the smile in her voice.

“Good night, Nat.”

“Night, AJ,” she says with a big yawn.

I glance at the clock and smile. It’s after midnight. I lean in and kiss her once more before whispering in her ear, “Merry Christmas.”

With that, I drift off to sleep happier than I can ever remember being.