Page 25

twenty-four

. . .

Griffin

Avery doesn’t move for a moment after she sets her phone down, just staring at me like she’s trying to work through something in her head. I’m about to make a joke to break the silence when she tilts her head, her voice soft but teasing.

“So,” she says, biting her lip. “Are you going to come sit on my bed, or what?”

My heart jumps, slamming against my ribs like it’s trying to escape. For a split second, I wonder if she’s messing with me—testing me like she always does. But there’s no challenge in her eyes, no playful smirk tugging at her lips.

This is real.

I swallow hard, nerves bubbling up in my chest for the first time in I don’t know how long. I’ve joked with Avery, teased her endlessly, but now that we’re here—I feel like a nervous kid again.

“Yeah,” I manage, my voice rougher than I intend. “Yeah, okay.”

I stand and cross the small space between our beds, sitting down beside her like it’s nothing. But it doesn’t feel like nothing. My body feels too big, too hot, too aware of her sitting just inches away.

Avery shifts to face me, her bare shoulder brushing against my arm. “You look nervous, Knox.”

“Me? Nervous?” I scoff, trying to sound casual. “Please.”

She laughs softly, her gaze dropping to my mouth before flicking back to my eyes. “Then shut up and kiss me.”

I don’t need to be told twice. “You’re the boss.”

The moment my lips touch hers, something in me snaps—like a rubber band pulled too tight finally breaking. She’s soft, so soft, and I lose myself instantly in the taste of her, the feel of her hands threading into my hair, tugging me closer.

I deepen the kiss, shifting until I’m half on top of her, my body pressing her into the mattress. Avery doesn’t stop me. She pulls me closer instead, her legs tangling with mine as her fingers dig into my shoulders.

“I have one more rule, Avery,” I murmur against her lips, my voice husky.

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“When we do this, you cum first. Always.”

She kisses me harder in response, like she’s been waiting for this as long as I have. Her hands roam down my chest, skimming over my skin, and it’s like gasoline on an already blazing fire. I groan quietly, my heart pounding as she tugs my shirt over my head and tosses it aside.

I pause for half a second, my gaze locking on hers. “Fuck, Griffin. Green leaves. Green fucking leaves. I want everything with you.”

I kiss her again, slower this time—deep and consuming, like I’m trying to memorize every second of this. She pulls off her own shirt, and my breath catches at the sight of her bare skin. She’s perfect. My hands skim down her sides, pausing at the waistband of her shorts.

It’s not long before we’re both completely bare except for my boxers—clothes forgotten, skin on skin, and every last ounce of space between us erased. My hands glide over her, and I feel like I’m discovering something sacred, something I never want to let go of. I’ve never wanted someone as much as I want Avery right now, in this moment.

Her skin is warm and smooth beneath my fingers, flushed in a way that makes my pulse hammer in my ears. The curve of her waist, the soft swell of her hips, the way her chest rises and falls with every shaky breath—it’s almost too much to take in. She’s all soft edges and fierce energy, her beauty an intoxicating mix of vulnerability and strength.

I kiss my way down her neck, over her collarbone, savoring every inch of her as she arches against me. I spend some time on her glorious tits, tonguing her nipples while I drag my hand messily through her hair, and bring a thumb between her lips and press it into her mouth. It’s messy, it’s feral, and it’s everything I’ve fantasized about for too long.

Her breathing hitches when I reach her hips, her body trembling slightly under my touch. I glance up, meeting her eyes.

Her hazel eyes are molten, darkened with desire, and they lock on mine with an intensity that makes my throat tighten. Her lips part slightly, her cheeks flushed the color of rose petals, and I swear I’ve never seen anything more beautiful. It’s like she’s lit from within, glowing in a way that steals my breath.

“Avery,” I murmur, my voice rough with the weight of everything I feel but can’t yet say. She reaches for me, her fingers tangling in my hair, pulling me back to her. And in this moment, nothing else exists—just her, just us, and the fire that’s ignited between us. “Relax. I’ve got you.”

I kneel at the edge of the bed, my hands sliding gently up her thighs as I pull her toward me. Her skin is soft, warm, and trembling beneath my touch, and I can feel the anticipation radiating off her in waves. She lets out a shaky breath, her fingers curling into the sheets as I lower my mouth and dive between her legs like a starved man.

The first sound she makes—the quiet gasp, the soft moan of my name—nearly undoes me. Every breathless noise sends a jolt straight to my cock, throbbing harder with every flick of my tongue. I lap her up like she’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted, savoring the way her body reacts to me, the way she opens up for me.

“You taste like goddamn heaven,” I murmur.

My hands grip her hips, holding her steady as her legs tremble against me, her body already giving in to the pleasure coursing through her. The heat between us has me dizzy, the scent of her and the taste of her clouding every thought in my head until there’s nothing left but her.

I take my time with her, exploring every inch, paying attention to what makes her moan the loudest. Her thighs tense under my palms as I swirl my tongue in just the right way, and the sound she makes—a mix between a whimper and a plea—sends another wave of heat rolling through me.

She’s so responsive, her back arching and her hands reaching for my hair like she doesn’t know what to do with herself. Her nails scrape against my scalp, and it sends a shiver down my spine, intensifying the ache in my body. I glance up, just to watch her come undone. Her head is thrown back, her cheeks flushed, and her lips parted in a silent cry. Her hazel eyes flutter shut, completely lost in the moment, and I’ve never seen her look more beautiful.

“Griff,” she moans, the sound of my name falling from her lips like a benediction, and it’s the best damn thing I’ve ever heard in my life. “You’re so good at this.”

“Mmmm,” I growl against her, the vibration making her thighs quiver. “I’m made to do this for you.”

If I wasn’t obsessed with her before…I’m over the line now. I make a note to myself to do this every day, to taste her and hear her moan like this.

Her hips buck up toward me, desperate for more, and I give her exactly what she needs. Sliding two fingers inside her, I curl them just so, matching the rhythm of my tongue as I drink her in. My cock strains painfully against my boxers, the friction almost unbearable as I rock against the bed to ease the ache. I don’t care. Every second of this—of her—is worth it.

“Oh God. Ohhhh God,” she gasps, her voice breaking on the last syllable. Her hands tighten in my hair, pulling me closer as if she can’t stand the space between us. I give her everything—no holding back, no mercy, just raw, unfiltered devotion. She’s even a little rough. I fucking love it.

“That’s it baby,” I murmur against her, my voice rough with arousal, the words spilling out without thought. “Moan for me. I like it when you’re loud.”

Her thighs tremble against my shoulders, and the way she clenches around my fingers has me groaning, unable to stop the way her pleasure fuels my own need. Her moans turn into breathless whimpers, her fingers digging into the sheets as her back arches off the bed.

“This is…so damn good,” she manages to say, her voice high and breathy. “Holy shit.”

“Come for me, Avery,” I whisper against her, my fingers and tongue working in perfect tandem. “Let go, baby. I’ve got you.”

Her body tenses, every muscle going taut as her climax hits her like a wave crashing to shore. She cries out, my name tumbling from her lips like a prayer, over and over again, until she collapses against the bed, utterly spent and glowing in the aftermath.

I press a kiss to her thigh, savoring the way her skin is still trembling under my touch, and crawl back up to lie beside her. My heart’s still racing—part adrenaline, part something I can’t quite name—and when I meet her gaze, she’s looking at me like she doesn’t know what just hit her.

“Good?” I ask, though I know the answer. My voice comes out low and rough, betraying just how much she’s wrecked me , too.

Avery lets out a shaky laugh, her chest still rising and falling in unsteady breaths. Her eyes are wide, pupils dilated. “You’re wondering if you were good?”

“Uh, yeah?” I ask. Sincerely.

For once I drop my cocky veneer. I’m not about to admit that was the first time I’ve ever done that, and I have no idea how I performed, or if how she responded was above or below the status quo.

“That was…I don’t even have the words to describe it. Where did you learn to do…” she shakes her head. “Actually, never mind. I don’t want to know. Just, thank you for that. I’ve never orgasmed like that from oral.”

“Really?”

“Really. And I just had two.”

The words say one thing, but the way she smiles—the kind of soft, half-dazed smile that feels private, like it’s just for me—says something else entirely.

“Well it’s my pleasure,” I murmur, dragging my knuckles softly down the curve of her waist, tracing the warm path of her skin as I climb back onto the bed with her.

She rolls her eyes, but her cheeks are still flushed, and I feel a strange surge of pride—like I just pulled off the play of my life and scored the game-winning touchdown. But it’s not just that. It’s not just the physical rush or the way she came undone under my hands.

It’s the way she trusted me. The way her walls cracked, even just for a second, and let me see her like this—unguarded, vulnerable, real.

I tilt my head back, running a hand over her stomach, dragging in a slow breath to steady myself, because my body is still in full arousal mode. The faint scent of her skin—warm and sweet, something soft like vanilla but entirely her—lingers in my head, making it impossible to think straight.

Hell, I don’t even want to think straight. Not when her hair is a tangled mess against my pillow. Not when my fingertips still remember the dip of her waist, the faint hitch in her breath when I pressed my mouth lower.

Not when she’s lying so close I can feel the heat rolling off her, and every part of me is screaming to pull her back against me.

The words are on the tip of my tongue. I should just tell her what I need to: that I’ve never done this. Not with anyone. Not ever.

Look, I know it sounds crazy that I’m this big sports star, and yet my high school girlfriend and I just kissed and nothing past that. We did. My mom—and dad—always taught me that sex was something very special. They didn’t at all tell me I had to stay a virgin, but for whatever reason I never felt comfortable with anyone.

Until Avery.

“You okay?” She asks, running her hand along the side of my hip.

“Uh…yeah. Totally.”

“Seems like you’ve got something on your mind.”

“Just thinking about the rules,” I lie.

“Oh, what about them?”

She slides a hand down my abs, slowly, keeping her eyes locked on mine until she grabs the base of my dick.

“About the…ah, oh, fuck,” I mutter. Her hand is sleight and her touch is delicate and I’m getting stiffer by the second. Her touch reinforces my gut intuition that Avery is the most caring person I’ve ever met.

“You’re hard,” she comments, biting her lip, running her hand softly up and down my hard length.

“Are you…turned on from going down on me?” She grins.

“Very.”

“Ohhh. That’s hot. I’m going to take good care of you, Griffin,” she moans, stroking me. She leans in, and bites my ear. “Really good fucking care of you.”

“Fuck, Princess.”

“Your turn…if you want. Do you want me to go down on you?”

“Uh…with your mouth?” Dumb. So dumb. Obviously Avery has all of the available brain cells rushing out of my brain, and…elsewhere.

She locks eyes on me, twisting her tongue in her teeth. “You’re so funny, Mr. Casual. Like you don’t know I’m about to do.”

I swallow down a ball of nerves. I’m so turned on. This is every fantasy I’ve dreamed about with her, but this is also the moment of truth.

“Hmmm, mmm,” she mutters, moving her body so that she’s laying on her stomach, her face so close to my dick I can feel the warmth of her breath. “I mean, wow. Just…wow, Griff.”

“What?”

She rolls her eyes in a grin as she holds a hand at the base of my length, then stacks another hand on top that. “Okay you can cut the act. First you didn’t know you went down on me like a pro. And, like you don’t know you’re fucking huge.”

Not gonna lie, that’s a nice stroke to my ego, and sends a jolt of blood straight to my already rock hard self.

“Please. Tell me more. I like this,” I say with a grin.

She laughs, the sound light and unguarded, and it makes my chest tighten. “Yeah, right. Bet you’ve had plenty of reviews. Five stars all around.”

“Uh…yeah. About that.”

She adds a second hand on her hand that’s already gripping my base. “Damn. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to fit you, Griff.”

I swallow down a ball of nerves, and summoning all of my self control, I thumb her cheek and greet her eyes. “Hey, I need to tell you something.”

“What?!” There’s a look of concern in her eyes. “Oh God. You don’t have an STD do you? I trust you…Griffin…”

“No, no, not that,” I say, my voice low and gravelly.

“Well how do you know? Have you been tested recently? I should have asked you. Oh God.” She lets go of me and sits up, the romantic tension ruined.

“Wait, Avery. Will you listen to me for two seconds!”

“What?”

She repositions her body so she’s closer to me. Naked, sitting sideways on her knees. Fuck, she’s pretty. “No, I haven’t been tested. But I know .”

“How? Sometimes?—”

“Avery! I know because I’ve never done this.”

“Never done what?!” Her eyes flit back and forth.

“Passed first base. Okay maybe I rounded first with my ex…some over the jeans petting…But…I’ve never gone down on anyone. Or had them go down on me. Or had sex. Never done it. I know you think I’m this player type, but I swear to God.”

Her jaw is on the floor. Literally.

“You’re not joking.”

“This would be a weird joke, wouldn’t it? Why would I joke. I wish I had. That way, I could know more about how to…please you. But the truth is I haven’t. I don’t know, I just thought I should tell you. Sorry if I’m making it weird. I didn’t know when—or how else—to bring it up.”

“You’re…a virgin?” she asks, blinking like I’ve just told her I moonlight as a unicorn wrangler. “Are you fucking kidding me? You’re joking, right?”

I shake my head, cheeks heating as her wide eyes dart back and forth between mine. I feel like a spotlight’s been pointed straight at me, exposing everything I’ve spent years trying to bury.

“Why would I lie, Avery? That would just be fucking weird. When I want nothing other than to be able to have the experience, to make this moment not awkward. Like it’s now becoming.”

“You’ve never gone down on anyone? I don’t believe you. You just made me—” She stops short, suddenly flustered, before waving vaguely toward the bed. “ That was not beginner-level cunnilingus.”

I force a weak grin, shrugging. “Beginner’s luck?”

Her mouth opens, closes, then opens again. “ What?! ”

I laugh softly, the sound a little strained. God, I knew this would shock her, but now that I’ve said it, I’m teetering between regret and relief.

“Why not?” Avery finally asks, her voice quieter now—more serious.

I swallow, looking down at the sheet tangled around my hips. The truth catches like a knot in my throat, hard to get out. I’m not used to saying this out loud, but if anyone deserves to hear it, it’s her.

“Because I never wanted to,” I admit finally. My eyes steady on hers. “Not until now.”

She’s quiet for a moment, absorbing that, and I force myself to look up at her. She’s sitting on her knees on the bed, bare and flushed and ridiculously pretty in the faint glow of the room, but her expression is soft. No teasing, no judgment. Just… listening.

“And you do now?” she asks gently.

I nod, my heart pounding. “Yeah. I do.”

Her lips part like she’s about to say something, but nothing comes out. She’s just staring at me, her brows slightly drawn, like she’s trying to figure me out all over again.

“I mean, it’s not that I was saving myself for marriage or something,” I go on, rubbing the back of my neck. “I just… never wanted to go there with someone unless it felt right. I never met the person I felt truly comfortable with. I didn’t want to just do it to check a box, you know?”

Avery exhales sharply, like I’ve knocked the wind out of her. “And that person you feel comfortable with…is me?”

“That person is you.”

The silence that stretches between us feels endless. I can’t look away from her, even though my heart’s hammering in my chest like it’s trying to break free. I didn’t mean to drop this on her—not tonight, not like this—but now that it’s out there, I can’t take it back.

“Fuuuck me,” Avery breathes, dragging a hand through her hair. “I wasn’t expecting that. Not in a million years.”

I let out a short laugh. “Yeah, well…surprise.”

She looks at me, biting her lip like she doesn’t know what to say. “So those two times—tonight—you just…”

I shrug again, grinning. “What can I say? Natural talent, I guess.”

She stares at me for a beat, then bursts out laughing, the sound light and breathless and so Avery it makes my chest ache.

“Fuck, Griffin,” she says, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. She let’s go of my length and crawls forward, into my arms. “You’re ridiculous. I thought you hated me. Honestly.”

I can’t help smiling back at her, even as my face still burns. This girl. She’s the only person who could make this conversation feel so easy.

It’s surreal to be talking with my long-time obsession while she’s got my dick in her hand.

“So…why’d you tell me?” she asks after a moment, her voice quieter now.

I shift on the bed, suddenly feeling exposed in more ways than one. “I don’t know. I guess I thought you should know. In case I act weird or…you know.” I clear my throat. “Or if I come in, like, three pumps.”

Avery throws her head back, laughing so hard she nearly falls over. “It’s okay if you do, you know. I’d be honored. It’d be just like you to want to ‘win the race.’”

I groan, dragging a hand over my face. “Shut up. I might be a dick sometimes but I’m not a selfish lover. As long as we’re hooking up I will always make sure you come first, Avery.”

“You said that, and it’s oh so sweet.” She sticks out her tongue. “You love me.”

The words slip out so easily, so carelessly, that they hit me like a sucker punch to the gut. For a second, the room goes dead silent, and I can’t breathe.

Avery freezes, eyes wide, and my heart lurches as I finally form a sentence. “Wait, I?—”

She cuts me off with a smirk, her cheeks flushed. “I meant, you love me in the way you love the Kansas City Chiefs. Don’t worry. Not getting all gushy on you. Loser.”

I let out a relieved breath, forcing a laugh. “Exactly. Totally the same.”

She shakes her head, still grinning as she crawls closer, a pillow clutched against her chest. “So…I guess we kind of ruined the moment now,” she says.

“Sorry,” I mutter, feeling a faint flush creep up my neck. “That’s on me. Didn’t mean to get us all side tracked there.”

“It’s okay.” She shrugs, flopping down beside me and propping herself up on her elbows. “This was a big deal for you, huh?”

I nod slowly, my throat tight. “I was trying to make it not a big deal.”

For a while, neither of us says anything. We just lie there, the soft hum of the air conditioner the only sound in the room. And somehow, that silence feels… nice. Easy.

I glance over at her, the curve of her shoulder visible in the faint light, and I feel it again—that ache I can’t explain. The one that’s been building since this trip started, like something I didn’t even know I wanted is finally within reach.

This is Avery Sinclair. My sister’s best friend. The girl who’s been driving me insane since the moment I met her.

“Hey,” she murmurs, breaking the quiet.

“Yeah?”

She turns her head to look at me, her hazel eyes warm, her smile soft. “Thanks for telling me.”

I swallow hard, my heart thudding in my chest like it’s trying to break free. “Yeah. Anytime.”

And for the first time all night, I don’t feel nervous anymore. She leans her head on my shoulder, and the gesture is so simple, so unguarded, it feels like a victory I didn’t know I needed.

I wrap my arm around her, pulling her closer. “Hey, this isn’t breaking the rules of cuddling, is it?”

She rolls her eyes, reaching forward to tug the covers over both of us. “Shut up, Griffin. It’s fine. We’re breaking it.”

“Right,” I grin. And I do. I let myself relax, sinking into the moment, a quiet vow forming in my head: to enjoy whatever time we’ve got left on this wild trip.

Whatever ridiculous luck I had to get Avery Sinclair as my roommate, I’m not going to push it. I’m not going to question it. I’m just going to hold on to this.

We fall into a lazy, sun-soaked siesta, naked under the covers, and I have no doubt I’m the luckiest man in the world right now.

And we’re already breaking the no cuddling rule.