Page 23

Chapter twenty-three

Keala

B ye week meant Keala had Sunday to herself, so naturally, she was choreographing and practicing in her room. Ikaika had gone into the facility for a few hours, and he was just getting home. The sound of the door closing and her cousin calling to Chowder drifted through the apartment. Luckily for her, it didn’t seem as though Landon had come over yet.

She could usually tell when they were together. They always seemed to come through the front door with boisterous laughter.

As Keala ran through all their dances and eight counts, her thoughts flitted to Landon’s offer. Between work and dance practice with the girls yesterday, she hadn’t seen him since he’d had her against the wall.

She’d scurried into her room like a coward and hadn’t come out that evening, frantically texting Josie about her options.

Keala

I might be about to make a very bad decision.

Josie

Oh, honey, I don’t think we have the same definition of bad decisions.

Keala

I might be thinking about hooking up with a player.

Josie had called immediately. “Excuse me?” she’d screeched. “Who are you and what have you done with my innocent KayKay?”

“So it is a bad idea?”

“Hell no. You never do anything for yourself. If you know you can keep it under wraps, please do it. And I want every sordid detail.”

That had been when Keala had finally admitted he was the man from the bar months ago. They’d gone back and forth on whether she should do it—mainly Josie talking her into it—and it made Keala feel better that someone in her exact position, with dance on the line, thought she could feasibly get away with it.

She wanted to talk to Zoe about it too, but she was worried that, as another Siren, Zoe might get in trouble for keeping the secret for her. She couldn’t ask that of her friend.

“Keeks, you home?” Ikaika asked, knocking her from her thoughts.

“Yeah! Going to take a quick shower and then I’ll be out,” she called back. After her shower, she found Ikaika on the couch, watching games, Chowder curled up in his lap.

“Hi, how was practice?” she asked.

“Not bad. Glad it’s bye week. My body needed it.”

“I bet.” Running backs got thrown around and slammed down by defenders more than most other players. It was something she’d always worried about when it came to him.

And Landon too, though with how strong and tall he was, defensive backs always struggled taking him to the ground.

That thought devolved into more about him. She couldn’t get him off her mind no matter how hard she tried. Ikaika had turned back to the television so, feeling antsy, Keala got to work in the kitchen, needing something to do with her hands. She washed the few dishes in the sink, then began deep cleaning the counters.

“Keeks.”

“Huh?” She whirled around, noting the amused look on her cousin’s face.

“If it helps, he’s a good guy. And if you’re worried about people finding out because of dance, he’ll make sure nobody ever does.”

Keala dropped the sponge. “Uh…he told you about—” She waved her hand like that would finish her sentence.

“No, but I’m not an idiot. I know things have been tense between you two and I know you get fluttery and busy when you’re trying to work through a problem. Based on how I found you two the other day, I’m guessing Landon is that problem.”

Indeed. A very big problem.

When she didn’t answer, he said, “I know you’re worried about becoming someone you’re not, but with him, you’re different. That’s what I think is so great about the two of you together. Something about him allows you to relax. You don’t need to be worried you’ll do whatever he wants at the risk of losing yourself.”

Keala took a step back, her spine hitting the counter. Ikaika knew some of what she’d experienced in her relationships, especially since he had been the one who’d told her not to quit the Vixens and to break up with Heath instead. She had never fully expressed these deeper feelings though.

But that was all irrelevant. It wasn’t like Landon was asking for a relationship.

Just sex, he’d said.

“This isn’t weird for you?”

“I’m rooting for you guys. I think you work as a couple. Landon and I have football, you and I have family and the roommate moments we get. This will be his and your extracurricular separate from me.”

“Sure, if that extracurricular were se—”

“Correct,” he said, holding up his hand and biting back a smile. “You kids will figure it out. And Landon knows if he hurts you, he’ll get his ass kicked.”

Keala hadn’t thought much about getting hurt. She knew Landon wasn’t interested in more than the physical, and she wasn’t sure she wanted anything more than that either. Plus, with dance and work, it wasn’t like she had much free time.

She didn’t know what Ikaika saw that had him rooting for them, but he was the person who knew her best. She took his endorsement as the closest thing to gospel.

He left her with her thoughts, and after a few more minutes, Keala washed her hands, changed into her best lingerie—though she covered it up with a T-shirt and sweatpants because she didn’t need to impress him—and marched to the front door. Ikaika didn’t make eye contact, smiling and turning up the volume on the TV.

Keala took a few grounding breaths before she knocked on Landon’s door. When he didn’t immediately answer, she rethought everything. As she turned to go back, the door swung open. Landon stood in his sweatpants, his muscled abdomen and chest on full display, his sleeve of tattoos completely visible.

He smirked, probably knowing there was one reason she would knock on his door.

Landon didn’t speak, and words clogged Keala’s throat. He leaned against the doorframe, grin widening as he waited.

“Don’t make me say it,” she managed to get out.

“Ask for what you want.”

“Rules. We need rules. The most important one is we can’t make things weird for Ikaika, no matter what happens. We act like we’re all good, always.”

Landon nodded once.

“No flirty eyes at games, either. I don’t want anyone suspecting a thing. Like you said, just sex. No more kissing or almost kissing outside of this arrangement.”

Something shifted in his eyes, but his smirk stayed strong as he nodded again. “You still haven’t asked for what you want.”

Keala didn’t have it in her, so instead, she took two steps forward and kissed him. Like he’d been anticipating her move, he pulled her closer by the waist, shutting the door and pushing her against it. It reminded her of their first night, desperate and unhinged, devouring kisses and an intensity that heated her insides. Immediately, her I don’t need to impress anyone mentality flew out the window. She followed his lead, trying to gauge what he wanted.

“Stop overthinking,” he growled, trailing kisses down her jaw until he got to the spot right below her ear. Keala allowed her head to fall back against the door, enjoying his lips and warm breath against her neck.

Her hand moved over the hard planes of his chest, dragging down to his waistband. Landon pulled back, a look on his face Keala had never seen.

“Is this good?” she asked. “How do you want me to—”

“You don’t care what I want most of the time, so stop caring now. I offered myself up to you so you can get off. Tell me what you want.” Tenderly, he pulled her face to his and whispered against her lips, “You don’t have to be the perfect person you are with everyone else. I thought I made it clear I like you the way you are. Take what you want from me and let me be the one who pleases you for a change.”

Keala threw her arms around his shoulders, kissing him deeply. He picked her up and walked her across the room as she grinded against him until he was cursing and groaning into her mouth. He set her down on something hard and when she opened her eyes, Keala realized she was on his dining table.

Landon grabbed a throw pillow from his couch, setting it behind her and grinning. “Too many clothes.” He wrenched her T-shirt up above her arms, thumb tracing over the lace of her bra. She arched into his touch, and he used his other hand to cup the back of her neck, tangling his fingers in her hair. He kissed her hard and played with her nipples through the lace.

Liquid heat shot through her whole body and then sank down to where his hand was slowly drifting. “Is this what you want, baby? Tell me what you want.”

Baby .

She nodded, but that wasn’t good enough for him. “Use your words.”

Breathily, she responded, “I want your fingers inside me until I can’t take it anymore, and then I want all of you.”

“Now, was that so hard?” His fingers slipped beneath the waistband of her sweatpants, tracing over the lace that covered her. Landon groaned, surely because she’d soaked the fabric. “How long have you been waiting for this? How many times have you thought about this while you fucked yourself?”

Too many .

He didn’t wait for a response, moving the material aside and sinking a finger into her.

Keala gasped. “Oh.”

Landon lowered to kiss her again, his other hand still holding her up by the back of the neck.

His finger was slow at first, then he picked up his pace. When she asked for more, he added another and a third until she was wrapped around him so deliciously, she couldn’t help but cry into the kiss, little sparks shooting across her vision. The movement of his hand rubbed her thong against her clit so perfectly, she knew it would only be a few more seconds before she lost herself in the feel of him.

“You like the way my fingers stretch you?” he breathed into her ear. Keala nodded. “Come for me, Keeks. I want to watch you fall apart before I fill you up.”

So she did, writhing against his hand while he smirked down at her. When she finally found words, she blinked up at him. “Landon, please can you—” Another wave rolled through her, and she clenched around him again.

“What was that?” His dimple appeared, as it always did when he tortured her.

“I want you to fill me up,” she panted.

The smirk dropped, lust taking over. “It’s so fucking hot when you ask for what you want.” He pulled his fingers out, then ripped her sweatpants and thong off, tossing them to the floor beside her shirt. He gripped her now bare thighs, dropping to his knees and licking a path from where his fingers had stretched her to her clit, sucking it into his mouth as she gasped and writhed, still a little sensitive.

“Holy, oh, oh .”

Landon stood, pulling his sweatpants down. “I’m so glad you think this is a religious experience too.” The thighs Keala had hardly been able to take her eyes off at her apartment were more distracting up close. They had to be bigger than her head, and the right one had a large triangle with palm trees, a sun, and the beach tattooed inside it.

She hadn’t realized she was a fan of tattoos until she’d met Landon, and now she didn’t know how she would go back.

“Sorry, I need one more.” He dropped back to his knees and sucked her clit back into his mouth. All thoughts disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

When she felt like she could come again, she begged, “Landon, please. Stop teasing me. I want you.”

Landon grinned, finally taking off his black boxer briefs. “Look at you asking for what you want without me telling you to.” He disappeared for a second, then came back, pushing a condom on and spitting on his dick. “I need you to grab onto the edge of the table with both hands. Can you do that for me?”

He was so gentle, and the whole experience felt oddly intimate. She nodded, and he kissed her softly. Keala grabbed a table edge in each hand, resting on her elbows. Landon kissed her reverently, positioning himself at her entrance. “Ready?”

“Please,” she begged once more. It was all he seemed to need, one thumb circling her clit, the other gripping her thigh as he sank into her slowly. She gasped, slightly uncomfortable, and like he could read her mind, he slowed down.

“Tell me when it feels good.” He looked so determined, so handsome, and then he closed his eyes like it was all too much.

Her body was beginning to stretch for him, but she slipped a finger down to help him. With everyone else, she’d always had to help if she wanted to finish, especially because she would get so in her head that she needed to be doing something to ground herself.

Landon moved her hand back to the table. “I told you it’s my job, my privilege , to give you what you want. So let me. And grab the table like the good girl I know you are.”

Keala complied, surprised he was such a giver. She’d known he’d be good, but she hadn’t realized how good. She’d also expected he would be opposed to eye contact and kissing, but he seemed to want that more than any of her exes had. The stretch around his cock no longer felt uncomfortable, and she whispered as much, embarrassed by how desperate she sounded for him.

Landon pulled out, then pushed back in slowly. His thumb played the perfect rhythm against her, and she arched up, knowing his promise of two orgasms hadn’t been a lie. She was heading that way as he picked up the pace, drilling her so hard, she did need to hold on to the table. Keala whimpered as she felt herself coming, lying back completely on the table and folding her legs down onto her body.

“ Fuck , you’re so flexible.” He maintained his rhythm, slamming into her until she was screaming his name, her walls clenching around him. After a few seconds, he wrapped a hand around the back of her neck, pulling her to kiss him as he came, his thrusts getting more erratic until he leaned over her, fully inside of her and panting.

They lay there for a couple of minutes, trying to catch their breath. Once again, she was struck by how intimate it had felt. She’d expected him to come, pull out, and she’d leave. She had not expected him to kiss her as he came or hold her so tightly when he was done.

She didn’t let herself dwell on it. Keala knew neither of them wanted more.

When Landon finally helped her clean up, she got dressed. On shaky legs, she moved to the front door.

“Wait, I can make us some food.”

Keala looked away. “That’s okay.”

“Are you sure? I know the guys were going to go out tonight, but I wouldn’t mind making some good food and staying in.” Something warm squeezed in her chest, begging her to stay.

But the offer was pushing things into dangerous territory. Her eyes met his again. “I took over my colleague’s shift this evening, so I should go.”

He frowned. “But don’t you work tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah.” She fidgeted with the string of her sweatpants.

“So you’re going to work twenty-four hours straight?”

Keala shrugged like it was nothing. “She needs the help, and I’ve done it a few times. I’ll sleep in on Tuesday.” Initially, she’d agreed to it with pleasure because she’d needed a distraction from his offer.

Obviously, that was moot now.

Landon looked like he wanted to say something else, his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants, lips tilted down. She was so used to seeing him cocky and smirking that she hated to leave him like this.

Even still, she opened the door and walked back to Ikaika’s apartment.

A few hours later, she grabbed a protein shake for her shift when she saw two containers.

Didn’t have much but wanted to make sure you had something to eat. Thanks for the religious experience (imagine I’m winking at you cheekily).

She smiled, ignoring the thrill that shot through her.

It was nice knowing he was still thinking about her, because she sure as hell was still thinking about him.