Black Number Four (15 page)

“So, you said you paddleboard?” Kip asks as we wait in line for the Ferris wheel.

I nod, taking another bite of a fried Oreo we picked up along the way. I know I’ll have to work extra hard in the gym this week to work it off, but I don’t even care right now. Whoever thought of frying this little cookie was a freaking genius.

“Can you teach me? I really want to surf, but maybe I could start with paddleboarding.”

“They’re really, really different. Paddleboarding is pretty easy, anyone can do it really. Surfing takes a lot of skill. But yeah, I could show you.”

“Sweet. So tomorrow morning?”

I suck the last bit of melted cookie off my finger and smile inside as Kip’s eyes react. “I’m busy tomorrow, but I’ll show you sometime.”

“Busy doing what?”

I cross my arms. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh come on,” he says, stepping a little closer to me. “You’re not busy and you know it. Stop acting like hanging out with me is the bane of your existence.”

“I’m not one to cover up the truth.” I smirk.

He shakes his head before pressing his hips against mine, pushing me back against the flimsy silver rail of the ride. “How is it that you infuriate me yet turn me on at the same time?”

My heart rate quickens at his words, my breaths shallowing as his eyes flicker to my lips.
I could ask you the same thing
, I think, but I don’t say it out loud. His hands fall to my hips and he hooks his thumbs in the pockets of my sweats, tugging me even closer. I feel him harden against me and my chest squeezes tight in response, chills racing through me. His touch is confusing, lighting me on fire and drowning me in ice water at the same time.

Suddenly, someone clears their throat and we both look to our left at the same time to see the line has moved. A short, large woman with fiery red hair holds a cart for us, smiling. “You two want to take this show to the sky?”

I blush and Kip grabs our bag of stuffed animals and my hand, a cocky smirk on his face as he leads the way. Once we’re seated and move up a few pegs as other carts are emptied and then filled again, the wheel finally starts rotating in a slow, mechanical fashion. The music only plays from the speakers on the ground, so when we’re at the top, everything is muffled and faded behind the wind rushing in from the water.

We take in the view of the city and the beach, not really saying much. After a few rounds, we get stuck near the top as they begin exchanging passengers again. Kip stands as much as he can in the small cart and spreads his arms out before yelling, “I’m the king of the world!”

Other passengers on the wheel and bystanders below turn to stare at us and I grab the bottom of his shirt, jerking him back down.

“What the hell are you doing?” I whisper-yell, mortified.

He laughs. “What, you don’t like
Titanic
? Did I embarrass you?”

“Oh, I don’t know, you brought me out in my pajamas and now you’re yelling like a crazy person. What do you think?”

Kip laughs harder, shaking his head. “You care too much about what others think. Do you know any of these people? Are you ever going to see them again?”

“I could have sisters down there,” I say, the thought hitting me with more influence than I expected. Suddenly the urge to scan the crowd for familiar letters overwhelms me.

“And so what even if you do? Come on.” He turns to face me, taking my hands in his. “Scream. Just let it all out.”

“What?” I shake my head. “No, absolutely not.”

“Do it. You’re going to tell me nothing makes you want to scream? Not your schoolwork, your sisters, the pressure to win in May? Nothing?”

I bite my lip, thinking of the one person who does make me want to let out my frustration. I imagine the conversation I’ll have to have with Erin tomorrow, detailing every minute of tonight – playing into her game whether I want to or not.

“See? You know you want to. Just do it.”

“I don’t know what to yell.”

“Doesn’t have to be words,” he says. “Watch.” He tilts his head back and lets out another loud scream, this time his voice reverberates off the other carts and bounces back, the echoes filling the space between us. More people look, but he just smiles. “See? Easy. Now your turn.”

I shift uncomfortably, take a deep breath, open my mouth, and let out a small, pathetic yelp. Kip rolls his eyes. “Not even close. You have to really open your chest and your throat. Let it rip through you, give it purpose. Think about how much you hold onto, about everything you’re dealing with right now, and just let it out.”

I let out a frustrated sigh, but close my eyes and focus on his words. I think of Erin, of my lack of major, of the ESPN reports saying there’s no way I’ll win in Vegas. I press my lips together and then scream again, this time letting it flow from the source. It feels like I drag out the air forever, my chest heaving when I finally finish. I open my eyes and see Kip still smiling, though it’s a more contemplative smile now.

“Feel better?”

I nod. “Yeah, actually.” I don’t even care to look down and see who’s staring up at us. I know there are eyes turned toward the sky, wondering what the hell is going on, but Kip’s right – I don’t know these people. Why do I care?

“Who knew screaming could feel so good?”

“You haven’t had the right kind of sex if you’re just realizing this now,” Kip says, winking. I shove him playfully and turn back toward the water, breathing in the fresh air as it rolls across the waves and up to our little part of the sky.

The wheel moves again, taking us up a little higher. I’m still looking out at the water when Kip moves the hair that’s fallen from my bun away from my neck and replaces it with his lips, making my eyes flutter shut at the touch.

“What are you doing?” I whisper, barely audible as I turn toward him.

He pulls my chin up so that my eyes meet his, our blue pools reflecting the lights of the wheel. Gently, he pulls my lips to his, hovering for just a moment with our mouths centimeters apart before finally breaking the space. A spark shoots through the kiss straight to my stomach before trailing its way between my hips. I know I should pull away, I should stop this right now, but this is part of the game. If he’s going to fall for me, we’re going to have to kiss… we’re going to have to do more than kiss. If it has to be this way, I should at least try to enjoy this part.

Even though I know this is what will break me in the end – the memory of this kiss. The memory of his hands on my waist and weaved into my hair, of the groans escaping between his parted lips as he moves to kiss my neck again, of the faint tremble in his legs that mirrors my own.

Eventually it’s these things that will break me, but right now they’re what make me feel alive.

The ride moves us up another notch, making us second from the top. Kip pulls me onto him, my hips straddling his as his hands wrap around my hips. He rocks into me, his tongue darting into my mouth at the same time. The combination is too much and I moan, unable to fight the current.

“Holy hell, that was sexy,” Kip says against my lips before pressing his hips up against mine again. I can feel every inch of his hard on through his thin sweat pants rubbing me where I want to feel him most. I moan again and Kip smiles in satisfaction, trailing his tongue down my neck and across my collar bone. Unable to control them any longer, my hands release the grip I had on Kip’s hair and dive toward the band of his pants. When I dip a finger just beneath it, he inhales stiffly and pulls my mouth back to his, sucking my bottom lip between his teeth. Every touch feels amplified, every sense awakened. I hear his breaths in my ear, feel his body against mine. I take in his blue eyes and inhale the smell of the ocean mixed with his body wash as I taste his skin, his tongue, his lips.

Suddenly, the wheel begins moving again, taking us down quicker than we anticipated. I jump off his lap and run my fingers through my hair, praying my flushed cheeks won’t be visible in the pier light. Kip tucks his length in the band of his pants and grabs the bag of stuffed animals. “I think I’ll need to carry these.” He pulls the bag onto his lap to cover his erection and we both laugh as we step out of the cart. The heavyset redhead smiles knowingly and gives us a wink as we exit, which just makes us laugh harder.

By the time we reach the beach, we both have tears in our eyes. “Well,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. “I definitely feel like a high schooler after that.”

Kip smiles and then pulls me into him, kissing me so softly I should be swooning but instead I feel my panties dampen more.

“Stay the night with me,” he says. “We can rent paddleboards in the morning.”

I shake my head against his lips, my stomach tying in knots again. I’m getting too caught up, mixing up what I want and feel with what reality is. I know this is all part of it, but I’m failing at keeping my emotions and my body reactions separate.
Kiss him? Yes. Like him? Fine. But feel anything past that? Absolutely not.
I need to put distance between us, and fast.

“I can’t, all my sisters know I’m out with you on a first date. I can’t just not come home,” I say. “I may have gone out in my sweats and screamed at the top of a Ferris wheel tonight, but I’m not ready to brave the walk of shame into my sorority house yet.”

“Didn’t that kind of already happen after the poker game?”

I glare at him. “That was different, I didn’t stay the night with you. I was just out all night.”

“Can’t you pretend that you’re out all night tonight?” His blue eyes are pleading with mine, but I give him a pointed look and shake my head. “Fine,” he concedes, pulling me closer. His hands grip at my skin like he wants to be inside me, like any tiny space between us is too much. “Paddleboarding though?”

I sigh. “Are you going to keep annoying me if I don’t do it tomorrow?”

“Obviously. Besides, we need to start figuring out your tournament schedule. I’m serious about helping you with poker this semester.”

I roll my eyes, but I know he’s right. I haven’t even looked into other tournaments since the underground one two weeks ago and May is going to be here faster than I think. I need to get my head in the game, but right now it’s too focused on the one I’m playing with Kip. “Yes, I’ll come back in the morning. But I need to go tonight.”
For many, many reasons.

“Deal,” he agrees, moving in to press his lips against mine once more. They’re barely there before they’re gone again and we’re walking down the beach. Kip calls the same cab from earlier and tells him to meet us where he dropped us. When he ends the call, he turns to face me. “Oh, one more question.”

“What now?”

He pulls the stuffed shark from the plastic bag and tucks him back under his arm. “Where do we get a board for Sparky?”

I sneak back into the sorority house just after two. It’s not that late, but I still open and close the front door as quietly as I can before tiptoeing across the foyer. I’m almost to the stairs when a voice comes from the living room couch, making me jump.

“Good night?”

I clutch my heart and let out a large breath. “Holy shit, Big. You scared the living hell out of me.”

She smiles, but it looks forced. “Sorry. I was waiting up, wanted to know how it went tonight.” The way she says it, hushed and hesitated, makes me think she doesn’t really want to know. She wants to know how the plan is going, but she doesn’t want to hear how the date went.

“It was nice,” I say, falling down into the couch cushions next to her. I lean my head back and look over at her, trying to ease the worry laden on her face. “We went to dinner and to the pier, nothing special,” I lie. Technically, that is what we did, but it was definitely special.

That kiss was special.

Erin relaxes a little, her shoulders loosening, but not enough to make me feel comfortable. She opens her mouth to ask me something, but thinks better of it and just smiles instead. “Good.”

I nod and yawn, exhaustion catching up to me. If I’m meeting up with Kip early for paddleboarding, I need to at least try to get a couple hours of sleep. “I think I’m going to turn in, Big. Let’s catch up tomorrow?”

“Wait,” she says as I stand. “Has he asked you to the A Sig Valentine’s Day dance yet?”

I scrunch my nose. “No, and I doubt he will.”

Erin nods, silent for a moment before saying, “No, he definitely will.” She pauses, crossing her arms and thinking for a minute. “When he does, you’ll say yes. And that’s the night you blow him off. I’ll be there with Chance Griffins, it’ll be perfect. Chance is a dog and will surely do something to piss me off, Kip will be heartbroken, and by the end of the night we’ll be consoling each other between the sheets.”