Slam Dunk: Black & White Collection (3 page)

She rolled her eyes. “Not likely.” Tequila made her burn, but given her current surroundings, that didn’t sound like such a bad proposition. She, Trey and Lisa licked the salt from their hands, downed the shots and popped the limes in their mouths.

Lisa squealed when the song changed and grabbed the other two women at the table. Derek, mercifully, started talking to the guy on his right.

“You having fun?” Trey asked.

She nodded. “Yeah. Sure.”

“You and Derek seem to be hitting it off.”

Ellie shrugged. She didn’t want to insult the guy since he was Trey’s friend, so she played the evasive card. “He’s nice. What’s he do for a living? Telemarketing?”

Trey burst into laughter. Ellie was blown away by the beauty of his smile. It was always there. They’d seen a lot of each other at school as both of them had lunch duty at the same time. He had an incredible rapport with students, joking and having fun with them while never crossing the line of professionalism.

“Derek’s a social worker, but now that you mention it, I think maybe he did miss his calling. Guy can talk for an hour straight without taking a breath.”

Ellie giggled. Apparently, Trey was perfectly aware of his friend’s tendency to talk too much. “Well, in that case, he could have been a telemarketer
or
deep sea diver.”

“What about the other guys?”

She was touched that Trey seemed to care so much about her having a good time. He’d promised to introduce her to some nice men and he’d followed through on it. It made her feel bad for not trying harder. “They’re nice. What’s Shawn’s story? He’s a little intense.”

“He’s a police officer. This isn’t really his scene anymore. He was crazy in college, but now that he’s sporting a badge, he tries to toe the line.”

“Ah,” Ellie said, nodding. The man had spent fifteen minutes talking about the growing drug problem in their town and a bust he’d participated in. Ellie hadn’t bothered to enlighten Shawn on the fact the drug house the police had raided had been on the street where she lived. “That explains why I keep getting the feeling he’s going to whip out a breathalyzer at any minute and cite us all for being drunk in public.”

Trey shook his head. “You’re not drunk. You’ve been nursing the same beer since you got here. That’s why I bought you the shot. Thought it might loosen you up a bit.”

She wasn’t sure how to respond. She thought he’d been totally into Lisa, but he’d obviously been watching her closely enough to notice what she was drinking. The thought made her warm inside. “I’m not much of a drinker. Actually, I think that shot is already working its magic.”

Whether it was the alcohol or Trey’s close proximity, she wasn’t feeling quite as down as she had been a few minutes earlier. “In fact, I feel like dancing.”

Trey grinned and started to stand. Before he could take her hand, Derek stood as well.

“Hot damn,” Derek said. “I’ve wanted to dance all night. Let’s go.” He grabbed Ellie’s hand and tugged her to the floor. She looked over her shoulder for Trey and spotted Lisa dragging him to the bar for another shot. She sighed and resigned herself to the fact that tonight was going to be a bust.

She closed her eyes and let the music and flashing lights take her away. She was here to meet guys who weren’t teachers. It didn’t look like that was going to happen tonight, but that didn’t mean she should quit trying. She’d wasted an entire year, nursing her wounded pride over Joel. She was about to turn over a new leaf. She moved to the song, letting the rhythm soothe her. She loved to dance. It helped her forget her worries. Her mistakes. Her desires.

Trey stood at the bar and watched Ellie dancing with Derek. She looked beautiful. She’d worn her hair down and the long brown waves flowed around her face as she swayed to the music. He’d found it hard to take his eyes off her all night.

“She won’t go out with you.”

Lisa’s voice broke through his daydreaming and he looked at her guiltily. He’d been pretty rude to the poor woman all evening, hanging out with her physically while his mind was a million miles away.

He gave her a questioning glance.

“Ellie,” Lisa explained. “She’s sworn off dating colleagues.”

Trey nodded. “I know. She told me.”

“Personally, I think she’s being a stubborn idiot about it, but Ellie seems to possess more than her fair share of tenacity. When she gets something in her head, she sticks to it. Not that I blame her,” Lisa said quickly. “Joel fucked her up bad. I’d probably still be curled in a fetal position in the corner of my bedroom if I’d been through what she has.”

Trey smiled. It was obvious Lisa and Ellie were good friends. “She mentioned the ex. Guy sounds like a prick.” He hoped Lisa would fill in some of the blanks about Ellie’s bad break-up. Aside from the few tidbits Ellie had shared on the dance floor at Tully’s, she’d been very closed-mouth on the subject.

“Prick with a capital P. He and Ellie dated for two years, lived together the last year of that. He had us all fooled. He was charming and funny and I don’t think there were any of Ellie’s friends—me included—who didn’t hear wedding bells in their future. Then she goes home one day and finds him in bed with her department chair from work.”

Trey winced. “Shit.”

“Yeah, you can say that again. Ellie went to work every single day last year, held her head high despite the fact there wasn’t a teacher in that school who didn’t know what Joel and Dawn had done to her. On the last day before summer, she sort of snapped. She and Joel got into the mother of all fights. I think it would have been okay except a couple of students walked by with their parents. One of them phoned in a complaint and the principal decided Ellie was expendable.”

“I think the principal kept the wrong teacher.”

“Tell me about it. Ellie’s had a rough year. She’s living in a freaking slum. Her house is smack-dab in the middle of drug city, but she keeps brushing me off when I tell her she needs to move. She’s also tiptoeing around on eggshells because she can’t really afford to lose another job. I’m worried about her. Not sure how long she can keep walking the thin line she’s drawn for herself before she just gets plain old worn out.”

Trey turned to look at Ellie once again and felt the respect he’d already felt for her deepen. “I didn’t realize how hard it had been for her.”

“Yeah well, that still doesn’t make this new vow of hers right. I mean Joel hurt her, not every male teacher on the East Coast.”

“It couldn’t have been easy for her to go to work and face that every day,” Trey added, feeling as if he should defend Ellie’s choices even though they were driving him insane.

“Oh, I get that. But what if Mr. Right is working at Preston and she lets him slip away because she’s too afraid to grab him.”

Trey leaned against the bar and studied Lisa’s face. “Mr. Right?”

She smiled. “Isn’t that who you’re hoping to be?”

“That obvious, is it?”

“You haven’t taken your eyes off her all night. I like you, Trey. You seem like a really nice guy, but I’m afraid your timing may be wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

Lisa took a sip of her drink. “Ellie hasn’t dated anyone since her break-up. She lost her job, made her vow to swear off workplace relationships, and along comes you. She’s gonna fight you. Hard.”

Trey sensed the truth behind Lisa’s words, and then he looked at Ellie once again.

His smile sent a frown to Lisa’s face.

“Why are you grinning?” she asked.

Trey shrugged. “Hard is something I’m very good at.”

Her frown turned to a scowl. “I didn’t tell you those things as a challenge. If you aren’t interested in anything more than getting in Ellie’s pants, then—”

“Don’t even bother to finish that, Lisa.” He turned and looked at Ellie’s friend. He dropped the shield and let her see the real him. “I’m interested in everything.”

Lisa laughed. “Well, in that case… Go get ’em, tiger.”

She and Trey clinked glasses and then Trey watched Lisa walk back to the table to rejoin their group. He started to follow her, but stopped when he caught sight of Derek running his hands up and down Ellie’s back as they danced.

His vision went red. He’d made a promise to help her meet guys who didn’t work at Preston, but after listening to Lisa, he was reconsidering. He wanted Ellie. Bad.

Lisa’s warning gave him reason to pause. He’d told Ellie’s friend he wanted everything. Was that true? He’d never wanted more than casual relationships or occasional hook-ups. He wasn’t exactly proud of it, but he had a booty call list in his cell phone. Women who didn’t mind his late-night, spur-of-the-moment visits. He hadn’t used the list in over a year, but he still had the numbers stored there.

Looking at Ellie, he knew the last thing he wanted with her was casual, but he’d have to proceed with caution if he was going to convince her to take another chance with a guy from work.

When Derek leaned down and tried to kiss Ellie, Trey felt the cable snap. For the first time in his life, jealousy snaked through his body and he started toward the dance floor. He pulled up short when he saw Ellie break away from Derek, whispering something in his friend’s ear. Derek headed back to the table, while Ellie took off in the direction of the ladies’ room.

He debated which direction to go and then he followed her. She’d just entered the small restroom when he pushed the door open, walking in after her.

“What the hell—” she started.

He cut off the rest of her complaint with his lips. He turned and pushed her back against the door as he claimed her mouth. He’d wanted this for too long. Pure instinct drove his actions as he allowed his brain to shut down. He was tired of thinking and analyzing and worrying about how to proceed with Ellie.

Raising his hand, he flipped the lock. It wasn’t until he’d secured them inside that he realized she wasn’t fighting him. She’d raised her arms, wrapping her hands around his neck. She was kissing him back. Seriously kissing him. Her fingers caressed the back of his neck and Trey moved closer, wanting more. Needing more.

If he hadn’t been so into her sweet kisses, he’d have been grinning his ass off. For several moments, he let himself fall into the pleasure of simply holding her. He licked her lower lip before pushing his tongue inside to taste the slight tang of the tequila and lime. She returned the touch.

“Ellie,” he whispered, but she stopped him from saying more, pulling him tighter, keeping his lips pressed to hers.

Finally, they parted, staring at each other and breathing heavily.

“I don’t like you dancing with Lisa,” she said.

Her words tweaked something inside him. She wouldn’t go out with him, but he wasn’t allowed to dance with anyone else? For a second, his brain failed to process the fact he didn’t want to dance with Lisa. “Tough shit. I don’t want you kissing Derek.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I can kiss anyone I want. I don’t belong to you.”

“Like hell,” he growled, kissing her once more.

Ellie gripped the front of his shirt tightly as she roughly pulled him closer. He knew what was driving his hungry motions. It was jealousy, pure and simple. It appeared Ellie shared the sentiment. She raised her leg and wrapped it around his waist. He took the cue. Gripping her ass, he lifted her so that she could raise both legs. The position pushed her skirt higher and made it easy for him to press his denim-covered cock against her pussy.

Trey reconsidered his previous assumption. It wasn’t jealousy driving this moment. It was desire.

He pushed against her as they kissed, the temperature in the small room rising until Trey decided it wasn’t enough.

“Put your legs down,” he said as he sucked on her lower lip. She followed his command and he lifted her skirt. Shoving her damp panties to one side, he thrust a finger into her dripping cunt.

Ellie jerked at the strong touch before her head fell back against the door.

Her hips met each reentry of his finger. He gritted his teeth and struggled not to come in his pants. She was hot and wet and her inner muscles clenched against his finger.

And she was tight. Holy fuck. He felt lightheaded as he realized just how good she’d feel gloved around his cock.

“God,” she cried out when he added another finger to the dance. Her fingers dug into his arms as she rode his thrusts. She was a firecracker poised to detonate.

He leaned down and kissed her once more. He wanted to taste her screams as she came. He wasn’t disappointed. After a few more thrusts, he rubbed her clit with his thumb and she exploded. He continued to kiss her as he gentled his motions, relishing her slight tremors as she came down from her climax.

The scent of her arousal surrounded them. Trey pulled his fingers from her quivering pussy and lifted them to his lips. She watched through heavy-lidded eyes as he licked her juices from his digits.

She moistened her lips and he couldn’t resist stealing one more heated kiss. He could already see the wheels in her brain whirling. It wouldn’t be long before her common sense returned and she pushed him away.

He gave her a quick, hot kiss that promised there was more to be had. If only she would ask.

“Shit,” she whispered.

The sadness in her voice made Trey pause.

What the hell was he doing? He considered his heavy-handed actions and guilt suffused him. She wasn’t the only one to return to earth with a hard crash.

“Ellie. I’m sorry.”

She closed her eyes. “Don’t. Please. Don’t say you’re sorry. I was a willing participant in all of that. Jesus, I think I might have pushed it further along.”

“No. I followed you in here, intent on getting my own way. You’ve told me your feelings and given me some pretty understandable reasons why you don’t want to date me. I ignored them all because the fact is I want you. I want you so bad I can taste it.”

She blushed and looked at his still-damp hand, as her essence lingered on his lips. “I’m trying, Trey. Trying to do the right thing. But I’m screwing up when it comes to you. Big time.”

“I hear that. By the way, I’m never setting you up with another one of my friends,” he said as she laughed sadly. “My heart can’t take it.”