The Apartment (Apartment #1) (36 page)

The moment she heard the dinging bells and saw the flashing lights, Lily was transported back to her childhood, a time when things were so much simpler. She didn’t have to care about things like broken hearts and responsibility; she only had to be a kid and have fun. Granted, that hadn’t lasted very long since her mother had turned into a bigger kid than she’d ever been, with her multiple marriages and selfish behavior, but it still made for fun memories.

A few minutes into her game, she heard light footsteps descending the stairs behind her. Without looking back, she called out to Maggie, “Man, I hope you brought your A-game today. I am on fire!”

“And I hope you can explain yourself,” a deep, velvety voice said from right behind her, causing her to jump nearly a foot off the ground before spinning around, clutching her chest to keep her pounding heart from bursting through it.

“Goddammit!” she gasped. “Was that absolutely necessary?” She avoided making eye contact with him by looking over his shoulder, afraid of being swayed by his unearthly beauty.

“I don’t know, was it absolutely necessary to show up at my fucking house with my fucking family?” The venom that fueled his words finally made her cave and look at him, not understanding why so much anger was directed at her.

“Excuse me? What the hell is that supposed to mean? You act like I planned this whole embarrassing evening!”

“I don’t know,
did
you?”

Suddenly so furious that she couldn’t even think straight, Lily raised her hand to slap him, only to have him catch it in midair.

“I don’t think so, princess,” he growled, pinning her back against the pinball machine with his body. “You already got away with that once. Do it again and I’ll slap you back.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Do
not
fucking push me tonight. I really don’t know what I’m capable of.” His gaze dropped to her lips quickly before shooting back up to her eyes. “Now. Explain yourself.”

“Why are you so angry with me?” Lily whispered, trying hard to focus on anything but how good and solid his body felt against hers.

“How would you feel if your dad rolled up one night for dinner at the diner with me sitting in his car next to him? Wouldn’t that make you feel just the tiniest bit blindsided?”

“Of course it would, but you can’t possibly think that I planned this!”

“I don’t know what the fuck to think anymore!” he snarled, now only inches from her face.

“Oh, stop being ridiculous! I had no way of knowing that was your family. I met Maggie at work, and she’s the one who wanted me to hang out with them. Last night was the first time we ever went out, and if you’ll remember, I left early to find you!”

“That may be so, but I don’t like this one fucking bit.” Ethan looked down at her again, letting his eyes roam more freely. “I don’t want you hanging out with them anymore.”

“Well, that’s not your decision to make, now is it? They’re my friends, and I like them!”

“I can’t handle it!” he growled again, forcing himself even closer.

“Just what is it that you can’t handle? That your dirty little secret is around to rub your nose in the fact that you aren’t exactly devastated about your breakup like they all think?”

“That is none of your fucking business!” he hissed through his teeth, grabbing her by the arms roughly. “And that’s not what I can’t handle!”

“Ethan, stop! You’re hurting me!”

He froze, easing his grip but not letting go. “Say that again.” It was a harsh whisper, like a dying man in the desert begging for water.

“You’re hurting me?” she asked, not understanding what he wanted.

“No.”

“Ethan?”

With a loud groan he pulled her to him, crashing his mouth down on hers. His hands were everywhere at once, roaming over her body before settling in her hair, holding her head in place while he ravaged her lips with his own. He reached down and grabbed her ass, gripping it tightly before lifting her up and setting her on the pinball machine, wrapping her legs around his waist.

Lily could feel him, hard and pulsing against her wet heat. She wanted to stay angry, she wanted to yell, but none of that could top how much she wanted him inside her at that moment.

He kissed his way down her neck, licking and biting as he ground himself against her. “I can’t handle how much I need you,” he panted against her skin. “It’s too much,” he groaned. “It’s all too much! I can’t take wanting you like this in front of them, too!”

“Shh,” Lily whispered soothingly, running her fingers through his hair. “Don’t think about that right now. We’ll sort it out somehow. Just fucking kiss me!”

He complied happily, sucking her bottom lip between his teeth before flicking the tip of his tongue against her mouth, probing for entrance. She opened hungrily, swirling her tongue with his, tasting his need. Ethan shoved his hand in her hair again, holding her to him tightly while letting his other hand cup her bottom so he could pull her into his thrusts as he swallowed her moans.

They heard Maggie’s voice before the sound of her feet on the stairs.

“Eric, just figure it out! I helped you with over half of it. You and Brandon are big boys, I’m sure you can finish the rest. Now hurry up and get down here so you can watch me kick Lily’s ass.”

They both froze, staring at each other in a moment of panic. Looking down at the tangled mess they were in, they jumped apart quickly, but not before Ethan whispered in her ear, “To be continued.”

Ethan ran over to the other side of the room and started up the PlayStation while Lily resumed her pinball game. They both did their best to steady their breathing, and Ethan was grateful that he could sit down to hide his blatant arousal.

“Okay, Lily, sorry about that,” Maggie apologized as she walked in the room, stopping in her tracks when she noticed there was someone else with them.

“Oh, Ethan. I didn’t know you were down here. I thought you snuck out and went home.”

“No, thought I’d play a few rounds before I took off.”

She looked back and forth between them for what felt like an eternity. Lily was positive that she was doing a mental checklist of everything about them that was disheveled, but she simply shrugged and walked over to the air hockey table, turning it on.

“So Lily, are you ready to feel the pain?”

“Uh… absolutely.” She tried her hardest to sound excited, hoping that it didn’t come off as awkward as it felt.

For the next two hours, Lily was subjected to numerous competitions. Once Eric, Brandon, and Emma finally joined them it became all-out war. They played pool, darts, Donkey Kong, Rampage—just about anything they could turn into a battle. There were one-on-one bouts as well as team matches, and they even whined enough that Ethan agreed to play a few with them.

Aside from the initial awkwardness of almost being caught grinding with her new friends’ brother on a pinball machine, it was the happiest two hours of Lily’s life.

When she noticed that Ethan was beginning to signal her when the others weren’t looking, she shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what he wanted. He nodded toward the clock on the wall and raised his eyebrows at her, willing her to understand.

“Oh! Is that the time? I really need to get going, guys. I’m sorry.” It was a horrible performance, but probably the best of Lily’s life.

“Aw, really?” Eric whined. “I wanted a rematch!”

“Next time, I promise.”

“I should probably get going, too,” Ethan piped up as Lily headed to the door. They all said their goodbyes, everyone hugging Lily tightly before releasing her.

“We’ll walk you out,” Maggie said, dragging Eric along with her behind them.

“Oh, you don’t need to do that. I can find my way.”

“Nonsense. You’re my guest, and I insist.”

They made their way up through the kitchen and out the front door, saying their goodbyes to Richard as they passed, asking him to thank Barbara once she woke up. When they reached the front steps, Lily thanked them again profusely for inviting her, hugging them both one more time. Ethan kept walking, barely acknowledging any of them with only the slightest of nods as he got in his car.

“I’m going to call you about that weekend in Chicago,” Maggie called after Lily as she walked to her Oldsmobile. “Don’t think I’ll forget.”

“Good, I can’t wait. I think it sounds like fun.” She gave them a final wave before hopping in her car, following Ethan out of the driveway.

* * *

Maggie stood with her hand behind Eric’s back and her head on his shoulder, both of them watching as the vehicles traveled farther away from the house.

“So,” she sighed, “do you think they’re even going to
bother
taking different directions, or just race each other straight to his place to screw?”

“Oh, definitely race,” Eric chuckled, stroking her arm lovingly before kissing the top of her head.

“What the hell was all of that about?” Lily barked at Ethan as she slammed her heavy car door after pulling up next to him in the lot behind the apartment building.

“Inside,” was all he said, not even looking back at her as he crossed the alley to the dimly lit door. When he reached it he held it open wide, turning to face her with an exaggerated, sarcastic bow. “After you, my dear.”

“Very cute,” she mumbled under her breath as she passed him, unable to decide whether to slap him or kiss him. The moment he closed the door behind them she spun around and faced him. “Okay, spill it. Why the hell were you so shitty to me at dinner? In front of everyone!”

He took a deep breath before gritting through his teeth, “I said
inside
.”

“We are inside.”

“No, we are at the foot of a very dark stairway. I want to get upstairs behind locked doors if you insist on continuing this discussion.”

“No. You just want to lock out the real world again. It’s not going to be that easy now.”

“Goddammit!” he growled, grabbing her by the arms and shoving her up against the wall, pressing himself against her until their noses were almost touching, his toned chest and firm legs warring with his words for her attention. “Don’t you think I fucking know that?” he said, his sweet breath flowing over her lips. “My entire life has just been turned upside down! Cut me just the tiniest bit of slack. I’m so fucking torn apart right now, I don’t know whether to scream at you for screwing up everything perfect that we had going, or rip your clothes off and fuck you where you stand!”

“
I
screwed it up?” she snapped, trying to ignore the feeling of his muscular thigh sliding between hers, pinning her more thoroughly to the wall. “How the hell was I supposed to know that was your family? I have exactly
zero
friends in this town! Maybe I should blame you for fucking up the first invitation I’ve ever had to a dinner that I didn’t fucking cook.”

“Do you think I don’t know how crazy I sound? None of this makes any sense to me, my reactions most of all!”

“Well, you need to at least try to think before you speak. I didn’t screw anything up about us that wouldn’t have gotten screwed up eventually, and believe me, it was not perfect to begin with. It was bound to fall apart—we always knew that. We just didn’t know how.”

“But I’m not ready for that!” he hissed before taking a deep breath and calming himself. When he spoke again it was almost a tortured whisper. “I still need this.” He ran the tip of his nose against her cheek, back and forth, until he was next to her ear. He couldn’t look her in the eye when he choked out his next words. “I still need
you
.”

Lily’s heart soared at his admission. “You still have me. You just know my name now.”

He groaned and buried his face against her neck, kissing the tender skin of her throat lightly before flicking it with his tongue.

“Lily,” he whispered, and he could feel her soft moan vibrate beneath his lips. He felt her hands sliding up between their bodies until she was gripping the back of his head. What he heard next was only a muted gasp in the dark, but it was enough to set his soul on fire.

“
Ethan
.”

Angels couldn’t have sounded so sweet.

His mouth quickly covered hers, inhaling the rest of her moans and gasps. He was painfully hard and couldn’t resist shifting his hips so she could feel what she had done to him. When he felt her starting to rub herself back against him he groaned even louder and slipped his tongue between her lips, flicking at the tip of hers before swirling his own around it.

Before long, his hands had gone from gripping her shoulders to groping her breasts through her shirt. He felt her nipples harden into tight peaks in his palms, and when that wasn’t enough contact, he started rubbing them more firmly with the pads of his thumbs.

The only sounds that could be heard in the dark stairwell for some time after that were a series of grunts and gasps as the two lovers grinded against each other. Lily had completely forgotten everything she had been angry about, only wanting to feel more of him.

It was the sound of her loud moan echoing in the narrow entryway reminded her all too quickly that they were in a stairwell. A dark, dirty stairwell.

“Wait,” she was somehow able to murmur between kisses. “Ethan—wait!”

“God, yes!” he growled into her mouth, thrusting her harder into the wall. “Say it again!” He couldn’t hear anything but the sound of his name leaving her lips.

“No—wait!” Finally her voice broke through his lust-induced stupor, but only after she gave a good tug on his hair for emphasis.

“What’s wrong?” His face was completely baffled, as if dry humping against the wall of a creepy stairwell was nothing out of the ordinary.

“We need to get upstairs.
Now
.”

“Oh. Is that all?” He smirked wickedly before grabbing her ass tightly and holding her to him as he turned around and started up the stairs. “Ask and you shall receive, my lovely.”

Lily squealed and wrapped her legs around him tightly. “Oh God! Don’t drop me!”

“Baby, if you keep wiggling against my dick like that, I’m going to toss you down right here on the stairs.” She immediately stopped moving, anxious to get up into the apartment. “That’s what I thought,” he teased. He was also very eager to get her inside, hoping to make her squeal like that again, but for very different reasons.