Undefeated - A New Adult Romance Novel (11 page)

My eyes still closed, I slowly parted my lips.

“Stick out your tongue,” he said as he kissed my chin.

I pushed my tongue past my lips.

As his lips encompassed my tongue, I opened my eyes. His left hand moved from my hair to the side of my face. His hands lightly touching each of my cheeks, we continued to kiss. As I studied his eyes, I began to ache for more. I wanted this man with all that I had within me. I wanted to feel him inside of me. I wanted to become one – to share and experience each other’s bodies in the w
ay that defined love.

Slowly, he raised his head, kissing my lips as he did so. He moved his hands from my face to my hips. Using the tips of his fingers he lightly lifted my shirt from my shorts, and slid his hands inside my shirt. As they moved across my stomach toward my chest, my breathing stuttered.

Please, please…take me, Shane. Oh God, Squeeze my…

His hands moved between my breasts and pushed flat against my chest. I could feel his pinky fingers against the inside of my breasts.

“Do you feel that?” he asked.

I felt my heart begin to race. My pussy became immediately soaked. This was embarrassing. Exciting and embarrassing at the same time. I felt uncomfortably wet. I could not, ever, become any more soaked than this.

“What?” it took all I had to mutter that one word.

“Your heart?” he asked softly. His eyes closed as he spoke.

I blinked my eyes, focusing on the feeling of his hands against my breasts. “Yes,” I sighed.

“I want to warn you, Kace.
I already told you once, when we first met. But remember what I’m telling you today - mark my words, I’m coming for this.
Your heart.
Be prepared, because I intend to make it mine
. I’m coming for your heart
,
Kace
,” he whispered as his hands pushed softly against my chest.

It’s already your
s, Shane.

When the time comes, you’ll know it.

SHANE.
“When’s Shorty going to be here?” Ripp asked as he placed the chicken on the grill.

“Any time, but she said not to wait,” I responded.

“Mike Ripton waits for no man. Or woman,” he laughed.

“How much fucking chicken you got, Ripp?”

“Three of em. Shit Dekk, I’ll eat one, she’ll eat a piece, you’ll damn near eat one. That leaves a few pieces to snack on,” he said as he continued to load the grill with chicken.

I
thought about it and nodded my head, affirming Ripp’s chicken count.

“So, we’re working
into the end of summer, you gonna get them boots before they’re gone?” he laughed as he closed the grill.

I looked down at my boots. Looking down at them from this distance, they didn’t look so bad - as long as I looked straight down at the tops of them. The sides and bottom were a different story.

“I’ll never understand ya, Dekk. Weird fucker, you’re probably the only mother fucker in Austin wearing Levi’s and boots today,” he chuckled as he sat down on the lounge chair.

“Probably,” I said as I sat down into the lounge beside him.

“So, I never asked. Your girl drink?” he asked.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“You know, I admire you for not. She hasn’t drank here yet anyway. Been here for eight or nine Saturdays in a row, hasn’t yet. I didn’t know if she did when you guys went out,” he said as he took a drink from his bottle of beer.

“Hasn’t yet,” I responded.

“Suppose that’s good. I don’t know where you find the inspiration, but if she doesn’t…hell, it’ll be easy for you to continue,” he said as he finished his beer.

“At least the Ultra’s w
on’t make me fat,” he said as he slapped his hand against his stomach.

“Obviously not,” I said.

“What ya sayin’ Dekk?” he asked.

“Just said it,” I responded.

“I drink too much?” he asked.

“Didn’t say that,” I said.

“What
are
ya sayin?” he asked.

“Calories are calories,” I said.

“95 a bottle. That’s it. Hell, I drink a dozen of these fuckers, it ain’t gonna hurt me. That’s 1200 calories. So, no big deal. I bet I only drink five or six anyway,” he said.

“
1140. But yeah, 95 calories isn’t many. You sure about that?” I asked.

“
Fucking smart-ass. The Ultra’s haven’t got much, but damn they taste like it. Want one?” he chuckled.

“No, I’ll stick with this,” I said as I leaned over and grabbed my half-full glass of water from the table at the corner of the deck.

“I’m going in for some ice, need anything?” I asked as I stood up from my chair.

“No, I’m golden,” he said as he stood up.

I’ve enjoyed Ripp’s routine of cooking chicken on Saturdays. It gives me something to look forward to. I have always liked routines, and become almost reliant on the routines that I have in place. When they don’t happen for some reason, I feel deprived. I walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer. As I looked into it, I realized that he’d dumped all of the ice I had purchased into his beer cooler.

I reached to the back of the freezer to grab the plastic ice trays. A small plastic Zip-Loc style plastic bag was lying on top of the ice trays. As I picked it up to move it, I realized what it contained.

“Ripp, you sick fucker,” I screamed, knowing he couldn’t hear me. 

I tossed the bag to the side and pulled the tray from the freezer. I dumped half of the cubes into my cup and re-filled the tray and my glass with water. I slammed the freezer door, and walked back outside to the deck.

“Ripp, you sick fuck,” I said as I closed the door behind me.

“What’s up, Dekk?” he said over his shoulder as he moved the chicken around on the
grill.

“Well, I noticed you used all the ice I bought for one,” I began.

“What’s sick about that?” he chuckled as he closed the lid to the grill.

“Well, nothing. But it was all gone
. So I grabbed an ice tray. Well, I started to. There was a Zip-Lock bag on top of the ice, so I grabbed it to move it and…” I paused to see what he had to say.

“And…?” he asked.

“Well? The Zip-Lock bag. What the fuck, Ripp?” I asked.

He shrugged his shoulders, “Dude, I got nothing.”

“The finger, Ripp. It had a finger in it,” I mumbled as I sat down.

“Oh shit, I forgot about that fucker. It’s been in there for a bit. Let’s
get it outta there and look at it,” he said as he wiped his hands on his shorts.

“Dude, I just saw it, I don’t want to see it
again
,” I complained.

“Well, fuck. I probably ought to get rid of it. M
aybe the garbage disposal?’ he asked.

“Hell, I don’t know. It’s kind of small,” I responded.

“Yeah, but basically, it’s ice. It ought to just get ground up and melt in there, huh?” he asked.

“
No. Fuck Ripp, it’s
meat
,” I responded.

He nodded his head slowly, “Yeah, suppose so
- meat and a little piece of bone.”

“Alright, I’m done talking about it,” I said as I rubbed my stomach and made a face like I’d eaten something rotten.

“You beat people half to death, and knock out every son of a bitch under the sun, and you wanna get sick over a little finger. Shit, it ain’t no bigger than a Vienna sausage,” he laughed.

“Alright, I’m done talking about it,”
I said as I waved my hands in front of my stomach.

“Well, I need to do something with it before your girl finds it,” he said.

“Yeah, no shit. Go do
something
with it,” I begged.

He walked past me and into the house. In a matter of seconds, he walked back onto the deck. As he shut the door, I turned his direction.

“Well?” I asked.

He held up the finger tip, grasping it between his thumb and forefinger.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked.

He opened the lid to the
grill and looked inside.

“Ripp, don’t!” I screamed and I started to stand up from the lounge.

“Well fuck, it won’t fit. It’ll fall between the little bars. Shit. I was just gonna cook it as a joke,” he said as he turned and gave me a puzzled look.

Still holding the finger in his hand, he closed the lid to the
grill.

We both turned to the left side of the deck as we heard the gate open.
Kace walked through the gate wearing a floral print sun dress.

“Hey,” Kace said as she stepped
toward the deck.

A tall blonde
wearing jean shorts and a sleeveless black shirt followed her into the yard. I turned to Ripp and scrunched my brow.

“
Do something with it
,” I whispered.

As he noticed the other girl, he quickly shoved the finger into the pocket of his Khaki cargo shorts.

“Hope you don’t mind that I brought my friend,” Kace asked as she stepped onto the deck.

“Not at all. I’m glad you did,” I responded as I turned and looked at Ripp.

As they both stepped onto the deck, Ripp raised his eyebrows and wiped his hands on his shorts.

“Hi. I’m Mike. Mike Ripton. You can call me Ripp, everyone else does,” he said as walked toward her with his hand held out in front of him.

“I’m Olivia. You can call me Liv. Everyone else does,” she chuckled as she shook Ripp’s hand.

I hugged Kace as Ripp shook her hand. As I kissed her, Liv turned our direction. I reached around Kace’s side and held my hand out.

“Hi, I’m Shane,” I said.

“Yeah, she told me about you,” she said as she shook my hand.

“Hope you like chicken,” Ripp said.

“Love it,”
Liv responded as she walked toward the grill.

“Uhhm. Want an Ultra
?” Ripp asked as he pointed to the beer cooler.

“Yeah,
sure. I mean, as long as you have enough,” she responded.

“I always have enough,” he laughed as he leaned toward the cooler and opened the lid.

Kace squeezed me tight and buried her face in my hoodie.

“Hey Shorty,” Ripp said as he waved at Kace.

Without looking, her face buried in my hoodie, Kace raised her hand from my back and waved at Ripp.

“She’s nice,” I whispered into Kace’s ear.

“I told her about Ripp on the way here. She’s the one I told you that works at the coffee shop by the deli,” Kace whispered.

“Aaahhh,” I responded as I turned
my head toward Ripp. He and Liv were talking as he poked at the chicken with the tongs.

“Go grab a platter and stuff, Dekk,” Ripp said as he stood at the
grill talking to Liv.

“C’mon, babe. Let’s go inside,”
I said as I motioned toward the door.

“So, she’s the girl from the coffee shop on the corner?” I asked as I looked for a platter and plates.

“Uh huh. She’s the one I’ve been talking to you for the last year about…well, you know,” she smiled.

“Okay, I was thinking so. She’s single?” I asked.

“Uh huh. Yeah. Her boyfriend was a douche. They broke up a month ago. Something like that,” she responded as I handed her some plates from the cupboard.

I grabbed a large platter, silverware, and a roll of paper towels. My arms full, I leaned toward Kace and kissed her. As we kissed, she set the plates on the countertop and wrapped her arms around me.

“I like doing this with you, Shane. Cooking. Eating. Being a part of your life beyond just living together. I like this. It’s. It’s, well. It’s like we’re a real couple. I like this,” she said as our lips parted.

“I like it too,” I said as I adjusted the paper towels under my arm.

“I want this. I want this for a lifetime,” she said as she picked up the plates.

“I do too,” I responded as I started walking toward the door.

“Then let’s do it. Let’s take that step, Shane. I’m ready,” she said.

“It’s not a contest, babe. It’s life. There’s no time limit. If I’m truly what you think you want, need, and desire – I’m not going anywhere. And you’ll wait as long as you have to. I am not going to do this in any manner that I’m not comfortable with,” I said as I held the door handle in my hand.

“Well, I’m ready,” She smiled.

“Noted,” I said as I opened the door.

As we walked out onto the deck, Liv and Ripp were sitting on the lounge chair together laughing. Each of them had a beer, and Ripp was trying to catch his breath from laughing.

“Looks like they’re having fun,” I whispered to Kace.

“Oh my God, Kace. He’s funny,” Liv said as she nodded her head toward Ripp.

“He
can
be,” Kace laughed.

“No, he
is,
” Liv stated, still laughing.

“I was just telling her about your boots,” Ripp laughed.

I raised one eyebrow and turned toward Ripp as I set the plates and silverware down on the table. 

“Well, it’s all true,” he said.

“Let me see the bottoms of them,” she asked.

I shook my head and turned up the sole of my boot so she could see the sole. As She leaned over and looked, she gasped.

“Oh my God. Those are awful. You were so right,” she laughed as she slapped Ripp’s leg.

I turned toward Kace and rolled my eyes. As she set her plates down on the table, I
sat on the edge of the lounge chair. Kace sat beside me and leaned over, resting her head on my shoulder. As I wrapped my right arm around her shoulder, Ripp stood up and walked toward the grill.

“So, what’s with the hoodie?” Liv asked.

“What about it?” I responded.

“Well, it’s almost a hundred degrees. You’re wearing a hoodie, boots, and jeans.
Don’t you feel out of place?” she asked, motioning to Ripp and Kace.

I raised my eyebrows, looked at Ripp, Kace, and back at Liv, “No. I don’t.”

“So, why wear it in the summer?”

“Habit I suppose.”

“It’s hot out here,” she said as she fanned her face with her hand.

“Not too bad,” I responded.

“Is there a reason?” she asked.

I thought about her question. I have worn a hoodie every day since as long as I can remember. It has become somewhat of a trademark. I don’t really know what started it. Going without one now would make me feel naked. I doubt that I could make it a day without having a hoodie on or available to put on.

“I don’t know. Again, I suppose it’s habit.”

“He always wears one,” Kace said as she lifted her head from my shoulder.