When You're Ready (21 page)

Scout enveloped both of my hands in his. “I’m not going anywhere. I know what it feels like to be alone, and I’m not leaving you, okay?”

“My father didn’t plan on leaving me either, Scout, but sometimes things just happen.”

We stared at each other in silence until the waiter sauntered over to our table to take our order. I was happy for the distraction, because I was barely holding onto my composure, and an overly emotional woman in tears didn’t quite fit the shabby chic vibe of Malibu Farm.

I collected myself and I ordered a breakfast sandwich with a side of mini-pancakes and a mimosa; I needed something a little stronger than hope to keep my nerves in check.

“Can I see your ID, please?” the waiter asked, catching me off guard. Even though I regularly carded many of my customers at Pink Taco, it had been a while since I had to fork over my identification.

Shit.

My 21st birthday was coming up, but I didn’t want to get embarrassed in front of Scout, not when I was already so close to jumping off the emotional ledge. I had a few options: switch drink orders, or I pray the waiter was bad at math. I chose the latter and hoped for the best.

I handed over my license and held my breath. The handsome server scanned it, glanced at me and winked. Before he left to put in our orders he added, “Happy early birthday.”

I peeked at Scout from the corner of my eye and he had the goofiest grin on his face. I couldn’t help but smile back.

“So, you have a birthday coming up?”

“Yeah, May 23rd.”

He rubbed his hands together, like he was formulating a plan. “Good, that gives me a few weeks.”

“For what?”

“To plan something really, really nice.”

“Scout—“

“I’ll throw you a party,” he said, cutting me off. “A pool party at my house. I’ll get Fernando to work the grill, Jason can call up one of his DJ pals, you can invite all of your friends, and we’ll do it up big!”

“Scout, I don’t think that’ll be a good idea.”

He looked at me like I had two heads. “Why not? Don’t you want to celebrate?”

“It’s just…” I hesitated. The truth was I didn’t actually have any friends except Tara, and birthdays always made me miss the way my parents were before everything went to shit. I usually spent the day sulking in my apartment, pigging out on junk food, and trying to distract myself from how horrible it felt to be alone.

Of course I couldn’t tell Scout this. He would no doubt look at me like I was some poor, unfortunate girl who needed his pity more than his love. So I did the only thing a girl in my situation would do: I lied.

“I’m just not a party person. I mean, I usually don’t make a big deal about my birthday.” I shrugged, trying my best to mask my emotions. “It’s just another day.”

“It’s not just another day, Nola, it’s your birthday! We’ve got to celebrate. I never had a birthday party growing up, and—“

I gasped. “Never?”

Scout shook his head. “Birthdays aren’t usually at the top of the list for junkies.”

Junkies…like my father?

I knew Scout was talking about his parents, but for some reason it felt like he had taken a jab at my father, too.

“My dad always made a big deal about my birthday,” I said defensively.

Scout looked at me and his eyes immediately went soft, like he knew he’d inadvertently hurt my feelings. “I wasn’t talking about your dad, Nola. I was talking about my junk—“ he stopped himself before he finished the word, “my parents.”

“I know,” I said slightly above a mummer. “I just miss him, that’s all. I always do around this time of year.”

The waiter brought our drinks, and Scout and I let the silence multiply around us. I took a sip of my mimosa, hoping the champagne would calm the emotional storm brewing in my head. I tried to remind myself that Scout was only trying to make my birthday special, but I couldn’t quell the ambivalence I felt about that day.

I took another sip from my drink and tried to push thoughts of my parents to the back of my mind.

“Maybe
I
should throw
you
a party,” I said, trying to take the attention off of myself. “When’s your birthday?”

“It was a couple of months ago.”

“Oh yeah? How did you celebrate?”

“Went to Vegas with my boys. Took in some shows, hit the tables, ate way too much at the buffet, saw a couple of—“ Scout abruptly stopped. “It was fun.”

I couldn’t help but chortle. I knew what guys did in Vegas, especially if they were young, hot, and as wealthy as Scout.

“Saw a couple of strippers?” I said, cocking my eyebrow and feigning contempt.

Scout studied my face, probably trying to see if I was pissed. He half-shrugged/half-nodded in response.

I shook my head. “A bunch of single guys in Vegas? I know strippers were involved.” I cracked a smile and he seemed to relax a bit, but he was still watching me. “Relax, Scout. I’m not mad or anything. I know guys don’t go to Vegas for the seafood buffet.”

He let out a hearty laugh, and then cleared his throat and got serious. “Nola, that was before we—”

“It’s okay, Scout. You don’t have to explain anything to me. You’re young, you’re
gorgeous
, and you’re successful. I don’t even want to think about how many women you’ve dated.” I chuckled.

“Nola, I—“

I held up my hand, halting him. “Please don’t. We don’t have to have
that
conversation, okay? If we do, I’m sure I’ll feel even more inadequate than I already do,” I joked.

“So you don’t want to know how many women I’ve been with?” he asked, confused.

“God no!” I took another sip of my mimosa, trying not to picture Scout with a bevy of gorgeous women hanging from his arms.

“And what if I want to know how many guys you’ve been with? Is that off limits, too?” he asked.

I almost choked on my drink. “Why would you want to know that?”

“I dunno,” Scout said, sounding slightly less confident for the first time since I’d met him. “Isn’t that the kind of thing people talk about when they’re together?”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been
together
with anyone.”

Scout stared at me in amazement. “Never?”

I met his eyes, and I knew we were talking about far more than just dating. “Never.”

“So, I’ll be the first guy you…“

“Yes,” I said, cutting him off.

Scout’s eyes sparkled and his mouth ticked up into a tiny smirk. “Let’s get our food to-go.”

22
Scout

I had been a patient man. I’d wanted to tear Nola’s clothes off and bury myself between her creamy thighs since the moment we met, but I refused to turn on the charm or ply her with a bunch of slick lines aimed at getting Nola out of her clothes because something in my gut told me she was worth so much more.

And I was right.

I drove down Highway 1 tearing toward my house, taking the turns a little too quickly, and speeding through yellow lights because I couldn’t contain myself any longer. Nola had never been with a guy. She had never allowed a man to taste the sweet nectar between her legs; I’d be the first, and that turned me the fuck on.

I’m surprised we didn’t end up in a car crash or on the evening news, cut down by my inability to wait another hour before I swam inside Nola and made her come over and over again. But we made it to my house in one piece, and before Nola and I even got through the door I already had my hands in her hair and my lips on her neck.

Nola giggled when I slid my arms around her waist and kissed her. “I can’t believe you actually made them wrap up our food. I was looking forward to eating those pancakes.”

“I’ll feed them to you,” I said, finding her mouth and covering it with mine. She tasted like pineapples and champagne, and I savored every last drop.

“I bet you say that to all your—“

I squeezed Nola’s breast through her blouse, causing a soft moan to escape from her throat and bringing her sentence to an end. I pinched one of her nipples while I nibbled her neck, using my tongue to trace the flesh between her earlobe and her collarbone.

“Scout…” she panted, causing my dick to grow even larger, “maybe we should….” She sharply inhaled when I slid my hand inside her bra, giving her nipple another squeeze. “Upstairs….let’s go up—“

Before Nola could finish her sentence, I picked her up and tossed her over my shoulder caveman style, then hiked up to my bedroom and placed her on my bed to admire the view.

Her hair was big and wild, framing her head like a curly halo; Nola’s nipples were so erect, they looked like they were going to bust through the fabric of her shirt; and she gazed up at me all wide-eyed and wonderful—just like I imagined she would. I shook my head and wondered how a fuckup like me, ended up with such an amazing girl. I wouldn’t be able to explain if I tried, so I just stared at her in awe.

“What? What’s wrong?” Nola asked.

“Nothing at all, baby. You look…” I searched for the right words, something that could explain how lucky I felt in that moment to be with a girl like Nola, but I couldn’t quite put it into words. “You look
fucking gorgeous.
”

Her cheeks flushed pink and she bit her bottom lip, driving me even more insane.

“Don’t. Do. That. ” I growled. “Unless you don’t ever want to leave this bed again.”

Nola eyed me, and I stared back, hungry and mesmerized. Our little trance was broken when she started unbuttoning her blouse.

“Stop,” I said, my voice booming with excitement.

She looked at me, startled and perplexed. “Why?”

“Don’t you dare undo another button.”

“But…I thought we were going to…”

I walked to the foot of the bed, took off her sandals, and rubbed Nola’s feet. “We are, but…” I moved up the bed and straddled her legs. “That’s my job,” I said, toying with her blouse.

Nola bit her lip again, and I couldn’t help myself anymore. I grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her to me, sliding my tongue into her mouth. While I consumed her lips I moved my hands to her blouse, undoing the delicate clasps before slipping it down her arms and exposing Nola’s lacy red bra.

“Wow…this is sexy as hell, baby,” I whispered into her ear, fingering the fabric.

“Thanks,” she breathed into my neck, causing my dick to expand again.

I slid one strap over her shoulder and kissed her golden skin, then repeated the same motion on the other side. I unclasped Nola’s bra and tossed it to the floor, exposing her perfectly round breasts.

“Damn.” I bit my fist, before taking one of her nipples in my mouth and running my tongue over her stiff flesh.

Nola arched her back as another moan tumbled from her lips. “Ohmygod…” she gasped, “Scout, it feels…ohmygod…”

I blew on her areolas, then placed a warm kiss between Nola’s breasts before removing her pants and working my way down to the juncture of her thighs. I glanced up from between her legs and saw her resting on her elbows gawking at me while I planted my lips on her belly. When I ran a finger along her damp slit, Nola snapped her legs shut.

“Relax, baby. I won’t hurt you.” I gently nudged her legs apart again, but as soon as I touched the slick flesh between her thighs she clamped her legs together again. “Nola, I promise it’ll be fine, okay?”

“Okay…” she said, before laying back and training her eyes on the ceiling.

I waited for Nola to feel comfortable before I pushed her legs further apart and kissed her pussy, using my tongue to graze her skin. Nola’s head snapped up the second my mouth touched her warm flesh, and she looked like she’d suddenly been jolted awake.

“Wow,” Nola breathed. “What in the….wow…wow…ohmygod…” she said again and again as I nibbled and sucked and flicked my tongue, getting Nola even wetter than she already was. She writhed above me, arching her back, grabbing the sheets, and trying to inch away from my mouth but I wouldn’t let her go. I wanted to taste her when she came.

I’d slept with
a lot
of women before, but I rarely cared if they enjoyed it or not. Sure, they’d pant and coo and try to act like we were in a fucking porno, but as long as I got off, I couldn’t care less if she came too. But with Nola, things had to be different. I
had
to put her first and make sure she was satisfied before I even thought about myself. Of course, this was easier said than done. I was so fucking hard my dick could have probably knocked a hole in a brick wall, but I focused on getting Nola to her peak.

I slid a hand under her ass as my tongue dove deeper into her slickness. Nola started to tremble, so I licked a finger and slipped it inside her. She gasped at the sudden change in force and arched off the bed. I slowly worked my finger around her damp walls for a minute before inserting another finger. I wanted to look into her eyes, so I moved up to Nola’s side while I continued fingering her.

She looked
amazing
. Every so often Nola would look at me and my heart would double in size, then she’d shut her eyes and the cutest little grimace would cross her face as she was swept up in a new wave of pleasure. I smashed my lips against her and used my thumb to massage her clit, causing Nola to yell against my mouth.