Truly wanted, p.16
Truly Wanted, page 16
Brooke shook her head and tried to arrange her thoughts. “Mads, I want you to know this doesn’t change anything I had with Jacob.”
Maddie rolled her eyes. “Why would it? You loved my brother as if the sun rose and set with him. I never questioned that. God knows why, but that bonehead was your world. Having feelings for Sam doesn’t change how you felt about him, Brooke.”
Although Brooke tried to tell herself the same thing daily, it sounded different coming from Maddie. More believable, understandable. She nodded and let a small smile play on her lips.
“I’m terrified. I have no idea what to do tonight.”
Maddie’s eyebrows rose. “You…don’t know what to do?”
Brooke took a minute to process what Maddie implied and slapped her lightly on the arm. “Not like that, you perv. I asked Sam out on a date and now I have no idea what to actually do for the date.”
“Of course you do, Brooke,” Maddie laughed. “You’ve known Sam forever. You know everything she likes. Just stop thinking about this as if it must be some big grand gesture. What would make Sam smile?”
Brooke considered that for a minute. She remembered Sam in bed earlier that morning, smiling at her over Finley’s head, how gorgeous she looked while telling Finley his favourite story.
Then it hit her.
“Maddie, you are a genius.”
Maddie shrugged as if this was no new information to her. “Glad to be of service.”
Brooke hesitated. “I should probably talk to Finley about all of this first, though.”
Maddie shook her head. “Go. Enjoy your date. It’s late, and he needs to get to bed soon anyway. You can talk to him tomorrow. Or avoid it forever like you were probably planning.”
Brooke laughed and went to say goodbye to Finley. After promises about going to the library the next day, she texted Sam to say she left. She made a couple stops along the way to get what she needed and turned up at Sam’s about thirty minutes later.
She knocked on the door, and her heart started to beat wildly. Was this a terrible idea? Was Sam going to expect something more romantic? The widened eyes and grin on Sam’s face when she answered the door told Brooke that no, it was perfect. “Fancy staying in?”
Sam laughed and grabbed the pizza from her hand as Brooke followed her in and set the beer on the table. Sam’s smile was all the reassurance she needed that she remembered the throwback to when their friendship truly began. Pizza and beer were enough to keep Sam in her life back then, and hopefully it would work its magic tonight.
Chapter Twenty
After they polished off the pizza and one beer each while they talked and laughed, Sam’s head and heart were lighter than she remembered being anytime recently. Everything was so normal, except infinitely different. Each touch lingered a little longer, the conversation held a hint more flirtation and each flicker of eyes to lips led to quick, stolen kisses and fluttering hearts. Sam was determined to enjoy this date and not simply hop into bed just because they stayed in.
When she opened the door to Brooke with the pizza and beer, it was surreal. They could’ve been back in college, everything hesitant and new again. That night was still one of the best she remembered in her life. It was the start of a new chapter, a better chapter, where she wasn’t alone anymore. Though they had begun this next chapter of their story weeks ago with that night in bed together, this first date signified another beginning.
She wanted to talk and laugh and just be together. She also knew they had a lot to discuss. When her lips met Brooke’s again during a gap in conversation, she almost gave up on the conversation altogether. She ran her hands over Brooke’s clothed body. As she continued her exploration down past the curves that made her mouth water, she ached to rip the barriers off and feel Brooke’s skin beneath her.
As she kissed her way down Brooke’s neck, the throbbing between her legs intensified. Screw talking, right? Unfortunately, Brooke wasn’t so easily distracted.
“What are we doing?”
Sam pulled back and looked Brooke in the eyes as she regained control of her breathing and grinned. “If you have to ask, I’m definitely not doing it right.”
Brooke rolled her eyes. “I’m serious, Sammy. We clearly have amazing chemistry. The sex is…mind-blowing seems too tame. You’re my best friend, and I love spending time with you. My son adores you. But what are we?”
Sam didn’t know what to say. She knew what she wanted this to be. But was that a possibility?
“Honestly…I don’t know. I agree with everything you said. But what happens if this doesn’t work? How do we stop this from snowballing?”
They were already so close that it would be near impossible not to let this go too fast. Too much too soon might ruin them before they’d even begun.
“I don’t have all the answers,” Brooke began, “but clearly, ignoring this didn’t work. Pretending it was nothing didn’t work. Going back to just friends without even trying—I don’t see how that’s going to work. I look at you, and I imagine kissing you. I imagine my hands on your body, my lips on yours, you wrapped in my arms. I don’t know how I could stop thinking those things. It’s like I opened a door that I can’t close again. At least until I see what’s on the other side.”
Sam nodded and warmth spread throughout her body. Even though she knew from Brooke’s lips on hers that she wanted Sam, it was good to hear that she wanted more. Plus, Brooke was right. They owed it to themselves to see if this worked.
They didn’t have much of a choice anyway. The attraction was building from the moment their lips met that first night, and they could deny it all they wanted, but ignoring it might very well be the thing that ruined their friendship.
“So…we try this?” Sam pointed back and forth between them.
Brooke nodded. “We try this. One day at a time. That’s the only way we can stop it from becoming too much. Day by day, okay?”
Sam agreed, but had one question. An important one.
“What do we tell Fin? Do we just say nothing until we’re sure of what this is?”
She didn’t know if he’d even know what them dating meant, but after his stepmom comments, she didn’t want to get his hopes up too soon.
Brooke gulped. Her gaze darted around before settling on Sam as she spoke. “Well, he kind of already knows something. And maybe, so does Maddie.”
Sam’s mouth fell open in shock. “What? What the hell, Brooke?”
She said it more in disbelief than anger.
“Don’t blame me, Romeo. My crafty son somehow caught you laying one on me before you left for your date with him. He also heard us talk about tonight. He decided the best time to relay this information would be to Maddie when she arrived to babysit tonight.”
Sam burst out laughing. Typical Finley. He had a habit of repeating things at the most inopportune times. Like when Brooke’s mom visited, and he kept referring to her as Elsa. Which he happily explained to her was because Sam called her the Ice Queen, due to her inability to show affection to Brooke. He didn’t say that last part, but by the look on Brooke’s mom’s face, she got it. That had gone over super well.
“So, what did you say to him?”
“Nothing, I ran out to our date. We’ll need to talk to him tomorrow once we figure out what to say.”
Sam’s stomach dropped. “We?”
“Yes, we. You got us into this with your inability to keep your lips to yourself, so you’re not getting away with it that easily.”
“Oh, so you want me to keep my lips to myself?” Sam moved back to the other end of the couch. “Got it. I’ll keep them all the way over here.”
Sam followed Brooke’s gaze as it moved towards her mouth. She was biting her lower lip in anticipation, fully aware of what the action would stir in Brooke. Her anticipation grew as Brooke’s eyes got dark with lust. “Maybe just when the kid is around.”
Brooke’s eyes lingered on her lips as she moved closer.
“So where exactly do you want my lips right now?”
Sam could see the effect her words had on Brooke, and she loved it.
“Everywhere.”
Brooke was on top of her, lips pressed against hers, and her body covered Sam’s on the couch. The throbbing returned as Brooke’s thigh made its way between her legs and grinded against her. She was so turned on already, and their clothes were still mostly intact.
“Brooke, bed, now.”
Sam missed the weight of Brooke on her but was soon distracted by Brooke’s hand in hers, pulling her up.
They almost made it to the bedroom before she had Brooke up against a wall, their lips crushed together once more. Sam couldn’t wait; she needed Brooke right now. She unbuttoned Brooke’s pants and helped her get out of them, underwear included, as she kissed anywhere she reached along the way.
She dropped to her knees as Brooke spread her legs with a whimper. She held Brooke back against the wall and licked a trail, tasting how wet Brooke was already. Brooke gasped and tangled her hand in Sam’s hair, encouraging her further. Sam went to work bringing pleasure to Brooke. She led her to the peak and then changed positions, not quite letting Brooke reach her sought after destination. Brooke’s moans turned to whimpers as she began to beg.
“Sam, please…I need you.”
Sam smiled against her, loving the power she had in this position. Using one hand to hold Brooke in place, she moved the other and pushed two fingers inside Brooke while sucking on the spot that would be Brooke’s undoing.
It only took a minute before Brooke’s legs shook with the orgasm that rippled through her body. Sam stayed in place until the last waves subsided and then pulled back. Brooke sighed, slumping down as a smile flitted across her face.
Sam leaned in and kissed her softly. “You said everywhere.”
* * *
Brooke lay in Sam’s bed, recovering from her third orgasm of the night. It must have been at least two in the morning, and she was sleepy. Sam’s arms were around her, Brooke’s head on her shoulder as Sam played with her hair absentmindedly.
“I wish we didn’t have work tomorrow. We could just stay in bed and do this all day long.”
“Mmm,” Brooke muttered sleepily. Then she remembered she had something to ask Sam. “Do you have plans tomorrow evening?”
Sam raised an eyebrow. “That good, huh?”
Brooke huffed. “Get your mind out of the gutter. Finley’s pre-school open night is tomorrow evening, and he wanted me to ask you to come.”
Sam’s eyebrow dropped as a genuine smile lit up her face. “Of course. I wouldn’t miss it.”
Brooke’s heart skipped a beat, and an overwhelming rush of feelings encompassed her. How did she get so lucky? Not only did Sam rock her world in so many ways, she was genuinely excited to go to a school event for Brooke’s kid. Something that most people would try to get out of made Sam smile like she’d just been offered a weeklong cruise in the Bahamas. Brooke shook her head.
Sam looked at her with a curious smile on her face. “What are you shaking your head at there, B?”
Their agreement of day by day meant not spilling her guts right here in this bed, on what was really only their first official date. If Brooke were to say what she was actually thinking, it would definitely constitute going too quick.
“Your adorableness, nerd. Of course you’d be excited to go to school.”
Sam grinned. “Do you think they’ll let me play with the blocks?”
Brooke expected nothing less than to see Sam do exactly that. Sam was always the first to get on the floor and play with Finley. Brooke was convinced most of the toys Sam bought him were really for herself. She loved the excuse to be a big kid, recapturing some of the youth she deserved. Brooke loved her for it.
Her heart squeezed at the idea. She loved Sam. She was her best friend, they’d been saying “I love you” to each other for years. But this was different, right? She couldn’t say it here, lying in bed, naked. It wasn’t the same context. Even with a heart so full that it might burst. She couldn’t say it, but her body would.
Her sleepiness evaporated as she looked at Sam, the change in the mood written all over her face. She moved on top of Sam and kissed her slowly, tenderly. She pulled back and looked />into Sam’s eyes. The intensity almost overwhelmed her. Sam gulped as she softly whispered, the question in her voice evident, “Brooke?”
Brooke pressed her forehead against Sam’s, and then she moved her tongue inside her mouth. The kiss started slowly and lingered as she enjoyed every second of it. Felt every part of it. Sam’s hands wrapped around her and held her close, not pushing for more. She was happy to just be in this moment, kissing her like it was the most important thing in the world.
Brooke ran her hand down Sam’s body, not breaking the kiss even for a moment. She moved to the side a little to allow her fingers a clear path to their destination. She started slowly, tenderly caressed every inch of heat between Sam’s legs. Sam groaned against her mouth, their kisses broken with sighs as Brooke picked up the pace and moved her fingers inside Sam. As Sam’s kisses grew frantic, Brooke pulled back and slowed her movements again.
“Kiss me,” Sam requested.
Brooke shook her head. “I want to watch you come undone for me, baby.”
Sam looked like she was ready to, just from Brooke’s words.
As Brooke moved faster again, Sam’s head arched back, and her eyes closed. Brooke stopped, her free hand moved to Sam’s face and guided her head back up as her eyes flickered open.
“Eyes on me. I want to see everything I do to you. I want to see you want me.”
Sam bit her lip and complied.
“I want you every minute of every day. So damn much.”
Brooke moved back and rocked against Sam’s thigh, looking into her eyes. Sam’s eyes were wet with unshed tears, her emotions on display as Brooke led them both to the breaking point. She moved her hips faster on Sam’s thigh as she matched the pace with her fingers, landing her palm at an angle that made Sam shudder with each thrust.
Brooke leaned down toward Sam, who met her halfway in a heart-stopping kiss as they both tumbled over the edge at the same time, clinging to each other. Sweating, panting and completely blissed out, they lay wrapped in each other’s arms.
It wasn’t long before Sam’s soft snores greeted Brooke. She moved to the side and pulled Sam in close against her before kissing her forehead. She held her tight. Her heart couldn’t possibly feel more than it did right in this moment. She stared at her person, the one who had been a constant in an ever-moving world and gave herself a moment to imagine that this was everything she would ever need.
She sighed, then allowed herself to say out loud what her body said for her. What Sam’s eyes had said as Brooke stared into their depths. What was both the best and most terrifying thought she had had in a very long time.
“I love you.”
Chapter Twenty-one
The next morning, Sam stirred to the sound of a tornado in her room. Except, it was actually a Brooke-shaped hurricane rushing around.
“What time is it?” Sam grumbled.
“Six a.m.” Brooke didn’t pause from whatever she was doing.
“It’s barely morning. What in the world are you up to?” Sam’s eyes flickered open fully and focused on Brooke in the middle of getting dressed.
“I was trying to find my clothes that seem to have somehow gone everywhere. I’m robbing your socks.”
Sam had difficulty keeping up. They stayed up until all hours devouring each other; it was past two in the morning the last time she checked the clock. Her eyes were gritty, and her mouth was dry.
“There’s water on the locker,” Brooke answered her unspoken question. Gratefully, Sam gulped down the fresh water that Brooke must have put there when she got up.
Sam was lucky that her job matched her tendency to avoid early mornings. She usually slept in a bit and started later. Her hours were pretty flexible when working for herself unless she had meetings or was under pressure for a client. The earliest she ever got up was the weekends she spent at Brooke’s when the bundle of energy that was Finley demanded it.
She let her eyes land on Brooke as Brooke finished getting ready. She looked tired but happy. Her hair was a mess, but it still worked. Brooke always looked amazing.
“You sure you wanna rush out of here?”
Sam put on her best flirty voice and pulled the blankets back just a little, a hint of her bare thigh poking out from underneath. Brooke’s eyes locked onto the creamy skin, and her tongue involuntarily licked her lips. Her eyes narrowed as she readjusted her gaze onto Sam’s.
“Stop teasing. I need to get home before Fin wakes.”
Sam pouted and traced her fingers over her own thigh as Brooke’s eyes followed their path. “He won’t be up till at least seven. Your place is only fifteen minutes from here…” She allowed her voice to trail off as her hand moved further under the blanket.
Brooke’s eyes fluttered closed and she groaned. “Sam.”
With that word, and the hunger in Brooke’s eyes as they opened, Sam knew she would get her way. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t have fun teasing a little more.
Her fingers slipped between her legs and she let out a soft sigh. “It’s okay, you can go, I can take care of this…”
Brooke growled and yanked back the blanket. Her hands took over as her teeth found Sam’s lip and suddenly, Sam was wide awake.
A couple of hours later, despite the lack of sleep, Sam had a spring in her step when she left for work. She hadn’t slept again after the most perfect way to wake up. She took the time after Brooke left to have a long shower, get ready, and read a little of her newest book. She was earlier than usual to work, but she wanted to finish early today to be on time for Finley’s preschool event.
