Tattooed Dots (The Halo Series Book 1) Page 11

Nicole wasn’t against begging when she really wanted something. If I hated Easton and didn’t want to have anything to do with him, I would have stood my ground, but he made me feel things I hadn’t felt in a long time. He made me feel wanted. He made me feel desired.

  He made me happy.

  I watched Easton’s chest rise up and down as soft snores escaped his nose. He was so fucking hot and the more I thought about his man hands, the more I envisioned stripping off his T-shirt and boxers that I was wearing and crawling into his bed, straddling him while I placed kisses down his silky smooth chest. I thought about his cock growing hard against my ass as he started to wake up.

  The way he would look down at my lips before capturing them with his, causing me to moan as he cupped one of my breasts in his hand and lightly pinched my nipple before kneading the heavy globes …

  The way I would break our lips apart and kiss his chest again, not stopping until I had his boxers off and his dick in my mouth … The way his free hand would reach down between my legs, running a finger between my folds and discovering how wet he made me as I licked the tip of his cock, tasting his warm, salty pre-cum …

  The way his fingers would massage my clit, making me moan again, on the verge of coming from just him touching me …

  “Mornin’, Superwoman,” Easton said, bringing my eyes back up to his. He was smiling that damn smile that made me want him even more.

  I felt my face flush from being caught in my daydream. “Morning. I, uh … I need to take a shower,” I said, jumping out of bed and bolting into the bathroom.

  Way to not be obvious!

  I quickly showered—even though I had showered the night before. Every night I slept in Easton’s Halo T-shirt and solid black boxers that he let me borrow the first night. The second night, I had done it without thinking, but now I did it to see him smile as I exited the bathroom each night. I pretended I didn’t see the way he looked at me in them. Deep down, it was my way of telling him that if he just gave me time to end things with Jared, I would act on the feelings we were trying to suppress.

  After I’d showered, Easton slipped in to take one. Mexico was hot and I couldn’t imagine how hot it got during the summer. It was close to May and during the day, I was drenched with sweat unless we were in the pool or indoors, so I dressed in a purple cotton dress and black flip-flops.

  We’d learned that it took some time for the ship to dock and to unload everyone on board, but the ship couldn’t dock in Cabo, so we had to take boats to shore. There were only two boats chauffeuring people from the boat to land and back, and I didn’t know how long it would take us to get off the ship and to the restaurant where Bailee was meeting us. The ship was due to arrive in Cabo at seven a.m., so I’d agreed to meet her at the restaurant at nine-thirty. I was excited to see my sister. It had been almost five months since I had and I missed her every day. I couldn’t wait for her to graduate and move back home.

  After waiting at least thirty minutes for our turn, we finally sat on the twelve-passenger boat, the warm morning air blowing across my face. Nicole and Avery were sitting to my left in the seat next to me, holding hands, Easton on my right. All I wanted to do was slip my hand in his. I hadn’t had someone pay so much attention to me in a long time.

  I wanted a normal relationship.

  Was my relationship with Jared normal? Could Easton be different? Jared paid attention to me in the beginning. Maybe this was just how all long relationships were. Plus, was I ready to be a stepmom? Hell, Easton probably didn’t even want a relationship with me. Maybe I just needed to have a good fuck.

  Jared and I always had the same routine when we had sex. Lights out, he goes down on me (and doesn’t do it that well), then enters me until he’s satisfied. I’d never been satisfied, never had an orgasm during sex, and only finished myself off when he jumped in the shower to clean up after.

  I knew deep down that Easton would rock my world. He would show me what it was like to lose myself in sex; to experience the fireworks I needed to clear the smoky haze from my eyes. To fuck me until I couldn’t talk, couldn’t move, couldn’t walk for days.

  “Excited?” Easton asked, nudging my shoulder with his and bringing me out of my daydream once again.

  “Yep,” I said, smiling at him.

  He smiled back, causing my stomach to clench like it did every time he smiled at me. He rested his arm around my shoulders; not in a romantic sense, but in a buddy hug. I didn’t care. I wanted him touching me.

  Things were going to suck when I got home. I needed to break up with Jared, but knew that it would be awkward for a few days since he’d have nowhere to go. He had his mom’s house, but he wasn’t the type to bring drama to her. I knew I was going to rip his heart out, but I needed to be happy again. I needed to find myself and take care of me for once.

  We arrived at the dock a little before nine-thirty. I saw Bailee standing with a friend. Even though Bailee and I had different fathers, we looked a lot alike and you could tell that we were sisters. The only difference was her eyes were rounder and a different shade of green. Our noses were slightly different too. I had our mother’s nose and I assumed she had her father’s.

  As we got closer, Bailee saw us and we ran to each other, hugging for dear life. “I’ve missed you so much!” I said, squeezing her tight against me.

  “Me too, but please don’t talk so loud.”

  I pulled back, looking into my baby sister’s eyes. “You’re hungover?”

  “Of course I am. I’m twenty-two, a senior in college, and I’m on spring break in Mexico.”

  It boggled my mind that my baby sister wasn’t a baby anymore. We had gone to Vegas for her twenty-first birthday, but I still wasn’t used to her drinking … at least with me knowing.

  “Of course you are.” I laughed.

  Nicole nudged me out of the way. “My turn.” They hugged and then Nicole pulled away, grabbing Avery’s hand. “Bai, this is my boyfriend, Avery.”

  I hadn’t realized that they had a title and it was that serious. I thought that they were just fucking and enjoying themselves. We lived at least four and a half hours away from each other and I’d never heard of a long distance relationship working out. If she was happy, then so was I. She hadn’t been in a real relationship in a long time and if anyone was determined to make a long distance relationship work, it was Nicole.

  Avery and Bailee shook hands. Bailee introduced her friend Chauna to us. I motioned for Easton to step closer so I could introduce him. He and Bailee shook hands as well and she looked at me with skepticism in her eyes.

  We walked toward the restaurant and Bailee linked her arm with mine “If you don’t claim him, I will,” she whispered in my ear.

  “He’s too old for you,” I said.

  Easton turned around, knowing we were talking about him, and we smiled at each other. I did want to claim him. I wanted to announce to everyone that this hot piece of ass was mine—all mine. But that wasn’t the situation.

  “Age is just a number, big sis.”

  “Fine, he’s mine,” I said, whispering in her ear.

  “Lucy, you’ve got some splainin’ to do.”

  I laughed, remembering how we used to fall asleep every night watching I Love Lucy reruns on Nick at Nite. I didn’t have anything to explain … other than I wanted to jump his bones.

  The hostess sat us on the patio overlooking the water of Cabo. It was breathtaking. The blue water glistened, reflecting the sun and little waves were made as speedboats passed by.

  “So tell me what you’ve been doing for almost a week in Cabo?” I asked my sister.

  “You know … the usual stuff.” She shrugged.

  “Like what?”

  “Drink, tan, shop—the usual.”

  “Meet any boys?” Nicole asked, nudging Avery’s shoulder.

  “Of course,” Bailee and Chauna both said in unison.

  It was only natural for Bailee to meet boys and … well, hook up with them. We’d talked about b
oys a lot growing up, but I still didn’t want to imagine her getting drunk with them, doing body shots or doing the deed. She was still my baby sister.

  “I’ve met a boy, too,” Nicole said, kissing Avery.

  “What about you?” Bailee asked, raising an eyebrow towards Easton as she spoke to me.

  The waitress came, breaking the awkward conversation, to take our order. Bailee knew about Jared, but I also knew that she didn’t care for him. She told me that a man needed to take care of me. I tried explaining that’s what a wife does, but she reminded me every time that I wasn’t his wife.

  The waitress left after everyone ordered and Bailee once again asked me about Easton. “Well, have you met anyone? It’s a singles cruise, right?”

  “Yeah, it is.” I paused. “You can say that I’ve met someone,” I continued, smiling at Easton.

  Fuck me!

  “I see,” Bailee said then quickly changed the subject back to Nicole and Avery.

  I couldn’t look at Easton. I was too embarrassed. We’d spent practically the last eighty hours together, and we’d stolen plenty of touches, glances, and smiles. We were just fighting the inevitable now, trying to keep me an honest woman.

  After we finished breakfast, we took a small cruise boat to Land’s End, snapping pictures of the famous arch made out of rock where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez. After the boat brought us back to shore, the boys excused themselves to venture off and buy Cheyenne a souvenir. We offered to go with them, but I knew they were letting me have girl time with Bailee.

  We found four seats in the corner of a packed bar and ordered a pitcher of margaritas to wash down our breakfast—we were in Mexico after all—before Bailee began giving me the third degree about Easton.

  “Spill!”

  “Can’t we wait until I’ve had a few sips first?”

  “Nope, we don’t have much time and I want to hear everything.”

  “I want to hear, too,” Nicole chimed in.

  “You would know if you haven’t been ditching me to have sex for the past four nights.”

  “Yeah, yeah, we’ll fight about it later,” she said, wiggling her hand to brush me off.

  Over the years, Nicole and I had enjoyed our fair share of fights. Most of them were just misunderstandings when one of us was on the rag … actually, all of them were that. Even though she had ditched me on my birthday cruise, I wasn’t mad at her. Probably because of the man candy I had been fantasizing about since the very first night we talked into the wee hours.

  “He’s hot,” I said as though it was no big deal.

  “Yeah, we know that. I want to know why you’re all googly eyes over him?”

  “What are you talking about? I am not all “googly eyes” over him.”

  “You are too.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Chauna, can’t you tell that my sister has the hots for Easton?”

  “I’m sorry Brooke, but she’s right.”

  The waitress placed our pitcher on the table, and then asked if we needed anything else. When we declined, she left us so that I could continue being interrogated by the Googly Police.

  “You know they’re right. Avery and I see it, too,” Nicole said, pouring a glass of the margarita and then placing it front of me.

  I took a sip. “Well of course I have the hots for him. He’s fucking hot and the sweetest guy I’ve ever met.”

  “I knew it!” Bailee shouted a little too loud.

  “Tell them about the private island and zip-lining.”

  “Private island?” Bailee asked, raising her eyebrows.

  “A private island with like fifty other people, including you and Avery.”

  “I want to hear more,” Bailee said, not letting it go.

  “The four of us—including other people from the cruise—took a small boat to a private island when we ported in Puerto Vallarta. No big deal. We ate lunch, snorkeled and swam with a sea lion named Cassandra.”

  “That’s not what I mean, Brooke,” Nicole said.

  “You don’t even know what you’re talking about. You were too busy dry humping Avery the whole time.”

  “There was more than dry humping if you know what I mean.” She winked. “But tell them how he never left your side to go talk to any other girl. Tell them how he hasn’t done that the whole time we’ve been on the cruise.”

  “He likes you, too!” Bailee said, a little too loud again.

  “No, he doesn’t.” I drained the rest of my glass, fighting off brain freeze. I reached for the pitcher to give myself a refill. I needed it to calm my nerves. No way could a player like Easton like someone with a boyfriend. It was in their nature to go find a piece of ass to fuck—but he hadn’t yet.

  “He totally does. Tell me about zip-lining,” Bailee said.

  I looked at Chauna for help, but she too was engrossed in my imaginary love story. “We went zip-lining in Mazatlán. Does anyone else want some chips?” I asked, trying to get out of my seat. Nicole grabbed my arm, not letting me move.

  “Tell me, Brooke,” my sister said.

  “Fine. We went zip-lining and on the way there, I was practically shitting myself. You know I’m scared of heights. I kept thinking to myself “a string is all that is going to hold you up while you zip through the jungle”. I was panicking.”

  “She was,” Nicole agreed.

  “Fuck you!” Everyone laughed. “Anyway, we get there and I start to chicken out. I’m standing on the platform, looking at the ground a million feet down and this bitch here,” I said, lightly punching Nicole’s arm, “is shouting from the bottom for me to “hurry the fuck up”. I start to turn around to climb down the ladder and Easton grabs my shoulders with both hands, looks me dead in the eye and tells me, “From what you’ve told me these last few days and from what I’ve seen, you’re the strongest woman I know. If you can raise a six-year-old when you’re only thirteen—which is scary as hell—you can’t let a little trip on strong cables hold you back. Now get out there, Superwoman, and fly.”

  I looked at my sister and she was speechless. It looked as though she was on the verge of tears. Growing up was hard on both of us, but we’d survived. I didn’t feel like Superwoman, just a girl that had to grow up too fast and couldn’t just be a kid.

  “Anyway,” I continued, “he grabbed the straps of my helmet, snapped them together and then slapped my ass as I turned. Then—I flew.” I shrugged and took a sip of my drink.

  “Holy shit! I didn’t know he said that. I just saw the ass smacking. What the fuck?” Nicole questioned.

  “If you weren’t ditching me, we could be telling each other about our cruise that we’re supposed to be on together.” I stuck my tongue out at her and she rolled her eyes. She knew I was teasing her only because I was having a good time with Easton and Easton was right. I needed to take that leap. I was changing into a different woman and it was all because of him.

  We’d had to say our goodbyes and I was a little depressed. I missed my sister so much. She was the only family I had left. A few years ago, both of my grandparents in Arizona passed away. My grandmother first and then my grandfather about a year later. It was as if he died of a broken heart.

  I wanted to find a love like that. A love that would last for sixty years.

  Once we were back on the cruise ship, nothing changed from the previous five nights. After dinner, Nicole and Avery left to go bang so Easton and I took in a comedy show. It wasn’t that great, but it was good to spend more time with him. It was like we were on a really long first date. No holding hands, no kissing, and no relieving the pent-up sexual tension.

  Just one more day, one more night and then home free so I can think!

  The last six days had flown by and now Nicole and I were in her room getting ready for the Black Tie Masquerade Ball. It was like the prom where everyone invited their favorite person to be their date. Of course, Nicole was going with Avery and I was going with Easton. I couldn’t wait to see him in a tux
. Every man looked hot dressed up.

  I had picked out a teal, strapless, floor-length, satin evening gown with a bandage waist that wrapped around and then flowed down to the floor. I twirled, causing it to blossom around me like a flower.

  “I feel like I’m eighteen again,” I said as Nicole watched and laughed with me.

  “I know, right?”

  Nicole was dressed in a scarlet semi-strapless, floor-length evening gown. It had a triangle halter that wrapped around her neck. She paired it with gold cuffs and gold ankle strapped stilettos.

  I didn’t wear any jewelry other than diamond princess cut studs. I pulled my hair back, twisting it and pinning it in place. Nicole straightened her hair and then we helped each other tie our masks around our heads, covering the straps with our hair.

  My mask was made out of black plastic with round black sequins around the edge of the face. In the center of the forehead, silver round sequins and crystals came together to make a flower with twelve-inch feathers extending from the top. Nicole’s mask was similar to mine but white with gold and no feather.

  “Ready?” I asked, giving a big sigh. The night was bittersweet. While we had been looking forward to going to the ball, it was the last night we would spend with the guys and I didn’t know what my future would hold with Easton.

  “Yep. Remember, no matter what happens, I will see you here tomorrow at nine in the morning.”

  “Got it,” I said, opening the door.

  The ship was due to arrive in Los Angeles at seven and we were told that each cabin would be called in groups. Our flight back to Boston was leaving at one in the afternoon and Nicole wouldn’t have time to fuck around with Avery.

  I opened the door fully and Easton and Avery were walking towards us. I met Easton’s cornflower eyes and crooked smile and I took a deep breath, calming myself. I was going to miss him.

  The greatest relationships are the ones that you never expect. The ones that test you; the ones that make you a better person and challenge how you thought your life would be.

  Easton showed me that a man could care for a woman. Granted, he had gone through a life changing experience to understand that a woman deserves someone like that. But even if he was unsuccessful once, the right man could change. Easton was showing me that it was okay to let my guard down, to be myself and love with no regrets.