Safe Bet (The Rules #4)

  The real stuff.

  When I could barely keep my eyes open I realized I needed to get some sleep. Fable had offered me to stay in one of the other guest rooms when we first got back, though she winked at me when she said it. I think she knew I planned on sleeping with Sydney tonight, and that was her way of giving me permission.

  Not that anything’s going to happen tonight. I’m too damn tired. All I really want to do is sleep.

  I sneak into her room just like I told her I would, closing the door softly behind me. I shed my clothes and shoes until I’m in just my underwear, setting my phone on the bedside table just before I pull the covers back and slip into bed with Sydney.

  She stirs in her sleep, but otherwise, no response.

  Pulling the covers over me, I scoot closer to her, drawn in by her warmth. She’s downright hot and so soft. Plus, I don’t think she’s wearing much, which is a bonus. I slip my arm around her waist and snuggle her close, spooning her from behind. She has on a tank top and a pair of panties. That’s it.

  All thoughts of sleep fly right out the window, my exhaustion gone. Maybe we can mess around for a little while. I let my hands roam, one cupping her right breast when I feel her shift, her perfect ass brushing against my front, making me hard. She’s awake.

  “Are you serious right now?” she asks sleepily as she stretches against me.

  I slowly circle her nipple with my thumb, feeling it bead tight beneath the fabric of her tank. “Are you too tired?”

  “Hmm.” Her noncommittal answer gives me hope. I also like the way she’s squirming in my arms. She’s rousing all my essential parts with every shift of her sexy body. “Are you staying the night with me?” she asks.

  “If you’re okay with it.”

  “I’m more than okay with it.” A sigh escapes her when I push her hair away from her neck and kiss her nape. “This is a nice way to be woken up.”

  “I can do more.” I slip my hand beneath her shirt so I can caress her, my mouth never leaving her neck. “I can do lots more if you want me to,” I murmur against her skin.

  “I like it when you touch me.”

  Without hesitation I slide my other hand down her stomach, teasing the waistband of her underwear before I slip in the front of her panties, seeking her out. She’s wet and hot and I sink my fingers in between her legs, pleased when she spreads her thighs wider to give me easier access. “So wet,” I whisper.

  “Oh, God,” she chokes out when I start to stroke her silky flesh. A shuddery breath escapes her and she reaches up, winding her arms around the back of my neck, one hand sinking into my hair. The position thrusts her chest out and I tug on her tank top, lifting it up so it curls just above her breasts, exposing her completely. I pluck her nipple and stroke her pussy, my erect cock nudging her ass as I try my best to get her off as fast as possible.

  She whispers my name and I increase my pace. I’m eager to make her come so I can get inside her.

  “You have condoms?” I ask, my breath ragged.

  Sydney shakes her head frantically. “No,” she practically wails.

  “Pretty sure I have one in my wallet.” I kiss her neck again, just before I sink my teeth into her flesh as I strum her clit. She thrusts her hips up, seeking my touch, and her entire body goes tight as she strains toward her orgasm.

  She’s so damn close. I can already tell, can already read the signs. I start to whisper in her ear, something filthy, a little something to help her let go and then she’s a shuddering mess in my arms, my name falling from her lips, her body quivering as her orgasm sweeps over her completely.

  I climb out of bed while she recovers and dig the single condom out of my wallet. Then I’m tearing off my underwear, tearing into the condom wrapper and suiting up before I slip back into Sydney’s bed. I don’t even hesitate. She’s sprawled across the bed as if she was waiting for me and I sink into her welcoming body, my mouth finding hers so I can kiss her into oblivion as I start to move.

  The bed creaks with my every thrust. I try to slow down, try to remain quiet, but it’s no use. I want her too much. I need her too much. I move faster, her legs wrapping around my hips as she clings to me, our mouths fused together. I can’t get enough of her. I wish I could say that out loud, but it’s too fast. Too fast. Everything’s happening way too fast.

  And I don’t ever want it to stop.

  The phone starts ringing way too early in the morning, before the sun has even risen. At first, I think it’s my phone and I blindly reach toward my bedside table to answer it.

  But I realize quick just by the texture of the case that it’s not my phone. It’s Wade’s. And the name flashing across the screen says “Mom”.

  “Wade.” I nudge his shoulder and he grunts but otherwise doesn’t respond. I poke him again, harder this time, saying his name louder too, and he rolls over, an irritable look on his face as he glares at me.

  “What?”

  What a grump. I hold the phone out to him. “Your mom is calling.”

  “Shit,” he mutters as he takes the phone, sitting up so he can answer the call. “Hey. You okay?”

  He remains quiet and I can hear a panicked female voice on the other end, talking quickly. I clutch the comforter close to my chest, uncomfortable at the thought that Wade is on the phone with his mom while naked in bed with me. After we just had sex a few hours ago. It’s kind of weird. But I tell myself to be a grown up and get over it.

  “So you’re at the hospital? Jesus, Mom, are you okay?”

  My heart drops when I hear his words and I sit up, wanting to touch him but unsure if he wants my comfort. What happened to his mother? Is she all right?

  I can hear her talk once again, and she’s slower now, not so frantic. I listen to her before I start speaking again, trying my best to reassure her. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay? Yeah. Just—stay there. Don’t let them release you. They wouldn’t do that yet, would they?”

  He pauses, letting her talk before he resumes. “They think you broke your hip, Mom. No, they better not release you, or there will be hell to pay. Just sit tight. I’ll be there soon, all right? Bye. Love you.” He ends the call then practically leaps out of bed.

  “What happened to your mom?” I ask as I sit up, watching as he goes in search of his clothes.

  “She got into a car accident. She had the early shift at work and was driving there when some jackass plowed through a stoplight and T-boned her car.” He slips on his jeans without his underwear, and even in his moment of panic and fear, I can’t help but think he’s totally sexy.

  Which means I have issues, right? Right.

  “Is she okay?”

  “She’s talking and coherent, so that’s good. They think she might’ve broken her hip. I hope it’s not that serious, but we’ll see.” He slips his shirt on, then looks over at me. “I have to go be with her.”

  “Yes, of course you do.” But how far away is she? “Where is she at?”

  “Still in Chico. I have to go home.” He sits on the edge of the bed, his heavy weight making the mattress groan and sag, and starts to put on his shoes. “I hate leaving right now with Owen and Chelsea still here, but I have to go.”

  “They’ll understand.” I throw the covers back and crawl over to him, slipping my arms around him from behind. “Are you okay?” I whisper close to his ear. He smells so good. Feels good too. So solid and comforting and warm. I wish he didn’t have to leave. I hope his mom is okay.

  “Yeah. It’s just—the timing sucks.” He blows out a harsh breath and leans against me, as if he needs my support. Turning his head, his gaze meets mine. “If she’s as bad as she says she might be, she’s going to need twenty-four hour care for a while.”

  I squeeze him gently, pressing my body full against his. I’m still naked, but I don’t care. I just want to make him feel better. “Maybe it’s not as bad as they all think.”

  “I hope not.” He closes his eyes, leaning his head on my shoulder. “I need to be with
my mom, but I don’t want to leave you.”

  My heart feels like it just tripped over itself. “You have to take care of her. She comes first, and I understand.” I do, I swear. It just—hurts, knowing that he has to leave, and I can’t go with him.

  “I don’t know how long this is going to take.”

  “Of course you don’t.” He lifts his head and I pull away slightly so I can start rubbing his shoulders. “But you need to be there for her.”

  “I have to leave. Right now. The drive is at least four hours.” He hangs his head. “God, that feels good.”

  I rub harder, trying to work out all the knots I can feel in his muscles. “When you come back, I’ll give you a full body massage.”

  Wade glances at me over his shoulder, his expression hopeful, though I can see the exhaustion around his eyes. “Promise?”

  “Promise.” I lean in and kiss him softly on the lips. When I try to pull away though, he follows, kissing me again. And again. Until his tongue is in my mouth and I somehow end up in his lap, his hands gripping my butt, my naked body wound all around him.

  The kiss spirals out of control fast, until I’m basically gyrating on him and his hands are everywhere, his erection straining against his jeans. I know this isn’t the time, but maybe a quickie would be good. One last moment together before he’s gone for days, maybe even weeks.

  God, I’ll miss him. I don’t want him to leave me ever.

  “I don’t have another condom,” he says minutes later, between ragged breaths, and I sag against him, the disappointment washing over me in thick, heavy waves. We can’t do anything. We shouldn’t do anything. He needs to leave. Now. “Fuck.”

  Frustration vibrates off his big body and I crawl off his lap, diving back under the covers and pulling them up to my chin. My entire body is tingling, primed and ready for action, and I watch as Wade rises to his feet, running a hand through his messy hair before he turns to look at me.

  “Text me when you get there, okay?”

  “I will.” He nods, his expression pained, his gaze haunted. “You won’t forget me when I’m gone?”

  Like that’s even possible. “Never.” I pause, the question hanging on the tip of my tongue. Screw it. I’m asking him. “We’ll still be good when you come back though, right?”

  “What do you mean?” He frowns.

  “This. What we have. When you come back from taking care of your mom? Or will we miss the expiration date?”

  I wait nervously for his answer. We have that one-week deadline Fable and Drew set for us. Is Wade still following it too?

  “Forget the expiration date,” he says.

  “Really?” I sound hopeful—maybe even desperate.

  “Yeah. We don’t have an expiration date.” He comes to me, bending down to give me a fierce kiss on the lips. “I’ll be back soon. Okay?”

  “Okay.” I nod, pressing my lips together.

  “I mean it.”

  I nod again, because I’m too scared to talk. Afraid I might burst into tears instead.

  “This is more than a fake one week relationship. You understand that, right, Sydney?” His voice is stern, as is his expression. He means business.

  “I do. It’s the same for me.”

  “Good.” He kisses me again.

  And then he’s gone.

  That’s when I let go and cry.

  It actually takes me five hours to get back to my hometown. Traffic was shit—stop and go—all the way out of the Bay Area, even up to Sacramento, but once I hit Interstate 5 and then Highway 99, it was all clear. I let my lead foot take over and went over the speed limit all the way, trying my damnedest to make up for all that lost time.

  I can’t stop worrying about my mom, all alone at the hospital and waiting for me to come be with her. It tears me up, imagining my mom injured and unable to take care of herself. She’s the strongest woman I know, next to Fable. My mom was always there for me, no matter what.

  The one time she needs me the most, and I’m not there for her.

  To distract myself, I focus on Sydney. How she’s imprinted herself all over me. Hell, after that crazed kiss earlier before I left her room, I can smell her. I still smell her, her scent clinging to my clothes, lingering in my head.

  If I didn’t know any better, I’d guess I was halfway in love with her.

  She’s the one thing that keeps me focused, keeps me pressing on. I don’t know why. I should be focused solely on my mother, but I’m not. And that’s okay. Someone else has come into my life now. Someone who is becoming important to me at an accelerated pace.

  For once in my life, I’m not inclined to stop it.

  By the time I roll into the hospital parking lot, I’m exhausted, hungry and grumpy as shit. I need to find my mom and make sure she’s okay, then grab something to eat.

  Luckily enough the nurses are patient with me and helpful, and I find my mom’s room number with relative ease. I hesitantly knock and then walk into her room, mentally preparing myself for what she might look like. She just went through a car accident. I’m going to guess she’s pretty banged up.

  And she is.

  She’s propped up in bed sleeping, her head wrapped in gauze, with two black eyes and a nasty scrape on her cheek. She’s completely still, almost too still, and seeing her like this freaks me out, though I try to remain composed. But I guess she has a mom’s sixth sense or whatever because her eyes pop open within moments of me arriving, and she slowly turns her head to see me standing there, unsure and feeling scared like I’m a little kid.

  “Wade.” She tries to smile, but it looks like it hurts her to move, so she quits. “Come here.”

  I approach her bed slowly, afraid to touch her, afraid to even look at her. “You okay, Mom?”

  “Just sore. Very sore.” She nods, winces and closes her eyes. “I feel like I’ve been run over.”

  “You sort of were.” I touch her arm gently, just to make contact. She’s warm and smells the same, some perfume she’s been wearing since forever. “Did the guy who did this to you get hurt?”

  “Yes. He’s in the hospital too. I hear his injuries are more severe than mine.” She shakes her head. “Such a terrible accident.”

  “Was he drunk?” I’m angry just thinking about it. He better hope he wasn’t drunk. I might want to go kick his ass.

  “I don’t know. I’m sure we’ll find out more details later.” She remains still, her eyes remaining closed, the grimace on her face. “I have good news. The doctor says I didn’t break my hip. I just dislocated it.”

  Relief floods me. “That’s good, right?”

  “It is good, but I fractured my ankle. So that’s bad. I’m going to have to wear a cast for the next six to eight weeks.”

  “Which ankle?” Not that it matters, I guess, I’m just curious.

  “The left one.”

  “Still better than a broken hip,” I point out.

  “True. But I wish I’d never been in this accident at all.” She cracks open her eyes and her smile is strained. “But I can’t change it, so I’ll just have to deal.”

  “What about your head?”

  “What about it?”

  “It’s wrapped up like a mummy’s.”

  “Oh. I banged it up. I’m all banged up. I hear I have a couple of shiners.”

  “That you do.” I don’t want to tell her how bad she looks, so I keep my opinion to myself. “How long are they keeping you in the hospital?”

  “Just overnight for observation. They want to make sure I have no internal bleeding.” Hearing those words strikes fear in my heart, and she must see it written all over my face. “They don’t think that’ll be a problem, but it’s a precautionary thing. I’ll be here for twenty-four hours, then they’ll release me.”

  “I came as soon as I could. Got caught in the morning commute, so the traffic was hell,” I tell her as I find a chair and pull it up to the side of her bed.

  “You’re so far now, though I guess I shouldn?
??t complain. At least you’re not in Denver.” She’s referring to Owen, which reminds me…

  “I saw him. Owen. And Chelsea. They came to visit Fable and Drew for the next few days. They got here yesterday.”

  “Aw, is he still there?”

  “Yeah. But I needed to leave and come see you.” I take her hand and hold it loosely, running my index finger over hers. The same familiar ring is on her middle finger, one that my grandma gave her when she turned sixteen. There’s another on her ring finger, though, one I don’t recognize. It’s new and beautiful, with a red center stone surrounded by tiny diamonds.

  It looks expensive. Who could that be from?

  I won’t question her now. Instead, I study her hand, which is slender and dry, a little more wrinkled than the last time I really paid attention to her. I’ve missed her. Been so wrapped up in my own world that I’ve neglected her, even those last two years at college when we were living in the same damn town, I didn’t talk to her much. Too caught up in my own life to worry about hers, I guess.

  Well, that changes now.

  “I’m so glad you came to see me, Wade. It does my heart good to look at your pretty face. I’ve missed it.” I roll my eyes at her mentioning my pretty face. She’s as bad as my friends. “But you don’t have to stay the night or anything. I’ll be fine.”

  Wait. “What? Why do you say that?” My gaze meets hers, confusion slipping through me.

  “I’ve been keeping secrets from you, son, and I’m sorry.” She sighs then makes a face, like it hurt her. “I’ve been seeing someone.”

  “You have?”

  She nods. “Yes. He’s a real nice man. He works at the bank I go to. When I went in there over a fraud case and had to get a new debit card, he was the one who helped me. We started flirting and before I left with my new card, he asked me out for coffee.”

  I’m in shock. “When did this happen?” I vaguely remember her telling me about a debit card issue, but that feels like a long time ago.