Again

  “Sydney,” he said immediately, staring at her and dropping her hand. “Did something happen last night?”

  She nodded. “Not physically,” she said almost positive that was a lie based on the flashbacks she’d been having all day. “But being out with him last night felt different from all the other times I’d spent with him, and it just forced me to admit what I’d begun to suspect.” She’d spare him the fact that her feelings had been growing for Sydney since day one. “I feel terrible, Sly. I really should’ve said something sooner, but I hadn’t admitted it even to myself until now. I don’t even know for sure how he feels. I just know it isn’t fair to you to continue with this relationship.”

  Nathan and A.J. came around the corner, laughing, each pulling a rolling carry on. The car had arrived, and while Emi still felt a huge knot in her belly, she did feel slightly relieved. There was still the matter of Sydney going away with Scarlet soon. But she’d made up her mind about one other thing. She had no choice now. Either way she risked losing Sydney.

  If he didn’t feel for her what she did for him, she’d already lost him. Hearing him speak of Scarlet as if she’d suddenly grown on him scared the hell out of Emi. That he was actually going away with her for days and even taking time off from his precious work had her drowning in jealousy. She knew now, no matter how much she cared for her dear friend, the days of her feeling just friendship for him were over.

  Once her brothers joined them, Sly didn’t say much more, other than he’d call her, before getting in the car. She waved at A.J. and a somber-looking Sly as they drove away. The emotion she was feeling—knowing in a few minutes Sydney would be gone on a romantic getaway with his beautiful actress girlfriend—suffocated her.

  “Emi,” she and Nathan turned to see Sydney at the entrance of the restaurant. “Can I talk to you for a moment before I leave? Alone?”

  Nathan turned to Emi then nodded. “I’ll wait for you inside.”

  The second her brother entered the restaurant Emi felt the boulder in her throat give, and she brought her hand to her mouth just as the first tear dripped down her cheek.

  “What’s wrong?” Sydney asked, taking a few steps closer to her.

  She shook her head, glancing down at the ground, feeling like a coward. Sydney was suddenly too beautiful to even look at. It hurt too much now, knowing he’d be leaving her soon to be with Scarlet.

  “I love you, Em,” he said, making her jerk her head up. “Please tell me those tears are because you love me too and you don’t want me to go.”

  “I love you, and I don’t want you to go!”

  The words flew out without hesitation, but she still searched his eyes even as her heart pounded in her chest. Could this really be happening?

  The moment she saw the smile she jumped into his arms, feeling like a child. He barely flinched, even as she wrapped her legs around him kissing him frantically.

  “Sabian,” he said between kisses, “has got to go, Em.”

  “I just broke up with him,” she said, pulling away, but still held her hands at either side of his neck as he looked up at her, surprised. “I did.” She nodded, smiling big, and then laughed. “I couldn’t be with him anymore, knowing I love you.” She kissed him again and again. “I love you so much, Sydney.” She pulled away again, staring into his beautiful profound eyes. “Say it again,” she whispered, the tears blurring her eyes again but for a much better reason this time. “That you love me.”

  “I love you.” Mimicking her, he said it over and over again even as he put her down and hugged her tightly.

  “And you’re really not going anywhere with Scarlet tonight”—she pressed her lips together—“or anywhere ever again, right?”

  “Only place I’m going tonight is back to your bedroom so you can dance in those shoes for me again.” He dropped his hand down from her waist and caressed her ass over her shorts, squeezing his eyes shut. “Jesus, I’ve been dreaming about doing this for over a year.”

  Emi giggled, feeling the familiar ache between her legs start to throb as it did so often around Sydney now. “I’ve been dreaming of you doing so much more to me than just that.”

  Sydney leaned his forehead against her and smiled. “What the hell have we been waiting for?”

  Emi smiled big, just as she felt him press his erection against her upper thigh. Her panties would be soaked if they didn’t leave soon. “Let’s go then.”

  Before she could start her mad dash back into the restaurant to grab her things, he squeezed her hand with a suddenly serious expression that had his brow arching a bit menacingly. “We need to discuss a few things first though.”

  Nodding quickly, still excited, she kissed him again before making that dash back into the restaurant. She had a feeling what he might want to discuss. It was part of the flashbacks she’d had today and why Enzo’s use of the phrase “half-assed” had reminded her of last night. Sydney didn’t do half-assed relationships, something Emi could totally get on board with.

  ~~~

  The drive back to their apartment building was pure torture. Of course, they had to deal with the usual nightmarish Los Angeles traffic. Emi had run back into the restaurant just as they were ordering another round. She explained quickly that she had to get back to her place before Sydney left to catch his plane, giving them some cockamamie story about the key she needed to his place since she’d be cat sitting for him.

  Her siblings, but mostly Livi and then Sarah, had all given her strange, puzzled looks. This was a dinner for her she was running out of. These were also her siblings, the ones she adored and didn’t get to see nearly as often as she’d like. It was unlike her to do something like this, but she apologized profusely, saying Sydney would miss his plane if she didn’t leave ASAP.

  “I’ll see you in a little bit though, right? This isn’t good-bye until next time. You guys are bringing me Oliver once you’re done here. So I’ll see you in a few.”

  That was another reason why the crawl of a commute to get back to her place, where Sydney could do to her all she’d been fantasizing he’d do to her, was such a torment. She’d hoped they could back in time to have a couple if not several rounds of fun before her siblings arrived and she’d have a new fur baby to care for.

  At this rate, they’d be lucky if they’d have time for one round. And God, the very thought had her puddling in places she could hardly wait for Sydney to touch. The only good thing about the long exasperating drive back to their building was Sydney had taken that time to discuss what he said they had to before moving forward. She’d been right.

  “You have to understand, Em. If I do this, it’s not like when I do this with just any girl—or even Scarlet.”

  Emi’s hand had been roaming up and down his hard thighs. In some of the flashbacks she’d had today, she remembered nearly gasping last night when she saw the massive erection trying to break through Sydney’s slacks. Thinking about how soon she’d have her hands and possibly her tongue on it had given life to a naughty idea, something she might have to resort to if this drive didn’t start moving.

  Until he mentioned her name. Emi’s hand had frozen in place right on his thigh just as it’d begun to roam to another place she could see was now hard too. Only Sydney mentioning what he’d done with other girls—or even with Scarlet—had nearly killed the mood.

  He turned to her when he realized he’d struck a nerve. “I’m only mentioning this, Em, because I need you to understand what this”—he slipped his hand into hers, the one she’d begun to recoil—“means to me. I’m not even sure how to explain it without sounding too over-the-top—without scaring you.”

  “Scaring me?”

  “Let me finish, please.” They were moving again but still at a snail’s pace, giving him time to turn to her often with those big dark profound eyes as he spoke. “When I’d come to the conclusion that I was in love with Lynni, I was hopeful. Hopeful that maybe she was in love with me too and we could work something out and be each other??
?s forever. Later, when I met my ex-wife, I went into the relationship hopeful again—open-minded that we’d fall in love, get married, and that she’d be all I ever needed. With you, I feel none of those things.”

  A bit alarmed Emi stared at him, bewildered. This wasn’t where she thought he was going with this. They’d come to another stop, and he was staring at her again so seriously he was beginning to scare her. “What do you mean?” she asked her voice almost shaky.

  “I mean all those times I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would it work out? Could I truly be happy forever with them? With you, I already know. There is no hoping, no trying to stay open-minded that you could be the one for me. I already know it, Em. I’ve known it for months. Not only do I know with all certainly that you’re the one I’ve been waiting on my entire life, I now know I could never be happy without you. If I do this, I’m going into this with the idea that I’ve found my soul mate. I’m done. The only hope I’m feeling now is that you’ll be taking this just as seriously as I am. I know you’re young—”

  “Not too young,” she blurted out, her throat already constricting from everything he’d just said to her.

  “But you’re not ready for—”

  “I am ready!” she said again then brought her hand to her mouth with a smirk, feeling silly.

  “Look.” He smiled, touching her face sweetly. “I’ll be honest. When I first met you, though I was physically attracted, I thought we were in way too different places in our lives. It would never work. But I’ve since gotten to know you, and I’ve fallen in love with everything about you. I know we’re completely compatible now. I just don’t want you rushing anything in your life for me. It’s not what I’m asking. You may need to catch up with things like life experiences, your career, etc. And I’ll wait for you as long as I have to: years, decades, however long you need. I’m just saying I can’t do this if you’re not taking it as seriously as I will. I don’t want what you gave Darren and Sabian.”

  “I wasn’t in love with either of them,” she said, kissing his hand. “Not even close. And I’m beyond ecstatic to hear you say you’re taking this so seriously. This isn’t just a first for you. It’s a first for me too. I love you, Sydney, and I promise you I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  The sudden smile that broke through his hardened expression made her smile too. It was almost impossible to believe this man she thought so perfect, so unattainable, a man she’d fallen so hopelessly in love with, was saying he loved her too and wanted to be with her forever. There weren’t just butterflies going wild inside her, an entire fireworks show was going on in there. She could hardly sit still.

  As they reached their apartment building, Emi’s hand had begun to roam again. The image of his tented pants last night was even easier to remember now that it was happening again. Touching him over his pants made her heart race. She could hardly stand it. She wanted to—needed to—touch him already. And not just over his pants.

  “Em,” he grunted as she squeezed softly over his pants.

  They were in the parking structure, and she giggled when he accelerated past the usual five-mile an hour limit he normally adhered to.

  “I’m not gonna be able to walk into the building like this, you know.”

  “Well, we’ll have to do something about that.” She started to unzip him as he pulled into a parking space.

  “What are you doing?” He gasped.

  Emi glanced around, making sure no one was around, before turning back to his erection out of his pants now. “Dealing with the situation the best way I can.”

  She leaned over and did what she’d been daydreaming of all day. That visual she kept having from last night had been unrelenting all day. This was by far the best and only way she’d silence the burning need to taste him. Wrapping her hand around his thick girth, she smiled at the gasp that escaped him. “Sweet, Jesus.”

  That made her giggle, but she still licked the pre-cum on the tip, loving the taste of his salty sweetness. Sydney sat back and groaned when she worked her tongue around the shaft then started sucking softly. Her hand stroked him in rhythm with her mouth, sucking softly at first then a little harder. Deeper.

  She’d done this a handful of times in her lifetime but had never enjoyed it as much as she was this time. He was so big and tasted so damn good, but something about knowing this was Sydney made it even better. He was like candy in her mouth, and she wanted to swallow him all up.

  Taking him in all the way slowly, she held her hand at the bottom to avoid gagging herself. Sydney fingers were in her hair as he groaned louder, and she sped up and took him even deeper. More and more of the heavenly saltiness began to spread in her mouth. “I’m close, baby,” he said breathlessly, but she wasn’t about to pull away and miss out.

  Emi had never swallowed, but just like everything else with Sydney, somehow she knew she had to—she’d enjoy it. “Em, I’m gonna come,” he said almost frantically to which she just nodded and continued to enjoy having him in her mouth.

  With a grunt, Sydney stiffened, and Emi smiled as she swallowed down every bit of his hot sweet juices. She’d been right. It was a hell of a turn-on, and unlike some of the things she’d read from girls who hated this, she loved it. Licking him clean, she greedily made sure she took every last drop as his erection began to go flaccid.

  Sydney’s hand had moved down to her back, but she’d loved the way he’d fisted her hair as he’d come—another turn-on she was sure would be become one of her favorite things. Emi glanced up at him with a smile. “Now you can walk through the building.”

  He’d been sitting back with his eyes closed, looking very satisfied—like he was ready to fall asleep even—but her words had his eyes opening and he smiled. “I just need a moment to get the feeling back in my legs.”

  As she sat up, he stopped her before she could pull away and kissed her. “I’ve never felt so happy in my life.”

  Emi felt her heart double over but couldn’t help smirking. “That good, huh?”

  Sydney laughed out loud, letting his head fall back. “Okay, bad timing, but you know that’s not what I mean, brat.” Emi stared at him, smiling wistfully. This still felt surreal to her. “Seriously, Em,” he said, his expression earnest again, “in my thirty years of experience in this world, I always knew something was missing. I just didn’t realize it was this significant. This is just the beginning.” He caressed her face, looking deep in her eyes and choking her up. “And already I feel like my life is complete. You’re everything I didn’t even know I was waiting for but can’t live without now.”

  Emi wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, understanding even at her young age what he meant. She pulled away and touched his face, leaning her forehead against his. “Maybe it is my age. I’ve never felt like anything was missing in my life, but I do know exactly what you mean now. It’s something I started feeling weeks ago, maybe longer, when it felt like I was beginning to lose you. I’d never been so frightened about the prospect of anything in my life. The fear had been growing for some time, but I didn’t realize it until today. So I may be younger than you, Sydney, but trust me when I say I know exactly what you mean when you say you know with all certainty you’ve found the one, because I know it too.”

  Sydney kissed her so long and deep, so sweetly. Emi didn’t even care that their kiss was going on so long it could mean they weren’t going to have time to do much more before her siblings arrived. Having Sydney kiss her like this finally made her realize just how long she’d been waiting for this.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Sydney

  It was awkward, but as usual, Sydney was incapable of refusing Emi anything. He doubted now he ever would. As expected, they hadn’t had time to do much more than some heavy making out when they got back to her room. But even that was beyond blissful and almost hurt to have to stop. Her siblings had arrived at her apartment not long after Sydney and Emi had.

  Worse, Sydney got as far as doing what he’d been dream
ing about for so long. He’d slipped his hand in her shorts and got to caress that beautiful ass of hers finally. It’d given him the biggest boner ever, one he’d had to calm before her siblings came up.

  Emi had decided she was telling her siblings about them now. She said they’d wasted enough time and wanted their being a couple to start as soon as possible. And that meant telling everyone about it. The sooner the better.

  Considering all the talk he’d done at the restaurant about Scarlet and her having spent the day with her boyfriend, Sydney thought it’d be awkward. He would’ve preferred they wait at least a few days before she called and told them, but she gave him that doe-eyed expression he was powerless to argue with.

  Sydney was in her kitchen when they arrived. Liv held the puppy Emi immediately adored. Her husband and Nathan and Isaiah brought in all the other stuff Liv said they’d brought for Oliver. Sydney smiled, feeling like an idiot when they all turned to look at him inquiringly.

  Nathan finally asked what he knew they were all wondering. “Didn’t you have a plane to catch or something?”

  “Nope,” Emi answered for him as she walked Oliver over to Sydney and handed him to him. “I know this is gonna sound weird to you guys, but I broke up with Sly today just before he left. You were right,” she said to Liv, who seemed as stunned by the news as everyone else did. “Sydney and I are in love—have been for weeks.”

  “Months,” Sydney said, knowing it was even longer.

  Emi turned to him and smiled. “Yes, months”—she turned back to her siblings and said something that surprised Sydney—“but we only just admitted it to each other last night.”

  Liv smiled and her husband smirked. Her brothers’ expressions on the other hand hardened a bit. They eyed Sydney suspiciously. “What about Scarlet Brendon?” Isaiah asked.

  “It was never anything serious and it’s over now.”