“Sorry about the game today.”
“Don’t be.” Jax shook his head at the disappointment he could only blame on himself. “It was my own damn fault. I shouldn’t have taken Mason out. He was looking good this morning during practice and…and…” Jax couldn’t get the words out. If he finished the rest of his sentence, he’d be putting his thoughts of Mason and Piper out in the open and he didn’t know if he wanted to hear the answer.
“And what Jax?” She stared at him intently with her beautiful gray eyes that sparkled no matter the time of day or where she was.
He put his head in his hands, feeling completely helpless. If he didn’t talk about this now, he would never talk about it and always wonder if there was ever something between Piper and Mason. And what if there wasn’t, would he always wonder? He would and then he would end up destroying one of the greatest things that happened to him in a long time. Fuck, he could do this.
His heart pounded in his chest as he gained the courage to finish his sentence. He looked up at her again and put his hand against her cheek, reveling in the softness of her skin. God damn it, did he love her. He loved her so fucking much; he didn’t want to lose her, he couldn’t stand the thought of losing her. Not being able to touch her when he wanted, not being able to kiss her, love her, and spoil her. He needed her.
His gut twisted itself into seven different expert sailor knots. Blowing out a pent-up breath, he went for it. “And are you involved with him?” He watched Piper’s reaction carefully and he was sadly disappointed with his accusation. Shock didn’t register across her face, instead she looked…guilty. Shit, damn it…fuck!
She looked down, but Jax didn’t give her the option to turn away from him for long. “Piper, are you involved with Mason?”
Tears started to well up in her eyes and she shook her head yes, making Jax’s stomach drop to the floor, turning him completely nauseous.
“I’m so sorry, Jax, I don’t know how it happened. I, I…” She broke down and started crying. She placed her head in her hands and started shaking uncontrollably. Jax wanted to pull her into his arms and comfort her, but his body didn’t register the signals his brain was giving him. He sat still as stone, unable to move any sort of muscle in his body. A coldness seeped through his body, making him think he would never feel again.
His throat grew tight and he asked, “How long?”
“What?” Piper asked through tears.
Jax stood up, paced the living room while running his hand through his hair and asked again, “How long Piper? How long have you been fucking him?” His tone was harsher than he wanted, but he couldn’t help it. She shattered his heart with the tiny little nod of confirmation that she was seeing Mason. Just the slightest head movement had tipped his world.
Utter shock registered across her face at his strong language. He never talked to her using such foul language because his mama taught him better, but he snapped; he had snapped right in front of the woman he loved.
“I…I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? Jesus, Piper.” He stopped pacing and stared down at her. “Do you even love me?”
Piper stood up so quickly, she tripped over her coffee table, sending her flying across the room. Luckily, Jax was able to catch her so she didn’t run into the wall. He stood her up and tried to let go, but she wrapped herself tightly around him.
“Jax…” She was sobbing now. “Of course I love you. I love you so much. You’re the reason why I haven’t moved yet; you’ve grounded me.”
Her words touched him, but then again, they were so hard to believe.
“Do you love him?”
Silence laced the air between them. He knew he was supposed to be fighting for her and making sure he kept her in his life, but the moment she confirmed being involved with Mason, something switched in him, as if he couldn’t bear to be around her.
He removed her hands from around him and headed for the door. He needed to step away for the moment before he said something he didn’t mean. He still loved her and he still wanted her, but he needed to gather himself. He was not in the right place at the moment.
He went to the door, but Piper ran in front of him and plastered herself against the door. Her face was pale and the contrast of the mascara dripping down her face was somewhat frightening. His hands itched to reach out to her, wrap her up in his arms, carry her off to bed and comfort her until all the worry lines that formed on her face disappeared.
“Please Jax….please don’t go.” Her hands ran across his chest as if she was searching for something. “Please stay with me Jax, I’m sorry.”
Jax looked up at the ceiling, searching for something, some kind of help. Some kind of sign as to what he should do, but nothing came to him. The only thing he could register was the sadness that floated through Piper’s usually-vibrant eyes.
“Please…” she said in a faint whisper.
Jax was lost where she was concerned. There was no way he could deny her what she wanted, no matter how upset he was with her and no matter what she did. He would give her what she wanted.
He pulled her into his embrace and walked her back to her bedroom where he would hold her tight and make sure that he washed away the sadness that laced the silver in her eyes. He didn’t know what he would do in the morning or how he would handle his relationship with Piper, but all he knew right now was he was going to hold the woman he loved, no matter what she might have done to him because she owned him, she owned his heart.
***
Ryker stared at his reflection in the mirror and passed judgment on himself. What the hell did he get himself into? The test shots for C.C. Morris’ fall line went spectacular. The clothes were just his style, preppy with a hipster flair. He wore multiple layers and thanked God for the giant fans and air conditioning they had in the building or else he would have been sweating bullets.
The clothes were in fall hues, browns, maroons, navys and deep yellows. He loved the combinations C.C. Morris used with stripes and patterns. The scarves were like velvet caressing his neck and he didn’t want to take off the leather bomber jacket he had to model with skinny navy blue jeans, and a maroon hoodie. Rumor was, the models were able to keep what they wanted of the clothing line, which Ryker was hoping was true because there were quite a few items off the fall line that he wanted to take home with him. He was almost positive free clothes were in his contract.
The modeling job was a really good gig, up until the point where he had to strip down. It was time to do the bedroom line and that was when Ryker started judging himself. He currently wore dark eye liner to help his eyes stand out more, since some of the photos were going to be in black and white and he was wearing short boxer briefs that were, in fact, comfortable as fuck but short, very very short.
He had done most of his alone shots earlier on, but now he and Ashlin were going to have to be together for the next test shots and he could feel himself start to get nervous. He was a confident man when it came to the bedroom, but when there was a crew of onlookers, his nerves started to skyrocket. How the hell was he supposed to be intimate with a woman when he was in a fake bedroom that was built in a warehouse with an extremely vocal photographer and lights shining in places that he didn’t want lights to shine?
“Ryker, we need you on set.”
Ryker shook his head and walked out on set, where multiple females gawked at him.
“Someone oil him up please.”
Five women came flying at him with baby oil in hand. They poured it all over his body and rubbed it in, giving his body a somewhat perverted looking shine to it. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought he was preparing for a porno rather than a photo shoot.
The women’s hands ran all over his body, up his legs, down his arms, across his flat stomach and under his pecs. By the time they were done, he could have been a personal slip and slide for some lucky woman. He was grateful there were no mirrors around because he would not want to look at himse
lf all slicked up, with eye liner on and little briefs. Jesus, what would the guys say once they saw these pictures? Mason would never let him live this down.
“Can someone please get Ashlin?” yelled the photographer, Jeffery. “Ryker, please lie down on the bed and prop yourself up against the headboard, legs apart.
Jesus.
The bed was a king-sized four-poster bed in dark wood with black silk sheets and dark transparent curtains enclosing the bed. There were a couple of pillows, but everything was thrown about as if someone just had sex in the bed, just what C.C. Morris was looking for. Ryker took a deep breath and flopped on the bed, positioning himself the way Jeffery asked him to.
He watched as people around him busied themselves with taking measurements, fixing the lighting and swirling the sheets around Ryker’s legs. Ryker just sat there, watched everyone and prayed for the test shots to end sooner, rather than later.
“Ah, there’s my girl,” Jeffery said as Ashlin walked out in a fluffy white robe with matching slippers. Her hair was curled, but uniquely out of place to give her that, ‘I just had wild hot sex’ look. Her face had minimal make-up on, but what she did have on made her eyes brighter than he had ever seen; she was…beautiful.
“Hey Ryker.” She looked him up and down and then smiled. “You look…oily.” She giggled and then turned to Jeffery. “Where do you want me?”
“Well we’re going to take a couple of shots here, just to see how the chemistry is with you two. I have no doubt in my mind that it’ll be sizzling, but C.C. wants to make sure. So, we’re going to have you start off by holding one of the bed posts, as if you’re trying to seduce your man, then we are going to have you straddle Ryker, really showing off the underwear you have on. Do you think you can do that?”
“Of course, not a problem.”
Jeffery turned to Ryker. “Ryker, you’re merely a prop for Ashlin; she gets to do most of the work for this photo shoot. I just need you to keep looking hot with those smoldering eyes.”
Heat crept through Ryker’s face. “Sure, man.” Damn, this was embarrassing, but he was going to try to feed off of Ashlin’s energy, since she didn’t seem to have a worry or care.
“Alright, baby girl, take the robe off and go to the farthest bed post.”
“Sure thing.”
Ryker watched as Ashlin slowly untied the knot in her robe. Her back was toward him, so he only saw her arms moving around. She opened the robe and then dropped it, kicking it to the side with her slippers. Ryker felt his mouth go dry at the sight in front of him. If C.C. Morris’ plan was to turn people on and get them thinking sex with this photo shoot, then good God, she nailed it on the head.
Ryker quickly started to think about anything other than Ashlin’s tight little toned and tanned body in a hot pink lace bra, and a matching thong that had a garter belt with thigh-high fishnet leggings. She had a pert little ass that was mouthwateringly good and her breasts were begging to be touched by his aching hands.
Shit, he shouldn’t be having these thoughts about her. She was his friend, his good friend, he shouldn’t be clawing to maul her the first chance he got. It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman, ever since he met Hannah, so maybe it was his raging hormones that were talking. That was what he blamed it on, his hormones. He silently told Russell the Love Muscle to calm himself and take a breather, he was not welcome in any of the photos, even though he so desperately wanted to come out to play.
Ashlin moved up against the bed post and started working the pole as if she was a seasoned professional. Ryker stared at her in amazement. She was so graceful, she knew how to tip her head to give the most seductive look possible and she knew exactly how to thrust her ass out to send a man over the edge, begging for more.
“That’s it, Ashlin, you’re looking real good, baby girl. Ryker, keep eating her alive with your eyes, that’s perfect.”
Shit. Was he really eating her alive with his eyes? Not like he could blame himself. Any guy in his position would act the same way. Ryker actually congratulated himself for not hopping off the bed, throwing Ashlin to the ground and humping her brains out right there on the spot. Good God, he needed to get a hold of his libido and quickly.
Jeffery put his camera down and wiped his forehead with a towel one of his assistants gave him. The man was a squirrely looking guy with no hair, big glasses and long-ass fingers that Ryker knew he used to his advantage. The guy most likely could have any girl he wanted because he could make people look beautiful with a camera, but without his photography gear, the man would be begging his way through local bars looking for any woman to put their lips on his chapped ones.
“Time to get on top of Ryker, sweetheart. Do you think you can handle that?”
Ryker gave Jeffery a look of indignation. What did Jeffery mean by asking if Ashlin if she could handle getting on top of him? It’s not like Ryker had some kind of incurable disease or bad breath like gingivitis man who was handing out coffee earlier.
“Not a problem at all,” Ashlin said, as she adjusted her bra and started to move toward Ryker.
He admired Ashlin. She didn’t care that there were a bunch of men on set, aching to get a look at her barely-clad body and women sneering at her for getting a chance to be with him, which he didn’t blame them for.
“You ready for this, Ryke?” Ashlin asked with a smile.
“Bring it on, toots.”
She crawled up the bed, giving him a perfect view of her bountiful, natural cleavage and straddled his lap.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. He adjusted himself underneath her, but there was only a little piece of miniscule fabric separating his friend Russell and the warmth of Ashlin’s lower half.
Ryker cleared his throat and tried to adjust again.
Ashlin leaned into Ryker’s ear and said, “Don’t worry about it, I’m used to it by now. There’s not much you can do when you’re in a situation like this. At least it’s with my friend and not some creep I barely know. That’s when it gets really uncomfortable.”
Ryker tried to muster up a smile. “Sorry. I uh, I just, you know….it’s been a while and, let’s be honest, you’re fucking hot.”
Ashlin laughed. “Thanks. Let’s just get this over with, huh?”
“Fine by me.”
“Ryker…” Jeffery said, while grabbing his camera again. “Put your hands on Ashlin’s derriere and give her cheeks a little pressure I want to see your fingers burying themselves in that plush little behind of hers.”
“Jesus.” Ryker did what he was told as Ashlin arched into him and threw her head back. Jeffery clicked the camera, capturing what Ryker could only imagine was a very erotic shot.
Ashlin kept arching into his grasp and inhaling air while parting her mouth, turning Ryker on more than he could imagine. This was so not good. Why wasn’t his humiliation taking out his erection? Being a guy was so not fair, especially in situations like this. Ashlin was acting like everything was fine and dandy, as if she was just strolling in a park without a worry or a care and there was Ryker, sweating, trying to control his dick from playing with Ashlin’s pussy and conjuring up any kind of non-sexual thought that would pop up in his mind.
“Stop, stop. I just don’t like what I’m seeing.”
Ashlin turned to Jeffery with genuine concern in her eyes. “What’s wrong Jeffery? Is it something I’m doing?”
“No, it’s the bra. It’s making your back look odd when you arch. Would you mind taking it off? I can get a good side shot of the two of you and maybe slip some side boob in the picture, if you’re comfortable with that.”
“Sure, no problem.”
What!?! Before Ryker could say anything, Ashlin reached behind her back, unclasped her bra and tossed it to the side, revealing two perfectly round, tanned globes dangling in his face. That was it, Russell took over the photo shoot and decided he didn’t care what Ryker wanted, Russell wanted some play time.
Ryker gulped and tried to shift again, but Ashlin stilled h
is hips.
“What did I tell you? It’s a compliment, really. So stop shifting around and enjoy yourself.”
“If I enjoy myself any more, I’m going to fucking explode.” Ryker pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fuck, this is humiliating. I never should have signed up for this.”
Ashlin leaned in, letting her boobs graze Ryker’s chest as she whispered in his ear. “Ryker, relax okay? It’s natural for that kind of reaction. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t turned on as well; now, let’s make the most of it and get a good shot for C.C. so we can start making our money.” She tacked on a smile and then turned to Jeffery. “We’re ready.”
“Good, baby girl. Let’s get going then.”
Ryker took a deep breath, looked in Ashlin’s eyes and placed his hands back on her ass. The rest of the shoot, he forgot about Jeffery taking pictures, he forgot about gingivitis man eying Ashlin up and down and he forgot about the women who sat there gawking at him as if he was a designer purse on sale. Instead, he ran his hands up and down Ashlin’s body, reveling in her fantastic curves and enjoyed the warmth of a woman’s body.
***
There was a pounding on Piper’s front door that stirred her from her spontaneous slumber. The last thing she wanted was company and, with her luck, it was going to be either Jax or Mason. Neither of them had given up their pursuit of her heart and it was slowly starting to tear her apart. She had no clue what she was going to do.
The minute Jax called her out on her relationship with Mason and threatened to leave, Piper felt her heart leap out of her chest and she had to stop him. Later on, she was cursing herself because she should have walked away and let him go. Jax deserved someone who wouldn’t sneak behind his back with another man, but she was selfish and she begged him to stay.