Upside Down (Breaking the Rules #3) - A.M. Madden Page 0,85
finally a belly laugh. It was a privilege to see their relationship up close. They’d been through a lot together, and their bond was ironclad.
Finally extracting her grip from his body, he kissed her one last time before trotting down the stairs and toward me. “Call me when you land.”
“Yes, Mother.” He waved a hand over his head without looking back before getting into the driver’s seat. It wasn’t until we hit the highway almost ten minutes later that he spoke. “Did you have a good time?”
“You can’t tell I did?”
His gaze cut my way with a smirk. “I could tell you did in my bed. I’m hoping the rest of the trip rocked your world as well.”
“You’re assuming that you did rock my world,” I countered.
That cocky smirk morphed into a grin. “Oh, I know I did… again and again.” He placed a hand on my upper thigh, bringing his fingertips to nestle between my legs. As he squeezed, his pinky pressed against the denim covering my cock. “Maybe we’ll join the mile-high club together. Then I could rock your skies as well.”
I took his hand and moved it to where it wasn’t merely teasing me but instead provoking me. “You assume I can wait until then by taunting me now?”
“Well, we don’t have time to go back home claiming I forgot something. Although…” He tightened his grip on my crotch just enough and added, “It would be fun sucking your cock in this convertible. Or better yet, trying to get our six-foot frames into a reverse cow… boy situation.”
The visual was quick and deadly, like a cobra striking. “You’re a dick,” I said, removing his hand from my hard-on before replacing it with my own. Through a sideways glance, I saw my discomfort seemed to amuse him. “What?” I barked. The motherfucker always pulled shit like this on me when I had no hope of relief for hours. I suspected it was a control thing with him.
“You seem a bit… agitated. You okay?”
“Screw you,” I said, and he hairpinned the car toward an exit. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Finding a deserted parking lot so that you, as you said, can screw me.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ricky
After the third press of the doorbell went unanswered, I let myself into the Puglias’ house with the key Rebecca had given me. Laughter called me toward the backyard, as Cooper’s suitcase and carry-on bags sitting at the bottom of the stairs came into view.
What the hell? He had three weeks left before needing to be back in Jersey.
Just as I went to open the slider, Rebecca came barreling into the kitchen with Liliana in her arms.
“Hey, I thought I heard the bell. Sorry, I was feeding her.”
“No worries, dollface.” Thumbing toward the luggage, I asked, “Why is he packed?”
A shit-eating grin spread over her lips. “I’m kicking him out.”
“What?” I reached forward to palm her forehead. “Are you delusional from a high fever?”
“No.” She swatted away my hand. “It’s stupid already. The back-and-forth every day. Cooper only has three weeks left, and he’s practically living with you anyway. So I’m kicking him out, and luckily he has a place to crash.”
Excitement, fear, and annoyance all melded into a storm of emotion, and I didn’t know which of the three dominated. Yes, Cooper had been with me more than not these weeks, but having him there all the time was a different story… one that would make his departure even harder.
Sensing my unspoken issues, she turned on her snark. “What’s with the face?”
“Being asked would’ve been nice.”
Her big blue eyes narrowed on mine. “Are you saying you don’t want my brother staying with you? Because I call bullshit.”
“No. I’m saying it’s going to make things harder when he leaves.”
“Aww.” All the attitude left her body in one fell swoop. “But he’s not moving to Guam. It’s only Jersey.” Ignoring my exasperated expression, she plopped a contented Liliana in my arms. “Many couples do the long-distance thing. Once he transfers to University of Miami—”
“That’s wishful thinking on your part,” I cut her off while smiling down at the angel in my arms as I rocked her, already looking so much like her brother.
“No, it’s not.” Multitasking, she began pulling out grapes and cheese from the fridge. “He’s thinking about it. I give him a year before he’s here for good. So during that year, you’ll fly up often—you have the money, and when he has extended breaks, he’ll fly down here.”