The Rules of Dating My Best Friend's Sister(89)

“Oh God,” I whimpered. His tongue moved to my clit, and he sucked hard. Without thinking, I went to reach for him, forgetting that my hands were bound together, and the leather strap bit into my skin. The ache shot directly down between my legs.

Oh wow. I had no idea I liked a little pain. Holden speared his tongue inside me, and I pulled at my wrists again, this time a little harder.

I moaned. “Holden…” My orgasm was going to happen embarrassingly fast. I already felt it brewing. “Slow down…please…”

But my plea only made him go faster. Holden sucked and licked, adding two fingers as I headed over the edge. When it hit, I cried out so loud, I was pretty sure the people on the street three floors below me heard.

After, I panted as Holden climbed up my body.

His eyes sparkled. “My girl likes to be tied up.”

“I think it’s just you,” I breathed.

He brushed a hair from my face. “That’s good. Because I think it’s just you for me, too.”

***

“How’s your mom doing?” An hour later, Holden and I were lying on our sides. It was the first time we’d had any real conversation since he’d walked in the door.

I tucked my hands under my cheek. “She’s doing really well. She had a doctor’s appointment yesterday, and they said her incision is healing nicely and all her vitals are stable. She doesn’t need another check for three months now. But they’re keeping her on blood thinners, so she has to be really careful not to fall or anything because it would be hard to stop any bleeding.”

“Wow. Is the bubblewrap next door in your apartment?”

My brows dipped.

Holden smiled. “I figured you’d have ordered a shitload to wrap her up in case she bumps into anything.”

I laughed. “Trust me, I would if I could. Getting that call was one of the scariest moments of my life. I think I’m going to drive down to Philly to see her again in two weeks.”

“I’ll go with you. While you spend time with your mom, I can work on getting to know your dad as an adult. Now that you’ve told him we’re together, I think it’s important that I show him I’m not the same teenager he knew back in the day.”

It was a sweet impulse, but… “I’m not sure that’s such a great idea. I don’t think my dad is ready for that.”

Holden frowned. “Why not?”

“I don’t know. It just feels like it’s too soon.”

“Too soon after your breakup with Warren? Or too soon because you haven’t figured out if I’m really a changed person yet?”

I hated to hurt his feelings, but I needed to be honest. I bit my lip. “Maybe a little of both?”

Holden mulled that around for a minute. “Can you see a future with me, Lala?” he finally asked. “I get that it’s too soon for you to jump into anything serious, but can you see something more than just fooling around happening between us down the road?”

I placed my hands on his chest. “Holden…”

“You look like you’re afraid to answer because you don’t want to upset me. But I’d always rather have the truth from you.”

I nodded. “It’s not that I don’t want to see a future with you, but I guess I have trouble imagining what that might look like. Your lifestyle is so different from mine, and I’ve only ever seen you in that light. It’s difficult to imagine you being happy in a long-term, monogamous relationship.”

Holden looked down and nodded. “I hate that you feel that way, but I guess that’s fair. You only know the person I’ve shown you. And if I’m being honest, I’m not sure I knew there was another side of me until recently.” He lifted his eyes to meet mine. “I need to prove to you that I’m not the same guy I was. I know that won’t happen overnight, but will you give me the chance to do that? Keep an open mind?”

I’d known Holden practically all of my life, so I was pretty good at reading him. I could see his heart was in the right place. I just wasn’t so confident that he wouldn’t change his mind once the fun was over. Relationships weren’t easy, especially not ones where one of the people traveled as often as he did. Not to mention, he was a drummer, gorgeous, and women had always thrown themselves at him. I wanted more than anything to not have that doubt, but my inner self-protection mechanism was afraid. Holden Catalano was the one man who could swallow me whole and annihilate me if he spit me back out. I knew that in my bones.

But Holden was watching me and waiting for an actual answer. So I offered my best positive smile, even though my insides were laced with hesitancy. “Sure.”

***

“Oh my gosh,” I said, setting my keys on the kitchen counter the next evening when I arrived home. “I got nervous when I opened the door. I didn’t even realize it was you and thought maybe I’d walked into the wrong apartment.”

Holden was in the kitchen with three burners going on the stove. He had on a button-up cardigan sweater and slacks, and his always-wild hair was slicked back and neat. He also wore horn-rimmed glasses, though I didn’t think he had a vision deficiency. Basically, he was dressed like Warren.

He walked over and placed my slippers at my feet. “Good evening, darling.”

Darling? I squinted. “What are you up to, Catalano? Did you accidentally break something or buy some new sex toys you want to try out?”