Breakaway (Beyond the Play, #2)(72)

I look down at my lap as I smile. “Fair point.”

“Your mother used to steal my clothes.” His voice sounds a little thick, the way it always does when he talks about Mom. “That Harvard sweatshirt looked better on her, anyway.”

“I remember that sweatshirt.”

“Eventually it got so frayed she only wore it when we cleaned the house on Saturday mornings. It was covered in so many bleach stains, the crimson washed out.” He clears his throat. “Cooper… he’s been good to you, bug?”

I bunch my hands up in the sleeves of the sweater. It smells like Cooper, that spicy masculine scent I love so much. “Yes.”

“Thought he would be. He’s a good kid.” He pulls into one of the town’s lots and finds a space for the car. Moorbridge is decorated for the holidays, lights hanging from the lampposts and elaborate displays in the shop windows. I bought Dad’s Christmas present, a hand-stitched leather wallet, from a shop right around the corner. “But if anything happens, you’ll tell me, right? I won’t be mad.”

I swallow; my throat feels thick suddenly. “I’ll try.”

Even though we’re parked, he doesn’t turn off the car. He turns to me instead, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I know it’s different now,” he says. “I know you’re an adult, you can choose who you want to be with. But you’re still my little girl, and I’ll always be there for you.”

“Dad?”

“Yeah?”

My heart is hammering in my chest. I’ve been avoiding this conversation as long as possible, but with grades coming out soon, there’s nowhere to hide. “I know I didn’t get my grades back yet, but… I’m going to fail chemistry. And probably microbiology, too.”

He blinks. There’s a long pause, and I shrink away, but eventually, he says, “That’s okay, Pen. Let’s talk about it over dinner.”





43





COOPER





“Fucking hell, baby.” I fist my cock, giving it a slow stroke. Even over the phone, Penny’s sweet little moans are driving me wild. I’m about to burst with need. “Tell me how many fingers you’ve got stuffed up that pretty pussy.”

“Three,” she says with a little gasp. “It’s not enough.”

There’s actual pain in her voice, like she’s beyond frustrated. I wish I could see her face, but she’s skittish about sex over video, so we’ve been doing our catching up over the break via phone calls. I close my eyes, imagining her spread legs, her thin fingers shoved right up her tight cunt, aching for more. For a toy to fill her up, or even me, when we get to that number on her list. “Put your pinky in.”

Her moan lets me know she did it, but she reports back to me breathlessly.

“Good girl,” I praise her. “One day I’m going to fill up your cunt so perfectly, Red, I promise you’ll feel it everywhere. Touch your clit for me.”

She surprises me with laughter that shoots straight to my cock. “I can’t get it like I want.”

“Too bad, baby, because that’s what you’re getting right now. Come for me and I’ll consider letting you use a toy.”

“Letting me?” she teases. Her voice is high and breathy, but the challenge in it comes through loud and clear. “I could turn one on right now and you couldn’t do a thing.”

“Maybe not now,” I agree, “but you know what I do to brats who don’t listen.”

“I don’t know,” she says. I can imagine her smirk. “Maybe I need you to remind me.”

I still my hand, squeezing the base of my cock to keep from shooting my load too soon. I want to drag this out as long as possible; hear her have a few orgasms before I surrender to my own.

“Oh yeah?” I say. “You want it spelled out?”

“I need it,” she whines.

Fucking hell, this girl is going to be the death of me. If we were in the same place right now, I’d be kissing her until I stole all the breath from her lungs.

“First, I’d take your clothes off,” I say. My voice is rough now, low in volume, my eyes shut as I talk into the phone. I’m hiding away in my room; it’s Christmas morning and we already did family presents, so no one should come looking unless they’re trying to be obnoxious. James and Sebastian have teased me about my new girlfriend six ways to Sunday, but they know I need the catch-up time with my girl. I lick my lips, imagining pulling off Penny’s clothes piece by piece, getting to see her beautiful body. Her sweet little tits, her round bottom, the soft stretch of her belly that I adore kissing. All the fucking freckles, the sea of them spread out over her fair skin. “Piece by fucking piece, so slow you’re begging me to rip them. Then I’d put you over my lap because that’s where brats belong, and just look.”

“W-why?” she stutters.

“Because you’re beautiful.” I give my cock another stroke. The words stick in my throat, emotional without me trying, sweetness tempering the dirty talk. “Squirming in my lap, trying to give yourself relief—I love seeing you needy for me.”

“What next?”

“You know what would be next, sweetheart. My palm, your bottom, and a work of art so fucking gorgeous I couldn’t look away.”