Love Me Always (Top Shelf Romance Book 8)

my nameless angel used last night, bringing it up to my face.
Christ, she smells good. Like berries and cream.
“What do you want, Tessa?”
“Can you come over here and clean the pool? Every time I try to use that stupid vacuum thing, it always jams up on me.” I hear her breathy pause, knowing that the begging is about to start. “Please, Ben. It’s hot as hell outside and when Mia gets here, I want to be able to spend the rest of the day in the pool with her. Please, please, please.”
Mia fucking Corelli. The most annoying girl that’s ever lived.
I completely forgot she was spending the summer with Tessa. Last time I saw her, she was an irritating fourteen-year-old. She and Tessa followed me around like damn puppies, always wanting to do what I was doing. And the fact that she practically lived at my house didn’t help much. She was always around.
I toss the pillow I’ve been inhaling to the end of the bed. “Why the hell don’t you just stay inside with her? I’m not in the mood to spend an hour cleaning out a damn pool.”
“Oh, come on, Ben. You owe me and you know it. Besides, I’d rather have you and Mia get your awkward greeting out of the way so she can relax a little.”
“What does that mean?” I get up and start getting dressed, holding the phone between my ear and my shoulder.
I don’t know what awkward greeting she’s referring to. It won’t be awkward. It’ll be brief. Really brief. I have no desire to spend any time with that train wreck.
“You know exactly what that means. She’s nervous as shit about coming back here because of you.” The sound of the sliding glass door opening and closing comes through the phone. “Christ, it’s already a thousand degrees out here.” Tessa sighs and it’s dramatic, even though it doesn’t have to be. I know what she’s getting at. “If only I had a big brother who did nice things for me. Nice things that are well deserved after all the last minute favors I’ve done for him over the years.”
“All right. Jesus.” I zip up my shorts and grab a clean T-shirt from my dresser. “I’ll be over there in an hour.”
Her shriek causes me to move the phone away to a safer distance. I return it to my ear after her excitement dies down.
“You’re the best brother ever. But can you be over sooner? She’s on her way over here now.”
“An hour. I’ve got my own shit to do today too, you know.”
A particular girl to track down, and hopefully get her name.
I don’t miss the slight grunt Tessa gives me before responding, “Fine. Thanks, Ben.”
Hanging up the phone, I tuck it into my pocket and grab her pillow one more time.
Wait. Her pillow? Christ, get a hold of yourself.
I’ve had my fair share of one-night stands and never, never, let the girls spend the night. But this one was different. I was prepared to tie her to my bed if she tried to leave last night.
I inhale and let her scent run through me, feeling it hit me deep in my gut.
I’ve never taken a girl’s virginity before. That was intense. I really didn’t think she was one, not with a body like that and the way she was flirting with me at the bar. Sucking and biting my thumb like a fucking temptress. But her reaction to the sex we had and the blood stain on my sheets definitely confirms that she was, in fact, a virgin.
Tossing the pillow to the floor, I wrap up my sheets and walk them into the laundry room.
I like the stain. No, I fucking love the stain. It was proof that she gave me something that nobody else will ever have—a part of her I can hold on to since she didn’t give me anything else. Not even a fucking name.
I walk back into my room to slip on my shoes.
Why wouldn’t she tell me her name? What’s the big deal? I get the whole casual hook up thing. No strings. No expectations. But I always know the name of the chick I’m banging, or at least the name they give me. It could be made up for all I know, considering that I’ve never pursued anything else with them after we’ve had one night together. But this chick, hell, I’d like multiple nights with her. Weeks even. She wasn’t just an amazing lay, the best I’ve ever had, with a pussy I could eat for hours and tits that’ll occupy all my fantasies until the day I die. She was more than that.
She was sweet and funny, with this laugh that I wanted to hear more of. Her whole face lit up when she laughed. I wanted to make her smile again, to see those full lips part and spread across her face. And the way she looked at me with those big brown eyes, so dark I could get lost in them. Plus, she fucking knew what I wanted last night without me having to ask. I need control and she gave it to me, but she also pushed back when I pushed her.
When I bit her body, she cried out for more. When I fucked her until I thought my spine was going to snap in half, she demanded harder.
She met me in the middle and gave as well as she took. It was wild perfection. A beautiful chaos. She was my match in the bedroom and I let her slip away without giving me a name.
The fuck? I should’ve spanked her and demanded she give it to me.
I inhale the pillow that’s been pressed to my face for a good several minutes. Next to her pussy, it’s the best thing I’ve ever smelled. It dulls my senses like a drug. I’m high on her and I’m pissed that it won’t last.
I grab my keys and toss the pillow onto the