Hefty Read online

  Tonight, he can’t seem to stop himself.

  He sips his drink, his eyes meandering down over the front of me, cataloguing my black spandex cheerleading shorts and the pink belly T-shirt. No bra. My mother never would have let me leave the house dressed like this if she’d seen me, but she’s on shift tonight at the hospital. Maybe it is a little on the risqué side, but…I’m so scared of last night being a one-time thing and I want him to find me tempting and irresistible. Does that make me terrible? I mean, we’re going to college at the end of this year. What if he goes to some Ivy League school two thousand miles away and this is my only chance to experience him?

  His voice scrapes out. “Hey Jilly Beans.”

  “Hey Zach.”

  That big chest of his expands. “You having fun at the sleepover?”

  “Uh-huh.” I fuss with my ponytail. “I just came in here to get a soda.”

  “Oh.” He ducks his head and steps away from the fridge. “Sorry, I didn’t realize I was in your way.”

  “I lied,” I blurt. “I came in here to see you.”

  The gutsy girl from last night is back! And not a moment too soon.

  Zach tucks his tongue into his cheek to temper a smile. “Came in here to see you, too.”

  My heart sprouts wings. “You did?” I breathe wistfully.

  He grunts, rubs at the back of his neck.

  “You keep to yourself when I’m over at your house these days,” I say, chancing a step in his direction. “You almost never come out of your room.”

  He considers me with those soulful green eyes. “Come on, Jilly Beans. All those guys panting after you at school…I didn’t want you to think I was one of them. Breathing down your neck when you’re trying to hang out with my sister. You deserve a break.”

  “But…what?” I jog back through everything he just said, landing on all the confusing parts. “Guys don’t pant after me.”

  That earns me a rare Zach laugh. “Oh yes, they do. I’ve had to…”

  “You’ve had to what?”

  The tips of his ears are turning red. “It’s nothing. I just…suggested they stop talking about certain parts of your anatomy. If they want to live.”

  I start to ask which parts of my anatomy they referred to, then decide I don’t want to know. Besides, I’m more interested in the fact that Zach has been defending my honor behind the scenes. Could that possibly mean anything? Or is he just being the honorable boy he’s always been? “I didn’t know you were doing that for me. Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me. Just…” He swallows, his gaze resting on my pebbled nipples. “Please don’t wear that to school. Or I’ll get expelled.”

  “I won’t,” I whisper, his protectiveness causing heat to tickle my inner thighs. “And Zach, I like hanging out with you. A lot. You wouldn’t be breathing down my neck. How could you ever think I would put you in a category with anyone else? Let alone the guys at school.”

  He doesn’t seem to know how to respond to that, just regarding me steadily.

  Slowly, I walk toward him until we’re only a few inches apart.

  Then I gather up my courage and smooth a hand up his chest.

  Zach exhales roughly and tugs down the hem of his shirt, the way he did last night on the bus with his jersey. And with growing relief and excitement, I realize he has an erection. For me. It gives me the bravery to murmur, “Do you like hanging out with me, Zach?”

  He swallows hard. “Obviously a little too much.”

  I push up on my tiptoes and whisper in his ear, “Nothing little about it.”

  “Jill,” he rasps, eyelids at half-mast. “God, baby. You’re making it hurt.”

  “I’m sorry.” I drop back onto flat feet. “I don’t want that. I want the opposite.”

  “I didn’t mean…” He shakes his head, steps toward me. “My pain isn’t your responsibility. Understand?”

  “Yes.”

  He drops his gaze to our feet, red riding the tips of his ears again. “But if you still want to…explore, I would be grateful to be the one who does it with you.”

  I almost catapult into a back handspring. “Yes, please.”

  Zach seems a little surprised by my quick agreement, but slowly recovers. “I have a few rules, though. To protect you.”

  Of course he does, this knight in shining armor. “What are they?”

  Those green eyes travel over my mouth and he takes a deep breath. “If you want to stop, you have to tell me. You’re a people pleaser, Jill. But I would want to die if you did anything you weren’t comfortable with, just because I’m…enjoying it.”

  He whispers the word enjoying and it causes wetness to spread in my panties.

  Because I remember his face when he’s enjoying something. If I could commission a painting of it, I would. I would hang it over my bed and stare at it endlessly.

  “I promise. I’ll tell you if I want to stop.”

  “Good.” A line forms between his dark eyebrows and he gestures between us. “Second rule. This is just our secret, okay?”

  My heart sinks.

  He doesn’t want people knowing he’s hooking up with the flighty, motormouth cheerleader. Is that it? I should ask him, but I’m afraid of the answer.

  Besides, he doesn’t have to share his reasons with me. If he doesn’t want the school to know about our relationship, that’s his right. I guess I’m just a little surprised he would cause the little crack in my chest when he’s always been my protector.

  That’s right. He has been. My one hundred percent reliable guardian. My chauffeur and friend, too. So I will give him this, no questions asked.

  “Okay, Zach. Our secret.” I force myself to smile. “What is the last one?”

  “I have a feeling I’m going to regret this.” His eyes close briefly. “But no sex. No…fucking. We stop before it gets that far.”

  My lady parts clench in protest. “What? Why?”

  His jaw flexes. “Those are the rules, Jilly Beans.” He studies my face intently, his brows going up after a moment. “Amazing. You really want to fight me on the no fucking rule?”

  Jesus, Jill. He’s going to think you’re in heat. “N-no, I guess the rule is reasonable.” I shift on my bare feet. “Maybe you want to save yourself for someone you love—”

  His humorless laugh cuts me off. “Wrong. I want you to save yourself for someone you love.” He adds quietly, “Okay, maybe I don’t want that. But it’s…the right thing to do.”

  If there was ever a moment to tell Zach that I’ve loved him for a decade, maybe longer, this is definitely it. But what if I scare the crap out of him? What if I lose my chance to be near him at all? If he retreats from me now and goes back to hiding in his room, it’ll kill me.

  Ignoring the expanding crack in my chest, I nod. “I’ll meet you at your bedroom window in five.”

  4

  Zach

  Five minutes?

  I look around my room, at the yearbook on my bed, opened to her junior year photo. At the pictures of her taped to my mirror. At the box holding the various articles of clothing she’s left at our house over the years—including a pink bikini I’ve had to launder hundreds of times because I can’t stop jacking myself off with it. I only have five minutes to hide my infatuation with her? Isn’t it written on every inch of my walls? Won’t she walk in here and realize it?

  With a curse, I propel myself into motion, hiding everything I can in my closet. I pick up my dirty laundry and shove it into my laundry basket. I sniff my sheets, thanking God I changed them only two days ago. And all the while, I’m replaying her reaction to the rules.

  They weren’t what I was expecting.

  She seemed almost sad about the second two rules, but that doesn’t make any sense. There is no way in hell she’d want the school knowing about us hooking up. They would laugh at Jill for picking me, the hulking linebacker, when she could literally have any guy she wants. And I won’t have her laughed at. I refuse to be the reason for that.

  Jill picked me to explore her urges because she trusts me. No other reason.

  As the guy she trusts, I’ll protect her the best way I know how.

  And I’ll try not to think of the fact that she wanted to fuck me.

  Yeah right. It’s all I can think about.

  Jesus. I sit down on the edge of my bed and spear my fingers through my hair. She wants me to put my cock inside of her? Take her virginity? It’s everything I’ve been fantasizing about for years, but…guys like me don’t end up with girls like Jill. If we have sex, I don’t think I’ll be able to stand seeing her with anyone else. I know I won’t. I’ll have to move to Spain after graduation and never return.

  She’d regret it, too.

  Once she’s more sexually confident and is ready to go date guys in her league, she’ll wish she didn’t give it up to the bulky giant who just happened to be convenient.

  The knock on the window has my thoughts evaporating like invisible ink.

  There’s only Jill, outlined in the sunset, smiling at me from the backyard.

  I get to my feet and go open the window, reaching a hand down to help her climb in, which she does gracefully, like she does everything else. And then she’s in my room for the first time. And for once, she’s not a fantasy I’ve conjured in my head. She’s really here.

  “How did you make your escape?”

  Her interested gaze dances around the room, landing on everything in seconds. “I told them I forgot my toothbrush and I’m running home to grab it. That should give us…an hour tops. If I tell them I got sidetracked at home.”

  “An hour,” I rasp, uselessly. “That’s good.”

  A little giggle sneaks out of her. “Yeah.”

  Jill starts to continue, but something on my desk catches her attention. “Oh, are those your college applications?” She steps around me and pauses. Everything inside me pauses, too. Fuck. Why didn’t I put them in my closet with everything else? There they are, lined up carefully, the colorful college logos on display. “Those are the the same three schools I applied to, Zach.”

  I close my eyes. “They are?”

  Of course they are. Because I’m a glutton for punishment. I will absolutely follow Jill to college and protect her from the shadows, even if it means watching her meet other guys. I don’t have any other way of existing. I exist to guard her and love her. That’s what I do.

  She turns to face me again and I brace myself. She’s figured out that I’m obsessed with her and she’s about to freak. “But…you could go to a better school. You’re so smart.” She sputters a little. “You’re an honors student. A star athlete. You could go to Harvard or Yale if you want.”

  With a frown, I point at the applications. “Those are good schools, too.”

  “They’re decent at best. They’re for people like me.”

  Suddenly, this belief that I know everything about Jill is no longer true and it panics me. I’m supposed to know her, inside and out. “People like you. What does that mean?”

  She waves it off. “Nothing.”

  “Tell me.”

  “Mediocre. Okay?” She laughs a little too brightly. “Like my mom always says, college is just a formality for the head cheerleader. She’ll eventually just move home and marry the prom king and have babies.”

  There’s a sharp jab and twist in my chest. “That’s some bullshit, Jillian Harding.”

  Her mouth drops open at my use of her full name.

  “You get to decide what your future looks like. People who don’t do amazing in high school go on to do great things. All the damn time. And so will you.” I storm toward her, pissed as hell about the garbage she’s been fed without me knowing. Without me fixing it. “You are kind and intelligent and sweet and creative. The fact that you’re hot and men will fall all over themselves to lock you down…that is not the most important thing about you.”

  Jill blinks up at me. Sucks in a stuttered breath.

  And launches herself at me.

  When her soft, sexy body presses to mine, my thoughts swerve and spill out onto the road. We should keep talking, keep fixing this problem, but her wrists lock behind my neck and she presses up, up onto her toes, locking our mouths together—and I’m fucked. My hands go to her hips automatically, tracing their shape, replacing reality with my endless well of fantasies. She lets me put my tongue in her mouth, she even whimpers at the smooth friction of them rubbing together, her little tits pushing up against my chest.

  Jill breaks the kiss and we’re both breathing hard already, my cock jutting out, seeking relief. Her eyes go glassy when she feels it, biting her lip and teasing it with her tummy. “Maybe being hot isn’t the most important thing about me.” She trails a hand down, over the thick mound of my stomach and cradles my cock, stroking it lightly. “But…it’s the reason this is so hard right now. Isn’t it?”

  No.

  No, that’s not right.

  It’s every part of her, rolled into one, that makes me hard. Not just her body.

  But when I open my mouth to tell her that, she interrupts.

  “I was thinking about what you said. About guys talking about parts of my anatomy…”

  A growl curls my lip. It’s out before I can stop it. “I put them in line for you, baby.”

  “I know.” She leans her body against mine, urging me backwards, and while she doesn’t have the strength to move me, I let her. Let her walk me back until I have to sit down on the bed, leaving her standing between the V of my thighs. “I know you set them straight. But I can’t help but wonder which parts of me they were talking about.” Slowly, she peels off her tank top and I’m rendered speechless. Jill is topless. In my room.

  And her tits are fucking magical.

  They’re perky, just like her. Full, twin globes with juicy nipples. Eager ones.

  I’ve imagined them millions of times and never came close to this perfection.

  She takes my wrist and trails my fingertips up her bare stomach, closing my hand over her right tit and I trap a moan, my hips shifting uncomfortably on the bed.

  “Did they mention these?” Jill whispers, teasing my mouth into a too-brief kiss, leaving me poised on the edge of desperate, before turning around, glancing back at me over her shoulder. “Or were they more focused on this, Zach?”

  She drags her tiny shorts down, revealing her tight ass.

  And she keeps going, bending all the way forward until they’ve reached her ankles and she can kick them off. Jesus Christ. I can’t fucking breathe. Did I just see the pink ring of her asshole? A hint of her pussy? My dick is straining in my sweatpants and perspiration is already rolling down my spine. The backside that has starred in hundreds of sick fantasies is mere inches from my face, her buns small but round, full and luscious.

  No panties.

  “Which parts were they talking about, Zach?” she murmurs, slowly, slowly sitting down right in the center of my lap, her taut buns pressing down on my hard cock. Is this really happening? I’m fully clothed in my bedroom and Jill is completely naked, showing me her body. Every inch of it. I’m already on the verge of coming and she only climbed in through my window ten minutes ago. She circles her ass and I groan brokenly, my head falling back. “Well?”

  “I won’t repeat the nasty shit they said,” I pant.

  “No, I had a feeling you wouldn’t.” She takes my hand again, bringing it around the front of her. No, she’s not…she’s not going to…but she does. She cups my hand between her thighs, all of that moist, girlish softness filling my palm—Jesus—and I tighten my grip without thinking. It’s just instinct. Her pussy has always been mine, at least in my head, and my hand moves on its own. “Yes, Zach,” she moans, grinding on my lap. “They might have said nasty things about my body, but…you’re the only one who’ll ever see it. Touch it.”

  “Thank you.” I mutter thickly, not comprehending her meaning. “Thank you.”

  I exhale shakily into her shoulder, my fingers beginning to move, to play with her pussy, marveling at the delicate flesh, the way she releases a long breath, like she was just waiting for me to stroke her. Dying for it.

  A movement a few feet away brings my attention up and I realize…I realize I can see the front of her in my full-length mirror. I can see her working her hips in my lap, my huge fingers stroking through the tiny folds of her sex. And it’s like watching porn and experiencing it at the same time. It’s almost too much to handle, my balls hardening like stones. She is the most beautiful girl on earth and I’m twice her size, a sheen of sweat on my forehead while she’s fresh as a daisy, perfection in the flesh. If I wasn’t so turned on, I might be horrified at this beauty and the beast scenario playing out, but she’s so hot in my lap, her sweet ass raking up and back on my stiff dick, more and more wetness beginning to soak my fingers.

  “Horny little thing,” I grunt against her ear.

  Did I just say that out loud? I’m immediately horrified. I’d kill another guy for speaking to her with such disrespect. That is…until I see her eyes light up, hear her breath catch.

  “More,” she pushes past swollen lips. “M-more talking.”

  I find her clit with the pad of my middle finger and worry it firmly. “Is this what you came in here for, baby? You needed me to take care of you?” In the mirror’s reflection, I watch her back arch. Watch her throw her thighs wider, draping them over mine, opening her pussy to my gaze, my touch. Goddamn, she’s incredible. An angel that’s been cursed with a budding sex drive and I’m the chosen one who’s lucky enough to relieve her. “I’ll service this little pink cunt of yours. Day or night.”

  And I don’t know why I do it, but I slap her pussy.

  I slap it twice.

  “Zach!” Jill’s head falls back on my shoulder and her petite body shakes with such violence, I’m worried I hurt her. Until I feel the deluge of moisture coating my fingertips…and I realize I made her come. She liked me talking nasty to her, being a little rough, and Jesus, for someone who has always worried I’d be too physically demanding with her, on account of my size, that blows my mind. The eager writhes of her ass in my lap as she orgasms make my breath wheeze in and out, my fingers continuing to stroke her clit through to the end.