Feel the Rush: A Hard Feelings Novel (InterMix) (21 page)

“I’ve always lived for the thrill, it was another thing Mac and I shared.” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple rising and falling slowly. “But yeah, it makes me feel closer to him, and I want to feel every rush life has to offer.”

Meagan didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything. He was her Mr. Thrill, living for the rush, living life day by day, never slowing down. And now she understood.

He continued to glide his hands up and down her shins. The rough pads of his fingers softly scratched her smooth skin. Her lids started to feel heavy, but she kept her eyes on Reed, watching him breathe as his head rested against the back of the couch, his eyes drilling holes into the ceiling.

She blinked her eyes slowly, and when she opened them again, she was staring at the bedroom wall. She felt Reed’s arms tangle around her as he pulled her back against his chest, wrapping his body against her. He stroked her hair that spilled out above her pillow and kissed the back of her head.

“I want to live as much life as possible, baby,” he whispered softly, thinking she was still asleep. “You never know when it will be gone.”

Chapter Twenty

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Reed said as Meagan walked out of the bedroom.

Her eyes shifted side to side before they landed on him. “What?”

His head weaved up and down as he took in her choice of swimwear. “You are trying to kill me, aren’t you, woman?”

“Kill you? No. Impress you, turn you on, drive you crazy . . . yes.”

He nodded, picked up his Red Bull and took a drink. He set the can down and looked her over one more time and winked. “Mission accomplished.”

She ambled into the kitchen and stepped between his legs. Her bare stomach pressed against his warm, bare chest as she linked her arms around his neck. “So what’s on the agenda for today?”

“To put you back in my bed.”

He grabbed onto her waist and she pulled away, moving out of his grasp. Yes, she would love to slide back into bed with him, and this time naked, but after last night’s mood that set the stage for their weekend away, she just wanted to get him out. She knew Reed. He was going to lose his mind if he stayed cooped up in this condo all day—even if they were tangled in the bed together.

“That sounds very promising but—”

His eyebrows pulled down as he pouted. “Promising? Are you doubting my abilities to deliver?”

Her nose scrunched as she shook her head. “Never.”

He reached for her again. “Good.”

“But I would love to spend the day on the beach,” she said, quickly taking another step back. He had that twinkle in his eye, that devilish, playful smirk on his face that told her if she kept running, he would have no problem chasing her.

“In that bikini?” His deep voice rolled over the words, his tone implying exactly what Meagan had predicted.

She squared her shoulders as he stood and took a steady step toward her. She wanted to clear her throat, which suddenly felt clogged with anticipation, but she didn’t want to waver in her confidence. It was already sliding down a slippery slope. She lifted her eyes to his and held them. “Yes.”

His steps stalled and he tilted his head back and laughed. “You’re killin’ me, woman.”

She cocked her eyebrow at him in question.

“How am I supposed to relax when you will be parading on the beach nearly naked all fucking day?”

She pushed aside the burn in her cheeks from restraining her smile. He was too cute when he was all playful and pouty and shirtless. Okay, cute wasn’t the right word. He was sexy.

She hoisted her hands on her hips. “Not my problem.”

His lips parted and she had that oh-shit moment. She had just lit the fire under his ass. “Oh, it’ll be your problem when I won’t be able to keep my hands off you,” he said as he took slow, deliberate steps, closing the small space between them.

Her hands formed a wall between her and Reed as he slammed into her. She pushed against his chest but barely made a dent in adding space between their bodies. “Did you even consider that was my intention?”

“I like the way your mind works, sugar,” he whispered as he leaned in to make her lose all relevant trains of thought as he pressed his lips to her neck. She knew how he operated and she leaned back, dodging his advance.

Meagan’s phone buzzed on the kitchen counter, and she ducked to the side, Reed damn near falling over. “Go get ready,” she ordered to Reed. He leaned back up and stretched lazily, reaching his muscular arms above his head. His chest expanded as he yawned. “You sure I can’t get you back in bed?”

She laughed. “Not gonna work. Go.”

She picked up her phone, sliding her finger across the screen to unlock it. It was a text from Eva.

How is PC

Good

Have u made it out of the bed yet :)

Yes

Too bad

Lol . . . what r u doing today

You mean who am I doing today ;)

Luke coming over?

Yes. He’s on his way now

Have fun! Heading to beach now. ttyl. <3

Meagan set the phone back down on the counter and started grabbing water bottles and beers out of the fridge, packing them strategically in her cooler bag. She had her head stuck in the fridge when she heard Reed’s bare feet pad back into the kitchen.

“All right, I’m ready to go.”

“Okay, just a sec. Let me put these . . .” She turned around, and Reed in all of his sexy-naked-man glory was standing in front of her. His feet were set apart, his arms hanging loosely at his sides, and an annoyingly addictive, lopsided grin was stretched across his scruffy face.

Meagan licked her lips and Reed’s smile got even wider—if that was possible. Dammit. “I didn’t realize this was a nude beach,” she joked.

“Yeah, well, seeing as you are teasing the hell out of me, strutting around in your barely there bikini, giving me all sorts of ideas as to what I would like to do to you once I finally get you back in my bed, I thought I would return the favor. I forgot my lucky Speedos, so birthday suit was the next best thing.”

“Mmm.” She nodded then turned back around to grab a few more beers. When she looked at him again his cocky smirk hadn’t faltered—apparently her attempt at feigning lack of interest wasn’t working.

His cock was hard. His body was hard. His jaw was set hard. The only thing soft on that man was his eyes. And not only were they looking at her with that playful gleam, they looked like they were penetrating her.

“Dammit, Reed,” she snapped, then threw herself against him. She felt his lips hold their smile the whole time they were working their magic over hers. His hands wound around her and his cock pressed against her stomach.

He lifted her under her butt and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He carried her through the condo to the bedroom and fell against the bed.

He rained kisses over her entire body—her stomach, her thigh, her toes. He was all mouth and tongue and raw, hot need.

He ran his mouth between her legs and over the top her bikini bottoms before he settled his hips between her thighs. She could feel the swell of his cock pressing through the fabric that separated them.

“I knew I’d find a way to get you back in my bed.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re sexy, and tricky, and I’m weak and horny. I get it. Now take my clothes off and have your way with me before I change my mind.”

His forehead fell into the curve of her neck as he shook with laughter. “Yes, ma’am,” he breathed against her shoulder. She shuddered.

Damn that accent.

***

Meagan was sprawled out on a beach towel, on her stomach, her ass perky and perfect and in complete view. The pink bottoms barely covered her ass cheeks, and the sweet, soft curve that meet her thighs was making an appearance. And even though they were laying on the beach, in the middle of the day, with families and couples and drunken college kids surrounding them, he couldn’t help the impulse he felt to lower his mouth and sink his teeth into the plump flesh—but he didn’t.

Reed reclined back onto his elbows, the backs of his calves burning as they pressed into the hot, white sand. He could hear the soft sighs coming from Meagan as his head hovered close to hers. She was asleep.

Her face was clammy, and a sheen of moisture accumulated on her forehead and above her lip. Small beads of sweat rolled down the delicate dip in her back. Her shoulders glistened and her blond hair stuck to the back of her neck and the sides of her face. She was hot, and sweaty, and softly snoring—and she was fucking beautiful.

Reed reached his hand into the cooler bag and dipped it into the melted ice. He held his hand over the small of Meagan’s back and let the ice water drip from his fingertips to her heated skin. She didn’t even flinch.

He repeated his task, dipping his hand in, then cooling her with the cold drops. He did this to her back, her shoulders, her arms, and the backs of her thighs.

“Thanks, baby,” she muttered sleepily.

“Did I wake you?”

“It’s okay, it felt good,” she said, rolling onto her back. The front of her body had the pattern from the cotton of the towel embedded in red on her skin.

He splayed his palm out flat over her stomach and laughed when she sucked in a quick breath. “Your hand is freezing!”

“Hey, look.” He sat up and nodded out toward the water.

“What?” Meagan asked, pushing herself up next to him.

“Parasailing.”

Her big baby blues widened and her mouth made a perfect little O shape, and the sight caused him to shift his body on the towel. “Oh no! Don’t even think about it.”

“A promise is a promise, baby.” He stretched back out and laid his head on her lap. “I wouldn’t.”

She sighed and ran her hand through his hair. “But you want to?”

“It’s fun. And the view of the ocean is completely different when you’re hovering above it.”

Her face pinched together. “Can’t you just do nothing? Settle down for a little while?” she sneered.

“Why would I want to settle down? There’re way too many things to see out there, too many places to go and shit to try. You’re missing out, baby.”

Her eyebrows pulled in and he could see her mind turning, like she was shifting through her thoughts, and whatever they were, they weren’t sitting well with her.

“You thinking about it?”

She blinked, moving her eyes from the waves crashing into the shoreline in front of them. “Hell no. What if the line snapped? What if the parasail broke and fell into the water and I got tangled up in the sail? Not a chance in hell.”

He laughed. “You’re cute when you’re ranting, you know that?”

“Because cute is exactly what I’m going for.” She pouted. But something else was souring the light mood she had only moments ago when she woke up.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said, her tone warning, and he knew he had said something to piss her off.

Her phone took that moment to buzz, along with his phone, which started ringing inside the beach bag. Reed grabbed his phone from where he had wadded it up in his towel. It was Sanders. “Hello?”

“We got a problem, bro.”

“What?” he said as he laid his head back down on Meagan’s lap.

“Murano’s been at the bar since about two o’clock, Eva and I just picked him up.”

Reed sat up. “Bridgette?” he assumed. She was the center of all of Murano’s whisky binges.

“Yeah. It’s not good.”

Reed huffed a frustrated breath. “Goddammit. Not good how?”

“Not good as in he’s piss-ass drunk on my couch right now, threatening to go to her.”

“Did you take his keys?”

“What the fuck do you think, of course I did. But you know how he gets when he’s fucked-up like this, he won’t listen to me.”

Reed turned his head to look at Meagan, who was texting on her phone. He saw Eva’s name scrolled at the top. Meagan was more than likely getting the exact conversation he was. Dammit, he didn’t want to leave. Something was up with her. He could feel it.

“Reed?” Sanders said when he didn’t reply. He was distracted, and he couldn’t help feel a sinking feeling burn in his gut, like sharp iron daggers were branding him on the inside.

“Yeah?”

“I’m just gonna throw him in my room and hope like hell he passes the fuck out.”

Meagan looked at him and smiled faintly and stood up, grabbing her bag and the towel with her. “No, we’re coming.”

***

The ride back was the fastest fucking four-hour drive of his life. Meagan had slipped up this wall between them. She was putting it off, pretending she was fine, but there was a small hesitance to her—and he felt like he was losing her all over again.

A case of déjà vu swept over him, just like when he left the cabin a little less than a month ago, he was driving home with the feeling that things had changed, and for the worse.

Meagan held on tighter to him than ever. She kept moving her hands over his chest and his stomach. She had even slid her fingers under the hem of his shirt and splayed her hands out on his bare skin. Even that felt off—somehow changed.

They pulled into Sanders’ driveway and parked behind his truck. It was just now getting dark, but the fading sun did little to relieve the August heat and beads of sweat instantly started to form around his hairline now that the wind was no longer pounded against his face.

“I’ll wait outside,” Meagan said as she climbed off the bike.

“No, Eva’s still here. Come in.” He grabbed her hand and held it tightly in his as they walked up to the porch.

Luke opened the door before Reed’s hand had a chance to touch the handle. “Hey.”

“How’s he doin’?” Reed asked, shouldering past Luke, pulling Meagan along with him

“Well, he’s sobered up some, so he’s at least making full sentences now, and he hasn’t taken a swing a me in the last hour or so,” he explained as they walked down the narrow hall that led to the living room.

Eva was perched on a barstool next to Murano, who looked like he had been run over by a semi and dragged down the interstate. His eyes were glassed over and it was hard to determine whether it was from the obvious hell he was going through or if it was from the empty bottle of Crown on the counter.

“Hey, my man.”

Eva turned her head when she heard Reed’s voice and popped off the barstool, but Murano just kept his eyes focused on the ground.

Reed dropped Meagan’s hand as Eva came and swung her arm around her.

“Hey, babes, how was your romantic getaway? I told Luke we could handle tough-guy over there”—she nodded toward Murano—“until tomorrow, but supposedly Reed is the only one who can talk some sense into his drunk ass.”

“Nah, I just don’t have a problem kicking his ass if need be.”

“Well hell, I could have done that for you,” Eva said.

Meagan laughed, and for some reason the sound was like fresh oxygen to his lungs. He was happy to hear her laugh.

“Murano,” Reed coaxed, walking up behind him and slapping him on the back. “What happened?”

His face remained locked toward the floor. “I was at the gym this morning and she called, but I fucking missed it.”

He sat down on the seat next to him and glanced back at Meagan, who was talking quietly to Eva. “Okay?”