Page 72 of The Trouble with Love and Ink
“Fuck keeping quiet,” he said across my opening. “I love the way you say my name.” Then he went back to feasting on me.
I bit my hand to muffle the sound, but I couldn’t stay silent when the orgasm ripped through me. As I throbbed, Beck continued licking, relishing every bit of my pleasure. "Absolutely exquisite," he mumbled, then kissed his way up my stomach, my chest, and finally to my lips. It took a long time for the hammering of my heart to calm down.
Beck had begun tracing constellations of freckles on my shoulders, but as soon as my breathing was under control, I pushed him flat on his back, wrapped my hand around him, and stroked.
He exposed his throat as he pressed the back of his head into the pillow. “Emily,” he gasped, “you don’t have to—oh God!” I’d put my mouth around him. The competitive nature in me took charge. It was his turn to stay quiet while I pleasured him. I licked him as slowly as I could from base to tip. “Fuck!”
We were getting dressed when my phone rang—loud in the quiet morning air. I scrambled to answer, hoping to reach it before it woke up the rest of the wedding party in the surrounding tents—hoping we hadn’t done that already with our intimate experience.
“It’s Wesley,” I said, wondering what had come up at work that warranted the early call.
Especially when I was supposed to be helping my dad with his busted knee.
“Don’t answer it. You’re on PTO,” Beck said, pulling on his boxers.
“Don’t you think it’s weird he’s calling me?” I asked, quickly climbing into my romper—a perfect, comfy outfit for the trip back to Manuel Antonio.
Beck found a pair of shorts in his suitcase, which lay on the coffee table thanks to the creepy crawly visitor he’d had the day before. He examined the shorts for good measure before putting them on.
My phone quieted in my hand. “See? If it was important, he’d send an email. Or he’ll call again.”
Beck’s phone started vibrating next.
“I think it’s important,” I said flatly.
Beck rolled his eyes. “Of course, his phone calls would have no problem coming through,” he said, tugging on a shirt before answering. “Hey, Wes.”
“Beck, we need to talk.” Beck had put the call on speaker, and I could hear the tightness in Wesley’s voice. Driving noises blanketed the background, so something was serious enough that it couldn’t wait until he got to the office. Worse, I’d never heard him get so serious with Beck. Wesley had always spoken to him as though they’d been on the same basketball team, whipped each other with towels in the locker room—the sort of tone that was saved for the boys. Not now.
“Sure,” Beck said, reading the situation and ditching the light tone he’d answered with.
“And by ‘we,’ I mean you, me.” He huffed out a breath. “And Emily.”
My heart dropped into my stomach.
Beck’s eyes flashed to mine, but he stayed cool. “Emily? Isn’t she in Kansas with her dad?”
“Look, I like you. So, before you go any further, I want you to know that I’ve already seen the picture on Facebook. Hold on.” Wesley then proceeded to place his Starbucks order.
Beck mouthed, What the fuck? and tapped on a Facebook notification. There were two hundred thirty-four likes on a new picture Beck had been tagged in by Madison.
And there it was. Beck and I were in our swimsuits, asleep on the day-bed by the pool. Spooning.
I turned away from it, rejecting the picture and what it meant that my boss had seen it. Having a complete breakdown, I shoved my face into the nearest pillow and screamed.
Then I pulled back, seething. Madison hadn’t posted that to be sweet. She knew I didn’t want my picture taken. At dinner the other night, I’d told the whole group that I couldn’t let my brother find out where I was.
Only there wasn’t a brother to worry about but my fucking job.
After placing the order for his chai latte, Wesley said, “So is she with you now?”
Beck looked at me, misery plain on his face.
I felt like a kid sitting outside the principal’s office. No point in delaying the inevitable.
“Yes. I’m here.”
“Good. I’ll only have to say this once. What you two did was reckless. Irresponsible. Our relationship policy is spelled out clearly. You must be upfront with things of this nature. There are contracts that have to be signed covering consent as well as expectations should the relationship have an unsavory end. Not to mention, the two of you lied, leaving the team scrambling right before a convergence.”
