AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Get over here,” I growled to Ciaran as I grabbed for him. He gave me a long, heated gaze before he straddled me as best he could. The air was thick between us as his mouth crashed on mine.
Our kisses were frantic, like maybe we’d get pulled apart too soon to expend the energy between us. Our blue jeans were restrictive, but his growing budge equally matched mine.
“Fuck, it’s going to be difficult to keep my hands off you,” I told Ciaran as I slashed my tongue down his neck. His skin was salty and I was fully prepared to lose all sensation on my tongue to keep tasting him.
“I’ll keep you honest,” Ciaran said with a husky laugh. “I have a very strong willpower.”
“Glad one of us does,” I said, chuckling.
“Hey, back there,” Joan called out. “You keep that up, lover boys, we’ll start filming.”
Ciaran froze and I thought he was about to snap at Joan. Instead, he climbed out of my lap. His face transformed into someone with a heavy thought on the mind.
“That’s it,” Ciaran said. “I know it wasn’t your intention to throw my mind back to Coach Anderson, but I’ve been thinking about it. I think Filipe is right. It was a set-up, Matty.” Ciaran seethed even though it was clear he was thinking straight. “That motherfucker did all of that on purpose. But there’s a part none of you have realized yet.”
“What?” I asked.
“He didn’t tell Zoey everything.”
“We don’t know that,” Filipe said.
“Actually, we do. She point-blank asked Matty if he was gay tonight,” Ciaran added. “She was shocked to her toes to see him kissing me. If she knew about the contents of the video, then she’d clearly have known about his preferences.”
“Damn, Ciaran’s right,” Joan said. Her eyes found mine in the rearview mirror. Her gaze spoke volumes.
I saw the deep admiration in her dark eyes. Joan, Filipe, and I were as thick as thieves. We did not just let anyone in our circle of trust.
“Why does that matter?” I asked. A sliver of hope pinched my insides but I still wasn’t seeing how this was revolutionary information.
“It means,” Ciaran said, “that she could be convinced to help us if we told her the full story. Coach Anderson has the video of you on his phone. Zoey is the only one with actual access to his electronics. We might be able to convince her to delete the video.”
“Hell,” I said, raking a hand through my hair. “That might work.”
“Have we told you how much we love you, Ciaran?” Filipe asked.
A new feeling spread across my chest. It was warm and gooey and I had this fear of losing Ciaran just as soon as I’d found him.
I stared at him and smiled. How could I have ever disliked Ciaran Galbraith?
37
CIARAN
The moon’s reflection glowed against the surface of the Pacific Ocean’s ink-dark water when Joan parked at the beach access near Point Dume. My Malibu geography was improving by the day. I knew that we weren’t too far from the Vaulteneau Estate. In fact, we could probably walk home from here.
I checked the time. It was close to midnight. We’d grabbed a late dinner from a drive-thru before we’d left Los Angeles proper, but Joan had detailed specifications on how we could eat the burgers and fries in her car.
“Just this one time,” Joan had said as we pulled up to order the food. “You can eat one fry and that’s it until we get out of the car.”
Truth was, I was famished after the day’s excitement and revelations. Granted, I was hungry for more than actual food. With Matty’s arm wrapped around my shoulder and my hand leisurely lying on his thigh, I’d been wanting more of his kisses, but we’d kept things PG-13 after that last searing kiss.
Plus, my mind was reeling on Matty’s predicament, while also trying to think of ways to help him. I didn’t know Zoey, so I had no clue on the best way to approach her with our theories.
“Don’t take the bait, my dude.” Filipe’s chuckle brought me back to the present as he handed us the greasy take-out bag. “Joan’s on an adventure high right now. If she finds even one grain of salt in the backseat, she will go nuclear on your ass.”
Matty nudged me, a grin on his face. “Don’t eat anything until we get out of the car. Joan might be petite but she’s a boar when riled up.”
The savory smell of hot, salty fries filled the car and it was a hard-fought battle to close the paper bag.
