Dirty Boy by Nichole Rose

 

Chapter Five

Ella

 

"Have you always wanted to play football?" I ask Dante. We're relaxing on a blanket on the beach, the remains of our meal spread around us. His aunt is an amazing cook. The sun is slowly sinking toward the horizon, lighting the entire expanse of ocean with its bright rays. Little Tybee Island at sunset is exactly as beautiful as Dante said, more maybe.

I feel a little like we're in a world of our own out here. In a way, I guess we are. Aside from the captain of the boat that brought us over, it's just us and the animals that call this island home out here. It's peaceful, soothing.

Or maybe it's Dante who makes me feel that way. The more time I spend with him, the harder the thought of letting him go gets. He's completely ridiculous, of course, but he's also incredibly sweet and charming. He loves his family so much and wants what's best for them.

"For as long as I remember." He runs a hand down my back. He's been touching me all evening. I love it far more than I should. "I was a little destructive after my dad died. My therapist suggested sports to my mom. He thought a physical outlet might help. Mom enrolled me in a Peewee League a couple weeks later. It's been football for me ever since."

"You must be good at it," I say.

"I don't suck," he says, chuckling. "I like the challenge and the physicality of the sport. Sometimes, it's fucking great to smash into someone else to blow off steam. And I got a full ride, so my mom didn't have to try to find a way to send me to college."

"Me too. So long as I keep my grade point average above a three point five, I'll keep my scholarship."

"Damn, baby girl. That's going to be tough."

"It won't be so bad," I say with a shrug. "School has always been pretty easy for me."

"What's your major?"

"History."

"Yeah?" he asks, smiling.

"I want to teach, preferably at the college level."

"Not little kids?"

"I love kids, but little kid history isn't real history," I saw, wrinkling my nose. "Half of what schools teach isn't even accurate. I want to teach real history, the stuff that shaped the world we live in now. The world has gone through so many incredible phases and periods to get us here."

"History excites you," he says, grinning at me like he thinks I'm adorable.

"The world excites me. There's so much to see and do and learn." I wrap my arms around my legs, turning my head to look back out at the ocean again. The sun is minutes away from sinking. "I want to experience all of it."

"You will," Dante says, sitting up beside me. He wraps his arms around my waist and then lifts me off the ground. Before I can even form a protest, he's easing me back down between his legs, my back to his chest.

His hand skims along my shoulder, sweeping my hair out of the way.

"You're so damn cute when you get excited." He nuzzles his face into my throat. "Your eyes light up and you talk with your hands."

"I do?"

"Mmhmm," he hums.

His warm breath whispers across my neck, causing my skin to pebble. I shiver, melting against him. He is so damn hard to resist. Everything about him is so much more than I was prepared to handle. The way he makes me feel is more than I was prepared to feel.

When summer ends, leaving him is going to break my heart.

Even though we're going to the same school, it can't last. He has his sister and his mom to think about. My dad has ruined enough in my life. I won't let him ruin Dante's shot at making a difference for his family. And he would ruin it, especially after what I did. He'd destroy Dante's career just to punish me. That's the family I grew up with. A criminal with no conscience, no soul.

Even if he didn't hurt Dante just to punish me, the last thing Dante needs is for the NFL to find out he's dating me. My dad isn't a small-time drug dealer. He's not a petty criminal. He's so deep into the underworld, it's been years since he last saw the light. He's the boss, the one who pulls the strings to make the puppets dance. Everyone whispers about him, but no one knows the truth. I think they're all too afraid to look too hard for it. But when his world comes crashing down—and it will eventually—it's going to leave entire craters of destruction. Dante doesn't need that in his life.

"What are you thinking about so hard?" Dante asks.

"Just thinking," I say.

His soft sigh fans strands of my hair. "One of these days, you'll trust me with your secrets."

"I don't have secrets."

"You do." He presses his lips to the side of my neck in a soft kiss. "That's all right though. You don't know me well yet, and don't know if you can trust me with them. But I'm not going anywhere, Ella. I can wait until you're ready."

"Ready for what?" I ask, tilting my head to give him more room. Feeling his lips against my skin is incredible. It's almost as if I feel him everywhere when he kisses that spot. My nipples harden, something deep inside my belly warming.

"To fall in love me," he says.

"Dante, I–"

He turns my head, capturing my mouth with his before I can say anything further. As soon as his lips touch mine, the moan that's been building since he started touching me escapes. It's so much louder than I expected, pulled from deep, deep down inside. He's the only one who has ever reached that spot. I think he's the only one I want to ever reach that spot.

The urge to be closer to him, to feel him all over me, strikes hot and fast.

I scramble to my knees, trying to keep kissing him at the same time. He seems to know what I want and helps lift me up. When I'm in his arms, he lays back, pulling me down on top of him.

I feel every inch of his body beneath mine and moan again. Like most football players, he's big and brawny. I feel small on top of him, somehow both vulnerable and strong at the same time. No one has ever made me feel that way before.

I've always avoided getting close to many people because of my dad. The things he does, the person he is, I didn't want anyone to know. The rumors were bad enough without having someone around to confirm them. With Dante beneath me, his hands on my ass and his lips on mine, I'm suddenly grateful that I've never experienced any of this before now. I want it to be him. I think…I think maybe it was always supposed to be him.

I shift slightly and his erection hits me just right. A bolt of pleasure shoots through me, striking every nerve-ending in my body. I cry out, stunned at how good it feels.

"Fuck, baby girl," he growls, squeezing my ass in his hands. He slides me up an inch before moving me back down so his erection grinds against my clit again. "I can't wait to feel you on top of me like this when you're naked."

"I…" I stop talking to moan and then try again, "I've never…oh my God, Dante. That feels so good." There is no way it's supposed to feel this good. We're both still fully clothed!

"You trying to tell me you're a virgin, Ella?" he asks.

"Y-yes."

"Fuck." He rolls to the right, moving me with him. The next thing I know, I'm on my back on the blanket, staring up at his wild blue eyes. He shoves his hand between us, cupping my center in his palm. "You never let anyone touch my pussy before, Ella?"

His pu…? Oh my God.

"No," I moan, rocking against his hand. "No one."

"Good girl," he says, and somehow, that only makes me burn hotter for him. He leans down, chasing my mouth with his again. His tongue touches mine as he grinds his palm against me. "You'll be my first too, Ella. My only."

He's a virgin?

He grinds his palm against my center again, and my thoughts scatter to the wind. All I can think about is how good it feels. He touches me like he knows my body better than I do, like it was made for him. I love it so much it's slightly terrifying.

He doesn't let me feel that fear for long.

His mouth slashes down on mine again, hotter, demanding. He doesn't just kiss me this time. He steals my soul right out of my body, annihilating any chance I have of keeping him at a distance or ending this without completely shattering my heart.

"Dante," I whimper, my stomach clenching as he drags me toward the edge of an orgasm big enough to change my entire world. And I want it. So damn badly. I learn something about myself in this moment. I'm greedy, desperate. I want to be his first and only…and I want him to be mine too.

I cry out as the pleasure grows to unbearable levels. And then I fall, my voice echoing around us as twilight creeps over the island. Dante works me through it, crooning praises and grinding his palm against me until the last aftershock fades and I'm left trembling beneath him.

"Beautiful," he murmurs, kissing me softly, sweetly.

"Dante," I whisper back, clinging to him, terrified to let him go. And equally as terrified to let him come any closer.

God, what am I doing?

 

 

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Dante asks, peppering my shoulder with kisses as we cuddle on the boat, headed back toward civilization. It's almost completely dark, but the captain seems to know exactly what he's doing and where he's going. The lights on the boat cut through the dark water, illuminating the ripples along the surface.

"Working."

"After work."

"Um, I don't know."

"Good. After we drop your car off with Milo, you can have dinner with me," he says.

"I thought we said one date."

"We did. But you didn't say I couldn't ask you on a second one." He grins at me. "You can say no, baby girl. I'll have to fake drowning again if you do, but the choice is yours."

"You're banned from my beach."

"You can't ban me from a public beach."

"Says who?"

"Uh, God? The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence?"

I shake my head, laughing. "You're terrible, you know that?"

"No," he says, his voice somber. "I just know what I want. If I have to play dirty to get it, then I will. You belong with me, Ella. I'm not giving up until you see it too."

I see it. But I don't tell him that.

"I'll go out with you on one condition."

"Name it."

"Your sister goes with us."

His brows furrow. "You want my sister to go on a date with us?"

"I want you to spend time with her," I correct. It's way too soon to meet his family, but I don't care about the rules. I want him to spend as much time with Chelsea as he can, especially since he won't get to do this with her next summer. "You came here this summer to hang out with her. I don't want to be the reason you don't get to do that. So if we go out tomorrow, she goes with us."

"Counteroffer."

I wave my hand, giving him permission to make his counteroffer.

"You have dinner with us at Nan's tomorrow, and then I get you to myself for a while. Nan and Chelsea won't share you. They'll want you all to themselves," he says, and I think he's actually pouting about it.

"You want me to have dinner with your family tomorrow night?" I ask, smiling.

"Yes."

"Okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I'll have dinner with you and your family."

He looks so much like an excited little boy, I can't help but laugh. How it's possible for a man who looks like him to be adorable, I don't know, but he is. He's so many amazing things all wrapped into one delicious package. I don't understand how he wasn't scooped up long before now. But I'm glad he wasn't.

"I'm glad you were the one who hit my car," I blurt before I can talk myself out of it.

"You know I only missed the dog because I was staring at your ass, right?" he asks, going back to feathering kisses all over my shoulders and neck.

The captain hears him and makes a sound in the back of his throat.

"You were not."

"Uh, yeah the fuck I was," he says, pulling back to look at me like I'm crazy. "You were waving it in the air like a juicy steak. You're lucky I didn't hit every car in the fucking parking lot."

"Dante!" I smack him on the shoulder when the captain makes another sound, louder this time. I think he's laughing at us.

"It's true," Dante mutters, grabbing my hand. He places a kiss on my palm and then lays it on his thigh. "I damn near had a heart attack." He sits quietly for a minute and then whispers, "That fucking sexy, round ass," beneath his breath.

I bury my face in his shoulder, laughing loudly.