Imperfect Match Read online

  “Good, because there is nothing funny about my dick. It is a very serious, very large, very important thing.”

  I burst out laughing. “Is that so?”

  “Yes, that’s so,” he parrots, tickling my ribcage and making me shriek. “Do you want to feel how large and serious it is?”

  I roll my eyes while shaking my head. “I think I got a good idea of that last night.”

  He beams. “You did, but maybe you forgot.”

  As much as I’d love to stay in bed and be reminded, I have to get up because today is my parents’ anniversary party. “You can remind me tonight, affffter …”

  “After?”

  “After we go to my parents’ party.”

  Reid groans, tossing his arm over his eyes. “That’s today?”

  “It is.”

  “Did you plan this?”

  “Plan what?” I ask, completely confused.

  “That you’d magically decide you love me and then remind me it was your parents’ anniversary party?”

  He’s a special snowflake, that’s for sure. “First of all, you agreed to go to this party months ago. Second, the only thing I planned was to find you someone to love—I had no idea it would be me.”

  Reid presses his lips against mine and then tosses me back against the pillows. My hands are in his hair, holding him to me. Kissing him like this is beyond words. It’s fun and amazing and weird, because I never really thought it would happen, and yet ... it’s right.

  We’re right.

  “Well, it is you.” Reid hovers over me. “It’s you, Wills.”

  “It’s you too. Now,” I tell him, pressing my hand against his chest and pushing up. “Let’s get going.”

  “I would much rather get naked.”

  Same here, buddy. “Do you want to shower at your place and meet me?”

  “No.”

  “Well, what’s your plan?”

  Reid gets to his feet and walks around the bed. Before I have a chance to ask him what the hell he’s doing, he leans down and tosses me over his shoulder. I let out a squeak when his palm lands on my bare ass.

  “Reid! Put me down!”

  “Nope.”

  He marches into the bathroom, turns the water on, and deposits me on the edge of the sink. The granite is freezing, but when he kisses me, hard and deep, I no longer care. Our lips move together, each of us desperate for the other. He lifts me again, my legs wrap around his middle and he walks me into the shower, where his plan becomes very, very clear.

  “Stop fidgeting,” he tells me as we stand outside the door to my parents’ lakefront home, where the party is being held.

  “They’ll know.”

  He takes my hand in his. “They probably already suspect you’re not a virgin, Wills.”

  “But now they’ll know for sure. They’ll see it on my face or experience some sort of weird mind detection thing. You know my family is a bunch of wacko hippies who see through your soul. We can’t go in there. Let’s just head back.”

  Reid had to listen to me fret for half the ride. I wasn’t nervous until we were about midway here and stuck in traffic. He started joking about how my mom was going to know we had sex since I can’t stop smiling and he can’t stop touching me.

  Then ... I freaked.

  My parents are cool, but I don’t know how cool they’ll be about this. It’s Reid. It’s sex with Reid. Mom might be fine because she’s all about love and intimacy, my dad ... not so much. Not to mention, I’m still sort of reeling from the whole thing myself.

  Reid and I are dating. We’re the Ross and Rachel of our apartment and I’m sorting through a lot of feelings right now.

  “We’re not heading back,” he says.

  “I’m not going in there.”

  He lets out a groan. “We drove up here, it’s your parents’ anniversary, and you’re being ridiculous.” Reid rings the doorbell before I can stop him.

  “I hate you.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  I glare at him, pulling my hand away. “I could.”

  “Yeah, but you don’t.”

  “I do.”

  He wraps his long fingers that do amazing things around mine and holds tight. So much for not holding his hand. His head leans down, eyes locked on mine. “I don’t think you could hate me. I don’t think either of us ever could hate the other. Now …” He smirks. “Relax so I can kiss you and remind you that you love me.”

  How can I relax when his lips are this close and I can almost taste him? I lean up, just a bit because now I want to kiss him. I want him to remind me because his reminders are the best. I no longer care that we’re at my parents’ house. I don’t care about a damn thing but this man’s mouth on mine, and then, right before we touch, the door opens.

  Like a child caught with a hand in the cookie jar, I pull back.

  My mother’s eyes widen for a second seeing how close our lips were, then looks down at our joined hands, and smiles. “Well, this isn’t much of a surprise,” Mom’s voice is filled with an I-told-you-so tone. “But it did take you two long enough.”

  “Hi, Mrs. Hayes.”

  “Hello, Reid, my darling.” She touches his cheek. “I’m glad to see you here.”

  “I …” Reid pauses and then looks at me. “Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

  Oh, please. We are not doing this game again. He plays my mother like a fiddle and she needs to know that all that charm is polished bullshit.

  “He forgot, Mom. He forgot all about your big day. If it weren’t for me reminding him, he wouldn’t even have been here. He might’ve been holed up in his apartment, watching This is Us because he’s a huge fan.”

  She snorts with a laugh. “I don’t believe that for one second. Reid already sent us flowers.”

  “He what?”

  “They arrived this morning. Thank you for the thoughtful gift, Reid.”

  When the hell did he send them flowers? He forgot until I reminded him. Then we went in the shower and I got ready …

  Oh, that bastard.

  He’s good.

  I glare at him. “Well, it seems my boyfriend just thought of everything, didn’t he?”

  Wait, I said boyfriend. Holy shit. Reid is my boyfriend ... right? I mean, we’re dating so that would be the appropriate term. We both already confessed we love each other, which would insinuate that we’re exclusive and that this is really what we’re doing.

  I look up, my heart racing as I wait to see what he’ll say or do, but he just smiles down at me. As though I’m some prize. Like the words that came from my mouth have given him some gift and I love it.

  I love the look. I love everything that this is and the possibilities of what it could be. I love him.

  “Yeah, he sort of did.” Reid squeezes my fingers.

  I didn’t realize just how stupid I was about dating him until this moment. I was fighting against my feelings for him for what? To not have a chance to be happy? How did I not see just how his imperfections make him perfect for me?

  Mom lets out a squeal. “And to think, you found a match for Reid and yourself all at the same time! Come inside, everyone will want to see you.”

  We enter the house, which is packed with their friends, and make the rounds. The entire time, Reid finds a way to touch me. It’s sweet, and I secretly love every second of it. He’s charming—as usual—and makes small talk with a few of my dad’s business friends.

  After an hour, Aspen finally shows up. She was giving homage to the mother earth or some shit.

  I give up with her.

  She gets smug the moment she sees us together. “Reid and Willow ... who would’ve thunk it? It’s not like there was any indication of it or anything.”

  I roll my eyes. “You don’t have to gloat.”

  “Oh, but I do.”

  “I think we all knew this was inevitable after the attempt to be spies ... really bad ones at that,” Reid says with a chuckle and then wraps his arms around my mid
dle from behind.

  Aspen grins. “I’m such a good matchmaker.”

  “This wasn’t your doing, Aspen,” I tell her.

  She shrugs. “I told you that the planets and universe were at work. There are some things that you can’t fight no matter how hard you try. When things align, there’s often an explosion.”

  Reid nuzzles his face into my neck, his voice is low so only I can hear. “I made you explode a few times.”

  Oh my God. “Behave.”

  “What?” Aspen asks.

  “Nothing, just reminding Wills about the aligning of our planets and how there was a lot of big banging,” he answers.

  “Reid,” I say between gritted teeth. Seriously, is he trying to make me turn red permanently?

  “Oh, I’m sure there was,” Aspen agrees. “You both have some major red aura going on around you. I’m surprised you haven’t burned the house down with it or that it’s not a little more orange since you worked it out. Maybe you guys just become this red when you’re near each other. Did you satisfy her, Reid? If you didn’t, it could explain why she’s glowing now.”

  Someone kill me.

  “What do you think, Wills?”

  “I think I’d like for the floor to open up so I can fall into the abyss.”

  “It’s a very serious thing,” Aspen further explains. “If she doesn’t find her release, the glow can become very troublesome.”

  “Stop talking, Aspen,” I implore.

  “We wouldn’t want that, right?”

  I swear, him taunting her is only going to make me hold out even longer. “You keep this up and you’re going to be the one exploding when you sleep alone tonight.”

  Aspen shakes her head. “That wouldn’t be fun. Release is a very important part of keeping the balance within yourself.”

  Someone in this trio is off balance.

  “What are my girls talking about?” Daddy comes in and my cheeks are on fire. I pray he didn’t hear any of that.

  “Willow’s sexual aura,” my now dead-to-me sister answers.

  Dad’s jaw drops and he rubs his temples while Reid bursts out laughing. “Sometimes, I wonder why I even ask.”

  He walks away, muttering something about girls, and I slap Reid in the stomach and then my sister in the arm. “You know, he’s a chemist, and he could kill you and make it look like an accident.”

  Aspen takes two steps back and then sinks to the floor with her legs crossed. “I need a moment.”

  “What is she doing?” he asks.

  “She’s resetting her gravitational something-or-other because it’s off. She does this when she needs to have the Earth reconnect with her body.”

  Reid shakes his head. “And I thought Leo was a mess.”

  I nod. “He ain’t got nothing on that one. Come on, it’s going to be a while until she’s found it. Let’s go outside.”

  We head out to the patio, which overlooks Lake Michigan. So much of my childhood was spent here, and it always makes me happy to visit.

  I rolled down the grassy hill, skinning my knee when I was six. I learned how to swim in this lake. The first boy I kissed was out on the dock three houses down.

  “This is truly amazing,” Reid says as he looks around. We eat cake and drink champagne, and eventually head back inside for a slideshow celebrating my parents’ thirty-five years of marital bliss. When it’s dark and the guests begin to leave, Reid and I grab a blanket and walk down to the beach. He sits in an Adirondack chair, pulling me onto his lap and wrapping the blanket around us.

  “Is this weird for you?” I ask.

  “What?”

  “Us. Being a couple.”

  He looks out at the water and then back to me. “No, that’s the weird thing. It’s so easy and natural. As though we were meant to be like this. I almost think that when we weren’t together ... that was the weird thing.”

  I know what he means. “You say stuff like that and I don’t really know how to think.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because I don’t want to fall to a place where I can never get back up again. I could lose myself in you, Reid. You’re this ... this ... all-encompassing feeling. It’s so much, so fast. Aren’t you worried?”

  His hand moves up and down my back. “I’m only worried that something is going to spook you.”

  “And I’m worried about the same.”

  “Then one of us has to promise to chase the other down.”

  I’m silent for a moment as I think about it. Being here where I have so many happy childhood memories, and celebrating my parents’ marriage tonight, has me kind of sad that this might never be where Reid and I end up.

  The ring, the wedding, the marriage, the family … I still want it all, and he’s afraid. I know the issues he has with his parents are tough, and he’s against the whole institution of marriage. And right now I can say it’s fine, I don’t care, but what if he never changes his mind? What if I don’t want to just be his eternal girlfriend?

  Is all of that more important than being with him now?

  I feel like I just got him. Do I need to worry about losing him already?

  Seventeen

  Reid

  “Stop that,” I tell her.

  “Stop what?”

  “Thinking.”

  Willow gives me a flat look.

  “I’m serious. I can see those wheels turning in your head, and those wheels are not spinning in the right direction.”

  “I can’t help it. Sometimes my wheels spin without my permission or my control. And I start thinking things that make me anxious.”

  “Don’t.” I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight, pressing my lips to her temple. “We’re just getting started, Wills. Stay with me, right here in this moment, and let’s just enjoy it for a while.”

  “But what if—”

  “No buts. I refuse all buts.” I squeeze her even harder. “Well, I should clarify that. I would be absolutely fine with your butt, and any time you’d like me to—”

  “Oh my God. Enough. If you want me to enjoy this moment, don’t ruin it.” She laughs a little. “You fiend.”

  “I can’t help it,” I tell her. “I’m pretty sure it’s your fault.”

  “My fault! How do you figure that?”

  “Well, you denied me for so long.” I shift her around on my lap so that she straddles me, her knees on either side of my thighs. Immediately, I start to get hard. “I have all this pent-up desire for you. And I have to let it out, you know. Aspen said release is a very important part of keeping the balance within myself. You don’t want me to be unbalanced, do you?”

  “Now you’re listening to Aspen? You’ve always said she was nuts.”

  “I changed my mind. When it comes to sex, I think she’s right. In fact,” I say, glancing around to make sure we’re still alone on the beach, “what do you say to a little nookie by the lake?”

  “No!” She looks horrified. “Reid, we’re in public.”

  “No, we’re not. I bet all the guests have left by now. And besides, it’s October. It’s too chilly on the beach for people your parents’ age.”

  “Someone might see.” She glances up toward the house.

  “We have a blanket. No one will see.” I adjust the blanket, which is big enough to form sort of a teepee from our necks down, holding it closed behind her. “Come on. Live a little.”

  She smiles, looking torn. “I want to, but …”

  “But what?” I ask, rocking my hips a little beneath her. She’s wearing a dress, which would make this so easy.

  “God, that feels good.” She closes her eyes and moves over me, sliding her pussy along my erection.

  “Doesn’t it?” Keeping the blanket closed with one hand, I move the other down her back and over her ass, pulling her tighter against me. Our lips come together, and I tease her tongue with mine.

  With a frustrated sound at the back of her throat, she puts her hands on my belt and unbuckles it. Ten seconds l
ater, she’s got my dick free and she’s stroking it with her fist. “Can you be fast?” she whispers against my lips.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  She moves her panties aside and gets up on her knees above me. Next thing I know, she’s slowly lowering herself onto my cock until I’m completely buried inside her. “Oh God, that’s deep,” she whispers, her expression a mix of fuck this hurts and give me more.

  As she begins to move up and down with small, rhythmic pulses, her eyes open and meet mine. Her breath is on my lips. Her body is tight and wet and warm, and I know I won’t last long. Already I can feel my leg muscles becoming taut, heat unfurling at the base of my spine.

  Her eyelids drift shut again, but I continue to watch her, amazed that this gorgeous, sexy, incredible woman is really mine.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful,” I tell her as she picks up the pace. “You’re gonna make me come so hard.”

  I’m already fighting it off, but I want her to come with me, so I do my best to think about other things until I can hear it in her soft moans and quick, panting breaths—she’s close. Using my one free hand, I grab her ass and tilt my hips to give her the best angle I can, so the base of my cock rubs against her clit.

  Thank fuck it seems to work, because I’m over the edge two seconds later, unable to hold back any longer, throbbing again and again inside her. She shouts my name once and drops her head to my shoulder, smothering her cries as her climax hits.

  “Oh my God,” she whispers right afterward. She picks up her head and looks around frantically. “Was I too loud? I was too loud.”

  “Relax. You were fine.” I’m still experiencing little aftershocks and I hold her in place with one arm around her back, in case she was thinking of getting off me. “No one heard.”

  Once she’s satisfied no one wandered down to the beach during our little interlude, she relaxes with a sigh. “That was really fun.”

  “Told you.”

  “I can’t believe I had sex on the beach.” She sounds proud of herself.

  “See? We’re good for each other. I’m going to help you loosen up, and you’re going to—”