Lane One: Seduction Read online

  I push my chair back and stand up from the table. I’m not staying here any longer and listening to this bullshit.

  I lean over and give my grandmother another kiss on the cheek before whispering in her ear, "I love you, Gran. I'll see you next week."

  I straighten back up. "As amazing as it's been seeing you again, Dad, I think I'll leave before this conversation gets nasty." I wave goodbye to my mother and walk back through their home and out the front door. Neither of them fights my departure. They're probably happy to see me leave.

  Sliding in my roadster, I peel out of the driveway, making sure my tires squeal against the pavement. I know it's childish but my parents bring out that side of me. I'm thirty-five years old but when I’m in their presence I feel like a misbehaving ten-year-old all over again.

  As I drive back into the city my thoughts are back on Cassie. I should leave her alone. She deserves a man much better than me. I should have listened to Chris in the beginning when he told me she was off limits. A relationship with her would never work. But a friendship with Cassie, that may be exactly what we both need.

  I've never been friends with a woman before. I never saw the point. You're not supposed to fuck a friend and women were put on this earth for me to fuck. Or at least that's what I used to believe.

  Maybe I should start sleeping around again and pull up my old line-up. It's Sunday, and if I give Bailey a call, even after all this time, I know she'd be more than willing to come over and wrestle with me for a few hours in my bed.

  But as much as my dick needs action, deep down I know there is no way in hell I'll be calling Bailey, or any other woman to get my dick wet. My dick now has a specific taste and all it wants is Cassie.

  I'll try the friend thing and maybe, somewhere down the road, we can give a relationship a try. I'm willing to take this slow. Something inside tells me she's worth the wait.

  This means I still need to talk to Chris. He needs to know what's been going on with me the past year, and what my intentions are with Cassie. I'm going to be her friend now, but when we're ready to cross over from friends to lovers I want Chris to be on board. He's my closest friend and I don't want to risk that friendship.

  I hit a few buttons on the touch screen and my car calls Chris. He's probably out spending time with Molly and Alyssa, but I figure there's no time like the present to let him know about Cassie and me.

  I'm surprised when he picks up on the third ring.

  "What are you doing calling me on Sunday, T? Shouldn't you be off somewhere verbally sparring with your dad?"

  "I already left that asshole's house. Too much is going on and I don't have the patience to deal with him today."

  "Wow, it's only eleven. This must be some sort of record for you, T. What are you going to do with yourself the rest of the day?"

  That's a good question. The old Theo would already have called Bailey and told her to wait for him at the condo. Now I have no one to fuck my frustrations out on.

  "I'll probably head over to the health club. Get a nice workout in."

  "Put in an extra hour for me. I haven't been to the gym since Monday. We're heading out to some picnic in the park thing in an hour. Did you need something?"

  "Yeah, actually. We need to talk."

  ***

  I spent twenty minutes filling Chris in about my feelings for Cassie. He was definitely caught off guard when I expressed my feelings for her and reluctant to give me his blessing. I heard all the objections I was expecting from him.

  She's not your type. She's too sweet for you. You're a dog when it comes to women.

  But in the end Cassie and I are both adults, so whatever we decided was fine by him just as long as I didn't screw her over. Alyssa would be heartbroken if Cassie had to quit because I couldn’t make things work with her.

  Once my phone call was over, I went home to grab my gym bag and headed to the health club. I worked out to the point of exhaustion. Every muscle in my body screamed for me to stop, but I continued anyway. Five hours later I was barely able to walk upright out of there.

  When I finally get home I take a quick shower and fall into bed, ready to sleep for the next twelve hours or so. As tired as I am, I use the little energy I have left to text Cassie. I want to see her tomorrow.

  Do you have plans tomorrow night?

  Hitting send, I wait for her reply. I can barely keep my eyes open but she texts back almost immediately and I'm suddenly wide awake.

  Cassie: Theo?

  Me: ;)

  Cassie: I should be done with Alyssa around seven and then I have nothing planned. Why?

  Me: You should come over to my place. We could get dinner and watch a movie or something.

  That was lame. It's only now I realize I have no idea how to casually text a woman. I'm the king at sexting. I can have a woman wet and ready for me with just a few words, but I've never sent a platonic text before. Did that text sound okay? Does she think movie is a code for something else? Will she understand that I really only want to watch a movie? Maybe I shouldn't have texted her. Maybe I should have called her.

  Fuck, now I sound like a chick.

  The text was fine. I'm reading too much into it.

  Cassie: I'm not really a big movie person. What movie did you have in mind?

  Me: I have an endless selection of movies in my online library. You can pick.

  Cassie: You pick. I never really got to watch many movies as a kid and I haven't really had the opportunity as an adult to go to the movies. I mostly just watch whatever kid movie Alyssa is watching.

  Me: So you want to watch a Disney movie then...

  Cassie: No! No Disney movies.

  Me: Okay, I'll pick the movie just help me out with genre. Do you want a classic movie, comedy, action flick or romance?

  As soon as I hit send I regret typing romance. I'm trying to be her friend so watching a romance together is probably not the best idea. I also hate movie romances. They're lame and unrealistic.

  Cassie: Comedy or Romance

  Me: Okay. I'll pick you up at Chris's around seven.

  Cassie: Do you think that's smart? I thought Chris told you to stay away from me?

  Me: He did, but we talked today and I told him how you and I are friends. He's okay with us hanging out as long as I don't hurt you.

  I'm making it my life's mission to never hurt her, even if that means I can never be with her the way I want to be. Cassie doesn’t respond immediately and I’m suddenly worried that she's overthinking things. Maybe she's worried I’ll hurt her just like Chris was worried. I type out another message so she knows how serious I am.

  Me: I'll never hurt you, Cassie.

  I wait... and wait. Several minutes pass and she still hasn't responded. I don't want to text her again so I set my phone down on my nightstand and get comfortable in bed. I'm physically exhausted and I know if I lay here I'll eventually fall asleep.

  As my eyes grow heavy I hear the chime of my phone go off indicating an incoming text. I look over at my phone as the screen lights up. It's an incoming text from Cassie–just two simple words in response.

  Cassie: I know.

  Six

  Theo

  Entry # 1603

  Mondays are just another start to a new week. Not something I normally look forward to. But Cassie's in my life now so Mondays aren't really that bad...

  It's a bright Monday morning and I'm in a pleasantly happy mood. I slept great, my first meeting is not until this afternoon, and I get to see Cassie this evening.

  Why wouldn't I be in a great fucking mood?

  I head over to the gym for my morning workout, prepared to get a nice long run in before an extra long swim. I want to physically exert myself today so that I'm too tired to try anything with Cassie tonight.

  Steven greets me with his usual smile when I walk into the health club.

  "Did you have an eventful weekend, Steven?"

  My question has him looking at me curiously. I guess I normally do
n't show interest in his life.

  "I did, thank you, Mr. Rosely. How was your weekend?”

  "It was interesting," I reply, walking past him and heading to the locker rooms. It's then that I spot Bailey standing in front of the men's locker room door in a tailored pantsuit. Seeing her waiting for me suddenly turns my good mood sour.

  "Hello, Bailey."

  "Theo," she replies back. "I was wondering if you have time for me today when you finish your workout?"

  I stop in front of her and let my gym bag fall to the floor dramatically. "Time for what exactly?"

  She moves in closer to me, placing her hands on my chest and whispering seductively, "I miss you, Theo. I don't know what I did wrong, but whatever it is I promise not to do it again."

  It's been months since I've even touched Bailey. She should be over me by now and underneath some other poor guy.

  I remove her hands from my chest, pushing them back to her sides. "Are you really that desperate, Bailey? We're over. I've moved on and you should, too."

  "I know you probably have someone in my slot, but I'd be willing to take whatever you give me. Maybe you could let me take one of your Fridays. Give me a chance to remind you how well we fit together."

  This is just sad. No woman should be this desperate for cock. I should buy her a good vibrator. The one she has now is obviously not doing its job.

  "Bailey, I–" I'm distracted by the soft, feminine voice behind me. I turn my head and see Cassie talking to Steven as she walks past the front desk. She spots me, raising her hand to wave and then quickly lowers it when she spots Bailey.

  "Namaste, Ms. Ward," Bailey greets her sweetly, a fake smile on her face.

  Cassie snorts and then quickly covers it up with a "Namaste."

  She walks past us without another word and heads into the women's locker room. Bailey's attention turns back to me.

  "Like I was saying, Theo. I'd be willing to try a Friday. I'd be willing to do any evening. Just give me another chance."

  In all the craziness of this weekend and my texts with Cassie I forgot that I'd see her this morning at the health club. I want to get into the pool with her, but now Bailey is cock-blocking me from her.

  "Bailey, it's over. I'm no longer available to you, or anyone else on any night. I've changed. Maybe you should think about changing, too. You deserve better than just being a night on someone's calendar." I move past her and into the men's locker room.

  I really should send her a vibrator or two. It's the least I can do because even though she's a crazy bitch, every woman deserves to come regularly.

  Knowing Cassie's swimming just a door away has me changing my morning workout plans and putting on my jammers instead of running shorts.

  I enter the pool and slide into lane two. Cassie's already swimming laps and making her way back towards my end of the pool. She's doing the backstroke, which is my favorite stroke to watch her do because it pushes her breasts out of the water. They're beautifully glistening and I can imagine my dick sliding between the curves as she pushes her breasts together.

  Great. And now I'm hard.

  Friends. We're only going to be friends.

  I wait for her, hoping she stops swimming to talk to me. When she reaches my side of the pool she spots me and stands up.

  "Hey," she pants, out of breath from swimming. I want to talk to her, I really do, but her blue swimsuit is twisted and her breasts are practically falling out of the top. It's very distracting to my dick.

  "You look great," is what falls out of my mouth as my dick attempts to point directly at the distraction.

  She doesn't believe me and when she looks down to appraise herself she sees what I see.

  "Theo," she yells while quickly fixing her suit.

  "What?" I ask, laughing at her.

  "You should have told me my breasts were falling out."

  "I would have, I just wanted a few more seconds to look."

  She rolls her eyes and then cups her hands before letting them hit the water with a smack. Water splashes on me and I wipe it from my face.

  "Very mature, my little ninja."

  "I'm your little ninja now?"

  "Yep. Between your knowledge of where to knee a man so that he can't have children and your splashing abilities, you’re now my little ninja," I say, winking at her.

  "I guess now's the perfect time to tell you I've also taken several self-defense classes over the years."

  I laugh. "See, you are my little ninja. I'm glad I'm your friend now. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of another one of your blows to the groin."

  Her smile fades and I don't know what I said to make it go away, but I instantly regret whatever it was. I want to make her smile. She should always be smiling.

  "So how long are you swimming today?" I ask her, attempting to distract her from her thoughts.

  "Only an hour. I have to pick Alyssa up early from school for a doctor's appointment."

  I only have an hour with her.

  "Do you want to make today’s workout fun?"

  She raises her eyebrows. "I'm intrigued. Keep going."

  "I was thinking we could race."

  Her eyebrows fall back in place as she looks down the length of the pool and then back at me. "That's not really a fair bet. I've seen you swim. You're really fast."

  "It's just for fun, Cassie. No wager, just a friendly competition."

  We're the only ones in the lap pool so it’s the perfect time to race. She places her goggles over her eyes and yells, "Go!"

  She starts swimming freestyle and it takes me a few seconds to realize that we've started the race... and she's the only one swimming.

  The little cheater.

  I slip my goggles on and start swimming. I've caught up to her by the second lap and passed her by the third. I keep swimming lap after lap, and although she's now several laps behind me she doesn't stop. I slip under the lane line and into her lane when she starts a new lap. I swim behind her until we're nearing the other end and then I reach out and grab her feet, pulling her under the water. She kicks her feet until I'm forced to let go and we both burst out of the top of the water.

  "You can't do that!" she shouts, gasping for air.

  "I didn’t realize we had rules, seeing as you started the race off cheating."

  "Oh please, I needed a head start. You're the best swimmer I've ever seen in this pool. And it's not like it mattered. You passed me a few laps into our race."

  "That's true," I reply smugly.

  As much as I want to stay here with her in the pool, we’ve been swimming for close to an hour and I know she needs to pick up Alyssa. "We should probably get out. You need to go pick up the princess."

  She looks up at the clock and then back at me. "I want a rematch tomorrow, but this time you need to give me a ten minute head start."

  "Ten minutes! That's outrageous."

  "I need ten–"

  "Done," I respond, interrupting her. If she wanted a fifty-nine minute head start I would have given her that, too.

  She smiles at me and then we both swim back to the other end of the pool. I watch as she pulls herself out of the water and I get a nice view of her round ass. I get out of the water as well. There's no reason for me to stick around if she's not going to be swimming with me.

  "Are we still on for tonight?" Cassie asks me as she grabs her water bottle and towel. I grab my towel and start walking with her towards the locker rooms.

  "As long as you don't cancel on me. I'm looking forward to our movie date."

  Her eyes light up and it takes me a second to realize what I said. I just insinuated that tonight is a date.

  "I mean–" Before I can get out another word Cassie is pulling on my arm and dragging me through the small, single family locker room. There's a bench, shower, bathroom and sink along with three small lockers. We're the only ones in here. I look at Cassie, wondering why she's dragged me in here. That's when she pushes me down on the bench until I'm sitting and then l
eans down to kiss me. Her lips are wet as they move urgently against mine. She sits on top of me, straddling my waist and although I know I should stop this, I just can't. Rejecting Cassie is the most unnatural feeling in the world. I just can't do it.

  I kiss her back, my lips moving beautifully with hers. She starts to grind against me, as my cock grows hard beneath her. This time it feels a little different, more intimate. There's just two small pieces of fabric between us and since she's in just her swimsuit I can feel every inch of her body press against mine.

  Her tongue comes out and licks the seam between my lips, asking for entrance and I open my mouth to let her in.

  She tastes incredible, but I don’t want to just taste her lips, I want to taste every inch of her. I kiss her one last time on the lips before moving to her cheek and then leaving open-mouth kisses down her neck, licking the drops of water that are cascading down her body from her hair. I kiss the crook of her neck. The blue strap of her swimsuit is in my path to her shoulder, so I lift it before lowering it down her arm to reveal her bare skin. I kiss her shoulder and then lower my mouth to her chest.

  I want to continue removing her suit until I'm kissing her bare nipples, but I know if I get that far I won't stop.

  Cassie grinds against my hips as the palm of one of her hands slips down my torso and to the top of my swim jammers. She plays with the band of my jammers before slipping her hand inside and reaching for my erection. Her hand is unsteady and when she tightens her fist around my cock she almost unmans me.