Balls (Cruz Boys #1) Read online

  “Leo! Not in front of my neighbor!”

  Ms. Pickering cackled. “He’s a weatherman, dear. They’re all dirty bastards.”

  Alex looked at me. “You’re a weatherman?”

  “Don’t be so hard on him,” Ms. Pickering said. “It’s not his fault that the whole profession is no better than throwing darts at a target with your eyes closed.”

  “Yeah, Alex,” I said. “I do my best.”

  “He’s promised me that there’ll be no rain this Friday and he’d better stick to it.”

  “I’ll do my best, ma’am,” I said.

  Ms. Pickering leaned in and her back stooped to an almost alarming degree.

  In a whisper that could’ve been heard down the hall, she said, “Caught yourself a good one here. Easy on the eyes and a gentleman to boot. If I were you, I’d suck him off every night to keep him satisfied and obedient.”

  Alex choked and slapped her chest to get her breath back.

  Ms. Pickering shook her head. “Young folks these days. Let your hair down, Sister. Live a little.”

  Alex wasn’t having success with a response so I jumped in. “Can I help you put these away, ma’am?”

  “I don’t see why not. You’ve gone this far, haven’t you? What’s stopping you from going all the way?”

  She chuckled and then let us into her apartment.

  After I stashed all her groceries, I followed Alex back into her apartment. I patted her tight, round backside as we went in.

  “You’d do well to listen to your elders, young lady,” I said. “About the blowjobs, I mean.”

  She slapped my arm away and slammed the door shut. “You were supposed to wait downstairs!”

  “I was brought up to meet a lady at her door, not out on the street. Besides, that street isn’t one you should be hanging out on.”

  She shook her and pinched the bridge of her nose.

  “Weatherman?”

  I laughed out loud. That bit was hilarious.

  “She thinks I’m a weatherman from Channel Four News.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep.”

  A girl popped out from around a corner and she stared at me with wide eyes and trembling lips.

  That was the reaction I was more used to seeing.

  I gave her a hug and a slap on the shoulder.

  “I’m Leo,” I said. “I’m dating your… roommate?”

  “Uh, yeah. I’m Megan. Nice to meet you.”

  “We’re going to be great friends, Megan.”

  “We are?”

  “Oh yeah. I’m gonna let you in on something… since we’re buds.

  “Okay.”

  “Your roomie here cast a spell on me.”

  “She did?” Megan asked.

  “Yep,” I said as I looked at Alex. At her full, luscious lips, her cute crinkled nose, her ample suckable tits. I grabbed my crotch. “I’m hard as a rock right now and she hasn’t even touched it yet. Well, not tonight, I mean.”

  “Leo!” Alex said in disbelief. “Excuse him, Megan. He has the restraint of a caveman.”

  “If that were true, I’d drag you back to my cave and fuck you senseless. Compared to that, I think I’m acting pretty civilized.”

  Megan laughed. “Not every advance is a worthwhile one.”

  I grinned. “See? I knew we were going to get along. Since we’re besties,” I fake-whispered in her ear, “can you give me any secrets I can use to seduce Alex? Like nibbling her ear turns her into jello. Anything?”

  She opened her mouth and was about to spill something when Alex jumped in. “Not even! You are my bestie and we have our doubts about that one!”

  Alex stared hard at Megan.

  “Don’t we?” she asked.

  Megan flicked a look back and forth between Alex and I. She took a step toward Alex.

  “Yes, we do,” she said and winked when Alex wasn’t looking.

  “Take a seat, Mr. Weatherman, while I finish getting ready,” Alex said as she headed toward the bathroom. “And it’s going to be awhile so don’t give me crap about it.”

  “Perfect,” I said. “Gives me plenty of time to wrestle some info out of my new best friend.”

  Alex pointed at Megan. “No classified information. You feeling me?”

  Megan saluted her.

  “He won’t get a thing from me, sir!”

  Alex closed the door and got to doing whatever it is girls do when getting ready.

  Megan and I chatted for an hour or so while Alex did her thing. I had to give it to her. Despite my best efforts, she didn’t slip once with an official Alex secret.

  The handle to the bathroom door jiggled and the door swung open.

  Damned if the world didn’t shift under my feet. All the blood in my body rushed into my dick. I almost fell over. Whether from having a suddenly new, lower center of gravity or from this goddess in front of me, I wasn’t sure.

  What I did know for sure was that she had knocked my world off balance.

  My cock strained in my pants, trying its hardest to bust out and leap at her. It took all my self-restraint and then some to keep from obeying such a reasonable request.

  Her cocoa skin radiated warmth. Her eyes sparkled and her full lips begged to be kissed.

  By me, and only me.

  A short black dress hugged her curvy hips and ended a little above the knees. Knees I wanted to spread wide and explore what treasure lay in the valley between. The upper half of the dress was dominated by the most luscious pair of tits I’d ever seen. It’s not that she was flaunting them. It was that they couldn’t not be flaunted without wearing a blanket.

  A deep couple of inches of cleavage had my cock begging to dive in. Her usually long, wavy hair was pulled up in a bun. The graceful line of her neck ran from her ear down a hundred lickable miles to her shoulder.

  My teeth practically gnashed together demanding a nip.

  “My eyes are up here,” Alexis said.

  My eyes stayed on the bumps of round flesh plumping out above her neckline. “I can’t wait to get back to those, but I got a lot to admire right here.”

  She walked over and lifted my chin until our eyes met.

  “I’m going to chalk that up as an honest mistake made by a well-meaning but tragically clueless bachelor.”

  Part of my brain rose to the insult, but the other ninety-nine percent couldn’t have cared less.

  She was gorgeous!

  Rodrigo and the rest of the guys could go take a flying leap with the bimbos and barflies and whomever else they happened to dig up. The woman in front of me was all I had in mind. All night long.

  She snapped a finger in front of my eyes.

  “Earth to Leo. Earth to Leo,” she said.

  That finally broke the gravity-pull her breasts had on my eyeballs. I looked back up into the deepest, warmest eyes God had ever made. They said that the eyes were the windows to the soul. They were on the right track, but they didn’t quite have it right.

  Her eyes were a window to my soul.

  Unspoken answers hinted at there shook me to the core. And seeing how my core started at my cock, I knew what my first question was.

  “You wanna fuck at your place or mine?”

  When I had a question, I asked it.

  Her eyes opened wide.

  Total surprise.

  I expected it. Not many girls got the chance of a lifetime delivered to their doorstep.

  “Leonardo Cruz, if you don’t apologize immediately, I will end this relationship right here and now!”

  She ripped open the front door and stood to the side.

  I raised my hands, desperate to stop this impending disaster.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa! I was just being honest. I mean, look at you. You’re drop-dead gorgeous.”

  Her leg faltered and she leaned on the door to stay upright.

  “I’m sorry, Alex. You took me by surprise. I mean, look at you.”

  Alex smiled, a small, unsure upturn at the c
orners of her mouth. Those delicious lips. Her brows furrowed together.

  “You think I’m attractive?”

  I jutted my hips forward and the stiff rod in my pants made a distinct and undeniable outline in the cloth. I dropped my eyes to guide hers.

  She shrieked. “Oh my God!”

  “The CIA couldn’t build a better lie detector.”

  “I’ll take your word for it,” she said.

  “Take my word for this.” I said. “I want to take you to dinner. And then I want to take you dancing. And then I want to take you. “

  Her smooth cocoa skin blushed a shade deeper.

  “I think you should accept,” Megan piped in.

  “That’s a very generous offer, Mr. Cruz,” Alex said. “One I’m sure any number of women would die to hear—”

  “But,” I said. “I’m hearing a but in there.”

  “However,” she said with a smirk, “I’d prefer to stick with the dinner and the dancing.”

  Was she playing hard-to-get? It was hard to know for sure because it wasn’t a dynamic I’d ever dealt with.

  “Whatever you say, Ms. Young.”

  I offered her my hand, as slow and gentle as I could. It was like coaxing a nervous rabbit out of its hole. And I had the perfect carrot. But this rabbit didn’t seem ready to take a bite just yet.

  I could be patient.

  We had the rest of the night.

  Her long fingers slipped into mine and the muscles in my arm contracted from the shock. I’d never been so affected. So completely hypnotized.

  I was usually on the other side of that equation.

  What was it with this girl? Why did I feel like a magnet straining toward a mountain of iron?

  “Don’t wait up, Megan,” I said. “She may not make it home tonight.”

  “I’ll be home early,” Alex said.

  I brought her exquisite hand to my lips and kissed it.

  “Early in the morning,” I said.

  * * *

  Being the best soccer player on earth came with quite a few privileges. One of them was being able to get into the most exclusive clubs in Barcelona, just by showing up. The pinnacle of that elite list was Discotheque Sala Apolo.

  It was the hottest new club that Barcelona, a city brimming with some of the best clubs in Europe, had to offer. The car pulled to a stop and I jumped out and ran around the car to the opposite door. The driver wasn’t going to get the pleasure of seeing Alex’s long legs sliding off the seat.

  I threw the door open and bowed low, partly to get a better look up her dress.

  “Your prince awaits,” I said.

  “More like my Beast,” she said.

  I helped her out and enjoyed every inch of exposed thigh during her exit.

  She stared down the long line of people waiting to get in. The vast majority of which would never make it.

  “I don’t see us getting in, Leo.”

  She was so cute. So innocent.

  I hooked my arm through hers and strolled straight toward the front door. Already, murmurs of recognition in the mass of waiting people began to buzz. I couldn’t go anywhere without being recognized.

  I didn’t know the huge bouncer holding back the desperate throng, but it was clear he knew me. He picked up a silver post and cleared a path without a word.

  As we passed, I dropped a hundred note in his hand. It wasn’t a bribe. It was a simple thank you. He had a job that didn’t pay much. I remembered the feeling. A small token of appreciation never hurt.

  He opened the door and a wave of sound washed over us. The growing shouts of the crowd outside disappeared under the violent boom of speakers blasting bass.

  Alex moved her mouth close to my ear. Her warm breath sent shivers down my back.

  “I can’t believe I’m actually here!” she shouted, though it was still barely intelligible. “Megan and I have waited for hours, days, and struck out every time!”

  She squealed in delight.

  Her excitement sent a throbbing pulse through my shaft. The engorged head of my cock chafed against silk boxer briefs.

  I wanted to make her squeal, over and over. Until the squeals turned desperate. Until she came undone. In my mouth. On my dick.

  I wrapped my arm around her and slid my hand down to her butt. It fit perfectly in my hand.

  She apparently didn’t think so because she pulled it up to the small of her back.

  We could start there.

  A short girl with big balloon afro ponytails bopped out of the mass of people.

  “Leo,” she shouted with a grin.

  I wrapped her in a big hug and then let go.

  “Alex, this is DJ Pussycat. The best damn DJ in the universe!”

  Pussycat gave her a hug and I heard her yell, “Leo got me my first gig here when I couldn’t get a return email. He’s why I’m living the dream today.”

  Alex glanced at me.

  I waved off her words. “Bullshit. She’s at the top because she’s that good. Pure and simple.”

  “Nice to meet you, Alex.” She turned to both of us. “Stick around! I’ve got a set coming up later.”

  “We wouldn’t miss it!” I shouted back.

  She dissolved back into the crowd and I turned to see Alex with a puzzled look on her face.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Just when I think I have you figured out, I don’t.”

  “That’s good, right?”

  Someone that might’ve been a manager I’d met before parted through the crowd like a salmon swimming upstream. He was a smooth-looking guy. Too smooth. Smarmy smooth. Kiss-ass, backstabber style.

  I hated those types.

  He smiled broadly and clapped me on the shoulder like we were old friends. He said something to open the conversation and I ignored him because I didn’t give a shit.

  He threw up his hands and gestured for us to follow. We wound our way through a packed crowd of beautiful people. These were the elite of not only Barcelona but Europe as well. Every movement and gesture was a studied advertisement of their personal success and glory.

  And next to Alex, it was like they were broadcasting in black and white. A monochromatic mass of utterly ignorable bags of misplaced ego. Her brilliant light cast them all into darkness.

  We went through an interior door guarded by an enormous guy and I passed him a hundred note the same as the guy outside. We arrived at our personal suite, an enclosed balcony above the massive dance floor. Out at the railing, you were right in the middle of it, sharing the sound with everyone else. But further back in the room, there was plenty of space for your own private rhythms.

  The too-attentive manager made sure the ultra-modern table and chairs were in perfect order and then retreated to the doorway. Here in this quieter area, it appeared he wanted to continue our conversation.

  Did he think we were fucking pen pals?

  I shooed him out without so much as a glance of reciprocated connection. Screw him. The guy probably shit on every single employee he pretended to own.

  I never liked his type. Never.

  Not then, when they had the power.

  And not now, when I did.

  With Alex’s hand in mine, I pulled her to the railing. I stepped behind and came up close, the aching hardness in my pants grazing the thin fabric stretched over her round backside. Every touch sent a shock through my groin, tensing my balls up and clenching my abs.

  “Have I mentioned how amazing you look tonight?”

  She turned her head, a sexy smile my reward.

  “You have, but I don’t mind if you feel the need to repeat yourself.”

  I picked up the two neon-blue drinks on the table and passed one to her.

  “What is it?”

  I nudged her glass. “Trust me.”

  “That sounds like a terrible idea.”

  “What do you have to lose?”

  She flashed an arched brow. “How about my career, my life, and my future?”

 
“You worry too much.”

  “And you worry too little.”

  I took a sip of mine and savored the sweet bite. It was a drink that had no name. Rather, it had my name because it was made specially for me by the bartender here.

  “We’re on a date,” I said. “Let the world see we’re enjoying it.”

  I waved at the crowded dance floor below. Already, quite a few adoring faces were turned up watching our every move.

  Alex seemed to consider and then nodded.

  “A toast then,” she said. “To the best fake date I’ve ever been on.”

  I tinged my glass to hers.

  “To me,” I said, baiting the hook.

  Her expression darkened.

  “The luckiest guy in the world.”

  We each tipped back our glasses and, judging by how she drained half of hers without taking a breath, I’d say she liked it.

  Or maybe needed it.

  We spent the next several hours talking, laughing, and nibbling on gourmet tapas. She was so easy to talk to. She sipped the rest of her first drink and declined a second. I never drank more than one because the payback the next day at practice wasn’t worth it.

  We finished the last dish and kicked back on the couch. My sides hurt from laughing so much. But one thing had me laughing harder than the rest.

  Because it was so improbable.

  “Be serious,” I said. “You don’t know how to ride a bike?”

  Alex nodded. “Yep.”

  “How can that possibly be? Everyone knows how to ride a bike.”

  “I guess I’m that special,” she said.

  “I never doubted that. I’m going to put this out there and I don’t want it to sound like a judgement.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that,” she said with a crinkle of her nose.

  “No adult on the planet should not know how to ride a bike. It’s like swimming. You know how to swim, right?”

  “Absolutely,” she said. “Love it. And yes, that sounded judgy. I always planned to learn how, but I never got to the doing part.”

  “We’re going to have change that.”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve managed pretty well without knowing how so far.”

  I breathed in her scent. I touched my lips gently to her neck and up to her ear.

  “You’d love the thrill. The exertion. Your legs wrapped tightly around each side and riding hard into the night.”