Thank you for your continued support. I appreciate it.

Standard disclaimer.

"I hate this. Why did we have to come here?" Hunter's date said, in a snooty tone, as she looked around the large carnival with clear distaste.

"If I had known we were coming here, I would have stayed at home. God, have you ever heard of a restaurant? That's where I should be eating...fine food...not something on a stick, like some slob."

She flipped her long hair over her shoulder and her mouth morphed into an almighty pout.

Sam glanced at Hunter, whose jaw was clenched. The man did not look happy and he didn't blame him one bit.

If he had known, this woman was going to react this way, to going to a carnival, he never would have suggested it, or at the very least, encourage Hunter to bring her.

Personally, he loved carnivals and theme parks.

He couldn't pass one by, without stopping in for a fried treat and a few rides. Hunter was the same way, which was why they were here.

They came to have a good time. Instead, they were stuck listening to this woman bitch and whine.

Thing is, she'd started, as soon as she heard the plans for the evening.

She'd put her foot down and demanded a nice restaurant and drinks. But, she'd been outvoted and offered a ride home...to which, she'd refused.

Sam had no doubt, she decided to come along, to make their lives a living hell, for not jumping to meet her demands.

"We can go on the bumper cars or the Ferris wheel," Hunter started to suggest.

But his date folded her arms over her chest and glared...just glared at the man.

He stared back and cursed under his breath.

Then, she turned her cold glare onto Sam and he didn't bother hiding his eye roll.

'This is ridiculous! No way am I letting her wreck my good time...'

"Sam!"

He turned around and his frown was instantly gone, replaced by a huge, pleased smile.

He watched, as his little grasshopper walked quickly towards him, grinning from ear to ear.

She had a stuffed animal...a snake from the looks of it...around her neck, a large soda in one hand and under her arm, there was a teddy bear and a fake sword.

In the other hand, she held the largest piece of fried dough he'd ever seen...generously covered in powdered sugar.

"Look what I won!" she said, practically beaming with excitement.

Sam's smile widened.

It was hard to believe, someone else loved these places, much more than him and Hunter did, but apparently, Mercedes was that person.

When he told her where they were going today, she squealed excitedly and threw herself into his arms.

He'd laughed so hard, he almost dropped her.

This was their first date, since they came together a week ago and thankfully, he'd chosen well.

He would've liked, to have taken her out sooner, but they've both been swamped with giving final exams, correcting them, and going over grades.

But now that school was over, they had a whole summer together.

"This is so much fun!" Mercedes said, seemingly oblivious, or, she simply didn't give a damn about Hunter's date's attitude.

Sam suspected the latter. His little grasshopper didn't let things bother her.

"Where did you get all of this?" he asked, as he leaned in for a kiss and a bite of that dough.

"Oh...um..." she gestured with her drink, towards the direction in which she came from, "...after I hit the bumper cars, I couldn't resist the basketball game or the darts and then, I smelled the fried dough and..." she shrugged. "...I guess, I got distracted."

"I thought you were just going to find the bathroom. We've been standing here, waiting for you for over a half an hour!" Hunter's date, Clea or Cleo...or whatever the hell her name was, pointed out.

Judging by Mercedes' expression, she'd forgotten all about the bathroom and just remembered that she had to go.

That was confirmed a few seconds later, when she shoved her drink, food, and winnings in Sam's and Hunter's arms and took off running.

Sam smiled and shook his head. Then, took a huge bite out of the dough and sighed happily.

No doubt, he was going to have to hunt his little grasshopper down in a few minutes, near some game or ride and carry her to the bathroom.

Hunter looked down at his arms, frowned and looked at the things Sam was now holding.

"How come you got the sword? I want the sword."

He reached out to snag the sword, but Sam bitch slapped his hand away with the dough.

"My sword!" Sam said.

"Jerk," Hunter mumbled as he eyed the sword.

Sam looked at his sword too and took another bite.

"We could always go win another one and have a sword fight."

"Sweet!" Hunter said. They were big kids when it came to carnivals, but who cared?

Apparently, his date did.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said, intent on wrecking their good time.

Hunter shrugged.

"Well, then, have a good night."

At that, he and Sam walked off, leaving her fuming and threatening, to never go on a date with him, ever again.

Mercedes increased her pout.

And Sam chuckled.

"I don't care. You're not getting it back."

"That's not fair! You're just mad because I kicked ass!" she said.

Hunter rubbed his shoulder, while he glared at her.

She bit her lip, took a step back and ducked under Sam's arm. Instinctively, he pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head.

"Fine, keep the sword. I don't care," she said in a sulky voice. And Hunter muttered something, then, sighed heavily.

"You want to go on the bumper cars again?" he asked, with an easy smile.

He'd never seen his friend forgive anyone so fast before, but of course, Mercedes had that affect on everyone.

It was just so damn hard to stay mad at her. She was too damn cute for her own good.

"I suppose we could do that," she said, already tugging Sam towards the bumper cards. "If you insist, that is."

Sam looked back, just in time to catch Hunter leering at her ass. His face clouded and his jaw tightened.

But he schooled his features and obligingly headed for the bumper cars.

"That was so much fun," Mercedes said dreamily, as she pulled her shoes off.

"It was okay," Sam mumbled.

Mercedes' 'Sam radar' detected something out of the ordinary with him.

For the past four hours, he had been uncharacteristically quiet. And didn't seem to do much more, than glare at Hunter.

A few times there, she thought he was going to kill the man. But wasn't sure what she had missed, or if she should even get involved.

Minutes later, they were naked and crawling beneath Sam's sheets. That's when he really frightened her.

He didn't initiate any kissing or touching. In fact, he didn't even glance at her breasts and he always looked. Always.

They were like magnets for his eyes.

Now, he was lying on his back with his arms behind his head. And he made no move to get closer to her, or to pull her against him.

He was truly starting to scare her now.

Finally, she rolled over onto her stomach and watched him for a moment.

"Are you okay?" Mercedes finally asked.

Sam shrugged.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"You're quiet."

"I just don't feel like talking."

"Do you want me to go home?" she asked.

He hesitated before answering,

"No."

"Then, what do you want?"

"Nothing. I just want to lay here."

"So, you just want to lay there and nothing is wrong," she said, summing it up.

"Yeah."

She rolled her eyes, realizing, she didn't have much choice about getting involved now. It was either that, or get up and leave, because, she wasn't about to stay here for another moment of this.

Before he could stop her, she was up and straddling his hips.

Then, she made another shocking discovery...Sam wasn't hard. He was always hard when they were in bed, the shower, or making out on the couch and all those times in between.

She was pretty sure, the man would never have to worry about needing Viagra.

Right now, he made no attempts to push her off, and neither did he look at her.

"I'm not going anywhere, until you tell me what's wrong," Mercedes said softly.

"Nothing's wrong."

"Don't make me use my fists of fury, to get an answer out of you," she threatened.

His lips twitched, but still, he said nothing.

"Okay, you just lay there and sulk then. I'm going home," she said, moving to climb off him.

Sam's hands shot out, stopping her by gripping her hips.

And she raised an expectant brow.

He sighed heavily.

"You pissed me off."

'Well, that was totally unexpected...sort of.'

"Hey, I said I was sorry about hitting Hunter with that sword. How was I supposed to know, the thing would leave a welt?" she said defensively.

"That's not what I'm talking about. That didn't bother me."

"Is it because I kicked your ass at skee ball?"

"No! And that game is rigged anyway, so it doesn't count."

"Righhtt," she said, drawing out the word.

Then, she thought over the rest of the night, but couldn't seem to figure out what she'd done.

"Okay, you're gonna have to help me out here, because, I'm drawing a blank."

"I'm pissed, because, all those men hit on you and not once did you tell any of them to fuck off, because you had a boyfriend!" Sam yelled.

Mercedes' face went expressionless.

She blinked once and then again. Then, she burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"It's not funny," he snapped. That only seemed to make her laugh harder.

All day at the carnival, he'd been forced to watch men notice her. And every time she smiled or laughed, they smiled, as if they couldn't help themselves.

He caught everyone of them checking her out and sending her appreciative looks.

And every time she jumped up and down excitedly, their eyes zeroed in on her jiggling assets.

And Hunter...the rat bastard as he was now known...not only, did he completely ditched his date, he forgot everything about her and focused entirely on Mercedes.

Then, the day grew worse, when they went to Ryder's Tavern.

The place was large, homey and clean. And today, Ryder had put out a huge buffet.

So, with an all you can eat barbeque, several flat screens and five pool tables, the place had been filled to the brim with men.

When Mercedes went up to get food, they crowded her, offered to carry her plate, get her a drink, sit with her, or feed her the food.

When she played pool...and she really sucked at pool, but clearly loved it...they offered to 'show' her how to play.

Two guys actually had the balls, to send drinks over to their table, while she was with Sam. And several actually had the balls, to come over and flirt with her...in front of him!

Hunter was no help.

When he wasn't trying to pick up some bar tramp, he was watching Mercedes and hitting on her, like there was no tomorrow.

The bastard didn't even try to hide his leers from Sam.

What the hell kind of friendship was that? Sam had asked himself.

But even as he'd asked himself that, he'd thought back to the past, before he met Mercedes.

He'd been a complete jerk.

He'd openly checked out and hit on his buddies' girlfriends. If he was out and he liked what he saw, he never let a boyfriend worry him.

But that was no excuse for what Hunter was doing. This was Mercedes! His Mercedes!

"Sweetie, I think you had too much sun today," Mercedes said, once she'd composed herself.

"You should have said something!" Sam snapped.

She rolled her eyes.

"First off, I have absolutely no idea what the hell you are talking about. I don't think anyone was looking my way, any differently or flirting. They were all just really friendly."

He snorted.

"Secondly, even if they were, and they weren't, I don't know why you're complaining. I didn't exactly hear you tell every woman, that was drooling over you today, that you had a girlfriend."

Another snort.

"I don't give a damn about those women. I've got what I want," he said, gently massaging her hips.

Mercedes leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to his lips, before sitting back up.

"Exactly! I didn't notice any other man but you," she said, a bit softer, as she ran her hands over his chest and stomach.

He playfully rolled his eyes.

"Of course you didn't. I'm awesome," he said.

"I'm glad to see you're humble."

"Hey, I could have said, I was the epitome of manliness, but I didn't." He pursed his lips up thoughtfully. "Even though, we both know that it's true."

"We do?" She arched a brow.

"Yes, I believe we both do."

"Fine, whatever. As long as you stop paying attention to your hallucinations, then, I don't care."

Sam watched her for a moment.

The expression on her face was shy and sweet, as she traced shapes on his stomach.

She truly did not know how desirable she was.

He would bet money, that she didn't think men notice her and she'd probably broken a hundred hearts unintentionally, up to this point.

She was just so damn sweet and innocent...well except, in bed of course. There, she was eager, insatiable and thrilling.

He never thought foreplay could be so pleasurable before. And he had no doubt, sex with her would be life altering.

"You are so beautiful, Mercedes," Sam said softly. He'd said that to other women before, but he'd never meant it more.

She was beautiful inside and out.

Even in the dim light, he could see what his words did to her, as she shyly averted her eyes.

"Thank you," she mumbled, sounding unsure.

She truly didn't realize how beautiful she was. And that made her even more beautiful to him.

Sam skimmed his hands over Mercedes' soft tummy, all the way up, until he was palming her breasts.

He brushed his thumbs over her nipples, loving the way she licked her lips and arched her back, into his hold.

Then, she began squirming on him, letting him know, she could feel his body harden.

He loved the way she looked, the way she reacted...actually, he loved everything about her.

She's the most precious thing in the world to him. So beautiful, so sweet, so giving and too damn good for him...but he was a selfish bastard and wouldn't let her go...ever.

He slowly massaged her breasts, while playing with her nipples, just enjoying the way she moaned and whimpered.

His erection was pressed firmly against her soft body. He just loved the way she caressed him, as she squirmed on him.

And he could feel her getting wet, against his taut stomach.

"You want to try something different?" he asked in a husky voice.

Mercedes licked her lips slowly, nodding, as she looked down at Sam, with an expression of pure trust.

And it humbled him.

"Hold on," he said, as he pulled her down to him, kissing her slowly.

Then, he rolled them over, until he was on top of her and took the opportunity to deepen the kiss.

Soon, he had her knees pulled up and over his shoulders, angling her where he needed her, giving him better access, to her hot wet core.

"Sam...?" she said nervously.

"Shhh, don't worry. No penetration," he said, against her mouth. "I just want you to feel how much I want you."

At that, he settled himself more firmly between her legs, making sure his hard shaft, was nestled between her warm wet folds.

His lips covered hers again, in a deep kiss, just before he pulled back and then slide forward, rubbing the underside of his length, against her slick core.

They moaned into each other's mouths, as he continued to grind against her, creating a tantalizing friction.

Mercedes' moans echoed off the walls, as Sam fought for control.

His body screamed for him to arch back and slam into her, but she wanted to go slow. And he would do anything for her, even torture himself, with being so close to the prize and not going for it.

She fisted her hands in his hair, as she licked and sucked his neck, making him groan loudly, as he pressed himself more firmly against her and thrust harder.

Her grip on his hair tightened, seconds before she started screaming his name. And it triggered his own violent release.

"Mercedes! Oh, baby...I...oh god!" he yelled, while his mind screamed, 'I love you' over and over, until he released her legs and lay bonelessly on top of her.

As Sam was gasping for air, he realized something...he was in deep shit.

Mercedes was his life now.

His woman.

His heart.

He was so screwed.

c28no :)

Stay safe people!