Chapter Three
Ava
I’ve never had anyone show romantic interest in me… like ever. So Scott’s clear attraction to me is throwing me off and I’m not sure how to act around him. The way he saved me from the boat guy sent butterflies to my core and all I know is that I want to keep feeling that way, keep being around him.
Luna drops the drinks in front of us with a knowing smile before giving us our space. Scott has placed a hand on my thigh, my legs still resting between his. This kind of intimacy is new to me, and I think it should feel strange, but it just feels right.
“Tell me about your studies,” Scott says, taking a sip of his beer.
I launch into my research the plants I’m hoping to find, how I hope to be able to find something to stimulate growth efforts around the area. He asks thoughtful questions, only ever breaking eye contact when a regular approaches him. Each time, he waves them off and tells them he is in the middle of a conversation and will talk to them another time. It can’t be a great business practice, but it makes me feel like the most special girl in the world.
Before I know it, the brewery has largely cleared out and my head is feeling a bit fuzzy from the three ciders I had tonight.
“Scotty, we’re heading out,” Ethan shouts, arm wrapped around Luna. “You good to lock up?”
“I’ve got it,” Scott replies, not even turning to look back at Ethan. Ethan just grins at me before turning and heading out.
“Can I drive you home?” Scott asks, brown eyes warming.
“I- I drove here, actually,” I say, stupidly. I want him to take me home, but my nerves are getting the best of me.
“That’s okay,” he says, rising and grabbing my hand. “We can get your car tomorrow, honey. Promise,” he pulls me out of my chair and pulls me to him.
“This okay?” he asks, reaching up and brushing my hair from my face, the brown waves falling behind my shoulders with his touch. I nod, at a complete loss for words. He bends, lowering his mouth to mine and the first touch of his lips makes me feel like I’ve been shocked. It’s the spark I’ve been saving myself, that instant knowing I always hoped I would find.
I open my mouth to his, letting out a soft moan as I taste his tongue. I can feel him smile against me and I instinctively return it before we break apart.
“Wow,” I say.
“Yeah. Wow,” Scott says, pulling me towards him once again. I feel the overwhelming need to be honest with him in this moment, feeling like I owe it to him before we go any further.
“Scott…”
“What is it, Ava?” he asks, looking down at me with concern.
“I… I have to tell you. I’ve never been with anyone before… like in any capacity. That was my first kiss, actually,” I finish, looking to the ground.
He’s not having it, he lifts my chin up so my eyes have to meet his. He doesn’t look upset or even annoyed. He’s looking at me exactly like he did before we kissed.
“Oh, honey. Why were you nervous to tell me that? I don’t care,” he says, like it’s the simplest thing in the world.
“I don’t know. I feel like most guys get weirded out when girls don’t have much, or any, I guess, experience,” I finish and he’s still looking at me with stars in his eyes.
“Real men don’t care if you’ve been with no men or a hundred men. All I care about is that you’re with me now.” The authority in his voice sends shivers down my spine and I can’t help but wonder how he can be so sure about me, about us, after one meeting years ago and a few hours tonight.
I decide not to let those thoughts get to me right now. Now, I just want to enjoy this man who has made me feel better about myself in one night than anyone else has my entire life.
“Thank you. For being so understanding,” I say, reaching up to plant another kiss on his lips. It feels good, like something I could get used to. He pulls me closer, searing my lips with his own before pulling away.
“Let’s get out of here,” he says, pulling my hand and leading me out the front door. He locks up, never once letting go of me, before leading me to the staff parking lot and his silver truck.
We walk to the passenger side, and he opens the door for me. He buckles me into the seat, making sure I’m secure and I nearly swoon at the gesture. He’s so kind with me, but so firm with everyone else. It makes me feel like I’m special to him, that him remembering me from all those years ago really meant something, that maybe, just maybe, we could build something together.
He hops in the driver’s seat and starts heading out of town.
“Wait, how do you know where to go?” I ask, suddenly feeling a bit nervous.
“Small town, honey,” he says, taking his eyes off the road to look at me. “And Luna lived there, remember?” he breaks into a smile before lacing his fingers through mine once again. I relax at that. No need to be paranoid.
“Oh, right,” I say with a laugh. I think I’m a bit worried about what’s going to happen when we get back to my place. He knows I’ve never been with anyone before, but does that mean he doesn’t expect anything? What if I want to try something with him?
I stay lost in my thoughts for the rest of the drive, only tuning back in when we pull up to my cabin. I had left the light on in the kitchen and it makes the place look so warm, so inviting that I can’t help but feel regret at waiting so long to come back to Cedar Ridge. This town was always my home and I can’t wait to settle back in.
Scott parks the truck and rounds the corner to open my door before I even have the chance to unbuckle my seatbelt. His black waves shine in the moonlight as he lifts me out of my seat and I’m struck, just like the first time he lifted me all those years ago, by how handsome he is.
He sets me down on the front step and waits behind me as I open the door. I should invite him in, but I can’t quite find the words. We stare at each other a moment too long before he says, “I’m gonna come in, but you can kick me out anytime you like. I just want to spend more time with you.”
I smile at that, glad he took the pressure off of me. We walk in and I show him around the simple space. “I like your plants,” he says.
“Thanks. They’re like my babies,” I say. “This one,” I point to one in a pot by the foot of my bed, “is the fern I’m going to be looking for here. I feel like I saw it in the mountains as a kid, and if I’m right, then I can do my research here like I always dreamed.”
“We’ll find it,” he says, his confidence making me feel certain that we will. I feel like I could do anything with Scott’s support and that scares me. What if I’m not enough for him? I know he’s older than me and I can’t help but wonder if he’ll lose interest once the sparks go.
I don’t have time to wonder more as Scott comes up to me and pulls me into a crushing embrace.
“I’ve been waiting for you forever,” he murmurs into my ear before hitting me with another mind bending kiss.
Our mouths mold together, tongues tangling as we explore each other more deeply than back at the brewery. It feels so good, so right, I could kiss him forever. His tongue swirls in my mouth and my eyes roll into the back of my head.
“Scott, that feels so good,” I mumble as he moves from my mouth to kiss down my neck. The new sensation sends my core tightening, and suddenly I’m desperate for more. More exploration, more tasting, more Scott, more everything.
Slowly, he backs me up from where we are standing to the bed. He lays me gently on top of the covers before hovering over me.
“Is this okay? If you say yes, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop with just tasting your mouth.” He finishes the sentence with kisses planted on my mouth, my cheeks, and my chest. I know in this moment that I want to do everything with him, that stopping isn’t an option for either of us.
“Yes,” I whisper, tangling my hand in his dark waves and pulling his mouth to mine once again. His eyes look ravenous as he leans into me and gives me another deep kiss. He pulls back, “Sit up,” he says, a demand rather than an ask. “Lift your arms up, honey.”
I do as he says, lifting my arms over my head and he leans forward, lifting my blue knit sweater over my head, leaving my in the lacy white bralette I put on before I left the house. Thank god I wanted to feel good in my clothes earlier.
“Gorgeous,” he says, licking his lips as he looks at the tops of my breasts. He pushes me back down to the bed, lowering his mouth to my chest and placing gentle kisses above the lace. He reaches up and pulls down the cups, nearly ripping the bralette in the process. He sucks a nipple into his mouth, twisting the other one in his hand and the sensations are so overwhelming, I let out a cross between a gasp and a moan.
“That feel good?” he asks, lifting his mouth to mine once again.
“Yes,” I answer between kisses. “So, so good.”
“Good,” he says, lowering his mouth to my chest once again, working my breasts between his mouth and hands. I could burst from this alone. I feel my hips beginning to move against his thigh between my legs, desperate for some friction, any sense of relief.
“You want more, my perfect girl?”
“Yes, Scott, god yes,” I say, no longer embarrassed by my need for him.
With a chuckle he lifts off of me, removing his own shirt to reveal a toned, but not overtly muscular torso, clearly honed from hard work rather than hours at the gym. He’s dusted with black hair that travels under the top of his jeans. He notices me ogling him and just smiles at me, not even the slightest bit self-conscious as he takes off his jeans, leaving him only in a pair of black boxer briefs, stretched to the limit with his length.
How will that ever fit inside me?
“Let me see the rest of you, beautiful,” he says, interrupting my thoughts as he reaches for my leggings and slowly pulls them down my legs. I didn’t bother putting on any underwear and I feel a shock at my bareness.
He eyes my core with the same reverence he’s looked at the rest of me all night. He glides his thumb through my center and I shiver at the contact.
“So wet, is that all for me?” he asks as he lifts his thumb to his mouth and licks me off of him, eyeing me as he waits for my answer. I feel a flush at the sight, in complete awe of how thoroughly and openly he’s been appreciating me.
“Yes, yes, it’s all for you, it’ll always be all for you,” I say. He hums his approval, thumb still in his mouth.
“Sweet as candy, just as I knew you would be,” he says. “I’m going to taste the rest of you now.”
I don’t have a chance to reply before he is on his stomach between my legs, one hand pulling apart my folds with the other splays on my hips, holding me in place.
The first swipe of his tongue against my clit feels like a zap of lightning. He works me in a rhythm, sucking and swirling until I feel my hips lifting closer to his face, dying for the release I can feel myself of the brink of.
“So wet for me, honey. Do you like my face in your pussy?” Scott asks, raising his head and I can see my drippings covering his beard. The sight of this gorgeous man covered in me is almost too much for me.
“I… I love it,” I stutter out, “it’s the best thing I’ve ever felt,” I finish shyly. He smirks at me and dives back in, sliding one finger into me as his tongue continues to lap at the sensitive bundle of nerves.
His finger curls in just the right spot and he suctions himself to my clit, sending me over the edge. I see stars, feeling pleasure like I’ve never experienced before.
Thank God I came back to Cedar Ridge.