Chapter Thirty-Four
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
NOW
THE CREDITS FOR CHRISTMAS Vacation roll up the television screen as Chevy Chase’s character stands out on his snowy front lawn wearing a Santa Claus hat, his home covered in bright white lights behind him. Per tradition, the third night of the weekend is PGM (Pizza-Game-Movie Night), as it was so eloquently named by Selena a few years ago. We make Christmas-shaped pizzas for dinner, play a large game of Uno, and then watch a Christmas classic. PGM is my favorite tradition because we spend the night eating—pizza, popcorn, garlic knots, cheese bread…the list goes on.
When Elizabeth and I returned from the beach earlier, Lola and Selena were preparing the dough for pizzas while Georgie paced the back porch on a frantic phone call. Normally, I would say it’s safe to assume she was calling her husband, but now I can’t help but wonder if it’s the guy she was seeing. Everything was fine, she promised when she came back inside. Noah had disappeared again, having to do something for his parents, and it should only take a minute, but that minute turned into an hour and then two. Everything made so much sense now that I knew the truth, but being one of the only two people to know made it that much more awkward. I’m certain that Elizabeth knows the truth, but it almost seems stupid to ask her. Of course she knows. It’s the only thing to explain the secrecy earlier this weekend.
After dinner and a round of Uno, everyone meandered down to the beach at Georgie’s request. Actually, she only asked the girls to join her, but Elijah, Jeremy, and I decided to tag along anyway. Elijah chased Selena down the beach, catching her by the waist and hoisting her into the air. Laughter turned into screams of horror when they tumbled into the water.
“Don’t even think about it,” Lola warned Jeremy.
“Well, I wasn’t, but now…”
“Should we join them?” I asked Elizabeth when Jeremy took off after Lola.
“Don’t miss out on my behalf,” Georgie said.
“Absolutely not,” Elizabeth warned. I laughed, pulling her to my side and kissing the top of her head. She snuggled a little deeper into me, tightening her grip on my torso.
Selena kicked water at Elijah before running back up the beach. I didn’t have time to register what was happening before Elizabeth was ripped from my arms and sandwiched between Selena and Lola—both soaked and covered in sand.
“I hate you guys!” Elizabeth squealed, and I laughed. Finally slipping from their grasp, she glared at me. “You think this is funny, Davis? Let me show you how funny it is!”
I tried to take a few steps back, but she had already wrapped her arms around me. The cool night air seeped into my clothes the same way her laughter seeped into my soul. When she pulled away, our eyes met, and it felt like there was a string between the two of us being pulled taut, bringing us closer together. My hand grazed her cheek, bending down to—
“Unless y’all want to catch a cold, I suggest we go in and change,” Georgie said, cutting the string between us. Elizabeth jumped about a foot away before she hustled up the boardwalk.
Now, the clock on the wall reads eleven o’clock, and the only ones who didn’t knock out during the movie were Jeremy, Noah, and me. Selena and Elijah were the first ones to pass out, cuddled together on the floor below me and Elizabeth on the couch. Lola was next; she was always a lightweight when it came to movie night, but at least she can say she lasted longer than Eli. Georgie wasn’t long after, falling asleep with her head in Noah’s lap. He arrived back at the house just before we started the ultimate debate of which movie to watch, and Georgie’s whole mood shifted when he walked through the door. She offered him the pizza she had made for him, but he declined—not hungry because he had eaten while he was out. Normally, that wouldn’t bother her, but I saw the tears she tried to hide that welled in her eyes. Pregnancy hormones, I guess?
Noah disappeared into their room after that and returned a few minutes later; it was like he had realized how tense things seemed because he tried to be a little less standoffish. Georgie doted on him, eventually snuggling up to him and falling asleep.
Elizabeth was last to fall asleep. Somehow, we had managed to secure the couch. I expected her to sit on the floor, but she laid down next to me, her backside pressed right up against me. With my arm thrown over her waist, she eventually fell asleep, turning over to snuggle further into my side.
I begin to rouse her. “C’mon, Sugar. Time for bed.”
She groans in response and snuggles closer.
Jeremy does the same with Lola, who yawns but does as she’s told.
I nudge Elijah with my foot, stepping off the couch, and he jerks awake instantly. His brown eyes are wide and alert, searching for the source of his rude awakening. When he realizes the movie is over and there isn’t a murderer standing over him, he groans and begins to wake Selena.
I gently shake Elizabeth’s shoulder, and she swats me away. After a little more prodding, she finally mustered the strength to get up. Yawning into a stretch, she rubs her eyes…
Noah peels himself from Georgie and the movement jolts her awake. She reaches for him, but he doesn’t seem to notice, or he doesn’t care. “Ready for bed, baby?” Georgie asks, her words dripping with sugar-coated honey.
“Yeah, let’s go, Gi,” Noah says, stalking out of the TV room without looking back.
Georgie notices my stare and offers a quick smile. “See y’all in the morning.” Without another glance, she hastens her steps to follow Noah down the hall.
“That is so awkward,” I say, following Elizabeth into the bedroom.
“What?” She yawns.
“Georgie pretending everything is fine with her and Noah when it’s very obvious it’s not fine.”
“What are you talking about? Everything is fine. Why would you—”
“I know, Liz. About the affair and the baby.”
Elizabeth starts to question how, but I interrupt her.
“Noah mentioned it earlier when we were having coffee.”
Elizabeth sighs, rubbing her eyes. “Gi is trying her damndest to fix it, but I don’t think it’s working.”
Should I tell her the truth? Tell her she’s right, that all of Georgie’s “efforts” aren’t working? No, I can’t betray Noah’s trust like that. And if I do tell her, she’s going to tell Georgie. That’s where her loyalty lies, not with Noah. But is that where my loyalty lies? This feels like Nick and Nina all over again, except at the end of the day I don’t have stakes in what happens to either Georgie or Noah.
“It’s not.” Those two words slip past my lips without my realizing it. Shit, I shouldn’t have done that. Noah really wanted to wait until the end of this weekend, and it’s not my place to upend his plans. Looking up from my feet, I meet the burning gaze of my wife.
“What?” Elizabeth stands in the threshold of the bathroom, gripping the doorframe. “What did he say to you?”
“I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Josh, what did he tell you?”
Chewing on the inside of my lip, I know I’ve already crossed the line. She knows too much and whether I tell her everything or stop right now, she’s going to tell Georgie. “He’s already contacted a lawyer.”
Elizabeth sighs. “This is going to crush her.”
“Then maybe she shouldn’t have cheated on him.”
“Oh, that’s rich coming from you.”
Her words make my stomach sink. Does she still think I cheated on her? Does she forget the promise I made to her?
Elizabeth shakes her head and starts to walk back into the bathroom, but I follow. My hand reaches out to grab hers, stopping her. “I never cheated on you, Elizabeth. Juliet never showed up that day. Why won’t you believe me when I say nothing happened in Wichita?”
She won’t answer me; hell, she won’t even look at me.
“Listen, Sugar, if this friendship is going to work, we have to be honest with each other.” She still refuses, and when I grip her chin to pull her gaze to mine, I find a new level of hurt in her brown eyes. “Never. I would never do that to you. Do you remember what I said to you in the kitchen that morning all those years ago?”
There’s a small tug on her lips, bringing a smile to my own.
“Let me remind you…until we sign those damn papers in five months, I am yours . Whether you and Ryan are together—”
“We’re not.”
“You’re not?” There’s a sudden flutter in my stomach.
“I mean, I don’t know. We’ve kind of talked, but…I don’t think—I don’t think he’s the one.”
My heart picks up speed hearing those words—he’s not the one. How did we go from wanting to work things out to saying he’s not the one? I don’t know, but right now I don’t really care.
Stepping closer, I tilt her chin, holding her stare. “Until we sign those papers, you are mine.”
A shuddering breath escapes her lips.
I glance from her eyes to her lips before meeting her gaze again. Pupils blown wide. She sticks her tongue out to wet her lips, and she doesn’t wait, she pulls me to her as I stoop down to capture her lips in a hard kiss. My body vibrates with anticipation but also awareness. This could make things so much worse, but with her body pressed against mine, I can’t bring myself to care. All I can think about is the feel of her lips against mine. The way her body fits against mine like we were made for each other. Like we’ve always been meant for each other.
I ease her backward until the bed presses against the backs of her thighs, and a soft squeal falls from her lips when I lift her onto the white duvet without an ounce of difficulty. The sound squeezes my heart and makes me smile. She sits on her knees at the edge of her bed, pulling me to her by the hem of my T-shirt before lifting it over my head and letting it fall. Her perfectly manicured fingers run up the grooves of my chest, her lips following close behind. Each kiss against my skin sends another shock straight to my dick. She sits back on her thighs and meets my gaze as she slowly grips the hem of her sweatshirt and lifts it above her head.
Elizabeth clutches the cloth to her chest for a brief moment before letting it fall.
Fuck, she’s beautiful.
I bring her mouth back to mine, tasting her as I slide my hands up the sides of her body. She laces her fingers on my nape, bringing me down with her.
My left hand caresses her breast, pinching and squeezing until her nipple stands to attention through the black lace before I bend down to bite the raised bud through the fabric. She gasps, and I reach behind her to unhook her bra, tossing it to the side. I rub one nipple with the pad of my thumb, licking the other, and my tongue swirls around the straining peak. She writhes beneath me, getting more antsy as the pleasure rolls through her, and we’re only just getting started.
I run my tongue down her stomach until I reach the waistband of her shorts, her body tensing as I lift my gaze to look up at her. Her hands reach to cover the scars on her stomach. They’ve faded more over the years, but they’ll never fully be gone. I push her hands away.
“Don’t ever cover yourself in front of me.”
Tears well in her eyes, and she looks away briefly, but the pull is too strong and she meets my gaze again.
“You are so fucking beautiful. These don’t take anything away from you. They make you who you are, and I love who you are. I love everything about you, including every single one of these little jagged lines.” My finger traces across them, and my lips follow until I’ve traced every single one. Leaving a final kiss just below her navel, I tug the pajama shorts and panties down her legs and push her thighs apart. A soft gasp escapes her lips as the cool air touches her swollen folds.
She’s so fucking wet already.
And she’s all mine.
As much as I want to feel her come on my tongue, I’m not feeling patient tonight. I want to feel her wrapped around me the first time she comes; I want to watch her come undone beneath me, with nothing but my name on her lips.
She tries to close her legs, but I hold them still before sliding my hand up her thigh and pushing my pointer finger inside her. She practically jumps off the bed, throwing her head back with a moan. I rub my finger inside her and nip at the skin on her hip before lapping it with my tongue. I lick up her side and between the valley of her breasts, slipping another finger into her, silencing her moan with a firm, hard kiss.
“I can’t wait to be inside you,” I mumble against her lips. Her hips begin to rock against my hand when I rub small circles over her clit. It doesn’t take much for her to reach the edge, but I pull my fingers out of her without warning.
“Josh!” Elizabeth groans, at the end of her patience.
Another hard kiss before I reach for my sweats, pulling them down my thighs, and her eyes darken at the sight. Her tongue pokes out to wet her lips, eyes running up my length to the swollen head where a drop of semen glistens at the tip. Grasping my erection, I give it a few pumps before settling between her thighs.
Pinning her hips down, I tease her entrance, and she rocks her hips greedily, trying to get more.
“Stop being such a damn tease,” she says.
A smile curves my lips, and I push forward inch by inch, enjoying the feel of her enveloping me, pulling me deeper.
“Baby,” she moans when I plunge myself the rest of the way until I’m seated completely inside her. Angling myself, I flex my hips so I can move my cock in deeper, and I can feel her walls clenching around me. She reaches up, tangling her fingers in my hair and yanking me down into a demanding kiss. She locks her ankles at the small of my back and lifts her hips.
Fuck, this woman will be the death of me. She feels so good wrapped around me. No matter how much of her I get, it will never be enough.
Planting my hands on either side of her head, I pull out and thrust back in. A sound rumbles in my chest, low and deep. With each breath, a soft moan spills from her lips, and it only deepens the hunger I feel for her. The aching need for her. There’s nothing else that matters. This connection, this closeness, is what I’ve been missing for so long.
With each thrust, her back arches, and her nails dig into the taut skin of my shoulders.
“Tell me what you need, Sugar,” I grit out. “What do you need?”
“You,” she breathes.
The answer is so simple, but it shoots straight to my heart.
“You, Josh,” she repeats herself, and I kiss her to hide the emotion I know is displayed on my face. Hide the tears that brim my eyes and the pressure building in my chest. My tongue plies open her mouth, tasting every inch of her. Everything we’ve been through, all the lies, the games, the fights, the hurt…it has all led to this moment.
To the here and now. Our inability to stay away from each other, like moths to a flame. We couldn’t resist the burn anymore.
Her brown-eyed gaze is fixed on me when we part, the glow of her arousal like morning dew on her skin. I speed up my thrusts, and her walls flutter around me. I can feel the start of her orgasm. Her walls squeeze so tight it initiates my own.
“Baby, please,” she moans.
Reaching between us, I rub her clit with the pad of my thumb, and her eyes screwed shut in bliss.
“Look at me,” I command, but she doesn’t. “Look at me when you come, Sugar.”
When her eyes meet mine, her nails dig deeper into my skin, and the rush is like nothing I’ve felt before. We’ve had great sex before, we always did, but this…this is different. Pure fire and adrenaline course through my veins. I lose every sense as I continue to dive into her over and over again. She clutches at me as I come, but even when I’m done, I continue to fuck her. I don’t want to let this feeling go.
Her fingers interlock at my nape, her nails gently grazing the skin, sending flames across my already burning flesh. I kiss her temple but don’t move so I can remain inside her. She snuggles into me, and with half-lidded eyes, I take a deep breath, letting the mix of scents fill my lungs: the smell of her shampoo, her perfume, the smell of sex and sweat, and a hint of my body wash.
“Josh,” she whispers into my neck, but I don’t pull away to look at her.
“Yeah, baby?” A kiss on her temple.
“What—what does this mean?”
I’m sure she can hear the thick swallow as it slides down my throat. Staring up at the ceiling, my fingers twirl a piece of blonde hair around them. What does this mean? I have no idea. There is still so much we need to talk about, so much we need to work through…
Doesn’t this cross a line way past being just friends?
“What do you want it to mean?” I ask.
Elizabeth pushes up from my chest and I look up to meet her gaze. “I want you to be honest with me for once in your life. I want you to tell me what this—us—means to you.”
Everything. This means everything to me. She means everything to me. But, I’m still me, and I don’t deserve this woman. The only reason we’ve been together this long is because of that fucking contract. She deserves so much better than me.
“That’s not my call, Liz. I don’t even deserve to be here. If it weren’t—”
“What are you talking about?” Elizabeth scoffs.
“I’m only here because of that damn clause.” Pulling her mouth to mine, I kiss her gently once…twice…three times.
Elizabeth plants her palm on my chest, putting a small distance between us. “You’re here because I want you here, Josh.”
“You deserve better than this, Sug. Better than me.”
“I deserve what I want, and that’s you, Josh.” Her hand reaches to cradle the side of my face and I can’t help it, I lean into her touch. Her thumb grazes my cheek before she swoops down to kiss me.