Chapter 19 Grady
grady
. . .
Cleo’s hand was warm in mine as she led me through the house and back out into the humid summer night. It hadn’t been hard to slip away from the party, not as our parents laughed and drank and ate, reminiscing about the good old days and bickering about the best bands of the eighties.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked. Cleo didn’t answer, but she giggled as I pulled her back into my arms as we stopped near my truck. “It would be awfully rude of you to break things off now that I’ve made your family fall in love with me.”
Cleo rolled her eyes. “They already loved you.”
“I don’t know. I think your dad still had reservations, but after that performance? I don’t know, I think I sealed the deal.”
“Oh, you do, do you?”
“Mmhm,” I nodded, placing my hand along her stomach and pushing her up against the side of my truck. Her eyes darted between us as I stepped closer, leaning in until our lips were only an inch apart. “You’ll never be able to get rid of me now.”
“What if that was part of my plan, anyway?” Her voice was so small, so casually cruel to herself that it almost broke my heart. She tried to laugh, to make it seem like she was joking, but I knew better. “What if I did it so you won’t leave me?”
Cleo had come a long way from the unsure, shy, bumbling sixteen-year-old girl she was when we first started dating, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t still dancing with demons I never understood.
I could see them sometimes. I didn’t even think she realized she was mentally detaching sometimes until it happened.
It was hard to watch her become a shell of her former self, but I did my best to show up and reassure her I wasn’t going anywhere.
“Oh, bluebird… I could never leave you. You’re stuck with me.
Don’t you see that?” I set the guitar down at her feet and cupped her face.
Her eyes matched the night sky, sparkling with hope and barely contained nerves.
“I’d give you anything you asked for—anything you needed—to get that through your head. ”
“Anything?”
I nodded. “I mean, I may not be able to hand over a million dollars right now—” she smacked my chest lightly “—but if you give me a few years, I could probably get it.”
I’d save up every penny I ever made if she asked me to.
She bit down on her lip. “What if I didn’t want to wait anymore?” I blinked, staring down at her perfect face in the pale moonlight. She looked like an angel. She looked like mine. “What if I wanted to give you the last piece of myself that I—”
I kissed her, tentatively at first, but it didn’t take long for her hesitancy to bleed away to urgency like always.
It seemed to be one of the few times Cleo didn’t get lost in her head.
She let her body act on what her mind would never let her.
The anxiety was gone, and in its place was a quiet sort of confidence that only got me hotter.
“Is that a yes?” she asked a little breathlessly.
“That’s a hell yes,” I told her, maybe a little too eagerly.
Cleo chuckled, intertwining our fingers as she brought her hand up to kiss each knuckle gently. “Then you better put that guitar up and follow me.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. Hell, I wouldn’t have even needed to be told once if we’d already crossed that line before. “Oh, yes, ma’am.”
I did as she told me, quickly setting my case on the backseat of my truck. And then, just because I could, I shut the door and scooped her into my arms. She shrieked as I hoisted her over my shoulder and smacked her ass. “Where are we going, bluebird? Tell me right now.”
“Someone’s eager,” she murmured.
I was an eighteen-year-old kid. Of course, I was fucking eager.
I’d spent more nights than I could count taking care of myself because her kisses and soft touches left me wanting more after I left.
And sure, we’d done other stuff, but it never satiated that need for her. If anything, it only spurred me on.
“Cleo,” I warned, letting my hands travel up the length of her thigh. Somewhere along the way, I’d forgotten just how short her little dress was. It wasn’t long until I was grazing the soft cotton of her underwear. “Two can play the teasing game.”
I ran my finger along the seam, enjoying the way her body reacted. She sucked in a sharp breath, clutching at my shirt as I made my way toward the back of the truck. I didn’t think anyone would come out to look for us, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
“The treehouse,” she gasped as my hand slid between her thighs. “Right now.”
I turned my head, pressing a kiss on her hip. “Someone’s eager.”
“Now I know how it feels,” she murmured.
We made it to the treehouse in record time.
Honestly, I was shocked I hadn’t tripped and taken us both down to the dirt.
Even if we had, I didn’t know if that would’ve stopped us.
I’d kept my hand where it had been before, fingers splayed against the smooth expanse of skin.
Something Cleo was all too aware of as she tried squeezing her legs together and squirming for just a hint of friction to relieve her ache.
“Now, unfortunately, I can’t be romantic and carry you up this damn death trap,” I said, setting her down and staring up into the trees. “So, you’ll have to settle for me meeting you up there.”
“It’s not a death trap,” she laughed, beginning to climb. “You’re being dramatic.”
Her hips swayed lightly with each step she took, and I couldn’t look away. Soft blue panties peeked out from under her dress. I wasn’t sure if it was intentional, but the little smirk she gave me as she climbed up and stared down at me from the top was enough to make me think it was.
Oh god, I was so painfully hard. Watching her, combined with the anticipation of what we were about to do, was more than enough. I needed to cool it down or else she was going to look back on our first time in disappointment.
I made quick work of the climb and closed the hatch behind me. I sat back on my heels, suddenly feeling nervous. I wasn’t sure what to do or how to start, but then I found Cleo’s big blue eyes. With the moonlight spilling through the window, she looked beautiful. Like a queen.
Our positions were nearly identical, with her hands in her lap and a soft smile on her lips. She fidgeted slightly, shifting her weight from one leg to the other.
“Um, before we do this,” she began, tucking a piece of loose hair behind her ear, “Do you have a condom?”
I didn’t want her to think I was presumptuous, but I’d been carrying one with me for a few months now.
It wasn’t that I thought something was actually going to happen, but I wanted to be prepared when it did.
The last thing I wanted was for the two of us to do something that would force us into conversations and decisions neither of us were ready for yet.
“I do,” I said, reaching into my pocket and pulling it from my wallet.
“You came prepared,” she said, reaching into the small chest on the shelf. I didn’t realize what she was holding until it hit the light. “But so did I.”
Something about it made me smile, that she was just as eager as I was.
I tried to be very intentional with my words and actions, especially when it came to sex.
The last thing I wanted was for her to feel pressured.
I’d seen it happen a few times with friends from school and hated the thought of anyone pushing someone past their comfort zone.
“How long have you been planning this, bluebird?”
Even though it was dark, I could see the pretty pink blush across her cheeks. “I just wanted to be ready. I was planning on taking them out before we left, but…”
“But,” I said softly, reaching forward for her hand. My palm was sweaty, and so was hers when I gave her a reassuring squeeze. “We’ll take this however fast or slow you wanna go, okay?”
“I trust you.” Her whispered words in the darkness were the only confirmation I needed.
I leaned forward and kissed her. My hands slowly ran up her arms until her hair was threaded between my fingers. Cleo melted in my hold, letting me tilt her face however I wanted, which only made me greedy.
She let out a little gasp as I bit down on her lip—a sweet little sound that had blood rushing to…
somewhere. It was freeing to do what we wanted, to not worry about having to stop.
I knew it was selfish, but as she ran her fingers across my denim-clad thighs, I realized she was being just as greedy as I was.
There were times I wondered what this moment would look like.
Most movies and TV shows painted one of two pictures when it came to characters losing their virginity.
Either it was this overly romantic serenade with rose petals and candles in some ridiculous hotel room with soft jazz playing in the background, or it happened in the back seat of a truck and lasted only a matter of minutes.
Location aside, when I imagined Cleo and me in that position, I’d assumed I would take a more dominant role, that I’d have to guide her and force myself to go at a pace she was comfortable with. It seemed, however, I might’ve been wrong about that.
It was like a dam broke. After two years of heated moments and sexual frustration, neither of us was able to hold back any longer.
Cleo broke our kiss to straddle my hips.
The angle was awkward until she wrapped her arms around my neck and began grinding down on me.
We were a tangle of limbs, frantically clawing at each other through our clothes as we explored the other’s body.
Having her in my arms felt so damn good. To be able to take and take and take, to hear the sounds of pleasure I took as encouragement. All of it went right below the belt, something I was increasingly aware of with each sweet drag of her hips.