Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Cash
After our kiss, we were like a magnetic force, unable to resist each other.
Leighton spent her days on the orchard with Sammy and me, along with Caden, and his sister, Jolene. She also met our other close friend Aster, who used to work on the orchard with us but now had his own chicken farm.
Jolene and Leighton instantly took to each other as Jolene talked about her passion for photography, and Leighton spoke about her books. They discussed ideas on incorporating Jolene’s photography into the pictures of Leighton’s books, and their ideas were pretty damn good.
While Sammy napped and I handled the business part of the orchard, Leighton worked on her books.
Each night, we grew closer as we told each other our deepest secrets and biggest dreams, our fears and pasts, and what we wanted for the future. During the first week, we only kissed, and Leighton went home to her cabin.
But as the days passed by, it was harder to resist. After a week and a half had gone by, I told her so.
Leighton climbed into my lap and rubbed herself against my aching erection. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“I was waiting for you to be ready.”
“Aw, Cash, you’re such a gentleman. But I was ready the day I met you.” She tossed her gorgeous red hair over her shoulder and laughed. “Just kidding. But I have been ready. For like days now.”
I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her hard before bucking my hips up. She moaned in response. Perfection.
With a green light to forge ahead, I didn’t waste another second. I tore at her clothes and mine and slid my hard dick inside her minutes later.
It was hard, fast, and primal, and I loved every fucking second of it. I know she did too.
“Spend the night with me,” I said between pants of breath.
“I thought you’d never ask,” she whispered before kissing me.
When I took her to my bed later that night, we didn’t sleep. We made love over and over again until the sun rose in the sky.
As the days turned into weeks, Leighton checked out of her cabin and stayed in my cabin. She resisted at first, but I convinced her to save the money. “I don’t want to be a burden to you or Sammy.”
“A burden? You could never.” I kissed her lips and held her close. We had spent the evening cuddling on the couch, a movie playing on the TV, yet we barely paid it any attention. I wanted to soak up every second I had with her, knowing our time was about to run out.
“Would you believe me if I told you I was a big grump before you arrived?”
Leighton’s green eyes, the ones I loved so much, sparkled. “You don’t say.”
I pulled her onto my lap and squeezed her tight. “I try to hold it in around Sammy. He doesn’t need that, you know? And now with you here, my ray of sunshine, I don’t feel that way anymore. It’s like you filled me from the inside out with sunshine.”
“Oh, Cash. How am I ever going to leave next week?”
“You’re not.”
Leighton chuckled against me, but I wasn’t laughing. She covered her face with her hands and peeked at me through her fingers. “Oh crap, you’re serious.”
“Of course, I’m serious, L. I…fuck.” I ran a hand through my hair before cupping her face with both my hands. “I love you, Leighton.”
She gasped, her hands now covering her mouth. Her eyes grew wide, and I held my breath as I waited.
“I love you, too, Cash.”
I breathed once more and kissed her so hard, pouring all my love into it. Every last drop.
“Please think about staying,” I whispered against her lips.
“But my whole life…my parents…my job…it’s all there.”
“Make Sammy and me your life now. Please. I can’t lose you.” I ran my hands through her hair and held her close, inhaling her smell and committing it to memory. She couldn’t go.
“Cash, I…I…”
Negative feelings attacked me as my thoughts ran wild. See, I told you. I told you not to open yourself up again. Now look.
Not only is she breaking my heart but she’s also breaking my son’s, too.
I lifted her off me and placed her down beside me. I stood and began pacing the floor, trying to control the chaos in my head.
“This was a mistake. I should’ve never let it go this far.
I knew you were leaving, I knew we’d get hurt, and I was an idiot.
I’m sorry, Leighton. I’m sorry. I can’t ask you to give up your life for me.
I won’t. But I also can’t do this anymore, knowing you’re leaving.
So let’s just end this now. It was great while it lasted, and I love you, but I can’t be hurt again. I can’t…”
Leighton slid her arms around me from behind and hugged me close, resting her face against my back. “Cash, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I won’t leave. We’ll figure something out…we’ll make it work.”
I spun around and looked down at my gorgeous redhead, tears leaking down the side of her face. “What? No…I can’t ask you that. I can’t be selfish. I’m the one who should be sorry. It was a weak moment.”
“We’ll figure it out, okay?” Leighton whispered.
“Okay.” But I knew it wasn’t okay. Nothing was okay.
Yet time continued like it always did.
We spent our last week together as if nothing had changed. Leighton was still leaving, and I still wanted her to stay, and thus the elephant in the room sat heavy between us. But we didn’t let it come between us, and even though I knew she was leaving, I fell more in love with her every day.
On the day she packed up and said her goodbyes, Sammy and I cried as we waved goodbye.
She was gone. She was really gone.
I kept the smile on my face around Sammy, but I was dying inside. Misery kept me company every night as I cried into my beer, unable to eat much, unable to focus on work. Caden and Aster tried to intervene, but it was useless.
I was nothing without Leighton.
A week passed by, and everything felt worse. After a rough day, I finally got Sammy to bed. He kept asking for Leighton, and it broke my heart every damn time. I ended up snapping at him, which I felt horrible about. I was so pissed at myself for getting into this situation in the first place.
I cracked open a beer, but it was no use. It tasted like shit. I dumped it down the drain and collapsed onto the couch, staring at the TV but not watching it.
Suddenly, I heard a light knock on my door. I waited a second to see if I was hearing things, but the knock sounded again.
I hauled myself up and made my way to the front door. “Look, Caden, I told you I didn’t want to hang—” My words stopped when I opened the door and saw Leighton standing there, her face red and swollen from crying. “Cash! I can’t do this anymore. I can’t be away from you!”
She ran into my arms, and all the sadness, anger, and disappointment melted away, and I finally felt normal again. I buried my face in her hair and breathed her in like the soothing elixir she was to my heart. “I can’t, either, baby. I’ve been dying without you. Please tell me you’re here to stay.”
“I am. I’m here forever if you’ll have me.”
“Yes, one hundred percent, yes,” I said, and then her lips were on mine. We were tumbling backward, the door slamming behind us as we fell to the floor, clothes flying in every direction.
And when I slid inside her moments later, all was right in my world. Once again.