Chapter 32 Misty #2
“He cheated on you, and no offense to your lovely stepsister, but I can’t blame any man for cheating on her. You, on the other hand—he deserves to die for hurting you.” Talbot easily picks me up, tipping me in his arms as he carries me back to the truck.
“I don’t know if I can hang in the luxury-party circuit.”
“Seriously, Gumdrop? Do you know how much these gift bags are worth?” He sets the bags on my lap and shuts the passenger door.
“They have watches in these gift bags.” I dig through mine. “We can’t take these; we have to give them back.”
“They have tons left over at the end of the night. Giving someone a Rolex watch in rich-people speak is about as impersonal as it gets. Shoot, I bet Ryan West has a thousand of these.”
“We need to donate it to charity or something.”
“So you don’t want your fancy chocolate truffles?” He waves a little red box in my face.
“I didn’t say that.” I snatch it from him.
“Hey! A mini decorate-your-own candy Christmas tree. Richmond Electric really went all out. Damn, and a mini Hermès bag? It’s regifting central in here.
Guess the evening’s not a total bust.” I unwrap one of the truffles.
I spent all my money on the guy sitting next to me in the dark, so I really should be regifting these stolen goods, but—
“Damn, this chocolate is amazing,” I groan as the bittersweet flavor hits my tongue.
Talbot tucks his box of truffles into my gift bag.
“I guess, do you want to drive around and look at Christmas lights?” I ask him. “Sorry your big evening plans got cut short.”
“You think this is all I had on the schedule? In my line of work, you always have a contingency plan.” He cranks up the engine and starts down the gravel drive with the headlights off.
“Are you going away after this job, I mean?”
He glances over at me and turns on the headlights as we turn onto the main road. “Aww, is that why you won’t let me kill your ex; you’re worried you’ll never see me again?”
“What makes you think I want you hanging around my parents’ house and scaring the bejesus out of GrandPam?”
“Gumdrop will miss me if I go away.” He takes my hand and rubs my fingers between his as we drive down the snowy streets. Christmas music filters from the speakers. Talbot hums along.
“You’ll have to put out a hit on someone else on your naughty list.” He grins at me. Instead of turning back into town, he turns right, heading up to the mountains where Maplewood Falls is. “How about GrandPam? Bet you’d be your mom’s favorite child after that.”
“I’d be Granny Keagan’s favorite, but I sort of already am, so…”
“Mm, I beg to differ. I think I can give you a run for your money.” He backs into an empty lookout point then kisses my hand. “Come on.”
“I’m not hiking.”
“We’re not hiking.” He swings me up onto the bed of the pickup truck, opens up an insulated cooler, and pulls out a pair of socks.
“You ever watch the moon rise?” He slips off my heels and slides on the socks.
“How are these socks so warm?” I wiggle my toes.
“Focus, Gumdrop, we’re having a romantic moment here.” He climbs up next to me and pulls out an equally warm blanket, which he tugs over us.
I snuggle up next to him under the blanket.
“Now, full disclosure, I did not make this eggnog.” He waves the thermos at me.
“But your cool granny said I could have it. She’s very worried about the state of your sex life, by the way, and wants to know if you’ve been using the exercise dildo she bought you for Christmas last year. I assured her I’d ask.”
I cough as the eggnog-flavored rum burns my throat.
“So…” He nudges me.
“Geez, this is strong.” I cough again.
“No, Gumdrop, stay on topic. The vaginal stretcher.”
“I burned it.”
“What?”
“With my Austen box.”
“Right.” He stares out over the dark down the roofs blanketed with snow like a holiday postcard scene from my fantasies. “So, do I have a box now?”
“I’m not stalking you.”
“I think you’re a little obsessed with me.”
“I’m only obsessed with minor celebrities, you know, wholesome boy-band types.”
“Nice girls don’t hang out in the woods with known killers, Gumdrop.”
“Probably don’t let them fist them in their childhood bedroom either.”
He kisses me. “I’ll let her know that you were pretty stretched out. She did hint that she was going to buy you a new one, bigger and better. She didn’t want me to tell you, but I didn’t want to ruin the sanctity of our fake relationship by lying to you.”
“She better not give me that,” I grumble. “This Christmas is going to be even worse than the last one.”
However, I don’t feel the same sense of impending dread that’s been plaguing me ever since Halloween—the fear that Ryan’s family and friends are going to judge me and talk shit about me come the Christmas season.
Poor Misty who can’t keep a man, who was so delusional that she thought Austen Langley actually loved her.
Talbot cradles my head to his chest, and we watch as the first sliver of the moon rises over the treetops.
“Maybe we should go to Colorado for Christmas,” I murmur. He stills.
“You’re drunk,” he says. He relaxes again, draws my legs onto his lap, and strokes his hand slowly up and down my thigh. It’s a familiar gesture.
“When I was younger, my mom would bring us up here. We’d ‘moon gaze,’ she called it. My older brothers used to lie to me and tell me that Santa lived on the moon.” He lets out a deep sigh. “I wanted to be an astronaut. Go to the moon.”
He stares out at it.
The silver moon is now low in the sky, big and luminous like it’s taking up the entire night.
“When I was little—like, before my mom dropped the ball one too many times and I realized Santa wasn’t actually real—I used to imagine that I could see Santa’s sleigh flying in front of the moon.”
I glance up at him. His eyes are the same color as the enormous moon hanging in the sky as he leans his head down to stare at me.
“You know, Misty, you’re my favorite client.”
“I bet you say that to everyone. That handsome blond guy sure seemed jealous to see you dancing with someone else.” I draw my fingers against his jaw that’s smooth, freshly shaven. I can’t help but pull him down for a kiss.
“You know, your parents said I could keep you out until breakfast,” he murmurs.
I can see all of him in the bright light of the moon.
“There’s the big hockey game tomorrow against the Mammoths, and the WAGs are having a volunteer thing beforehand.”
“And this is your problem because why? It just sounds to me like that means I can sneak into your bedroom and have my way with you.” He’s pressing kisses all over my face. “Corrupt you.”
“I really shouldn’t let you corrupt me anymore.”
“Then you can help me sober up.” He kisses me again, slow and warm and a little drunk. The moon climbs higher over the snow, and the rest of the world disappears.
His hands are warm as they slide under my dress, tugging at the lacy black panties Sienna made me wear. He doesn’t stop kissing me as he touches me everywhere, wanting me, needing me.
I surge into his hands as he strokes my pussy, teasing me until I’m dripping wet and ready for him.
A condom packet rips. He pushes me back into the blanket, still dropping kisses on my face and neck like little stars. He grabs my thighs, spreading me for him, then he slides into me slowly, excruciatingly.
I wrap my arms around his neck, clinging to him as he fucks me. My legs wrap around his waist, drawing him into me until he’s coming in me and I’m shuddering my orgasm around him.
“Sex outside, Gumdrop? You’re totally ruined.”
He kisses me softly when he pulls up in front of Ryan’s house. “I’ll be around tomorrow.”
The thrill of those words.
The truck lingers as I let myself into the dark house as quietly as I can then lean against the door. “That was literally the best night of my life.” I sigh. I’m still drunk on Talbot and moonlight kisses and too-strong eggnog.
A shadow appears from the living room still dimly lit by the fire.
Austen looks drunk, hair a little greasy.
For once, I don’t care that Brielle is a bad girlfriend—they do kind of deserve each other.
Austen wavers on his feet, clearly looking me up and down.
If he asks me for money, I’m going to tell him to shove his hockey stick up his ass.
But instead, he frowns. “You look really good, Mouse.” He sighs heavily. “I really miss you, Misty. Do you know that?”