9. Ellison
“Did he get settled all right?” I ask as Montana comes into the bedroom and closes the door quietly behind him.
“Yeah, I left a note for Celeste in the morning to let him sleep if he’s not up at his usual time.”
I bite my lip, suddenly guilty for throwing off his routine. “That’s okay with all his medications?”
“Eddie, he’s fine,” Montana says as he drops his jeans to the floor and pulls on a pair of mesh shorts. “And stop starin’ at my ass,” he scolds without looking at me.
“Can’t be helped.”
And I’m not lying.
Montana has always been the absolute man of my dreams with his shaggy hair, shit-eating grin, and the most gorgeous brown eyes I’d ever seen in real life. His body has changed from a boy’s to a man’s in the years we’ve been apart, and every part of me has taken notice.
He was everything I’d never been allowed to have, and while we could have dated in secret, it never sat right with me. Montana was someone that deserved to be flaunted around for the world to see.
He’d been severely underestimated his entire life both in mind and spirit, and I loved him with everything I had.
I still do.
But I hadn’t been willing to subject him to the kind of scrutiny that would have come from my parents. Not back then. We were kids, and Montana didn’t deserve their ignorance, and he didn’t deserve to be cut down by them at every turn.
So, I’d made a deal—an olive branch of sorts.
I promised my parents that Montana and I would be just friends and in exchange, they would leave him alone. It wasn’t a perfect plan, but it was the only way my newly teenaged heart knew how to protect him.
It was also the only secret I ever kept from my best friend, and while I hated it, I couldn’t regret it. It had worked and I’d kept him safe—I’d just thought he’d take the leap with me after we’d graduated.
I’d wholeheartedly believed that turning eighteen and having a freshly printed diploma would suddenly erase any and all obstacles.
It didn’t.
And Montana hadn’t followed me either—hadn’t chased after me. It was something that still bothered me. It wasn’t that he’d stayed in Blackstone Falls or even that he’d told me long-distance would never work. Montana hadn’t been honest with me, but I never knew why. I’d made plenty of mistakes too and we needed to hash it out.
Just not tonight.
Because tonight made me happier than I had been in a long time.
Singing along to “Hell Yeah” by Little Big Town, my car had barely crossed the county line before my heart had stuttered in my chest in anticipation. I was finally home. And an act of rebellion felt like the perfect way to make it official.
Without a lot of time to think about it, skinny-dipping had been the obvious choice. I’d taken a chance that Montana would be the one to investigate my evening swim, and the look on his face alone had been worth it.
It had been exhilarating.
But not quite as exhilarating as being in his bed—even if it’s just to sleep. I’ve probably riled him up enough for one night, but tomorrow is a brand-new day.
Entranced, I watch as he pulls a shirt over his head, then pout as it covers the tattoos on his perfectly sculpted torso. The man has been shirtless all night; seems ridiculous to put it on now.
“What’s the face for?” he asks as he climbs into bed next to me.
“I like you better shirtless.” I say the words because they’re obvious—but it’s only a half answer and Montana knows it. Shrugging one shoulder I add, “I just missed being here. Missed you and Grandad, but it was hard coming back here too.” I look up and see confusion marring his handsome face. “I’ve missed so much, but it was just easier to stay away rather than breaking my heart every time I would’ve had to leave Blackstone Falls.”
Wrapping his big arms around me, Montana pulls us down the bed and maneuvers us until our heads are on the pillows and our legs are tangled together.
Like this.
I missed this so much.
“I hated you bein’ gone. I understood some of it but not all of it.”
We could have been together. You could have come with me. We’ve wasted so much time.
The words are loud in my head, but it’s too late to start that conversation now.
“Not tonight,” I whisper, and he holds me tighter, his throat bobbing his only tell to how he really feels.
When I received my acceptance letter to college, I knew before I even asked that Montana would never leave the farm. I just wanted a life with him—a life free from my parents to be with the boy who made my heart beat faster than any trust-fund kid they introduced me to.
I had to believe, deep down, that my parents had my best interests in mind when they paraded me around, but it wasn’t easy. So much of my life had been scripted, and the only people who knew the real me were Montana, Grandad, and Nan.
Even his parents and sisters thought I was the quiet, mild-mannered girl who would uphold my societal standing by marrying for power instead of love.
I couldn’t blame them—it’s what I’d been raised to do.
Montana had been my wild card, and I’d held on to him with a death grip. I’d rebelled at every turn, and Montana had been my fall guy.
And he’d kept me safe.
Kept my secrets.
“Am I still your best friend, Max?” The question is so quiet it can barely be heard over the hum of the air conditioner.
“You’ll always be my best friend, Eddie,” he says with that knowing smile I remembered he only ever used with me—usually when he was exasperated by something I’d done.
But it had been mine.
Was it still just mine?
“Who was your best friend while I was gone?” I press and he chuckles, the sound lighting me up inside.
“Not really how it works.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not like I’m callin’ someone up from the minors to play in the big leagues.”
“Well, your first problem is thinking you’re the big leagues, Montana Greene,” I tease and then yelp when he pinches my side, making me squirm against his hard body.
It’s a punishment I’ll gladly endure.
“Why would I need to replace you when I knew it was just a matter of time until you came back?”
“I just want to make sure I don’t have to set anyone straight thinkin’ they get what’s mine.”
“Uh-huh. Who was your new best friend?”
“You know I’m not good at that,” I say quietly and brace myself for the words that are inevitably coming.
Montana swallows, and I let my eyelids flutter close for the briefest second. “You did have a friend though, right?”
“I had some people I was friendly with,” I say on a heavy sigh. “But you know how that world is, Max. I traded one fancy prison for another.”
His arms grip me tighter, and I release a shuddery breath because it’s over, and I don’t want to dwell on the time we’ve been apart.
“Remember that time we tried to make Grandad a pumpkin pie because it’s his favorite?”
Montana’s chest rumbles with laughter, his eyes crinkling in the corners as he nods. “We almost nailed that one.”
“Almost.” I grin. “Except we forgot the salt.”
“Actually I think you forgot the salt,” he says pointedly and I lift one shoulder.
“Semantics.”
“Nan swooped in after everyone took that first bite sayin’ she must have mixed up the pies when she put them on the counter.” We’d seen Nan trying to hide the pie she’d made earlier in the day when we’d declared we’d be tryin’ to bake one.
“That woman was a lifesaver, and you know damn well she never forgot to put salt in.” On a laugh I add, “But really, how could such a small amount make such a difference?”
“No idea, but to this day I’m a little gun-shy when I see one.”
My eyes widen and my mouth curls up on one side before I can stop myself, and Montana notices because before I can blink, his fingers are digging into my sides as a peal of laughter is ripped from my lungs.
“Don’t you even think about it,” he demands as I squirm in his grasp, and even though I promise not to show up with a bunch of pumpkin pies—it’s an empty one. There’s no way I’m letting this little nugget of information go to waste.
“Okay!” I giggle breathlessly as he finally relents and rolls onto his back, pulling me with him. Propping my chin on his chest as I pant, I don’t miss the way the sheet tents where his cock is more than a little excited to see me. I file that away too and say, “I promise no pumpkin pies.”
He sighs but his lips twitch. “I have a better chance of winning the lottery than you not showin’ up with five hundred pumpkin pies.”
“Guess you should stock up on whipped cream then,” I say teasingly but don’t miss the way his eyes are absolutely molten in the moonlight. It’s just a flash, but I know what I saw, and it’s almost cruel that I have to sleep next to this man without having him inside me.
“Time to sleep before you get us in trouble,” he says, his voice gruff and delicious to my ears.
“But trouble with you is my favorite kind.”
His head shakes the slightest amount as he wraps his arms tighter around me.
“Goodnight, Eddie. Welcome home.” He drops a kiss on the top of my head and I settle in, my cheek pressed to his chest and my leg draped over his. I try not to think about the way his big muscular thigh is sandwiched between mine and pressed firmly against my core.
Swallowing down a decade’s worth of longing and a healthy dose of lust, I squeeze him tight and whisper, “Night, Max, see you in the morning,” before sleep overtakes me.