15. Chapter 15
Chapter 15
You cannot please everybody. You are not a taco.
Magnolia sat at the table out on the lanai with her mom, watching Ezra and Lucas play basketball on the hoop her parents had set up years ago when Lucas showed an interest in playing. Luckily her dad was gone for the evening so she wasn’t worried about him showing up and ruining the night.
“So how are you doing? For real?” Her mom curled her legs under her on the outdoor couch as she turned to Magnolia. She had on a sparkly Christmas sweater and little ornament earrings that glittered under the lighting.
It was a crisp evening, the sun already set, and there was a nice bite of cold in the air.
“I’m handling things. Ezra’s been amazing. I feel guilty that Lucas isn’t with me, but I know he’s safe here. So.” She shrugged, hoping her mom wouldn’t push too much.
“Have the police made any progress?”
“No, but Ezra’s company might have. They’ve more or less launched an investigation into finding Perry.”
Her mom’s blue eyes narrowed. “I want to wring his neck myself. Pathetic excuse for a man.”
Magnolia nodded, her reserves of energy depleted. She was angry at Perry, but she was also mentally exhausted and just wanted to be home. Wanted all this to be done with, ending with Perry in jail for a good long time. Being with Ezra was… Well, it was nice, even if the circumstances were garbage. But she felt like her safe space had been taken away from her.
She smiled when Lucas made a long shot, started prancing around like a peacock. Maybe sports was going to be the language these two spoke. She certainly hoped so. It was like the orange ball came out and these two just started acting like they’d known each other forever. She snapped a few covert pictures of the two of them, smiled as she looked at one of Ezra laughing.
“I know that look,” her mom murmured.
“Mom, I love you, but I don’t want to have this conversation.”
“What conversation?”
“About my life choices or whatever. I’m not asking for any sort of advice.”
“All I was going to say is that I recognize that look because you had the same one seventeen years ago when you talked about that man right there. I was going to say I think you should ‘shoot your shot’ or whatever the kids are saying these days.”
“Shoot my shot?”
“Yep. I heard Lucas say it on the phone to someone.” She nodded imperiously, a grin tugging at her mouth.
“Well nothing is happening. We’re just navigating this whole thing and he’s keeping us safe. That’s it. Nothing more.” Magnolia had seen the guard when they’d pulled up, and her mom had told her that she’d invited Scarlett inside last night so she’d be more comfortable. Of course she had.
“Uh huh.”
“So how are you doing? With dad?” Dinner had been fairly neutral territory but now that it was just the two of them, she wanted to know.
“Madder than I’ve ever been in my life.” Sighing, she set her wine down on the side table. “I just don’t understand what he was thinking. It’s such a betrayal.”
Yeah, that about summed it up. “He’s been calling me.”
“He told me. And I told him he needed to stop, to give you room to breathe. Of course he’s not listening,” she grumbled.
“Has Lucas said anything to you about him? Or anything, I guess?”
Her mom shrugged, but there was a hint of something in her eyes.
“What?”
“I don’t know, I think he’s got a girlfriend or something.”
“Why?”
“I heard him on the phone last night. Or this morning. I got up to pee because of course I did and thought I heard something. It was about three in the morning. He was in his room on the phone laughing about something. Maybe it was a friend, but…” She shrugged.
“When did my baby grow up?” Magnolia murmured, looking back at the two of them. Ezra scored and was looking quite smug with himself until Lucas stole the ball. “I’m a little bummed he didn’t try out for the team this year.” Magnolia had loved going to his games, cheering him on.
“Oh, me too. But you were smart not to push him.”
Lucas had been playing basketball since he was five and loved it. He’d tried other sports but that was the one he always came back to. He’d been MVP last year as well. So it had been a surprise to everyone when he’d decided not to try out this year. He’d told her that he still loved it, but school ball had become so competitive and was taking up too much of his time. Time he wanted to spend doing other things, he’d said.
His grades were excellent and he still played ball with his friends and tutored kids at the same community center she had at his age so she’d let it go. At first she’d thought it might be something deeper, but he’d just made the decision to do it for fun and on his terms. She could definitely understand that. “He’s a lot smarter than I was at his age.”
Her mom snorted softly and leaned her head on Magnolia’s shoulder. “He has a very good mother.”
“Well that’s true.” She laughed lightly, then waved at the two of them when they looked over. “I think it might be time to call it. Lucas has that test tomorrow and I’ve got an early meeting. ”
Her mom sat up. “You’re going into the office?”
“Yes. I’ll have a bodyguard, just like Lucas.” Scarlett would be taking him to school, and he’d be checking in with her once he got there because yes, she was feeling neurotic and worried about him right now. How could she not?
“Oh, I’m sure that man wants to guard all of your body.”
She snorted out a surprised laugh. “Mom!”
Her mom just shrugged, but grinned and stood. “All right, Lucas! I know you’re almost grown, but you need to shower then get some sleep because you’ve got a big test tomorrow.”
She stood with her mom, just grinning when Lucas looked at her. “Hey, she’s the boss.” She kissed him on the cheek, went to hug him but he pulled back.
“Ugh, I’m gross.”
She didn’t care, but nodded. “You know the deal about tomorrow.”
“I know, I know. I’ll text you once I get to school, then once my exam is done. I’ll be with Scarlett the badass the whole time.”
“Okay. I love you.”
“Love you too.” He fist-bumped Ezra, then said he’d text him, which surprised but pleased Magnolia.
Ezra was polite to her mom, but to her surprise, and definitely his, she pulled him into a hug.
“I’m sorry about my husband. I know I don’t need to apologize for someone else. But I don’t think I gave you a chance when you were younger, and maybe if I had—”
“You’re right, you don’t need to apologize for him,” Ezra murmured, his voice gravelly. “Thank you for dinner Abigail, it was delicious.”
Her mom sighed, but then pulled Magnolia into another hug. “I’ll text you when Lucas leaves for school in the morning.”
“You’re the best.” She kissed her mom on the cheek too, then headed toward the privacy gate on the side of the house and out to Ezra’s SUV.
Only to find her dad pulling into the driveway. “Great,” she muttered. “Just get in the SUV, I’ll handle him.” At least he wasn’t blocking them .
Ezra simply looked at her, his expression hard, though she knew it wasn’t directed at her. “How about you get in the vehicle and I’ll handle him?”
His tone was mild, but she wasn’t fooled. Nope.
She walked to the front of her father’s idling car. Instead of pulling up the rest of the driveway into the garage, he’d parked next to Ezra’s vehicle so she knew he wanted to talk.
Might as well get this over with.
“Can we talk in private?” he asked as he got out of his car.
He looked as if he’d aged ten years, which, fine, made her feel guilty. But she pushed it down because she hadn’t done anything wrong. He’d made his choices.
“No. I love you, but I don’t even want to talk at all right now. I’ve been ignoring your calls for a reason and you weren’t supposed to be home for another hour.”
His cheeks flushed and she knew this had been intentional. “I’m sorry. I know I screwed up, but—”
“No, Dad! No buts. Your apology can’t have a qualifier.” She was aware of Ezra standing behind her, could only imagine his expression. “Your apology also can’t only be to me. It has to be to Ezra and Lucas as well. And it has to be real. You have to actually mean it! Because I can’t even begin to think about forgiving you if you’re not sorry. And I know you’re not because you don’t think you did anything wrong. You lied to me, to Lucas essentially, and stole his father from him. You stole years from Ezra. From me . Years!” Tears burned the back of her eyes and she turned away, knowing the dam was about to break.
She hurried past Ezra and slid into the passenger seat, slamming the door harder than she’d meant to. But it felt good. She wanted to slam all the doors right now. She tried to dash away the wetness on her cheeks, but the tears kept coming.
She was aware of Ezra talking to her dad as she opened the console looking for tissues. Nothing!
Ezra got in the SUV a few moments later, his expression dark as he reversed out of the driveway. “I’m sorry you had to talk to him tonight,” he murmured as they left, his voice tight.
She just nodded, because she didn’t trust her voice. Couldn’t talk at all as the stupid tears decided to fall.
“Hell,” Ezra growled and before she realized what he was doing, he’d pulled into the parking lot of a small dog park, parked, then hurried around to the back, popped the hatch. He came back with a roll of paper towels. “They’re not tissues, but they clean up blood better.”
She snort-laughed at his words, not sure if he was being serious. “I’m sorry,” she rasped out through the tears that simply wouldn’t stop.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner.” He wiped away her tears, then pulled her into an awkward hug.
The center console was too big, and in their way, but she didn’t care. She hugged him right back.
Aaannd then crawled right into his lap, straddling him. She’d worn a fitted sweater tonight with a long skirt and belt that was more for aesthetics than anything else.
Ezra watched her, that dark glint in his eyes she recognized oh so well. He wasn’t going to reject her tonight. She’d bet her whole house.
“Magnolia,” he growled out in that intoxicating whiskey voice. A warning?
She wasn’t sure and didn’t care. In that moment she felt like that seventeen-year-old who only wanted one thing. Ezra Hunt. Forget consequences or the outside world.
She rolled her hips as she settled down on him, glad she’d worn a long skirt tonight.
He sucked in a breath as she moved over him, his erection sliding right over her unfortunately covered clit. So she did it again, dragging in a hard breath of her own at the sensual contact. A little scrap of fabric and his pants weren’t doing anything to hide his reaction to her or the sensation of that thick length rubbing against her. She wasn’t sure if she should be embarrassed or not, but so didn’t care.
If they continued doing just this, she was going to come from the friction alone.
“We shouldn’t…” He trailed off, his eyes going a little glassy when she reached between their legs, palmed his covered erection .
“We’ll stop if you say stop,” she murmured, feeling empowered being on top of him like this. Sort of in control. Because she very much wanted him, had never stopped. Chemistry had never been a problem for them, and now that they were back in the same location it was like picking up where they’d left off. They couldn’t, she knew that, but logic wasn’t part of the equation right now.
Instead of stopping, like she’d half expected, he reached between their bodies, under her skirt and cupped her mound with a sort of possessiveness she felt all the way to her core. Her inner walls tightened at the bold move, a flood of heat rushing between her thighs.
“I don’t want to stop anything,” he growled, claiming her mouth with his right as he shoved her panties to the side, started strumming her clit with determination.
Oh god. Just like that, he started teasing her, rubbing that sweet spot in tight little circles. With his free hand, he held on to the back of her head as he kissed her. Claimed her mouth with an urgency that mirrored her own.
Time seemed to slip away as he continued teasing her, as she relearned the way he kissed, the feel of his body underneath her fingertips. Even with his jacket and shirt on, she wanted to touch him everywhere.
As he slipped two fingers inside her, she gasped. Then he started thrusting them in short little bursts, not nearly enough to take the edge off for what she was feeling, but he felt amazing. She was slick and knew she could come soon, but she wanted all of him.
She grasped onto his belt, managed to get it free as she pulled back in the tight space.
Suddenly the seat eased back, the little whir of the lever moving the seat. “I’ve got this.” His voice was as unsteady as she felt as he managed to shove his pants and boxers down.
She barely had enough time to savor the sight of him after so long before she slid down on him, groaned.
“We need…condom,” he growled out even as he thrust up, completely filling her .
She moaned in pure pleasure as he hit her deep, hitting that sweet spot that was guaranteed to push her over the edge. “On…pill,” she rasped out as he slid through her slickness again. Because they weren’t stopping. Oh god, please don’t want to stop.
He growled again, the word or words unintelligible, but he didn’t seem concerned about protection anymore as he began thrusting inside her.
She met him stroke for stroke, the constricting space adding to the intimacy as they lost themselves in each other in long, hard strokes. Every time he thrust upward, he hit that spot. And every time, pleasure punched out to all her nerve endings.
He was now cupping one breast under her sweater and bra, teasing her hard nipple with sharp little rolls, but she felt the sensation of him everywhere. Both her nipples were hard points, the other one rubbing against her bra in time with his teasing.
“I’m close,” she moaned against him.
He thrust upward again, his thick length completely filling her, and she let go. Her orgasm punched through her as pleasure built and built then crested with so much intensity, she came with her entire body.
He came with her, the heat of him coating her as he grabbed onto her hips, still pumping inside her as she came down from her high.
As she finally collapsed on him, he slid his callused hands up her thighs and over her ass, the sensation sending another ripple of awareness and pleasure through her. Her inner walls tightened on his half-hard length, making him groan against her neck. As he held her in place, right on top of him.
“Pretty sure this is how we did it the first time,” he murmured.
She laughed, her walls tightening around him again.
He half laughed, half groaned as he eased his hips back. “We’ve got to get out of here, but we are definitely not done tonight.”
She nipped his earlobe, bit down once. “Let’s see how fast you can get back to the safe house.”