Chapter 26
The next morning, I wake up even earlier than usual—and I’m a pretty early riser. The bedding beside me is a rumpled heap where Austin was and his absence is palpable. In the light of day, I have a chance to really take in my surroundings. I’m curled under a quilt that’s obviously handmade and I pick it up to examine it more closely. I realize it’s a t-shirt quilt from all the ball teams he played on spanning from Little League all the way to college. His walls are covered in Texas Longhorn memorabilia, and sitting on a stand in one corner is a student guitar.
When I rise to slip on a bra, there’s the slightest twinge between my legs from where Austin’s facial hair rubbed against my inner thigh, and a rush of heat winds itself around my spine at the memory. He certainly knew exactly what to do with that mouth of his. With a few deep breaths I push the memory aside so that I can actually function today. I cannot spend the day with his aunt with thoughts of his head between my legs running through my mind.
With quiet steps, I tiptoe down the hallway to the kitchen, trying hard not to wake anyone in case I’m the first one up. But I stop short when I see Ashley already seated at the kitchen table, coffee in one hand and a book in the other. She looks up when she hears me and her mouth tips up into the warmest smile. A mother’s smile. Something twists deep in my heart at that thought.
“Good morning, love. How’d you sleep?”
“Like a rock. Traveling is exhausting and I was beat last night.” I will not let my face betray that the reason I slept like a rock is because her nephew gave me the strongest orgasm I think I’ve ever had in my life.
“Help yourself to some coffee. The creamer’s in the fridge.” Ashley motions with her head to the espresso machine, interrupting my thoughts. It’s a fancy setup and it takes me a minute to figure it out.
“From Austin,” she says, explaining the espresso maker. “He’s constantly showering me with gifts, no matter how many times I tell him to stop.”
I take a sip of my coffee and lower into the chair across from her. “He’s tried to do that with me, too. He bought me this the other day at a festival downtown.” I point to the necklace that I haven’t taken off since Austin clasped it around my neck.
“Oh, that's beautiful! What’s that stone called?” Ashley asks, leaning in to inspect it more closely.
“It’s a moonstone. The artist said it represents new beginnings and, apparently, love.”
“Is that so?” She looks at me, her gaze assessing, and I fight the urge to squirm in my seat.
“I mean, it's just a necklace. I dunno if I believe all that other stuff.” I take a sip of my coffee, attempting to end the conversation.
“Your little town has been good for him. The people in it have, too,” Ashley says, eyeing me over the rim of her mug. Silence stretches between us and then she speaks again. “How much do you know about him?”
My eyes meet hers across the table. I know this isn’t a test. This is her trying to figure out how to proceed with what she wants to say.
“Pretty sure everything.” There’s a light tremor on the edge of my words.
“He’s a sweet boy…” Ashley pauses, chuckling. “Sweet man. Time has really flown. It feels like just the other day he came to live with us, and now he’s a grown man. Mind you, Penny, I don’t play favorites with those three. But Austin needed me more. He was so broken when he moved in with us. He did a pretty good job hiding it as he got older, as most teenagers and young adults do. But over the last few years, I started seeing the hairline cracks in his facade. He got to where he hardly called Brad and me from the road, but we saw pictures. I saw the dark circles under his eyes, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he hit a wall.”
I’m unsure what to say or how to respond, so we sip our coffee quietly. I’m still reeling from Austin’s confessions last night, and Ashley must be able to tell I’m at a loss for words because after a few more seconds she reaches out to rest her hand on mine.
“Don’t give up on him. He’ll find his way back to himself. I have no doubt about it.” Her eyes are glistening, and I give a small smile and nod.
“I have no doubt either.”
We sit with an understanding between us until eventually I reach for a lighter topic to lighten the mood. “I like that author. I haven’t read that one yet.” I motion to the cowboy romance she’s holding.
“Oh, girl. This series just keeps getting better and better.” She puts her hand up to her mouth like she’s telling me a secret. “And, girl, the spice is spicin’ in this one.” She winks and gives me a knowing look.
We both burst into giggles.
“Austin saw my books. He called them ‘kid books.’” I put kid books in air quotes. “You should have seen his face when I told him what they were.” I tell her everything, including how red he turned when he made the connection. “I might have unknowingly thrown you under the bus.”
Ashley gets so tickled at my story, she has to wipe the tears from her eyes.
“That boy might not look at me the same anymore,” she says once she’s composed herself.
About that time, Cassie enters the kitchen, interrupting our laughter. She looks worse for wear with mascara smudges under her eyes and her hair sticking out in every direction.
“I know exactly what I look like,” Cassie says when she sees our expressions. “I was up late reading. Austin took one look at me this morning and told me to stay here. He’s just gonna guess at what’s mine at the apartment.”
Turning to me, she says, “Let me get good and awake, and then if you want, we can lie out by the pool.”
This is how I find myself a couple hours later, lying by the pool with Ashley and Cassie. I can't help but marvel at how easily they’ve accepted me as one of their own. There was an instant connection, without the usual awkward politeness that comes with meeting someone new. They’ve welcomed me into their lives like they’ve known me for years, rather than a day.
All day I’ve quietly observed the way Ashley and Cassie interact, thinking back to the photo on Austin’s nightstand. If I didn’t know they were aunt and niece, I’d think Cassie was her daughter, but after seeing the photo, I know that their mom looks just like Ashley. Something niggles in the back of my mind, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. They all have the same dark hair and unique eyes as Tyler. It feels so familiar, reminding me of someone back home. But before I can even begin to parse this thought apart, it slips through my fingers like sand.
My phone pings beside me and I glance down, already knowing who it’ll be.
Austin
Miss you.
My face splits into a grin when I see what he’s texted.
I miss you too. Have y’all gotten everything?
Austin
Not quite. We’re working as fast as we can.
What are you doing today?
Cassie asked if I wanted to lay out with her. So we’re having a day by the pool.
Austin
Yellow swimsuit?
I hold my phone out to take a selfie that shows that I am indeed wearing his favorite yellow swimsuit and hit send.
Austin
We’re staying at my house tonight. Don’t make plans to be anywhere else.
Bossy.
I don’t even realize I’m grinning until my cheeks begin to ache and I glance over to find Cassie smiling at me. “What?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.
“You’re grinning like a lovesick fool at that phone in your hand.”
I scoff and wave her off. I’m not a lovesick fool, am I? Maybe I am. Instead of dwelling on that, I pass their moving progress onto her.
“Austin said they’re working as fast as they can, but they’re not quite finished.”
“Nice avoidance tactic there,” Cassie replies, and I laugh, shaking my head. “By the way, you need more sunscreen. You're like a little Precious Moments Doll and that pale skin can’t handle Texas sun. Here,” she says, handing me the bottle.
Between handing over the most locked down parts of my soul and watching Penny come undone with my name on her lips, it’s safe to say focusing on anything today has been nothing short of torture. Then she had to send me that picture of her in that fucking yellow bikini with the perfect amount of cleavage hanging out, and no man has ever packed up an apartment so quickly.
When we hit traffic on the interstate, I groan audibly and my uncle chuckles beside me. What should have been a three-hour drive turns into four, and by the time we pull off the highway toward our plot of land, my leg is bouncing and I’m anxiously tapping my thumb on the door handle.
As soon as Ty puts the moving truck in park in front of my house, I hop out, promising to unload in the morning. We’ll have a few hours to get things squared away before we have to head back to Alabama.
I take the stairs two at a time, flinging my bedroom door open to see a groggy Penny lying in the middle of my bed and everything inside of me roars mine . She’s still wrapped in the beach towel, her chest and shoulders tinged pink—and she’s absolutely perfect.
I stand in my doorway, chest heaving at the sight of her. She sits up in bed and a small smile curves up on one side of her mouth.
“Take the towel off.” I stalk toward her until I’m standing at the foot of my bed.
Her smile grows wider as she removes one side of the towel.
“Penny.” My voice is low. Desire is coursing through me, my heart jackhammering behind my ribcage.
She pulls aside the other half of the towel, and rests back on her elbows. I drink her in, dragging my eyes up and down her body from those yellow toes up to that damn yellow bikini that will be my undoing. It’s held on by nothing but flimsy little ties that would only take a couple of tugs and she’d be bare to me.
With a few quick movements, I’m hovering above her, my arms on either side of her head.
I lower down and suck her bottom lip into my mouth, and when I release it, her eyes have gone hazy.
“I’ve been losing my mind all fucking day. I’ve never packed an apartment so quickly in my entire life.”
With one arm still holding myself up, I take the other and reach behind her head, tugging those tiny strings until they’re finally loose, and drag them so that her top comes down, exposing those beautiful breasts with those perfectly pink nipples. Penny leans up, reaching around to unhook the band of it, letting it fall to the floor beside us.
“Lie back down,” I command, and she lifts one eyebrow, smirking.
“You really are bossy today.”
Instead of responding, I lean down, circling my tongue around one nipple, while grazing the edge of my thumb around the tender flesh of the other. The sweetest little gasps fall from her lips as she arches up into me. Groaning, I swap sides and do the same with the other nipple, sucking it into my mouth allowing the edge of my teeth to graze back and forth before taking it back in my mouth.
With one hand, she reaches down, stroking me through my gym shorts.
“ Fuuuck ,” I groan out. “Baby, if you keep doing that I’m afraid you’ll be real disappointed by how quickly this ends. You hear me?”
But the devil woman she is, gives my cock one more stroke, flashing me a teasing grin. That grin fades when I hook my thumb into the waistband of her bikini bottoms, and drag them down her legs, kissing my way down with them.
Rising on my knees, I rake my eyes down Penny’s body, naked for me to see.
“You’re next,” she says, nodding her head toward my shorts where my aching cock is straining against the fabric.
Standing, I reach behind my head and tug off my shirt, dropping it to the ground with her swimsuit. When I lower my shorts and boxer briefs, my cock springs free. My eyes track her tongue when it darts from her mouth to lick her bottom lip.
The air around us is thick with tension as we openly admire each other’s naked bodies. Completely exposed to one another. Hers is the most exquisite body I’ve ever laid eyes on, with her soft middle leading down to thighs that have the faintest traces of beautiful silver stretch marks.
In two steps, I’m back in bed, hovering over her. I don’t want to interrupt this moment with awkward discussion, but the thought of not having her bare physically pains me.
Reaching up to tuck one lock of her auburn hair behind her ear, I take in a breath and just say it.
“Listen, I know this is awkward to talk about right now, but if we’re doing this, you need to know. I was tested during my tour. I haven’t been with anyone since that day.”
Penny chews her bottom lip and a pang of worry hits me in the chest. Did I just single-handedly decimate this moment? She starts to turn her face, but I gently catch her chin, guiding her back so our eyes are locked.
“Don’t let your thoughts go there for even a second. You have no fucking clue what you mean to me. No clue.”
Her throat works on a swallow when my words land, her eyes bouncing between mine.
“Also,” I say, embarrassed by what I’m about to admit. “I don’t know how long I’ll last. I mean, you’re—well, you’re you.” I allow my eyes to flick up and down her body, repeating the words she said to me a few nights ago. Her chest and neck flush an even darker shade of pink than they already are.
Penny lets out a giggle, probably due to nerves, and I lean down to capture it with my mouth.
“I’m on the pill,” she says when I pull away. “I don’t know why I’ve stayed on it, since it’s been years for me. I’ve been on it since I was sixteen and I’m meticulous. I don’t miss it.”
“My little rule follower,” I say against her mouth.
Bracing myself with one elbow, I notch myself at her entrance, entering her tight wet heat so slowly it’s almost painful.
She sucks in a breath and holds it.
“Breathe, baby. Tell me if this is too much.”
“I’m okay. It’s just you’re…”
“I’m what?” I tease, moving in and out with just the tip.
“Big,” Penny gasps out when I push the rest of the way in. Once I’ve bottomed out inside her, I suck in quickly. She’s squeezing my cock so tightly, I have to take a minute before I lose it right here and now, ending this before it’s even begun.
Once I’ve gotten control of myself, I rock in and out, in and out, keeping our gazes locked as a million unspoken words pass between us.
“I knew you’d feel this good, baby. I fucking knew it.” Reaching down, I circle her clit with my thumb and she gasps, bucking her hips into me. “I want so damn much to take this slow?—”
“No,” she interrupts, running her nails lightly up and down my back, sending a shudder of sensation traveling through me. “I’m tired of slow.”
“Well then, Imma need you to hold on cause it’s gonna be fast and hard this first time.”
All it takes is one nod of her head and we lose ourselves in each other. Being inside of her feels good in ways I never could have imagined. She matches my movements, lifting her hips to meet mine causing me to groan loudly. With one hand still pressed on the mattress by her head, I use the other to lift her leg, creating a new angle, allowing me to sink deeper. When I circle my hips into her, she cries out, digging her nails into my back.
“That’s it, baby,” I urge her. “You can yell my name as loud as you want in here.”
When Penny’s eyes flutter shut, I press my forehead to hers, and she opens them. “I wanna see what you look like when you come undone with me inside you. And I want you to see what you do to me. Eyes open.”
Penny’s eyes open, lazily, and my pace quickens.
“You’re taking me so good, baby. So fucking good.” I reach down, pressing my thumb to her clit, and she moans, a deep gutteral sound.
Her muscles start to flutter around me at the same time pressure begins at the base of my spine coiling tighter and tighter. With our eyes still locked, I dig my fingers into her thigh and with a few more thrusts, we crescendo together. My head lowers to her shoulder and I murmur unintelligible praises, my teeth grazing her tender skin.
I collapse heavy onto her and roll us so we’re facing each other. I’m still inside of her, my hips rocking in a lazy rhythm.
“Holy shit,” she pants.
I chuckle, just as breathless. “I know. That was…” I allow my words to trail off, peppering soft kisses along her shoulders, collarbone, and up to her mouth.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Penny murmurs against my lips.
That caveman part of my brain wants to beat my chest with a job well done, but I refrain.
“I think it’s safe to say,” I drawl, barely hiding the edge of pride in my words, “what just happened between us is unlike anything I could have imagined. Everything between us is that way.”
I kiss her one more time before finally pulling out.
“Don’t move, I’ll be right back.” I head to my bathroom and dampen a washcloth with warm water and return, lowering between her legs. Her eyes go tender, glassing over, when she realizes what I’m doing and I give her a soft smile.
Once she’s clean enough, I lift her, wrapping her legs around my torso and carry her to the bathroom where a steaming hot shower is already fogging up the mirrors. She slides down my body and I reach out to cradle both of her breasts in my hands.
“I love these,” I say, bending to take one nipple into my mouth.
Once I’ve given both breasts thorough attention, I grab the handheld nozzle and wet her hair, digging my fingers into her scalp as I shampoo it. She mewls under my touch, and my cock starts to thicken back up at the sound.
Penny takes her turn, washing my body between tender kisses, and another piece of myself that I thought I’d lost clicks into place.