Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Beckett
Who’s bringing the beer?
After the week I’ve had, I need it.
Unknown Number 3
It’s not good for your liver, son.
Unknown Number 1
I think the ibuprofen has already taken my liver out.
Hi. Wrong number.
Unknown Number 1
Is this Beckett?
Uh. Yeah.
Unknown Number 2
Then it’s the right number.
Unknown Number 1
Welcome to the Fore Horsemen, bud!
Unknown Number 3
I still hate that fucking name.
I’m going to block these numbers.
Unknown Number 2
No you’re not. Talk to my sister. I think she forgot to tell you something.
“I am so sorry.” Joey paces in the grocery store parking lot, her face riddled with guilt.
Being roommates and all, it’s much easier for the two of us to tackle grocery shopping together than separately. As a bonus, it means we get to spend more time together, and she looks too damn tempting to resist tonight.
I grip her shoulders, stopping her, and look deep into her worried brown eyes. “Josephine. Stop. It’s fine.”
“Stop saying it’s fine. I keep forgetting to tell you stuff because my memory is similar to that of a hamster who’s spun around her wheel one too many times.”
I tilt my head, arching a singular brow. “The dog babysitting and golf. Just those two things.”
“And the time I forgot to replace your coffee when you really needed the caffeine.” She winces, her nose crinkling in the most adorable way.
“So? I picked one up on the way to work.”
“And I forgot to tell you that I borrowed your phone charger, and you spent half an hour looking for it.”
“Again, so?”
“And when I already fed Barbara dinner two nights ago.”
“She got a second dinner. I’m sure she likes you better than me now.”
“And that I borrowed your sweatshirt.”
I fall silent, my mind swirling. “Wait. The navy blue one?”
Eyes diverted, she nods.
“Huh. That’s where it went?”
Her body deflates. “It got mixed up with my laundry and then I realized how warm it is. And I’m always cold. So I’ve been sleeping in it.”
The mere thought of her slipping my sweatshirt on before bed causes my blood to simmer. I envision the soft fabric gliding against her smooth, bare skin as it caresses every curve that I long to taste again.
Mistaking my silence for anger, she says, “Are you. . .are you upset?”
I force my brain to focus on anything other than her naked body, because my jeans are already tightening at the memory of our night together. My body is far more honest than my resolve.
“Nope.” The word comes out low and gruff.
She frowns. “Then what’s wrong?”
“Just need a moment,” I croak out as vivid images of Joey, her bare skin glowing in the dim light as she writhes beneath me, play in my mind like a movie.
Eyes narrowing, she examines me, starting with my heated face. She stops abruptly though, when she gets just below my belt and snaps her head up. “I-I didn’t think. . .Oh. Yeah. It makes sense now. Me wearing it to bed made you think of me naked, which made you think of—”
“Joey?”
“Yeah?”
“Stop talking.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Joey?”
“Yeah?”
“That’s not helping either.”
She winces. “Fuck. Sorry.”
The woman doesn’t have a single idea how captivating she is.
Inside and out. Everything about her is alluring. And I can’t get enough. I constantly want more.
Releasing her, I step back. I take a few steadying breaths, willing my body to cool down. “Let’s get the shopping done. Then you can prepare me for what I’m about to get myself into with the”—I pull out my phone and check my messages—“the Fore Horsemen.”
She throws her head back, laughing, then curls her fingers around my bicep and leads me toward the store’s sliding glass doors. “The name could use some work, that’s for sure.”
“You think?” I huff out a laugh as I grab a cart.
As we stroll up and down the aisles, we pick out random items, including extra coffee.
While Joey peruses the bananas, inspecting the bunches, she mumbles something about Barbara only deserving the best. “We should prepare you before the big game,” she says a little louder. “Mini golf seems like a solid idea. I’m in the mood to kick your ass.”
Chuckling, I round the cart and step into her space, then lift her chin with my knuckle.
Like this, our lips are millimeters apart, our breath mingling. Anticipation hangs thick in the air between us.
Her pupils dilate, her breath catching.
“I’d like to see you try.” With that, I place a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose and release her.
She lets out a deep, quivering exhale. “Such a fucking tease.”
In the aisle, I ask, “Who’s in this group?”
Humming, she holds up two boxes of granola bars and assesses them. “Jack, Finn, and Marnie’s dad.” She tosses one of the boxes into the cart from an impressive distance.
“Nice throw,” I commend her. “Did you say Marnie’s dad?”
“Yep. Victor. If you think Marnie is scary. . .” She shudders playfully. “Actually, I’ve never met or seen the guy before. Just heard the horror stories.”
“And I got roped into this, how?”
“It had something to do about the fourth person in their group not being able to come. I tuned Jack out pretty quickly. When Finn mentioned you, I told him I’d ask you first.” She stops in the middle of the aisle, staring off into the distance. “That little asshole.”
“Huh?”
“Charlie,” she says, threading her fingers through her hair. “I’ve been worrying that I gave them your number without your permission. I knew I couldn’t have.” She shakes her head. “Charlie, or Marnie, must’ve taken my phone and gotten it.”
I hum. “So technically you didn’t forget to ask me anything. You were the victim of polite theft.”
She groans. “No device is safe around them. Again, I’m so sor—”
“Josephine,” I warn playfully.
With a giggle, she dips her head, her face disappearing behind her hands and long hair.
I drape my arm around her shoulder, pull her closer to me, and press my lips to the top of her head, inhaling the scent of her strawberry shampoo.
This feels right. All of it. Her in my arms, talking about our upcoming plans, laughing in the middle of the grocery store without a care in the world. I can envision a life like this. A boring, mundane weeknight made special because I’m with a woman who makes me feel at ease.
As she laughs, my chest tightens with a mixture of bittersweet emotions.
Happiness, because being with her brings out the truest version of myself.
Sadness, because despite our connection, I worry this is temporary.
And that the expiration date looms around the corner like a dark, haunting shadow. Waiting. Lurking.
For now, I push those thoughts aside and live in the moment, determined to enjoy the time we have together to the fullest. Spending any amount of time with Joey is a gift. Because, to me, she’ll always be the girl who was brave enough to pull me out of my shell with quiet acceptance.
As I release her, I tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Joey yawned every couple of minutes through dinner, the circles beneath her eyes a darkened purple. So when the meal was finished, I sent her to bed, then cleaned up the kitchen. As much as I wanted her to stay and talk to me, to hear her soft laugh echo through the kitchen, she needs the rest.
After Queen Barbara side-eyed me for a full ten minutes, I sliced a perfectly ripe banana for her, then headed upstairs, where I sat at the desk overlooking the large oaks and pines out back, barely visible against the navy sky, and filled a few pages of my journal.
When my mind has finally slowed, I wander back down to the dark kitchen for a glass of water. I’m filling the glass at the sink when Barbara slinks out from the hall leading to Joey’s room.
Certain she closed her door, I pad that way. But sure enough, it’s ajar. In the inky darkness of her room, a faint glow across Joey’s face catches my eye. She’s scrolling on her phone and tossing in her bed.
“Hey, is everything okay?” I whisper.
She shoots upright. “Huh? Oh yeah. I just can’t sleep. Sorry if I woke you up.”
We haven’t talked about our night together. If anything, we keep pretending nothing has changed. Like it’s no big deal when roommates sleep together.
But I haven’t stopped thinking about it. Not for a second. I haven’t stopped thinking about how much I want her in my bed every night. And I ache to feel her bare skin on mine again.
I should know better. I should turn around now and head back upstairs.
“Can I come in?” I ask instead.
“Of course.”
Lit by the faint slivers of moonlight peeking through her sheer curtains, she shuffles to one side of the bed and pulls back the covers for me to slip under.
I ease onto the mattress, slipping my legs beneath the blankets, and situate myself so that I’m on my side facing her.
“What’s on your mind?” I ask.
She lets out a heavy sigh. “I’m too anxious to sleep.”
The pale moonlight highlights her weary features, giving her an ethereal glow.
I run the back of my knuckles along the curve of her smooth cheek, savoring the sensation as I commit every line of her exquisite face to my memory. “I know something that can help with that.”
“Oh yeah?” Her breath hitches, drawing my attention to her mouth, then the delicate column of her neck. Beneath my touch, her pulse flutters like the wings of a bird. Fingers trembling, I continue the journey. Her skin pebbles as I inch closer to her breasts.
When I come to the first button of her pajama top, I peer up at her face.
With a small nod, she encourages me to continue.
This moment is the epitome of silent intimacy. No words need to be spoken.
Slowly, I undo each button, then let the sides of her top drape over her curves.
With one hand, I cup her breast, the skin impossibly soft.
I trace my thumb around her nipple, feeling it harden beneath my touch.
Then I pinch it lightly between my fingers, and she gasps—a sharp intake of breath that’s a mixture of surprise and pleasure.
She eases to her back, her shirt falling completely open, leaving her pale skin bathed in moonlight.
My mouth dries up at the sight of her. Her long auburn hair spills across the pillow like a waterfall, and her full breasts rise and fall gently with each breath she takes.
I’ve never seen a more beautiful woman.
As I work my way to the elastic waist of her pants, she takes the initiative, her fingers stretching over my hand and slipping it beneath the fabric to her pussy.
Like this, she guides my fingers over her slick heat, her body trembling and breath quivering as I caress her clit lightly. When I move in slow circles, gliding rhythmically across the tender skin, she removes her hand and her eyes flutter closed, her hips rising involuntarily, begging for more.
I slip two fingers inside her and work slow circles over her clit with my thumb. Unable to control myself, I run my tongue along her peaked nipple, then draw it into my mouth and suck softly, then drag my teeth over the sensitive flesh.
Gasping, she arches off the bed and clutches my hair.
The bite of her nails against my scalp causes a groan to escape me. It takes every ounce of strength I possess to pull away from her tits, but I want to watch her unravel under my touch.
See her cheeks flush.
Watch the way her mouth parts on a soft gasp.
Relish her euphoric expression as her orgasm consumes her.
No, I don’t want it. I need it.
She sinks her teeth into her plump bottom lip, moving her hips frantically, chasing her release. Her muscles clench around my fingers as her thighs quiver against my wrist. Tugging harder on my hair, she turns her head and buries her face in her pillow as she screams out a muffled moan.
With my eyes locked on Joey, I withdraw my fingers slowly and bring them to my lips, savoring the taste of her. When she faces me again, her eyelids are heavy, her gaze veiled in desire, and her breaths come quick and shallow.
With my mouth at her ear, I murmur, “Next time, I want to watch you come. No more hiding from me.”
Skin pebbling, she grips me by the collar and pulls me in with surprising strength. We collide in a frantic, fervent kiss that sucks the air from my lungs.
She breaks away, catching my lower lip with her teeth, and slips a hand under the hem of my shirt.
As she releases her hold on my lip, she drags her nails over the ridges of my abs, then lower, palming my erection through the fabric of my sweatpants.
Dropping my head, I close my eyes and exhale sharply.
Any other night, I’d already be inside her, but tonight is about her and her only.
Tenderly, I grasp her wrist and lace our fingers between us. “Tonight was just as much for you as it was for me. I enjoy making you feel good. Sleep well, Josephine.” I trail a knuckle over her cheek and place a chaste kiss to her lips before leaving her room.