Chapter 22 #2
We didn’t do fireworks. Not only were they dangerous as hell, but we had too many animals that could spook and get hurt. Most of the horses were pretty dang bomb proof, but not all of them. But we did light sparklers when the birthday cake came out.
I felt more than heard someone approach—there was too much going on and my family got loud—and when I turned my head, I saw Wren heading for the beer cooler. He gave me his superstar smile, the one I knew he didn’t have to fake because he’d had it since we were little, and a head tip.
“Hey,” I said warmly. “Happy birthday! I didn’t get to say it earlier.”
“Thanks.” He gestured toward the cooler. “Want one?”
I shook my head. “I’m on call tonight.”
Wren froze for a couple of seconds, then straightened. The can in his hand dripped ice water to the ground and he quirked his perfect brow at me. “Even though you worked all day?”
I snorted a laugh. “Yeah. Even though the urgent care is fully staffed tonight, anyone not there is on call. It’s the Fourth of July, man. People…aren’t always the smartest.”
Wren laughed at that then took a seat on the top of the cooler and popped the top off his Odell. He raised the can to his mouth, and then before he took a drink, he smirked. “That was diplomatic.”
I shrugged, watching him drink. He was a damn pretty man.
Always had been. Back when I was in middle school and figuring myself out, I’d had a little crush on my oldest brother’s best friend.
It hadn’t lasted, and was more about his pretty face and his amazing voice, because even back then Wren could sing, and me just figuring out that I was attracted to boys.
Wren had always been like another brother, even though I certainly hadn’t needed an extra one.
“I learned that from the nurses. Being diplomatic I mean.” I grinned and Wren smiled back. When he stretched out his long legs and crossed them at the ankles, it looked like he was settling in. I decided to keep the conversation going. “Have you had a good birthday?”
“Yeah.” Wren’s smile was wistful, but it didn’t last. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and his beer hanging from one hand. “Best I’ve had in…well, years.”
Something about the way he said it jogged a memory in me. I was betting if he did the math he’d figure out it had been seven years. Because that was the last time he’d managed to make it for a visit around his birthday. Bodhi had miraculously gotten leave at the same time.
“It’s because you’re home,” I said before I thought better of it. His head whipped around, and his eyes were narrowed. But I’d said it so there was no going back. “You’re going to tell me you’d rather celebrate your birthday in Nashville in your mansion rather than right here?”
He tipped his head but didn’t say anything, ignoring my hyperbole about his living space.
I knew I was right, but I wasn’t going to push him.
I’d seen the look in his eye when he thought no one was watching.
He was homesick something fierce and if he were smart, he’d plan more breaks in his schedule going forward so he could get back here and recharge.
I’d have to mention it to Ville. Maybe he could get Wren to visit more often.
As if reading my mind, Wren gave me a smirk. “So. You and Ville huh?”
I knew he was changing the subject, forcefully, but I was happy enough to go along with it. “Don’t try to pretend you didn’t know that was happening.”
“Of course I knew. Though he didn’t want to tell me at first.” Wren settled back and sipped his beer. “I mean after the first time it happened. Like I was going to be mad about it or something.”
“We both thought it was a one-time thing,” I defended Ville.
Wren scoffed, but his lips were quirked up. “And now it’s a long-distance thing.”
“Yeah, well.” I couldn’t help the smile that crept over my face, or the way my gaze searched him out in the crowd.
He stood out, and not just because he was tall.
I would always be able to find him. It was as though he wore a homing beacon.
“We want it, so we’ll make it work. No matter how hard it gets. ”
Wren held up his beer, as if he was toasting me, then offered me a smile. “Any time you want to come see him, just let me know. I’ll charter you a flight.”
I blinked, but I knew he was dead serious. Wren didn’t make offers like that if he didn’t mean it from his heart. Not to us. I leaned over so I could grab his shoulder, though my fingers barely reached. I patted him awkwardly. “Thanks, Wren. That’s a very generous offer.”
The price of a private plane didn’t phase him in the least. “You’re family, Emery. So is he. If y’all are going to put in the work, then I’m going to help.”
The air shifted, and I lifted my gaze from Wren to find Ville striding toward me. Wren stood, clapped Ville on the arm as they passed each other, and then called back over his shoulder, “I mean it, Emmie.”
“Fucker,” I called back, chuckling. Ville raised an eyebrow and I rolled my eyes. “Childhood nickname that I hate with a fiery passion. Bode, Crew, and Wren used to tease me with it. They went through a mean phase. Demi and Emmie, see?”
“Ah.” He held out a hand, and when I took it, he tugged me up and straight into his arms. He squeezed me so tightly I couldn’t breathe for a second, and when he let me go, I found air moving through my lungs better than it had all day. Ville’s knowing smile let me know he’d done it on purpose.
We hadn’t gotten a moment alone since I’d gotten home. By the time I drove back onto the property, the festivities were already underway. We took that time now, just standing together, arms around each other, soaking in the night and the party atmosphere.
After a good long while, Ville slid a hand into my curls, gripping at the root, and used that to tilt my head back. He kissed me thoroughly, slowly, missing nothing. Until I was panting from lack of oxygen and my knees were weak.
“Come sit with me. Your dad's lighting the fire.”
I nodded and took his hand. Together, we joined the rest of my family. Wren picked up his guitar and Gemma sat beside him, harmonizing on his most popular hit Like Spring Water.
It was a perfect night.
The sun was barely making its appearance when Ville woke me with an aggressive bite to the shoulder.
I groaned, he chuckled, then turned me onto my stomach.
I spread my legs easily, still loose from the night before.
Or really, it had only been a handful of hours.
Ville had no trouble sliding into my hole, and though he shifted to hit the right spot, his strokes were powerful but slow.
“Just like this,” he said through gritted teeth. “Nice and easy, baby. I’m gonna make you come so hard. This is our ‘see you later.’ So there’s not a whole scene when we say goodbye.”
“Ville,” I moaned, wanting it harder. But he was in charge, and he kept up the same force and pace.
He murmured sweet things in between sucking bites and kisses. My neck and shoulders were going to show evidence of what we were doing, and I didn’t care. I welcomed it. I needed it. I would treasure every bruise and be sad when they were gone.
It took a long time, and Ville never faltered.
And when I finally came, it snuck up on me from one moment to the next, my whole body locking down as I whined.
When my balls were empty, Ville pulled out, stroking himself fast and hard until he shouted his release, painting my back and ass with his cum.
I gave a weak chuckle as he rubbed it in.
“Done marking me?” I managed to get out, sated and still sleepy.
“Never,” he assured me as he laid down on top of me, pressing me into the mattress, the way I liked. I wanted to stay like this forever.
But time waited for no one and eventually, brunch was over and Ville, Wren, and Abigail had packed up the SUV for the trip to Denver, where they were flying out of.
I kept my lips pressed tight so I wouldn’t say anything I shouldn’t, or couldn’t take back.
And eventually the goodbyes were done. The promises of visits and tickets to shows made.
And it was just me and Ville, standing on the porch.
It was time for him to go.
We kissed, but it was sweet. When I pulled back, Ville grabbed me again and kissed me one last time, hard and full of promise.
“I love you,” he murmured against my lips.
“I love you,” I responded, meaning it. I had to suck in a breath as he rested his forehead against mine.
It didn’t last. It was over too soon. But they were on a schedule and he had to go.
“I’ll call you when we land,” he said, pressing his face into my hair. And then he let go, and turned, walking away without looking back or another word.
I watched him get in the vehicle. Watched it turn and drive away.
And I stood there on the porch long after it rounded the curve and disappeared from sight.
Only then did the tears come, not because my heart was breaking, but because I didn’t want to be without him and I knew how hard this was going to be.
How often long-distance failed because it was such a challenge.
But there were success stories too. And I was determined that Ville and I would be one of them.
Demi appeared out of thin air—I hadn’t been paying attention, lost in my own thoughts, so I hadn’t seen where she’d come from—and looped her arm through mine.
After a second, we both tilted our heads at the same time so our temples touched.
She didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. She knew what was going on in my brain.
“Wanna take the babies for a ride before you have to head to work?”
I could think of nothing better. “You bet.”