Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Max
Narrator: There’s one thing for sure: I’ll never look at a chocolate-covered cherry the same.
And rumor on the street is every time Max sees a chocolate-covered cherry, he gets hard.
Then again, would we expect anything else from him?
At this point . . . no.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Cole asks as I sit on a stool in the reindeer barn while he brushes Donner. “It’s fucking creepy.”
“How am I looking at you?”
“With your teeth hanging over your lip, eyes wide.”
“What? No, I’m not.”
“You were.”
“You’re delusional,” I say. “I was looking at you normally.”
“No, you’re looking at me as if you want to say something, but you also think that you shouldn’t say anything.”
“Ha, as if I have something to tell you.” I cross my arms at my chest, dying to tell him about last night. But you know how it is; I have to play hard to get.
“You have something to tell me.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.”
“You act as if you know everything about me.” I scoff. “Clearly, you have no idea.”
He sighs. “Just fucking tell me and get it over with.”
“Fine,” I say, dropping the act, causing Cole to shake his head. “You’re not the only one who knows how to play around with candy when it comes to sex.”
“Oh Jesus.” He rolls his eyes, but I continue.
“Last night, I took a box of chocolate-covered cherries to Betty’s place, and I dragged them all over—”
“I really don’t need the details,” he says, holding up his hand.
“We did a sixty-nine,” I say, unable to stop myself.
“Come on, man,” he groans. “Jesus, that’s the last thing I need to think about.”
“You think about me in a sexual way?”
Cole stands tall, points to the barn door, and says, “Just leave. I can’t with you right now.”
“You know, that seems to be what you say all the time now. Whatever happened to best friends forever?”
“You’ve been insufferable lately. Between your parents disappearing, scheming with my wife, and now telling me about cherry sixty-nine bullshit, it’s just . . . too much.”
“First of all, you promised to take me with sickness and health.”
“Uh, no, I didn’t.”
I steamroll him and say, “And I’d think after how I’ve stood by your side for so many years, you would at least let me gush to you.
” I stand from the chair and move toward him.
“Dude, I’m not kidding you when I say I think she’s it.
I know it hasn’t been long since I’ve known her, but I’m not kidding, man. I feel it in my bones. She’s it.”
That makes him stop what he’s doing and turn toward me. About time he gives me some of that dark attention of his. “You’re being serious? This isn’t some joke?”
I shake my head. “Dead serious, man. I think . . .” I pull on the back of my neck. “Fuck, I think I’m falling for her.”
“Jesus.” He sets his brush down, finally realizing the importance of the conversation. “I knew you liked her, but falling for her?”
“Yeah, it happened fast. I just . . . I like her a lot. She’s smart, creative, she knows what she wants, and she’s not shy about it.
Not to mention she’s beautiful, amazing in bed, and she gets me.
There’s a connection between us that I’ve never felt before, and I plan on doing everything I can to keep her in my life, even burying the hatchet with Dwight. ”
“That’s a must if you want to be with her.”
“I know, but I need to figure out why he thinks I’m the one who took his ornament.
I asked Tanya the other day, and she had no clue.
She asked Martha and Mae, and they had no idea.
I just . . . I can’t figure it out, and I feel like if I had an idea about that, then I’d be able to come to him with answers rather than asking him to believe me that I didn’t do it, you know? ”
“Yeah, that would be helpful,” he says, scratching the side of his cheek. “Let me see what kind of digging I can do.”
“You would do that?”
Cole nods and starts brushing Donner again. “You might annoy the fuck out of me, but like you said, best friends forever.”
“Dude.” I spread my arms wide. “Bring it in.”
He side-eyes me. “Don’t make me take back my offer.”
“You’re right. Too much.” Growing serious, I say, “Thanks though, for helping out.”
He nods. “Anything for you.”
And I know he means that.
“Have you done this before?” Betty asks.
I pick up a piece of popcorn, poke my needle through it, and then drag it down the string.
“A few times. It’s all about where you push the popcorn through. Too close to the edge, and it’s just going to break off.”
“I’ve noticed that,” she says as she concentrates hard on her needle, threading her popcorn.
Tonight she chose to wear a low-cut long-sleeved shirt in a navy blue that makes her eyes pop and her tits look amazing.
I told myself when she was coming over that we were going to string popcorn, have dinner, and then I was going to have her for dessert.
I promised myself to be in control and not try to fuck her the minute she walked into my house.
Because if anything, I don’t want her thinking I like her just because of the sex.
I like her for so much more than just that.
But with that shirt and the way her tits have been hanging out, I’m telling you right now, I should win a goddamn award for keeping my hands to myself.
“I can’t believe people will do this every year.” She sits back. “It’s hard.”
I can tell you something else that’s hard: my dick and her nipples.
She has to be wearing one of those see-through bras again, because her nipples are poking against her shirt as if she’s not wearing a bra at all . . . Wait . . . is she?
“Atlas.”
“Huh?” I say, looking up to meet her eyes.
“You’re staring at my boobs.”
“Yeah, I know,” I say, not being shy about it. “Just wondering if you’re wearing a bra or not.”
“Why would you think that I’m not?”
“Because of the way your nipples are pressing against your shirt,” I answer.
“Oh.” She glances down at her shirt and then, to my surprise, tugs on the front of it, revealing her bare breast.
“Fuck,” I mutter.
She readjusts her shirt casually, as if she didn’t just show me her entire boob. “I didn’t wear a bra because I figured you’d strip me down the minute I walked through the door, but boy, was I wrong. We’ve been doing arts and crafts for an hour now, and not a single orgasm has been had.”
I swallow the saliva building up in my mouth. “Um, yeah, because I told myself I wouldn’t have sex with you until after dinner.”
Her brow creases together. “Why would you do that?”
“Didn’t want you to think I only saw you as a hole I can stick my dick in. I actually like you, more than just for sex.”
She presses her hand to her chest, a look of appreciation on her face. “Aw, that’s oddly crude yet sweet at the same time.”
“Just telling you the way it is. I like you. I want you to know that. I want you to know that we can do more than just sex.” I hold up the string of popcorn.
“Like arts and crafts. And I wanted you to see that we can chat and have a conversation that doesn’t consist of you telling me to fill you with my cum. ”
Her cheeks go red. “God, I did say that, didn’t I?”
“You did. It was hot, and I hope you say it more. But say it after dinner, when the sex will commence.”
“You’ve scheduled it?”
“Loosely scheduled,” I say.
“How loose is that schedule?” she asks, moving in closer, causing me to gulp from the way her shirt dips in the front.
“Um . . . pretty loose.”
“Like . . . almost nonexistent?” she asks as she straddles my lap, draping the popcorn strands to the side and making sure to stick the needle in the couch so as to not lose it.
I brace my hands on her thighs, already growing hard from just having her on me.
“Some might say nonexistent.”
“Are you sure?” she asks as she leans forward and starts kissing my neck while her fingers play with the hem of my shirt.
“Oh yeah, pretty sure.”
“Good.” She lifts my shirt up and over my head, and I help her take it off, dropping it to the side.
Her hands immediately drag down my chest, her fingernails scraping along my nipples, her lips following as she moves down my body and then between my legs, where she kneels on the floor in front of me.
Anticipation roars through me at what her mouth can do.
And her hands.
Eyes on me, she tugs her shirt up and over her head, leaving her bare, her nipples hard, her tits looking so damn good.
“Christ.” I tug on her hand, trying to pull her up. “I want your tits in my mouth.”
“And I want your dick in mine,” she replies with an evil smirk. She stands and shimmies out of her pants, leaving her in just a black thong, her hair down, looking so goddamn good that it’s going to take everything in me to let her take control.
She bends in front of me again and undoes my pants. I help her take those off as well, followed by my briefs, so I’m left naked on the couch, my hard-on stretching up my stomach, looking for her mouth.
“I love your dick,” she says as she smooths her hands up my thighs, right to my cock, where she grips the base. “I love everything about it.” Her tongue lightly swirls along the head, causing me to sink deeper into the couch. “And I love how you react to how I play with you.”
“Because you’re really fucking good at it,” I say, letting out a deep breath as she wraps her lips around the tip and starts gently sucking while pumping her hand up and down my length.
“Feels so fucking good.” I move her hair out of her face so I can watch her better, see her lips play with my length, watch her small hand grip me tightly.
She pulls off and then licks up my length, tantalizing me, teasing me, giving me so little but also so much. And when she pulls her mouth away and smiles up at me, I feel myself fall more and more for this woman.
“I want you inside me, but first . . . I’m hungry.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask, wondering where she’s going with this. And then she grabs one of the finished popcorn garlands and starts to wrap it around my cock. “What are you doing?”