Chapter 18
Conner
Just to recap here: my girl has a worshipping kink and a filthy motherfucking mouth. I repeat. A worshipping kink and a dirty mouth.
All that stuff she said about my body has gone straight to my ego. I’m never going to be fit for public again. And the way she rubbed herself on my cock and got off on me? Criminal behavior.
My tongue is sore in the best way from going down on her for so long.
I’m glad she let me take my time and enjoy her like that.
I know some women get all in their head about how long it takes them to climax, but trust me, I think I can speak for plenty of eaters out there when I say we don’t mind the wait.
You don’t hog down a fine meal in a minute flat. You savor it for as long as possible.
After all her crying and crashing out, Taylor’s fallen asleep on me.
Adorable.
I’m the luckiest man in the world, I’ll tell you that. She smells like lavender and whatever is in her hemp shampoo. The tent smells like sex. It’s steamy in here. I’ve got to reinforce the stakes that I accidentally knocked out earlier when I tried to make my great escape from her filthy mouth.
Her beautiful, fuckable, dirty goddamn mouth.
She’s rearranged all my planets. Tossed me into retrograde. Spilled my Milky Way. All the cosmic shit. She’s done it. I don’t even know if I’m dead or alive but either way this feels like ecstasy.
Night has fallen and the crickets are in full symphony. We’re tangled up in my blankets, and there’s a coyote howling somewhere.
Taylor lifts her head, groggily. “Hi.”
“Hi.” She fits so perfectly against me I don’t want to let her go, but that’s not my choice to make. So when she climbs off me and stretches, I bury my disappointment. “Nice nap?”
“Holy crap. How long was I out?”
“No idea.”
Time doesn’t exist when you’re camping.
“Listen to all those songs out there,” she says, unzipping the tent door. “It’s so beautiful.”
My body creaks and groans as I get up from my uncomfortable position on the ground. My left ass cheek fell asleep, and the tingles are shooting down my leg. I hobble out after her to reinforce the tent.
“Look at the moon!” she exclaims.
Taylor says that every time she sees that thing, I swear.
She tips her head back and opens her arms wide. Naked in the moonlight, she’s a vision. I love how unabashed she is. How safe she must feel to be vulnerable like this.
I’m struck stupid again by the fact that she’s let her guard down this much with me. We are so out of the friend-zone now it’s like it fell into an abyss. Got lost in the Bermuda triangle. Burned to ashes in an apocalypse.
Taylor syncs her phone to my Bluetooth speaker and puts on some tunes. My cell must have died earlier. Searching for the thing, I find it in the arm pocket of my chair and charge it with a battery.
My girl adds wood to the fire and shivers. “It’s a little chilly.”
“Still want to swim?” I tease.
“Hell yeah, I do.”
No way. She’ll chicken out.
Taylor stomps over to the bank barefooted and my brain instantly scrambles into protective mode.
I quickly calculate the chances of an old fishhook or metal scrap left behind that can hurt her.
I should also be more mindful of the nocturnal animals getting too close.
What other dangers do I need to prepare for so she can have fun and be safe?
“Woo hoo!” She kicks her feet up, splashing water around.
My heart races because what if the stream’s current has picked up?
“Taylor.” I storm after her.
She kicks water up at me and scurries away, cackling.
“Why you…” I barrel towards her and toss her over my shoulder. She squeals and laughs and I smack her ass. “It’s too cold for a night swim. I don’t want you getting sick.”
“I’ll be fine.”
But when I set her down by the fire, she scoots closer to it and warms herself. “This does feel way better though.”
Yeah, because the temp has dropped considerably tonight.
Tossing on a few more logs, I get the flames roaring for her.
As much as I’d love to turn this campsite into a mini nudist resort, that’s not happening.
We’re in bear territory. Not to mention there are other predators out here we need to be wary of.
The last thing I want is us running for our vehicles with our asses out.
After putting on my pants, I grab her dress and bring it out to her. Taylor regards it like it’s made of hornets. “I’m not wearing that yet.” She tips her head back again and closes her eyes. “This feels too good.”
Hey, I’m not forcing her to cover up. I’ll just stand guard and protect her while she moon bathes.
“What a great day,” she sighs after a while. Stepping away from the fire, she finally grabs her dress from the back of her chair and slips it on. I hand her a blanket just in case she wants to get extra cozy. Taylor sits next to me and stares at the blaze. “This was perfect.”
Was. Not is.
My heart stammers and I’m not sure what to say so I keep my mouth shut…
“Perfect,” I say, smiling at the florist. “She’s going to love it.”
“I’m sure she will.” The old woman rings me up. “Want me to put a bow on it too?”
“Nah. It’s good how it is. Thank you, ma’am.”
I pay for the corsage and leave the flower shop to head down the street. Only I run smack into my father.
“The fuck you doing, boy?”
“Nothing. What are you doing?”
“None of your goddamn business.” He stares at the plastic container with the corsage in it and sneers. “Who’s that for?”
I want to tell him none of his business but that’ll just get me in trouble. “A friend.”
He scoffs. “You’re pathetic.”
Not wanting to push his buttons, I try to go around him but he keeps blocking me. “What friend?”
“Taylor.”
“Jesus, kid. When you gonna let that shit go. She doesn’t want you.”
How would he know?
“It’s not like that. We’re just friends going to homecoming together.”
“You already asked her?”
No. But I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal since neither of us have a date. “I’m about to.”
He hawks a loogie on the payment. “Flowers don’t get you pussy, son. Money does.”
The plastic container in my hand crackles as my hold on it tightens. “I told you it’s not like that with us.”
“Yeah, cause she’s smart enough to know a dud when she sees one. That woo-woo girl might be weird as fuck, but she ain’t desperate or stupid.” He knocks my shoulder with his as he moves past me.
“Asshole,” I whisper under my breath.
Making my way as fast as I can to the car, Nick’s mom is patiently waiting. “Aw honey, that’s beautiful!”
“Thanks.” I get in and see Nick running up the road with a bag of candy for Carly. We both figured we’d ask the girls to HoCo. Bennet and Dean aren’t going.
“Wow, that’s a nice one,” he says, getting in the car with me.
“You boys ready to do this?”
“Yes, ma’am,” we say together.
My stomach kinda hurts and my legs won’t stop shaking.
This is our first homecoming, and I still don’t know how it all works.
On top of the corsage, I also have a small bouquet for today that I made out of lavender and sage because she likes those herbs.
Figured she can hang them to dry and do something with them later.
Nick’s mom drops us off at Carly’s house and we’re halfway up the front porch steps when I freeze at the sound of Taylor squealing in happiness. “I can’t believe he asked me!”
“Holy crap. Did you say yes?” Carly asks.
Nick stops and listens too. That’s the thing about having your windows open—anyone close by can hear that you’re going to HoCo with someone else now.
“Of course I did,” Taylor sounds thrilled. “No one else has asked and no offense but I’d rather go with a date than you, cuz.”
Carly pretends to be offended. They laugh some more. “It’s a little shitty he waited so last minute though.”
“Better late than never, right? OMG, our first homecoming and I have a real date! This is magic.”
“Con,” Nick whispers, grabbing my arm, but I jerk away from him.
“It’s fine. At least she has someone to go with.” I toss the corsage and bouquet in the trash bin on the side of the house and walk six miles home by myself…
“Earth to Conner.”
Taylor’s voice snaps me out of my memories. “Hmm?”
“I asked if you’re hungry yet.”
Not really. “Yeah.”
“Good, because I have a surprise.” My girl gets up and rifles through her loaded cart. I feel bad that we haven’t used anything she brought yet. “Close your eyes.”
I shut my peepers and tune into her movements, listening carefully to the surrounding wildlife—the quiet whoosh of the stream, the crickets and frogs, the owls.
Something rests in my lap. “Can I look yet?”
“Yup.”
It’s a chicken salad sandwich and my favorite chips. “Where did you find these?”
“I had to run an hour out of town this afternoon to get them.”
Holy crap, she went out of her way like that for me? “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She sits down with her own little plate and has a different side with her sandwich. “And don’t worry, I bought all they had so there’s more at my house for you. Eat those up and enjoy them, Con.”
I’m not going to get all in my feels over a bag of special seasoned kettle chips. Nope. Not even if she knows I would make one snack bag last days because they were so hard to find when I was young and more expensive.
“This is amazing.” The first crunch and burst of flavor and the addiction begins. I stuff two more in my mouth. “You didn’t have to do that, Taylor. I don’t want you going out of your way for me.”
“I go where I want, anyway I want. Now shut up and eat your dinner.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The sandwich is also one of my favorites.
No one makes chicken salad like Taylor, except her mother.
There was a time in my teen years that Corrine would pack my lunch along with Taylor’s every day—because she knew my parents didn’t have a lot of food in the house—and it was always a fat ass chicken salad sandwich on honey wheat.
“This brings me back,” I say, chomping down on another big bite. “I swear this stuff was in my veins freshman year of high school.”