31. Sutton
Sutton
T he days ran together, and I couldn’t ever remember ever experiencing such contentment.
No amount of angst around town, Kurt stumbling drunk off his ass again on Main Street and needing a ride home, or having to hand over a speeding ticket to a newly licensed driver could take away the lightness in my chest or the bounce in my steps.
Even when exhausted some mornings while heading into the station from having stayed up too late loving on Jimmy, the feeling of weightlessness remained. Jimmy claimed he was blissed out, and I agreed with his description.
Halloween was now only two weeks away, and my boyfriend?
roommate? helped me decorate the front lawn even though I would be out on patrol that night and he would be handing out mini Snickers on his own.
We’d driven down into Berlin for some extra skeletons and fake tombstones to prop up in the yard.
We also had a massive bowl of candy, which both of us couldn’t keep our hands out of.
Every night, we fed each other tiny chocolate bars before kissing the sweetness left behind on our tongues.
Next year, I’d told him, we would be buying two bags earlier in the month because I couldn’t get enough of him.
His eyes had lit up, and I’d thought about having the little chat about our future that I’d been putting off until after the closing on his dad’s house in November.
I hoped he would stay. Move out of The Moose he hadn’t slept in for three weeks, pack up all his stuff at his condo in Boston, and come home for good.
I felt sure he desired the same but I didn’t want to jump the gun or push him into making a decision until the responsibilities that had brought him back to Pippen Creek were taken care of.
“You about ready?” I hollered up the stairs, having already done so fifteen minutes earlier. The boy took forever to get pretty for me even though I told him every day he was beautiful to me sleepy-eyed, fresh out of the shower, or sweaty after playing basketball with DJ.
It was Friday night, and the football game for the week was at the home stadium south of town, so I’d expected Jimmy to primp more than usual.
“Two minutes!” Jimmy called, and I pulled my winter coat and the one I’d bought for him while we’d been on that shopping spree down in Berlin out of the entryway closet.
I’d gotten him a navy-blue hooded jacket he’d turned his nose up at, but the freezing temperatures the past three days changed his mind about it not being flattering.
The coat brought out the blue in his eyes though and kept his trim body warm, both wins in my mind.
He skipped down the stairs, cheeks pink, a light sheen of gloss on his lips, and my pulse thrummed, pumping blood straight to my groin.
I groaned, shaking my head and holding out the jacket for him to slip into.
His knowing wink and blown kiss had me fake glowering. “No teasing,” I ordered. “I promised Jamie we’d be there tonight.”
“Wasn’t my fault you couldn’t control yourself and we missed last week’s game,” Jimmy sassed while zipping up.
I lingered in checking my boy out from head to toes.
He’d put on baggier jeans because I’d insisted on him wearing thermals underneath since his usual skintight ones wouldn’t do a damned thing to keep the cold from his smooth skin.
Wool socks and fur-lined boots covered his piggies, ugly troll feet, he’d claimed when I’d purchased them to ensure my baby boy stayed warm.
“Hat and gloves?” I suggested, and he grumbled something about messing up his hair that had taken an hour to tame.
I stood unmoved.
Jimmy rolled his eyes. “ Fine .” He snatched the hat I’d lain out for him and jammed it atop his head, sticking out his tongue. “Happy now?”
“I will be later once your ass is properly reddened,” I promised, tugging on my own beanie and grabbing the keys off the hook by the door.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time, Chief.”
“Mmm,” I hummed, steering him out into the cold with a hand on his lower back.
We climbed into his BMW I’d started by remote a few minutes earlier.
“Thank fuck for heated seats,” he said while buckling in.
The boy was spoiled. My Bronco didn’t have a remote start or fancy butt warmers, so that vehicle was off-limits until at least May, according to him.
Even though breath fogged and noses turned red, the small set of bleachers at our town’s football field was jam-packed as usual with faithful fans of our small school’s team.
Jimmy sat huddled against me, my arm around his shoulders, tucking him in tight. He shivered but was a trooper in encouraging our high schoolers along with me.
Jamie was helping out again tonight since he wasn’t on patrol. He caught sight of Jimmy and I front and center at the fifty-yard line while the boys had warmed up out on the field pre-kickoff.
Dex used to be my partner in crime at these games, but he’d declined the invite to go with me and Jimmy. Said he was busy.
Probably fucking Christian.
Dex had been cagey and secretive the few times I’d seen him lately, but I had my own full plate with this new…whatever it was between Jimmy and I. Dex and I would catch up eventually, and even though I’d been enjoying the hell out of having Jimmy by my side, I missed my best friend.
I hoped he played it safe both physically and emotionally while doing whatever he was up to with that Cole guy. He tended to get a little rough in the sack, had a definite kink for domination without the pain aspect. Cole didn’t seem to be submissive in any way shape or form.
They would be incendiary, no doubt, and I kept my fingers crossed they didn’t burn Pippen Creek to the ground once the gossip erupted into flames. Surprisingly, Babs knew nothing about the current state of affairs between the two men, so I was in the dark as well.
After our team’s loss, we helped pack out Frenchie’s. Jamie and Chaz had gone home rather than hang out, and while Dex and Christian were absent, The Moose’s Muse owners were both sitting at the bar.
“Jimmy!” Kendra stood from her seat and hugged him, squeezing tight. “I’ve been missing you!” She motioned toward the empty stool beside her, and Jimmy slid onto the seat.
I greeted them both and shook hands with her husband Harry before settling on Jimmy’s other side.
Kendra leaned forward to see around him. “So you’re the one making my favorite renter stay out all night.”
She didn’t ask a question, and I was well aware of the rumor mill’s current focus.
“What can I get for ya?” Iris asked, keeping me from having to respond.
“Stella and a glass of pinot noir.”
Jimmy squeezed my knee, and I slid my arm around his shoulders, reminding him with touch that I knew what he wanted and was more than willing and happy to provide for him.
“So your room is up for renewal on Monday,” Kendra said, and I stilled, eyeing Jimmy in my periphery. “Seeing as how leaf peepers are hanging around, I’ll have no problem filling the vacancy if you’re ready to give the room up.”
He glanced at me.
I turned so he would have my full attention, hating that this discussion might happen in a public place.
Baby blues implored me to answer Kendra’s question for him as Iris set our drinks in front of us.
“Want something to eat, Chief? Jimmy?” Iris asked.
“I think we’re good,” I answered.
Iris ambled off.
“We’ll swing by tonight to get the rest of Jimmy’s things,” I told Kendra, and she beamed, her eyes alight with excitement knowing she had a golden nugget to start sharing around town.
Jimmy relaxed at my roundabout way of speaking my intentions toward him, a soft smile curving his mouth. I wanted to lick the taste of cherry off his glossed lips before probing my tongue inside to enjoy his natural sweetness.
“How’s your son doing?” I tossed out as my dick twitched, ready for the focus to be elsewhere until me and my boy got home for the night.
Kendra cleared her throat and exchanged a long look with her husband.
“Anything I need to be concerned about?” I asked, hating the current of unease they both radiated.
Both were tight-lipped, and I wasn’t about to probe for information on my best friend since he wouldn’t appreciate me getting involved. He and Cole were grown-ass men. Unless their combative natures caused issues for the town, I would stay on the sidelines.
The Coles kept to themselves after shaking their heads in answer to my question, and Jimmy and I moved off with our drinks to mingle.
We received a lot of attention, Jimmy got a few congratulations on the upcoming signing for his dad’s house—and inquiries of his future plans.
He claimed he was waiting to see where the wind blew, glancing at me when answering.
“Toward me,” I informed him the second I buckled into the driver’s seat a half hour later.
“Huh?”
I turned to face Jimmy, studying his half-shadowed face in the neon lights atop Frenchie’s door.
“The wind you’re waiting for,” I reminded him, smoothing my thumb over the furrow in his forehead. “I’m hoping it blows you toward me .”
His eyes darkened, a slow, sly smirk curling the corner of his lips.
Shaking my head, I chuckled and started his car. “Don’t even go there,” I muttered, knowing exactly where his mind had wandered.
“I can’t blow you when we get home?”
Home.
That was the first time he’d called my house that word, and my heart soared.
I reached over and grasped his hand, lifting its back up to my lips. “Don’t think you’re escaping my promised handprints on your ass, boy.”
He shuddered and squeezed my fingers. “I want it—want you.”
I nibbled lightly on his knuckles while parking in front of Pippen Creek’s only lodge. “Want you too, Jimmy, so let’s do this quick because I can’t wait to get you home where you belong, stripped naked on our bed and my mouth on every inch of your soft skin.”
He groaned my name while adjusting himself. “You’re mean.”
“You’re just impatient, but I promise I’ll make it worth the wait.”
“I trust you, Sutton.”
My heart squeezed at the most honest words I’d ever heard on his lips, and I tugged him against me, kissing the top of his head before we climbed the stairs up onto The Moose’s porch to gather his things and check him out for good.