Chapter 30
EVER
Bobby is waiting for me inside Sweet Creations. At first, he didn’t want to impose and said he’d rather stay inside his truck. That work time isn’t personal time. However, my boss, Ben, is here, and he rarely comes in on Mondays.
Bobby steps from foot to foot as I make introductions.
“Ben, this is my boyfriend, Bobby. Bobby, this is my boss, Ben Willard.”
Ben holds out his hand. His other is on his walking stick. “It’s nice to meet you, Bobby. Ever’s worked for me since she moved to Dumas for college, and she’s never brought a boyfriend to the bakery.”
Ben is tall and lanky, with dirty-blond hair.
He reminds me of a wizard, but with dark sunglasses rather than round eyeglasses.
Ben can see shapes, but that’s about it.
With his height and muscles, Bobby looks like a special ops military guy, except he’s missing a beard.
I can’t decide whether I like him clean-shaven or with what my father calls “scruff.”
“Nice to meet you, too, Ben.”
Bobby is polite. I’m wondering why he didn’t say anything to Ben’s comment that I’ve never brought a guy to meet my boss.
I hike my backpack higher on my shoulder.
Bobby takes it off my shoulder and slings it over his.
My school backpack looks tiny compared with his broad shoulders and tree trunk arms.
“We should get going,” I say to Bobby before turning to Ben. “Our Life Our Time closes soon, and we have to drop off paperwork.”
Ben pats my shoulder. “I’m proud of you for volunteering your time to help the community, Ever.”
“And I’m thankful for your support. The residents and helpers will love the pastries you’ll donate at the vaccination event.” I lean into him with a half-hug. “Thank you.”
“Anytime. Now get going.”
The bell above the door rings. Maggie walks inside.
We all say a quick, “Hi, bye,” as Bobby and I hurry to his truck.
Something has me glancing over my shoulder at the bakery.
Maggie is standing in front of the door with a shit-eating grin.
She rubs her belly, makes a heart with her thumbs and index fingers, and points to me.
I glower. She winks. Smiling, I shake my head and wave. I love that girl and will miss her when she eventually moves to wherever her husband gets stationed next.
Bobby opens the passenger-side door of his truck. I hop in. “Where’s your motorcycle?”
“Money pit.”
He closes my door. I buckle in and wait for him to get inside the truck before I ask my next question. “Did Slate drive your truck down for you?”
“Nah. I did. Took the motorcycle up to Alexandria. Drove the truck back with the motorcycle on a trailer.”
He sets my backpack at my feet.
“Ain’t no one else riding in this here truck except for you, sweetness.”
Bobby buckles in and starts the engine.
“We made out in this truck. You came on my fingers. Came on my tongue. Left your flavor in my mouth. You ground your hips on mine until I embarrassingly shot my load in my pants. Uh-uh. No way in hell will I let another man catch a whiff of your arousal or touch your pussy juices on the leather. This beast”—he wraps his fingers around the steering column—“is reserved for us. Only us, beautiful.” He strokes the column with his thick fingers, and I can’t look away.
“You can have it detailed,” I offer. I can’t look away from how he’s stroking the steering column with his thick fingers.
Two fingers on one side, following the curve of the steering wheel.
Two fingers on the other side, but on the underside of the wheel.
It’s like he’s reliving the memory of fingering my sex and stroking my clit until I shattered on his hand and came so hard that my mind went blank and I thought I’d lost consciousness.
Then he captured my mouth in a tender kiss, and I was lost to a different kind of emotion than lust and passion. I started falling in love with Bobby Bliss.
“Nope, not having it. This baby stays the way she is, smelling like you and me.”
“Okay.” I squeeze my thighs together.
Bobby drives out of the parking lot and gets onto the highway that’ll take us back to Dumas. His warm palm lands on my thigh. “Doing okay? Warm enough?” He squeezes.
I’m not okay. That small and simple touch pools heat in the junction between my thighs. I swallow down the moan, ready to slip from my core as he kneads my flesh, waiting for my answer.
“Yes, thank you for asking.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, a thought chases after them.
Does Bobby think I’m too polite? He must be fine with it. He takes my hand and drops a kiss on my palm. “I like you as you are, Ever. You accepted me as I am. I do the same for you.”
“You wouldn’t want to change me?” Ty would like it if I were less reckless. Gage wants me to have a do-over with my life.
That’s what he told me when he was drunk off his ass and I helped him to the bathroom so he could lose whatever was in his stomach.
It was the night Finley ended their engagement.
He said he would’ve kept a better eye on me so I wouldn’t have had the chance to OD or get mangled up in the car accident that left a scar on my leg.
“I wouldn’t ask that of you. The change has to come from you, sweetness. You know you better than anyone.”
“How’d you get so wise?” I take his hand that’s on my thigh and interlace our fingers.
“An old friend. He was full of wise words.”
“You miss him.”
“I do, sweetness. Every goddamn day.”
“Was he someone you served with?”
“Nah, but I considered him a brother.”
“What happened to him?”
“He ate a bullet for me.”
His voice is thick with emotion. Bobby avoids looking at me. I squeeze his hand. “I’m sorry.” Is Bobby speaking about Carlos? But that can’t be. They were rivals and not friends.
“I am too, baby.”
I point to the gas station parking lot. “Pull over.” My heart aches for him. For his loss, this old friend full of wise words and like a brother to Bobby.
“Need a snack?” he asks.
“Something like that.”
He brings our intertwined hands and kisses where our thumbs meet. “You like using my lines?” He looks at me like no one has ever teased him the way I’m teasing him.
I jerk my chin like I’m one of the boys. “True that.”
He laughs, and I smile. I’d do anything to take away the sadness in his voice. He parks with us facing the highway. I unbuckle and straddle his thighs.
“You’re a good guy, Bobby Bliss. Such a good guy, and I love you so much.” I take his face in my palms and look into sea-glass eyes I could stare at for a lifetime. “Tell me about your friend whenever you like. I’m here for you.”
His eyes shine with unshed tears. He dashes them away and turns to look out the side window, freeing himself from my grasp. I bring him back to me with my hand on his face.
“I know of a wise man too.” I pointedly look at him.
“He asked me to tell him what made me sad and said he’d do everything in his power to make it better.
Said grief is hard, and I should talk about my mother and my best friend until it doesn’t hurt here”—I fist my hand over my heart, then his—“anymore.”
He covers my fist with his large hand. “Almost word for word. You have the memory of an elephant. Again, remind me to watch what I say to you.”
“Because your words will come back and bite you in the ass?”
“Nah, baby. Because you’ll use them to get me to fall harder for you.
” He takes my chin between his fingers and tugs me to him.
Our lips touch. We’re sharing a breath. His gaze drops to my mouth before skating back to my eyes.
His eyes soften. “I love you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Ever After. ”
Bobby presses his mouth to mine. I don’t close my eyes until he closes his.
He runs the tip of his tongue across the seams of my mouth.
I open to him with a soft inhale. Bobby smells good.
He’s freshly showered. I can smell the citrus from his body wash and the vanilla scent in his hair from his shampoo.
I gave him the key to my place, and during my break, I video-called him.
He showed me the bottle of his shampoo and body wash in my guest bathroom.
We end the kiss and pull apart.
“Ready to drop off the paperwork and try a different kind of riding?” With my hand in his, he cups my hip with the other and squeezes.
His hand is warm. His fingers are thick. His grip on my hip is possessive. I nod, too turned on to speak.
“Did I leave you speechless, baby?”
I swallow and do this nodding, head-shaking thing. Bobby smiles. I open my mouth to tell him I love his dimpled smile. Except he takes advantage. Smirking, he captures my mouth in his in a blissful kiss that’ll keep me awake at night.
What will replace the memory of his mouth moving over mine is Bobby moving in and out of me.
It’s happening soon.
My memory of Carlos fades, turning into a flicker of blue light, like the time I watched the sun disappear into the ocean. Yellow and orange one moment, then the sun was gone, and there was a flash of blue.
Is love worth losing my first love again?
My chest aches.
I’m not one hundred percent sure.
I hang on tightly to Bobby. He wraps me up in his arms. Desperation claws my insides. I can’t lose him.
Please, please, please, Carlos, please watch over my Bobby.