13. Brie
APRIL
The winery opened back up at the beginning of April, which meant my and Ezra’s constant contact waned significantly as he got back into a working routine while also caring for Hansen. I knew they weren’t busy yet, but those days were coming. I supposed I’d better get used to it.
And it wasn’t like I wasn’t busy with my own stuff. My apprenticeship took a lot of my time, particularly early morning hours when Bryce and I went into her bakery to prep for the day, usually until late into the afternoon. Ezra and I worked opposite shifts, and I hated it.
I was learning a lot from Bryce, and I was so grateful to be under her tutelage, but…I was ready to go home. Less than three months stood between me and my return to Apple Blossom Bay, and they couldn’t pass fast enough.
One night in late April, I found myself on the phone with Ezra yet again. After the distance earlier in the month, he’d taken to calling me after putting Hansen to bed each night. Sometimes, we’d get on FaceTime and cook together, or we’d chat while we wound down before going to sleep.
Other times, like tonight, I was in bed, exhausted from a day on my feet in front of the ovens as Bryce and I made desserts for a Chicago Fire Department fundraiser.
“If you could be anywhere in the world right now,” he asked me suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence we’d found ourselves in, “where would it be?”
With you .
“Paris or Rome,” I said. “Somewhere with really good treats.”
I could practically hear Ezra’s eye roll as he said, “You and your sweets.”
“You love my sweets,” I quipped.
The silence that greeted me from the other end of the line was so complete, I swore he’d hung up on me. I even went so far as to pull the phone away from my ear to check.
“I do,” he croaked at last.
I knew we weren’t talking about actual food anymore, but I also knew it was dangerous territory.
“Have you traveled overseas?” I asked, steering the conversation into safer territory.
“I have,” he said slowly, as though reluctant to let his previous words go, but then he seemed to perk up. “I’ve been to all the culinary hotspots, of course, though I really think you could argue anywhere in the world is a culinary hotspot. I traveled some in my early twenties after I finished my culinary program for some more life experience. Dad and I scraped together every penny we could to make it happen, and I’ll forever be grateful for everything he gave up to give me that opportunity.”
Knowing Rik had raised Ezra by himself, I could guess that wasn’t the only time he’d sacrificed in the name of making his son’s dreams a reality.
I loved hearing about Ezra’s life, loved the soothing sound of his voice. My entire body sank deeper into my bed, my body relaxing as his words washed over me. It wasn’t only his voice I loved, though. I enjoyed listening to Ezra’s stories because his life experience was so vastly different from mine—mainly the fact that he had life experience.
Sure, I’d gone to culinary school far away from home and chosen to take on this apprenticeship, but it wasn’t the same. I’d left the country as a child, been to Macedonia where my father’s ancestors hailed from and visited all the other Grecian tourist traps, but I’d never done anything like what Ezra had.
I’d never been totally alone. The first time I felt like I’d made that leap of independence was moving to Chicago. I hadn’t known anyone here, and I still mostly kept to myself, thanks to endless hours in the kitchen at Bryce’s bakery.
Ezra told me about learning the proper pasta techniques in Italy, how to prepare the perfect macaron in Paris, and all about making paella in Spain. I couldn’t see him, but his words were animated, and I could hear the smile in them as he extolled all his adventures.
“Do you miss it?”
He sighed heavily. “Sometimes. I miss leaving my flat in the morning and not knowing what the day would bring. I miss waking up in Germany and being able to fall asleep in Hungary or Poland or Austria. Life was slower, and being on my own, making my way through all that foreign territory by myself, really changed me as a person. But I’m content with where my life ended up, and I’d give up all memories of that trip for Hansen a million times over.”
“Bold claim,” I mused, though I wasn’t surprised. That little boy was the light of his father’s life, and anyone who spent even a few minutes in Ezra’s presence knew it.
“I mean…you’ve met him,” Ezra said with a chuckle. “You know he’s the best.”
I grinned at the memory of that day. I hadn’t been around kids much in my life, but I could agree there was something special about that one.
Maybe I was biased because of how attracted I was to his dad.
“Maybe we can cook together sometime,” I said softly. “When I’m home from Chicago.”
“We’ve already cooked together,” he reminded me.
My cheeks heated as memories flashed through my mind—the cool countertop under my bare bottom, Ezra’s hot mouth on my slick flesh, the snow falling outside and the smoke from my danishes filling the air around us.
The way he’d licked me clean while whispering the filthiest of words.
“Do you think about that day?” I asked abruptly, emboldened by those memories. He’d been there too, after all, and finding my pleasure wasn’t anything to be ashamed about. This man knew me on an intimate level, not only physically, but through all the things I’d shared with him these past few months. I was safe with him in a way I’d never experienced with anyone else.
I hoped it was the same for him.
“All the time.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. It was my fault we were here, that we had to content ourselves with long-distance phone calls and friendship .
But I’d never forgive myself if Hansen suffered because of me. I knew what Ezra’s priorities were, and I’d never delude myself into thinking I could shift them. I also couldn’t allow myself to be wounded by his choice, so I’d made it for us.
“Don’t apologize, honey,” he said. “It was the right call. But…”
“But what?” I asked, sitting up quickly in bed. I could tell from his tone that an idea was sparking in that beautiful brain of his, and if it was some sort of loophole to our agreement, I was all ears.
“Have you ever had phone sex?”
I snorted, though my skin heated with the promise in his seemingly-random question. “Please. I’m twenty-two. Most guys I’ve interacted with are barely imaginative enough to have real sex.”
“Well…phone sex isn’t breaking any rules, is it? We’re still keeping our hands to ourselves.”
“No one has to know but us…” I whispered, catching his drift and rolling with it.
“Exactly. So what do you say? You wanna touch that gorgeous cunt and tell me how much you wish it was me?”
My blood heated, and my pajama shorts and panties floated to the floor at the side of my bed a moment later.
I gasped when I slid my fingers slowly through my slit, surprised at how wet I already was, how worked up only a few filthy words from Ezra made me.
“Are you wet, honey?”
“Soaked,” I replied .
“I wish I was there to clean you up,” he said. “But I’m going to stroke my cock while you touch yourself and pretend.”
“Do you…” I trailed off, and Ezra waited me out, gave me the moment to gather my courage. “Do you want to FaceTime?”
He didn’t even respond, just clicked the button that had my phone ringing with the incoming call a second later.
My cheeks were bright red when I answered, but Ezra smiled softly when he saw me. “Hi, beautiful.”
I grinned in response. “Hey.”
“So we’re going full send on the phone sex, huh?” he asked, but I barely heard him, transfixed by his bicep flexing and relaxing as he worked his hand over his dick out of frame. “My eyes are up here, honey.”
I snapped my gaze to his face in the small screen, grinning sheepishly. “Yes,” I said in answer to his question. “Full send.” I extended my arm and angled the phone as I boldly spread my pussy open, giving him a full view. “Besides, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”
“Prettiest pussy I’ve ever laid eyes on.” His voice was low and rumbling through my speakers as he praised me. “Show me how you pleasure yourself, Brie.”
“Slow to start,” I said, mirroring my words by lazily circling my clit. “Sometimes, I like to watch porn first.”
“What kind?” he asked, his hand on his cock moving in tandem with mine.
“I’m not picky,” I answered honestly, biting my lip as I held myself back from increasing the pressure.
“Girl on girl?”
“Sometimes. ”
“You into that?”
I shook my head. “For the record, I think sexuality is fluid, even in people who claim to be straight. I wouldn’t consider myself bi, but…maybe I’m a little curious.”
“Curiosity is hot,” Ezra said. “But you should know I don’t like to share.”
“Neither do I.” I choked on a laugh as I pressed the pads of three fingers right against that bundle of nerves, my pulse thumping against my flesh, begging to be set free. “At least, I have no interest in sharing you with anyone.”
Ezra’s groan emanated from deep in his chest. “If I had my way, I’d lock us in a cabin deep in the woods for a week and fuck you until you couldn’t walk. I’d fuck you until you forgot every name but mine for how many times I’d make you scream it.”
“Ez,” I breathed. “I need more.”
“Fuck yourself with your fingers, honey. Fill yourself up and imagine it’s my fingers right back where they belong, stuffed deep inside that tight cunt.”
I did as he asked, cursing low as I curled two fingers inside myself. “I wanna see you.”
Ezra shifted the phone above his body. That day in the winery kitchen, I hadn’t seen enough of him, hadn’t seen anything beyond his forearms and the strong, sexy column of his neck. The rest of him was lean but not skinny. He wasn’t stacked like an athlete, but he was muscular, like he exercised regularly—not in a showy way, but in a way that told me he was a different type of strong. His biceps bulged deliciously as he flexed his hand against his shaft. His pecs and abs shadowed the skin of his torso. I traced my eyes over the idents at his hips, the faint V drawing my eye to his cock, where he worked himself.
My mouth dried out.
“You’re…awfully big,” I said awkwardly, and Ezra chuckled in response.
“I promise, honey, you could take it.”
God, I wanted to try.
“I wish I’d gotten to taste you,” I told him.
“If that was all we got, that one day, that single moment…I’m glad it was you who got off and not me.”
“Why?”
“Because every night when I’ve found myself just like this”—he gestured to his engorged cock—“it’s been the memory of your taste on my tongue, your sounds in my ears, and your name on my lips as I came.”
“I’ve thought about you too,” I admitted, my heart rate kicking up. I knew it wouldn’t take much to set me off. My skin was too tight for my bones, my head light from my labored breaths. While I wanted to believe I could get myself there with a simple touch, my fingers were no match for the way Ezra had undone me with his. So, I dropped my phone onto my bed—which Ezra protested loudly—and reached into my nightstand for my vibrator.
When my phone was back in my hand, I brandished the sex toy in front of the camera. “I pretend this is you,” I said, moving my phone and toy at the same time, giving Ezra a close up as I worked the silicone around my clit before slowly pushing it inside my sex.
“I bet it doesn’t fill you as well as I would,” he grumbled. “Bet it doesn’t fuck you as good either. ”
“Ez,” I groaned when the toy was fully seated then flicked it on. The vibration sang through my entire body, and my back arched into it.
“Fuck, honey,” he whispered reverently. “That’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Keep talking. Please,” I begged as I began to work the toy in and out.
Through my heavily lidded eyes, I watched as Ezra increased his pace, his hand flying over his cock. Even in my lust-induced haze, I couldn’t help but marvel at his size and thickness, at the vein snaking along the underside and the broad, blunt tip that steadily leaked beads of precum. I wanted to swipe my tongue over that slit, to become as intimate with his unique flavor as he was with mine.
“I bet you’d take my cock so well. So perfectly. You’d fit me like a glove. And you’d let me fuck you bare, wouldn’t you?”
“I’m on birth control,” I managed to gasp out as my orgasm crested higher.
“That’s my girl. I’d fill that pussy with my cum until it was dripping out of you. God, I’d kill to see that, to see my cum slipping down your thighs after I fucked you.”
“I’m close,” I said, though it came out as more of a whisper, the edges of my vision darkening with my impending release. The pressure at my clit was nearly unbearable, and I pumped the vibrator faster, imagining Ezra’s hips slamming into me, driving his cock deep inside me over and over, fucking me recklessly.
I wanted him to fall apart for me, to be as consumed by me as I was by him.
“Get there, honey. Come for me. Come all over that toy you wish was my fat cock.”
“Ez!” I shouted as I crashed, the wave of my climax pulling me under. My body spasmed so hard, I barely managed to keep my phone upright, to let Ezra coach me through it, murmuring praises as I lost all sense of time and space.
I came back to my body in time to watch Ezra barrel toward his release, his hand flying over his shaft as he gritted his teeth.
“Come for me,” I whispered as I struggled to catch my breath. The three words he’d given me repeated back to him triggered his undoing.
I watched, enraptured, as he came in great, long spurts, that milky liquid coating his fist, his balls, his thighs, his stomach. His chest rose and fell rapidly as his hand slowed then left his cock to swipe across his abdomen, marveling at his cum covering his hand.
With a blissed-out smile, he met my eyes in the phone and said, “You’ve made a mess of me.”
That makes two of us .