Chapter 13
13
Cortney
One week later…
Jack
Cortney, I’m hereby ordered to demand you show up to family dinner tomorrow
Juniper
Oh, boy
Jack
What?
Lee
You think that’s going to go over well?
Corjan
Since when does anyone demand Cortney do anything?
Frankie
Don’t listen to your brothers. But also, I’d love to see you if you’re free!
Whitney
Jeez, honey. There’s asking, and then there’s whatever the hell that was
Jude
It’s time for someone to abra-fucking-cadabra her ass home
Aiden
I find asking usually goes over pretty well
Lee
That’s because she babies you
Aiden
Bullshit. Remember that time she told me she’d catch me if I jumped off the bunk bed, only to move out of the way?
Bree
I remember that laugh emoji
Me
I see nothing’s changed. Don’t worry, I’ll be there
Leave it to the Powell clan to blow up my phone the minute we sit down on the aircraft. I can’t say they were happy to hear about my extended vacation, but they dealt with it relatively well.
Or so I thought.
Their texts reveal I was the recent topic of conversation, something I find entirely unpleasant. I know they mean well. Our family has always been tight-knit, especially since Nancy and Terrance Powell all unconventionally adopted us. More like she plucked us off the streets as if she was collecting strays. We created our own family unit. One that sometimes can be a bit much, but I still wouldn’t trade it for anything.
“That’s a lot of messages.” Spencer peers over my flashing phone screen.
“They can be insufferable.”
“Did Nancy adopt more kids since I was gone?”
I laugh. “No. Those would be my brothers’ wives.”
Spencer clicks on his seat belt over his lap. “How do you keep them straight?”
“It’s actually easier than it looks. Lee is with Juniper. She’s from around town, and she and I were actually close acquaintances when they started dating.”
“Simple enough.”
“Then there’s Bree and Corjan.”
“Wait, they’re still together?”
“Together, not together, together again.” I smile at the memory. Happiness fills my heart for my previously lovesick sibling. “They split for about ten years before she found her way back.”
“Wow. I can’t imagine.” Spencer’s gaze holds mine.
I think we both can imagine a lot more than either of us would like or ever admit.
I clear my throat. “You may also recognize Whitney if you happen to bump into her. She was Bree’s best friend back in the day. Came back into town with her two kids, and she and Jack hit it off.”
“I really missed a lot.”
“I’m not finished.” I bump his elbow with mine. “Jude is with Frankie. Their story is a little crazy. She found her way onto the Sanctuary property and basically never left.”
Spencer’s eyes widen. “No shit?”
“No shit.” I grin. “Aiden’s story is a lot crazy and not really polite plane chatter. He’s with Isla. She’s probably too busy taking care of their baby to join in on texting me.”
“It sounds like your family takes up half the town.”
“It’s not that big.”
“It makes sense, you know. I’m not sure if I told you that.”
“What makes sense?”
“Why you felt pressured to find what they all have.” His gaze is steady on mine.
My shoulder twitches in a hasty shrug. “Lesson learned. I guess it’s not meant for me.”
Except… What if it was?
I lean over to shove my phone in my purse between my feet to hide my expression. I bite my lip as confusion swirls and my stomach sours.
No. This vacation was fun. A no-strings fling meant as a distraction.
Boy, did it work. Spencer was one hell of a distraction. He was such a distraction that I haven’t been able to get him out of my head, and we haven’t even left yet.
Our extra week together only seemed to cement him there further.
“So what’s your story?”
“You know my story.” I straighten into my seat and buckle my belt.
“No other significant others besides your ex?”
“Not really. A series of bad decisions brought me to Ollie’s father. I’m sure you don’t want to hear about that.”
Spencer waits while the pilot announces our approaching departure.
“I want to hear every detail.”
I raise a challenging brow. “If you say so. A year or so after high school, I moved out with this guy. I thought we were starting a family. Unbeknownst to me, he was starting two.”
“Pardon?”
“He got another girl pregnant at the same time he knocked me up. Chose her and the two of them moved out of state when I was about five months along.”
Spencer just stares.
I pick at my cuticle and say, “I just know how to pick ’em. Cheaters and deserters.” The words fall easily out.
“I’m sorry.” Spencer’s gruff apology sends prickles along my spine.
“Spence, I didn’t mean—”
“I know the past two weeks isn’t enough to prove that to you, but I’ll say it until you can believe me. I’m so sorry for leaving you.”
“You are nothing like those men—if you can even call them men. You were a dumb teenager. I know because I have one, and they don’t always make the best decisions, especially when they’re worried about hurting someone they care about.”
“Love,” he interjects. When I stop talking, he takes a deep breath. “When they’re worried about hurting someone they loved.”
The muscles of my throat tighten like they’re being squeezed by a fist. “You never told me you loved me.”
“Miss Cortney!”
The high-pitched voice to my right interrupts the revelation. Delaney McBride, the woman from our flight two weeks ago, settles into her seat directly across the aisle from mine.
“Delaney, hi. Did you have a nice vacation?”
Her skin glows with a golden tan. The plane begins to taxi as we chat.
“Happiest place on earth.” She smiles. “And you? You look much more at ease than when we first met.”
A loose strand escapes my messy bun, and I tuck it behind my ear. “I am. Two weeks on the beach was exactly what I needed.”
She peers around me, winking as she meets my eyes again. “Does the man beside you have anything to do with it?” she whispers conspiratorially.
I can’t fight the blush. “No,” I whisper back with a grin.
“Mm-hmm.” She looks me up and down. “Seems to me like you caught yourself a fish.”
The engines roar to life, signaling our imminent takeoff. The plane begins picking up speed as I brush her off.
“Nothing wrong with a little harmless fun.” She winks.
I’m poised to respond when Spencer’s hand clamps down on mine. “Oh!” I startle.
“Sorry,” he grunts, releasing me from his tense hold.
Without a word, I slip my fingers beneath his fisted on his thigh and pull his hand into my lap. I hold on tight with one hand while the other draws invisible circles over his knuckles.
“It’s okay,” I murmur.
One thing clear from this trip is how far Spencer went out of his comfort zone for me. In the beginning, I teased him, using his discomfort for my own form of payback. Somewhere around our snorkeling excursion, it struck me just how uncomfortable he was. Not only with his appearance but also with these experiences he’s never had.
Flying, heights, the ocean.
All those things he did for me.
To make me happy.
The least I can do is hold his hand while he’s nervous.
Spencer turns his attention to the window, leaving our hands clasped in my lap.
I resume my chat with Delaney. We compare our different resorts, discussing food, music, and, at her insistence, men.
The plane levels out once we hit cruising altitude. Spencer abruptly unclips his belt and rushes toward the first-class restroom.
“Um, excuse me,” I brusquely end the conversation and hurry after him.
Spencer’s maneuver proves effective a second time as I slip through the shrinking gap of the accordion-style door to the restroom.
“Fancy meeting you here.” Sliding the door shut behind my back, I squeeze in next to the sink.
Spencer has his back to the door, hand braced on the wall beside the toilet. At the sound of my voice, his chin turns over his shoulder.
“What are you doing here, Cortney?”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Is it the flying?”
“No.”
I cross my arms and lean my hip against the sink. “Well, you clearly aren’t peeing.”
“Not like you gave me a chance to get my fly down.”
“Is this it, then?”
He fully faces me and leans against the wall. Though with how little space there is, our toes nearly touch.
“You aren’t really talking,” I continue at his silence.
“We aren’t good at talking.”
“I want to know if this is it.”
Despite the vagueness, he knows exactly what I’m asking. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”
Is this what I wanted? To have Spencer worship every single inch of my body, wring orgasm after orgasm from me until I’m barely clinging to life, only to sleep curled around one another so that we can wake up and do it all over again?
When I proposed we spend the week together, I never allowed myself to think about what would happen at the end.
“Now look who doesn’t want to answer simple questions.”
“I’m thinking!”
“Maybe I was thinking too, but that didn’t stop you from barging in.”
“Well, excuse me. I’ll just be going.” I whirl around, my skirt flying around my calves as I seek out the lock.
Spencer encircles my waist with his forearm, bringing my back flush against his chest. The rise and fall of his increasing breaths hold me captive.
“This is what you wanted. You gave me a week, then graciously gave me two, but we agreed we’d go our separate ways when this was over.”
“We did,” I confirm.
His forehead touches the back of my skull. “Is that still what you want?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper.
The force of his exhale blows across my neck. Despite the warmth of his air, goose bumps prickle my skin.
“You just got out of a serious relationship.”
“I know.”
“It ended badly.”
“It… ended.”
Weighing the circumstances makes me pause. It’s amazing what a difference time can make. When I left for this trip, I boarded the plane with a bruised heart. Somehow, in two weeks, Spencer’s managed to assuage that ache.
Sebastian isn’t the reason my heart’s tripping over itself. He’s not even the reason I’m giving this conversation pause. As far as I’m concerned, marrying him would have been a colossal mistake, and as much as being cheated on hurts, he actually did me a favor.
The considerations in my mind have nothing to do with Sebastian and everything to do with whether I can trust Spencer to stick around.
Fool me once, shame on you.
But fool me twice?
“I haven’t even decided whether I’m staying, but I plan to be gone for a while,” Spencer says as if he’s reading my mind. “I have some things to take care of in North Dakota.”
“When did you decide this?”
“This morning. But it’s not like last time. I wasn’t going to leave without saying goodbye.”
I nod. “I know.”
Spencer inhales deeply. “So this is it then. At least for a while.”
“I guess it is.” I force the words out. “We can still be friends.”
“I’d like that.” His arm around my middle squeezes tightly. “I really enjoyed spending these past two weeks with you, even if it was just a fling.”
I thread my fingers through his. “You were a really great rebound.”
His chuckle is husky against my back. “I’m going to miss all the great sex.”
“Me too.” I’m grateful he can’t see my watery smile.
Spencer runs his nose along the back of my neck. His lips settle just behind my ear, and I drop my head to his shoulder.
“How long do you think we have before they chase us out?”
“Five minutes. Maybe ten if we’re lucky.”
“Once more?” He drags the flowy material of my skirt around my hips.
“I don’t think there’s enough room.”
He spins me. My legs leave the ground as he picks me up and sets my ass on the edge of the sink. “Maybe just enough room?”
Eager fingers find the silver button on his jeans. I pop the coin through the hole, and drag the zipper down. While I fish out his cock, he frees my legs from my skirt and trails his fingers up my inner thigh.
“We’ll have to be quick.” I press a kiss to the exposed skin just above the collar of his tee.
We become frantic hands and heated breaths. Spencer finds me wet and ready, his fingers dragging through my arousal before notching his cock at my entrance.
Covering my mouth with his palm, he wraps the other hand low around my hips, and he yanks me forward onto his stiff cock.
“Fuck, you feel so good. I don’t know how I’m supposed to walk away after this. I literally crave this pussy,” he whispers heatedly against my neck. Releasing my mouth, he slips his hand between my thighs and circles my clit.
“Need you to get there fast, beautiful.”
“Keep touching me like that.” Cupping one side of his face, I place kisses across his neck. The ring on my finger sends an ache through my chest. I throb at his touch. Molten pleasure radiates across my pelvis. Crescents appear on his corded forearm from my fingernails.
He thrusts long and deep. Combined with his fingers, I find my core tightening around him in a matter of minutes. The sound of his jeans slapping against his thighs accompanies our labored breaths.
Our foreheads collide, a light sheen of sweat transferring between us. Those beautiful blue eyes stare into mine so deeply I feel as if he can see my soul.
“Are you going to finally kiss me?”
His lashes flutter closed. “Cort.” He moves his mouth to my forehead and kisses me there.
“It would be a fantastic goodbye present.”
“This is your goodbye present.” A sharp thrust accompanies his words.
“Just one?”
“I can’t.” Opening his eyes, he captures my jaw in the web of his thumb. “I can’t because if I kiss you, I’ll never want to stop.”
Shock ceases my lungs, moving no air in or out.
Shoving back my jaw, he drags his teeth over my chin and down my neck. Lips fasten over my throat.
“You close?” He redoubles his efforts on my clit.
“I’m almost there,” I whimper.
A resounding knock interrupts our tryst, but we’re too far gone to care.
“Is everything okay in there?”
“J-Just a little motion sickness!” I smother my cry with my hand just in time.
“Do you need medical attention?” the flight attendant asks through the door.
Almost there.
“No th-thanks!”
“I’m going to come,” Spencer moans huskily in my ear. The pure lust in his gritty voice has me throbbing around him.
“Come. Come. Come, please come.” I bury my fingers in his thick strands of hair.
Just as I begin to pulse around him, Spencer buries himself deep inside me with a smothered groan. Pleasure rips through us at the same time.
The perfect finale.
He helps me down, and we swipe a few tissues over our combined mess. I drag the ring off my finger and hold it out to him.
“Here.” My voice is raw.
Once his fingers close around it, I look away. I don’t want to know if he pockets it or discards it.
I retwist my hair into a bun and jerk open the door.
“I told you to stay away from that taco buffet last night.”
The light sheen on Spencer’s forehead is a paid actor in this little charade. His hand finds mine on our trip back down the aisle.
Delaney catches my eye at our seats, and she winks. I wish I could return her enthusiasm, but my heart is too full of turmoil.