45. CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 45
ETHAN
W e walk into the bar hand-in-hand after attending the Zach Bryan concert downtown. Lizzie and Knox insisted we stop by “real quick,” which we know will turn into all night. As we approach our usual back corner, we see them sitting with Dee and Tommy, and Tommy’s lady of the hour. Sophie and Gino appear to have just arrived, as they’re pulling up stools, before Gino takes orders for a round of drinks and goes to fetch them.
“How was the show?” Knox asks.
“It was great, man. He’s really—”
Ari cuts me off, squealing and waving her hands around as she gives a full play-by-play of the concert. Since weather is finally warming up, it’s the first outdoor show we’ve been to this season.
Ari’s face is almost back to normal, with the bruising and swelling having disappeared over the past few weeks. However, the sadness and trauma that remains in her tight smile and guarded eyes will take longer to heal. It always has.
Gino comes back with drinks for him and Sophie, as well as Dee and, surprisingly, Knox. I tip my chin at him. “What’s the occasion?”
“Just thought I’d have a beer tonight.” He picks it up and clinks it with Gino’s bottle.
“How come you’re not drinking?” I ask Lizzie, and she stays quiet.
A moment passes before Ari says, “You’re not drinking.” It’s not a question, but a statement.
“Ohmygod, you’re not drinking!” Sophie squeals. Lizzie bites her bottom lip and nods, and all the girls erupt into shrieks.
Huh?
“What am I missing?” I look around at all our friends.
“Dude.” Gino swats me. “I think she’s with child.”
“Eww!” Dee shouts across the table. “Who even says that?”
“Wait! You’re pregnant?” I take a step back.
Ari swings around and rolls her eyes at me. “Yes! Duh!” She pushes past me and heads around the table to give Lizzie a hug.
“You did this, I presume?” I extend my hand toward Knox, and he takes it.
“Sure did,” he confirms with a megawatt smile, keeping one hand against the small of Lizzie’s back.
“Congrats, man.” I shake his hand and slap his shoulder. “I’m happy for you.”
I settle back against the table and chat with Tommy, who is definitely a weird dude, as we all celebrate and visit and piss the night away. When Soph and Ari go to the bathroom, Lizzie saddles up next to me.
“So, I haven’t had much luck finding Ari’s mom.” She’s keeping her voice down, knowing that Ari doesn’t know I asked for her help. “I checked the birth records at City Hall and at all the town halls in the county. I even went a little further west, but nothing.”
“Damn.” I scratch my fingers over my scalp. “Well, look, I really appreciate you putting so much time into it.”
“I did discover one thing, though,” she says, and I raise an eyebrow. “Ari’s old house—Lena and Axel’s house—belongs to Lena. And it’s paid off. She owns it outright.”
I frown.
“It looks like she bought the property from Axel not too long after she and Ari moved in with him. Maybe he needed money or couldn’t pay the mortgage. Who knows? But the property is in her name. She made double mortgage payments for a good twelve years before paying it off. And there was a document in the property records she filed that said upon her death, to contact someone.”
Lizzie reaches into her pocket and pulls out a folded piece of paper. She opens it and reads the name. “Shirley Wilcox. Now, I didn’t dive too deep, but with a quick online search I found that Shirley Wilcox is a sixty-eight-year-old woman who lives about an hour west of here, past Albion, and she has a forty-four-year-old daughter named Bonnie Wilcox. Do either of these names ring a bell?”
I shake my head. “Not at all. As far as I know, Lena has an aunt out west—like the Midwest—and that’s it. No other family. That’s why she stuck with Axel all this time.” I look toward the bathroom but don’t see Ari coming. “Why would she want this person to be contacted?”
Lizzie frowns. “I think Lena may know more than you think.”
I huff out a breath and run my hand down my face. Lizzie looks up, and I follow her gaze to see Ari and Sophie coming down the hall from the bathroom, so I take the folded up paper from her and slip it in my pocket. “Thanks.” She touches my arm and gives a tight smile before heading back over toward Knox.
Ari comes bounding over toward me and I greet her with a kiss. “You seem happy,” I say, seeing a little more of her usual brightness peeking through the dark cover she’d been under.
“I am. I’m so happy for Lizzie and Knox. And …”
“And …”
She goes up on tippy toes, which brings her closer to me, and bites her lip before looking me in the eyes and whispering, “And I want you to take me home now.”
I growl at the insinuation in her voice, take her hand in mine, and call over her shoulder to the table, “We’re leaving. Bye!” as I tug her away from the group.
“Oh, real subtle,” she says with a giggle.
***
Ari grips my shoulders as she ungracefully slides off the bike, and I dismount on the other side. When she pulls the helmet off, her hair is wild from static cling and the wind. She looks savage, and I can’t help laughing.
“What?” she asks, but I just shake my head.
I place our helmets on the shelf in the garage and turn back to see Ari pulling her hoodie up her torso, leaving her in a tank top and jean skirt. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” She tosses it at me, then gives me the look .
I allow the balled-up material to hit my chest and fall to the floor, then reach down and grab the hem of my own hoodie and pull it over my head and let that fall as well. “You know Fonz is inside, right?” I lean my knuckles on the seat of the bike that stands between us.
She nods and lays her palms flat on the seat between my fists, leaning closer to me. “Mmhmm. That’s why …”
“That’s why what?”
Ari kicks off one flip-flop, then the other. “That’s why you have to be ready.”
I tilt my head at her, our faces close together. “Ready to do what?”
She closes the distance between us, leaning over so her mouth is next to my ear. “Run.” She pulls back, spins, and darts away from me.
“What—” I try to reach for her as I step around the bike, but she’s too fast. Picking up speed as I follow her toward the door to the house, I slap it with a palm to keep it from closing behind her.
A rough curse comes from inside as Ari squeals, “Fonz! Help me!”
When I enter the kitchen, I find Fonz standing next to the island in only gym shorts, about five feet away from me, with Ari ducking behind his back like she’s hiding. He has a bowl in one hand and a box of cereal in the other. Ari is giggling like a lunatic, her hands on his shoulders.
I take a step toward them, and Ari shrieks and pulls Fonz backward a step. “Oh, for the love of God. Please do not involve me in your sexcapades,” he begs.
“Then help me!” Ari pleads from behind him.
“Don’t you move!” I order Fonz.
He sighs. “I just want a midnight snack. Can’t I have a bowl of cereal in peace?”
“No!” Ari and I yell at the same time.
She spins again and makes a run for the dining room.
I try to move past Fonz, but he goes left when I go right. Then we both correct ourselves and block each other again, before Fonz flattens himself against the counter and I can finally dart around him. “You better not be running from me!” I yell to Ari.
As I get to the dining room, I catch a glimpse of red hair trailing behind her as she turns down the hallway and I follow. In a few strides I’m right behind her as she turns into our bedroom and tries to slam the door in my face—but I’m quick to throw my leg out and catch the space with my boot.
Ari squeals again.
“Yeah, you better be scared.” I throw the door open and stare at her.
Ari puts her hands up, palms out, in surrender. “OK! Truce!”
“Ohhhh, no. Nope.” I kick the door shut, turning to face her with my hands on my hips. “You ran from me.” She shakes her head. “Yes, you most definitely did. See this?” I point to my chest, which is rising and falling as I breathe heavily. “This is because I had to run after you.”
“You work out twice a day and you’re built like Arnold Schwarzenegger. How could you possibly be out of breath from a brief pursuit?”
“I was panicked.”
“Panicked?” Ari pinches her eyebrows together.
I nod and take a step closer to her. “Yes, panicked. Because you ran from me .”
“No no no.” She bats at the air. “I was just teasing you. It was a misunderstanding. Let’s start fresh, yeah?” She reaches her hands out toward me, and I take a slow step closer to her.
“You’re not going to run?” She shakes her head, eyes wide. “Promise?” I take another step, and her hands land against my chest.
“Promise.”
I stand before her with my hands on my hips, her hands on me, as I contemplate. After a moment, I shake my head. “Nah, I don’t believe you.” Quickly, I dip down and grab Ari, throwing her over my shoulder. She yelps as I turn and toss her onto the bed. She lands on her back with a bounce, then immediately turns onto her stomach, attempting to crawl away from me. “Oh, hell no.” I dart out and grab her by the ankle and drag her toward me. Her jean skirt rides up her legs and I catch a glimpse of her black underwear.
She’s kicking violently as I try to get a hold of both her legs, but she’s squirming so much it’s impossible. “You’re a scrappy little thing,” I grunt out as we each continue to fight for the upper hand. “How are you so agile considering you couldn’t even walk a year ago?”
“You saw what I grew up with,” she says with a pant, getting her legs under her as she gets up on her knees on the bed. “I learned how to bounce back really quick.”
Breathing heavily, Ari is looking at me playfully, but my mood has sobered. I do remember how Ari grew up, and it’s nothing to laugh at. And I remember how she had to run—from everything, all the time.
I step up against the edge of the bed and cup her face in my hands. “I never want you to run from me.” I smooth my thumbs over her cheekbones.
Ari’s eyes soften and she sighs. “Ethan, I was just being silly.”
“I know.”
She places her hands on top of mine. “You are the only thing I’ve ever run toward. And I’ve been running toward you since I was ten years old.”
Bringing our foreheads together, I try to control my emotions. “Goddamn it, Red.”
“Don’t be sad, Ethan.” She runs her hands down my chest, my stomach, and slides them up under my shirt, scraping her fingernails across my tight skin. I hiss at the contact and the goosebumps it causes.
“I can’t be sad around you.” I nuzzle my nose against hers.
Ari starts to tug my shirt and I pull back enough to allow her to pull it up and off me, casting it aside. She dives down and gives me an open-mouthed kiss on my abs before making her way from one hipbone to the other, and I roll my head to the side as arousal floods me.
“I’m sorry I ran.” I feel her hot breath against my skin. Her hands move to the top of my jeans, and she undoes the button. “Please, don’t be mad at me.” Her tone is playful, and I know we’re back into lighter territory.
“I’m a little mad.”
She pulls my zipper and pushes my jeans down my hips. “A little mad?” She runs her nose along my erection, which is just begging to be set free from my boxers.
I swallow hard. “Just a little.”
“Mmmm.” She pulls my boxers down and my dick springs free. “What can I do to make you forgive me?”
“There’s something you can do.” I reach out and tuck a piece of hair behind Ari’s ear as she perches on her hands and knees on the bed in front of me, then cup my hand around her cheek.
“What’s that?” She leans into my touch and I rub my thumb over her jaw.
“Suck it, baby.”
Without pause, Ari dives in. “Oh, fuck!” My stomach muscles clench and I almost pull away from the sudden rush of sensation, but Ari grabs my half-naked ass, and I feel her fingernails bite into my skin as she pulls me closer. Fiercely, she slides her mouth over me again and again. I place my hands on the back of her head, caressing her scalp.
Then she brings a hand around and cups my balls.
“Ohhhh shit.” I slide my hands to her shoulders and softly push her off of my throbbing cock, and she pouts.
“I just”—I suck in some air and try to gain a little composure—“I don’t want to come like this.”
I pull her knees out from under her so she falls onto her back, giggling as she bounces. I lean down and quickly untie my boots and pull them off, leaving my pants around my hips.
“Crawl back,” I say as I climb over her, and she obeys. Sliding my hands around her thighs and hips, under her skirt, I grip her underwear and tug them down her legs. She pulls her legs together so I can slide the material off and cast it aside, and then her legs fall open.
I lower my face to her core, practically hiding myself under her skirt, and barely kiss her pussy. “Ohhhh,” she says as she shudders. Gently, I move my lips over her, and her skin opens with me. “Ethan …”
“Shhhh.” I make sure the air escaping my mouth blows right on her sex, and she tries to squeeze her thighs. “I thought you said you wanted to make it up to me for running?” I press my tongue fat against her and lick all the way up, and flick her most sensitive spot with the tip of my tongue.
“Ahhh. Oh God!”
I chuckle. “Well?”
“Yes! Ethan! I want to make it up to you.”
I pull back and sit on my heels, looking up Ari’s body, which rises and falls with heavy breaths. Kneeling between her spread legs, I reach down and slowly slide one finger inside. Her hips rise to meet me as I do, and when I crook my finger and massage her, she whimpers.
My cock weeps.
“Take your shirt off.”
“Mmmm …”
I pause, my finger still inside her, and her eyelids open. “Take your shirt off, baby.” She nods at me and obliges, and I reward her by working my finger in and out. “I thought you didn’t like strapless bras?”
She quivers with a shaky breath as I hit that spot I know she likes. “Yeah, well, it’s the only bra I can wear with that shirt.”
“Take it off,” I say, and she quickly brings her arms behind her back and starts to work the clasp. Before I know it she’s tossing it aside, and her small breasts are exposed, rising and falling with each shaky breath she takes. Her nipples are so tight they look downright painful. I swallow a dry lump in my throat and nod at her chest. “Touch them. Touch yourself, as I touch you.”
She doesn’t hesitate, bringing her hands to her flat stomach and slowly dancing her fingertips up her ribs to the undersides of her breasts, spreading her hands out and cupping. She closes a hand around one and with the other hand takes a nipple between her thumb and pointer finger, squeezing and twisting it.
“How does that feel, Red?” I have to grab my cock and give it a hard tug to give myself some relief. “Are you sorry you ran from me?”
“Yes. I’m sorry.” I know she needs to get off, just like I do, but I don’t let her. Instead, I withdraw, and her hips rise up again, searching for the intrusion. “No, Ethan, please. I need it. I need you.” She’s not even looking at me. Her back is arched, head rolled to the side, eyes squeezed shut, as she keeps pinching and rolling her nipples between her fingers.
“I know. I got you. Here.” I quickly undo the button and zipper on her skirt and pull it down over her hips and ass, and she pulls her legs together so I can slide it off her legs. As I do, I hop off the bed and push my pants and boxers down my legs and step out of them. As I crawl back onto the bed, she squeezes her legs together, seeking relief.
“Oh, no you don’t!” I give the side of her leg a playful swat. “Open back up for me.” I squeeze her kneecaps in each hand as I help part her legs for me. “What do you need from me, baby?” I lean over, grab a pillow, and slide it under her ass, raising her hips.
“I need to come, Ethan. Please.” She runs her hands all over her body.
Still sitting up on my knees, I crawl as close to her as I can get. Fisting my dick in one hand and grabbing her hip with the other, I guide myself into her. Once I’m inside, I let go of myself and grab her other hip in my hand, gently pulling her onto me until our pelvises are flush against each other. She’s making noise, but I can barely register it over the blood pulsing in my ears in time with the blood rushing to my cock.
I pull out and thrust back in, pulling her hips up to meet me, and watch her breasts bounce as I do. She lets out a sound that’s a half-cry, half-moan, and I freeze.
“Shit, are you OK?” I ask through strangled breaths. I’m buried so deep in her right now but holy hell I hope she’s OK because I don’t know if I can stop.
“Mmhmm.” She nods, biting her bottom lip.
I stay still but squeeze her hips in my hands. “Red. Look at me.” It takes a moment, but she opens her eyes, rolling her head to look at me. I grin. “What do you want me to do, baby?”
She grins back. “Fuck me, Ethan. Fuck me so good that we’ll never be the same again.”
Oh, Red. I’m already there.
I rear back and thrust into her with all that I have. She practically screams as she braces herself against the headboard, and I let go with relentless, punishing force and speed. I’m not sure exactly when she comes but I know she does—again and again—because we are both drenched, as are the sheets, and I can feel her body clenching around me, gripping me, pulling me into her.
And somehow, even this isn’t enough.
I sit back on my heels and bring one of her legs up over my shoulder, then the other. I grab her hips again and start to buck into her. “Oh, God! Ethan, it’s so deep—”
“It’s not enough.” I push forward and lay over her, with her legs still over my shoulders, and I slam into her repeatedly.
“Ethan,” she pleads. But I don’t stop.
Then I feel a soft palm on my cheek, and I fling my eyelids open. “Look at me, big guy. Come back to me.” With her eyes locked on mine, our sweaty faces inches apart, oxygen being exchanged between us, Ari pulls me back into this stratosphere and I come with such force it’s almost painful. I have to continue thrusting, albeit slower and softer, as I empty into her completely. And I know she feels it, because I hear her moan as I do so.
I shake and tremble over her folded-up form as my body convulses and shivers and tingles, and I have to lean some of my weight onto her, as I cage her in.
“I’m sorry, Ari,” I breathe. “I just … I just need a second.”
“Shhhh.” She strokes her thumb over my scruff. “It’s OK.” I lean into her touch.
Slowly, Ari starts to slide her legs open, and I pull up just enough to let her slide them down, unfolding herself, but I stay settled between her legs. “I’m sorry.” I snake my arms under her shoulder blades and kiss her throat. “Are you alright?”
She wraps her arms around me. “Mmhmm.”
“No, baby, I need you to say it.” I kiss her jaw, then pull my head back enough to look into her eyes. “Did I hurt you? Was that too rough?”
She lengthens her neck so she can kiss my lips, then winces. “Almost.”
I freeze. “Shit. Ari, I’m so sorry!” I go to pull out of her but she tightens her limbs around me.
“No,” she protests.
“I was so lost in the moment, I couldn’t even—”
“Ethan, stop.” Ari pulls my face to hers. Our noses touch, eyes boring into each other’s. “I said ‘almost.’ If it were too much, I would have bucked you off like a bronco.”
“I’m huge, Ari. I’m not entirely confident you could do that.” I run my nose along hers. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. It just felt so fucking good. I was totally lost.”
Ari’s lips brush mine. “But you came back to me. Ethan, I will always help you find your way back to me.”