Chapter 12 Goodbye
TWELVE
GOODBYE
CASSIDY
Ican’t believe that just happened.
Okay, no. That’s not quite true. I think I always knew, from the moment I let him talk me into removing my panties and spreading my thighs for him after he laid me out in the grass… once I was okay with being his dinner… I think I knew that we would end the evening banging my Halloween date.
Hell, the second our eyes locked through the diner window and I couldn’t bring myself to look away… my body knew what it wanted even if my mind resisted at first.
It was inevitable. He didn’t even have to work hard to get me to say ‘yes’.
After all, he ordered me to my knees, and as if I was possessed by the magic of the spooky season, I would’ve offered to go down on him even without his command.
Hell, I would’ve fucked him then and there if he hadn’t insisted that he was late for something else.
A race. Why wasn’t I surprised? He’d gone all in on his Halloween costume, and it just made sense that he would find some other rich guy playing with his life to drive a pair of cars around a winding curve that probably cost more than my parents’ mortgage put together.
I don’t know what happened to the guy in the black car.
I only caught a glimpse of his shadow past Johnny when the race started.
After that, I was in for the thrill of it.
He might’ve only picked up this car today, but it’s easy to see why he agreed to a street race on Halloween.
He handled it like a pro, and just when I thought that the other car was going to get an edge on us, Johnny cut the wheel, slammed his foot on the gas, and outmaneuvered the other drive.
Watching the way he moved, seeing the pure delight on his face as he slapped his hands on his steering wheel, daring to look away from the road long enough to grin at me… fuck. I’d never been so turned on in my life.
Shit. I guess speed turns me on, and he was flying as he sped past an eerie manor, the only house standing on this empty street. He reached the end of it, performed a flawless k-turn, and we were off again, whizzing past the other racer.
It all started at the abandoned rock quarry.
I figured that was where the race would end.
Nope. Johnny took us back the way we came, but instead of taking the car down the path that leads down from the curve—from Scotty’s Curve, it has to be—he crossed over the lanes, finding a gap in the trees just wide enough to fit his Mustang.
I don’t know what happened to the other driver.
I’m sure Johnny will call him tomorrow, looking for his prize.
Now? With the adrenaline from the race coursing through him and me a sure thing, I let him kiss me on the hood of the Mustang’s engine before sliding down, bending over, and letting him fuck me from behind like his life depended on it.
I should regret it. My days of reckless, unprotected sex are over.
After an STI scare in college, I always insisted my partners wore a condom.
Well, until Ryan, who insisted that he was allergic.
That was when I went on birth control to prevent any unwanted pregnancies, and a check-up every few months to make sure we were both clean.
We always were. Of course we were. My deranged stalker loved me too much to stray, and if I ever did, his days of keeping his hands off of me would be over. I absolutely believe that.
But when Johnny had me under him, pleading with me to let him in… it was so fucking hot, I completely lost my head. I don’t even know what I was thinking other than I wanted to know what his dick felt like inside of me.
Tomorrow, I’ll regret that.
Tonight, I’m curled up on the cool grass, spread out on the ground where both of us settled under the stars after Johnny finally climbed off of me.
His belt is still undone. His jeans are unzipped.
My ponytail is hanging limply. I still have no idea what he did with my panties, though I have a suspicion that he shoved them in his glove compartment, a trophy from another woman he charmed into taking them off.
My inner thighs are sticky. The tops of them are slightly bruised from where he banged me up against the Mustang’s grill. I’ll have some marks in the morning.
And I don’t give a shit.
I feel amazing.
I’m waiting for him to recover. We have an unspoken agreement to make the most of Halloween night.
He has to know that, while this is going to be one hell of a one-night stand, I don’t expect him to fuck me once and take me home.
When my breath finally slows and his cock starts to grow again, I plan on throwing my skirt over his lap and riding him right her in the grass.
And to think I was so worried about the tiny ketchup stain before. Between the grass stains, the dirt, and Johnny’s come after I checked to see if he creampied me, then wiped his splooge on my skirt… yeah. I’m going to have to get this costume professionally cleaned before I give it back to Emily.
But that’s tomorrow. Tonight, I curl into Johnny, snuggling close. His arm is under my head, a makeshift pillow.
His fingers are playing with my hair. His other hand is reaching over him, laying possessively on my my hip. It wouldn’t take much for him to roll on top of me again, and honestly? If he wants to do that instead of letting me ride him, I’m perfectly okay with that.
For now, we’re just content. The air is crisp, smelling of damp earth, wilted leaves, and sex. We’ve marked this empty clearing, and if anyone has gone around Scotty’s Curve and seen us hidden in the trees, I hope they enjoyed the show.
It was magical. The whole damn day, every moment I’ve spent with Johnny Gray… it’s pure fucking magic.
And then, just as I close my eyes, revelling in him, he speaks for the first time since he invited me to lie on the ground with him.
“I love you.”
Eyes quirking open so I can see the tease that’s got to be on his face right now, I laugh. It’s an involuntary reaction. The idea of a man I just met this morning telling me that he loves me is so absurd, laughing is all I can do.
But that’s not a tease creasing his handsome features.
That’s earnestness.
That’s honesty.
My heart jolts. “No you don’t,” I murmur, my voice carried away by the late October breeze
He plucks a loose sweat-dampened curl from my cheek. “Oh, but I do.”
I pat his chest. “You don’t have to say that just because you got laid. I’m a big girl, Johnny. I’m good with a one-night stand.”
His forehead furrows as he turns to me. “What do you mean? You this this… you and me… we’re a one-and-done kind of thing?”
Guys like Johnny Gray don’t go for women like Cassidy Montrose.
Hell, it’s Halloween. Everything about him, from the slang to the drawl, the Mustang, the clothes, and the talk of a Shadowvale from so many lifetimes ago…
it’s all part of this persona he crafted to go along with his Halloween costume as a 1950s greaser.
Hey, it’s Shadowvale. If I learned one thing living here, it’s that the locals are super into Halloween.
I can’t help but believe that he only decided to have this pretend date with me because of the poodle skirt, the sweater, and the scarf.
We made a perfect pair, and considering he seemed to know Em, he had to know she was older, married, and completely off-limits.
I wasn’t. I was a single woman, an outsider who has been lonely for so long that I was willing to go along with his invitation to show me around town once Em gave me the okay to do so.
Now, did I expect that it would go as far as it did…
that we would go as far as we did? Nah, though maybe I’m fooling myself there.
Inevitable, right?
I can’t even blame it on being a pity lay for Johnny, or that I’m trying to prove something myself.
There’s no denying that my greaser is attracted to me; I’ve got the proof of that drying on my thigh under the ruined skirt that Em loaned me.
And just like when I banged some guy in a Philly club to prove that Ryan didn’t control me, I think Johnny could convince me to do anything while wearing that costume so long as it’s Halloween.
Right, Cassidy. Keep telling yourself that.
Keep telling yourself that because, when the night is over and he’s gone, you can pretend that you imagined the instant connection you felt with a man you can’t have…
“I don’t know. It depends on what you’re looking for.”
“You. I’ve been looking for you, Cassidy, and I finally found you.”
I want to believe that, but I used up my ‘believe a guy’s BS’ a long time ago when it finally dawned on me that I couldn’t trust half of what Ryan said.
“Johnny—”
“I mean it. You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting. Tonight is just the beginning. And tomorrow…”
His voice trails off.
I sit up so that I can look at him easier. “What about tomorrow?”
Planting his palms against the dirt, Johnny pushes himself up so, like me, we’re sitting up together. “Who said anything about tomorrow?”
He did. Like, two seconds ago.
Johnny leans in, cupping the edge of my jaw. I know he’s about to kiss seconds before he does. It’s also obvious that he’s distracting me, but maybe not because, as soon as he pulls back, he whispers three words against my lips: “I love you.”
He’s still touching my cheek. An inch separates our noses, if that. When I suck in a breath, there’s a better chance that I’m breathing him in than the autumn air.
My head feels foggy. Hazy. Like this was all one long dream and I’m on the cusp of waking up.
I dive down into it, holding on tight. If it is a dream, I don’t want to wake up yet.
But I can’t help myself. The stubborn, protective, guarded part of me that was broken by Ryan Donovan is still here.
Johnny doesn’t love me.
He can’t.
“We only just met.”
“We’ve known each other a long time, sweetheart,” he says, eyes glowing under the moonlight. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t know me.”