Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
C ade
Admitting this was real meant we didn’t want an end to our relationship. It meant opening ourselves to heartbreak. Annie had been in two unhealthy relationships, and I had spent too much time appeasing Scarlett because of some unwarranted guilt. This thing between us was different. I knew it deep in my core. That’s why I had to convince Annie to take a chance on us because I could read it on her. She had given me her heart and she was nervous. We only had a few days left of break, which we spent in Cherry Hills. Mom loved having Annie around. I showed her around town. She met some of my friends, who were back home for break too. Now it is our last night here before going back to Riverside. It means back to real life. To me training all the time and going to games on weekends. It means less time with Annie and I hate it.
Mom is making herself scarce tonight, but she prepared some of my favorite Asian foods. Annie and I are going to have a candle-lit dinner, followed by some time in the hot tub outside but Mom doesn’t need to know that part.
Annie says she is going to shower. I am setting up the table and warming the food. Mom is dating a single dad from the neighborhood, and she seems happy, which is a relief for me since I will worry less about her. Annie walks into the kitchen. Her hair is blown out in waves. She is wearing an off-white sweater that dips low in the front, showing off her creamy skin and cleavage. Her black jeans are tight and hug her curves in all the right places.
“You are stunning,” I say to her.
I had gone to shower too but it took me less than half the time. “You look pretty hot yourself.” She leans in and kisses me. I’m wearing a quarter-zip sweater that is charcoal and a pair of well-worn jeans. “Can I help with anything?”
“I’ve got everything under control. Would you like a glass of wine?” I ask, holding a bottle of red and white.
“I’ll have the white, please,” she says.
I uncork the white wine and set it on the table, placing all the food on the table at once.
“Whoa, this is a lot of food.” Annie laughs. “You’ll have to tell me what everything is.” She has never eaten Korean food before, and Mom has gone all out on her menu for tonight, making some of my favorite dishes.
“This is mandu.” I point. “They are a thin dough filled with meat and vegetables. This is bibimbap with spicy pork. It’s one of Mom’s specialties. This is nang chang bossam, it’s a thinly sliced pork marinated in a sweet and sour mustard sauce.”
“This all looks so delicious,” Annie beams. I appreciate her taking interest in Mom’s culture. Mom loves sharing her love for Korean cuisine. Scarlett was never interested, and she and Mom didn’t get along so well.
We start eating. I feed Annie off my fork. We laugh and drink wine.
“I ate too much.” Annie giggles. She is tipsy and so damn beautiful.
“You take my breath away, you’re so beautiful,” I tell her and she blushes.
“That’s the wine talking.” She smirks.
“No, baby, it’s not. How about we head out to the hot tub? I’ll show you just how beautiful I think you are.”
“I’d like that very much, but I don’t have a bathing suit.”
“You won’t need one for what I have planned. There should be a robe in the bathroom connected to your room,” I say. “I’ll go slip into my robe and meet you at the back door.”
The back of the house is made of floor-to-ceiling windows that are also sliding doors. The hot tub is built on a deck just outside the door. I go to turn on the outdoor heaters before going to get my robe on.
I’m eager and take off my clothes, discarding them to the floor. I wrap the robe on me and meet Annie at the door. Her robe is so large her body is drowning in it, but it will keep her warm when she gets out of the tub.
“You ready?” I ask.
She nods. “I’ve never been in an outdoor tub.”
“Well, the view is beautiful at night and you’re in for a real experience.” I open the door and tell her to hurry and drop her robe and enter the hot tub because the weather is no joke. It’s freezing out here.
We get in and I pull her close to me. “Can I ask you a question?”
She nods. “Anything.”
“What ended up happening with the farm? I mean with your dad’s court case,” I mutter. “I know it’s not my business but. . .”
“It’s fine Cade. Daddy settled out of court. We have three hundred thousand to pay in penalties to the state and another two hundred thousand to pay for upgrades to our waste management system. Daddy doesn’t have the money. We’re thinking of selling most of the animals and closing the dairy to pay the penalty.”
“Seriously? But you love the farm so much. What will your dad do?” I ask.
“At Daddy’s age there aren’t a whole lot of options, but I’m sure he can find a job working on one of the farms in the area. At least Mom has agreed to keep the house because, at first, she wanted it sold.”
My stomach is twisting. Annie and her dad love the farm and the animals. “I wish there was something I could do to help.”
“Cade, you’re very sweet. Daddy has been looking into getting a second mortgage. He just hasn’t found a bank that’ll approve him. But we have until the end of May, so we’re hoping for some sort of miracle or the animals will have to go.”
“Does that mean Sally too?” I ask. “I have a love-fear relationship with her, but I wouldn’t want to see her go.”
“Not Sally, she’d be a keeper and Norman too,” Annie states.
“I don’t know why but that doesn’t seem like enough,” I say, blowing out a breath. I was suddenly distracted from the reason I was out here because Annie’s family could lose everything.
“Cade.” She places her palm on my cheek and guides me to look at her. “We are sitting in this amazing hot tub, with a great view, and we’re all alone. I thought you had other plans for me.”
She straddles my hips underwater. “Yes, I wanted to show you how you took my breath away,” I say, refocusing.
She wraps her hand around my cock and pumps a few times as I lean up and seal our lips together. “I’ll never get sick of kissing you.” I know it is something she needs to hear because of her comment back at the farm that her parents were once in love and grew apart.
“I love kissing you too. But how do we know if we can weather the storm that’s coming for us? Both of our lives are going to change drastically. You don’t know which team is going to sign you, and I don’t know which veterinary school I’ll be accepted to. We could be on opposite ends of the country.”
“There is no place that will keep me away from you, Annie.” I reach down and rub her clit with my fingers. I move in a slow circular motion that has her building fast. At this point, I know what my girl likes. I know how to get her there.
She moans, “I need you inside me, Cade.”
She reaches down and guides my cock inside her. I hold her hips, helping her thrust inside the water. We are both hungry for each other. I know that isn’t going to change. She rides me hard and fast.
We grunt and groan together. There are no neighbors close enough to worry about. It is just Annie and me under a starlit sky. She comes apart on my cock. I follow her over the edge, taking in her bouncing tits that look so sexy. I grab hold of them and tweak her nipples. Her head falls back, lost to the sensation, as she humps my cock like it is nobody’s business.
“I love you, Annie.”
“I love you too, Cade.”
But I know this isn’t enough. We are headed back to real life tomorrow at school. Our schedules will be busy until the end of the semester. I’m hoping to sign a contract before the draft and Annie won’t find out which graduate program she is accepted to until May. I somehow need to prove to her our love is the kind that lasts. We aren’t our parents; we are Cade and Annie. A love like ours is once in a lifetime.