Chapter Twenty #2
I can’t believe his family owns all this…and it’s not a terrible place to raise a family.
A family with Robby? Moving six hours away with a guy I’ve only been dating for a few weeks?
That’s fast. But he’s not like any of the guys I’ve talked to before.
Is it possible to just know when something’s right or meant to be?
I’ve always heard to listen to your gut, and if life with Robby is sweet like this morning’s challah French toast, then it’ll be a damn good one.
The afternoon sun starts to feel intense, so I descend back down the mound for shade.
But my stupid Converse aren’t exactly walking or hiking shoes, and my footing slips under the slick grass.
I slide down the mound toward the dirt path just as a red truck is driving by.
It comes to a screeching halt, and Enzo rushes out of the cab.
“Jesus, you okay?” A quiet but intensely deep voice asks, kneeling down. His head blocks the sun from my eyes.
“Yeah, that was embarrassing,” I say, brushing grass off my shins. “Um, I’m Appa.” I hold my hand out to be polite.
“Enzo.” He shakes my hand with his calloused one.
He’s in a white tank top and what are clearly work jeans, and tattoos decorate every visible piece of flesh, including his hands and fingers.
They go up to the contour of his jawline and don’t hide the hard edges of his muscles.
Like Robby, he has dark eyes and hair, but his hair is long and wild like Tarzan’s and tied up with scruff across his cheeks and chin.
Not my type, but holy fucking airball.
It’s hard to believe he’s related to Robby otherwise.
Robby looks like he should be wine tasting and Enzo building barrels by hand.
Looking into Enzo’s eyes, it becomes so blatantly obvious just how tethered my heart is to Robby.
I wish it were Robby crouching down in front of me now, but meeting another Valenti is cool with the entire clan overseas.
“Where’s RJ?”
“Robby?” I ask.
“Right, he changed it when he got all sophisticated,” Enzo teases.
“Always will be RJ to Nonna.” He stands to his full height and holds his hand out for me.
I gently press mine into his, and he helps me up.
I inspect my elbows and the back of my shins for grass stains. “You might be a little sore tomorrow.”
I nearly said, ‘from the fall or your cousin’, but that didn’t feel appropriate.
“No kidding. By the way, I like how sophisticated he is,” I state with sass very apparent in my tone.
His lips curve upwards slightly. “I heard you were short and feisty. That’s a good trait if you’re going to be a Valenti someday.”
I fold my arms across my chest. “Being short or feisty?” I raise my eyebrow at him. He probably thinks I have the maturity of a sixteen-year-old.
He looks me over, and I ignore the urge to apologize for making him look so far down. “Feisty.”
“And who says I’d take his last name?”
“Fuck, you can take the girl out of LA,” he chuckles.
I narrow my eyes at him. “Actually, I’m from Georgia.”
Oh, my God, I sound like a five-year-old arguing with this massive human.
“Hmm.”
He annoys me, but I feel like I should impress him because, for all I know, this is the first impression I’m making on Robby’s family. And I kind of like him. He’s rugged but strangely calming, like a human Xanax. Easy even. Robby said he was quiet, but his sense of humor is a pleasant surprise.
Enzo’s truck rumbles, and he looks over at it. “Is Robby at his folks’? I can give you a ride.”
“Yeah, he’s talking to his mom. It’s not that far.”
“And let RJ kick my ass for letting you walk after your tumble? I don’t think so.”
“Fine, but I have a question first.” Enzo raises his eyebrows like he’s waiting. “Are you in the mafia?”
He smirks like Robby does. “I wouldn’t tell you if I were.” I narrow my eyes at him.
Ugh, he sounds like Robby.
He must drive his girlfriend or significant other up the wall with that attitude.
“But how am I supposed to get into this?” I ask, staring at the truck’s lifted height.
It reminds me of the trucks I used to see in Georgia.
Enzo opens the front passenger door for me, and a sidestep automatically unfolds from underneath the truck. “Well, that’s fancy as fuck.”
Enzo laughs. “Come on.” I’m careful to take the step up into the cab, using the handle to steady myself, and I’m surprised the interior isn’t as dusty as the exterior.
The paper tree hanging from the rearview mirror has made the cab smell delightfully fresh.
The truck roars as Enzo slowly speeds up, kicking up dust. “The Mercedes yours?” he asks, resting his wrist on top of the steering column.
The truck jolts as the tires shift from gravel to pavement.
I look over at him and notice he has gauges in his earlobes that must be three-quarters of an inch wide. “Yes. Is it very LA of me?”
Enzo shrugs. “Yeah, but it’s a sick car. I have a buddy redoing the engine of a ninety-one Saab convertible for me. It needs a paint job, and I thought the white looked really crisp on yours.”
I sit straighter in the passenger seat. “Oh, well, thank you.” I fidget with my thumbs as he drives up to the house. “Do you have any other cars?”
Enzo shakes his head. “Nah, I traded my old truck and Tahoe in for this.”
I snort. “No Escalade?”
Enzo puts the truck into park with the shifter attached to the steering wheel. “That’ll be next, but I miss my Hoe a lot.”
I choke on my spit and cough. “Miss your what now?”
“The Tahoe. We called it the Hoe.”
I burst out laughing. “I’ll never be able to unsee that now.”
“We call RJ’s Tesla the ‘lack of testicles’ car.”
“I think we’re going to get along well.”
Enzo’s eyes meet mine. “Hope so. RJ’s never brought a girl home.” His eyes shift to look out of the windshield. “There’s your Romeo.”
I look up, and Robby is walking out of the house. I unbuckle my seat belt and start opening the door when Robby grabs hold of it and pulls it open the rest of the way. “Hey, get lost?” he asks, helping me out of the truck.
Enzo meets him on our side, and I notice the height difference between them. “She fell down a hill.”
Robby’s eyes widen. “Fuck! Are you okay, baby?”
“I slipped,” I correct and give Enzo side-eye.
“I’ve got shit to do. Good seeing you, R.”
“Yeah, thanks for saving her, E.” Enzo nods and heads toward the driver’s side. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” Robby wraps his arm around my shoulders, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze, and leads us back into the house. “How was E?”
“Weird, but I kinda like him. He teased me a bit, though.”
“I’ll get him back for that later,” Robby jokes.
I snort again. Right, Robby against Enzo? Unless Robby is secretly scrappy, Enzo would hand him his ass any day of the week.
“I’d like to see that.”
We change into our swimwear from last night and take a dip in the pool.
Robby’s braver and jumps off the diving board, making a loud splash at the other end of the pool, but I opt for the steps.
I dip my big toe in to test the temperature.
“It’s not even cold, babe,” Robby calls, wiping the water from his face.
“Don’t rush me, RJ,” I snap.
“You spent too much time with Enzo.”
Trusting that the water won’t freeze me, I take the steps until I’m in up to my chest. Robby and I swim over to each other, and I instinctively wrap my arms around his neck and cling to him by twisting my legs around his waist. The water is warm, yet the temperature cools the sun’s direct heat well.
“It’s cute he calls you RJ.”
“I tried outgrowing it, but old habits die hard for the family.”
“How’s your mom? And the trip?”
“Oh, fine. She was wondering how we were and how you liked Napa. I told her I wanted to make you a permanent resident here,” he answers.
I gasp. “What’d she say?”
Robby shrugs. “That she wanted me home.”
It’s not fair to keep him in LA any longer…
Robby smirks. “And I told her not to look at the security cameras. At least not until midnight.”
I blush. “Why?”
“So, I could do this.” He reaches behind and unties the two ties holding my bikini top on. He flings it to the side, causing the bikini top to make a slap on the sunbathed concrete before I can register what he’s doing.
“Robby!”
His hands find the bottoms of my thighs, and he shifts me upward until my nipples aren’t covered by the saltwater anymore and are level with his lips.
He holds my bottom with one hand and uses his other to pinch my nipple.
His mouth finds my other one. I press my chin on the top of his head.
He switches sides, and that nipple is more sensitive.
I moan into his hair and press my cheek to his head.
He releases my now extremely firm nipple. “Want to take this up a notch?” he asks.
“Oh, God. What?” I ask.
He grins and reaches his hand lower. Low enough to push the thin strip of fabric covering my sex out of the way. “Reach down and pull my dick out through the fly,” he orders. I study his eyes, trying to gauge if this is some weird test.
“Fine, if you’re sure,” I whisper, and he enthusiastically nods.
I slip my arm from its resting place on his shoulder and trail my fingertips down his side.
When I reach the top edge of his board shorts, I palm his outline through the slick material.
Robby groans in response, closing his eyes and throwing his head back.
I wish I had the self-control to tease him for longer, but I don’t, even if he was just inside me last night.
I reach through the fly, grabbing him with the kind of force I know he uses on himself, and slip his length through the fly.
“Ride it,” he challenges.
He’s so hard that I don’t even have to guide myself. I lift my hips up and sink all the way down. “Ah!” I cry out, gripping the back of his neck.
“That’s it, baby.”
Water sloshes between us as we try to meet each other’s thrusts. My being on top of Robby never stops him from trying to control the pace, whether we’re in bed…or water, apparently.
“You seem busy,” that damn deep voice calls from the fence.
I gasp again, but not out of lust this time.
I glance over my shoulder, and Enzo is leaning against the other side of the metal fence.
My eyes quickly dart back to Robby, and I bury my face in his shoulder to hide my burning cheeks.
My stomach lurches, but Robby puts his hand on the back of my head, possibly to comfort or protect me.
“What do you want, E?” Robby’s hoarse voice vibrates against my face, and he doesn’t pause. His hips keep ramming into me.
“R, when you’re free, I could use an extra set of hands at the stables for a minute.”
Robby maintains focus on me. “Okay. Urgent?” I lift my head off his shoulder, and his eyes flicker in the direction Enzo’s voice is coming from. Robby brings his focus back to me, tilting my chin up. I give him a nod.
I’m still in it, but God, this is weird.
“No, finish and get dried off.”
I look long enough to watch Enzo turn and walk away before darting my eyes back to Robby. “What—? Should we—?” I stumble through my words as Robby keeps railing me and making water splash into my face.
“It’s fine. He wasn’t looking, and I caught him with my dad’s former assistant bent over in the stables when we were twenty-two.
” Robby’s voice is still hoarse in a wound-up-sex way.
“Lord knows his younger brothers are worse. Here, go kneel on the top step.” He stops thrusting, slaps my ass under the water playfully, and pulls himself out of me. I grumble at the sudden emptiness.
Kneeling on the first step, Robby drills into me faster than ever from behind, making me scream loud enough that Enzo probably heard.
The sun beats down on my back, and my hair starts drying off my shoulders.
It doesn’t take long in this deeper position before we come together.
Robby fists my curls, pulling me against his chest while he’s still inside of me, and his other arm wraps around my torso.
My scalp screams until he plants a kiss on my neck.
Please don’t let him have an exhibitionist kink.
“Best afternoon ever,” he whispers against my neck.
“If we moved here, we’d absolutely need our own property…a couple of miles away,” I breathlessly say.
“Agreed.”
I turn my head to look at him. “So, how fast do you think we could sell our houses?”
Robby grins wide. “Not fucking fast enough.” He shifts and sits on the top step, drawing me into his arms, and planting kisses all over my hair and temples like it’s decided already.
This is our future.