22. Josh #3
“Fine,” Dove finally relented, breaking my mental replay. “I won’t worry about it for now . But eventually, Josh, we’ll have to discuss it, figure out what to do.”
“Of course,’ I agreed, wiping away any stray traces of oil (and her ) off my hands with a rag. I flipped it over my shoulder and lounged against the worktable, crossing my arms over my chest as I turned my attention to her.
“For now,” she advanced on me, a spark in her eye, “we focus on us.”
I shivered at the word. Us .
Fuck, it sounded good when she said it.
I’d never understood why people pinched themselves when good things happened to them, maybe because I so rarely had good things happen, but I got it now.
Seeing her prowl toward me with that sway to her hips was surreal—like I was stuck in one of my many dreams and needed the reassurance only pain could bring me that I wasn’t asleep.
The look on her face couldn’t be called anything but mischievous, and my own craving for release I’d let wane in favor of focusing on Dove was back full force. The fact all this girl had to do was look at me and I was hard said plenty.
Her hands curled around the worktable on either side of me, bracketing me in like I’d done to her earlier.
This close she was forced to tilt her head back to look at me, despite being on the tall side for a girl.
I’d always been self-conscience of my height and how I towered over everyone.
I hated how I was sequestered into the back of pictures so I didn’t block anyone, forced to stoop down just to make sure I was fully in the shot.
I couldn’t take a simple trip to the grocery store without someone asking me to grab something off the top shelf for them.
Not to mention it had taken me awhile to grow into my height, and I’d been gangly and awkward for longer than I cared to admit.
But my height wasn’t a problem when I was around Dove, and she never made me feel like a blundering giant in my youth. I’d gladly sacrifice my back to bend down and give her a thousand kisses, and there wasn’t a shelf in the world I wouldn’t help her reach.
Fuck, she was making me mushy, but those brown eyes held power over me I doubted even she realized. And right now, they screamed kiss me .
Dove hummed, her lips curving into a sly smile under mine as I obeyed their thrall.
“I didn’t even need to ask this time,” she teased, pushing her hips against mine, giving me the perfect amount of friction to press into.
My hands curved around her waist to pull her in closer. “You never have to ask.”
“Oh, I don’t, do I?” She hummed in interest, her hand trailing down my threadbare, stained work shirt until it rested at my navel, just above the waistband of my jeans.
“Not even for this?” Her fingers slipped under, tugging at the denim, her voice a deadly, inquisitive purr.
“Never,” I croaked, nearly choking on air as she unbuttoned my jeans and knelt slowly, tugging my fly down as her knees hit the floor soundlessly. God, what a sight. But…
“Dove, I thought we agreed to go slo?—”
“No,” she argued, inching my jeans down farther, “ you said slow.”
When I didn’t immediately lift my hips from where they were resting back against the desk, she furrowed her brows, shifting her gaze up at me. My hesitance must have been written all over my face, because she dropped her voice and murmured reassuringly, “I’ve done this before, Josh.”
Not what I want to hear, Dove. I squeezed my eyes tight and let out a punch of breath, fighting against the rush of possessive anger that flooded red hot through my veins at the thought of her on her knees for anyone besides me.
I didn’t have a right to be angry at that. She certainly hadn’t been my first.
Through hooded eyes I watched Dove. Watched as the pads of her fingers trailed over the trail of hair on my stomach, back and forth, seeking permission.
Seeing her in front of me replaced my anger with mind-numbing lust, but it also reminded me that her inexperience wasn’t the only reason I was hesitating.
With a hand on hers, I stilled her teasing fingers.
“Are you sure you want to do this here?” I managed to get out, my dick throbbing as she leaned in closer, close enough that I could feel her breath ghost along the front of my boxers.
My dick gave an involuntary twitch at the sensation.
“The garage floor isn’t exactly comfy. It’s also not exactly discreet. ”
I tilted my chin over to the wide-open bay doors, and her eyes flickered to them and back me, as if remembering she’d been the one to raise concerns to begin with.
“We’re bound to make a lot of noise, baby.” I brushed a hand through her hair affectionately before twisting it around my fist. “And I don’t want to have to hold back.”
Her eyes fluttered shut, and she moaned quietly as I tugged just enough to indicate what I meant.
When they opened again, the beautiful brown of her eyes was nearly gone, and her voice was husky. “Maybe we?—”
“Josh?” a deep voice called, way too close for comfort.
“Fuck,” I hissed, frantically unwinding my hand from around Dove’s hair at the same time I tried to help her up. “That’s Mitch.”
“Your jeans!” she whisper-shouted. Our hands fumbled as we both tried to hitch them up from where they were pulled down low on my hips, caught in the in-between of not quite off but definitely not on .
Shit, this looked exactly like what it was, and it would be awkward as hell to try and say otherwise.
Jesus wept.
“Dove, I got it,” I ordered in a hushed voice as I knocked her hands away lightly from where they were getting in my way. I quickly hiked my jeans up and buttoned them.
Dove ran her hands through her hair, frantically attempting to make it look less disheveled as she took several giant steps back from me.
“Did you invite him over to help with the truck?” The tightness in her voice implied Mitch showing up unexpectedly was somehow my fault.
“Yeah,” I answered back sarcastically, voice pitched low. “I told him to wait until I was done eating you out, then he could come over.”
Her face flushed tomato red as she shushed me, whipping her head toward the entrance to make sure Mitch hadn’t overheard.
“Josh? You ’round?” came Mitch’s call again, even closer.
I cleared my throat, turning around to face the work bench to begin organizing the various tools spread across its surface, like that’s what I’d been doing instead of nearly getting blown by my stepsister.
“In the garage, Mitchy!” I hollered back, instantly scorched by the heat coming off the glare Dove aimed at my back.
“You could have waited until I left,” she hissed.
“He might have seen you leave and asked what you were up to.” I glanced back over my shoulder at her. “You’re a terrible liar, Dove.”
That only made her scowl harder, but she didn’t deny it.
Gravel crunched under heavy boots just outside, and a moment later a head with shaggy dark hair popped around the corner.
“Hey,” he greeted, his smile muted but genuine.
Mitch wasn’t very sociable or talkative, despite being one of the nicest guys I knew.
He preferred to be by himself rather than running with a group, but there had been plenty of summers I’d gone over with Gareth to visit his family’s farm and we’d hung out while our dad’s had been busy.
Even though he’d been a few years older than me, we’d become fast friends.
Seeing him now made me realize how much I’d missed him while I was gone.
“Hey, stranger.”
Mitch snorted as he entered the garage. “Me the stranger? That honor goes to you, I think. It’s been what, two years?”
“Three,” Dove piped up.
I glanced over at her, but her gaze remained on Mitch.
I bit back the apology itching to leave the tip of my tongue, knowing it would take a while until the years I was gone stopped hanging heavy over both our heads.
Instead, I placed a socket wrench back into its place on the pegboard in front of me on the wall.
“Hey, Dove,” Mitch greeted. His soft smiled slipped a bit as he condoled softly, “I’m sorry to hear about your mom.”
“Thanks,” she murmured just as softly back.
Mitch turned back to me with a measuring look, but he wouldn’t find the same sadness on my face from my father passing, and he knew it.
He’d gotten front-row tickets to the shitshow that was my father’s and my relationship, and he’d seen firsthand how Gareth treated me, considering our fathers had been close friends.
They’d grown up together on neighboring farms and eventually took over the business from their fathers when they got older.
When they became fathers themselves, they practically forced us together, hoping we’d follow in their footsteps.
It was the only time Gareth ever willingly brought me along with him without me having to beg.
“You holdin’ up okay?” was all he asked me.
I nodded. Once I finished placing the tools in a neat row, I turned around to face him. “Did you need something Mitch, or is this a friendly visit? I got some beer we can crack open if so.”
Dove watched me out of the corner of her eye.
I knew the last thing she wanted was for Mitch to stick around, but I had to act as I normally would.
Or, how the me from three years ago would have normally acted.
Which meant offering him a friendly chat along with a nice cold beer.
Hospitality was just one of the many things my father had practically beaten into me.
Our worries were eased when he shook his head. “Nah, but thanks for the offer, Josh.”
I heard Dove’s soft sigh of relief and shot her a subtle warning look.
“I didn’t just come here ’cause I missed ya,” he started reluctantly.
Releasing a deep, frustrated exhale he continued, “I’ve been having trouble with the combine again.
Ongoing pain in my ass, ya know how it is.
Always when it’s time to use ’em. Anyways, your dad was helping me work on it whenever it acted up. ”
I knew exactly where this was going.
“I was wonderin’ if you wouldn’t mind coming to take a look at it.”
There it was.
I’d been waiting for this to happen. Despite the many differences between me and my father growing up, I’d somehow managed to follow in his footsteps, at least where the farm was concerned.
Back before I left, I’d been pretty decent at repair work, just like Gareth.
I knew it was only a matter of time before there were knocks on my door.
With my father no longer around to help his local farmer friends, his son was the next best thing.
“No promises,” I cautioned him. “I haven’t exactly been keeping up with that kind of work since I left, but I’ll give it a shot.”
“Good enough for me.” Mitch pointed his thumb over his shoulder toward where his truck was likely parked outside in the driveway.
God, the fact neither of us had heard him coming down the gravel drive, too consumed with each other to notice, was worrisome.
We’d have to be more careful. “Want to hitch a ride with me?”
Needing to see how badly Dove wanted to kill me now that I was planning on leaving, I risked a quick, assessing look toward her.
We’d been in the middle of something, but it wasn’t like I could say that to Mitch.
There was also the fact I wasn’t likely to be back home for a while, leaving her to contend with the evening chores by herself.
Dove, who’d been mostly quiet through our exchange, nodded encouragingly toward the doorway.
“Go. I can handle the rest of the day by myself, considering you covered for me this morning.” Then, more deliberately, she added, “It’s not like I haven’t taken care of the farm by myself before. I have for a while now.”
Ouch. Arrow met heart once again. A jab at me, likely because she was upset I was leaving and couldn’t actually say so. Dove always knew where to hit where it hurt, especially if we were fighting.
I really hoped we weren’t fighting.
I tried to portray with my eyes that I’d make it up to her later, but she was focused on saying goodbye to Mitch, who was stalking back toward the door, assuming I was right behind him.
I opened my mouth to say something, but she shook her head and waved me on with her hands.
“I’m sorry , ” I mouthed before turning to follow Mitch out.
The toe of my boot had barely touched gravel when she called, “Josh?”
My head whipped around so fast my neck twinged in protest.
“We’re continuing what we were talking about when you get back.” Although her words were vague, the tone of her voice held no mistake of just what she meant.
Not fighting, then, I thought, trying and failing to wipe the eager smile off my face as I walked over to Mitch’s truck and hopped inside.
This had better not take too long. I had something much more important than a broken combine waiting for me back home.