29. Chapter Twenty-Nine - Unexpected Greeting
“Morning, sweetie.”
My mother rounded the kitchen island like she’d been waiting for the exact second my guard dropped, her arms wrapping around me with a ferocity that knocked the breath straight out of my lungs.
It wasn’t a gentle hug. It had momentum and intention, like she’d decided affection was nonnegotiable this morning.
“What’s all this about?” I wheezed, looping my arms around her in a half-hearted attempt at defense while also not wanting to be rude about it. “Oh, wait. Are you free soon? I still wanted to hang out, remember?”
“You beat me to the punch,” she said, pouting as she pulled back just enough to look wounded, as if my question had landed like a cheap shot. “I actually had something planned with you soon, if you’re interested.”
“If you planned it,” I said slowly, narrowing my eyes as my lip caught between my teeth, “it’s not something that’ll get me killed, right? Because I still remember the last time.”
The words trailed into a low, uneasy groan as my body reacted with the memory racing through my mind.
The trail stretched beneath my feet again, the low growl slicing through the air, dragging me back into the raw fear that had tightened my chest, all of it boiling down to timing and luck that had felt way too close to running out on both of us.
She laughed. Of course she laughed.
Then she smacked my back like that was supposed to help me back to reality.
“Oh, honey, that was such an off-chance thing,” she said, waving it away like a funny anecdote instead of a near-death experience. “Who could’ve known that cub would wander onto the trail? That mama bear was just being protective.”
“Right… comforting,” I muttered, pulling in a slow breath as my stomach rolled. “We nearly died, Ma.”
My thoughts drifted back to last night, the balcony railing nudging at the edges of my mind and pulling me out of the moment.
“Crap, Ma. I totally forgot to mention it, but something happened to the balcony last night.”
She arched a brow, so I grabbed her arm and dragged her upstairs to see it. To my surprise, when I pulled the curtains open, I was met with a perfectly polished railing.
Not a crack out of place.
“So what happened?” she asked, jutting her hip out, and I couldn’t help rolling my eyes.
Like mother, like daughter.
But that wasn’t the point. Not when I stood there staring at a railing that looked untouched and flawless, like it had never known a single flaw, even though I could’ve sworn I’d seen it busted wide open, splintered clean through in a way that made no sense now in the daylight.
I narrowed my eyes into slits before letting out a breath. “I guess it’s nothing, Ma. Maybe I imagined it.”
Before she could brush it off, a sharp knock echoed through the house, crisp and unexpected.
We both jumped, the sound still unfamiliar enough to catch us unprepared.
We weren’t used to knocking. We were used to people barging in like they owned the place, like Amy used to, dragging an entire entourage behind her without warning.
“I’m still not used to people knocking,” my ma muttered, pressing a hand to her chest as she headed back downstairs.
When she opened the door, her expression shifted instantly, bright and practiced.
“Good morning, Culver. You’re a warm welcome.”
Culver stood framed by the morning light, composed, as if interrupting domestic normalcy were just another role he wore effortlessly. He nodded politely, his eyes flicking to me for half a second before returning to my ma.
“Thank you, Taylor,” he said smoothly. “You are ever beautiful today as well.”
I hovered awkwardly to the side, heat rising up my neck as my fingers lifted to my lips without permission, the memory of the kiss on his cheek replaying from the night before. Everything about it still lingered.
The warmth of being close to him. The way it followed me into the quiet of my room and into the restless press of my body against the mattress.
His name slipped from my lips as I chased the feeling. My body tightened around the empty ache he'd left behind.
And now, just watching him here, a fresh swallow caught in my throat as every small movement of his mouth carved itself deeper into my thoughts like it had every right to be there.
What was wrong with me?
It wasn’t like we hadn’t touched in ways that should’ve mattered more.
I’d felt his body pressed against mine. Felt him hard and insistent against me. My own hips had ground back without a single thought to stop myself, showing him exactly what I wanted in that moment.
Not to mention he’d made me cum with nothing but his hands on my breasts.
And yet here I was, the simple kiss on his cheek keeping me trapped in my thoughts, leaving me breathless like some dumb first crush that had snuck up on me.
I was floating on some pink, embarrassing cloud, internally squealing like he’d passed me a folded note in homeroom.
I was being foolish.
But God, it felt good to be foolish over Culver.
My ma waved her hand dismissively, cheeks flushing, and my eyes widened at her reaction to him.
Not because she hadn’t reacted like that before, but because it had been so long since any man stepped into her space and pulled that kind of response out of her.
Ever since things ended with Pa, she'd quietly closed herself off from that part of her life.
She threw herself into work and did things on her own terms. Over time, she built walls that kept everyone at arm's length.
Even when the isolation started weighing on her, she'd never admit it.
Maybe a little attention wouldn’t hurt her.
Especially with Mr. Scarbrough talking about easing up on her hours, giving her room to breathe and maybe dip a toe back into dating if she wanted to, without it feeling like the end of the world.
Culver’s hand naturally reached out, and my first instinct was to grab it.
My cheeks heated as my brain finally caught up and registered that I was standing there holding Culver Scarbrough’s hand right in front of my ma, wondering what the hell she’d make of it…
if she’d jump straight to thinking we were some kind of item now.
I wished.
Crap, there I went again, hoping for something that probably wasn’t meant for me, picturing Culver sticking around when deep down I knew he’d probably bolt the second he got the full experience with me.
But then he looked down at me with that soft expression mixed with his smirking grin, and I got lost in my own head again, letting myself imagine maybe it could be different.
Just maybe…
That thought tangled up the moment my ma giggled again.
“Well, you two go enjoy yourselves today. It’s supposed to be nice weather.”
Ugh, she was already cataloging things and jumping to conclusions she shouldn’t, assumptions I had no business entertaining myself.
And with that thought, I felt Culver squeeze my hand, dragging me back into the moment like tiny sparks racing beneath my skin every time our fingers touched.
It made me wonder what it’d feel like when he finally pushed inside me, whether that same current would still buzz between us and light up every nerve in my body.
God, I was still horny.
The ache from last night hadn’t faded at all after getting myself off thinking about him.
As he eased me into the passenger seat, my mind drifted back to the balcony railing that still didn’t make sense. I knew damn well what I’d seen out there: broken and jagged, like something had snapped it by force.
So how the hell did it look untouched now?
My eyes fluttered toward Culver. “What did you do last night?”
“After dropping you off?” he questioned with that heavenly tone of his.
“Duh,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest and snuggling deeper into the sweater layered over my dress, both pieces from Golden Valor.
“More importantly,” his eyes swept briefly toward me, “what is it that you did? That kiss you bestowed was delicious, but I wonder if you slept much after it. Perhaps you thought of me all night long?”
My eyes widened, heat flooding all the way down to my collarbone because he’d seen straight through the act without even trying.
“Ha, you think that a little kiss on the cheek would mean anything to me?” I rolled my eyes, trying to ward off the embarrassment. “It was nothing.”
“Oh, is that so?” He was driving now, heading to wherever he had planned for us, which I realized too late I hadn’t even asked about. One more thing about him that pulled me under without a fight. At least he’d buckled up this time, a small win that sent a flutter through my chest.
“If that is the case, it would be easy to do it once more.” He smirked that annoyingly gorgeous smirk of his, his sunken eyes lighting with mischief.
I scoffed, straightening my back in defiance. “We don’t always get what we want, Culv. Your fantasies aren’t my problem to solve.”
“If you cannot do it, just say that.” He hummed, feigning innocence, and my mouth dropped open at him.
He was acting like a damn child, and why was it that I wanted to give in and kiss him?
With a swift click of my seatbelt, I swept across into his space.
My nails clawed into the middle console while my other hand tilted his face toward me.
My breath fanned across his cheek before I closed the distance and kissed it.
He was cool to the touch as usual, but the contact had my heart racing in my chest like it was trying to break free.
My hand cupped his cheek as my lips grazed down to his chin, my teeth dragging lightly against it before I kissed him once more. I could hardly pay attention to his reactions, let alone mine. Everything just felt so right in the moment.
“See,” I whispered into his ear as I leaned closer, “I can do it, perverted wolf.”
I yelped when my body was suddenly pressed against the opposite side of the car, cold glass biting through my clothes.
“And so can I.” His voice darkened with mischief as his hand slid slowly along my thigh.
I hadn’t even realized he’d parked the car. I’d been too caught up in falling into his trap and distractions.