Chapter 7 Becca
Iwoke up already tired, not even remembering falling back asleep. The sting and embarrassment of Evan”s rejection still fresh in my mind. I couldn”t believe I”d read the situation so wrong. I mean, the way he’d been staring at me, the care and kindness he’d shown me even when it was so clear he was a guy who preferred to keep to himself…
When our hands had touched, I had to go for it. Put what had felt so real into words.
But I must have just been half-asleep. Delirious or something. Still distracted by the bear.
I’d been so wrong.
No, there was no excuse for how catastrophically I’d misread the situation. If I’d just kept my mouth shut and my hands to myself, I wouldn’t be about to go downstairs to face a man who’d had to reject my misguided advances last night.
At least this was almost over. I’d fill up my tank with however much gas Evan was willing to comp me, and then get out of here.
I’d have to think of some way to repay him. Maybe I could send him money once I got back to the city.
I got dressed quickly, dreading the awkwardness that was sure to come. Of course, my only clothes were for the yoga retreat I thought I’d be relaxing at right now.
I heard Evan moving around downstairs and my stomach twisted. I took a deep breath, packed up my things, and stripped the bed. I tried to leave the room as neat as I”d found it. When I finally made my way downstairs, bags in hand, Evan was waiting by the front door. He frowned slightly when he saw me, his eyes flicking to my luggage before he nodded towards his truck.
“Ready to go?” he asked, his tone flat.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak around the lump in my throat. He loaded my bags into the truck bed and we climbed into the cab.
The atmosphere in the truck was tense, to say the least. Now, the electric tension that had crackled between us before had an uncomfortable undercurrent. I kept my eyes glued to the window, trying not to think about how close he was, how good he smelled. He must have showered this morning. I could smell a faint woodsy scent from his body wash and his hair was damp, darkened, revealing more of a curl pattern than I’d realized. A few twisting strands clung to his forehead.
When we pulled into the station moments later, I gasped.
Oh no.
At first, I just saw the twigs and leaves strewn across my car. Then, I saw what the storm had done to the old pumps. The hoses were ripped clean off, lying in a tangled mess on the concrete.
“Well, shit,” Evan muttered, surveying the damage with a frown. He ran a hand through his hair, his bicep flexing with the motion. I quickly looked back toward the damage, my cheeks heating. “I replaced the hoses a few years ago. Looks like I need new ones already. New sight glasses too.”
Whatever that meant, it didn’t sound good.
“I’m guessing this means I can’t fill up my car.”
He groaned. “Yup.”
My heart fell.
I wasn’t going to be able to get in my car and drive away from this situation.
I mean, I could make it maybe a few miles down the road before the tank was fully empty.
Why hadn’t I signed up for some kind of roadside assistance plan before driving all the way up here? I’d heard Triple AAA would bring gas to you if you needed it, but that probably didn’t include when you were hours from the nearest service station.
“I’ll pick up some parts in town. Come with and we’ll fill up a couple of jerry cans and bring them back.”
It took me a second to process what he meant.
Okay, so I was getting out of here. I just had to spend a couple more hours with Evan. Ignoring the way his tight jeans hugged his ass as he walked into the store. The way the top button of his flannel had popped open when he walked back out with a couple of bright orange gas cans in his hands.
He tossed the cans into the back of the truck and gestured for me to climb in, opening the passenger door for me. I did, my heart beating hard as I settled into the passenger seat. Evan started the engine, and we pulled out onto the road, the awkward, knowing silence once again descending over us.
I fiddled with my phone, absentmindedly matching fruit in lines of three, trying to think of something, anything, to say. But my mind was blank. All I could think about was how much I wanted to touch him, to feel his calloused hands on me, his lips against mine.
But that wasn”t going to happen. Evan had made that abundantly clear.
His reasoning seemed like bullshit to me, honestly.
He was too old? Maybe he was pushing forty, but it wasn’t like I was a little girl. I was a grown woman and had been for years.
I knew well enough what I wanted and his excuses said more about him than it did me. It must be hard to live out here, alone. I wondered how long he had, and how much it had warped his perception of others.
The drive passed quietly, the weather calm, cloudy, soothing. I was so lost in my thoughts I barely noticed when we pulled into Larkwood.
Quaint, pastel colored buildings punctuated by a chain restaurant or business here and there lined the main street. The sidewalks were empty on this early weekday morning.
I saw a little cafe coming up as Evan slowed down. I hadn’t had breakfast. “Can I run in and get a coffee?”
He glanced over at the cafe. “At Sunrise Cafe?”
“Yeah, unless there’s somewhere else you recommend.”
He pulled into the lot. “I’ll come in, too. This is my brother’s place.”
“Oh! Wait, really?” I remembered the picture I’d seen at his house. The grinning guy who looked just like him, maybe a little younger.
Evan grunted in confirmation.
“Will he be in?”
“Let’s see.”
We made our way inside, the rich aroma of coffee and baked goods enveloping us like a warm hug. A man unmistakable as Evan”s brother stood behind the counter, a big, solid guy with dark hair and muscles that almost looked incongruous with the apron he wore over his jeans and t-shirt.
He looked up, eyes widening in surprise.
“Well, well, well,” he said, a grin spreading across his face. “This is a nice surprise.”
Evan nodded to his brother. “Needed to pick a few things up in town.”
“Thankfully the weather calmed down. Wouldn’t have wanted to be on the roads last night.” Ben”s gaze shifted to me, a curious glint in his eyes. “I’m Ben,” he said. “What’s your name?”
“I”m Becca,” I said, giving him a warm smile. “Nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” he said. “I have to say, I’ve never seen Evan walk in here with a woman. Are you…?”
I glanced at Evan, seeing his jaw set. “Becca ran out of gas at the station last night,” he said, quickly. “When it started storming, I offered her a place to stay.”
“I see,” Ben said, slowly, glancing between us.
“The storm broke the machines,” I added. “So he drove me into town to pick up gas.”
Ben nodded. “Huh. Well, any friend of Evan”s is a friend of mine. What can I get for you two?”
I ordered a coffee and a muffin. “Black coffee for me,” Evan added, pulling out his wallet.
Ben shook his head. “It’s on the house. You come here rarely enough that I think we can take the hit.” His tone was lighthearted, teasing.
The difference in their personalities was a bit jarring. Watching Ben grin, humming to himself as he poured us our coffee, made me realize I hadn’t seen Evan smile once yet.
The difference in their personalities was a bit jarring. Watching Ben grin, humming to himself as he poured us our coffee, made me realize I hadn’t seen Evan smile yet.
“Wait here,” Evan told me once I had my coffee and muffin and had taken a seat at one of the vinyl-covered tables in the empty cafe. “The hardware store is across the street,” he said. “I’ll get a few parts and be right back.”
Fine with me. Better than waiting for him in the truck. I nibbled at my muffin, scrolling through my phone now that I could connect to the cafe’s Wi-Fi. I debated for the hundredth time if I should update my family and friends now on the events of my past twenty-four hours, or if I should wait until I was back home to avoid anybody freaking out.
I decided that I’d wait.
“Evan seems like he’s in a good mood,” Ben said from behind the counter, breaking the silence.
“Really?” I asked, genuinely surprised. I thought the tension between us was obvious.
“Better mood than I’ve seen him in a long time.”
“That can’t be true,” I said. “I was just thinking about how I haven’t really seen him smile.”
Ben shrugged. “He can be hard to read. But I can tell he likes being with you.”
With me?
I blushed, taking the opportunity to throw away my muffin wrapper to hide my cheeks. Apparently, Ben was also way more perceptive than his brother. He’d already picked up on something between us when I’d had to make it so obvious before Evan acknowledged it.
Maybe Ben knew, maybe he didn’t. But that comment had given me some hope.
I had to try one more time.
Evan returned, drove me to the gas station where I could finally use my credit card to pay and he showed me how to fill up a jerry can. Then, we headed back up the mountain.
The whole time my nerves grew more and more. The sleepy confidence of the night before was gone, and now I was just nervous and building up anticipation, barely fueled by Ben’s comments.
There was something here.
I wasn”t imagining things.
But with Evan keeping his distance from me, staying quiet and all business, it felt like there was an impenetrable wall between us.
When he pulled into Last Chance Gas Station, the appropriateness of the name wasn”t lost on me. I watched as Evan fueled my car, refusing my offer to help.
When he emptied the last can, he straightened and wiped his palms on his jeans.
“There you go. That”ll get you past Larkwood.”
“So this is goodbye,” I said, nervousness fueling my chatter. “I guess. Unless I sign up for another yoga retreat scam up here and get stranded again.”
That reminded me, I needed to call my credit card company as soon as I could to dispute the charges for the retreat. I should have done it earlier, but there had been… other things on my mind.
Evan frowned. That brooding glare directed straight at me. What the hell was he thinking? Couldn”t he just spit it out?
Here we were, both doing our absolute best to avoid acknowledging the truth. Me with my nervous rambling. Him sinking deep into silence and getting more broody by the second.
“I really can”t thank you enough. I know I”ve already said that... a few times. But you got me out of a really tough situation. That I got myself into. The fact that you didn”t just send me on my way, I mean...”
He nodded, a slight movement of acknowledgement, and leaned against his pickup, still regarding me with that inscrutable intense gaze.
“No way I’d leave you up here alone,” he said, almost startling me. I”d assumed I”d say my piece and then he”d just grunt and drive off. But he actually responded.
My first instinct was to protest. Bring up that I”d lived in a city with plenty of crime my whole life, most of which had been spent single. Well. Nearly all of it. Not to mention the solo trips I”d taken when the impulse hit and my friends couldn”t get time off. I could take care of myself.
But...
“You”re right,” I said. “I”m used to it. Being alone, I mean. Obviously that didn”t work out so well this time.”
Or maybe it did.
Because I met you.
Were we really having this conversation next to some broken gas pumps? Out next to the road?
Some of the cloud cover had lightened and soft sunlight dappled the woods around us.
When Evan still said nothing, I sighed. “I”m not ready to go back,” I said. “I still have the rest of the week off of work, and I feel like I just barely got here.”
He cleared his throat.
“What?” I asked, already picking up on his mannerisms enough by now to know that meant there was something pressing on his mind.
He took one of my hands in his, crossing what had seemed like an interminable distance between us, the rough calluses on his palms warm and comforting even as my heart started to beat faster.
“Stay.”
That was it. One word.
But I knew exactly what he meant.
I relaxed my hand into his grasp and he immediately responded to the physical cue, pulling me closer, dropping my hand and holding me by my waist. I rested against his muscular chest.
“I mean, your place would go for big bucks on Airbnb. I paid for a retreat this week, I might as well take advantage of that. There”s plenty of room to do yoga in your living room.”
“There”s a jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom,” he added.
I leaned back, his arms still around me, and looked up at him. “You never did give me the full tour of the place.”
“Let’s go.”
???
Making it up the driveway to the cabin was the most torturous ride in his pickup, yet.
Evan kept one hand firmly grasping mine the whole ride, stroking my fingers, squeezing my palm, driving me god damn crazy with barely a movement.
He pulled in haphazardly in front of the porch. Before I could even unbuckle my seatbelt, Evan was pulling me into his lap, his mouth hot and insistent against mine. I moaned into the kiss, grasping fistfuls of his hair to pull him harder against me.
I wanted him closer. Deeper. Now.
“Becca,” he growled, his hands sliding under my shirt to brush the sensitive skin of my back and waist. “I want you so badly.”
“Then take me,” I whispered. “I”m yours, Evan. Yours if you want me.”
With a groan, Evan opened the driver’s side door and lifted me like I was nothing while hopping out of the truck, not letting me off his lap. I wrapped my legs around him and our lips met while he carried me to the porch.
He gently set me down on the weathered wood of the railing. I held his flannel while he reached in his pocket for his keys. In his rush, they slipped from his fingers and through the slats of the porch.
“Fuck.”
Was he going to go scramble under the porch to try and get them? But I wanted him now.
He met my gaze, saw the hunger in my eyes, and didn’t hesitate for another moment. Leaving the keys right where they were under the porch, he knelt between my legs, his hands sliding up my thighs. The fabric of the leggings was maddening. I wanted to feel him.
“You’re so beautiful.” He let his fingertips brush the seam of my leggings and I gasped.
My pulse quickened. I could barely believe this was really happening.
He helped me off the railing and spun me around so now I rested my forearms against the wood, looking over the thick forest cascading down the mountain ahead of us, distant peaks blurring with clouds on the horizon.
Evan kissed my neck from behind, one hand exploring under my shirt and brushing against my hard nipples through my sports bra. The other yanked my leggings down and dipped between my legs from behind.
“You were so right, sweetheart,” he whispered in my ear, his breath on the tender skin of my neck sending shivers down my spine. “I should have done this last night.”
His fingers firmly ran the length of me, feeling how drenched I always was for him. I whimpered, arching my back and pressing harder against his hand.
I turned to face him again, desperately kicking off my leggings to see that he was unbuckling his belt. He yanked his jeans and boxers down, freeing his hard length. I bit my lip at the sight, aching to feel him within me.
Evan reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, extracting a foil packet. He glanced at the expiration date. “It”s been a while,” he admitted, tearing the packet open. “But some things you never forget.” He rolled the condom on with practiced ease.
Then his hands were on my hips, gently turning me back around to face the railing and that gorgeous mountain landscape. To think this cabin was so god damn remote that we could fuck on the porch without a single neighbor anywhere nearby other than the birds in the trees.
And I guess the occasional bear, as I’d found out.
Evan pressed against me from behind, the thick head of his cock smooth and slick, nudging my entrance. I sighed and pushed back against him, desperate for more.
“You’re sure about this?” he asked, his voice low and rough with hesitant restraint. “We could take this slow.”
Nowhe asks? I almost laughed.
“I”m sure,” I panted, barely coherent with the intensity of my desire.
He began to push forward, slowly sinking into the core of me. I gasped at the delicious feeling of him filling me inch by glorious inch.
“God, Becca,” he groaned, his hands tightening on my hips as he gave me a moment to adjust to his size. “You feel incredible.” I could feel him throbbing inside me and I already started to feel tension build deep within me.
All I could do was moan in response, pressing my hips back in a silent plea for him to fuck me. And he did, setting a deep, steady rhythm.
His thrusts were measured at first, careful, almost restrained, but soon he was driving into me with increasing urgency. I gripped the railing, eyes clenched shut yet still seeing stars, pushing back to meet his every stroke.
“Touch yourself, sweetheart,” Evan’s dark voice growled in my ear. “I want to feel you come around me.”
With a trembling hand, I reached down to circle my aching clit, gasping at the overload of sensation. It barely took seconds before I lost myself, clenching hard around Evan”s thick cock as waves of pleasure crashed over me.
With a deep exhale, Evan followed me over the edge. He pulled me back against his chest as he came, gripping meso tightly it brought another shivering wave to my own climax.
After a long moment of us trying to catch our breath, he carefully withdrew, disposing of the condom before I turned to face him. I brushed a hand lazily under the hem of his t-shirt, feeling the softness of the hair across his chest.
We’d been so desperate that I’d barely had any time to truly explore his body. I finally pulled my hand away and started to pull on my leggings. “You think you can get those keys?” I teased.
He buckled his belt, wiping the sweat from his brow. “Think so.”
I laughed as he knelt, peering underneath the porch. He pulled a small flashlight out of his back pocket -had that been there the whole time?. “Aha.” He straightened, jingling the keys with what I could almost call a smile on his lips.
The first one I’d seen from him.
I smiled back at him.
“You still didn’t show me that jacuzzi tub,” I reminded him.
“Right this way.” He unlocked the door and opened it, gesturing for me to enter.
I couldn’t believe that I was going to get to spend a whole week with him. I was going to be spent. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Who knew that being scammed would have led me here? That it would have been somehow one of the best mistakes I”d ever made?
Because even though I had a week to spend with Evan now, I had a feeling he was going to be in my life for a long, long time.
And I couldn”t wait.