Chapter 2 New Years Eve 2026 #3
“I’ll tell you if I don’t like something.
” Could she be more perfect? I slide my tongue down the curve of her ass and onto her thigh, using my hands to spread her open, giving me the view I’ve been dreaming of.
Fuck, she’s so wet, her pussy glistening and her puckered hole begging to be touched.
I don’t think I considered myself an ass man until her, but damn, if I don’t want to lick and eat it whole. Lick and eat her whole.
I swipe my tongue over it, and she squeezes on a flinch but then relaxes against my tongue.
“Yes,” she moans. Yes, indeed. I lick and tease her, feeling it all the way down to my toes.
Her pleasure is intertwined with mine at this point, as if I’ve known her for longer.
As if my body decided that the year of torture I put us through thinking about her is enough for my brain to believe she’s essential to my pleasure.
Her arousal drips onto my fingers as I touch and explore, getting her ready for me.
She bucks her ass against my face when I slide two fingers into her pussy, arching her back and asking for more.
“I have exactly what you need.” On my knees, I slide the condom on, and in one, quick thrust, I bury myself inside her. I groan, she moans, and the wave of pleasure rolling through my body is enough for me to know I will make a fool of myself and not last long.
I press her back down, her forearms giving out and her face resting on the mattress.
The angle allows me to touch the spot I know will drive her over the edge, and she seems to know it too, judging by the pillow she’s biting.
I reach forward, sliding in deeper and pull the pillow away from her face.
“I want to hear you when you do, indeed, scream my name.”
The sound from her lips is more like a whimper. If I can help it, I will make her come so hard, she won’t have any choice but to say my name. She won’t have any choice but to lose control. I’m not taking a no for an answer.
I slam into her, digging my fingertips into her hips, harder and deeper with every thrust. She’s so wet, it coats both our legs and makes indecent sounds. In between moans, groans, and slapping noises, her pussy clenches around my dick. She’s close—I can feel it.
“Touch yourself,” I command, and she follows immediately, feeding my ego and my need to have this moment be exactly what I hoped.
“Ash,” she whispers, all breathy and spent, and fuck, just the sound alone could make me come.
“Come on, baby. Give it to me.” In and out, fast, hard, deep.
In and out, long thrusts and her perfect little moans.
I hold her hair in my hand, gently wrapping it around my fist, allowing her time to protest if she doesn’t like it.
She arches back more, not moving her head from the mattress but clenching her thighs. Yes, ma’am. Let's go.
I bend forward, pulling her soft, dark hair, driving deeper, digging my fingertips into her skin, feeling her shake under my touch.
“Ash!” she screams, and with it, I come too. Her tight pussy squeezing me, the nickname she gave me that only she uses dancing in my brain, and the wave of mutual pleasure taking me to the deepest end . . .
My groan fills the space, guttural, deep, raw, until we’re both limp and spent, but I can't slip out. Not yet. What if this is a dream? What if this is only in my imagination, and the minute I stop touching her, she disappears?
My forehead rests on her back as I let go of her hair and kiss her gently.
I do what I have to and slide out of this girl, walking to the bathroom to toss the used condom, clean up, and rinse my face.
Focus, Hunter, Focus. I walk back to her, towel wrapped around my waist, but what I see is not what I pictured.
I thought she would be in bed still, waiting for me.
I didn’t take long in the bathroom, after all.
Instead, I catch the last the last glimpse of her body before the dress dances over her skin as she slides it all the way down.
“What are you doing?” I ask, praying it’s not what I think it is. She’s, what? Done? She’s leaving? What’s happening?
“I have to go back. My little sister is in charge of the gala, and I need to be there for the shrimp drop. You can come back with me, or you can stay. Up to you.”
She fixes her bangs in the mirror, reapplies her lipstick, and grabs her purse like we just didn’t have the best sex of my life.
“Just like that?” I ask.
“What do you expect me to do, Asher? Stay here and share my life with you? This was fun. We got it out of our systems, and now we can move on. I’m sure all the pent up angst from not fucking each other last year is what drove us to this, but now, it’s over.”
She opens the door but stops, turning around and looking me up and down, as if she just realized I’m still standing naked in my blue fuzzy socks, my clothes on the ground.
“You fucked me with socks on?” she asks, suppressing a laugh.
“I had no time to take them off. Someone’s needy pussy was waiting for my dick.” I hold my hips, not hiding, letting her see as much as she wants to see.
“Let me get dressed and I’ll go back with you, yeah?” She nods, stepping out and pulling the door with her.
Except she doesn’t close it all the way. She slides her head in and says, “It’s Hailey, by the way.”
“What?” I ask, knowing damn well it will make her smile, and it does.
She scoffs, shaking her head, a giant smile on her face. “My name. My name is Hailey.” She closes the door behind her, leaving me here, rattled. It’s not normal to feel like this about someone after only seeing them twice, right?
“So last year, you said it was your birthday,” Hailey says from the driver’s seat on the way to the venue.
The drive is short, so we don’t actually have a lot of time to talk, but considering we practically know nothing about each other, it’s good we get some sort of time to chat.
Not that anything serious can come out of this, considering I go to A School in a couple of weeks.
Training to be a rescue swimmer has been a dream of mine since I can remember, and I’ve worked hard to make it a reality. Despite my parents thinking I’m a waste of time and space, this is what I’m meant to do. It’s a shame Hailey doesn’t fit into those plans, because it could’ve been fun.
“Tomorrow is my birthday.”
“New Year's Day baby, huh?” The vent blasts cool air into the car and makes Hailey’s bangs dance in her face. Oh yeah, my birthday is tomorrow, and my wish is to see you again. I can’t say that without sounding needy as fuck, though.
“Mmm-hmm.” It’s all I say when the reality is, apparently, I was born to ruin my parents’ years until the end of time.
“Son, you came on the first day of the year to remind us of the new life you brought, one of never-ending bills and working until dusk.’ If I had a penny for every time my father reminded me of how much of an inconvenience I was, I would be rich by now.
“Did my pussy eat your words?” I choke on my spit at her words.
“What?”
“Here we go again. What happened to the commanding and talkative Asher, huh? Now we’re back to monosyllables.
” What do I say? I’m being careful not to share too much?
Because something about you makes me want to put my guard down?
Do I tell her I’m afraid if I open my mouth to say anything, the only thing that will come out is how badly I want to see her again but I can’t?
I can’t. My job. The distance. Everything.
“I’m a private person, Hailey. But I do like sex.” She looks my way, raising an eyebrow. “I liked sex with you.”
She shakes her head, leading us to the valet and stepping out before either of us can open the door for her. She does the same with the glass door framing the entrance to the gala venue. I speed up to catch up with her, but I can’t, because Travis rushes over the minute he sees me.
“Where were you? We have to go.” He doesn’t say anything else, but his urgency is clear. Something happened; there’s no doubt about it.
“What? Where?” I ask. Hailey is watching attentively.
“I’ll explain in the car, but something happened with Holt. We have to go back.” I shake my head.
“Okay. Got it.” I look back at Hailey, mouthing a sorry. “Give me two minutes.”
Travis looks at Hailey and smiles before tipping an invisible hat and saluting her. “Two minutes.”
Travis walks away, leaving just the two of us standing under a chandelier.
“I guess this is our fate: seeing each other for a few hours on New Year’s Eve while you disappear like Cinderella as the clock strikes midnight,” Hailey adds, pointing at the clock on the wall showing there’s only a minute to midnight.
“I guess so.” She closes the space between us, holding my face and staring right into my soul.
“I’m not in a position to do anything with anyone for more than what tonight was,” she whispers, smiling at me. Good, because neither can I. I just nod. “But let’s say if you find yourself on Amelia Island again next New Year's Eve, you know where to find me.”
The cheers in the distance announce the countdown.
“And what? You’ll be waiting for me?” I ask, and she nods.
“If the stars align and the seasons change, I will wait for our next moment right here. I promise to give you more than a few hours next time.”
I cock my head to the side and consider her. It seems too good to be true. I don’t have to share with her why this is the best case scenario for me.
“What are the parameters?” I ask so at least we’re both on the same page.
“None. Don’t complicate this. If you find someone to love between now and then, just don’t come back. I’ll do the same. If not . . . see you in a year.”
I kiss her lips gently as the crowd erupts into cheers in the distance. “Happy New Year, Hailey. See you next December.”
Our foreheads touch as she whispers against my lips, “Happy Birthday, Ash. See you next December.” She steps back, leaving me empty handed as she sways her hips back to the party.
“See you in twelve months!” she shouts, and I feel her absence even more. I’m destined to miss this girl I barely know forever, but I have no time to question anything. I have no other choice.
I run outside to Travis’ car, where he tells me Holt, one of our friends, was in an accident in North Carolina, where he was waiting for us to start training.
As we drive all night to get to him, I think about how, at the very least, for the first time in my life, I have something to look forward to this year. Happy birthday to me.