Whiskey & Wine – By C.G. Burnette #2
I watch him for a moment as he stands to his full height.
He’s so damn tall, well over six feet. His white polo clings to his broad shoulders and my eyes travel south to his trim waist. Big hands…
big feet covered in worn boots. An even bigger bulge.
Delicious. My mouth salivates as I remember the ladder of abs I used to lick and trail my fingers up and down.
If he turns around, I’ll have the privilege of viewing the best ass in the tightest jeans I’ve ever seen.
When he sees his friends, Cole Nixon and Juliet Acosta, his happiness can light the town.
I see how proud they are of him, and it makes my eyes mist. Cole was one of the Horsemen and he and Jules had finally given in to their feelings for each other.
They have been best friends since ninth grade, or so Whiskey told me.
He throws his head back and it’s a full unapologetic howl leaving his lips.
His eyes are sparkling, his smile is broad as he shakes hands and accepts hugs.
He always hugged with his whole body and left me feeling as if I was wrapped in the warmest cocoon.
I miss the feelings he evoked. The safety, the protection, and the sense I belonged to him. I did – mind, body, and soul.
Time to go before he sees me and I can’t escape.
I reach for my purse and plan to make my way down the back steps of the patio.
But, of course, my bladder has other ideas.
Dammit. It was one glass of wine… and a couple of waters.
Well. Fuck. This always happens when you need to get out and not be seen.
I look back to the front and Whiskey is still talking. I have to do this now. Right now.
I haul ass through the doors and dance my way to the bathrooms. Of course, they are full. Fuck. So is my bladder! “Hurry up, people,” I say to myself.
I finally made it into a free stall but just barely. I finish my business with a relieved sigh and put myself back together. I’m praying Whiskey is still with his friends and I can just ease out to my car unseen.
I round the corner. The main floor of the bar is packed with people from the patio. Most are getting drinks refilled, ordering pitchers of beer, and talking about Whiskey’s show. Ah, yes. Mr. Walker… the one I’m trying to avoid.
I make my way through the crowd and back onto the deck. I’m not thinking, just moving as I head to the parking lot. I look down to grab my keys from my bag when I hit a wall of warm, hard flesh with a startled umph , and I can’t help the gasp that leaves me.
Oh. No.
I slowly raise my eyes and stare into his indigo ones, and my heart beats triple time in my chest. The keys dangle from my fingers as he licks his juicy lips and his top teeth briefly bite down on his bottom lip.
I’m devastated as my insides quiver watching the movement.
My silk panties are a useless piece of soaked fabric, with heat settling in my core.
His smile is full of mischief, and a knowing expression fills his Adonis face when he chuckles.
I feel the vibrations rumble through my chest. I can’t form words, let alone a full sentence to excuse myself and I need to.
I really need to. I cannot face this man right now.
Not with everything I’m feeling. Not with all the memories swirling in the air.
He’s more handsome than ever, more breathtaking…
just… more. And I’ve never been more aware that he’s no longer mine.
I should have never had those waters. Stupid bladder.
Strong arms come around me and he drags me closer.
His embrace and the circle of his arms feel like going home after being away for too long.
His familiar cologne tickles my nose and I inhale deeply, drawing him in.
My knees tremble when Whiskey’s soft lips drop to my forehead and linger for a quiet moment, then another.
His forehead replaces his lips and he sighs a deep, soulful moan.
“You thought I would let you get away again? Do you think I didn’t see you? I always see you.”
His right hand grips the back of my head, his fingers tangling into the curls there while his left circles my throat.
His thumb strums over my pulse point. I feel the trip and the stutter and my mouth parts when he lifts my face to his.
The ocean is stormy and the color is as dark as the night sky.
I’m lost as he lowers his head and his kiss has me falling, falling, falling.
My arms wrap around his shoulders and I hold on.
My fingers dig in and I fist his shirt. My mind is screaming for me to stop, but my heart knows I’m done.
There’s no avoiding this, no way to stop the collision course I’m on with this man.
For five years I’ve stayed in the shadows, surviving on bits and pieces of him.
This time I’m going to take the whole of him because this moment will be all I have.
I pour everything into our embrace. All the loneliness, the bitterness because he fucking left me.
I give him the red hot lust, the bone-deep want, and soul-searing need.
But underlying all it is a love so strong I’m astounded and utterly blown away by its power.
He deepens the kiss with a growl and I know he feels it, too.
I’m on fire and I need him to burn with me.
Closer. I need him closer. I want to feel his skin so I find myself pulling up his polo and placing my hands on the tight muscles of his lower back.
Him. The touch sends electric waves from my fingertips right to my core.
He nips at the corner of my lips, traveling down to my jaw.
I whisper a plea. “Whiskey. Please, please, please.”
But he steps back and takes his lips away. I open my eyes and his chest is heaving. He runs a frustrated hand through his sandy hair and places a hand over his own racing heart. I want his juicy lips back on mine and then all over me. Fuck it all. In his eyes, I see everything I feel. Everything.
“Cassidy, I want you so much. Jesus, I’ve never stopped wanting you.
It’s been way too long since I had all those luscious curves under me.
It’s taking everything I have not to throw you over my shoulder, put you in my truck and find a deserted road.
But this,” he says as he points between us.
“The physical was never an issue between us, babe. Never. It was this and this .” He points to his mouth and then lays his hand on my heart.
“Before I fuck you senseless and believe me when I say I am , you and I are going to have a conversation we’ve put off for far too long.”
He runs his thumb across my lips and I lick the digit and draw it into my mouth. I close my eyes and moan as I suck it decadently reminding him I know what to do with my mouth.
His eyes smolder as he inhales sharply and exhales a harsh, “Cass, dammit.” I giggle wickedly and he shakes his head at me. “Come on, baby girl.” He takes my hand and we head back inside to get a drink and have that talk.
WHISKEY
Earlier in the evening…
I’m ready for tonight. After being on tour for the last six months with several stars, I’m taking a break from touring. Riggs is the best place to end my time on the road.
This is home. This three-deck patio with its oversized couches, fire pits, and lights strung through the trees, was the first place I sang publicly.
I was tested and tried right in this same spot I’m in now with only my guitar and a bar stool.
I worked hard and sang anyplace anyone would let me.
Some nights the tips were great but more often I sang to almost empty bars and frat parties.
I can't believe how far I’ve come in such little time.
I’m still paying my dues, but I wouldn’t trade this.
It’s been some of the most fulfilling years of my life honing my craft, writing number one songs, and making hit albums. I can’t say I didn’t have some lucky breaks, great word of mouth, and the right people in my corner. I did and fuck, am I grateful.
Glancing around the patio, the memories flash before my eyes, fast and furious. I smile as Friday nights after games, late Saturday nights on the stool, and Sunday brunches with Cassidy pull at me.
Cassidy Reynolds. Damn. Of all the people I regret leaving behind, my mind strays to her first. How do you ever forget your first love?
As much as she thought music was my first love, it was always Cassidy.
I still long for her when I wake in the middle of the night.
She is my first thought in the morning. I’ve written about her and sang about her gorgeous brown skin and haunting gray eyes.
The first time I saw her, the earth shifted under my feet.
She filled up all the empty places and made me want more for myself so I could be everything for her.
I swear if she would give me a chance, she would never want or need for anything.
I’d give her everything and do my damnedest to fulfill every hope, every wish, and support her plans to become a nurse.
Before I was just a poor guy who couldn’t even give her a single rose on Valentine’s Day.
Now I can take care of her. I can pay for anything she needs, including nursing school.
I have to talk to her while I’m home. There’s so much to tell — the first being an apology.
I was wrong, so fucking wrong, to ask her to give up her dream and put her life on hold, when all she’s done is support me while I pursued music.
I just need a few minutes with her. But my amazing girl is so sneaky.
She thinks I don’t know. She’s counting on it.