Chapter 31 – Davis
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
DAVIS
What time was it? She had no idea. What day? No clue. All she knew when she woke in the darkness from a deep, dreamless sleep was that Kev’s head was resting on her chest, his arm heavy and draped across her stomach. All she knew was she was not the same woman she’d been the day before. All she knew was she was so madly in love with the man in her arms it hurt, a physical pain she felt in her chest, a bruise beneath her ribs, an ache she hoped would never heal.
In his efforts to show her everything his romance books had taught him, he’d given her more orgasms than she could count, stretched her into positions she didn’t think were possible, and told her the sweetest, most beautiful, and then the filthiest things she’d ever heard.
Look down. Watch me fuck you. Get on your knees. Grab the headboard. Grab your ankles. Come for me. Come on my tongue. Come on my cock. Let me feel it. Breathe for me, baby. You’re doing so good. Give me one more. Give me everything.
She had a new kink now: Kevin Lowes dirty talk. She was half tempted to roll him over, slide down his body, and wake him up with her mouth just to hear it again. But she was already sore, her muscles melted under her skin, her eyelids so heavy she could barely hold them open. Her heart so full she thought it might burst.
So she enclosed him in her arms, kissed his curls and whispered, “I don’t know how we made it here, but I’m so proud of us for never giving up.” And then she let sleep claim her again. Only to wake up later with the sun peeking through the curtains and his head between her thighs.
They’d fed each other room service breakfast, making such creative use of the syrup from Kev’s pancakes they had to shower together after. And then he made love to her while they stood in front of the bathroom mirror, her towel barely clinging to her breasts, his hand sneaking inside the open slit, slipping between her legs. They watched each other in their reflection, his wet bangs swinging in front of his eyes, his teeth sinking gently into her shoulder as he took her from behind, her mouth open on a silent gasp. Until she couldn’t watch anymore, she could only feel, only cry out, only quake in his arms as he brought her right to the edge, held her there, and then jumped alongside her.
She wanted to stay in that room with him forever, talking, laughing, making love until they could barely move. But their time was up. And well before she was anywhere close to ready, they were back on the road, their overnight bags resting against each other in the back seat of her car, like even they didn’t want the night to be over.
Kev was driving, and in the bright sunlight of midmorning, out of his nice clothes and back into the T-shirt and jeans that she loved, he glowed.
“That was the best night of my life,” she told him, reaching across the center console to take his hand.
Bringing her knuckles to his lips, he said, “Mine too.”
It was all so sweet, just the two of them, alone in the quiet stillness of mountain roads, stealing these last few minutes to hide out from the rest of the world. So, of course, her phone would choose that precise moment to buzz.
Ignoring it would have been her preference, but they didn’t live in this quiet stillness. They lived in the real world. And in their real world with real consequences, it could have been a text from Madigan or her mom. It could have been important. So she reached back, pulled her phone out of her bag, and frowned at the screen.
Chuckle Puppet: Hey honey. I know I’m supposed to be giving you space. And I’m trying, I really am. But I just saw these three, and they reminded me of you. I know how much you love them. I’m still here to talk if you ever change your mind. I love you, Dad.
“He still signs his texts,” she said with a deep sigh, waiting for the three dots to turn into whatever her dad wanted her to see.
“Is that Chuck?” Kev asked.
“Yeah.” When the picture came through, she recognized Conquest Mountain’s fancy lodge, the expansive deck where she used to sit with her dad, watching the sunrise. Where they used to drink hot chocolate—and later, coffee—when she’d spent every other weekend with him after the divorce. Where now an enormous cow moose stood with her twin calves, their little ears pointing straight up, their shaggy red fur glinting in the sunlight.
“They’re so cute,” Kev said, sneaking a glimpse of her screen. “Did he take that?”
She nodded.
“Because they’re your favorite,” he said to the road.
She nodded again, pressure building behind her eyes, unwanted emotion burning her nose.
“Have you talked to him?”
“No.” She looked up from her phone, her heart heavy, tired of holding on to so much anger. “Do you think I should?”
He blew air through his lips. “Baby, that’s up to you. But I’ll support you no matter what you decide. ”
It was all he needed to say. It was all she needed to hear. She wasn’t ready to forgive her dad, not yet. But maybe she could at least do this.
Clicking on his caller ID, she changed his contact name back to Dad , pressed her thumb over the moose picture, and clicked the heart emoji. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.
After Kev parked in the Bluebird lot, Davis slipped out of the passenger seat while he got their bags out of the back. It was quiet on the mountain too, only a few notes of distant birdsong while they walked to the front of the car and stared at each other.
Moving close, he asked, “So what do we do now? What’s next?”
He sounded nervous, uncertain. So she stepped closer too and said, “I think we do what we always do. Take it one day at a time.”
Amusement flashed in the tilt of his lips, the crinkling corners of his eyes. “I think this is the first time in my life I’ve actually loved the sound of those words.”
Taking his face between her hands, a sudden intensity swelling inside her, she said, “Just don’t shut me out again, Kev. If you’re struggling. If you’re feeling insecure or sad or scared or anything, even if it’s my fault. Even if we’re fighting and we say mean things to each other, because it’s bound to happen. Even if you’re worried that what you’re thinking or feeling might hurt me or scare me. Please don’t shut me out. Talk to me. Tell me everything. And I promise I’ll do the same for you.”
Lowering his forehead to rest gently against hers, he said, “I promise. I won’t shut you out again.” And then he kissed her.
Before she registered where they were, whether it was a good idea or not, she let him lift her into his arms while she wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him back like there was a giant meteor headed right for them and this was the last chance they’d ever get.
And then Murphy barked.
And then Madigan cleared his throat .
“ Shit ,” Kev whispered, setting her gently back onto the ground. “We’re not late, are we?”
“No, you’re not late,” Madigan answered from the lodge steps. The man had bat hearing. “But you are making out in broad daylight, so…”
“Oops,” Davis said, flicking her hair off her shoulder before waving at her stepdad. “My bad.”
“Not to be presumptuous,” Madigan said while Kev looped the strap of her bag over her shoulder. “But I’m guessing you both should probably get some sleep.”
“Not me,” she said through a jaw-cracking yawn. “I’ve gotta ride.”
“Seriously?” Kev asked, stepping up behind her while Madigan made his way back up the lodge steps. “Haven’t you already ridden enough?”
Spinning around again, she bit back a grin. “Not even close.”
“Seriously, though,” he said. “You must be exhausted. We barely slept.”
“I’ll sleep after. But my race is in three weeks. Gotta get my ass in the saddle.”
While his lips quirked, he said, “What if I want your ass back in my saddle?” Then his expression fell. Slowly at first, then sinking like a stone.
“Kev?” she asked as her smile faded too. “What’s wrong?”
“It’ll still be awkward, Davis. As long as I’m living here, being intimate, being in a relationship, will be awkward. It’ll be hard.”
“I know,” she told him, reaching out to squeeze his fingers, unbothered by the potential awkwardness, by the infinitesimal hardness of being with him compared to the crushing impossibility of not being with him. “I don’t mind. You won’t live at Little Timber forever. I can handle a little awkwardness while you do. Besides, this,” she said, kissing him one last time, “is worth it.” While his eyes fluttered open again, she took a backward step toward the lodge and grinned. “Besides, it’s kind of fun watching Madigan squirm.”
“Hey,” he called out to her when she started to turn around. “ Want to walk tonight? I can watch you throw pinecones at the stars.”
Tilting her head, she asked, “You don’t want to throw some too?”
His smile was back, brighter than the sun, because he’d set a trap, and she’d fallen right into it. “Don’t need to. All my wishes have already come true.”