by Zee Irwin
The kisses stranded me in the eye of a storm, with Bronson swirling around me. I daydreamed the rest of the day about taking him further, hands exploring, skin on skin contact, his body on mine . . . I had forgotten until now how his body once taught me every incredible thing I knew about intimacy with the opposite sex.
The drive home to Cape Cod was a well-timed getaway, even if only for one night to divert my attention away from these thoughts. The roads were still slick from the snowmelt, and cars out of Boston were advancing at a slower pace than usual. I turned onto US 6 east, glad I’d be home soon to eat dinner with Mom, Dad, and my sisters when a monster of a semi-truck passed me, spitting up slush and snow and ice in its path onto my windshield.
Thump! Something large hit the front of my car with a crash causing me to swerve. I worked to regain control of the car, now hydroplaning with a mind of its own.
Flashes of the only accident I’d ever been in marred my sight. The night of his MVP party, Bronson had swerved missing a deer but turned the wheel too sharply on a bend, sending the Mustang careening off the road, with tires leaving the pavement, then landing nose first down a small embankment. The force of it threw both of us out of the convertible, leaving us concussed, shaken, and Bronson’s hand somehow damaged.
My shrieking and the lump in my throat brought me back to the present as I fought against the car’s trajectory with all my might, but it landed in the ditch off the side of the road. Several seconds passed before I caught my breath. I couldn’t move at first, begging my heart to jump back into my chest.
A few minutes later, I turned the car over and stepped on the gas, hoping to dislodge from the ditch. My tires spun in the mud, and further down the car dug in.
I got out and ran around the entire car, assessing the damage as if I were some expert. While hanging around enough with Dad in his man cave, I might have picked up a thing or two, none of which helped now. Steam spewed out of the radiator, and my back tires were in a deep mudhole. My windshield sported a hefty crack, too, but I was grateful there were no other cars involved in the accident.
I got back in and found my phone then speed-dialed roadside assistance. Dad had given me a membership each year since I received my license. After giving the operator my details, my hopes of a rescue were shattered. “Two hours until you can get a tow truck here?”
“What do you want me to do about it, huh? We’ve had too many accidents today with the roads being as slick as they are. Sorry. You wanna talk to the boss?” The man on the line grew defensive, and it was no use arguing with him. I’d wait in the car until help arrived.
Of course, I placed my second call to Dad, the one man I knew wouldn’t let me down and would come to my rescue. When I told him what happened, I could hear the panic in his voice when he said, “Stay right where you are, we’re coming to get you.” Like I was going anywhere. I had to wait for the tow truck, and I wasn’t trudging home thirty miles by foot in this weather.
I kept myself occupied with social media on my phone. I took photos of the car and posted one to Instagram with the caption “Ditched.” A text popped up on my phone almost immediately from Hank.
Hank: Are you okay?
Me: Hmm. Lurking on my IG profile? Creepy.
Hank: Purely for entertainment
Hank: Are you hurt? Where are you?
Me: Aww, thanks for caring. I’m fine. Dad to the rescue.
Hank showed promise. Like now, he cared about my well-being. I made a note about nurturing and praising more of this kind of behavior in him. Emily loved a good knight in shining armor or hero to the rescue story.
Hank: Any plans for New Year’s Eve?
Me: Emily is staying with me. Having a girl’s night.
Hank: Can I crash the girls’ night?
Me: Maybe. I’ll keep you posted.
Hank:
We texted a few more minutes about little things, and the more I found out about him, the more I believed he’d be so right for Emily. When the headlights from a car coming up behind me paused any further texting, I couldn’t tell if it was the tow truck until the lights turned off. All I could see in the dim moonlight was a shadow of someone coming up to my driver’s side window. I reached for my keychain mace, another safety gift from Dad.
“Cassidy? Are you okay?” A man’s voice yelled, muffled because I kept my window up, but it sure sounded like Bronson. I readied my finger on the mace trigger anyway and let the window down an inch.
“Oh, Bronson, you scared the hell out of me. Yes, I’m fine.” My hand fell from the mace on my keys, and once again, I hoped my heart wouldn’t beat out of my chest. Twice in one day was enough.
He walked around the car, assessing the damage, while on the phone reporting to my Dad. We settled into his car after he finished the call, assuring Dad he’d wait with me for the tow truck and take care of me before they hung up.
“Okay, first, thanks for the rescue. And second, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be back at the office working late?”
He gave me a sheepish grin. “I think your father set us up. He called me this afternoon to see if I’d come out to the man cave for a beer and help him finish rebuilding the carburetor. I had already left the office and was on my way to the Cape when he called and told me about your accident.”
I groaned. Dad knew I was picking up Emily. I should have known he had Bronson on speed dial. It impressed me at how fast he was to let Bronson back in his life. “Sheesh, you and my dad, the bromance of the century.”
Bronson laughed. “Your dad is the best man I know.”
I couldn’t argue with him there, but I teased, “Come on, your dad must have some endearing qualities?”
We looked at each other and laughed. There existed no comparison between our fathers.
“Hey, remember on spring break at the beach when Emily got stung by the jellyfish? I still can’t believe your dad had us peeing on your sister.”
I looked at his face because it beamed in his natural unstressed state of just being and laughing with me, and he charmed me all over again.
“Oh my God, it was the first time I saw your—”
I looked down at his crotch and then looked away because I didn’t want to turn pink in front of him.
I could hear his smirk. “I must have impressed you, huh? It wasn’t long after when we did it for the first time.” It was his turn to look away. The void of silence suddenly in the car was difficult to hear.
He took a breath and seemed about to say something but stopped.
“What? What is it?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I . . .” He stopped again.
“Come on, Bronson, don’t be shy. Nothing ever stopped you before.” I don’t know what got into me, but I reached over to tickle his abs, only to be shell-shocked by the hard ripples he sported under his clothes. He was a super fine boyfriend back in college, but over the years, his body matured with additional ripples in his abs.
A chuckle escaped from him at the first attempt at my tickle, and he grabbed my wrist, pulling me closer to him. “You know you can’t win the tickle battle, you never did before.”
His cinnamon breath caught me in a storm. I could have closed the gap between us in one move and kissed the taste right out of him, but I didn’t. I avoided his smoldering stare and settled back into my seat after he dropped my wrist.
“So, say whatever you were going to say, Bronson. We never kept things from each other before, why start now?”
He shifted in the driver’s seat to look at me. It took him a few seconds, but he finally came out with it. “Have you ever wondered what might have happened to us if . . .”
I don’t know what I expected him to say, but not that. “What? If we had stayed together after the accident?” Now I was curious. Had he?
“Well, yes, but I was thinking more like what would have happened to us if the accid
ent hadn’t happened.” His face right now, I couldn’t look away. Raw emotion clouded his blue eyes, and they paved a path right into me, as if he walked hand in hand with Fate toward the entrance of my heart.
I had to lighten things up because this felt too close to a second chance reunion. I smiled. “We both know you would have ended up a baseball legend, with World Series rings on each hand and an ego so big it wouldn’t fit through a doorway.”
“Nah, give me some credit. I’d keep my ego in check enough to not have to walk sideways through a doorway.” He winked at me and once again, charmed and breathless, I was close to becoming hypnotized by him.
“You and my dad would have rebuilt a dozen cars by now.”
“We talked about starting our own custom classic car business, you know?”
“Really? I didn’t know.” I gave him a sideways glance. Life with him would have been amazing. I knew it with my whole heart, but there were no do-overs because that was then. Wasn’t it?
“And what about you, Cassidy? You would have married me, given me a gaggle of boys who I could play ball with in the backyard. Or girls.” He grinned ear to ear with a smile causing my insides to flutter. Dammit, I could eat him up right now, or any of a dozen sexy things trolling through my head.
My hilarity kicked in. “Or maybe a marketing genius for a well-known fast-food chain.” I laughed at myself.
“It’s close to the truth. You would have had it all, the career, the perfect, handsome, sports star husband, kids . . .” He reached up to tuck a lock of hair behind my ears. His voice came out in a graveled pitch signaling my panties to turn wet without notice. “Whatever you wanted, because you always had this ability to go after what you believed you deserved in life. It’s so fucking attractive to me.”
His thumb glided down my cheekbone and rested beneath my chin, lifting it up to him as he moved in close. “When I heard you were in an accident tonight, it tore me up at first. I worried I’d never see you again.” His eyes roamed my face before asking the one thing to guarantee no control over what I’d do to him next. “Do you ever think about me and all the ways I used to make you feel so good?”
My lips betrayed me and moved on him without thinking. The way he held my kiss, he must have wanted me, too. I lost count of the heartbeats it took until we parted, but he wasn’t letting my lips go easily, and he continued to satiate my thirst with more kisses. Then his tongue opened my lips, and with a mind of their own, they welcomed him in. I reacquainted myself with his mouth and started thinking a few steps ahead to when or how our bodies might reunite.
I didn’t have to think long because he pulled me over on top of him in the driver’s seat and lowered the seat down. Yes, my mind and heart went there willingly, revisiting all the ways Bronson knew how to please me. And I lost all control, giving in to whatever this was between us.
For the moment.
20
Going For It
Bronson
My memory didn’t fail me and guided my lips to produce the sighs from Cassidy only I knew so well, and her body heated to me in response. I knew her pleasure then, as I knew it now, but with room to improve for the man and woman we had become.
This was everything to me. Nothing else mattered but her. I took my time exploring her neck, unzipping her coat, and diving my shaky hands under her sweater. She flinched.
“Sorry, cold hands,” I whispered on her lips. Fuck my nerves to show up now, but they weren’t going to prevent me from exploring. I would keep at this unless she told me to stop. I would respect her for it if she did, and wait for her until she was ready, like I waited patiently for the first time with her back in college.
The depth of her kisses . . . holy shit. I didn’t know where we stood right now, but her kisses made it clear to me she wanted this fiery moment together, too.
She straddled me, lifting her skirt. I warmed my hands against her thighs, then moved them under her sweater up to her chest. I’d give anything to see her bare-breasted right now but didn’t want the cold air to change the warmth of her skin. Through a satin-feel bra, my heated fingers squeezed her breasts and teased her nipples like they never forgot how. When she moaned and ground herself into me, I couldn’t think of the last time I was this fucking hard for a woman, but I knew it must have been with her.
It was always her. All others forgotten. Not like I’d been a playboy or anything, I’d enjoyed a few dalliances in London, but the way Cassidy was grinding on my crotch gave me a severe case of amnesia for geography.
I was here.
London no longer existed.
She came crashing back down on top of me, commandeering me with her mouth and continuing to grind. I pressed her hard onto me and squeezed my eyes closed because she felt so fucking good, and my pants were getting way too tight.
“Fuck, I need you,” I hissed, needing her to understand how this hungry moment between us affected me.
“Yes, Slugger,” she moaned into my ear. “I want this too.”
“A quickie, right here?” I taunted her with my sly smile and cocked eyebrows, pressing on her ass to keep grinding into me.
“Sure. I’m game. We have time to kill.” She almost finished me with her wicked smile.
Fucking hell. I didn’t expect her to go for it easily. I liked this grown-up version of my college ex.
Her skirt had already gathered around her hips, but she pulled it up more. “Dammit, why did I wear tights today?”
“I’ll rip them,” I groaned.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me. I’ll buy you fifty more pairs.” I figured she’d back out, but it was worth a try.
“Got a condom?”
Fuck. She was going for it. My girl, right here in the driver’s seat of my car, on the side of the road, ringing in this grown-up version of us, torn tights and all. I was one hundred percent here for it, for now. But later, I wanted her in a bed where I could devour her pussy all night.
“Yeah, I should have one in my wallet.” I swallowed my nerves again. The pressure to perform at this new level with her was too intense.
We somehow managed the ripping, the unzipping, the pulling down, the pushing aside, and the putting on in the tight space of my car. Her eyes praised the sight of me again, and glory be to my extra thick cock and very full balls to show off for her after all this time.
Her groan during my first entry told me what I needed to know.
It’d been a while for her.
No other men with my Cassidy? Exactly what my ego wanted to believe.
“Fuck, Cassidy, you feel so good again, baby.” I crushed her to me, devouring her lips and swearing every curse word to myself for not being around the past five years for more of this.
“Yes, Slugger, so good,” she cooed, lifting up. She walked her hands down to her clit, and I watched her pleasuring herself, stroking, hitching her breath, her eyes smoldering on mine.
She displayed a feast for me to take in while she rode me. Everything including the dessert.
I planted my hands on her hips and gently pulsed into the deepest part of her. Life couldn’t get better than this, could it?
“Ooh, like that, don’t stop.” Her encouragement almost did me in. “I’m close.”
I wanted to burst. Somehow, the picture of my seed in her belly to make a team of boys and girls for my little backyard baseball team in the suburbs fueled my drive. My future was here. My cock was home.
I recognized her cries of ecstasy, “Slugger,” moaning from her lips more than once, and my game reached the zone as I began my final pursuit with longer strokes in and out of her.
The creaking of the seat beneath us prodded me on, along with the heels of her boots digging into my thighs. At an insanely erotic pace, we kept up with each other, mounting so fast to the breaking point where we cried out together, and fuck!
The release could sustain my life from here until eternity.
She collapsed in my arms, her blonde hair landing a
cross my chest, and I held her tight. Our breathing joined like a song I wanted in my head forever, an earworm teasing me with a melody only she and I privately sang together.
We laughed. I think a wetness formed in my eyes.
“Cassidy, you were . . . unexpected.”
She lifted off of me, about to say something.
Lights appeared behind us, suddenly illuminating the glow of her face. From the we-just-fucked pink hue of her cheeks to her swollen lips, I was proud to co-create her look.
The tow truck pulled in front of her car and backed up to it.
“Here,” I grabbed a towel from my gym bag in the back seat. “I thought I’d get time in my schedule each day to work out. Yeah, right, my wishful thinking.”
We laughed again, and we cleaned up and put ourselves back together as fast as possible. I went out to meet the tow truck driver, walking on cloud nine with my girl in my car, and no one the wiser about the ecstasy we enjoyed.
I couldn’t stop smiling. We didn’t have time to continue the conversation until the tow truck took off with her car.
We drove the short distance to her parents’ house to pick up Emily, and I reached over, connecting with her hand. “So we’re clear, I want more, much more. I fully intend to make love with you later tonight. I’ll take my sweet time licking your—”
“What are you saying?” She let go of my hand.
In the car's darkness and given five years to make up for, did I read her body cues right? “I’m saying I can’t wait to pick up where we left off.”
“No, Bronson. We hooked up. We got each other out of our systems one time so we can move on with our lives.”
“What?” My grip tightened on the steering wheel. “You hate hookups.”
“Yeah, well, there’s a first for everything.”
“Cassidy, I want you, but I really want you. Not a hookup.” I started seeing red at the edges of my vision.
