A Love Like Ours

by Baker, Tory

  I make myself something to eat and then move to the couch. With everything being done for my upcoming week, it’s time to binge watch a few shows.

  6

  Lincoln

  I roll over and look at the alarm clock, my black out curtains not allowing me to know just how bright the sun is and if it’s shining or not.

  “Son of a bitch,” I grumble when I see it’s well after two o’clock in the afternoon. I sit up in bed, grab my phone to make sure nothing is wrong at the bar, then I call the woman who had me tossing and turning all night long.

  The ringing on the other line continues, when her voice mail picks up. I listen to her voice asking me to leave a message.

  “Hey Presley, it’s Lincoln. Sorry, it’s so late. Call me when you get a chance,” I say into her voicemail and then hang up. I toss my phone on the bed, knowing if I don’t eat my stomach will keep growling, a reminder of how screwed up my hours are four nights a week. Another year and maybe I can bring a manager in to help rotate with hours.

  Before meeting Presley, I wouldn’t have given two thoughts about the possibility of not working nights, but one look in a crowded bar changed all of that.

  I hop in the shower, taking a cold one at that. My mind on an instant replay of every moment I had with Presley last night. It wasn’t that much but having the lingering feel and taste of her on my lips was enough to keep me distracted at work. Then hearing her on the phone, it had my mind playing every fantasy I could come up with.

  Knowing nothing will make my aching cock from going down in size, I make fast work of my shower, dry off, wrap the towel around my waist, and walk back into my bedroom.

  Trying to decide if I should stop by her place or wait until I hear from her, my phone rings.

  Grabbing my phone, I see it’s Presley calling, “Hey Presley.”

  “Hey, sorry I didn’t answer the phone. I didn’t hear it ring and well, I was in the middle of binge watching this documentary on Netflix,” she rushes out.

  “That’s okay, I didn’t mean to sleep in this late. What are your plans for dinner?” I ask.

  “I don’t have any. Sundays are my lazy days before I have to get ready for my week at work,” she responds.

  “How about I pick you up, we can catch a movie and get some dinner afterwards?”

  “I’d like that, but I need to be home before nine o’clock or I’ll turn into a pumpkin,” she laughs.

  I know why she needs to be home at a decent time. Presley is a preschool teacher at Shiloh Elementary school.

  “You got it, and Presley?”

  “Yes, Lincoln,” she replies.

  “See you in thirty minutes,” I tell her. Her sharp intake of breath, “That’s not going to work, I need an hour. When I said I do lazy Sundays, I mean lazy-lazy. I’m a mess and still have to shower.”

  I groan out loud, my cock is going to stand at a permanent salute with Presley around, “Okay, I’ll see you in an hour.”

  “Can’t wait,” she squeals. We say our goodbyes, and then I get ready for our date.

  7

  Presley

  I barely have enough time to tame my wild hair and get dressed before Lincoln will get here. Try as I might, it’s hard to deal with all this hair if I fall asleep with it wet like I did last night. The bulk of my getting ready was detangling knot after knot, sometimes I think I’m going to chop it all off, especially after a long day running after little ones. Anytime I mention to my mom about cutting it off, she comes back with, “You know you’ll regret it. Every time you chop it off, you cry, and grow it out again. Put it in a bun or a braid, until you’re sure.” The sad thing about that is, it’s the truth, and it’s true what they say, your mother is always right.

  Once I finish dealing with my tangled mess, I braid my hair, pulling it to one side in a messy fish tail braid. Then I pulled on a flowy skirt. Pairing it with a tank top, pulling it all together with a soft cardigan.

  I’m just sliding my feet into a pair of sandals, going for a more casual look today, when I hear a truck pull into my driveway. I don’t wait for Lincoln to come up to my front door, I grab my purse, lock my door, and walk out towards him.

  I don’t care if it seems like I’m overly excited. I didn’t think I stood a chance with someone like Lincoln. Not that he’s better than me, it’s more like he’s more refined, and well, I’m an elementary school teacher.

  Lincoln is out of the truck and to me faster than I can blink, his arms slide around my waist, bringing me closer to his body. I’m surrounded by his presence, the feel, the smell. It engulfs my senses. Something I wasn’t expecting this fast, yet, I’m loving every moment of it.

  My arms go around his neck, and that’s when I feel his lips, they’re whisper soft, skating against the slope of my neck. My whole body is pebbled in goosebumps, if he can get a response out of my body with the light grazing of his lips, I can’t even begin to imagine what will happen when things get hot and heavy.

  “Hey gorgeous,” his voice has a rasp to it, and my body does a full body shiver.

  “Hey,” my eyes looking up into Lincoln’s.

  “You ready?” He questions.

  “Yep, did you see there’s a new Godzilla movie playing today?” I respond as he walks me to the passenger side of his truck helping me in.

  “Yeah, but I wasn’t sure if you’d want to see that or something else,” Lincoln tells me.

  “Well, one thing you should know about me, I’m a huge movie buff and I’ll watch basically everything, even if it scares the crap out of me,” I ramble.

  “Got it. But, Presley?”

  “Yes?” I question nervously.

  “I don’t really care what we watch as long as you’re with me,” he states, then shuts my door, leaving me speechless.

  Lincoln is unlike any man I’ve met before, not that I’ve been around too many. If you’ve met my father, you would know what I mean. Overprotective was never a word used, but I definitely was protected, there weren’t many boys snooping around me.

  I watch his every move as he climbs into the driver side, buckles his seat belt, and starts the truck. The muscles that are peaking out of his shirt sleeves are enough to make me blush.

  Not wanting to get caught, I quickly glance away and look out at the surrounding landscape as we leave my subdivision.

  8

  Lincoln

  The way Presley is blushing, thinking I can’t see the way she takes me in, It’s out of this world, an indescribable feeling.

  I sneak a peek at Presley every now and then, getting a glimpse of her smooth legs that she has crossed. My hands itch to have them in my hands, to feel them, lick them, and even nip at them along the way to the one place I want to be mine, forever.

  Her eyes meet mine while we wait at a red light to turn into the movie theatre. I grin at Presley. She smiles back at me, then she shocks the shit out of me. Her hand reaches for mine, the soft feeling of her fingers compared to my work roughened hands are a contradiction. Though right here, right now, it’s the best feeling in the world.

  I turn into the parking lot, letting go of her hand to put the truck in park telling her, “Stay, I’ll get your door.”

  “Okay,” she responds. Her voice, it’s something I long to hear more of.

  “Alright,” I head out of the truck to get the woman that’s steadily becoming my everything.

  When I open her door, she’s already unbuckled and ready to slide out. Taking one of her hands and guiding her out, I watch as she slowly lowers herself down. When she steps away from the truck, I watch the way her body moves, the swish of her skirt, and how her shirt is driving me crazy with that glimpse of skin showing off her perfect skin.

  I close her door, then my hand goes to where it needs to be the most, firmly on her back.

  “You sure you’re okay with watching an action movie?” I ask her. Sure, I hate chick flicks, but if she asked, I would suffer through it especially if it meant holding her.

 
“Oh yeah, I’m excited to see it. Not to mention movie theatre popcorn with tons of extra butter and a large coke,” she laughs, but I can see she’s telling the truth. She lives for these moments, even if it isn’t some fancy place where you have to get dressed up to the nines.

  Presley is definitely a small-town girl. We make our way to the ticket booth, when I see Presley pulling out money to pay for her ticket.

  “Not happening,” I say with gruffness in my tone.

  “I’ll buy the snacks then?” she asks.

  “Got that too, babe. I asked you out on a date, not for you to pay for everything or half of everything,” I respond.

  “Oh well, okay then. But I’m warning you the snacks will probably cost more than the tickets alone,” she says with a smile and a laugh.

  “I think I can cover it.” I take the tickets from the cashier and we head to the snack stand to stock up on everything Presley could possibly want for a two-hour movie.

  9

  Presley

  “I warned you,” I tell Lincoln as we take our seats in the movie theatre. We ended up getting an extra-large popcorn dripping with extra butter, two large cokes, and skittles.

  Lincoln lifts the arm rest in between our seats, apparently not wanting anything between us, which if I must say, I’m thankful for. I want to watch the movie curled up on his chest, as much as I want to devour the food we bought.

  “I’m not worried, pretty sure I can help polish off whatever you don’t eat,” he responds as he sits down. I take my own seat, placing my drink in the cup holder and then handing Lincoln his.

  Lincoln has the popcorn in his lap, his drink in the cupholder next to him, and his arm is sliding around me, pulling me in close to him.

  “Oh,” I gasp when there’s not an inch of space between us.

  Lincoln just smiles, but the lights dim, and he moves the popcorn to where I can easily reach it, “Recline your seat a bit,” he croons.

  “Wow, they recline. This is so cool,” I move mine until I’m comfortable. We’re practically laying down in a movie theatre, and we’re basically by ourselves. There’s something to be said for Sunday afternoon movies.

  I quietly munch on our snacks until my stomach is full, my body molds into the side of Lincoln’s, his hand massaging my back the whole time. I look at him, Lincoln’s other arm is behind his head, using it as a pillow, and his gaze is on the movie the whole time.

  I settle back in to watch the movie, but find my mind drifting into unchartered territory. Somewhere I didn’t see this going, me here with Lincoln. A place where I’m achy and needy, my legs rub together to soothe the way I’m feeling being this close to Lincoln, the way he makes my heart rate speed up, the things my mind is conjuring up.

  “You have to stop, Presley,” he murmurs so low I can barely hear him. It heightens my senses even more. I lift my head and his eyes find mine. I can see the same desire in his eyes that I have running through my entire being.

  “Oh my gosh,” I’m so embarrassed. I hope like hell he just saw my legs moving and didn’t see or even smell the desire that is coming off in waves.

  “Presley,” he groans before his lips find mine. He devours the moan that is working its way up my throat, he swallows it down. His lips and tongue dominate mine. The taste of him on my tongue, the feel of us synchronized as one. Not to mention the way his other arm is now holding my hip in place, when what I really want to do is crawl into his lap and feel everything he has to give me.

  “Please,” I groan, when his mouth leaves mine, leaving a trail of kisses down my neck. It’s doing nothing to cool me off, though, if anything it only has me burning even hotter for him.

  Lincoln pulls back with hesitancy and says, “I want nothing more than to have you coming apart in my arms, but it’s too soon. This thing we have between us, I want it all, the dates, the late-night phone calls, the early morning texts, and eventually I want everything you have to give.”

  “Wow, okay. I really want that, too, I’m sorry if I came on too strong,” I dip my head down in shyness, but Lincoln doesn’t allow that. He tips my chin back up so that I’m looking into his eyes, “Nothing to be sorry about, I’m just letting you know my intentions, Presley.”

  “Okay.” His arms wrap around my body, bring me closer to him, this time his hands don’t move against my body like they were, and I get lost in the movie.

  10

  Lincoln

  Pulling away from Presley was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. I wanted her any way I could have her, but I also know we live in a small town, people talk, and I don’t want them to tarnish her name. Plus, I want to do this right, for her and for me.

  I want to slowly build up to something so much more than just two people getting together.

  “The movie was really good, I’m sorry we didn’t make it to dinner. Popcorn is a big overindulgence of mine,” Presley says as I walk her towards the front door of her duplex. Her keys are in her hand, purse on her shoulder, and her cardigan hanging over the other arm. I trail behind her, watch her skirt swoosh back and forth, giving me a teasing glimpse of her upper thighs, not to mention the bounce she has going on with her ass. It’s enough for me to get on my knees and pay homage to it.

  “Yeah, it was. We can do dinner another time,” I say and clear my throat to empty the thoughts I have of seducing Presley right here on the front lawn. If we were at my place, it could happen easily. No neighbors right on top of us, nothing but the breeze of the canal behind my house, and the trees swaying in the distance.

  Fuck, I rub the back of my neck, following Presley up the front steps to her small porch.

  “I know we said we’d be taking this slow, but would you like to come in for a little bit? I promise to kick you out promptly at nine o’clock.” She’s nervous around me now. Something I hate to see, especially since it’s basically my fault.

  “Yeah, babe. I’ll come in. What I said at the theatre, fuck, it wasn’t meant to make you feel like we can’t do more. Simply stated, I want more time together before we rip each other’s clothes off,” I tell her as I cup her cheek, stooping down so we’re eye to eye.

  “I know and appreciate that more than you know. I’m well…I’m just a little embarrassed. I’ve never felt this way before and it’s a lot to take in,” she says, with a hitch in her throat.

  “We’ll navigate this together, promise.” I kiss her forehead and back away, allowing her to open the door.

  I follow her lead, shutting and locking the door once we’re in the house. She hangs her purse, sweater, and keys up on the hook she has by the front door.

  “Want something to drink?” Presley asks.

  “I’m good,” I take a look around her place. It fits Presley’s personality. She has flowers and plants growing on a few window ledges, magazines laying out on the coffee table, throw blankets on the back of the couch, but what makes me grin is the huge television she has mounted on her wall.

  “I’m going to get a glass of water, make yourself at home. The remote is on the table,” she says as she walks towards the kitchen.

  I plop down on the couch, it’s a lot more comfortable than I expected it to be with it being so small. I turn on her television, carelessly flipping through channels until she decides to join me.

  If this is any indication of what a Sunday will look like with Presley, I’m more than ready to settle down and build a life with her.

  11

  Presley

  Lincoln left earlier than nine o’clock. Though that could be because I was yawning every few minutes, even at the age of twenty-three, after working all week, then having a girls’ night out the night before. I was pooped and my work week was about to start all over again.

  True to his word, he called me last night as he was getting ready for bed, and I woke up this morning to a text message. It sparked a very in-depth conversation about dinner plans. I told Lincoln we could have dinner here, he insisted on having it out, but I finally won
. Stating I’m a home body and as much as I loved being out with the girls and then the movies yesterday, I just want to be a couch potato, watch television, and eat.

  Lincoln conceded, stating he’d bring over Chinese and to text him later on today with what I wanted from the place in town.

  The smile on my face couldn’t get much bigger, even if I’m dragging ass this morning. I barely made it to work on time after spending a good twenty minutes texting back and forth with Lincoln.

  It made me glad that our school is relaxed with our work wear. I decided to wear a pair of nice dark jeans, put a floral top on, slide my feet into ballet type flats, and braided my hair while waiting for my cup of coffee to brew, and then I was jetting out of the house.

  I got to school in the nick of time to help with the car loop, and then rushed into my classroom to finish setting up for the week. The brightest part of my days are teaching my students, now that also includes seeing Lincoln .

  “I saw you barely made it on time today,” Callie says while walking her daughter Clairabella towards her classroom. She veers off and heads right towards me though, “Auntie Pres, guess what?”

  “What is it my Bella Bug?”

  “I’m not a bug, silly. Pops took me out fishing Sunday and I caught a big fish!” I pick her up and she gives me a hug.

  “That’s so cool! Did you eat it for dinner?” I ask her.

  “Eww, no that is disgusting,” her cute little nose is scrunched up.

  “I’ll see you later, be good in class and I’ll take you to Nan’s and Pop’s after school,” I give her one last hug.