by Lulu Pratt
Everything is going right, from Britney to Sarah, to how this new year is shaping up and I’m tipsy and in love.
Sarah looks stunning. Her hair is a little messy, she’s not wearing a lot of make-up, and she’s dressed in jeans and a simple blouse. Right now, she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
I know it’s not just because I’m drunk, either. It’s because I’ve gotten to know her. I spent days cooped up in a cabin in the snow with her, and I’ve gotten to see every side of her, from her happiest times, to her saddest times, to her angriest times. And I know that this is the woman I want to be with. I don’t know what the future holds for us, but I know that I want to find out.
“Let’s dance,” I say when the music changes, and a few people move the tables in the middle of the seating area to create a dancefloor. I hold out my hand to Sarah, and she takes it without hesitating. I lead her to the dancefloor, and once we’re between the few writhing bodies that pulse to the music, we start moving.
I haven’t seen her dance before, and she’s quite good at it. She moves to the beat, and her body is mesmerizing, but I’m a little biased. I watch her hips as she moves them back and forth, and it turns me on. I know what it feels like when she moves like that on top of me, and I want it again.
I step closer to her and pull her against me. Her eyes find mine, her face surprised, but her pupils are dilated, her lips are parted, and she moves with me, letting me press myself against her. I’m getting hard, and I know she can feel me when I grind myself against her. I want to get her naked and beneath me. I want to caress every inch of her body, lick her, kiss her and suck her. I want to fuck her.
“You’re a good dancer,” I say with my mouth close to her ear so she can hear me above the music.
“And you’re good at grinding against me,” she replies.
I laugh. “Maybe I’m just keeping you close to keep you warm.”
“Yeah, the tactic works. You kept me warm at the cabin, too.”
I put my hand on her face. She’s only inches from me, and her eyes are drowning deep.
“I love you,” I say. I wanted to tell her a few times tonight, but I was scared she wouldn’t accept it. Now, I’m too drunk to care, and I need her to know. My filters have all dissolved in the alcohol, and all that’s left is raw emotion.
She looks surprised.
“Surely, you must have known,” I add. “I don’t want to lose you. You’ve changed my life.”
“I don’t know what I thought. But I know now. And I love you, too.”
Those words are like heaven from her lips, and I can’t believe she’s saying it back. I don’t know what I expected from her — a slap, a rejection, more anger. This is better than anything I could have hoped for. I pull her closer to me and kiss her. She melts against me, her mouth opening, and I slide my tongue between her lips, kissing her like I’ve never kissed her before. It’s like two broken pieces fitting together to make a whole again when our lips merge, and I’m home again.
Sarah throws her arms around my neck, and I hold onto her, our bodies pressed together so tightly it’s like we are one. I’m so hot for her, her body is intoxicating right now, and I want her alone. There are too many people around.
“Let’s get out of here,” I say in her ear when we finally break the kiss. “I want you, and I don’t think I’m going to be able to hold back much longer.”
She looks at me. Her chest rises and falls with her hard breathing, and I know what she’s feeling. She nods, and I take her hand.
“Monica is still here,” she says after she looks around for a moment. I look in the direction she’s pointing, and sure as shit, Monica is at a table, all alone with a glass of water in front of her, playing with her phone.
“Can you drive us to Graham’s place?” Sarah asks her sister, raising her voice above the music. Monica smiles and looks at me. I nod to her in greeting. Sarah bends down to get closer to Monica to talk, and after a while, Monica nods and gets up. We leave the bar and walk to her car.
Monica gets in behind the wheel. Sarah opens the back door and gets in, and I slide in with her.
“No, no, no,” she says, laughing. “I’m not your chauffeur. I’m not driving Miss. Daisy.”
“Please, just this one time.” Sarah gives her sister big eyes, and Monica laughs.
“You’re drunk,” she says, shaking her head.
Sarah looks satisfied and settles against me as the car pulls off. We can’t keep our hands off each other. Her hand is on my leg, and she moves it up higher and higher. I have my arm around her shoulder, the other hand on her arm, and my thumb is against her breast. I rub my thumb over her nipple, and she shivers.
Monica shoots us a mom-look in the rearview mirror, and we try to look serious, like we’re not feeling each other up.
Finally, we stop in front of my house and get out of the car.
“I’ll drop her off tomorrow,” I say to Monica.
Sarah hugs her sister, and Monica leaves. Sarah and I walk to the house. We’re barely inside when I kiss her again, and I start to tug off her clothes. We stumble to the bedroom, stripping each other clumsily. When we reach my bed, we’re both in our underwear, and I pull her on top of me.
“Graham,” Sarah whispers.
“What?” I ask.
“I’m so tired.”
I smile. “Yeah, me too.” I felt bad that the alcohol was getting to me so badly, but I’m extremely drunk, and my system is starting to shut down.
“Will you be here tomorrow?” Sarah asks. I don’t point out it’s my house.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I promise, and I pull her tightly against me. She lies with her body pressed against mine, nestled in the crook of my arm, and her head is on my chest, right where it belongs. She falls asleep almost immediately.
I want to lie awake and stare at her, to trace her profile with my fingertips, to relish in her being in my arms again. But the alcohol takes over, and I lay my head back down and close my eyes. In no time at all, the alcohol drags me under, too
Chapter 45
Sarah
When I wake up, I’m in a different house yet again. I don’t recognize the room, but I know exactly where I am. I’m at Graham’s place, and we’re not fighting. My head aches dully, and I almost regret how much I drank, but if it wasn’t for last night and all the alcohol, I might not have ended up here.
A thrill rushes through me when I think about last night. When I headed out to the bar with Monica, I had no idea that I was heading to my happy ending. I was irritated with Monica for making me go out when I wasn’t in the mood.
Now, I’m grateful that she pushed me. Everything seems to be all right between Graham and me. Except, we didn’t exactly speak about everything that happened. Yes, he’s explained himself before, apologizing and telling me what went wrong. I don’t feel like it’s completely resolved, though. But I know what I feel for him — when he told me last night that he loves me, I said it back, and I meant it.
I sit up, clutching at my head that is suddenly throbbing, and I’m only in my underwear. What happened last night? It takes me a moment to remember, but I do remember. I didn’t blackout from drinking too much. Graham and I were heading for sex, but we ended up falling asleep. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing that we didn’t do it. I would like us to talk about everything one last time before we put it all behind us.
The smell of bacon fills the air, and it brings back memories of the cabin. The emotion that rushes in with that is overwhelming, and I get out of bed, pull Graham’s T-shirt over my head, and make my way to the kitchen. Graham is standing at the stove, making bacon in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts, and he’s a sight for sore eyes. I watch him for a moment, taking in the sight of him — his muscular body, his mussed-up hair, and the way he’s humming happily to himself.
“Morning,” I say, walking farther into the kitchen. Graham looks up and smiles at me. “That smells fantastic.”
“I was
hoping it would get you out of bed. Besides, bacon has good memories for me.”
We smile at each other. It’s not awkward in the least. Everything feels comfortable and warm. It was like this with Graham from the start. I think about the night before again, and I know that what I said to Graham about loving him is still true. I feel like this, even though I’m sober again, even though I’m looking at everything in the light of day.
Graham takes the bacon off the stove, and I notice he made eggs, toast and pancakes. He lays it all out on the table, and we sit down together.
“This is quite a feast,” I say.
Graham nods, helping himself to some toast. “I didn’t know what you would like, so I made something of everything. And all of it is good to cure hangovers.”
I take some pancakes and pour syrup over them. Graham and I eat in silence for a while.
“Before we carry on with this,” I say. “I want to talk to you about something.”
Graham looks at me, and he’s worried.
“Last night, we picked up where we left off. It proves a lot of things to me about how well we fit together and how we feel about each other, but we avoided the topic of what happened. I don’t want to leave it and pretend it didn’t happen. We have to sort it out, so it doesn’t come back and bite us in the ass.”
Graham nods, swallowing the food he was chewing. “I agree with you. What do you still want to talk about? Is there anything you want to ask?”
I think about that for a moment. “No, I think I understand everything now. I just don’t want us to ignore it. I want us to work through it, not around it.”
“And I agree with you. I really am sorry for everything I did. I told you before, if I could change everything, I would. And I’m going to make it up to you, like I said.” He put down his knife and fork. “I found somewhere for you to stay.”
“What? Where?” I ask. He found something fast. I’ve been looking online, and I can’t see anything that’s worth my while.
“I’m sure you know there aren’t a lot of places available right now,” Graham says. “I looked around quite a bit before I found something.”
“Just tell me,” I say.
Graham looks at me, and he seems a little unsure. “Here.” Before I can respond, he carries on. “I’ll live with my sister next door. You’ll have your space, and I won’t charge you a ridiculous amount for rent. One dollar, in fact. That’s how much you’ll have to pay me every month.”
I shake my head. “I’m not going to take your house, Graham.”
“Why not? It’s the least I can do. After all, I did that to you. It only seems fair. And I know you like the location.” He grins.
I keep shaking my head. There’s no way I’m taking his house from him, no way I’m making him move in with his sister so that I can take his house. It’s his fault that I don’t have a home of my own, but surely, I can make a different plan.
“I’ll keep looking,” I say. “I’m sure I can find something if I just keep my eyes open.”
“But there is a perfectly good house for you right here,” Graham says.
I sighed. I’m not going to argue with him, going in circles. If he’s so serious about giving up his home…
“Fine,” I say, and Graham looks taken aback, surprised. “But I’ll only do it on one condition.”
“What’s that?” he asks.
“I will live in your house, if you live here with me.”
Graham looks at me like he’s expecting me tell him I’m joking or something. The words just slipped out, but now that I’ve said them, I like the way it sounds. We were cooped up in the cabin together and that worked perfectly. I’m sure we can make it happen again. Graham can always say no. It’s a condition, not an obligation.
“Are you being serious?” Graham asks. “Are you saying you want to move in with me?”
I shake my head, and he frowns.
“Considering that you just offered me your house, what I’m really doing is asking you to move in with me.”
Graham laughs, and then I’m laughing, too. There’s only so much we can say about what happened before we put it behind us. Now that it’s all over, we’ve apologized, made our peace, and it’s time to move on. Or move in.
I lean over the table and kiss Graham. He grabs my face and kisses me back. When I finally sit back down, I realize I’ve gotten syrup all over his T-shirt that I’m wearing.
“Oh, no,” I laugh.
“I guess you’ll just have to take that off, then,” Graham says with a twinkle in his eye, and I can’t help but blush.
Chapter 46
Graham
On Sunday, Sarah and I go to Monica’s place and pack up her stuff. When Sarah explains to Monica what’s happening, Monica doesn’t seem all that surprised. When Larry comes in, he shakes my hand, and when he hears about what’s going on, he claps me on the back. It’s as if he’s telling me that I did a good job. He doesn’t seem to be a man of many words, but I understand him.
Sarah doesn’t have a lot of her stuff at Monica’s house — the place is quite small, and I understand why Sarah didn’t want to stay there at first. I can see how Sarah would feel like she is imposing. After we pick up the few things she has there, we drive through to the storage unit where the rest of her things are stored. Together, we work to get everything to my house. I rented a moving truck, and it goes a lot faster than it would have if we used only cars. When everything is at my place, Sarah and I take the time to rearrange the house and makes space for her things.
I love it. I love compromising, moving things in my life around to accommodate someone else. I have focused on myself for far too long, and Sarah deserves every bit of my life that she occupies now. I don’t know how well it will work for us to live together — we barely know each other, after all — but the cabin was a test run, and I have faith that we’ll make it work. Time will tell, and we have a lot of that.
We’re almost done for the day when Britney and the children come over.
“I’m sorry I’m barging in when you had such a busy day,” she says. “I have to admit, I’m dying of curiosity about you.”
Sarah laughs, and I formally introduce my sister to her. Britney hugs Sarah, and I look at the pair of them. Everything is going to work out. I just know it. I suggest that Britney and the kids stay for supper, but Britney declines.
“I just wanted to come meet Sarah,” she says. “I’ve actually spent more time chatting with Monica than with you. She came by the house as she obviously knew where I live, and we spoke for a while about you two. It was me who suggested the bar. Anyway, I know you had a rough day, and I’m not going to make you cook for four more people on a night like tonight. We’ll spend time together, soon.”
When Britney leaves, Sarah turns to me. “I really like her,” she says.
We sit down in our newly arranged living room, and I put my arm around her.
“I want to talk to you about something,” Sarah says, and my blood runs cold. I don’t know what there could be to speak about. I thought we put everything behind us. She laughs. “Don’t look so worried. It’s nothing bad.”
I take a deep breath.
“I wanted to say I’m sorry for taking so long to see your side,” she says. “I was hurt once very badly, and I decided never to open myself up to a man again. When you came along, I fell for you so quickly, it scared me, and then when everything came out, I didn’t know how to deal with it.”
“You don’t have to apologize for that, I understand why you were so angry,” I say, but Sarah shakes her head.
“Let me get this out. I spoke with Lindsay one night, and she reminded me that people make mistakes sometimes, and that everyone deserves a second chance. At seven years old, she’s wiser than a lot of adults I know. It’s thanks to her that we’re here now.”
I smile. “That little girl has done more for our relationship than anyone realizes,” I say. And now, it’s because of her that Sarah decided to forgive me.
“I fully agree. She’s a special child. There is one last thing I want to say on the topic, and then I will be done with it.” I nod, eager to hear it. “I understand why you did what you did. I have forgiven you for it — I moved in with you, after all — but I can’t deal with a lying boyfriend, not again. If you lie to me again, I’ll walk away, and I won’t look back. I don’t want you to think that I’ll tolerate something like this just because I’m forgiving you. I know it sounds harsh, but I have to get this off my chest.”
I shake my head. “I totally get it. And trust me, sweetheart, I won’t do this to you ever again. I’ve felt the pain of losing you. I have no intention of going through that again.”
Sarah smiles at me, and I know we are okay now. I have her back, and I’m not going to let her slip through my fingers this time. I’m going to hold on to her tightly because I know a good thing when I see one, and Sarah is a very good thing.
Sarah looks around the room. “Thank you for this,” she says.
“For what?” I ask.
“For letting me move in. For helping me with my things. For everything.”
I put my hand on her cheek.
“It’s good to finally have a home again,” she says.
I kiss her. I don’t want to talk anymore. I want to take her to my bed and make love to her. I push her back, and she lies down on the couch. I crawl onto her, pressing her body into the couch with my own. I feel her breasts against my chest and the curve of her hips beneath my stomach. My hard cock is pressed up against her. I grind against her, letting her feel me, giving her a taste of what I want.
“Let’s go christen the bedroom,” she says against my lips, and I smile.
I take her hand and help her up from the couch. Together, we walk to my bedroom where I undress her bit by bit, unwrapping her body like it’s a Christmas gift. When she’s naked, I lay her down on the bed and spread her legs with my hands. Her eyes close and I decide instead to play with her breasts for a while. I take her nipple into my mouth and roll the little nub between my tongue and teeth and I hear her breathing change. I then go to the other nipple and tease that one with my mouth as my fingers continue to squeeze the first one. Sarah moans a little and I dive between her legs and close my mouth over her pussy.
