by S. L. Scott
“Mallory, my love,” I start and she gasps. “You captured my attention from the moment I saw you and my heart the very first time you called me out on my bullshit. You showed me kindness and gave me love when I didn’t deserve it. And you never asked for anything but loyalty and a note in return. I wholeheartedly give you that and all that I am without hesitation. You aren’t my match, you’re my inspiration. If you’ll have me, I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you the man you make me want to be.”
“Oh, Evan,” she says, wiping a tear from her face. Somehow her tears treading their own path down her cheek separately than the rain, making them stand apart almost sparkling against her flawless skin.
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes, yes, of course.” She drops to her knees, down to my level. “Partners, not inspiration. Always partners. You inspire me with your courage and love every day.”She sniffles. “Please, equals, alright?”
I shake my head, a poor attempt to hold back my own tears. “Equals.” I take the ring out of my pocket. I know she doesn’t care about size, cut, clarity, or any of that, but I hope she likes it. Hell, I hope she loves it since she’s gonna wear it forever.
I slide it onto her ring finger officially binding us together, and she gasps again. “It’s perfect.” Throwing her arms around my neck, I tuck my nose against her wet hair and skin, inhaling her before releasing a long held breath as relief settles over me. Contentment. Though we’re both soaked and frozen to the bone, shivering and muddy, life is perfect.
Not gonna lie. I want her with me. I understand she made a promise to her friend. I understand she’s contractually obligated to finish out her lease, but damn it, I want her with me. This shuffling back and forth is bullshit. I want her stuff over at my place. Shit, I want to call it our place. I mean, we’re engaged for crying out loud. I toss my textbook onto the coffee table, totally pissed off.
Mallory eyes the textbook and then me. “I’ll be back later, okay,” she says, kissing me on the cheek.
Just as she gets up from the couch, I grab her hand. “No. I want you to stay.”
She sighs. I know she’s sick of this back and forth stuff just as much as I am, and it’s only been two weeks. “Babe,” she whispers and closes her eyes.
“I’ve talked to Josh,” I say.
Her eyes open and she waits for me to say more.
“He said he wants to live with Sarah. That he’s been trying to talk her into it for over a year.”
“I feel pulled here, Evan. I pay for an apartment because I committed to it.”
I stand up and take her by the waist. “Sublet it.”
“They don’t allow that. I already checked.”
“I don’t want to stay over there anymore. I like Sarah and Josh, but sometimes I just want us to have privacy. Is it too much to want to have sex with you whenever and wherever we want without someone potentially walking in on us? It puts a real damper on things.” She nods while looking down, tapping my shoe with hers. “Twelve hundred square feet all to ourselves as opposed to six hundred shared. Sounds tempting, you have to admit.”
“You’re more than tempting, my handsome fiancé.”
“I’ve got one last idea. Hear me out, okay?”
She sucks in her bottom lip and looks up at me under her lashes. Damn, she’s distracting. I feel my cock harden and readjust while trying to stay focused on the topic at hand.
“Okay, I’m listening,” she says softly, resting her palms flat on my chest.
“Let’s pay to end the lease. It’s not much and it would be worth it to have you here all the time. You know once school starts back up in a few days it’s going to be hard to find time with our busy schedules. At least this way, we’ll always go to bed together.”
“Let me guess, you already know how much it costs to buy out the lease?” she asks, knowing the answer already.
“Yep.”
“If,” she says, pointing her finger at me. “If this is an actual option, is there any way I can afford to buy it out? Or is it too expensive?”
“It’s two month’s rent.”
She huffs and I see the disappointment in her eyes. When she looks down, I lift her chin back up. “It’s our money. What does it matter if it comes from your bank account or mine when it’s both of ours anyway?”
“It’s hard for me to be taken care of. You know this about me.”
I squat down until I’m eye-level with her, and say, “I love you. Please, let’s do this.”
“I love you too.” Her smile is soft, but I know it well. She’s gonna say yes.
I pull her into an embrace and she whispers, “Alright.”
“Really?” I search her eyes for the lie, but find none.
“Really. I want to be with you and you’re right. Once school starts it is gonna be hard to squeeze in time together.” Lifting up, she gives me a quick kiss. She turns and walks to the door, but before she leaves, she says, “Let me talk to Sarah and make sure everything is good with her first.”
I nod, not saying another word. I don’t want to push my luck when I’m ahead.
“Evan, no complaining. You wanted me over here, so you have to help.”
“I didn’t realize how much crap you had crammed into that small room at your apartment.”
“Shush it and move!”
She’s sexy when she’s bossy. Fuck, does that mean I like a dominant woman? I shake my head and watch her ass in front of me sashaying into the elevator. If she keeps that up, I’m gonna have my way with her when we get upstairs.
She sets the box on the floor in the bedroom, turns and says, “I think we’ll be finished after two more trips to the car.”
I grab her by the waist, and flip her onto the bed. “Give me some action now, woman, or I’m gonna tickle you into submission,” I say, holding her wrists above her head. “You can’t just walk around looking like this. These very short-shorts are driving me mad and I’m pretty damn positive that you’re not wearing a bra under that sweatshirt either. You’re torturing me.”
She pretends to be irritated between giggles, but I see through her act. She loves getting me all worked up like this. “Evan, you know I don’t take kindly to threats,” she says, hitting me on the chest while I attack her neck with my mouth.
“Oh,” I say then kiss her on the throat and smirk. “And this isn’t a threat. This is a promise, baby.” I move down to kiss, tugging the collar of her sweatshirt down to suck on the skin of her collarbone.
Her body relaxes under mine. Yeah, she wants me. In a soft voice, she whispers, “Just two more boxes… oh God, that feels good.”
“You can call me babe, baby, or Evan, but God is a bit formal, don’t ya think?” I snicker then return to sucking on her neck, her natural taste so sweet.
“Just keep doing… yes, oh Evan, yes, that. Right there.”
Ever since we left Denver, we haven’t been able to keep our hands off each other, but somehow it’s different.
Her life surrounds us in boxes. She’s here and she’s mine—the thought intoxicating. A desperate desire builds inside of me. My hands slide down under the waistband of her shorts and she sighs. She starts tugging at my shirt and I lift one arm at a time so she can remove it.
She tosses it off into the room somewhere, then runs her nails lightly down my chest sending shivers through my body.
My voice is gruff, my desire taking over, my patience gone. “I want these off. Now.” I lift up, and she scrambles beneath me to remove her shorts. I smile, and ask, “No underwear, Mallory?”
“Nope,” she says, cocking an eyebrow and grinning.
“Fuck, I love you.”
She laughs. I untie the drawstring of my pants, but she pushes them down with her hands before jumping off the bed to pull them the rest of the way off.
After she takes her sweatshirt off, I climb back on top of her, positioning myself. “I was right. No bra, you tease.”
“It’s called motivation. I thought it w
ould be a good reward for helping me move.”
“You know me too well. By the way, welcome home, baby.”
Her lids close when I push into her. My own lids close in sync with the forward motion. Biting my lower lip, I enjoy the slow pace of our bodies moving together.
When I open my eyes, her hands are rubbing across her chest and I see her ring, my ring, on her finger, two and a half carats for the world to see our commitment to each other. She opens her eyes as her hand reaches up stroking my face gently. “I love you.” I’ll never get enough of hearing those words from her lips.
She moves against me, encouraging me to speed up, so I do and we both moan in pleasure.
I slip my arm under her leg, lifting her up by the knee and getting closer—moving deeper, thrusting harder. Her hands grab my shoulders, holding on until her head falls back and her mouth falls open. “Fuck, keep going, babe. Keep going.”
Pushing up with my hips, I know I’ll hit her sweet spot. She bucks beneath me, not able to contain herself. She swears, calling out my name one more time as she tenses, then tremors.
My orgasm hits me just after hearing her dirty words—both hitting fast and hard. I collapse on top of her trying to catch my breath and slow my racing heart. But when I try to move off her, our bodies slick with sweat, she holds me tighter and whispers, “Stay.”
“Am I hurting you?”
“No,” she says with a sigh. “I love this part.”
I smile. “Mallory?”
“Yes,” she answers, rubbing my shoulder gently.
“Promise me it will always be like this.”
“I promise you it will always be like this.”
I roll off and we move to our sides, then I pull her even closer and kiss the tender spot behind her ear. “Sweet dreams.”
“Sweet dreams.”
“You excited or nervous?” Mallory asks, sitting across from me and eating a bowl of cereal.
“Both.” I stand up, my anxiety over the first day of school showing by the full bowl of cereal on the table. “I’ve lost my appetite.” Walking into the kitchen, I grab a bottle of water from the fridge.
After looking at her watch, she announces, “Time to go, hot stuff.”
Dropping the bottle inside my back pack, I swing it onto my shoulder and stand near the door, waiting on her.
I hear a huff as she grabs her backpack from the floor next to the table. “Hey, there isn’t maid service here. Bowl. Sink.”
“Remind me to find a cleaning service soon then because this cleaning stuff you’re obsessed with sucks.”
She giggles. “Call Ms. Chart to come for a visit. I’m sure she’d be happy to help you interview housekeepers.”
That gives me an idea. “I could ask her to move in here with us. We have the extra bedroom.”
Mallory looks at me, eyes narrows, frown on her face.
“I’m just playing with ya,” I say, teasing. “Why would she leave Hawaii or even New York for the cold and snow of Colorado?”
“Why indeed.”
I take the bowl to the sink and we leave.
While walking to school, I can tell Mallory is lost in thought. I stay quiet and let her think. One thing I’ve learned about her is when she’s ready to talk, she will.
She kisses me in front of the English building before disappearing inside after a quick goodbye. I walk down to the Psychology building and find the auditorium of my first class.
Shifting uncomfortably in my chair, I look around, feeling much older than most of the other students. Maybe I’m feeling the toll life has taken, aged by experience. Makes me feel lucky that most of my credits transferred and I tested out of the other basics or I’d be with a bunch of eighteen-year-olds instead of kids who can at least buy beer.
Thankfully my morning passes by uneventfully. School is just how I remember. I meet Mallory for lunch at a deli near campus. When I walk in, I see her sitting in a corner. Tossing my bag across the seat, I slide in. “Hey there.”
“Hi,” she says, smiling. “How were your first classes?”
“So far so good. No surprises.”
“That’s good. Are they interesting?”
“Yeah, I like them.”
“What about girls?”
“What about girls?” I ask.
She briefly glances out the window then back to me. By the way she’s fidgeting, I think she’s nervous. “Any girls you find interesting?”
“Only one,” I say, reaching across the table and taking hold of her hand, stilling it. “You’re the only girl I’ve got eyes for.”
“Sorry,” she says, looking at our hands.
“For what?”
“For, you know, being ridiculous.”
“I like when you’re ridiculous. Means you think I’m hot.”
That makes her laugh. “I do think you’re hot.”
“Good. Because I think you’re really hot.”
“Okay, silly boy, let’s get back to your day and classes.”
I lean back in the booth. “They’re going to be a lot of work. I can tell.”
“Well, knowing you, you’ll get straight A’s.” She slips out of the booth and stands. “We should go up and order our food. We don’t have a ton of time.”
We go through the line then sit back down.
“Sooo,” she starts, looking down at her sandwich. I set mine down because I can tell whatever she’s about to say is important. “I wanted to talk to about some things I’ve been thinking about.”
“Alright.” I clasp my hands together under the table and lean forward to listen.
“I know you just got here and all, but I was wondering what you thought about—”
“The food?”
“No, um,” she says, chuckling. “What do you think of Colorado since you’ve been here?”
I sit back, my heart starts racing, and I brace myself, suddenly nervous for some reason. I drag my sweating palms up and down my thighs as my eyes travel to her left hand to make sure her ring is still there. It is.
“I’m applying for the graduate program here, but I’d also like to apply to the University of Hawaii. They have a great program and it would be warm and I don’t know where we could live or anything, but I’m sure we could figure that out. Sunny and Zach are staying there after graduation and I could work on campus or maybe even at Big Kehones to make mone—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. Back up.” I hold up my hands, stopping her. “Let me get this straight. You might be moving to Hawaii?”
“Well, I wouldn’t do anything without talking to you. It’s a big decision that we have to make together now.” She wiggles her ring finger at me. “I’m happy to stay here if you prefer. I know—”
“That’s not what I’m saying. It’s probably not the best idea for me to change again, but I want to go back to Hawaii. My car is there.”
“You only want to go back for your car?”
“No, but I’d have a car. We could live at the house.”
“That brings me to part two of what I’ve been thinking about—the wedding.”
“Did you pick a date?”
“I picked a location. I want to get married in Hawaii. We said after my graduation, so I was thinking this summer. June, if that’s not too soon.”
I get up and slide across the booth next to her. Wrapping my arm around her shoulder, I say, “June sounds perfect. I thought I was gonna have to wait until after my graduation, which is a lot longer than June.” I kiss her and she kisses me back not caring that we’re in public.
“You’re not mad?”
“Why would I be mad?”
“Moving here and then maybe, possibly moving again.” She crinkles her nose in worry. “You have an apartment with stuff now.”
“I’m in my major now, but the classes I’m taking this semester will transfer. I’d go back to Hawaii in a heartbeat. And I can sell the furniture and other stuff we don’t want. June, huh?”
She looks down shyly,
twisting the ring around her finger. “I’m ready to be married, to be tied to you permanently.”
“You can’t say things like that to me in public. Words like that make me want to bend you over this table and have my way with you.”
Her green eyes lock on mine, all tempting lust and challenging. “I like your wicked ways. So what’s stopping you?”
“Hot damn, woman,” I say, lifting up to adjust my jeans, hoping to find some extra room for my erection. “I’m trying to be a gentleman. I’m trying to control the primal urges that tell me to fuck you right here and now.”
“Well, if you ever want to not ‘control’ those urges, you know where to find me,” she says, knowing she owns my ass.
She’s just about to take a bite of her sandwich when I ask, “How much time do you have until your next class?”
Setting her food down, she looks at her phone to check. “Forty-five minutes.”
I grab the food, toss it on the tray and dump it in the garbage bin before grabbing both of our backpacks, her hand, and pull her out the door.
“Evan?”
“Yep?” I answer, trying to figure out how I can shorten the ten minute walk back to the apartment.
“Are you taking me home to have sex? In the middle of the day?”
“No, I’m taking you home to fuck in the middle of the day.”
“It’s the first day of classes,” she says, double-timing to keep up with my pace.
“We’re setting a precedence. This is how all first days should be,” I reply proudly.
Laying next to me, her eyes heavy, her body covered in a light layer of sweat. “Holy fuck, babe.”
“I promised a solid fuck.”
Mallory rolls on top of me, wiggling her sweet ass as she straddles my middle. I hold her by the hips, looking up at my sexy girl. Leaning forward, she drops her arms on either side of my head. Her hair tickles my ears and she looks into my eyes. “You sure did and you delivered. Since the day you asked if I needed a ride from the airport with all your cocky attitude and swagger, you’ve delivered on your promises.” Leaning all the way down, she plants her lips on my mouth, her tongue finding mine, and with sensual caresses, her body begins slowly rocking against me, seeking more.
