“I fucking love those leggings you always wear at home,” I say, handing her a hot cup of coffee with cream, just the way she likes it.
“You do?” she asks, scrunching her nose.
“They’re so soft and show off every one of your curves. What’s not to love?”
“My jiggly ass in them,” she scoffs. I know she’s trying to be funny, but I hate that her ex made her feel anything less than beautifully perfect.
Walking over to her again, I grab her ass, hard, making her gasp with surprise. “This ass is perfect. I don’t want to hear you talk like that about yourself again. Got it?”
“Uh huh,” she says with a look of shock and surprise written all over her face, but there’s something more there. Lust, desire maybe. Maybe my girl likes it a little rough. Noted.
We eat our breakfast, talking like nothing has changed, but things definitely have. It’s a surreally strange thing to see how we’re evolving in our relationship. After we eat, we cuddle on the couch and watch Friends. It’s the perfect day. Nothing sexual, except a few kisses here and there, as we hold each other on the couch.
I groan when I have to peel myself away from Josie to get ready to head into the garage, but she assures me that she’ll be here waiting for me. I bend and kiss her bye before I leave with a smile on my face and more pep in my step because I got my girl waiting for me, just like I’ve dreamed about.
Chapter Eight
Josie
As soon as I heard the door shut and Travis’s truck back out of the driveway, I couldn’t help the squeal that escaped. I still feel so utterly confused, but when it’s just Trav and me, it feels so right. We fit so perfectly. When I think about it, I can actually see us forming a future together. I know it sounds ridiculous and will take a lot to figure things out, but I think I want to try. Maybe I am losing my mind. I don’t know. What I do know is that the way I feel when I’m with Travis I haven’t felt in a very long time. And it scares me. A lot.
I clean up around the house, catch up on the never-ending laundry, and get dinner started while I wait for Travis to get back home. While dinner is cooking, I jump in the shower to get cleaned up, thinking about how badly I want to be able to do this with Travis. Not just shower with him but do this. Do life. Gosh, I am losing my mind.
I gather my hair up into a messy top knot, not bothering to dry it, pull on my favorite pair of leggings that have digital-patterned flowers and a loose V-neck cotton shirt. I swipe my eyes with a little mascara and head down to check on dinner.
I’m bent over pulling out the roasted chicken and veggies when I hear him from behind me. “If that isn’t the best sight to see coming home from work, I don’t know what is. Damn, Josie.” His deep, rough voice hits me right at my center, turning me on.
Gosh, this man.
“Hey, baby. I made dinner. I hope you’re hungry.”
“Oh, I’m hungry, but it’s not necessarily for food, Joes.” I feel my cheeks turn hot and my panties get wet at his admission.
“Well, let’s eat dinner and then we can figure out dessert.”
He offers a lifted brow and surprised smile as he walks over to me, stops and just looks at me for a minute before enveloping my body in his and giving me a tantalizing kiss. When he releases me, he nonchalantly walks to wash his hands and then walks to the table to sit where I have dinner set out waiting. I quietly sit down and dish food onto our plates before we start eating. We eat in silence, each stealing glances at one another as our feet tangle under the table.
The second we both finish the last of our food and our forks hit our plates, we both stand in a frenzy to get to each other. There’s kissing and hands and tongues and touching everywhere. Travis picks me up and perches me on the table, standing between my legs. He slowly lifts my shirt over my head, leaving me in my lace bra. His eyes trail over me slowly before our eyes meet. “Josie, you have to stop me if you want to stop, because otherwise, I don’t think I’ll be able to.”
“I know I want you. I’m just not sure how far I’m comfortable with right now, but I’ll let you know when we get there. In the meantime, can you take your shirt off?” I wiggle my eyebrows up and down. He smirks at me as he pulls his shirt off and tosses it over my head. My hands immediately reach out to explore his skin. It’s the first time I’ve really allowed myself to touch Travis like this since everything started with us. It feels forbidden and naughty, yet natural and what I’ve been missing in my life.
Travis has muscles with ripples and ridges in all the right places. His skin is soft and warm to the touch. Leaning forward, I place a soft kiss on his chest, while his hands are in my hair.
My lips continue to travel the expanse of his stomach and chest, not wanting to miss a single place, as my hands find their way to his strong back. He tilts my face up, capturing my searching lips that want to taste every inch of him. His teeth sink into my bottom lip, pulling just enough, making a moan leave me. I can’t believe how much I want him and how my body is lighting up for him. Although, I shouldn’t be surprised because it’s like this every time I’m with him.
He reaches for the hook on my bra at the same time I reach for his belt, hungry eyes fixed on each other. My bra starts to fall down my arms as I reach my hand into the front of his pants, curling my fingers around his erection. My hand slides down his hard shaft, and I’m about to push his pants down when I hear the sound of the front door unlocking. Shit!
Our eyes find each other in panic as I jump from the table, grabbing my shirt and running to the laundry room to put it back on. I hear Travis mutter a “fuck” as he gets his pants buckled, but his shirt is over by me. I wink at him as I grab it and turn around the corner, leaving him shirtless and with a boner in the next room. I hurry to clasp my bra and pull my shirt over my head before I hear Ollie and Tatum walk inside.
I make quick work to look like I was still doing laundry when I hear their voices enter the house. “Mommy?” I hear Tatum call, not sounding like her chipper self. Concerned, I run out to see why they’re home a day early and she sounds upset.
“What’s wrong, sweet girl? You alright?” I ask as I pull her in for a hug and look at Ollie and Adam behind her for answers.
“She woke up with a fever today and was doing alright but kept crying to come home. To you. So, I finally gave in,” Adam says, sounding annoyed by the fact that his daughter is sick.
“Why didn’t you call me? I could have come picked her up or just talked to her on the phone to try to settle her down.”
“She asked for you. I brought her to you. On my weekend. You’re welcome, Josie.”
I look at Ollie with pleading eyes to take his sister into the next room so I can talk to their dad. He gives me a small nod in understanding. “Come on, Tates, I’ll put on your favorite movie, OK?” They walk out of the room hand in hand, making my heart swell for how much my baby boy takes care of his little sister. Then I hear, “Dude, why don’t you have a shirt on?” I have to bite the inside of my cheek so I don’t laugh when I hear Travis reply that I was washing it because he had gotten food from dinner on it.
“I knew I wouldn’t win with you. If I’d called, you’d say I should have just brought her home. I bring her home and you say I should have called. I can’t win!” Adam yells at me.
“Why are you acting like a five-year-old? She was sick and didn’t feel good. Did you even try to hold her or make her feel better? Or did you make her stay away so you wouldn’t get sick too like you always did before when Ollie was sick?”
“That’s not fair. I have a huge meeting Monday I can’t miss.”
“Of course,” I say rolling my eyes. “Well, I got it from here. Thanks for bringing her home. You can go now.”
“Can I have them next weekend since I brought them back early?”
“Are you kidding me right now?”
“No, I’m being quite serious, Josie. I do love my kids, despite what you may think.”
“I’ll let you know. I’ll let them d
ecide what they want to do.”
“Sure,” he snorts, “you do that.”
“I can’t do this with you right now. I’ll call you to sort it out, alright? Have a good night, Adam.”
“Whatever. Watch that Gellar kid. I know his dad. That family is bad news. Always has been. I don’t like him being here alone with you.”
“Travis is harmless and as much a part of this family as Ollie and Tatum. Besides that, it’s none of your damn business who’s in my house when.” And I slam the door in his stupid face.
“Gah! The nerve of him!” I say to myself as I stand there to take a minute before I greet my children properly.
“You OK?” The sound of his voice startles me, making me jump. He chuckles at that as he walks closer to me. “I didn’t mean to scare you. But are you alright? That sounded pretty heated.”
“You heard?” I ask, nodding toward the living room, silently asking if my kids heard, too.
“Tatum is focused on her movie, and Ollie is upstairs.”
“Thank God,” I say, releasing a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
“Thank you.”
“For what?” I ask confused as to why he’s thanking me for anything right now. I’m pretty sure he has the biggest case of blue balls ever, and now who knows when we’ll be able to finish what we started, let alone touch and kiss each other again.
“For what you said to him. About me.”
I shrug. “It’s the truth.” I start to walk to him, wanting to wrap my arms around him and kiss him again, but stop myself, giving him a small smile.
He reaches out and grabs my hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing it. That simple gesture meant more at that moment than anything else he could have said or done. I knew then that I was in so much trouble when it came to Travis Gellar.
I was falling for him.
Fast.
TRAVIS
After letting go of Josie’s hand I turned and walked to the kitchen to clean up from our dinner that ended before we could finish dessert. I’m not even mad though. I know that Ollie and Tatum are her whole world, and I’m just damn lucky that she lets me be a part of it.
Adam is a prick, however. I never liked him when they were married, and I certainly don’t like him anymore now. He’s never treated her with the love and respect and adoration she deserves. I plan on making it my mission to show her exactly how beautiful, loved, and adored she is.
Once I’m in the kitchen I pass Ollie picking at the leftovers on the counter. I give him a nod before I gather the dishes from the table, putting them in the sink to rinse, like Josie likes, before I load them in the dishwasher.
“I fucking hate my dad,” Ollie admits in a mutter only I can hear.
“Join the club, dude.”
“You hate my dad, too?”
“Well, I meant the club of sons hating their dads, but I’m not exactly a big fan of yours, either.”
He snorts in understanding. Ollie and I have talked about our messed-up dads through the years about as much as any teen boys do. But we both get where the other is coming from regardless of the differences of our fathers.
“I don’t know why he even wants us at his place most the time anyway. He never does anything with us and hardly acknowledges us. I’d almost rather it that way, but it’s not fair to Tate. She doesn’t really understand yet. And I want to fucking punch his face with the way he talks to my mom. I can’t believe she stayed with him as long as she did. He’s such a fucking tool.”
“If you hate it there why don’t you just not go? Aren’t you old enough to make that choice?” I decide not to mention the part where I’d gladly punch Adam’s fucking face for how he treats Josie, too, because I don’t want to give myself away with how I feel about her.
“I can, but Tatum isn’t old enough yet. I wouldn’t make her go by herself. She’d be miserable.”
“You’re a good brother.”
“I hope so,” he says with a sigh.
I’ve got the dishwasher loaded and started, and I’m on to handwashing the pans before he speaks up again, leaning a hip on the counter next to me. “You and my mom do OK while we were gone?”
“Yeah, she didn’t feel good yesterday herself. She had a fever, so she stayed in bed and had a lazy morning. I worked this afternoon” – I shrug – “Nothing crazy.” Except for me telling her I love her and some serious making out.
“Oh, shit! You should have called me. I would have come back with Tate ASAP. Any excuse to get away from the sperm donor.”
“Sorry, dude, I didn’t even think about it. I got home from work last night after looking at apartments with her, and she was in bed. I checked in and she was burning up. I gave her some meds, and her fever broke. She seemed fine today. Same with Tate, you think?”
“I don’t know, probably. Those two are one in the same,” he says with a laugh and shake of his head. “Well, nonetheless, thanks for taking care of her. You always do, and I really appreciate it, man.” He pats me on the shoulder and leaves the room before I have to respond, thank fuck.
I finish cleaning up the kitchen before I peek around the corner to check on the girls. A smile pulls on my mouth when I see the two of them asleep on the couch, with Descendants playing in the background. (Yes, I fucking know what that movie is. I’ve watched it at least six times with Tatum before, thank you very much.) I lean against the wall and watch my girl sleep for a minute. She’s wrapped up in a blanket with Tate curled into her side. They look so sweet together. I wish I had memories with my mom like this, but I don’t. I remember Josie taking care of me when I was sick or hurt more than my own mother.
I push off the wall and walk to the sleeping girls. Careful not to wake either of them, I grab Tatum and carry her up to her room, tucking her in and turning on her favorite night light before I close her door and head back to get my girl. She’s still sleeping when I get back to her.
I walk through the downstairs, turning off lights around the house and making sure the doors are locked before I turn off the TV and scoop up Josie to carry her to her room.
I haven’t seen or heard Ollie since he left the kitchen earlier, so I’m praying he doesn’t choose this moment to appear and ask why I’m carrying his mom to her room. Thankfully, his door is shut and he doesn’t appear as I walk into her room and lightly kick the door closed behind me with my foot.
Gently, I lay her down on her bed before turning on the lamp on her side table so I can see what I’m doing. I want to make sure she hasn’t spiked another fever before I leave her to sleep, but she stirs awake when I place my lips on her forehead. “Hey, you,” she says in a soft voice with glazed-over eyes.
“Hey, pretty girl. I’m just checking that your fever didn’t come back before I head to Ollie’s room for the night.”
“You always take such good care of me, Trav.”
“I’m just returning the favor of how you always care for me,” I say before I kiss her on the forehead again.
“Did Tate get to bed?”
“I carried her up and tucked her in before I carried you up. Her night light is on, and she doesn’t feel fevered anymore, either.”
“Thank you for doing that.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I’m just taking care of my girls. You need anything else before I go?”
“I wish you could stay with me.”
“Me too.” I can’t help the laugh that escapes.
“You probably have the worst case of blue balls, huh?” she laughs.
“You think that’s funny?”
“Kind of. But I did have every intention tonight of having you in my bed.”
“That is not helping, Joes.”
She laughs again as she pulls my hand to get me to her level. Lacing her fingers in my hair, I close my eyes and decompress under her touch. There’s something so intoxicatingly relaxing about Josie’s touch. She pulls me to her, kissing me once, twice and then a third time before her tongue seeks mine. I know it can’t last
long, but I’ll take all the Josie I can get whenever I can have her. We pull apart, and I know I’m sporting wood. I stand and adjust myself before I bend and kiss her on the head one last time before I walk to the door. “Night, pretty girl.”
“Night.”
I go directly to the bathroom and take a cold shower. I don’t know if it helps any though because when I wrap a towel around my waist I’m still sporting a semi. Fuck, this girl. I smile and shake my head as I make my way to Ollie’s room.
He’s already snoring when I walk in, Beats on his head, curled under his blanket like he always sleeps. I pull on a pair of shorts and fall onto the spare bed in his room that’s more my own than the one down the street. Lying there, I can’t help but think about Josie. We came seriously close to getting caught, but we recovered well. I hate that we have to sneak and I hate that I have to lie to my best friend, but I don’t see any other way, at least for a while.
Then I think about yesterday at the apartment and coming home and taking care of her. I think about this morning and how special it was. I think about what almost happened tonight and the quick peek I got at her beautiful tits. Oh great, now I’m hard again. A small groan comes out of me. Looking at the clock I see it’s now 2 a.m. I wonder what would happen if I snuck in Josie’s room right now…
I don’t even remember getting out of bed or making my way there, but now I’m crawling in her bed and I don’t even care. Consequences be damned.
I curl my large frame around her small one, one arm under her head, the other around her waist and my lips find her shoulder. I pepper her skin with kisses as my hand finds its way under her shirt and skims her nipple like I did this morning. And just like this morning, I’m rewarded with a soft moan.
Except this time, I also get another reward. Her hand makes its way inside my shorts. I’ve never been happier with my decision to not wear underwear than at this moment. She runs her hand down my rock-hard cock like she had done earlier tonight. She pumps me a few more times before she runs her thumb over the head, spreading the beads of pleasure around before she turns and shifts to straddle my lap. Sitting on me, staring at each other in the dark, Josie does the single sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. She takes the thumb that was just rubbing me and pushes it into her mouth, licking and sucking me from it.
Always Series Box Set Page 8
