by Frankie Love
“What are you doing, son?” he asks, barely looking up at me.
There’s something about this man, he’s crazy as fuck, sure. But hell, it’s a good kind of crazy. The club he’s running downstairs a few times a month is impressive. But also, what he’s told us about why he’s running that club. What his goals are and what he’s aiming to do—living half the year in Mexico, it’s clear he has his priorities in line.
“I need some help finding someone,” I tell him. “And I thought maybe you might know someone who could help.”
Sadie walks over and hands me a beer. Her hand brushes over the top of mine. God, I love this woman’s touch.
“Be nice to him, Dusty.” She smirks, pulling her hands to her hips. “Understand?”
Dusty laughs, pointing at Sadie. “Where did this broad come from?” He shakes his head, looking at me.
Hell, if I know.
“I need to know if someone by the name of Maria Thomas is alive, what she’s doing, and where she’s living. The last place anyone has seen her is in Pennsylvania.”
Dusty runs his hands over his jaw. “You in trouble, son?”
“Not me, it’s Sadie mom. She needs to find out if she’s okay. We thought you might know of a guy who could help look for her.”
Dusty nods. In a short time, Sadie has definitely left her mark on Dusty. What I first saw as asshole behavior has become something more like fatherly love. He may be good at giving the girl a hard time, but only because he likes her. She’s a friend. I don’t think that he is the kind of guy that goes easy on anybody. And the thing about Sadie is, she can take it. So long as she is allowed to dish it right back.
Dusty is not our enemy. Fact is, I’m betting he has very few enemies. He’s in the business of giving people what they want. And the way he’s nodding and pulling out his phone, it makes me think he’s our saving grace.
“Teddy can help you. You able to pay him for all the driving he’ll have to do?”
“Money’s not an issue,” I tell him.
Dusty looks at me hard, harder than I’d like, maybe harder than anybody has looked at me since I faked my own death.
“Helping you out isn’t gonna bring me trouble, is it?” he asks.
“No trouble. Sadie needs our help. I wouldn’t ask unless it was important,” I tell him.
“Alright, let me get him for you.”
Dusty heads to the kitchen and a few minutes later returns with the bouncer who is always blushing when Sadie looks his direction.
This is the man that’s gonna help us? He may be a large guy but he doesn’t look like he’s ever hurt a fly. Big toothy grin, button up shirt across his belly, and when he slides into the booth he waves hello instead of shaking my hand.
I catch Sadie’s eye where she’s behind the bar. She just shrugs as if Teddy helping out won’t be a problem. I hope she’s right.
Dusty sits down and asks me to relay the information and facts that Sadie explained to me earlier today. She told me where she’s from, her mother’s name, and where she thinks her mom might be right now. She says the best bet is a local motel. Maybe. But that there was no insurance on the mobile home she set on fire, so Sadie is guessing her mom is struggling.
She also said that is why she is working so hard, so she can send money to her mom when she finds out where she is.
My heart breaks for Sadie, for her strength.
“Can you handle it?” I ask Teddy.
He wipes a tear from his eye, his soft spot for my girl crystal clear, and it actually endears me to him. He may be a lug of a guy––but he has good fucking taste. He knew Sadie was special the moment he laid eyes on her.
“Anything for her,” he says bravely. “I’ll go grab my stuff now and head out. Sooner I find her mama, the sooner Sadie can have some peace.”
I shake his hand, and then give him a wad of cash for travel expenses. He thanks me, and then heads out.
“One other thing, Dusty,” I say after thanking Dusty for helping us out. “Do you have a laptop I can borrow?”
“Sure, in the back office. I don’t use it anymore, might be a little slow. I have one at home now. Why don’t you take that back to Sadie’s place? I bet from there you can connect to the Wi-Fi that we have here at the bar.”
“Why are you being so good to me?” I can’t help but ask.
Dusty shrugs. “I don’t got a lot in terms of family. I made some fucked up choices when I was young, and in a lot of ways, I’m still paying for them.” He runs his hand over his jaw. “So, the people I can convince to come work for me, they become my family. That means I’ve got Sadie’s back. Same way I got Teddy’s. And seeing as you’re Sadie’s man, looks like I’ve got yours too. Seems the least I can do is help out my own.”
His words mean more than he could understand. I don’t have family. I have shit. A few months ago I would never have imagined my life could become this. Living in the middle of nowhere Indiana with a woman who stole my heart, and Dusty, the owner of the dive bar, somehow willing to give me a chance.
“You sure you’re alright?” he asks, as I wipe a fucking tear from my eye. I don’t know what the hell’s happening to me. This big old guy is giving me more than I am due. . They say you can’t pick your family, but you can pick your friends, and shit, Dusty having my back right now means the world to me.
It also makes me miss Cal like a motherfucker. Cal, who was here last night. Cal, who thinks I’m dead.
Cal, the man who I’d do anything to protect after he spent so damn long looking after me.
Cal, the man my parents ruined in ways he doesn’t even know.
I look at Dusty, clap him on the back. “Things have been rough for me for a while, and your generosity—fuck, Dusty. It means a hell of a lot.”
Later, I’m back in the cottage and turn on the laptop.
I’ve got a shit-ton of work to do. I have to create plans for Sadie and me. And I don’t know where that’s going to be, or how it’s going to work, but I do know that it’s time for me to step up to the plate and become the man she is going to need.
I don’t know what Teddy is gonna find, and who knows what charges are against Sadie, for the murder she committed. The arson on her hands.
And as easy as I want this to be for both of us, and as many promises I made this morning when I held her in my arms, as tears fell down her perfect cheeks, I’m not so sure it’s going to be as easy as she deserves it to be.
As easy as we want it to be.
Truth is, as I turn on Dusty’s computer and start looking around online, I’ve got no fucking idea what I’m gonna find.
14
The next week passes in a beautiful blur. Sawyer and I reach new heights every day, our passion for one another growing with every exchange.
We get groceries and make breakfasts that stretch until the afternoon. Bacon and eggs with a side of sex never tasted so damn good. And to distract ourselves from the nail-biting wait to hear back from Teddy, Sawyer and I use Dusty’s laptop to search for potential places we might want to go. Places where we could start a new life undercover. It’s hard to decide anything concretely, though; my mind is always on my mom. Worried and wondering, but at the same time anxious to know that she is alive and well. I’ll send her the money I’ve saved as soon I know where she is.
Sawyer sees my stress, and I know he has carried fear ever since his best friend came to the bar. We know we can’t stay in this town forever. Hell, Cal and Jules could return any moment. And what then? We can’t constantly be hiding. We need to start over somewhere with freedom. Somewhere far, far away.
My body has memorized Sawyer’s, and when he pulls me against him in the middle of the night, his hard cock grinding against my pussy, I give him what he desires; what I crave. And when he’s in the shower in the middle of the afternoon, there’s nothing that stops me from reaching for the shower curtain, stepping inside, and dropping to my knees. I suck him off, my mouth full with his length, and I let his salty
come slide down my throat.
I swear when his seed fills my belly, a warmth spreads throughout me, making me whole. We may be hiding out in the middle of nowhere, but we are growing closer each day. The idea of the world driving us into one another’s arms shows— us that needing another person isn’t weak. In fact, it makes us stronger than we ever could have been alone.
Together, we seem to go further than either of us would be able to go on our own, and he reminds me on a daily basis, how beautiful it is to be touched and felt and held by him. The man who sees me as more than I have ever seen myself.
We haven’t left the cottage or bar in what feels like forever, and so one bright morning, when Sawyer asks if I’d like to go with him into town to find a bookstore, I agree.
“You aren’t nervous about being recognized?”
Sawyer shakes his head, pulling on his ball cap. “Nah, we’re good. I’ll keep my head low and my eyes on you. I’m getting a little stir crazy in here all day, everyday.”
In his Chevy, I take his hand, loving the way even a regular outing with Sawyer feels like a gift. When I spend time with him, I feel more relaxed than I ever have before.
He catches me smiling at him. “What has you in such a good mood?” he asks.
“I’m just really happy.” The answer is simple, but it’s the truth. Being with him is the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.
Later, after Sawyer has got himself a stack of books fifteen volumes high, I ask what we should do next.
“Let me drop these in the car, then we can walk around Main Street?”
“Sounds good,” I say, watching him return his heavy bag to the car, my eyes on his perfect ass the entire time, but his pants are too loose. I need a better view. “You know,” I say when he returns. “I think you need some new jeans.”
“What’s wrong with these?”
“They aren’t tight enough.”
He scowls. “What did you have in mind?”
“Seeing as we are in farm country, I think you need some Wranglers, and maybe some cowboy boots.”
He laughs, shaking his head at me like I’m a fool.
“I mean it. I want to see you in some tight ass jeans, mister.”
He rolls his eyes, but when I smack his ass, and lead him down the street to the clothing store I saw on our way into town, he follows.
“No way,” he says when we enter the shop filled with cowboy hats and boots in every color.
“Yes, way,” I say, leading him to a display of jeans. “These ones look about right.” I hold up a pair of narrow jeans, and I can just imagine him in them, without a shirt. I’m wet just thinking about it. “Just try them on.”
He obliges, and a sales clerk comes over to help just as he has left for a changing room in the far back corner of the store. “I think I got this,” I tell her, knowing Sawyer would hate an audience. “But thanks.”
She returns to the front of the store where she’s unpacking a dozen boxes of new inventory.
I go to check on him, and he talks through the curtain. “No way, Sadie. These are way too––”
I don’t let him finish. I pull back the curtain and step in side.
Oh, hot damn. I’ve been looking at his naked body for weeks now, but still, when I see him in these tight-ass jeans, showing off his perfectly formed ass, revealing a hefty bulge in the groin, I want to devour him right here, right now.
“You look delicious,” I tell him. “I could eat you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
Sawyer raises an eyebrow, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“Oh, yeah, exactly how hungry are you right now?”
I lick my lips. “There’s an old lady working about thirty feet away.”
“And?”
I laugh, and then cover my mouth, trying to muffle the noise.
Sawyer is hard as a rock; I feel his cock against my belly. I can’t resist the temptation. I lower myself to my knees, and my fingers undo his fly.
I pull the sexy jeans down, his boxers too, and what I find is nothing short of a meal made for one.
My tongue rolls around his tasty tip, and I tease him by licking slowly up and down the length of his shaft.
“Damn, woman,” he mutters under his breath, his hands running through my long hair.
I know we can’t draw this out too long or the shopkeeper will come asking if we need any help.
And we certainly have this under control on our own.
I take all of him at once, my mouth filled with his huge cock, and he pulls my head against him. I love it when his length hits the back of my throat, when he thrusts hard against me, taking my breath away. My hands are on his gorgeous ass cheeks as I move my head faster and faster.
My lips seal tight against his shaft, wanting him to come in me hard, suddenly desperate to taste his cream in my mouth. Wanting my belly to be full of his release.
I want to moan against him, but I do my best to suck him off soundlessly. He moves hard against me, pulling my hair in a way that makes me feel wanted and needed.
And when he comes in my mouth, I can’t help but drink him up, savoring every last drop.
He helps me stand, and I lick my lips, my cheeks hot and my pussy soaked.
“Sawyer, you are getting those pants. Understood?”
He grins, stepping out of them and handing them to me.
“At this point, baby, I’ll do anything you say.”
“In that case, I insist we get matching cowboy boots.”
Sawyer shakes his head at me. “Girl, I think you’re the only person in the world who could get me in a pair of those.”
Thirty minutes later, we walk back to his car, our hands tucked in the back pockets of one another’s jeans.
There is no denying the truth.
We fit together, and we look good. After all, we’re both rocking bright red boots.
When I get off my shift, late one night, I find Sawyer bent out of shape—pacing and drinking from a bottle of whiskey.
“What is it?” I ask, dropping my purse on the chair after pulling out my tips. I can’t count them now though. Sawyer’s a train wreck. I’ve never seen him this way. “What’s going on?” I ask again.
“Just read it,” he says. “Read this fucking article.” He points to the open laptop on the kitchen table. I sit down to look at what he’s trying to show me.
“What’s upset you so much?” I ask, waiting for the browser to load.
But he doesn’t answer because the web page fills the screen and I see what he’s talking about.
BREAKING NEWS!
Missing Hollywood Heir Levi Callahan Mallone Owns the A-list Fuck Club!
Late last night, at the premiere of the late Sawyer Bennett’s film, Jezebel, the truth was revealed. Photos and explicit videos have been cropping up all across Hollywood over the past month, and the somewhat surprising photographs may have led to Bennett’s suicide.
Witnesses confirm that Levi Callahan Mallone attacked Hollywood agent Danny Bruneau on the red carpet. Levi Mallone was with up-and-coming supermodel Juliana, a recently signed client of Bruneau’s.
LAPD has confirmed there’s evidence that shows that Danny Bruneau was the perpetrator behind the leaked footage.
Story last updated 12 AM PST.
I look up at Sawyer, shocked at this story.
“Click there,” he says, pointing to a link. When I do, I see his parents with his fake girlfriend Sondra. “Those are the models signed with Juliana.” The photograph shows them watching as Levi Malone punches Danny Bruneau.
“What a motherfucker, I’d never guessed he would have been behind this. You can’t fucking trust anyone,” Sawyer says. “No one at all.”
I bite my bottom lip, feeling like a fool. Because I do trust Sawyer, but his words tell me he will never truly trust me. He won’t trust anyone ever again, not after this betrayal.
“I didn’t even remember that the movie fucking premiered yesterday. Can you believe that? I’m so
fucking out of touch with life—” He runs his hand over his jaw. “But it isn’t my life anymore,” he adds, pressing his palms to his forehead. “I gave up my life. I fucking gave it all up.” His words are raw and he’s a jagged edge of emotion I don’t know if I want to soften.
Isn’t it his story? He can be mad about the choices he made. If he wants to be angry, let him be. If he wants to break, there’s no doubt in my mind that eventually, he will pick himself back up again.
But as his arms wrap around me and I wrap mine around him, I know he isn’t going to shatter. He’s sad and confused. Tormented even, but he hasn’t lost his center. He holds onto me and I cling to him and he is still standing.
We are both still standing.
Truth is, his anger and drinking don’t push me away—.I know it isn’t who he is at his core. And even if he says he can’t trust anyone, I don’t believe him. Because right now, he could leave this cottage and go live a life that has nothing to do with me.
But he isn’t going anywhere.
He may have run away from his life before, but he isn’t running from me.
“Sadie, it’s all a fucking mess. I should’ve just stayed and told Cal the fucking truth.”
I look up at him. “Told him what? I don’t understand.”
“It doesn’t matter. I made my choice, I died. I don’t regret it because it means I found you. But fucking Danny Bruneau did this to me. His choices fucking pushed me over the edge.”
I shake my head, now I’m the one who is angry. “You wanted to go over the edge, Sawyer. You were looking for a reason to disappear. You didn’t want the life you had, you wanted more. Or at least something different. You have that now. Don’t go backwards.” My eyes stay locked on his. “Don’t go back. Stay where you are. Let’s go forward together.”
There are tears in his eyes, and tears in mine and I hate that he’s hurting, but I’m not going to stand here and listen to him tell me he regrets everything because he is upset right now.
That’s not fair to either of us.
