by Aria Cole
Her dark eyes grew wide, a look of stone-cold fear flashing across her face. What the hell was that about? And come to think of it, why had she looked like she’d seen a ghost when we’d met in the park? Introducing me to her daughter…
Shit.
Oh Jesus Christ.
Was it possible?
Could little Emerson actually be my daughter?
The thought hadn’t even occurred to me before now. Dammit, had she found out she was pregnant after I left?
Suddenly, all the dark nights alone in my bed came back to me, my thumb hovering over her name in my contact list, memories of us dragging me under.
“Look, Hawk, I’m not sure why you came back, or why you’re even standing here in front of me with that look on your face, but I’m fine. We’re fine.” She amended, referring to herself and Emerson and averting her eyes. “Now can I get you a drink?”
She twisted, turning her back on me, hands scribbling something on a pad she’d pulled out of her apron.
“Grrrr…” I gritted out, spinning on my heel and stomping out of the diner.
The cool air hit my face, clearing my head.
Fuck.
I couldn't leave her like that.
What if that little girl was mine?
And why did it feel like her mama still was, even after all these years?
I turned around, barging back through the doors and up to her, fists clenching at my sides, unsure of what to say.
So I didn’t say anything.
I thrust my hands in her hair, threaded my fingers through the silky strands and smashed my lips to hers in a take-no-prisoners kiss. Her lips opened as if on instinct, just like they always had, and our tongues slipped together. Fireworks exploded between us, heart pounding within me, telling me to take what was mine.
Her hands worked into my hair, hips grinding against mine and driving me nearly blind with lust.
I needed her.
I wanted her.
I loved her.
Fuck.
I still loved her.
She pulled her lips from mine, small gasps breathing past her lips when my hands tightened at her cheeks. My eyes hardened, searching her up and down for the girl I used to know. Discovering the woman she’d become.
She was so lovely it made my chest ache.
“Jesus,” I grunted, then spun, storming back out the doors and into the cool night. I walked a few steps, hands in my hair, mind raging at me to turn around and tell her she belonged to me. She’d always belonged to me. There was no severing what we had. What we had grew stronger, grew more alive.
Fuck, I had to say something.
I couldn’t just turn tail and run like a bitch. I couldn’t stand here with my hands in my hair.
I whirled around, throwing the door open and bursting through again. Walking straight for her, and this time, she didn’t turn when I neared. This time, she stood her ground, eyes watching me intently. She was bold, brave. She’d been through alot in the years since I’d left her.
And it only registered just then that if she was working at the diner, she was probably struggling to make ends meet. She was probably a single mom. No man in his right mind would let his woman work somewhere like this at night, with all the fucking assholes that came into places like this after dark.
“I don’t know what to do about you,” I breathed, lips barely brushing hers.
Fuck, I wanted her plastered to me again.
I wanted her home, in bed, screaming my name. I wanted everything with this woman.
But that didn’t change the fact that she’d still left me. Told me she never wanted to see me again and then walked away, told me to leave and never come back.
Christ, I’d begged her to come with me.
I told her I would stay, forget the NFL, all I wanted was her.
But she insisted.
And now, looking across at her, eyes connecting, shared memories swirling, I couldn’t help the pain clogging my heart.
“Just leave, Hawk,” she finally whispered, eyes turning down.
I caught her chin, forcing her to look at me. “Got news for you, Morgan. I'm never leaving again.”
Chapter 3
Morgan
His words echoed around my skull.
Never? Did he really mean never?
“I thought you were just here for a break. Don’t you have a big fancy career to get back to?”
His eyes softened for a minute, his hand falling from my chin and leaving tingles in its wake. Everything about him turned me on, still did. Only now, I hated him for it. “Not going back.”
“Ever?”
He only shook his head. As if he didn’t owe me more of an explanation. Of course, he owed me an explanation. This was my town; he’d up and left us all. I was the one who was left behind to make a life here.
“Fucked up my shoulder.” He rubbed at the muscle, and my instincts pushed at me to touch him. Massage him. Ease away the ache. But those days were gone. I wasn't his anymore, and he certainly wasn’t mine. “I’m officially retired.”
“Shit.” I blurted the only word in my head.
“Something like that,” he muttered, eyes trailing around the small diner.
It wasn’t much to look at, the floors dingy, the seat cushions cracked, but Dan had been good to me. Always flexible with hours, understanding when Emerson was sick. And this was just about the only place to work in this town. Anything else would require driving into the city, a good forty-five minutes, and doing that every day with my junk car would be bad news.
We were okay. I could make rent on the wage Dan paid, and if I picked up additional hours, I had enough to buy extras at the grocery store, like ice cream for a treat, or a new pair of sandals for Emerson in the summer.
Life was tough, and looking at Hawk now, I could see he’d left this life far behind.
His shoes were high-end sneakers, brand-new jeans hung just right on his hips, and he wore a designer T-shirt I was sure he paid more for than what I spent a month in groceries. Hawk and I may have grown up together, but our lives sure were different now. His dad had always said I wasn’t good enough for him, and it was part of the reason I’d told Hawk to walk away—because it was true. I couldn't hold him back when his only dream had ever been to play pro ball. I wouldn’t be the weight on the end of his balloon. Hawk deserved to fly. He was the best quarterback Greenville had seen in over a decade. Of course, he was drafted his sophomore year of college, and no way would I be the girl to keep him from chasing his dreams.
I loved him enough for that, at least.
Even if he didn’t see it, standing across from me now.
“Talk to me. Just fifteen minutes,” Hawk breathed against my neck.
Dan’s voice called from the back of the kitchen then, asking me to lock the doors.
“I’ll wait for you outside. Please talk to me.” Hawk’s eyes burned back at me, dark, pleading.
I nodded quickly, ushering him out the door before locking it behind him. He turned, waved once, then leaned against the brick wall, looking sexy as fuck. How was it possible Hawk was back and he was waiting for me to get off work, just like it used to be? I’d fallen into a time warp, except this time, it was all different. This time, I had Emerson.
I breathed deeply, steeling my spine before buzzing around to the tables and counters and giving them one final sweep with a damp cloth. Untying my apron, I went in back to find Dan.
“Headed home for the night?” He barely looked up from the stack of papers on his desk.
“Yup, unless you need anything else?” I stalled, dreading walking out those doors to face Hawk. Who knew what kinds of questions he might ask me. And I wasn’t ready to tell him anything. Not yet, maybe not ever.
“I’m good. Thanks, Morgan.” Dan dismissed me with a wave of his hand, and I trailed on soft footsteps out the back door. Shrugging my purse onto my shoulder, I made my way around the building and bumped chest-first into Hawk.
&nb
sp; His arms came around me instantly.
My body wanted to melt into him, let him soothe away all the anxiety just like he used to do, but I’d gotten good at standing on my own two feet. Just because he was back now didn’t change anything.
“What do you want, Hawk?”
“I want to know about you,” he said simply. I’d missed that about him. So many people used so many words to fill their conversations without saying anything of value. Hawk’s words were short and to the point, and you never had to guess how he was feeling.
“Well, I’ve been waitressing here for almost three years—”
“Not that shit.”
I frowned, growing frustrated. “Then, what shit?”
“Don't bullshit me, Morgan.” He caught my elbow, hauling me a little closer to him. My stomach fell, my knees weakened, stubborn arousal chugging its way through my veins and landing between my thighs. Just the brush of his skin against mine was like a hit of heroin coursing through my veins. I hated being so at his mercy. I hated that he still knew that about me.
“Bullshit you? Why would I even?” I yanked my arm out of his grip and walked down the sidewalk.
“Talk to me.”
“You keep saying that without asking a damn question!” I screamed, speeding up.
“Christ, can’t we go somewhere private?” His face contorted into a frown.
“No! I mean, not my place. The babysitter is there.”
“Then mine.” His hand was at my elbow again, pulling me against him.
I shook my head, not because I didn’t want to, but because the fog his touch sent clouding my brain was almost too much to handle.
“It’s just a block and a half away. Give me fifteen minutes. And I’ll walk you home when I’m done.”
“I don’t want you to know where I live.”
“What? Why not?” His brow furrowed, offended.
I shook my head, feeling a little more helpless every minute. I wasn’t sure what I was doing here, the only thing running through my head that I was standing across from my best friend, and following him anywhere felt like the most natural thing on Earth. I sighed, “Fifteen minutes at your place. That’s it.”
He shook his head, hand looping with mine as he guided us the opposite way down the street. His fingers intertwined with mine made my stomach swim, my knees weak, the taste of his lips on mine still intoxicating.
Hawk took another turn down a side street, weaving farther away from my and Emerson’s house—at least he wasn't my neighbor. Small mercies for that.
My heart stuttered to a halt when we approached a small, very familiar apartment complex. The very same apartment complex we’d lived in together for the first two years of college.
The two years before he left.
The two years before my entire world changed.
“You live here?” I asked in disbelief.
He only nodded, hand firmer in mine as we walked across the parking lot. He pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked a door on the bottom floor. “Only temporary. Got a place outside of town. This place had good memories, though.” He looked at me, a half grin turning his lips.
That grin.
Jesus, how could I have forgotten that grin?
It sent cartwheels flipping in my stomach every time.
What was I doing here?
I should have gone straight home.
“Seeing you today made me realize something, Morgan. Something that’s been buried a long time.” He was moving closer, his other hand catching mine. “I may have walked away from you then, but you’re just as much mine now as you were all those years ago.” His words crept up the curve of my neck, teeth nipping at my earlobe.
Oh. God. Yes.
“I shouldn't have left you here. I should have dragged you kicking and screaming along with me.”
A part of me wished he would have.
“Or I should have stayed, Morgan. Fuck, every day I kicked myself for not staying.”
“W-what?” I stammered, brain fried with the way his hands were crawling up my waist, slipping under my shirt and making me putty in his hands.
“I never stopped loving you, Morgan. Not a day went by that I didn’t love you.”
His words sucked the air from the room.
My vision darkened, my muscles weak before his hands were at my hips and pulling me against him.
He hitched my legs around his waist. His hands were forcing their way into my hair, ripping out my ponytail and sending my hair in a cascade around us. Heaving pants of desperate breath racked us both as our lips attached, our sanity gone, our love beating stronger than it ever had.
I hated him.
I loved him.
I needed him.
I needed this.
“Oh, Hawk,” I sighed when his hand slipped under my skirt, fingers working against the fabric of my panties. I was aching, desperate, hungry for his body against mine.
“Missed you, baby girl,” were the last words he said before his fingers slipped inside my panties and his lips covered my moans.
I was lost.
Hawk was back, and I’d already fallen down the rabbit hole.
Chapter 4
Hawk
She careened against me as I launched us down the hallway, her legs wrapped around my waist just like I’d been dreaming of all those nights, all those years.
“Never thought I’d have you in my arms again,” I growled at her ear before kicking my door closed and pushing her against it. “Never thought I’d have my hands on your skin again. My lips on your body, my tongue tasting every inch of you.”
Her breath came out in ragged gasps, the pulse hammering at her throat matching mine.
I pushed her arms above her head, locking them with my hand, and trailed a nose down the inside of her arm. She shivered, gasping for air, her hips grinding against my cock like she was begging for it.
“Tell me, tell me how much you fucking missed this cock inside you.”
She grunted, eyes slammed closed as her tits heaved in my face.
I latched on to the outline of one nipple, sucking and nipping, making her hum with pain before letting go.
“Say it. I want to hear you say how many nights you dreamed about my cock slipping inside you, taking your breath away, making you beg for more.”
“Yes… Fuck, yes… Is that what you want to hear? Yes, I dreamed about you, Hawk. I dreamed about this.” She hummed, eyes still averted.
Fuck that.
“I need your eyes on me for this, baby girl.” I tipped her chin to mine, her eyes slamming open. “Daddy’s here now. I’m here, and I’ve got you,” I groaned at her ear, holding her chin in my hand. My cock dug into her stomach, aching for the searing hot feel of her pussy. “I never forgot this.”
My lips covered hers in a kiss that branded. A kiss that showed her that I still owned this, I owned her—and every pleasurable sigh she ever had or ever would have.
“We’re not young anymore, Morgan. I was a boy then, but I’m a man now. I know what I want, and there’s only ever been one thing.”
Her eyes trained on mine, her teeth clamping down onto her lip when I shoved the skirt over her hips.
“I couldn't see a single day without you in it. All those people calling my name, telling me they loved me, but the only person’s love I’ve ever cared about getting is yours,” I hissed at her ear. “And you crushed it.”
Her gorgeous, haunted eyes flickered with pain, but I didn't care. I didn’t give a fuck, because I’d spent one too many nights of the last five fucking years thinking about her, this moment, us. Always us.
“You destroyed me,” I breathed, tearing her panties down her thighs and pulling them to shreds in my hands.
I pulled the zipper down on my jeans a moment later and freed my cock, my only thought getting lost inside her again. Just one more time. Chase the pain away with my favorite drug.
“You broke my heart, Hawk,” she said just as my cock slid past her
soaked entrance.
My hands clutched her hips, my lips at her neck sucking, drawing blood to the surface, desperate to make her feel what she’d made me feel.
“I hate that I need you,” I gasped, finally seated fully inside her. Her warm pussy fluttered around me, waves of pleasure rolling through us as our bodies melded for the first time in too long.
“It’s like you never left.” She whimpered, her fingernails digging into my shoulder blades.
I pushed a hand through her hair, whispering, “Daddy’s here now. You’re going to be okay. I’m here to take care of you, baby girl.”
I fucked her slowly, dragging in and out until every nerve was raw, every inch between us laid bare. Naked. Just like we were meant to be.
My hands cupped at her backside, my teeth nibbling at her throat as I dragged us to the bed, pushing her down beneath me and caging her in. Slipping the shirt off her shoulders, I groaned when she writhed and moaned.
The years looked good on her. She’d been gorgeous then, but she’d filled out. I imagined motherhood did that, and I instantly regretted that I hadn’t been here to see her become a mother. See her body round and beautiful with child, growing and changing, her curves developing as she grew into a mother.
“So fucking beautiful. Christ, I missed this. Tell Daddy where you want him to kiss you,” I urged before I could think about the words. Her hands gripped the hard muscle of my back, nails digging into my flesh and driving me wild with pleasure.
“My nipples. Oh my God, your lips on my nipples.”
I sucked on the sharp little peaks, plucking at the tender flesh with my teeth and earning more moans and arches from her.
It had always been like this with us.
From the beginning, Morgan had liked our fucking raw, uninhibited. And the way she was grasping at me now made me think she hadn’t had this in a long time.
About as long as I had.
“I can’t stand to think of another man’s hands on your skin. Covering your body. Kissing your lips. My lips.” I thrust my tongue past her mouth, twisting our tongues and showing her instead of telling her just how I felt.
