Straddling The Edge

by Julie Prestsater

  “She’s terrible,” Dean says, now seated and cutting up his steak into bite-sized pieces. “So tell me. What made you want to become a teacher when you hated high school so much as a student?”

  Now that’s a good question. The same one I’ve asked myself a million times before I applied for the job. I finish chewing one of my sliders and begin to explain. “Besides the fact that I’m a really good teacher and I really care about my students, I think that’s why I came back. I’ve always done well in school. I excelled in college. Just socially, I’ve always been a little awkward, I guess you could say. I thought that maybe if I went back to high school, I could conquer those bad memories of being the dorky kid with no friends.”

  “So did it work?” He stabs a piece of steak, dips it into his mashed potatoes, and takes a bite.

  I think about it a few seconds. “Up until now, I wasn’t so sure. But now that I have Chase out of my life, I think I have. Things are definitely getting better.”

  Dean gives me a confused look, complete with a crumpled brow and a tilt of the head. “What does Chase have to do with it? Do you think you’re better off not being in a relationship?”

  “No,” I practically shout, a piece of bun almost falling out of my mouth. I dab at my face with the cloth napkin, making sure I don’t have mayo on my lips. That would make for another fun joke. “It’s not that. With him, I could never conquer my fear of high school because I was never really me. It was as if I was this fake person who was trying to fit in. But now, I’m not going to do that anymore. Before school starts, I’m going to go on a little shopping spree and buy some more comfortable clothes. Maybe some cute sneakers to match our school colors.” His eyes sparkle and I just want to dive into them. “Thank you, Dean … for allowing me to be me.”

  He scoots to the edge of his seat and leans across the room service table to kiss me. His lips are chilly and sweet from the chocolate shake, but they feel so good on my mouth. “You taste good,” he says.

  “Mmm,” I moan against his lips. “So do you.”

  “Are you done eating yet?” He sprinkles kisses down my neck.

  “Oh yeah,” I say, rising to my feet and tossing my napkin on my half empty plate. “I’m plenty nourished and ready to burn some calories.”

  Dean quickly rolls the table back into the room, shuts the double doors to the patio, and draws the privacy curtains. “How about a shower first? After the day we’ve had touring this city, I’d hate to touch you with my grimy body.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Although, I don’t mind getting dirty with you.”

  The bathroom is fabulous. It has me thinking: when I grow up, I want a shower like this. One large enough for five people, two enormous shower heads and a bench seat. Dean reaches in and cranks the water on. In less than a minute, steam starts rising from the enclosure and settling throughout the room. This is just enough time for Dean to undress me. I lift my arms as he rids me of my shirt. He kisses each of my plump breasts, the sensitive area that threatens to spill over the top of my bra. With his eyes locked to mine, he unfastens the button and zipper of my shorts and slides them down my hips until they fall to the floor. I’m standing here, in all my grimy glory after hiking and ziplining, with nothing, but a black satin bra and a pair of black and pink polka dot boy shorts.

  He taps the little hot pink bow along the waistband of my undies. “I like these. Very cute. And very you.”

  “You can borrow them if you want,” I tease him.

  “How about I borrow them now?” He holds out his hand.

  I place my hands on my hips, digging my knuckles into my side. “If you want them, you have to get them yourself.”

  He raises a brow and flashes me one hell of a sexy smirk. “You don’t have to tell me twice.” He kneels down before me, tips his head back and locks his dreamy eyes to mine before slowly dragging my panties down my legs. He licks his lips and it takes all my strength to not push him back and have my way with him right here on the bathroom floor.

  “I’d like to borrow this too,” he says, as he traces along the rim of my bra with the tip of his index finger.

  “Take it,” I whisper.

  He slides his hands around my waist to my back and reaches up to unclasp the hook. Slowly, the straps fall to my shoulders and my breasts become free of the binding material, little by little. Dean takes his sweet time devouring my boobs with his eyes before he feasts on them with his mouth, his tongue circling around my nipple. My hands shoot up and instinctively thread through his messy locks, pulling as the suction of his lips gets tighter and his teeth nibble on my pebbled flesh.

  I’m practically breathless and he’s not even undressed yet. His hands and his mouth are enough to send me to the edge.

  “I thought we were going to shower first,” I whimper, tugging on his thick hair.

  My nipple escapes from Dean’s mouth, long enough for him to say, “Those panties were too much. Once I saw them, I couldn’t keep my hands off you.”

  “Well how about I borrow your clothes so I can touch you too.”

  Dean gets to his feet and sheds his clothes in record time. “You can touch all you want, sweetheart. I’m all yours.” His hands slide around my waist and he pulls my body to his. The instant our naked bodies touch, I have to clench my thighs together to keep from erupting into flames. The pulsing, throbbing, aching down there, right between my legs, screams for him to touch me. To be inside me.

  “Maybe we should skip the shower,” I tell him, pressing wet kisses to his sexy chest.

  “Oh, no you don’t. I’m dying to get my soapy hands all over you. There’s nothing sexier than seeing you all wet with water and suds streaming down your curves.” His erection jumps against my belly at the thought.

  “Fine, but I have other ideas about how to get certain parts of you clean. And it doesn’t involve soap.” I step away from his hold and make my way into the shower, completely turned on by his confession about wanting to see me dripping wet. Although, I already was before I stepped into the sprinkling fall of hot water.

  Dean steps in after me, his eyes on me like a lion watches his prey. Those pools of deep blue ocean soak me in and I can’t take the intensity of his stare. Without much thinking, I reach up and grasp the back of his neck and yank his mouth down to mine. My lips crush against his with unwavering passion. Our tongues don’t waste any time sliding in past one another, tangling together with an unbeatable hunger for more. He nips at my upper lip, and then slides his tongue across the sensitive skin, sending zings of heated pleasure up and down my body in every way possible.

  “Damn, you make me so hot. I can’t stand it.” I reach down, wrap my fingers around his length and begin stroking his silky tight skin. He kisses my lips, my throat, my neck and my breasts while I work his erection, all the while warm water beats down on my skin, massaging and caressing it, and making all that I’m feeling even more intense.

  “Sit down,” he whispers against my mouth, pushing me back against the bench with the weight of his body. My bottom splashes on the tiled bench and I realize this is perfect. I’m eye level with Dean’s shaft. I gaze up at him with widened eyes and I arch a brow at him before I grasp his hard length in my hand again and slip my lips around the head. I hear him suck in a long breath of air and hold it as I work his erection, back and forth with my warm wet mouth, sucking and milking him with all I have. He threads his fingers through my hair and with a slight tug, he unleashes himself from my hold. “That’s not why I asked you to sit.”

  Staring up at him, I lick my plump lips as he lowers himself to his knees in front of me. “No?”

  “No.” He places his hands on my thighs, massaging up and down from my knees to my hips. His eyes are locked to mine before he dips his head and claims my mouth again with his. His hands stop moving at my hips and he grasps my ass, sliding me closer to the edge of the seat. Slowly, I feel his fingers trace a path between my legs until they touch the opening to my sex. “You’re so wet for me.�
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  I chuckle inside. “Don’t be so surprised.”

  “I’m not,” he says, as he slides a finger between my folds and my breath hitches with the desire that claims my body. Dean sprinkles my chest, my belly, and my thighs with kisses paving the way down to my liquid heat. He laps at my folds, and then his tongue dips into my sex, sucking and stroking until I’m trembling with need. My hands rest on his shoulders, my hips buck against his grip and I can barely breathe.

  “What happened to the soapy suds?” I manage to say, trying to fight back the urge to let go.

  “Fuck the suds,” he says, a light chuckle rumbling against my sensitive skin.

  “Yeah, fuck the suds.” I repeat. “But how about you fuck me?”

  Dean’s face whips up, his gaze instantly meeting mine. “No, sweetheart.” He slides up my body, tracing a path with his hands, until his eyes line up with mine. “I’ll always make love to you. Summer. Sometimes sweet, slow and soft. Sometimes fast, hard, and rough. It’ll be however you want it, but it will always … be love.”

  Chapter 17

  Melissa

  “It’s too hot to cook,” I tell Ty. “I think we should have a make your own dinner night.”

  He puts one of his many paint brushes down and looks up at me from his current work of art, two sets of chubby hands. He hasn’t spoken much about this one but I’m sure those hands belong to Mia and Noah.

  “Cereal is always good. We have Fruit Loops, right?” he says, and I nod. I love my husband. Give him a bowl of sweet carbs and he’s completely content. He’s not one of those beefy dudes who need to have a piece of meat with every meal. He’s by no means Mr. Meat and Potatoes. Whew. Because, make your own dinner is a common occurrence in our household, especially since Mia became mobile. Chasing her little ass around the house can really put a damper on your energy.

  “I’ll take out the bowls, the box, and the milk. But that’s about as fancy as I’m getting. You can pour your own.”

  He glances at me with a smile and calls me over with a wave of his hand.

  “Yes, my love?” I ask, bending down and putting my face in front of his.

  “I love you.” He smiles, and then smacks his lips to mine. “I’ll be there in a minute. I’ll grab Mia on my way to the kitchen.” I kiss him one last time before leaving the room to make my very own tub of cereal.

  Even better. How I got so blessed to have a husband who likes to change diapers and would wake up for middle-of-the-night feedings is beyond me. He’s one hell of a stud and one hell of a daddy. Mia has been napping for close to two hours, which gave me enough time to start laundry, take a shower, put the laundry in the dryer, comb my hair, and fold the laundry. Time is up. She’s about to wake up and we’re all going to have dinner—which is kind of funny since I’m finally clean and by the time Mia is done eating, I’m sure something will be in my hair and on my clothes. Hell, I’ve even had bananas on my back before. Ty and I couldn’t stop laughing. To this day, I have no idea how the mashed up fruit got underneath my shirt and on my back. I guess that’s just one of the amazing things about motherhood.

  Dinner is a special time for us. We try and eat at the same time every day, and the three of us eat together … at the table. Sure, it would be easy to sit in front of the TV and have a meal, but we always had meals together when I was growing up so it’s important to me now. Tyler enjoys it a lot too. It’s different than the way he and Shel were brought up. His mom is such a … high maintenance (that’s the nice way of putting it) woman, that they tried to steer clear of her whenever they could.

  “Look who’s awake,” Tyler says, waving Mia’s hand in the air. “Mia, say hi to mama.” The sight of Mia in his arms always takes my breath away. She smiles at me and then tries to hide in her daddy’s shoulder.

  “Hi, baby girl.” I reach out to slide my hand down her wild hair and wiggle her little feet, dangling in the air.

  She looks up, smiles, and then buries her head again. “Say hi to mama,” Tyler says again.

  “Ma.”

  “Holy shit! Did you hear that?” I cry out. Tyler is smiling from ear to ear, his jaw dropped in shock.

  “Say ‘mama’.” Tyler takes her little hand in his and shakes it. “Say ‘mama’.”

  “Ma,” my daughter yelps. “Ma. Ma. Ma.”

  Tears flood my eyes and threaten to spill over my eyelids. “She just called me mama.” And now the tears are coming. I’m laughing, crying. I’m so happy. “She said mama.”

  Ty brushes his thumb across my cheek to wipe the tears. “She sure did. Tell her again, Mia. Say ‘mama’.”

  Mia smiles and plays shy again. Then she pops her little head up like she’s playing peek-a-boo, and squeals, “Mamamamamama,” over and over again.

  This has to be one of the best days of my life.

  I’m surprised to see Dean walking up to our doorstep when I’m on my way out to get my phone charger from my car.

  “Hey, Dean.”

  He looks up, startled. “Hey. Did I catch you at a bad time? I can come back later.”

  “No, no. What’s up?” I say holding the door open for him to step inside.

  “I was hoping to talk to you and Tyler. Is he home?”

  Something fishy is up. He looks nervous with his fists digging into his pockets, which is out of the norm for him. “Yeah, he just went to put Mia down. She just started crawling and spent the better part of the afternoon having us chase her around the house so she’s pooped. She knocked out completely, face down in her lunch.”

  He grimaces. “That sounded like fun until the face plant.”

  “It was.” I walk back into the kitchen and he follows. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  “No, thank you. I’m good.”

  “Hey, man. What’s up?” Ty enters the room holding out his hand to Dean.

  “Just came by to get some advice from you and the missus here.”

  Ty pulls out a bar stool and gestures for Dean to do the same. “Go for it. We’ll help if we can.” Ty points to the empty seat he pulled out and I walk over to sit. He walks around our breakfast bar and stands, his elbows resting on the counter.

  “Things are getting really serious with Summer.” Ty and I nod. “And I feel like I should be telling her about my past with Chase. You guys know we aren’t friends and haven’t been since high school.”

  “Yeah, I knew that but I never knew why,” I tell him.

  Ty says, “I never knew either. I just figured you guys grew apart over the years.”

  “It was more than that. A lot more, actually.”

  “So tell us,” I urge. Or maybe I don’t want to know. I’m sure whatever he’s about to tell us he doesn’t want mentioned to Summer, and maybe not to Shelly either. I’m not sure I can keep a secret from either of them.

  “I really need this to stay between us though. You can’t tell Summer until I’m ready to tell her myself. Don’t tell Shelly either.” He pauses. “She’s probably part of the reason I haven’t brought it up. I should have told her years ago and I didn’t.”

  “We won’t say anything,” Ty says.

  Dean clears his throat and begins, “Do you remember Molly Sanders?”

  “Yeah,” Ty answers. “She was your girlfriend in high school. Only girl I’ve ever seen you with besides Summer.”

  Dean nods. “Yeah, she was. I’ve been out with other women in between them just so you know.” He chuckles. “But they are the only two who matter.”

  “Go on,” I say, gesturing with my hand to move the story along.

  “Molly cheated on me with Chase.” My stomach goes sour. Chase really was a total dick all along. He’s never been a decent human being.

  “You guys were friends,” I say, with the slap of my flat palm to the counter.

  “That didn’t matter to him. But that’s not the worst part. He got her pregnant and said it wasn’t his. I knew the baby wasn’t mine because I’d never had sex with her. I’d never had sex with any
one and I thought she hadn’t either. But he wouldn’t take on that responsibility, so I did.”

  “What does that mean?” Tyler asks.

  “Her parents knew I was her boyfriend, but they knew nothing about Chase. I told her I’d pretend to be the dad so she wouldn’t be so scared to tell her parents that she was sleeping with some random kid at school who wasn’t her boyfriend. I even told her I’d take care of her and the baby.”

  “But she left,” I add, remembering how Molly left mid-year claiming to move because her dad took a job promotion out-of-state.

  “Yeah, I thought her dad was going to kill me. He told me to stay away from his daughter. They called my parents and told them that I had knocked up their daughter and that they expected me to give up my rights as the father. It was a huge mess. In the end, I ended up telling my parents the truth about Chase, and then Molly contacted me and told me that she’d had an abortion so her parents never knew the truth. I’d put the whole thing behind me until I met Summer and realized she was Chase’s ex.”

  “Holy shit,” I mumble.

  Ty adds, “No kidding.”

  “We just got back from the most amazing getaway together and we talked about honesty and being open with each other. It was on the tip of my tongue the whole time and I just couldn’t let it slip out.”

  “Why not?” my hubby asks.

  “I don’t know. A part of me thinks she’ll just add it to the list of reasons why Chase is an asshole. But there’s another part of me that’s afraid that …”

  I finish his thought, “That she’ll think you’re just with her to get back at Chase for taking your girl in high school.”

  He nods, scrubbing his hands up and down his face. “This is so messed up. After Molly, I was pretty messed up. It’s not like I was really in love with her, but just the thought that someone was capable of doing that to someone they cared about made me swear off women for quite a while. I never trusted women. I enjoyed their company, but I didn’t trust them.” He sighs. “I finally meet a woman who I can trust … one who I’d like to spend the rest of my life with and she’s Chase Marino’s ex-girlfriend. The guy I despise more than anything in this world. What are the chances?”