by Rae Kennedy
As if choreographed, I wrap my arms around his neck in the exact moment he lifts me by my hips to the counter. We are kissing frantically. I’m already out of breath. The counter is cold under my ass but I don’t notice after a second. Cade drops his boxer briefs and I wrap my legs around him. Guess those sweatpants really do get him stiff.
Our mouths are hot and I am sucking on his bottom lip as he fumbles in the drawer next to us. I want to ask why he has a condom in a kitchen drawer, but he currently has my tongue hostage and I don’t really care about the answer right now. Before I know it, he pulls my panties to the side and slips a finger deep inside of me. I’m already wide open for him. His finger is gone and suddenly his huge cock is plunging inside of me, filling me so completely I scream out.
I dig my fingers into his naked butt as he pounds into me. And he is pounding. Hard. But not too fast. Each time seems to go deeper and I am getting louder. He stills inside of me for a moment, giving me a deep kiss. We are both trying to catch our breath. My heart beats so rapidly I feel like it is trying to get out.
Our eyes meet. He grins then silently pulls out of me, sets me down on the floor, spins me around and bends me over the counter. He pushes my drenched panties to my ankles and then I can feel his hot breath at my clenching pussy. He starts to eat me out from behind, his tongue twirling on my clit and then poking inside of me. His nose is totally in my butt and this would normally make me self-conscious but right now I like it. I like how dirty it is. I like how dirty he is.
“Fuck me hard.”
And he does. His cock is as hard as steel as he enters me from behind. I cry out but he doesn’t let up. All I can hear is the smacking of his hips to my ass, his grunts, and my screams. When I yell that I’m coming, he shudders inside me instantly, his arms clinging around me.
It’s the only time I’ve seen Cade burn food.
* * *
Cade is working late tonight. So when Court asks if I want to hang out at her place this afternoon, I am extremely grateful.
She drives us in her Jeep, taking corners so fast I have to hold on to the handle. She tells me how excited she is to be graduating in May but her thesis is sort of kicking her butt.
“I might have to shut myself in my room over the entire Christmas break just to get the proposal done.” She scrunches her nose. “Boring. Enough about me. How are you?”
I can’t help but break into, I’m sure, the biggest, stupidest grin ever grinned.
She smiles at me from the side. “Cade?”
“Yeah.”
She pulls into a spot right in front of her building. “Oh my gosh!” Her mouth is wide open in a giddy smile that’s still not as goofy as mine probably is. “You looove him!”
“I don’t know...”
“Yes. Yes, you do.”
“It’s only been a week...”
“Haley.” She looks at me seriously.
“Okay, maybe...”
She lifts an eyebrow at me.
“Maybe yes?”
She practically screams in glee and hugs me. I’m not a hugger. But her happiness for me feels wonderful, so I allow it.
We scurry in the biting cold up the stairs. Of course, she lives on the top floor.
“How is he in bed?”
“Court!”
“Oh, you know you’re going to tell me anyway.”
“Fu...you’re right. He’s...amazing.”
She does a little victory dance in front of her door before getting out her keys. “Damn right. You get it, girl.”
She opens the door and simultaneously four male heads turn to look at us. The guys are watching a college basketball game.
She introduces me. There’s her roommate, Caleb, and their friend Jake, whom I vaguely remember meeting before. Her other roommate is named Nick. He has light brown hair, dark eyes, and a lopsided smile that is weirdly cute.
Last is another friend named Josh, who gives me a quick wave and a “hey” but doesn’t take his eyes off the game.
They are all in love with Court. I can tell by how they watch as she goes into the kitchen to get me a drink. And how they are all trying discreetly to sit next to her on the couch. Nick looks smug that he lands a spot next to her and Jake is visibly annoyed when she makes him move so I can sit down on her other side.
I look at her as she is arguing with Josh over the ref’s last call on an offensive foul. Her legs are long and toned in skinny jeans and she’s wearing a soft cream sweater that hangs off her shoulder. Her perfectly thick blonde hair is just up in a ponytail (it probably took her all of thirty seconds but looks better than my hair after twenty minutes of attention) and then she has this beautifully angelic face with her big round blue eyes and cute little nose that has been kissed by the faintest of freckles.
Fuck. I’d be in love with her too if I were a guy. Actually, I might have a major girl crush on her, the more I think about it.
“So, Tuck’s getting back into town tomorrow?” Court asks me.
“Yeah.” Shit, that means I need to tell him about me and Cade.
“You gonna tell him or what?”
“That’s the plan.”
Court pops the tops off a couple of bottles of beer and sits back down on the couch. She hands one to Nick and takes a swig of the other.
“Well, let me know how it goes or if I can help in any way.”
Court is way too nice for me. I don’t deserve her.
The guys order pizza and we finish watching the game. Court and the guys are immersed in the television, yelling at the refs’ bad calls and giving each other high fives after particularly flawless plays. Meanwhile, I’m stewing about how I’m going to talk to Tuck.
When I get home, it’s after dinnertime and I hope Cade will be home soon. I haven’t been keeping up with my homework this week, so I decide to get some much needed studying in before he does.
My dilemma is that there is only one place I want to be right now: Cade’s bed. Preferably naked. So I haul my books into his room and strip. I lay stomach-down on his navy comforter and spread the books around me in a circle. I am literally like the hands of a clock—after twenty minutes on one book, I rotate to the next one on my right and so on. I plan on continuing this until either A: I finish all of my reading (good luck) B: Cade gets home or C: I fall asleep from boredom (seems most likely).
* * *
I wake up with my face in a book and I am cold. The clock says 12:42. Then I see Cade. He’s standing in the doorway, leaning up against the thick white door molding with his white dress sleeves rolled up and a smile on his face. “Hey, babe.” He walks over to me and starts moving the books off the bed.
“Hey.” My voice cracks with sleep. I wipe my mouth to check for drool. All clear. He kisses my forehead as he reaches for his collar. I watch as he unbuttons his shirt all the way down and removes it. My eyes roam over his smooth pecs and ink-covered shoulders, then down to his tight abs and the shelf-cut into his sides over his hip bones that disappear into his pants... The pants that he is currently unzipping and dropping to the floor.
“How was your day?” I yawn at him.
“Fucking sucked. I just wanted to come home to you all day.” He comes and lies with me, sweeping some hair off my face behind an ear. All I can do is smile sleepily up at him. I’m in the tiniest of panties and a lace bra, but he is only looking at my face as he traces my arm down to my hand to intertwine our fingers. He kisses me on the nose. “Let’s get ready for bed, yeah?”
“Yeah.” And we do. In tandem. In our underwear. Can this be forever, please?
We slide under the covers and it is warm and soft all I want to do is curl up and never leave. I cozy up to Cade’s side and he squeezes me tightly to him. I feel so close to him, like nothing could ever separate us from where we are now. I have wanted to ask him all day but don’t know if I should. I just want to be as close to him as possible. Closer.
“Tell me about your grandma.” I realize after it comes out that it was more
of a demand than a question. I listen to him breathe for a few seconds. The silence feels much longer.
“What is there to tell? She raised me. She was my mother. She gave me my own apron so I could help her in the kitchen. My first memory is when I was four, helping her roll out biscuits and I got flour everywhere. Like on the ceiling everywhere.”
I can’t see his face, but his chest bounces under my head like he is laughing to himself. Then he goes quiet.
“Why does talking about her make you so sad?”
He lets out a hard sigh. I’m afraid I’ve pushed him too much. He shifts me off him and rolls on his side, facing me. We are eye-to-eye. I can barely make out the details of his face in the dark but I can tell he is looking directly into me.
“I failed her.”
I lay still. Noiseless. When he starts talking again, I realize I’ve been holding my breath.
“All she wanted was for me to be happy, successful, educated. To turn out better than her daughter had. I was nineteen and I didn’t give a shit. I had barely graduated high school and had done nothing but get into trouble since. She wanted to pay for me to go to college but I wouldn’t even consider it. I was in the band at the time and I was sure we were going to make it big. Don’t know why I ever thought that. We never rehearsed. I spent my time drinking and being with girls, and I started getting tattoos. I would stay out all night. I know I worried her.” He hesitates for a minute. I don’t know if he’s going to continue. He clears his throat. “I started doing drugs. I was becoming just like my mother and it killed her to see it.”
I put both of his hands in mine and squeeze them.
“One night, I came home late. Almost four in the morning, and I found her.” His voice cracks and he pauses, taking a measured breath. “She was lying on the dining room floor. Cold tea in a cup on the table, next to the crossword from the daily newspaper.” I want to wrap him up in my arms but I’m too afraid to move, as if I’ll startle him like a wild animal and he’ll run away. “I was out. High. And she died alone. I should have been there. She deserved better.”
I lunge for him and cradle his head to my chest. He wraps himself around me and all I can smell is his hair like rain and all I can feel is him. His legs are woven with mine, arms around my waist, his warm breath softly at my collarbone.
“It’s not your fault, Cade.”
He slides his nose up my neck and kisses my cheek. “I know that now. But I don’t think the guilt will ever leave.”
“Life’s not fair. Sometimes a healthy thirty-seven-year-old man drops dead from a brain tumor and his nine-year-old daughter is furious with him because she thinks he forgot to come to her school play.” I can’t hold back the tear that has been welling up in the corner of my eye. I don’t know how he sees it but Cade wipes it away almost immediately. “She would be so proud of you now, Cade.”
He hugs me close, his lips right at my ear, “So would he.”
* * *
A whistling wind hits the window panes, rattling them slightly. The room is still dark. The clock says 4:37. Other than the wind, it is silent. Cade’s chest rises and falls under my cheek. His heart beats against my temple and his skin is warm and smooth. It smells clean and sweet and I can’t help but run my fingertips across his torso, up over his shoulders and down his stomach to the band of his boxers. He stirs under me.
“Come here.” His voice is gravelly with sleep.
I slide up to him and he holds my face in both of his hands.
“Do you realize what you just started?” A mischievous turn at the corner of his mouth.
I give him my most innocent look, batting my lashes. “Whatever do you mean?”
His smirk turns into a snarl as he grabs me by the arms and rolls me under him, practically throwing me against the mattress. He settles his hips right between my thighs and I squeeze them around him. I can feel his rather large erection pressing against my inner thigh and it sends electricity up my spine, down to my toes, and fingertips. He already has me needy, but when he kisses me, he is slow and tender. His lips are soft and not too eager. His hand slides through my hair and rests to cup the back of my neck. I want him.
I pull him to me. I want him closer. I suck hard on his bottom lip as I dig my fingers into his perfect ass, pressing his ridge harder against me. My clit zings and I can already feel the slickness inside my panties.
He smiles against my mouth. “Easy, babe. I just want to enjoy you.”
I’m aching for him but how can I argue when he’s being all romantic and shit? He presses kisses all along my jaw and down my neck. I’m trying to massage his back in soft circles to match his indulgent pace, but I can’t help but rock against him, rutting my vee against the head of his cock.
“Christ, Hale.” He is starting to sound out of breath.
“I just want you already.” I’m practically begging him. I slip my hand down between us, into his shorts and when I cup his balls, a deep rumble comes from his chest. He rips off my shirt and tears my panties down to my knees as he descends on my breasts. He sucks one pink nipple into his mouth, teasing it with his glorious tongue while he rubs the other with his thumb. I am overcome by him. I still have him in my hand—he is hard but as I stroke his length he keeps growing and becomes even more rigid. I push his boxer briefs down. I am panting. He lifts his head from my breast, his lips are shiny red and swollen, his eyes filled with lust.
He kisses me firmly, our wet tongues intertwining. He gasps for air. “I need you now.”
I nod back, my lips tingling.
He leans across me to get a condom out of the nightstand and I slide under him. I grab him tightly at the base of his cock. His tip is already wet with his arousal and I lick it off him. He steadies himself over me, hands on the mattress. I take his full length into my hot mouth.
“Fuuuck.” He is breathless, powerless, as I suck him.
The second I let him fully out of my mouth he backs away. I’m about to protest but then he is putting on the condom and laying back over me. Our chests are heaving against one another. He caresses the side of my face with his hand, holding my chin as he kisses my lips. Then he kisses the tip of my nose and my forehead. I look into his steady blue eyes as he is looking into mine. The room is again silent except for pounding in my ribs and echoing in my ears. His hips are snug between my legs and he seems to barely move but he is entering me. My legs fall to the side and he pushes even deeper into me. Filling me. I let out a soft moan and I hug him to me. Full body contact, skin on skin.
And he makes love to me. Really makes love.
* * *
A door slams. Urgent footsteps. Then another door cracks. “HALE!”
Yelling. I’m groggy.
“HALE!” Again with the yelling. A deep voice. “HALEY!”
He’s scared. What? I think I yell back in response, but I am actually still asleep. Still unable to speak, or move, or process what is happening.
“HALEY!” The voice is louder. Closer.
I recognize it.
Then my eyes explode open.
Cade is face-down asleep next to me. Peaceful.
“HALEEEY!” The yelling is right outside the door.
It’s Tuck.
I glance at the clock. As the numbers come into focus, so does the realization of what is happening. A sickening fear sinks through my body like when you know you’re about to crash—you can see it happening perfectly in slow motion but can’t do anything to stop it. I shake Cade awake. He forces one eye open, cringing against the morning light.
I’m frantic. “It’s Tuck! I was supposed to pick him up from the airport an hour ago.”
It takes a second for my words to register but when they do, Cade shoots out of bed, pulling his boxers on. I sit up, looking around for my clothes.
The door bursts open. “Cade! Haley hasn’t been answering her ph—"
I’m paralyzed as Tuck’s eyes lock instantly with mine.
Crash.
CHAPTER 19
/> Tuck looks at me, then to Cade. At first, he is silent, but I can see it building in him. His chest puffs up and his hands become fists at his sides. Clenched. Shaking.
“Tuck—" I start to say, but he doesn’t hear me. His eyes are fixed on Cade in a stare meant to murder. He takes a menacing step toward him.
“My sister!” He looks like he is searching for a punching bag. “You fucking promised me!”
“Man, it’s not like that—"
“Don’t say a fucking word.” Tuck backs Cade against the wall. He towers over him, arms tensed.
“Tuck, just listen!” I am yelling but he doesn’t notice. I want to run up to them and stop this. I want to calm Tuck down. I want to protect Cade. But I’m sitting here, trapped in the bed, covers clinging to my chest. Completely naked and helpless.
“That’s my baby sister in your bed!” Tuck is flushed, neck strained, veins throbbing. Cade has his hands up, trying to mollify him but Tuck is inconsolable. He shoves Cade hard into the wall.
“You don’t understand. I lo—"
Tuck grabs Cade by the neck and raises his fist to Cade’s face.
“NO!” My scream is deafening.
Tuck stops his fist just in front of Cade’s nose. “I trusted you.” Tuck looks as though he is going to break into tears. He doesn’t look at me, but he finally addresses me through gritted teeth. “Haley. Get out. Now.”
“No.” No fucking way.
Cade is up against the wall, he and Tuck are eye-to-eye. Tuck is fuming, and Cade looks like he is preparing to take a serious beating. I can feel Tuck’s wrath. He’s radiating hatred and the whole room is pulsating red.
Cade’s eyes lock with mine. Soft blue. Sad. “Haley,” he says to me calmly, “go.”
He gives me a reassuring nod but I don’t want to obey. His eyes are pleading with me. I wrap the comforter around myself and walk past them in silence, never breaking eye contact with Cade. His eyes follow me to the door, the most lost look on his beautiful face. Tuck has his back to me. I don’t know what to say.
