Gridlocked (Bounty County Series Book 3)

by Maren Lee

  “Centennial?”

  “Did I stutter?”

  “Nope, sure didn't.”

  “Didn't think so. Let's roll.”

  ➰

  Thursday evening Molly’s doorbell rang as she was pulling her evening bottle of wine out of the fridge. She assumed it was Wesson. He’d mentioned earlier that he might stop by after his shift. Her heart started to pick up the pace as she walked to the front door to open it.

  It wasn’t Wesson.

  But it was one of her best friends in the whole wide world, Lane Bennett. “Yay!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here, little mama? Come in! Can you drink yet?”

  “I can tonight. Jake’s parents are in town, so they have Bennett. Jake’s at work and I’m hoping to mooch some of that wine off of you.” Lane nodded at the full bottle in Molly’s hand.

  “Of course! Come in!” Lane looked fabulous, as usual. For just recently having a baby, she had bounced right back into her tiny, curvy frame.

  “You don’t have plans tonight, do you?”

  “Wesson said he might stop by, but I’m not gonna stop an impromptu girls’ night for that!” she smiled. “I barely ever see you now that you have two children to take care of,” Molly laughed. Lane often referred to Jake as a “man child,” so with the addition of their baby, Lane had her hands full.

  Lane laughed. “It’s exhausting. But you don’t want to hear me bitch about how I never sleep anymore and it’s how impossible to work while Bennett is attached to my tits, so I’ve had to extend the contract attorney I found for another six weeks just to cover my caseload. Fucking Chad. He’s a baby lawyer and doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing, so I’m losing my mind. Please tell me all about what’s gone on with you and Wesson since I saw you last week!”

  Molly blushed as she poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Lane.

  “We went on our first official date earlier this week. Had lunch in Billings after my appointments at the prison. He had a transport so we were both in the same place at the same time. It was nice. I really, really like him.” They walked to the living room and sat down on the couch.

  Lane smiled. “He’s awesome. I love the idea of you two together! He and I had a rocky start to our friendship, but now look at us! We share a cat! Well, it’s Wesson’s cat. Jake won’t let me have even joint custody. But I did get to help him name it.”

  Molly laughed. “Yes, I met Kobe Michael the other day at his mom’s house. Good name, Lane.” Molly shook her head and smiled. “Did you know the inmates call Wesson ‘Soup’?”

  “Because of his huge dick?” Lane asked, straight faced.

  “Wait, what? No. They call him that because his last name is Campbell. But how do you know that?”

  “Jake told me,” Lane snorted. “Campbell. Soup! Ha! Clever. I thought it was because of his huge girth.”

  Molly shook her head. “How does Jake know this?”

  “He said it’s the kind of dick even a manly man like himself can’t ignore in the locker room. High five! Sounds like a keeper, girl!”

  Molly left Lane’s hand hanging in the air.

  “Oh man. Now I’m worried.” Molly took a deep breath and then exhaled.

  “You haven’t seen his dick yet?”

  “We’ve only been on one official date, Lane! Besides, Wesson has a three date rule.”

  Lane laughed. “Of course he does. That’s so Wesson.”

  “Lane, can I tell you something? And I mean it’s a big something and it must stay locked up in the vault forever. You can’t even tell Jake. But I need to tell another woman and I need advice before I explode.”

  “Shit, Molly. What is it? Of course you can tell me.” Lane looked worried and took a sip of her wine.

  “I’ve never...well. I’ve never had sex before.”

  Lane spit her wine back in her glass. “Say what now?”

  “Yeah. I’m a virgin.”

  “Wow. No wonder you're worried. He's gonna split you in two.”

  “Yeah. Ouch.”

  “Oh my god. Is that why you hardly ever swear? Did your dad give you a purity ring and take you to a creepy church dance where you promised to stay true to him until ‘til marriage?” Lane shuddered.

  “What?! No! Is that a thing?”

  “Jake was watching a Lifetime special. I got roped in.” She shrugged. “Sorry, please explain. Because we’re the same age, right? How on earth did this happen?”

  Molly nodded. “You make it sound so weird.”

  “That’s because it is weird. But I still love you.” Lane gave her a sad smile. “Does Wesson know?”

  Molly nodded. “He knows I’m a virgin. Which I think is part of the reason for the three date rule and the handling me with kid gloves thing he has going on. But he doesn’t know why. Yet. That conversation is coming.”

  “Will you tell me?”

  Molly exhaled, nodded her head, and the two best friends settled in for a hard conversation. Lane got angry on Molly’s behalf. Molly cried a little bit. They hugged. Everything felt like it would be all right. It felt good letting another soul in. Molly really should practice what she preached to clients more often. Keeping issues close to the vest was a recipe for stress and anxiety.

  “You definitely need to tell Wesson,” Lane said as she gathered her things up to head home for the evening.

  “I will. Soon. Promise.”

  Molly shut the door behind Lane and poured herself another glass of wine. Her phone vibrated once.

  WC: You home?

  MM: Yes. Lane just left.

  WC: Did you girl talk about me?

  Molly smiled.

  MM: No. She hates you.

  WC: No she doesn’t. We share a fur-child.

  She laughed.

  MM: You’re right. She doesn’t. And yes, we did girl talk about you.

  WC: Anything good?

  MM: Just the slightly terrifying news that you have a gigantor dick.

  WC: Whaaaa? Swear to god, Lane has never seen my junk.

  MM: She said she heard from Jake.

  WC: Makes sense. He’s totally gay for me. I’m coming over.

  MM: LOL. <3

  Chapter 9

  “I’m just a little scared, okay?” Molly said, trepidation in her voice.

  “Don’t be scared. It’s not that big.” That was a sentence Wesson never thought he’d have to ever say. Wesson was going to kill Jake for blabbing his mouth to his wife. Who does that?

  “I mentioned your ‘Soup’ nickname and she assumed it’s because you’ve got the girth of a soup can! That’s horrifying. I’ve only ever had a tampon and a relatively normal sized vibrator up there!”

  Oooh. Wesson was going to need to see this vibrator at some point.

  “You’ve felt my dick through my pants, Molly. This shouldn’t be a deal breaker.”

  “It’s not a deal breaker! I’m just worried.”

  “What are you worried about?”

  “That you’re not going to fit!” she yelled.

  Wesson took her into his arms. “Oh, don’t you worry about that. I’ll fit. I’ll get you nice and wet, stretch you out a little bit, relax all your muscles down there with some massaging of my tongue, rub your clit with the head of my dick. I'll slide right in. Hell, we can use a little lube if that pretty pussy needs it. Piece of cake, babe.”

  She melted in his arms. That’s right.

  “Ugh. Your stupid three date rule! You make me so horny, Wesson,” she turned and licked his neck up to his ear. Fuuuuuuuck.

  “You better watch it, Molly. I'll fucking explode in my pants.”

  She sucked his earlobe into her mouth.

  “Babe, I’m serious. Stop.”

  Molly pulled away and gave him her best pouty-face. “Don’t you want me, Wesson?”

  “You know I fucking want you like you’re my last meal, Moll,” he gestured down to his gigantic bulge in his pants
, “It’s time for that conversation we need to have first, babe.”

  “Ugh. I’ve already had it once tonight. Can we just make out, make each other come, and go to sleep?”

  Jesus H. Christ.

  “We can do that after we talk.”

  Molly buried her head in the crook of his neck. He wrapped her up tight and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her to the couch.

  “Just wanna tell you, Molly, I am your safe space. Nothing you can say can make me think differently of you.”

  “Ugh. I’m a psychiatrist, right? A medical professional. I tell people to talk about their crap all the time. But do I do it? No. Only a few friends from college, and now Lane, know.”

  Shit. Wesson was worried about what she had to say. There’d been too much buildup. It had to be bad.

  “I’m glad you told Lane.”

  “Me too. It felt good.”

  “Okay, so hit me.”

  Molly took a deep breath.

  “My junior year of college at Montana State I was at a football party after a game - we’d won, so it was kind of a big deal since that didn’t happen often - I’d had a bit too much to drink, so I decided to go home. The friends that I came with weren’t quite ready to leave yet, so I decided to walk back to my apartment. My ‘friend’ Todd saw me leave alone and came after me. Said he didn't want me walking alone in the dark...so I let him walk me home.”

  Wesson clenched his fists. He could already tell this wouldn’t end well.

  “He walked me to my apartment. He said he just wanted to make sure I got home safe. We got to my place. I tried to just say goodbye and thank him, but he stood there and it was kind of awkward and I just wanted to be nice. So, stupidly, I asked him if he wanted to come in for a drink.”

  “Stop. Don’t say that. You weren’t stupid. You were being nice. It’s okay to be nice, Molly. You shouldn’t have to assume that everyone has bad motives.”

  “I know. But I should have known in this case. He had a reputation, but I figured he and I were just friends, so there was nothing really to worry about.”

  Wesson decided it was best to stay quiet until she finished her story.

  “So, anyway. I invited him in and grabbed him a beer. Got myself a big glass of water. I remember everything. I was just buzzed by then, swear to god. I put on the television, thinking if we could just sit down and watch something on TV that eventually he would go home or fall asleep or something. I sat down on the couch. Next thing I know, he’s kissing me. And it’s not necessarily ‘unwanted.’ He was hot. He was on the football team. I was in college. Why not? Right?”

  Wesson was starting to get uncomfortable. Mine. He didn’t want to hear about Molly kissing anyone else. Whoa, where did that come from, Buddy? Wesson didn’t know, but he was starting to think this story was going to get worse.

  “When he started getting too handsy, I pushed him away and told him I didn't want to go that far tonight. And then he got angry. He pushed me down on the couch. Held my throat. I was screaming. It wasn’t like one of those moments that you hear of where the woman is too afraid to say anything - not that I doubt those stories - but I fucking screamed. My neighbors must not have heard me, though.”

  Whoa. Molly swearing. Wesson didn’t doubt her for a second.

  “He flipped my skirt up, ripped my underwear off, and I remember thinking, ‘Oh my god. This is it. He’s going to rape me. During fucking House Hunters.’ I couldn’t get over how weird and simultaneously horrifying the situation was. Fucking House Hunters.” Molly caught a sob in her throat and wrapped her arms around her body. Wesson's heart was aching. He pulled her closer to him and stroked her cheek until she looked into his eyes. She continued her story.

  “He moved his hand from my throat and pinned my wrists down with one hand, because I was wailing on him. He whipped his dick out with his other hand and just as I was about to become a statistic, my roommates walked in the door.”

  Wesson felt himself exhale with relief. He was wound tight, worried about the ending to this story, even though he knew she was a virgin. He squeezed her shoulder.

  “I screamed ‘Get off me!’ and he bolted. My roommates were confused as he zipped up his pants and ran out the door. I was very vague that night in describing what had happened. Like, I wanted to make sure my roommates were okay. I wanted to make sure they weren’t too worried about me. The next day I told them more about what happened. But it was...traumatic.”

  “Did you go to the police?” Wesson asked. Valid question. He was the police after all.

  Molly shook her head. Regret shadowed her face. “No. I wish I had.”

  “Hey, you can’t regret that, Molly. I know what happens to victims of sexual assault. It’s almost a lose-lose situation sometimes. Don’t feel bad about not reporting it.”

  “I do feel bad, though. If I had reported it, he might not have done it to anyone else.”

  “You can’t blame yourself for his actions. Besides, you can’t be certain that he did it to anyone else.”

  “Yes I can.” She was very matter-of-fact with her answer.

  “You can?”

  “Yeah. It was Todd Waters.”

  “Todd Waters? Todd Waters… as in Todd Waters the starting quarterback for the Albuquerque Jackrabbits?”

  “That’s the one.”

  Whoa. Made sense. Wesson started to put two-and-six together. Todd Waters was a homegrown Montana boy. Graduated from Montana State. A few years ago, he’d been accused of raping a girl in a bathroom at a bar in Las Vegas. Just recently he’d been accused again. This time in a club in Los Angeles. Everyone just assumed it was chicks trying to get a monetary settlement.

  Wesson was infuriated. Todd Waters was a fucking rapist. Molly was lucky that her roommates walked in when they did.

  “Holy shit, Molly.” His heart ached for her and his brain wanted to hunt Todd fucking Waters down and choke him out.

  “Yeah.”

  “No no no, Molly. Do not blame yourself. It’s all on him.”

  “Yeah, but maybe if I had said something he wouldn’t have been drafted and wouldn’t have been put in the position to assault these other women.”

  “Honey, it’s professional football and he’s a damn good quarterback. Someone would have given him a job, regardless of his criminal record.”

  “I know. Anyway,” she sighed. “I just kind of shut down socially at that point. Hit the books hard. Went to med school and tried to be a little more social, but I wasn’t interested in anyone. Or doing anything sexual. I had it in my head that if I ever even thought about sex around a guy, the same thing would happen. It took me a long time to get past that fear. Anyway, since then, I’ve just been too busy to date. So. Here I am.” She threw her arms up in the air. “I’m a thirty-three year old virgin. Everything sucks.”

  “Hey,” he pulled Molly into his lap. Where she belongs. “Not everything sucks. We’re here together. Now I know the whole story, and I don’t feel any different about you. I think you're the strongest, smartest person I've ever met. I want to kiss you right now, if that’s okay with you.”

  Molly grinned. “That’s okay with me.” He felt her mood suddenly change.

  Wesson lifted her off his lap and stood up with her, putting her feet down on the floor. With her hand in his, he turned and started pulling her toward the stairs.

  “Um. Wesson? Where are we - uh - where are we going, Wess?”

  “To your bedroom.”

  Molly gasped. “Are we breaking your three-date rule?”

  Ha! Nice try.

  “Nope.”

  “No? Then why are we going to my bedroom?”

  Might as well tell her.

  “Because I want to be comfortable while I kiss that pretty pussy of yours.”

  Wesson’s dick was so hard it hurt.

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah. Oh,” he mimicked her, then turned and winked as they walked
into her bedroom.

  ➰

  Wesson didn't waste any time at all looking around. He took her straight to the bed. The light was on in her master bath, so her bedroom wasn’t completely dark. She could see a hungry look in his eyes and it sent a shiver through her body.

  She could feel every nerve ending come to life as Wesson laid her down. Her stomach flipped as he crawled over top of her and met her mouth with his. He kissed her sweetly at first while his hands caressed her body.