The Slade Brothers: A Complete Small Town Contemporary Romance Collection

by Alexis Winter

  Again, I nod, but keep moving closer.

  “Are you hearing a word I’m saying, Wyatt?”

  “I’ve heard you, but I don’t believe you.”

  She’s taken aback—I can tell by the look of surprise covering her face.

  “You never were a good liar, Destiny. You forget, I can read you like a book.” I’m only a few feet from her now, and I’m gaining on her fast. “I could tell how surprised you were to see me that night. I could see the way your body reacted to mine.” I’m directly in front of her now. “And right now, all I see is how badly you’re trying to hold yourself back.” I reach up, cupping her cheeks. “Don’t hold yourself back, baby. Just accept it. You want me as badly as I want you.” Without another word, I lean forward and kiss her.

  Her lips part for me, but her tongue doesn’t come out to explore. Not yet, anyway. Right now, she’s still trying to hold back. “Don’t hold back,” I whisper, deepening the kiss. Finally, her lips are moving forcefully with my own, our tongues meeting in the middle. Her arms wrap around my neck, pulling me closer the way she always used to. I pull her to my chest and her body molds to mine. My hands roam up and down her back, touching every inch, wanting to burn this into my memory. I need this right now. I need her. I need to be reminded that what we had was real, because it’s been so long now that it all feels like a dream.

  My hands find her ass and I pick her up against me as her legs wrap around my hips. I turn us around and set her on the island as my hands push her shirt up her flat, toned stomach. Our kiss breaks for only a moment. When the shirt is tossed over my shoulder, her lips are back on mine. Breathless, I kiss my way across her jaw and down to her neck. She tips her head back, exposing more of her throat. My hands get to work on the clasp on the back of her bra. My fingers are quick and nimble, and the piece of fabric is falling away within seconds.

  I lay her back, looking over her gorgeous body. Her tits are moving up and down quickly with her heavy breathing—the peaks hardened with anticipation. Her stomach calls for me to run my tongue over each defined ab muscle. Taking this moment to slow things down a bit, I lean over and press a kiss right beside her belly button.

  She lets out a whimper that shoots straight to my aching dick. I kiss my way up to her breasts, sucking one hard nipple into my mouth while my hand massages the other.

  “God, Wyatt,” she whispers as I kiss my way from one breast to the other, my hands working on the button on her cutoff jean shorts. The button pops open easily, but as I’m lowering the zipper, her hand catches mine. I look up to find her eyes on mine.

  She shoots me a grin. “All this time and you’re just going to fuck me on the kitchen counter?”

  I pull her against me, carrying her through the living room, up the stairs, down the hall, and to my room, where we fall onto my bed. She lets out a giggle.

  “That better, princess?”

  “Much,” she says, wrapping her arms around my neck, directing my mouth to hers. With my lips back on hers, her hands come between us, pushing my shirt up my abdomen. I pull away from her long enough to yank it off. I kiss my way down her chest and stomach, coming to a stop at the top of her shorts. I get myself up onto my knees and look down on her as I push her shorts down her long, tanned legs. There’s only one small piece of fabric stopping me from taking what I want, what I need, and what I’ve been longing for all these years. My eyes lock on hers as my fingers dip beneath the cotton. Her baby blues shine bright, full of excitement—like she’s ready to go on this grand adventure with me. In the back of my head, I wonder why she’s allowing this, given how she ran away from me last week, but then again, I don’t care. I only need a few minutes to show her what she’s been missing.

  I lower my mouth to her thigh, sucking and biting as I move upward. I begin pulling down her panties as my lips navigate their way up. The second I run my tongue between her folds, her hips buck upward and her hands fist my sheets. She lets out a moan that makes my stomach tighten. I’ll do anything to hear that sound again—to know that I’m the one making her feel this way.

  With each flick of my tongue and suck of my mouth, her body hardens just a little more. When I slide two fingers inside her, her release washes over her. She’s wriggling, panting, and calling my name, and all of it just makes me want her more.

  When she’s quieted a little, she reaches down, fisting her hand in my hair as she yanks me back up her body. I quickly unfasten my jeans and push them down my hips, not even having enough time to remove them completely. With one roll of my hips, I’m sliding inside her tight, hot pussy. She tightens her muscles around me and already my climax is building. I don’t want this to be over anytime soon, but being with her is better than anything I’ve ever felt. It doesn’t matter how many gorgeous women I’ve been with in the past. None them made my body react this way.

  I move my mouth to hers and kiss her deeply as my hips move slowly. My hands take their time touring her body—squeezing her breasts, caressing her cheek, holding her hips. Her hips are rocking with my thrusts and I can feel the moment she gets close to release, because they start rocking faster despite how slowly I’m still moving.

  “Please, Wyatt. Faster. I need you to move faster,” she whispers as she pulls my hair with one hand and digs her nails into my back with the other.

  Even though I know this will be the end of our time, I can’t deny her. I’ve always needed to give her what she wants. My thrusts grow faster, more powerful. My entire body hardens in preparation for its release. Just as she clamps down around me and begins calling out my name, my release washes over me. My hips twitch and jerk as I spill every last bit of myself into her.

  My heart pounds hard in my chest and my breathing is ragged and rushed. My entire body feels spent. I can’t do anything but rest my head on her chest and listen to the way her heart is responding to mine.

  I withdraw myself and collapse next to her, both of us trying to catch our breath. I’m scared that she’ll be panicked now—that she’ll be looking for any excuse to run away. I have to find a way to put out the fire I know is raging inside her.

  I roll to my side and wrap my arm around her stomach, pulling her closer. She rolls to her side, pressing her back to my chest so I can hold her closer. I breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe she isn’t freaked out by this. I press a kiss to her shoulder blade and feel her stiffen against me.

  Eight

  Destiny

  When he presses a kiss to my back and starts moving up to my neck, I can only think of one thing: prom. I watched as he approached Julie, then leaned in and pressed the softest of kisses to her neck. This exact way. Reliving that memory causes my back to stiffen.

  I quickly push away from him and stand up, searching for my clothes.

  He sits up quickly, worry etching his face. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong. It’s just that this is over, so I need to be going. I have a another place to clean today.”

  “Oh, okay,” he says quietly, looking a little let down. “Will you come back?”

  I pull my panties and shorts back on. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Wyatt.”

  “What? Why?” He stands now and pulls his jeans back up.

  I laugh to stave off the tears that are threatening to come. “This was just sex, okay? This wasn’t us making up or getting back together. This was . . . it was just a way to work each other out of our systems.” I open the bedroom door and make my way back to the kitchen for my bra, shirt, and flip-flops, with him chasing behind me the whole way.

  I grab my things off the kitchen floor and put on my bra before tugging my shirt over my head. I slide my feet into the sandals and grab my things.

  “Destiny, don’t do this. Don’t run away,” he says, standing on the opposite side of the island.

  I shake my head. “I’m not running from anything, Wyatt. What we had . . .” I stop and turn to face him. “It was great. It really was. But it was a long time ago. We�
��re not those people anymore. And to expect to just pick things up where we left off,” I shake my head, “it just doesn’t work that way, okay?” I lean over, kiss his cheek, and leave the house.

  I manage to make it to the driveway before the tears start falling. I throw my things in the car and climb behind the wheel. Twisting the key, I look up, finding him standing in the doorway—shirtless, jeans unfastened and hanging from his hips, hair a total mess from my hands running through it. The sad look on his face hits me right in the heart, literally causing my chest to hurt. I shift into reverse and back away as quickly as possible.

  I make it about a mile down the road before needing to pull over. Tears are falling too quickly, blurring my vision. I thought if I gave him what he wanted—gave us both what we wanted—it would be the nail in the coffin, so to speak. I thought it could be our ending—to have each other one last time. I thought I’d be able to move on, knowing that the two of us just won’t work anymore.

  I’ve never been so wrong.

  Instead of feeling like things are over, I feel like they’re just starting. I was only reminded of his love, his soft touch, his amazing mouth, and all the promises and secrets between us. He may have changed and I may have changed, but deep down, we’re still the same people we always were. People don’t change that much, if at all. We’re grown now, but we’re also still those two teenagers who fell madly in love in high school.

  Staying away will be harder than ever now.

  I get off work around 5 p.m., and as I’m driving home, I stop at the bakery to talk to Julie and order us some subs for dinner. I walk into the bakery and place my order with the girl behind the register before slipping back to the main office, where I find Julie.

  She looks up at me with a bright smile. “Hey, what brings you here?”

  “I slept with Wyatt,” I blurt out.

  “What? When? How was it?”

  “Today.” I roll my eyes. “And it was . . . amazing.”

  “That’s good, right?”

  “No, that’s not good. I thought being with him again would be the closure we both seemed to need, but instead . . .”

  “It just opened the wound?” she finishes for me.

  I nod my head, feeling the tears as they well up. I will them away.

  She shakes her head. “I don’t see why you’re fighting so hard against this, Des. I mean, you two were great together, even back then. You guys weren’t anything like Mark and me. We were sure you two would get married, have children, and live the perfect life.”

  “That would’ve happened, if not for prom.”

  She lets out a long breath and hangs her head. “I’m sorry. You know it was an accident, right?”

  “I do now,” I state, believing her words. Now, it’s hard to think of her ever hurting me on purpose. “But Wyatt . . .”

  “It was an accident. If you hadn’t stopped him, he would’ve pulled away in shock. I felt it. At first, he was kissing me strong and sure, but then just before you yelled, I felt him harden like he knew something was off. That’s what made me realize I wasn’t kissing Mark. I know Wyatt, and it was an accident.”

  “Okay, even if it was, it’s just hard to put that behind me. I was so in love with him, and when he did that, it was like he . . .” I pause to find the right words. “It was like he had sex with another girl and planned on running away to marry her. I know it’s nothing alike, but that’s how it felt. He was the only guy I’d ever loved and you were my best friend.”

  She nods. “Betrayal sucks—I know that first-hand. I’m divorced, remember? But he wasn’t trying to betray you. You have to know that. How was it so easy for you to forgive me now? I was there too.”

  I sit back, thinking about her words. “Because I’m not in love with you.” The words just fall from my lips like I’ve always known them, and I guess deep down, I have.

  She offers up a weak smile. “So, you still love him?”

  I shake my head. “I don’t know. I’m so confused. I still love the man he was. But he’s not that guy anymore. And who knows, he may love the girl I was. And clearly, that’s not me anymore. We’re both so caught up in retrieving what we lost, but what we had then is gone now.”

  She sits back, studying me. “It’s not gone; it’s just grown.”

  A little while later, I’m walking back into the house with our sandwiches in a bag. “Mama, I brought subs for dinner.”

  “Subs?” she asks, walking into the kitchen from the living room. “Where from?”

  “The bakery. They’re amazing. I ate mine on the way home. Here are yours and Daddy’s. I’m going to shower. I’ve sweat my ass off all day.” I pass off the bag and head upstairs for the shower.

  As I sit beneath the hot water, I can’t help but think about Wyatt and the things we did today. I can’t stop thinking about Julie’s words. Is she right? Deep down, are we the same people? Even if we are, can I get over prom night? I’m scared I can’t. I’m scared that if I try, I’ll always wonder what he’s doing when he’s not with me. I’ll be worried every time he goes out drinking with the guys. I’ll always wonder: if I hadn’t caught them at prom, would he have told me?

  I push myself up and dry off, pulling on a thin summer dress. Without thinking, I get in my car and drive back to his house. The sun is going down and the lights from inside are filtering out onto the dark ground. I park and rush to the door, knocking again and again until the door is pulled open.

  “Destiny?” he asks, seemingly confused.

  “If I hadn’t caught you at prom, would you have told me about it?” I ask. Rain starts to pelt the ground around me, but I don’t care. My hair is already soaking wet and hanging around my face, making me look like a drowned rat.

  “What?” he asks, drawing his brows together.

  “If I hadn’t caught you kissing Julie at prom, would you have told me about it?”

  He takes a minute to think over his words, his eyes downcast. Finally, he looks up at me. “No.”

  I scoff and turn around, heading for my car, but he runs after me. He grabs my wrist and turns me around.

  “Just give me a second to explain.”

  I shake my head but stop walking.

  “The kiss was an accident. If you hadn’t caught me, I wouldn’t have told you, because it meant nothing. I wouldn’t want to cause you all that pain and worry for nothing. Had it been more serious—like, had I purposely cheated on you and fucked someone—I would’ve told you. But that was just an accidental kiss. It meant nothing to either of us. In fact, I know that if we could go back and redo it, we would. Because that’s how much you mean to both of us. Neither of us wanted to hurt you. It was just a drunken mix-up. God, I wish you could see that. Our lives would be so different right now if you could’ve seen that. We wouldn’t have wasted all this time. We’d probably be happily married right now, maybe even with a couple of kids. I don’t want her. I don’t want anyone but you. I mean, fuck, it’s been years and every girl I’ve come into contact with gets compared with you. I’m still completely fucking in love with you, and I know that if you walk away right now, I’ll still be completely fucking in love with you tomorrow, and the day after that, and the year after that. What I feel for you hasn’t faded or let up in the slightest, and I know it never will. I can feel it in my soul. You’re my other half—the one who was created just for me. Can’t you see that? Don’t you feel it when we come close to each other?” He reaches out and glides his hand down my arm.

  The rain picks up, soaking both of us, but neither of us notices or moves.

  “How do you know you love me—this version of me, not the 18-year-old girl you once knew?”

  “How do I know?” he asks, pulling me against his chest, our wet clothes smacking together. “Can’t you feel it?” He lifts his hand to cup my cheek while the other stays wrapped around my lower back. “I don’t care who you’ve become, Destiny. Deep down, you’ll always be the girl who loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, who woul
d rather spend the day bending over backwards helping your friends rather than getting a tan on the best beach in the world, who will cause a wreck and thousands of dollars in damage to save a stray kitten in the middle of the road. Those are the things that don’t change and the things I fell in love with.” His mouth smashes against mine and I can’t argue. All I can do is savor this kiss. Maybe he’s right. Maybe we haven’t changed that much. Maybe there’s still something between us.

  He picks me up against him and my legs wrap around his hips. His hands begin to push my wet dress up my thighs as he presses my back against the car. His hands move up, cupping my face and deepening the kiss.

  “Let me show you, Destiny. Let me show you that there’s still something between us—more than just our past.”

  My hand slides up the front of his shirt, which is clinging to each hard muscle. He reaches behind him and pulls it over his head, throwing it down on the hood of the car where it lands with a slap. His hands find my thighs again, pushing my soaking wet dress up until he finds my panties. He frees himself from his jeans, pushes my panties to the side, and slides into me.

  It’s been so long since I’ve had sex—since I was with him in high school—that I’m still sore after our afternoon romp. Now, the pleasure is mixing with pain in a delicious way. It hurts, but it feels right. His mouth finds mine as he pumps into me, the rain soaking us both. It’s coming down in sheets, now so thick that I can barely see the house from our place in the driveway.

  “Why can’t you see how much I love you?” he asks, his hips never stopping, his hands never stilling.

  He thrusts in and out of me, holding me close, kissing me, loving me, until we both come unraveled. I shatter around him and he explodes inside me with a deep growl. When his hips finally stop, we’re both breathless. He rests his head in the crook of my neck, breathing deep.

  “You’re not going to run off again, are you?”