“You look surprised,” he says, studying my face as I look around.
I stop at a picture of him with his brothers at what looks like a family camping trip when they were younger. I smile at it before turning to give him a sheepish grin. “I’m sorry, I guess I expected more of the typical bachelor pad. I didn’t realize you were so domesticated.”
“I’m not…um…my mom…” he trails off.
I raise an eyebrow. “Your mother comes over and cleans your house?”
“She cleans all of our houses, with the exception of Nathanial who is renovating his. Liam lives at home still, but I’m sure she cleans his room.”
“Wow, Travis that’s really…I think my opinion may have just changed of you.”
I turn around to hide the smile that is forming on my face, but quickly turn back when I feel Travis’s eyes burning into the back of my head. He impatiently shuffles from one foot to the other, throwing his hands up in the air.
“Have you ever tried to tell my mother no? She doesn’t let you. She insists on doing it. Says she doesn’t want people thinking she raised a bunch of animals. Besides, all she really does is dust, vacuum, and decorate. I do my own laundry and I take care of the upkeep.”
“Be honest…does she cook your dinners too when you aren’t at the diner.”
Travis opens his mouth, pauses, and closes it into a tight line. I burst into laughter, shaking my head. It really is quite ridiculous the way she babies her boys.
“For your information, I do my fair share of cooking. She just leaves me a plate of food on occasion,” he states defensively.
“All right.” I laugh.
Travis stalks over to where I am standing, stopping close enough to me that we aren’t touching but I can feel the heat radiating off his body. Being this close to him is intoxicating. It makes me feel weak in the knees. I glance up to look him in his steel gray eyes and I know he feels the same way. He looks like he is seconds away from completely devouring me. Just one touch, one kiss and I would let him do it too. He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath before opening them again and grabbing a hold of my hand. “Come with me. There’s something I want to show you.”
He leads me down to his basement, which is the complete opposite of the rest of his home. There are a couple of wooden easels set up. Canvases of different sizes are stacked in various spots around the room, as are paints, paint brushes, and tin cans. In one corner, he has paint-splattered aprons hanging up on metal hooks.
“So, this is where the magic happens?” I grin.
Travis glances around the room, a proud smile playing at his lips. “This is my sanctuary. This is where I work.” He flashes me a crooked smile. “When I’m not at the diner to scope you out that is. This is also where I come when I need to blow off steam or if I get the urge to use.”
Chapter Thirteen
Travis
I stare at her after I say that, trying hard to gauge her reaction. Part of me worries that she is disgusted by that admission, but she isn’t, or at least, she doesn’t appear to be.
“Do you get urges often?” she asks quietly.
“Sometimes,” I admit. “So far I’ve been able to fight through the temptation, but there is always a part of me that worries a time will come where I won’t be able to say no.”
As frightening as it is to admit that, it feels good being honest with her. It isn’t the kind of thing I would be able to say to my family, not after everything I put them through in the past. They would end up watching my every move, which would only piss me off.
Gracie nods as she walks away from me. She glances around, checking out a few of the pieces I have drying. She wanders around the room, glancing over all of my materials and art work, until she makes her way to my slate table.
My eyes close for a moment. Visions of me bending her over the table, my fingers digging into her soft flesh as I am ramming into her from behind float into my mind. My dick instantly hardens. I need to calm myself down. I’ve already had sex with her once and we just started dating. She’s going to think that’s all I want her for.
My eyes open to see Gracie perched on top of a stool, smiling at me. She leans forward slightly, her arms down by her side as she holds on to the sides of the stool. The way she is sitting causes her breasts to push together and peek out of the top of her dress. My dick reacts and once again I find myself completely fucked by the sight of her.
“What are you thinking about?” she asks me.
“Truthfully?”
She nods.
I cross the room to her. Her legs part as soon as I reach her, allowing me to stand right in between them. Gracie wraps her arms around my shoulders, her smile deepens. My fingertips graze over her outer thighs, swirling in a circular motion over her warm skin.
Leaning towards her, I flick her earlobe with my tongue before pulling it into my mouth for a slow suck. “I was thinking about what it would be like to bend you over this table and fuck you,” I say into her ear, my voice low and husky.
She gasps, clearly not expecting that answer. For a moment, I think my bluntness may have scared her. She bows her head down, staring at the floor, before moving her eyes up to stare at me innocently below her long, black lashes. “I bet it would be amazing.” Her voice sounds so smoky and sexy right now. I never believed in the ability of being turned on simply by the sound of someone’s voice, until I met her.
My fingers dive into Gracie’s hair, twisting into her golden waves, as my mouth crashes hard against hers. Gracie’s hands grab a hold of my shirt, pulling me as close to her as she possibly can. She whimpers as I break off our kiss, only to sigh with satisfaction as my lips travel along the soft skin of her neck. “You are so fucking gorgeous,” I murmur.
My hands move up the front of her dress, unbuttoning each button one at a time. Once I reach the last button, I slide her dress down her arms, letting it drop down onto the table behind her. I reach my hands up, grabbing a hold of her long blond hair, and give it a gentle tug. Her head dips back, as her breasts push out towards me. With one hand, I flick open her bra and toss it aside. Bowing into her, my teeth graze down her throat. Her ass lifts off of the stool just long enough for me to remove her panties, my hands brushing against her skin as I pull them down her legs.
“Mmm, Travis,” Gracie moans. She reaches her hands out and unbuttons my pants. Lifting her feet up, she places them on either side of my waistband, and slowly moves them along my legs as she slides my pants down. I lift my feet up, stepping out of them and kicking them somewhere across the room, before removing my boxer shorts. She grabs the bottom of my shirt, pulling it over my head and tossing it aside, before leaning back on the stool so that her elbows are resting on the slate table behind her.
My hand slides between her legs, grazing along her thighs until I reach her warm, wet center. I slip one finger inside, and then a second one, as I rub circles over her clit with my thumb. Leaning forward, I take one of her nipples into my mouth, giving it a hard suck before moving to do the same thing to the other one.
Gracie begins grinding her hips against my hand. The faster she moves, the faster I pump my fingers in and out of her. Quiet little moans escape her mouth as she bites down on her bottom lip. I slide my free hand up her tummy, between her breasts, not stopping until my fingers are tracing the outline of her perfect, pouty lips. She opens her mouth, snakes her tongue out and licks my fingers, sucking one of them inside. Her mouth clamps tightly on my finger, and I find myself wishing my dick could take its place. Her tongue swirls around my finger, sucking hard, moving in time with the way I am pumping my other fingers in and out of her pussy.
Suddenly, she lets go of my finger, throwing her head back as she cries out my name. Her walls quiver around my fingers as she finds her release. She bites her lip one more time, staring at me, her big blue eyes glazed over with lust. I don’t wait for her to come down from her high before I remove my fingers from her. Gripping her hips, I pull her off of the stool and spin
her around. She immediately bends slightly over the table as she spreads her legs, waiting for me to enter her. I don’t hesitate to slam my way in. She cries out again as my fingers dig into her skin. She feels so good. So wet. So tight. She is mine and only mine.
Her hands grip the edge of the table as my pace quickens. She clenches her walls hard around my dick, nearly causing me to burst. I move harder and quicker like I need her to survive, which, part of me thinks that I do. I can’t hold it any longer. Right before I come, I pull out, leaning over her and pulling her against me as I finish on her back.
“Holy shit,” I pant. I lean forward even more, allowing my head to rest against her back as the both of us try to steady our breathing. I press a couple of kisses along her back before straightening up and walking over to one of my cabinets. Pulling out a clean white towel, I walk back over to where Gracie is standing, still slightly bent over my table. I quickly wipe her up, before cleaning myself off.
Gracie picks up her panties, sliding them quickly up her long, tanned legs. She grabs her bra and her dress, folding them delicately. I watch her curiously, wondering what she is going to do. She walks over to where my clothes are lying and picks them up, handing me my jeans and boxer shorts. I pull them on, watching intently as she slips my shirt over her head. The bottom of it skims her thighs.
“You look unbelievably sexy in my shirt,” I tell her, dropping my head down to nibble along the side of her neck.
She bites her lower lip as she glances down and smiles shyly.
“So…movie?” I ask, wincing with regret at how lame that sounds coming out of my mouth right now.
She grabs her clothes, clutching them close to her chest as she follows me upstairs. I take them from her, setting them down on the table in the kitchen before grabbing a hold of her hand and leading her into the living room. After going back and forth for a few minutes, with her refusing to watch anything scary and me attempting to put my foot down on any chick flick that is going to reduce her to tears, we finally agreed on The Notebook.
“I can’t believe you have never seen this movie,” Gracie says as we settle on the couch. She curls her tiny body against mine and I cover us up with a blanket before folding my arms tightly around her.
“Who exactly would I watch this with? I don’t have any sisters and this isn’t exactly the kind of movie I would watch with my brothers. Plus, I’ve never been with sweet girls that liked this romance shit.”
“You mean you don’t watch movies like this when nobody’s around?” she asks jokingly.
“Uh…no…I watch a different kind of chick movie when no one else is around.”
“Oh my God, Travis!” She turns slightly to give me a playful shove as I chuckle.
“What can I say? I’m a man.”
Gracie shakes her head as she settles back against me again. Holding her in my arms feels so right, so natural, that I am starting to wonder why I fought my feelings for her the way I did. If I had just accepted the fact that I am so into her, I could have been holding her like this for a while now. That’s a moot point, I suppose, since I can’t change the past and I have her here in my arms now anyway.
It still surprises me that someone so pure, so beautiful, would want anything to do with someone like me. It’s not just because I have a past, that’s a large part of it, but also because I know I can be an asshole. The majority of the time it isn’t even intentional but that doesn’t make me any less of an asshole. I still don’t get what I’ve done to deserve her affection. I feel like I am stuck in someone else’s dream of how things are supposed to be and any moment I am going to wake up and find out that this whole thing was a cruel joke. Like I might wake up in the morning with a needle hanging out of my arm and I’ll realize I was fucked up this whole time and Gracie was a figment of my imagination.
Gracie’s sobbing brings me out of my thoughts. I shake my head, realizing that the movie is ending. She wraps her arms around herself as big tears slide down her cheeks.
“Are…are you okay?” I ask cautiously.
“It’s just so romantic,” she wails.
“I’m sorry…did they just…die together?”
“That’s the whole point, Travis! They loved each other so much. Don’t you want to love someone so much that you can’t live without them?”
“Is this a trick question?”
Gracie sighs and I laugh. “I told you, I am not a romantic guy.”
I grab a box of tissues from the table and hand it to her. She pulls a tissue out, lightly dabbing the tears from underneath her eyes as she sniffles. She’s so sweet and feminine that it almost scares me. I’m just as afraid that I could break her as I am of the possibility that she could break me. I never thought that a woman could be capable of doing that, but I think she could.
I never really thought about having a future with someone because I never thought I would have much of a future. Drugs were my future. Drinking was my future. Shit, if it wasn’t for my family stepping in when they did, I would probably be dead right now. After I got clean I sort of accepted my life as a bachelor. I was fine with screwing girls like Mel whenever I wanted but now…for the first time I can see the possibility of something more on the horizon. It’s exciting and terrifying and…
“Travis?”
I snap my head towards Gracie, blinking a couple of times. She is staring at me with a confused look on her face.
“Where did you go just now?” she asks.
“Nothing. Nowhere.” I say quickly. I clear my throat as the urge to lock myself away in my studio for a couple of hours rises inside of me. “Are you about ready? I, uh, have some things I need to do around here.”
Gracie’s faces drops like she is disappointed. It’s a look I’ve seen a million times before on other people, but somehow it’s different coming from her. I guess it’s because I know that it isn’t me personally that is disappointing her.
I stand up, grab her hand and pull her to her feet. My arms immediately circle around her waist, bringing her close to me. She glances up at me, and when she does, my lips claim hers. Our kiss starts out passionate, fast and hard, like we need each other in a way that no two people have ever needed each other before. My hands slide up her back, her body shivering against mine, until my fingers curl into her hair. We pause, our lips pressed together for the briefest moment, before we kiss again soft, sweet, and slow.
“Travis,” she whispers against my lips.
I feel something tighten in my chest, something I have never felt before, and it takes a few seconds before it dawns on me what is happening. This girl has captivated me and shit if I can’t help but like it.
Chapter Fourteen
Gracie
“Okay, so tell me…what is he like without his shirt on?”
“Molly!” I exclaim.
“What? It’s not like I asked you how big his dick is. I haven’t seen that boy without a shirt on since we were about fifteen, so is he all gangly still or does he have some muscle?”
“He isn’t as gangly as he looks underneath his clothes. Just the sight of his abs is enough to make me start drooling,” I sigh.
Molly glances around the diner and moves in closer to me. I can tell what is coming by the mischievous twinkle in her eyes. It doesn’t make it any less embarrassing though.
“So,” she whispers. “Is it big?”
“Molly!” I exclaim. I can feel my cheeks turning a deep shade of red. I don’t think I have ever met anyone as intrusive as Molly. She doesn’t care how personal the question is, she will ask you anyway. Then, by responding, you are essentially opening yourself up to a barrage of more questions. It wouldn’t surprise me if she has already asked Travis how big his dick is, and, knowing him, he would have had some crass response for her. I don’t get the chance to respond to her because Russell comes storming out from the kitchen. He glances back and forth between me and Molly.
“Are we working today, ladies?” he asks, gesturing towards the couple of occupie
d tables that we have. Everyone has been served and checked on, but that doesn’t matter to Russell. Sitting patrons are still sitting patrons, no matter where they are in their meal.
“What exactly is your job, Russ?” Molly asks him.
“It’s Russ-ELL,” he corrects her, “and my responsibilities are none of your damn business.”
“Are you feeling unloved, Russell, is that what this is really about?” Molly asks him.
Russell’s eyes widen. “Molly, you are really pushing your luck right now.”
“What exactly is the problem here?” Aidan asks, walking out from the back room. He stands there with his hands on his hips, looking back and forth between the three of us like a father scolding his children.
“She’s being insubordinate,” Russell says, pointing at Molly at the same time she points at him and says, “He’s being an ass.”
Aidan looks at me, as if I might be able to assist him in this. I hold my hands up. “My shift is over now, I have nothing else to do with this.”
I pull off my apron as I walk into the back room, tossing it into the wash bin and grabbing my purse from my locker. As I am walking out, I can hear Russell listing off every reason why Molly and I should not be allowed to work at the same time. I wave goodbye to Molly and giggle about the whole situation as I step outside.
“Hey Gracie.”
I glance up to see Evan striding towards me. He shoves his hands into his pockets and flashes me a sheepish smile.
“Hi Evan.”
He comes to a stop in front of me and opens his mouth, only to close it again and run his hand through his blond hair. I shift from one foot to the other and offer him a smile. I haven’t spoken to Evan since Travis and I ran into him a couple of days ago. There is a part of me that doesn’t care what he has to say, but there is a larger part that wants to be able to have some sort of a friendship with Evan. After all, he was one of the first people I met here. I guess there is a part of me that is still holding out hope that we can at least remain on friendly terms with each other, even if we won’t be hanging out just the two of us anytime soon.
Travis Page 9
