Maybe Swearing Will Help

by Vale, Lani Lynn

The drive home took a total of a minute and a half.

  Sammy pulled into my driveway and I began to get out but realized something was missing.

  “I don’t have my keys,” I said as I felt my pockets. “Ashe, did you see them?”

  “No,” she admitted. “But I had other things on my mind, obviously.”

  I snorted and pointed to Ashe’s place. “Take me over there. We’ll have to go back to look for the keys, but I’m in need of a hot shower.”

  Sammy drove us to Ashe’s place, but instead of getting out. he said, “I’ll go back and look. Bring you the keys if I find them.”

  I nodded once. “Thanks, man.”

  After getting out, I tossed the rain jacket back at him with a nod of thanks.

  By the time I got the door of the cruiser shut, Ashe already had her front door open.

  She made a hurry-up gesture with her hand that had me smiling.

  “Go into the bathroom and get showered,” Ashe ordered. “I’ll get you some warm clothes.”

  I didn’t argue with her even a little bit this time.

  Couldn’t, even if I’d wanted to.

  I was just that cold.

  After a dip into a practically frozen pond to save the girl, arguing with her was the last thing on my mind.

  I’d taken long dips in water before.

  Hell, there’d been a time that Ashe and I had taken a dip quite a few times on a dare—Ashe and I really were hell on wheels—but this felt different.

  That girl was haunting me for sure.

  I heard Ashe come into the bathroom and start to gather my dirty clothes.

  “Do you remember that one time that we dared each other to jump into the pool?” My teeth chattered viciously.

  There was a long pause and then Ashe said, “I remember you pushing me. I don’t remember there being any dare.”

  I snorted.

  “Not that time,” I said. “The time when it was super freezing cold. When we were both bound and determined to see who could stay in the longest.”

  She started to laugh.

  “The time when our parents came outside to find us both in a stare off?” she asked. “We were sixteen at the time.”

  Some of our stupidest stunts had been when we both damn well knew better.

  “Yeah, that time,” I said. “I remember thinking that you weren’t going to win. Today, when I was swimming out to the middle of that pond, I pretended that you were daring me.”

  She snickered and finished gathering up the clothes. “I’m gonna go throw these in the wash. Do you need anything?”

  I shook my head, my mind now firmly on the way it burned to have the water sluicing over my skin.

  At one point, I heard the door open and then close again, but I hadn’t felt like turning around to see what she’d put in there.

  The shower felt amazing, and the only reason I got out at all was due to the fact that I knew Ashe had to be cold, too.

  Reluctantly turning the water off with two easy flicks of my hand, I grabbed the towel off of the rack and moaned.

  It was warm, too.

  She must’ve just gotten it out of the dryer.

  Warmth and love bubbled to the surface, and I realized that I’d been fooling myself.

  I couldn’t stop myself from loving her.

  It was just impossible.

  We may fight constantly like cats and dogs, but these feelings were something we’d been fighting since we were children.

  Wrapping the hot towel around my waist, I stepped out into her bedroom and blinked at the sight before me.

  “Shower is yours,” I teased, seeing her shivering underneath the comforter.

  She was wearing a hoodie pulled up high over her head, and it was only as she threw the covers back that I realized it was my hoodie.

  “Hey!” I said, staring. “That’s my hoodie!”

  My hoodie from back in high school, actually.

  She rolled her eyes and shrugged out of her clothes, and it was only as she was pushing her sweats down her legs that I realized those had once been mine, too.

  Ashe most certainly hadn’t played ‘Benton High Baseball,’ that was for sure.

  “Where did you get this?” I asked as I tugged the hoodie off of the bed and shook it at her.

  She didn’t say a word, only laughed, as she headed for the shower.

  “I have some sweats in the middle drawer.” She tossed over her shoulder, pausing when my brows rose. “They’ll fit… mostly because they are yours.” She tilted her head. “Just don’t get any ideas. Once you can get into your place, you’re changing into something of your own.”

  With that, she turned on the shower and stepped inside, a shiver overtaking her body once the hot water hit her skin.

  Ashe hadn’t gotten into the water with me but up to her thighs, but even that was enough to zap a person’s strength and drop their body temperature.

  When we’d gotten the call about the missing kid not even a half mile from us, we’d started out on foot.

  And the moment that I’d seen the girl out in the middle of that pond, fighting for her life, I hadn’t even hesitated.

  Which had been why I’d lost my phone and my keys somewhere around that small body of water.

  I’d have to wait for my sister to get home, or wait for Sammy if he found my actual set, before I could even get her spare set to get into my place.

  In the meantime…

  I walked over to the drawer that she’d indicated, opening it and staring in awe.

  Ashe had been truthful when she’d said that they were my clothes.

  I’d expected the clothes to be minimal, though.

  They weren’t.

  There were shirts, sweatshirts, and sweatpants galore. There were even a few pairs of my boxers. Ones that I hadn’t seen in so long that I knew that they were old.

  Very old.

  I pulled out a t-shirt, staring in awe at it.

  It was one from my high school years.

  It said ‘Benton Football’ on it in bold red letters.

  I fingered a hole that I remembered putting into it, grinning widely.

  The shower turned off, but I ignored it and continued to go through each shirt until I got to one that was familiar and would fit.

  KPD SWAT.

  A black shirt with simple white lettering.

  But I knew for a fact that I hadn’t given that particular shirt to Ashe.

  Hell, I didn’t remember giving half of them to Ashe.

  Some, I remembered handing over to her at certain times.

  The Benton High football sweatshirt that I could see on top of the pile? I’d given that to her senior year after a football game.

  I heard movement behind me and turned to see Ashe standing there, grinning like a loon.

  “You gave that hoodie to me when Linnett was standing right next to you,” she said softly. I stared at her, naked, watching me. “You saw me shivering and shrugged out of it, handing it over like it was the most common thing in the world.”

  I remembered. “Linnett gave me so much shit for it that night.”

  “Because you wouldn’t let anybody wear it.” She laughed. “I remember. It was a rule by the coach. Y’all got new hoodies, but you couldn’t ‘give them to your girls’ because ‘bitches didn’t give them back.’”

  I laughed, remembering my coach’s words.

  He’d said almost exactly that.

  “Linnett hated me after that. Like for real, no going back, always going to hate me forever,” I said. “That was the beginning of the end for us.”

  “I know.” She grinned. “I saw the look on her face when you gave that to me. I knew the moment that I slipped it on that she was going to lose her shit on you later.”

  “I’d been putting her off for months,” I explained. “She wanted it so bad, but I wouldn’t give it to her. I wouldn’t even let her wear it when we w
ere at home because I knew that she was going to try to keep it.” I paused. “And I was so fuckin’ scared of that coach. He was ex-military, so he had this way about him. I only realized later that he was an ex drill sergeant. When I got into basic, I realized rather quickly why that was such a big deal.”

  She giggled then, causing me to roll my eyes.

  The t-shirt in my hands was forgotten as I dropped it onto the dresser.

  Her eyes went to my already hardening cock and lit with excitement.

  She came running at me seconds later.

  Laughing at her playfulness, I caught her in midair and twisted us so that we were falling onto the bed, her underneath of me.

  We landed with a solid thump, bouncing softly a few times before me settling solidly between her legs.

  “My dick’s no longer cold,” I informed her.

  She shifted her lower body, grinding her bare pussy along my growing erection.

  “I can tell,” she teased.

  I smoothed my hand down her hair, sifting my fingers through it.

  “I love you.”

  Three simple words.

  A feeling that wasn’t simple at all.

  I couldn’t even explain the depth of my feelings for Ashe.

  The woman meant the world to me. And even having her with me as I saved a kid? That felt like it was everything.

  Her eyes went soft, and she cupped my face with her hands. “I love you, too, Chevy.”

  I snorted. Then pressed my lips down onto hers.

  As I was kissing her, I moved my hands down between us, removing the towel that was around my hips.

  It didn’t go far as I tossed it somewhere near the side of the bed.

  But I couldn’t find it in myself to care as I slowly started to grind my pelvis down onto her mound.

  “Ford,” she breathed, her breath skittering across my lips.

  Her hands went to my shoulders, her fingernails digging deep.

  The tiny bite of pain was nothing as I slowly rocked my hips, coating myself in her wetness.

  I loved this. Loved her. Loved everything about how my life had ended up over the last few months.

  Admitting that I was in love with Ashe had opened some sort of door for me that had led me into this world where Ashe was the most important thing to me now.

  “Ashe,” I breathed. “Spread your legs wider.”

  She didn’t spread her legs wider. She put one leg over my hip and rolled, taking me to my back with the surprise of the move.

  And when I found my hands full of her breasts in reaction, she snickered and then started to move down my body.

  I growled when she paused at my right hip to bite me lightly, causing me to curse.

  “Damn, Ashe,” I said. “What has gotten into you…”

  I trailed off when she fisted my cock, making my entire body jolt.

  “Jesus Christ, woman,” I growled, feeling her clench onto my cock with her fist. Exactly the way that I liked. “Move your goddamn hand already.”

  She laughed and did just that while simultaneously moving down the length of my body.

  Her hair dragged along the skin of my belly, haloing her head and face as she jacked my cock off.

  When her mouth touched the tip, I closed my eyes and prayed to last long enough that I could make her feel better, too. Only, I didn’t take into account the way that she made me feel.

  She jacked my cock off against her tongue, brushing the head of my cock just enough with the heated pad to make me fucking crazy.

  I felt my balls draw up, and just as they did, she sucked my cock right into her mouth like she knew exactly what she was doing to my body.

  And maybe she did.

  Maybe she knew that I was about to come.

  But I still warned her anyway.

  “I’m gonna come in your mouth if you don’t stop,” I told her.

  She pulled back so that she was jacking me off against her tongue. “Do you want to?”

  I closed my eyes and gave her the most honest answer I’d given anyone in my life.

  “I want to come first in your mouth,” I told her. “Then I want you to pull back so that I come on your face and your tits.”

  She flipped her hair back so that she could see my eyes.

  “That’s very specific,” she accused.

  I clenched my hands into the bedspread beneath me.

  “Maybe,” I said. “But I’ve been wanting to do it since I was a teenager.”

  She sucked my cock back into her mouth again and watched me, challenging me to do what I wanted.

  The first spurt of my cum hit the back of her throat.

  She pulled back just in time for the second spurt to decorate her lips. The third to hit her neck. And the fourth to hit her chest.

  If I could’ve taken a picture and lived with myself afterward, I would have.

  “Jesus Christ,” I hissed, eyes nearly crossing in pleasure. “I have no idea how I just kept my eyes open.”

  She licked the tip, then sat back so that I could admire her.

  Before she could so much as reposition herself, I had her right back on her back and I was sliding my still irrevocably hard cock right back inside of her.

  She felt like liquid heat.

  I watched her face as I fucked her, taking in my cum decorating her body, and making me want to do it all over again.

  She must’ve sensed it, too.

  Because she grinned, then darted her tongue out to lick my essence free of her lips.

  I pulled her leg up and hooked it onto my forearm before fucking her harder.

  Her eyes went half-mast at the new position.

  “Feel good?” I asked.

  She nodded, unable to draw words anymore.

  I used my free hand to reach up and smear my cum onto her nipples, tweaking them as I tried to force back my orgasm.

  “That’s it,” I growled, feeling her pussy start to tighten.

  Her breath hitched, and soon her head fell backward as her orgasm overtook her.

  “So.” I thrust hard into her. “Fucking.” One more hard thrust, then I was coming. “Beautiful.”

  Chapter 17

  Life is so boring when you don’t have an online order to look forward to.

  -Ashe to Ford

  Ford

  We were breathing heavy when a look suddenly entered Ashe’s eyes. “We need to go look.”

  “It’s at my house,” I said, feeling my heart start to pound in my chest.

  “I went and got it using my spare key while you were showering.” She swallowed hard. “It’s on the bathroom counter.”

  I froze, my cock still hard inside of her, and my release now leaking out around my cock. How had I missed that?

  “Well, if you’re not…” I paused. “You might be now.”

  She slapped me on the shoulder.

  But I knew what the answer would be before I even picked her up and took her to the bathroom with me.

  I tried to avoid looking at the counter as I found a towel and wiped her clean.

  It was only when I couldn’t stop myself that I clenched my hands onto her hips, cupped her face, and said, “Ready?”

  She nodded once.

  We both pulled away and looked down at the little window that said, very fucking clearly, ‘PREGNANT.’ We both breathed a loud sigh.

  Mine was of relief.

  I wasn’t sure what Ashe’s was for.

  Which had me nervous.

  I turned to look into her eyes.

  “Good sigh or bad sigh?” I asked bluntly.

  She tilted her head, her eyes looking down once again at the pregnancy test.

  “I think it was a good sigh.” She paused. “I’m not telling our parents.”

  “Rock, paper, scissors?” I asked hopefully.

  She shook her head. “No. I’m not strong enough. This is going to have to be you.”


  I sighed. “We’ll tell them together.”

  Ashe went to the shower and turned it on.

  “I have to take a shower,” she said. “My feet are still cold and now I have you all over me.”

  I grinned. “I’m going to get dressed.”

  She stepped into the shower and turned to look at me.

  “I was being completely serious about my clothes.” She narrowed her eyes. “You can’t have any of them back.”

  I raised a brow. “I didn’t realize you were a clothes thief.”

  She closed the door in my face.

  “Just make sure that you don’t wash it before you return it. I find that it’s better wearing it when it smells like you.”

  “Ashe?” I called.

  She pulled the glass door back open, staring at me intently. “Yeah?”

  “Are you really okay? About the baby?”

  That’s when she smiled.

  ***

  It was about five minutes into our drive home that we got the call that the girl was awake.

  “She wants to talk to y’all,” Luke said. “I told her y’all were out of town for the weekend, and she asks that you stop by the moment you’re back in town.”

  I looked over at Ashe who nodded her head.

  “We can go now,” I said. “We’re already late.”

  Ashe nodded her head. “Let’s do it.”

  I pulled a bitch at the first intersection we got to and headed in the direction of the hospital.

  “He was pissed that I’d taken his gifts,” she whispered. “I got the first two out, but the third box never got to where I needed it to go. He found me first.”

  I frowned hard.

  “Sweetie.” Ashe stepped forward and smoothed the girl’s hair out of her face. “You’re not making sense.”

  “The kittens!”

  Ashe’s eyes met mine.

  “You were the one to bring the cats to me?” Ashe guessed.

  She nodded.

  “Twice,” she whispered. “I was on my way with another box when he caught me. I had to abandon the box in the woods near the pond. You have to send someone.”

  Ashe’s eyes met mine, and mine met Luke’s.

  “We’ll send someone,” Ashe promised. “I have someone going right now, honey.”

  The girl nodded.

  “My name is Lacy,” Lacy whispered.

  “I know,” Ashe said. “Your parents are on their way right now.”