by R. R. Banks
“Who fuckin' asked you?” Glenn snapped.
Caleb shrugs. “I like to hand out legal advice pro bono from time to time.”
“This don't concern you –”
Caleb slips his phone out of his pocket and smirks. “Actually, as an officer of the court, it kind of does,” he says. “Because I'm pretty sure that one of the terms of your parole was that you're not allowed to leave the state you were incarcerated in.”
Glen looks at him with absolute fury in his eyes – but remains silent. I can see his hand twitching and I know that he wants to pull the gun I'm sure he's carrying. Caleb simply stands there, completely unafraid of Glenn – if anything, looking amused by him.
“Did you get permission from your parole officer to travel across the country?” Caleb asks.
“Fuck you,” Glenn snaps.
“I'll take that witty retort as a no,” Caleb says and holds up his phone. “Tell you what, Glenn. You leave now and I won't call the police and let them know there's a fugitive standing here in front of me. Because I'd be willing to bet that if you get collared violating your parole, you're going to do some more time.”
“Go fuck yourself.”
“Leave now, and never come back,” Caleb says calmly. “You forget about Veronica and you forget about Justin. They're done with you. For good.”
Glenn stares at him and I can tell he's debating with himself about what to do. Caleb punches in the number for 911 and shows it to Glenn to spur his decision. After a long moment – one in which I swear, I didn't breathe – Glenn turns and walks away without another word.
I fear though, that this won't be the last I'm going to see of him.
Caleb closes the door and locks it. Turning around, he pulls me into a tight embrace and just holds me. The physical contact seemed to break down the emotional dam within me and I began to shake and tremble as I sobbed uncontrollably into his chest.
Guiding me to the couch, Caleb sits me down and holds me, stroking my hair, and telling me that everything is going to be okay.
I'm not so sure he's right.
Chapter Four
We sit on the back deck of Caleb's house watching the waves crash against the shore. It's a gorgeous day and we're sipping drinks as the sun slips toward the horizon, sparkling off the water dazzlingly, making the Pacific look like a pool of liquid gold.
I dropped Justin off at Melinda's for a sleepover with her kids – leaving me free to drink myself blind if I wanted to. Honestly though, after the stress of the last week, a low-key evening of sitting out on the deck, staring out at the ocean while having a few drinks and maybe some dinner sounded nice.
It's been about a week since Glenn showed up at my door and I haven't seen hide nor hair of him in that time. I'm actually starting to think that Caleb did it – that he'd managed to scare Glenn away with the threat of more prison time. He showed up thinking he could intimidate me into taking him back – again – and ended up slinking away with his tail between his legs. The mere thought of it makes me smile.
“I know why you've spent so much time with us this week,” I say.
“Do I need a reason to hang out with my best friend?”
“Every day?” I ask and smile. “I appreciate it, Caleb.”
He smiles and waves me off. “It's nothing.”
“No, it's definitely not nothing,” I say, holding his gaze. “I really appreciate you taking care of Justin and me the way you have.”
He gives me a warm smile. “Of course,” he says. “I'd never let anything happen to either of you.”
As we look into each other's eyes, there's an unexpected air of awkwardness that descends over us. The moment is interrupted though, by the ringing of my cell phone. The sound of the Imperial March theme from Star Wars coming out of my phone makes me roll my eyes.
“My mother,” I groan.
“Calling to check up on the happily engaged couple, no doubt,” he laughs.
“I'd ignore it, but she'll keep calling back until I answer,” I say.
He shrugs. “Better take the hit now then.”
With a sigh, I punch the speaker button on the phone. “Hi, Mom.”
“What's that sound?” she asks.
“Waves, mom,” I say.
“What, are you at the beach?”
I sigh. “Yes, Mom,” I say. “I'm at Caleb's place.”
“He has a house on the beach?” she asks. “Oh, my. Is he a doctor or something?”
“Lawyer, actually,” he says. “And the house belonged to my family. That's the only reason I own it.”
I shoot him a look, not wanting him to encourage her. I just want to get her off the phone as quickly as possible. He just laughs and gives me a goofy expression, making me shake my head.
“Oh, so you're the mystery man in my daughter's life. And a lawyer, at that,” she says, a small note of awe in her voice – and I'm not sure whether I should be offended by it or not. “She's been so secretive about her relationship, you know. I only just found out that you proposed to her.”
“Oh, I'm sorry about that,” Caleb chuckles. “But rest assured, our proposal was a beautiful event. It was at sunset, on the beach, champagne – it was a perfect night, Mrs. Geary.”
I reach across and smack him in the arm, trying to get him to stop egging her on. He just sticks his tongue out at me and grins.
“That sounds lovely,” she says, genuine delight in her voice. “Wonderful. Congratulations.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Geary,” he says. “We can't possibly be happier.”
My mother starts rattling on about something, but I'm not really listening. Instead, I mute the phone so she can't hear me and then smack Caleb in the arm again.
“What are you doing?” I ask, unable to stop the giggle that bubbled up in my throat.
“It sounds like I'm making her day,” he says. “She sounds happy enough to burst.”
He's right. I can't really deny that. She does sound happy. Damn near giddy and ecstatic. And I haven't heard my mom sound that way in a long time. Honestly, it's nice to hear. But still, we're lying through our teeth and I'm conflicted about that. It's getting her excited for something that's never going to happen.
On the other hand, she's never going to be know that it didn't happen – so, are we really hurting her by making this whole fantasy marriage up?
“Honey?” my mother asks. “Are you still there?”
I quickly unmute the phone. “Yeah, sorry, Mom,” I say. “I'm – we're – still here.”
“I was asking when the wedding is?” she asks.
I look over at Caleb and shrug. In for a penny, in for a pound, I guess. “We're planning on having it next month.”
“Next month?” she asks, sounding horrified. “And you're only telling me now?”
“It's no big deal, Mom.”
“We're keeping it small, Mrs. Geary,” Caleb chimes in. “Just those closest to us.”
“Well, I count as somebody close to you, don't I?” she asks.
“Of course, you do, Mom –”
“You certainly didn't leave me a lot of time to get myself ready then.”
I look over at Caleb, a sinking feeling in my stomach. “Ready for what, Mom?”
“To come out there for your wedding, of course,” she says. “You don't really think I'm going to miss my only daughter's wedding, do you?”
The sinking feeling grows to a yawning chasm in my stomach. I look at Caleb and his expression is as stricken as I'm sure mine is.
“B – but, Mom,” I say. “You're not well enough to travel.”
“The hell I'm not,” she snaps.
“Mom –”
“I'm going to be at your wedding, Veronica,” she says. “I don't care if they have to drive me all the way out there in an ambulance – I wouldn't dream of missing your big day, honey.”
I stare at the phone in silence – things have gone from bad to impossibly bad. I can't believe one little lie has blown up in such an incredible fashion.
<
br /> “I have to go, honey,” she says. “But give me all the details next time we talk so I can make my arrangements.”
“O – okay.”
“I'm so excited, Veronica,” she beams. “I've been looking forward to this day for so long. Love you, sweetheart.”
“Yeah, love you too, Mom.”
She disconnects the call and I slump back in my seat, feeling thoroughly stressed out and defeated. I look at Caleb who has a mischievous little smirk on his face.
“Glad you find this so funny,” I say.
“Kind of hard not to.”
I sigh and stand up, heading back into Caleb's house. He follows me into the kitchen where I fish a couple of fresh beers out of the refrigerator, handing him one. I twist the top off and take a long pull, draining nearly half the bottle.
“What are we going to do?” I ask.
“We have a wedding.”
I stare at him. “You can't be serious.”
He takes a drink and sets the bottle down. “I'm very serious,” he says. “Look, your mom wants a wedding ceremony. So, we give her one.”
“And how do you propose to do that?” I ask. “Do you really feel like getting married to me?”
He shrugs and smiles at me. “I can think of worse things to do with my time.”
“You're hilarious.”
“Look, all we have to do is invite a few of our close friends,” he says. “We hire somebody who was ordained online or something – not a real pastor – they perform the ceremony, it's beautiful, your mom cries, and then we never file the marriage license. No paperwork, no marriage, and all it ends up being is a nice afternoon for a mother who wants nothing more than to see her daughter get married. It's a win-win as far as I'm concerned.”
I take another sip of beer and lean back against the counter. “Huh,” I say. “That actually might work.”
“Of course, it'll work.”
“And you'd actually be willing to go through all of that – for me?”
The look he gives me makes my heart skip a beat and it feels like all of the air just got sucked out of the room. We stopped dating because there didn't seem to be any chemistry between us. But in that moment, there seems to be a growing heat. And I can tell by the look on his face that I'm not the only one who feels it.
Maybe it's the beer. Maybe it's all the stress I've been under. I don't know, but standing there in front of Caleb and feeling that sizzle between us, all I want is to feel my body pressed to his. Something in my head and in my body has shifted and though I don't understand it, I'm just going to go with it.
Setting my bottle down on the counter, I step forward, closing the distance between us. I'm standing in front of him, looking into his eyes, the tips of our noses nearly touching. Caleb sets his bottle down before he leans forward and kisses me.
The moment our lips touch, I feel like my body is exploding with sensation. It feels like fire is racing along my nerves, setting my skin ablaze as our tongues swirl together in my mouth. He pulls me to him, holding me tight against his body and I feel him begin to stiffen. I slide my hand down, stroking his hard cock through his pants, relishing the feel of it getting even harder beneath my touch.
He pulls back and looks at me, a look of uncertainty upon his face. “What are we doing, Veronica?”
I give him a sultry little smile. “I'd say we're about to fuck.”
“Are you sure?”
I squeeze his cock harder, drawing a gasp from him. Not saying another word, I unzip his pants and pull his cock out, gripping his shaft nice and tight, stroking him firmly. Sliding down to my knees, I never break eye contact with him as I circle the tip of my tongue around the head of his cock. He moans softly and runs his hand through my hair as I run my tongue up and down his shaft, encircling the base of it with my fingers and giving it a hard squeeze.
Caleb pulls my hair a little harder as I take all of him into my mouth, sliding it up and down his thick shaft at the same time I stroke him.
“Jesus, Veronica,” he gasps.
I tighten my lips down around his cock and start sucking and stroking him harder, faster, his moans growing louder by the second. With my other hand, I cup his balls, squeezing them and he lets out a loud groan. His body tightens, stiffens, and I know if I keep going, he's not going to last much longer.
Reaching down, Caleb pulls me to my feet. Giving me a kiss full of fire and passion, he picks me up and sets me down on the counter. He kisses my neck, sliding the tip of his tongue down to my collarbone as he cups my breasts through the thin material of my sundress. I gasp when he pinches my stiff nipples through the fabric.
Sliding the straps of my dress down, he exposes my breasts. And when his tongue touches my hard, sensitive nipples, it feels like bolts of electricity are being shot through my body. As he licks and sucks on my breasts, he slides his hand up my thigh, slipping it beneath my dress. I moan softly and grind myself against him when Caleb slides my panties aside and slips his finger into me.
Gripping his hair and pressing his face to my breasts, I cry out as he starts to move his finger inside of me, driving it deep. The fire between my thighs is burning out of control and I'm dripping wet as he bangs me hard and fast on the kitchen counter. I call his name when he slides a second finger into me, plunging into my pussy deep and hard.
It's been so long since I've been with somebody that the sensations coursing through my body are even more intense. And as Caleb is driving his fingers into me, I feel the pressure that's been building inside of me suddenly explode. My body is trembling and I cry out, squeezing his hand between my thighs, his fingers still deep inside of me, as I come. Hard.
It takes several long moments for the trembling to subside and for my breathing to get back to anything close to normal. I look Caleb in the eye and smile.
“That felt amazing,” I say.
As if a thought suddenly occurs to him, he holds up a finger. “Be right back.”
He dashes out of the kitchen, leaving me sitting on the counter, looking after him. My body still feels like it's on fire and I want more. It might be crazy – in fact, there is no doubt, this is crazy – but something happened when we were looking into each other's eyes earlier. Something changed between us. I don't know what it is exactly – but there is some sort of a connection between us that didn't exist before.
We've been great friends since we met, but this is – different. Deeper. On a different level. I don't know how to explain it, but something just feels different. And I like it.
“Caleb?” I call.
He steps back into the kitchen completely naked – except for the condom he slipped on. He looks at me sheepishly, as if he's still uncertain. I pull him to me and run my hands all over his lean, trim body. Caleb has the body of a runner or a swimmer – toned and somewhat muscular, without being one of those bulky behemoths. I don't think he's got an ounce of fat on him. His lean body is all angles and hard planes – and he's undeniably gorgeous.
He leans forward and kisses me again and I can feel the absolute want and desire pouring out of him – and into me. Sliding his hand beneath my skirt again, this time, he pulls my panties down. I kick them off the end of my foot and they land somewhere over by the refrigerator. He steps forward, his hands sliding along my thighs as he pushes my skirt up to my waist.
I wrap my legs around Caleb, shuddering as the head of his cock presses against my hot, wet opening. He leans forward and kisses my neck, giving it a gentle bite as he thrusts his hips, driving his stiff cock deep into my pussy. I throw my head back and cry out as he begins pumping his hips hard and fast, burying himself deep inside of me.
When we dated, we actually didn't sleep together, so this is my first taste of him – and I can't seem to get enough. Caleb sucks on my nipples as he fucks me, driving himself into me again and again. I am moaning loud enough to wake the dead, raking my fingernails down his back. He grunts and thrusts his cock into me even harder, making me cry out.
He fee
ls amazing inside of me. Caleb is long and thick; every inch of his glorious cock is filling me up and stretching me open. I squeeze my vaginal muscles, making myself tighter as he fucks me. He cries out and reaches up, pulling my hair nice and hard, yanking my head back. He kisses my neck as he pounds his cock into me and the rush of sensations filling me up takes my breath away.
“Oh, Jesus,” he stammers.
His body tightens up and I know he's close. He grabs my ass and pulls me closer to him, thrusting his cock into me again and again, driving himself even deeper. Caleb throws his head back and his cry sounds more like a guttural growl. And when I feel his cock begin to pulse, I know he's filling the condom inside of me with his warm, sticky seed.
Feeling him coming inside of me touches off another wave of sensation – one that topples me over the edge. The orgasm that tears through me is intense and leaves me breathless.
We stand there in the kitchen, our bodies still intertwined, as we try to catch our breath and ride out the waves of incredible sensation that wash over us.
Chapter Five
We climb out of the shower, towel off, and get dressed – neither of us is looking at the other and an awkward silence hangs in the air between us. We've been best friends for years and we just had sex. Pretty intense and incredible sex, but sex nonetheless. I haven't had time to sit back and ponder the ramifications or what it all means, but I don't really feel compelled to – something that surprises me.
“I don't regret it, you know,” I say, finally breaking the silence between us.
He looks over at me, really meeting my eyes for the first time. “No?”
I shake my head and give him a smile. “No,” I say. “Not in the least.”
“Good, because neither do I,” he says. “But, what does –”
“What does it mean?”
He looks at me, a strange little smile playing upon his lips. “Yeah, I guess so.”
I walk over and place a soft little kiss on his lips. “I don't know right now,” I admit. “But, I think between the two of us, we'll figure it out. I mean – assuming you want to figure it out.”
