by J. Daniels
CJ: Meet me at Calvert Stadium.
Calvert Stadium? Huh? The high school?
Me: Hi ;) Did you mean to send that to me?
CJ: Hi, beautiful. Yes I did.
Beautiful.
I smile and rub at my sleepy eyes.
Me: Why am I meeting you there?
CJ: To celebrate.
To celebrate?
As soon as the question circles my mind, awareness shakes me. My pulse quickens as my thumbs hurry with a response.
Me: You didn’t.
CJ: I did.
I gasp, hand flying up to my mouth. No way. No. way. He couldn’t. It isn’t possible. Fireworks on July fifth?
Me: Are you being serious right now? Am I really going to see fireworks? I don’t believe you.
CJ: Believe it, babe.
I shriek into the silence of the room. My phone nearly slipping out of my hands.
This is why he set my alarm.
Me: OMGGGG I’m getting dressed and leaving RIGHT NOW!
I have to hurry. I cannot miss this.
Tossing my phone on the bed, I rip off my hoodie and tear into the dresser.
After parking my car at the open metal gate that wraps around the stadium seats, I take off running across the track and onto the field.
It’s dark out so the lights are on. Bright white light beaming from above. It illuminates CJ’s truck that's parked dead center and covering up the school logo.
When I’m nearly at mid-field, he stands up in the bed.
“Oh, my God! CJ!” I call out. “What are you doing? Are you even allowed to park out here?”
This has to be illegal. Or at least highly frowned upon.
His mouth is stretched into a big, beautiful grin as he steps to the back of truck, mindful of the blankets he’s spread out.
A pile of them. Pillows too. And wait . . . yep. He has his stereo on. I recognize Sam Hunt.
This is exactly what I asked for.
God, is this seriously happening?
“A guy owes me a favor,” he vaguely explains. “Don’t worry about it. Come on. Let’s get you up here.” He reaches down with one hand, as if he’s going to hoist me up like that.
Ha! Yeah, right.
I gape at him, laughing a little with my hands on my hips. “Uh . . . okay, but if I pull you out of that truck, it’s your own fault.” I take a hold of his hand and wrap my other around his forearm, and then I’m being lifted off the ground without so much as a grunt in exertion. I squeak when my feet hit the bed. “You’re like Thor,” I joke.
CJ chuckles. He grabs my waist and pulls me against him, kissing the top of my head.
“Hi,” I murmur, pushing my hands through his hair and cupping his cheeks. “Is this real?”
I’m waiting to wake up from the best dream of my life.
He smiles down at me, his hands exploring my bottom and squeezing me roughly through my shorts. “It’s what you wanted, right? I told you I’d make it happen.”
He sure did.
“Yeah.” I drag my thumb over his mouth and press, feeling the heat of CJ’s tongue when he opens up and sucks me in. Pure need courses in my blood.
Holy crap, I’m horny.
“So.” I drop my hands and wiggle out of his hold. Another second of ass-grabbing and I might beg CJ to take me home so we can fuck. And I don’t want to miss his surprise. “Oo. What do we have here?” I kick off my Chucks before crawling over the mound of soft blankets to get to the cooler in the corner of the bed. I grip the handle and rattle it. Objects thump against the sides. “Did you bring us coconut treats?” I ask, voice teasing as I peer back at him over my shoulder.
I know I have to be beaming. This is too perfect.
“You were pretty damn specific in your request, remember?” he answers. “Right down to the exact date you wanted this to happen.” He toes off his own sneakers and socks, and it’s then I realize he isn’t wearing his boot. My face must express my concern because CJ is quick to explain, “It’s in the back. It's not like I'm walking around much up here.”
“Oh.” That makes sense. I smile at him, then look up into the dark, starless sky. “When does the show start? Did they tell you?”
“As soon are you’re ready for it.” CJ lifts his brows and digs his phone out of his pocket, waving it at me. “Just say the word, babe. We'll get this party started.”
Excitement pinches in my stomach. Seriously? He’s controlling the fireworks too? I feel like a kid waking up on Christmas day.
“Do it,” I tell him, sitting tall on my knees. “I’m ready. I’m so ready.”
CJ presses a button on his phone and brings it to his ear. “Yeah, hit it,” he says. Three words. That’s it, before he’s disconnecting the call, stowing his phone away and crawling toward me.
I imagine some sniveling wimp on the other end of the line who cooperates with police in exchange for his freedom, and because of CJ’s size and overall badassness, he does what he’s told. No questions asked. Including rounding up leftover fireworks from the fourth and setting them off over the local high school football field.
This is all kinds of crazy.
“Is this legal?” I ask, scooting over to allow for room. I fluff a pillow behind me and press my back against it, then ready one for him.
“Sure.” CJ gives me a wink. “Like I said, a guy owes me a favor.” Our sides touch as the man who makes my heart pound sits down beside me, stretching his legs out. He reaches for the cooler.
“A criminal?” I ask.
His head slowly turns to look at me. “What? No, the coach. I helped him out with the team last year. They sucked. Thanks to me, they went All-state. Not that I’m trying to brag or anything.”
“Oh. Well, where did he get the fireworks?”
“They shoot them off at homecoming. He gets them all the time.” CJ’s mouth twitches as his eyes narrow. He leans closer to me. “Did you think I had some fugitive back there I was keeping out of jail in exchange for making me look fucking awesome in front of you?”
“I don’t know!” I giggle, knocking against his side so he straightens up. “This is crazy. We’re in the middle of a football field and I’m about to see my first private firework show.”
“And eat coconut inspired foods, don’t forget.” CJ pops the lid on the cooler, reaches inside, and drops two things into my lap.
A carton of coconut water and a Hostess Sno Ball.
I squeal and bounce my legs against the blanket. “Oh, my God! I love these!” I cry, tearing into the plastic package with my teeth and fishing out the spongy, flake covered cake. I bite into it and moan around my mouthful.
Coconut heaven.
“So good,” I mumble with a sticky tongue.
CJ has his own unpackaged and is biting into it while I suck marshmallow cream off my fingertip.
I giggle when he turns to look at me. Pink coconut flakes cover his lips. He looks adorable. I swallow and lean over. “Here. Let me get that,” I whisper, my clean hand bracing on CJ’s thigh as I lick along his mouth. “Mm. Yummy.”
He groans, tilting his head and pressing our lips together. We kiss, long and slow, and it tastes like candy. Sugar sweet and the richest chocolate. I’m going to have the best high, I think. Then the sky booms overhead, and I gasp and break away, looking up at the first burst of color that trickles down to the earth. Red and purple streams.
The smile I’m wearing can go down in the record books.
“Oh, my God! This is amazing!” The air whistles, and another burst of light blooms in the sky. It’s white and sparkles like diamonds. I lift my hand and point, yelling, “Look! Look at that one!”
Having inhaled his Sno Ball, CJ slides down so his head is on the pillow. He grabs my wrist and tugs me. I fall, giggling as I flop across his chest and nearly drop my cake on his face. We laugh together. Then I’m flipping over and resting my head in the crook of his shoulder, watching the sky and nibbling at the chocolate sponge.
Th
e show goes on for at least twenty minutes. The bed of the truck shaking beneath us with each boom. It’s beautiful. I swear, I’ve never seen an Alabama sky look like this before.
And I've gone and seen the Fourth of July celebrations my entire life.
CJ moves his fingers in my hair as I drink my coconut water and eat another Sno Ball, pointing out my favorite fireworks to him. The ones that glitter and fall down like willow tree branches. We laugh together at the ones that look like sperm darting across the sky, and at the duds that seem to poof out before they’re supposed to. CJ messages the coach, telling him to save the pussy fireworks for homecoming (doing this jokingly, of course), and I fall back against him and laugh until my eyes water. We kiss and touch with tacky fingers. I nuzzle against his side and he wraps his arms around me. And when the finale starts, a rapid fire of the best of the best, I stand at the foot of the truck with my arms raised in the air and cheer at the top of my lungs.
“Wooooo! Yes! That was awesome!” I holler when the last firework burns out and the sky fills with smoke. I close my eyes and inhale the sulfur air.
Again, I can’t remember ever being this happy.
I spin around with my eyes lowered, expecting CJ to still be on his back, stretched out where I left him. But he’s standing now. I drag my gaze from his thighs and look up.
He tugs off his shirt and drops it on the blanket. Two condoms he digs out of his pocket are next.
My feet shift beneath me. I fight the urge to run at this man and hurl myself into his arms. I’m still buzzing from the sugar and still horny from when he was clutching at my ass. I can still hear his hot, helpless voice in my ear when I crawled over him halfway through the show and rubbed my leg against the bulge in his shorts.
“Here?” I ask, almost shyly, and clearly knowing the answer already. I just want to hear CJ say it, because I can’t believe we’re going to do this out in the open. I’ve never . . .
“I told my buddy to take a walk. It’s just us,” he says, eyes hungry and roaming over my body. They linger on the V in my top. “Show me.”
Not needing another prompt, I lift the hem of my shirt over my head and drop it onto the blanket. CJ’s nostrils flare. My breasts are smashed high and together behind the strict confines of my bra. I reach for the clasp in the front and slowly work it open, teasing us both. The summer air tickles my cleavage.
“Goddamn, your fucking body,” CJ growls when I bare myself to him, hard nipples and heavy flesh that begins to ache. He shoves down his shorts and boxers, his stiff dick springing free and smacking against his stomach when he straightens up. “Lose the shorts, darlin’,” he orders as he slowly strokes himself.
I watch his hand work, studying the way he pleasures himself. It feels good for him, I know, but I know CJ better. This is all for me.
My need goes into overdrive.
I step out of my shorts and panties, get halfway to CJ and stop to tug off my socks, cursing and causing him to laugh. Then I reach his outstretched arm. We pull each other down, both of us gripping and putting our mouths on as much skin as we can. My tongue on his chest and his lips warm and sucking on my neck.
“Oh, God,” I moan, back arching off the blanket when CJ slips a finger inside me and nuzzles his mouth between my legs. I grasp at his hair and hook my legs over his thick shoulders, digging my heels into the large muscles in his back. “More. Please, CJ please,” I beg.
He pushes another finger inside me and pumps his hand, murmuring how sweet my pussy is. How tight. How perfect for him to fuck. I beg him to do it. I tell him to fuck me, but I know CJ well. I know he likes to make me come first before we do anything else. He says he needs it. Needs to watch and taste my sweet on his tongue. He acts like a starved animal finally being fed after days. And God, he looks so fucking good down there.
Messy hair and serious eyes. And mine.
My orgasm slams into me when he adds a third finger, and I cry out into the night. Then I’m the one starved and taking, taking, taking. I sit up and push CJ onto his back, grab a condom off the blanket and tear it open with my teeth. I stroke his cock, then slide the rubber down, fitting it like I know how to do now. CJ likes it when I put on a condom for him, and considering how much sex we’ve been having, I've had a lot of practice with it. And I like to do it, too. I like him watching me, like I’m the only woman who’s ever done this for him before.
I like to imagine that’s true.
I straddle his hips and reach behind me, wrapping my hand around him as he gropes at my breasts.
“Ride me, beautiful girl,” CJ pants, his chest heaving as I position his thick shaft between my legs. I slowly lower down, his wet mouth opening and his head tilting back, eyes closing to moan, “Fuck yes.” His hands fly to my hips and he squeezes when I’m stretched deliciously full.
I whimper and arch my neck, taking the second I need to get used to his size. Biting my lip and breathing heavy. And then I flatten my hands on his stomach, look down into his face and gently rock my hips back and forth.
Being above this strong, powerful man and giving him pleasure like this, there's nothing like it. The way CJ stares at me, nostrils flaring, the tightness in his jaw, how his fingers grip into my skin as I rock faster . . . and faster, it's so goddamn hot. I reach back and cup his balls, rolling them in my palm and squeezing a little. He growls, the sound tearing out of this throat, and I know my playtime is over.
CJ thrusts up into me, grabbing my thighs and slamming me down, making me bounce on his dick. His eyes stay on my breasts as they jerk and sway. He tells me he wants to fuck them, then gets them wet with his mouth and sucks hard on my nipple, making me moan and beg.
“God, you sound so fucking hot when you take me,” he rasps, dropping his head back and staring up at my body. My mouth.
I give him a little smile, then I lean down and lick up his chest to his neck. I bite his jaw. “And you look so fucking good when you give it,” I whisper in his ear.
He groans and slaps my ass.
I giggle, then I lean back and grind my hips down, hard, wanting to drive him wild. I grab his hand and suck sugar and the taste of my pussy off his fingers. CJ's eyes burn. He looks like he wants to eat me alive.
I tell him I love the way he looks at me. I almost tell him I think I love him.
We fuck and then we slow down and savor each other. I’m on my back and CJ is between my legs, hips swiveling and lips against my ear. I cling to his back and stare up at the night sky, listening to his whispered words and the sounds of his moans over the music playing.
“I’m crazy about you,” he says, working his cock in and out while he stares down at me. His one hand between us, thumbing my nipple. “Fuck . . . you’re all I think about anymore, Riley. Tell me you feel that.”
Pleasure spirals through me. I don’t know what does it, his words or how long CJ’s been building this by moving inside me the way he’s doing, but my legs tighten around his hips, all of my muscles locking up, and just like that I come, so, freaking, hard. “Oh, God,” I groan. “Oh, God. Oh, my God.”
CJ’s body jerks in my arms, and then he’s crashing his mouth against mine while slamming into me, fucking me hard now.
“Fuck. Fuck,” he pants, at the edge. Right there . . . I feel him swell inside me. Then he buries his face in my neck, plants himself to the root and groans, deep and raw and beautiful.
All man. Nothing compares to the noises CJ makes. Nothing. And I’ve heard baby giggles.
I blink heavily and stare up at the endless night sky, moving my hands over the smooth planes of his back. “I feel it too,” I whisper, biting my lip. “I’m crazy about you too. Insane. Like, mental institution crazy.”
I want CJ to tell me he wouldn’t do all of this for anyone else. To say I’m different. That’s it’s me. Only me.
To admit he’s falling in love, so I can say it back.
But instead he holds me tighter, presses his lips to my neck, breathes deeply, and murmurs, “Darlin’,�
�� right below my ear.
Just darlin’. That’s it. And I realize that is all I wanted and needed to hear him say.
With tears in my eyes and the biggest smile on my face, I am officially at my happiest.
Three Weeks Later
“THIS IS GOING to be so weird.”
I cut the engine of my truck and unlatch my seat belt, looking over at Riley after she speaks.
Her head is down, and her fingers are twisting nervously together in her lap. She started fidgeting more and more the closer we got to Ben and Mia’s, bouncing her leg against the seat or chewing on the side of her thumb, but when she saw me noticing it, she’d stop and play it off with a smile.
She’s not trying to hide it from me anymore. Or maybe she can’t.
“What’s that, darlin’?” I ask, throwing my arm behind her and gripping the back of the seat.
Riley sighs. “I’m not going to be able to kiss you in there, or sit real close or do anything that might give off the impression that we’re totally banging all over your house.” She looks over at me, pouting like this is going to kill her. “And you can’t be putting your hands on me or stare at my chest the way you’re always doing. We basically have to act repulsed by each other. And I honestly don't know if I'm going to be able to do that.”
My mouth twitches. Christ, she's damn cute when she's stressed out. “I don’t think we need to go that far with it,” I counter. “Your brother knows you’re living with me. If you start cussing me out in there, that might raise more suspicions than if we’re sitting together.”
“So, you think we just need to act natural,” she says, more as a statement than a question.
“Sure. Why not?”
“Okay.” Riley twists her upper body so she’s facing me, sits up tall, and gives me an easy smile.
I give her one back. A second later, my eyes fall to her tits that are pushing out thanks to her change in posture.
Goddamn. I want to put my face all up in that.
“CJ!” she snaps.
I lift my gaze. Riley’s doing this wide-eyed glare thing, tipping forward and pinching her lips together. “What?” I ask, looking out the windshield. I’m expecting to see Reed standing at the front of my truck, pointing Ben's gun at me. He isn't. “What’s the problem?” I turn to look at Riley.
