by Charli Webb
“Boone told me.”
“He what?” I’m going to fucking kill him.
“I thought I sucked at making out. We’d be going hot and heavy but then you’d stop and mumble some lame excuse about needing to go home and ditch me. I asked Boone for advice and once he was done laughing at me, he told me what was really going on.”
“I have no idea how to respond to that.”
“Don’t be embarrassed. I was actually flattered that I could do that to you.”
“I don’t want to come in my pants.”
“You could wear a condom.”
“It’s not about the mess. It’s just lame.”
“Oh.” She ducks her head.
I grip her chin between my thumb and finger and make her look at me. “I think you misunderstood what I meant. I appreciate the offer, but what you’re suggesting is a conditioning program for premature ejaculation.”
She puckers her brow then chews on her lower lip for a second. “Is it better if I just…touch you?”
My dick twitches. It loves the idea of Skylar giving me a hand job. “Will you let me touch you, too?”
She shakes her head. “I’m not ready for that.”
“Then neither am I.”
Her eyebrows shoot up.
“This is a journey we need to take together. I’ll wait until you’re ready to come with me.” Literally.
She angles her face towards me. I didn’t shave this morning and I don’t want to scratch her sunburned cheeks so I gently press my mouth against hers. The cut on my upper lip stings, but I barely feel it.
Chapter Seventeen
Skylar
Rowdy and I spend every free moment together, but it’s not enough to satisfy me. I don’t suppose anything less than twenty-four seven would be. But between teaching at Front Range, working part-time as a paramedic in the ER at Avista and his volunteer work with Boulder Mountain Rescue, Rowdy doesn’t have much free time.
I’d join BMR but the sight of blood makes me sick and just the thought of a compound fracture makes me lightheaded so I’d only be helpful during the search part of any search and rescue mission. Plus, I don’t think BMR would be too impressed with my reason for application essay. I doubt ‘so I can spend more time with my boyfriend’ is what they’re looking for in potential recruits.
Old Blue’s tires crunch on the driveway. I grab my purse and dart out the door. Rowdy doesn’t have to work today, but I do.
My minimum wage job at Superior Pet Shop sucks. The uniforms are ugly. My boss is a dick. And I’m not allowed to work more than thirty-nine hours a week so I don’t qualify for insurance. At least it’s a job. And they claimed they’d work around my class schedule when classes start.
“Good morning, Sunshine.” Rowdy hops out of his truck. He smiles at me, but it’s strained.
Someone else is sitting in Old Blue. The sun glares off the windshield so I can’t tell who it is until she scoots across the bench seat and adjusts the rearview mirror. Anna.
“What’s she doing here?” I don’t even try to keep my voice down.
“She needs a ride to work.”
“We’re supposed to go out for breakfast.”
“Her car wouldn’t start. What was I supposed to do? Leave her stranded?”
Yes. “Why couldn’t Wade or Derek give her a ride?”
“Wade was already gone, and Derek has company.”
“Fine.” It’s out of the way so we won’t have time to go to the Walnut Cafe like we’d planned. “I guess we can grab something at Panera after you drop her off.”
“I thought we could eat at The Garden Terrace Cafe.”
“At the hospital? Why?”
“So Anna could join us.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I know damn well whose idea that was but if I throw a fit, I’ll look like a jealous bitch. I clench my jaw so tight my molars ache. “If that’s what you want.”
“Sky, I know you don’t like Anna, but she’s trying really hard.”
She’s trying really hard to come between me and Rowdy. Every time we make plans, she finds a way to butt in.
“Please, just give her a chance. She doesn’t have many friends. In fact, I’m her only friend.”
“Do you ever ask yourself why?” The snarky retort slips out before I can engage the filter between my mouth and brain.
Rowdy pinches the bridge of his nose. “I know Anna’s a little rough around the edges, but she’s my sister.”
“Stepsister.” And she’s not just rough around the edges. She’s a raging bitch.
“I’m all she has.”
“I’m sorry.” Rowdy’s compassion for stray animals and strange kids, like Boone, was one of the first things that drew me to him. Boone claimed he wouldn’t have survived high school if Rowdy hadn’t defended him against bullies. Anna’s father was convicted of murder. That had to leave scars. That vile man left scars on Rowdy, too. Visible scars. But he only became more compassionate. I don’t know what something like that would have done to me. I wish I could say that I’d have turned out like Rowdy, more determined to defend the oppressed, but there’s a good chance I would have turned out just as warped and bitter as Anna. I slip a hand behind Rowdy’s neck and pull him down for a kiss. “I’ll try to be nice. For you.”
He grabs my hips and pulls me closer.
Anna leans on the horn.
We jump apart like startled rabbits. I swear, I’m gonna kill that bitch.
Rowdy laughs. But makes up for it by smashing his mouth against mine in a kiss that turns my joints to jelly.
Anna lays on the horn again, but this time, we’re both expecting it.
Rowdy whispers, “Let’s give her something to honk about,” then grabs my butt and lifts me off my feet.
I wrap my legs around his waist. We’re just putting on a show to piss Anna off, but my body doesn’t know that. Apparently, neither does Rowdy’s. I feel every inch of him pressing against me. He kisses the tip of my nose then slides me down his body as he lowers me to the ground. I start to take a step back, but he grabs my hips and holds me in place. “Hang on a sec.”
“Using me for a boner shield?” I can’t resist teasing him.
“That was…” He closes his eyes then presses his forehead against mine.
“Freaking hot?”
He grins. “I was going to say unexpected, but yeah, definitely hot.”
“Why was it unexpected?” I can’t help but be a little hurt by his comment.
“I took pre-emptive measures in the shower this morning.” He gives me a quick peck on the lips then releases me. “It didn’t work.”
“You good to go?” I glance at the front of his jeans.
“Yeah, but I won’t be for long if you don’t stop checking me out.”
I jerk my eyes from the still obvious bulge in his pants to his face. “Sorry.”
Rowdy laces his fingers through mine and leads me to his truck. He opens the driver’s side door and frowns. “Scoot over, Anna.”
She’s still sitting in the middle of the bench seat. She narrows her eyes at me, but only for a second, then slides over to the passenger side. Did she honestly think I was going to let her sit in the middle next to Rowdy?
He wraps his fingers around my waist and lifts me into Old Blue. I scoot over just enough to allow him room to slide behind the wheel with the gear shift between my knees.
Anna plasters herself against the passenger door. “There’s plenty of space. No need to crowd the driver.”
Rowdy rests his hand on my leg and squeezes my knee. “I learned to drive with Skylar sitting right here.”
The memory sends a rush of grief as well as nostalgia through my heart. Rowdy bought Old Blue the summer I turned fifteen before he got his license. Aunt Lori took us out to the back roads of Weld County and taught Rowdy how to drive. She also took us to Boulder and spent the day at the DMV so he could get his license.
“You stay right where you are.” Rowdy l
ifts his hand to start the truck and get it in gear, but once we’re on the highway, he puts it back on my leg, wrapping his fingers to the inside of my thigh.
A shiver of pleasure runs up my body as he traces the inseam of my jeans. He’s closer to my knee than my crotch, but his touch, no matter how innocent, curls my toes. I told him I wanted to take things slow, and he’s respected that, but I don’t know how much longer I can hold out. I’m finding it harder and harder to obey my own rules. I think it might be time to remove a few boundaries. Maybe even tonight.
~***~
Breakfast was weird. Anna kept trying to dominate the conversation, talking about people and subjects I didn’t know. But every time she did, Rowdy would interrupt her monologue with an explanation, obviously trying to include me. Hopefully he’ll be a little less blind to her blatant manipulation in the future.
I watch the clock all day at work, even though I know it only makes time pass slower. I spot Old Blue in the parking lot as soon as I exit the store. Rowdy hops out then jogs across the parking lot to meet me. I grab his neck and pull his face down to mine. He smiles against my mouth then gives me a quick peck on the lips. “Missed me, huh?”
“As soon as I’m sure I won’t get fired for asking, I’m going to try to get my schedule lined up with yours.”
“We’ve got the rest of the day. What do you want to do?”
I want to go somewhere private and rip Rowdy’s clothes off, but then he’d want to do the same to me. No getting naked until after dark. “Let’s rent a movie and hang out at your place.”
“It’s a gorgeous day, cloudy and cool but no rain. Are you sure you want to waste it watching a movie?”
“I didn’t say we had to watch it.”
Rowdy tilts his head back and closes his eyes. “God, Skylar. Do you have any idea what you do to me?”
“We don’t have to make out if you don’t want to.”
“I love making out with you.” He slides his hand around my back and guides me to Old Blue. “Kissing you.” He pins me against the passenger side door and brushes his lips against mine. “Touching you.” He strokes my cheek with the back of his fingers. “Imagining all the secret things I want to do to you.” He presses his body against mine and takes my mouth.
I don’t just melt against him. I dissolve into him. Become a part of him. “Take me home. Now.”
Rowdy keeps his hand on my thigh as he drives, only lifting it to shift. Neither of us speak. I’m fascinated by the rise and fall of his chest. His breathing is just as fast and ragged as mine. My heart falls when we turn the final corner and I see Anna’s car parked in front of the house. “Crap.”
“What’s wrong?” Rowdy cuts the engine and frowns at me.
I nod at Anna’s beat up Ford Mustang. “She’ll figure out some way to interrupt us.”
“She’s not here. Remember? We gave her a ride to work because that piece of shit isn’t running.”
“Oh yeah.” I wonder who’s going to give her a ride home. I don’t really care as long as it’s not Rowdy.
He slides out of the truck then grabs behind my knees and pulls me to him. “Besides, I’m not going to let anyone interrupt us.”
I wrap my legs around his waist, just like I did this morning, but instead of kissing me, Rowdy carries me up the stairs, two at a time. My heart bangs against the base of my throat as he lowers us both onto his bed. He tugs my hands off his neck then loosens my legs from around his waist. “Don’t move.”
I prop myself up on my elbows and watch as he strides across the room.
He locks the door then turns around and grins at me. “Like I said, no interruptions.”
The bed creaks as he crawls on top of me, straddling my hips with his knees. He braces his hands on either side of my head, holding his weight off my body. “Same rules as before?”
We’d progressed to anything goes as long as it stayed above the waist and on top of clothes. “Not quite.”
He arches an eyebrow.
“I'm not ready to have sex yet, but I want to take care of you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know how you said you took ‘pre-emptive measures’ in the shower this morning?”
“Yeah?” His cheeks flush. It’s so freaking adorable.
“I want to do that for you.”
“You want to give me a hand job?”
“Way to kill the mood, Romeo.”
“This is too important to risk a major misunderstanding because you’re too embarrassed to say what you mean.” He straightens his arms, lifting his body into a pushup position. “Is that what you meant?”
I nod.
Rowdy’s nostrils flare. “Ladies first.”
“It won’t work.” Crap. I didn’t want to get into this.
“What won’t work?”
“I can’t…you know.” I roll my eyes.
“You don’t think I can get you off?”
“I’ve never been able to reach that ‘mystical’ plateau.”
“It’s a cliff, not a plateau and I can definitely get you there. Whether or not you choose to jump is up to you.”
“Whether or not you get me off has nothing to do with your sexual skills. If you turn this into a personal challenge, it’ll just frustrate both of us.”
“Is that what it was like with your ex? With Evan?”
“His name is Ethan, and it was an obsession for him.”
“What an ass.”
Ethan is actually a very sweet guy, but I’m pretty sure Rowdy doesn’t need to hear that.
“Have you ever been able to get yourself off?”
My face blazes hotter than Redgarden Wall on an August afternoon. “No.”
Rowdy kisses my forehead. “Let’s not worry about reaching any destinations and just enjoy the ride.” He lowers his body onto mine, but keeps the pressure light.
My hips rock forward instinctively. I know it’s against the ‘no dry humping’ rule but I can’t help myself.
Rowdy groans then slides lower, keeping the part of him I most desperately want out of reach. He kisses the swell of my breasts, through my shirt and bra, then sits back onto his knees. He reaches behind his head and grabs his shirt then pauses. “Is this okay?”
I slide my hands under his t-shirt and trace the dips and ridges of his sculpted abs. “Yes.”
He pulls his shirt off in one fluid movement.
I run my hands over his chest, marveling at the smooth, silky feel of his caramel skin.
He tugs at the hem of my white blouse, pulling it out of the ugly black pants I have to wear to work.
“Wait.”
Rowdy freezes. “I thought we agreed. Same rules for both of us.”
“Just until dark, okay?”
“Why?”
My face burns. “No one’s ever seen me naked before.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong…but didn’t we make love in the tree house four years ago?”
“Yes, but it was dark.”
Rowdy climbs off my body then sits beside me on the bed.
I sit up and lace my fingers through his. “Please don’t be mad at me.”
He rubs circles on the back of my hand with his thumb. “I’m confused, not angry. Are you scarred or something?”
I nod. “Something.”
“You’ve seen my back.”
“I know.” I saw the little round scars all over his back when we were kids, but he didn’t tell me how he’d gotten them until our last summer together. I remember how hard it was for him to tell me. I also remember how much closer we became after his confession.
My hands tremble as I fumble with the top button of my blouse.
Rowdy slides his fingers under mine. He pauses halfway down and traces the top edge of my lacy, pink bra. “I like this color on you.”
“Thanks.” My voice is so breathy it’s barely audible.
He finishes unbuttoning my shirt, but it only falls open a few inches. “God, Sky. You’re so fucking bea
utiful.”
“It’s a birthmark.”
“What?” He blinks.
“The thing I’m hiding.” If the level of heat spreading across my face is any indication, I’m sure it’s every bit as red as the stain on my back. “It’s a birthmark.”
His gaze shifts to my right temple where the tip of my eyebrow points to a tiny brown spot.
“No. Not like that. It’s huge and dark red and—”
“And it doesn’t fucking matter.”
“I’ve had laser treatments, but nothing ever gets rid of it completely and it always comes back.”
“I’ve seen port wine birthmarks before. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Skylar. But if you don’t want me to see it, I won’t look, okay? Where is it?”
“On my back.”
The corners of his mouth lift in a gentle smile. He runs his fingers along the edges of my blouse, opening it wider. “I promise not to look at your back.”
I shiver under the intensity of his gaze. My birthmark isn’t my only insecurity. I have no idea how I compare with all the other girls Rowdy’s been with. If Cherri’s body is any indication of what Rowdy likes, I definitely don’t stack up. And I know I don’t have anywhere near the experience she does.
Rowdy cradles my shoulders with one arm and places his other hand in the middle of my chest. “Lie down.”
I let him guide my head to his pillow.
He lies down beside me then slides one knee between my legs and peppers my face with kisses.
I whimper like a helpless kitten when he moves lower, blazing a trail of sparks down my throat.
He palms my breast then sucks my other lace-covered nipple into his mouth.
My back arches as I cry out.
He kisses the peak then lifts his head and gazes into my eyes. He slips a finger behind the front clasp of my bra. “May I?”
Blood rushes behind my ears. I nod.
Rowdy narrows his eyes. “Say it.”
“Say what?”
“Tell me what you want, Skylar.”
This is so different from the way he used to be. “I want you to unfasten my bra.”
