____
This semester was going to kill me eventually. My week consisted of three quizzes back to back and a huge paper due within days of each other. I wanted to lay down and sleep for a week. That and maybe have sex with Cora. I couldn’t get enough of her and the girl was insatiable. Everything seemed perfect from the outside. It was eating me up that I was keeping things from Olivia though. We’d always told each other everything until the last few years. Things were changing as we got older and it was hard to adjust.
I picked up my bag and threw it into the back seat of my car. For the first time in forever, I was going to take a weekend to myself and go driving. When I turned eighteen, I started the tradition of going on long road trips to nowhere to clear my head. Just me, my car, and the open road. My Dad and I used to get into knock-down, drag-out fights that made me want to bash him in, so instead of going to jail for killing him, I drove. There was never a destination in mind and a lot of the time I flipped a coin to see which direction to go. Normally I would tell Olivia and take off, but this time I wanted to tell someone else. My fingers swiped over the keyboard as I typed and I pressed send before I could change my mind.
Me: I’m going dark for a few days. Don’t worry. I’ll be home by Sunday afternoon.
Cora: Okay. You’re okay right?
Me: Yeah, I just want to clear my head.
Cora: Long drive?
Me: You know me too well.
Me: Actually how do you know about that?
Cora: Olivia always told me when you left because she was worried about you and needed to talk about it.
Me: Of course she did.
Cora: Be safe. I’ll be here waiting for you when you get back.
It would be nice to have someone waiting on me when I came home. The thought brought a smile to my lips. That would be yet another thing to think about during the long hours. Cora had turned my world upside down and I didn’t have a clue what to do about it. She was amazing, but this whole thing terrified me. We were just sleeping together now, but it wasn’t just sex like we had both planned. There were feelings and emotions behind everything, and I sure as hell wasn’t prepared for it. I liked things simple.
As much as I wanted Cora, I was scared to open up to her. We flirted and enjoyed our time together, but I didn’t know what the next step was. Hence, the reason for the road trip. I needed time to think things through and try to decide what I wanted. It wasn’t like I was upset with the status quo, Cora was different though. She deserved better.
I drove for hours, sleeping in my car when I was tired and making turns in every direction. The plan had been to stay out until late Sunday, but I found myself back on campus by Saturday night. It was like my feet moved on their own as I walked towards her dorm. Cora had already told me she would be alone because Hannah was going home for the weekend. When I knocked on the door I grimaced, thinking maybe I should have texted first. The door flew open and a very surprised Cora stood in front of me.
“Finn, what are you doing here? I thought you said you would be back tomorrow.”
I shrugged and took a step closer to her. “I missed you.”
Her hands rested on my hips and she kissed my cheek. “I missed you too.”
“Can I come in?”
She smiled. “I would like that.”
She tugged me into her room and shut the door behind us. The drive hadn’t done a bit of good because with one look at her, I was just as confused as ever. All I knew was that I wanted to be around her. Screw the rest.
Books surrounded us as we sat on the floor of the library. Olivia had found me between two shelves and sat down next to me over an hour ago. She slumped to the side in exhaustion and I snickered. We were trying to be quiet, but delirium was starting to set in. My eyes were starting to cross after three nonstop hours of studying. I leaned back into the shelf behind me and opened my mouth to ask Olivia if she wanted to go get coffee with me. A familiar voice rang out in the quiet and I snapped it shut.
“Are you ever going to tell me who this mystery girl is? I know you got laid because you’re being less of an asshole than normal.”
Olivia’s eyes got wide and she sat up. I moved next to her as quietly as possible. We tried to look through the shelves without being seen.
“Nate, don’t make me regret talking to you last week. Right now I just want to keep things quiet, but yes, I did get laid.”
The smug tone of his voice made me laugh. I had to cover my mouth before I made any noise.
“I just don’t get it. You don’t keep shit from me. I want to know who this girl is that has you all strung up by your balls. I’ve never seen you act like an idiot over a girl.”
My eyes widened.
“You’re one to talk asshole. My sister has you wrapped around her pinky finger. When she says jump, you ask how high.” I could hear the smirk in Finn’s voice and by the look on Olivia’s face she could too. She clamped her hands over her mouth trying to muffle the giggle that was threatening to sneak out. “She’s special and I don’t want to introduce her to my crazy ass friends until I know that you won’t scare the hell out of her.”
“Tell me this, have you known her a long time or is she someone you just met?”
Finn sighed. “You aren’t going to let this go are you?”
“Nope.”
“Fine. I’ve known her for a while. She’s someone I’m having fun with right now and I really like her. We started out as friends and somehow it turned into more. Are you happy now? I’ve talked about my feelings.”
My heart pounded in my chest as I tugged on Olivia’s sleeve. “I don’t think we should be listening to this.”
“Are you kidding me? I want to hear anything I can about this girl that has Finn tied up in knots,” she whispered back.
“Liv, I don’t feel right about it.”
She sighed. “Fine, let’s sneak out before they see us.”
I gathered up my books, shoving them into my bag as quietly as possible. We went to the opposite side of the row and crept around the corner, careful not to be seen by the guys. As soon as we were far enough away, Olivia started talking.
“We have to figure out who this chick is. He’s known her a long time and they are friends. I’m going to have to start watching him to see who it might be.”
My stomach clenched. “Maybe you should just leave him alone. He’ll tell you when he’s ready. You know you’re the first one he always talks to about this shit anyway. Has Finn ever had a girlfriend without asking your opinion first?”
She cocked her head. “I guess you’re right. I figured you would want to know about her too since you guys are so close. Holy shit, do you know who it is?”
I shook my head and I gulped in a breath.
“He hasn’t told me anything.”
Technically the truth.
He hadn’t said anything like that to me.
“If he tells you anything I want to know as soon as you do. This is the first time in years that Finn has wanted to actually be in a relationship. It’s like two years ago he just lost interest in dating. Maybe it was just being in college, but I think there’s more to it than that.”
My stomach sank. Finn wouldn’t stop dating because of me. Right? Why did things have to be so damn complicated?
____
Olivia tugged on my arm and made me follow her up yet another row of bleachers. I groaned and followed along behind her. Going to a football game wasn’t my idea of fun, but Nate and Finn had decided that we all needed to go to a few for the college experience. Whatever the fuck that was. All I knew was that I would be stuck outside in the freezing cold for hours.
“Is this really necessary?” I asked.
Finn poked me in the ribs. “It is, keep walking, Donovan.”
I groaned again. “Is there beer?”
“Nope,” Nate said happily.
“You guys hate me, don’t you?”
Olivia laughed. “You act like we’re torturing you.”<
br />
“I think you might be.”
We finally found our seats and I flopped down dramatically. Finn leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Don’t pout or I won’t buy you one of those huge foam fingers.”
“Fine, but it better be damn good.”
“I think you know it will be,” he said winking.
He pulled a flask out of his jacket and poured a healthy amount of whatever he had into my drink, never looking in my direction as he did it.
“I could kiss you right now.”
He finally turned towards me and winked. “Don’t get any ideas or those two might figure something out.”
I smirked and pulled out my phone. At least if I was stuck here, I could make sure it was well documented. There were blackmail pictures of all four of us with those huge foam fingers that Finn did end up buying.
To my surprise, I actually enjoyed myself. It might have had something to do with the vodka that Finn had snuck in though. Finn and Nate had to explain the whole game to me while our team played, which I’m sure annoyed everyone around us, but I didn’t care. I screamed along with the other students in our section when we won. Olivia kissed Nate and I jumped up and down grasping Finn’s arm. He had a goofy smile on his face as he watched me. I stopped just short of actually kissing him. We would definitely be found out if I laid a drunken kiss on him in the middle of the football stadium.
Finn looked like he wanted to kiss me too, which did weird things to my stomach. I could just imagine standing here with him and his hands tangling in my hair as his lips met mine in celebration. It was entirely too easy to imagine and it sent a tingle through my entire body.
“There’s a party back at the house. You coming?” Finn yelled.
I nodded. There was no use trying to talk. The screams around us were deafening. He grabbed my hand and led me out of the stadium. I was happy for the excuse to touch him; from the smile I saw threatening the corner of his lips, I could tell he felt the same way.
I followed along beside Nate, but I was almost as reluctant as Cora had been last week at the football game. She’d ended up having a blast, but I wasn’t so sure that would be the case today. There were pumpkins everywhere I looked and the girls had already made us stop at Starbucks for Pumpkin Spice Lattes on the way to the pumpkin patch. I had a strong suspicion that I was going to loathe pumpkins and everything to do with them very shortly.
Cora and Olivia walked ahead of us arm in arm, trying to pick out the perfect shapes and sizes. I had to admit, this place was pretty cool. The whole place was a fundraiser for a local special needs group. Each year they held a two week long festival before Halloween. There were two different rides, one on a horse drawn hay ride, the other a tractor pull. Plus they had a cow and chickens for the kids to chase after and pet. On the other side they had a huge pile of hay to jump and play in. Everywhere you looked, there was something different.
“This place is awesome,” I said quietly to Nate.
“Yeah, it really is. I’ve spent a lot of volunteer hours here. That’s how the girls found out about it.”
“Huh. When do you have time to volunteer?”
He laughed. “I do it at least once a week, Finn.” I stared at him blankly. This was the shit that I’d asked about and he acted like it was nothing. The guy was a machine. “They’re having fun,” he said smiling.
We watched as they did their girly squeals after every pumpkin. It was kind of cute. You could tell they were having a lot of fun.
“We’re going to spend a fortune on pumpkins,” I said under my breath.
“You better believe it. Liv has a list a mile long of how many she wants for each room.”
I smirked. “She’s your problem now.”
He grinned. “I’ll keep her if that’s the worst she does.”
Cora turned and waved us over. Her cheeks were flushed from the cool air and her excitement was palpable. I would do everything in my power to keep that look on her face all the time.
“We want to carve pumpkins tonight,” Olivia said excitedly.
I groaned. Olivia had to ruin it. I hated the nasty, slimy feeling of the raw pulp and seeds on my hand. There go all the happy thoughts I was having about the damned orange blobs.
“I’ll just watch.”
Olivia stopped and put her hands on her hips. “Please don’t ruin this for me, Finn. I want to carve pumpkins and damn it, I want my brother doing it with me.”
“I’ll scrape out the insides for you, you big baby,” Cora taunted.
“Fine. Let’s do it. Pick them out and then we can go get beer before we start.”
Nate looked at me like I was insane. “Alcohol and knives. Somehow this seems like a really bad idea to me.”
I grinned. “That’s what makes it fun.”
We all picked out the biggest and best. Cora tugged me over to the hay pile. The bales were piled around to make a big swimming pool of hay. She held my hand as we counted to three before jumping in, but before she reached three, she shoved me in first. I grabbed her as I fell, tugging her after me. Her giggles made me chuckle as she fought her way back to the top. My hands gripped her waist and she moved to be closer. I glanced around us, decided we were covered enough that I could sneak in a kiss, and moved to brush my lips against hers. The soft moan low in her throat was going to be my undoing. That fucking sound made me crazy. I pulled her tighter against me, so she could feel just how much she affected me.
“Princess, you’re trying to kill me.”
She grinned. “Maybe, but it’ll be a hell of a way to go.”
She pushed away and I watched her climb to the side of the hay bales. Being with her like this wasn’t enough anymore. I didn’t want to sneak around, spending my time to make sure no one was watching each time I wanted to touch her. Somehow I had to convince Cora that she was ready for a real relationship. I wasn’t sure I was ready either, but for her I would be willing to try.
____
I took a sip of my pumpkin beer and grimaced. It wasn’t horrible, but it certainly wouldn’t be my first choice. The girls had gone into the liquor store and apparently they hated me. Nate had laughed it off, but I had given them a pointed look and cursed. Cora was behind it, I could tell by the smirk on her face and the glint in her eyes. The girl loved annoying the shit out of me.
Nate and I were watching Olivia and Cora get rid of the gooey, slimy insides of the pumpkins they wanted us to carve. At least Cora was still doing that for me, even if she was trying to torture me in other ways. The curve of her ass was accentuated in her tight jeans and I had to keep stopping myself from looking at it. Someone was going to catch on if I kept staring at her like a starving man.
“Done.” Cora said. “Now we can get onto the fun part.”
She pulled me over to the table and we started working. I traced out Jack Skellington and started carving. Cora watched me intently as I worked. She’d traced out Tinker Bell on hers, but wasn’t carving anything yet.
“For hating this so much, you seem to be putting a lot of effort into it.”
Olivia laughed. “He always does that. Every year, he has the most awesome pumpkin, with the most intricate details, but bitches about how much he hates doing it. Someone else always does the gutting part because he lays it on thick about how gross it is.”
“It’s tradition,” I said, shrugging.
Cora picked up her knife to start carving. After a few minutes, I heard her gasp and take off running to the bathroom. I looked over and there were a few drops of blood on the table.
“Shit,” I mumbled. Olivia started to go, but I stopped her. She got queasy at the sight of blood and the last thing we needed was for Liv to pass out on us. “I’ve got it.”
When I found Cora in the bathroom she had almost finished cleaning her finger. She was fumbling with the band-aid and Neosporin.
“I’m just clumsy,” she said as I came in behind her.
“Let me see.”
She pulled her hand away
and tried to fight me.
“Really, it’s nothing, Finn. Just a tiny little cut.”
I grabbed her hand and crowded her into the sink. It looked deep. I’m sure it hurt like hell, but my brave girl was putting on a happy face.
“Princess, will you just hold still and let me fix it?”
She nodded, a single tear streaming down her cheek. I kissed the wet path and reached for the hand towel. I put enough pressure on it to stop the bleeding and got her bandaged up quickly. Our hips kept brushing against one another as we maneuvered around in the small bathroom. I kissed her finger after we had the bandage on it. An almost inaudible sigh escaped from Cora. Her eyes met mine in the mirror, causing the air around us feel electric. God, if we kept this up, the house would go up in flames.
My lips brushed along her neck and she whimpered softly. I knew we didn’t have much time before Olivia came to check on us, but I wanted, no needed, to touch Cora. Having her this close to me all day, but not being able to touch her when I wanted, had me on edge.
“Is this what you want, Princess?”
My fingers trailed down her stomach and rested on the button of her jeans. She bit down on her lip and nodded. I grinned at her wickedly in the mirror as my fingers worked.
“I need you to come fast for me.”
From the first touch of my fingers, I could tell she was as worked up as I was. Her hips followed my movements and she bucked wildly each time I brushed against her clit. She turned in my arms, away from the mirror, running her hands under my shirt. Her fingernails dug into my back as she chased her release. I clamped my mouth over hers as she started moaning out her release.
I wanted nothing more than to tug her pants down her hips and thrust into her, but we didn’t have that kind of time. Neither of us could be quiet enough to pull it off without Nate or Olivia finding us anyway. Her body spasmed on my fingers and she tightened her grip on me as she rode wave after wave of her orgasm. I continued sliding my fingers in and out of her until she stopped trembling. Cora was boneless in my arms, a satisfied smile covered her full, pouty lips.
Waiting to Fall: Book Two of the Waiting Duet Page 8
