She walked to the door, calling a short ways down the hall. “Mr. and Mrs. Stoneguard, you can come in now.” As they passed into the room, she made a snubbed comment under her breath. “You should try to keep him away from stairs.”
“Will do.” My father nodded with a smile.
But then he saw Ashley. His smile faded.
“Teddy, my boy. What mess did you get yourself into this time?”
“Oh, you know Dad. Boys will be boys.”
“This isn’t so bad. I’ve seen worse.”
“Me too.”
The heat in my cheeks from my anger only made the bruises sting. I tried desperately to calm myself down.
“Well, aren’t you going to introduce us to your lady friend?”
Really? Were we playing this game for Mom?
“I’m Ashley.” She politely walked over to my parents and shook their hands. She was a better person than I.
“Pleased to meet you, Ashley.” My mom kindly spoke.
“Sorry, my son has never been so great with the manners.” Seemingly jokingly, my father jabbed me in the ribs. “Right kid?” But he knew what he was doing.
“Fuck, Dad.” The pain was excruciating.
“Language Teddy. Not in front of your lady friend.”
And now I knew what he was doing. “Ashley, can you please excuse us?” I pleaded at her with my eyes.
“If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to right stay here.”
“It’s not all the same to me.”
“Well, it’s not to me either.” Her tone lowered with frustration.
“It seems like someone needs to learn her place.” My father scowled at her.
I found her eyes and mouthed, “Please.”
Ashley took a deep breath and looked to my mother. “It was lovely to meet you, Mrs. Stoneguard.”
“You too, dear.”
Then she was gone, and the door was closed.
“What the fuck did you tell her?”
I didn’t want to be reminded of what happened next. Luckily, neither did my subconscious.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Teddy
Now, I’m sure you remember when I said that the evening Ashley and I stayed up all night talking was the start of the best summer of my life. Then, I just recalled a memory from only two days later when I found myself in the hospital, my face bashed in.
While those two things don’t seem coincide, there’s a reason that specific summer reigns supreme. It was all because of her.
Obviously the issues with my father had been plaguing me for some time, but never before had anyone been there to talk with me about them. My mother always knew what was going on, but it was one of those things about which we just kept quiet. I never brought it up, she never brought it up, and it worked for us both.
But Ashley was a fixer. She solved problems. Although I highly doubted I’d ever be able to stand up to the man, knowing she was in my corner cheering me on was enough to keep me sane.
I told her about the first time. I was eight and having a hard time getting my remote controlled helicopter off the ground. I ran into my father’s study to ask for his guidance, but he had my nanny sprawled out naked on the desk in front of him. He made me sit on a chair, facing the corner, until he was finished. Then, he dismissed my nanny and threw me into the bookshelf headfirst. But that was just the start. It was another two years of that before he finally did enough damage to warrant taking me to the hospital. The older I got, the more he knew I could take. It was like a game to him. He knew I wouldn’t fight back. He knew there was no way I could ever beat up my own father.
I was discharged from the hospital the next morning, but Ashley refused to let me go home. No matter how much I tried to fight it, she won by promising me that if I stayed with her, she would have to take care of me. Plus, she promised me sex in her childhood bed. I’m a man, not a saint. I went home with her.
The flashes were exhausting me. I’m sure in real time, the entire thing spanned only a few seconds, but if I’ve learned one thing through this adventure, it’s that there’s a reason no one has yet to invent time travel. Or if they did, there’s a reason they haven’t told anyone. Living your life over again weighs on you. No one should have to do it.
Especially when you know that at the end of the reliving, there’s no possibility of fixing your wrongdoings.
The next flash pulled me from my seat in front of the projector screen and actually into my body. I guess I was tired of watching. I had willed myself to feel this memory as if I were really there.
I blinked my eyes open. Pink… so much pink. Really Ashley? Eh, I guess I could see it. She was pretty cheery behind all that determination.
But what I really saw was her back, her naked back, in front of me. We were still in bed, and I was just waking up. It felt so real, the way my fantasy of her that night in my upstairs study had, but this time, it had really happened. I didn’t have to make up a better version of the truth, because the truth was so very wonderful.
I slipped my arm around her, resting the crook of my elbow in the curve of her waist and bending my arm up so I could cradle her breast in my hand. She moaned at my touch, still half asleep, but conscious enough to push her backside into me. I was already hard from the pure fact of it being morning, but her touch set my heart racing.
“You awake?”
“No.”
I jokily thrust against her.
“Come on. Wake up. Play with me.”
By this time, I had been staying with her for almost three weeks, and this was our morning ritual. I’d wake up, see that she was lying naked next to me, and immediately want to ravage her.
“I’m still sleeping. You should wake me up.” She half groaned.
“In that case…”
I jumped up as if I had been awake for hours, and rolled her so that her back was flat against the mattress.
“You can’t move.”
“I’m not moving.”
I raised her arms above her head, pulling each to opposite corners of the top of the bed, and I eyed her open, naked body lying before me. Her eyes were closed, but she had a soft, warming smile lifting her cheeks. I felt like a child opening presents on Christmas morning. There were so many possibilities, so much fun to be had.
I tickled my fingers down her arms, starting in the palms of her hands and then moving across her wrists. I followed her light blue veins down the inside of her forearm and continued until I rounded the outsides of her breasts. She jumped at the sensation, but I scolded her to remain still. Her eyes popped open briefly at my demand, but closed again when I deliberately cleared my throat.
I circled her nipples with the tips of my fingers, delighting in their reaction to my touch. She tried to push her chest into my hands, but I held her down.
“I told you not to move.”
“But…”
“No, no.” I lowered my mouth to her ear. “You listen to me… or else.”
“Or else what?” She cooed in response.
I flattened my palm against her side and followed her curves down to her hips. I rolled her gently to her belly, retracted my hand, and then lightly spanked her. She screamed, but only out of surprise.
“Or else that.”
“Guess I better not move then.” She bit down on her bottom lip, knowing she was teasing me.
I straddled her how she was, on her belly, and moved my hand up and down her back. Her skin was so soft and smooth; I wanted to keep touching her. I began to knead my fingers into her muscles, massaging her head, her neck, her shoulders, her back, her buttocks. I couldn’t stop feeling her. I just wanted more.
My erection had grown out of control by this point, and my thoughts were solely on being inside of her. I moved my knees to her inner thighs, spreading them out wide. I then stole a pillow from under her head and repositioned it under her belly, angling her hips up toward me. My finger slipped inside of her, twirling around to ready her. Another finger had he
r moaning, and another yet made her clench around me. I wanted so desperately to thrust inside of her, but willed myself to hold off just a little longer. Instead, I pushed her to her knees so her backside was even higher in the air, and repositioned myself underneath her. I widened my tongue and tasted her. She cried out quietly at my touch. My hands grasped her hips and pulled her fully into my mouth. I danced my tongue in and out, in and out. I sucked at her clit, exciting over her heightened cries. But I couldn’t let her finish: not like that. Not this time.
So I freed myself from under her and found my way to my spot behind. My left hand held onto her hip as my right wrapped around her, fondling her from the front. Then, I gave her all of me.
She tightened and released around my shaft as with each thrust I pushed further. She begged for more, and I gave her more. My hands jumped between her hips, her clit, and her breasts, wishing they could hold all of her at once. When I was certain she was just about to explode, I grabbed a hold of her hips with both hands and pounded into her. Her screams escalated out of control, but they only made me drive harder.
Her body clenched around me, and I felt her sink into oblivion.
When her breathing eased, she flipped over onto her back, facing me. She let out another sigh of satisfaction before she spoke.
“Did you finish?”
“Not yet.” I smiled.
And she smiled right back. “Good.”
She took my still hard cock in her hand and we locked eyes as she wrapped her lips around me. She watched me as I watched her consume me. I gently moved her hair out of her face so our eye contact would never break. It was so personal, so real, so wholly exhilarating, so...
Had I known how to say the words then, I would’ve told her how I felt. But I was young, I was afraid, and I had no idea what I was experiencing. When you don’t know what it is, love is a pretty scary thing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Teddy
“Don’t go back.”
“I can’t live at your mom’s house for the rest of my life, Ashley.”
“I like taking care of you.”
“And I like you taking care of me.”
More pillow talk. If I could just watch these flashes over and over again, I think my death would make it to one of the top spots on my favorite things list. Well, not the dying part. As I already mentioned, that whole pain thing sucked. But this… just the memories of Ashley and I that summer… that made death worth it.
That sounded morbid. And weird.
I leaned over and kissed her lips. I then touched my finger to her still wet lips and traced a line down her chin, her neck, her chest, her belly…
“And I like taking care of you too.” My hand escaped under the blanket and between her legs. I found her warmth and slowly pushed my finger in and out.
She moaned before turning to me. “Teddy, I’m trying to be serious.”
“Okay, you be serious. I’m going to keep doing this.” I pushed deeper, just to see her reaction.
“Oh my God.” Her face paled. “I can’t have a serious conversation like this.”
“Think of it as a test.”
“What?”
“Come on. It’ll be fun. I’ll go slowly. Try to keep it together.”
I loved playing with her. And I loved that she let me.
“Okay. I’ll talk, you do that.”
“Yes!” I was as giddy as a child. “Ready, set, go!” I added another finger.
She shook in reaction.
“I said keep it together. Show me what you got.” I teased.
“I don’t want you going back there.”
“They’re my parents. I have to see them eventually.” I curled my fingers inside of her. Her nose twitched. Freaking adorable. “Plus, there hasn’t been an article about me in eight weeks now. I should be safe… from the stairs.”
“Not funny.”
“If I can joke about it, you should be able to.”
“This is serious, Teddy. Not a joke.” I quickened my pace. “A-a-and…” her head kicked back.
“Don’t lose focus, Ash.” My thumb found her clit.
“A-a-nd…”
“You’re the one who said I needed to stand up to him.”
“Yes, but…”
“You are doing a terrible job of keeping it together! Wow, you can’t even get out a single thought!”
“You’re not letting me think! Or talk!”
“You can talk.”
“Just… just shut up.” She was getting frantically frustrated. I loved every second.
“Okay. I won’t talk anymore.”
And I didn’t, at least for a minute or so. Instead, I took her nipple in my mouth, sucking hard until it peaked. Then I moved to the other one. My tongue made its way down her belly and to the inside of her thigh.
“Why aren’t you talking?” I said between nips.
“I’m… I’m… wow, you’re mean.”
“Am I?”
I kissed around her inguinal region, allowing her to swell with desire, as my fingers continued their momentum. I pushed harder and faster, touching every inch of her yearning. Then I grabbed her with my tongue, tantalizing her until completion.
“Needless to say, I think I won that argument.”
“Wow, I was pathetic!”
“You really were… I had some faith in you, but, no. That was a complete failure.”
“And to think… I truly believed I was getting tired of you. Good job getting my interest peaked again.” She smiled her wicked smile before placing her lips atop mine. I pulled her tight to my chest, hoping that time would slow and I wouldn’t have to leave.
But I knew it was time. Two months had flown by. The summer was almost over.
It was time to face my father.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Teddy
The lights flashed yet again, and I was sitting in a booth, alone, at a restaurant. There were two plates in front of me: one with blueberry pancakes and one with a waffle topped with ice cream and chocolate syrup. The waffle was definitely Ashley’s. That was her breakfast of choice. I knew that much, even if I didn’t know where she was. I couldn’t quite place this memory, but something felt off. Even just watching it, I could feel a weight on my chest. You know that strange sensation you get when you feel as though you’ve done something wrong, something that should’ve been handled differently?
“Guess who.”
There she was.
A pair of hands were around my eyes, blocking my view. I grabbed them from my face, pulling them down, and turning around in the process.
“Hey pretty lady.” I instinctively said when I saw her face. Then came that feeling of guilt again.
She quickly kissed me before sitting down next to me. “Okay, I have a proposition for you.” She smashed her ice cream on top of her waffle.
“You can proposition me any time you’d like.” I placed a giant, goofy smile across my face.
“You’re a child, you know that?”
“I do.”
She shook her head before she continued. “Go home, settle things with your father, and then come away with me.”
“Away with you?” What was she talking about?
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.” She started giggling out of excitement.
“What is going on?”
“Okay, I don’t want to go into too much detail just yet, but I just got the green light on a story that I’m really, really excited about. And, in a week from tomorrow, I have a sit down meeting with a publisher to go over the treatment for a full length book.”
“Oh my God, Ashley, that’s amazing!”
“I know. I’m freaking out a little.”
“You should be. Come here.” I wrapped my arms around her. “I am so proud of you.”
“Thank you.” She buried her head into my chest. “So, I’m going to be really busy this week, but after the meeting, we need to go somewhere.
I’ll either want to celebrate a book deal, or I’ll want to run away to wallow at my failure.”
“You could never fail.”
“I’m trying to be realistic.”
“Me too.”
I was so happy for her. For the first time in my life, I was excited for another person’s success. In no way would this book deal benefit me, and yet, because it made her happy, it made me happy. That was the only benefit I needed.
It kind of freaked me out.
“So where would you like to go?”
“I was thinking…” Her cheeks blushed as she looked up at me. “Now don’t think this is stupid…”
“Great lead in.”
“Shut up.”
“Lips are sealed.” I did that stupid lip locking thing, but this time, it was more of an inside joke. She still gave me the same look.
“I was thinking we could just meet at the airport next Tuesday, bags packed for anything, and then go to the first place on the departures board. That has tickets available, of course.”
“This is a plot line from one of your movies, isn’t it?”
“No!”
“Are you lying to me?”
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