Missing Pieces

by Ivy Smoak

  And I loved every second of it. I slammed my hand against the foggy window. It made a squeaking noise as he started to guide my hips even faster.

  "I want to feel you come around my cock, Hails. Let me feel how much you love me inside of you, baby." He lightly bit down on my nipple.

  And I completely unwound. I felt myself tightening around him. "Tyler," I panted as I grabbed a fistful of his hair. "Oh, God, Tyler!"

  He grabbed the back of my neck and pulled my face down to his. I felt his cock start to pulse, pressing against my walls. A second later, his release shot up inside of me as he groaned into my mouth.

  And he didn't stop kissing me when he finished cumming. We continued to make out like two kids in high school. One of his hands cupped my breast and the other was squeezing my ass.

  "We should have been doing that this whole trip." He kissed the side of my neck. "That was amazing."

  I had never felt this warm before. I had never felt this whole before. I swallowed hard. I was in trouble. Because this didn't feel like meaningless sex. It felt like the best sex of my life. He was still buried deep inside of me and I was already wondering when we were going to do this again.

  "Are you okay?" He lightly touched the side of my face. A gentle touch. A loving touch.

  Instead of answering, I kissed him again. I was okay when his lips were on mine. I was okay if we stayed in this moment for as long as possible. I was okay as long as I wasn't thinking about what this meant.

  My hands disappeared into his hair. I needed to touch every inch of him before this spell was broken. If this was a onetime thing, I wanted to be able to remember it. I needed to remember it. I wasn't naive. I knew that our time together was limited. In a few days I'd be going back to Indiana. And even though he didn't seem eager to go back to New York right away, there was no way he'd ever come back with me to my small town when he was used to living in a city. There was no point in getting attached. So why were tears starting to prickle my eyes? Why did this feel like so much more than a summer fling?

  "We should probably call a tow truck before it gets too late," he said as he kissed the side of my neck again.

  "Mhm." My voice sounded strange. That was it. The moment was over. I climbed off his lap without looking at him and pulled my shorts back on. "I thought you said you could fix it?"

  "I'm pretty sure the axle is bent. A new tire isn't going to fix anything. I was just...agitated."

  I glanced back over at him as he buttoned his shorts back in place and reached for his phone in the front console. He didn't look agitated now. He looked relaxed, more relaxed than I had seen him since we met. And I did that. For a brief moment, I had helped him forget. He had made me forget too.

  A second ago I had felt so warm. And now I was freezing cold. My clothes were soaked. The rain had somehow made the summer heat disappear. I folded my arms across my chest as Tyler started talking on the phone.

  There was a lump in my throat that I couldn't seem to swallow away. What if I didn't want to just make him feel better for a few minutes? What if I wanted to do it again and again and again? I bit the inside of my cheek. What was wrong with me? I didn't do relationships. This certainly wasn't going to be an exception. If anything, our situation was just more of a reason to keep my distance. I pulled my arms tighter around myself.

  "You're shivering," he said.

  I turned toward him. I hadn't even realized he was off the phone. "I'm okay."

  He smiled as he put his arm around me, pulling me close. And I was instantly warm again. How could he make me feel so secure with just one touch? He couldn't be the one to comfort me. I needed to be able to do it myself. I couldn't need him. I rested my head on his shoulder. Well, maybe I could need him for just a second.

  Chapter 18

  Tyler

  Monday

  I pushed a strand of hair out of Hails' face as I stared down at her. She had fallen asleep in my arms. Not like the other night, where we had both accidentally ended up in the middle of the bed. She was in my arms because she wanted to be.

  Something in my chest felt tight. She said she didn't need flattery. But that's what she deserved. Maybe she was more broken than I even realized. And while I stared down at her, I knew that I wanted to help put the pieces of her back together. I didn't want her to be drowning in debt. I didn't want her to be wounded because of her cheating ex. I wanted to take care of her. I wanted to make everything right.

  She sighed into my chest. Her breath was warm on my skin.

  For three years I had let myself be second best. I wanted more than that. I needed more than that. It was pathetic, but that's what it really came down to. I wanted to be needed. Wanted. Loved.

  I leaned my head against the back of the seat. I was chasing after something that I didn't even understand. No one had ever loved me. Like? Lust? Sure. But not love. And this wasn't exactly the best time to chase after it. I had just signed away three years of my life. I was proud of my decision, but the closer we got to California, the more nervous I got. If I had met Hailey a few days earlier, I honestly wasn't sure if I would have signed the papers. I wasn't anything like my grandfather. Maybe I was a coward, because I certainly wasn't ready to die.

  I thought about the fact that I thought Hailey was broken. Maybe I was the broken one. Maybe I wanted her to put me back together one piece at a time. Because I always needed people more than they needed me. That was my life's fucking story.

  A truck pulled to a stop in front of our car.

  I looked down at Hailey sleeping. I truly was pathetic. Because I didn't want to wake her up. For just a few more minutes, I wanted to pretend that she needed me. I wanted to pretend that this was more than what I knew she thought it was.

  Someone stepped out of the truck and slammed the door.

  My time was up. "Hails," I whispered and lightly kissed her temple.

  "Mmm."

  I swallowed hard. That tiny little sound. I fucking wanted to hear that over and over again. I wanted her to wake up in my arms and moan into my chest. But I knew she'd never feel the same way.

  I removed my arm from around her shoulders. "Hails, the tow truck is here."

  She slowly opened up her eyes. Her hand clutched to my shirt as she looked out the window. "It stopped raining. How long have I been asleep?"

  I waited for her to pull away, but she stayed pressed against me. "About an hour."

  She nodded. "Tyler, I don't want..."

  She was interrupted by the tow truck guy knocking on the window.

  "Let me go see what the damage is," I said. I instantly felt cold when her hands fell from me. Maybe I was wrong about what she wanted. Maybe we both needed something to hold on to. I stepped out of the car.

  "Looks like your axle is bent," the guy said when I joined him at the front of the car. "It's good you called. If you had driven on it, it would have done damage to your CV joints."

  I nodded like I actually knew what that meant. I knew how to replace a tire and jumpstart a car, but that was about the extent of my mechanical prowess. "Is it easily fixable?"

  "We'll need to take it into the shop. But I should have it fixed up by morning."

  "What's the damage going to be?"

  "If you want to replace the front bumper too, then..."

  "No, just the axle and tire."

  He nodded and glanced down at his clipboard. "Probably about $500 depending on how long labor takes. Do you two need a lift somewhere?"

  "Yeah, wherever the nearest hotel is."

  The guy laughed.

  "What?"

  "You're joking right? All the local hotels have been booked for months in advance."

  "Seriously? Why?"

  "That big music festivals that all the kids are going to. Figured you two were on your way there. Have anywhere else to crash?"

  Shit. I knew someone who lived nearby, but there was no way we were going there. I opened up the back door of the car and leaned down. "Know anyone who lives around her
e?"

  She bit her lip. "Where are we exactly?"

  The tow truck guy laughed. "About 10 miles out from Amarillo."

  Hailey shrugged her shoulders.

  "If you'd like to go farther, I can call you folks a taxi. But I'm telling you, the hotels are booked for miles. There are some camping sites set up for the festival though if you'd like to try one of them."

  You've got to be shitting me. We were both soaked. We needed a hot shower.

  "Should I call?"

  I sighed. "No, I know someone."

  "Even better. Just let me hook the car up and I'll drive you over."

  Chapter 19

  Hailey

  Monday

  "You don't seem particularly excited to go see whoever it is you know around here," I said as I stepped out of the car.

  "No, it's fine."

  "Mhm." I leaned back down to grab our bags out of the back seat. "Anything else you need from the car?" I turned around. He was staring directly at my ass. I didn't bother hiding my smile.

  "What? No," he said with a laugh, knowing that I had caught him in the act. He grabbed his bags and my duffel out of my hands.

  "I can carry..." I started.

  "I got it."

  At first him doing that had kind of bothered me. I was perfectly capable of carrying my own stuff. But now that we had had sex, it felt different. He was doing it because he didn't want me to have to. Really, that was the reason he had been doing it the whole time. And there was something really sweet about that. He was a gentleman. I pressed my lips together. Kind of. The way he had talked during sex was not gentlemanly. It was dirty. And hot. God, it was so hot. I wanted him to talk to me like that again. My heart rate started to accelerate at the thought of it.

  His hand slipping into mine brought me back to reality. The flutter in my chest made me feel like a kid on the playground. I didn't want to overthink things. He had held me in the car, making sure I was warm. And now he was holding my hand. If those things didn't mean he wanted more, I didn't know what did. Well, it at least meant he wanted to have sex again, which I was more than fine with.

  I let my fingers intertwine with his as we walked over to the truck. He helped me step up into it. As soon as he sat down beside me, I rested my head on his shoulder. I didn't feel self conscious around him. Actually, I never had. We just had this comfortable relationship. Everything just felt right. But as soon as I thought that, something twisted in my stomach.

  I lifted my head off his shoulder. "How much are the repairs going to cost?"

  "Not that much, don't worry about it."

  "How much, Tyler? I have to pay you for it. It's my fault that..."

  "Hails, it's okay," he said, cutting me off. "I'm just glad we're both alright." He lightly touched the side of my face. And the look in his eyes was so genuine that I knew he meant it. We were both lucky to have come out unscathed. Because of him. He had enough sense to pull the emergency break. Really, he had saved my life.

  I wasn't going to fight with him about this. I needed to keep my money. I couldn't afford to be prideful right now, and he was offering. He was taking care of me yet again.

  He pulled me closer to him and rested his chin on the top of my head.

  It was such a small gesture, but it warmed me to the core. If I wasn't careful, I was going to fall head over heels for this man.

  Chapter 20

  Tyler

  Monday

  "Are you sure this is okay?" Hailey asked. She looked up at me with her big brown eyes.

  It didn't really feel okay. But we were kind of out of options. The car wouldn't be ready for us to pick up until tomorrow morning. We were both still soaked. We were in desperate need of a hot shower. And I didn't want her to feel bad about what had happened.

  "Yeah, we were close in college. We lost touch, but I'm sure he'll be happy to see me." Fat chance. I grabbed her duffel bag out of her hand and walked toward the front door. I knew that Josh was doing well, but I hadn't been expecting this. His place looked like a Spanish villa. He had started an e-commerce business after graduation and it had exploded in a matter of months. He was probably the richest person from our class.

  "Well, did you at least tell him we were coming?" she said as she followed me up the sidewalk.

  "No. I think it's probably better this way." I pressed the doorbell and took a step back.

  "Why would it be better like this?"

  Luckily I didn't need to answer her question, because just at that moment, Josh opened the door. "Tyler Stevens." A smile spread across his face.

  I was a little surprised. I was expecting more of a punch in the face, not a smile. "Great to see you too, Josh," I said. I stuck out my hand for him.

  Instead of shaking my hand, he folded his arms across his chest. "Rumor has it that you're fucking my ex."

  And there it is. I laughed awkwardly. "It's not what you think, we both..."

  He laughed. "I'm just messing with you. You should have seen your face. I don't really care, man. We broke up forever ago." His smile was back again. "I'm just glad to see that you're finally over Penny." He stepped forward and slapped me on the back. "Who's your friend?"

  "Hailey," she said and stuck out her hand before I could say anything.

  "Nice to meet you, Hailey." He shook her hand and held on to it for way longer than he should have. She looked a little uncomfortable from the exchange.

  "So, we were just passing through and got in a little accident during the storm," I said. "Apparently there's some music festival and all the hotels are full. I was hoping..."

  "Say no more. Come on in." Josh put his hand on the inside of Hailey's wrist and guided her inside.

  I clenched my fist by my side. I knew what Josh was doing. I had been his wingman enough in college to know his moves. Despite what he said, he was clearly pissed that I had been dating his ex. Now he was trying to screw me over. Fuck this.

  "Your place is seriously amazing," Hailey said as she looked around the foyer.

  And she was right. Everything was modern and sleek and spotless.

  "Thanks," Josh said with a smile. "I have one guest room. Are you fine with staying on the couch, Tyler?"

  I slipped my hand behind Hailey's back, trying to take control of the situation. "Hails and I can share a room, it's fine."

  He shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, man. How long are you guys gonna be staying?"

  "Just the night."

  "Then we are definitely going out," said Josh.

  "I don't know if..." I started.

  "That sounds great," Hailey said.

  Josh smiled. "There's a bathroom connected to the guest room. How about you two go get out of those wet clothes. Maybe we can leave in thirty? Dinner and drinks on me."

  "Thanks. That's really generous," Hailey said.

  But it wasn't really generous. He just wanted to show off how well he was doing. He had always seen women as a conquest. And I knew that's how he was looking at Hailey. I was surprised by how much it bothered me. Hails and I weren't a couple. We were friends who had just slept together. We hadn't talked about what that meant. But she was also the sexiest girl I had ever laid my hands on. She was strong willed and stubborn and so fucking gorgeous.

  "I'm actually going to take you up on that hot shower, I'm freezing," she said with a smile.

  "Let me show you to your room, then," Josh said. The two of them walked ahead of me. They laughed about something that I couldn't hear as they made their way up the stairs.

  I tried to stay calm as I followed them.

  The balcony upstairs looked out over his enormous family room. It was just as modern looking as the rest of the house. Josh opened up one of the doors in the long hallway and stepped aside.

  "Thank you," Hailey said. "It's so nice of you to let us stay the night."

  "Of course. Anything for Tyler," Josh said and clapped me on the back. He smiled at me. "I'll leave you guys to it. There's clean towels in the bathroom closet. Just let
me know if you need anything else."

  "This place is seriously amazing," Hailey said as I closed the door. "You didn't mention that your friend was rich." She ran her fingers across the pristine white comforter on the bed.

  "I didn't think it mattered."

  She gave me a weird look. "It doesn't. I was just making an observation."

  I wasn't sure what I was so pissed off about. Josh flirted with everyone. I'm sure he didn't actually mean anything by it. And Hailey wasn't exactly flirting back. I sighed. Honestly, I did know why I was upset. It was because no matter how much I knew it wasn't true, there was always something nagging me in the back of my head. That suspicion that Penny hadn't chosen me because I wasn't rich like her husband. And I knew it was ridiculous. Penny wasn't a gold digger. I knew it was about more than that. But the issue of money was something that I could focus on instead of the fact that she just didn't like me for me. And it wasn't like I didn't have any money. I was doing fine for myself. I had money in the bank. But I certainly wasn't rich. And I'd never be as rich as Penny's husband.

  "Hey," Hailey said and put her hand on the center of my chest. "How about you come take a shower with me?" She raised both her eyebrows in the cutest way possible.

  I wasn't even sure why I was thinking about Penny. I should have been focused on what was right in front of me. Why couldn't I let this go? Hailey deserved more than that. "I'm actually just going to change into dry clothes."

  "Yeah, of course." She moved her hand off of me and laughed awkwardly. "No big. Just thought it would be good to save some water, that's all. Forget I even mentioned it." She grabbed her duffel bag out of my hand.

  The last thing I wanted to do was upset her. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back to me. "It's just a rain check, Hails."

  She smiled. She looked even more beautiful when she smiled.

  I placed a soft kiss against her lips.

  "I'm going to hold you to that, Tyler Stevens."

  I watched her walk into the bathroom and close the door behind her. I quickly changed and walked back into the hall. I wanted to clear the air between Josh and me. He had been one of my best friends in school and I felt guilty about losing touch with him. It felt like I was busy all the time when I was in New York. But what the hell was I actually doing? I should have at least invited him to come visit. Even more than that, I felt guilty about dating his ex. It shouldn't have really mattered, but it did. I was the ass here, not him.