“What is it?”
“That girl I like… She tried to kiss me.”
I chuckled. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Not when she has a boyfriend,” he replied, sounding miserable.
I frowned. “Oh. Yeah, that’s not good.”
“I wish I’d just done it,” he said, exasperated. “I should’ve let her do it.”
“Nah, you don’t want to mess around with someone who’s taken. Not cool.”
“Yeah, I guess. I mean, I know you’re right.” He paused. “It’s just that it would’ve been my first kiss. And I really wanted it to be her.”
It wasn’t news to me that Ezra hadn’t even kissed anyone before. I had a feeling that when he finally gave his heart to someone, that person would have it forever. But that meant the girl on the receiving end of his love needed to be worthy of it.
“Don’t sell yourself short, okay? You deserve better than being runner-up,” I said confidently. “But, hey, at least you’ve got some game, huh? You’ve got committed girls throwing themselves at you.”
“That’s one way to look at it,” he grumbled before changing the subject. “Hey, you’re coming back for my graduation next weekend, right? Mom and Dad want you to bring Grandma.”
“So I get to add chauffer to the list of my duties, too? No problem,” I said with humor.
That humor disappeared when I realized I’d be leaving Mackenna in Tolson for two days. The thought of her being here alone made me uneasy.
Then I had an idea.
“I might bring someone. A girl,” I added.
Ezra’s laughter was so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear. When he finally calmed down, he said, “I thought you were done with women.”
“So did I. Mackenna’s different, though.” There was no need to hold anything back with my brother, so I spilled my guts. “It’s been less than a week and I’m crazy about her. I am so completely fucked.”
“Well, shit. If she’s got you by the balls already, I definitely need to meet her.”
I thought about the bumper testicles and laughed, because that wasn’t the first time someone referred to my balls when it came to Mackenna. It was literally and figuratively correct.
Now I just needed to get her to agree to come home with me. I had a feeling that was easier said than done.
The second day of painting—which was technically the fourth in total—ended much like the day before. I was covered in sage green marks in the shape of Jimmy’s hands. And he was covered in mine. The teasing, playing, and kissing had been foreplay of the best kind.
I’d been waiting for this moment—the moment when my desire for Jimmy became bigger than my fear of intimacy.
As soon as the front door shut behind us, I mauled him. Wrapping my legs around his waist, I connected our lips while running my hands over his pecs. I was beginning to love the fact that he hated wearing shirts.
“Mack,” he panted. “Mack, wait. Baby, slow down.”
“Don’t want to,” I mumbled against his neck before sucking on a spot under his ear.
He groaned as he fell back against the wall. “What do you want? Because, God help me, whatever it is I’m going to give it to you.”
“Not sex,” I said, knowing I wasn’t ready for that step yet. “But everything else would be fantastic.”
Pulling back, Jimmy looked me in the eye before leaning in to tenderly kiss the corner of my mouth.
“Okay, here’s the deal. First, you and I are both going to take showers—separately.” He attempted to give me a stern look and I smiled. “Then we’re going to talk about you coming to Ohio with me next weekend for my brother’s graduation.”
“Wait, w-what—” I stuttered.
“Then we’ll get to the ‘everything else’ stuff.”
Letting go of the hold I had on him, I planted my feet on the floor.
“Back up a second. You want me to come with you to your parents’ house?” I asked, and he nodded. I raised my eyebrows. “For an event that’s reserved only for family?”
Grinning, he nodded again.
I sighed. “Listen, I realize you feel like you need to protect me or whatever, and I appreciate your concern. But I’m a big girl. Unfortunately, this is something I might be dealing with for a long time. I’m not your responsibility.”
“Do you like me?” he asked, then added, “I mean, in a more-than-friends, you-want-to-jump-my-bones kind of way.”
My lips tipped up. “I guess that’s one way of putting it.”
“Well, I like you a helluva lot. Yeah, I’d worry about you while I’m gone,” he confessed. “But I’m also being selfish because I’d miss you. And I found out last night that I don’t like missing you, so I’d rather not if I don’t have to.”
Well, crap.
What’s a girl supposed to say to that?
It was tempting, the thought of seeing him with his family and meeting the brother he loved so much. But I knew my social awkwardness would somehow end up making me look like a weirdo. Meeting the family was a big step in any relationship. How would we explain that we were friends-with-benefits, but also sort of dating for now?
“I’ll think about it,” I told him. “It would just be weird because I don’t know anyone that well, including you.”
I playfully poked his chest and he grabbed my hand before placing a kiss on my palm. “I’d say you’re getting to know me pretty well. And Grandma’s coming, too. You’ve known her for over a month.”
I feigned concern as I thought of my way out. “But what about Sweet Pea? That poor bird can’t be all alone for days. Who would clean up his poop?” I gave a mock pout. “I’ll make the sacrifice and stay behind.”
“Nice try.” Jimmy’s grin stretched wide. “Ernie’s doing it.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said again.
And I did think about it. As I took my shower, I thought about the way my heart pitter-pattered when Jimmy said he’d missed me. I thought about how fun it might be to go on a road trip with him and Beverly.
But it was too soon. Wasn’t it?
As I rinsed the conditioner from my hair, I tried to come up with a way to let Jimmy down easy.
Mackenna had the most comfortable mattress I’d ever had the pleasure of lying on. Growing up, I’d always had a twin-size bed. And at college, that was the only choice in the dorms.
This bed, though… It was so massive, it took up most of the room. It conformed to the shape of my body so that every position felt perfect. The only thing that made it more perfect was having Mackenna next to me, underneath me, on top of me.
And I wasn’t even talking about sexual positions. That was just sleeping.
But now I had her looking at me with lust in her eyes. Her toes grazed my ankle as our limbs tangled together. My thumb rubbed over her knee, tracing the flower print on her leggings. The clean scent from her shampoo mingled in the air between us.
“So,” I started, toying with her slightly damp hair, “about my brother’s graduation…”
With an apologetic expression, she glanced away. “I don’t think so, Jimmy.”
“Give me one good reason.”
“My fern might die,” she tried, and I laughed at her feeble excuse.
“Ernie can water it.”
“What will I do without my ice cream sandwiches?”
“I’ll get some for you. Gotta feed that addiction.” I tweaked her on the nose.
She sighed. “It’s not that I don’t want to go. But I would be imposing.”
I knew there was a good chance she was going to give me a hard time on the invitation to my hometown, and I was prepared to fight dirty.
Instead of arguing with her, I tilted her face toward me. Brushing my mouth over hers, I pushed my tongue past her lips. I kissed her slow and deep, and she let out a quiet moan in the back of her throat.
When she tried to reciprocate by sucking on my bottom lip, I pulled back a little until I was just out of
her reach.
She chased.
I moved to the side and pecked her cheek.
Again, she followed. I chuckled when she missed and ended up biting my chin.
“What the hell, Jimmy?” She huffed impatiently. “Kiss me.”
I placed my head on the pillow next to hers. “Say you’ll come with me next weekend.”
“Oh, so it’s like that?” she asked breathlessly, her voice full of the snarky tone I liked so much.
My teeth scraped over her collarbone before I worked my mouth up to her jaw, then rubbed my nose over hers.
“Please?” I whispered against her lips.
“You don’t play fair,” she whispered back.
“I know. Say yes.”
She let out an exasperated sigh. “Oh, my God. Okay! Okay. Just put me out of my misery already.”
“Misery? Is making out with me that awful?” I teased.
“Jimmy,” she whined, her fingers curling against my back. “I’m, like, in actual pain here.”
Her voice was quiet and hesitant, like she was telling me a secret. Like she was telling me something she didn’t fully understand, and I was reminded again of how innocent she was.
“You ever felt like this before?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
She shook her head. I knew what she needed.
“Where does it hurt, baby?” I moved my hand to her breast. “Here?”
Running my thumb over her nipple, I felt how hard it was through the fabric of her shirt.
Nodding, she moaned and arched her back.
“And here?” I slowly trailed to the other breast and repeated the action.
When I glanced up at her face, she gazed back at me with heavy-lidded eyes. Her chest rose and fell with quick breaths, and she licked her lips. Seeing her respond to me and knowing how much I was affecting her made my cock throb.
I could relate to the ache she was referring to because I felt it, too.
She wasn’t the only one in pain.
But this wasn’t about me.
“Where else?” My fingers went to the waistband of her leggings, but I made no move to go further. I dragged my fingertips back and forth against her smooth skin, from one hipbone to the other.
Her stomach quivered.
Mackenna’s hand landed on top of mine. Taking a deep breath, she paused before pushing both of our hands into her pants. Letting her guide me, I felt a small patch of hair before my fingers slid through her wetness.
We both moaned.
“Holy fucking shit, babe.” Resting my forehead on her shoulder, I took a second to get myself under control.
It was hard not to think about what it would feel like to push into her slick heat, and the throbbing in my dick intensified.
“What do you want?” I placed an open-mouthed kiss on her neck. “I need you to say it.”
Mackenna shivered and pressed down on my hand.
“I want you to touch me,” she replied, giving me the permission I needed.
I circled her clit and she gasped.
“There,” she breathed out. “It hurts there.”
“I’ll make it better,” I promised, continuing to slide my fingers over her slick pussy.
Moving her hand in tandem with mine, I let her set the pace, let her show me how hard and fast she wanted it.
Her eyes screwed shut and her lips parted. “That feels good.”
Then her arm pulled away and it was up to me to finish the job.
When I moved to her opening to collect more of her wetness, she tensed. It was almost unnoticeable, but I felt the slight jolt in her body and the way her breathing hitched.
“Watch me,” I whispered, and she opened her eyes. “It’s just me. You tell me to stop and I’ll stop.”
“Don’t stop.” She shook her head. “Keep going.”
“I’m gonna get you off this way.” Applying more pressure, I rubbed her swollen clit faster, and her body started to shake. “Keep your eyes on me.”
“Okay,” she panted. “Okay.”
“Better than okay?”
She nodded. “Yes. So much better.”
My erection pressed insistently on the outside of her thigh and I resisted the urge to thrust against her.
Against my own will, my hips started moving. The head of my dick slipped through the opening in my briefs, and the piercing below my sensitive tip rubbed against the nylon of my gym shorts, causing relief and torment at the same time.
Getting the piercing had been at the beginning of my self-imposed celibacy. Because of the healing time, I knew I wouldn’t be able to be sexually active anyway.
All healed up now.
And the new sensations were almost too much. Too good.
The girl beneath me was too beautiful. Too sexy.
My feelings for her were too deep. Too unexpected.
For the first time ever, I was going to come inside my pants.
Mackenna’s body shuddered and writhed as she spread her legs wider. I wanted to peel the leggings off her so I could see the perfect pussy I was touching, but I could tell she was close.
Her hand gripped the pillow under her head and she gasped.
“Jimmy,” she whimpered. “I’m about to—I’m gonna—”
A moan ripped from her throat as her body bowed off the bed. A gush of wetness soaked my fingers and I continued making circles over her clit as she rode out the orgasm.
She canted her hips, the movement causing her body to rub against the tip of my dick.
My balls drew up tight and I couldn’t hold it back any longer.
With a groan, I pressed myself up against her thigh as my cock pulsed and warm cum coated the inside of my shorts.
For several minutes, neither of us said a word as we basked in the moment. Our breathing evened out, our hearts slowed.
My fingers still cupped her hot, wet center and she jolted from oversensitivity when I slid my hand out of her leggings.
When I glanced at her face, Mackenna wore a lazy smile.
“What am I supposed to say now?” Her tone was light and a little playful. “Is thank you an appropriate response?”
I chuckled. “You can say whatever you want.” I placed a kiss on her forehead. “And I feel like I should be the one saying thank you. That was the hottest experience of my life.”
“But I didn’t even take my clothes off. And you didn’t get to…” she finished with a wave of her hand.
“Ahh… I sort of did,” I said, a little embarrassed.
Propping herself up on her elbows, she raised her eyebrows. “Did what?”
“I need to change my shorts,” I stated flatly.
Shocked, her mouth dropped open, her lips making a perfect ‘O’.
Then a slow smile spread over her face, and she pointed to the dresser. “The gray pants you wore last time are in the top drawer.”
I gave her a quick kiss before hopping up to change.
When I got back, I pulled her close.
“So, my brother’s graduation…” I started again.
Mackenna’s eyes narrowed. “You tricked me.”
“I did not. You agreed of your own free will.”
“I was coerced.”
“No takebacks.”
Frustrated, she blew out a breath. “Fine. Tell me about our trip.”
Grinning because I got my way, I gave her the rundown. “We leave early Saturday morning. It’s about a five-hour drive and the ceremony is that afternoon. We’ll stay the night, then come back Sunday.”
The more I talked about the trip, the more excited I got. I wanted to show Mackenna everything. My town, my family, my old high school.
If I wanted to get her to know me, this was the perfect opportunity.
And here it was. The unavoidable family awkwardness I’d been dreading.
“I don’t need that big fancy hotel room,” Beverly insisted. “Let Jimmy and Mackenna have it.”
Jimmy threw his hands up. “I don’t k
now why we can’t all stay at the house.”
“There isn’t enough room,” Matthew, Jimmy’s dad, who I’d just been introduced to ten minutes earlier, argued. “I’m not making Grandma or Mackenna sleep on the couch, and you won’t fit.”
Trying to sink further into the very couch they were talking about, my eyes volleyed from one person to another as they discussed the sleeping arrangements.
“The hotel has a two-room suite,” Linda, Jimmy’s mom, interjected. “Both Mackenna and Grandma can stay there; very comfortably, I might add.”
“I’m not going to separate the lovebirds,” Beverly said, motioning between Jimmy and me.
I didn’t have to look in a mirror to know my face was bright red.
When I’d heard Jimmy on the phone with his dad earlier in the week, he simply told him he was bringing a friend. And now Beverly might as well have told everyone that Jimmy and I were banging like rabbits—even though we weren’t.
“Listen,” I finally spoke up. “I have a solution. I’ll get my own room.”
“Like hell you will,” Beverly exclaimed at the same time Jimmy said, “Absolutely not.”
I looked from Linda to Matthew. “I don’t want to be the reason you have to pay for a hotel.”
“We would’ve had to get the hotel room either way.” Linda smiled at me, then pointed at Jimmy and Beverly. “These two are just stubborn.”
“Fine,” Jimmy said before tossing an arm over my shoulder. “Mack and I will take the room. Grandma, you can have my old bed.”
Clearly pleased, Beverly smiled.
But Matthew didn’t seem so happy. “Hang on a second now. I’m not sure it’s appropriate for you two to be staying the night together. No offense, Mackenna.”
“None taken,” I said, deciding it was best not to announce the fact that Jimmy and I had already slept in the same bed multiple times. “I’m fine with whatever you decide.”
It wasn’t a secret that Jimmy and I hadn’t known each other long, and I couldn’t blame his dad for feeling the way he did.
Apparently, Jimmy didn’t agree.
“I’m an adult, Dad. And I’d like to stay with my girlfriend.”
Jaw dropping, my head snapped toward him. Did he just say girlfriend?
I wasn’t the only one surprised by his statement, because four pairs of shocked eyes landed on us.
The Good Guys Box Set: TRUCKER, DANCER, DROPOUT, and A Trucker Wedding Page 62
