Lovely, page 15
“Where am I?” I joke.
Her cheeks blush pink and she drops another kiss on my lips. “Let me just grab my bag and we can go.” She turns around and heads back in, and I admit that I look at her ass a wee bit too long, but I just can’t help myself. The smile that it causes hasn’t removed itself by the time she comes out and that makes her curious.
She squints her eyes and appraises me tentatively. “You know that old saying, you look like the cat that swallowed the canary? Well, you do. What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I reply, grinning widely. “Just looking forward to the lake.”
“Yeah, okay,” she responds with a crooked eyebrow, not believing a word I’ve said.
By the time we get to the reservoir, we’re both starving. We find a spot under a beautiful weeping willow tree and I spread out the red blanket I always keep in the back of my car.
“It’s different than our oak tree, but I like it,” she says.
I cross over the blanket and enfold her in my arms. “I like that you called it our oak tree.”
She leans forward and glides her lips across mine.
I melt instantly against her, inhaling her familiar scent lingering in the air. When we pull back, I whisper against her lips, “You hungry?”
“Not for food,” she breathes seductively.
And just like that I’m hard.
“What are you hungry for?” I manage to choke out.
She reaches out for me, her hands finding my cheeks, running her fingers over my skin in a rhythmic motion, her eyes seeking out mine. When they lock, I feel that familiar pull and the force of it is so strong that I can hardly breathe.
“Tell me you feel it, Cara?” I ask, my heart trying to find a beat.
“Yes,” she breathes and her eyes move to my mouth before pulling my lips to hers, tangling her fingers in my hair, tugging me close. She sucks on my upper lip before sliding inside and twining her tongue around mine, exploring my mouth, until her kiss becomes lighter and I feel her breath once again on my lips. “Now I worked up an appetite,” she says flustered.
“And now the last thing I want to do is eat,” I joke, giving her a chaste kiss. “So I hope you like turkey sandwiches. This whole picnic is courtesy of my mom.”
“That’s so sweet. Your mom seems pretty amazing.”
I smile when I think about Mom. “Yeah, she really is. And like I told you before, she wants to meet you. Can you come over for dinner this week?”
She takes both of the sandwiches out of the plastic wrap and hands me one. “I suppose,” she says with a lighthearted grin.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” I shoot back, taking a bite of the sandwich and trying not to focus on her lips.
“Great, because it’s a definite yes.”
I take one of the seltzers and twist the cap off. “Good.” I look towards the lake. The sun is glistening off the water. “My dad and I used to come here fishing.”
She scoots nearer to me and I drape my arm over her shoulder. “Tell me more about your dad.”
I sigh. “My dad … I miss all the little things, you know? The way he’d push his glasses up on his nose and his deep, husky laugh. The way he’d pat my back when he was proud of me and the way he’d always check in with me at the end of the day, regardless of how busy he was. I miss his jokes, too. He always used to tell these corny jokes that he found funny but no one else did. We’d be in the garage that he’d converted to a tool room and he’d tell me jokes while he was fixing things. That’s when I developed a love for taking things apart … it was my dad who showed me the ropes.”
Cara lays her head on my shoulder, strands of her hair dangling against my cheek.
“When he got sick, he tried to hold it together for all of us, even though he was falling apart. I’ve never seen anyone fight as hard as my dad did when he got cancer. He wanted to live so desperately for all of us, but in the end, his body just couldn’t handle it.”
Cara reaches over and laces her fingers through mine and a calm settles over me.
“He used to play football with me in the backyard and help me with my piano. Music was really important to him. He played guitar, and he had this garage band with a group of his friends that used to come over every Saturday. I’d sit there and watch them play for hours, my air guitar proudly in my hand, pretending I was him.” I pause. “I remember wanting to be just like him when I grew up.”
She strokes her fingers up and down the inside of my arm. “I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like for your mom. Loving someone for that long, and then having to sit and watch them fight and still lose the battle. It sounds like your dad fought really hard.”
My limbs feel heavy with my next breath. “Yeah, he did. He loved my mom with everything he had, too. He gave her the world, and in the end, all she wanted was for him to live. She didn’t need anything else, yet that was the one thing he couldn’t give her.”
She reaches her hand up to gently touch my cheek. “I bet he would’ve been so proud of you … of the man you’ve become. I wish I could’ve met him.”
“Me, too. He would’ve really liked you.”
She stretches her legs out, and I lie my head down on her lap, letting the feel of her fingers in my hair carry me away. She gazes down at me, a faraway look in her eyes. “We’re just blessed to have the people we care about and who care about us, for whatever time we’re allowed,” she says quietly. “There are never any guarantees on time. You just never know what’s going to happen from one minute to the next.”
I lean my head back so I can meet her eyes. “Cara, are you okay?”
“Yes … yes,” she answers a little too quickly, her voice cracking.
“Tell me about your dad. I haven’t heard you talk about him that much.”
“My dad,” she smiles proudly, “was … kind, soft-spoken, and very gentle. It’s funny because he was a really big man in stature. He was well over six feet with a large frame; when people saw him they were immediately intimidated. To me, he was like a gentle giant.” She shakes her head and I feel a puff of air leave her mouth. “He wasn’t around much, you know that already. He was in sales, so he traveled all the time. I remember whenever he came home after a trip, the door would open and I’d run up to him, those big strong arms engulfing me in his warm embrace. I never wanted him to let go. I wanted him to take me wherever he was going … I would’ve done anything if he’d taken me with him instead of leaving me with her.”
I twirl one of her curls around my finger. “Did he know what was happening while he was gone?”
Her eyes glaze over with sadness. “I don’t know. I never told him. I do know that when he came home, my mother was on her best behavior. She hid all the alcohol and pretended everything was normal … boy, she was quite the actress, too. I just … sometimes I wonder what he ever saw in her. Wait, I shouldn’t say that. I know what he saw in her in the beginning. She was a beautiful woman physically, and it was hard not to look at her. Chestnut hair, big, beautiful eyes, and a stunning figure … But beyond that, she was empty.”
I feel her whole body stiffen and watch the light in her eyes grow dark.
“You know, I remember when I was younger my father always joked that I had ‘too much personality for my own good,’ but I never understood it until much later because my mom always said I had none.” She laughs, but it’s filled with sadness. “I think he’s the only one who saw me before I disappeared.”
Sitting up instantly, I push her hair away from her face, holding her gently between my hands. “I see you, Cara … and you’re lovely.” I press my forehead against hers, her breath whispering to my lips, her scent dizzying. I assume my position back on her lap as I think about her words. “I’m not sure how you got through all that and turned out so special.”
She lets out a sarcastic chuckle. “Yeah, okay.”
I take her hand and place it over my heart, settling it against the steady beat. She has no idea how she’s taken it over so completely. She makes me feel a million different emotions at once and I can’t make sense out of any of them. But I don’t need to.
The sun, mixed with Cara, blankets me in a layer of warmth and I doze off for I don’t know how long. I taste something sweet and open my eyes to find Cara dangling a strawberry over my mouth.
A devious smile passes over my lips. “First you’re reading poetry to me and now you’re feeding me strawberries. A guy could get used to this.”
“Hmmm …” She leans down and her tongue darts out to lick some of the strawberry from my lips.
I coil my hand around her ponytail, pull her close, and slip my tongue inside, tasting strawberry and Cara. Delicious.
I hear rustling and tilt my head back to see her fishing around in the picnic basket.
“Hey, there’s chocolate in here!” she exclaims, her face beaming.
My lips turn up in a wicked grin. “Well, you can’t very well have a picnic without chocolate.”
“It’s melted chocolate.”
“Yes,” I reply, “for dipping the strawberries.”
“I kind of figured that out,” she says with a giggle.
She opens up the plastic container and sticks her finger in, covering it entirely in chocolate. My eyes are glued to her mouth as her tongue darts out to slowly lick the chocolate off. Jesus. She’s so freaking sexy, wisps of hair falling in her face as her finger slides in and out of her mouth. It’s a slow torture. She’s making me hard. She takes her finger and dips it once again in the chocolate, moving it toward my mouth, and I open willingly so she can slip it inside. The sensation of her touch prickles the skin all over my body. I’m praying like hell she doesn’t look down and see the giant hard-on I’m sporting right now. I grab her and our tongues and lips mingle with the taste of chocolate until I hear a tiny moan escape and deepen the kiss.
She pulls away, short of breath. “I think we have an audience,” she whispers, looking around and pointing out an elderly couple staring from a nearby bench.
“Well,” I say with a wicked grin, “let’s give them something worthwhile then.” I drag her down on top of me, taking her lips in a crushing kiss.
She breaks the kiss and looks around. “Ash, what are you doing?”
“Oh, believe me, I know exactly what I’m doing.”
She laughs and rolls off of me. “I can see that,” she says with a flirty smile, as her eyes make their way down to my crotch.
There’s no way to hide how turned on I am right now. She bites her bottom lip, moving closer and nestling her head in my neck, and I curl my arm around her body and bring her close. I don’t want to move or even breathe right now. This moment is perfect.
We head back home around five and I take the long way so I can have Cara by my side for just a little bit longer. When I finally reach her driveway, my chest starts to feel tight. For some reason, I have a hard time saying goodbye. I cut the engine and turn to her. “I had a great time today,” I say honestly, staring into the bright gold flecks in her eyes that captivate me.
“Yeah, me too.”
I take my index finger and slip it under her chin. “I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but you have the most amazing eyes I’ve ever seen. I can see everything in them … your spirit, your light, your heart, your soul … and it’s a beautiful soul.”
Her eyes gloss over and I unstrap my belt so I can move my body closer to hers, the only place I want to be anyway. I reach out and take her glasses off, leaning my head against hers, our noses touching, our breath coming and going. She gently sucks on my bottom lip, her tongue coaxing until I surrender and she slips inside and wraps herself around me, dancing her way across my mouth.
She weaves her hands into my hair and I deepen the kiss, then leave her lips and trail my tongue down her neck, sucking gently on her skin. She moans and I let my hands wander, grazing the curve of her breast through her cotton tank, encouraging another whimper to slip out.
“I should go,” she breathes, her face flushed with a heated glow.
“Do you have to?”
She giggles. “Yes. Besides, I think we’ve given enough of a show today.”
I put her glasses back on and drop a kiss on her forehead, each of her cheeks, her nose, and then her mouth. “Goodbye, beautiful.”
She closes her eyes and breathes deeply. “I like when you call me that,” she admits, a radiant smile lighting up her face.
“I’ll call you later … beautiful.”
She grins, her ponytail flying through the air as she pushes open the car door. She blows me a kiss and disappears into the house, leaving me with a swollen heart and a giant hard-on once again.
Colt and Delilah are playing video games on the couch when I walk in the door. “What’s up, Ash?” Colt says. “Delilah’s whipping my butt in Guitar Hero. Where were you?”
“I had a date.” The best fucking date I’ve ever had.
They both drop their controllers eagerly and stare, obviously awaiting details which I won’t be sharing.
Delilah speaks first. “Well, how was it?”
“Yeah … how was Shelby?” Colt drawls, slicking back his wet hair, most likely from a recent shower.
Delilah pinches Colt’s arm. He glares at her and bumps her knee with his own.
I think something nasty just crawled down my throat. “Shelby?! That shit was over a while ago. Haven’t you seen her practically screwing Jake McCleary on campus?”
“Ew, gross. He’s a manwhore,” Delilah spits out. “They’re perfect for each other.” She looks back up at me. “So …?”
“It was great.”
Colt stares at both of us in confusion. “Wait, what am I missing here? Who were you out with?”
“Cara Hayward.”
He furrows his eyebrows and glares at me and Delilah. “Okay, can someone tell me what the hell is going on? I feel like we’re back in fourth grade and you guys are keeping secrets from me. Who is Cara and why does that name sound so familiar?”
“I don’t know.” I glance around. “Where’s Mom?”
“She had to stay late for that redesign they’re doing of the salon,” Delilah replies. “She said she’ll be home around nine. There’s chicken and rice in the fridge if you’re hungry.”
“Thanks.” I traipse into the kitchen, grab a glass of orange juice and the container of chicken from the fridge. Popping my dinner in the microwave, I set it for four minutes and plant myself on a stool, pulling out my cell phone to text Cara.
Me: Hey, what are you doing?
Cara: Eating, u?
Me: Me too. U know, we could have been eating together. I also could be kissing you right now.
It takes her a second to respond.
Cara: Yes, you could be.
That sounds like an invitation to me.
Cara: Goodnight, Ash
Me: Goodnight
I close my phone and grin wickedly, suddenly feeling spontaneous, when Colt walks in the room.
He shakes his head at me. “Whoa, you’ve got it bad, bro. I’ve never seen you like this.”
Looking down thoughtfully at my chicken for a moment, I turn to Colt deciding to be honest for once. “You’re right, I do.”
“Wow, dude, no more flavors of the month?”
“Nope. I only have one flavor I like now.”
He lets out a throaty laugh. “Man, I never thought I’d see the day.”
He sits down next to me and I push the plate of chicken between us. “So, what’s up with you? How are you feeling?”
His brown eyes are weary, but filled with relief. “Great. I mean, I’m still getting those headaches a lot,” he laughs, “but who cares, now that I know I’m not dying.”
I glare at him, shocked by his choice of words. “Jesus, Colt.”
He grins, spearing a piece of chicken with his fork. “What, it’s true, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess it is. By the way, I’m inviting Cara for dinner tomorrow night and I’m giving you advanced notice so you can practice behaving yourself,” I chuckle, “in front of the mirror if you need to.”
He fans his lashes. “Who, me? I always behave.”
“Yeah, right,” I say sarcastically, swallowing a piece of chicken.
The sky is dark and it’s late but I don’t care. I need to see Cara again. I need to hold her. Feel her lips on mine. She’s going to think I’m crazy, I know, but I’m probably the sanest I’ve been in a long time. Everything’s pretty clear to me. I know what I want. I want Cara.
I enter the driveway quietly, cut the engine and shut the lights off. I walk up the cracked path, nearly tripping in my hurried attempt to get to the door. The moment Cara opens it, I grab her, fist my hands in her hair and crush my lips to hers. She opens for me, teasing me with her tongue, twirling it around mine eagerly and sending sexy little noises into my mouth. My hand makes its way to the dip of her back and I splay it, pressing her as close as possible, my erection pushing into her groin.
When I break the kiss, she braces her hands on my shoulders, attempting to steady her wobbly legs. “Ash …”
I caress her cheek, running my tongue along the contour of her lips and whisper, “I wanted to make sure I was the last thing you thought about before you went to bed. Goodnight, beautiful.” I turn to leave, a confident smile on my face.
“Ash?” She’s all breathy and her fingers are touching her swollen lips as if she can’t process what just happened.
I look over my shoulder at her as I continue walking. “Yeah?”
It takes her a minute to respond, to catch her breath, and finally regain her composure. “You already were.”
