And it involved an entire bottle of wine.
***
The icing on the shit cake was the smug goddamn look that Mackie shot me as I walked out of school after letting Ezra know, in no uncertain terms, that he was an ass.
Luckily, I’d told him that while we were in the parking lot—I’d thought away from any listening ears.
Unluckily, as I’d gone to leave, my stupid car once again said that the key fob battery was low, despite having replaced it twice. Meaning that my car didn’t start, and I was left stranded. Again.
“Shouldn’t you be at practice?” I asked sweetly, forcing myself to stop and talk to him when I wanted nothing to do with the kid that was turning into quite a strong looking man.
A scary, strong looking man at that.
Mackie’s lips turned up into a silent snarl. “Coach kicked me out of practice for today because of my ‘bad’ attitude. Looks like both of us are free…need a ride?”
I snorted. “Negative.”
Then I walked down the long driveway that led to the main road in Gun Barrel. Maybe someone I knew would pick me up and I wouldn’t have to walk the entire way.
They didn’t.
Which gave me plenty of time to realize the error of my ways—and understand that I’d done something stupid by taking my bad day out on Ezra.
***
“Shit,” I breathed. “Son of a whore. I’ve just seriously had a really bad day, Cam. I don’t know that I can do…”
“Raleigh.” Camryn smacked my thigh. “Ezra loves you. He. Loves. You,” she repeated for the fourth time. “Just go tell him you’re sorry. You had a bad day, he knows that.”
I knew that he knew that.
I still didn’t want to go.
I wished I could bury my head in the sand and pretend that today hadn’t happened.
I wanted to forget anything and everything that happened before six in the evening last night, or maybe go back in time and tell Camryn that I wasn’t going anywhere with her.
“And like I said, it sucks about that Casper chick,” she continued. “Everyone hates her guts…but Raleigh, Coach Casper doesn’t have Ezra, you do. He can’t fix who he was before you, but he can make sure that you’re his one and only now. It’s time for you to realize that.”
Sometimes I loved my best friend, but then again, there were times that I really hated her.
I hated that she was right, too.
Apologies were a bitch.
I’d been a bitch, too, so I guess it was kind of fitting that I had to do something that caused me so much discomfort.
I’d been rude and mean to the man that loved me—that had openly told me he loved me in front of half the student body population—and I was kicking myself over it.
“Fine,” I said, snatching the bottle of wine off the counter. “I’ll go…and I’m borrowing your car.”
Camryn snorted. “Just make sure that you have it back before morning…or pick me up and take me to my appointment. Whatever you want to do.”
I gave her a thumbs up and then headed out the door to apologize.
Unluckily, or luckily depending on how you looked at it, Camryn was only a few streets over from Ezra, meaning I only had to drive a short distance to get to my destination.
I can do this. I can do this.
I chanted that to myself as I sat in the car, waiting for the clock to strike seven in the evening and for him to finally arrive home.
Spotting the bottle of wine on the seat next to me, I decided that maybe a drink would calm me down.
And as I sat there and counted down with the clock, I drank, sip after sip, hoping that it would help me gain some courage.
Chapter 18
Barbie sure has a lot of nice things for a woman whose knees don’t bend.
-T-shirt
Ezra
I watched her chug half the wine with a wide grin on my face.
Getting out of my truck that I’d been sitting in for ten minutes now while I watched her talk to herself, I slammed the door, closed and locked it with my key fob before walking up to Raleigh’s window and tapping on it lightly.
She screamed and would’ve dropped the bottle, but luckily, she at least had a miniscule amount of hand-eye coordination.
“Ezra!” she yelled. “You scared the shit out of me.”
I gestured to the door. “Unlock it and let’s get inside.”
She either didn’t hear me or refused to listen. Whatever the reason, she stayed staring into nothing as she finished off what was left of her wine. It took her an entire minute, and by the time she finished, she started to laugh.
I stepped back as she opened the car door but immediately stepped back forward when she nearly tumbled out of the car.
The only thing that saved her from eating gravel was the fact that she still had her seatbelt on when she decided it was time to get out.
I snorted in disbelief as she flailed there for a second before I pushed her back inside, nabbed the empty glass bottle before it could smash into a hundred tiny pieces, and then unbuckled her.
Once she was free of the confines of her seatbelt, she stood up, her legs wobbly.
“You know,” she said, sounding chipper. “I really, really, really love you. Like, I’ve loved you for my entire life kind of love. I don’t think that anyone on this planet could love you more than I do.”
I felt something inside of my chest start to ease. It’d been tight since our fight this afternoon.
Hearing her say that she’d been invisible to me had been a solid blow straight to my heart.
The sad thing was that she was right. I hadn’t seen her. I had no clue why, either. Then and now, Raleigh Crusie was a beautiful person. Not only outside, but inside as well.
I was kicking myself for being so self-absorbed that I didn’t see her, too.
Hell, not only had we gone to high school together, but we’d worked at the same freakin’ school for going on five years now. Sure, I’d seen her in passing, in high school as well as professionally, but I hadn’t allowed myself to think of her that way.
Not until she’d knocked over eight million rolls of wrapping paper in the middle of Target, gotten a bloody nose from my industrial size box of condoms, and then ran to the bathroom while leaving her phone open to practically a porno book in her Kindle app.
Seriously, swear to God, this woman was made for me, and I never knew it.
Before she could wobble a second time, I had her in my arms, and I was carrying her bridal-style into my place.
Once I had her settled on my couch, I went back outside to make sure her car was locked up, only then realizing that it wasn’t her car at all, but Camryn’s.
Then I felt doubly bad because I’d seen her car at the school today, and guessed that it was once again acting up on her. And I knew that she’d walked thanks to the attendant at the gas station, as well as the teller at the bank, letting me know that she’d passed by there.
“Fuck me,” I grumbled, feeling like the lowest piece of crap on the planet.
Her walking home had meant she’d done it in those heels that she’d worn to school on my request, despite her saying that they were uncomfortable.
“Shit,” I continued to complain as I walked back inside my house.
The moment I had the door closed behind me, my eyes were once again on Raleigh, who had slumped on the couch and was now drooling on my sofa cushion.
Smiling at the cuteness that was my woman, I pulled out my phone and took a picture of her, quickly putting it as my background before shoving it back into my pocket and carrying her back up the stairs.
Her practically plain cast caught my eye again, and just like this morning, I had the urge to write on it again.
Snatching the black Sharpie off the counter as I walked past, I headed up the stairs and to my bedroom, where I placed her gently on the bed so I didn’t wake her.
Once she w
as down, I uncapped the marker and started to write on her cast.
It took me thirty minutes, but eventually I finished it, then recapped the marker.
Once I was sure that she was comfortable and pulled the covers up around her shoulders, I went to the bathroom and took a quick shower.
When I came back out, it was to find her sprawled out on her belly.
Her socks had been kicked off, and she was no longer wearing her pants.
Grinning, I walked over to where she was laying and ran one finger down the length of her thigh. From her ass cheek where her panties ended to the top of her calf.
She stirred and flipped over to her back, her eyes opening lazily. Then she started to stretch, her arms going up high over her head as she got her entire body into it.
“Hey,” she said huskily, smiling.
Then she opened her arms and held them out, indicating with a wiggle of her fingers that she wanted me in her arms.
I went.
What did I look like, I was stupid? I wasn’t dumb by any means.
Her face was soft and sleepy as I dropped my mouth down onto her upturned lips.
“I love you, Raleigh,” I told her once I came back up for air. “I had a fling with her, but she wasn’t for me. You are. It may have taken me a long time to see you, but once you were there, I’ll never be able to look away. Not ever again.”
Raleigh sniffled, then pulled me in so tight that she temporarily cut off oxygen to my head.
I laughed and rolled with her until she was on top of me, pulling her so that her groin was level with mine.
Then planted both of my hands on each plump ass cheek, pulling her down so that her pubic bone pressed into my ever-growing erection.
Anytime I was around this woman, drunk, scared, sad, horny, or hell, even pissed off as all get out, I wanted her.
The tears. The clumsiness. The anger. None of it scared me away.
I wanted her. I wanted everything that came with having her.
Forever.
My mouth pressed against her shoulder blade, then skimmed up the length of her neck as far as I could reach with how she was lying on top of me. Then I moved it back down, this time using my tongue.
She blew out a shaky breath, then turned so that her face was turned toward me.
“You make me feel things,” she said to me, her breath that still smelled like the wine she’d consumed earlier fanning across my face. “Why do you make me feel so many things?”
I snorted, moving my hands up. They went from her ass to her lower back, then even farther to come to rest on her shoulder blades.
“You make me feel a lot of things, too,” I admitted. “I love the things you make me feel.”
She moved and pressed her lips to mine, her tongue peeking out to lick against my bottom lip.
The move was surprisingly bold for her, and I liked it.
This still buzzed woman in my arms was normally quite willing, but she never actually came very far out of her shell. She was still too shy for that.
One day, I’d get her to tell me the things that she absolutely wanted, but for now, I’d be happy with her drunk self being the more aggressive of the two.
I’d also buy her more wine for the days that I was feeling rather adventurous.
My hands went back down, then immediately back up, this time coming under the clothing that she still had on covering her upper body.
She giggled against my mouth, raising her arms up high over her head for me to get her clothing off easier.
Her bra took less time than the shirt, mostly because I didn’t bother taking it all the way off her body. I stopped when it was unsnapped, pushing it up just far enough that I felt her breasts spill out of the cups and press against my bare upper chest.
The droplets of water that were still drying on my skin caused her to shiver.
“Cold,” she whispered, running her closed lips over my bearded jaw. “Why didn’t you wake me? I would’ve taken a shower with you.”
I would have had she not been so stinkin’ cute sleeping.
That, and she seemed like she needed the rest.
She likely hadn’t slept well the night before all things considered.
That, and I hadn’t allowed her to get much sleep so…
“Because I like to smell you,” I told her. “As much as I like the smell of my soap on your skin, I also like the feminine fragrance that clings to you at the end of the day. You smell like willing woman and mine.”
She sighed and started to shimmy her hips.
I took that as acceptance to finally allow my hands to slip inside her panties.
Before I could get them to where I wanted them to go, she rolled off of me and started to shimmy them down her legs. Once they were off, she immediately got back to where she was straddling me again, this time completely naked.
She didn’t lie against me as she had been doing, though.
Nope, she sat up and leaned over so that her breasts dangled inches from my willing mouth.
I growled and did a partial ab curl, sucking her tit into my mouth and giving it a hard pull.
The hand that had somehow ended up in my hair clenched as pleasure rocketed through her.
Her other hand went to where the towel still lay across my hips and started to pull it free.
I lifted my hips and she partially rose off of me, yanking it free. All the while I kept licking her breast, sucking it and biting it.
“Jesus,” she breathed. “The things you do to me.”
The things I did to her? What about the things she did to me?
Kind of like right now.
She was pressing that small, soft palm of hers against my length and stroking it. She was unskilled, clumsy, and it felt like the best thing that had ever happened to me.
Her forehead was resting on mine, and the only thing separating us at this point was a thin sheen of sweat that had collected on my body the moment that she came near me.
The woman had the power to bring me to my knees.
“The things you do to me have no comparison,” I told her honestly. “You may not like hearing this but…you are the best I’ve ever had, hands down.”
She stiffened.
“And that’s because what I feel for you isn’t the same as what I felt for other people,” I told her bluntly. “You make me want forever.”
Her lungs drew in a deep breath, and I could practically feel the questions rushing through her brain.
“I don’t have a ring for you yet, because you hit me so hard and fast that I never could’ve prepared for you,” I told her, rolling so that she was underneath me.
Her hands went to my chest, abandoning the soft kneading she was doing to my dick.
She was staring at me like I’d just pulled the proverbial rug out from under her.
“I love you, Raleigh,” I told her. “I love you like a quarterback loves the feel of the laces between his fingers. Like a baseball player loves the feel of an old, worn glove that he’s put thousands of hours into. Like the goddamn sun and the moon. You’re it for me. You’ll be my wife one day. You’ll have my kids. You’ll grow old with me and drink sweet tea on our front porch with me. You’ll be mine, and we’ll die within a week of each other because neither one of us will be able to stand to be here without the other.”
I felt her tears on my lips as I kissed her.
“So that wasn’t a marriage proposal?” she teased, her breath hitching slightly.
“No,” I told her. “Because I want to do it right. I want to make sure that you have that memory. I want to embarrass the shit out of you and make you tell me yes in front of the entire world. Then I want you to throw yourself at me so hard that we both fall backward, and then get a perfect picture with you dropping your lips to mine.”
“You’ve really thought hard about this,” she teased, pushing up so that her lips could run over my jaw.
“I�
�ve been thinking about this since the moment I dropped that box of condoms I was buying for my nephew on your face.” I bent down and kissed her, letting her feel every single ounce of love that I possessed.
That’s when our lovemaking got serious.
Her happy buzz had dissipated over the hours, and no longer was she under the influence of anything but me.
My kisses. My love. My desire.
I let her feel everything that I felt for her and more.
She gasped when my mouth moved to her breast, and one of her legs tightened around me when I went to move down farther.
“No,” she denied me, her hands going to my hair. “I want you inside of me. Now.”
I would’ve argued with her had I not had the same urgency currently coursing through me.
I just knew the moment I was inside her, I’d lose control. Hence why I was going to get her off first with my mouth.
But, never let it be said that Raleigh didn’t get what she wanted.
It never failed.
She asked, and I’d bend over backward to make sure that she received.
And if she wanted my cock inside her? Well, goddamn, who was I to deny her?
I gritted my teeth and crawled up between her legs, stopping the moment my cock head hit the overheated core of her.
We both hissed—her because my tip had hit her clit—and me because just the feel of her hot, wet, and ready was enough to send everything inside of me jolting into action.
“Shit,” I hissed, unable to stop myself.
I had to be inside of her.
Now.
Roughly, I pulled her legs up by gripping the backs of her knees, pushing them out wide once I had her at the right height.
Luckily, my dick decided to find the way without me helping, because as I pushed forward, it automatically notched into the perfect spot—at her entrance—meaning I didn’t have to let go of anything. All I had to do was slowly sink inside.
I watched, heart in my throat, as her entrance slowly yielded to my tunneling cock. At first it resisted, still unused to the stretch of my cock filling her despite my having taken her numerous times. But, after pulling out and coating the head in her wetness, I slowly slipped back inside, repeating the process more and more until not a millimeter separated us.
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