Car Crash

by T Gephart

  So, as I sat back with my woman tucked up beside me, Kitty told the rest of them all about her new job.

  I could listen to her talk for hours; I didn’t even care what she said. I just wanted to know everything, never getting sick of hearing her voice.

  OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH.

  The big freaking smile spread across my face as the realization hit me; that was what Mason had been talking about.

  I hadn’t even needed the goddamn list, the getting to know her happening all by itself. That was lucky actually because I was almost positive I’d washed the jeans I’d stuffed the stupid list into.

  “Kitty, I need you for a minute.” I shuffled out of the fucking booth and wrapped my hand around hers. “Be right back, guys, this is kind of an emergency.”

  “Dallas, what’s wrong.” Kitty laughed as I pulled her to her feet. “Are you okay?”

  “Yep, just come with me.” I tipped my chin to Josh who rolled his eyes but knew better than to ask questions. Mason and Eve looked like they didn’t have a clue, which was fine by me.

  Without bothering to explain, I pulled Kitty down the hall. She was giggling, asking me where we were going but followed me all the same. Man, I loved that about her, she always seemed up for anything and I guess I was going to find out how far she was willing to go.

  Bricks and Mortar was one of my favorite bars in Queens, but there was no way I was taking her into the bathroom. I barely liked to take a piss in that place and even then I made sure I made no contact with the walls. But I knew they had a supply room toward the back, all I had to do was hope it was unlocked.

  Lucky for us management was trusting—or stupid, I didn’t care which—and all it took was a twist of my wrist and we were in.

  “Is there a reason why we’re in a closet?” She looked around the walls, as I hit the light and closed the door. Closet was a more accurate description. The walls were tiled floor to roof, with a big padlock securing a metal locker up near a sink. But other than that, the place looked pretty good, cleaner than the bathroom for sure.

  “We need to have sex.” I pushed her up against the wall and kissed her mouth, my hand skating underneath her hem.

  She moaned in my mouth and grabbed my cock. “Thank God, I thought I was going to have to wait until we got home.”

  Her fingers got busy on my zipper, pulling out my dick and giving it a stroke while I bunched up the bottom of her dress and pushed aside her panties. She was already wet, coating my finger as I plunged first one and then two in, while my thumb played with her clit.

  I was a man who prided himself on foreplay, liking the first orgasm I got from Kitty to be courtesy of my mouth or my hand, but it was one time I couldn’t wait. My lips moved south as my other hand palmed her tit, and if there was ever a time I could have used an extra set of arms, that would have been it.

  Her hands were magic, jerking me off with a steady rhythm that was about a minute or two from making me come. I gritted my teeth, dropping my hand to hers and stopping her.

  “Slow or fast?” I asked her, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a condom. “You’ll still be getting both when I eventually get you home, but for right now, it’s the lady’s choice.”

  There was no way I wasn’t going to take her home and spend hours worshiping her body. Slow, fast, and everything in between, but as I stood there—rolling on a rubber with my dick in my hand—I didn’t care which, as long as I got to be inside of her.

  “Fast.” She grabbed my shaft and pulled me toward her.

  “Fast it is.”

  I slammed into her, filling her with one thrust as she cried out my name, gripping my shoulders as I pushed her against the wall. Her pussy was vise-like tight, needing a minute to adjust as I pulled out and slammed back in.

  “Jesus,” she screamed out, pushing up my T-shirt to play with the bars in my nipples. “That feels so good.”

  “Yeah, it feels pretty fucking awesome for me too.” I thrust in again, hooking her leg against my hip to get in deeper.

  Man, I liked fucking her. I loved watching her come unhinged as I banged her against the wall. I loved that we could do slow against a mattress too and neither of them felt like a compromise.

  Most of all, I loved her.

  She reached down between us and fingered her clit, letting me pound her as I felt her core tighten.

  It was good, my balls aching with the need to come as she came apart while I was inside of her. I wanted to hold on, but I couldn’t, exploding with a shout as each one of her contractions milked my dick.

  “Kitty.” I leant down and kissed her, holding her against me as both of us rode out the wave. “I love you.”

  “Love you too,” she panted, kissing me back just as fiercely.

  I groaned, looking around at the shitty closet. “I hate we have to go back and be social.”

  “You’re such a beast.” She pushed lightly against my chest. “They’re our friends.”

  She was right about that, they were and while I was perfectly okay with being rude, I knew that wasn’t her style. I pulled out of her, making sure she was steady before letting go. She righted her dress and adjusted her panties while I took care of the condom. The janitor was going to get a nice surprise when he checked the trash, but other than that no harm done.

  Kitty was grinning when I turned back around, her hands on her hips like she knew something I didn’t.

  “What?” I asked, wanting to know the secret too.

  She waved her finger at me, giggling as she spoke. “Did you want to have sex with me because you couldn’t wait a second longer? Or did you suddenly realize how much better we know each other and wanted to continue to test out Mason’s theory?”

  “Yes.” I nodded, not bothering to lie. What would be the point, she was way smarter than me anyway and would totally figure it out.

  She popped an eyebrow, the grin still there “Yes to which?”

  “To both.” I grinned back, pulling her into a hug. “Yes, I needed to have sex with you because I’d wanted to all day, and yeah, I wanted to see if his theory held water.”

  “And?” She tilted her head waiting for an answer.

  I laughed, and gave her the only reply I could. “And, I was too busy having the best sex of my life to worry about collecting data. We’re going to have to do it a few more times just to be sure.”

  “I like this plan.”

  “Jesus, Dallas!” The door swung open, Ken the dude who owned the bar looking at us both. “You better not be fucking in here!”

  “Come on, man,” I scoffed, waving my hands between us and showing him we were both still clothed. “We’re not freaking animals. I just needed somewhere private for a minute to have a conversation with my girl.”

  He looked at us suspiciously but bought it hook, line and sinker. “Yeah, yeah. Sorry.” He tipped his head to Kitty. “But this is for staff only, you can’t be in here, even to talk.”

  Kitty turned on the charm apologizing for any inconvenience before dragging me out. “You are going right to hell.” She threw her head back and laughed.

  “No I’m not, Holly from the drycleaner says she’s gonna save me. And if it all goes shit, well at least you’ll have company.” I puffed out my chest proudly.

  She grabbed my hand and held it to her heart. “Very true.”

  We walked back to the table and re-took our seats, listening in as Eve told Mason all about her gallery.

  Josh had probably guessed what I’d been up to but was too classy to say anything, hiding the grin behind his beer as Kitty and I joined in the conversation.

  I waited until Kitty was talking to Eve about something when I yanked on Mason’s arm and whispered in his ear.

  “Hey, if I didn’t say so before, thanks for the advice.”

  He turned, whipping around so fast you’d think I’d told him I wanted to lick his balls. “What did you say?”

  “Relax,” I laughed, keeping my voice low. “I can admit when I’m wro
ng, celibate. Getting to know a woman is by far the best thing ever.”

  He nodded, lowering his voice too. “Hey thanks, Dallas. I’m glad it worked out for you. But I told you, I’m not celibate.”

  “Whatever, dude, it’s your dick, your business.” I held out my fist for a bump. He shook his head, but bumped it, and tuned back into the conversation.

  And as I looked at my friends and Kitty, something else occurred to me. Thankfully not the kind of realization that needed me to go have sex with Kitty again because even I knew that would be pushing my luck. But what I came to figure was I’d actively been avoiding relationships my whole freaking life.

  Never had a proper girlfriend and never wanted one.

  And I didn’t for a second regret it.

  Because it meant what I had with Kitty was brand new, as fucking hilarious as it was, I was a virgin. And it had been a very long time since I’d been one of those. Hell, I was almost giddy with the excitement of it all, about doing it with her and never having shared it with anyone else.

  Sometimes it’s good to play the field, to screw around, to be the “whore.”

  Because when you find that one person you want to do forever with, you know with one hundred percent certainty.

  Zero doubts.

  She was my one.

  And I was all in.

  Dallas

  IT WAS LATE AND I WAS STILL at the shop.

  But with Josh on his honeymoon, we were down one, and I was trying to pick up the slack. I didn’t want the first time he trusted me to keep the business running, for it to fall into a pile of shit.

  “Hey Dallas, I’m done. You want me to stick around?” Bec rapped at my door, folding her arms across her chest. “Mason is cleaning up his room and then he’s done too.”

  Pretty sure they built the Empire State Building in less time than it took us to get a front desk person, but it had eventually happened. Bec had dropped out of NYU but could organize the shop like no other. Even got us on a full computer system, retiring Josh’s appointment book of death. She wasn’t only efficient and funny, but could tell a massive biker to sit his ass down and wait his turn when needed to. They never expected it either, considering she was barely five-foot and looked like a goth princess.

  “Nah, I’m just finishing up here and then heading home. Tell Mason I’ll see him tomorrow too. No need for him to stay either.”

  “Thanks D, you’re the best.” She gave me a smile-wave combo and then disappeared down the hall. I had no doubt she’d be heading to Mason’s room whether or not I’d given her a message.

  Those two had been doing a lot of talking lately, and we all knew how that ended up.

  Sneaky fuckers.

  Just as long as they didn’t screw in the rooms, because if I wasn’t allowed to do that shit, neither was anyone else. Health inspectors had zero sense of humor, and there was no way I’d let those bastards risk my best friend’s business.

  Not on my watch.

  I heard the two of them shuffle down the hall, laughing and talking, and I rolled my eyes. There’d been no noise from the front door lock engaging as they pulled it closed.

  Goddamn it.

  They’d both been so caught up in their freaking “conversation” they couldn’t even remember to lock the fucking door. I swear they had no sense of responsibility at all, cursing under my breath as I got out of my chair to do the thing my fucking self.

  Shit.

  When did I turn into the most responsible person in the shop? Thank God Josh was coming back soon, not sure I’d survive under the pressure.

  “Kitty!” I grabbed my chest almost having a heart attack when I rounded the corner and saw her in the hall. Not only had I thought I was alone but I’d assumed she still had a few hours left of work herself which was why I wasn’t in any hurry to get home. “You scared the shit out of me. What are you doing here?”

  “I missed you.” She put her arms around me and lifted her head to kiss me. “We’ve both been working such crazy hours, I just need to tell you how much I love you.”

  “Well, you can go ahead and tell me as much as you want.” I scooped her into my arms, forgetting all about the door, the lock or the irresponsible fuckers I worked with. None of it mattered.

  I was just about to kiss her again when she stopped me, putting her hand to my chest and biting her lip like she was nervous. “Actually, there’s another reason I’m here.”

  “Babe, whatever it is, tell me.” I wrapped my fingers around her hand and brought it to my lips. “You know you can tell me anything.”

  “Okay.” She nodded and took a deep breath, and then lowered herself to her knees.

  “Wow, baby! You’re going to give me a blowjob? You’re the best girlfriend ever.” My hand dropped to my fly, and unzipped. I’d been a little stressed so a hummer was more than a little welcomed. And man, did my woman know me.

  Her hands reached up to mine, stopping me from pulling my dick out. “I’m trying to propose to you, Dallas.” She huffed out a breath of frustration, her tone lacking any of the joy that usually accompanied sex. “I’m asking you to marry me.”

  “What the fuck?” My eyes got wide as I looked at her on her knees.

  Jesus.

  Freaking.

  Christ.

  The blowjob was a proposal?

  “Kitty.” I joined her on the floor, kneeling in front of her. “Baby, you cannot propose to me.”

  Her body stiffened, looking up at me from under her lashes. God, she was beautiful, so perfect in every single way, and even though I’d completely ruined what was probably supposed to be a special moment, she still wasn’t mad. “Are you not ready? I know we haven’t really spoken about it, but I love you and I want to be with you forever and—”

  I held my hand up to her lips, shaking my head as the rest of her sentence got lost in my fingers. “I’m plenty ready. I love you, and I want to be with you forever too. I want you to be my wife.” I took my hand away slowly and dug into my pocket. “And you can’t propose to me because I want to propose to you.”

  I had the ring designed and had been carrying it around for the past two weeks, but could never find the right time. I wanted for the proposal to be something she’d be proud of, like those morons on Instagram with their fancy engagement videos that went viral. Not because I gave a shit, but because she deserved only the best. But as creative as I was on skin, I couldn’t think of a way to ask that would be meaningful enough to do her justice. But seeing her on her knees wanting to ask me was the wakeup call I’d needed.

  She never was and never would be about any of that shit.

  Just me, and her, and our forever.

  I pulled out the ring, the most perfect diamond I’d been able to find and set in an art deco platinum band. My girl was all about the classics, and I was going to give it to her.

  “Kitty, will you marry me?” I slid on the ring and hoped to God I was putting it on the right finger.

  She looked down at the ring, her beautiful green eyes brimming with tears. “Yes, yes. YES,” she screamed, throwing her arms around me.

  “Well, thank God for that.” I laughed, kissing my fiancée for the first time.

  She wiggled her finger and smiled. “I can’t believe you had a ring, I had literally no idea you were going to propose. It’s perfect by the way, I love it so much.”

  “Well, I had no idea you were going to propose,” I laughed back. “I almost missed my chance.” I pushed the hair out of her face and grinned. “So . . . um . . . I guess that blowjob is out of the question now, huh?”

  She threw back her head and laughed before leveling me with a look. “Are you kidding? I’m going to give you the best blowjob you’ve ever had.”

  I was the luckiest man in the whole fucking world.

  Fuck Instagram and a fancy engagement story.

  I’d take my life without the filter every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

  “Kitty.” I hissed out her name as her
hand went to my pants.

  “Yeah, baby?”

  I took a breath and blew it out. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, now go lock the door so we can defile the hall. It’s out of the rooms so there’s no violation to the health code.”

  I didn’t know if she was right or not, but I didn’t care.

  I’d take whatever repercussions that followed. Just as long as I got to spend the rest of my life—and anything that happened after it—with the most amazing woman I’d ever known.

  And it wasn’t the ring that I’d put on her finger that guaranteed that.

  It was what was in my heart.

  THE END

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  SPECIAL THANKS TO MY FAMILY—GEP, JENNA, Liam and Woodley. You are my safe place always, and accept me how I am.

  Thank you to all my family (brothers, sister-in-laws and everyone else) AND the extended group of misfits whom I’ve chosen to be my family. I love you guys, thanks for being there and loving me and supporting me even if I am three buckets of crazy.

  Thank you so much to the team at Brower Literary and Management—Kimberly, Aimee and Caroline.

  Thank you to Nichole Strauss, from Insight Editing. This book was different from the last (and thank God for that) and it was good for it not to be as crazy. I’m so glad you get me, it’s a pleasure to work with you.

  MK and Dani! Thanks so much for your added insight. Lord knows I need extra eyes so I don’t have someone in the wrong place LOL.

  Thank you to Christine Borgford from Type A Formatting. Your work is brilliant as always, love working with you!

  Thank you to the amazing Hang Le for another ridiculously good cover. Man, I know I shouldn’t choose favorites but the ones you’ve done for this series are pretty freaking gorgeous. It was great seeing you in Kentucky and spending time with you.

  Thank you to my amazing proofreaders Lisa B, Jackie R and Rosa! SO glad to have extra eyes picking up pesky typos and missed words.

  Thank you to my author brethren. I have so much mad respect for you guys—love you and all your work. Thank you so much for your friendship, support, love, and of course, your awesomeness. I was a reader first, and continue to be, and sometimes I need to pinch myself when I think about being able to call you friends.