Megan had dropped her off almost forty-five minutes ago. She’d offered to come in and wait with Abby, but Abby had said no. As much as she loved Megan, she wanted to be alone with Lance. Megan had understood, giving her a hug from the driver’s seat of her car. “Go get your man,” she’d said before Abby got out.
Abby stood up, pacing back and forth, unable to sit still any longer. She’d go crazy if Lance’s damn flight didn’t get here soon. Walking over to the monitors, she checked again, and this time his flight number was gone. A spurt of panic shot through her. What did that mean?
She turned back around, and just then a familiar figure, tall and broad with dark hair, came down the ramp. He didn’t see her at first, his head turned away from her. A giant smile took over Abby’s face, and she walked as fast as she could toward the foot of the ramp.
His head turned and his face lit up, a matching smile on his face. He reached her in three long strides, wrapped his arms around her, and picked her up, kissing her like they hadn’t seen each other in weeks instead of just over twenty-four hours.
When Abby managed to pull back from Lance’s kiss, he set her back on her feet, and she buried her face in his chest, inhaling his scent, feeling more settled than she had since she got out of his mom’s car at the airport in Dallas. “I missed you so much.”
He kissed her temple. “I missed you, too.”
They stood there for several long minutes while the remainder of the passengers walked around them, enjoying the feel of each other. Lance pulled back, lacing his fingers through hers and hitching his backpack on his shoulder again. “Come on. My suitcase should be out soon. Then we can go home.”
It took almost no time to get his suitcase. The wait for the shuttle to get to long-term parking took longer, but Lance wouldn’t let Abby go. Which she didn’t mind at all. She’d missed him so much, and the feel of him against her again was home. More than anyone or any place had ever been before.
They stood huddled together in the cold air of the December night in a pool of bluish light from the fluorescent bulbs all around the airport doorways waiting for the shuttle. Abby turned her face up to Lance. “I love you.”
His eyes met hers, warm and dark, but questioning. It wasn’t the first time she’d said those words. They’d been saying them for months. But it usually happened in the context of something else—sex, a goodbye, a shared joke. She felt the need to say it now, apropos of nothing, just to reaffirm her feelings out loud for both of them.
He kissed her, a quick press of his warm lips to hers. “I love you, too.”
The shuttle pulled up before either of them could say more, and they rode to the car in silence, hands entwined, bodies pressed against each other on the narrow seats. They got dropped off feet away from Lance’s car, covered in thick frost. While Lance loaded his bags in the trunk, Abby took the keys and started the car, cranked up the defrost as high as it would go, and sat shivering in the passenger seat, the puffs of her breath visible in the car. He reached in the back seat for the ice scraper, and Abby made faces at him through the windows as he cleared them off. He didn’t notice at first, focused on what he was doing, but her movement must’ve caught his eye as she switched expressions, puffing out her cheeks, crossing her eyes, and pulling her ears out to the side. She could hear him laughing through the closed window, and she smiled back at him. He finished scraping the windows with a smile on his face, and when he got in he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her across the bench seat and into his kiss. It was a strange juxtaposition of hot and cold—his skin chilled from being outside, his mouth hot against hers, his fingers freezing as they teased under her sweater inside her unbuttoned coat, heat pooling between her thighs.
She broke away, gasping. “Let’s go home.”
Lance smiled, a devilish glint in his eye, like he knew exactly why she wanted to go home. He probably did. They knew each other so well, even though they’d only met six months ago. No one knew her better than him, not even Megan.
Instead of scooting back to her side of the bench seat, she fished the lap belt for the middle out of the crack where it met the back, wanting to stay close to Lance. He glanced down at her before putting the car in reverse and maneuvering them out of the parking lot. “I love you.”
She lay her head on his shoulder, enjoying the feel of his muscles working as he turned the steering wheel hand over hand. “I love you, too.”
They didn’t speak on the twenty minute drive home. Abby wanted to ask about his family’s reactions to her leaving yesterday and now him leaving today, but fear of what they might’ve said kept her silent. She didn’t want any negativity to ruin their reunion, even if they hadn’t been apart long. It felt like it had been ages since they’d been together. So talk of families—both families—could wait until they were home and fully reunited.
She could tell Lance had the same idea when he parked his suitcase just inside their door, dropped his backpack next to it, and immediately went to her, his hands going to her hips, his mouth melding with hers. She hadn’t even gotten her coat off yet, and his hands slid inside it, moving over her back, down to her ass and up her back again, this time under her sweater, his hands still chilly against her bare skin.
Her hands made a similar path over him, first up his chest, then down, pulling his sweatshirt up at his sides until her hands encountered bare skin. He broke away first, pushing back from her, his eyes glinting. “Bedroom. Naked. Now.”
She grinned. She always loved when he was reduced to single word sentences. Tossing her coat on the couch, she crossed the living room to their bedroom, pulling off her sweater and cami as she went. Before she could get her bra off, Lance’s hands were undoing the clasp, sliding one strap down her shoulder and brushing kisses over the newly exposed skin. He worked his way back up her neck as her bra fell away, brushing her hair out of the way. She tilted her head to the side, arching to give him better access. His hands came around to the front, cupping her breasts, his fingers tugging at her nipples, a shiver going through her as he placed a kiss behind her ear and ran his teeth over her earlobe. She melted into him, his bare chest hard against her back, the silken touch of skin on skin washing away any remaining unease from their time apart. As long as she had him, she could face them all. This—he—made everything better. Always.
He turned her in his arms, his mouth finding hers once again, his tongue sliding against hers. Her arms twined around his neck, and his hands on her hips guided her back toward the bed. Stopping just short of pushing her back onto it, his hands undid the button and zipper of her jeans, pushing them down over her hips. She helped get them far enough down that gravity did the rest of the work to get them to her ankles, then she turned her attention to his jeans, making short work of the belt buckle, button and zipper. His boxers and jeans fell to the floor more easily, a soft thud sounding from the weight of his keys and wallet hitting the floor. She sat down and kicked her pants off, laying back on the bed and propping herself on her elbows. “How do you want me?”
Lance’s gaze darkened, and her lips parted as she watched him stroke himself with his fist. “Any way I can get you.”
“You know you can always have me however you want.”
“Is that so?” His voice was a low rumble as he climbed on the bed, his legs straddling her thighs. “What if I want your mouth?”
She leaned forward, grasping him with one hand and sliding her tongue over the crown before taking him in her mouth.
He groaned, one hand coming to rest on her head, and he pumped his hips in shallow thrusts. She stayed still, letting him use her mouth, knowing he wouldn’t go too far or too hard. Before she was ready for it, he pulled away, his hands going under her armpits and hoisting her up the bed like she weighed nothing, his mouth covering hers, his knees spreading her legs so he could rest between her thighs.
Breaking the kiss, he pulled back, guiding himself to her entrance with his hand, teasing her by rubbing the head all over her center. “Swe
etheart, I just want you.” With that, he lined himself up and entered her.
She let out a soft sound of pleasure, and her head sank back into the pillows at the feel of him filling her up. He came down over her, holding himself on his forearms, pressing their bodies together as much as possible. She wrapped her legs around him, urging him to move by pressing her hips up against his. He let out a groan, low and sexy, and she loved how she could still make him come undone, could do it better and easier than ever.
He took her mouth in another kiss, slow and languid like his strokes. Sometimes he took her hard and fast, up against a wall or bent over a convenient piece of furniture. But tonight was all slow and sensual, skin sliding on skin, deep, drugging kisses, a reunion full of emotion as much as want and base need.
Soon Lance’s pace increased, even though she could tell he was trying to hold himself back. To make this last as long as possible. He pulled one of her legs up, opening her even more, allowing him to sink in even deeper. She arched against him, every nerve singing, loving every stroke. His hand moved between them, gathering her wetness to slide his fingers in circles over her clit.
“I can’t last much longer,” he murmured. “I need you to come with me.”
She couldn’t answer as he increased the pressure and speed, stroking her both inside and out in a perfect rhythm. Her hands clutched at his shoulders as the tension coiled tighter and tighter inside her, her nails digging into his skin. He let out a groan, but she knew he loved it as much as she did when he got a little rough with her. He pinched her clit, flicking it back and forth a few times, and she gasped. He returned to the ever quickening circles, the pressure growing firmer as each thrust pumped hard and measured against her inside.
“Come with me, Abby. Now.” With one last thrust he gripped her hips and held himself against her, grinding his pelvis against hers. The tension inside her exploded, her muscles convulsing, heat washing outward from her center.
She went limp, Lance’s weight pressing her into the bed as they both recovered. Stroking a hand over his shoulder and up to his cheek, she turned his face to hers and kissed him softly. “Welcome home.”
He chuckled and moved off of her, rolling to the side and kissing her again. “Thanks. I’m glad to be home.”
Abby snuggled into him, more content than she thought she could be given all the stress still swirling around them. But she would worry about that later.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“So you haven’t been over there yet?”
Lance shook his head in answer to Chris’s question. It was the day after New Year’s. It had been over a week since Aaron had shown up out of the blue, crashing with Abby’s mom. “No. Abby’s been keeping in touch with her mom, but says she doesn’t want to go there again while her brother’s still around.” He stood over Chris, spotting him on the bench press.
Chris finished his set and placed the bar back on the hooks, sitting up and wiping his face with a towel. “I can’t blame her. It wasn’t a happy reunion from what I could tell.”
They switched places, Lance lying back on the bench after Chris wiped his sweat from the vinyl. He tried not to let it show, but it bothered Lance that Chris had been there when Abby went home to confront her brother for the first time since he’d left. Even though he knew that Chris had stayed outside, like Lance had the first time he’d been to her mom’s place.
He eased the bar down to his chest, pushing it back up smoothly. Chris stood behind his head, more out of safety precaution than actual necessity. Lance was lifting for maintenance, not to beat a personal record or anything, using the workout to expend some of his lingering frustration. Chris, on the other hand, was pushing himself, working hard to get ready for the NFL Regional Combines coming up in less than two months.
Lance waited until he’d finished his set before continuing the conversation. “No. She wasn’t happy to see him. And she’s not happy that he’s staying with their mom, but apparently her mom has been in touch with him for a while before now.”
Chris racked their weights before they moved to the dumbbells. “That seems kind of fucked up.”
“No kidding.”
“She ever figure out why he’s here?”
Lance shook his head as he selected a set of dumbbells, positioning himself in front of the wall-to-wall mirrors to ensure correct form. Chris joined him, and they finished off with a few miles on the treadmill.
On the way out, Chris slapped Lance on the shoulder. “Let me know if you need any more help with all of that, man. Whatever I can do, I’m there.”
“Thanks, man.” Lance shook his head, stuffing his hands in his pockets after pushing through the door. “There isn’t really anything to do right now. I’m just trying to be there for Abby, y’know? It sucks because I want to do something. Anything. Mostly I want to go over there and give her asshole brother a lesson in fraternal responsibility, but I’m pretty sure that’d just piss Abby off, which wouldn’t help anything.”
Chris laughed. “Fraternal responsibility.” He laughed some more. “That’s good. But yeah, I get where you’re coming from. I don’t have any siblings, so I don’t know from firsthand experience, but even I know you don’t just ditch your family like that. How’s Abby handling everything?”
“Stressed. School’s starting in a couple days, and she still doesn’t know what he’s doing here. And now she won’t be available all the time to go over there if she thinks she needs to. Her brother’s apparently been keeping up with the grocery shopping, but …” Lance let the sentence trail off, running a hand through his hair. “She’s worried about her mom, and she doesn’t know what to do. She’s worried about what it means if her brother stays, and what it means if he takes off again. It’s one of those shitty situations where there isn’t going to be a good outcome no matter what.”
Chris nodded, all his earlier laughter gone. “Yeah. Yeah it is.”
They said goodbye, each getting into their cars to head back to their respective women. How strange. If anyone had told him his life would look like this when he graduated, he’d have laughed. Both him and Chris with serious girlfriends? Him on the verge of proposing? And yet, here they were.
If they could get this situation with Abby’s brother figured out, he’d feel more settled. He’d had that ring for weeks. Abby should’ve had it on her finger a week ago. With everything going on now, he didn’t know if proposing would be a good thing or not. He felt pretty sure she’d say yes. But would planning a wedding on top of all her family drama just stress her out more?
Knowing her, yes.
He sighed, starting the car and heading home. The last thing he wanted was to add more stress to her load. And with school starting, she’d be working for the foreign language department again, which meant even more stress. No, he’d wait, even though it killed him. Hopefully her brother would leave again soon, and once they were past that, he could propose. Then there’d be no doubt that she was his and he was hers. Forever.
Abby lounged on the couch reading Cien Años de Soledad for her Hispanic Literature class. Her professor launched them straight into the deep end, not warming up with something shorter or easier to read. Couldn’t they have started with some of García Márquez’s short stories? He wrote a bunch of those. And even if the writing was equally dense, she could get through one in a sitting. Only the fact that she’d read the book in English last year made it so she didn’t struggle with it as much as she would’ve. She didn’t remember all the details, but enough of the broad strokes that she wasn’t completely lost when she encountered words and phrases particular to Colombian Spanish that she hadn’t seen before and weren’t always listed in her Spanish-English dictionary or the app she used on her phone.
A knock on the door pulled her out of the book. She was a quarter of the way through, and they were supposed to finish it next week. She needed to get cracking. Frowning at the clock and annoyed at the interruption, she got up and went to the door. It was a few minutes before
five, so a little early for Lance to be home, and he wouldn’t knock. Megan always texted before coming over. Plus, Abby knew she would be busy this semester getting a show together. She’d already recruited Abby to model for her, and told her how she planned to enlist Chris and Matt’s help. Abby had laughed at that. “Good luck. You’re gonna need it.”
Megan had stuck out her tongue and changed the subject, happy to have gotten what she wanted out of Abby.
Abby checked her phone just to be sure she hadn’t missed a text from Megan or one of the other guys. Nope. Were they expecting a delivery? It was late for UPS or Fedex, but maybe?
Without bothering to check the peephole, Abby opened the door, and immediately regretted her oversight. The urge to slam the door again was almost overwhelming. “What are you doing here?”
Aaron’s signature smirk came to his face. “Is that how you greet your brother?”
Abby crossed her arms. “It is when he shows up at my apartment unannounced. How did you get my address anyway?”
He chuckled. “From Mom. How else?”
“What do you want, Aaron?” She kept her voice hard, getting straight to the point. The sooner he said what he came to say, the sooner she could get rid of him.
“Can’t I come in? I just wanted to come check on my baby sister. Make sure the guy she’s living with is treating her right.”
Abby narrowed her eyes, but relented. “Fine. Come in. Tell me what you want, why you’re really back in town, and then you need to leave. Lance is going to be home soon, and we have plans tonight.” The lie came out stilted, the old habit of not giving him any ammunition to use against her harder than it used to be. But if Aaron knew her plans were to eat dinner with Lance and read some more, he might try to stay longer. She’d created a schedule for herself to get through this book on time, and she needed to finish three more chapters today. Plus she had other homework. She didn’t have time for this interruption.
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