The Day He Came Back

by Ward, Penelope

“You lost your job because of me, because I couldn’t stay away from you, and my mother knows it. I’ll make sure you can pay for anything you need.”

  “No, you won’t. I’m not a whore, Gavin. I don’t need your money. I’ll find another job.”

  “Raven, I’m...” He paused, looking up at the night sky. He turned his body toward me. “I know we’ve been hanging out casually, but my feelings for you have only grown. I’m a fucking liar. I’ve been pretending to be okay with the whole friends thing. The truth is, I’ve never felt this way about anyone. I don’t know what to do.”

  My heart pounded as I tried to ignore my own feelings. “That’s easy…nothing. You do nothing.”

  “When I first spotted you tonight in this dress, it took my breath away. And to think my mother made you feel like you shouldn’t have been wearing it. When you’re in a room, you shine brighter than anyone else. And she doesn’t want that, because she thinks all eyes should be on her. She needs to tear others down to build herself up. She can try to control my life with her purse strings, but she can never, ever dictate what I feel.” He pointed to his heart. “I feel so much I can hardly breathe lately. It’s scaring the hell out of me because I know the right thing to do would be pretend it’s not happening. But I can’t, Raven. I don’t know how to stop this.”

  I closed my eyes a moment. “It’s not just you. I feel it, too.”

  As I opened my eyes, his shut, as if hearing me match his sentiment, knowing he wasn’t alone in this, brought him immense relief.

  His hair blew in the wind. He looked so handsome. I wanted to touch him. No, I needed to touch him. I ran my hand slowly through his hair. He grabbed my wrist and brought my hand to his lips, kissing it over and over. He kept my hand on his mouth as he looked out at the water. He looked like he was searching for a solution, one I was sure wouldn’t come.

  I was unsure of so many things right now—everything except how Gavin felt about me. His feelings were genuine, rivaling my own. And right now, we were both feeling pretty hopeless.

  I wanted to move closer to him, but my gut told me doing so would be like striking a match. When he looked at me again, the desperation in his eyes was palpable. I just wanted to relieve it, relieve my own aching need. I felt like everything was about to explode.

  I didn’t know who made the first move. It seemed we were on top of each other almost simultaneously, as if we’d lost it at the same moment. The next thing I knew, my back was on the sand, and Gavin’s weight was on me, his hot mouth devouring my lips as I breathed in every bit of him, taking him in with all of my senses.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful.” He spoke into my skin as he kissed down my neck.

  My nipples hardened in anticipation. He began to suck my breasts through the material of my dress. The cut of the frock wouldn’t allow him to pull it down. I would have to unzip it from the back. I needed to feel his mouth on my bare skin.

  I pulled back for a moment and rolled over. “Unzip me.”

  “You sure?” he asked.

  Out of breath, I nodded.

  After I rolled back over, I needed to clarify something. “I don’t want to...you know... I’m not ready for that. I just want your mouth on me.”

  My words appeared to ignite something inside of him. “I can do that.”

  After unsnapping my bra, I tossed it aside.

  Looking down at me with glassy eyes, he licked his lips. “Christ. Your tits are amazing.”

  I’d never been sucked like this before. The friction, the scrape of his scruff—it felt so good. My hands were at the back of his head, pressing him against me. My dress at my waist acted as a barrier. Even though I wasn’t ready to have sex with him, I wanted to feel him between my legs. I pushed the dress down so I was left in nothing but my underwear.

  Gavin took in the sight of my lace panties before returning his gaze to me. “You’re trying to kill me here?”

  Missing his warmth, I pulled him back down, this time opening my legs, allowing him full access to grind his engorged cock against me. He was hard as steel. I bucked my hips, pressing my clit against the heat of his arousal. I couldn’t press hard enough, couldn’t circle fast enough. Our kiss grew even more frantic as we dry-humped on the sand like animals in heat.

  Gavin moved away just long enough to unbutton his shirt before lying against my breasts. The skin-to-skin contact was heaven.

  “Tell me what I’m allowed to do to you, Raven,” he panted.

  “Tell me what you want to do to me.”

  “I don’t know if I should.”

  “Tell me.”

  “I want to fuck you so hard and come inside you. I want to claim you as mine and ruin you for everyone else. But I know I can’t do that.”

  His words made the muscles between my legs contract.

  “Everything but that,” I breathed.

  He kissed me hard, first on the mouth then down the entire length of my torso before he landed on my pussy. He slid down my panties, spread my knees wide, and wasted no time burying his mouth between my legs. I gasped at the unusual but euphoric feeling. No one had ever gone down on me, and I had no clue just how sensitive my clit was to this sensation. It felt indescribable. What’s more, Gavin was groaning against my skin, his sounds of pleasure vibrating against my core and making it very difficult not to orgasm.

  He reached down through his pants and began to stroke himself as he continued to devour me. The idea of him pleasuring himself made everything so much more intense. His breathing grew ragged as he took his cock out and fisted it, licking and sucking me, using his entire face to get me off.

  I wanted to feel him inside of me so badly, but I knew I would regret taking that step so soon. I’d never imagined I would be doing this with him right now, either.

  I pulled on his hair as I felt myself ready to explode. “I’m going to come.”

  He sped up his tongue, drawing out my orgasm. Endless ripples of pleasure pulsated through me as my sensitive skin throbbed against his mouth. He licked me in slow circles until he knew I was completely finished.

  “I want to come on your skin,” he said. “Can I?”

  Still too overwhelmed to speak, I nodded.

  I watched as he jerked himself over my breasts, and when he climaxed, his cum felt warm against me. I pressed my breasts together, massaging it into my skin.

  Looking up at the sky, he panted for the longest time.

  “That was fucking amazing.” He smiled down at me before taking off his shirt and wiping down my chest. “I guess I won’t be giving this shirt to your mother to take to the cleaners.”

  We broke out in laughter as he laid back down next to me. He softly kissed my neck as we listened to the sound of the waves. It was the first time I’d ever felt this level of contentment, and certainly the first time anything close to this had happened in the arms of a guy.

  After a long period of silence, he was the first to speak.

  “Remember how I said this was my favorite place?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well, you’re my favorite person.”

  I swore I could feel my heart melt. I also felt myself resisting that feeling, because I had no idea what tomorrow would bring. All I knew? I was in big trouble.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  * * *

  GAVIN

  I was starting to lose my shit.

  Raven hadn’t been answering my calls, although she did text me to tell me she was okay. That meant she was avoiding me. All she would divulge was that she was going through some personal stuff. I blamed myself for taking things too far with her that night.

  It had been a week since my father’s birthday party and our time at the private beach. I couldn’t stop replaying it in my mind. The sounds she’d made, I would never forget. We hadn’t even had actual sex, but it was by far the most intense sexual experience of my life. I got the impression it might’ve been the first time a guy had gone down on her. I was dying to feel her come against my tongue again.
I’d tried to resist pleasuring myself in front of her that night, but otherwise I might have exploded. Maybe that was where I went wrong? I couldn’t be sure.

  But with each day that passed, I became more worried.

  To make matters worse, Renata had also called out of work. I couldn’t remember one time when she had done that before. So maybe something was going on at home.

  I wondered if my mother knew anything, so I decided to approach her about it.

  “Where’s Renata been?” I asked when I found her in the kitchen, trying my best to seem casual.

  Mother barely looked up from her tea and newspaper. “She took sick time.”

  “She didn’t tell you what was wrong?”

  She looked at me. “Why is this any of your concern?”

  “She never calls in sick. I can’t be concerned about her?”

  “If I thought it was her you were concerned about, there wouldn’t be an issue.”

  “The best thing Raven ever did was quit.”

  “I would have to agree, and if I find out you’re still chasing her, there will be consequences.”

  “I haven’t seen her since the night she walked out of here.”

  That wasn’t even a lie, unfortunately.

  “Good.” She returned her attention to the newspaper.

  I ventured down the hall to my father’s office to see if he knew something my mother didn’t.

  I knocked. “Hey, Dad.”

  My father swiveled his chair around to face me. “Hello, son.”

  “Mother says she doesn’t know what’s going on with Renata, why she’s been out. Do you?”

  He took off his glasses. “No. As far as I know, she’s not feeling well and had to take a few days off.”

  “I can’t help but wonder if there’s something else going on.”

  “You want to tell me why you think that?”

  “I’ve been in touch with Raven. Mother doesn’t know. Raven told me she, herself, was going through something personal. And now Renata has been out. As far as I can remember, Renata has never called out sick before. So I’m wondering if there might be something else wrong, either with Raven or both of them.”

  He rubbed his eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry your mother has been so disrespectful to Raven. I don’t condone her behavior in the least. But as you also know, I only have so much control over your mother’s actions.”

  “I know that. Believe me, I’ve watched your dynamic with her my entire life.”

  “That said…” He paused to really look at me. “I hope you can find a way to focus on your upcoming move to Connecticut at this point, son. While I don’t have anything against Raven, and I think she’s a wonderful girl, I do think your attention right now should be on your studies.”

  “I am thinking about the move. But who I spend my time with during my last summer before law school should be my choice.”

  He nodded. “I agree.”

  I sighed. “Thank you.”

  I thanked God for my dad. He was the voice of reason in an otherwise crazy house.

  ***

  Later that afternoon, my friend Christian Bradford came over to hang. He was one of the few people on the island I actually trusted. Christian was a year younger and was home for the summer from Brown up in Rhode Island.

  He popped open a soda and put his feet up on the lounge chair. “So what’s been going on?”

  How do I sum it all up? “I met this girl, and she’s pretty much knocked me on my ass.”

  “Are you kidding me? You? I never thought I’d see the day.” He looked at me over his sunglasses. “Things going good with her?”

  “Actually, no. They couldn’t be worse.”

  “What happened?”

  “Let’s see. What hasn’t happened? For one, my mother tormented her until she finally quit her job here.”

  He nearly spit out his drink. “You were messing around with the help?”

  For some reason, that really offended me. “She used to work here, yeah.”

  “She must be one hot piece of ass.”

  I kind of wanted to punch him. But truthfully, that’s how we typically talked. When it came to Raven, though, I was hypersensitive about everything.

  “Yeah. She’s beautiful, but there’s a lot more to her than her looks. We’ve really been connecting, although I’m pretty sure I scared her away the other night.”

  He laughed. “What…did you take out your monster dick?”

  I gave him a look that must have told him exactly how little I was in the mood for his shit.

  “Sorry, man. I’ll be serious. What happened?”

  “The night she quit, I chased after her. She basically left after being insulted one too many times. It was torture witnessing it. A little part of me died every time my mother disrespected her. Her quitting was such a relief.”

  His eyebrows climbed. “Wow. You’re really into this girl.”

  “We ended up at this private beach that night and…one thing led to another.”

  “You fucked her?”

  “No. Things didn’t go that far. Believe me, I wanted to, but she’s actually a virgin.”

  A genuine look of surprise crossed his face. “Okay…”

  “Yeah…so understandably, she’s wary, especially about someone who’s leaving at the end of the summer.”

  “So, you messed around a little. What’s the big deal?”

  “She’s been avoiding me ever since, and I think she might regret what we did.”

  It was weird that I didn’t want to go into the sexual details with him. But something about that seemed like I’d be violating Raven’s trust. In the past I’d had no problem detailing stuff I’d done with girls, yet everything felt different when it came to her.

  He snapped me out of my thoughts. “Dude, why are you getting involved with anyone before you leave? I mean, I could see if you just wanted some ass, but it seems like you’re getting yourself into something else altogether here.”

  “I know letting the whole thing go makes sense, but I can’t stop thinking about her.”

  “Damn. Alright. It’s like that, then. Well, you’re infatuated right now. But that will probably fade over time.”

  Staring at the rays of sun glistening over the pool, I said, “Maybe I needed her to do this. Maybe I needed her to stay away in order to not get myself wrapped up in it any further. Maybe this is for the best. I don’t know.”

  “You know I broke up with Morgan before I went away to Brown, right? It was the best thing I could’ve done. I couldn’t imagine being tied down right now.”

  “I know you’re right, but…”

  He finished my sentence. “But it doesn’t change the way you feel.”

  “Not at the moment, but I’m hoping sensibility sinks in at some point.”

  “If it’s bothering you that she’s not talking to you, why don’t you go to her house and see what’s up?”

  He’d just given me an idea. I was surprised I hadn’t thought of it sooner.

  “Actually, I may not have to do that. I have another source.”

  ***

  Marni had taken a job at a pretzel place in the mall near where she and Raven lived. I decided to go visit her and see if she could give me any information.

  There were no customers in line when I walked up to her kiosk, which smelled like butter and baked bread.

  “Hey,” I called out.

  She looked up. “Rich Boy! What are you doing on this side of town?”

  “I guess I just missed you, Marni.”

  “While I’d love to believe that, something tells me there might be more going on.” She handed me a cup of pretzel bites.

  I took it. “Thanks.” Popping one into my mouth, I asked, “Has Raven told you anything recently about me?”

  She took a fresh tray of pretzels out of the oven and said, “If she did, I wouldn’t tell you. You and I might be cool, but my loyalty lies with her.”

  “Okay, fair enough. Can you at
least tell me if she’s okay?”

  Her expression dampened, and I didn’t like what I saw. Not one freaking bit.

  “Something is going on. Tell me, Marni.”

  She blew out a frustrated breath. “You’re right. Something is going on, but it has nothing to do with you, Gavin.”

  My heart started to palpitate. “Is Raven in some kind of trouble? Renata hasn’t been at work, either.”

  “All I will tell you is that it has nothing to do with you. You did not hear anything from me, but maybe you should go check on her. Maybe she’ll tell you what’s going on if you do.”

  I nodded. “Thank you, Marni. That’s all I needed to hear.”

  ***

  When I pulled up to their house, Renata’s car was outside. I didn’t necessarily want her to see me, so I wondered if there was another way to get to Raven.

  Dodging a couple of sprinklers, I walked around the side of the house and peeked into the windows. The first one showed the living room, which was empty. I walked around to the back and was able to see inside Raven’s bedroom.

  There she is.

  She sat on her bed, looking absolutely beautiful, but also so contemplative and sad.

  I wondered if I should just leave, but I’d come all the way here and really needed to know what was going on.

  I knocked on the window, and she jumped. With her hand over her heart, she noticed me and rushed over to open it.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to make sure you’re okay. I’ve been worried because your messages have been short, and you’re clearly avoiding me. I can’t help but wonder if it has something to do with what we did. Did I hurt you?”

  “Oh my God, Gavin. No.” She looked over her shoulder. “Come in.”

  I crawled through the window.

  “It has nothing to do with you,” she whispered.

  “What’s going on?”

  Tears filled her eyes. I wasn’t expecting that. My heart sank. I placed my hands over her cheeks and wiped her tears with my thumb.

  My heart pounded. “I’ve been so worried about you. Please tell me what’s happening.”