“Come here.” I patted my lap.
Ashley looked from my lap to my face. Then she got up and perched herself on my knee. I leaned over, put my beer down on the floor, and wrapped my arms around her waist. It felt good to hold her to me. Almost as good as it had felt to kiss her the other night and to feel the warm softness of her breasts beneath my hands.
“Did you not want to go back to Lulu’s tonight?” I asked.
She didn’t answer me right away. I waited patiently until she said, “No. I didn’t like the idea of being there and Nick knowing where to find me. When Jesse said you were home, I kind of jumped at the chance to be here instead.”
“Did you tell Lulu where you were?”
“Yes, Mom, I texted her,” Ashley said, looking at me flatly.
“Just making sure. She’d worry about you if you didn’t give her a heads-up. Especially with everything going on.” I hugged her tighter, and she leaned back to rest her head on my shoulder. “You can have my bedroom, and I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“No, that’s all right. You don’t have to give up your bed for me.”
“I want to. And I’ll get you to work in the morning.”
“I’ll have to go home to change first.”
“That’s fine.”
Ashley twisted around to face me. Her nose was inches from mine. I could smell the beer on her breath, and if she were to lean a little closer, our chests would be touching, and I’d feel the steady thump of her heartbeat. I reached up and without thinking, ran my hand through her hair.
Ashley sighed.
It was a soft, breathy, sensual sound, and it had my cock twitching in my pants. Her eyes fluttered closed, and I tightened my hand into a fist in her hair. When she didn’t pull away or show any signs of wanting me to stop, I closed the distance between us to kiss her.
The kiss was slower than the last one. This time, it didn’t feel like we were in a race or pressed for time. I was able to go slow and explore all of her. She tasted like beer and spearmint. Her breathing quickened, and she drew herself closer to me, hooking her arms around my neck.
I ran my hand over her thighs and reached up until I found the button at the top of her pants. I popped it open with a flick of my thumb and then did the same to the other three. She didn’t stop me. Instead, she grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. Like always, she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her perky tits popped out. Her nipples were hard and needy.
I sat and stared at her lean, taut body, my mind racing a mile a minute. Were we going to do this? Were we about to throw all our inhibitions to the wind, and finally, finally, give in to what our bodies wanted?
Ashley reached for my fly and unzipped it.
Hell yes, we were.
She stroked me through my boxers, and I slipped my hand down the front of her pants and under her panties. She was wet and ready for me. She moaned into my mouth as I found her center and eased a finger inside her. I didn’t want to waste any time. I’d been thinking about this my whole life, and knowing I was minutes from having her beneath me, naked and eager, was making short work of my defenses.
I needed her to take her pants off. I tried to fuck her good, but her pants were too restricting. So, I lifted her off my lap so that she was standing in front of me, and I yanked her pants down her thighs. She let out a surprised, adorable little giggle, and then played coy with me when I reached to pull her panties down. I let my hands fall to my sides and watched as she took them off instead, nice and slow, putting on a show for me as she turned around to bend over and step out of them.
Her pink pussy was on display, and I couldn’t keep my hands to myself. I reached out and pushed a finger into her. Then, as she was still bent over, I pressed my thumb to her ass.
Ashley gasped and flinched.
“I’ll stop if you want me to,” I said. My own voice was hoarse with need in my ears. I pushed a little harder with my thumb. “Do you want me to?”
She shook her head.
Good. I brought her juices up so that she was slick, and then I pushed my thumb inside her. At the same time, I curled my finger in her pussy. She let out a whispering sigh as I began fucking her, slow at first, and then hard and fast until she was reaching out to steady herself on the balcony railing in front of her.
Neither of us seemed to care that there was a chance we might be seen. It was a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless. Pedestrians walking on the street below might happen to look up. They’d be lucky bastards if they did. Ashley was a sight to behold.
As I finger-fucked her, she spread her legs farther for me like a good girl. And then she came, coating my fingers in her fluids.
I pulled out of her and told her to stay where she was. She did as she was told, and I let my jeans and boxers fall around my ankles. I tapped my dick on her ass cheek, which bounced and jiggled just the right amount as she giggled and lifted up to her tiptoes, daring me to fuck her.
I planned on it. I took her hips and pulled her to me. She leaned over farther, pressing her tits to the railing in front of her. “Fuck me,” she whispered.
Holy fucking hell, she was going to make me come before I even put my dick in her. I shook my head to calm myself down and grabbed my shaft. I pressed my meaty head against her pussy and dragged it up and down until I was coated in her juices. She hung her head and moaned.
Then I pushed deep inside her with one, slow, even thrust. Her sigh came out of her sounding like my name, and it was all the encouragement I needed to fuck her with the desperation I’d felt for years of having her an arm’s length away but forever out of reach.
My thighs slapped against the backs of hers in a speedy rhythm. She arched her back and lifted her face to the night sky, and I grabbed a fistful of her hair, pulling her head back farther. She moaned and whimpered, and I rewarded her by putting my thumb back in her ass.
She came immediately.
Her legs started to tremble. I lifted one and held her there, still burying myself deep inside her pussy over and over, relishing in how tight and wet she was, until I couldn’t hold on to it any longer.
When she came one last time, so did I. It was explosive, and I pulled out to shoot white lines along her back. She was unable to straighten on her own, so I turned her around, took her by the hand, and helped her back inside. Then I cleaned her up, and she pressed her naked body to me to ravage me in more kisses.
“Will you come to bed with me?” she whispered.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Ashley smiled, and I kissed the tip of her nose. Then she turned away and walked, lithe and catlike, to my bedroom. She paused in the doorway and curled her finger inward, beckoning me to follow. “Come on. I want to ride you.”
I forgot all about going back out to the deck to collect our clothes and followed her into the depths of my room where she was waiting for me on her knees.
20
Ashley
It smelled like pine trees and sandalwood.
I blinked my eyes open and squinted against the bright sunlight streaming in through the window on the other side of the room. Ethan’s room. Right.
I pushed myself up so that I was sitting and peered around. I was lying in his bed completely naked. He was nowhere to be seen. There were three empty condom wrappers on his night stand, and I remembered how much fucking we’d done the night before. On the deck. In his bedroom. On the floor. Damn.
My pussy ached in the best way possible as I climbed out of bed and went to the attached bathroom to pee. I found one of his shirts hanging on the back of the door and gave it a smell test. It smelled clean, so I pulled it on over my head. It was a plain, dark blue T-shirt and would do the trick for now. My clothes were probably still out on the deck.
When I went back out to cut through the bedroom to get into the living room, the smell of bacon reached my nose. I inhaled deeply, and my stomach growled.
I hurried out into the living room and froze mid step. Ethan and Jesse were both in the kitchen. Eth
When he spotted me, his lips curled in a crooked smile. “Morning, sexy legs.”
I bit my lip and smiled back, resisting the urge to cover myself up. The shirt hid all my important bits, but it still felt weird to be in a room with two brothers, both of whom I’d recently had sex with.
I padded into the kitchen and slid onto the stool beside Jesse. “Morning,” I said, trying not to look at him.
He chuckled. “Have a good sleep?”
There was no malice or jealousy in his voice. His question sounded genuine. So I nodded. “Yes, actually. Very good.”
Ethan looked up from his bacon. “You want some coffee? It’s fresh.”
“Um, sure,” I said.
Ethan fixed me a coffee, just how I liked it with a bit of cream and one scoop of sugar and passed it to me. I began sipping on it as Ethan cracked some eggs into a pan. He looked over his shoulder at me. “You know, you should keep that shirt. It looks better on you than it does on me.”
“Everything you own would look better on her than it does on you,” Jesse mumbled into his mug.
“How rude,” Ethan said.
I sat and listened to their early morning banter with a grin on my face. All my troubles and worries about Nick had been left behind in yesterday. I was more than happy to be sitting with Jesse and Ethan. They warmed my heart and made me feel safe.
Ethan put our cooked eggs on a plate for each of us and added the bacon. Then he brought it over and put mine in front of me. “I hope you like scrambled. It was supposed to be an omelette, but, as you can see,” he pointed at the mess of eggs on my plate, “it’s not an omelette now.”
I laughed. “It’s great. Thank you. You have both been spoiling me.”
Jesse winked. “You deserve it.”
“All of it,” Ethan agreed.
“You need a ride in to work this morning?” Jesse asked.
“Oh, that would be great. But I don’t want to put you out if you have other things you need to do. I can always take the bus or—”
Jesse shook his head. “Nonsense. I’ll drive. I want to head to the gym anyway.”
***
I was in the front seat of Jesse’s truck and on my way back to my house about twenty minutes after finishing my coffee and breakfast. I was wearing the clothes I’d worn to school the day before and was looking forward to getting in the shower.
Lulu wasn’t home when we got there, and Jesse came inside with me, sensing I might still be nervous about the whole Nick situation. He was very intuitive like that.
I told him I would be showering, and he said he’d wait for me.
But he didn’t wait.
While I was massaging shampoo into my hair, Jesse cracked open the bathroom door and let himself in. Lulu’s shower was all glass, so he could see me, and I could see him. I smiled at him as I rinsed the shampoo out of my hair, and he leaned up against the bathroom counter. He licked his lips. “You want company in there, baby?”
If I didn’t have to go to work, I would have begged him to join me. But I did have to go, and I was already running behind. “I would love it. But I’ll be late for work.”
Jesse came to stand on the other side of the glass, which was becoming more and more fogged with steam by the minute. I wiped it away to see him better. “I can be in and out before you know it,” he teased.
“I want to have known it.” I giggled.
“Then can I watch?”
I nodded. And then that was that. He stood and watched me shower. He asked me about what work I had on my schedule for the day. I told him all about the English class I would be subbing for. I also had to step in and cover a math class, which I knew was going to be a disaster because math was the polar opposite of my skill set. But I’d learned enough while getting my teaching degree to be able to blunder my way through a lesson or two.
Jesse chuckled and told me he was excited to hear about how it all went.
“I’ll tell you all about it,” I said as I turned the water off. I opened the door, and he passed me my towel. “Thank you.” I toweled myself off and stepped out of the shower. I went to wrap the towel around myself, but Jesse yanked it away.
“Just let me look at you a little while longer. It will keep me going through the day.”
I should have been uncomfortable with it, but I wasn’t. My heart felt right and content while my mind was telling me something else entirely. This was taboo. This was wrong. Creepy. Odd.
People would think bad things if they knew I was doing this with Jesse. And Ethan. They’d call me a slut. Would they be right?
Jesse ran his hands over my bare shoulders. “You’re beautiful.”
I looked at myself in the mirror. He was standing behind me, looking at my reflection too. I liked the way we looked standing together like that. His hands were on my waist. We looked right together. We felt right together. But why did logic have to tell me this was wrong? Why couldn’t my brain shut up just long enough to let me enjoy a moment like this?
I rested my head against his chest. He didn’t complain, even though my wet hair was probably soaking through his T-shirt.
“I wish our parents had never gotten married,” I whispered.
He rested his chin on top of my head. “But then we may never have ended up here. And I like being here with you. A lot.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Always the smooth talker.”
“You know it.” He smiled, kissing my cheek. Then he slapped my bare ass and left the bathroom. “Come on. You’d better get dressed, or you’ll be late for work.”
***
I made it to my classroom with three minutes to spare before the bell. My hair was still wet because blow drying it took a century, so I’d tied it back in a tight bun and secured it with a big clip. I had gotten dressed in a hurry and opted for my old standby of black, skin-tight jeans, and a loose green blouse paired with gold flats.
The kids were all talking, which was fine, and I set everything up for my lesson. When class started, it took me a good fifteen minutes to get them to settle down and listen as I explained their next assignment: an essay on the book they were reading.
There were plenty of moans and groans, and I found myself wanting to grunt along with them in protest.
So, I did.
“Look,” I said. “I know none of you want to do this. And I get it. I wouldn’t want to do it either. But sometimes in life, you just have to do things you don’t want to do. And the good news is, those things will lead to great things. So, suck it up and write it in your planners.”
The kids all blinked at me.
“You heard me.”
Their pens began to frantically scribble on the paper.
I stood at the front of the room looking over their heads. Even though they were listening to me, I still had no interest in standing before them. I didn’t want to teach them. I didn’t care about the information I was sharing. I wasn’t passionate about it.
I wanted to be in front of a room of artists who doubted themselves. I wanted to inspire and encourage and give them the strength to pursue their dreams no matter the obstacles or the objections. I wanted to make them believe that they were capable of achieving whatever they wanted as long as they were willing to put in the work.
But how could I teach something that I wasn’t practicing?
I thought about what the brothers had all said to me over the last few days about quitting my job to teach art. Maybe I should start following my own advice and get back into painting. I was the exact type of person I wanted to help. I was afraid to commit to my craft and succeed. I was afraid that I would fail. I was that small, timid artist who just needed a push in the right direction.
And I had three men who were all giving me that push. Why wasn’t that enough for me? Was I waiting for approval from my mother? Because that sure as hell wasn’t going to happen. And it shouldn’t matter. I wanted it for myself and no one else. That should be enough to decide to go out and get it.
“Miss Rowe?”
I glanced up to see a student looking at me. She was bright eyed and bushy haired, and her face was covered in freckles. I cleared my throat and nodded. “Yes?’
“When is the essay due?”
I’d zoned out right in the middle of class. I laughed a little nervously. “Sorry. It’s due next Friday. That gives you almost two full weeks to get it done. And if you start early, it won’t feel like such a big assignment. And I know ninety percent of you will disregard that advice, and you’re the ones who just like to make life harder on yourselves. The rest of you who start early will likely get a higher grade and might actually enjoy the essay.”
“Enjoy the essay?” One of the kids sniggered.
“Yes,” I said. “Some people actually like writing and learning.”
They poked more fun at me, and for the first time in a long time, I didn’t give a damn. As I went and sat back down at my desk, I wasn’t concerned with what they were whispering about.
I was inspired for the first time in years to put a brush to canvas and paint.
21
Dean
The day was crawling by. I was in my office pacing as I tried to get a hold of the PI I’d hired, Rodney Sanderson. I didn’t want to waste any time getting the investigator to follow Nick. Ever since he’d shown up at Lulu’s house on the weekend, I’d had a bad feeling in my gut, and it was getting worse with each passing day.
The PI called me back when I was in the shower. Naturally. I’d left my phone on the bathroom counter, and I got out of the shower without drying off. I wrapped my towel around my waist and padded barefoot back into my office as I called him back.
Rodney’s thick southern accent filled the phone. “Yes?”
“It’s Dean,” I said.
“Ah. Good.”
Rodney was good at his job—the best I’d ever seen in fact—but getting information out of him was the equivalent of pulling teeth. He never came out with what he’d found. Instead, you had to pry him for information, one step at a time, and have the foresight to ask all the right questions so you didn’t miss any important details. So, I started with the important shit.
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