by M. Piper
“Go talk to her.” Her eyes light up as she glances over in Mackenzie’s direction. Obviously she doesn’t remember last year as vividly as I do.
“She’s taken,” I say, finishing off my beer and signaling for another one.
“I don’t see a ring,” my sister says, pulling her phone out. “And I think I know that girl…” She clicks away on her massive iPhone that we all made fun of her for getting before grinning and spinning the screen. “Mackenzie Mueller. Owner of the Cake Wars winning bakery, Dough It.”
I grab the phone and see that Reagan in all her youthful investigative glory has found Mackenzie’s Facebook page. God, she’s beautiful.
“Okay, stop drooling,” Reagan says, grabbing her phone back and sliding it into her purse. I chance a glance over at Mackenzie again but for the life of me can’t see her hands clear enough to see if there’s been a wedding band added to the engagement ring she so willingly flashed at me last year. “You should talk to her. Can’t hurt anything.”
I glance back at Mackenzie, then to Reagan who’s still grinning with her eyebrows perched high on her head.
“You want me to go introduce you?” she says almost in laughter.
“No I fucking don’t—” I huff. “Goddammit, Reagan. She’s taken.”
She doesn’t reply, just shrugs and takes another drink and stares at me. I glare at Reagan who’s threatening to make me look like an even larger tool than I did last year, then sigh. Maybe she won’t remember me.
I slam my beer, and growl, taking a deep breath before walking over to her.
The first thing that hits me is her laugh. It’s airy, happy, and so fucking beautiful.
I slide into the empty seat at her table and her friends all look at me but she’s just shaking her head at them.
“Hey. I’m Ford.” I extend my hand and she finally lets her eyes travel to mine. God, they’re beautiful. Dark blue with specks of gold. Who the hell has eyes like that? So powerful, and shiny, and…angry?
“Yep.” She nods, slurping the bottom of her fishbowl margarita.
“How’s things going tonight?” I grin and watch her friends sneak away from the table. She gawks at them then huffs.
“Well my friends just left me.” She rolls her eyes. “And I’ve had two of these things.” Her gaze trails back to me. “And you’re super cute.” She bites her lip and I’m a goner. All those feelings that slammed through my chest last year are back with a vengeance.
“Oh yeah?” I chuckle. “Please keep going.”
She lowers her head, a sly grin playing on her lips. God, what I could do to this girl.
“You’re wearing a shirt that says free hugs,” she giggles, dipping her head down to her straw again and pouting her lip out when she realizes it’s empty. Still.
“You want one?” I quirk an eyebrow and try to adjust my pants because they’re growing tighter in the crotch the longer I sit here with her.
“Wanna get out of here?” She whispers it so quietly as her eyes hit mine that I’m almost certain I mistake her words for something else. When she trails her slender fingertips down my forearm, however, I know her words were exactly what I thought they were.
“Fuck. Yes.” I grip her hand and pull her through the crowded bar, nodding to my sister on the way out.
The ride back to my place is a blur. One minute I’m driving us home, her hands roaming my thigh, and the next I’m slamming her against my front door while trying to shove the key in the lock.
“Fuck,” I grunt when she slides her hand down between my legs to find me already hard for her. The keys tremble in my fingers as she sucks on my neck and rubs my cock. I’m acting like I’ve never touched a girl before, but something about her makes me nervous I’m going to fuck something up tonight.
“Having trouble finding the right hole?” she whispers, her warm breath on my ear.
I groan and break contact with her for just a moment to unlock the door, then we’re back at it. Clothes flying, shoes flying, and the ease that she slides the condom on my dick is so fucking sexy.
When I bend her over the couch and slam into her, my entire world tilts. This girl’s moans are enough to make any man nut his pants. Being inside her while she’s making these noises?
Fucking ecstasy.
It’s skin slapping skin and the only other noise I can hear are my huffs as I pump into her. Her moans of pleasure and my growls of trying to hold off to enjoy this more mix into a chorus of the sexiest fucking noises I’ve ever heard.
“Shit!” she squeaks, reaching her hand between her legs.
“Goddamn are you playing with yourself?” I growl, wishing I had a better view. She tilts her head back and smirks at me with hooded eyes.
“Oh you better believe I am.” She bites her lip and moans. Her pussy starts clenching onto my dick, milking me tight, and I’m fucking done. So fucking done. She’s killed my game and before I know it I’m bellowing loud as my orgasm starts.
“Holy fuck!” I slam into her a few more times, and then grip her hips as I catch my breath. “God fucking dammit.”
She hums and stands, shifting her dress down a bit and grinning at me. “Bathroom?” she asks and I nod down the hall.
“Down that way to the left.” I pant and watch her ass as she walks away. Good lord.
After tossing the condom in the kitchen trash, I head to the bedroom and lie out on the bed, gripping my dick in my hand. Usually I can’t go this close to an orgasm, but right now with her walking down the hallway completely naked looking at me like that, it only takes a few good strokes to be hard for her again. She must have stripped her clothes in the bathroom, and holy fuck she’s hot.
This girl’s going to fuck me into a coma tonight from the look on her face.
“You have a shower curtain that says ‘Fuck it, Let’s Get Naked’, Ford,” she laughs, slowly moving to the bed, her body swaying on the way but it’s probably from the alcohol in her system.
“Gotta get naked to get clean,” I moan, rubbing my already hard again dick and watch her cup her tits in her hands, then look down at them. She grins, then licks one and giggles before kneeling on the bed.
“Your bathroom is too clean for a dude’s bathroom,” she whispers, crawling up the bed. She straddles one of my legs and stops when her face is in line with my dick.
“Is that a bad thing?” I murmur, jolts of pleasure shooting straight to my dick when she trails her fingernail down my shaft.
“Not at all, as long as there’s no chick living here. I’m not into cheaters.” Her eyes narrow and I feel like I should be scared that she’s stroking my dick with her pointed fingernail and threatening me, but it’s hot as hell.
“No chick,” I whisper. “No cheaters –fuuuuck,” I moan out as her lips wrap around me. She hums, popping my dick out of her mouth and grinning at me.
“Good,” she whispers. Her eyes glossy and her face flushed and I know she’s still drunk, but I’m not about to stop her when her wet mouth opens and wraps around my cock again.
I fist my hand in her hair and her head bobs up and down my shaft like it’s her only job.
When she starts rubbing herself on my leg I curse.
“I’m not gonna fucking last like that,” I growl, trying to wriggle out from under her, but it’s futile and when she starts moaning louder, then swallows my dick down I shoot up, cursing loud. I fall back to the bed, breathing through the ecstasy because I could fucking come again, right now, and when the grinding on my leg speeds up and her moans grow louder, that’s exactly what I do.
Fuck. Me.
When I wake up in the morning, the bed is cold where she passed out last night and I know she’s long gone. Fuck, that was a hot night. My sheets still smell like her and my fucking dick is tired for the first time in its life. We fucked like goddamned sex starved teenagers last night. Each time I thought she was done, she’d flip a switch and we’d go right back at it.
After taking a piss and smirking at my clean ba
throom, I make a mental note to thank my sister for cleaning it yesterday. Don’t ask me why she did it; I sure didn’t. It’s not like to me to have a clean house, and typically I can’t find it in me to care. I actually find it trivial, cleaning house to a spotless shine. What’s the point in wasting all that time? Straightening up, sure, but when Reagan came in and cleaned I swear my bathroom was a different color when she finished.
My coffee pot gurgles as I stare at Facebook on my phone, wishing I had the balls to hit that friend request button on Mackenzie’s profile. If I could just see her again and get her phone number, I wouldn’t have to worry that I’ll never see her again. I hate relying on Facebook to get a hold of a girl. I hate that I have to ask to be her friend when we’ve already fucked. Doesn’t that make me look like some guy who’s chasin’ a girl who doesn’t want him? Why hasn’t she friend requested me yet?
Holy fuck listen to me!
I toss my phone onto the counter and hook Yellow’s leash to him, throwing on a shirt as I head outside for a walk before heading to my parents’ house. This dog’s old, but he’s always loved walks. I fear the minute I stop paying him so much attention is the time he stops being as youthful as he is. I’ve had him through everything, I can’t imagine losing him.
The weather’s changing and usually this is one of my worst times of year, followed only by the entire month of December. Fucking December. Let’s be honest, the rest of the year isn’t sunshine and rainbows anymore either. Ever since I buried Caroline in the frozen earth, my heart stopped caring. They buried a part of me with her that day, and after months of not wanting to go on, I’ve spent the last few years living every day like it’s my last. Not much matters to me anymore. I don’t have that ‘care’ button inside me that makes me want to be a better person. Hell, there are few things in life I really do care about. Family, Yellow, and Alcohol.
And lately, a dark haired vixen with brilliant blue eyes and lips to die for.
I finish the walk and hop into the shower before relaxing on the couch and grabbing a beer. I’ll need the aid to get through tonight. We’re having an early dinner at my parents’ house, the entire fucking family, and as much as I love my family, sometimes I wish I could take a break from their world. Call it jealousy if you want, but seeing everyone so happy while I’m just floating through life isn’t something I want to repeatedly do.
“You’re cranky today.” My sister nudges me.
“You’re cranky today,” I mock her in a high-pitched voice. My mother’s eyebrows rise and my father chuckles. I grunt, sliding the gravy across the table to Lincoln.
“Didn’t get enough sleep last night, Ford?” Wren, my brother’s wife asks as she walks with Carter to the table.
“I slept just fine, thank you very much.” I take a swig of beer and start eating, ignoring their commentary about my life. Sometimes family can be real awesome, and sometimes I wish I was a loner. Tonight being the latter.
I woke up this morning after a night of hot sex with Mackenzie, just to find her long gone and no way to get a hold of her. Then I spent the morning stalking her Facebook page and Instagram to find absolutely no way to get a hold of her. I swear I sat in my living room with Yellow barking at me to play with him after our walk, just staring at that damn screen with my finger hovering over that ‘friend request’ button.
I never hit it. I fucking pussied out and couldn’t do it.
“You leave the boy alone.” My grandma points her fork at me. “You’re doing just fine, Ford.”
I smile at her, because my gram is the most badass old person ever. If there’s one person who understands how I’m feeling lately, it’s her. She lost her first born child a month after she was born. I’m not sure if my siblings know as much as I do, but I find myself spending a lot of time over at the old lady’s house. She’s good company when I don’t want to be alone and she doesn’t judge when I down too many drinks.
“Thank you, Nan.” I smile and shove a bite of pork steak in my mouth.
“Well, while we have you all here,” Mom says. “Your father and I want to tell you something.” She clears her throat and smiles at my dad.
The four of us- Reagan, Lincoln, Wren, and I- all stop what we’re doing and stare at them. My dad chuckles and I narrow my eyes.
“Is one of you dying?” I blurt.
“Dude!” Lincoln blurts even louder, throwing a piece of bread at me.
“Oh, stop. God, you two.” My mother chastises us like we’re four years old again. “No. No one’s dying. But now that your father’s officially retired and Carter’s starting preschool soon…well…we’re free every day.”
“And that gets boring. Really fast,” my dad chimes in and my mother rolls her eyes.
“Try living alone with a son who doesn’t ever visit you,” Nan mutters, eyeballing my dad and I laugh. She’s a little bitter he doesn’t spend every waking minute there.
“Come on now, woman, I’m there for you!” I boast and she smiles, lifting her water glass to me.
“Thank Christ for that.”
“We’re taking a vacation!” Mom yells, clasping her hands together and I spin my gaze back to them.
“What?” Lincoln and I blurt at the same time.
“Where?” Reagan says louder, her eyes wide and a smile on her face. God she’s a dork. “When do we leave? How long are we gone for?”
I laugh and pat her shoulder. “Sweet, young, naïve Reagan.” I chuckle at the look on my parents’ faces. “They’re not bringing us along. We’re adults, remember? Our parents are finally allowed to have a life without us because we’re supposed to be supporting ourselves.” She narrows her eyes at me, waiting for the dig. “Most of us can do that just fine.” I grin and she slugs me so hard it actually hurts.
“Mom!” she whines and my father curses under his breath.
“God, knock it off you two,” my mother says, slapping me on the shoulder. “Ford, be nice to your sister!”
“She started it!”
“I did not!” she yells.
“So, where are you two going?” My older brother Lincoln’s always the most level headed between the three of us. I guess he has to be…he’s got a family and everything and here are Reagan and I, having a punching fest at the dinner table like children.
“A cruise. We leave from New Orleans in three weeks.” The smile my mother’s wearing warms my heart.
“You guys deserve it. And don’t worry, we’ll take care of everything here. I can come over, get the mail, make sure shit’s safe and whatnot.” I shove a bite of mashed potatoes into my mouth and my sister chimes in.
“I live here. So I mean…I can take care of it. Ford.”
I grin at her, mouth wide open with mashed potatoes mashing out of my lips.
“You live here? I thought you lived with that friend of yours?” I play stupid, knowing full and well that she had to move home after a two-month stint of trying to get her life in order.
“Ford, come on. Can’t we make it through one family dinner without you two bickering?” My father finally speaks up and I know I’ve pushed it a bit too far. Gram snickers from her end of the table and I wink at her.
“You’re right. I’m sorry Reagan. You’re young. You have your whole life to get your shit in order.”
“Shiiiiit!” Carter wails and laughs then throws a spoonful of potatoes at me. I can’t help but laugh but the look on Wren and Lincoln’s faces are scary enough to stop me in my tracks. This kid’s getting old enough that he probably shouldn’t be throwing food like that, but as an uncle I think it’s fucking hilarious.
Dinner’s finished up relatively quickly and while Lincoln and I take Carter out back to play, the girls stay inside to clean up.
“You sure you’re ok tonight?” he asks, shoving his hands into his pocket and watching Carter play on the small play set my parents have back here.
“I’m good. All good.” I nod, taking a swig of my second…or third…beer tonight.
“W
ren told me about Mackenzie last night.” He won’t even look at me because he knows what happened last year when I met this girl. I came straight home and professed my love for a girl. A girl I knew was taken, and a girl that never even gave me the time of day. I was way too drunk and when I woke the next morning I knew it wasn’t love. I also knew I needed to find out what it was.
“How the hell did she know about it?” I blurt.
“Her and Reagan talk, Ford. You didn’t think we’d find out? You slept with a chick who’s taken?” He finally glances over at me. My brother’s a pretty open-minded guy, but tonight, if looks could kill, I’d be a dead man.
“I did no such thing.” I grin, taking another pull of beer and finishing the bottle. “Neither of us slept a wink.” I wink at him then walk inside to grab another beer. When I return, he hasn’t budged from his spot and he still won’t really look at me.
“You had sex with a girl who’s got a fiancé apparently. Remember what you told me last year about her? She’s engaged. The ring? Did you just happen to forget all of that last night?”
“Yep.” I nod, pressing the bottle top to my lips and letting the cool liquid sooth my soul. “With a rack like hers it’s pretty easy to forget a lot of things.”
He snatches the beer from my hand and pours it out into the grass.
“What the hell, man?” I whine, watching my liquid gold flow into the earth.
“You want Mom and Dad seeing you stumbling drunk? Cuz you’re on your way there.” He sets the bottle on a small table and sighs. “Look. I know this time of year’s rough—”
“Fuck you,” I blurt, not wanting to go there. “That has nothing to do with anything.”
“It’ll be six years this winter, Ford.” His words make my stomach lurch and I squeeze my eyes closed, just to force them back open when the vision of her lifeless body in that bed flashes before my eyes.
“You don’t think I realize that?” I growl.