Hometown Hope: A Small Town Romance Anthology

by Zoe York

A hesitant grin worked its way over her lips. I’d take it. Anything was better than the helpless feeling of watching her cry on my hand-me-down couch.

  “We need to talk.”

  “I thought that’s what we’d been doing.”

  She angled herself to face me on the couch. “When I left, it wasn’t just that I felt trapped by everyone’s expectations. I was so scared.”

  “Scared of what?” I couldn’t imagine Misty being afraid of anything.

  Her gaze met mine. She lowered her voice to almost a whisper. “Afraid I’d turn into my mother.”

  How had I not seen that coming? Mrs. Greene was quite the looker, but that’s not what Misty meant. Her mama catered to her daddy’s every whim. She was personal assistant, wife, mother, secretary, and more. Misty could never take on that kind of role.

  “That would never happen.” Not with us—I respected her dreams too much to ever have her wishes and wants play second fiddle to mine. “You aren’t your mother and I'm not your dad.”

  “I know that now. But at the time, I couldn’t see beyond everyone else’s expectations.”

  I leaned back against the cushion and took in a deep breath. “And you couldn’t have told me that?”

  She shook her head back and forth. “I didn’t know how. It seemed so selfish.”

  In hindsight, it was. But on some level I understood. I needed to process though. “I need some time to think about this.”

  “Take however long you need.”

  I gestured toward the screen. “Can we table this for a little while and just watch the movie?”

  She nodded. Then she leaned forward and picked up a slice, big fat mushrooms and all.

  Misty

  Since when had I become the kind of woman who could be reduced to a puddle of tears over a slice of pizza? I took a sip of my drink while Jake toyed with the remote. The movie started, eliminating the need to make conversation. While the slapstick antics played across the screen, I mulled over what I knew about Jake’s current situation

  Based on the bare bones appearance of his apartment, it didn’t look like he was trying to impress anyone. He’d never been the type to get too hung up on what people thought. He’d rather spend his money on experiences and things that brought him joy, like the obnoxiously large flat screen TV, than worry about something silly like a matching dining room set.

  He didn’t put on airs or try to be something he wasn’t. I’d missed that so much since I’d moved away. I hadn’t met too many new people besides the ones I knew through work. Seemed like they were always trying to get ahead. With the exception of one or two, my co-workers spent a lot of time coming up with ways to make themselves look better while making everyone else look worse.

  Being back here in Swallow Springs, where a person couldn’t put on airs if they tried, made me realize how much I’d gone along with it…trying to be something I wasn’t. And then the realization washed over me. Or more like landed on my chest like a dump truck full of bricks. I’d rather be the most important person in the world to one person as opposed to being someone not so important to a lot of people.

  And my one person was Jake.

  I shifted my attention from the screen to him. He relaxed against the cushion on the couch he’d taken from the game room of his parents’ house. I recognized the brown plaid pattern. We’d spent a lot of time on this couch together, but we’d never sat so far apart. I scooted a few inches closer.

  “What are you doing?” He gave me some major side eye.

  “It’s weird. Sitting so far away from you.” I gestured to the two feet between us.

  He lifted his arm to the back of the couch. “Come here.”

  “Really?” I asked.

  “Yeah. Feels weird to me too.”

  I moved closer, nestling up against him. This was better, so much better. “Hey, remember when we used to watch movies on this couch at your parents’ place?” I asked.

  He cleared his throat. “Um, yeah. I don’t know how many movies we actually watched though.”

  He had a point. We’d always been a tangle of half-naked limbs, desperate to get our fill of each other in between check-ins from his mom or dad.

  The opening scene flashed across the screen. I tried to focus but being so close to Jake made it impossible to concentrate. His heart beat thumped against my side. His arm draped over my shoulder. His scent surrounded me, wrapping me in a blanket of security and safety.

  He shifted next to me. “Do you feel like not watching a movie tonight?”

  My mouth went dry. This was what I wanted, what I’d been hoping for. Why did it feel so strange? “What do you mean?”

  He whispered against my ear. “I think you know what I mean.”

  “I thought you wanted to think about things?” I swiveled to face him.

  “Dammit, I don’t know.” He scrubbed a hand over his chin. “It’s been a long time. And now with you here, so close.”

  I met his gaze. Heat flickered in his eyes. Being this close to him, I couldn’t fight the desire I felt any more than he could. I climbed off the couch and got to my knees in front of him. Running my hands up his denim-clad thighs, I licked my lips.

  His hips shifted on the cushion. “This is probably a bad idea.”

  “So bad,” I agreed, moving my hands closer and closer to his groin.

  “What if we do this and it’s no good?”

  I reached for his belt. A quick glance at his face, the slight nod of his head, meant he wanted this just as much as me. “We’ve always been good together.”

  “It’s not the sex I’m worried about, it’s what comes after.”

  Unfastening his belt, I moved closer, taking up the space in between his outstretched legs. “Then we won’t have an after. We’ll just keep at it all night long.”

  He lifted his hips so I could work his jeans down his legs. “But tomorrow. What about tomorrow?”

  I ran a finger under the waistband of his boxer briefs. His whole body tensed. “Tomorrow is a whole day away.”

  He hesitated.

  “If you don’t want to do this, I’ll go.” I kept talking as I pulled my dress over my head. I’d worn my favorite push-up bra, the one that made me look two cup sizes bigger than my usual 36DD.

  Jake’s eyes bugged as he reached for me.

  “What do you say, Jakey?” This would either be a bittersweet way to end things or a fast start to the next chapter in our lives together.

  His eyes darkened. His mouth set in a firm line. This was a man who knew what he wanted. And in that moment, he wanted me. He leaned forward, his arms wrapping around my back. He pulled me onto his lap and buried his face between my breasts.

  His fingers worked the clasp of my bra and within seconds I was naked from the waist up. He pulled back, letting his gaze drift over me. My hands went to his shoulders. Even though it had been years, it seemed like we’d just done this the night before. I’d never felt out of sorts with Jake. He’d always made me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world, inside and out.

  I wriggled further onto his lap while he traced a finger over my breast, lingering to circle my nipple over and over. A shiver raced through me, and I arched into his hand, aching to feel his mouth.

  “You’re gorgeous.” His voice vibrated through me, fanning the heat that began to pulse between my legs.

  He put his hands on my waist, pulling me even closer before he took my nipple in his mouth. I sucked in a breath as exquisite pleasure flowed through me. Slowly, painfully slowly, he scraped his teeth over me, nibbling, teasing, sucking. Everything faded away: the movie we’d left playing in the background, the smell of pepperoni and cheese. I closed my eyes, reveling in sensations I’d only experienced in my dreams since I’d been away.

  “You know something?” I whispered.

  “What’s that?”

  “You never did show me the bedroom.”

  Jake

  As I scooped her up in my arms, my jeans pooled around my ank
les. Shuffling into the bedroom, I tried not to trip. By the time I reached the bed Misty had clasped her arms behind my neck and pulled me into a hot, wet kiss.

  We fell together onto the mattress. I’d never gotten around to setting up a real bed so the drop to where the mattress and box springs sat on the floor seemed to catch her off guard.

  She centered herself in the middle of the bed as she wiggled out of her panties. Naked, she sprawled out on top of my comforter. The sun had started to dip beyond the horizon, muting everything against the low-light background of my bedroom.

  Everything but Misty.

  She radiated light and heat. Like the sun in the center of the solar system, my whole world seemed to revolve around her. I crawled up her legs, my lips making contact with her skin every inch of the way. She squirmed underneath me, her arms pulling me upward, urging me to reach her lips faster.

  I popped up to my hands and knees while my gaze raked over her. She hadn’t changed. Familiar, yet still felt fresh and new. I’d worried that we might have lost the chemistry we used to share. But when her hand closed around my dick, a primal urge to reclaim her took over.

  Her hair came all the way undone, fanning out over my pillow. I wanted to pinch myself, to make sure this was real and not one of the many fantasies I’d relied on to get me through the long days we spent apart.

  One hand stroked me, just the way she knew I liked, while her other snaked up around the back of my neck and urged me even closer. I leaned on one elbow while my fingers dipped in between her legs. Her hips rose to meet me. She was slick and wet, just like she’d always been for me.

  I adjusted my hips, lining up my cock to rest against her inner thigh. She squirmed underneath me, positioning herself to take me.

  “You sure about this?” I asked.

  Her eyes focused on me as I hovered over her. “Yes. I haven’t been with anyone else.”

  My heart swelled at that bit of information. “Me neither.”

  I eased into her, slowly at first. Heat surrounded me. It had always been so good with Misty.

  She shifted underneath me, wrapped her arms around my waist, and grabbed onto my ass. I entered, slow and steady, filling her. I wanted to remind her she was mine, she’d always be mine. I also wanted to take her fast. There was a small part of me that wanted to punish her for going away, for ending what we’d had between us.

  She gasped as I pushed all the way in then angled her hips to take me even deeper. So good. So fucking good. I paused for a moment, letting myself feel her wet heat surround me. Her thighs squeezed my hips.

  “Come on, baby.” Her nails grazed along my sides. “You feel so good, Jake.”

  “It’s always been this way with us.”

  “Always.”

  “And you ruined it.” I pulled back.

  She lifted her hips. “No.”

  “I can’t do this, Misty. Not like this.” What was I saying? My dick was half-buried inside her. I’d been fantasizing about having her again since she left.

  “Jake…” She sat up as I pulled out completely.

  My dick bobbed up and down, clearly pissed off at my abrupt withdrawal. Was I punishing myself or Misty? Didn’t matter. I couldn’t do this though. Couldn’t let her sink her teeth back into me just because we’d had some hot fucking between us.

  “What are you doing?” She reached a hand out to touch my cheek.

  Looking at her sitting on my bed, her hair spilling over her shoulders, over her gorgeous breasts, made me want to clench down on whatever dark feelings had started flooding my body. Made me want to burrow deep into her core and fill her up to the point where she’d never be able to think about anything else again except me and her.

  “I don’t want you for a night. If you want to come back into my life, you’ve got to mean it.”

  “Are you kidding me? I want you.” She spread her arms wide. “I’m sitting on your bed naked, practically begging you to bang me.”

  I scrubbed at the scruff on my chin. “It’s not that I don’t want to.” My gaze drifted over her body again. “Damn, you’re killing me. So soft and sweet and I just want to…”

  “To what?” She cocked an eyebrow.

  “No. I’m not going to go through what I did when you left me. You move back to Swallow Springs, and we’ll pick up where we left off. Until then, this”—I gestured between us—“is off limits.”

  Her eyes widened. “You’re serious.”

  “Serious as a heart attack.” Or an unresolved hard-on. My balls protested my decision. We’d be spending some quality time together later. No doubt about that.

  She got up and stood next to the bed. My arms ached to hold her, to nestle those curves against my chest. To brush her hair back from her face and bury my tongue deep within her core.

  “I don’t believe this.”

  Her surprise fueled my determination. “Believe it.”

  I followed her into the living room where she pulled her dress on over her head. Slowly, she turned to face me. “I’m so sorry.”

  Then she slipped out the front door, leaving me to wonder how much I’d regret what just happened. As I stood there, the smell of citrus dissipating in the air around me, I had to admit to myself, I already did.

  Misty

  I pulled the door to Jake’s apartment closed behind me, proud at the way I made the thin walls shake. What kind of guy pulls out because he wants commitment? I wasn’t sure if that made him or me the one to blame. Him for calling things off, just when it was getting good. Or me, for being naked in the first place.

  My purse strap slipped from my shoulder as I stumbled off the curb, causing my whole bag to flip over. The keys fell out. I watched as they dropped right into the storm drain. No, this couldn’t be happening. The bright red cherry on top of a shit sundae of a day.

  Now what? I squatted down over the grate, peering into the darkness of God only knew what. Pebbles dug into my knees as I shifted, trying to catch a glimpse of my key chain. I grappled for my phone and shone the flashlight into the dark recesses of the sewer. The light must have caught on my rhinestone key fob. A sparkle bounced off something shimmery at the bottom of the hole.

  My keys sat about ten feet down, way too far for me to reach through the grate and grab. I let out a sigh, emptying my lungs of all of the frustration of the past half hour. Now what? I brushed off my knees and sat down on the curb to try to figure out my options.

  I could call my mom or dad to come get me. Although I didn’t have an extra set of keys. I’d left those behind in Omaha. But then they’d wonder what I was doing at Jake’s place. Not willing to subject myself to an earful of all of the reasons I shouldn’t get back together with Jake, I mentally crossed that option off the list.

  A locksmith wouldn’t do me any good. I needed someone who could rig something to reach down into the grate and catch my keys. Like a rake or a stick or a pole. I looked toward Jake’s door. He probably had something that would work. But I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. Storming out and then crawling back to ask for help would totally negate whatever misery I hoped he’d be feeling at my abrupt departure.

  Maybe I had something in the car that would work. Grateful I hadn’t locked the doors, I popped the trunk. Nothing but re-usable shopping bags I took to the farmer’s market with me. Oh, and the emergency roadside kit my dad insisted I carry with me everywhere I went.

  Unless I wanted to light a flare and signal to everyone what a dumb ass move I’d made, I didn’t think there would be anything in there to help.

  I was about to give up, to crawl back to Jake and knock on his door, when I noticed a few hangers in the far corner of the trunk. If I could string the hangers together, I might be able to somehow hook my key chain.

  Determined to find my own way out of the mess I’d created, I gathered the hangers and made my way back to the grate. I looped them together and slowly lowered them into the sewer. Even after laying on the ground and letting my arm dangle through the gra
te, I was still about eighteen inches away.

  “Dammit.” I needed a few more inches. That sure resonated. I’d needed a few more inches earlier too when Jake deprived me of experiencing what would have been the only non-self-inflicted orgasm I’d had in the past twenty-four months. Not that I was bitter about it or anything.

  Resigned to begging for help, I hooked the hanger on the grate and began to take tentative steps toward his door. My inner thighs chafed together. I’d worked up quite the sweat trying to access my keys. Somehow or other this had to be his fault. Then an idea struck me.

  I walked back to my car and climbed into the driver’s seat. Lifting my hips, I wiggled my panties down my thighs, past my knees, until I could kick them off my feet. This had to work. Panties in hand, I marched back to the grate, a little unnerved by the way the light breeze blew right through the skirt of my sun dress.

  Lowering the hangers down into the grate again, I hooked the last one onto my panties before dangling the entire string of hangers into the sewer. No matter how I tried to stretch, the last hook hovered just inches above my keys.

  Groaning, I lifted the line of hangers up a bit and secured it on the grate. There was only one thing left I could do. Assuring myself I was alone in the parking lot, I finagled my way out of my bra. If my parents could see me now, oh lordy, I’d never hear the end of it.

  Bra in hand, I looped it through a leg of my panties and laid down on my stomach again. With my phone in one hand and my bra in the other, I tried to manipulate the hook of the hanger to catch on the loop of my key chain. I struck out twice. But on the third attempt, the hook snagged my prize. Slowly, carefully, I pulled the chain of hangers from the grate.

  As I drew my keys up through the storm drain, I maneuvered into a squat. One hanger, then two…I was making progress. A huge breeze came up behind me. The hem of my dress swirled around my thighs. I tried to push it down as I continued to draw the hangers out of the grate. But the wind ticked up again. My dress blew up, exposing my backside.