by Lacey Black
“Eventually. One was air lifted out early this morning, but he’s expected to make it,” he replies as he piles food on his plate.
When he’s loaded, he slides onto the end of the bench beside Abby, completely ignoring the fact that there’s room at the other table. She slides over as much as she can, but with Meghan on the other side, it’s a tight fit. I watch as they attempt to make room for each other, yet neither of them appears as though sharing a single seat is a hardship. Levi might be hanging off the end of the bench, but he smiles a bit as he plasters himself against Abby.
“I’ll add them to my prayers this evening,” Grandma says.
“You don’t say prayers, dear,” Grandpa replies from her side.
“Sure I do. I believe I talk to God almost every night,” she sasses with a wicked grin.
“Shouting his name over and over doesn’t constitute prayers, my love.” Grandpa leans over and places a tender kiss on her knuckles. Shades of pink tinge her cheeks.
“Please, for the love of all things holy, do not talk about sex at the dinner table. I haven’t finished eating yet, and if you continue, I’ll lose my appetite,” Meghan whines.
Though Grandma and Grandpa giggle like school kids, each of us look like our lunches might make a reappearance.
Conversation is light throughout the rest of the meal. I glance around the patio and notice that only two of my sisters are without a companion. Sure, Abby’s guest is a friend, but that doesn’t mean it won’t someday spark into something bigger. AJ has brought guests occasionally, and even Payton, though that’s been several years. Chris has been a part of the family since he and Lexi were both in high school, and Meghan and Josh have been a couple for three years now.
For several years, I was absent from many family functions. After college, I stayed in Cleveland and eventually met Gavin. I came home at least four times a year to be with my family, but even after the engagement, I was generally on my own. He rarely made the trip with me.
“Come sit with me?” Ryan asks, extending his hand down to mine.
“Sure.” Gathering up our empty plates, I follow behind as we dispose of our trash.
Ryan takes my empty hand in his and leads me towards the big Oak tree. He sits down, with his back against the wide trunk, and I slide between his spread legs. I snuggle in, my head resting against the planes of his hard chest.
“Having a good time?” he asks, running his big warm hand down my arm.
“Mmmmmm,” I purr, sensations flooding my body and stirring to life a need that Ryan quenched twice last night.
“Behave. I can’t be walking around your family gathering sporting wood in my shorts,” Ryan says, his warm breath fanning against the shell of my ear.
After a few silent minutes watching my family, I turn a little and face him. “Do you get to see your family much?”
“Since I moved here, not as much as I’d like. I went home for Christmas this past year because it was my first one away. I’m thinking of flying home in August for a long weekend. It’s my parent’s thirty-fifth anniversary. I got an email from my sister and she wants us all to come home to celebrate.”
“That’s nice. You definitely need to go,” I tell him, touching the coarse skin where his shorts reach his thigh.
“We’ll be neck deep in the Hazelton job, but I’m preparing to go. As long as I plan ahead, it shouldn’t be too much trouble to sneak away for a few days. In fact, I’d really like you to go with me.”
Startled by his statement, I look over my shoulder, gauging his sincerity. “Really? You want me to go? Meet your family?”
“Yeah. I mean, you’re going to meet them eventually, right? Might as well be next month.”
“You’re awfully confident that we’ll still be together next month,” I add.
“I’m very confident, sweetheart. Now that I have you, I’m not letting you go.” He punctuates his words with a kiss.
His lips caress mine softly at first. But the longer there’s contact, the needier we both start to feel. Slipping my tongue inside his mouth, I stroke and suck on his tongue. Fire burns in my veins, as warmth floods between my legs. From this position, I can feel the rock-hard ridge of his erection against my back. It takes every ounce of self-control that I possess to not turn around and wrap my legs around his waist.
“God, you’re driving me crazy. Kissing you is the best thing ever,” he confesses without breaking the kiss.
“Kissing’s pretty great, but there’s something else that I like a lot more,” I purr against him, scooting back an inch and wiggling my backside against his length.
Pulling back, Ryan’s eyes are ablaze with desire. They’re dark and burning with his need for me. “Ready to go?”
Before I can answer, Meghan yells my name from the yard. “Jaime! Quit making babies in front of Dad and get out here and play!”
I startle back and turn to face my family. A dozen pairs of eyes are staring back at us, each set dancing with laughter. “God, that’s embarrassing.”
“Not as much as them all showing up while you’re in your underwear,” Ryan adds with a laugh.
“That may be true,” I laugh.
“What’s going on out there?” he asks, nodding towards the net.
“Volleyball. Three on three. It’s a tradition.”
“Jaime! We’re waiting…” Payton hollers from across the net.
“You better get going,” he says with a smile.
“Yeah. You wanna come play?” I get up and turn back towards him.
Ryan closes his legs and pulls his shirt down to conceal his erection. “Nope. I better just sit over here by myself for a bit and collect my thoughts.”
Laughter spills from my lips as I look down at him.
“Jaime!” Another yell pierces my ears.
“I better go before they come over here and get me.” Crouching down, I place a firm kiss on his lips before turning and running out to play volleyball with my sisters.
Chapter Eighteen
Ryan
“You any good at bags?” Orval asks, pulling my attention away from the gently seductive curve of Jaime’s ass as she runs to play with her sisters.
“Not bad,” I tell him moments before he tosses a red beanbag from their corn-hole game into my gut.
“You’re lucky I missed. Now get rid of that hard-on. You’re on Brian’s team. Lord knows he could use all the help he can get.” I glance over and see the small smile playing on Jaime’s dad lips, even while his head is shaking.
Nothing kills an erection faster than your girlfriend’s grandparent drawing attention to it in the presence of her father. In fact, since I met Orval and Emma, they’ve essentially squashed many hard-ons. He’s like hard-on repellant.
Wait. That doesn’t sound right.
Shaking my head, I jump up and head towards Brian. When I reach his side, he hands me a beer. “You get used to the constant state of embarrassment that seems to accompany their presence. Back when I started dating Trish, I wanted to crawl under a rock on more than one occasion.”
I snort as I raise the bottle to my lips.
“Ryan, get over here. You’re supposed to be across from your partner,” Orval chastises as Chris, who is Orval’s partner, takes his place next to Brian.
“We play the winners,” Josh says as he and Levi pull up lawn chairs beside us.
We each take a few practice throws before we start keeping score. The first thing I realize is that there’s a lot of trash-talk in this family. Not only is it spilling across the yard from the girls, but from the guys too. In fact, Orval seems to be leading the pack.
“Since you boys are all dating my granddaughters, I -” Orval starts, but is cut off.
“Wait. I’m not dating a granddaughter. We’re just friends,” Levi cuts in, sitting up straight in his chair.
“Potato, poe-tah-toe. Maybe you should get your keester off the sidelines and play ball before some
one else benches you for good.” The pointed look he gives Levi has him sliding back down in his seat and averting his gaze. Interesting.
“What I want to talk with you about today is sexting,” Orval says as he throws his first bag.
Eyes as wide as dinner plates, I look over to Levi and Josh and see them both snickering uncontrollably.
“Don’t laugh, don’t laugh. Back in the day, we didn’t have these fancy little devices that you could use to send dirty messages or pictures. We had to draw a picture and send it in the mail or use the telephone and call them. Now, with all this technology stuff, you guys can snap a dick pic or send a naughty message in seconds.”
Josh spews the swig of beer he just took. “Did he just say dick pic?” he asks Levi.
“I’m serious, boys. Girls love getting naughty messages. It lets them know you’re thinking about them.”
“Or you could send a message that says thinking of you,” I add through fits of laughter.
“Boring. Nothing says I miss you and am thinking of you like a picture of your dick.” Orval says with a pointed look. “Emma loves it when I send her messages on her little phone-thingy. It makes her all sorts of crazy when I’m in the next room and she gets a picture of me holding my -” Orval says, but is cut off again.
“Dick pics. Got it. Thanks.” Tears brim Levi’s eyes as he tries to control his laughter.
“You boys will thank me one day,” Orval adds with a firm head nod.
“Where would we be without you, Orval?” Josh asks, fighting to control his own laughter.
“Probably at home–alone–with your Penthouse magazine and a bottle of lotion,” he says as he throws his bag, sinking it in the hole.
The rest of the afternoon progresses with more laughter and goodhearted teasing. I’ve never had such an enjoyable afternoon in all my life. Orval and Chris beat us the first game, but Brian and I took Levi and Josh the next time we were up.
Sitting in the shade, I’m enjoying a cold beer with Josh. “So, can you keep a secret?” he asks as we both watch the girls play volleyball.
“Sure.”
“You can’t even tell Jaime,” he says under his breath.
“Okay,” I tell him, concerned that something’s wrong. I don’t want to keep anything from Jaime, especially something that might involve her family.
“I’m going to ask Meghan to marry me.” I’m surprised by his admission, but thrilled nonetheless.
“That’s great news. When?”
“Later this year. Our anniversary is in December so I was thinking of doing it then.”
“That sounds like a great plan. You got the ring?”
“Yeah,” he says, taking his eyes off Meghan for a moment and looking at me. “I’ve had it for a few months now. I was waiting for the right time, and lately she’s been talking about going somewhere for our anniversary, so the idea presented itself to do it then, you know?”
“That’s awesome, man. Congrats,” I tell my new friend. Josh and I hung out for quite a while last night while the girls were having girls’ night, and with our conversations today, it only cemented the fact that I really like Josh Harrison.
“Thank you. I can’t wait to make her my wife,” he states while his eyes follow Meghan.
I get it. Even when things were good with Sara, I never pictured marriage and kids. But with Jaime, after only being with her for a month, I picture nothing but that scenario. I see her wearing white on the day she takes my last name. I see her belly round with my baby. I see her smiling face greeting me at the door every night when I come home from work. I know exactly how Josh feels right now, because I feel that too. We’re just not quite in the same place, relationship wise.
Yet.
When the girls finish up their volleyball game, Jaime joins me in the lawn chair. She’s a bit breathy and has a light sheen of sweat glistening on her forehead. Honestly, the way she looks reminds me a bit of sex, which I’m finding I think about all the time in her presence. But when she reaches over, grabs the beer bottle from my hand, and tips it back, her lips touching the same glass mine just were, I’m unable to fight the flash of desire. Her ass presses against my growing erection as she talks to one of her sisters. It’s heaven and hell all at the same time.
“Ready to go?” she whispers against my ear.
“In a minute. I like holding you like this,” I reply, wrapping my arms around her, loving the way her body fits against mine.
Jaime snuggles against my chest as we both watch her family talk and enjoy dessert. Still full from lunch, Jaime and I opt to skip the sweets and remain seated in the chair. When no one is paying us any attention, I take her chin between my thumb and pointer finger and turn her until she’s facing me.
Her lips are plump and ripe, perfect for kissing. Ever since that first taste of her sweet lips, I’ve been unable to resist them. Leaning forward, I lightly graze my lips across hers. It’s featherlight, but, like all kisses shared with Jaime, it packs a punch.
I continue to sweep my lips across hers, slowly and deliberately, each movement calculated and precise. Neither of us rushes it. Instead, we take our time, savoring and tasting. I’m consumed by only Jaime, lost in a world where only she and I exist.
It takes one swipe of a tongue before the kiss turns molten. Heat and desire pools in my stomach and spreads through my veins like wildfire. I’m gone, trapped in a world between reality and fantasy. Everything I have, everything I am, is right here, wrapped in my arms, and kissing me with those sweet, heavenly lips.
“Get a room,” Lexi hollers from the picnic table.
Snickers are heard around me, but I keep my attention solely on the woman in my arms. Her lips are bee-stung swollen as I stare at her. Three little words are on the tip of my tongue, begging to spill from my lips. I hold her gaze, silently wondering if she is repeating those same three words over and over again in her head as I am in mine.
I’m rewarded with a smile so perfect it was surely created by the angels themselves. Without saying a word, I help her stand and extend my hand. We walk towards my truck, ignoring the catcalls and the whistles. There’s only one thing on my mind–one person. She’s standing beside me with the most beautiful smile and flawless lips; lips that I can’t get enough of. I want more. I need more.
All of her kisses are this consuming. Every. Single. One.
These are my kinda kisses.
***
My phone rings for the second time since I climbed the ladder to set this roof tress. If I wasn’t suspended two stories above the ground, I’d grab it, but seeing that my safety and that of three of my employees is at risk, I let it go to voicemail again.
We’ve had several consecutive days of beautiful July weather, which makes working outside a lot easier. The sun is shining brightly, high in the sky, but a light breeze blows from the water, which makes for comfortable afternoons in Jupiter Bay.
The tractor holds the tress steady while Danny and I work on this half to fasten it in place. My tool belt is loaded with nails as I drive one after another into the two-by-six, securing each piece of the roof onto the wall. We’ve been up here half the day, but should be finished by quitting time.
“You have a good holiday, boss?” Danny asks while we wait for the next tress to be brought up.
“Yeah, it was good. You?”
“Went to Sheila’s parents by the Bay. They had a big cookout. Where’d you go?” he asks, a hint of a smile crossing his mouth.
In a small town like Jupiter Bay, I’m sure everyone already knows that I’ve been seeing Jaime. Hell, it’s not like we were hiding it. If fact, if it were up to me, I’d be painting that shit on the water tower, or whatever it is people do nowadays to proclaim their relationship status. If I had Facebook, I’m make sure to mark ‘In a relationship’ and tag her.
“I went with Jaime to her family’s cookout.”
“Jaime Summer, right? I might have heard something about
you and her.”
“Yep,” I reply, getting ready to grab the moving piece of roof as the operator shifts it up into place.
“Might have heard something else, too,” he says, cockily, and pauses for dramatic effect. “Maybe something about a certain business owner naked along ol’ man Gerard’s bean field. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
“No clue what you’re talking about,” I reply, straight-faced as can be.
“Huh. Musta been another six-foot two, two-hundred pound man with Elson Construction on the side of his truck.”
“Musta.” Poker face firmly in place, I fight to keep the corner of my mouth from turning upward.
Danny stares at me for several seconds, neither of us wanting to crack first. Finally, Danny starts to laugh. “Man, really? You aren’t gonna give me anything?”
“Nope,” I reply, smiling. “I’m not gonna give you anything.”
“Whatever. I’m not gonna tell you what else I heard then,” he sasses, turning and grabbing the tress to help guide it into place.
“What else did you hear?” I finally ask, unable to resist the temptation of knowing what is being said about me.
“Well, my sister’s friend, Kami, works as receptionist at the jail, and she often helps log evidence. Apparently, you may not be aware of this, but the squad cars are equipped with dash cameras.” He wiggles his eyebrows repeatedly as a big smile crests his face.
I think about the insinuation for several seconds while Danny starts to pound nails. Knowing that someone might have seen me naked doesn’t both me, but the thought of someone seeing Jaime? Well, that makes my blood pressure spike to stroke level.
“Don’t worry, man. She was in your truck the whole time until she came out to talk to Barney, and when she did, she was clothed. You, on the other hand, might want to remember to keep the family jewels covered as much as possible. Though, according to my sister, you’re packin’ enough heat to not have to be too embarrassed about everyone seeing you naked.”