by Parker, Ali
She shook her head. “No, not at all. I think… I think I got scared.”
“Of what?”
“Of you.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Sorry? I don’t understand what you mean.”
She sighed and ran her thumb along the edge of the table. “I was terrified that I was falling for the same guy I fell for in high school. You broke my heart, Dallas. And all of a sudden, I realized I was right back where I started. I have all these feelings, and I don’t know what to do with them. And it scares the hell out of me. I can’t stop thinking about what would happen if you walked away from me again.”
I rubbed at my eyes. “I’m not that boy anymore, Elise. I haven’t been him for a long time.”
“I know that now.”
“But you didn’t last night? Fourteen hours ago?”
She shook her head. “Fourteen hours ago, I hadn’t realized that I loved you again.”
Loved me? My heart swelled in my chest, and warmth spread through me. I wanted to say those words back to her. They were right there, dangling precariously from the tip of my tongue. But I couldn’t. Not yet. There were still things I needed to say.
“I’m sorry I walked out and didn’t try to have this conversation last night,” I said.
“It’s all right. You were upset.”
“I was angry.”
She nodded. “I know.”
“But do you know why?”
“Because I talked poorly about your dad?”
I shook my head. “No. Because I thought you had forgiven me. And it felt so fucking good to believe you had. But then last night, it felt like you were throwing all those things back in my face that you’d forgiven me for. That’s not forgiveness.”
“I know, Dallas,” she said, pulling her chair closer and taking my hands in hers. “I know. I was wrong. And my actions last night were spurred by emotion. I do forgive you. I swear it. And I forgive your dad, too. He doesn’t have to like me. What he thinks of me doesn’t matter. What you think of me does. It’s all I care about. I’m sorry.”
I stared into those beautiful hazel eyes of hers. “I forgive you.”
Her smile lit up her face. “You do? You’re not just saying that?”
I shook my head. “No, and just so we can avoid any future miscommunications, there’s something you need to know.”
Her smile faded. She released my hands and sat back in her chair, steeling herself for bad news. “What is it?”
“I love you too, Billingsly. I have for a long, long time.”
Chapter 38
Elise
There was no stopping the grin that stretched my cheeks. “You do?”
“I do, and that’s why what happened last night tore me up inside.”
I nodded. “I know. This never should have happened, but here we are.”
“Here we are,” he said, smiling warmly.
All that anger that had been built up in him seemed to have just slipped away. I was free from it, too. I’d come into this thinking I was going to apologize and he was going to tell me to take a hike. I deserved it for what I’d done to him. But he’d accepted my apology.
And he loved me anyway.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
“I can think of a couple things,” he said, his voice a low rumble in his chest.
“Oh yeah?” That grin was still tugging at the corners of my mouth, and my cheeks were starting to ache.
Dallas drew his chair closer to mine so that our knees were touching. “Yeah.” He leaned over, resting his elbows on his knees. I leaned forward too. Our faces were mere inches apart. His cologne tickled my nose, and I breathed in deeply while he ran a hand up each of my thighs. Then he gripped the sides of my chair and pulled me even closer. His lips grazed mine.
I reached for him and curled my hands in the front of his gray T-shirt. There was a toothpaste stain on the collar. I pulled myself to him as our lips parted and our kiss deepened.
I loved this man.
What a glorious, warm, beautiful, terrifying feeling.
Dallas kept his hands planted on the side of my chair as he stood up. Our kiss forced him to bend over, and I refused to let go of his shirt. So, he crouched down, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. Then he straightened, lifting me from my seat effortlessly, and walked us out of the kitchen.
“Where are you taking me?” I cooed in his ear.
“Upstairs.”
He carried me up, and we went into his bedroom. With the house to ourselves, he didn’t have to close the door. I kept my arms around him as we walked past the bed. Confused, I looked around as he brought me into the bathroom.
He set me down.
“Strip,” he said.
“What?”
“Woman,” he growled, closing the small space between us. He grabbed the front of my shirt. “I said strip.”
My panties grew wet. I began taking off my clothes. Dallas opened the glass shower door and turned on the water. Then he disappeared back into the bedroom. When he returned seconds later, he had a condom pinched between his thumb and forefinger. He opened the shower door again and placed the condom on the ledge beside his shampoo.
“Shower sex, huh?” I purred.
“I want to get that beautiful body of yours wet.”
“I’m already there,” I said with a seductive smile.
I pulled my shirt off over my head. Now I was only in my bra and panties. I turned around and arched my back, giving him a view of my ass as I reached behind my back and unclasped my bra. It dangled from the tips of my fingers, and I placed it on the bathroom counter before hooking my thumbs in the waistband of my panties. I drew them down, bending slowly, keeping my spine arched dramatically.
I could feel his eyes on me.
When I turned around, Dallas was pulling his sweats off. He stepped out of them and then his boxers. His cock was already hard. He took off his shirt and left it on the floor outside the shower.
“Come here,” he said.
I came. He tugged open the shower door. Hot steam rushed out and surrounded us as he pulled me into the glass stall and closed the door behind us.
The water kissed my skin as he pushed me beneath it. It soaked through my hair, and he slicked it back off my face, pushing me back another step until my back was flat against one of the glass walls. Then he crouched down. The water bounced off his back as he lifted one of my legs up and draped it over his shoulder.
Then he licked me.
I wanted something to hold on to, but there was nothing. So, I grabbed hold of his hair while I steadied myself with my other arm flat against the glass at my back.
He rolled his tongue up and down and then swirled it around my clit. Little tremors of pleasure rolled through me. I tightened my grip in his hair.
Dallas lifted his gaze to look me in the eye as he ate me out. I held his gaze until the pleasure became too much, and then I closed my eyes and rested my head against the glass. Every roll of his tongue made me sigh with delight, and he took his time, working me slowly toward the edge, teasing me with just the right amount of pressure.
“Right there,” I moaned when his tongue danced over my swollen clit.
I flinched and squirmed as he listened to my instructions. Jolts of white-hot ecstasy burst through me, and Dallas had to hold on to my waist to keep me on my feet while I came.
When I was done, he kissed his way up the length of my body until he reached my mouth. And then we ravaged each other.
He pinned me firmly against the glass as his tongue plunged into my mouth, and I hooked a leg around his like I could somehow squeeze him hard enough for the two of us to become one.
When we parted for air, I slid down the length of the glass and went to my knees. I took his cock in one hand and stroked him as I held his gaze. Then I sealed my lips around his tip and slid him deep into my mouth, pressing my tongue to his base. I held him in the back of my throat and pulled his hips toward me, encouraging him to fuck my m
outh.
He did. He moved slowly. Carefully. Gently.
I bobbed up and down on his cock. He planted his hands on the glass above me to brace himself. The steam swirled around us, and the water continued to rush in my ears as it pelted off his back. His body shielded me from the spray, and I held his gaze as his cock swelled between my lips.
He pushed himself off the glass and stepped back. I stood up. He grabbed me by the hips and turned me around. I looked back at him over my shoulder when he placed a hand between my shoulder blades. He pushed, holding me front first against the glass.
My breasts were crushed, and I rested my cheek on the warm surface.
Dallas moved in close, using his body as a barricade. He ran his hands up my sides and back down before reaching around my hip and rubbing my clit. I was slippery and dripping wet, and it wasn’t from the shower water.
He rested his chin on my shoulder. “I should have brought you in here a long time ago. Look at that view.”
I looked through the steamed glass at my own reflection in the mirror above the bathroom sink.
My body was on display as he held me against the glass. He purred in my ear before nibbling on my earlobe. He continued to rub my clit as the other hand pulled me away from the glass and cupped my left breast.
I moaned and wiggled my hips into his crotch. His cock slid between my ass cheeks.
I giggled as he slid his dick up and down. The water made everything feel better. I continued rolling my hips and stretched up to the tips of my toes to get a better angle.
He held me in place as he leaned back and plucked the condom from the ledge. I heard him tear it open with his teeth. He stepped back to roll it over his cock and then closed the space between us again, pinning me back to the glass with one hand between my shoulder blades.
His cock pressed into my pussy. He teased me with the first couple of inches, working them in and out of me with deliberate slowness.
“Harder,” I said.
He rested his forearm horizontally across my back and slapped my ass with his free hand. I yelped and started giggling. He leaned in and kissed my neck, leaving a trail of wet kisses and nibbles as he worked his way up to my ear. “Come for me, baby.”
I shivered.
He thrusted his cock all the way in as he spread my ass cheeks. I moaned and so did he. The echo of our voices filled the stall. He slid in and out. In and out. I arched my back more dramatically, inviting him to bury himself deeper inside me.
“Yes,” I purred.
Dallas gathered a fistful of my wet hair and pulled my head back. I closed my eyes against the burn on my scalp, but it felt amazing. The mix of pain and pleasure was exquisite.
His lips were at my ear again. “Do you like that, baby girl?”
I tried to nod, already forgetting the firm grip he had on me. “Yes.”
He rolled his hips. I sighed and pressed my hands flat to the glass. With a quick jerk, he pulled my head back farther and pushed his entire length inside me.
And I came.
I screamed, and he growled in my ear. His thrusts grew wilder, and as I came, my knees gave out. Dallas held me up, with one arm wrapped around my waist, as he climaxed at the same time.
Then he kissed all along my shoulders. He pulled my wet hair aside to kiss the back of my neck, and I turned around. Dallas pulled me to him and stepped under the water. The heat of it warmed me from the inside out as he held me. I wrapped my arms around him and rested my cheek on the swell of his chest.
“I meant what I said before, Elise.”
I looked up at him. He held my face in his hands. Water clung to his eyelashes and dripped from the end of his nose.
“I’m in love with you.”
I didn’t know if he could differentiate between the shower water and the tears on my cheeks.
“I love you too, Dallas.”
Chapter 39
Dallas
One Month Later
Elise hurried down the stairs as I kneeled beside the Christmas tree and started rummaging around through the presents, looking at each gift tag to find the names of Elise’s family.
“Have you seen the red sweater I bought Roy?” Elise asked when she hit the last stair. She came over and knelt beside me. “I thought I put it in his closet, but I can’t find it.”
I frowned and leaned back on my heels. “No. Did you check our closet?”
She shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t have put it there.”
“I seem to recall you saying you didn’t want him to wear it too early and ruin it. So, you put it somewhere safe in the meantime.”
Her eyes lit up with realization. “Ah, yes. I think you might be right.” She made to get up as I leaned under the tree again and resumed reading name tags. “How about you go get his sweater and get him dressed, and I find the gifts? I wrapped them. I know which one is for whom.”
I smiled at her. “You’re a lifesaver, baby.”
She gave me a sweet kiss. “I just don’t want you messing up how nicely I’ve arranged all the gifts.”
I chuckled. “And the truth comes out.”
“Sorry, I can’t help it. I want everything to be perfect for Roy when he wakes up tomorrow morning. He has no idea how the Billingslys do Christmas.”
I got to my feet and kissed her forehead. “It will. He has no idea what’s going to hit him.”
Elise and I had stayed up late for the last few nights wrapping all the Christmas gifts that were all labeled “To Roy, From Santa”. Elise had gone out and bought two dozen rolls of gold-foiled wrapping paper and red velvet ribbons. She’d spent a fortune but insisted it would be well worth it. Every gift from Santa for the next few years, until Roy stopped believing, would be wrapped the same way. She had also composed a letter, which I thought was a nice touch, explaining how Santa had a new elf in his workshop who loved giftwrapping.
She was a Christmas elf herself. I loved that about her. She lived for this holiday and got her hands into everything. She’d been baking for weeks, and I knew she was looking forward to Christmas Eve dinner tonight at her mom and dad’s.
So was I. It was going to be the first traditional Christmas dinner Roy ever had with family gathered around the table.
Then my father would come to our place for dinner tomorrow night. That was also going to be a change of pace. Usually, we went up to the estate, and he had his cook prepare everything, while Roy opened presents and we drank eggnog.
The eggnog and presents would still be happening, of course, but Elise wanted to cook dinner, and I wasn’t going to stand in the way of that. She and my father were on good terms, and he was looking forward to coming to our house for dinner. He was bringing Vanessa with him, who no longer worked as his cook and housekeeper but still happened to live in the house.
He thought he was fooling us, but we all knew the two of them were getting serious about each other, and I was happy for him.
I made my way upstairs and went straight into the bedroom. I found Roy’s red sweater in the back of our closet with the other pieces Elise had picked out for him to wear: black jeans and a white collared shirt to put under the sweater.
I took the outfit with me, smiling to myself at how much Elise had gotten into the holiday, and found Roy standing on a stool in front of the bathroom mirror.
He smiled up at me. “Elise did my hair.”
His normally chaotic hair was neatly slicked back and looked almost exactly the same way I liked to style my hair. I grinned. “It looks good, buddy. Very sharp.” I held up his outfit. “We’re about ready to go. Time to get dressed.”
He hopped down from the stool and reached for the outfit.
“Do you know what order to put this on in?” I asked.
Roy nodded. “White shirt. Pants. Sweater.”
“Perfect.”
He went into his bedroom, and I waited outside the door, knowing I would have to go in and help him once he had everything on. He called me in after a couple minutes, and
I went, helping him button up the shirt, tuck it in, and pull the crisp white collar out from under the red sweater. I patted him lightly on the chest. “Time to go, kiddo.”
I parked the car in the driveway of Elise’s parents’ townhouse as the sky let loose the first flurries of snow for the day. It had snowed off and on for the month of December, and rumor had it we were going to wake up to a winter wonderland in the morning.
I went to the trunk and pulled out the basket Elise had packed full of gifts. After closing the trunk, the three of us walked up to the front door. Elise knocked and let herself in. Roy and I followed as she cried a joyful hello down the hall.
It smelled like cinnamon and turkey and nutmeg. Christmas music was playing from the old speakers down in the living room.
Kate poked her head out from around the corner of the hall and gave us a bright smile. She was wearing red lipstick that suited her well and paired nicely with her Christmas sweater. In one hand was a cup of mulled cider. She came down and greeted all of us with a hug.
Then she crouched down in front of Roy. “Merry Christmas, buddy.”
He smiled. “Merry Christmas, Kate.”
She grinned at him and held out her hand. “Come with me. I want to show you the living room and all the presents under the tree.”
Elise gestured at the basket I was holding. “Here, take these with you and put them under the tree, Kate. From us to you guys.”
Kate took the basket from me, and she and Roy went down the hall to the living room, while me and Elise made our way to the kitchen.
The smell of turkey was even more overwhelming in there.
“Smells good,” I announced as we entered.
Richard looked up and grinned. He went to a bowl of cider on the table, ladled some into two glasses, and brought them over to us. “Merry Christmas, kids.”
“Merry Christmas, Dad,” Elise said, giving him a one-armed hug.
Patricia came down the stairs. She finished doing up the clasp of her snowman earrings before she came and hugged me and her daughter. “It’s wonderful to see you both. Where’s Roy?”