Sweet, Sexy Heart – the Bradens & Montgomerys (Pleasant Hill – Oak Falls)

by Melissa Foster

  “Not at all. I was just thinking about how long it’s been since I’ve even noticed those things and how much I’d like to be looking at them with you.”

  “I wish you were here, too.” Her mind took that thought and braided it into a sexy scene in her head. “How long has it been?”

  “Honestly? I’m not sure I ever noticed the sky or the leaves the way you do. Football is a fall and winter game, but off-season conditioning starts in the spring, and there’s summer training camp. I’ve been playing since I was a kid. Between that and helping take care of our family after our old man left, there wasn’t much time to stop and smell the roses.”

  “Can I ask you something about your childhood?”

  “Sure.”

  “You said you practically raised your brothers and sisters, but if you were only thirteen when your father left, then your sisters were really young. How did you manage?”

  “I don’t know. When you’re in that situation, you just do everything you can. Our neighbor got the girls off the bus and kept them until I got home, and when I had practice, either our neighbor would watch them, or I’d take them with me and they’d play on the sidelines. I made sure they ate and did their homework, that kind of thing. You know, I’ve never had anyone I wanted to share this with. Sin and the guys I grew up with know, but as an adult, I’ve never talked about it.”

  “I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me anything else. I didn’t mean to pry.”

  “No, it’s okay. I want you to know who I am beyond what you see on social media or in magazines.”

  “I’m getting a pretty good picture of who you are. It sounds like you would have done anything to help your mom.”

  “You’ve got that right. She’s had a tough life, and she didn’t deserve what my father did to her. My mom went into the foster system when she was eight after her mother was arrested for drug possession. Her mother spent a couple of years in prison and overdosed a few months after she got out. My mom went back into the system until she aged out. She had no other family. She’s overcome a lot. Nothing means more to her than family, and she instilled that in us.”

  “Knowing that makes what your father did even more tragic. So the grandmother you told me about is your father’s mom?”

  “Yes. But his parents adore my mom, and they wanted to help, but she was too proud to take their money. Of course, every time we saw my grandparents, Grandpa George would slip me a few twenties, and I’d use them when my mom would send me to the store instead of using her credit card. But she never knew.”

  “At thirteen my biggest worry, besides epilepsy, was what I wanted to read on any given day. You had a lot of responsibility on your shoulders.”

  “I didn’t see it like that. The person who should have taken care of us split. I was pissed at my father for leaving and for hurting everyone. Anger won out over hurt because I saw the damage his leaving caused. I guess I was partly driven by a need to show him that he didn’t break us.”

  Her heart filled up and ached for him. “It sounds like his leaving really shaped who you are. That’s probably why you pushed yourself so hard and have been so successful.”

  “It shaped all of us in different ways. My mom got stronger. Hawk had gotten his first camera earlier that year, and I’m convinced that as talented as he is, there’s more to his success than that. I think it’s easier to see the world through a lens than it is to face it head-on. And I told you what Damon was like.”

  And how you cleaned up his messes. “How do you think it affected your sisters?”

  “They were so little. That might have been the worst part of his leaving, seeing how hurt and confused they were. Dawn cried an awful lot the first few weeks, and Andi turned it all inward, she basically went silent.”

  “I’m such a Daddy’s girl, I can’t imagine how sad they must have been.”

  “Sad, yes, but after Dawn’s tears came anger. I did everything I could to convince her not to hate our father despite how I felt about him. I still held out hope that he’d come back for the girls’ sake.”

  “That must have been difficult, given how angry you were.”

  “It wasn’t easy, and trust me, I had my moments when anger won out. But it didn’t end up mattering. About a year after he left, Dawn changed. I’ll never forget when it happened. I was sitting out on the back steps with my buddy Joey, and Dawn came out the back door and stood in front of us with her little hands on her hips and said, ‘Dad’s not coming back.’ I told her I knew that and I was sorry, and she said, ‘It’s okay. It’s his loss. The idiot.’ Then she went inside to play, and from then on, she’s been the girl you see on television.”

  “Wow. I guess she processed it and made up her mind.”

  “She did. I’m still worried about Andi, though. She’s afraid to step away from the safety of Port Hudson, and it limits her.” His voice was thick with worry.

  “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to stay where she feels safe. That’s what I do.”

  “Your situations are different. You’re doing what you’ve always wanted. Andi wants to be a marine biologist, and she could go far in the field, but not if she stays there.”

  “It sounds to me like you’re still taking care of everyone.”

  He laughed. “I think my sisters would call it annoying them, not taking care of them.”

  “Maybe, but if it’s anything like how I feel about Sable watching out for me, I’m sure they appreciate it. It must have been hard to leave them when you went to college.”

  “It was the hardest thing I’d ever done, but I got a full ride, and I knew if I made it into the pros, my family would never have to worry about a thing.”

  “And that right there is one of the things I admire most about you.”

  “My money?”

  “No, you goof. Your big heart. You think of everyone else before yourself. You were a kid caring for a family. And the other night, you said you were falling apart, too. Who was taking care of you, making sure you felt loved and were okay?”

  “My mom and my grandparents. You had midnight walks with your dad. I had midnight chats over hot chocolate with my mom in our kitchen.”

  “Aw. I love that. It makes me happy knowing you had that time with her. You know what? I think you’re right. I would have liked teenage Dash a whole lot.”

  “You would have been all over me. Especially when I first hit my growth spurt and I was skinny as a rail. That was hot.”

  “You were probably adorable. I bet you had tons of girlfriends.”

  “Who had time for girlfriends? I think my longest high school girlfriend lasted about three weeks and involved lots of back-seat make-out sessions. How about you?”

  “I’ve never had a girlfriend,” she teased.

  “Hold on. I have to scratch threesome with Amber off my bucket list.”

  “I’ve never even made out in a back seat, so use that information to scratch off whatever else shouldn’t be on our list.”

  “What?” he exclaimed. “My girl has never been groped in the back of a horny kid’s parents’ car?”

  “Nope, and I haven’t made out under the bleachers, which apparently is a thing, or at a creek party, a barn dance, or JJ’s Pub, all of which I think nearly every female in this town has done. I’ve also never stargazed with a guy, making wishes and spilling secrets. I missed all of those rites of passages, but I have kissed a boy on the Ferris wheel and in a corn maze.”

  “Are you sure under the bleachers is really a thing?”

  “Yes. It’s a little gross, right?”

  “I’m not sure, but I know what we’re doing when I get back to town.”

  She couldn’t stop smiling. “Look at you, making all my teenage dreams come true.”

  “Maybe you can make one of my adult fantasies come true.”

  “I’m not having a threesome with you.”

  He chuckled. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, that’s not my fantasy. I have no interest in sharing you. In fact,
I’m a little jealous of those Ferris wheel and corn maze kisses. Who were the lucky guys?”

  She liked knowing he was jealous. “There was only one guy.”

  “Who was it?”

  “I can’t tell you that. I’ve never told anyone other than Pepper about those kisses.”

  “I need to meet this secret-keeping sister of yours, but I think I understand. Was he my wild thing’s first?” His voice was low and seductive.

  She lay on the bed. “No. I didn’t do that until I was in college.”

  “We’re in trouble now, Amber.”

  “Why?”

  “I think I just fell a little harder for you. Yup. I feel it right here in my chest.”

  She buried her face in the pillow to keep a happy noise from slipping out.

  “Are you still there?” he asked cautiously.

  She rolled onto her back. “Mm-hm.”

  “Can I ask you something personal?”

  “I just told you one of my most coveted secrets, didn’t I?”

  “And I’m glad you trust me enough to share it with me.” His warmth slithered through the phone like an embrace. “I’m just wondering if you waited because it never felt right, or because of what you told me the other night about how boys kept their distance because of your epilepsy?”

  She closed her eyes as the tenderness in his voice drew out her answer. “Both, I guess. I was also scared of it.”

  “Then we have that in common. I only did it in my senior year of high school because I was afraid of being the only Virginia State football player who was still a virgin.”

  “Really?” She was surprised he’d admitted that.

  “Absolutely. There’s a lot of pressure that goes along with being a cool guy.”

  His honesty was like a drug, luring her in.

  “Any guy who tells you he wasn’t nervous the first few times is lying. Hell, I was nervous last night.”

  “No way.”

  “Sure, I was. You’re special, I didn’t want to mess things up. I wanted to be the best kiss, best touch, best everything for you.”

  She closed her eyes, letting his confession soak in. “You definitely were.”

  “Yeah, I knew I’d ruin you for any other man, but I didn’t want to sound too cocky.”

  They both laughed.

  “I bet you have lots of other secret kissing stories from high school, don’t you?”

  “Not really. Just a couple of stories, but they aren’t secrets.”

  “Why was your first kiss a secret?”

  She rolled onto her side. “I don’t know. It just is. He’s someone I still know, and it was a private, special kiss.”

  “Ah, that’s the romantic in you. I sure do like that. I’d give anything to have known you then, to have taken you to barn dances and fairs. I would have made your first time special, just the two of us in some private place that only you and I knew of. I would have set up candles, spread out blankets, and made love to you under the stars.”

  She sighed, shifting onto her back again. I think I just fell harder for you, too.

  “Of course, as a teenager I would have lasted about a minute, so I might never have lived that down.”

  Laughter burst from her lips, and Reno lifted his head.

  “You think that’s funny, huh?”

  “I’m sorry.” She tried to stifle her laughter, but she pictured him as a lanky teen and couldn’t hold it in. “I hope you’re better at it now.”

  “Does that mean if I’m not, you’re done with me?”

  “For sure,” she said through her giggles. “Although you do have a very gifted mouth.”

  He made a growling noise. “You haven’t experienced the half of it. Remember what I said about clearing our schedules.”

  Her mind raced through all the dirty things they could do.

  “Now we really do have trouble on our hands,” he said gruffly. “You’ve reminded me of how sweet you tasted, and it’s turning me on.”

  “Dash,” she whispered, embarrassed.

  “Am I alone in this? You didn’t think about us today? You’re not thinking about kissing me right now? Touching me? Having my mouth on you?”

  Her pulse spiked. She swallowed hard, mustering the courage to confess the truth. “You’re not alone.”

  “Thank God, because I can’t stop thinking about you, and I’ve never been like this with anyone. I want to see your beautiful face. I want to hold you in my arms and kiss you until we both lose our minds.”

  Me too. Her heart was beating so hard, she was sure he could hear it through the phone.

  “FaceTime with me. Let me see you, sweetheart.”

  She held her breath, knowing where this was heading. She’d read some really hot phone sex scenes, and her sisters had told her stories that made her blush a red streak. She wasn’t sure she could do it. But oh, how she wanted to.

  “Come on, baby.”

  She opened her mouth to speak, and it took a second for “Okay” to come. A few seconds later, his handsome face appeared on the screen, his jaw peppered with stubble, his dark eyes gazing hungrily at her. His chest was bare, and she wished she could touch him.

  “There’s my beautiful girl.”

  Swept up in her desires, she could do little more than smile.

  “You feel it too, don’t you? A desperate need to be closer?”

  She was breathing too hard. “Yes.”

  Reno must have sensed the change in her, because he lifted his head and laid his head beside hers.

  “Hey, Reno, that’s my spot.” Dash’s eyes never left Amber’s. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded.

  “Nervous?”

  She nodded again, embarrassed that she was that transparent, but also glad that he cared enough to notice.

  “I want you to know something. I’ve never met anyone who I wanted to get serious with until you. I’ve never had a threesome, and I don’t want to.”

  Relief washed over her. She hadn’t even realized she was worried about that.

  “I’m not a guy who video chats with women, partly because I’ve never fully trusted the women I’ve gone out with.”

  “Because everyone wants something from you?”

  He nodded. “I think you and I are a lot alike. We both need a higher level of trust in order to open ourselves up to others in certain ways.”

  He saw her so clearly, she wondered how many other parts of her he was already taking note of. “What’s the other reason?”

  A smile played at the corners of his mouth. “I’ve never wanted to see anyone that badly. All of these feelings, this need to talk to you, to see you while I’m thousands of miles away, is new to me, too. Don’t be nervous, sweetheart. Let’s just talk. That’s enough for me. You’re enough for me.”

  Chapter Nine

  DASH GOT UP at four o’clock in the morning to call his mother by seven her time, hoping to catch her before she left for work Friday morning. She was always doing a hundred things at once. He pictured her rushing around, her straight blond hair she’d worn parted on the side since he was a kid brushing the shoulders of one of her smart pantsuits.

  “Hi, honey.” Her words were carried on laughter. “How are you?”

  “I’m good. What’re you laughing at?”

  “Oh, nothing.” Nothing sounded like it was definitely something.

  He heard a male voice in the background, and his muscles tensed, his sister’s words coming back to him. Professor Hottie Pants. “Who was that?”

  “Mitch Grayson. I told you we were seeing each other a few weeks ago, remember?”

  “Yeah, I remember.” He told himself not to make a big deal out of it, but a question came out before he could stop it. “Did he come over for breakfast?” Please say yes.

  “Mm-hm. Yup. Sure did.” She giggled.

  Robin Pennington was not a giggler. Unless she was lying. Dash silently chastised himself for feeling weird about his mother having a serious relationship. “T
hat’s nice. Does he treat you well?”

  “Very well. Like a princess.”

  His mother was the farthest thing from a princess, but she sure as hell deserved to be treated like one. “Good. I’d like to meet him next time I’m in town.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that. Are you still coming before the fundraiser?”

  “Yeah. I’ll be there the Friday before.” He knew he should let her go spend time with Mitch, but he was dying to tell her about Amber. “I met someone, too.”

  “Oh, honey. I want to hear all about her. What’s her name? How did you meet her? Where does she live?”

  He chuckled, loving her enthusiasm. “Her name is Amber Montgomery, and she grew up in Oak Falls, Virginia and lives in Meadowside. I think you may know her. She went to Boyer and spent a lot of time in the library.”

  “Amber…Amber…Was she in the LWW sisterhood? Dark hair, pretty, on the quiet side?”

  “Yes, that’s her.”

  “Oh, Dashy, she was one of my favorite girls,” she said thoughtfully, the nickname tugging at his heartstrings. “We talked almost every day. It’s all coming back to me. I remember she missed her family so much when she first came to Boyer, I worried she’d go home and never come back. But she stuck it out. How did you meet her? Through Sinny?”

  “Yeah, at a party in a barn. She’s really something, Mom. She’s…She reminds me of home.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a good thing. You had so much responsibility on your shoulders when you lived here.”

  There was no denying that, but nothing could ruin home. “It’s a good thing, Mom. You showed me what family is.”

  “No, honey. You showed me what family is. You were the glue that held us together.”

  “I don’t know about that, but either way, I don’t regret any of those years, and Amber is all about family. She’s wholesome and smart. She makes me laugh and think and feel. She brings out parts of me I had forgotten existed, and she’s got this quiet strength and confidence that blows me away.”

  “It sounds like you’re really taken with her.”