Evy giggled and ran a finger around the rim of her wineglass, producing a haunting song. “The day he finished building it, we sat in that thing and watched this thunderstorm roll in. You could actually feel the thunder vibrating the entire tree.”
Dean’s eyebrows drew together. “That sounds kind of dangerous.”
“It was. My mom was so mad at him.” Her eyes rose to the bright pinpricks of light in the sky. “My dad literally put the finishing touch on that treehouse and it started to pour. I was so mad. Brooke ran screaming inside the house but I refused to leave, so he sat out there with me and held my hand.”
Dean smiled. “Sounds like something Will would do.”
Evy brought the glass to her lips but didn’t drink. “I wish it would storm like that right now. Just open up and drive us inside.”
Dean got up and held his hand out. “Come on.”
Brow rising, she let him lead her around the side of the cabin and into the front yard. Stopping beneath the old oak, a swelling buzz of locusts filled their ears, rising and falling with the breeze.
Dean gave the tire swing a gentle shove.
Curling a wineglass to her chest, she watched it glide through the air like a pendulum, luring her into a trancelike state. “Has this always been here?”
“Since I was a kid.” He gave it another push and somebody screamed across the lake, drawing their eyes.
Evy watched Clearwater Lake shine in the moonlight, heart swelling. “It has quite the view.”
Dean caught the tire and spilt some of his beer. “One summer, I got it in my head I wanted a tire swing and would not let up about it – I was probably seven or eight. Finally, my dad got tired of listening to me bitch and moan about it, so he pulled the spare from this old Jeep Wrangler he used to have.” His eyes climbed the tall tree. “Then he got the ladder out and strung it up for me.”
“Aww, that is so sweet. Was that when the hornets got him?”
“Yep, and two days later he got a flat tire out in the middle of nowhere with no spare.”
Evy covered her mouth, wine-induced giggles slipping through her fingers. “No way!”
“No cellphones or OnStar back then either.” Dean spun the tire like a top, twisting the thick rope. “He was so pissed when he got home, I thought he was going to chop the whole damn tree down.”
“That’s horrible.”
Taking Evy’s glass, he set their drinks on the picnic table and stared into her eyes, a symphony of locusts and crickets playing on with passion. “Your turn,” he said, kissing her softly.
She shrieked when he scooped her up into his strong arms and guided her bare feet through the tire. “Dean, no! I’ll never fit.”
“You’ll fit.”
“What if there’s a hornet’s nest in here?”
“There isn’t,” he replied, helping her grab the rope with both hands. “The hornet’s nest is in the branches right above you.”
“Oh, my God!”
Grabbing the tire, he jumped up onto the picnic table with it, pulling a cry of protest from his wife. “Hang on tight.”
“Dean, don’t!”
Grinning widely, he let go. Evy swung backwards through the air, screaming to the moon. She came rushing back into his arms and Dean pushed her even higher. Dark hair flew out wildly behind her. Fireflies painted the night and this was her life now. Good memories could still be sown here and Evy would water them until her dying breath. He pushed her again.
“Deaaaannnnn!” she screamed, hanging onto the rope for dear life.
Jumping down from the table, he watched her glide back and forth through the air, sipping his beer. “I’ll be right back.”
“Dean!” she laughed, zipping past him. “Don’t leave me in here; I’ll never get out.”
When the ride came to a complete stop, he helped her out, copping a feel along the way. Evy smiled up at him, chest pumping beneath her purple top. “That was fun.”
“Didn’t get stung?”
“Not yet,” she whispered, running her hands down his chest. “But the night’s still young.”
Backing her against the picnic table, Dean had no choice but to pull her top up and over her head. She was asking for it. Her bare breasts heaved, begging him closer. He set his jaw as if in pain, unable to stop his palms from caressing her peaks and valleys. Toes curling into the grass, Evy reached down between them and slipped a hand inside his shorts. The heated glimmer in his eyes warmed her from the inside out. His rapid breath soft and sweet against her lips. The world spun around them in a magical haze, leaving her light on her feet.
Without wasting another minute, Dean unbuttoned her jeans shorts and let them slide to the grass. Evy stepped out of them and explored his sculpted abs, fingertips probing every nook and cranny. Their lips barely met and parted, bodies talking without words, fleeting whispers with promises of more. A mischievous grin caught her by surprise when his boardshorts slid to his feet and his hardness bounced against her stomach. Drawn together by some unseen force, their tongues connected. The tire danced with the breeze. His warm cock throbbed against her, pleading for consideration.
“I love you,” she whispered, dropping to her knees and taking him into her hand. At first, she just marveled at his beauty, enraptured by its striking size and shape. Looking up, she found him watching through sinister eyes. His face tensed when she began to pump. Heart fluttering like a bird trapped in a cage, her hand massaged his swollen shaft and the thought of waiting another second to take what was rightfully hers drove an impatient spike through her. Evy brushed him against her lips before taking him into her mouth.
Tipping his head back, Dean moaned to the sky, a feral instinct tightening his silhouette against the lake. His scent stirred her insides into a frenzy, changing her into someone else. Someone she could not control. Reaching down between her legs, she rubbed soft circles into her wet flesh. Dean curled her hair into his fists and something cried out in the woods, spurring her deeper. A loon called back, hunting the shoreline while a gust tickled the leaves above, sprinkling moonlight over their glistening bodies.
“Jesus Christ,” he moaned, fucking her mouth.
Evy didn’t know if it was the wine or the public exhibition urging her fingers deeper but a warm glow spread inside her, filling her with a thousand butterflies.
“Evy,” Dean panted, holding her hair back so he could see her face.
She ran her lips up and down his throbbing pipe, fingers pleasing her clit below. She’d never done anything like this before and the thrill of it all was too much to take. Heart racing, she was close to coming apart at the seams. Her body quivered from head to toe. Dean’s cock ballooned in her mouth and she didn’t remember him being this big before. Throwing his head back, he cursed at the stars and erupted, making Evy cum so hard, she nearly choked. It was in that moment they became one, completing a picture of something that would never fade with time. A heavenly plane where only they existed. Nothing else. When the world slowed its spin and they floated back down to earth, their ragged breathing and overworked hearts filled their ears.
“Goddamn,” Dean panted, helping her up. Cradling her cheeks in his palms, he watched shadows flicker against her face, hypnotized by her piercing green gaze. “I love you more than anything in the world.”
Evy stood on her toes and planted a kiss on his cheek, a case of the tingles lifting her bare feet just off the grass. This was her world now and she still couldn’t believe it. When she was with Richie, she had no idea something like this could exist. She’d read about in books and heard about in songs, but never felt it for herself. “You better say that,” she whispered, feeling his heartbeat against her hand.
Dean kissed her cheek. “I’ll be right back,” he whispered into her ear, sending goosebumps rippling across her vulnerable flesh.
Not bothering with trivial things such as clothing, he grabbed their empty drinks and went inside the cabin, leaving Evy with the crickets and her euphoric thoughts. She
leaned against the picnic table and blew out a breath, watching moonlight skitter across the lake. An owl announced itself from the trees and she never wanted to leave this place. She wanted… A cellphone rang out, pulling her from her wandering thoughts.
Snatching her shorts from the ground, she fished out the glowing device. “Hey Brooke,” she said, tossing the shorts on the table.
“Sorry to interrupt your horny-moon, but do you know where the invoice is for the flour delivery? I need to pay it before they’ll ship more.”
“This late?”
Brooke paused. “What time is it there?”
Evy tucked a dark ribbon behind an ear. “Late.”
“Sorry, I couldn’t sleep and I just remembered.”
“It should be in the second drawer…under Kepler.”
“Oh.” A metallic clang rang out in the background and Brooke’s tongue clicked against the roof of her mouth as she flipped through files. “Got it! I’m sorry, Ev. I was looking under something else.”
“How’re you feeling?”
She sighed tiredly into the phone. “Scatterbrained,” she answered, slamming the drawer shut. “My feet are swollen and I haven’t gone this long without a drink since I was in the tenth grade.” Brooke paused for a second. “Do you think that makes me an alcoholic?”
“Probably.”
“Good thing is I’m surrounded by bottles of booze all day.”
“Speaking of work, how’s it going?” Evy asked, watching Dean’s nude silhouette pass by a window.
“The numbers are insane! We had a line out the door all day. I had to hire another girl, who by the way, is awesome. Her name is Camilla and she’s crazy tatted.”
“I’m sorry, sweetie. I feel bad leaving you there like that.”
“It’s your honeymoon!” Exhaling a steadying breath, Brooke lowered her voice. “We have it covered and it’s an amazing problem to have.”
Looking out over the water, Evy coiled a lock of hair around a finger. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“I know, me neither. With all the press we’ve been getting, it’s like winning the lottery. Clay Crawford turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to us.”
“Yeah, especially when his crazy-ass daughter almost murdered Ben and Dean.”
“This is true. I’m not going to lie, it could’ve been a lot worse. But it wasn’t, and now we are making a small fortune.” Her voice fell to a whisper. “Guess who came in today.”
“Who?”
“Aaron Rodgers.”
Evy tapped a finger against her lips. “Who?”
“From the Packers? Hello! It was so bananas, Evy! You should’ve seen Ben. He turned into a fourteen-year-old girl right before my eyes. I don’t think I can sleep with him ever again.”
“Dean is going to be so mad he missed that!” Evy pulled hair from her face. “What’d he order?”
“A chocolate mocha and…”
“And what!”
“And a red velvet.”
“Red velvet?”
“Gluten-free,” Brooke whispered.
Evy inhaled sharply. “No!”
“With vanilla vegan frosting.”
“Get out!”
“I’m telling you, it was total madness. Listen to this…” Brooke filled her lungs. “He posted a picture to Instagram and we’ve been sold out of gluten-free red velvet cupcakes with vanilla vegan frosting ALL day! I’m done trying to even keep up. Screw these people!”
“Oh my God, I can’t believe it!” Chewing on a finger, Evy stared vacantly at the cabin, heart somersaulting in her chest. “I’m just afraid it’s all going to go away.”
An irritable sigh slithered down the line. “It’s not going to go away. Why do you always have to ruin things?”
Evy smiled. “Any cravings yet?” she asked, pushing off the table.
“Just cock.” Brooke replied flatly, banging something around in the background. “Big. Hard. Cock.”
Evy watched her toes track through the cool grass. “Okay, that’s good to know.”
“Day or night, can’t get enough.”
“Well, I should probably get going.”
A timer went off in the background, its incessant beep pulling Brooke into motion. “And if I eat one more cupcake, they’re going to tie ropes to me and fly me in the Macy’s Day Parade. I already have the feet to match.”
Evy threw her head back and laughed to the stars. “Stop! You know I love it when you’re self-deprecating.”
The timer went quiet and Evy could hear Brooke pull a sheet of something sweet from an oven. “So how’s the cabin in the woods?” she asked, depositing the sheet on the burners. “Any deranged serial killers drop by yet?”
A noise drew Evy’s eyes into the trees. “How’d you know where we were going?”
“Oh, I know everything, sweetie. That’s my job.”
“It’s so beautiful here, Brooke. You should see this place. I feel like I’ve gotten to know a whole different side of him. I’ll send you some pictures.”
“Good idea. Start with his dick.”
“Ha-ha.”
“Seriously though, how’s the honeymoon sex? Is it rough and needy?”
Evy gave the tire a spin, triggering a series of passionate flashes to flip through her head. “Even better on a boat,” she grinned.
“Boat?”
“Brooke, my legs hurt so bad, I can barely walk.”
“Keep doing it, Ev. It gets better.” The line got quiet and Evy thought she lost the call. “Oh my God, you’re naked right now, aren’t you?”
“Bye Brooke.”
“He’s in the bathroom taking a leak, isn’t he? All men do it after sex.”
“Tell Ben and Tash I said hi.”
“Post a video!”
Evy hung up and reduced the brightness. “Weirdo,” she muttered, putting the phone to sleep and giving the tire another spin. It felt amazing to just breathe. Each intake tasted sweeter than the one before it. She saw a little girl with pigtails riding this tire swing, the one put up by the grandpa she would never meet. But she could get close to him here on these hallowed grounds. They all could. Devouring another delicious breath, Evy gazed out over the water, envisioning a little boy waving from inside the Chris-Craft. Her husband flashed a cocky grin from a seat over, yelling I Love You before tearing off across the lake in search of adventure. Evy waved weakly back and her misty-eyes fell to the grass. A chain of dessert lounges paraded through her mind, stretching from one coast to the other. Sugars lit up in hot pink neon. Laying back on the table, she watched the leaves sway with her dreams, wishing she could stop time in its tracks.
Inside the cabin, Dean poured a glass of wine before popping open a cold bottle of beer. He took a long drink in the yellow glow coming from above the sink. His cellphone vibrated on the counter, drawing his eyes. Grabbing it, he swiped at the screen. “What’s up, Shaun?”
“Big Baller! How we livin?”
“We livin good.”
“Did I catch you mid hip-thrust?”
Dean opened a powder blue fridge and squinted against the bright light inside. “No, you’re a little late for that,” he replied, taking a quick pull from a glass jug of water.
“Well, I hate to interrupt your amateur Pornhub shoot but I’m putting together a golf outing late next month to promote my fall IPA release, ‘For Madmen Only’.”
Swallowing with a sigh, water ran down Dean’s chin. “I like the name.”
“And I could really use a local celebrity such as yourself to help drive ticket sales. Can I count you in, my gangly gangster?”
Returning the jug to the top shelf, he shut the vintage fridge his mother found at a flea market in downtown Cottage Grove. “First of all, I’m not gangly.”
“Compared to me you are.”
“And second of all, I’m not a celebrity.”
Clearing his throat, Shaun spoke in a whisper. “Then why are all those hot soccer MILFs lining up a
t Sugars? For the shitty coffee? Hell no! To get a sneak peek at the well-endowed Dean Jacobs, that’s why.”
“Jesus,” Dean muttered, pulling a hand down his face. “You know what, Shaun? They’re lining up at Sugars to support a member of the community who suffered at the hands of one of their elected own. Plus, the cupcakes are amazing.”
“Yeah, and guess what, Deano, you were a big part of that machine. You’ve interviewed on every station in Milwaukee, not to mention ‘Extra’!”
“That one was pretty cool. I still can’t believe Mario Lopez is that short. They had to get a box for him to stand on.”
“So it’s cool if I put your picture on the flier?”
“Flier?” Dean rubbed his bloodshot eyes. “Who makes fliers anymore?”
“Did I mention ten percent goes to the Children’s Miracle Network?”
He looked up and stared out the window over the sink, gazing across the shiny lake. “Twenty.”
“Goddammit, Dean! That’s bullshit and you know it, but you got yourself a deal.”
Dean pursed his lips. “You were going to give twenty percent the whole time, weren’t you?”
“What’s that? You’re breaking up, hillbilly Harold. Talk at ya next week. Late!”
Pulling the phone from his ear, Dean studied the greasy screen. “Great.”
“Who was that?”
Turning, his heart lurched when he found Evy standing naked in the doorway. Pulling hair over her shoulders, the soft light painted her skin in an angelic glow. Heart pumping, blood rushed through his entire body.
“Shaun,” he answered, handing her a wineglass. “He just roped me into a golf outing to promote his new fall beer.”
Her eyes fell between his legs and narrowed. “That sounds fun.”
He raised his bottle. “To us.”
Evy clinked her glass against his. “To us,” she whispered, taking a slow sip and grabbing him down low. Stiffening, her husband choked on his beer, igniting a frisky grin on her swollen lips.
Chapter Five
COLD PATIO TILES
Dean peeled his eyelids apart and grabbed the black G-Shock from the nightstand, cringing when he saw it was only 3:23 in the morning. He couldn’t wait to spend the entire day on the lake, making love to his beautiful wife like it was the first time all over again. He watched her sleep, heart swelling inside his chest. Moonlight streamed through a nearby window, laying a silver blanket over her silky skin and, God, she was beautiful when she slept. Radiant, like an angel sent down from above. He sighed. For the first time in a long time, he felt whole again. Reborn. And this was just the beginning at a second chance he would not let slip through his fingers. He nearly lost this and couldn’t imagine going back to his old life.
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