Vote Then Read: Volume III

by Aleatha Romig

  “What the hell are you doing here,” she spits, coughing as she swipes water from her face and struggles to find her feet.

  “Saving your life. What does it look like?” I grab her around the waist and drag her into the shallows until the water laps around our knees and something deep in my bones melts with relief that she’s all right.

  Still whole, still breathing, still Penny.

  And still angry with me for some reason, judging by the glare she shoots my way and the hands that grab my wrists with enough force to snap the tendons of a lesser man. “Let me go, Bash. I don’t need your help.”

  “Oh, really?” I hold tight, something primal inside of me refusing to let go. “Because it looked like you were on a runaway horse.”

  “And now I’m in a lake,” she shouts, “with the world’s biggest asshole. I’d rather be on the horse!”

  “I’m the world’s biggest asshole? Me?” My brows furrow into the world’s deepest frown. “You’re the world’s biggest asshole. I saw you kissing Phillip. I saw your fucking tongue in his mouth and it was so disgusting I still have fucking nightmares about it. But I still tried to save your life because I can’t—”

  “And I saw your tongue in my mother’s mouth,” she shoots back, sending an unexpected ripple of shock through my well-earned rage. “I saw you holding her while she was wearing your shirt and nothing else! I saw you kiss her just like Phillip kissed her and even though she swore she kissed you and you wanted nothing to do with it, I don’t believe her!”

  She pulls in a rough breath as her eyes begin to shine. “Because I saw it, Bash. I saw it and it sure as hell didn’t look like you were putting up much of a fight.”

  “I was in shock!” My thoughts click madly as my brain begins to put together a hypothesis, a wonderful hypothesis that might mean all isn’t lost, after all.

  “In shock for five minutes?” she counters, scowling at me with a ferocity that would be cute if she wasn’t clearly so upset.

  “It wasn’t five minutes! It was ten seconds. Fifteen tops.”

  “Liar,” she sobs, shoving at my chest. “You’re such a liar.”

  “I’m not a liar. Maybe it seemed like five minutes, but it wasn’t, Penny. Penny, listen to me,” I beg, holding tight to her waist as she struggles to get free and I fight to get through to her. “I swear, it was less than thirty seconds and your mom is telling the truth. I yelled at her after. I was totally repulsed and traumatized and if I could wipe the memory from my mind, I would do it in a heartbeat. I wanted no part of that.”

  A tremor of doubt flashes across her angry face. “That’s not true.”

  “It is true,” I assure her, before adding in a softer voice, “But clearly you thought otherwise. Is that why you did…the thing with Phillip?”

  “It wasn’t a thing,” she said, swiping away the water seeping from her soaked hair. “It was a kiss. One kiss, to show you what it feels like to have your heart go rotten inside your chest and the person you trust, the person you care about, your very best friend, turn on you in the worst way imaginable.”

  “But, I—”

  “Seriously,” she snaps, her cheeks flushing red. “The worst way imaginable, Bash! I can’t imagine anything more horrible than running down to the beach to save my mother before she drowns herself only to find you kissing her. You! The only one I ever—The only one—” She cuts off with a huff and a sniff before pressing her lips into a thin, troubled line. “You know. You know what you were.”

  “No, I don’t,” I say, my grip gentling on her waist. “Because I got scared and ran like a coward and then you pushed me away and then…”

  I shake my head. “Then this insanity happened and I never got to find out what I was.” I draw her closer, heart skipping a beat when she lets me. “I never got to tell you what you were, either. What you are because there’s nothing past tense about what I feel for you.”

  Her throat works as she lifts doubt-filled eyes to mine. “I don’t believe you.”

  “I haven’t said anything yet,” I argue, pressing on before she can reply. “And you don’t have to believe me. You can believe Bash from the night of the bachelor party, the one who went back to the cottage and spent hours writing you a letter telling you how sorry he was for running, how much he wants to be worthy of you, and how he loves you and wants you and needs you like nothing else.”

  Penny blinks faster, her beautiful mouth trembling. “No, he didn’t.”

  “Yes he did,” I say, throat tight. “I still have that letter in my desk. We can go back to my place right now and I’ll put it straight into your hands and you’ll see that I’m telling the truth.”

  “You…” Her chin dimples and her blinking grows even faster. “You love me? Really?”

  “I do.” I cup her face in my hands, knowing that there is nothing more precious or irreplaceable than this soggy woman standing in front of me. “I love you. I love you so much I’ve been a fucking miserable wreck without you.”

  “Me too,” she says, tears sliding down her cheeks. “I’ve been trying so hard to be fine and to live my life and not be hurt and learn to ride horses and fly kites and be with other people, but I couldn’t. It just hurt so much.”

  “I know.” I lean my head closer to hers. “But it doesn’t have to. Not anymore.”

  She shakes her head, pulling back before I can kiss her. “Maybe not today. But what about tomorrow, Bash?” Her brow furrows. “What about when you decide you don’t like the burden of knowing that another person’s happiness is all wrapped up in you? What happens then? When the stress of knowing that I’m miserable without you starts to itch and chafe and you want to run?”

  “The only thing that chafes me is not having you in my life,” I insist, holding her troubled gaze, willing her to believe me. “Seriously, Penny. I’m never going to forget these past two months without you. It’s like all the air went out of the room, the sun out of the world. There was no reason to get out of bed in the morning, nothing to look forward to. My life was a fart without a cute animal attached.”

  “But that’s when you thought I didn’t want you,” she says, not the slightest bit derailed by my attempt at a joke. “What about when I’m just boring old Penny who you’re used to seeing every day?”

  “You’re never boring.”

  “Yes, I am,” she insists. “I’m pro level at being boring.”

  “Do you know why I ran that day in the cottage,” I say, knowing now is the time to confess everything and pray it’s enough to get her back.

  I wait until she shakes her head, before I continue in a husky voice, “I ran because I kept thinking about how hot it would be to get you pregnant. To see you big with my baby, your belly a sign to the whole world that you belong to me. For keeps.”

  Her eyes go wide. “No way.”

  “Yes way.” I slide my arms around her waist, drawing her back against me. “I was possessed by this overpowering lust to get you knocked up and it scared the shit out of me.”

  “That is pretty scary,” she says, breath rushing out as I cup her ass in my hands. But this time, she doesn’t pull away. “Why do you think that happened?”

  “At the time, I had no idea.” My cock thickens in my soaked jeans as her hips brush against mine. “But after having some time to dwell on it, I think my body was just a few steps ahead of my brain. My cock realized that you’re it, the only woman I’m ever going to want to make a baby with, and well…he’s never been known for his caution or forethought. He’s more action oriented.”

  She bites her bottom lip. “That’s why he’s called the Incredible Bulk.”

  My lips curve. “Not anymore. I decided only assholes name their dicks.”

  “I like it,” she says, arms coming around my neck. “It’s ridiculous, but I like it.”

  “Yeah?” I dig my fingers into her ass, fighting a groan as she rocks her hips forward, nudging against where I’m hard and aching, the Incredible Bulk desperate to be back betw
een her legs, where he belongs.

  “Yeah.” Her eyes darken as she runs a tender hand down my cheek. “I like just about everything about you. More than like really.”

  “Is this where you tell me that you love me, too?”

  “Yes, Sebastian Prince,” she whispers, pressing up on her toes, bringing her face closer to mine. “This is where I tell you that I love you, too.”

  And then I kiss her. My lips cover hers and my tongue slips into the sweetness of her mouth and I hold her tight against me and just like that everything is right with the world.

  It’s so fucking right. The only way it could be better is if she were naked and underneath me, her body gripping my cock while I show her how much I’ve missed her. How much I need her.

  “I want you so much.” I cup her breast through her wet clothes, groaning as her nipple pulls tight beneath my touch and her breath rushes out in this sexy little gasp.

  “Then take me,” she says, fingers working at the close of my jeans. “There’s no one but the horses here to see.”

  Blinking in surprise, I glance around us to see that she’s right. Wherever we are, this section of the park and the lake are deserted. Not to mention shrouded by the trees growing along the shore, spreading their branches wide, as if they’ve been placed there on purpose, to shield people desperate to fuck in the water.

  “We shouldn’t,” I say, even as I help her tug my zipper down and shove my wet jeans and boxers down around my thighs, freeing my feverish cock. “Or maybe, at least, move into the deep water in case someone comes by?”

  She shakes her head. “No way. Sex in the water is the worst.”

  I arch a brow. “Oh yeah?” I’m about to ask her if she’s had a lot of sex in the water, and what other sexy secrets she’s keeping, but then she reaches beneath her skirt and shimmies out of her underwear and I forget to ask stupid questions.

  I lift her up, her legs go around my waist, and in seconds I’m inside of her, sliding into her slick heat while our lips meet in a kiss that’s even hotter, deeper, better. Because I’m home again, I’m with Penny, feeling her heart beating against my chest as we strain together, getting closer and closer, higher and higher, until she comes, moaning dirty, sexy, sweet things against my lips.

  And no matter how much I want to hold on to make her go again, I can’t. I come with a groan, my cock jerking inside of her, celebrating the return to the best place I’ve ever been while I fight to keep my knees from buckling.

  I’m doing a pretty good job and have decided chances are good I won’t drop Penny back into the water when an enraged voice calls from the shore—

  “Put the girl down and come out with your hands up. You two perverts are under arrest!”

  Penny pulls away from our kiss, her wide, frightened gaze crashing into mine. “Oh shit,” she whispers.

  We turn our heads, spotting the crosswalk cop, who has evidently decided to take his law enforcement to the next level, on the shore.

  “That’s right,” he says, face going purple as he wags a finger our way. “You two. Out of the water. I’m sick of this shit. This is a park, not a fuck factory.”

  “Whatever that is,” I say, drawing a nervous giggle from Penny as I set her down and we both hurry to rearrange our clothing.

  “There are children in this park,” the cop continues. “Kids who don’t need a show and tell about where babies come from.”

  “Shit, shit, shit.” Penny trembles as I take her hand. “Are we about to get arrested? I’ve never been arrested.”

  “Just look repentant and upset and let me do the talking,” I whisper as we start toward the shore. “It’s this dick weed’s fault that you were almost killed. If he hadn’t scared the shit out of your horse with his air horn, it wouldn’t have run, I wouldn’t have chased you, and we wouldn’t have ended up fucking in the lake. So this is basically on him.”

  She hums thoughtfully. “Yeah, I’m not sure the blame game is the best idea, Bash. He looks pretty pissed off. His face is not a healthy color.”

  “Good. Then maybe we can talk him into a heart attack and make a run for it.”

  “I guess that’s an option, but—”

  Before Penny can finish her thought or either of us can get close enough to the shore for Officer Purple Face to slap on the cuffs, the quiet of our isolated corner of the park is once again shattered.

  “Running naked!” A deep voice shouts from the glen where our horses have ambled off to graze. “Full grown man streaking through the park! Indecent exposure! Breaking the law!”

  My jaw drops and Penny mutters, “Oh my God,” as Aidan runs by the lake right behind our arresting officer, wearing nothing but his Timberland boots and a smile.

  A shit-eating grin, really. He’s cupping his dick with one hand; the other he holds out to Penny and me, giving us a thumbs up as he streaks by Officer Angry Eyes.

  “You two, stay there,” the officer shouts. “I’ll be back for you.”

  The moment he turns to chase after Aidan, Penny and I exchange a look, nod, and make a break for the shore. I climb onto dry land before she does and run up the hill to grab our horses’ reins. I turn, wondering if she feels ready to ride, or if we should bet on Aidan leading the officer on a merry chase and walk the horses back, to find her staring after the two men with a thoughtful expression.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” I ask.

  “I was just thinking that Aidan might be better at the consulting stuff than I thought,” she says, still gazing into the distance. “His intervention with us certainly worked. And he’s got an unexpected…ballsy streak.”

  “No, I think he had his balls covered. Mostly.”

  She laughs and I smile, reaching for her hand. “Come on, let’s get out of here, make sure his brave sacrifice isn’t in vain.”

  She falls in beside me as I lead the horses up the hill. “He will get away, right? He’s pretty fast.”

  “As long as Officer Cranky is too out of breath to call for backup, he should be all right. But if not…” I shrug. “Well, a little arrest is no less than he deserves for consorting with you behind my back and keeping it a secret.”

  “Oh, Bash, please,” she says. “He was clearly trying to help. And he fixed Mr. Whiskers.”

  “What is that, by the way? I saw colors but couldn’t see what it is from across the road and then I was too busy fucking you to pay attention.”

  She pulls up the damp fabric of her skirt with a grin, baring her sexy thigh. “Just a bunch of flowers floating on water. He turned Mr. Whisker’s body into a reflective pool and worked the flowers in throughout and on either side.”

  “It’s beautiful,” I say sincerely, knowing that I owe Aidan a thank you for this as well as for sacrificing himself to the po-po so that Penny and I could escape.

  “I love it,” she says, smoothing her skirt down. “But I had him leave one of Mr. Whisker’s eyes, hidden in the patch of buttercups. I wanted a piece of him to stay. It seemed right.” She sways closer. “As crazy as it sounds, not all my memories of him are bad.”

  I squeeze her fingers. “That’s not crazy. I think I was kissing Mr. Whiskers when I finished falling in love with you.”

  She sighs happily. “That sounds wrong in so many different ways.”

  “It does,” I agree with a smile, holding tight to Penny’s hand as we cross the park, pretty certain nothing will be wrong again.

  Not as long as I’ve got this girl right next to me.

  Epilogue

  Five months later

  From: FrancisAndEddie2Gether

  To: MagnificentBastard1

  Re: The top secret plan

  Dear Uncle Bash,

  That is the most perfect plan ever!!! Perfectly perfect!! Funny and awesome and so ROMANTIC but not in the gross way.

  Penny is going to love it!!

  And don’t worry—our lips are sealed.

  Cross our hearts and hope to die.

  Xoxox

  <3 <3 <
3

  *farting ninja emoji* because ninjas are the best at keeping secrets

  Francis and Eddie

  The Ample Valley Creamery’s seasonal ice-cream tasting event is packed, which is insane because it’s thirty-eight degrees outside, with a fifty percent chance of snow before morning. I was thinking Penny and I would be the only ones crazy enough to want to taste ice cream in the dead of winter, but apparently I was wrong.

  And now I am warm.

  Very, very warm, and wondering if my plan can be pulled off while elbow-to-elbow with sixty other ice cream addicts.

  Outside the parlor’s front window, people hurry by wrapped in coats and hats, their breath crystalizing in puffs as they rush from store to store, finishing up last minute Christmas shopping. But inside, it’s sweltering, the combined body heat ratcheting up the temperature until we’re racing to spoon in our samples before they melt. Penny has chucked her coat, her sweater, and is down to a clingy black turtleneck that makes it hard to keep my eyes on the dishes being set out on the bar before us, but I manage to maintain my focus.

  I have to be ready. I checked the tasting menu weeks ago and there’s only one flavor that will serve my unique purpose.

  “This was a bad idea,” Penny says, twisting her hair into a coil and trapping it on top of her head with one hand.

  “Too crowded?” I ask, doubt flashing through my gut. Maybe tonight isn’t the night. I’ve spent weeks planning, but if the vibe is wrong, it’s just wrong, and I would rather wait than screw this up.

  Second chances are good and all, but some things you want to get right the first time.

  “You want to go?” I ask, nodding toward the door.

  “No, not at all! We’re staying,” she says, eyes going wide. “I just don’t see how we’re possibly going to be able to go home with only four pints. I know we made a promise to each other before we came and that moderation is important when it comes to certain things, but all the flavors are so, so good, and… Oh, I don’t know...” She trails a sexy red fingernail down my chest as her lips press into a pout. “Maybe we could break a silly little promise just this once?”