by Lexy Timms
And still, he hadn’t called her yet.
“Here’s the thing about Drew,” Bryan said. “He always tries to seize the day. You know, like you and Hailey do. I’m the rigid one of this group who’s learned a thing or two from you guys.”
“Ah,” Anna said. “Gotcha.”
I saw that distant look in her eye, and I knew exactly what she was thinking. Bryan was trying to convey the fact that Drew would call once he finally felt compelled to call, but Anna took it as him being a player and hopping around from woman to woman. I watched as my sister got up off the box and walked outside to Bryan’s truck, and that’s when I decided to take matters into my own hands.
“Maybe we should set the two of them up,” I said.
“Who? Drew and Anna?” he asked.
“Nope. Drew and the Queen. Of course, Drew and Anna.”
“Drew never does well with those things. The last time I tried to set Drew up on a blind date, he showed up acting like he was deaf. He kept throwing random hand signals her way all night.”
“He what?” I asked.
“Yeah. With Drew, it’s gotta come naturally. Organically. I can tell you I had a talk with him while we were patching up your art gallery.”
“Drew was the one to help you with that?” I asked.
“Yeah. He was the only person I trusted to do the best job in the smallest amount of time. Anyway, he told me the reason he hadn’t called Anna yet was that we still weren’t on good terms. I told him things were fine between us now, so I know his gears are turning again. You have to give him time.”
“Why didn’t you tell Anna that?” I asked.
“Bro code. I’m not going to tell the woman he’s crushing on things he’s said about her. But, I trust you not to tell him I’ve told you,” he said.
“Uh-huh. That’s confusing. Whatever.”
“You need more friends,” he said.
“Nope. I’m good with the friends I’ve got. I just want to see my sister happy, that’s all.”
“Honestly? Anna still seems a little lost and not really sure what she wants to do. She really has no plan in place. Drew seems like a lost soul, but he’s got goals he’s actively chasing. I’d advise your sister to find herself a bit first, establish what she wants out of her life before she goes dating.”
“I know,” I said, sighing.
“And Drew’s very close to starting his new business. He’s all but made it official, really. He’s got his products, he knows where he’ll get his inventory, he knows how he’ll pay for everything. Setting up a business from scratch is rough, and it doesn’t allow a lot of time for personal endeavors outside of it. He might be postponing talking to Anna just because of that,” he said.
“Because of what?” Anna asked.
She was lugging a massive box that Bryan ran over to help her with. I shook my head at her while Bryan helped her set it down. Then, she turned around and sat on that box in order to catch her breath.
Again.
“That everything?” I asked.
“Yep. Some furniture’s being delivered later today, and that’ll complete the apartment for now,” Anna said.
“Want us to stick around until it arrives?” Bryan asked.
“No. You’re good. I know Hailey’s got to get back to the gallery, and I’m sure you’ve got stuff with your company you need to do. You guys go on. From here, it’s unpacking and shit,” she said. “Now. What were you two talking about?”
“Relationship stuff,” I said, shrugging. “Nothing really substantial.”
“Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise?” she asked.
“Hardly,” Bryan said, grinning.
“Okay. Well, if you hurt my sister, I’ll kill you,” Anna said. “And Hailey? If you hurt Bryan, I’ll find Drew and have him kill you.”
“Thanks. I think,” I said.
I gave my sister one last hug before I hopped into Bryan’s car. He was driving me back to the gallery, so I could open it back up now that I’d officially used my lunch break to help Anna. My mind started whirling about John’s paintings and when everything should get off the ground. Jennifer said she would run a separate article detailing the night of the formal showcase seeing as her first article was simply about the story of Bryan and me and how John tethered us and led us to one another. The second article was going to be on how John inspired my and Bryan’s community outreach, and then the date and time for the gallery was going to be in there.
That article was supposed to run in two days, which meant I had two days to secure a Saturday evening to make all this work.
But before I could think on it any further, I felt that same growing sensation starting behind my eyes. My vision started to shake as the pounding my head grew, and I took deep breaths to try and abate my stress levels. I squeezed Bryan’s hand, concealing it as love for him, so he wouldn’t worry about me getting another headache.
Though I had to admit, they were now starting to worry me.
“Here we are, beautiful,” Bryan said. “Your own personal gallery of art.”
“Thanks for the ride,” I said.
“Would you like me to pick you up after work?” he asked.
“I mean, my car’s still here. I have to drive it eventually,” I said.
“Well, why don’t you drive that car on over to my place then once you close down tonight.”
“Sure. Want me to pick up dinner along the way?”
“Sounds good to me.”
I leaned over and kissed him, losing myself in the warmth of his lips before I drew a deep breath through my nose. I reluctantly opened his truck door and slid out, reopening my gallery while people were standing outside. For the last four hours of my day, I sold over six hundred dollars in paintings, and by the time I went to lock up, I was absolutely ecstatic.
But I soon had to call Bryan and ask him to come pick me up anyway because when I went to crank my car, nothing was happening.
Of course, something else would crap out just as my life was being put back together again.
Chapter 25
Bryan
“I’m so sorry,” Hailey said as she got into my truck.
“No need to be sorry. I brought jumper cables. Want to give it a go?” I asked.
“Not really,” she said, sighing. “I’m hungry, and I’m tired, and I just want to go home.”
“Back to my place or back to yours?” I asked.
“My place, if it’s not too much of a disappointment.”
“Want to still pick up dinner?” I asked.
“I’ve got some stuff we can heat up there. I just want to lay down in my bed.”
“I can make that happen.”
I reached over and took her hand as I pulled us out of the parking lot. Hailey’s car was incredibly old and only a couple of years away from being a complete rust bucket. She needed a new car definitely, but even though the gallery was doing well, I highly doubted it was doing new car well. I drew comforting circles on top of her skin while we cruised through town, and I tried to drive a little under the speed limit to give her enough time to breathe.
One thing I’d found out about Hailey over the past few months was that she enjoyed watching the city slowly roll by. It was peaceful to her and relaxed her somehow, and I wanted to give her enough time to relax any way she needed.
We sat in silence the entire way to her apartment. Every once in a while, she sighed one of those deep, heaving sighs that moved even her stomach. I wanted to tell her it was going to be okay. I wanted to tell her that I could easily switch the battery out. I wanted to tell her I would buy her a new battery or, hell, that I’d buy her a new fucking car.
But I knew what she needed right now was a distraction.
She’d been through a lot over the past few weeks. Anna coming into town and crashing with her, us talking and rekindling things. The vandalism on her art gallery and finally telling John’s story to the world. She was under a great deal of stress from the emotional rollercoaster
she’d been dragged onto, and all I wanted to do was try to make things easier for her.
All I wanted to do was make her feel good again.
I pulled my truck into her parking lot, but for some reason, it was completely full. There was thumping music and lights pouring from a window in the apartment below hers, and instantly, I heard the stress creep back into the sigh she let out.
“Just drive around back,” she said breathlessly.
I took my truck around back and regretted it. There were no lights and no pavement. It was just darkened dirt shrouded by shadows the trees were casting in what was considered the backyard of her studio apartment complex. I parked my truck in the corner, trying to situate it so some of the lamppost lighting from the street would illuminate her walk back to her apartment, but I was still dubious of the whole situation.
“Must have new neighbors,” Hailey said.
“Can I say something?” I asked.
“Anything,” she said.
“I’m so glad you’re back in my life.”
“I’m glad you’re back in mine too,” she said.
“No. I mean, yes, that’s wonderful you feel the same way. But I don’t think I ever told you how much I missed you during that time.”
I turned my body toward her, and I knew I had her attention.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you, dreaming about you. I tried to use alcohol to erase your memory and drown you from my system, but it didn’t work. The alcohol made the dreams more vivid and made your voice more pristine, and every time I woke up, I could’ve sworn I felt your lips on my neck.”
I saw the stunned look in her eyes before a small smirk crawled across her face.
“Like this?”
She leaned forward and pressed those luscious lips against my neck, and I felt my entire body relax.
“Like that, yes,” I said.
“What else?” she asked.
“I-I would wake up in the mornings and feel your hands on my chest like you were curling into me after a long night’s sleep.
“Like this?”
She pressed her small, delicate hands against my broad chest while her lips continued to ghost small little kisses over the skin of my neck.
“Yes,” I said, whispering.
“What else?” she asked.
“No matter how much I scrubbed down my skin, your scent never left it. I always smelled you, no matter where I went. It was like you were following me, taunting me with a beauty I’d never have again.”
“Like this?”
She crawled into my lap at that very moment and wrapped her hands in my hair. She slowly pulled my face into her exposed bosom, my nose dipping into her cleavage as her body spray wafted up my nose. That familiar scent of berries and paint covered my entire body, and my hands flew around her back as I pulled her close.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said, giggling. “Anything else?”
“If I tell you anything else, we’re going to end up having sex in this truck,” I said into her skin.
“That’s actually kind of comical. I haven’t done anything like that since I was eighteen years old.”
My hands slowly slid up her waist, my fingers sinking into her curves as my lips started pressing kisses into her breasts. I felt her skin heating up as small sighs came from her lips, and I could’ve sworn she was grinding down into my lap. I felt my thickness pressing hard against my pants, threatening to tear the fabric of my jeans open as my teeth began to nip at her skin. Her hands tightened in my hair as her head fell back, and I knew she was going to let me have her.
And I was determined to make this the only sexual endeavor she would ever think of for weeks.
My hands ran up her shirt, feeling her skin pucker against my fingertips while her lips pressed kisses on the top of my head. I slowly slid her shirt off her body, her arms raising for me in silent obedience before it fell to the floorboard of my truck. My fingertips easily plucked her bra off, casting it behind me before I wrapped my lips around her pert nipples.
The way she moaned and pulled my head closer to her body stirred something inside of me that I wanted desperately to let loose.
I slowly lowered her back onto the seat of my truck. I smoothed my hands over her body, massaging every inch of her I could touch while her body undulated in pleasure. The way she simply gave herself over to me was intoxicating, and I quickly slid her jeans off while she sighed with relief. I pulled my shirt over my head and then bent over, kissing a small line up her stomach while her muscles jumped underneath my touch.
But my hand traveled downward, sliding discreetly behind her panties as my fingers inched their way slowly inside of her.
“Bryan,” she said breathlessly. “Yes.”
Slowly and steadily, I coated my skin with her arousal. My lips traveled back down to her belly button, my tongue dancing along her body as her hips rolled against the palm of my hand. I sank my teeth into the skin of her hip, causing her to jerk and jolt while she groaned. I bit my teeth down and sucked her skin, leaving a mark I wanted her to revel in for days afterward.
Then, my tongue slid down to the one place I knew she wanted me to be, and that’s when it all came pouring out.
“Bryan. Yes. Just like that. Please don’t stop.”
I worked her beautifully swollen clit while my fingers crooked against her body. I could feel her vibrating against me, her hips darting and bucking while her body chased what it wanted. I pressed my tongue deeper into her, watching as her pale skin flushed with lust for me. She looked absolutely beautiful, a vision who should be painted on one of her canvases.
But her nose crinkled up and her back bowed. Her hands dug into my hair and her legs pulled taut, and I knew exactly what was about to happen.
So, I simply held my place and allowed her to soak my truck seat in her essence while my name tumbled from her lips in breathless praise.
I gave her one last lick before I pulled myself from her body. She was panting and shaking, recuperating from the sheer force of her orgasm while I made a show of licking her from my fingers. Her eyes darkened while she watched me, her body sitting up while she quickly removed her panties from her body.
Then, she did something I didn’t expect.
She quickly pulled my cock from my pants and straddled my lap.
“Hailey, what are you—?”
She sank her warm wetness onto me, sheathing me inside of her while the two of us groaned. The windows were fogging up and the music from the building was getting louder, drowning out the rocking of my truck on its chassis as she rolled in my lap. I scooted my seat back, allowing my legs to stretch and making sure her perfect ass didn’t start bouncing on the horn of my truck.
But honestly, I wouldn’t have given a shit if it had anyway.
I grasped tightly onto her hips as she sank her lips onto mine. Her tongue rolled along my lips, licking her taste off my skin as my hips raised to meet her thrusts. Her hands raked down my chest while her fingertips left red marks behind, and I dug my fingers into the meat of her hips so tightly, I knew she’d be bruised the next morning.
“Fuck Hailey. Holy hell.”
She slammed down onto me, rocking the whole truck while we breathed each other’s air. Sweat was dripping down her forehead and falling onto my chest, and all I could do was dig my heels in and meet her, thrust for thrust. My hands stroked up her back, holding her close to me as she pressed her beautiful chest against mine, and I allowed myself to completely let go.
I quickly laid her back down on the seat of the truck, her thick legs locking around me as I pinned her hands at her sides.
“Bryan. Yes. The things you do to me. Please. Please. Please come with me.”
I dipped my lips to her neck as I pounded into her. Her breasts were bouncing against my skin, and her body was shaking underneath my assault. My lips pulled a patch of skin between my teeth as I hung on for the ride, her body writhing while whimpers and groans fell from her lips. I growled int
o her skin, like an animal marking its territory for all to see, and the moment I felt her warmth clenching around my erection, I felt that toe-curling sensation as my hips stuttered its fantastic rhythm.
I pulled at her arms, causing her back to arch into mine as my lips released her neck. Another black mark would be there in the morning, but I didn’t care. I wrapped my lips around her pert nipple, flicking my tongue over it as her body jolted in midair. I could feel her legs squeezing me while her wetness pulsed around me, and I buried myself deep into her body as I finally released.
I painted her walls with my scent while her name fell from my lips, whispered and desperate, like I was begging a beautiful angel to finally have mercy on my lost, burning little soul.
Cleansing by fire was what her body was, and every time her raging flames consumed my body, I accepted their warmth.
We lay there in my truck, panting as I released Hailey’s wrists. Her back dropped down onto the seat while I slowly pulled myself from between her legs, and she giggled at the slick sound before I laid my head on her bosom. Her fingers ran through my hair while my hands danced up her sides, taking in the softness of her skin while we lay drenched in our own sex and sweat.
“That was ... that was ...”
“Better than when you were eighteen?” I asked.
“What happened when I was eighteen doesn’t even hold a candle to this,” Hailey said breathlessly.
“Good,” I said. “Now, could I propose something?”
“I’ll do anything as long as I can keep lying here like this,” she said.
“You’re not going to be able to sleep with that party going on like that,” I said. “Let me take you back to my house. We can eat there, order something in or whatever. Tomorrow’s Sunday, so neither of us works.”
“You mean I’ll actually get to wake up to you this time?” she asked playfully.
“If you’d like,” I said.
“Sounds like we’re going back to your place, but only if we can eat pizza. I really want pizza,” she said.