I rushed over to Walker’s side right as Buck pulled him into a half hug, just in time to overhear Buck hiss, “I fucking swear if it weren’t for her I’d kill you myself. Got it?”
Walker nodded. “It’s good to see you too. I have to report back day after tomorrow. This will be a short visit.”
Both of their jawlines were flexing as they stared at each other. Jim looked over at the three of us, oddly standing there. I could only imagine that it looked like a bundle of nerves were emanating from my entire body.
“Buck, let’s get that wine open. We don’t want dinner to get cold.”
“Do you want a glass?” Buck started to head for the table, where Jim was standing, holding the wine opener already.
“No thanks. I have meds for my pain and shit. I think it’s best if I stay away from that stuff for a little.”
Buck smiled and winked at me. “You’re probably right. I’m only going to have a little myself.”
I nodded and smiled quickly at Buck, turning to grab Walker’s hand swiftly. For some reason, I felt an intense urge to get Walker away from Buck. I darted into the kitchen with Walker in tow.
“Let’s help Liz set everything out onto the table.”
Liz passed us, carrying plates and silverware into the dining room. “Thank you, loves.”
“Not a problem. Sit. We’ll get the rest.”
Once we were far enough from the earshot of all the nosy, on-edge people in the next room, I grabbed Walker’s face and crushed my lips to his. He hastily wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me into him as tightly as he could. Our lips moved together for a few seconds before he pulled away, panting. “What was that for?”
“Everything is a terrible mess of awkward, horrible, unsaid feelings and uneasy glances. I wanted to break that cycle for a second.”
His let his forehead fall to mine as a smile spread over his lips. “Then let’s go have the most uneasy, awkward, horrible meal of our lives and then get the hell out of here.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
The rest of the evening went on as smoothly as I could have hoped. Dinner was graced with minimal, light conversion and amazing food. Once the table was cleared, the dishwasher was filled and humming, and the meatloaf tin was soaking in hot soapy water, I decided our presence at the McManus home was not necessary any longer.
I yawned and stretched after hanging Liz’s pink rubber gloves back under the sink. “Well, thank you so much for making me feel better and taking my mind off of all that happened, but I have some painkillers and a pillow that are calling my name a few doors down.”
Jim beamed down at me, wrapping me up in one of my favorite hugs in the world. After a few seconds, his grip loosened and his gruff voice whispered into my ear, “You knew hower much we lover you?”
I nodded into his chest, giggling a little at his drunken slur. “I think it is as much I love you, papa bear! Thanks for everything!”
I hugged my mom, Cali, Mitch, and Liz before making my way over to the couch, where Buck and Walker were sitting, sipping on the ends of their glasses of wine.
“Are you ready to get goin’?” Walker stood, setting his glass on the table.
“Yeah, I just need to talk to Buck really fast.” I nodded toward the back hallway and heard the loud thumping of his heavy dress shoes following close behind.
“Is everything okay?” Concern spread across his face as he put a hand on my shoulder.
“I just wanted to thank you for being so great these last couple of days. I know that you’re scared that Walker is going to hurt us again, but please trust me when I say that I really do think that he has changed.”
I leaned into the crook of his shoulder, pulling him into a slight hug from his side. He gently squeezed me back and looked down at me. “You know that I just care about ya. If you want me to trust him, then I will.”
I pulled my lips into a smile and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you,” I whispered, and then set off down the hallway to find Walker in the doorway, waiting for me.
“Now I’m ready. Take me home!”
“It’ll be my pleasure, darlin’.” The lightness in Walker’s drawl made my smile grow too much for my bruised face to take.
I winced from the sharp pain in my cheek, and Walker ducked down to look me over, trying hard to decipher my pained expression.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I just need my meds and to relax a little.”
“All right then.” He offered me his arm, called back into the house to let everyone know that we were leaving, and opened the door for me. “Even though it was only been a few days, it feels like I have waited years to be back here, taking care of you again.”
“Well, I’m glad it didn’t take years to have you back right where you belong!”
Eighteen
“Mags?”
“Yeah?” I looked up into Walker’s gorgeous green eyes, which were beautifully illuminated by my porch light.
“Should I go?” His shoulders stiffened as his hand dragged into his pocket, pulling out a soft pack of Marlboro Reds. He shook the pack, bit the butt in between his front teeth, and lit up with trembling hands.
I stuck the key in the door but did not turn the lock. I sighed and sank to the floor, resting my back on my front door. “I honestly don’t know. I assumed you were going to come in and stay here tonight on the couch. But I had also assumed that you’d quit that filthy habit too.” Looking up at his tall frame towering over mine, I twirled my finger up toward the cancer stick and wrinkled my nose as I made a disgusted spitting noise.
He chuckled and sank to the wood right in front of me, taking one long drag before tossing the cigarette over the porch railing. “I’ll quit for you. Right now.” A plume of smoke released from his lungs through his nostrils. “That was my last one. Promise.”
Walker held up his pinky to me, and like a ten-year-old girl, I took it. “Pinky promise?”
He nodded. “Yes. So now back to my sleeping situation.”
“You’re going to come in and we’re going to sit on the couch and watch some silly show until my meds kick in and I pass out.”
He shoved to his feet and helped me up. “Sounds like a plan.”
I opened the door and flicked on all the lights. “So how badly did you hurt him anyway?”
“Which one?” Walker threw himself onto the couch and started to flick through the channels nonchalantly.
I walked into the kitchen to get water and popped two pills as directed out of my orange prescription bottle and into my mouth before opening the next big can of worms.
“What do you mean which one?” I handed Walker a beer and threw a fluffy blanket around my shoulders.
“Kris or Kyle is what I meant.”
“Walker, you didn’t? But how did you—”
“Find Kyle?”
I nodded and he turned to face me, slowly taking his eyes off a fat cartoon character talking to his white dog as they were slurring and stumbling down a dark street.
“It was easy enough.”
“Walker. Just stop it!” My temper was starting to boil. I hated short answers and how calm he was being about all of this.
“What?” His innocent eyes turned down at the corners as a frown spread across his face. “That bastard was following you. He was dangerous. You said so yourself. So I stopped him before he could make things worse for you or Cali.”
“How did you know he was following us?” I inched away from Walker, not wanting to hear the next words I knew were coming.
“’Cause I had a feelin’.” He downed half his beer and started to slowly peel the red label off.
“Bullshit. Stop being vague and just fucking tell me, Walker!”
“All right, all right.” He set his beer down and grabbed my hand. His voice got low and his drawl came out a little bit more as he continued. “When you left me in that station, I almost lost it. I knew that you were upset too, but I thought that letting you go was
the right thing. About an hour after you left, I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to go after you. I came here, but you weren’t here, so I waited down the street for hours until you popped out of a cab at three in the morning, swaying and staggering up to your door with some guy trying to cop a feel. You slapped him and he went away, right before I was about to step in.”
He paused to take another swig of his beer, holding up a finger to shut me up when I tried to take the opportunity to interject into the conversation. I couldn’t believe I’d blacked out something so important that could have protected me the next night.
“So I left, got a motel, and waited until I thought that you would be awake. I came to your house and chickened out. So I came back later in the day to see you and Cali heading somewhere. I followed y’all to the salon and saw Kyle walk in. I saw that he seemed aggravated with the receptionist, so I walked in after him. I overheard him threaten the girl to tell him where y’all were. And I took care of it.”
My mouth went dry and air caught in my throat. “Y-you followed us to our nail appointment?”
He nodded.
“So you beat him up in the parking lot or something?”
Walker shook his head. “I flew out of there before he could recognize me and called the cops since he was threatening that girl. I wanted to hurt him but I knew that I would get in more trouble if he decided to fight back, being a cop and all. I did mess with his car though. I tampered with the brakes. He ended up running out of the salon, attempting to drive away when he heard sirens. He got in a really gnarly car accident, hitting a light pole and bashing his face in pretty good. After seeing the shiner Cali is rocking, I wish I had done more to hurt him. But he’s in jail by now for sure.”
I rattled off a text to Cali about what Walker had just told me. I was shocked. Then I remembered the feelings I’d been getting in the restaurant with Kris.
“You were spying on me at dinner, weren’t you?”
His jaw churned as he stared at my fingers intertwining with his again after setting down my phone. “When that rat bastard grabbed your wrist, I saw red. I almost killed him right there, but you seemed to handle it and I didn’t want you to be mad at me. I guess hindsight really is twenty-twenty, ya know?”
I nodded. “Yup.” I gulped down the rest of my water, praying for some relief for my drying throat.
“Mags, I know everything is upside down right now, but do you think we’ll be able to at least be friends again?”
His words coupled with the pain in his eyes broke my heart. I pulled my lips together, leaning in so I was within an inch of Walker’s face. “I don’t want to be your friend.”
I slid my free hand from his chest up his shoulder to the back of his head, my breathing starting to quicken as I pressed my lips gently to his. They were perfect in their sweetness and softness that collided with an edgy, rugged feeling I’d never known lips could have.
Walker slowly moved his hands to my hips and pulled my body into his lap, never moving his lips from mine. I could feel his breath catch in his throat when my legs wrapped around his middle. My body was still a little sore, but my medication was swimming through my veins, dulling it enough that I was completely comfortable in my position and my body was craving to explore more.
I cupped both of Walker’s cheeks with my hands, pulling away just enough to look into his wide eyes for a moment. “I am really glad you’re here. You know that, right?”
He nodded and kissed me quickly. “I don’t know how I got this lucky.”
I frowned. “Walker, it’s not luck. I think it is fate. At this point, I have to believe that everything happens for a reason, for a greater purpose.”
A pain clashed in my heart. Those words were so bitter and sweet lingering on my tongue. I loved that I’d had Randy for the time that I’d had him and I was so thankful that I had Walker, but I knew that these circumstances were not the ones that I would have chosen. Then it hit me: maybe Walker was the one that I was supposed to have been with the whole time.
Walker’s lips trailing from my lips to the nape of my neck brought me back from my deep thoughts. I could feel the meds swirling into my brain a little bit more, and the warmth tingling through my body was starting from Walker’s lips and spreading like wildfire. Grabbing his face a little bit more roughly and more eagerly than I’d planned, I crushed my lips onto his, needing to taste him, feeling an overwhelming thirst that had to be quenched. Our lips parted, allowing my tongue to slide in and taste his sweet nectar that I had missed for only a few days, but that had been a lifetime to me. I moaned gently from the back of my throat into his mouth. Instantly, I could feel that his readiness and hunger matched mine as he pressed firmly into my thigh.
I slid off his lap, pulling my shirt over my head, panting as I watched him reveal his tattooed torso as he let his shirt join mine on the floor. Desire consumed his expression, his tongue gliding over his bottom lip while his thumb rubbed over the tattooed flesh on my hip.
“You’re gorgeous.”
Firmly his fingers dug into my hips, pulling me closer to him. Walker’s lips worked over mine magically as he undressed both of us. His body shoved up on mine, forcing me to lie down on my back as he climbed on top of me. He held almost all of his weight off my frame, just barely letting our skin touch as we continued to indulge in kisses on our lips, shoulders, necks, and jawlines.
“How are you feelin’, babe?”
Hearing Walker use that word sent chills of desire through my body. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not in pain?”
I shook my head as his eyes searched mine for a lie. “No, promise.”
He settled down on top of me a little, spreading my legs with his. The nip of pain from the added weight onto my sore ribs made me wince.
“I knew it!” Instantly, Walker moved our bodies and I was on my side, facing him. “Better?”
I nodded as I kissed his chest, trailing my fingers over the ridges of his abdominals to the sharp V-line that cut right down to his throbbing cock, which looked too delicious to not taste.
I slid down his body, placing cliché kisses while I scooted toward my destination. Walker gasped as I let my tongue trail from the tip all the way down to the base. I pushed his hip, forcing him to lie on his back so I could get a better angle. I licked and teased while his muscles flexed and trembled from my touch. His fingers laced in my hair, tightly fisting a handful of my messy locks.
I gripped the inside of his thighs and gently dug my nails into his tender flesh as I took his length all the way in until he was hitting the back of my throat. I started slowly bobbing my head, letting his tip gently dig deeper and deeper into my throat until he let out a deep, throaty growl of pleasure. I released him from my mouth, knowing he was right on the edge, but that was not where I wanted our night to end.
Walker’s hands settled on my shoulders before he pulled me up his body. I crawled on top of him until my eyes were locked on his. I let my fingers trail over his tattooed shoulders and arms while we just stared at each other for a moment.
With the backs of his fingers, Walker gently stroked my puffy, bruised cheek. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to you sooner.” His gruff, low drawl was filled with pain.
“You saved me. So many times. I shouldn’t have left you.”
He shook his head. “What’s done is done. We’re here now.” Walker forced a smile, quickly kissing my cheek and down my neck, slowly and tenderly.
My body ached for him, to feel him completely again, to love him again. Settling my hips right over him, just about to take him, Walker gripped my hips and stopped me.
“I don’t have a condom, babe.”
“I’m still on the pill,” I barely whispered it in his tear.
I felt the tip of Walker’s manhood grazing gently over my swollen lips as a smile spread across his face.
“All right.” His throat let out a low growl and he whisked me up into his arms and started bounding up the stairs. He kicked open
the door to my freshly cleaned room, which smelled like bleach and lavender.
He sat me down on the bed, kneeling in front of me.
“Mags, I love you. I always have and I always will. I promise to never keep anything from you again, and from this day forward, I will spend the rest of my life making up for every last fucked up thing that has happened up to you.”
“I love you too, and I know.” I smiled and winked at him, needing to lighten the mood a little. “God, you can be such a sappy girl sometimes!”
“Oh yeah?” He cocked his head to the side and let a half smile play on his stubble-ridden face. “Lie down on your stomach. I’ll show you how much of a man I am.”
I did as he asked. Walker gripped my hips, his thumbs digging into the tender flesh right above my ass. He forcefully pulled me to the edge of the bed, resting my knees on his shoulders. His hand firmly gripped my ass as the other slowly teased my wet folds. He growled, shoving two fingers hard into my wetness, thrusting and turning them to get into the perfect spot. Once my hips bucked from pleasure, he pulled his fingers from inside me and started to drag the tip of his tongue over my swollen nub. I cried out with pleasure as I gripped the blankets.
All of my soreness and pain melted away while my body was consumed in that moment. The pleasure and connection that encompassed my body were indescribable. My body ached for more as his able tongue plunged into my slick folds, shooting ecstasy into every nerve. My hips bucked as he got rougher, quicker, and he dug his fingers into my cheeks, pulling me closer to him.
“I want you so badly,” I groaned into the pillow.
Walker gripped my hips and pulled my body farther off the end of my bed. “Roll over, baby.”
I obeyed, and Walker pulled my hand, guiding my body to shift until I was lying on my back, looking right up at him. He slid himself over my lips as he grabbed my hair in his hand, pulling my head back.
“Suck, baby.” He thrust himself deep into my mouth until I gagged. Then he pulled out, repeating a few times as moans released from his throat. “God, Mags. So good.”
The Crashing Series Page 34