Where I Belong (Alabama Summer)

by Daniels, J.

  “I’m persistent.”

  I look up at the door, imagining him standing on the other side. “What?”

  The sound of a throat clearing comes before he speaks. “I’m a persistent guy. If you ask me to leave, I’ll leave, but that’s not going to stop me from trying to be around you.”

  Neither of us speaks for what feels like hours. I don’t want to like the idea of being pursued by Ben. My brain wants to hit him with some sort of stalker charge while my vagina wants to put him on lock down for the summer.

  “So do you want me to leave?” he asks, and I can hear the anxiety in his voice. As if he already knows the answer to his question but is praying to be way off by some miracle.

  “Yes,” I quickly reply without any indecision. I know if I allow myself time to think it over, my desire for a Ben style orgasm will overpower any and all rational thought.

  He doesn’t say anything else before the sound of his footsteps fade in the distance. After I hear the sliding glass door close, I fall back onto my bed. Tessa had assured me that I wouldn’t have to see much of her brother when I planned this trip, but that guarantee seems to be a distant memory now. I could be waking up every morning to the smell of Ben cooking breakfast if he decided to show me just how persistent he could be. I’m afraid to admit that a part of me doesn’t hate the possibility of that type of wake up call.

  And it has nothing to do with the bacon.

  Chapter Five

  Ben

  I’ve never jerked off this much in my life. If my dick doesn’t fall off soon due to the rough treatment it’s been getting, I’ll be shocked. I can’t get her out of my head. Her lips. Her ass. Her fucking breasts. Every time I think I’m making progress, an image pops into my head or the memory of her noises fill my ears. Those fucking noises she made when I was inside her. When I licked her pussy. When I pulled her hair. I need to hear them again and I need to hear them soon. But she wants nothing to do with me. She hates me, and I can’t say I blame her. I was a complete shit to her when we were younger. I made fun of her a lot. All the time, actually. But all guys are dickheads at that age. She has to know that. I’m not that same guy anymore, and she’s definitely not that same girl.

  And we fucking shared something, God damn it. She had to have felt it.

  I had to see her yesterday, if only for a few minutes. I couldn’t sleep anyway so I figured I’d make us both some breakfast. Mia used to eat breakfast with us all the time so I knew what she liked. I thought I could at least enjoy her company for an hour while she sat and ate next to me, but no. Apparently I was a bigger asshole to her than I remembered. The thought of her starving herself over some dumbass comment I made infuriated me. She is holding on to a deeper hatred toward me than I realized. But her pushing me away isn’t going to stop me. I’m drawn to her, and not just because I want to be buried deep inside her at all times. It feels right being around her. Just fucking right. I want her. All of her. And I can be one relentless bastard when it comes to getting what I want. At least now she is aware of that.

  My phone beeps on my nightstand and I grab it with my free hand, taking the other off my dick. It’s a good thing, actually. I’m about to rub myself raw if I don’t get a fucking grip. Other than the one I’ve had for the last hour.

  Luke: Everyone’s going down to Rocky Point today. You in?

  Luke is my best friend and has been since we met in the Academy. I’d usually be all for going to Rocky Point for the day with him. But I’m exhausted from another sleepless night of sexual activity, this time self-inflicted.

  Me: Pass. I’m fucking exhausted.

  Luke: Are you sure? I hear there’s some hot piece of ass staying with your sister and they’ll both be there. You know anything about that?

  Fuck sleep.

  Me: I’ll meet you there. And don’t call her that again.

  Well, my mind is made up now. It really didn’t take much persuasion on Luke’s part. Or any at all. Where Mia goes, I’m going. I hop out of bed and begin rummaging through my drawers for my swim trunks. I don’t care that she most likely won’t want me there. I am fucking going.

  My phone beeps again as I’m walking out the door to my truck.

  Tessa: I must be delusional for giving you this information, or maybe I just have a soft spot for my big brother. We’re headed to Rocky Point today, and I think you should be there. I don’t think she’ll hate you forever, Ben. But if you make her cry, I’ll feed your dick to the gators.

  Me: I’m already on my way. Don’t tell her I’m coming.

  Tessa: Do you think I have a death wish?

  She can’t hate me forever. I’ll spend the rest of my life proving myself to her if I have to. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I’ve done things that I regret. But what Mia and I shared two nights ago wasn’t one of them. I just need to somehow make her see that for herself.

  **

  I didn’t see Tessa or Mia’s car when I parked in the grass at Rocky Point. And I was happy about that. I wanted to beat them here, that way Mia didn’t get to do anything without me. Even though I probably didn’t deserve it, I wanted all of her time. I was a greedy bastard when it came to her and I wasn’t ashamed of it. I wanted everything. Every smile, every orgasm, every fucking noise that came out of that pretty mouth. And I’d need as much time as she’d give me if I was going to make up for being such a shit to her when we were younger. She wasn’t going to let go of all the hate she had stored up for me easily. That hate ran deep.

  Luke is seated at a picnic table with Reed, a friend of Tessa’s. I walk over to them, throwing my stuff down on the bench and keeping my eyes out for a familiar vehicle.

  “Why do you have two towels, man?” Luke asks as he searches through my stuff. “Oh wait, does this have anything to do with that hot piece of ass?”

  I pick up my towels and move them out of his reach. “What the fuck did I say about calling her that? Her name’s Mia, and that’s what you’ll call her. Nothing else. Got it?”

  He holds his hand up, leaning away from me. “Sorry. Jesus.”

  I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. I need to calm the hell down. I’ve never felt this anxious about seeing someone before. And for fuck’s sake, I just saw her yesterday. I scan the line of cars that head down the dirt path. No sign of them yet.

  “This is the girl that used to live here, right?” Reed asks, moving to stand off the bench.

  “Yeah,” I reply, not prying my eyes from the vehicles. “She moved to Georgia a while back and is here for the summer.” I still can’t believe it myself. This is the same girl that used to have sleepovers every weekend at my house with Tessa. I’d fucking kill for a sleepover with her now. A red jeep comes up over the small hill, and I suddenly find it difficult to take in a deep breath. “I’ll be right back,” I choke out with a shaky voice. Get it the fuck together, Kelly.

  “Fuck that. I’m coming with you,” Luke states, getting to his feet.

  We both walk toward the jeep as it pulls in between two other cars. As soon as Mia locks on to me through the windshield, her jaw drops open and those chocolate brown eyes widen. I can see her hands tightening on the wheel as she leans over, saying something to Tessa with a tight jaw.

  “She looks thrilled to see you.” Luke laughs before walking over to Tessa’s door.

  I ignore him and the look Mia is giving me and open her door for her. “Hey. I’m really glad you came.” I feel calmer now but my heart is still beating like I’ve just taken a shot of adrenaline. She is in a tank top, her bikini straps poking out, and tiny white shorts barely cover those legs that I want to be buried between. I pry my eyes off her lap to give her a smile.

  “Someone failed to mention that you’d be here.” She ignores the hand I hold out for her and steps out of her jeep, pulling the seat back to get her bag. I close the door and move to walk next to her.

  “I warned you of my persistence. This just proves that I’m a man of my word. If I find out you’re going to be so
mewhere, there’s a pretty damn good possibility that I’m going to show up.” She tries to ignore my comment, but I don’t miss the way her cheeks flush at my vow. That has to mean something. Her mind and its memories of the guy I used to be might hate me, but her body doesn’t seem to. I take the duffle bag off her shoulder without a fight, slipping it on my arm. “I brought you a towel in case you needed one.”

  She stops in her tracks, causing me to double back. “I don’t need you to do things for me, Ben. I don’t need you bringing me towels and carrying my bags.” She reaches for her bag but I step back. Fuck that. I’m carrying her bag. “Fine. Whatever. But just know that this nice act doesn’t wipe out all the shitty things you’ve done to me.” She steps closer, brushing her body against mine. I freeze, completely unprepared for this type of contact from her. She tilts her head up and looks into my eyes while I use every ounce of strength in me to keep myself from getting hard. “That shit is still very raw. And no amount of bag carrying is going to make me forget it.” I watch her ass as she walks away, realizing now that I’m going to need to step up my game to knock down the walls she’s building up around her. Which is fine. I’m all for a challenge. Especially one where getting close to Mia is the reward.

  By the time I reach the rest of the group, Mia is talking to Reed while Luke and Tessa dive into the dam. I place her bag on the bench, bunching up the beach towel I brought for her and stuffing it into her duffle. I walk up to the two of them, drifting in on their conversation and not giving a shit if I’m interrupting anything.

  “You wanna get in the water with me, Mia?” I ask, pulling off my T-shirt and tossing it onto the bench. I don’t miss the way her eyes run down my body, and mine do the same to hers once she pulls off her top and slides down her shorts. Christ, she is breathtaking. Her long dark hair and the way it frames the delicate features of her face. That face that I can’t get out of my head. Deep brown eyes and full lips that’ll form a knock you on your ass smile if you’re lucky to see it. The curve of her breasts. Her tiny waist that leads to those hips that sway with each step she takes. Her perky ass and those never ending toned legs that I want wrapped around me at all times. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful before.

  She glances from Reed to me, not taking nearly as long to look at Reed as he shrugs off his shirt. “I want to get in the water,” she replies curtly. She leaves off the ‘with me’ part, but that’s fine. I watch as she dives into the dam and I don’t take long to jump in after her.

  The water is warm as it always is, but too cloudy for me to see her swimming ahead of me. Luke and Tessa have climbed up onto one of the floating piers and are talking closely, but Mia doesn’t seem to be headed for the pier. She’s headed for the cliffs. I know for a fact that she was always too scared to jump off of them when she was younger. I did it a lot, and it scared the shit out of me every time. It was high, really high, and I wasn’t about to let her do it alone.

  I swim faster, pushing myself to get up next to her, and within a few strokes I succeed. We both reach the rock ledge at the same time, and she looks at me once she wipes her eyes. I smile at her and I swear I see the slightest twitch in those perfect lips of hers, but I can’t be sure. She struggles to pull herself up onto the rock, slipping every time and falling back into the water. My girl needs my help and I’m going to give it to her.

  I quickly climb up onto the rock, staring down at her and offering my hands. “Come on, pretty girl. Let me help you up.”

  “I don’t need your help.” She continues struggling, each attempt making her more exhausted. “There should be a freaking ladder here or something,” she scoffs under her breath and I have to resist the smile that’s tugging at my mouth.

  “Do you want to jump off the cliffs or not?” She looks up at me and shrugs once. “Give me your hands. I promise I won’t bite.” I smirk at her and she catches it, rolling her eyes. “Unless you want me to.”

  “Funny.” She grabs my one hand and I motion for her to grab my other. She does, but not before giving me an annoyed look, and I easily lift her out of the water and stand her up next to me. “Thank you.” Her hands leave mine instantly and she looks up into my eyes. And fuck, I want to kiss her, right here. And I would if I didn’t think she’d cut my nuts off if I tried.

  “You’re welcome.” I place my hand on her lower back, moving her toward the rocks ahead. We have a ways to climb to get to the top and she will definitely be making that trek in front of me. “Go on. I’ll be right behind you.”

  “Try not to stare at my ass too much.”

  Damn. Is she flirting with me? I catch the smile she is trying to hide from me and I decide to give her one better. “Oh, I don’t need to stare, baby. I memorized every inch of your body the other night.”

  She flicks her head back and spots my grin, her hands braced on the rocks above her. “Where’s my birthmark?” she asks, challenging me. There’s zero playfulness to her tone. She’s testing my knowledge of her body and by the look on her face right now, she thinks she’s got me beat. But I fucking own that body and know it better than she does.

  “On the inside of your right thigh. It sort of looks like a peanut.”

  She opens her mouth to speak but closes it before turning back around. “Lucky guess.”

  I laugh and nudge her with a hand on her calf. She begins to move faster. “Luck has nothing to do with it. Fate, maybe. Putting us both in that bar the other night was more than some coincidence. But knowing that you like to watch me eat your pussy or that you have to be digging your nails into something when you’re coming has absolutely nothing to do with luck.” She glances over her shoulder at me with a staggered look. “I pay attention to every little thing about you.”

  She doesn’t linger on my face, nor does she give me a response. But I think I may have impressed her. Maybe. Mia’s difficult to read lately. She’s definitely not sending me clear signals like she did the other night at the bar. She turns her attention back to the rocks above her and makes her way up the side of the cliff. I’m close behind her, keeping an eye on her footing in case she slips and I have to catch her.

  We make it to the top and she moves to the edge, apprehensively glancing down. “Holy shit.” Her wide eyes blink rapidly and she turns them on me. “This is really high. It didn’t look that high from down there.”

  I stand beside her, brushing my hand against hers. “It is high. I do this all the time and I still get nervous up here.” I run my finger down her arm, feeling her skin tingle against mine. She seems completely unaffected by it and keeps her focus on the water. How can she ignore that? How can she pretend her body doesn’t respond to my touch? “Want me to jump with you? It isn’t so scary if you do it with someone.” I try to grab her hand but she pulls it away from me.

  “Jump, you pussies!” Tessa yells, standing on the pier and waving at us. Reed and Luke are watching in amusement and Mia laughs next to me. And it is fucking beautiful. I’d give anything to hear that laugh every day for the rest of my life.

  “I love that sound,” I say, completely unashamed of my infatuation.

  She looks at me with confusion. “What sound?”

  “Your laugh. Your voice. Hell, all your sounds.” Her lips part slightly, and a shaky hand comes up and tucks some hair behind her ear. “I can’t get them out of my head.”

  She purses her lips, dropping her gaze to the water. “Stop it, Ben.” Her voice is an intense plea, like she can’t possibly handle another word coming out of my mouth. Which is too fucking bad because I have a lot to say right now.

  “Stop what?” I bridge the gap between us and grab her hips with such blunt force my fingertips ache. I know she likes it like that so I don’t let her stunned look slow me down. She gasps softly as I turn her toward me. Her body is tense, fearful even, but she doesn’t try and get out of my grasp. I hold her gaze, daring her to look away from me as I continue. “Stop telling you that I want you? Stop telling you that I’ve been going mad since you walked ou
t of my bedroom?” I reach up and brush my thumb across her bottom lip, wanting more than anything for her to pull me into her mouth like she did the other night. I need some part of me inside her. She allows me to touch her without giving me an inch. I move closer, pulling our bodies together so that they’re perfectly aligned. “Stop telling you that you’re so incredibly beautiful, I’m having trouble remembering my own name when you’re around me?”

  She shoves against my chest, hard, causing me to stumble back a bit. “Stop it! You can’t say things like that, Ben. Do you know what that does to me?”

  “I know what being around you does to me.” I grab her hand and place it against my chest, my other hand reclaiming its spot on her hip. Her eyes dart from my face to where her hand is and I see her eyes react to the effect she has on me. “Do you feel that? That’s what you do to me. Every fucking time I’m near you.” I can hear her heavy breathing while her eyes stay glued to her hand. I don’t say anything else. I just let her feel it. You own this part of me. Take it. The magnitude behind that admission doesn’t faze me. I don’t care how crazy it seems to be this obsessed with someone after one night together. I’ve never felt like this.

  She seems hesitant but she stays right there with me, her breathing filling my ears and her fingers moving against my skin. Tentatively. Just the lightest brush of her fingertips but I swear to Christ she leaves burn marks on my chest. Scorching me. Branding me with her imprint. And then I see it, the very moment a memory of our past washes over her. Breaking our connection. She blinks several times, her face falling before yanking her hand away from me as if I’m the one burning her. She looks quickly from my worried face to the water and without a second glance at me, she jumps.