The day flies by and by the end of it, I’m sad to leave him. Every time we part I worry that I’ll never see him again, which in itself is insane since I just found him. I already don’t want to lose him.
I drive us back to my place and he leaves quickly. He seemed tired and now I feel bad for keeping him out all day.
The rest of the weekend passes in a blur; between grocery shopping and laundry, I feel like I don’t have a minute to myself. Next thing I know, Monday rolls around and I’m back in the classroom with the monkeys I call my students.
Monday comes and goes, followed by Tuesday, and then it’s Friday once more. Why did no one ever tell us that time moves faster as an adult? As a kid, every day in school felt like a million years and the summers passed in a blink. Now I wish time would slow down.
“Ms. Hart, can I speak with you?” I have all of my bags on my shoulder, I was ready to leave for the day when Principal Powell pulls me into her office.
“What can I do for you, Mrs. Powell?” I have to play nice since I need her to take care of her son for me.
“Since your bake sale competing with Wilmington was a major success, we were considering doing another competition to raise money. This time for the prom.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
“Great, so you’ll help orchestrate it.” My natural instinct is to groan at the extra work, but I could use this opportunity to my advantage. This could be my way back in with Lucas, to reach him without seeming scared, pathetic, and lame.
“I’m in. Do you have any ideas?”
It’s the end of January, we can’t exactly hold a car wash in this weather.
“We’re going to focus on Valentine’s Day. Every year the students do those matchmaker cards and send their crushes flowers. This year we’re also going to incorporate a school-wide scavenger hunt for the faculty. The two schools will receive the same clues and will lead to one final prize.”
Yes, this is going to work out perfectly. As long as Lucas can wait a few more weeks, I’ll make a grand romantic gesture and I’ll give him a second shot. We just have to make it to Valentine’s Day.
Twenty-Nine
Olivia
“Olivia, have you prepared the flyers yet for soccer tryouts?” Mike asks.
Shit. I forgot about that.
“Yep, just need to print them out.” Bullshit. At least he doesn’t call me out on the lie.
“I heard Lucas already has a head start on tryouts. He’s starting early.” Mike wiggles his brows as if he’s rooting for Wilmington to win.
“You’ve, uh, talked to him?” I’m so pathetic.
“Maybe. What’s it to ya?” He scrutinizes me but I ignore him. Mike is really getting on my last nerve. I use the remainder of my free period to whip up some soccer flyers since tryouts are starting in a couple of weeks. On top of that, next weekend is the scavenger hunt and I still need to concoct my big plan on getting Lucas back.
I feel him slipping away with each day that passes and I can only blame myself for that fact. Kenna told me he’s waiting for me to make the move, to open up to him if that’s what I want. I hope I’m not pushing my limits in making him wait too long.
I post the soccer fliers on the bulletin boards throughout the school which makes me late leaving once again. On the plus side, the time alone allowed me to concoct my plan. It isn’t exactly foolproof but it’s the best I’ve got.
It’s after six by the time I’m walking to my car. As I pass the gym before pushing open the outside doors to leave, I hear a strangled cry. The hair on the back of my neck stands up as I go to investigate.
I walk on my tiptoes, careful not to let my heels clack against the hallway floor. Carefully, I peer into the gym through the closed doors. On the left side against the wall, a boy has a bloody nose and is being held by the shoulders while three guys harass him.
“What the hell is going on here?” I’m not supposed to swear in front of the students, but nothing else will do the moment justice. “Why are you three still here this late?”
My eyes flit between the poor bloody boy I don’t know and the three bullies. The one in the center has a curled fist as he turns to face me, a smirk on his face.
“I was waiting for my mom to drive us home.” Caden Powell and his lackeys have taken things way too far.
Before I say or do anything else, I snap a picture of the scene, making sure to get Caden’s face in the frame. I refuse to let this incident get swept under the rug.
“Miss. Hart, what is happening here?” I turn on my heel to see Principal Powell walk through the doors.
“Your son and his delinquent friends are harassing this poor boy.” I turn back to the kid with a bloody nose. “I’m sorry, what is your name? I want to call your parents.”
“That’s not really your place, Miss. Hart.”
“I’ve heard the rumors. I know things have gotten pushed aside in the past and other teachers have a blind eye where your son is concerned. I refused to fall into line with that and now I have proof. Something needs to change.” I swear I hear her mutter something under her breath about him getting caught with witnesses, but I don’t push her.
My breathing is heavy and my heart is racing as I wait to see if she fires me or punishes her son. She rubs at her forehead, her face pinched.
“Caden, I can’t protect you with this one. You really disappointed me. “Theo,” she motions to the boy whose nose has dripped onto his striped shirt. “Call your parents. I’ll tell them everything myself. Olivia, if you’d like to wait around I’d understand.” I nod, fully intent to wait and see how this plays out.
“I hate to push my luck here, but I really need to ask. How are you planning on handling this situation?” Marcia Powell grits her teeth and stares at me. I see where her son gets his pleasant personality.
“I’m going to expel him.”
“Mom—”
“I don’t want to hear another word out of you. Sit on the bleachers while we wait for Theo’s parents to get here.”
I take Theo to the nurse’s office to get cleaned up. As I walk away I hear Caden complaining, but his mom tells him he’ll get him transferred to Wilmington.
I laugh under my breath. Lucas doesn’t know what’s coming. Speaking of Lucas…
“Kenna, I need your help,” I tell her, the minute I shut the door to our place.
“Sure, but it’ll cost you.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. I just always wanted to say that. What’s up?” I laugh at my best friend.
“I’m ready to get back with Lucas and I have a plan, but I need your help.” She waits for me to continue. “This scavenger hunt the schools are holding is the key. The final clue is supposed to lead us to the prize, but I have a better idea. I need you to change the clue and make sure Lucas gets it.”
“How the hell am I supposed to do that?”
“Wait, let me think…” The plan alters itself in my mind. This is supposed to be a team building activity. We’re working together to destroy the other school, but no matter what, we’ll all end up in the same location at the end. It’s just a matter of who gets there first.
“Okay, better plan. I need you to be at the final location. Lucas will get one final clue, which I’ll give you, and when my team races to the finish line, I’ll peel off and make my grand gesture. But I need you to deliver the clue to Lucas. Can you do that for me?”
“Why not ask one of your coworkers?”
“I can’t trust them. Come on, we’re pretty much identical. Just throw on a pair of sunglasses or a hat and they won’t even notice the difference. I’ll text you the final location and we can switch off before I get there. Please, Kenna.” I brace my hands together in front of me like a prayer and I see her cracking before me.
“Fine. I’m in.”
The day of the scavenger hunt, I’m a bundle of nerves. I need the plan to go down without a hitch.
Whoever made these clues surely could�
�ve made them harder to crack, but I’m not one to complain. I just want today to be over with and for Lucas and me to get back together.
If he’ll have me, that is.
As soon as we enter the library where the final clue is located, I snatch the card from Mike’s hand. I read over it in a blur and it only takes about thirty seconds for us to figure out what the final location is. In that moment, I shoot off a text to my best friend and pray we can pull this off.
Olivia: the Cape Fear Country Club. That’s the final location. Go! Thanks love ya!
I send off the message and lay low. Mike, of course, spots me.
“What are you doing? We have to go! The entire team has to be there to win.” He’s scolding me and I’m ready for him to blow the ever-present whistle he has around his neck to motivate me.
“I’m right behind you. I’ll take my car and meet you there.” He jogs down the hall and I hop in my car, but not to head to the country club.
Instead, I make my way to the marina.
I don’t know which school won, though I assume the prize is the location of where the winners will host the school’s prom. Why else would we get sent to a country club?
I walk down the dock and stand in front of Seas the Day. I pace as I wait for Luke to show up, assuming he will. As five minutes pass I grow antsy. It takes seven and a half minutes to get from the country club to the marina. He should be here any minute now.
Finally, I lose my patience and climb the boat. I pace the deck, unsure of what to do now. I should’ve brought something with me to occupy my hands like flowers or chocolates or a bottle of champagne.
I lean over the railing, looking at the dark water below. I don’t even hear the footsteps approaching behind me until a voice I recognize rings loud in the air.
“Go to the place of our first date, where you took me when you were someone I could hate. There you’ll find me waiting for you, I’m your Cinderella, just without the missing shoe.” I spin as I hear the riddle being read back to me. “It’s cute. Maybe a little childish, but it got the job done.”
“Luke, I’m sorry.”
“For what? You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”
“I know…but it felt like the right thing to say.”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “Olivia, I’m sorry. When McKenna told me what happened, that you heard the call at the cabin, my heart sunk. I knew something was wrong that day, but I let you slip away anyway. I should’ve made you tell me or I shouldn’t have answered the call…no, it’s more than that. I should’ve never made the stupid bet to begin with.” I walk toward him as he makes his speech until our feet touch. “You’re not a pawn in a game, unless we’re playing chess and you’re the Queen.”
“Wow, talk about cheesy. But hey, it got the job done.” I lean up on my tiptoes and kiss him. We stand there, on the boat that Lucas stole for me on our first date, and we kiss. This time I pray I don’t throw up.
My hands tug on his hair, pulling his face down and hold him to me as I trail my hands over his scars. I love this man, every part of him, whole and broken.
“I love you,” I tell him after we part.
“You know, I kind of figured that out since you’re trespassing on a boat.”
“I’m about to do a whole lot more than trespass.”
“What’d you have in mind? Taking it for a spin?” His eyes light up with mischief and a sexy, sinful smile pulls at his lips.
“No, that’s your territory.” I take his hand and lead him down the steps of the ship to where there’s a bedroom. “I’m going to seas the day.”
“You’re so corny.” He kisses my neck and I can already feel him growing in his pants.
“You won’t be saying that when I screw you on a stolen houseboat.”
Thirty
Olivia
“Aren’t you afraid someone will catch us? Or the owners will show up and press charges for us fucking in their bed.”
God, I love his dirty mouth. Lucas is airing out all of my concerns, but I’m pushing them to the side.
“I guess I learned to be a little more fearless after all.”
“Or you’re just too horny to wait.”
He’s not wrong.
I remove my shirt in a flash. I’m fully ready to sleep with him on this stranger’s boat, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be a long drawn out event. Baby steps and all.
I kick off my pants next and I’m in my underwear while he’s still wearing his clothes. My hands reach for his belt to undo the buckle. I push them over his hips and he stands before me in navy blue boxer briefs. His cock strains against the fabric, the bulge making my mouth water and a flood cascades into my panties.
I push his shirt up to expose his ridiculous body. His muscles flex as my nails drag over every hard contour. His abs are like speed bumps to my fingers, forcing me to slow down so I don’t rush this moment. Still, I have my eye on the prize and the delicious V in his lower abdomen is telling me where to go.
I fall to my knees and the simple act has Lucas inhaling a sharp breath. Without wasting any time, I hook my fingers under the waistband and allow his cock to spring free. It bobs up, slapping at his lower stomach with the force.
“Wait, let me see you.” Lucas leans down and with the flick of his wrist, he unclasps my bra. “Take off your panties first. I want you to touch yourself while you suck me off.” His words are almost enough to have me on the brink of an orgasm. Who knew dirty talk could be so hot?
My bra is tossed to the side along with my matching underwear. My nipples are peaks. They beg for attention and he holds one heavy breast in his palm. He twists a nipple between his fingers and my back arches at the pleasurable pain. My pussy, in turn, throbs for him, but my mouth wants his cock just as much.
I take one hand and wrap it around his hard length. I drag it up to the tip slowly and back down again which elicits a hungry moan from the back of Luke’s throat.
I lick my lips before swallowing the head of his dick between them. The rigid head produces a salty pre-cum which I lick up in an instant. With an open throat, I take him further into my mouth until I meet my hand at the base of his length.
“Holy shit, Kitten,” he moans and hearing my nickname again from his lips does unthinkable things to me.
I trail my left hand up my thigh slowly, teasing myself, using my nails to tickle my own sensitive flesh. I work my way up, higher until I hit the apex of my thighs. Using my index finger, I find my hole and gather the wetness, spreading it up to my clit.
I part the lips of my pussy with two fingers before pushing them inside and moaning around Luke’s cock.
“Fuck, Liv, that felt—holy shit.” I look up from under my lashes. Lucas is staring down at me, his head slightly to one side as he watches my fingers pump in and out of me.
His dick grows harder, thicker somehow in my mouth and I choke on the head at the back of my throat. He takes a step back and he falls out of my mouth. My fingers continue their torture inside me, taking me closer to my own orgasm.
“Come for me, baby. Let me see you come, just like that.” Lucas sits on the edge of the bed. He strokes his cock up and down, his grip punishing as he watches me get myself off.
I slide my fingers out and spread my legs to give him a better view. I use the same two fingers to find my clit, rubbing in circles on the sensitive bud. The pressure is mounting. My legs begin to quake. My breathing is shallow.
Just like the waves against the boat, I crash hard, my orgasm coursing through me like a tsunami. I cry out, the pleasure too much to bear. My head is thrown back in ecstasy and as I ride out the aftershocks, I don’t notice Lucas crouching beside me.
My limbs are loose and though I had fallen back from my knees onto my ankles, he manages to scoop me up. He places me on the bed and I’m spread eagle for him. His erection is purple and there’s more pre-cum on the tip.
“I can’t wait to get inside you, Kitten, but there’s something I need to do first.
” He leans down and I try to stop him. He can’t…it’s too much, and yet he does.
He devours me. His tongue works in ways I never thought possible. His lips suction around my clit and my cries could probably be heard around the world. I thrash under him, tears escape the corner of my eyes, and yet once more, the pressure is building.
We could be here for minutes, hours, days, but I can’t tell. I’ve lost all sense of time and space when Luke’s mouth is on my pussy. His tongue fucks me the way I want his cock to and swirls around my clit with the perfect amount of pressure.
“Don’t stop,” I pant. The sheets are bunched in my fist and my eyes are closed so tight it’s painful.
When I fall, it’s full of bliss and chaos wrapped into one which is the perfect metaphor for my relationship with Lucas. His name is a prayer on my lips, which is probably blasphemous to say, but I’m too high on my orgasm to care.
He kisses his way up from my mound to my navel, dipping his tongue in and licking his way up to my sternum. He sucks on my neck, likely leaving a hickey in his wake.
When he finally reaches my mouth, he kisses me with a passion unrivaled. Our languid kiss is the opposite of the frenetic hunger we just displayed. And we’re not even done yet.
His cock pushes at my entrance, slipping up and hitting my ultra-sensitive clit. I gasp and he smirks, proud of himself.
I reach my hand down, positioning him exactly where I want him to be. The head slides inside of me, the feel of his bare cock nearly enough to have me trembling.
“Kitten, I don’t have a condom.”
“I’m on the pill. I’m clean. I just want to feel you.”
“Are you sure? You know I wouldn’t put you at risk. I’m clean too.”
“It didn’t even cross my mind. Please, Luke, I need this. I need you.”
Inch by torturous inch, he pushes into me. I gasp at the fullness and at the sensation of our bare parts meeting. It’s delectable and heady. He’s frozen inside me and it’s a delicious form of agony.
Fearless (A Carolina Coastal Novel Book 2) Page 14