“How am I looking at you?” By the dark tone of his voice, I know he knows exactly how he’s looking at me.
I huff out a sigh and pull my gaze away from his. I’ll get lost in his green stare if I’m not careful. This wedding and all the excitement has left too much romance in the air. I look back over my shoulder in search of the newlyweds. They’re not too far behind us but it looks as if they’re a world away. For a moment, I forget about my teasing husband as I admire my sister—my other half. I’ve never seen her look so happy. Not ever. This is her moment; this weekend is her dream come true—this is who she was made to be.
I choke out a half-hearted laugh as my eyes fill with tears and I remember that they are the couple that taught me what young love was supposed to look like. Beckham and Addison and their love has always been something I’ve clung to—a hope that I needed. They’ve taught me so much. I never imagined that I would find my happily every after before them, but I wouldn’t have found mine without them. Now, my heart is so full of joy, knowing that everything they’ve been through has brought them here. Now. Their happily ever after.
As they slowly follow along behind us, completely wrapped up in each other, I feel an overwhelming sense of wholeness. I’m not me without my sister. I never have been. Now I’m not me without Grayson, either. I know my sister feels the same way about her man. They’re one now; and with the full heart that she now carries as Mrs. Beckham Willis, I know that this is us—bigger and better and happier than we’ve ever been.
God is so good. I can’t even begin to describe how grateful I am for these great blessings.
I draw in a deep breath as I look away from them. I try to blink away my unexpected tears, but one escapes.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Grayson asks as I quickly swipe my hand across my cheek.
“Nothing,” I reply, smiling up at him. “I’m just really happy. I’m really, really happy.”
He studies me for a moment. I can tell that he’s trying to decide whether or not I’m telling him the whole truth. When he decides that he’s satisfied with my answer, he leans down and presses a kiss against my lips. “Good. I’ll do my best to help keep you that way,” he says with a wink.
And just like that, I want him with an ache I can’t ignore. I’m sure I won’t taste a bite of my breakfast.
I don’t know where this day has gone.
This day? More like this week…
It seems like just yesterday Avery and I were boarding a plane to come home. Now, we’re just an hour and a half away from boarding another plane to head back to Chicago. While it’ll be nice not living out of a suitcase, I’ll miss our family.
Our family.
Growing up, I never really had a family. Just Patrick. I stopped calling him dad a long time ago. He hardly warranted the title. After Rhonda left, he cared more about his whiskey than he ever cared about me. All these years later, he’s still just a broken man with not an ounce of remorse for the way our lives turned out.
Well—his life. Not mine. I managed to get out. I managed to find my way to Colorado by working my ass off on a football field. My escape led me to Beckham; Beckham led me to Christ; and by His grace, I not only have the most amazing wife, but an entire family. I’ll never be able to put into words the way their love and acceptance makes me feel. I’m an outsider, adopted in as if I’ve been a part of them my whole life.
It’s true that my biological family is out there. Addie, Beckham, and Kenzi aren’t the only siblings I have. Rhonda gave birth to three more children that I’m not sure I’ll ever meet. She left me. My own mother. She never came to claim me and she can’t take that back. The fact that she started a whole new family instead…it still hurts to think about it. I may have forgiven her, forgiven both of my parents, but that doesn’t mean that I want them to be a part of my happiness now. They don’t belong here anymore than I belong in their worlds—choices they made years ago.
“Call us when you land, okay?” says Shannon, pulling me from my thoughts. “I don’t care what time it is, I want to hear from you.” She gives me a stern look as she reaches her hands up. We’re not due to land at O’Hare until two in the morning. Nevertheless, the look she’s giving me assures me I should not argue. I bend down so she can reach my face and she pulls me closer to kiss my cheek. “Love you.”
“Love you too, mom. I promise we’ll call.”
She lets go of me and turns her attention to Avery. Ray steps up with a smile and pulls me in for a hug. “You two be safe,” he instructs, giving me a pat on the back. “You take care of my baby girl.”
“Forever and always, dad.”
“Just what I like to hear.”
Like Shannon did a moment ago, he moves away from me to say farewell to Avery. “Bye, daddy,” she sighs, holding him tight. “Miss you already.”
“Oh, I miss you too, baby girl. We’ll see each other again soon. You take care of my boy, you hear?”
She giggles and the sound pulls my lips up into a smirk. “Forever and always, daddy. I promise.”
“Alright, honey. I suppose we should let them go.”
“Two goodbyes in one day. You guys are too tough on us,” teases Ray.
Right now, Beckham and Addie are on a plane, making their way to Nantucket for a quiet, cozy honeymoon.
“That’s what you get when you have twins! Double the trouble—but double the fun!” says Avery. “Haven’t you learned this already?”
“Doesn’t make it any easier. You’ll understand one day,” says Shannon with a hopeful smile.
I furrow my brow at the thought of Avery and I having twins. Twins skip a generation, don’t they? Dear Lord—I hope so. I can’t imagine having one kid right now, let alone two.
“Oh-kay, mother—you just go ahead and wipe that look off your face right now. Nobody’s getting pregnant. You’re going to have to wait,” Avery insists.
I reach for her hand and lace my fingers with hers, relaxing just hearing her speak those words. There’s no doubt that Avery and I want a family one day—a big one, we hope; but right now—we can’t seem to get enough of each other. Sharing one another is not something we’re ready for. We’re selfishly in love and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Yes, yes. Be young. I know,” Shannon concedes.
“Well, we’re going to go now. Love you guys!”
“We promise to call,” I announce over my shoulder. They wave and murmur their final goodbyes as we head for security.
By the time we make it to our gate, it’s almost ten o’clock and they’re just about ready to start boarding the plane. Looking around, it seems as though we won’t have too much company on our flight. Can’t say that I’m surprised. I would imagine that most people trying to get home for the work week would have made an earlier trip. Avery and I, on the other hand, wanted to be sure to squeeze in as much time in Colorado as we could get. I’ll be heading into work tomorrow with little to no sleep—and it’ll be totally worth it.
While we wait in the terminal, Avery makes herself comfortable against my side. She drapes my arm across her shoulders as she hooks her legs over mine. I don’t object. Not even a little.
“We took so many pictures this week. Facebook isn’t ready for us.”
“Let me see,” I chuckle, tilting her phone so that we both can look back on the whirlwind that was Beckham and Addie’s wedding affair. “You know, despite the couple hiccups we encountered, everything was kind of perfect.”
“Of course it was. It was them—they made it perfect.” She inhales deeply and blows out a contented sigh before looking up at me. “Remember when they broke up? Remember how you’d asked me to be your girlfriend the next day and I said no?”
I grin down at her in remembrance. “You said yes first. Then you said no.”
“Yeah,” she laughs softly, pressing into my side a little more. “But do you remember how I said no because Addie was so sad and there was a part of me that felt her sadness? Like there’s a string
that connects our hearts.”
“I remember,” I reply with a nod.
“That sadness pales in comparison to her current joy. I can feel it. It’s incredible. Yesterday was one of the best days of my life because it was the best day of hers.”
For a moment, I’m speechless. As I stare into her warm, brown eyes—vibrant and alight with life—all I can do is thank God for her. Avery Jade O’Conner. She’s got the most genuine heart, filled with more compassion, empathy, goodness, and love than anyone I’ve ever met. That heart…it belongs to me. It’s such an amazing truth that there’s no way I can take it for granted—take her for granted. The woman who promises to never leave me.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
I lean down and press a soft kiss against her lips. “I love you so much.”
She smiles and it makes me want to kiss her again. She cups her hand around my cheek when I do. “I love you so much, too.”
Since Sonny is a giant, we always make sure to get him an aisle seat. Usually, that leaves me squished in the middle. Tonight, however, because our flight is pretty light, the seat next to me remains empty. As people were boarding the plane, I thought it was too good to be true. I watched as one passenger after another filed past, wondering who would be the one to snag the coveted window seat. When they sealed the door shut and the seat beside me remained unoccupied, I felt as though I had suddenly gotten an upgrade!
Now, as we coast through the sky at thirty-thousand feet, I’ve got my legs stretched out across the empty space as I prop myself up against Sonny’s chest. I didn’t actually want the window seat, as it’s too dark to see anything. I’d rather be snuggled up with my man as I try and fail to sleep. I know that I need the rest. I might not have work tomorrow, like Sonny, but I’ll need to do laundry and go to the grocery store and…
A smile pulls at my lips as the list in my head runs on. My Wife To-Do list. Yes—even after almost a year, I’m still excited that such a thing exists in my life. Granted, it’s not nearly as fun as our other To-Do List but—
Now I giggle, covering up my mouth in an attempt to mute my outburst with my hand. Our flight has been a quiet one thus far and I certainly don’t wish to disturb the peace.
“What are you laughing at?” Grayson murmurs into my ear.
I twist around so that I can look up at him. “I thought you might have fallen asleep. I’m sorry.”
“I’m up,” he says with a shrug. “Can’t sleep. What’s funny?”
I feel my face flush and I try to shake away my embarrassment before I answer. “I was just thinking about our list,” I murmur. “I think I might have aspired to join the Mile High Club.” I laugh softly once more. “I must have been tipsy or something. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Wait—that’s on our list?” he asks, reaching into his pocket for his phone. As he powers it on, I study his face. It’s not lost on me that he doesn’t share my amusement. He switches the device into airplane mode and then pulls up our list. “Number twenty-seven,” he says with a grin. “Why, Mrs. O’Conner, I do believe we’ve got an assignment to fulfill.”
“What? No. No,” I insist, sitting up straight as I shake my head at him. “We’re not—no way.”
“Why not?” He looks around and my jaw drops in astonishment. “This is the perfect flight. The plane is just a little over half full. It’s the middle of the night, people are sleeping—”
“Grayson,” I cry in a harsh whisper, leaning in close to him. “We are not having sex in an airplane bathroom. They are small and disgusting. I can’t even—” For a second my mind fills with images of the two of us shoved into the tiny, smelly space. It’s one thing to do it in a public bathroom—which, I’ll admit, took a lot of coaxing on his part—but this? I shake the thought away before it’s fully developed. “No.”
“Come on, Ave…” He gently takes my hand and pulls it into his lap. My fingers graze the evidence of his longing and I become all too aware of my insides as they begin to betray me. Suddenly, my lungs feel like they’ve shrunk. “Now you’ve got me thinking about it,” he practically hums.
Fudgesickles. He’s trying to seduce me. He’s not playing fair. He knows how much I like to touch him. He knows how I love to feel the way I effect him. He knows! Now, I can’t seem to move my hand away from his erection. When I run my fingers along his length through his shorts, he blows a heavy sigh and brings his lips to my ear.
“Time to be brave, sweetheart. Time to be adventurous. I’m with you every step of the way.”
Snickerdoodles.
The promise of an orgasm, right here, right now, ignites a hunger in the pit of my stomach that only Grayson can satisfy. The desire that pools between my legs is distracting. The voice in my head, the one that’s supposed to remind me that I’m not thrilled by the prospect of dropping my panties in a germ infested closet, is growing weaker and weaker the farther his hand travels up my short leg.
The truth is, I hate telling him no. For the first year of our relationship, the answer was always no. Our decision to wait was a mutual one; nevertheless, my conviction was always stronger than his. When he couldn’t find the will to stop, I found enough for the both of us. Now—I’m his. My body belongs to him just as his belongs to me.
“I’m going to go back there, Avery. I’ll wait for you. If you don’t join me in five minutes, I guess we’ll have to cross this off our list another day.”
Before I can say a word, he’s pulling away from me. He unbuckles his seatbelt and stands to make his way down the aisle, not bothering to look back at me. I pull the inside of my cheek between my teeth as I watch him go. He’s never made me feel uncomfortable. Sure, we’ve had our awkward moments in bed, but those are always forgotten with a laugh. Other than that, our intimacy is fueled by both love and a daring challenge to be more than ordinary with one another. Our To-Do List is about more than wild, sometimes scandalous, sexual ideas. It’s about trust. It’s about commitment. It’s about pleasure. It’s about us. He would never push me outside of my comfort zone.
If I didn’t get out of my seat, if I didn’t make my way to the back of the plane, if I didn’t knock on that closed door and join him, he’d come back to his seat and kiss me and that would be the end of it. But my racing heart and my shallow breaths give me away. He knows I’ve never felt as safe as I do when I’m in his arms. He knows how much I crave him. He knows already that I won’t say no.
I take a deep breath and nod my head, the act meant to reassure me that I won’t regret this. As I make my way down the aisle, my eyes scan over the seats filled with people. Some are sleeping while a few are lost in their electronic devices. It’s so quiet, aside from the noise stirred up by the air circulating the cabin. I wonder if I’m the only one who can hear the thunderous sound of my beating heart.
There’s a curtain just beyond the two bathrooms at the rear of the plane. I can hear the flight attendants talking in hushed whispers. I can’t make out what they’re saying, but I really don’t care. All I’m concerned about is getting into the bathroom before one of them comes out and questions why I’m tapping on the door of a stall that is clearly marked as occupied.
I’m so anxious, my eyes darting from the door to the curtain until Sonny opens up and tugs me inside. In an instant, the door is shut and locked and, for the second time today, I’m lifted up onto the counter. Of course, the counter I occupied this morning was a lot more spacious. I’m surprised to feel something soft on the underside of my bare legs. I look down and see that the sink has been covered in a thin, navy blue blanket.
“I swiped it from one of the empty seats,” Sonny says with a smirk, his hands reaching up my dress to remove my panties.
My heart melts as I wiggle in an attempt to assist him.
He’s never made me feel uncomfortable. Always the opposite—always looking out for me. My thoughtful lover.
We manage to get my underwear to my knees before our lack of space becomes glaringly
obvious. He chuckles as I let the garment slink to my ankles and then shake one foot free before lifting the other. He yanks away the material before shoving it into his pocket.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” I whisper, reaching to unfasten his shorts.
“Oh, no?” As he speaks, his fingers seek out my heat. My eyes shoot up to find his as I stifle my whimper. “Your body says otherwise. You’re already wet for me, sweetheart.”
When he pushes a finger inside of me, I groan as my hand wraps around his cock. He’s not wrong. I’m so turned on right now—my thoughts suddenly zeroed in on him. Only him.
“You ready to join the Mile High Club, Shorty?”
“Will they hear us?” The stray thought enters my head as he lowers his face closer to mine. He traces his tongue along my bottom lip before pulling it between his teeth. Instinctively, my fingers squeeze and he jerks his hips forward with a grunt.
“Maybe,” he mutters. “If we can’t keep quiet.”
“Sonny—”
“Don’t think,” he instructs, taking hold of my wrist as he helps me guide himself to my entrance. “Just feel.”
As I’m enveloped by her slick, hot core, I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her against me. “Ave—damn, you feel so good. Always. You always feel so good.”
She doesn’t have enough room to wrap her legs around me, but I can tell she wants to. Instead, she squeezes her knees at my sides as she clutches my shirt into her fists. I can’t help but smirk at her as I rock my hips with hers. I knew she’d come. My naughty sweetheart. Her wanton desires have a tendency to make her brave.
“Sonny,” she pants, her eyes hazy with lust. “More—I need—” She tries to pull me even closer. “More. Please.”
“Put your feet against the wall,” I instruct her. She does as I say, wrapping her arms around my neck as I increase the pace and force behind each thrust.
The O'Conners: A Made for Love Novella Page 3