Pieces of You

by Kate Benson

  My eyes grow teary, wondering deep down inside my soul how I got lucky enough to feel for anyone what I’m feeling right now in this moment.

  God, I’m not sure I’ve ever loved someone like I love him.

  He presses his lips to mine as the song comes to a slow end, not knowing something deep inside me has just sparked to life. As he moves to pull away, my grip on his broad shoulders holds him close, my lips brushing against his once more.

  I pull myself up, a low sigh of contentment like I’ve never known falling over my chest as he deepens the kiss, his palms holding my thighs securely around his waist.

  He walks me toward his truck, gently lying me over the blanket I’d spread out over the bed, watching me as I pull away to lift my dress over my head and drop it into the grass.

  I crave his lips again already and release a low whimper of gratitude when he doesn’t make me wait to taste them once more as he hovers over me. I tug at the waist of his jeans, silently begging him to come closer and he does, his broad frame caging me in in the most delicious way as his lips take mine captive.

  He kisses me just as fiercely as always, like he needs me to breathe, but there’s something different in his touch this time. Something I’m not sure either of us ever expected, but I know now I won’t ever be able to live without again.

  His fingertips move over me, tracing my skin carefully as his lips move lower, tasting every inch of my flesh as I tremble beneath him. The music is still playing, the fireflies still singing along in the background with the night breeze, but right now, it’s lost on us both.

  It isn’t until we’re both panting, gasping for breath as he pulls away to find my gaze on his that I even realize the entire earth isn’t standing still.

  “Baby,” he whispers, his dark hair hanging over his brow as his lips graze mine. “I think it’s about to rain.”

  The words are barely past his lips before I feel the first raindrops begin to fall on us, making me swallow hard.

  “It’s okay,” I whisper, searching his features. “I’m not scared anymore.”

  Nate

  As the words leave her lips, still swollen from mine, it’s impossible for me to miss the double meaning behind them. I hold her eyes for a long moment, gently sweeping her hair away from her face before finally, I bend to take her kiss. I cradle her cheek in my palm, pouring into her all the emotions I’ve been feeling for weeks, since I met her really. The idea of taking her for the first time in the back of my truck had never crossed my mind, but she takes it all and gives it right back, her soft fingers falling over my hand letting me know there’s nowhere else she’d rather be.

  Her soft skin is already bare beneath mine save for her lace panties. I raise up onto my knees, holding her gaze as I reach for them and peel them down her thighs. I return to her almost immediately, eager not only to taste her, but the shield her from the raindrops still falling all around us.

  I try my best to take things slow and by the time I free myself from my jeans, the taste of her arousal fresh on my tongue, we’re both drenched with a combination of lust and rain.

  “Baby?” I husk against her lips, holding her eyes as she gives me a subtle nod. I savor in the feel of her thighs hugging my waist, her fingers in my hair as I reach between us and position myself at her entrance. “Ava,” I breathe against her mouth, her eyelashes fluttering open to look up at me.

  Her eyes tear slightly, the emotion there enough to make me swallow hard as she bites down on her lower lip.

  As I slide into her, her jaw falls open slightly and I kiss her deeply, my arm winding behind her to bring her front flush with mine. Her thighs clench me tighter, her hands gripping my skin as I swallow the low whimper that slips from deep inside her chest.

  My lips trail over her jaw and neck, the taste of desire and rain fresh on her skin as I hold her against me. Her hands fall to my hips, clenching my flesh in her hands as my free hand grips the edge of my truck bed, using it as leverage to rock into her slowly, fill her completely for the first time. It pulls a low gasp from her parted lips and I can’t help but relish in it.

  “You’re so pretty, baby,” I croon, sweeping her damp hair from her face, her hot breath on my skin taking me further under her spell. “Ava,” I whisper, pushing into her again, deep and slow, as I lick the rain from the hollow of her neck. “You’re perfect. You taste like heaven, sugar.”

  Her breathing hitches and I raise slightly, taking in her eyes, fluttering with pleasure as my name slips through her lips like a plea.

  “Nate,” she pants, her soft voice broken and hitched. “Please…” she mewls, lifting her hips to meet mine. “Please.”

  “What, baby?” I ask, the feel of her walls stroking me so tight, it makes me desperate. “Tell me what you need, darlin’.”

  “You,” she rasps, her eyes showing the same desperation running through every inch of my body. “I need you.”

  “You’ve already got me, baby,” I vow, the feel of her pulsing around my shaft making my words falter, my earth shatter. “Ava, I’m already yours.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Ava

  “I’m so glad we were finally able to get together,” Sam remarks from across the table of the small diner I met her at for lunch. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in a year.”

  “I know,” I agree, reaching for the salt and handing it over. “I’m sorry. I’ve been wanting to get together with you, too. Things have just been so hectic lately with school and work and everything happening between me and Nate…” I trail off, the simple thought of my overflowing metaphorical plate making my head spin. “It’s just been pretty hard to really find time to do much else.”

  “Yeah, I get that,” she nods gently, her eyes shimmering with compassion for a moment. “So, speaking of you and Nate…” she trails off, her lips quirking up on either side. “How are things going with that?”

  “Good,” I admit, my cheeks heating furiously under her gaze. “Okay, better than good,” I giggle. “Really good. Like… I spaced out at work yesterday thinking about baking him cupcakes and braiding his hair for ten minutes good.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” I nod, plucking a fry from my plate and dipping it in ketchup.

  “Well, that’s really great, Av,” she smiles genuinely. “I’m so glad it’s working out with you two.”

  “Thanks. Me, too,” I confess, relaxing against the booth. “I just wish things were going better with Mary,” I sigh, the thought of her rapid decline over the last few weeks making me swallow hard.

  “Are things still going downhill?”

  “Unfortunately,” I nod, glancing down at the food in front of me, no longer hungry, but trying my best to eat something while I can. “And it’s bad enough watching her go through it but seeing how hard everything has been for Nate has been heartbreaking.”

  “I can’t even imagine,” she shakes her head. “She’s all he’s had for so long and everything’s been happening so fast.”

  “Yeah, and he’s holding out so much hope that she’s just going to wake up one morning and everything’s going to go back to how it was before, but…”

  “But things like this rarely turn out that way.”

  “Exactly,” I sigh. “And I can’t tell him that, but I also don’t want to lie to him, either,” I continue. “So, basically, I never know what to say about it.”

  “But you’re there and I can tell you with most people, especially Nate, that speaks louder than any words you could ever come up with,” she insists, patting my hand. “He doesn’t let many people get close to him and never has. Not since his dad died anyway,” she continues, shaking her head. “So, the fact that you know every day is gonna be long and hard, but you keep showing up? That’s what counts.”

  Her words make my chest clench for a long moment and it takes me a second to do much more than give her a teary smile. Nate’s never talked much to me about his father. It’s something that I’ve always known was a hard to
pic to bring up and since I understand that better than most, I never have. Over the last few months since I’ve been with him though, spent time with his mother and his friends, I’ve come to see just how tightknit he keeps his circle, how few people have his trust.

  To say I’m proud to make the short list with someone with a heart like his is more than an understatement.

  “Sorry,” she smiles, her eyes teary to match mine. “I wasn’t trying to turn this into a sob fest or anything. I just think it’s important that you know that all the things you’re doing to support him aren’t being overlooked by anyone.”

  “Thanks,” I smile, clearing my throat. “So, how are you and Nick? What’s new with y’all?”

  “Girl, nothing,” she says dramatically, making me laugh. “We ain’t been doing shit. I wake up, he’s at work and I do my running around. When he gets home, we watch a movie, eat supper and pass out on the couch most nights,” she admits. “You know, they say things fizzle out once you get past the first year or two and I always thought that was for losers, but I’m seeing it now.”

  “Everything’s okay with y’all, though, right?”

  “Oh, yeah,” she shrugs, taking another bite. “Yeah, we’re getting along better than ever, we’re just boring as hell,” she insists, and I can’t stop the laughter from leaving me once more. I needed this. “When I told him all of us were getting together tonight, that’s the most excited we’ve been in weeks.”

  “I’m sorry we’ve had to keep cancelling on you.”

  “Don’t be,” she waves me off. “No, we get it. Y’all take care of y’all, just know when you have time to fit us in, we’ll drag our lazy asses off the couch for you.”

  “Thanks,” I smile again. “I’d love a few days of boring personally, but we were excited when we were able to meet up, too. Even if it’s just darts at the bar, it’s been too l-”

  My phone blaring from the bottom of my bag cuts me off and I give her an apologetic look before I reach for it without looking.

  “That’s probably Nate calling to tell me he’s on his way,” I assume, reaching into the bottom of my bag to dig my phone out. “Hey babe. We were just talking about you.”

  “Aww, you were?” I hear from the other end of the line and my blood runs cold. It isn’t Nate. “Well, you’d better stop it before I get all emotional, baby.”

  “Oh, my God…” I whisper, my veins pulsing under my skin as my heart begins to race, my stomach turning and twisting into a knot. Sam stares back at me, her eyes tearing up as she misunderstands, still thinking it’s Nate on the phone. I try to shake my head, give her a signal, anything, but I’m frozen in place.

  “What’s the matter, babydoll?” he chuckles darkly over the line, making me shudder. “Cat got your tongue?”

  “Eddie,” I manage, whipping around to check the busy diner, praying like hell he’s not already in here watching us. “Where are you?”

  “Why? You miss me?” he taunts, the low grumble beneath his voice making me choke on a sob. Sam reaches for her phone, but I quickly shake my head, begging her in silence to stop. I don’t miss the confusion in her eyes, but I also can’t do anything to wipe it away right now, either. “I’ve been away a long time,” he whispers, his voice bringing me back to my nightmare.

  Images of his furious face, the stench of whiskey on his breath as he berated me all those times flash inside my mind and I can’t help but clench my eyes shut, desperate to shake them away.

  “You weren’t just away, Eddie,” I argue. “You were in jail.”

  “Potato, potahto.”

  I’m going to be sick.

  “What do you want?”

  “What every man wants when he’s been away on a trip for a long time, babydoll,” he starts, the pet name leaving his lips making my stomach turn once more. “I want to see my wife.”

  ***

  It takes a good ten minutes for Sam to calm me down by the time we pay our bill and make it to her car. My breathing is finally slowing, my heart racing just slightly less than it had been only seconds before.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to call Nate?”

  “No,” I shake my head immediately. “No, he’s got enough to deal with and the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that he was only trying to upset me, get under my skin.”

  “Well, he sure managed that,” she whispers, her voice holding nothing but compassion as she gives my arm a gentle squeeze of reassurance. “And I know Nate’s got a lot on his plate right now, but I still think you ought to tell him.”

  “Sam…”

  “What if you’re wrong and Eddie does show up, Ava?” she cuts me off. “I know you think probation and a restraining order are enough to keep crazy away, but it isn’t always, honey. And from the little you’ve told me and what I just saw? This asshole seems like he’s got just enough of that kind of crazy in him to not give two shits about a few pieces of paper. I mean, for Christ’s sake, Ava. Your divorce is final, you made it clear you want nothing to do with the bastard. If that’s not enough to keep him away, then…”

  “I know,” I nod. “You’re right, but he does care about himself. He won’t risk going back to jail just to prove a point and get back at me.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Pretty sure,” I nod, swallowing hard as I face her. “I’m sure enough that I feel okay not telling Nate about it right now.”

  “Ava…”

  “If he calls again or anything else happens, I’ll tell him,” I offer, silently begging her to keep this all between us for now. “I promise.”

  She studies me for a long moment, the disagreement in her eyes shouting volumes before she releases a low sigh and finally gives me a nod.

  “Okay,” she puts her hands up in surrender. “Alright, honey. I don’t agree with you, but it’s your decision to make. I won’t say anything.”

  “Thank you,” I whisper, pulling a nod from her.

  “He calls you again though and you don’t mention it to Nate, I’m telling everyone,” she promises, pointing at me to drive her point home. “I’ll scream that shit from the rooftops, Ava. I mean it.”

  I swallow hard and reluctantly, answer her with a nod.

  “Deal.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Nate

  “Hey baby,” I smile, the not-so-subtle load of my day seeming to slip right off my shoulders when I see her walking into the bar. I reach for her and bend to meet her lips, happy when they curve up with a sweet smile. “How’s my girl?”

  “I’m good,” she answers, her cheeks filling with a light blush just like they always do, making me smirk. “How are you? Did you have a good day at work?”

  “I don’t know how good it was,” I shrug, chuckling as I take her hand. “I mean, it was work. Not too bad a day, though. Stayed busy.”

  We make our way over to the small table that used to be me and Nick’s normal spot when we were coming more regularly, and I pat the stool beside mine, gesturing for her to join us.

  “So, what trouble have you girls been up to?” Nick asks teasingly as he glances down at Sam. “You two been out breaking hearts?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Sam replies sarcastically, winking up at him. “Yeah, the ladies up at the deli are real heartbroken.”

  “Girl on girl,” he snorts, reaching for his beer. “That’s pretty hot. I like it.”

  “Oh, my God,” Sam rolls her eyes, making us chuckle. “Anyway, so what are we doing? Y’all wanna play some darts?”

  “Sure. I’m up for it,” I shrug, glancing down at Ava. “You feel like some darts, baby?”

  “No, I’m good,” she shakes her head, giving me a small smile. “You go ahead, though.”

  “Alright,” I reply, my voice low as I take in her features. There’s something in her eyes, something that I noticed when she came in, but brushed off. Now, though, as I hold her eyes and see the worry in them, I can’t help but wonder if that was mistake. “Are you okay?”

 
“Yeah,” she nods, trying her best to wipe the worry from her eyes as she sets her water down and faces me more completely, resting her chin on her palm. “Yeah, I’m good. I’m just really tired today.”

  “I’m sure,” I sigh, brushing her hair from her face before my palm falls gently onto her back and gives it a gentle rub. “Do you want me to take you home?”

  “No,” she shakes her head, reaching for my hand and slipping her fingers between mine before resting them between us. “No, go have fun. I just want to chill here and watch if that’s okay.”

  “Of course,” I nod, pressing my lips to hers and raising from my stool. “Sam, you playing?”

  “No, I think I’ll stay with Ava,” she shakes her head. “I was going to, but I don’t feel like playing with a bunch of boys.”

  “Well, that’s good because we didn’t want you to come anyway,” I lie playfully, making a face at her when she sticks her tongue out at me. “Be right back, sugar,” I tell Ava, pulling a nod from her as I drain my beer.

  I make my way toward Nick and we get the game started, both of us admittedly bored with it almost immediately. I glance over, something about how quiet Ava’s been since she got here making my stomach twist with nerves. I trust her. I’m sure if something was wrong, she’d tell me, but it’s just so unlike her to be so subdued. Between her behavior and the way she’s leaned in talking to Sam in hushed tones, I can’t help but wonder if there’s something going on I don’t know about.

  “You’re up, man,” Nick pulls me from my thoughts and I shoot quickly, earning a middle finger when he adds up my score. “You suck,” he snorts, making me smirk.

  We go back and forth for a few more minutes and I step back toward the table, pouring another beer and taking a long draw. When I set it back down, I can’t help but notice Ava’s gaze locked on the now half-empty glass.