Next to Me

by Allie Everhart

  She looks up. "Like what?"

  "You." I set my eyes on hers. "So far in my life, I've lost my best friend, the mom who raised me, and the mom who gave birth to me. But then I found you. The girl I can't stop thinking about. The girl I miss whenever she's not around. The girl I want to hold in my arms and fall asleep with every night." I pause. "I'm just going to say this, and I don't expect you to say it back." I look her right in the eye. "I love you, Callie. You're the something good. You're what life gave me to make up for all the bad."

  She smiles. "You really love me?"

  "I wouldn't joke about that." I kiss her. "I love you. But like I said, I don't expect you to—"

  "I love you too." She says it fast and looks down and then up again. "You're my something good. You kept coming back when I told you to go away. Even before you knew the truth about me, you somehow, some way, knew how much I needed you. And when you found out about my family, and how I'd been living, you didn't judge me. You didn't act like I was crazy. You still wanted to help me. You're the friend who sticks around for the hard stuff. And I love you for that." She gives me a shy, sweet smile. "I love you."

  I kiss her. "You have just made me very happy, you know that?" I don't wait for her answer, but just kiss her again, a slower, longer kiss, then I talk over her lips, "I'm going to assume this means our professional relationship is now over."

  "Well, technically," she kisses me, "I'm on the clock right now." She skims her tongue over my bottom lip. "And since you are my boss, this is probably against the rules."

  "Then I'm going to break every damn rule there is. Because I can't go another second without kissing you." I trail kisses down her neck. "Or touching you." I slide my hand up her thigh, under her skirt.

  She gasps, tipping her head back and spreading her legs slightly to give me access. I slip my fingers under her panties and her breath catches as she grabs hold of my shirt. My other hand goes behind her head, bringing her lips back to mine. Kissing her, and hearing the sounds she's making as I touch her, has got me hard as a rock, but I don't know if she's ready for that. So for now, I'll focus on pleasuring her, making her feel something she hasn't felt for a long time.

  This is the girl I love. The girl I want a future with. And I want to make her happy. I will do anything to make her happy.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Callie

  Oh my God. What Nash did to me just now? I've never felt anything like it. My body was trembling from the force of it. And he only used his hand. What's it going to be like when he uses his...

  "Let's go upstairs," I whisper into his ear. I'm still on his lap and I can feel him beneath me. He's so hard I'm surprised he hasn't burst right through his jeans.

  "You sure?" he asks, his lips lightly kissing my neck.

  "Positive."

  Without another word, he scoops me up and sprints up the stairs.

  "Nash, we could fall," I say, laughing at his fast, urgent steps.

  "We won't fall. I've got you." He takes me in his room and sets me on the bed, then notices Cat in the corner. He picks him up and deposits him in the hall. "Go hang out downstairs. Callie and I need some private time."

  He saunters away. I still can't believe he listens to him.

  Nash closes the door and reaches behind his neck and yanks off his t-shirt. I gaze at his broad chest, those strong arms, chiseled abs. I could stare at him for a very long time and not get tired of the view.

  He walks back to the bed, not saying a word as he lifts my tank top up and over my head, then unhooks my bra with one single flick of his finger. Guess he's done that a few times. He takes it off and tosses it aside.

  He leans down and kisses me as he unbuttons my skirt and tugs the zipper down. Then he lays me back on the bed and slides my skirt off. He lies beside me and slowly runs his hand over my body, his eyes following the movement.

  "God, you're beautiful," he says, his hand settling on my breast, cupping it and gently squeezing. I let out a breath and arch into his touch, wanting more. So much more. My body is literally aching to be with him.

  His mouth seals over my nipple and I moan out his name as that aching need intensifies, wanting him more than I've ever wanted anyone. I don't want to wait a second longer, but he's taking his time, his hands exploring my body, slowly, deliberately. I relax my head back on the pillow and close my eyes, drinking in his touch, savoring it. His mouth moves to my other breast, giving it equal time and attention, and then his hand slides down my stomach and between my legs. More need erupts and I can hardly contain it.

  I reach down and quickly undo his belt. He rises up to standing, his eyes raking over my body. As he slips off my panties, his eyes fix on mine and I see that same urgent need. I can feel it. The heat. The desire. We've both wanted this so bad, for so long.

  He hurries with his jeans, shoving them to the floor along with his boxer briefs. My eyes drop below his waist, and damn, he's even big down there, which I guess makes sense but...wow.

  He goes to the nightstand and grabs a condom and puts it on. He lies over me, kissing me with soft, gentle kisses. I grasp the back of his neck, pulling him closer and kissing him hard, expressing my urgency. He slows me down, giving me a deep, sexy kiss that only intensifies that desperate, aching need. I feel the length of him between my legs and roll my hips up, begging him to put it inside me. He groans, and presses back, and I feel the tip of him as he lines himself up. And then, finally, he pushes inside, slowly, inch by inch.

  I let out a breathy moan as he pushes all the way in, then remains there.

  "Goddamn, you feel good," he says. He pulls back, then thrusts into me, hard and deep.

  "Don't stop," I say, breathless.

  He repeats the same forceful thrust, and my moans become louder. He does it again, and again, each time causing a deep coiling tension to build inside me, until it finally breaks free in waves upon waves of pleasure.

  I didn't think he could top what he did to me earlier, but he just did. That was better than anything I've ever felt in my entire life.

  He slows down a moment, and kisses me, then speeds up again until he gets his own powerful release.

  He turns onto his back and I lie in his arms, enjoying the warm afterglow of the best sex I've ever had. I reach up and kiss him.

  He smiles against my lips. "You just slept with your boss."

  "I won't tell if you won't."

  "I'll keep it a secret if you promise to do it again."

  I smile. "Deal."

  He kisses me, then we lie there, and I think about how I've never felt this way. This loved and cared for by a guy. Nash has seen me at my worst and he still wants to be with me. He knows I still have a lot to work through, yet he's willing to go through it with me.

  His arm is around me, his hand moving softly up and down my back. It's soothing and comforting and I end up drifting off to sleep. When I wake up, it's a half hour later and Nash is now asleep. I reach up and kiss him awake.

  He smiles, his eyes closed. "You need to wake me up like that every morning. It's way better than an alarm clock."

  I kiss him again as I get on top of him, straddling him.

  "What are you up to?" He looks at me with that sexy grin, his hands grasping my hips as they circle over him.

  "Do you want me to stop?" I lower myself so that I'm rubbing against his erection.

  "Hell no." He reaches over and gets a condom from the drawer and slips it on. I align myself over the tip of him, then sink down on him.

  "Shit," he breathes out, his hands gripping my hips as I sink down even more, burying him deep inside me. "I've never in my life felt anything this fucking good. Being with you is..."

  "I know." I lean down and kiss him. "I didn't know it could be this good."

  "We're good together, Callie, in more ways than this." He grabs hold of my ass as he pushes up into me. "But for now, let's focus on this." He flips me over and we finish what we started, sharing yet another piece of ourselves.

>   Afterward, we lie there, our bodies entwined, catching our breath. My body is sleepy, but my mind is awake and wanders to Nash and the call he had earlier today.

  I scoot up so that we're face-to-face. "How are you feeling?"

  He smiles. "Do you really need to ask? I just had the best sex of my life with the woman I love, who apparently loves me too. You weren't just saying that, were you?"

  "Why would I just say something like that?"

  "To get me to sleep with you."

  I laugh. "Yeah, because you never would've done it otherwise. You've wanted to have sex with me for weeks."

  "Well, technically, since the moment I laid eyes on you, but I didn't think it would happen."

  "I did." I run my hand over his smooth muscular chest. "You're hot, and I hadn't had sex forever, so it was bound to happen at least once this summer. I just never expected to fall in love with you." I smile. "Especially given the fact that you shot at me when we first met."

  "For the last time, I did not shoot at you." He starts tickling me. "Say it, Callie."

  "Okay, I will." I can barely get the words out I'm laughing so hard.

  "You still haven't said it."

  "Fine, you didn't shoot at me," I say, and feel his hands come to rest at my sides. "But your truck did," I mutter under my breath.

  The tickling continues. "What was that about my truck?"

  "Stop! I'm begging you. Please."

  He ends the tickling. "Since you said 'please', I'll stop, but you better not be telling people I shot you or they'll think I really did. I'll end up in jail."

  I kiss him. "I won't tell anyone. It'll be our secret inside joke." I take a moment to catch my breath, then look up at him. "Nash, when I asked how you were feeling, I was referring to what happened today with your mom."

  He brushes a piece of hair off my cheek. "It's sad that she's gone. She was way too young to die. But I never knew her, so I'm not feeling the loss I felt after losing my stepmom. If anything, the loss I feel is a loss over the story I created in my head all these years. I always imagined my mom was out there somewhere, thinking about me, wanting to see me, but for some reason not being able to. Instead, I found out she never wanted me and never even wanted to meet me." He cups the back of my head, and looks me in the eye. "Today would've been a lot harder if I'd gotten that news alone. But having you with me when I got that call made it...not nearly as bad as it could've been."

  I lay my head on his chest and try to figure out if I should ask him this or not. Now that we know how we feel about each other, I want to know what will happen after this summer ends, or at least discuss it. I'm going to miss him so much when he's gone.

  He strokes my hair. "Why are you so quiet?"

  "I was just thinking."

  "About what happens when I'm done fixing the house?"

  I lift my head up. "How'd you know that?"

  "Because I'm thinking about it too. Now that I have you, I don't want to leave you."

  "So what do we do? You have to go back to Chicago."

  He pauses, his eyes on mine. "I want you to go with me."

  "But I live here. I have a house."

  "You can keep the house and come here whenever you want. But you shouldn't be living here. This town has nothing to offer you. You don't even know anyone here, other than Lou."

  "What would I do in Chicago?"

  "Would you consider going back to college?"

  "Maybe. But I don't know if I could go back there after being gone for a year."

  "If they knew why you left, I'm sure they'd understand. If it's too late to get in for the fall, you could go back in the spring."

  "I guess, but I wouldn't want to live in the dorms again. I'd have to find an apartment."

  "You could live with me. I have to get a new place anyway when I get back. We could get one close to campus."

  "I don't want you having to live in Evanston just for me."

  He smiles. "So it's the location that concerns you, not the part about living with me?"

  I smile back. "I have to think about it. Maybe we could get apartments right next to each other and be neighbors again."

  "We could, but I have a feeling one of those apartments would sit empty all the time." He gives me a kiss. "I'm not saying you have to live with me, but I do want you to think about going back to college. You only have two years left. You might as well finish."

  "I know. I'll think about it." I lie on my back and stretch. "I'm starving. I think we need to eat."

  "What do you want?"

  "Something that doesn't take too long. I want to come back here later and do this again."

  He slides me closer and kisses me. "You just made me love you even more."

  I laugh. "Yeah, you might not be able to keep up with me in that area. When I like something, I tend to do it over and over again."

  "I can keep up. Let's go find something to eat, then we'll come back here and I'll prove it to you."

  And he does. We have sex several more times that night, in between sleeping, and when we wake up the next morning, we do it again. Then I go back to my house to get ready for work.

  As I'm getting dressed, my phone rings and I see it's Trina calling. She's been calling ever since I told her to leave my house. I've spent a lot of time thinking about what happened that day, and I've talked about it with Nash, and decided that, in her own way, Trina was just trying to be a friend. She never should've tossed their things in the trash, but it was the only thing she could think of to do at the time. She's not a mean person and would never intentionally try to hurt me. She's just really uncomfortable in difficult situations.

  "Hi, Trina."

  "Hi." She pauses. "You picked up. I didn't think you would."

  "I thought we should talk."

  "I'm so sorry, Callie." Her voice quivers. "I really am."

  "It's okay. I know you were just trying to help."

  "But I made it worse. I don't know what I was thinking. I never should've done what I did. On the drive home, I was so mad at myself. I felt horrible." She sniffles. Is she crying? She never cries. "I've been the worst friend to you, Callie. You have every right to hate me. I just...I didn't know what to do after the accident. I didn't know what to say. I couldn't even imagine what you were going through, and I was afraid that anything I'd say would just make it worse, so I avoided you. But that was wrong and...I'm sorry."

  "I'm not mad at you, Trina. Not anymore. I've spent a year being angry at you, but I'm tired of being angry. I'm trying to move on, and I want us to start talking again, but only if we can be honest with each other. I want a real friendship, one in which we can talk to each other about the hard stuff, not just clothes and movies and guys."

  "I know. I have to get better at that. I don't know why I get so uncomfortable talking about that stuff, but I'll get better at it. I promise. I'll be back home at the end of August. Could we maybe get together?"

  "Yeah. Definitely." I check the clock. "I don't mean to rush you off the phone but I have to get to work. Can I call you later?"

  "You better." She laughs. "If you don't, I'll be calling again."

  We hang up and I take a deep breath, relieved that we finally got everything out in the open. I got my friend back. And I have a feeling that, even with the distance between us, we're going to be better friends than we ever were before.

  When I arrive at work, Lou's out in the dining area, refilling coffees.

  "Morning, Callie," he says as I go past him.

  "Hi, Lou." I sound different, cheerier, my tone lighter. Is that what happens after a night of endless, mind-blowing sex? If so, I hope Lou doesn't notice. That'd be embarrassing. I'm not ready to tell him I'm dating Nash because I know he'll tease me about it.

  Lou walks into the kitchen as I'm tying my apron. "I had a question for you."

  "Go ahead." I wash my hands at the sink.

  "I'm testing out some new menu items and wondered if you'd be willing to come back here later and try them.
"

  I was hoping to eat dinner with Nash tonight, but I want to help Lou, so I agree to it.

  "Sure. What time?"

  "Maybe around seven?"

  "What are you making?"

  "I'm still working that out, but I'll have several items to try so bring your appetite." He takes some clean dish towels from the laundry bin. "I appreciate you doing this. I know you don't like going out at night."

  "I don't mind." I used to mind, but now I'm trying to give up my rigid schedule and rigid rules. I'm trying to change.

  "You ever see that neighbor of yours?" He glances at me out of the side of his eye as he folds the towels.

  "Now and then. Not a lot."

  "He's a nice young man. Got a good head on his shoulders."

  "He's all right," I say, trying to hide the fact that I'm in love with that nice young man with a good head on his shoulders.

  "He seems to really like you."

  I shrug. "Maybe. I don't really pay attention." I take the cookie dough from the fridge.

  "You don't like him?"

  "I like him, but we're just friends." I hope Lou bought that, but I'm not sure if he did, because he's staring at me with this odd expression.

  "I've seen how you look at him. I think you like him."

  I sigh. "Yeah, I like him, okay? But I'm not looking for a boyfriend right now."

  He mumbles something to himself and shakes his head as he walks off to his office.

  What was that about? Why is Lou so interested in my love life?

  During my lunch break, I call Nash. "Hey, I have to come back here at seven. Lou's testing new recipes and he wants me to taste them, so I won't be able to have dinner with you tonight."

  "Can you do other things with me tonight?" His deep voice sounds sexy even over the phone.

  "I don't know if I can wait until then. We might just have to do those other things when I get to your house this afternoon."

  "Callie." Lou walks up to me. "I need you to—oh, sorry, I didn't know you were on the phone."

  "I have to get back to work," I say to Nash. "I'll talk to you later."

  "Did you tell Lou about us?" Nash asks.

  "No. I'm not ready to," I say, hurrying him off the phone. "Bye." I end the call.