Josh smiled at me, the same beautiful look lighting his face at almost five in the morning as it did at noon. “Do you ever look bad?” I thought out loud.
If I hadn’t been fully awake, his smirk did the trick. “Not when I’m looking at you.”
My insides twisted at his flirty tone, warming me from head to toe. With a wink, he turned his back to me again and continued leading me down the path.
We walked through the woods of his property, and the trees seemed to whistle at us, like they were alive and talking. I stiffened when something objected to our presence, very loudly.
“Just an owl,” Josh said, reading my mind.
Gripping his hand tighter, I stopped short. “An owl?” How many vicious deadly animals lived in the woods of Virginia?
He took the step to me and kissed the skull cap covering my head. “I’m here. When we’re together, you never have to be scared.”
I looked up at him. The sky glowed through the trees, a dark navy color that provided the perfect backdrop for him, my hunky superhero. His eyes lingered on mine. I wasn’t sure if he was waiting for me, or I for him, but the spell of the outdoors had been cast.
I gulped and broke the trance. “Where are you taking me?”
Turning to stand next to me, he bent so that his face was even with mine and directed my gaze upward. “There,” he said, pointing.
The treehouse.
My heartbeat sped up, and I sucked in air as the nerves set in. “But…the ladder…”
He pulled me close. “It’s okay. Promise.”
“Why there?”
“Because maybe, for you and me, this treehouse,” he pointed behind him at the structure way, way up in the sky, “holds the answers to both of us letting go. Also, it’s private and quiet, and I kind of thought we’d find ways to warm it up.”
I squeezed the comforter to my chest, holding onto it like it was a life preserver. As I formulated arguments as to why this was a stupid idea—the ladder, ugh the ladder, was probably covered in ice, we could freeze, a family of raccoons had probably taken up residence inside—Josh studied me, waiting for me to read his thoughts and understand what he’d already realized.
I could turn around and wish him luck. Go back inside and sleep until the smells from the kitchen woke me up.
But maybe he was right.
Maybe it was time to let go. To follow that tiny little drop of crazy that lived in my heart. The same little drop of crazy that gave me the guts to climb down the ladder from my apartment window and go to a SuperGame party in bunny slippers. That same drop of crazy that made me go back to Josh’s apartment after he’d kissed me on the landing outside the Mill Street apartment.
All those times I’d gotten drunk and tried to hook up with random guys, I thought I was doing what everyone does after a breakup. Go wild, party like there’s no tomorrow. Now that I looked back to those weeks in hindsight, I hadn’t been following my heart. Not at all.
Josh knew that. He knew that meaningless sex wouldn’t work for me because he knew that drop of crazy in my heart better than I did.
He stared down at me, waiting, maybe for me to whine or run away. But I wasn’t going to. Not this time.
“Let’s do it,” I said.
Chapter Sixteen
Josh
I loved seeing that special look in Violet’s eyes. The look she had when she played the violin, like she was fighting with it almost. She may have been sweet and feminine, but whether she knew it or not, she was also fierce and couldn’t back away from a challenge.
We stood at the bottom of the rungs, Vi’s back to my chest, as we looked up the tree. After yanking off my gloves so I could get a better grip, I shoved them in my pockets and then flung the strap of the rolled up sleeping bag over my shoulder. I stuffed the flashlight in the collar of my coat, so that it shined upward. Surrounding her with my wingspan, I whispered in her ear. “I’m here with you. We’ll go up together.”
She nodded, peeking back at me. “If I fall back—”
“You’re not going to.” Actually, I had no idea if the rungs above the ones I’d tried earlier were stable. “If you do, you’ll land on me.”
She scanned my face. “The flashlight is making you look freaky.”
“Bwahaha,” I sang.
“Stop!” Her laugh was like a shot of adrenaline.
I needed to get her into that treehouse more than ever. Hide away from the world. Mostly, I wanted to remember my dad. The treehouse was the biggest secret the two of us had had, and maybe he’d talk to me there, like he used to. Give me advice on Amelia, on how to make the move from friends to more with Violet.
I pointed my chin at the wood planks screwed into the tree. “One step at a time, Pix. Let’s go.”
With a deep breath, she started up. “I’m going to keep climbing and trust that you’re behind me.”
“Go slow. Don’t trip on the blanket. Test each rung before putting your full weight.”
I stayed a rung below her, but since she was short, and I was tall, it was like we moved up in a single unit. She’d take a step up, and my gaze would be level with her ass. Then I’d take a step up, and my nose would be in her hair. My superhero complex soared knowing I was engulfing her, protecting her, encouraging her.
When we made it to the top, she stepped onto the tiny platform my father and I had built. Our “deck,” as he’d called it all those years ago. I climbed up behind her and took the flashlight out of my collar.
“We did it,” she said, looking over the edge. “Oh wow, we’re high, huh?”
As I shone it over the wood, the backs of my eyes burned with tears. The memories flooded my mind. The smell of the wood. The initials carved in the board under my feet. The crooked sill of the window that I’d sanded, my dad looking on and encouraging me. It was as if we’d taken a time machine back twelve years, to a time when he was healthy and we’d built this magical place. It was as if he was still there.
Violet dropped the blanket and wrapped her arms around me. “Hey,” she whispered. “You okay?”
In response, I reciprocated her embrace, needing to feel her in my arms. “Yeah. It’s just…memories, you know?”
She nodded against me. “One step at a time, right?”
I picked up the comforter and wrapped it around her, making sure she was warm.
“Can we go inside?” she asked.
Looking past her, I shined the flashlight through the little window. “Let me check it out first.”
She grimaced. “Make sure there are no bears?”
“Something like that.”
We turned in sync to switch positions as I pushed open the swinging door next to the window. The door creaked, and if there were animals inside, hopefully they’d scurry away at the noise. I moved the light around, examining the space. It was dark but free of snow. To my relief, nothing moved or tried to attack me. A clear sheet of plastic, held down by rocks in each corner, covered the small wooden room. If I remembered right, the space was about eight-by-eight, and tall enough that my dad could almost stand.
To me, when I was a kid, it was my palace, and my father was the king.
I stepped inside, pulled the plastic up from a corner, and stood the flashlight up to light the space. I couldn’t quite stand tall, so I worked on my knees. The plastic had dried out over the years and crumbled at my touch, but I managed to wrap it into a ball and throw it to the side.
Vi’s face filled the window. I sat back on the heels of my boots, a wave of shock taking over me. Was she real? How did we get here? Her presence radiated through the treehouse, through me, as I waited for her to disappear. She didn’t though. She was here, with me. It wasn’t a dream.
She lifted her eyebrows. “Well? How does it look?”
My heart in my throat, I could barely choke out the word as I held her gaze. “Beautiful.”
The corners of her lips twisted up and her face softened.
Wanting her near me again, I reached across
the treehouse to the doorway and swung it open. “First class accommodations, Ms. Nicholson.”
She bent to enter the space. Inside, she could stand, with her skull cap grazing the ceiling. I stayed on my knees, and she reached for me, putting her hands on my shoulders. “Tell you what. I’ve been all around the world, but this may be the best room I’ve ever been in.”
Those damn tears burned again, and I used every ounce of willpower I had to keep them from falling. Instead of focusing on her presence and the memories, I got to work and unrolled the sleeping bag.
Once I’d set up, standing the flashlight nearby, we maneuvered into the sleeping bag, and I opened my arms for her. She pulled off her hat and gloves and assumed her usual position, her back to my chest, suddenly making me whole. We had two coats between us, but I could swear I felt her heart beating through them. Or maybe that was my own. Somewhere along the line, they’d both started to beat together.
“What do you think?” I whispered.
She twisted to face me. “I think it’s amazing that you made this with your dad. That we’re up in a tree and not falling out.”
“City girl,” I scoffed. “It’s just wood.”
“No.” She ran her index finger down my cheekbone. “Not just wood.”
I couldn’t look away from her as our heartbeats held steady at that furious pace, thudding with each second that passed like they were meant to be in sync, together and strong. With a shaky hand, I reached to push her hair behind her ear. “You’re right. It’s magical. You’re magical.”
“Josh,” she breathed.
Then she lifted her chin and her lips met mine.
I loved the way Violet’s lips felt—warm, strong, meaningful. How they somehow reflected the entire movement of her body, like they were the conductor of an orchestra. At first, she kissed me slowly, her body calm.
But then neither of our bodies felt calm and everything sped up…
When I rolled her onto her back in the sleeping back, she took her lips off of mine. Holding behind her delicate neck with my fingertips, I kissed a line down her throat.
“When did it get so hot in here?” she whispered.
I unzipped her coat, and she wiggled out of it, leaving it on the floor next to her. Then she did the same to mine. After I freed myself from it, I rolled it into a ball and lifted her head, placing it underneath her to use as a pillow. Her wild curls created a halo around her, and I paused for a second to look into her eyes.
I ran my thumb along the side of her neck, unsure of the right words to convey what I was feeling and not sure if they were needed. I went with our original plan. “Let go with me?” I begged.
Her one-word response jimmied my heart open and made my insides pour out. “Yes,” she said. Then she lifted her head up off the coat pillow I’d made her and kissed me again.
Violet
Josh took his time unpeeling my layers, and even though the air was cold, there was nothing but heat between us. By the time I was naked beneath him, the sun was rising outside of our tiny paradise suite in the trees.
Still dressed, he kissed his way over my skin, inch-by-inch, deep into the sleeping bag, which we’d had to unzip a bit to accommodate us. His hands followed, lightly touching me as if he were running his fingers along cashmere. Joshua King was loving me in a way that I’d never experienced, straight to my core. The emotions attached to the physical sensations scared me, but I didn’t want him to stop.
He’d flipped the comforter over his back as he worked his way down my body, lighting up every nerve on his path. His lips on my breast, his teeth scraping along my nipple, made me moan his name, wanting more. But at the same time, I didn’t want to rush. It wasn’t like I thought I wanted at the frat house. I didn’t need to have sex to feel seen. I only needed to be here, now, with this sweet man.
The treehouse was dark, except for the glow of the flashlight that Josh had tossed my shirt over. The sounds outside—a light wind, the rustling of leaves, the chatter of some type of bird as the sun started its rise—didn’t scare me anymore. The world could have been on fire beneath us, and all I’d see, the only thing I’d feel, would be Josh. With his beautiful body snug against mine under the heavy blanket, I was warm, full, and amazed that someone so hard on the outside could be so soft and gentle with his touch. The steady, strong rhythm of his breathing countered the soft words he whispered to me as he ran calloused hands over my skin. Like tiny sparks from his fingers, every inch that he touched woke me up.
No matter what we’d said to each other, the promises we’d made that nothing would change, somewhere along the line I’d fallen for my best friend. Flashes of our time together invaded my mind as Josh tickled my waist. With a moan, I remembered the time he’d scooped me up from the floor of the frat house. As I wrapped my leg around him, I remembered how he’d carried me to the truck after I’d climbed out the window on SuperGame Sunday. When he moaned my name, nibbling at my lips as he settled between my thighs, I grinned, watching his eyes light up the same way as when he’d first seen me dressed up for the symphony. The same way as when they wrapped around my fork at Luke’s Diner to take the piece of the waffle I’d offered.
Being with Josh was a perfect mixture of everyday regular fun and mind-blowing feelings of love and lust. And I wanted more of the latter.
I nudged him to roll over, and he did so, stretching on his back. I took the opportunity to straddle him, to touch him, to pull his shirt over his head and appreciate with my hands and my lips every workout the man had ever done. “Ridiculous,” I muttered as I kissed his chest.
He wrapped his hands in my hair. “Do you know how much I want you?” His grip found my hips, and he held me steady as I fought the instinct to move against him. “Can I have you?”
Using his chest for leverage, I sat up, the blanket falling to my waist. Something about being there, naked, in the cool outdoor air, my legs stretched around the beautiful man under me made me feel empowered, sexier than I’d ever felt. Confident. “Yes,” I answered, my tone strong and sure.
I watched as he shifted the sleeping bag and shimmied out of his jeans. The tight space made it hard to maneuver, but he managed. Every part of his upper body worked in unison, like a symphony of his curves and angles. He pulled a condom out of the pocket and placed it next to us, then sat up with me still attached. My butt ended up seated on his thighs, as he held me on his lap.
Both of us were exposed now, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing my chest against his to keep us connected. He kissed me again, groaning my name before pulling away. “Are you sure?” he asked.
I nodded, nibbling at his chin, my hips rocking in a desperate need for friction.
Holding me tightly, Josh looked into my eyes. “I need to hear you say it, Violet, because as much as I want you, I’m not going to lose you.”
His serious tone caught me off guard, and I met his gaze, cradling his cheeks in my palms, marveling at mixture of love and desire that I saw in his eyes. “You think you can lose me that easily?” I whispered.
Shaking his head, he took my hands off of his face and pinned them behind my back, the action causing his forearms to squeeze around my waist. “That’s not enough, Vi. You have to give me more. Tell me that I can have you and not lose you. Because once you tell me that, I’m going to take you every way I’ve dreamed about, and I’m not going to apologize.”
Sweet lord. Anxious for him to follow through on his promise, knowing what he needed, I took a deep breath. His eyes flickered to my chest as it rubbed against his, my back arched from his grip on my wrists. But just as soon as they appreciated my breasts, they returned to my face. “Please tell me,” he begged.
I steadied myself and pressed my lips together, trusting him, trusting us. “Joshua King,” I said, as I held his gaze. “You will never, ever lose me.”
The side of his lips quirked into a playful grin as he released my wrists. “Yeah?”
“Absolutely.” I gulped, my body alive
at the promise of his words and thoughts of the next few hours in the treehouse. “Um, what exactly do you have planned for me this fine morning?”
That half-grin in place, he moved his lips to my ear as his hand cupped my breast. “Oh, sweetheart, you just wait and see.”
Josh
I’d fantasized about being with Violet for so long that when it finally happened, I hardly believed it. For me, sex had always been hot, quick—getting each other off and then calling it a night, with promises of a follow-up that would never happen. With Violet, everything was turned upside down, in the best way. Still hot, but slow. So slow. I didn’t want to go fast with her. Knowing I only had her for a short time, that even if we managed to keep this going past spring break, graduation was coming, and the end was near. That meant that every moment, every touch had to be savored.
Violet was precious. Time was precious. So our first time in the treehouse was nothing like my others. I wanted to make her feel good and felt confident that I could do something that would work for her, but I wasn’t focused on that. I wasn’t concerned about either of us reaching the end. We had enough endings to deal with. Instead, I was present, there with her, for every second that our bodies touched.
And she felt fucking incredible.
On my lap, her arms and legs were wrapped around me, pulling me closer. My hands were full of her—her tits, her perfectly curved ass, her sexy, wild hair. Every sigh, every moan that escaped her lips was like a rush right to my core, and I couldn’t get enough of hearing her say my name. “Josh,” she sang, giving the one syllable a melody that conveyed her wants, her needs.
I could listen to the sound of it forever.
She shivered, and I pulled away. “Are you cold?” I whispered.
Shaking her head, she leaned back and pulled me along with her. I ended up between her legs, our faces inches apart, our gazes connected. She grinned up at me, her lips wet, her sexy eyes peeking at me from under long lashes and half-closed lids.
Making the Move: Mill Street Series #2 Page 15