Making the Move: Mill Street Series #2

by Calla, Jessica

  “You’re ridiculous,” I murmured, stealing her line.

  With one hand tangled in my hair, she pulled me down to her and kissed me again while she patted around for the condom with the other.

  We fumbled around for a bit with the condom, the sleeping bag, the logistics of making love for the first time in a treehouse, but it didn’t kill the mood. It only made us laugh as we helped each other figure it all out.

  We were still laughing when we finally managed to find each other. Inside of Violet, I stopped moving. Neither of us were laughing. “Oh, Violet,” I said, feeling the sting of tears in my eyes. Hiding my face, I dropped my head to whisper in her ear. “Nothing has ever felt as perfect as you.”

  Running her hands down my back, she held onto me as she arched her body. “Josh,” she sang again.

  And that was all I needed to hear.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Josh

  As the sun rose through the trees, I held Violet, tracing kisses over her soft skin as she dozed in and out of sleep. We’d managed to get half-dressed and huddle close in the small area. With our body heat and the comforter, we made it through the March morning fairly comfortably. Of course, my adrenaline was full blast now that my dream of being with Violet had come true. She was in my damn arms, and I was afraid that now that the sun had come up, she’d be gone.

  So I stayed alert, enjoying every second of her that I could. The way her back pressed against my chest. How my arms felt around her waist, over her shoulder. The smell of her shampoo, the softness of her.

  When she woke up and gave me that morning smile that I loved, I decided I never wanted to leave Rambling.

  Hell, I never wanted to leave the fucking treehouse.

  “Think we can live here?” I asked, as she wiggled against me, stretching.

  She lifted herself up on an elbow. Bobbing her head back and forth, she looked around the tiny space. “I could do something with this place. A table in the corner, a couch, a television. Maybe a fridge. Definitely a heater.”

  I laughed as I pulled her close. She draped her limbs around me, and everything fit perfectly. Like she was meant to be a part of me, me a part of her.

  Letting my nose fall into her hair, I willed myself to ask the dreaded question. “Are you …okay?” I wasn’t sure if I meant physically or emotionally. Either way, I guess it needed to be asked. Still, I was afraid of the answer.

  She pushed herself up on my chest, her curls spreading over us like a blanket. I played with them, studying them like they were my life’s mission, just to have an excuse to avoid her eyes. “I feel perfect. Just a little emotional maybe.”

  I swallowed hard and looked to the wood planks of the ceiling. “Oh. Because…Ollie?”

  Grabbing my chin, she made me make eye contact. “Because of you. We could have had four years together. Now we only have days.”

  I stiffened behind her. “You can’t think of it like that.”

  “How should I think about it?”

  “Everything happens at the right time for the right reason—”

  “Oh, now you’re going Zen on me again—”

  “Hear me out, Pix.” She relaxed in my arms. “That time you were with Ollie was when we got to know each other. Maybe if you weren’t with him, or if you’d broken up earlier, we’d have lost contact.”

  “That’s weak, Josh.”

  I hated thinking like this and didn’t want her to do what I’d done for so long—second-guess everything. “Please don’t have regrets. Not now. Not after last night. It makes me fucking sad.”

  She pulled away and turned, kneeling in front of me, between my legs. Her eyes teared up. “I’m sorry. How I should be phrasing this is, ‘Last night was the best night of my life. I think you are wonderful and amazing. I’m upset because our lives are going in different directions, and all I really want is a do-over. With you.”

  Fuck. And there went my damn heart. Broken right down the middle. I’d gotten over the bitter part of my feelings for her years ago, but she was new to this vibe between us. I’d piled it on her over the course of a few weeks. “Vi—”

  “But,” she held up a finger to stop me from talking, “I’m also scared that this is going to ruin us. I need you, Josh.”

  “I need you too.”

  “And we promised, promised, that we’d go back to being friends, that we’d always be friends. I’m not risking that, no matter what.” With a huff, she looked to her lap, then back up at me. “Maybe I should go back to New Jersey.”

  “No.” The word was automatic. I wasn’t going to let that happen, even if I didn’t know how I’d go back to being friends either. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  My head spun with thoughts of Violet leaving me there in Rambling, going back to New Jersey. I didn’t want her to freak out, but I certainly didn’t want her to leave. I knew, though, that when Vi felt things, she felt deeply. She truly was scared. She didn’t want to be latched to another guy like she was with Ollie. Like I wanted her to be with me if I was honest with myself. It was all I’d wanted for years—Violet’s love.

  But in a way, she was right. No matter what, when we got back to NJU, we were graduating in two months. I’d be fucking heartbroken if this went further than this week. The only way it could work is if Violet didn’t give me her heart, not fully. Because if she gave it to me, I’d never be able to give it back.

  Taking a second to calm myself down, I went with my gut. “How about this?” My voice shook.

  Her beautiful eyes widened as she waited for me to fix her feelings.

  “How about we enjoy this time we have? There’s still three more days in Virginia, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Let’s just…be together. It’s only sex, Violet.” There it was. The casual blow off of the least casual relationship I’d ever been in.

  I waited for her to yell at me. To hate me. To crawl out of the treehouse. But she didn’t. Instead, the corner of her lips lifted into a half-grin. “You really think we can do this?”

  “Let’s not think too hard.” I leaned closer, shifting onto my knees. Falling toward her, I put my hand behind her head and urged her to lay her under me. “Speaking of hard…”

  She gasped when I pressed my dick between her thighs.

  “So…don’t think about it…I’m being weird, right? We can be friends with benefits. Anyway…we said it would just be sex…”

  “Sex,” I grinded my hips into her, giving her some of my weight. “Yep.”

  “Then there’s no reason for me to leave. I mean,” she hummed when I slid my hand up her waist, “we’re just having fun. That’s what you told your sister to do right?” Her breaths deepened as I kissed from her neck down to her chest, filling my mouth with her breast. Sliding my hand between us, I pushed down her jeans. “That she…should…have…fun?”

  Violet lifted her hips. I released her nipple from my lips and moved up to look her in the eyes. “I don’t want to talk about my sister.”

  She smirked. “Okay.”

  As I tried to dip back down to enjoy her body, she held me by my chin and urged me back up. She lifted her head to give me a peck on the lips. “Thank you for making this right.”

  It wasn’t right. Wasn’t right at all. It was all a lie because I wanted more from her. I wanted everything. But when my finger slid inside of her, her body throbbing around it, I knew I’d take what I could get.

  “My pleasure,” I whispered.

  She didn’t want to give me her heart, but she wanted me to have her body. And fuck did I love her body. I vowed right there to love her for however long she let me, in whichever way she wanted. Because having some of Violet was better than having no Violet at all.

  Violet

  Climbing down from the treehouse was a lot more difficult than climbing up. First problem was that I had refused to look down. Josh had to lead, caging me in as he practically hung from the decade old, wiggly rungs. Second, my legs were still shaking from
treehouse sex. I hadn’t had a workout like that since, well...ever. I paused on the climb down to shut my eyes and promised myself not to forget one moment of our night, our morning.

  When we reached the bottom, I looked up at the treehouse. “We’ll have to come back here.”

  “You like my treehouse?”

  I took the comforter from him and hugged it. “Oh yeah, I do.”

  He reached for my cheeks, then moved closer to nibble my lips. “I really like it too,” he murmured between kisses. “It’s the best place ever.”

  * * *

  Back in the King house, I shouldn’t have been surprised that chaos had erupted. Compared to the quiet of the treehouse, where I could hear Josh’s breath and the breeze blowing outside, stepping into the kitchen was like walking into a frat party. A frat party with a giant, slobbering dog.

  The music played, and the girls swarmed around the space, grabbing things and yelling at each other. Isabelle handed them lunch bags as Grannie Grey read her “papers.”

  Amelia shoved a travel coffee cup and lid at Josh. “I can’t close this. I’m late. My shift starts in a half hour.”

  He snapped the lid on and handed it to her. “Good morning to you too,” he yelled as she ran out the back door.

  “Don’t get in an accident,” Isabelle yelled behind her. She gave us each a kiss on the cheek. “Good morning, sunshine,” she said to Josh, patting his cheek. She looked to me with the same smile. “Once I get these kids off, we’ll have breakfast, okay?”

  My stomach rumbled at the thought. “Breakfast sounds great.”

  Charlie snuck between the three of us, popping up in the middle of our conversation. “Where have you been?” She wrapped her arms around Josh’s waist.

  “Outside. We went for an early walk,” Josh said, squeezing my hand.

  “Uh-huh,” Sierra mumbled, her face in the fridge. “A walk. Sure.”

  Josh raised his eyebrows at me, and I shrugged. No sense in trying to convince Sierra that there was nothing going on between us. She’d already figured it out.

  Various words were thrown around about having a good day, asking Josh to fix things, Charlie asked me to put a barrette in her hair. Isabelle rattled off a list for Millie of books, lunches, gym clothes, supplies. Sierra yelled at her for being overbearing. Millie yelled at Sierra for yelling at Isabelle. Grannie Grey shouted curses at everyone. I kind of wanted to put my hands over my ears and wait for it to be over. Then Charlie sidled up to us again.

  Josh bent down to her height. “You do a good job today, okay?”

  She nodded. “Always. I’m the smartest one, remember?”

  “Shh.” He peeked at the others. “Don’t tell them I think so…”

  “They’ll get jealous,” she answered, then kissed him on the cheek.

  I loved how he was with her.

  She looked up at me. “Can I do your nails later?”

  I examined my manicure, pushing thoughts of where my hands had been less than an hour before out of my mind. “Of course. I’m always up for a free mani.”

  Josh huffed dramatically and held up a hand. “What about mine?”

  Charlie giggled. “I can do yours too.”

  He kissed her head. “Thanks. Now go to school and learn all the things.”

  “You got it,” she answered with a fake salute.

  Within minutes, Isabelle had ushered everyone out the door. She had to drive Grannie to her Tuesday party planning meeting at the senior center, and the girls’ bus was about to arrive to cart them all off to school. Even Elmo disappeared.

  Josh and I had the house to ourselves. We stood in the middle of the kitchen, examining the damage from the tornado of sisters.

  “Is it always this crazy on school days?” Noticing the milk on the counter, I closed it up and put it in the fridge.

  “This was fairly tame. Once Sierra and Millie got into a fistfight right here on the floor.”

  I was shocked for a second, then I could totally picture it. “Over what?”

  “Over who would get the last package of fruit snacks.”

  My jaw dropped. “Fruit snacks? It’s like The Hunger Games here. What did you do?”

  He laughed, pointing toward the small kitchen table. “Grannie was in her usual seat yelling, ‘Throw water on them, throw water on them.’”

  I covered my mouth, trying to hide my smile. Somehow, I was able to picture the whole scene perfectly. “Did you?”

  “No. But everyone stopped to stare to see if I would, including the twins. Sierra looked at me and said, ‘So help me if you throw water on me, I’ll kill you, Joshua James King.”

  “Joshua James, huh?” In the three-and-a-half years I’d known him, I’d never known his middle name. “It suits you.”

  “They only use it when they’re threatening me, Violet Grace.”

  “Like how you only use mine when you’re trying to get my attention?” I smiled up at him as he moved closer, flipping that switch in my libido that he seemed to have control of.

  “I’m always trying to get your attention.” He grabbed my hips and pulled me toward him. When he rubbed his palms over my butt, that’s all it took for me to want him inside of me again.

  I unzipped his coat and kissed his chest, over his shirt, while I returned the butt massage. His was hard. Everything about him was hard, except that soft heart. “How long until your mom gets back?”

  “At least an hour. What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?”

  “Maybe we should conserve water. Shower together?”

  As soon as the words left my mouth, Josh was in action. He lifted me, and I wrapped my legs around him. “Guess that’s a yes?”

  Bounding up the stairs carrying me, he dropped me at the top. “As if I can say no to you.” He led me into his room and gently started to undress me, peeling off my layers.

  “Clock’s ticking. I’m not wasting one minute with you—not today, not this week—so power up, Pixie, because I have that plan I’d mentioned after the symphony.”

  “Ah, the mystery plan. Tell me.”

  “I want alone time with you, so tonight, after my interview, I’m taking you to a secret place.”

  Soon we were both naked. When our gazes met again, I smiled. “Powered up and ready for your plan.”

  “In the shower…now. Plan…later. Not wasting one minute.”

  Whatever his plan was, if it meant we got to be naked, I was in. I led him to the bathroom and turned on the faucet. “Let’s make it steamy hot.”

  “Not a problem,” he said, pressing his naked body into my back and nuzzling my neck.

  Smiling, I relaxed in his arms. “I like your plan already.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Josh

  My interview was at four. I tinkered in the work shed all day, Elmo at my side, as I burst with energy thanks to my night with Vi and my nervousness over the interview. There were a million things to do around the property, so I made a list and focused on that—fixing a creaky board in the living room, repairing a hole in the perimeter fence, installing a hand rail in the bathroom for Grannie Grey, flipping mattresses, and hanging shelves. All the things they saved up for me to do.

  I’d have rather worked off my nervous energy with Violet. But as soon as my sisters got home from school, they had hijacked her. They’d told me they wanted to take her for a tour of Charlamagne, but I had a feeling something bigger was up. When I’d asked why I wasn’t invited, they stumbled, having not prepared the lie fully.

  It was my sweet Charlie who told me the truth when she found me in the work shed. Clapping and jumping up and down, she blurted, “We’re going wedding dress shopping! In Charlamagne!” She was named after the town, so it was her favorite place. “I’m not supposed to tell you.”

  I huffed and kissed the top of her head. “Your secrets are always safe with me. Don’t tell the others—”

  “They’ll get jealous,” she said with a giggle.

  “Why are you ma
king Violet go with you?”

  Charlie shrugged. “We like her. And Amelia thinks she’ll be a good shopper since she’s rich and from New York City.”

  My instinct was to correct Charlie, to tell her that Violet was more than a rich city girl, but I couldn’t disagree with the gist of her statement. “I guess that’s true. Do me a favor? Go get her?”

  She scrunched her face, spun around, and ran into the house, Elmo at her heels.

  I sorted through my tools, waiting, until Violet leaned against the door frame—her hands in her jeans pockets, her hips curved to the side, that long, curly hair up off her neck. She wasn’t wearing a coat, just a tight pink sweater, a pair of jeans, and a smile. “Hey, Hunkarama.”

  The sound of her voice made my pulse quicken. “How do you look more gorgeous every time I see you?”

  She spun to look behind her. “Me? You must be breathing in too much fresh air. I’ll have to get you back to NJU soon.”

  “Hell no. I like being right here, with you, in our own little kingdom with the special rules. I’m going to keep you to myself for the rest of the week though. After this dress shopping excursion, and my interview, you’re mine.”

  She gasped. “You’re not supposed to know about the dress shopping.”

  “I have a spy. You want me to get you out of it?”

  Violet shook her head. “No. I’d like to go, and you have your interview. Maybe I’ll be less of a distraction.”

  “You are the best distraction.” As much as I loved for her to hang out with my sisters, I selfishly wanted her to myself.

  Vi walked around the work bench to me, dragging her fingers over the surface. “I like your space here.”

  “Yeah?” I looked around at the mess. Most of the stuff was old, my dad’s, but it still worked. I tapped the bench, wondering if it could hold the weight of us if I pulled her on top of it. Control. I needed to keep control. “So does this shopping excursion mean you’re supporting the marriage?”

  With a long sigh, she turned to me. “You know what they say. If you can’t beat them, join them.”