Down to Business (Business Series) (26 page)

"Shit, I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“No,” I answered breathlessly. “Don’t stop…”

He was careful as he pulled back and plunged again, waiting for my response.

The burning resistance of my body clashed with the deeper need within that wanted this; needed this. I raised my hips to meet his next thrust and he responded with a soft groan. Again and again, our hips came together, and finally, the resistance gave away to satisfaction. The drive to pleasure me was evident in Vinny’s face as our bodies worked as one.  By the time he came, I was on my fourth orgasm. He was leaning over me when it happened, groaning while his hips pounded into mine vigorously, and me beneath him, a whimpering panting mess.

His whole body tensed at first and then he mumbled, “Ah shit, I’m—”

His words were cut short by a pleased groan. He closed his eyes and his jaw clenched. I felt the moment of his release happen and I watched as his face contorted in what looked like pained pleasure that ended in a content sigh. His eyes opened after, glazed over with satisfaction, and we smiled at one another.

I sighed in relief.

We did it.

He kissed my lips and wrapped me in his arms, our bodies still joined. We held eachother for a few minutes before he rolled onto his back, and pulled me on top of him.

“You did great, Autumn,” he whispered and kissed my shoulder.

“Thanks,’ I said, trembling still. “I never thought it would feel that good.”

He laughed a little and looked up at me, brushing away some stray hair from my face. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m great. That was nothing like my first time.”

He smiled. “I told you I wouldn’t hurt you. Sex is supposed to feel good, like that.”

“Good is an understatement.”

He laughed. “Do you want something to drink?”

“Water would be good.”

He pecked my lips and gently rolled me off him. “Don’t move.”

He climbed off the table and grabbed a few napkins from the bar to dispose his condom in. Afterwards, he washed his hands, grabbed two bottles of water, and climbed back up beside me. I gasped as he playfully dragged the bottle of water over my bare stomach.

“You asshole!” I laughed, swatting his bare arm.

He chuckled and twisted the cap off his water, drinking half of the bottle at once. “What time is it?”

I sat up on my elbow and took a drink from my water bottle. “I have no idea. Probably like one-thirty…maybe two.”

The front door suddenly shook, taking us both off guard. I stifled a scream and grabbed onto him. His arm moved around me and we looked at one another. Someone was trying to
get inside.

At
first, I figured it might be a random drunk person not knowing we were closed…but then my worst fear was confirmed.

“Autumn?” My mother called out from behind the door.

A second bolt of painful adrenaline shot through my veins.

“Fuck!” I breathed.

“Autumn! Are you in there?”

“One sec, Mom!” I yelled, flinging myself off the side of the pool table. “Don’t open the door! I’ll let you in!”

Vinny followed my lead, scrambling to collect our scattered clothing. We bumped heads when we both leaned in for our shirts at the same time. Laughing through the pain, I managed to get fully dressed and just as I shoved my arms through the sleeves of my hoodie, my mother unlocked the door herself.

We froze in place as she pushed the door open and stared at us like we were idiots. “Why didn’t you open the door?!”

“I was going to...”

“When? Next week? What took you so long? It’s the middle of the night, Autumn. I could have been mugged waiting on you.”

Mugged? Didn’t she remember we lived in one of the most boring towns on the east coast?

“I’m sorry. We were just…finishing up a game of pool…” I said, motioning to the table behind me.

I followed her suspicious gaze as it traveled past me to the table where our pool cues were discarded on the floor and all the balls were pressed to the edges of the table from us lying around them.

My face burned with guilt and I reached up to comb my hand through my messy hair.

“Well, I didn’t mean to interrupt your
‘game’
but I called you after I left the hospital and you didn’t answer. So I called your brother and he said you guys didn’t make it home…so I came by to make sure you were okay.”

“We are great,” I said tucking my hands into my pockets and rolling back on my heels.

She crossed her arms.  “It’s almost three in the morning, how much longer were you two going to be here?”

I glanced over at Vinny. “Wow, three already? Guess we should get going.”

“Yeah,” he agreed in a grunt and immediately began clearing the balls from the pool table.

I went to the bar and grabbed our empty beer bottles, tossing them in the trash.

“You two were drinking?” Mom asked, her voice laced with accusation.

“Just one beer. We paid for them,” I said, brushing off the guilt trip she was attempting to give me.

“What about your promise to never drink again? Not to mention that you are under age.”

“Mom, come on it was one beer and…Vinny was supervising me.”

We both turned to Vinny who suddenly wore a deer in the headlights look. “Uh, sorry. I shouldn’t have let her drink.”

She gave him a knowing smile. “Yeah, uh-huh. I’ll let it slide this time Vinny.”

“Thanks,” he said, giving her one of his charming smiles.

“Are you staying with us at the house tonight?”

“I wasn’t sure what the plan was, but it wouldn’t be a problem for me to check into a motel.”

“Don’t be silly. You can stay with us.” Mom said.

Vinny looked at me for confirmation and I smiled.

“Okay, I’ll stay with you guys then.”

“I’m so exhausted. I need to get my butt in bed.” Mom yawned. “Grandma expects me back at eight when visiting hours begin.”

Once the pool table and bar were in order, I locked up and the three of us stepped out onto the street. Vinny and I supervised Mom as she got into the old Honda. She had to start it three times to get it going. She waved to us in the rearview as she sputtered away from the curb. I wondered how I ever made it to Garden City in that junker.

Vinny and I both waved back before we turned to one another and started to laugh.

“Oh my God! That was so close,” I said covering my face.

“That had to be one of the most awkward situations of my life,” he agreed.

“Yeah, tell me about it. Good thing she didn’t ask too many questions.”

He grabbed the sleeve of my hoodie and pulled me closer to him. “I had fun tonight.”

I smiled, wrapping my arms around him. “It’s been the best night of my life. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me.”

“Why?” I asked, rubbing my hands over his back.

“Because I enjoyed it just as much as you, maybe even more,” he said before kissing me.

“That’s impossible.” My heart fluttered and I kissed him back. It was the perfect way to end an almost perfect night.

After stopping for gas, we drove back to my house, which was a one-story white ranch home with a slate gray roof and a cozy front porch. It could use some new siding and the trim needed to be repainted, but it was home. Mom always kept her potted garden on the porch in the summer, which was all but dead now. She called it her ‘sanctuary of sanity’ but Dad said the only thing that found sanctuary there was bugs.

Vinny parked in the driveway in front of the detached garage, and I noticed that Mom left the porch light on. We entered the house through the backdoor. The smell of home hit me the moment I opened the door. It was a used smell; the smell of a family that worked hard for what they had.  We stood inside the cramped kitchen, which like everything else needed a makeover.  Our dinner table that sat eight, took up most of the standing room. It belonged to my grandmother and I was pretty sure it was the same table my mother ate at while growing up.

I closed the door quietly behind us, figuring everyone was asleep. We tip toed over the squeaky linoleum kitchen floor into the dark living room. I walked over to the nearest light switch and flipped it on. Two worn brown sofas we had for a decade and a used recliner that belonged to my grandfather greeted us. Mom was the kind of woman that believed everything had sentimental value, so most of our furniture had been with us for a while, even our coffee table had old nicks and scratches from when I was a kid. Knickknacks were scattered on shelves, along with our dusty childhood trophies over the fireplace. Handmade projects she adored hung on the walls along with a shrine of photos of our family. I saw him gravitate toward the pictures on the wall and I interrupted him promptly to save myself some humiliation.

“You can have my room. I can sleep on the couch.”

He turned to me and the dark circles of exhaustion under his eyes seemed bolder in the dim glow of the room. “No, I’ll take the couch, I don’t mind.”

“I’ll get you a blanket and pillows.”

I watched him drop down on the sofa and remove his shoes. I walked to the hall closet where we kept all of our extra blankets. I found one that still looked decent and stole one of the pillows off my daybed to give to him. I carried both to the living room to find him already lying down on the sofa with his eyes closed. He looked up at me when I draped the blanket over him and I leaned down to put the pillow under his head. I whispered goodnight, aiming to kiss his cheek, but he turned his face just in time and our lips met and held there for a long moment.

“Night,” I whispered as my heart fluttered. 

“Goodnight Auti,” he whispered against my lips with a smirk.

I pulled away, unable to wipe the smile off my face and turned off the light. I headed to my bedroom that was just the way I left it, barren besides my old computer desk, daybed, dresser, and nightstand. I threw on an old t-shirt and flannel pants to sleep in and crawled into my creaky daybed, finding it extra comfortable. I tossed and turned for a while, trying to calm my racing mind that kept reminding me of what an amazing night I had. By the time I started to drift off to sleep, the digital clock on my bedside table read 4AM.

I woke up the next morning to the familiar sound of the pipes groaning in the wall next to my bed that signaled someone was taking a shower. I opened my eyes and my heart did a jump-start when I realized that I was back in my bedroom in Hamilton. I sat up and looked around, glaring at the juvenile posters of baby animals, actors, and musicians that once I favored throughout high school. My mind fought to recall what I was doing back in Hamilton in the first place. Once I got everything processed, I slowly threw back my faded flowery violet comforter and glanced over at the clock that read 11:20AM. I picked up my phone and noticed I had a text from Vinny that said:

GOOD MORNING SLEEPYHEAD. I’M TAKING A SHOWER. CU SOON ;)

My heart fluttered as I recalled our night together and I couldn’t wait to see him. I climbed out of my bed and did my best to round my hair up in a ponytail. After using the only other available bathroom, I walked around the house to see if anyone else was home. I found my brother at the dining table taking a bite out of an over-stuffed sandwich.

“Hey,” I said, going to the fridge and pulling out the orange juice. “Where’s Mom?”

“She went back to the hospital.”

“How is Grandma?”

“Fine I guess.”

I poured myself some juice in a glass and sipped it. “Are you off today?”

“Yep,” he said, looking like a chipmunk as he chewed his sandwich and stared at his phone.

Vinny appeared in the kitchen doorway, his hair still slick from his shower.

We smiled at one another.

“Good morning,” he said, stepping over and kissing me.

I returned the kiss and smiled. “How did you sleep?”

“Not bad, that sofa is more comfortable than it looks.”

“I’ll jump in the shower in a minute. I know you probably want to get back to Garden City.”

“Take your time,” he said giving my hip a squeeze. “Didn’t you want to stay here for a few more days? I can just come back for you when you’re ready.”

“I don’t know what I‘m doing yet, I guess we should head down there and see how she is doing before I make a decision.”