Falling Away (21 page)

             
“You’re late.” The voice belonged to a young girl, and I let out a calming sigh. “Are you taking me or not?”

             
“Two minutes. Here,” he added, snatching the keys off the small wall shelf by the door and passing them through the opening. “Start the truck.”

             
I hitched myself up on my elbows to admire the view as he sexily sauntered his way back to the bed and climbed above me. Just a light bite and tug to my lower lip set off a rumble down below, and my hand quickly cupped the back of his neck to bring him in for a hard kiss. Obviously, he surrendered to it, but pulled away before it got out of control.

             
Grinning stupidly, he pulled out of reach and said, “Hold that thought. I have to drop
Maddy
off at school first.” I mirrored his grin, my hands stretching up to rest above my head. He walked about the room, pulling a Penn State
hoodie
from the chest and slipping it on after his socks and sneakers. After yanking his wallet free from the pants he wore to get the Chinese take-out yesterday, he stepped beside me in bed. He kissed me once, pressing our lips together for several seconds, then lingered above me momentarily. Before he rose, he sneaked a peek under the duvet. “Man, I love seeing you in my bed.” He quickly pecked my forehead before heading out into the blistering cold. “I’ll be back in ten.”

             
I lay there for several minutes before I realized how wonderful a shower sounded. I glanced at the clock on my way to the bathroom. Eight-twenty-five. I still had plenty of time to spend the morning with Evan before heading back to my place for fresh clothes. Guess that was one perk to closing the store each night. I got to sleep in every morning and take my sweet time doing whatever I wanted. And right now, that something was Evan.

             
I had to stand there shivering in the nude a few minutes before the hot water finally pushed through the pipes. I hated cold weather. One of these days I was gonna get smart and move to a warmer climate zone. Some place I actually got to wear a bikini, with warm sand squishing between my toes. And if Evan could follow and wear nothing but swim trunks, even better.

             
I hadn’t planned on spending the weekend away from home, let alone Evan’s bed, so I had nothing in my purse to clean up with. Not even a clean change of underwear. I sniffed at Evan’s shampoo and body wash. Sexy and arousing, but no way in hell was I gonna go to work bathed in Evan’s scent. My coworkers would flash me teasing, suggestive looks all day, not to mention the embarrassing commentary that would surely go along with it. So instead, I stood there and allowed the water to flow atop my head and drip down my body. It wasn’t too bad of a shower head, but standing there made me realize how much I missed the rainforest downpour at Sophie’s parents’ house. God, that was awesome, and sadly, made every bath I took since then craptastic.

             
I heard the door to the standing shower open behind me, but I didn’t move, awaiting the hand I knew would snake around my waist and the firmness of his body as it pressed against my backside. “I like the way you think,” he said with a husky voice, his breath tickling my ear, his free hand squeezing my breast.

             
My head rolled back over his shoulder. “So how long does the hot water last in here?”

             
“I don’t know. What’s say we find out?” And with that he snatched my wrists and roughly splayed my chest flush against the wall, biting hard beneath my ear. His deep nibbles continued down my neck, and moans whimpered out of me as my unmentionable area began to spasm.

             
Did I say this shower was craptastic? Uh…no. In fact, best one yet.

“All right. Nine o’clock. Every work night. That’s
my
time,” Sophie instructed. It was five-thirty and once again I blew her off to deal with customers.

             
“Yeah, yeah. Alright.
Gotta
go, Soph.” I hung up before she could reply and helped an elderly woman find the section for homeopathic remedies. Then I spent the next hour pushing the cart all over the store to return out of place books to their proper spot. I had been grinning like an idiot all day, even though my insides kinda ached. But all the imagery flashing through my mind from the past two days, totally made the pain worth it.

             
Evan found me after six. I knew he’d show up, I just assumed it would be at closing time like he mentioned over lunch. I looked to him curiously before he said, “I have to work tonight.”

             
“Oh, thank God,” I blurted, relief flooding my senses. Appalled, he shot me a look of uncertainty. “I’m sorry. I just really need to rest tonight.”

             
“Oh.” Slyly, he added, “Two nights and you’re already wiped out?” He leaned in and quietly said, “You know, they say
sexercise
is the best way to get in shape.”
             

             
Oh, my God! Laughter burst from my chest and I cupped both hands over my mouth to contain it, completely dropping the books within my grasp. Did he really just say that? I must’ve delivered the reaction he was seeking, ‘cause Evan was ecstatically amused as he bent to collect my lost books. Playfully, I smacked his shoulder as he rose and pointed a finger at him. “Bad. Not at work.

             
“And when I say I need to rest, I mean…” my eyes rolled down to my tummy, “I need to rest.”

             
It was like I was strong enough to punch him in the gut and make it count, ‘cause his expression did a complete one-eighty. He quickly glanced around for eavesdroppers before harshly whispering, “Did I hurt you this morning? Was I too rough? Because you–”

             
“No!” I interrupted, also whispering with a heated tone. Reassuringly, I repeated, “No,” more gently and I lay my hand over his quickened heart. “Everything we did this weekend was amazing. I think it was just too many times in a short period of time,
ya
’ know?” His nod was short and pathetic. “Evan, don’t look at me like that. You didn’t do anything I didn’t want done, and you didn’t hurt me. I’m just a little sore, is all.” I kissed him on the lips, not caring if anyone saw, and squeezed his hand tight.

             
“Alright,” he muttered.

             
Obviously, it wasn’t alright with him, but it was a discussion for later, when we were alone and his ego was in a better state of mind. Needless to say, this conversation didn’t make the rest of my night go any faster, knowing I wouldn’t get to talk to him before tomorrow at the earliest. And I felt bad. Had I’d known he’d react that way, I wouldn’t have said anything.

             
Later, I rolled in bed for two hours, and my intestines had more twists than a pretzel factory. I don’t know why it bugged me so much, or why it upset him that much. I couldn’t be the first girl he’d been with that ended up sore after a weekend romp. Could I?

             
Crap. Now I was never gonna fall asleep. I threw the covers off and dressed into whatever clothes I had thrown on the floor, and was out the door before my brain even told me what the hell I was doing. There was a payphone by the bus stop half a block from my building and I called a cab that arrived within ten minutes. The dash said twelve-thirty. Thankfully, Evan’s car was in the driveway, so I released the cab and made my way up. I knocked gently – who knew why since I was trying to wake him up. I must’ve been afraid to wake his parents.

             
He was groggy when he opened the door in a grey t-shirt and red drawstring pants. “Hey,” I said as he let me in. “Can’t sleep?”

             
“Not really. You?”

             
“No.” I stripped my jacket off, taking notice for the first time that my long-sleeved shirt was on inside out. At least that mustered a weak chuckle from him.

             
“You know, with the messy bed hair and the shirt inside out like that, if my parents were to walk in right now, they’d think we were having sex.”

             
I yanked the messy ponytail out and detangled some of my hair. “No wonder the cab driver asked if I was alright.”

             
His face hardened as his bum leaned back against the chest for support. “You took a cab here? Jenna, why didn’t you just call me?”

             
“Uh…” Duh. Good question. “Guess I forgot I had your number stored on my old phone. Sorry.”

             
“Look, I realize we only live in Rutland, but there are still plenty of crazy people out there. Please don’t do that again. Just wake me up. I’ll come for you.”

             
Smiling, I placed my hands on his chest and leaned in for a soft kiss, his arms wrapping around me. “Can I sleep here tonight?”

             
“
Mmm
-hmm.”

             
“Good. But I want you bare-chested,” I replied with a wink.

             
There was that smile I liked to see. “Fine. But if my shirt goes, yours goes.”

             
For a split second I was exasperated. That was
so
not the same thing! But then I realized it was nothing he hadn’t seen already…and then some. “Yeah, alright.” I admired the view once his shirt was removed, and I probably would have realized he was doing the same to me if I had actually paid attention to something other than
the muscular sculpture of
his abdomen, and the sexy way his pants hung loose around the hips.

             
Stripped down to nothing but my boy shorts, I buried myself under the warm duvet and snuggled into his chest, his arms wrapped around me. “Hold me ‘till I fall asleep?”

             
“Jenna, I’ll hold you all night long if you want me to.”

             
“No, sorry. I’m all for cuddling while I’m awake, but when I sleep, I prefer to have my own space.”

             
“Thank God!” he cried, which made me laugh. I didn’t remember much after that, ‘cause I think I fell asleep, but when I awoke the next morning, he still hadn’t let go of me. We must have both slept hard not to move all night. I stirred, which got him moving too. I lightly traced random designs on his shoulders, biceps and pecks, as he gently did the same to my side, hip and outer thigh which draped across his, our eyes mingling.

             
“Are you still sore?”

             
“I don’t think so. But it’d probably be best if we played softly this time.”

             
Evan rolled over me and placed his arms and legs all around so not to lean directly on me. “I think we can manage that,” he said soothingly before lightly caressing my mouth with his.

“So I think I’ve found my bridesmaid dresses.”

             
“Oh, yeah? How much?”

             
Sophie groaned over the phone. “You would ask that before asking what it looked like. Sometimes I wonder if you really are a girl inside.”

             
“Sophie, I’d wear a designer garment bag for your wedding if you asked me to. And I know you have good taste, so I’m not really worried about it.” After five seconds went by in silence, I slightly rolled my eyes and leaned over the speakerphone. “So what does it look like?” I tried to ask with as much enthusiasm as I could muster without sounding fake.