Geoducks Are for Lovers (26 page)

The house is quiet and dark when they enter. Biscuit lifts his head from his bed, then flops back down with a sigh. 

“Coast is clear. Lucky boy.” She kisses Gil as she turns off the lone kitchen light.

“Oh, I’m a very lucky boy.” He follows her upstairs to her room.

Twenty-four

Maggie reaches behind Gil to turn the lock.

“This door locks, too? Why didn’t you lock it last night?” He grabs her hand as she brushes past him.

“I didn’t even think about it. Not in the habit of locking my bedroom door or having men in my bed.”

“Men? Plural?” He teases as she pulls him further into the room.

“A man. You. I’m not used to having you. Better?”

“Much better.” He leans down and kisses her when they reach the bed.

Maggie gazes up at him, vaguely nervous about having him in her room behind a locked door and what that means. Before she can list all the cons in this situation, Gil lifts her chin with his fingers.

“Hey, don’t overthink this. It’s me. We don’t have to do anything more than sleep.” He bends to softly kiss her lips. 

“What if I don’t want to sleep?” She pouts.

“Ever? Not sure I’m up for an all-nighter.” He teases, grabbing her other hand before kissing her pout. Stepping closer, their bodies meld together.

She pulls back a fraction. “You feel like you’re up for something, though.” Leaning forward again, she feels him against her stomach. 

His laugh is nervous. “Oh, Maggie, what do you do to me? I feel like I’m twenty and you really have snuck me into your room.”

She giggles. “It’s kind of funny that we’re sneaking around twenty-two years later.”

“All we need is an
Annie Hall
poster on the wall and the Cocteau Twins on the stereo.”

“That poster was so pretentious. You remember what was playing that night?” She studies him.

“I remember everything about that night. And the next morning.” Kissing along her jaw, he gently pushes her back on the bed before crawling up next to her. His hand trails a path exposed by the open buttons of the flannel shirt over her T-shirt.

Maggie closes her eyes as memories flicker behind her lids. His touch, familiar and new, is a combination of memory and the unknown.

“What are you thinking about?” He whispers, brushing her hair back from her face, fanning it over the quilt.

“I was thinking of how nervous and excited I was to be with you. Everything was overwhelming.” She turns her head toward him, and touches his face with her fingers, drawing them down his cheek and along his scruff-covered jaw.

“I was nervous, too. I couldn’t believe it was happening. Even now it doesn’t seem real. Maybe because you disappeared the next day.”

She blinks at him. Butterflies flutter and her pulse quickens. “You were so intense and attentive. That was the single most sensual night of my life.”

He gazes down at her face. “Up until that point, you mean?”

Maggie scrunches her brow. “Actually, ever.” She rubs her thumb over his cheekbone, then leans up and kisses him. 

“Ever?” He asks, intertwining their fingers and kissing her knuckles. “I had no idea what I was doing back then.”

“You made me feel adored and worshiped. What could be better than that?”

“Nothing.” He kisses her and the time for talking ends. He rolls so he’s over her. 

She wraps her arms around him, pulling him down to her. Their legs entwine and bodies align from memory.

His breath quickens when she reaches between them to palm him through his jeans. His moan makes Maggie giggle in her throat.

“I told you it’s been a while. Laughing at me isn’t helping things.” He nips at her jaw.

“Sorry. It’s been a long time for me. I love when I make you moan.” She gently squeezes him, causing him to moan again. 

He stifles any more of her potential giggles by kissing her. He rolls them, so she is on top. 

“These shirts need to go.” He tugs at the green flannel. 

She pulls it off her shoulders, and lifts the hem of her black T-shirt. She’s thankful she put on a nice bra instead of one of her usual beige. When her shirt comes off, she looks down at him. 

He stares at her chest, looking infinitely pleased by what he sees. “Hello girls. It’s been awhile.” 

This causes her to laugh again and his eyes flicker to her face. He grins. “What?”

“You’re talking to my boobs. What do you mean what?” 

“Shh, I’m saying hello to some old friends.” He gives her a look before reaching behind her and unhooking her bra. 

She holds the front in place as he pulls the straps down. “Stop being shy. It’s me.”

“I know, but your memory is of my twenty-year-old body. Not this one.” 

He sits up a bit and lightly bites her shoulder. “It’s me. I think it is pretty evident I’m more than thrilled to be seeing you naked.” He gently thrusts his hips, reminding her of her affect on him.

“This,” he gestures at his own frame, “isn’t the body of a college guy either. I know I’ve filled out over the years and am not the same lanky guy I was.

Feeling silly for being shy, she peels off the bra, and drops it on the floor.

“Beautiful,” he whispers before gently kissing her chest.

Maggie hums at the touch of his warm lips on her flushed skin.

She tugs on the hem of his thermal. “Off.” 

He breaks away to pull off his shirt before tossing it somewhere in the direction of the floor.

“This is new,” she says, dragging her fingers down his chest where he has more hair than he did at twenty.

“Not so new. Welcome to Gil, the man.” He lifts her hand and kisses the inside of her wrist. 

She wonders if he can feel the thrum of her racing pulse with his lips.

Skin to skin, they roll over on the bed, legs entwining and hips grinding. Hands stroke, cup, and touch. A familiar heat builds deep and low inside her.

Gil gathers her hair into a lose ponytail in his hand, and tugs her head back to kiss her neck. She squirms as his stubble drags down her neck, making her skin pebble.

She reaches down to his jeans, but pauses, and he looks at her. They stare at each other for a beat before he nods. She pops open the top button and notices he’s wearing button flies. Some things never change.

He reaches for the button on her jeans and lowers the zipper.

“We don’t have to do anything, you know this, right?” He catches her eye.

“I know. I need more skin, and it seems silly to be topless wearing jeans.”

She rolls to her side to take off her jeans, kicking them off and to the floor, leaving her only in a pair of black boy shorts. 

He lifts his pelvis and pushes down his own jeans, watching her the entire time. 

“We match,” she laughs, eyeing his black boxer briefs. She pulls him into a kiss before he has a chance to reply.

With nothing but thin cotton between them, she can feel all of him as they continue to kiss and explore each other.

She is exposed but not vulnerable. This Gil has the same emotion in his eyes as his younger self. She knows she’s nothing less than adored in this moment. The entire night she’s tried to turn her mind off and just be, but now she makes a conscious decision about what she wants.

With her fingers under his chin, she tips his face up to hers. 

His eyes meet hers and he sees her determination. No hesitation lurks in her eyes as she reaches for him under his boxers. The feeling of her hand around his length causes him to close his eyes and hum in pleasure.

He feels her other hand pull and push his underwear down his hips. Opening his eyes, he watches her hand on him as she struggles to strip off the last remaining bit of clothing.

He sits up on his knees and she releases him. He attempts to remove his boxers, getting caught as he turns to get them off his legs. Flopping on the bed as he struggles, he laughs at himself.

“Yep, I still have the smooth moves.” He finally gets his boxers off and kicks them off his leg.

Maggie giggles at his fish-flopping and then kisses his nose and cheeks. “Your smooth moves are one of the thing I love about you.”

His eyes widen at her non-confession confession. She doesn’t react, so he plays it off like she didn’t just say she loves him.
She loves him. 

“Now what about you?” He looks down at her boy shorts still in place.

She lifts up her hips and slowly pulls off her underwear. 

“Gorgeous,” he says as he trails a hand down over her hip and cups her ass. 

Kissing her shoulder, he gently rolls her on to her back. He props himself up on one elbow while his hand wanders down her body, charting a map of her curves. Reacquainting himself with her body, he watches his hand move over the swell of her thigh, moving toward her center. She gently parts her legs, creating space for his hand.

He explores her with his fingers, opening and caressing her. When she closes her eyes, he studies her face as he feels her body respond. He’s in awe of her beauty, more so tonight than ever before. Her curves are more pronounced, but this is still the body he worshiped from afar all those years ago. Emotions bubble to the surface as memories combine with the new. 

Slow exploration turns into more frenzied movements as the tension builds between them. Their kisses become sloppy with teeth bumping and lips being bitten. He shifts her so her head is cushioned in the pillows while he kisses down her body, dragging his scruff over her sensitive skin before pausing to kiss her hipbone.

She softly moans as his kisses become intimate caresses. When her body tenses, she lifts her hips off the bed, grinding into him while her eyes flutter and close.

He is gazing at her face when she opens her eyes again, his hand tracing her breast.

She turns on her side, facing him, and they lie there quietly, taking each other in, and feeling the warmth of skin on skin.

She brushes her hands over her breasts, and then reaches for him, stroking his length.

After a moment, she pulls away, and attempts to reach her nightstand. 

“Condom?” he asks as she opens her drawer, producing a foil packet. “I never though to bring them and I don’t carry one on me.”

“No condom in the wallet anymore?” 

“You remember that? I was so eager.”

“You were a Boy Scout—always prepared.”

“I was never a Boy Scout.” He takes the condom from her and opens it. “Are we really doing this?” 

“I hope so.” She tugs him down over her.

“I want you, I’ve always wanted you.” He kisses her as they join together. She moans as familiar feelings ignite.

“Maggie,” he whispers, overcome with the sensation of being inside her again. He closes his eyes, absorbing the reality of being in her arms again.

She tilts her hips and wraps her legs around him.

“You feel amazing,” she whispers in his ear, before swiping her tongue along his earlobe.

He groans louder and begins to move.

“You’re amazing,” he breathes out.

He falls into a rhythm, sensing her needs without words being spoken. Unlike his twenty-something self, he knows a few more tricks to pleasure her.

He watches as she tenses, keeping his rhythm steady. He reaches up and rolls her nipple between his fingers, and she comes undone. It’s a beautiful sight. Her body’s response pushes him over the edge.

He blinks his eyes as he comes down. Her arms are wrapped tightly around him, holding him to her, even though his weight must be crushing her.

“Amazing,” she whispers, kissing his shoulder.

He lifts up and brushes her sweaty hair from her face. “How did I get so lucky?”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

He wants to stay like this for as long as possible, but there is reality to be dealt with. He kisses her before pulling away from her to move off the bed toward the bathroom.

His absence exposes her overheated skin to the air, causing her to be chilled. Musing about how twenty-year-old Gil rocked her world, but how he has nothing on forty-something Gil, she snuggles under the covers and props herself up on her pillows. Her bliss is short lived as her mind jumps into hyper-speed. She slept with Gil. They just had sex. They had amazing sex. After three days together. Fuck
.
Literally.

Gil crawls back into bed beside her.

“Hi,” he says, reaching out for her, and tucking her into his side.

“Hi. We had the sex.”

“Yes, yes we did. You okay?”

“I think so. Maybe. I’m kind of freaked out. But it was good sex.”

“‘Amazing’ was your exact wording.” He smiles and kisses her head.

“It was pretty amazing. I’ll be right back.” 

She gets off the bed and heads into the bathroom. She doesn’t turn on the light, not sure if she is ready to face herself and her “I’ve been properly shagged” face. She slept with Gil. Again. He’s leaving tomorrow. What does this mean? She exhales, then takes a deep breath, attempting to quiet her mind. It’s fine, she tells herself.
I’m an adult. We’re adults.
Adults do this sort of thing. Friends with benefits. This won’t change anything.
We’ll be friends. We’ll be fine
.