Authors: Dawn Pendleton
Chapter Eleven
Mallory
The girls spent the entire afternoon getting things ready for the slumber party. Or, at least, that’s what Rainey said when she called around four.
“Hey, we’re going to pack a bag for Gabby and then hit up the video store and the grocery store. We won’t be over until about six or so. You’ll be okay, right?”
“Of course. My dad is an easy patient,” I said as I looked in on him.
He was asleep again.
Rainey hung up and I went into the kitchen and tried to busy myself. The one thing I couldn’t get accustomed to was the quiet. In Boston, there was noise at all hours of the day, even in the middle of the night. But in Casper, you had to create noise if you couldn’t stand the quiet.
The silence weighed heavily on my shoulders. It drove me insane until I flipped on the radio. I grabbed some supplies from underneath the sink and began to clean every surface in the kitchen. Every time I needed to think,
really think,
I would scrub the kitchen in Boston. Eventually, my roommates learned to leave me alone during those times. Although they pretty much left me alone whenever they could. I liked to brood and they perceived it as moodiness. I sighed as I pulled on the bright yellow gloves and sprayed the counters with the cleaner.
Boston wasn’t as much fun as I remembered. Now that I wasn’t living in the crazy city, I could see how much I’d been missing in my life. Friends like Gabby and Rainey were nowhere to be seen in the big city. A possible love interest like Luke was out of the question. Even a funny guy like Baker was hard to find. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I missed Casper and the people in it. I’d missed my dad the most, though, and he was on his deathbed. Why did I have to be so damn stupid and refuse to come home? I should have been here for him.
Thank God for Luke. He’d stepped up and been a caregiver to Dad whenever Dad needed him. Despite the feelings he had for me, Luke was a good man, just as Dad had told me that morning. There was no denying his morals or convictions. He would give someone the shirt off his back if the other person were in need.
I smiled as I thought about Luke without his shirt off. The years had only enhanced his good looks. He was even more attractive at twenty-three than he’d been at sixteen when I met him. He’d filled out through the torso in a very appealing way. His chest and stomach muscles were well defined. I felt color rush my cheeks.
Then Dad called out to me. I switched off the radio and shucked the gloves in the sink. I made my way to his bedroom. Several hours later, Rainey and Gabby showed up with pizza, movies, and three bags of junk food. I laughed when it took them two trips to bring everything inside.
“Are you expecting a crowd?” I asked them.
“You never know,” Gabby replied. “We figured your dad had been doing the shopping before you came home, so there wouldn’t be much to eat here. This way, you’re all set for a while.”
“Well, thanks, I guess,” I said.
A full pantry in Boston meant cans of vegetables and fruit, not bags of potato chips, pretzels, and cookies.
“So, you’ll never guess what happened at the grocery store!” said Rainey, practically gushing.
“Do we have to tell her?” Gabby asked.
“Oh, now you
must
tell me,” I said.
Gabby stubbornly closed her mouth and shook her head, so I looked at Rainey.
“Sorry, Gabs, I have to tell her. We ran into Luke and Baker. And Baker told me they were headed to the bar tonight. Good thing we’re staying in—I do not want to run in to them again. So they left and we continued our shopping spree and ran into Wolfe,” Rainey said.
“Your ex-husband?” I asked Gabby.
“Not yet. We’re still married because Maine demands a one year separation before the judge will grant a divorce.”
“Yeah, yeah, but that’s not the best part,” Rainey said with a grin. “When he said hello, Gabby punched him. Right in the face!”
“What! Why?”
Gabby became defensive. “He was hitting on Rainey right in front of me. He deserved it.”
Rainey laughed. “He did not. He said it was nice to see me, and ignored Gabby completely. And so Gabby lost her mind.”
“Oh, shut up,” Gabby said. She grabbed a few bags of groceries and made her way to the kitchen.
“You should have seen how jealous she was. If you ask me, that girl still has a thing for her husband,” Rainey whispered.
I smiled. “Well then, we’ll have to see about setting them up again, huh?”
We gave each other a conspiratorial grin and followed Gabby into the kitchen.
“What kind of pizza did you get?” I asked.
“Hawaiian. Your favorite,” Rainey said from somewhere behind me.
I couldn’t believe they thought my favorite pizza was Hawaiian. Hawaiian was Luke’s favorite pizza. My favorite was pepperoni. Had Luke and I been so absorbed in each other that people couldn’t even tell us apart?
“I’m not very hungry,” I said.
“Sure thing,” Gabby said as she unpacked the junk food.
She and Rainey found a place to put everything while I made the excuse to go check on my dad.
“Hey, Mal,” Dad said from his spot on the bed when I entered his room. He saw the look on my face and patted the space beside him. “What’s wrong?”
“Were Luke and I the same person?” I asked without a thought.
“What? When you were together? A little bit, yeah. That’s part of the reason I encouraged you to go to Boston. I knew he wouldn’t want to leave Casper. As much as I liked Luke, I also knew you needed to figure out who you were.”
I took his hand. “You knew Luke and I would break up?”
“I figured it was a likely possibility. Time apart has a way of making people truly realize what they want out of life. I never suspected you wouldn’t want to come back at all, but that was part of the risk I took. I wanted you to know who you could be
without
Luke so that if you were with him, you would recognize your own potential. And hopefully, so would he.”
“My dad, the philosopher,” I said.
It was true. He knew so much more about me than I knew about myself. He’d known I would need to separate myself from Luke in order to figure out who I was and what I wanted. For a while, I thought I wanted my life in Boston, but now I was starting to see how much I wanted to be in Casper.
“Dad, I’m going to start looking for a job here,” I said with resolve. “I think one of the girls I went to high school with is one of the managers at the bank. Maybe they’ll hire me.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want?” he asked.
“Yes.” I was surer of the decision to move home than I’d been about anything in my life. “I want to move home. Permanently.”
His eyes lit up and his smile was wide. “I’m glad to have you back, baby girl.”
He pulled me into a hug. I blinked away tears, but I didn’t mind. They were tears of happiness. I was finally moving on with my life instead of running away from it.
“I’m happy to come home,” I whispered into his T-shirt.
When he finally begged me to let him sleep, I meandered back into the living room and found Rainey and Gabby with an open bottle of wine watching reruns of Friends. They both stared at me.
“What’s wrong?” Rainey asked.
“Nothing. In fact, I guess I should tell you guys. I’m moving back to Casper for good.” I smiled.
They both shrieked and jumped off the couch to envelop me in a hug. It felt right.
“What made you change your mind?” Gabby asked once we were settled on the couch.
“My dad. He wanted me to be able to really choose this life, much like he did when he was my age. And being back just makes me realize how much I’ve missed it. I want to spend the rest of my life here.”
Another round of shrieks and hugs had me laughing hysterically. Once we calmed down, we watched
Sixteen Candles
as if we were all fourteen again.
Several movies later, we were somewhat passed out around the living room and on the verge of sleep. When the house phone rang, we all jumped.
“Who the hell is calling this late?” Rainey asked.
She was curled into a ball on the floor while Gabby and I shared the couch. I rolled off the couch and managed to get to the phone on the fourth ring.
“Hello?” I muttered into the receiver.
“Mallory Wells?” a male voice asked.
I cleared my throat in an attempt to clear my head. “Yes, that’s me.”
“I have Lukas Bates, Christopher Baker, and Wolfe Landon here at The Landing. They’ve given me your number in hopes you’ll be willing to give them a ride home,” he said.
I groaned. “Tell all three of them to go to hell,” I said, then hung up.
Rainey sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Who was that?”
“Luke, Baker, and Wolfe want a ride home from the bar,” I explained.
“They’re with Wolfe?” Gabby perked up. “Since when do they hang out with Wolfe?” She sounded incredulous.
“I hung up. I’m not giving them a ride,” I said. “One of you is more than welcome to, though.”
“We can’t, Mal. We’ve both had several glasses of wine. You’re the only one who stayed sober,” Rainey said.
She was right. I sighed. The phone rang again and I picked it up on the first ring.
“Yeah, I’ll pick them up,” I said and slammed the receiver down. I felt just a pinch of satisfaction, but it wasn’t a lot.
I checked on my dad, who was fast asleep, and then grabbed the keys to Rainey’s minivan. If they were going to puke, they could do so in her car, not mine. I drove to The Landing alone since Gabby and Rainey were already back to sleep by the time I left the house.
I pulled into the parking lot of The Landing and honked. The three men stumbled out of the front door and I watched, amused, as they made their way to the van. Luke was the slowest of the group and when he tried to maneuver the two steps down to the parking lot, he took a tumble. His face landed in the dirt and I realized I was going to have to help him since Wolfe and Baker were laughing hysterically.
I got out and walked to Luke. “Want some help?”
He looked up at me from the ground.
“Mallory? You came.” He sounded amazed that I would show up.
I helped him up to his feet. “Yeah, I came. But only because I’m the only sober one tonight.”
He laughed but didn’t say anything. Once everyone was safely in the van, I asked Wolfe where he was living.
“Oh, I will just crash at Baker’s tonight. I live out on the peninsula and I don’t want you to drive that far,” he said.
He seemed nice enough and I wondered what his and Gabby’s issues were.
“To Baker’s we go then.”
I put the van in drive and headed toward Baker’s apartment. Luckily, the guys were quiet for the ride and there was no puking. When I pulled into the driveway, Baker sat forward and put his hand on my shoulder.
“You’re alright, Wells,” he said with a slight slur. “It’s too bad Bates here can’t get his thumb out of his ass and ask you out again. Tell Rainey I said hello.”
Before I could reply, he was out of the van. The door slid closed and he dragged Wolfe up the steps to his apartment. I turned to Luke. His head rested on the window and his eyes were closed. I waited until I saw the lights flicker on in Baker’s apartment window before I pulled out and drove the fifty-foot stretch to Luke’s apartment. When I put the van in Park, he didn’t stir.
I nudged his shoulder. “Luke, you’re home,” I said.
He mumbled something but wouldn’t open his eyes. I turned off the van and went around to the passenger door. I made sure to open the door carefully so he wouldn’t fall out. His chocolate brown eyes fluttered open.
“Mal, why do I keep having dreams about you?”
Luke dreamt of me
? I thought, quelling a surge of unexpected excitement. I smiled as I pulled him out of the van. He swayed on his feet, but didn’t topple over.
“Let’s get you upstairs, Luke,” I said.
He let me guide him to his apartment. Once we made it into his living room, he collapsed on the couch. I figured he’d be all right to sleep it off there. I didn’t want to try to haul him up and into his bedroom. I pulled off his work boots and tossed them by the door.
His eyes were closed but a huge grin spread across his face. “You can keep undressing me, Mallory,” he said with a seductive tone.
“I think maybe you should sleep alone tonight, Luke.”
“Just like every other night of my life. I have to suffer while you and Jason get to be together in Boston,” he muttered.
Again with the Jason thing
, I thought, wondering where he’d heard the name. “How do you know about Jason?”
“You called me Jason last night when I put you to bed.” He slurred his words.
Ahh …
That’s how he knew,
I thought.
He must be jealous
.
“I have a secret to tell you, Luke,” I leaned down close to his face.
His eyes popped open and he looked into my eyes.
“I promise I won’t tell anyone, Mal.”
“Jason and I aren’t together anymore.”
I placed a chaste kiss on his lips but pulled away before I could enjoy it too much. There wasn’t a man on the planet who could kiss like Luke Bates, and I didn’t want to ruin it with a drunken kiss from Luke.
“Goodnight, Luke.”
Chapter Twelve
Luke
My head throbbed painfully. The sun was up and shining brilliantly through the living room window. I squinted my eyes against the bright glare and sat up slowly. Once my feet touched the floor, I rested my elbows on my knees. I ran my hands through my hair in an attempt to clear the fog that clung to my brain. Last night was the first time in a long time I’d passed my limit. Since my community college days, in fact, I hadn’t done more than get a good buzz on. I planned to blame Baker and Wolfe.
I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket when it buzzed. There were several texts from Baker and one from Mallory. I opened Mallory’s first.
“Hope you feel horrible. Can I come over later? We need to talk.”
The text was so cryptic I had no idea what the real meaning was. I typed out a reply telling her to come over whenever she wanted.
I got up and made my way to the bathroom. I reeked of beer. I remembered Baker’s texts and glanced at them. He wanted to know if I was all right and he complained about his own hangover. I sent a reply and turned on the hot water.
Half an hour later, I felt human again and my head was starting to clear. I didn’t think I would have another drink for a while. I pulled on a pair of boxers and then my jeans and zipped them but left the button undone. I went into the living room and found Mallory pacing in front of the couch.
“Oh, hey. The, umm …,” she trailed off as she stared at my chest. She shook her head and then continued. “The door was unlocked, so I just let myself in.”
I fought back a smile. “No problem.”
I made my way to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. It was after eight, but still early enough for coffee. I tried not to notice what she wore. Her short jean skirt and tiny pink tank top were revealing enough to kick my imagination into overdrive.
“So what did you want to talk about?”
She paused. “Well, there’s no easy way to say this, Luke.”
“Then just say it, Mallory. We’ve known each other too long to get tongue-tied.”
“You’re right. Last night, I brought you home and you mentioned Jason again. I even managed to get you to tell me how you knew about him. I’m sorry I told you about him after I’d been drinking the other night.”
“What, or rather, who, you do in Boston is your business, not mine,” I muttered.
“Don’t be an ass. I’m apologizing, especially if I gave you the impression I was still seeing him. I’m not.”
I tried to calm my rapidly beating heart. Did that mean she was
single
?
She waited for my response.
I wanted to sound nonchalant, but it came off sarcastic. The problem was, I was entirely too excited to hear she wasn’t seeing someone than I should have been.
“Good for you,” I said.
She seemed to need to spell it out. “I’m single.”
I sucked in a breath as she moved closer to me in the kitchen.
She trailed her delicate hand down my chest to the opening of my jeans. “It
is
good for me, but it’s also good for
you.
”
I swallowed hard. “What do you want from me?” I whispered, terrified of the answer.
“Just you, Luke. I’ve always wanted you,” she said slowly.
She put her hands around my neck and pulled me toward her. I knew, long before our lips touched, that she was going to break my heart again. But the knowledge didn’t stop me from wrapping my arms around her waist. Our bodies melded together as I put my lips on hers. She sighed and tightened her hands around my neck.
I probed her lips with my tongue and she opened them for me. It was like coming home. I’d missed her for three long years and her smell, her touch, her taste overwhelmed me. My whole body shook in anticipation. I’m not sure how much time passed—minutes, hours—as I kissed her, but when we pulled apart, we were both out of breath.
“I’m done running, Luke,” she whispered.
She laid her head on my shoulder and we stood there like that for what felt like days. When the coffee pot beeped, I knew it had only been a few minutes.
“Do you want to talk?” I asked her.
She shook her head.
“I just want you.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I ignored the coffee and tugged her into my bedroom. The bed was made and I thanked God for the little things. I closed the door and took her into my arms. It was surreal and amazing at the same time. I’d waited years to hold her like this again, and here she was, telling me she wanted me. I must be dreaming.
She laughed against my lips. “It’s not a dream.”
I must have spoken my thought aloud.
I sucked her bottom lip into my mouth and heard her gasp. I nipped the plump, pink flesh with my teeth. She purred, a low, throaty sound as she crushed her breasts against my chest. I was acutely aware of her every move, every slide of her hand across my neck, the rustle of the material of her tank top when she went on tip toe to deepen our kiss. She wanted more. So did I.
I lifted the hem of her tank top and slowly brought it over her head. She bit her lip as I looked at her exposed body. Her skin was tan and soft. I tossed the tank top to the floor and gently traced a line between the valley of her breasts down to her belly button. When she giggled, I pulled her face to mine again. I pushed my tongue into her mouth and she didn’t protest. She stepped back and made both of us fall onto the bed.
“Ummph!” I groaned.
I hadn’t expected this playful side to her. We’d had sex when she was in high school, and she’d always been shy, reserved. But now, she was different.
“Don’t you like it rough, baby?” she asked with a smirk.
I nearly choked. Those were not words I thought I’d ever hear from her.
“I learned a thing or two in college,” she said teasingly.
She took advantage of my shock and rolled us over so she could straddle me. She gave me an evil grin and then scooted down the bed so she could help me out of my jeans. When I was down to just my boxers, she made a move to pull those off too, but I stopped her. She was still grinning like an idiot when she looked up at me in surprised. I squeezed her fingers and looked deep into her eyes.
“You’re beautiful,” I blurted.
It wasn’t what I meant to say, but I supposed it was better than me spouting off something about being in love. Because as much as I wanted to admit it to her, now wasn’t the time. She might get spooked and then I would lose the chance to be with her again.
“Such a charmer,” she replied.
She leaned over me and planted the sweetest kiss against my lips. It didn’t take long for that sweetness to turn into carnal lust. She was tugging at my boxers again and I realized she was still more dressed than undressed. I tossed her over and she squealed in delight. I pulled down her skirt and drew a deep breath. She wasn’t wearing anything underneath.
“Someone knew what they wanted,” I said.
“Are you going to complain?” she mused.
“No, ma’am,” I assured her.
I spread her thighs and her demeanor turned serious when she realized what I was doing. I dipped my head toward her, inhaling her sweet scent as I went. I used two fingers to spread her open; she was on display like a feast, but still I didn’t move to taste her.
“Luke,” she complained.
I grinned at her impatience. I had learned a few things, too. Like when to take your time. We hadn’t declared our love for each other; as far as either of us knew, this was just a fling, but I would be damned if it wouldn’t be the best memory we shared.
She wiggled her hips beneath me and I finally gave in. I brushed my tongue against her and found her pleasure center. I created suction and moved my tongue as fast against her clit as I could. Her response was instantaneous.
“Luke!” she cried out.
Her hips lifted off the bed to meet my mouth and my hands slipped beneath her to hold her there. I kept my eyes on her face, reveling in the pleasure I was giving her. Her eyes were closed, but there was a sweet look of rapture on her face. I continued my onslaught and within minutes, she was there.
I watched her come, amazed at the woman before me. She was no longer a girl who hid her face beneath the pillow when she came. She screamed and bucked and her hands dug into my skull with a force I’d never experienced. She rode the wave for several minutes before releasing me. I was so turned on I could have watched her come all day long.
When I lifted my head, she crooked her finger at me and gave me her best come-hither smile. I crawled up the bed to her, stopping only to remove her bra as I went. I kissed her neck up and continued to her earlobe. She turned her head, eager for my attentions. She shuddered when I sucked her lobe into my mouth and flicked it with my tongue. She moaned when I pressed my pelvis against hers. I rubbed against her; the only thing separating us was the thin fabric of my boxers.
“Please, Luke. I need you,” she said.
They were the sweetest words I’d heard. I rolled off her, shucked my boxers, and grabbed a condom out of the nightstand. I ripped it open and rolled it on, suddenly anxious to be inside her. She made a movement to give me head but I refused. I’d come too soon if she wrapped those pretty pink lips around me.
I kneeled between her thighs, leaned over her, and thrust inside her without further preparation. I wasn’t gentle, not like I’d been in the past. Her eyes popped open in surprise but she didn’t complain. She ground her hips up toward mine, a plea for more. She was tight and hot and I knew it was going to be over before it really got started. But I held onto what little control I had and managed to thrust into her several times before I began to lose my composure. When I knew I was going to blow, I sped up, praying desperately she would come again, but knowing I would go down on her again if she didn’t.
I was just about to give in to my desires when she tightened her thighs around my hips.
“I’m so close, Luke,” she sighed, her hands gripping my biceps like a vice. “Please.”
Her eyes bore into mine and I couldn’t resist her plea.
I took a deep breath, struggling to stay in control. I wanted to lose myself in her, but I wanted her to be satisfied even more. I thrust harder, faster, and deeper than ever, promising myself that I could do this. It was mind over matter. I tried everything to keep from blowing my load. I mentally balanced my checkbook. I thought about my dead mother. Anything to keep from coming into her deliciously tight grasp.
But nothing seemed to work. Just when I was sure it wasn’t going to happen for her and I was going to come, she screamed.
Her ear-splitting shriek pierced my eardrums and had me letting go as she came. She brought her hand to my neck and forced me closer to her with a sexy kiss that we both moaned into. I came into her with renewed force, letting everything else fade away as I focused on pleasure. Hers. Mine. Ours. Just before I blacked out from pleasure exhaustion, I had one truly frightening thought.
I am never going to get enough of Mallory Wells.