Chapter 21
Travis
"I’ll be back." I smile at her and can tell something is wrong. She tries to avoid looking at me and I want to drag her out of the bar and ask her. But instead, I sit down and try to get her family to like me again. I mean, I don’t know if it’s going to help. I also don’t know if they will ever forgive me for what I did to her, but that they didn’t take me out in the back and beat the shit out of me is a start.
I bring the beer to my lips as I look over and see her coming back from the bathroom. She smiles and laughs at something that Amelia just said when a guy steps in front of her. My insides burn the minute he leans down and kisses her on her cheek. She smiles at him as they joke, my hand squeezing the bottle in my hand harder and harder. She nods her head at him and steps away and I watch him watch her. The nerves fill my body, and when she gets back to me, she smiles. "Friend of yours?" I motion with my head toward the guy, knowing that it’s fucking dumb.
"I don’t think you can call it that," she says, grabbing her drink. "Acquaintances is a better word for it." She takes a sip. "Don’t forget you were with someone."
"I didn’t expect you to wait for me," I answer her honestly and it’s the truth, but to see in front of me that she had a whole life, it’s going to sting and I’m going to have to live with it. "Give me a kiss," I say and she laughs.
"So everyone can know I’m off-limits?" She shakes her head and leans in to kiss me. "Does that make you feel better?" she asks, and I look up at the guy to see that he was watching her.
"Little bit," I say, kissing her again. "Little bit."
She puts her drink down and steps between my legs. "If you want." She wraps her arms around my neck. My hand is gripping her hip and pulling her even closer to me. "We can leave here and I can show you all the ways that I’ve missed you."
"We are right here,” Reed says next to me. "Like, we can hear you." His face grimaces.
I get up. "This has been fun but," I say, putting my hand around her shoulder. "She looks tired."
"I mean, if she is going to look as tired as she did last Monday, you have a lot of work you have to do," Hazel says, snickering. "She was exhausted."
Willow gasps. "Is that why you couldn’t walk properly?"
"Good night, everyone." Harlow lifts her hand and slips it into mine. "It’s been fun." She pulls me away from the group.
We step out into the darkness and I look up at the stars in the sky. "You know what we’ve never done?" She looks at me and I just watch her. "We’ve never had sex in a hammock."
"There is a reason for that," I say. "And it has to do with breaking my dick."
"Ugh, fine," she says. "Definitely don’t want to break that." She smiles at me and I can’t help but bend down and kiss her. My tongue slides into her mouth as I taste the sweetness from the tea. "You keep kissing me like this and we are having sex in the back seat."
"I’m going to have to take a rain check on that." I open the door for her. "Your brothers didn’t shoot me, but chances are if they find you riding me in the back seat of my car in a parking lot." I look around. "Fuck, I’d shoot myself in the foot." My hand goes to her hip and then moves under her silky shirt, finding her lace bra. "Next time, wear a dress and I’ll finger-fuck you all the way home."
I pinch her nipple and she groans and arches her back. "I can take off one leg."
I shake my head and the whole ride back to her house she’s like an octopus, with her hands everywhere. She is leaning over kissing my neck, while her hand gropes my cock, and finally when I pull into the driveway, she unbuckles her seat belt and has my cock out and her mouth is swallowing me. I stop the car as she gets on her knees in the passenger seat. My hand reaches out to rub her pussy outside of her jeans. She moans with my dick in her mouth and then I slide my hand up and into her jeans. Her stomach is shivering when my hand gets between it and the lace thong she is wearing. My finger slides right into her and I slip another one in. My thumb squeezes her clit as I move my hand. With her jeans so tight I’m restricted, but it doesn’t stop her from coming all over my fingers. She lets go of my cock, sitting back in the passenger seat, and in a blink of an eye she has one pant leg off and she moves over me and sinks down on my cock. "So much better," she says and my hands rip the silk cami over her head but I don’t shatter the lace that is covering her tits. She rides my cock as I work her nipples, my mouth over one and my hand on the other. I pinch and pull one while biting the other. "I need you deeper," she pants, fucking me faster and faster, putting her hands on my shoulders as she tries to get deeper. "Travis." She cries my name and throws her head back and arches her back as she comes all over me. The sound of the horn blares from her back, and I don’t even give a shit because my balls pull tight and I come inside her. She falls on my chest as my hips move up and down emptying into her. We’ve had sex everywhere and this time it was almost barbaric.
"That was," she says, trying to catch her breath. "So freaking good."
"I need a minute," I say, as her pussy squeezes my cock again. "Just one minute and then I’ll carry you inside."
"Do you think," she says, looking at me, rotating her hips, "you can carry me inside with your cock inside me?" She moves her hips up and down.
My hands go to her hips, making her stop moving. "You keep moving like that, I’m going to fuck you on the hood of the car," I threaten and she just smirks. "Fuck." I grab her around her waist and pull her down on me as I open the door, putting one foot out and then the other. She wraps her legs around my waist and I walk to the front door, her hips going around and around. I open the door and the minute I’m inside I place her ass on the table at the front door. "Hold on," I warn and her legs go to the sides as I fuck her hard.
"Yes," she cries out as I slam into her over and over. "Right there," she says.
I know she’s close, so I pull all the way out and slam in once, then pull out again, and she moans this time. I pick her up and turn her around. "Bend over," I demand and not only does she bend over, she puts one knee on the table to give me even better access. I bend my knees and slam into her. My hands on her hips pick her up every time my cock slams into her. The sound of flesh slapping against each other, along with her moans every single time she comes on my cock, drives me crazy.
“I’m going to come," she says over her shoulder, and I feel her hands from between her legs playing with my balls. "Right there," she urges and her eyes start to close, her head falls forward, and she comes on my cock again but this time I come with her.
"That," she says, lying on the table in front of her. "Has to be the best sex we’ve ever had."
"Well, only one more thing to do," I say, slipping out of her, and she looks over at me as I slap her ass. "Try to up it."
"Got to catch me first." She winks at me and runs to her bedroom.
"Two days in a row," she tells me when she sits on the chair in front of me. "I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow." She tries to make a joke of it, but I can see it bothers her and she’s been quiet ever since this morning when I mentioned I would have to leave soon.
I take our plates filled with pancakes and sausage and sit down next to her. "So," she says when I sit down. "Are we going to talk about what happened last night?”
I look over at her, cutting a piece of pancake and eating it. "You have to be a bit more specific, there was lots that happened." I wink at her. "Some very good things happened."
She laughs. "Well, let’s start with us not using condoms." She points at my dick and my eyes widen.
I swallow down my food hoping that I don’t choke. "Are you not on?" I ask her, knowing she was always on the pill when we were together.
"It’s not that I’m worried about," she says, looking up. "Are you…" She is thinking of the word and I finally get what she’s trying to say.
I gasp, looking at her with big eyes. "I’ve never had sex without a condom, well, except with you." I shake my head and take another bite of the pancake.
"You were engaged!” she shrieks out at me and I look over at her.
"I’ll repeat myself again," I say as I slowly nod. "You were the only one I’ve had unprotected sex with." I tilt my head to the side. "Are you?" I ask her, raising my eyebrows.
"Oh, don’t you even dare," she says to me and I hold up my hand.
"Are we really going to do this right now?" I ask her, knowing that we have to talk about me leaving, but her trying to start a fight with me right when I’m leaving must be her trying to prove it doesn’t bother her.
"We are having a conversation." She glares and I know for a fact that she is trying to fight with me; this is her being scared. "Are you going to ask me again if I had sex with people unprotected?" She folds her arms over her chest and I look at her.
"What’s wrong?" I ask her and I can see her eyes shift.
"What do you mean?" she asks, trying to act stupid, but she must have forgotten how well I know her.
"I mean, yesterday at the bar you went off in your head and avoided my eyes," I remind her, and I can see in her eyes that she is surprised I caught it. I put my fork down and turn on the chair to face her. "What is going on?"
She shakes her head. "What is this?" she finally says. "Like, what are we doing?" I put my head to the side. "I don’t mean that; I mean, this you-and-me thing. Like, is it a fling? Is it friends with benefits? Are we acquaintances?"
I glare at her. "I know we are definitely not going to be acquaintances."
She huffs, throwing her hands in the air. "I’m being serious, Travis."
I reach out to touch her, pushing the hair away from her face and look into her beautiful eyes. "I don’t have the answers," I answer her honestly.
"You don’t do long-distance relationships," she reminds me, her voice going soft, and there is the fear written all over her face.
"I said a lot of things." I pull the chair closer to me.
"What does that even mean?" she asks.
"It means that we are going to do what we need to do." I smile shyly at her. "I will come here, you come there." I swallow down the lump in my throat. "I’m not losing you, Harlow," I confirm the only thing I’m sure of. "Whatever happens, I’m not fucking losing you again." She looks up at me and I can see the tears in her eyes. "Tell me you understand what I’m saying." I lean over and kiss her on the lips. "I’m here for the long haul." I cup her cheek with my hand. "Whatever it is, we will make it work."
She nods her head at me, and when I get up and get my bag from her room, everything inside me hurts. And I mean everything; there is a tightness in my chest. My stomach is in knots, the back of my neck feels like it’s on fire. She walks out of the house with me and stands beside the car. I put my bag in the back seat and then turn to her, pulling her into my arms. Her arms go around my waist. "I’ll call you when I get home." I bring her to me and she rests her head on my shoulder, my hand rubbing her back. "And we’ll get our calendars out and start looking at dates." She nods her head and steps back and I can see her rolling her lips trying to keep strong. I lean down and kiss her one last time before getting into the car. She doesn’t move from her spot by the car, and when I drive away, I watch the rearview mirror until I can’t see her anymore and I finally let the pain in my chest out. "Fuck," I hiss out and I want to punch something.
My phone rings and I think it’s Harlow and I want to turn the car around and go back to her. I look at the call display and see it’s Bennett. "Hey," I greet, putting it on Bluetooth.
"Hey yourself." His voice fills the car. "I’m at your house and you aren’t here."
"Yeah," I say, getting on the highway. "I went away this weekend."
"You went away?" he asks, shocked. "Like, on your honeymoon by yourself?"
I laugh, imagining his face. "No. I went to see Harlow."
He whistles out. "Oh, snap." I don’t say anything. "Are you sure that was a good idea?"
"No, it fucking sucks," I admit. "But I can’t stay away from her." My hands grip the steering wheel so hard my knuckles are white. "I just left her house and all I can say is it fucking sucks."
"But you broke up with her for this very reason. Plus, not to be a Debbie Downer and all that, but you were engaged less than a week ago."
I groan out, "I’m going to have to admit that marrying Jennifer would have been a colossal mistake." The bitterness starts to form in my mouth. "And it’s safe to say we would have divorced in the end."
He lets out a huge breath. "You don’t know that."
"Actually," I admit. "I know that for a fact. It wasn’t love. Fuck, one look at Harlow on my wedding day and I knew that what I felt for Jennifer was nothing. I’m not proud of it and I’ll never tell anyone but you that. But, man, with Harlow it’s this overwhelming feeling that fills my whole body. Fuck, it fills my soul. I want to hold her, touch her, listen to her talk." The chest that had pressure on it just a couple of minutes ago now has even more pressure. "I just want her."
"Well, that is all good and everything, but it doesn’t erase the fact that she lives in a different state. And I’m not talking a town over."
"Trust me, I know," I huff out. "It’s a six hour road trip."
"You drove?" he gasps. "What is wrong with you?”
"I had time to spare,” I lie to him and he laughs.
"No, you didn’t. You took your car because if she told you to fuck off, you could lick your wounds all by yourself for six hours." He laughs and I hate that he knows me as well as he does.
"It was eight with traffic," I say, and he just laughs louder. "I’m hanging up."
"I’ll come and see you tomorrow," he says and I hang up the phone. I spend six hours driving back to my house, and when I get into the driveway, it’s night out.
I grab my bag and walk up the steps, the whole time I miss Harlow like I’ve never missed her before. Every single step feels heavier than the last, and when I unlock my door and step inside, I stop in my tracks. The boxes are all gone. I put the bag down and walk into the kitchen and look around to see it empty. A white paper sits on the counter with my name on the top.
I sit on the stool and read it.
Travis,
Sorry we weren’t the right person for each other.
All the best,
Jennifer
I shake my head and put the paper down and wait for it. I wait for some little twinge of regret. I wait for some little pain that she isn’t in my life anymore. I wait for anything but instead I get nothing.
I take my phone out and call Harlow, a smile fills my face knowing I’m going to hear her voice, but instead of her saying hello, it goes straight to voice mail.
"You better not have blocked me," I say into the phone nervously, trying to calm myself down. "Call me back."