Pitcher's Baby (17 page)

“My God, Ashlin, are you asleep?”

“Huh? What?” she asks, raising her head
and righting herself on the stool once more. “Whaddya say?”

“You totally just fell asleep at my bar.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Uh huh, and I got a picture to prove it.”

“No! Charlee Tate Cooper, I swear you’d
better delete any and all pictures of me drooling right now! I mean it!”

I lean over, laughing at her sullen
expression. She tries to look angry, but the smeared mascara and lipstick
across her face takes away from the severity of it.

“I'm kidding, dork. I don't even have my
phone. Now tell me what the hell happened to you,” I say. She huffs for a
moment, trying to pretend to be mad at me for tricking her, and then she jumps
up and peers around the corner to make sure no one is listening in before she
comes back, jumping up on the counter next to me.

“So, last night I went to this party at
Drake’s house. I was gonna invite you, but we both know it's not really your
thing, and besides, you were busy with Lucas anyway, right?” she asks, and I
nod my head, letting her know that she was right to not invite me, and then I
wait for her to continue.

“Anyway. You know it’s the first time I’ve
gone out since dumping Andy, and I was a little nervous that I’d run into him,
but not a bad nervous, more like I wanted to be on fleek just in case, ya know?
So I got all dolled up and wore my new skirt—you know, the black one with
rhinestones around the bottom? I looked ah-mazing!”

God, this girl could talk on and on about
nothing at all. I nod along, waiting for her to get to the part where she tells
me she got ran over by a herd of wildebeest or trampled by a group of elephants—something
to explain how she could go from ah-mazing to this.

“It's a good thing too, because as soon as
I arrived, guess who I saw? Fucking Andy, and get this—he wasn't alone. Cassie
was there too. I mean, why the hell is she out at a party if she is pregnant?
Stupid. He didn't see me though, thank God, so I crept into the kitchen and
grabbed a red cup and filled it up. I know, I know. Don't start in on me about
drinking. I had to have one. I mean, seriously, Char.”

“I get it, Ash. I'm not saying it's right,
but yeah, I get it.”

“Ok. Well, while I was in the kitchen,
this freaking guy walks in. Charlee, I thought I was going to die right then
and there. It was like the air got sucked out of my lungs. I literally could
not breathe. He was that beautiful. I know I was probably staring at him or
something, but whatever . . . and I guess somewhere along the way, I did forget
to actually breathe, because the next thing I know, his arms are around me and
I'm inches from hitting the ground. He caught me right as I was about to hit
the floor. Can you believe that?”

“Holy hell, Ashlin! That’s crazy. What
happened next?”

“Oh yeah, so this stranger is scooping me
up, but still holding me close, ya know, kinda protectively, and freaking Andy
walks in. I swear, his eyes bulged out of his head like a cartoon character. He
said something smartass about me not wasting any time. I don't even remember exactly
what it was, but the stranger just reared back and punched him. Andy hit the
floor, unconscious. Then the stranger turned back to me and asked if I was ready
to leave. Of course, I said, and so we did.”

“Dammit, woman. I can't leave you alone
for one minute. I can't believe he hit Andy. That’s crazy. Were you scared?”

“No, not at all. It felt so good to see
him put in his place after the way he did me. I kinda wish I had been the one
to do it.”

“So that still doesn't explain why you
look like hell. I mean, I guess you had an exciting night, but didn't you think
to shower before going back out in public?”

“Oh THAT . . . well you see, the thing is,
I haven't exactly been home yet. I may or may not have gone home with a
complete stranger last night and had the best night of wild sex in my life.”

“NO! Ashlin Montgomery, tell me you didn't
stay the night there with him.”

“Well no. Yes. I don't know. Technically,
I haven't actually slept . . . so?”

“Oh. My. God. My best friend is a slut,” I
say, burying my head under my hands.

“Oh hush. Like you haven't been sleeping
with Lucas this whole time.” I peek up from under my arm, watching her. Her
eyes widen with shock. “You haven't?” she asks curiously.

“Twice,” I say.

“Details. I need details and a shower,” she
says, dragging me off the counter and up the stairs. We pass my mom and brother
in the living room on our way. They both look up guiltily, and for a moment, I
wonder if they had been listening in, but Ashlin drags me up the stairs to the
bathroom, and all thoughts of them escape my mind as I fill her in.

Chapter Twenty- Eight

Charlee

The rest of Sunday flies by in a blur, and
before I know it, Monday morning is here again. “Bye guys, headed to class.” I
shut the front door before either of them replies and jump in Lucas’s car. He
already has Everly strapped in and the car cooling off with the AC blowing on
max. I almost don’t want to go to class again today, but then I think of all
the amazing images I’ll be able to learn to capture with my new camera and lens,
and all thoughts of skipping vanish. Lucas wraps his arms around me and kisses
me by the front door of the class. No sooner does he drive away, than I'm
cornered by Bimbo One and Bimbo Two, Anna and Britney.

 “I see you don't have a problem with
someone else's seconds.”

I try to ignore her and push past on my
way to class, but Britney steps in the way, blocking my path. “Leaving so soon?
But we just got here.”

“I've got nothing to say to either one of
you, and I damn sure don't want to hear anything you have to say.”

“Aww, that's too bad. We had some really
juicy news for you.”

“Again, I couldn’t care less.”

“Ok then . . . guess you can just find out
the hard way.”

“Find out what?” Ashlin asks. I didn't
even hear her walk up behind me, but a part of me is thankful she's here, if
for no other reason than I have a witness to these vicious attacks. Although I
really wish she would quit instigating them. I don't care what either of them
have to say. Everything coming out of their mouths is nothing but a lie.

“Oh, nothing much. Just that we saw Lucas
with Kirsten Friday night.”

“Oh really? That's funny, because he was
with me Friday night.” I can't believe I'm even playing into their hands. They’re
just trying to start trouble. For some God-given reason, they have their sights
set on Lucas and they refuse to give up.

“All night? Really?”

“Come on, let's go before the bell rings,”
I tell Ashlin, dragging her toward our class. I can't bear to stand there and
listen to either one of them anymore, especially knowing that Lucas was not
with me all night Friday. He left around eleven, after we played outside,
chasing each other around under the stars. My heart hurts to think that he
would leave my side and run straight to Kirsten, but my brain tells me that
it's possible. They have a history together. He has never hidden that from me.
I want to crawl inside myself and hide from the world, but I refuse to let my
monster win again. When I see him again, I'll ask him. I trust him enough to
tell me the truth.

“You don't believe those whores, do you?”
Ashlin asks.

For a second, I debate not telling her the
truth, but then I remember she's my best friend. I can trust her with anything,
so I tell her exactly what I'm thinking.

“I don't know, Ash. I want to trust him. I
want to believe that he would not do that to me, but they have a history
together, so yeah, it's possible. I won't know for sure until I ask him.”

“So you're going to ask him?”

“Yep, sure am.”

“Well, good luck with that,” she says as
we walk into Mr. Lombard’s class and take our seats. I try to concentrate on what
Mr. Lombard is saying, but my mind keeps drifting back to the altercation with
Anna and Britney. I can't check it from my mind. It's invading my every thought
until I can't think of anything else. I was going to try to wait until I saw him
in person, but that's no longer possible. I pull my cellphone from my pocket
and pull up his contact, discreetly texting him.

Me
: Did you see Kirsten
this weekend?

Lucas
: Briefly. Friday
night

Lucas
: Why?

Me:
Did you not think to
mention it to me? Did you not think that I would care to know, especially after
everything else that already happened because of something to do with her?

Lucas
: Meet me outside.
Please.

I debate ignoring him completely, but this
is something that needs to be hashed out, and it's probably best if we don't do
it over text, so I raise my hand and ask to be excused. He’s leaning his back
against the hood of his car when I walk out. I wonder how he managed to get
here so quickly, but I don’t ask. It’s not important. I stand next to him,
waiting to hear what he has to say. I don't have to wait long.

“I stopped by the diner on my way home to
grab a snack. I know I had eaten dinner at your house, but I was really craving
a cheeseburger from the diner. I shouldn’t have gone in the moment I recognized
her car out front, but a part of me hoped that we had both moved on. I mean,
technically speaking, she had moved on even before we separated, so I really
didn't think there would be an issue. I got my food and paid for it and was
just about out the door when she jumped from her seat and ran over to me. The
only thing she said to me was, ‘Are you happy?’ I told her that I was, and she
patted my arm and said ‘good’ and then walked away. That's it. I swear to you.”

I believe him. I feel the truth of his
words settle deep inside of me, and I realize that I was a fool to entertain
the thought of his cheating on me at all. He shows me every day how much I mean
to him in the way he holds me, kisses me, and takes care of me. I should have
walked in the opposite direction the moment I saw Anna and Britney. For
whatever reason, they have made it their mission to ruin mine and Lucas's
relationship.

I should have put more trust in him—in us—but
the insecurities of my past crept up on me and wouldn't let me. I had been
doing so much better. Every day, I feel the weight of despair lift off me a
little more. Every day, my monster’s voice gets a little weaker as her hold on
me diminishes. It pisses me off to think that all it took to bring her back was
the lie of two skanks. I’m stronger than this.

“I'm sorry, Lucas. In my heart, I knew
what I heard was a lie. Never did I believe you would betray me, but sometimes,
my mind has a mind of its own, and it's EVIL! I swear it is.”

“Shh. It's ok, Charlee. I'm glad you came
to me. I should have told you when I texted you goodnight that night, but I
didn't want to drop that on you over text, and honestly, I forgot all about it the
next day.”

“It's okay. Really, Lucas. It is.”

“Good. Now get over here and kiss me.”

I don't make him ask twice. I kiss him
with every pent-up emotion I have buried inside of me. I let my lips tell him
everything I can't bring myself to speak aloud. He feels it. I know he does.
After a minute, he pulls back, resting his forehead against mine. His breathing
is as frantic as my own. His chest heaves up and down as he tries to get his
pulse under control.

“Charlee, there's something else I’ve been
keeping from you. Something I’ve been dying to tell you, but I didn't know
when. I can't wait another minute. I need you to know.”

“Shh,” I say, capturing his lips with my
own. “I already know, Lucas. I already know.” He increases the intensity of the
kiss then, swallowing me whole inside and out. I feel my soul attach to his own,
finding its one partner in this crazy, fucked up world. He holds me against
himself, pressing my body along every inch of his, kissing every available inch
of bare skin, driving me wild until the class ends. The only sound I can focus
on is the sound of his heart against my ear, thump, thump, thumping, calling me
home.

Chapter Twenty- Nine

Charlee

The way he’s kissing me and touching me
leaves me speechless. I can’t think, much less speak. Right now, I’m thankful
for the dark tinting on his windows and the empty parking lot at the photography
school.

“Has anyone ever told you what an amazing
kisser you are?” I whisper against his lips.

“No. I can’t say they have.”

“Well, now they have, because you are.” I
lean in to give him a chaste kiss on his cheek, but he quickly advances,
offering his mouth instead, urgently pushing his tongue through my parted lips.
The electrical current in the air is palpable as I’m roughly hoisted onto his
lap to straddle his narrow hips, and I realize he is most assuredly not cute
anymore—feral, animalistic, magnetic maybe, but definitely not cute.

Every part of me pulses, craving his touch.
The moans from deep in his chest and the whimpers from my lips propel me
further toward my ultimate, yet unexpected goal—to have him inside of me. My
need for him is uncontrollable, undeniable, and I can’t remember a time when
I’ve felt such a powerful desire to connect with him.

Our hands are everywhere, and at once, all
of my senses are on overload, the smell of his skin and the leather interior of
the SUV, the sight of his wild eyes darkening with desire, the sound of his
breathing accelerating, the pounding of his heart under my hand on his chest. The
combination of it all is simply too much.

I drop my head back to offer him my neck,
which he eagerly accepts, licking and sucking his way up to the little spot
behind my ear that makes me shiver, and down to the tender flesh above my
collarbone, where his open mouth devours me. Removing his hand from the bare
skin of my back, he reaches out to press the lock button on the door panel.

When his attention is fully on me again,
the desire in his eyes stokes the already scorching fire at my core, and every movement,
every touch from there on is frantic, tearing at each other's clothes to get
closer, to touch more, to taste more. When he pulls his cock from his jeans, I
feel it stiff and smooth as silk against my belly. My jeans are haphazardly
yanked off only one leg, along with my panties, and literally half-dressed, I
dig my nails into his shoulders and throw all caution to the wind. I rise to
mount him when he stops me suddenly, grasping my hips, suspending me above his
cock and preventing me from fulfilling this insane desire to sink down and take
him deep inside of me.

“Hey,” I protest. Opening my eyes to see
why the brakes have been put on, I find him staring at me, panting with want,
trembling on the precipice of ecstasy.

“What is it?” I say between gasps, seeing
the indecision in his eyes, as if he were unsure about continuing.
What the
hell?
Why would we stop? Fuck me already
, I scream in my mind. He’s
always reading my damn mind when I don’t want him to, but now, I really want
him to. Just as quickly as he halted our passion, he rebounds, and I’m given
what I crave.

He releases his hold on my hips, and I
slide down around his beautiful, solid cock, coating him with my desire. I love
this fucking man and his lengthy cock. When he is deep inside of me, he tangles
one hand in my hair, the other circling my back, and he plasters himself
against me as if he were trying to meld us into one entity, wringing the breath
from my lungs. We bury our faces into each other’s neck. I feel him pulse
inside of me as he stills, collecting the strength to hold on and make this
last.

When he’s able, he loosens his tenacious
grip, and I gulp in a breath of much-needed air. Holding onto his shoulders, I
slide off him until only his tip brushes the outer folds of my needy sex before
he thrusts forward.

“Ahh shit, Charlee,” he moans low and long
before picking up the pace. I take all of him every time, to the precipice of
pain, but it’s a delicious pain that I welcome over and over while we rock the
hell out of this Cadillac.

“Fuck, I want to bite this ass.” He has a
cheek in each hand as he penetrates my soaked core over and over. I work my
hips in circles and up and down, riding him hard and fast, and then slow and
tortuous. His hands slide under my ass and spread my cheeks as he glides two
fingers along my slit. With each thrust of my hips, he reaches under and back
with his long fingers, dragging my slickness back and spreading it all the way
down my crack, past the pucker of my ass, where he hovers and slides a finger around
in circles but never penetrates. I shudder at the sensation. It feels good,
better than I ever imagined it would.

“Mmm, you like that, baby. I know you do.”

“Ahh yes . . .yes.” That’s all I’m capable
of saying. We’re in that place of ours, the zone where no one else exists.
Anyone could open the car door, and I wouldn’t even be aware of them. This is
bliss, the place between reality and fantasy. Dipping his head, he takes my
nipple in his mouth at the same time he circles my clit, and he drives me off
the cliff with the combination. I clutch his biceps, and with no warning, I
come like never before.

“Oh God, Lucas!” I scream, and on cue, his
fulfillment joins mine, and we meld into one enormous ball of pulsing energy,
like a star being born. We explode around each other in perfect unity.

“Fuck, Charlee, you slay me. I’m yours.”

 
I’m yours.

“I’m yours,” he murmurs against the skin
of my neck as the tightly wound muscles of our bodies begin to relax and the
veil of protection that surrounds us dissipates, revealing the reality of what
we’ve just done. Damn it, we were doing so well up until now. When I pull away,
Lucas’s eyes turn from hooded and lusty to shocked and full of shame.

“Don’t do that. Don’t be
ashamed of this. I wanted this. I needed you just as much as you needed me
right now, and we just happened to be in the parking lot of my photography
class.”

“How do you read me so well?”

“It’s a talent . . . or a curse. I guess it all depends on
how you look at it.”

“I love you, Charlee Cooper,” he says, catching me completely
off guard. I don’t know how to respond to this. I wasn’t expecting it, and now
I’ve sat here staring at him with my jaw hanging wide open too long to be able
to tell him how I feel and have him believe me, so once again, I let my cool,
calm façade save me.

“I know. What’s not to love? Now help me into my pants. I
need to go grab Everly from the nursery.”

He helps me back into my jeans and shirt and somehow manages
to fix my hair before letting me go. “Do you want me to wait for you so we can
ride home together?”

“Sure, but you will have to bring me back in the morning. Is
that okay?”

“Of
course.”