Being with Chloe the previous night had somehow helped. Like I had someone to lean on and get lost with. Maybe it was okay to allow her to be my anchor. Just for right now.
“Not much better,” I said truthfully. “Mom’s sponsor spent the day with her and got the treatment center involved. We have a family session in the morning to discuss the next steps to her sobriety.”
“I’m sorry.” Sadness filtered through her eyes. “How’s your brother?”
“After his game tonight, he begged me to stay over at his friend Matt’s house again,” I said, thinking about how I sat there, seething in those stands, because my mother wasn’t able to attend his game with me. She hadn’t been to a game all week. “I was about to say no, but his parents had walked over and told me it would be fine by them.”
“You’re a great big brother.”
“Thanks,” I said. “What’s new with you?”
“You mean besides the fact that my mom got on my case about not attending an art and design fund-raiser last night?”
My jaw went slack. She had been with me. Essentially taking care of me. “You ditched out on that last night?”
“I did,” she said with a strong voice. “And it felt darn good.”
Her grin was wide and open and I couldn’t help smiling right along with her. She was fighting her own kind of battle and I wanted to be a support for her as well.
We left the second coat of paint to dry on the runway and then sat down on the blanket. She opened the basket near her knees and said, “I thought maybe we needed something strong tonight.”
My eyebrows shot up as she pulled out a bottle of Baileys.
“I thought you didn’t drink.”
She shrugged. “I said I usually don’t. But this kinda tastes like chocolate and goes great with coffee.”
“Where’d you get it from?”
“My roommate Indy let me swipe it from her.”
I grinned and opened our coffee lids while she changed the station on her iPod. A slow and soulful Adele song came on, and to my utter amazement, Chloe reached for my hands. “Let’s dance.”
We did a toast with our Baileys-laced coffees and then I pulled her into my arms as we swayed to the moody song.
Her skin was soft, she smelled like strawberries, and I felt all the tension unraveling in my chest at having her nearer. I wasn’t sure how I was going to walk away from her after this week, and maybe I didn’t have to.
Maybe if I got things squared away with my mom again, I could ask her out on a real date.
But for now, I just wanted to be next to her. In this moment.
I looked into the dark blue depths of her eyes. “Thank you,” I said.
“For what?”
“For . . . being here for me, the last couple of nights.”
“No problem. I . . . look forward to being here . . . with you.”
I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers in a heated kiss, showing her just how much I liked it, too. Within a couple of minutes our kisses became more insistent, our tongues tangling frantically as our bodies overheated.
Next our shirts came off and our bodies were molded together, chest to stomach to hips, and I was beyond turned on. I wanted to strip off the rest of our clothes so that I could feel all of her smooth skin next to mine.
“Blake,” she whispered. “It’s been a long time, but I want . . . I need . . .”
My stomach tightened in anticipation. “What?”
“I want to be with you . . . tonight.”
My breath caught in the back of my throat because I wanted nothing more in that moment than to be with her, connect with her, in that way.
I cupped her face and then deepened the kiss, my body flattening against hers more urgently. I kneeled down on the blanket and tugged her with me.
I nibbled her ear and then along her neck, making my way to her breasts. She arched up against me as I pulled one of her nipples into my mouth and then gave the other side the same attention.
“Please,” she urged, grasping me through the front of my jeans.
“Oh God, Chloe,” I rasped out. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” My mouth captured hers in a bruising kiss and we continued grinding up against each other. In another minute, both of our jeans were off and I could barely catch my breath. She was so gorgeous—kneeling there completely naked, her skin soft and glistening in the dim light.
Our hands were roaming everywhere—in hair, over chests and backsides, between legs, working each other into a panting and reckless frenzy.
She was so wet and I was so damned ready my hard-on was straining against her stomach. It’d been so long since I felt so connected to someone that I was desperate to be inside her. But I needed her to be sure.
“Now, Blake, please,” she mumbled, while kissing my neck and gripping me in her fingers.
I reached for my wallet and pulled out the condom I’d always kept there, just in case.
I slid it over my very hard erection and then nudged her back on the blanket. I took my time kissing her soft lips, all the while looking deeply into her eyes. “You’re so damned pretty, Chloe.”
I positioned my head at her entrance and she shivered from the contact. I entered her partway and then paused, hissing through my teeth. She was so tight and wet and warm.
It felt incredible being inside her, so I wanted to take my sweet time.
I noticed her trembling lips and her flushed cheeks. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she strangled out. “I’m perfect. This is perfect. Please, I want you.”
I slid in farther, inch by inch, and she cried out as I filled her completely.
As soon as she became adjusted to the feel of me inside her, I began moving in and out at a solid pace, keeping eye contact with her. Everything in this moment felt so right, so amazingly fucking flawless. I didn’t want it to end.
I could feel her climax building slowly—her skin pulsing, her warm center squeezing more tightly—as I reached my thumb down to roll over her swollen nub.
She yelled out my name, trembling and grasping at my hair, and I stilled myself to watch her get her release, before pumping into her more firmly to chase my own.
We stayed wrapped in the blanket for a long time afterward, just gazing into each other’s eyes—talking, laughing, and stealing kisses. It was one of the most unforgettable nights of my life.
chapter twelve
Chloe
Today was the day of the Made in the Arbor street fair and I had gotten an early start to prep for the long hours. I hadn’t seen Blake in a few days and was basically going out of my mind.
We’d never exchanged phone numbers, just always shown up at the space to work together. I figured his disappearing act had something to do with his mom, because of what he’d shared that last night we were together.
I squashed down the notion that he didn’t return because of me—that I’d given him what he’d wanted and he was done. Or maybe it didn’t live up to the fantasy he’d said he had of me. I wasn’t very skilled in that department, but he certainly made me feel like I’d been.
No matter how busy I made myself, I couldn’t get him out of my head—how his skin smelled like fresh linen or the way his lips fit so perfectly against mine.
Jaclyn seemed more than impressed with what we had accomplished at her other store. She said that it would be a shame to take it down and that she knew the sale would be a hit. She began officially calling the new space Fibers, which matched nicely with Threads.
I couldn’t help telling Jaclyn that I was concerned about Blake and that I hoped he was okay. I was sure she could see my feelings for him in my eyes, in the emotions I was trying desperately to rein in. It must have been obvious how close we’d grown over these past few weeks.