Chapter Twenty
Katie
I woke up completely wrapped in Cash’s arms. His body was pressed against my back, from his chest to his toned thighs. I took a deep breath, inhaling everything Cash. His room, his sheets, his pillows; they all smelled like him, like this was where he put on his cologne every day. There was a clock on the nightstand, right in my line of sight. The time read 6:00 in retro red digital numbers. We’d slept for almost three hours.
“You awake?” Cash pressed his lips to the back of my neck.
“Yeah.” I yawned and stretched my arms over my head. “I can’t believe we slept that long.” I rolled over onto my back and Cash threw his leg over my thighs and his arm over my middle. “I take it you aren’t ready to get out of bed?”
“I think if you let me, I’d live in this bed with you for the next decade.” His forehead was against my shoulder, his words slightly muffled. “But. It’s almost time to meet up with Crue and Avory.”
“Should I go back to the Conners’ house and change?” I was still in my tattoo outfit and I was sure the little bit of makeup I’d put on that morning was long gone. Especially after crying at the shop when I found out about Waylon’s connection with my past.
“Do you want to go change?”
“Not really.” I figured cut-off shorts and a vintage concern tee were acceptable pasture party attire, but what the hell do I know? “Is what I’m wearing okay?”
“You look hot as hell, Katie Baby.” He sat up, peering down at me. “On second thought, maybe you should change. Otherwise I’ll be spending the whole night glaring at the guys who hit on you.” He shook his head. “I don’t need the competition.”
I reached out and put my hand on his cheek. “No one could possibly compare to you.” I pursed my lips. “Other than maybe Benson. He’s the one who taught you all the cool music and he’s the one with the cows.”
Cash jumped on me, tickling my ribs and making me squirm. “Benson’s got nothin’ on me, baby.”
“Okay, okay, mercy.” I held my hands up. “No one can compare to you.” My face hurt from smiling so much. We’d been playing, but what I said was true. I was almost positive that there would never be another guy that meant as much to me as Cash. There’d never be another guy that could make me feel the way he made me feel.
Now that he was no longer tickling me and I was no longer laughing, we were two people in a compromising position. I reached up, toying with the hair on the back of his head. My eyes kept darting to his lips. I wanted him, but my body wanted him more.
He put his hand on my cheek and dipped down, kissing me senseless. I pulled off his shirt and then gasped, covering my mouth. “I took off your shirt.”
Cash looked down at his now bare chest. “Yeah?” He met my wide eyes. “Did you not mean to?” I could see the smile dancing on his lips.
“I don’t know, it was like my body had a mind of its own or something.” I reached out and put my palm over his heart. “You make me bold.”
He dipped down and kissed my lips then whispered against my ear. “No, baby, I make you want.” He placed a kiss under my ear. “Like you make me want.”
“You want me?” I knew he did; I could feel it when he kissed me, when he touched me. But I was afraid that part of me would always be nervous, would always wonder if I wasn’t enough for him. Cash had a hell of a lot more experience than me, but it was more than that. He was good and kind, he was handsome, and his body was insane. He could have anyone he wanted. Why would he want me?
“Are you serious right now?” Cash rolled over onto his back and brought me with him, sitting me up, astride his body. “Let’s put aside that your ass is literally resting against my rock-hard dick.” He put his hands on my thighs, rubbing his palms up and down my skin. “I want you. I want all of you, every single part. I want your random questions and your hilarious assumptions. I want your laughs, I want your sexy little dance moves. I want to hold your hand and kiss your lips. I want to touch every single inch of the skin on your body.”
I could feel the flush rise on my cheeks.
“The thought of you leaving to join back up with your dad’s tour this weekend is killing me. I want to lock you in my bedroom and demand that you stay with me the rest of the summer.” He sighed with a sweet smile on his face. “I want you, Katie. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my entire life.”
I swallowed, and then cleared my throat. No one had ever said anything like that to me. It was a speech I’d remember for the rest of my life. It everything I needed to hear and more. “I want you too.” I leaned forward, kissing him, taking charge. I fisted my hands in his blond hair and moaned against his lips. He rolled us over again, coming to rest between my thighs. I could feel him at my core, and I arched against him, needed more.
“Baby, I—”
“Yo. You two ready for dinner or what?” Crue was banging on my door. “I’m fucking starving, C.”
Cash closed his eyes tight, like he was barely resisting the urge to murder his twin. “So this is what it feels like to be interrupted at the worst possible time.” When he opened them, he caught me seconds away from laughing.
“You find this funny?” He tickled my ribs and I barrel rolled off the bed and onto my feet like a mother-effin ninja.
“No.” I looked pointedly at his crotchal region. “But the fact that you have to walk out of this room, sporting that is pretty amusing.”
He shot out of bed, grabbing his shirt and then chasing me out of the room.
***
We drove in separate trucks, which seemed like a waste of gas to me. But Cash assured me that we weren’t staying at the party long. He said we had “parking” to cross off our list. I was more than okay with that plan. Part of me was glad Crue interrupted us earlier, and part of me hated it. I’d wanted Cash in that moment, I’d wanted him so badly it made all logic leave my brain.
We were seated right away when we got to the diner. The waitress threw a wink at Crue after she handed us our menus, shaking her ass as she walked away. The place was small, but clean and homey. It seemed like the whole staff knew the twins, and we were treated like royalty.
“Katie, where is your first stop when you join the tour?” Avory was sipping a sweet tea, fidgeting in her seat every now and then for no apparent reason.
I wanted to ask her if she had ants in her pants, but then I started to wonder if she had some kind of tick I hadn’t been aware of before. I also didn’t want to talk about leaving the compound at the end of the week, but ignoring her question would have been rude. “London. My mom and I will fly out of Austin into Heathrow.” I glanced at Cash. He was looking at his burger.
“I would love to travel.” Avory sighed. “Our parents never let us go anywhere either.” She used her fork to push her salad around her plate.
I guess I was pretty lucky that my parents were taking me to see other countries. It had been all I’d ever wanted, but now all I wanted was sitting next to me sucking down a vanilla milkshake. “Yeah, it’ll be pretty cool.” I reached for my drink, accidentally knocking my fork on the ground. When I reached down to pick it up, I saw the real reason Avory was jumping around like a crazy person.
I jerked back upright. Cash reached over and took my hand. He was biting his lips together to keep from laughing, and I felt traumatized. We left shortly after that, thank God. I was having a hard time keeping up with the conversation and looking either Crue or Avory in the eye.
When we were safely in the truck, I turned to Cash, my nose wrinkled. “Is that a thing? Like do people typically do that on dates? Under the table where anyone can see?” This time I didn’t even care if I sounded like a prude.
“No. It’s not a thing.” Cash was still close to laughing at me, but I forgave him because he was holding my hand so sweetly. “It’s a Crue and Avory thing. I tried to grab you before you went to get the fork, but I missed.”
“I want to bleach my eyes.” I pouted.
“Aw, baby. I’m sorry.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you? Because it seems like you’ve been about three seconds from busting out laughing since it happened.” He chuckled. “See? Not sorry.”
“I’ll make it up to you, okay?” He kissed the back of my hand; it was something that he did often and I didn’t think I’d ever tire of it.
“You’ll make it up to me by making me a sandwich when we get back to the compound tonight. I lost my appetite and couldn’t finish my dinner.” And it’d been good too. Chicken-fried steak burger and fries, a thousand calories and I didn’t care.
“Deal.” He turned down an old dirt road that I recognized from the night we attempted cow tipping. “We’ll have a beer, say hi, and then bail.”
Would he want to finish what I’d started back at his house? Did I want to? I knew that being the girl that asked where the relationship was going was something I didn’t want. But it was something I was going to need before we took things any further. The reality was that I was leaving in a few days. We had both put the future out of our minds, which was fine when we were simply new friends that made out. But after the pool, and then this evening in Cash’s bedroom, it was clear that we needed to have the talk.
He parked and I took a look around. There were trucks all backed up to a bonfire, tailgates down. “It’s exactly like the lake party I went to the first night I was here.”
“Yes, but here, there is always the possibility you’ll step in cow shit.”
I nodded, eyes narrowed. “Ah, yes, that does make it more interesting.”