Chapter 34
RHAPSODY IN AUGUST
I’d just gotten out of the shower when I heard the doorbell ring. Layla insisted on driving tonight, and I guessed she was running ahead of schedule. I could hear her downstairs talking to my mother, prompting me to get dressed quickly and get down there. I knew from experience that once the two of them started yakking, it could be hours before we got out of here.
And tonight, Layla was mine.
I ran down the stairs nodding my head at the both of them. It was great to see Layla back in her usual high spirits again. I’d missed her smile.
I greeted her with a “Hey,” as I grabbed for the cooler bag I’d packed earlier and left at the front door.
The unmistakable sound of clanking cans echoed throughout the foyer when I slung the bag over my shoulder. Mom’s lips tightened into a firm line, silently berating me for smuggling beer out of the house. Even still, she was always pretty cool about that kind of stuff. As long as I wasn’t driving, she never minded if I had a few drinks. I guess compared to my old man, “a few drinks” were nothing to be concerned about.
Mom raised a brow and asked, “Where are you two headed tonight?”
Lay and I met each other’s eyes, but she didn’t offer an answer. I guessed she was still trying to keep our plans a surprise.
“Not sure yet, Ma. Probably just to Rymer’s.”
Rymer’s parents were having a family dinner at their house for his birthday. He sort of tossed out a half-assed invitation for us to come, too, but he knew it was our last night together and I couldn’t imagine he was expecting to see us. Even Rymer had enough tact to realize we wanted to be alone.
“Okay, well, I hope you’ll be careful. Layla...” Mom started in, gearing up for a drinking-and-driving lecture. But miraculously, she decided to skip the warning and simply offer a trusting smile to the both of us. “Have a good time tonight.”
Layla gave my mother a parting kiss on the cheek before bolting for the door. “We will, Mrs. Wilmington. ‘Night!”
“Thanks, Ma. We might be late, so don’t wait up.”
We were walking down the front path when I finally noticed Layla was wearing a miniskirt. She had a really phenomenal pair of legs. I should know. I’d been staring at them in her uniform all year.
It wasn’t until we were in the car that she unbuttoned her blouse and tossed it in the back seat. I realized the skirt was actually a dress, and a pretty skimpy one at that. “Jesus, Layla, what the hell are you wearing?”
I couldn’t take my eyes off her and she knew it. What’s more, she loved it. She tried to stifle a smile but I could tell she was just eating it up. “It’s called a dress, Trip,” she snickered as we pulled out of the driveway.
“I’ll say.”
Damn. The thing was black, tight, and totally hot. Her boobs were practically spilling out the top, inviting me to stare unabashedly. Her neck was begging for my mouth. Her bare shoulders were screaming for me to run my hands over them. I was completely caught up in the sight of her in that damned getup. So much so that I almost didn’t realize she’d turned in the opposite direction from Rymer’s house. “Hey, I think you made a wrong turn, dummy.”
Her lips twitched as she tried to repress a grin. “I know exactly where I’m going. We have some unfinished business to take care of. Just shut up and let me drive.”
The guilty look on her face gave her away. I may have been a bit slow on the uptake, but suddenly all the signs became perfectly clear: The dress, the chauffer service... Holy shit. We were totally having sex tonight.
I shifted in my seat, the anticipation killing me. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait too long to get my hands on her. Layla pulled down a dead end street a few blocks from my house and cut the engine. There were no houses on this stretch of road, and from the overhanging trees, not much sunlight either. It was barely eight o’clock, but the private little cul-de-sac was already dark and secluded. Perfect.
I immediately slid over to her side of the car and ran a hand over her bare shoulder. She met my eyes shyly as I moved in to kiss her. I’d barely gotten my lips on her when she pulled back and...
“Trip. Stop.”
Fuck!
I’d taken my time with this girl. I liked her too much to just jump her bones, treat her like some “conquest.” But goddammit, I’d been left hanging too many times. I really thought she’d be ready tonight. Hell, we only had one night left. But what other choice did I have? It was up to her to take the lead.
Didn’t mean I wasn’t fucking devastated, however.
Her voice cut through my pity party when she said, “Not here.”
I saw the smile she was trying to hide, and the look on her face made me realize she obviously had a much bigger plan in mind.
Oh thank fucking Christ.
She popped the trunk and got out, so I followed suit to meet her at the back of her car. She proceeded to load a bunch of stuff into my arms: Blankets, pillows, boombox... I didn’t know what the hell I was in for, but I was totally game. She grabbed a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses before closing the trunk with a wicked grin.
“Follow me...” she said as she stepped into the woods.
I couldn’t stop my lips from twitching. “To the ends of the Earth, babe.”
She seemed to like the sound of that as she giggled and led the way. With my arms laden with so much crap, I couldn’t really see where I was stepping and almost tripped over a tree root. “I wish you’d given me a heads up about this plan of yours, Lay-Lay. I could’ve worn my hiking boots.”
“Try traipsing through the woods in heels!”
I stumbled over a rock as I snickered, “Didn’t you know what we were doing tonight?”
“Chill out,” she teased. “It’s not that far of a walk. There’s a great view I want to show you.”
Her ass had been wiggling under that tight black skirt, torturing me from the first moment she’d stepped out of the car. “Well, the view in front of me right now is pretty amazing already. What, did you pour yourself into that thing?”
She tossed a modest smirk over her shoulder in protest, but I could tell she totally loved the fact that she had me drooling. Direct hit.
I was so busy checking her out that I hadn’t realized we’d reached our destination. Layla stood to the side and let me enter the clearing before her, and when I did... Holy shit.
“Holy shit!”
Right there in the middle of the small patch of grass was a pristine green tent, all set up and waiting for us to defile it. “Did you come all the way out here and set this thing up all by yourself?”
“Yes,” she answered, timidly avoiding my eyes. For a girl who’d boldly planned an entire night of debauchery, she sure as hell seemed shy about it.
I dumped the stuff on a nearby rock and looped my arms around her waist. “You are unbelievable. You know that?” I lowered my mouth to hers and kissed her. “It’s gonna be one helluva night, huh?”
“I hope so.” Her eyes brightened as her smile widened. “Hey. Why don’t you crack open that bottle and we’ll toast the sunset.”
I fetched the white wine from the ground as she handed me a corkscrew. I was planning to look all suave and debonair as I popped the thing open like Cary Grant in all those old movies they show on Sunday afternoons... but I wasn’t having much luck.
“What’s the matter?” she teased. “Can’t do it?”
I attempted to save face. “I think it’s this corkscrew. We have a wall-mounted one at my house. I’ve never used a handheld one before.” In my frustration, I pulled a little too hard, breaking the cork in half. The only thing left to do was to wedge the rest of it into the bottle. Smooth.
I poured us each a glass before we cut through a row of pines to the ridge where I helped to hoist Layla up a boulder. We settled in side by side to watch the sun setting over Norman Valley far below.
The sight reminded me of our sunrise at the beach. How badly I wanted to say “I love you,” but choked on my words before I could get them out of my mouth. Hell, she was able to say it. Maybe she wasn’t actually head over heels in love with me but at least she was able to say the words, for chrissakes. Who cared if she didn’t mean it? I should have manned up and said it anyway.
While I was silently berating myself, the sky turned from orange to purple. The last streaks of pink were disappearing over the horizon when her voice broke through my stewing. “Wow.”
“Yeah,” I said, shaking myself out of the daze. “That was really beautiful.”
She met my eyes as her lips quirked into a perfect Layla smile.
Beautiful.
We descended from the boulder, making idle chitchat as we headed over to the tent. I was pretty sure she’d set this whole thing up for us to have sex, but it was still hard to believe. It was hard to wrap my head around it. Or maybe I was too afraid of being let down to accept it as the truth.
I lit the citronella candle as Layla laid out the blankets inside the tent. I met her in there and turned the boombox on, fiddling with the dials to find us a decent station.
Once we got ourselves settled, I poured us some more wine and then raised my glass in a toast. “To Layla. A girl who never stops surprising me.” She smiled shyly as she clinked her glass to mine. “So what now?” I asked. “You wanna roast some marshmallows or something?”
My question achieved its desired effect as she loosened up a little to let out with a laugh. She was still nervous, though.
“Lisa found this spot, you know.”
The change of subject wasn’t lost on me. “Oh she did, did she?”
“Yeah. We used to come up here sometimes when we were younger. It’s been a while, though.”
Man, she really seemed on edge. I didn’t want to spook her by pouncing on her or anything, although, if I’m going to be honest, my mind was on little else. But I controlled myself enough to keep up the conversation. “Well, it’s an awesome spot. I’ve hiked through here a bunch of times but I never found this place.”
“Well, seclusion is kind of why I picked it.”
Now that was an unmistakable invitation. I stretched out on my side a little closer toward her and rested a hand on her knee. “I still can’t believe you hauled all this stuff up here on your own.”
“I’m a girl of many talents.”
“Yes. Yes, you are.”
She always demurred at my compliments. I wondered why that was. Didn’t she know how incredible she was? How fun? How beautiful?
“Hey. So you’re not mad that we’re missing Rymer’s party, are you?”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “How could I be mad? Layla, this is awesome.”
“You think Rymer’s gonna be mad?”
I leaned over and kissed her knee. “Lay... You brought me all the way up here to this secluded spot in the woods... Was it really so we could talk about Rymer all night?”
She smirked as she raked her fingers through my hair. Between that and her legs under my hands, I was already going crazy. I ran my fingertips up her thigh and peppered soft kisses against her skin.
She lay back as I wrapped my arm around her waist and slid her body under mine before fusing our mouths together. God, I was already hard. It never took much. Just her. Just Layla.
Her lips tasted like wine, tasted amazing. Her legs tangled around me and I rocked against her, hearing her soft gasps as I growled into her open mouth, deepening the kiss, grasping at every inch of her within reach, tugging the front of her dress down and... sweet! Front-clasp bra. Score.
She peeled off my shirt as I unhooked her bra. Her back arched toward me and I palmed her breast in my hand, lowering my mouth to its tip, licking and sucking, the taste of her skin so sweet.
Slow down!
Things were moving much too quickly, and I forced myself to pull back and take a second to breathe. If we kept up at this pace, this night would be over before it ever had a chance to begin. I couldn’t believe this gorgeous girl was half-naked in my arms. I rested my chin against her chest as her eyes flew open in curiosity. “Why’d you stop?”
I had a million evil thoughts running through my mind, so I can’t be held responsible for the wicked grin I aimed at her when I said, “Take off your clothes. I want to try something.”
Miraculously, she didn’t slap me, and instead went about the task of stripping down under the covers. I grabbed the wine bottle from the corner of the tent and knee-walked back over to her to find that she had the blanket pulled up to her chin. Her modesty made me snicker.
“It’s a little late to play shy now, don’t you think?”
“Topless is different than naked, Trip.”
“Is it? I guess you’re gonna have to let me see so I can find out.”
I grabbed the blanket to pull it down, but she clung to the thing in a white-knuckle grip against her chest.
There was no reason for her to be embarrassed, but I reassured her anyway. “Layla, you’re beautiful. I need to look at you.”
Her muscles unclenched at my words, allowing me to run my eyes down the length of her body. Her stunning flushed skin. Her perfect tits. Her flat stomach. Her lacy black panties. All mine all night; every inch of her begging for my mouth.
I kissed her gently, then looked deep into her eyes, asking her to trust me. Tipping the bottle, the wine poured between her breasts, and I swiped my fingertips down her torso, creating a liquid line down the center of her body.
And then I tasted.
I lowered my mouth to the hollow of her throat and followed the trail with my tongue, licking the wine away as her body trembled under my lips. So hot. To break the tension, I gave a little pinch to her waist which made her laugh. She sat up and grabbed my face in her hands to smash our lips together.
There she was, almost-naked and fully at my disposal, and the best part about our night so far was kissing her through our laughter. God, I was crazy about this girl.
“My turn,” she announced through a wicked grin.
That was fine by me. I lay down on my stomach so Lay could pour a river of white wine down my bare back, the cool liquid drizzling down my spine and pooling above my jeans. She was a sex kitten as she lapped away at my skin before adding her hands to the equation, rubbing my shoulders and biceps, making me groan. I couldn’t believe what we were doing to each other. I couldn’t take it anymore.
I rolled over just enough to wrap an arm around her waist before throwing her down to the floor and covering her body with my own. I bit her neck. I kissed her collarbone. I devoured every inch of her skin. I was so fucking hard for her. My body pressed itself against her, wanting to just strip down and be inside her as soon as humanly possible.
As if reading my mind, her hands slid down between our stomachs, fumbling with the button on my jeans.
No fucking way.
I braced my hands on either side of her head and lifted my torso off of her. I needed to see her face, to confirm that we were really doing this. “Lay? Are we...?”
She bit her lip and nodded her head up and down.
Oh God, I didn’t think I could take it if she was only messing with me. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she breathed out. “Yes. I want to. You have something, right?”
Oh sweet baby Jesus.