CHAPTER 37
Eight weeks later Cait and I stand on the lakefront path outside Lincoln Park in thirty-degree temperatures. It’s the same spot we’ve been meeting at after school or work to run together. Or just the spot we hang out at to look at the city skyline when it’s dark. It’s kind of romantic, I guess, and it’s become our spot. The truth is I’d love any place I’m with her.
“Maybe we should reschedule.” I reach for my toes and lunge to stretch my hamstrings. Because of the cold, they’re too tight.
“But we’ve been training weeks.” Balanced on one foot, she tugs her knee to her chest and holds it.
“But the storm’s coming, and I’m freezing.” I stand and shiver in my cold weather gear and rub my hand over my arms, wheedling her.
“I think you’re afraid you’ll lose,” she trash talks with a gleam in her eye. It’s something I’m becoming used to and prepared for. I remove the spatula from my hoodie pocket, wave it around, and lurch at her to swat her cute butt.
She bounces away and yelps. Through laughter, she says, “I told you to leave that thing home—for later.”
Since the night of the concert our relationship has been effortless. If there were such a thing in a relationship, I would call us perfect. But if it were to happen with anyone, it would be with Cait. I knew it in my bones when I met her, and I know it now watching the wind whip a loose tendril of her hair, her nose and ears turning bright pink with a chill, and her attention on me like I’m the only man in the world. I love her, but she doesn’t know it yet.
“You ready?” Cait sets the stopwatch on her cell.
“But first...” I tug her close and kiss her freezing lips until both of us are warm. Every time we’re near I think those three words in my head, hoping she’ll feel them every time I touch her. One day soon, I’ll build the confidence to tell her. But every time I think it’s the right time, my heart rate accelerates and my nerves push me over the edge until the special moment is lost.
“May the best woman win.” She squirrels away from my grip and darts down the path, stealing a head start.
“Cheater.” I chase to catch up.
On the few first miles, we settle into a nice pace, but that’s when the storm rolls in. Angry blustery clouds roil above, releasing a layer of snow within a few minutes.
“If we both forfeit neither person wins,” I remind.
She groans. She’s so desperate to beat me, but she can’t help it. Something in her won’t give in even though there’s five inches of snow on the trail and we’re slipping around it like an ice rink. The moment I think that is when I lose my footing, and the tread of my shoes slides for several feet. My arms whirl to catch myself but then I’m airborne, gravity dropping me like a rock. I hit the ground on my tailbone, and I groan.
Cait finds me, arms and legs spread wide, like a snow angel. Though I’m fine, my pride is wounded. She glances down with her hands latched on her hips. When she sees I’m okay, she covers her mouth with her hand and laughs.
“Fine. We can go home but the first nice day, we’re racing.” She offers me her gloved hand to help me up, but I tug her down. She yelps and tumbles over my stomach and to my side. Now she’s laid out on her back too. She grabs a handful of snow and launches it at my face. I turn away to scoop up my own arsenal and toss it at her, but when I release it, the wind smacks it back into my face. I pinch eyes and nose tight at the stinging pricks of cold. This makes her laugh harder.
“That’s what you get for forfeiting.” She smirks.
We help each other from the ground and find our way to the main road. There I flag down a taxi. Soon we’re rushing into the condo to warm ourselves from the falling temperatures and worsening conditions.
“I’m taking a hot shower,” she says. She kicks off her shoes while slipping out of her coat and hat.
“I’ll make us some hot chocolate.” I head for the kitchen, but she tugs on my shirt, pulling it tight. I boomerang back to her side.
“Or... you can join me.” There’s a naughty gleam in her eyes.
Before I can decipher her words, she flips her top and bra over her head, revealing her perfect breasts. She drops her sweatshirt and sports bra on the floor at her feet and gives me a sexy look. But I’m frozen in more ways than one as she continues her seductive striptease. She moves through the apartment, leaving socks in the kitchen and leggings on the floor in the hallway. And now she’s teasing with her underwear.
I have a moment of shear stupidity because it’s gradually settling on me that after two months of heavy make-out sessions, I’m finally going to be with this woman. Light feet carry me along the heavenly path of clothing leading to her room. I arrive as she drops her panties, revealing her naked body. She offers me a come-hither look that makes me stumble forward, before she disappears into the bathroom.
The shower flips on, and I follow the sound. At the doorway, I watch her step inside. Her skin is flushed pink, her hips and ass round and as perfect as her breasts. I step closer, one foot at a time, watching her soap herself behind the fogging glass door.
Before I can comprehend what’s happened, I’ve removed all my own clothing and stepped into the shower with her. Yes, I’ve been confident all this time, but now I’m the most vulnerable I’ve felt, and I’m nervous as hell. But the feeling falls away as soon as I scoot in behind her and press my chest to her warm back. My fully alert dick slips into the curves of her ass, sliding over her smooth skin. My eyes flutter shut at the contact, and I bite my lip. She turns, brushing her hardened nipples across my chest. When I open my heavy eyelids, her fiery and seductive gaze lands on mine.
She rubs her soapy hands over my abs, my shoulders, across my back, and over my ass. Every place she touches sparks alive, causing blood to rush faster and harder south, where my dick aches to be inside her.
Thinking I need to slow myself down, I turn the tables and soap all of her body, leaving no part untouched. Under the hot pelting shower, I memorize every curve, every freckle, and every strand of her beautiful hair. But my plan backfires because feeling her body shudder beneath my fingers turns me on more.
When we’re clean and dried, I kiss her and back her out of the bathroom and into her room. We halt when her calves are pressed against the side of the box spring. I’m wound so tight and horny, I’m ready to explode, but I want everything to be perfect.
“Are you sure?” I whisper and drag a thumb across her swollen lips.
“Touch me.” With her words, she ignites the fire within me, releasing the floodgates. I angle into her and kiss her again. Her cheek presses to mine, tickling the scruff on my chin. She summons the buzz I’ve held for her since the day we met. It’s ringing louder than it ever has. It’s in my ears and chest and I want to share and drive the feeling straight into her.
Intense kisses. Twisting tongues. Our bodies twine until there’s no air between us. We fall on the mattress and spiral until she’s on top of me, my torso locked between her strong thighs. She opens for me and I press inside. She’s so tight. I moan at the connection and I rise, placing my head on her chest. I kiss all of her, claiming every piece as my own. My lips graze her breast. My hands grasp her ass, and I lay back and lift her, rolling us together, driving all of myself into her until we come, wrapped into each other’s arms.
The second time is playful, with nipping, biting, giggling, and a few smacks from the red spatula. After, wrapped in each other’s arms, I have a true moment of bliss. It’s a completeness I never knew could exist. Total chick shit I need to keep to myself, but it’s there, real and inside me. Then an unexpected sight further elevates my mood.
“Is my picture on your vision board?” I prop myself on elbows and focus. Some of the covers fall away.
“I told you everything I wanted was on there.” Cait pulls me back to the bed, fits herself into the curve of my side, and traces my chest. I slide my hand across her thigh, which is hooked over my side.
True happiness fills me. Readjusting, I turn to her and cup her face in my hands, peering into her sparkling eyes. In them I see the two of us, and the thing I’ve been waiting to say slips out as easily as breathing. “And everything I want is right here. I love you.”