Chapter Six

Savannah

I’m sitting on the edge of the dock, my feet dangling just a few inches above the water, my hands resting on either side of my legs. The seventy-degree sunny day doesn’t match my mood. For five days, I’ve watched my phone blow up with phone calls and text messages from the one person I can’t get out of my mind.

And every single time it lit up with Brandon’s name, I had to fight against myself to not pick it up.

He deserves more than someone like me.

Someone who is so unlovable, her parents didn’t even want to stay around.

The water sloshes against the dock below me, splashing up against the aged wood. A cool breeze rustles through the trees, causing ripples to roll across the lake and I can hear birds chirping. The atmosphere around me alone should put me in a good mood but instead I’m sulking.

I thought being in this spot would help.

The spot I now consider ours.

But it just made me grumpier.

I hear a car door slam and, not wanting to be around anyone, I stand, brushing off the dust from my cut off jean shorts. I slide my feet back into my flip flops and turn, the image before me causing my breath to catch.

There stands Brandon, wearing nothing but a pair of black gym shorts and Nikes, his bare chest on full display causing my mouth to dry immediately. The smattering of dark hair makes my fingers itch to run through it, right along with the stubble on his face. From where I stand I can see the definition of his abs, all six of them, right along with the tattoo that stretches around his left bicep all the way up to wind around his shoulder. On his right arm, there’s a tattoo that wraps around his thick muscular forearm. His dark eyes assess me as I take my fill. He takes a few tentative steps closer.

I hear his phone chime an alert of some sort and he reaches into the pocket of his shorts, pulls it out, reads whatever is on display and slides it back into the pocket without responding.

“You’re alive,” he nods to me, crossing his arms across his chest. The biceps in his arms bulging and contracting with every movement.

I gulp, knowing that in this scene before me, I’m a shitty person.

I nod, not trusting my voice.

“You never answered so I wasn’t sure.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Everyone’s sorry today.”

I turn my head, curious what that statement means but keep quiet when I notice the murderous look on his face.

He shifts his attention to the lake, speaking without looking at me. “So, you’re okay?”

I nod, even though he can’t see me. “I’m okay.”

“Good.”

“Look…”

“No, Savannah. If you’re going to make up excuses, I don’t want to hear it. I just lost the ability to trust the one person who I never expected to have to question. I’ve had a shitty day so unless you’re going to tell me that you lost your phone… just, don’t.”

“Okay.”

He guffaws. “That’s it?”

“You don’t want excuses, right?”

He shakes his head.

“Then I won’t give you excuses.”

He takes another step toward me, this time his eyes tracking me from head to toe. He breathes out a breath of disbelief. “Why are you here?”

I shrug, my white slub knit tee shirt that says “Just a Small Town Girl” on the front in black letters slipping off my shoulder.

“I’m not a city boy and wasn’t raised in South Detroit,” he smirks, taking one step closer.

“But you were singin’,” I smile, feeling like my heart could beat straight out of my chest from the nearness to him alone.

“I was. Though it wasn’t smoky and you definitely weren’t wearing cheap perfume. And I never stopped believin’, either.”

I take a step closer.

“You didn’t?” I ask, my voice quiet.

He shakes his head. “How could I? My heart wouldn’t let me.”

I swiftly close the distance between us, throwing myself at him, wrapping my arms around his broad shoulders.

“I should have answered,” I whisper into his chest.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” he whispers back.

He pushes me back slightly and slides his hands up to cup my face.

“I don’t even care about the last five days. I just… you’re here.”

“I’m so sorry I was ignoring you.”

“So you admit you were ignoring me?” He has a teasing lilt to his voice but he can’t hide the hurt displayed in his eyes.

I gulp and glance out at the water before looking back to Brandon.

I nod and blow out a breath. “There are things… that you just don’t know about me.”

“Yet.”

“Yet?”

His eyes bounce back and forth between mine, holding my stare. “That’s right. Anything worth more than one night takes time.”

I nod my head, finally understanding that maybe, possibly, I could have this. Him.

I lick my lips, his eyes following the movement. “I think you need to kiss me now.”

His smile his blinding. “Yes ma’am.”

Our mouths crash together in a frenzied kiss. It’s not soft or smooth. It’s crazy and wild and bruising. A kiss that says how much we missed each other, not even knowing what we were missing. A kiss that says I’m not going to be stupid again and not answer his calls.

A kiss that reminds us it’s bigger than we are. Whatever this is between us? Fate has decided to step in, bring us back together.

He tilts his head to the side, his tongue invading my mouth unapologetically.

Mine matches his swipe for swipe.

Taste for taste.

His hands move down, down, down until they’re cupping my butt, squeezing and pulling me closer to him.

His hardness presses between us when I lift on my tiptoes, wanting the friction to be at my center, where I want it most.

I groan when his hips shamelessly roll, just like I watched him do on stage the first time our eyes connected. The first time my heart felt like it was beating for someone else.

In a flash, I’m lifted up, my legs winding around his slim waist.

The pressure of his body against mine smashes my breasts against his bare chest, causing them to push up so I can feel them peeking out from my shirt. He leans back slightly, just enough to bury his face between my breasts, sucking on the soft flesh before trailing his nose up to my neck. He inhales deeply. “God your smell. I’ll never get enough. It’s kept my hand in my boxers the last five days, thinking of you.”

“Holy hell,” I breathe out, my body on fire from his words.

“How did I miss your taste already?” he groans into my neck as he bites then licks the spot his teeth just nipped.

My head falls back, giving him more access to my body.

Any part of my body he wants.

It’s his.

I don’t know why I thought I could ignore it.

He says he couldn’t stop thinking about me over the past five days?

Same.

One hundred percent same.

“You need to move us. Now.”

“On it,” he says as I attack his neck after he twists us around, walking down the dock but not letting me go. With a speed I wasn’t expecting, he has us in the parking lot, striding toward what I remember as his big black pickup, pushing me up against the passenger door.

“Where are we going?” he asks me, his lips barely leaving my lips while we breathe each other in.

“Anywhere private. Anywhere. Just get us the hell out of here.”