I wake with a start. Why? What woke me up? And where the fuck am I?
It takes a few seconds for my brain to pull out of the early morning muddle, but when it does, I remember everything.
The way Joie’s soft, dark skin feels when I run my hands over it. The way her breath tickles my ear when she heaves with passion. The soft sounds she makes when I thrust deep inside her. I never thought I’d have that connection with someone again. But here it is. Here she is. Everything about her, about us, seems magical to me.
Or maybe I’m only a man who hasn’t been with a woman in a very long time. Either way, my brain has barely woken up, but my dick is wide awake and ready for more of her.
Joie begins to stretch and, by the way her ass is squirming up against me, I think she might have the same idea.
“Good morning,” I mumble, my voice still gravelly with sleep. “Did you sleep well with me here? I didn’t take up too much room, did I?”
“Mmm,” she responds and snuggles back down under the covers, and closer into me. “I haven’t slept so well in forever.” I can hear the contentment in her voice, and I swear it makes my dick twitch. Or that could just be morning wood. Either way, I move her hair out of the way and begin kissing a path down her neck. She smells faintly of sweat and sleep and leftover sex. “Did we stay tangled up like this all night?”
“I think so,” I mumble against her skin. “It’s because you’re comfortable.” She wiggles her ass back against me again. “And a little horny, aren’t you?”
She chuckles huskily, her voice still not completely cleared of sleep. “Maybe a little.”
Grabbing her hips, I grind against her, making her gasp. “Well then, what are we waiting for?”
“We need to brush our teeth,” she whispers, reaching over her head to grab my hair and tug. The feeling increases my need to be inside her.
“Nope. No time for that,” I respond and roll her over to face me, giving her a very quick, very closed-mouth peck on the lips before lying on my back and pulling her on top of me. “Ride me, baby, and our mouths won’t get anywhere near each other.”
I waggle my eyebrows, and she smiles at my ingenuity. But she also complies. Fortunately, we never put any clothes on last night, so we don’t have to waste any time. Sitting up on her knees, I situate myself underneath her. We groan simultaneously when she slides down on top of me, until she’s fully seated, hip to hip. Then I watch as she begins to move. Her hair is still mussed from sleep. Her skin glows in the morning sunlight. Her small breasts bounce slightly as she moves to and fro.
“You’re so beautiful like this,” I whisper and reach up to play with her nipples. She gasps and her eyes roll into the back of her head.
Suddenly, there’s a quick knock and her bedroom door flies open.
“Ma, it’s late. Why are you still in . . .?”
If this was a movie, people would be laughing at the ridiculousness of the scene. Because all of a sudden, everyone is yelling and moving at a frantic pace. Joie is screaming while jumping off my lap, trying to cover herself but exposing my hard-on in the process. Stevens is screaming and looking back and forth between his mother and me, and sometimes at my dick, which keeps showing itself every time Joie moves.
But this isn’t a movie, so someone has to get this situation back in control, and I suppose that’s gonna have to be me.
Propping up on my elbow, I go into coach mode and yell, “Okay, everyone shut up!” Surprisingly, it works. All the screaming stops. “Stevens, cover your eyes!”
“Yes, sir,” he shouts and brings his hand to his face, slapping himself so hard, the sound echoes off the walls.
“Now get out,” I command.
“Yes, sir,” he shouts again and turns to leave, running into the wall a couple of times since he refuses to take his hand off his face.
“Close the door behind you.”
The only response is the slam as he complies with my request.
Flopping back down on the bed, I let out a deep breath and look over at Joie. She’s wrapped tightly in the sheet, face down, hands covering her eyes.
“You can open your eyes now. He’s gone.”
She shakes her head and her voice comes out muffled as she speaks. “Maybe if I don’t look, it’ll all go away.”
I chuckle and roll to my side, running my hand down her back in comfort. “I don’t think that’s how it works, babe.”
Her body raises and lowers as she inhales deeply, before turning to look at me. “This is not the way I wanted him to find out about us.”
“I know. I don’t find it ideal either.” I continue rubbing her back, trying to help calm her.
“It’s been just him and me for so long, ya know?” She bites her bottom lip and stares off into space as she talks. “I don’t think I’ve ever introduced him to anyone I’ve dated before. Not in his whole life.”
“Not even that guy from when he was in middle school?”
She shakes her head slowly and rests her chin on her arms. “Not that I can remember. Maybe once in passing, but other than that, no. I guess I was never serious enough with anyone to bother.”
The room goes quiet as we both get lost in our thoughts. What a weird mess we’re in. If her child were younger, I would understand being careful with him knowing about her dating. A child can attach to an adult pretty easily, and that would be really bad for him if the relationship didn’t work out.
But this situation seems different, somehow. Stevens is an adult. He lives on his own and has his own life. No matter what happens between his mother and me, he’ll never call me dad. He’s too old for us to bond like that.
But I am still his coach, which puts me in a position of authority over him. And he did get an eyeful of his mother making like a rodeo star. Hmm. Maybe this situation is more convoluted than I first thought.
“You think he saw too much?” she finally asks. “Maybe he didn’t really see anything. Right?”
She looks so hopeful, I almost don’t want to tell her the truth. Instead, I raise an eyebrow at her, making her grimace. I don’t need to say anything. She knows. “Babe, he saw his mother practicing her bull riding skills on his coach. We could have been fully-clothed and he still would’ve seen too much.”
She groans and buries her head her pillow. “I was hoping you’d say we were covered up enough that he didn’t get an eyeful. Or that he was looking at the ceiling or something.”
I grab her hand, kissing her knuckles. “Sorry, baby. Not only is he traumatized by seeing you, I’m sure he’s not going to get the image of my full erection out of his head any time soon.”
Her head pops up. “You were totally naked?”
Chuckling, I say, “You were so busy trying to cover yourself, you kept uncovering me.”
She groans again. “This just keeps getting worse.”
“Do you want me to talk to him?”
She sighs and looks up at me, her big brown eyes set in resolve. “No, I will. Assuming he’s still here. Maybe I can butter him up with some pancakes or something.”
“Eggs. He needs protein. He’s in the middle of a season.”
She snickers. “Yes, coach. I’ll be sure to make him a healthy omelet full of vegetables and meat. No carbs.”
“Good, girl,” I say my lips quirking up as I try my best to ignore the unsettled ache hanging between my legs. “So I’m guessing rodeo practice is done for the day?”
She snorts a laugh before climbing out of bed. “I think we’ll have to save that for another time.” She flashes me a nervous look, and I brace myself for what she’s about to say. “I hope this doesn’t sound terrible, and I really hate to say it, but I think I need to talk to Isaac alone.”
Relief floods through me that it’s nothing more serious than that. “Of course. He’s your son. As much as I was hoping to spend the day with you, this is more important. You guys need to have a private conversation without me hanging out, listening.”
She leans over the bed and kisses me quickly. “Thank you.” I run my hand down her cheek, glancing over her features one more time before clamoring out of bed.
Joie wraps herself in a pink fluffy robe and walks into the attached master bathroom while I put all of yesterday’s clothes back on. I chuckle to myself as I realize I’m about to do the walk of shame in front of one of my kids. Usually it’s them coming into the locker room in day-old duds. Talk about turnabout.
When she’s done brushing her teeth and I’ve popped a piece of my spearmint gum in my mouth, she wraps her arms around my waist. “Thank you for an amazing night.”
“It was the best milk I ever tasted,” I remark, making her laugh against my chest as I rub my hands down her back.
“As long as you still want the cow, too.”
“For as long as she’ll have me.”
She pulls away and I lean down to kiss her gently, sweeping my tongue in her mouth once, twice, three times before pulling away and rubbing my hands up and down her arms.
I can read the nervousness on her face. “Are you sure you want to do this alone? I don’t mind staying if you want me as your moral support.”
She gives me a shy smile and nods. “Yeah. I’ll be okay. It’s just going to be an awkward conversation.”
I nod once and clasp her hand, intertwining our fingers. “All right. Walk me out?”
“Of course.”
We make our way down the short hallway, past the kitchen and small eating area. Stevens is sitting at the table, his hands wrapped around a steaming mug of what I assume is coffee. I could really go for a cup myself, but when we pass by, he looks up and glares at me. If I was in coach mode, I’d tell him to wipe that look off his face and give me some laps for being disrespectful. But since I’m in boyfriend mode, I say nothing, instead mentally calculating how close the nearest drive-thru coffee shop is.
We reach the front door and I turn to Joie, cupping her face and giving her another quick kiss. “I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Okay.” She tries to smile, but she looks nervous. “And I’ll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck.”
I kiss her one last time and pull the door open, leaving Joie behind to clean up a mess I helped her make.