TWO AND A HALF months after she found me, we went home. She was starting med school soon and Fletcher held too many memories we’d rather keep in the past.
I wiped the sweat off my brow.
Christ. It should be illegal for a place to be this hot.
“Sherry. What were we thinking when we picked Arizona? And why the hell did you stay?” I grumbled as we crossed the threshold into her apartment. You’d think we just ran a marathon given how much I was sweating, but no, all we’d done was walk across the parking lot. But I guess when it was the end of July and in the triple digits, even being outside for five minutes meant you were drenched in sweat.
She shrugged. “Once I got here, that was the last piece of you I had.” My girlfriend smiled, letting me know she wasn’t trying to make me feel bad. It didn’t matter; I always would. For the rest of my life, I would regret missing those four years, and for the rest of my life I’d make sure I spent every day making up for them.
And despite my melancholy, I smiled at the thought.
The rest of my life.
Because there wasn’t a single thing on this planet that would keep us apart again.
“What are you smiling about?” she asked as she leaned against her counter while I dropped down on her couch.
“I was just thinking about how you’re never gonna let me live that down. Not for the rest of my life.”
She frowned. “I didn’t mean it that way.”
“I know.” I shook my head, getting up and walking toward her. With a serious expression, I put my hands on her hips and said, “It’s always gonna be there. You’re never going to lie or sugarcoat to make me feel better, just like I’m never going to fully forgive myself for not being with you.” She opened her mouth to keep going but I cut her off with a quick kiss. “But we’re going to be okay. Because we have each other, and in the end, that’s the most important thing. And I’m smiling because the thought that I get to spend the rest of my life with you makes me happy beyond words.”
Sherry grinned. “Me too. And don’t worry, you’ll get used to the heat.”
“I doubt it,” I grumbled while she moved to shut the door. When she returned to my side, she was nervously chewing on her lip. “Hey, what’s wrong?
Her eyes snapped to mine as she freed her lip. “I need to call Alara and Naomi. I guess I’m apprehensive about seeing them.”
“Why? They’re your friends.”
“They don’t know anything about you, about my life… before.”
I frowned, rubbing my thumb over her irritated lip. “You never said anything about me? You kept it all in?”
“Derek knows. But even telling him was difficult, because once I started talking about you and thinking about my parents, it made me want to stay in the past. Memories, while wonderful, can be damning if you’re not in the right frame of mind. And I wasn’t.”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
Sherry gave me a soft smile. “No, I appreciate that. But Alara probably won’t be very forthcoming with you there.”
“Okay.”
“Wanna start bringing your boxes up?”
“Actually… I have a present for you.” I didn’t plan on revealing my surprise so soon, but I also didn’t want to start dragging stuff up here since I knew we weren’t staying.
She smiled up at me as I pulled out the small box I had in my pocket. Sherry eagerly swiped it from me. Her expression turned puzzled when she lifted the lid and looked down at a key.
“Is this some cheesy metaphor? Is this the key to your heart?”
Chuckling, I grabbed her hips and pulled her close. “I’m appalled, Sherry. When am I ever cheesy?”
“My apologies.” She giggled, and I couldn’t stop myself from leaning forward and kissing her.
“Thank you. And, no, it’s not a key to my heart. You don’t need a key, it’s always open for you.” I winked.
She laughed even harder. “Yeah, you’re never cheesy…” She trailed off but she was still smiling.
I grew serious as I took the box from her hands and set it on the table next to us, before scooping her hands into mine. “It’s a key for a house.”
Her eyes widened before shooting down to look at the key. “What? Like, a house house?”
“I’m not sure what other type there is…” I looked at our hands as I rubbed my thumbs over her knuckles. “I know we just found each other again and a lot has happened that we haven’t gotten to yet. But the important things haven’t changed.” My eyes moved to hers as she blinked away tears. “I still love you. You still love me. And we still want to spend the rest of our lives together.” She nodded along, giving me more confidence.
“I contacted someone out here a few days after we went to the cemetery. I told her what I wanted and asked her to start looking; I knew these things took time, and well… I wanted to be ready.”
“How did you afford this?”
“I’ve been saving.” I shrugged. “I didn’t go out much or have many expenses the past few years. Plus… Maria may have helped me out a bit.”
“Hunter…”
I frowned as something occurred to me. “You probably wanted to help pick it out though? Girls like that shit, right? I didn’t think of that,” I rambled. “But you can decorate however you want. I don’t care. Seriously—”
I was cut off as Sherry leaned forward and sealed her lips over mine. A few seconds later, she pulled back and whispered, “Hunter.”
“Yeah?” I swallowed as her breath ghosted over my lips.
“Let’s go see it.”
“Yeah?” I repeated.
“Yeah. If you love it, I know I will, too.”
I smiled before quickly kissing her once more and swiping the key out of the box.
“You’re right about the other thing though,” she said while she slipped on her shoes. She was grinning as she finished, “I’m definitely in charge of decorating.”
“A blindfold?” I asked. It was really more of a whine. He grinned in response.
“Yes. There’s one part I want you to see first.”
“And it requires a blindfold now?”
“Yep.”
He fastened it around my eyes before giving me a quick kiss on the cheek and starting the car. We drove for about twenty minutes, which I gauged from the five songs we listened to, before he shut the car off and got out. Hunter didn’t say a word as he opened my door and helped me out.
“Is this just a trick and you’re leading me to something kinky?” I asked when he kissed the side of my head and squeezed my hips.
Hunter laughed and adjusted the blindfold. “Not yet,” he whispered in my ear. I felt a shiver race down my spine at the promise in his voice. He stayed behind me and guided me forward.
“Hang on.” His hands left me and I heard a gate lock click and swing open before he came back and I was being guided forward once more. The smell of fresh-cut grass and the sound of birds chirping greeted us as we made our way through what I assumed was our new backyard. My sandals crunched over gravel for a few steps before I was back on a flat surface.
“Stop.” Hunter pulled me back some. “There’re stairs.”
Nodding, I let him lead me. Not for a minute did I think about asking him to take the blindfold off—I trusted him implicitly. We reached the top and took a couple steps to the left before he came to stand in front of me. I could feel his excited energy as he brought his hands to my shoulders.
“Okay. Are you ready?”
With a nod, I lightly settled my hands on his waist as he reached behind me and untied the blindfold. I shut my eyes against the brightness before peeking one open and looking at his smiling face. He shuffled to the right to give me a full view of his surprise, and I sucked in a breath at what I saw.
We were on an upstairs patio.
“Hunter…” I whispered.
“I wanted us to have a roof out here. It can be our new favorite, and we can come out here whenever we want.”
I turned around to see him looking at his handiwork. His proud gaze met mine and he asked, “Do you like it?”
Shaking my head, I said, “I love it, and you know it.”
Hunter chuckled. “Yeah, I do. But it’s still nice to hear.”
My expression softened. “I love it, Hunter. I can’t wait to spend our nights up here. Thank you.” I gave him three soft kisses before pulling back. “I love you.”
I looked toward the hammock he had set up, really wanting to try it out, but it was July in Arizona, which meant it was hotter than an oven in Hell.
“Is there any furniture inside?” I asked as we made our way back downstairs.
“There’s a couch and a TV. They were the only nice things I had back in Chicago so I had them shipped here.”
I rolled my eyes. “How typical.”
After telling me he already had the air-conditioning and cable set up, we decided to hang out at our new house for a bit.
New house.
Wow, I didn’t think that’d ever get old.
He gave me a quick tour of the rest of the house before we ended up in the one room that had furniture. Hunter and I were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, both of us staring straight ahead, not speaking. The TV was playing a rerun of an old show I didn’t recognize. But it could have been my favorite show in the world, and I would probably be just as uninterested.
I was leaning against the armrest, my legs tucked underneath me and my feet pointing Hunter’s way. My hands bunched the material of my sweatshirt, trying to alleviate their desire to roam toward the guy sitting only a foot away.
“Screw this,” Hunter growled, grabbing my ankle and gently tugging until I was flat on my back. I laughed as he covered my body with his own; a laugh that quickly turned to a moan when he rubbed his hard-on against me.
Hunter and I had been trying to prove to ourselves that we could do something other than have sex. Ever since we reconnected there had been a lot of sex. It had been the same way after we first slept together in high school, we had tried to prove we weren’t two clichés—the horny teenagers who ripped each other’s clothes off the second we were alone.
We failed then and we were failing now.
And really, I didn’t know why we even bothered trying.
One of his hands slid under my shirt, gently massaging my breast over my bra until I was squirming. Nothing in the world felt as good as Hunter’s hands on me. As if his lips heard the challenge, he began dropping soft kisses down my neck.
My hands found their way into his hair, holding him to me. He hummed deep in his throat when I started massaging his head.
“That feels nice,” he whispered into my skin before he moved lower. He stopped at the V-neck of my shirt, resting his lips at the top of my cleavage. Pulling away, Hunter gripped the hem and started working it up my stomach, his eyes riveted to every inch of my body he exposed. When the material passed over my bra, I leaned up and let him remove both my shirt and bra. Quickly divesting himself of his T-shirt, he blindly threw all of it over the back of the couch.
He was looking down at me, something akin to wonder in his eyes. “You’re so beautiful,” he said absentmindedly. His eyes traced the edges of my bra before his fingers did, leaving a burning under my skin as he went.
His hands slid down my sides, settling on my hips, which he softly kneaded for a second, before moving to the front of my jean shorts. Once he had them unbuttoned and unzipped, he immediately worked one hand inside, slipping under my underwear and finding my wetness.
“Hunter,” I moaned when one of his fingers focused on my clit. His other hand rested on the couch cushion next to my head, holding himself up so no other part of him was touching me. I gripped his wrist by my head and closed my eyes, focusing on the pleasure overtaking me. I wanted to beg for more, and like he read my mind, Hunter plunged two fingers inside me while his thumb found my abandoned clit. My other hand landed on his back, my nails digging into his skin and my hips bucking up into his hand.
My boyfriend groaned as I clawed at his back, which would most definitely leave marks, and begged him to just fuck me already, so we could both find our release. He added another finger and picked up the pace. Then he leaned down and started whispering in my ear.
“You don’t even know, do you?”
No, I didn’t know… I didn’t know what he was saying… hell, I barely knew my name. Whenever any part of Hunter was inside me, whether it was his cock, tongue, or fingers, all I knew was pleasure.
“I love watching this. This”—he emphasized with a hard thrust that had me arching off the couch and shouting out his name—“brings me as much pleasure as my cock pumping inside you. Watching you come is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” The soft kiss he placed on my cheek was such a contradiction to his dirty words. And when he slowed down, I wanted to cry, but I knew it’d be pointless—he loved delaying our orgasms. I couldn’t even blame him because every time he backed off, he came back harder and faster, over and over until the release was so powerful I practically blacked out.
“My favorite color used to be green, green like all the trees and grass, which meant I was outside and free… I was on my way to you,” he continued, slowly dragging his fingers out and back in, the pressure on my clit featherlight. His sweet words and tender movements brought tears to my eyes. Or maybe it was the need for release, I couldn’t tell.
“But it hasn’t been green in years.” I opened my eyes and looked into his impassioned ones, filled with so much love it stole my breath. His gaze moved over my face before focusing on my hair. “Red,” he murmured, his fingers moving a little faster. “All I see is red. Your red hair, the red flush on your cheeks and chest as you clench around my fingers or cock. How could it be anything else? Just like my favorite food is now maple syrup.”
He smirked and when his smoldering eyes landed on my tightened nipples, I knew what was going through his mind. He was thinking about the “breakfast” we’d had a couple weeks ago, and let’s just say… I’d never be able to look at a bottle of Mrs. Butterworth’s the same way again.
“All my favorites are wrapped up in you, Sherry. Your pleasure is my pleasure. Now come,” he commanded. I whimpered as he curled his fingers inside me and pressed down hard on my clit. His words and his fingers were a heady combination, and I had no choice but to obey. Everything that had been building low in my stomach exploded outward, reaching every extremity and synapse. My legs shook and my toes curled, my fingers spasming against his back where they’d landed when my arms curled around him.
“Oh God…” I groaned, riding out the wave of bliss. I tried to shove him away when the pleasure became unbearable, but he wouldn’t let me. Bending down to capture my moans and pleas of respite, he sealed his lips over mine. I gave him all my pleasure, and he growled low in his throat in response.
When we eventually slowed, our kisses turning languid as we melted into one another. Of course, that didn’t last long. Minutes later we were dry humping and our movements were frantic once more.
Hunter shoved off me and it became a race to see which one of us could get the rest of our clothes off first. It would have been comical if I wasn’t so turned on.
We ended up on the floor, my back sliding against the smooth, cool tile while he pounded into me.
“I love you,” he whispered as he moved inside me. Those three words were heightening every caress, every kiss, every thrust. And when I came for the second time, I was rising, floating, and falling all at once.
There were no words to describe it.
Tears stung at my eyes as he buried his face in my neck and I wrapped my arms around him. I thought about how our nearly furniture-less house had echoed our sounds of pleasure, and I smiled through the tears.
Our house may have been empty.
But we just made our home completely full.
Sitting in my car, I wiped my palms on my pants and swallowed hard as I stared at my friends sitting across the street. Waiting for me. Finally biting the bullet, I got out and made my way over to them.
“Sherry!” Naomi yelled when she saw me, jumping from her seat and walking around the table toward me. I tried to smile despite my nerves as I hugged her and then Alara.
My butt had just hit the chair when Naomi asked, “Who’s Hunter?”
“My boyfriend,” I said, throwing a hesitant glance between them. But even as I said it, I knew that wasn’t exactly the right word. Truthfully, the right words were ones that often got mocked. When we were in high school, and even now among my friends, I couldn’t imagine giving voice to what Hunter and I were, without feeling like a lovesick teenager or a heroine in a cheesy romance novel.
Soul mates.
Hand to God, that was what we were. Are.
We still are soul mates.
Because Jesus Christ, he’s mine again.
“What happened?” Alara asked quietly.
A single tear rolled down my face as I gave them a watery smile. “Well, it all started when I found him in a bush…”
They didn’t say a word as I relayed everything, and an hour later I was finishing up by telling them about the house Hunter had shown me this morning.
Apparently I hadn’t quite gone through everything, because once I was done, they started throwing every question at me they could think of. I could barely process one before they were hurling another at me. My friends had been patient over the years… never asking where I went every holiday, never asking about the notifications or why I would get weirdly quiet. So I couldn’t blame them—they deserved answers.
“And every holiday when you would disappear?” Alara asked.
“Holidays were the hardest for me. They were a huge deal in our house. Some people just looked at them like a break from school or work, or a time when you were forced to deal with in-laws, crazy grandmas, drunk uncles, and a variety of other family members you could barely stand. But it was never like that with us. We loved each other and we loved the holidays. And I knew I’d never be able to hide that level of sadness from you guys.” I shook my head. “I also knew I’d never be able to tell you. Occasionally I went back for updates, but sometimes I just needed to be alone.”
They both nodded before Naomi asked the question I could tell she’d been bursting to ask since we began.
“What about you and Derek?”
“Naomi,” Alara hissed.
“Look, I know it’s probably inappropriate—”
“Since when do you care about that?” Alara mumbled.
“But,” Naomi continued, shooting a sharp glare at our friend. “I really need to know at least this one question. Did you and Derek ever hook up?”
I knew Naomi, and possibly Alara, had thought Derek and I had slept together. And while yes, we were close, we had never crossed that line. We were just incredibly good friends who joked about sex. Alara would never understand since she still blushed around Naomi and me when we discussed it, and Naomi was so freaked out that she probably just tried not to think of it at all.
“No. He’s just my best friend.” I knew they wouldn’t be offended. It was never a secret that they were closer than I was to either of them.
Naomi frowned. “Why’d you guys pretend to hook up?”
I gave her a blank stare. “Do you remember when we first started hanging out? You were trying to hook me up with every one of Caleb’s friends, and you were so excited about finally being able to double date. And since Alara was… well… Alara, that left me.” Alara blushed, and I threw in a smile to show I meant no harm.
“And I was certainly in no mood for a boyfriend, or even to pretend. Derek and I were drinking one night and he suggested we fake it.” I shrugged. “It just made sense, and even though you hated it and still made comments about it, you were done trying to push guys at me.”
“I’m sorry.” Naomi shook her head, looking genuinely distraught. “I didn’t know…”
Leaning forward, I put my hand over hers. “I know.”
It felt good to be back in Carillo, and as we discussed all the things I’d missed when I was gone, I realized just how much I actually cared about them. It wasn’t as though I thought I didn’t, but finding Hunter again made me see how I’d been keeping them at a little bit of a distance.
“So…” Naomi’s eyebrows wiggled. “When do we get to meet him?”
“Well, we were thinking of having a housewarming in a couple weeks once the house is a little bit more furnished.”
“I don’t want to wait that long,” she whined. “Can’t we just have a get-together at your apartment?”
Alara nodded along. “We can invite Ellie and Grayson, too. That way he won’t be the only outsider.”
Ellie was Damien’s younger sister. She was eight months pregnant and a recovering alcoholic, so she didn’t exactly get out much. I’d only met her once, and Grayson was a new friend of Damien’s who I’d never met.
“Okay. Why don’t I plan something for this weekend?”
Naomi clapped her hands with a bright grin. “Perfect.”
I was suddenly anxious as she pulled a small notebook and begin jotting down ideas for food. It wasn’t like I honestly believed my friends wouldn’t get along with Hunter, but I didn’t just want them to get along. I wanted them to become genuine friends… to become family.
“We’ll love him,” Alara whispered. Naomi was busy talking to herself while she tapped her pen against her chin. When I looked at my soft-spoken friend, she smiled.
“Don’t worry so much. That part of your life is over, Sherry. Now, it’s time for you to be happy.”