Damien
Walking up the porch steps, I reach out a shaky hand to press the doorbell. My stomach twists and turns as nerves eat away at it. I can’t remember the last time I got this worked up over anything. I’m usually cool, calm, and collected, able to handle any situation with a clear head, but Tinsley just gets to me. She always has. The first date we ever went on, I had to pull over three times to throw up in bushes before I even made it to her place. And then I spent ten minutes talking myself up enough to actually knock on her door. I was a mess—and clearly, I still am. I laugh under my breath. It’s not like I haven’t seen her or spent a little time with her recently.
The door starts to open and the flipping and flopping in my stomach turns into a goddamn cascading avalanche. Sweat beads along my forehead, and I can’t blame it on the humidity.
“Don’t you look handsome,” Kassidy says, looking me over from head to toe before giving me an approving nod and smile. “T will be down in a minute. Have a seat,” she says, motioning to the couch. I take a seat and she plops down right beside me. “As Tinsley’s BFF, there’s something I need to say,” she says, and I nod, because there isn’t anything I can do to keep Kas from saying what she has to say even if I wanted to.
Moving in close, she pokes her finger in my chest. “If you do a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g,” she draws out the word so slowly, I have to cover a laugh. “I mean anything to hurt my friend again, I will hunt your ass down. I watch all the crime shows on TV. I know how to kill you and what to do to get away with it,” she states, her expression stoic, and I do laugh then before sobering.
“Excuse me, ma’am, but did you just threaten an officer?” I ask in my worst southern accent, the corners of my lips twitching. She narrows her eyes at me and I chuckle. “You can cool it, little Pit Bull. I have no intentions of hurting or letting her go ever again,” I tell her, my tone sincere and honest. Kassidy’s face softens for a moment, then gets stern again.
“I don’t know why you did what you did ten years ago, but I think T deserves an explanation. If you want her back, you need to be completely honest with her.” She purses her lips to drive home her point, though she doesn’t need to.
Kassidy’s loyalty to Tin is one of the best things about her. She’s always had her back, and I respect the hell out of it. When I dumped Tin, Kassidy hunted my ass down, a fire in her eyes I’d never seen before, called me an asshole, and kneed me in the balls. I didn’t even try to block the assault because I deserved it. I just dropped to my knees and let the pain take over. It was a lot less painful than my broken heart.
“I plan on it. I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it later, but I pushed her away back then so she’d follow her dreams. I didn’t want to be the one holding her back,” I explain, and a tear slips from her eye before she can wipe it away. She opens her mouth to say something, but clamps it tight when Tinsley’s light footfalls sound on the stairs.
Turning in my seat, my breath catches in my throat as she rounds the corner. She’s beyond beautiful, even more so than she always has been. I push to stand, more determined than ever to get to know Tinsley again and make her mine. I don’t care about the time that’s passed between us, I want to know the person she’s grown into—the beautiful woman she is now. I want to know all her secrets, her fears, her dreams, or ambitions…I want her. In every way. And I want to show her I deserve the chance to be that person for her again.
“Hi,” she says as she comes to stand by the couch, her voice meek and smile shy. She wrings her hands in front of her, and I itch to take them in mine and ease her nerves. But I know I don’t have that privilege—yet.
“You look great,” I tell her, studying the blush that starts low on her neck and moves into her cheeks. She looks down for a moment before our eyes connect. A soft tip of the lips has my eyes moving toward her mouth before I swallow and clear my throat, breaking myself from the entrancing sight that is her.
“Ready to go?” I ask. Tin’s gaze darts to Kassidy, and mine follows. Nodding, she gives Tinsley a wink, and her smile widens into something hypnotic and effortless.
“Yes. All set. Can you lock up for me, Kas?”
“I can, babe. You guys have fun,” Kassidy says with a wink in my direction, giving all her cards away. I smirk back before shooting her a wink of my own. No matter how loyal she is to Tin, she’s always been in my corner, rooting for us to be together.
Tinsley leads the way out the door and stops short, gasping. A smug smile takes residence on my face before I smother it into something more natural. Spinning toward me, Tin points to my 1973 Mustang Mach 1.
“Oh my god, you still have it!” she exclaims before dashing down the stairs to get to the car. When she reaches it, she runs her hands along the hood. “I missed this car,” she says with a playful smile. I’ve had the Mustang since I was fifteen and spent every penny I made fixing it up.
Walking up next to her, she holds her hand out, and I give her a questioning look. “Keys. I’m driving,” she states. Pulling the keys from my front pocket, I place them in her palm without hesitation. I taught Tin how to drive a stick shift in this car, and I have no qualms handing over the reins once more.
With the cutest squeal I’ve ever heard, she jumps up and down, and my eyes immediately move to her breasts before they dart back up as I mentally slap myself. Unfortunately, my dick doesn’t get the message this was a…well, dick move, and jerks in my jeans. I shift to reposition myself, thankful my car has all of Tin’s attention. Only this woman could elicit this kind of reaction from me, but it’s not the reaction I’m willing to give in to right now. I don’t want her thinking I’m just after sex, especially when it’s the furthest thing from the truth.
She slips into the driver’s seat and I hold back a groan at how right she looks behind the wheel. How perfect she fits my car. How beautifully she grazes the steering wheel, a look of pure joy and mischief in her eyes. I’ve missed that look, and I’m elated I’m the one giving it to her now.
Sliding into the passenger seat, I close the door behind me. She inserts the key into the ignition and starts the car as she tilts her head my way, a huge smile beaming up at me.
“You only dated me for my car, didn’t you?” I joke, needing to make light of the situation before my emotions get the better of me and I ruin everything by spilling them all into her lap.
“It was definitely the deciding factor. I almost bought one of these a couple years back, but it needed way too much work and Logan said it was a waste of money.” She twists her lips at the mention of his name, like it feels dirty on her tongue, and my jaw ticks, though I don’t really have a right to judge the situation. He hurt her, and so did I, but I did it from a good place in my heart—for what I thought was best for Tinsley—not because I would ever step out on her. Unfortunately, I know that, but she doesn’t. Not yet. Doesn’t make me not want to track this douchebag down and make him hurt in the same way, but I can’t voice that. It wouldn’t be fair. Not without the air cleared between us.
“Better buckle up,” she states, her eyes twinkling as the engine rumbles. Before I even have the belt latched into place, she peels out of her driveway, kicking up rocks and dust. When she gets to the end of her drive, I grab ahold of the “oh shit” handle and laugh. Some things never change. Looking both ways, she makes sure nothing is coming and gives me that shit-eating grin of hers. The excitement in her eyes is contagious. Looking back to the road, she pops the clutch and the tires squeal as the ass end of the car fishtails onto the main road. Once the car is righted, she throws her head back and laughs in the most carefree way. It’s only a sound she can make, and it goes straight to my heart. I always want to be the cause of that sound.
“Be easy with my baby,” I tease.
“Don’t you worry. She missed me. I’m the only one who ever gave her any action. You always drove her like an old grandma.” Shaking my head, I laugh, because she isn’t lying. I’ve always been more than careful with this car, and she always drove it like a bat out of hell.
“You got your very first speeding ticket in this car,” I muse, memories of our adventures flashing through my mind.
“I had a lot of firsts in this car,” she states with a wink, and that might just be my undoing of the night. Thoughts of tasting her for the first time, feeling her with my fingers, the sounds of her moans and gasping breaths as I brought her to her first orgasm… “Were you planning on going to our lake?”
I clear my throat and blink, shifting in my seat to hide the stiffening of my cock. This woman is going to be the death of me. Bringing my attention back to her—to this moment—I smile at her referring to it as “ours.”
“That was the plan. Unless there’s somewhere else you’d like to go.”
She shakes her head. “It’s the perfect place for a picnic.” She shoots me a mischievous grin, then floors it, throwing me back in my seat, and I laugh a real, genuine laugh for the first time in what feels like forever. Fuck not knowing her now, I love this woman, no matter who she became. Everything about her just sends a shock through my system. We’re meant to be, and if I have to spend every moment here forward proving just that, I will, and I’ll do so happily.
Large trees surround us as Tinsley maneuvers the car carefully down the winding dirt road leading to the lake. My gaze drifts to her, in the same way it has the entire drive, stealing glances in hopes I can burn her image into my mind forever. I always want to remember this moment, remember her—the way she looks so free and uninhibited. If this is all I get with her from here on out, at least I know I put that look on her face—that feeling inside her.
We get to the end of the road and she parks in the dirt area near the path leading to the lake. I jump out of car, grab the picnic basket from the back, and meet Tinsley at the path entrance. With a sly smile, she slips the keys into my front pocket, her fingers brushing against my hip as she shoots a flirty wink my way. My cock jerks in response, like it’s trying to reach out to her, and I raise a brow to take her focus off the uncomfortable tightening in my jeans while willing my dick to take a backseat to the moment. She just shrugs like she has no idea what that just did to me, and I narrow my eyes in jest, fully aroused by her playfulness. Rolling my eyes, I nod for her to walk and we follow the path in silence.
When we reach the end and the lake comes into view, her eyes widen, taking in the large blanket spread out in the grass, small charcoal grill with a cooler beside it, and small Tiki torches encompassing the area so we’ll have light and a mosquito deterrent once the sun goes down.
“Did you do all this?” she asks in awe, and I nod in answer. The broad smile I get in return sends warmth throughout my entire body. I love that I put that smile on her face, and pray I get the chance to put a whole lot more there. “It’s just as beautiful here as I remembered,” she says, her eyes gleaming against her soft features as she scans the small lake, fields of grass and colorful wildflowers, and the dense forest enclosing the landscape, creating a seclusion.
Setting the basket down while she continues to reminisce, I take a seat on the blanket and kick my shoes off, setting them to the side. I open the cooler and pull out a bottle of wine and two glasses.
“Wine?” I ask.
“Yes. Please,” she responds. Walking over to the blanket, she pulls off her sandals and takes a seat beside me. My body perks up when her hand brushes mine. It’s still there…that spark I get whenever her skin touches mine—something else I’ve never felt with any other woman. I open the wine and pour each of us a glass. Bringing it to her lips, she immediately takes a large sip.
“So, before we go any further, I need to know why,” she prompts, and I take a gulp of my wine, hoping a little liquid courage might help. There’s no use in pretending I don’t know what she’s eluding to. Time to man up.
“Okay,” I reply on a sigh before squaring my shoulders. I begin to rehash everything, explaining how I thought I was doing the right thing, how she wouldn’t have left if we had still been together…how I felt like she would have resented me one day for being the reason she stayed and missed out on all the experiences of going away. When I finish, I look up, finding tears streaming down her cheeks. My fingers twitch to reach out and wipe them dry before kissing the remaining marks of her sorrow, but I can’t quite read her expression.
“I know I went about it all wrong, that there had to be a way without causing you pain, and I’m so sorry for that, Tin. If it makes you feel any better, I’ve spent the last ten years with an ache I haven’t been able to stop. A piece of my heart has been missing since the day you left. I’ve never and could never love another woman the way I love you.”