Carson
I sighed heavily, ruffling the puppy’s thick black-and-brown coat. Joss was in the bedroom changing, and I was grateful for a minute alone to sort out my feelings.
I’d been listening to the conversation between her and my father for longer than she realized. I’d meant to jump in immediately, but hearing her stand up for me like that . . . I’d been frozen in place, mesmerized by how strong and fierce she’d sounded.
She was fearless. And completely in love with me. I couldn’t wrap my mind around how lucky I was to be with her. The emotion in her tone as she’d told my father I was her everything was the same way I felt about her.
My entire life, I’d never had someone devote themself to me this way. To choose me above all others and love me with their whole heart. And scared as I was of losing Joss, I was more afraid of not taking what she was offering me and giving her the same in return.
She walked back into the living room wearing one of my old T-shirts, her hair pulled up in a ponytail. No matter how many times I looked at her, I was still struck by how beautiful she was on a daily basis.
“Did you get groceries?” she asked me, sitting down on the couch.
“Yeah, they’re in the car.” I left the pup to roam and sat down next to her. “I saw my dad outside the door as I parked and got out of the car without even thinking about the groceries.”
She took my hand. “How are you? It must’ve been hard to see him here.”
I nodded. “Yeah. He’s been here before, trying to bum money. But seeing him near you—that was hard. And finding out my buddies have been telling him about my life fucking sucks, too.”
“Do they know how it is between the two of you?”
“Yeah. I’ve only got a couple of good friends from high school, and they know all about my dad.”
“He’s got a charming side, though. He may have convinced them he cares how you are. I’m sure, on some level, he really does.”
My heart twisted with pathetic hope. “You think?”
She nodded. “Alcoholism is terrible. It makes people desperate. I think he’s shitty and undeserving of you, but I also think in his own way, he loves you.”
I didn’t let the shame I felt fully sink in. Instead, I blurted, “There’s a part of me that loves him, too.”
“Of course there is, baby.” She cupped my cheek in her hand.
“You don’t think that’s pathetic?”
“Of course not. I think it’s human. It takes a lot of strength to turn away someone you love when they want something you could easily give them. But you know in your heart that would just be enabling him.”
I put my hands on her hips and pulled her onto my lap. Straddling me, she rested her forehead against mine. My body reacted in its usual way to her closeness: with both raging arousal and a peaceful relaxation. For me, Joss was both the calm and the storm.
“Thank you,” I said, my voice hoarse with emotion.
“For what?” she murmured.
“For what you said to him.”
She kissed one of my cheeks, then the other. “I meant every word.”
“I know. And this time when I heard you say those things, instead of feeling undeserving, I felt . . . I don’t know, proud, I guess.”
“I love you so much, Carson. I’ve never been so happy.”
“Me either.” I leaned back and met her eyes. “And I was just thinking . . . since we spend every morning sleeping at either your place or mine, and now we’ve got this dog to raise together . . . what if we get rid of my place?”
Her eyes widened with surprise. “You want to move in together?”
“Yeah. I mean, if you do. If you don’t, I—”
“Yes. I do.” She smiled, her eyes bright with happiness.
“Okay, good.”
“We’re moving in together!” Joss kissed me, her passion stoking my arousal.
I gripped her hips and pulled her against me, eliciting a moan. Within seconds, her hands were in my hair and she was grinding against me.
“Fuck . . . babe.” I could barely make words; the feel of her was making me crazy.
I slid a hand down the back of her sweatpants, squeezing one ass cheek and then the other. She scrambled off my lap and pulled the sweats and her panties off in one fluid motion.
“Oh hell, Joss.” I tore my eyes away from her body to make sure all the blinds were closed.
Thank fuck they were. I didn’t want to focus on anything but her. She was pulling off the T-shirt now, followed by her bra.
I unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans in record time, lifting my hips to get my clothes off from my sitting position. As soon as I did, Joss returned to my lap, my dick sinking into her as she straddled me.
Our moans and groans filled the room as she rode me, her hands on my shoulders and mine wrapped around the soft, smooth curves of her ass. I was quickly building up to an intense orgasm, the sight of her bouncing breasts and open mouth making it hard to hold back.
Fuck, it was good. Perfect. I could tell she was close to coming when all of a sudden, the puppy started yipping near our feet.
“Ignore her,” Joss said in a breathy tone.
I tried not to smile as fur brushed across one of my feet, followed by a wet puppy lick.
“No . . .” Joss cried in a pleading tone. “Don’t ruin this, dog. Please.”
I drove my hips up and pulled her ass down, burying myself so deep inside her she gasped. Then I took over, fucking her hard and fast. When she was almost there, I put my mouth on one of her nipples, licking it and then biting down the way I knew she loved.
She arched her back as she came, and I finished with a loud groan a second later, holding her against me until I’d unloaded every drop into her.
When she tipped her head back my way and met my eyes, she gave me a slow, sexy smile. “We should decide to move in together more often.”
“Anytime you want, babe.”
The puppy yipped at us, vying for attention.
“I need to take her out,” I said.
Joss slid off me and picked up her clothes. “There’s a leash in my trunk.”
“I’ll go get it as soon as I’m dressed.”
“Hey, what are we going to call her?”
I couldn’t look away as she walked toward the bathroom, her ponytail swishing back and forth against the golden skin of her bare back.
“Um . . .” I couldn’t form a thought until she’d disappeared into the bathroom, leaving the door open. “How about Lola?”
“I like that,” she called.
“Yeah? That was the name of a dog we had with us overseas. We lost her after she took a bad fall. She was a really good girl.”
“Lola it is,” Joss said.
I nodded and went to grab my jeans and boxers from the floor. The dog was squatting and pissing right next to them.
“Okay, that one’s my fault, Lola,” I said, stepping into my boxers. “I knew you needed to go out.”
She bounded over to me, licking my bare feet. I couldn’t believe that less than an hour ago, my dad had been here. I felt light and . . . happy. Really happy.
Joss had that effect on me, though. Now that we were moving in together, I hoped we could be this way all the time. I planned to do everything in my power to make her as happy as she made me.