“Almost, almost.”
I tipped her hips and drove into her again. She came like I asked. Hard. Her internal muscles squeezed down on my cock, the amount of pleasure almost punishing. I’d been concentrating hard on her, so I wasn’t sure if I could—
“Oh, fuck,” I breathed against her lips. Oh yeah, I could.
My guttural moans drowned out her sweet sighs of satisfaction. With my lips on hers, I continued shuddering long after it was over. That’s when I knew.
I was gone for this girl.
Tasha
“Your smile is that of a Cheshire cat, beautiful.”
My, but Mr. Newman was feisty today. I shook my head.
“Let me guess. You started dating that boyfriend you mentioned the last time I saw you.”
“Dating” seemed a tame and antiquated way to describe what Cade and I had done on my now-in-need-of-a-cleaning sofa.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said with a small smile. But I wanted him to be.
“Well, his fault.” Mr. Newman took another shaky step.
“What’s his fault?” I asked, supporting his elbow.
“Everything.” He lifted bushy eyebrows, knowledge reflecting in his gray eyes. “Everything is the man’s fault. Women are the delicate creatures we want to catch, but we always screw it up.” Gripping the poles on either side of his body, he took another step. “You’re the butterfly. Rather than come after you with a net, we grab a catcher’s mitt instead.”
I thought of Tony and smirked. “Or a ball bat.”
His brow creased in worry. “Not literally, right? The boy with the ball bat? That’s a metaphor?”
“Yes, that’s a metaphor. My ex-boyfriend played the field. Turned out there were a lot more girls on his team than I first realized.”
“One of those,” Mr. Newman snarled. “I hope your new boyfriend is loyal.”
“He is. I mean, he would be if we were serious.”
“From the dazed look in your eyes, seems like it’s already serious for you.”
My smile shook. Was I so transparent?
Cade
Paul was frowning. I was used to him frowning at me, but usually it was because I’d said nothing. This time around, my father was frowning because I’d just said a whole lot to him—none of which he wanted to hear.
“No.” He shook his head as if I’d asked a question rather than made a statement. “I won’t let you do it, Cade. I won’t let you quit college after you’ve come this far with your speech. You wanted to be a lawyer. You are going back to college. Just because—”
“Just because what? My best friends are going forward without me, or because I’ve lost every ounce of passion for law since the accident?” I hadn’t stammered or stuttered once since I left Tasha’s house this morning. Not a single time. I was unused to the stab of certainty, but I was embracing it. I knew what I wanted. And what I didn’t want. It was time to admit it.
“Finish your bachelor’s degree, at least.”
“And then law school,” I finished for him, figuring that’s what he was thinking.
“Why not?”
How about because law school would consume my life? If I resumed a full class load, when would I see Tasha? Instead of bringing her into it, I argued, “When would I have time to work? I don’t want to live here forever.”
“Maybe your old friends will let you move in with them after all. You can study together. They could help you.”
The idea of approaching my friends, of picking up the pieces of a life I didn’t want anymore, didn’t appeal.
“No,” I growled.
“Dammit, Cade. Finish what you started!”
“I don’t want to fff-inish what I s-started.” Shit.
I let him rattle me. I closed my eyes and pulled in a long breath through my nose. I heard Tasha’s voice in my head telling me to relax. When I opened my eyes, Paul wasn’t frowning at me. He was looking at me like I was fragile instead of obstinate, which was so much worse.
“Son, I want you to have an opportunity to make something of yourself.”
“I’m good with cars,” I said slowly so that I didn’t stumble. I’d been thinking about this for a long time. Longer than he knew. I followed Brooke to college not because I wanted to take prelaw but because she wanted me to. What I loved to do never factored in.
“Street racing? You can’t be serious.”
He would think that. “N-no. God.”
“I’m sorry.” He held up a hand, maybe to stay my temper. “Take it from a guy who knows how profitable illegal activities can be. I know that was easy money for you.”
I stood from the kitchen table and he stood with me. Last year he was neck-deep in gambling debts and ate ice cream like it was a sport, but he’d recently gone down to his old fighting weight. He wasn’t as muscular as I was up top, but he was more intimidating when he didn’t have a paunchy belly.
“I don’t street race anymore.” I dragged out the M a bit too long but decided to forgive myself for it. “I don’t want to be a lawyer, Dad.”
If this hiatus from school had taught me anything, it was that I wanted to be underneath a car for most of the day. I wanted to work with my hands. I wanted to fix things, make things. I wanted to spend time with Tasha. No idea if a grease monkey was acceptable boyfriend material for her, but if so, well, that sounded like an ideal future to me.
What I didn’t want was what I had now. I didn’t want to carry a bus tub through a greasy kitchen five nights a week. I didn’t want test anxiety. I didn’t want to try and fit in with my peers or get arrested for knocking Tony’s teeth out. Which, face it, would happen if I ran into him at a party.
“Just think about it,” Paul pled. “That’s all I’m asking.”
But I was done thinking. This time around, I was choosing my future.
“Where are you going?” he called as I walked from the kitchen.
“To see Tasha.” I knew she didn’t care if I became a hot-shit lawyer, or if I went back to school. She wanted me to be happy. I would tell her my plan. Thank her for her help, and her dedication. Press her against the nearest wall and make out with her long and slow.
And then I’d lay out a plan for a future—our future. I wasn’t sure how she’d react, but if I had a chance in hell of winning her over, I was damn well going to take it.
Chapter Nineteen
Cade
I swirled my tongue between Tasha’s legs as she shuddered against me. Water from the shower was damn near drowning me, and my knees hurt from kneeling in the porcelain tub, but I’d gladly lose feeling in all of my limbs to hear her lust-filled voice hug the vowels in my name.
Caden. Oh God, Caden.
Her using my full name made me feel like a fucking king.
Swiping the water from my eyes, I stood. I paused to kiss each nipple and then her mouth. She opened for me, pushing my wet hair away from my forehead. She was leaning against the back of her shower, ass pressed to the wall, eyes half-mast. Mascara was smudged beneath her eyes. I swiped the black away with my thumbs and smiled.