She gasps just inches away from my skin. I leave my thumb in the small gap it leaves. Hayley lets her tongue slide slowly across it until the end when her mouth encapsulates me. The harder she suckles, the harder I hold myself inside her.
My biceps shake as I roll first in one direction then back again. Hayley whimpers slightly as she takes two fistfuls of my T-shirt in her hands as she tries to move with me. My thighs give me executed balance and friction as I desperately try to move as slow as possible.
The blazing connection is hard to maintain. I’ve fantasized about being with her this way, raw and passionate on the floor. When we got here, that didn’t feel right. What did is this. She needs this. I need this. This pure, unexpected, raw moment where the entire world falls away until we shatter it back to reality.
Together.
Chapter 12
Elijah
Knowing how hard it would be for Dylan to travel right now, Colton sent his plane for us out of Teterboro. The flight is early. Damn early. We’re going to be landing about ten in the morning and hit the ground running. All four of us are awake and excited until we hit cruising altitude then one by one, we all hit the wall.
Hayley is asleep first. Her eyes look so dark around the edges. I shouldn’t ask why, but I get a strange feeling about it. Her head is resting in Wes’s lap. He strokes her hair for a long time. How she’s sleeping right now reminds me of the little girl I used to rock to sleep. Wes seems to be content with the movement of his hand through her hair. He grabs the folded blanket on the bench behind them and covers her carefully.
The man I would see work an entire cross-country flight has not even checked his phone once or even set his laptop up with Wi-Fi. I’d ask what the deal is, but as the look on his face grows less present the longer he’s consoling Hayley, I decide better of it. I recline my seat back to match Dylan’s and raise the arm between us. Even in her sleep she finds me. I adjust the makeshift prop for her knee when I can feel her tense. Then she immediately relaxes.
I wake up somewhere over the Rockies and find Wes staring out the window. Hayley is still asleep but balled up, facing him. “Hey. Sleeping Beauty,” Wes whispers over to me.
“Hey. She’s still out?”
“Yeah. She looks peaceful. I don’t think she gets enough of that. I just hope this trip helps.”
“Is she okay? I feel like I haven’t had much contact with her lately.”
“You’re not the only one and I haven’t stopped hearing about it. I don’t mean it like it sounds.”
“I’d hope not. Mom and Dad were asking about her too.”
“We’re okay. Things are okay. This trip will make things better than just okay.”
“Just because she’s my sister doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me. You don’t hide things well.”
“Gee, thanks.” Wes props his head on his hand as he looks down at Hayley’s sleeping face. “There’s nothing I want more than to see her happy.”
“You will though. You’ll want to see your child happy and healthy. That will become more important, as it should.”
“How do you get that compass, man? You seem like you were born with it and I’m captain of my struggle bus.”
“Hey, who knows what I would be like in your shoes. I don’t. It’s easy playing Monday morning quarterback over here. I don’t have all the answers.”
“Fuck. I wish you at least had some.”
The girls stay asleep until we need to wake them for approach. Dylan looks bright and ready to go. Hayley is slow to move, but she seems happy. Colton sent a rental car for us to get in and go straight from the airport. He also connected us with a rental property they own. We will have our own beachside haven for a long weekend.
The condo is within a sand filled walk from the Santa Monica Pier and the ocean. Once we’re inside it’s a perfect oasis. The girls giggle and squeal as they move from room to room, saying they like this one more than the last. One of the best parts about it is that the place contains two master suites. One has an ocean balcony; one has a garden balcony.
Dylan and I take the lower-level garden balcony so it’s easier on her to move. Hayley gives me a kiss on the cheek before she takes Wes by the hand to the second floor. I scoop Dylan up into my arms and set her on the chaise before I open the door to the walk-out.
Even on the garden side, we can hear the waves ebb and flow along with kids playing on a nearby playground. “We are definitely not in New York anymore.” She giggles. “I could live here.”
“I remember not so long ago saying if we needed to, Colton had jobs waiting for us out here. Is that something you want?”
“No. I mean yes, but no. We’re New Yorkers. I’d love to be able to have a place like this to come to whenever we wanted though.”
“We can do that, you know. It’s something to think about.”
“There seems to be always something to think about,” Dylan adds.
“Are you ready for tomorrow?”
“Not yet, but I will be. I need a day with you and the other two Musketeers, and I will be more than ready.”
Wes
This is the most positive energy I’ve seen from Hayley in weeks. The nap seemed to boost her spirit and this setting seems to boost her soul. I can hardly keep up with her as she bounds up the stairs, through the room, and out onto the balcony.
The palm trees seem to coat the tile and concrete, making it come alive. The warm breeze cuts around the corner from the ocean and the white clouds overhead make a blanket of protection around us. Hayley sits down in the egg-shaped swing chair and begins to float.
“God, you’re beautiful,” I tell her.
“I still feel rough, but thank you.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen you sleep as hard as you did on the plane for a long time.”
“I was having the best dream. We were on an island alone. There was nearly white sand everywhere and we just talked for hours and hours without sleeping. It was amazing.”
“We could do that here. I can check the weather and if it’s good, then I can pull the mattress outside for us to sleep on. Would you like that?”
Her smile tells me more than her words could. “Have you ever been to the Pier before?”
“I haven’t. Eli would talk about it like it’s another planet. I’m like, how cool can it be?”
“It’s like a tiny carnival on what feels like a wooden island. I’d like to take you on the Ferris wheel. From the ground, it feels so tiny. Once you’re in the air you feel like you’re flying and can see the entire beach.”
She laughs. “I take it you’ve done it before.”
“Yeah. It’s been a long time. Eli was still with Tori.”
“You were here with them? That seems weird.”
“We came out for a race.” I don’t want to ruin this moment. I know my girl. She’s going to ask, then it’s up to me if I tell her the truth and possibly risk her mood.