Her body relaxes a little when she hears that I haven’t just hooked up with some random chick. “So … is she moving back to town?”
I realize she’s asking me if she and I can continue our hook-up once Autumn leaves.
“Yeah…” I hedge. “She lives here for now and I’d like to see if she and I can work things out.”
Her unemotional doctor’s mask slips down over her face. The hurt leaves her eyes and is replaced with a cold, stern glare. “Okay, well, this was … fun. I’ll see you around, Owen.” Spinning on her heel, she walks to her car and I cringe at the thought of seeing her at work now.
“I’m sorry!” I yell after her, unsure if I hurt her or not.
She just waves, jumps in her car and peels out, the tires sending a screech through the entire neighborhood.
Yep. I hurt her.
When I spin back around, I catch a glimpse of Autumn’s brown hair dashing away from the door.
She heard everything.
I step inside and prepare for a fight. Fifteen-year-old Autumn was incredibly jealous, and I expect nothing less now. I just hope I haven’t ruined things.
The second I step inside, she’s standing there in my entryway awkwardly.
“Shit, Autumn, I’m so sorry that just happened. I … well, she and I aren’t serious. We had … an arrangement, if you know what I mean. But I just ended it and—”
She steps forward and cuts my words off with a kiss. “It’s cool. I heard everything,” she says as she pulls away.
I’m shocked. Legit floored that she didn’t just smack me and walk out. “Really?”
She nods calmly. “I had a little friend-with-benefits in New York as well. No worries.”
Just like that, jealously flushes through my veins. “I’ll kill him,” I say loudly, and only kind of joking. A peal of laughter leaves her beautiful mouth.
“I believe we were busy before we got interrupted?” Her gaze is hooded, and just like that her fuck buddy and mine are gone from my mind. Reaching out, I lift her into my arms and she straddles my waist.
I’m just glad Autumn didn’t marry anyone. I walk only a few feet, just around the side of the kitchen island, and I set her down on top of it. "The second I saw this island, I thought about having sex on it."
Autumn throws her head back, laughing, her long hair brushing the cool granite. "Don't let me stand in the way of making your dreams a reality." She pulls down the straps of that complicated piece of clothing she wears, shifting her hips and removing it completely. She leans back on her forearms, her legs splaying open. She is so familiar, her dips and her curves, her center, but she is also new to me, this person she has become while we were apart.
I want to discover every inch of her.
And, with the sunshine streaming in, illuminating us both in ways that make it impossible to hide, I do.
Chapter 16
Autumn
"Thank you for driving me home. I know you're late for work," I tell Owen as he pulls his car into my driveway.
Owen waves away my words with his hand. "I called and told a nurse I'm running behind, and she told me my nine o'clock already called and said the same." He grins impishly. "She said there must be traffic in town, and I let her think that."
I rest an elbow on the console and prop my chin on my hand.
Owen brushes his fingers across the back of my palm and thoughts of last night flood my mind. And this morning. We'd always been compatible in the physical department, but this was on a whole new level. Everything was better, heightened by being unafraid, certain of what we were doing and how to do it. And even though it was beyond enjoyable, I appreciate what it was when we were teenagers. So sweet, so innocent. Kids stepping into adulthood.
Aside from his friend-with-benefits dropping by this morning, it was an incredible night with Owen. I was mad about her at first, but then I realized with what I had with Matt, I didn’t really have room to talk. After hearing him completely cut things off with her in order to see where he and I could go, I was totally on board.
Last night was purely adult. And this morning was … just wow. Owen had dipped his head between my legs, staying there until my back arched off the cool granite beneath me and my vision blurred.
That was new. Something we hadn't done before…
"What are you thinking about?" Owen asks, and when he sees the flame that sweeps across my face, he smiles proudly. He leans in, his breath tickling my ear. "You better believe I will be thinking about that today," he says in a low voice.
I turn my head, my lips dusting over his. "Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?"
He nods, his lips rubbing up and down mine. "And I'll see you at the hospital in a few hours."
What?
Oh. Chemo day. I hadn't forgotten. It had just been misplaced in my brain.
"Right." I sit back. Owen kisses the knuckle on my middle finger, then releases me. I grab my purse and the door handle at the same time. "I'll see you soon."
As I open the door and put one foot out, Owen says, "Last night meant something to me. Is that okay?"
I freeze, turning back and looking into his eyes. Apprehension pools there, but it's not alone. I see hope in there, too. "It meant something to me too, Owen."
It’s scary and exciting, but true. This man is capable of bringing me untold joy and also dropping a bomb on my heart and obliterating it.
We smile at each other across the confine of the car, then I climb out and shut the door, waving at him as I walk to my front door.
The key turns the lock and I open the door quietly. My mom probably isn't still sleeping, but if I'm lucky I can sneak to my room undetected and change, then come out as if I came home late last night and am just now getting up.
As I tiptoe down the hallway, I’m quiet as a church mouse. Just before I reach my bedroom, I smell something out of place in the house. Men's cologne, maybe? Or aftershave? Something manly. I tuck my chin, smelling the fabric at my shoulder. It definitely smells like Owen, which makes me smile. I reach my bedroom door and hurry in, taking great pains to let it softly fall into the doorframe. Moving quickly, I change my clothes, then duck across the hall into the bathroom to wash my face. When I emerge, I look like everyday Autumn, not Autumn who had mind-blowing, reality-altering sex three times in the past twelve hours—with her high school sweetheart—who she is supposed to hate … but no longer does…
Is it time to call my therapist? Or maybe just Livvie? I need a reality check to make sure I’m not going insane.
I find my mom out back, sitting in a chair with a book open on her lap. Birds chirp, hopping from branch to branch of the nearby tree.
"Hey, Mom." I walk toward her. She looks up at me, shielding her eyes from the sun.
"Good morning, hon. You must've come in late."
I sink down into the chair next to hers. "Yep."
So late. Like, five minutes ago.
She closes the book and sets it on the table bedside her. "Don't keep me in suspense. How was your date?"
I think back to Tlaquepaque … El Rincon … walking around, eating ice cream. "It was pretty great. Incredible, actually."