I can’t help the drool that pools in my mouth, threatening to spill down my chin. Now I’m not a virgin, obviously, but I’m not super experienced, having only seen a few. I do know that Maverick’s is just as big as I thought. It’s long and thick, getting hard as I watch.
He climbs onto the bed, stopping when he’s between my bent legs. “You are so fucking beautiful.”
My response is a cry as he begins eating.
I sneak in the back door, which is oddly reminiscent of my teenage years when I’d stay out past curfew. Of course I’m an adult now, but that still won’t stop the questions from coming if I wake them.
I slip my flip-flops off and shut the back door, locking it behind me. I tip toe through the kitchen, freezing when I reach the stairs because my dad is walking down them toward me. “Uh… hi Dad.”
He reaches out, rubbing the skin under my eye. “I think it’s time for you to talk to someone about the accident. You don’t look like you’ve been sleeping or at least sleeping well. Your mom and I are worried about you.”
Okay, he must think I was already home.
I wrap my arms around him, laying my head on his shoulder. “I promise I’m okay. If it doesn’t get better I’ll talk to someone.” Stepping back, I take a deep breath. “Is anyone staying at the apartment at Wings Out?”
“It’s empty, I think. Why?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I guess I just want some space for a bit.”
Dad looks at me closely. “I’ll talk to your mom, okay?”
I give him, what I hope, is a believable smile. “Thanks Dad. I’m gonna take a shower and lay down for a bit.” I know it’s only a little after six in the morning but I’m beat.
“Okay sweetheart. I love you.” I kiss his cheek and head up the stairs. I’m thankful that he didn’t ask where I was or who I was with.
When Maverick dropped me off we both agreed it would be best if he let me out at the end of my street. Neither one of us wanted to deal with my dad. As he rolled to a stop, I reached for the door handle, but he stopped me.
“If you need me, call me. I don’t care what time it is.” He pulled me toward him, kissing my lips hard. Maverick pulled back until our lips are a hair’s breadth apart. “Promise me you’ll call.”
I nodded. “I promise I’ll call. You can call me too, you know.”
“Deal.”
Then I got home, which leads us to now, and I unfortunately shower Maverick’s smell off of me.
I finish making the bed and put the pillows back on it. Mom, Dad, Taylor, and my brother just left. The apartment is furnished, but they brought dishes, towels, and other small appliances.
Mom got someone to come clean it before they’d let me move in. While I’ve been traveling, my car has been out at my grandparents’ house. Dad got it for me and brought it over.
I know my parents are worried about me—they don’t say it, but I can see it on their faces, but they’ve at least given me the space I needed. The door opens and my bestie comes in with grocery bags and a smile. “What up, girlie?” I come to her, taking one of the bags and giving her a hug and a kiss.
“Hey bitch! I brought pizza rolls, Ben and Jerry’s, and two bottles of rosé.”
We carry the bags into the little kitchenette. I hand her the bottle opener and she pours us two huge glasses of the light pink wine. I preheat the oven and stick the ice cream in the freezer.
I pick up my glass and take a drink. “This is so good,” I tell her. I hop up on the counter and she does the same across from me. “Are you spending the night?”
“We have two bottles to drink so, yes.” Marcie looks at me closely. “How are you doing?”
I take a drink. “Ummm… okay, I guess. Sometimes I can sleep all night, and other times I wake up and then can’t find sleep.”
“You haven’t really talked about what happened while you guys were trapped. I get it if you don’t want to talk about it, but I’m here if you do.”
We’ve helped each other through painful times in our lives. I know she wants to help, but honestly, I don’t want to talk about it—I’m not ready to talk about it. “I know you are,” I take a huge gulp of wine. “I’m just not ready to talk about it. Tell me what’s going on with you.”
“Not much, Chad wants to start looking for houses to buy. I’m kind of scared to take that next step.” Marcie is my only friend that’s married. Her husband is a cool guy and I love him. They’ve been together since high school.
“Babe, why are you scared? You’re married and you’ve talked about wanting to have a baby. You don’t want to raise your kids in an apartment. They need a yard to play in and place to campout, like we used to do.”
The oven beeps, so I hop off the counter and throw our pizza rolls on a cookie sheet before sticking them in the oven.
“I know you’re right. It’s just scary because it’s such a big thing. We do need a bigger place.” Marcie drains her glass and then gets us both a refill.
I jerk awake and cover my face with trembling hands. Marcie snores softly beside me. I slide out of bed and go into the kitchenette to grab a glass of water. The cold water soothes my dry throat.
Not wanting to wake Marcie, I grab my phone and carry it outside, sitting on the steps. First I take a minute to take in the beauty of the night’s sky. Out here, the stars are more visible. The moon glows brighter, and it’s just peaceful.
I look at the time and see it’s three o’clock in the morning. I want to call Maverick right now, and since our night together last Friday, I’ve called him twice in the middle of the night and he’s called me once.
Talking to him definitely helps, but the night, or well, early morning we had sex worked a hell of a lot better, but it’s not really a good idea to go there again. Don’t get me wrong, I want to—I really, really want to, but it won’t go anywhere. Of course, I swore I wasn’t going there because he’d been with Tawney—obviously that’s not the case or hasn’t been.
I’ll also start planning my next excursion toward the end of summer so there really is no point. I pull up my contacts and find Maverick’s number. He’s saved under the name TG, Top Gun, it’s stupid to hide it, but I don’t want to have to explain what we’re doing to anyone.
Luckily I know my sister will keep it quiet. I press the call button and he answers almost immediately. “Hey, everything okay?”
“Yeah, just the usual, jerking awake and then can’t find sleep. I know you told me to call you, but I feel bad.” I brush my hair out of my face.
“Don’t feel bad. I’ve called you too. Do you want to come over?”
It’s not a good idea, but damn if I don’t want to. “My bestie, Marcie, is sleeping over.”
“I’d offer to come over, but I don’t think your dad would appreciate that.” Maverick laughs, making me smile.
“Well… I actually temporarily moved out to the little apartment at the airfield where my mom’s skydiving business is. I just needed space.”