My tennis shoes slap against the pavement as I jog down the street toward the firehouse to see my uncle Grady. I slow to a walk when the big brick structure comes into view.
I walk through the parking lot to the door—not bothering to knock since he’s expecting me. The moment I step inside, I’m engulfed in a bear hug. “Hey beautiful girl.”
“You’re looking good. I’m glad to see Aunt Dylan is keeping you in line.” I kiss his cheek and he leads me into the kitchen, handing me a bottle of water.
He sits down across from me. “How long are you in town for?”
I shrug. “I’m not sure yet. I’ve just been missing home a lot lately. You know me, I’m always looking for the next adventure, but right now I’m just content to stay home. I was going to talk to Mom and Dad and see if they know anyone that’s hiring—you know, maybe just work for a little bit until I decide what’s next.”
“We sure are proud of you. You’ve seen places that we may not ever see ourselves. Do you have a favorite?” He looks a lot like my dad, except with blue eyes.
“Probably Fernando de Noronha, Brazil—I went to this beautiful spot for cliff diving and swam with sea turtles. That was one of my most watched videos.”
He smiles and then shows me around the updates they’ve made to the firehouse. We finish our tour and Uncle Grady walks me to the door. “Thanks for coming to visit your favorite uncle.” He winks, causing me to giggle. That’s the ongoing, lame joke between the Malone brothers. They’re all the favorite uncles in their eyes.
I wave and start running again. Sweat runs down my back as I cruise through neighborhoods I’ve been traveling through, mostly on a bicycle, since I was a little girl.
Up ahead, I see a couple making out on the front porch. The guy steps back and that’s when I see it’s Maverick and fucking Tawney Jacobs—skank ho. That bitch wanted every guy who ever liked me. She went too far when she had sex with my boyfriend the night after I gave him my virginity. Yes, it’s his fault too, but I hate her and her relentless pursuit of him. Now that Maverick’s had sex with her, I certainly don’t want him anymore. I don’t want her sloppy seconds, that’s for sure.
He stops when he sees me, watching me as I stare straight ahead, and run right past them. I ignore the fact that I can feel his eyes on me.
When I’m a block away, I hear the rumble of a motorcycle. It gets closer, but I keep running because I know who it is and don’t know why he’s following me. “Gwen, stop.” I hear shouted at me. Not wanting to wake the neighborhood, I stop at the curb.
Maverick steps onto the sidewalk in front of me. “Just going to ignore me, huh?”
I place my hands on my hips and roll my eyes. “I wasn’t ignoring you. Why would I stop and have a conversation with you when you were just leaving your girlfriend’s house?”
Maverick smirks. “Jealous?”
“Are you kidding me right now? You’re with Tawney Jacobs. I don’t use the word often, but I fucking hate her,” I say with a huff. I know hate’s a strong word, but it is just the feeling she invokes.
“What did she do to you?”
I shake my head. “It’s not important. I probably shouldn’t hold on to that anger, it was a long time ago, but I just do my best to ignore her.” I start running and shout, “See you around.”
As I jog away from him, I hear him shout, “She’s not my girlfriend.”
I holler back, “I don’t care.”
His laugh follows me until I turn the corner.
When I get home, Mom and Dad are sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. I grab a banana and sit down next to Mom. “How was your run?”
“Good and I stopped at the firehouse to see Uncle Grady,” I tell Dad and grab my mom’s coffee, taking a sip because I know she likes it just like me; sweet and creamy.
“That’s good. I’m sure your uncle enjoyed your visit. What’s on the agenda this week? I have a project for you toward the end of this week if you’re interested.” Dad takes a drink of his coffee.
“Oh yeah, what is it?”
“Remember when you used to go to the Children’s Hospital in Oakland, bringing them the toys we collected?”
It’s been a few years since I’ve done it, but it was always a blast and the joy on the kids’ faces always brightened my day. “Of course I remember. I loved doing that and would totally be happy to do it again.”
“That’s great, sweetheart. You can ride to the station with me on Friday.”
I smile. “It’s a date. I’m going to take a shower.” I stand up, giving Mom a kiss and then going around the table to kiss the top of Dad’s head.
Fuck, I’ve missed my family so much. Upstairs, I grab my robe and head into the bathroom to take a shower. When I finish, I braid my wet hair and then rub lotion all over my body.
Back in my room, I get dressed in jean shorts and a t-shirt. I grab my laptop and pull up all of my footage from my trip to Fiji. My videos are usually between ten to fifteen minutes long. Once I have it down to the highlights of each excursion, I send it to my friend Allie who will watch it and make sure it looks good, she’ll add the music.
I take a couple of pictures of myself to add to my Instagram and Facebook page. Once I get everything posted to all of my social media, I put my laptop away and head down to hang out with my parents.
Four
Maverick
I stare up at my ceiling, my hand wrapped around my cock, which is hard as a rock right now. For the second night in the row, I’ve dreamt about Gwen and those pretty, plump lips of hers wrapped around my length.
Last night I was going to hook up with Tawney, but the look on Gwen’s face when she saw me with the blonde stopped me—I honest to God don’t know why I care, but I do.
I focus back on the task at hand, and pump my cock, imagining it’s her lips wrapped around me. It takes no time at all before I’m coming with a shout, all over my stomach. If her dad wasn’t my boss I’d fuck her out of my system and be done with it—instead she’s untouchable.
I climb out of bed and jump in the shower to wash cum off of myself. When I finish, I get dressed for work and head out to my Jeep. On my way, I stop at Better Buzz for a coffee and donut. As soon as I step inside, I head to the counter, placing my order.
While I stand at the other end of the counter waiting for my coffee and donut, I glance around the shop. I spot Gwen sitting by the window with a blond guy who looks familiar, but I can’t place him. She glances my way, freezes, but then turns back to the man she’s sitting with.
The barista sets my stuff down in front of me.
“Thanks,” I tell her before picking them up and turning away. I’m not sure why, but I stop at Gwen’s table. “Hey, how’s it going?” I ask. I turn to the guy sitting with her and hold my hand out. “Hey man, Maverick.”
He looks between the two of us and then takes my hand. “I’m Luke. This one’s cousin.”
“You’re Grayson’s son, right?” He nods. “I have to get to the station, but nice meeting you.” I turn to Gwen. “See you around, babe.”