Page 35 of Pour Timing

I suppress a groan and reach for her hand, pulling her close to me, laying my other hand on her hip. I give her a lingering kiss on one cheek, then the other.

“My, so romantic. This isn’t the nineteen-year-old kid I remember. You’ve got moves now.”

“I’ve got lots of moves.” I waggle my brows and she slaps at my chest.

“You better feed me first. I’m starving.” I raise a brow and smirk when she corrects herself. “Forfood, Matthew.” I snicker and step back to open her door and allow her to sit. When I shut it, she says, “Then your cock.”

I drop my head and laugh. “Oh, Kylie, your mouth is going to get you in trouble.”

I get in the car and we drive, then ten minutes later we’re parking on main street. A few people walking by nod their heads to us and say hello, but otherwise no one is giving us a second glance. Not that I thought it would be a big deal, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little concerned about how others may perceive seeing us out together so soon after she broke up with Patrick.

We enter The Catch, an amazing seafood restaurant on the water, and are seated out on the deck where we get to watch the sunset.

“This is beautiful. You timed this perfectly.”

“Just luck, honestly. Though I do sit out on my deck each night around this time, so maybe it was instinctual.”

We place our orders and get a bottle of wine. The dusk turns into night and the low lights come on, reflecting off the water. The evening gets better and better as it goes, and I’m falling in deep with the one woman who I could never forget. The conversation has been easy, and now we’re finishing up our drinks after an amazing meal.

“So how’s it been being back? Are you getting used to Starlight Bay again?”

I nod. “I am. It feels the same but different at the same time, ya know? It’s like I was kind of dreading what I knew this town to be, but I didn’t get the feelings I expected.”

“I understand that. You were a kid when you left. A lot has changed,you’vechanged. I hope you’ve been met with good expectations though.”

I smile at her. “Grapeexpectations.” She laughs at my bad joke. “I never imagined this is what I’d be doing with the rest of my life, but it looks like it’s going to stick.” I take a drink and sit back, tapping the table with my finger. “I thought about coming back to visit many times. But every time I’d try to plan a weekend, my ex-wife would have an excuse for us not to. She’d say she had to work, or she had planned a dinner with her friends. Then, of course, when we divorced, my time was even less as I had to be both mom and dad. So I just kept putting it off.” I grow quiet. “I should have made the time. When Ma called to say Uncle Paul died, it was a shock. He was young. I thought I had time to see him again, see everyone again.”

“How do you feel about making Starlight Bay your home again?”

I look out over the water. The sun that hung low for half our dinner is now asleep, the moon is full in the sky, the breeze is warm, and I’ve got the best girl sitting across from me. I’ve felt this feeling a thousand times, and to be honest, it's one of the main reasons that kept me from coming back. I knew I should, I knew it’d be great to reconnect with a lot of people from Starlight Bay, but I also knew if I ever saw Kylie again, I’d have to have her. I’d have to have this moment, right now. And if I couldn’t, then being in Starlight Bay was only going to be torture.

“I feel good now.” I nod, more to reassure myself. “Strange how sometimes the worst event can turn into the best one. It’s a sin to think we have all the time in the world only to find out it can be stolen quickly. I’m glad my time hasn’t run out.”

She watches me with knowing eyes, smiles, and says, “I’m glad too. I realized I was wasting time waiting for a change that was never going to come. I need someone who understands my obsession with football, or who can overlook my apathy at doing things that are expected.”

“Like renewing your car registration.”

“Like that, yes.” We laugh together. “I know I’m forgetful about stuff I don’t care about and overzealous about stuff I do.” She shrugs. “No one really got that. Except you.”

“I’m glad everyone else was more of a loser than I am. Keeps your choices slim.”

We left the restaurant and drove around town a bit, reminiscing about the car we were in and places we used to hang out. The night, though late, was still warm and the moon that was always so full, was right there front and center again, lighting our way. With the top down on the car, the breeze flipped the hem of her skirt again and again. That short, teasing skirt had been testing every ounce of my self-control since she walked out of her house. Long, bare, golden legs on display, yet acting like she didn’t know what she was doing to me. Without thinking, I reach out and find the warm skin of her thigh, smooth and soft under my palm, and rest my hand there, letting it say everything I haven’t yet worked up the courage to.

She doesn’t flinch, doesn’t brush it away.

Instead, she lays her hand on top of mine. A silentfinally. The night seems to shift and the time between us being together as kids and our memories over the years, disappears.

Kylie is mine, always was.

She widens her legs subtly, and says, “There is something about this car, isn't there?”

“Are you more attracted to it than me?”

She laughs. “It’s notjustthe car. The one driving it isn’t so bad either.”

I squeeze her leg before trailing my fingers to the inside of her thigh, close to her pussy. Her head falls back on the headrest and rolls to watch me. I smirk as my eyes flit from her face to her leg and back to the road again. I move my hand closer to her core, lifting her dress until I’m able to stroke her over her panties with my middle finger. She lets out a soft moan and my cock immediately presses against my zipper.

I continue to play and say, “You had your way surprising me at the winery the other night. But I need more than just a chair, Ky. Can I take you back to my place?”

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