She proceeds to give me the best blow job of my life, not letting up until I’m coming down her throat, her name a prayer on my lips. I stare at her slack-jawed as she uses her thumb to gather a stray drop of cum off her bottom lip and sucks it into her mouth.
She lies beside me and curls into my side, and all I manage to say is, “You’re something else, Chloe Maxwell.”
I fall asleep while she draws patterns on my chest with her index finger.
THIRTY-ONE
CHLOE
Ilie beside Everett, listening to his breathing as he sleeps. His arm is wrapped around me, occasionally tightening as if he’s subconsciously seeing if I’m still here. The fact that he’s doing it without being awake shows me he meant every word of what he said about us being more.
I let my mind wander, and it keeps snagging on telling Lila about Everett and I seeing each other. I was so fortunate to grow up with both my parents. I can’t imagine what it’s been like for her trying to navigate life so young without her mom. I have no idea how she’ll take the news her dad is seeing someone. I don’t want to replace her mom. The extent of my role in her life isn’t a decision for me to make, that is completely up to Everett and Lila. I like the role I play now. A friend, someone she can talk to and feel safe with. I like spending time with her and taking her to see the horses. I just hope that she can accept Everett’s and my relationship.
I slide out of bed and pad my way downstairs. I throw together something in my slow cooker and turn it on before settling on the couch with my book and a blanket.
Everett eventually joins me, running a hand over his hair as he settles beside me on the couch.
“What smells so good?” he asks.
“I realized that with the exception of the nights I’ve cooked forLila and left you leftovers, I haven’t cooked for you. I just threw together something in the slow cooker for us to have later.”
I close my book and rotate to lean into his side.
He wraps an arm around me and kisses the top of my head. His fingers work through my hair, and he says, “Tell me something I don’t know about you.”
I hum, deciding what to tell him. I pull my shirt up, exposing my right hip, and run my finger over the scar on my hip. “I got this when I was young, I think maybe five or six. I wasn’t paying attention around the horses, being loud and running, not respecting their space, and I ran behind a horse. They kicked back and got me right in the hip. I was lucky nothing was broken, I got away with some serious bruising and a deep cut. It’s why when I bring kids around horses I don’t let them ride right away. I make sure they know the basics of being around them, of taking care of them, before they ever get on the back of one.”
Everett runs his finger over the raised white skin. His touch is featherlight as he traces it. “I noticed this that first night. I noticed how your skin was flawless with the exception of this small scar. I thought it made you unique. I wanted to know the story behind this then. I’m glad you’re telling me now, though. I like that I can connect it to watching you with the horses now.”
I smile up at him. “Your turn to tell me something I don’t know.”
“I didn’t always want to be a firefighter. I was undecided when I graduated high school, and then I saw an ad for training in Calgary and did some research and realized I could make good money so I joined the academy. Later when Renee told me she was pregnant I had fallen in love with it and it allowed me long periods of time at home with her. I can’t imagine doing anything else now.”
“How do you like working in a small town compared to the big city?”
“It’s different. It’s definitely slower, but I also get to see the way the men build rapport with the community. It isn’t just a job to them, it’s helping their community. I like it.”
I snuggle in deeper to his side, hoping that means him and Lila are around for the long haul and he can be happy in Willow Valley,because I’m not sure I could ever leave again. A little piece of fear niggles its way into my mind about the fact that Everett does work a dangerous job, and I know that even in a small town, there’s no guarantee he’s going to be safe. I bury that seed of fear, hoping it doesn’t find a way to grow.
Wanting to move past that thought, I say, “I never asked you last night, but what made you go to Incahoots? You’re not one for the social scene.”
“You,” he says. “Colton had mentioned his party and said I should drop by, I didn’t have any intentions to when he first told me, but then you said you were going and I couldn’t stay away, and believe me, I tried.” He runs a hand down his face as he sighs. “I tried working out, reading, going for a run, none of it helped. I kept thinking of you with other men, and it had my blood boiling, so I grabbed my keys and drove to the bar. I had no intention of interrupting the way I did, just watching to make sure you were good, and then seeing you laughing and dancing with him. I was moving before I even had a chance to think about it.”
“So possessive,” I tease and sit up, facing him. “I’m not going to lie and say I hate it, but I do think I need to make it clear that Ryder and Colton are my friends, and I have more male friends. I love dancing, and I quite enjoy dancing with my friends, so you’re going to need to rein back some of the possessive ‘don’t touch Chloe’ vibes.”
He stares at me, but I don’t give in.
He sighs. “I’ll try. At least they know now they don’t have a chance and you’re mine.”
“I am.”
He adjusts himself as I lean back, and he starts to hover over me. He kisses me, and I moan into it, loving the way he takes control and makes me feel so desired just with a single kiss.
When I’m flat on the couch, he positions himself between my legs and continues to kiss me. Changing the kisses from strong and possessive to soft and exploring right back to strong and possessive. His hands roam my body, and I take it as license to do the same with him.
My hands reach under the hem of his shirt as my fingers dust over his abs and then around to his back, where I scratchat him, a possessiveness of my own coming out to play, a want to leave marks on him. I break the kiss and trail my lips down his neck, finding the perfect spot, and I kiss and suck at it, smiling to myself at the love bite I leave behind.
I scratch at his back again, and he groans.