Page 78 of Faking Summer
I couldn’t answer—words were beyond me at this point—but I didn’t need to. My body answered for me, clenching around him as a wave of pleasure crashed over me. He groaned, his rhythm faltering for a moment before he continued, his hips snapping against mine with a desperation that matched my own.
“Reese. Right there. I’m close?—”
“That’s it, baby. Come for me.”
I wanted to feel him come undone with me, to feel his cock twitch and spill inside me as I was falling apart. And when he did, it was with a guttural groan that seemed to come from the very depths of his soul. His hips slowed as he emptied himself into me, his cock pulsing in time with my own orgasm as I came around him, my vision blurring as pleasure consumed me.
“Fuck,” he groaned, muffled against my neck as he dropped his shoulders.
“Fuck is right,” I drew in a shaky breath, my chest tight with the undeniable truth—this man had me in a chokehold. He was always in my head, wrapped around every thought I tried to suppress. No matter how hard I fought it, I was his.
He pulled back slowly, just enough to look me in the eyes. "This isn’t done."
I kissed his jaw, my lips brushing against the stubble there, and whispered, "No, baby. It’s not."
Falling for him was never part of the plan. I was supposed to keep him at a distance and guard my heart. But every time I was with him, I slipped a little further. He was going to leave. I knew the reality. The draft was coming. Soon, he’d be somewhere else—with a whole new life far away. I’d tried being logical about this, I’d tried to pull away before it was too late. But it was already too late. I might get hurt. No, I probably would. But for once, I don’t care anymore. I couldn’t keep fighting this. Not when he looked at me like I’m the most precious thing on this planet.
After getting ourselves together, I followed Reese to the side of the barn hidden away from guests. He slid open the door slowly, the rusty hinges resisting. We walked out into the night, but we weren’t alone. Giggles and fragments of a hushed conversation drew our attention.
"You know I can't refuse you anywhere," a man's voice murmured from the darkness.
My eyes adjusted to the shadows, my mind working to figure out what I was seeing—a girl, her back pressed against therough planks of the barn wall, her head tilted back. A man leaned into her, one hand in her hair. My breath caught in my throat as the man moved to kiss her neck, revealing a glimpse of his face.
In the stillness that followed, the only sound was the soft rustle of fabric and my quickening pulse thundering in my ears. My hand trembled, and without warning, my phone slipped from my grasp, clattering to the ground and shattering the silence.
I looked over at Reese, searching for some reaction in his usually calm demeanor. He stood next to me, frozen, jaw clenched tight. I knew he was seeing exactly what I was seeing.
thirty-two
Reese
"Wh-what the—" The words stumbled from Caroline's lips, stuttering with disbelief and outrage.
It was the groom, Caroline's sister's fiancé, or now her husband. This guy should have been swept up in celebrating his wedding, I don’t know… maybe focused on the bride. But here he was, busy marking his territory on Stella, the maid of honor.
In that moment, everything else faded—the music from the reception happening on the other side of the barn, the laughter, the clinking of glasses.
Behind us, a loud gasp made us turn before a voice tumbled out in hurt, "Someone mentioned they heard noises coming from the barn… and I had the worst feeling when you were nowhere to be found... how could you do this to me? And on our wedding day?"
Caroline's grip on my arm tightened, her slender fingers pressing into my flesh as her sister stalked past us. I wasn’t sure if that reaction was because of the situation we’d just walked into, or because her sister mentioned noises from the barn. Either way, her sister needed to know what was happening.
"Charlotte, I—I was going to talk to you about this," Danstammered. There was something pitiful in the way he reached for her, like there was a way to fix what she’d just seen.
Charlotte’s death glare shifted, refocusing from the betrayer to his accomplice. "Tell me what? You were hooking up with my best friend? Well, now my ex-best friend."
Stella’s lips parted. "Charlotte, we were going to tell you," she said, stepping away from the groom. "We didn't think you'd choose to have the wedding happen so quickly… and there was never a good time to tell you."
"Never a good time?" Charlotte threw back. "MaybebeforeI got married?"
The murmur of voices around us grew as an audience began to gather. Caroline's parents, uncles, aunts, and cousins were now watching this scene unfold. Their presence seemed to amplify the gravity of the moment, each set of eyes reflecting a collective disbelief. The Matthews family had not seen this one coming.
I reached for Caroline's arm, my fingers closing around her slender wrist. "Let's give them some space," I whispered, leading her away.
She nodded, and we walked off together, leaving the chaos behind. The dance floor was practically abandoned, the DJ hanging out nearby with nothing to do. Overhead, fairy lights flickered, casting a soft glow over a party that felt like it had already ended.
"Dance with me?" I asked, doing my best to distract her.
Caroline let out a soft laugh as she took my hand. "Didn’t see that coming," she mused, gazing at the abandoned space around us. "I guess we don't have to worry about impressing anyone now."
