Page 60 of Keepsake
We took a beer break and then did a little more work. The smack talk swirled around me, but I didn’t hear much of it. I was too tangled up in my own head. The best five minutes of my life kept playing on repeat in my head. Kissing Lark in the kitchen had been glorious, but it was something I probably shouldn’t do again. And now there was Jude’s tractor job clouding my mind, too.
“You’re quiet tonight, even for you,” Griff said as we walked up the path toward the bunkhouse later.
“Just tired,” I mumbled.
“Yeah, I’ll bet. I always take it for granted that you want the extra hours. Maybe sometimes you want to say no, but you don’t.”
“Nah,” I said quickly. “It’s not like that.”
“Isn’t it?” he challenged. “Even so, you might want to fix tractors for the same pay at half the hours. Marker goes to Mom’s church. We could put in a good word for you.”
Something twisted in my stomach. “Let’s not worry about that. Too much going on right now.”
We’d reached the bunkhouse door, so I didn’t have to continue the conversation. Jude was spending the night with us, so I offered to find him some sheets, thereby changing the topic.
“I brought my sleeping bag, so you don’t have to.”
As we passed by, I saw that Lark’s door was shut. But there was a strip of light underneath, and the strains of guitar music playing inside. My heart paused outside that door, wanting to knock. But I didn’t do it.
In the bunkroom, Jude stood on Kieran’s lower bunk in order to roll out his sleeping bag on the upper one. “Just like old times,” Jude said. “Good thing you have one empty spot. Wouldn’t want to see Griff sleeping on the floor,” he teased.
“Griff wouldn’t,” Kyle said from our closet. “He’s afraid of mice.”
“Once a mouse ran over his foot, and he screamed,” Kieran added.
“I didnotscream.”
“You screamed like a little girl,” Kieran insisted.
“I was eleven,” Griffin said in his own defense.
“An eleven-year-old girly man,” Kieran pressed, while the rest of us laughed.
Even after everyone showered and bedded down for the night, the smack talk continued into the darkness. I closed my eyes, and their ribbing became background noise to my thoughts. I’d never minded living in the bunkhouse. And I had no idea what I’d do when the Shipleys asked me to move on.
I fell asleep to the sound of Griffin’s snoring. But I didn’t stay asleep.
It felt as if Lark cried out only minutes after I’d closed my eyes, but it was probably hours.
“Whazzat?” Jude murmured in his sleep.
I didn’t answer him. I just hustled into Lark’s room and closed the door.
“Shh…sweetie,” I said. “Shh…” I knelt on her bed. I rubbed a hand on her back, circling gently. It wasn’t long until her breathing evened out.
God, I loved her. What a scary thought that was, but it was entirely true. I’d never felt about anyone the way I felt about Lark. Like I’d walk through fire for her.
I pulled the covers back and slipped in beside her. The sensation of her body’s warmth made mine stir immediately. But I slammed my eyes shut and prayed for sleep to take me right away. Blissfully, it did.
Too blissfully, as it would happen.
We were in a bed. It was utterly dark wherever we were, but I knew it was her. I’d know the scent of her anywhere, and the sound of her breathing. Lark’s warm hands drifted down my body, teasing me. And wait—I was naked. Her soft hair dragged across my chest, and I felt every strand against my skin.
Beautiful.
With moist lips, she dropped little kisses on my stomach. As she wandered lower, I held my breath. Her lips touched the head of my dick. She opened her mouth, and then everything was hot and wet all around me. I let loose a bellowed moan. It was so good that I tensed every muscle in my body. Her mouth was both soft and insistent. Now she was sucking on me, and it was even more glorious than I would have believed. I couldn’t hold still. Twisting my hips, I arched into her hot mouth.“Oh fuck.”
“Zach?”
