Next August (11 page)

“Not on your life sweetheart. Now I know how you felt when I bought you that dress.” He slings his arm around my shoulder. For the first time, I really believe that this could really work with him.

☀

I help Momma clean up in the kitchen while Daddy and August sit on our old rickety brown flowered couch. Daddy talks about fishing and hunting, and August appears genuinely interested.

“I like him,” Momma says, with a gleam in her eye.

I smile at her.” Me too, Momma.”

“Let’s say we finish up here, and challenge the boys to a game of cards.”

“Oh, I don’t know about August and cards.”

“Don’t be silly, child. You can tell a lot about a man with a deck of cards in his hand.”

“I don’t know if August has ever played cards.”

I feel his arms wrap around my waist.” Bullshit.”

“August! Watch your mouth.”

“The card game. Sam taught me.” He nips at my shoulder and I turn bright red. Momma grins from ear to ear.

☀

We play cards until midnight. August beats the pants off of us. I will never underestimate him again. Momma and Daddy say their goodnights, and head for bed. I walk August upstairs. “This is your room.” I point out the guest room.

He looks confused.” I’m sleeping with you.”

“On no, you’re not. This is my parents’ house. You’ll sleep in your own room.”

He hugs me to his muscular body.” You don’t think they know I fuck their little girl?” He nips at my nose.

“You know, I should take you over my knee for your potty mouth like you did me.”

He kisses my neck.” I like the sound of your hand on my ass.” He is not making this very easy. I break free of him.

“Go to your room, young man. I’ll see you in the morning.” I shut my bedroom door. I sort of wish he would follow me, but he doesn’t. I change, wash my face, brush my teeth and climb into my twin size bed. Just as well. The two of us would never be able to sleep in this together.

Just as I start to doze off, I feel the weight of my bed shift.” August, what are doing?”

“I couldn’t sleep in that lonely bed without you.”

“This bed is so small. The two of us won’t be able to sleep in it.”

He kisses my neck.” Good. I have no intention of sleeping.”

“I’ve already told you. We are not having sex in my parent’s house. The walls are so thin they’ll hear us.”

He bites my nipple. Argh. The man is insatiable and he’s making me the same way.

“Then you better be careful to not make a sound.” He strips me bare as he says those words.

I am so damn easy.

I give into him.

Willingly.

☀

“Are you sure you have to leave? You could change your flight and come back with me tonight?” I kiss him as he gets into his limo.

“No, you spend the extra time with your parents. I have paperwork to catch up on. I just wanted to make sure we were okay.”

I lean in through the door and kiss him lightly.” We are more than okay, and my parents love you.”

He grins.” What’s not to love?”

I watch him as he drives off. I have learned so much about him in a few days. I understand why he thinks his money can fix things. Money made things right with Claire and Sam. I don’t think he understands that they would have loved him regardless of his money, just because he cared enough to try and make things right for them. When I think about his childhood, I think that after his mother died, he was never really a child again, so I understand his control issues. I smile as I think of how good he looked in that tight, faded red t-shirt, and I wonder for a moment if I will ever get him into a pair of boots. The thought makes me a little horny. Until he came along, I never felt like I had a particularly high sex drive. I like that he brought out that side of me.

CHAPTER TWELVE

August

It took a couple of weeks, but I finally got Nash to agree to move in with me full time. I paid her rent for a year so that Anna wouldn’t have to move out. Nash gave me a hard time, but Anna was thrilled.

I took her to meet Claire, and they hit it off right away. Sam flirts with her every chance he gets. If it was anyone else, I would probably have to kick his ass.

Things are going so good between us. I miss her like hell when I’m at work. I end up texting her during meetings. I would never have thought a woman could distract me from Rylan Designs. Things are hoppin’ with the company, however; we’ve never had such a good run. I think Nash is my good luck charm, or has good Karma, or both.

In two weeks I have to go overseas for a few days for a business meeting. I asked Nash to go with me, but she insists she’s making progress with my father and wants to keep at it. She has refused to tell me what exactly is going on. I check on him every day, and nothing seems different to me. He just stares into empty space. Nash hung pictures on his wall. Photos of my mom, and me as a kid. At first, I was a little irritated about it, but I bit my tongue. I guess that’s part of that “relationship compromise” she keeps talking about. I have had to let go of trying to control what she’s doing with Dad. After all, that’s why I hired her. She’s the medical professional, not me.

Since I’m going to be gone for longer than usual, we plan a rock climbing trip in Zion. The Little miss country girl went out and bought us a tent. I have never in my life slept in a tent, and I am not at all happy about it. How did I lose so much control over the relationship? I smile to myself. I guess I never really had that much control anyway. The only time she submits to me is in bed, and sometimes even that’s a struggle. I let her think she wins because everything she does to me feels so damn good. Who am I to deny her such pleasure?

☀

“Are you ready for our climb?” I yell back at her as I finish strapping on my gear. She has us weighted down with the camping stuff. Everything we could possibly need. I feel like we’re old west pioneers about to cross the mountains, carrying all our belongings on our backs, instead of a couple out for a little bit of fun camping.

She walks by me.” Waiting on you.” She has a bandana wrapped around her hair. It’s so sexy. Now is not the time for a hard on. You can see everything in these climbing shorts. When I reach down to rearrange the boys, Nash starts laughing at me.

“You gotta a problem there?”

“Yea, its name is Nash. Why do you have to look so damn sexy in everything?”

“You prefer I rock climb naked?”

I growl at her and rearrange again.” You’re not helping matters one bit, talking like that.”

She kisses my cheek.” Poor sex starved August.” Then she walks off, laughing.

☀

I’ve never climbed this area before. It’s challenging. We’ve been able to stay almost side by side for the climb, talking our way through each move. Nash is a strong climber, very calculated. I especially enjoyed the times she climbed in front of me.

We stop about half way up on a ledge to take in the vistas and consume some protein.

“This view is amazing.” She says as she drinks from her camel pack.

“This is the best climb ever, and I have the prettiest partner ever.” I kiss her.

“We have about another hour to make it to the top. Let’s get going.”

I let her get several feet above me and I anchor in just above the ledge. I step up and my anchor comes loose. I fall, and my knees bash against the ledge. I catch myself on my safety line.

“August!” she screams. She can’t see me below the ledge.

“I’m fine! Keep climbing.” I pull myself back up on the ledge. She’s sitting there, waiting for me.

“You scared the hell out of me.” She’s pale.

“I’m okay. I just skinned my knees and my pride.”

☀

The rest of the climb goes smoothly; no more mishaps. We stop again for some water before trekking down to a hidden mountain lake. It’s crystal clear and there only a few other people camping. Nash picks a spot right by the water. We’re hidden from the other hikers.

I try to help her put up our tent, but I’m pretty useless, so she sends me off to gather some firewood. This place is so pristine that I almost feel like I’m trespassing on mother nature. Chipmunks and rabbits dart in and out of the brush, making little rustling noises. I spook a family of deer, and they take off into the woods with white tails flashing. “Have a nice afternoon, Bambi,” I say out loud. I feel so content, and I know it's because of Nash. A cloud covers the sun for a moment, and the woods around me darken. So do my thoughts. It seems too perfect. I keep waiting for something from my past to interfere. I shake off the negative thoughts, and the sun reappears. I smile.
The power of positive thinking.

The sun goes down, and Nash has the fire going. She’s making s’mores.

“I can’t believe you have never had s’mores.” She says as she builds one for me. She suddenly shakes her head. “I’m sorry. I forget you didn’t have much of a childhood. And you did grow up in the city anyway. Maybe not a lot of s’mores and campfires around the skyscrapers.” She chuckles sadly.

“Don’t be sad for me. I have you to share this with now.” I drape my arm around her.

“I love you, August. Thank you for doing this with me. I know you had to warm up to the idea of camping.” She laughs.

“What’s so funny?”

“The look on your face when I brought home the tent.” She laughs again. “Did you expect me to have a butler helicoptered in here?”

“No, but a port-o-potty would be nice.” I grab her and tickle her.” I’m glad you find me so humorous.”

She squeals.

“Shhh. You’re going to disturb the other campers.” I kiss her lips. She is breathless and beautiful by firelight.” If they are going to hear you screaming, I want it to be screams of pure pleasure. Then my name leaving your beautiful pink lips.”

“August.” She breathes out as she says it.

I stand and take her hand.” I want to get thoroughly acquainted with this tent. Or with you in this tent, anyway.”

She willingly follows me inside. I slowly divest her of her clothing and mine. I touch every inch of her body and then start over. She begs for me to make love to her. I tell her to hush and continue worshiping her body. When she can stand no more, I roll her on top of me. To my surprise, instead of climbing on me, she scales my body and puts her mouth on my cock. I’m ready to explode, but I don’t want to let go yet. She smiles up at me as I inhale, trying to maintain control. Once again, she’s flipped the control—in this moment, she owns me. I’m more surprised when I feel the gentle scrape of her teeth against me. I look down at her. She meets my eyes.

“If you think for one second you have control, you better remember my teeth are on your most prized possession.” She winks and puts me back in her mouth.

I am a goner. All I can do is hold on for dear life and let her have her way. Just as I am about to come, she impales herself on my shaft. She rides me all the way to heaven. I literally see stars.

☀

The hike through the narrows exhilarates us. It’s a tough climb, and we both lose our footing more than once. Neither of us cares, however, even when we slip on the banks of a boisterous mountain stream. I don’t feel my soaking wet shoes because I’m pretty sure I’m walking on air.

“We need to do this more often,” she says as we load up the car.

“I will camp with you anytime.”

“I’m dog tired from your sexcapades last night. I’m looking forward to a good night’s sleep.” She says as she shuts the car door.

“I’m sorry if I kept you up, but those howling coyotes scared me,” I say. teasing her.

“So fear makes you horny?”

“No. But fear kept me awake, and what else was there to do in the middle of the night if you can’t sleep?” I shrug my shoulders.

“That is some interesting logic,” she says and squeezes my knee.

☀

The next two weeks pass quickly. On Friday, instead of my usual one on one time with Sam and Claire, the four of us eat pizza and go bowling. Another first for me. To everyone’s excitement, Sam manages to walk on his braces the entire night. I’m hopeful that he’ll be able to shed even those high-tech crutches soon.

“My new car is so cool,” Sam says to me. “You have to let me take you for a drive.”

“No thanks,” I say. “I bet you speed something awful.”

“Did Sam tell you he got accepted into his first choice of colleges?” Claire looks about a foot taller, she’s so proud.

“How about that. Good for you.” I give him a high five.

“Congratulations,” Nash adds.

“Thanks to you, I’ll be able to drive myself to the campus, and hopefully, before too long I’ll be able to walk the halls, too.” He is so excited.

Claire looks a little tearful.” I can’t thank you enough, August. The day you walked into our lives changed everything for us.” She sniffs.” The best part is that you became our family.” The flood gates let down and she sobs noisily into her hands. The groups of people bowling around us watch with raised eyebrows. Bowling balls grind down the alleys and crash dramatically into the pins, and the place is playing loud country music over the speaker system, so luckily that commotion drowns out most of the noise.

I sit beside Claire and hug her.” Thank you for letting me in. Aside from that beautiful blonde sitting across from us, you guys are the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

☀

I curl up in bed and draw Nash into me.” I’m going to miss you this week.”

She reaches behind her and places her hand on my cheek.” It’s only a week.” “Yes. But there will be a weekend without you in it. I’ll be so busy over there and with the time difference, I’m not sure we’ll even get to speak.”

“It’s okay, August. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right here when you get back.”

“I love you, Nash.”

“I love you too, August.”

It seems like a simple, easy moment. I have no idea of the chaos, and danger, that’s waiting around the corner for us. For me, but especially for Nashville.