Walk (Gentry Boys) (13 page)

I capped my highlighter and turned off my desk lamp. 

No, despite Stephanie’s words I had no idea what Stone’s plans were or what he thought of me behind those impenetrable blue eyes.   

Maybe it was time to find out. 

STONE

It was another wedding.  The event was small, intimate, and the happy couple was well into middle age. 

Bash discovered he knew one of the serving girls and I caught them fooling around in the men’s room.  I wasn’t surprised when he told me to take off without him after cleanup because he had a better offer. 

The reception had ended earlier than most.  We were all packed up before eleven and I was glad I’d driven my own car to the venue because I didn’t feel like riding around with the rest of the crew, watching them smoke pot and joke about stupid shit. 

I sat behind the steering wheel for a few extra minutes and watched as a pair of wedding guests strolled to their luxury sedan.  They were probably a few years older than me and had the easy look of money.  The woman’s red dress was too tight for her but that seemed to be the effect she was going for.  The parking lot was nearly empty and these two weren’t noticing much of anything but each other.

When they reached a silver Mercedes he didn’t open the door right away.  He pressed her up against the passenger side and they shared a long, sloppy kiss.  When the kiss ended, the woman stared soulfully into her partner’s eyes as he casually reached between her legs.  He stroked her, hiking her dress up as she writhed around on his hand, biting her lip.  Then she threw her head back and let out a moan I could hear through my closed windows.  It was hot as fuck and even though I felt like a dirty bastard for watching I couldn’t seem to tear my eyes away. 

Then the man backed up a few inches, glanced around, and pushed the woman down to her knees.  She went eagerly, her face disappearing into his crotch as he grabbed her hair.

I wondered who she was to him.  A wife, or a girlfriend, or a random hookup or maybe someone he wasn’t even supposed to be touching. 

They both jerked, startled, when I fired up the engine.  I was sorry to disturb them but I couldn’t really sit there and watch a pair of strangers get each other off all night long. 

As I drove out of the parking lot and headed for the road I thought about Bash and his conquest.  I thought about the way the woman in the red dress looked as she bit her lip in pleasure.  Then, as always, I thought about Evie and the way she was always watching me expectantly, always waiting for me to give her what we both wanted.  I knew exactly what had been holding me back but suddenly I didn’t feel like listening to that voice of caution anymore.  So far that voice had gotten me nowhere.  Con still hated me and I was no closer to figuring my life out than I had been the day I walked out of the prison gates.   

She was happy to hear from me.  She always was. 

“Think I’m in your neighborhood,” I told her.  I’d never been to her place but she’d talked about her apartment in the foothills and how her balcony had a fine view of the golf course. 

“In that case I would be insulted if you didn’t stop by,” she said happily.  “I just made cookies.  I’ll give you some.” 

“What kind of cookies?” 

“What kind of cookies do you like, Stone?” 

Her voice had changed to flirty, sexy.  She could probably hear my dick rising through the phone. 

“I’ll eat whatever cookies you want to give me, Evie.” 

She sucked in a breath.  “Really?”

“Yes,” I whispered. 

“Then come over,” she said and rattled off her address.

“I’m coming,” I told her, and at this point I was having a tough time with the steering wheel because I could hear her breathing hard.  I imagined her waiting for me, panties soaked and ready to be ripped off.  I would rip them off all right.   

The Sonoran Vista Luxury Apartments were a step up from the more homely ones closer to the university.  An ornate stone fountain lit up the entrance and even in the dark I could tell that luxury touches were everywhere.   It reminded me that Evie was capable, successful.  She wasn’t a woman who would benefit from some floundering ex-con clinging to her. 

I turned off the engine.  I was hard as a steel bat.  I wanted her so bad and I knew that if I went to her right now I could have her. 

Hell, I could have had her before now.  It was only some vague sense of honor that kept me from carrying her to bed before tonight.  After all, what did I have to offer this girl besides some orgasms with a side of heartache? 

Fuck it.  I’m doing this. 

Her apartment was on the second floor.  She must have been listening for the sound of my steps on the stairs because she opened the door before I had a chance to knock. 

“There you are,” she said, smiling as she peered around the edge of the door.  She had her hair loose and wore more makeup than usual. 

“Here I am,” I agreed and pushed the door open wider. 

I almost lost it when I got a full length view of her.  The black gown she’d slipped into was silky and short, with elaborate lace cutouts on the sides, enough for me to tell that I wouldn’t need to rip off her panties.  She wasn’t wearing any. 

“Stone?” she asked with a touch of uncertainty because I was still standing in the doorway like a shithead.  She moved her hand over her stomach and her face reddened like it did when she was embarrassed.  She was wondering if this was all wrong, if she’d misread me.

I slammed the door shut.  She hadn’t misread me at all.  I’d wanted to fuck her from the beginning and now I was going to.

I grabbed her, one hand around her waist, the other tangled in a fistful of hair.  She let out a small noise of surprise as I roughly pulled her against me. Her mouth was sweet and intoxicating.  I was going to make that mouth do things.  A lot of things. 

A minute later when I finally broke the kiss she was flushed and dreamy eyed.  One of her hands rested lightly on my waist and I guided it lower, enjoying the way her eyes widened as she felt all of me. 

“You want that, baby?” I asked, tugging lightly on her hair. 

“I want it,” she whispered and I drove my mouth down on hers once more.  I lifted her, just like I’d done that night we’d danced.  Things were different now.  I wasn’t going to stop this time. 

We tumbled to the couch, kissing, sucking, groping.  Evie straddled me while I impatiently yanked her gown all the way up over her hips and moved her around, grinding hard into the place I was ready to ransack.    

“Stone,” Evie breathed as she pulled back, her hands on my cheeks.   “I think about you all the time.” 

“Good,” I said and impatiently pushed silky fabric out of the way so I could get to her tits.  They’d tormented for me for weeks just by existing and now they were mine.  It was sweet triumph having them in my mouth.  Small and firm with tender pink nipples, I sucked one and then the other. 

Goddamn, I’d missed tits.

All this hot play was getting her really worked up as she arched her back and got into a rhythm.  As I sucked her tits and grinded against her body, she kept saying my name and clenching her thighs together as she rode me over my pants.  It had been a while but I could still figure out when a girl was getting close to coming.  I was ready to kill to see that, to see her bite her lip like the woman in the red dress and then throw her head back as she got lost in her own pleasure. 

But I was almost over the edge myself.  I couldn’t wait anymore.  I had to get in.  Maybe some other time I could have more patience but for now I just wanted to pound her seventeen ways to fucking Sunday.  It had been too long.  I needed it too much. 

She was all over my pants as I pulled her down to the floor and got her on her back atop a grey area rug.  There were a couple of condoms stuffed in my wallet and I scrambled for them, tearing a corner off one and then hastily pushing my pants down to free my swollen, deprived dick.  Tonight he was going to catch up on everything we’d both been missing. 

Evie said my name from the floor as I pushed the condom on. 

“Just a second,” I growled. 

She touched my arm.  The other arm was covering her bare breasts, like she was embarrassed.  When she had my attention she smiled shyly. 

“You mean a lot to me,” she said. 

“Yeah, me too.”  I finished rolling the condom on.

“Stone, I meant it when I said I think about you all the time.  I want you to know that.  I want you to remember it when we’re together and even when we’re not.” 

I paused.  I was ready.  I was so fucking ready I wasn’t sure I could stuff my throbbing cock back into my pants if someone offered me eight million dollars to make the effort.

Evie ran her fingers along my forearm, a tender touch.  She still had that gentle smile as she waited for me to get closer and give her something we’d both been thinking about since that dance beneath the stars. 

But I could see something else in her soft face as she waited.

Evie didn’t just want sex.  She wanted
me
. 

While all I wanted right now was to make every filthy thought in my head come true, and it was
all
filthy.  I wanted to do things to this nice girl that she’s probably never even heard of.   Beyond that I didn’t have any more plans.  Just fuck, release, and fuck some more until I got tired.   Maybe afterwards I’d take her out for coffee yet again because that was about all I could afford. I knew it shouldn’t be like this, not with her. 

So because I was trying to be better than I used to be, and because Evie Dupont had proven herself to be a friend, I did her a favor.  I slid the condom off and pushed my furious dick back into my pants where he couldn’t get into any trouble. 

“Sorry,” I muttered, not quite managing to turn away before I saw her eyes change from bliss to confusion. 

“What’s wrong?” She was pulling a blanket from the couch to cover herself, which made me feel like shit because I’d already caught on that Evie was shy about her body.  Thinking about that just made me want her even more. 

“Nothing,” I said, searching the floor for the keys I’d dropped somewhere when I barged in.  “I’m sorry.   That was my fault.” 

She was wrapping the blanket around her body like a toga.  She drew her knees to her chest and bit her lip.  “Look Stone, I didn’t mean to freak you out.  I’m not some psychotic clinger who’s going to wake you up tomorrow morning wearing a wedding gown.”

“I know that.”  I picked my keys up and then realized my pants were still open.  Evie winced when I zipped them closed.   

“I just wanted you to know that I care about you,” she said quietly. 

There were so many things I wanted to say to her.  I cared about her too.  More than she could possibly guess.  Evie deserved more than a few rounds of sweaty exercise, but I knew damn well that was all I had to offer her.  

My only answer was, “Don’t.  Don’t care.” 

Don’t care.  Don’t miss me.  Don’t worry.  Don’t love me. 

I wasn’t much different than Conway after all. 

She didn’t cry.  She got angry. She jumped to her feet, dropped the blanket and shoved me square in the chest.  There wasn’t much power behind it because she was a small girl, but I was startled.  Then she shoved me again. 

“Hey.”  I grabbed for her wrists but she shook me off.

“You can’t handle it!” she shouted. “You can’t handle the idea that anyone could fall for you as you are right now.  Rotten backstory, prison record and all.   Maybe because then it means you’d have a fucking good reason not to waste your time skulking through your days.  You’d have to let go of your ghosts and your regret and start holding your head up.” 

“What the hell do you know about it?”  I snapped, irritated that she wouldn’t just kick me out.   Instead she was going to diagnose me and hit every nerve she could find.  It was true, what she said.  That was why it hurt. 

Evie glared.   “You’re not as impenetrable as you think you are.  And I know more than you give me credit for.”

I wasn’t prepared for that so I lashed out, hating myself for it.  “You don’t know shit, little girl.  Somehow you’ve decided I’m something you need to save because you couldn’t save your brother.” 

She stiffened.  “Fuck you.” 

“You almost did.  Like forty seconds ago.  Remember?” 

She shrank back for a second and then her jaw tightened.  She stepped forward boldly with her hands on her hips, a defiant angel with a body I’d been dreaming about. 

“Well, Mr. Gentry, that seems irrelevant now.”  She sniffed and tossed her hair.  “And I’m deeply sorry that I couldn’t be the cheap piece of ass you were searching for.”  

“Baby, I can have a cheap piece of ass anytime I want.  It’s not a rare commodity.” 

Fuck.  Worst thing I could have said. 

Evie’s face turned very red and she pulled the cover across her body once more.

“You should go,” she choked out. 

“I should,” I agreed and so I did. 

When I was halfway to Tempe I almost turned around.  She might have even answered the door if I’d come back. If she didn’t want me to touch her at this point that was fine, but I hated how we’d left things.  I knew how sharply life could turn terrible after a few harsh words. 

I didn’t turn around after all.  There was a nasty place of doubt in my heart that figured Evie Dupont would be better off without me hanging around. Like a coward I just went home, jerked off to the memory of her sweet tits in my mouth and fell asleep.