Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

C olson

“Mama! Are you ready?” Tully swept through the carriage house door like a tornado, eager to show off all the upgrades she and her new coworkers had worked on for almost two weeks. Pip and Savannah had just cleaned up the place and headed out after completing the project.

I was eager for Sofia to see her new, fancy kitchen too, but I was mostly checking out Tully’s ass in those new jeans of hers. She’d gone on a shopping trip with Gabi yesterday, loading up on work clothes that “don’t have a designer label.” Tully had said that exact phrase a couple times, like she was trying to convince herself that purchasing off the rack was perfectly normal. Pretty sure Hollywood wouldn’t accept it, but here in Blueball, that was the norm. I was inordinately happy to see Tully conforming to the small-town ways. Like she had actual plans to stay long term like she said…

“I’m coming!” Sofia called back, shuffling her way to the front of the little house, Hayes trotting behind her like he was her personal bodyguard. “I’m going to miss this sweet boy.” She stopped at the door and patted Hayes. His tail swished so hard and fast it whipped our legs.

“We should talk about getting you your own dog, Mama,” Tully offered, looping her arm through Sofia’s and helping her down the step and over to the truck. She could walk all the way to the main house, but the ground was uneven and it didn’t seem like a good idea. Sadly, it seemed like Sofia aged a bit more every day, a topic I did not want to bring up to Tully, though I knew she saw it too.

I helped them both into my truck and got us over to the main house. Tully took her mama through the front door, covering Sofia’s eyes.

“Well, how can I walk in there if I can’t see anything, Tully Cassio?” she lectured her daughter. I smiled at Tully’s reaction, noticing how Tully didn’t seem to be irritated with her mother lately. She just smiled in return and teased her about trusting her own daughter. Then with a lot of fanfare she must have learned on her Hollywood television set, she dropped her hands and let Sofia see the work that had been done.

Gone were the mismatched appliances and green Formica counters. Gone were the dark brown heavy cabinets that probably would have survived another hundred years with the way they were built to last. Instead, Tully had gone with a soft hunter-green cabinet, granite countertops, a farmhouse sink, double ovens, and a matching industrial mixer so Sofia could continue to bake her delicious treats for the town.

Sofia gasped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as she took in her new kitchen. Tully put her arm around her shoulders and guided her around, pointing out all the touches that would make baking easier for Sofia. I snapped a few pictures on my cell phone, staying out of the way. This was a moment I knew meant a lot to Tully and Sofia. Tully hadn’t been around much over the last two decades and Sofia had missed her daughter.

It didn’t take long for Sofia to push us out, proclaiming she felt a need to bake an apple pie right then and there. Tully showed her how to play music right through her phone, the song coming from hidden speakers in the ceiling. Sofia’s tinkling laughter was good to hear. Then she truly did kick us out and we headed for the carriage house.

Tully slid her hand into mine as we walked over to my truck, leaning into my side. “Think we can strip the sheets and get naked in under ten minutes?”

I guffawed, looking down at her mischievous giggle. We hadn’t been able to slip away together since that night out by the river. I’d stolen a few kisses and she’d purposely let her towel slip a few times at Mom’s house after she got out of the shower, just to torture me. But true alone time? Hadn’t happened. I wasn’t exactly happy about it, but it had given me some time to think. If I didn’t watch myself incredibly closely, I’d fall in love with this woman all over again. And something about having her in my own bed seemed to set off warning bells in my head. Seemed I needed to adopt another rule.

She let go of me and hopped into the truck. I rounded the hood and slid behind the wheel. Didn’t take but a few seconds to bounce the tires over the uneven ground and get back to the carriage house. I turned the engine off and swiveled in my seat. Tully had one hand on the door and looked ready to race out of here.

“Ten minutes is way too long, princess.” Her answering grin had my dick rejoicing. The long dry spell was over. I tossed my head to the back of my truck. “Hop up in there like the old days.”

It was true. She and I had made out in the back of my old truck probably a hundred times, never going all the way until we were eighteen and graduated. Tully scrambled out the door and was lowering the tailgate before I could get out. She whipped her shirt over her head and it hit me in the face when she threw it. I planted my feet wide apart and pulled it off my head to watch her strip off her bra and jeans lightning fast. This was a striptease I had every intention of watching. When she got to the plain white cotton underwear, she stilled, standing up there in the bed of my truck like she was on a stage. She swiveled her hips seductively and faced me, bringing that waistband down an inch and then back up.

“Tease,” I chided her, arms crossed over my chest.

“If you’re gonna stare like that, I figured I should put on a show.” Her eyes twinkled, looking every bit as sassy as the girl I’d known decades ago.

Tully dipped one side of the underwear down over her hip, making my gaze immediately drop to the exposed skin. Plain cotton had never been so sexy. She had me mesmerized as she slowly slid the material down her legs and stepped out. Then her hands went on a trip, over her hips, between her legs, and upward to cup her own breasts. My dick was screaming at me to get rid of these stupidly stiff jeans and find something softer.

“You just wanna watch or are you gonna come up?—”

Her question ended in a delighted shriek when I vaulted over the side of the truck and had her gorgeous body in my hands before she could blink. Fuck, she was pretty. Every inch of her was soft and warm and so fucking mine, I could barely find words.

“This body deserves a moment of silence,” I grumbled against her neck as I kissed my way up to her ear. She threw her head back, giving me more access. Her hands fumbled with my jeans. She got them open just enough to get her hand down my pants and wrapped around my cock. She gave a long hard pull on the head, which had my eyes crossing. “Dammit, woman.”

“You’re wearing too many clothes, hotshot.” Her voice was breathy, a sure sign she liked what I was doing with my hands. I’d given each globe of her ass a thorough squeeze, but it was when I reached further and slid my fingers between her legs that she arched her back, needing more.

“Already wet for me, aren’t you?” I slid the moisture around and her fingers tightened on me.

She nodded, breathing hard. “Let me see if you’re ready for me.”

She pulled out of my hold and dropped to her knees. Her hands got busy pulling down my jeans so she could get both of them on my dick. I was definitely older now and could last longer, but not if she did what she did that night at Mom’s house. While most guys would appreciate a blowjob, I just wanted to sink into her heat and look deep into her eyes while she fell apart for me.

“Tully,” I whispered, voice cutting off when she took me all the way into the back of her throat without even a warning lick. I jerked my hips back and pushed her shoulders away from me. “Lie on your back, woman.”

She grinned like the devil in female form, wiping her mouth. “I like when you give orders.”

I shook my head at her, smiling despite myself as I got my shirt off and stepped out of my jeans. She lay back like I instructed, one knee cocked as she ran her hands over herself again like a fucking model on a photoshoot. Goddamn, just the sight of her in the back of my truck, naked and confident as hell, was going to do me in. She’d certainly gotten more confident over the years and I’d try like the dickens not to think about what experience she’d gained and with who.

I dropped to my knees between her legs and held her knee out to the side so I could see all of her. Yep, my girl was wet and ready, even without my tongue getting a taste of her. “You want it hard and fast, or slow and long?”

Tully licked her lips. “Both.”

“Greedy little thing, huh?” I grinned down at her, knowing I was going to enjoy this evening very much.

She didn’t get a chance to answer. I grabbed both of her hips and pulled her up onto the ramp of my thighs. I lined my cock up with her weeping entrance and slammed home. She moaned so loudly I hoped her mama had that mixer going full speed and couldn’t hear anything. A fire threatened to consume my insides. I set a fast pace, full control of her small body taking each thrust. When her breathing kicked up and her keening moans turned desperate, I gave her my thumb, rubbing circles on that swollen clit just like I knew she needed. She broke, her hot pussy milking my own orgasm almost instantaneously.

My knees were aching insistently, so I pulled out much sooner than I wanted, lying on my side and pulling Tully’s spent body into me. “Fuck, my knees,” I complained.

Tully’s body began to shake with laughter. “We’re so fucking old!” she howled to the darkening night sky.

I growled and rolled to my side, snaking an arm around her and keeping her tucked close. My jeans made a sad pillow but it would have to do. “Who you calling old?”

She drilled a finger into my side, making me jump. “You! Me! Face it, hotshot. We’re old and not cut out for adventurous sex.”

I scoffed. “I’ll be ninety and still trying to get busy in the back of my truck.”

Tully kept laughing, wiping at her eyes before settling down and tracing a finger over my chest. We stayed just like that for long minutes, just enjoying each other’s company.

“Oh, look! Orion’s Belt!” She pointed at the famous three stars shining up in the night sky.

I leaned over and kissed her forehead, heart heaving at the familiar game we used to play, pointing out stars as we cuddled. So much had changed and yet so much more hadn’t. I was still crazy about this girl.

“When you moved away, did you miss it here?” Tully asked out of the blue.

My brain needed a second to switch gears. “Uh, yeah. I mean, I only left Blueball to escape memories of you. Of us. Ended up missing a lot more. Probably should have come back sooner. That’s why Dad told me on his deathbed that he expected me to move back and honor his last wish.”

I didn’t explain that making things right with Tully had been part of his last wish. That level of pressure was the kind of thing that would send Tully running.

“I miss your dad,” she said on a sigh. “He was so funny.”

I grinned up at the tips of the trees barely visible against the dark sky. “Yeah, he was. Always going on about that rooster of his. Kept calling it his cock even with Mom yelling at him to stop saying that.” My chest started bouncing as I laughed in earnest. “Mom called me one day and said he was watching your show and you held up the caulking gun and showed how to caulk the baseboard. He hollered that if it was okay for you to say it, it was okay for him to say it. Mom didn’t really have a leg to stand on after that.”

Tully propped up on her elbow, laughing with me. When our laughter wound down, she just stared at me, studying my face.

“What?”

She lay back down and I tightened my grip on her. “I didn’t know your parents watched my show. That couldn’t have been an easy pill to swallow.”

I shrugged, her head bouncing with the movement. All that anger I had when she first came back to town had dissipated the last few weeks. I’d seen her with her mama, Gabi, Em and her crew. Somehow, I just couldn’t find the energy to be mad at her anymore.

“Honestly, Tully. You were right to leave me. It hurt to watch you become successful without me, but it was the right move. Flat out. You couldn’t have done all that from Blueball, especially not with me pressuring you to follow my own dream. My pride was wounded, but I was proud of you.”

Tully sniffled against my rib cage, her hand swiping down my side to pull me into a fierce hug in return. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I’m proud of what I accomplished, but I hate that it hurt you. And I hate that my dream lost its luster once I had it in my hands.”

“Maybe your dream just changed. You’re allowed to change your mind, you know.”

We lay like that for at least ten minutes, both of us absorbed in our own thoughts. There was a lot between us, most we had talked about, but a lot that still had to get worked out. I wasn’t mad at her, but that didn’t mean I trusted her when she said she planned to stay in Blueball this time. And she had to learn to trust me again when I said I didn’t want to tie her down.

“How come you never had the constellation tattoo removed?” she finally asked into the silence.

That was an easy question. “I don’t want to erase the past. You were too important to me to try to erase.”

She sniffled. I didn’t really want to get more emotional about all this stuff between us. Especially when I had her naked. I rolled on top of her, nudging her legs apart until my dick settled into the hot valley of her body. “I believe you asked for long and slow, right, ma’am?”

Tully smiled up at me, looping her arms around my neck. “Ohh, you keep calling me ma’am and you might just get lucky, sir.”

I ended up ma’am-ing her for the next hour. All the way ’til she fell apart in my arms for the second time that night.