Chapter 37

Thirty-Seven

Everett

“ I have no idea what to expect,” I tell Gemma as we round the front of my car. Taking her hand in mine, the two of us and Sutton stroll into the fairgrounds. It’s a nice afternoon; not too warm, but sunny.

“Everett, it’s a chili cook-off.” Gemma giggles. “I think you’re making this way bigger in your head than it actually is. A handful of people from town make their best chili recipe, and a panel of judges pick their favorites.”

“It’s so small town,” I say. “Like, the first true small-town thing I’ve done since moving here.”

“Why is it so small town?” Sutton asks, peering up at me with pinched brows.

“It’s just not something you see take place in a big city, like the one I moved from.” Glancing at Gemma, I ask, “Is everyone meeting us here?”

She nods. “Graham and his wife should already be here; her aunt is one of the contestants. Then Grace, Georgia, and Charley should be here any time now.”

It’s been about a week since we found out that Gemma is pregnant. I haven’t told my folks yet, and I probably won’t for another couple of weeks, for no other reason than I’m just not ready to hear my dad’s lack of excitement that I know will come. Gemma told her sisters and Charley, but she’s also waiting to tell the rest of her family until after Sutton knows.

I still can’t believe it; we’re having a baby. Gemma is growing our little baby in her belly right now. I can’t wait for Sutton to know, because I have no doubt he’ll be ecstatic. He’s going to make such a good big brother.

“Wow, there’re a lot of people here,” I mutter as we make our way toward the area the cook-off is being held. It looks like the entire town is gathered here.

“There’s Graham and Megan,” Gemma says as she leads me by the hand over to where they’re standing.

“Hey, man.” Nodding toward Graham, I smile, remembering the last time we were here together and he was asking me about my intentions with his sister.

“How’s it going?” He looks toward the woman beside him, wrapping an arm around her. “This is my wife, Megan,” he offers before saying to her, “This is Everett, Gemma’s new man.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” she says with a warm smile.

“You too.”

“How are you feeling?” Gemma asks Megan, pressing a hand to her sister-in-law’s belly.

Megan groans. “Like I’m ready to pop.” She laughs. “ Everything is swollen and my walk is more of a waddle these days.”

“Howdy, neighbor boy.” Turning my head, I grin as my gaze collides with Georgia as she comes to a stop beside us. Grace and Charley are with her.

“You’re never going to stop calling me that, are you?”

She chuckles. “Not a chance.” Lowering her voice so her brother and Sutton don’t hear, she suggests, “Although, I could call you daddy neighbor instead, if you’d prefer.”

I rub a hand over my mouth, biting back a laugh. “Please don’t.”

“Guys,” Sutton calls out, garnering everyone’s attention. “Let’s get over there. They’re starting soon!”

A live band plays on the stage behind where the judging table is set up. Several different Crock-Pots full of chili in front of them. The contestants are off to the side, and the only reason I know that’s who it is, is because they’re wearing large paper numbers on the front of their shirts.

The whole lot of us take a seat in one of the rows of chairs laid out for everybody. In front of us is another familiar face.

“Well, look who it is,” Conway drawls. “I see you decided to come out and see what the fuss was all about, huh?”

I chuckle. “Yup. Consider my interest piqued after you and the guys went on and on about it that night.”

Gesturing to the little girl beside him, Conway says, “This is Willow, my daughter.”

“Hi, Miss Willow. I’ve definitely seen you around the school a time or two.”

“Hi, Mr. Windward,” she says softly. I’m almost positive she’s friends with Blakely; I see them eating lunch together often.

Conway drags his gaze from me to a couple of chairs down, something akin to a smirk tugging on the corner of his mouth. “Hello, Grace,” he says gruffly, and when I look, she’s scowling at him.

“Hello,” she says curtly, which is completely unlike her normal bubbly personality.

“Daddy,” Willow says, tugging on the hem of Conway’s shirt. “Can we go get a snow cone before the cook-off starts?”

Looking down at his daughter, he nods. “Sure, honey.” Then his eyes are back on Grace as he asks, “Can Blakely come with?”

“Yeah, Mom, can I?”

Petting the top of her daughter’s head, Grace says, “Sure, babe.”

The three of them walk away, and I can’t help but fix my gaze on Grace. “What the heck was that about?” I ask, curiosity getting the best of me.

Rolling her eyes, Grace heaves a sigh. “I cannot stand that man.”

“What?” I flick my gaze to Georgia and Gemma, who both have matching amused grins on their faces. “Why?”

“Because he’s an asshole,” is all she gives me.

When I look to Gemma, she breathes out a laugh before—thankfully—giving me more of an explanation. “Grace has always held this vendetta against Conway since her high school boyfriend—his son—cheated on her.”

I’m no less confused than I was a moment ago. “Uh, why would you hate him for what his son did? ”

“Because he practically helped his son do it,” Grace mutters. “I went over there after school one day, and Conway wouldn’t even let me come in the house. Told me pretty much to get lost. Then I find out later that night on social media that my boyfriend at the time was tagged in a picture with some random girl in his room.”

“So… you’ve hated Conway ever since?”

“Yes.”

“Grace can kind of be a grudge holder when she gets her feelings hurt,” Georgia offers. “She lost her virginity to this guy, so it was a blow to the ego for a teenage girl.”

“Ah, I see.”

Gemma chuckles when she must see the confusion written all over my face, but it’s the end of the conversation since Conway and the girls come walking back over right after. The cook-off begins, and Gemma was right—it’s not nearly as riveting as I was imagining it. It was interesting, though, at least a little bit.

Once that’s done, the group of us wander around the fairgrounds, Conway included, since Blakely and Willow are now attached at the hip. He and I, plus Graham, all take the kids on rides while the women watch from the sidelines. It reminds me of the first and last time I was here, also with Gemma. How it wasn’t all that long ago, yet so much has changed since then.

A couple of hours pass, and the sun has long since set. The carnival lights brighten the whole place as we make our way to where the food trucks are. After the kids get some hot dogs and we find a spot big enough for the rest of us, Gemma pulls me by the arm and tells everybody, “We’ll be right back. I want a funnel cake, and the truck’s down there.”

Georgia mock solutes her sister, a grin on her face, while everybody else waves us off.

Taking my hand in hers, Gemma leads us away from her family. “I think that truck has them,” I tell her.

“Yeah, but the one down here is better,” she says, peering up at me with a glint in her big, dark eyes.

She walks us by the long row of food trucks, and instead of stopping at one, we keep going. Confusion furrows my brow until she leads us to the left, right under a huge thing of bleachers. Nobody is around when I scan the area, and suddenly, I’m more than aware of why she brought me here. Heat rushes through my veins as my cock twitches.

“And what are we doing under here, mama?” I ask, my voice thick with the arousal simmering inside of me.

Turning to face me, I can tell, even in the dark, that her cheeks are flushed and she’s got mischief dancing in her gaze. “You know, I don’t think I told you this earlier, but the way you’re wearing that baseball hat backward is really doing it for me, Mr. Windward.”

Arching a brow, I ask, “Is that right?”

Biting down on her bottom lip, she nods, hands coming to the front of my pants. It only takes her a few moments before she has my cock freed, her soft, warm hand pumping it as she holds my gaze. “You look so sexy,” she goes on, voice dripping with desire. “And I couldn’t stand another minute without feeling you sink into my pussy. I’m aching for you. ”

Fuck. Hearing her talk dirty will never not drive me absolutely wild.

“You want me to fuck you here, mama?” I ask, bringing my hand to her hip. “Where anybody could find us?”

“Mmhmm.” She nods, biting that fucking lip some more. Tempting me.

“I’m starting to think you like the idea of getting caught just as much as I do. Is that true?”

“It makes me so fucking wet,” she admits breathily. “But not nearly as soaked as the idea of you filling me with your cum.”

A growl rips from my throat. “Turn around, hands against the wall.”

Luckily, we’re far enough under the bleachers and it’s dark out that I think, even if somebody did walk by, unless they were specifically looking in here, they won’t see us. A concrete wall sits behind the bleachers, which works in my favor as Gemma does as I say, and I lift the back of her dress over the swell of her ass. She’s wearing panties this time, and I make quick work of yanking them down and running my fingers through her slit.

“Fuck, mama, you weren’t lying.” I sink a finger into her slick, hot cunt. “You’re fucking dripping for me.”

She hums, throwing me a sultry look over her shoulder as I work another finger in. When I can’t take it anymore, I spit in my palm, coating my length with it before lining myself up. We groan in unison as I ease into her pussy inch by inch, her tight heat surrounding me, making my eyes roll back.

“That’s it, mama. You take me so well. I fucking love this sweet cunt of yours. ”

Letting out a long, needy moan, she pushes her ass back, wordlessly begging for me to give it to her harder.

So, I do.

And goddamn, does it feel fucking good.

It’s so easy to lose myself to Gemma. To forget the outside world exists, and just feel the woman wrapped around me, the one writhing, crying out my name as her walls constrict.

I reach a hand around her, finding her swollen clit with the pads of my fingers, circling it while I pound into her, pleasure soaring through my body like electricity. “Fuck, I cannot get enough of you,” I growl. “You’re so fucking sexy when you beg for my cock. Knowing that you’ve been aching for me to do this while we’re around your family.” A groan claws up my throat. “So fucking needy just for me, aren’t you, mama?”

“Yes!” she pants. “Fuck, yes. Don’t stop.”

“Is my girl going to come all over my cock?”

She nods her head feverishly, moaning.

“Yeah, you fucking are. Then I’m going to fill you with my cum like you begged me to. Fuck, I’m going to enjoy knowing that I’ll be leaking out of you for the rest of the night, nobody but us knowing what a filthy girl you are.”

“Oh, fuck. Everett… oh, god!” Gemma throws her head back onto my shoulder as I feel her let go. Her pussy squeezes the hell out of my cock as her clit pulses under my touch. I stroke her through the whole thing, my balls drawing up once she’s finished.

“That’s my good fucking girl,” I groan. “Ready for me to fill you up, mama?”

“Yes.” The word is breathy and so fucking delicious. “Come in me, Everett.”

And fuck, do I ever. My release hits me hard , and I have to slap a hand against the wall to steady myself as I spill deep inside her warm cunt.

Once I pull out of her, I fix her panties and dress before tucking myself away. Gemma turns around, bringing her hands up to cup my face. “I love you.”

My stomach dips. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing her say that.

“I love you,” I rasp, meaning it with my entire chest.

We return to the group; they’re still sitting where we left them. It’s more than obvious by the smirk Georgia gives us, that she’s fully aware of what just went down, but everybody else seems none the wiser.

“Everett, can you take me to play some games before we leave?” Sutton asks.

“Me too!” Beau chimes in.

I chuckle at their excitement. “Sure, let’s go, boys.” Meeting Gemma’s gaze, I say, “We’ll be back.”

She nods, a small smile playing on her lips.

By the time we make it back home later on, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much and my chest is filled with so much love and happiness.

This is my life now.

And it’s only going to get better with time.