20. Spencer

Chapter 20

Spencer

M ost Honeybrook Hollow locals chose the Twilight Trails Tavern to unwind over beers and burgers in the evenings. A few times a week, I’d meet one or more of my brothers there to play pool and relax.

Although this place was a dive, it was warm and comfortable. It was all dark wood and burgundy leather booths. A big, roaring fireplace flanked by deep green couches was in one corner. In another, a couple of pool tables surrounded by high-top tables were visible through an arched entrance. Old country western music hummed through the speakers, and there was a small stage for bands and karaoke.

I wiped a hand on my jeans. My fingers were pruning up from the condensation of my beer bottle.

What was I doing here right now?

It was like I had nowhere to be. My place felt wrong. This bar felt wrong. At some point, maybe I should contemplate if it was just me that felt wrong.

I was unsettled.

I couldn’t unwind when there was no losing this tension that had burrowed its way into my chest the second my dad and I had dropped Lucy off at her house.

For some reason, I was trying to live my everyday life as if I hadn’t dropped my heart off at Lucy’s little cabin behind the Honeybrook Inn.

“Spencer. It’s your turn.”

“Huh?” I slowly focused on my oldest brother Hunter’s face. We were in the pool room.

My brothers and I looked alike. Tall, with dark brown hair and light blue eyes, we looked like our parents had cut and pasted us into existence.

“Where’d you go, Spence?” His eyebrows popped up expectantly as he took a swig of his beer.

He knew what, or rather who, I was thinking about. Apparently, not talking about something did not make it a secret, which, by this time, I should have already figured out. They clearly had noticed I had a thing for Lucy over the years.

I considered opening up about her but decided against it. It was too soon. I should open up to her first without the pressure of trying to fight our attraction in the cabin to get in the way.

“Sorry, I’m just tired, I guess.” I stepped up to the pool table and took my shot.

He didn’t answer. His eyes flashed as he watched me, studying my face as I answered him.

“Knock that shit off, Hunter. Quit staring.” I was antsy; my brain was filled with nothing but spiraling thoughts about Lucy, and all I wanted to do was get out of here.

“Yeah, leave the man alone,” Deacon said as he wound his way toward us through the crowd, carrying fresh beers for us and a plate piled high with wings and fries.

He sat at the high-top table next to the pool table and dug in.

Tucker was home with his kids, who had begged for one more night with Larry. Brody was still working, so it was just the three of us. Dad had gone home after we dropped Lucy off. He was an early-to-bed, early-to-rise type of person and rarely joined us here unless it was a special occasion.

“Are you okay?” Hunter persisted.

“Yeah, of course. I’m fine.” I twisted the cap off my beer and took a sip before setting it on the table next to Deacon.

“You were stuck up there?—”

“With Lucy Darlington,” Deacon added.

I glared at him, and he shrugged.

“Yeah, for what was it? Three days?” Hunter continued. “Why are you here with us right now and not with her?”

“Because I always come here? I don’t know.”

“But I think it’s good you’re here,” Deacon said. “You have to make sure you still feel it.”

“Feel what?”

“Whatever you felt when you dropped her off.” He eyed me speculatively. “Dad said you were wrecked.”

“I’m not wrecked. I don’t want to rush her is all.” I slid into a chair at the table. “I don’t want to fuck this up.”

“That’s understandable, even smart,” Hunter said. “Being stuck with someone is extreme. Maybe that’s why you’re so—” He waved a hand up and down. “Messed up.”

“I’m fine. I swear.” It was a lie. I was not fine, but they didn’t need to know that.

Deacon sipped his beer as he watched me. It was obvious he was trying to figure out what I was not saying out loud. “Did you know Grandma and Grandpa only knew each other for five days before they got married?”

“Really?” My head whipped to his because I did not know that. They were married for nearly fifty years, happy together until he died.

“Yeah, and they didn’t even know each other before they got together, like you and Lucy do. Love at first sight is a real thing. I believe in it.”

“I—why does this make me feel like I’m stupid for being here right now?”

“Because you have somewhere better to be.” Hunter laughed.

“Is that Spencer Cassidy and his band of hottie brothers I see?”

Collectively, we spun around to see two of Lucy’s half-sisters headed our way—the oldest two—Paige and Piper.

Paige’s ex-husband owned this place, so I was surprised to see her here.

“Evening, ladies,” Hunter drawled. Paige was his age; they’d gone all through school together.

“Hey, Hunter. Did you guys hear the news? I got this dump in the divorce. It’s officially mine now.”

She pulled up a chair and took a fry from the platter in the middle of the table.

“Congratulations?” Hunter chuckled. “Help yourself. Can I buy you a beer?”

“Nope. But this is on the house.” She tapped our table as she scanned the crowd with ice in her eyes. “ My house, she muttered before refocusing back on Hunter. “Can I get you another beer? You three are the only ones here who are not shooting daggers at me with your eyeballs. It’s appreciated.” The pride in her eyes almost hid the hurt in her expression.

“We’re fine. Thank you.” He held his unopened bottle out to her. “You look like you could use this.”

She took it, popped the top off, and then took a huge gulp before setting it on the table with a beleaguered sigh. “Thanks.”

“Come on, Paige. It’ll be okay—” Piper rested a hand on her shoulder before turning to me. “How are you doing, Spencer? We just left Lucy’s place.”

“I’m good—” My mouth hung open at least ten questions about Lucy butted up against themselves, trying to find their way out.

“Lucy is good , too.” Piper leaned in conspiratorially, bumping my shoulder with hers before sitting next to me. “Something about the look on your face told me you’d want to know.”

“He’s got it bad,” Hunter smirked. “Hasn’t said a word about it, though.”

Paige pushed the beer bottle across the table to him with a bold stare. He took it and finished it off, tipping its mouth toward her in a silent toast. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Well.” Piper cleared her throat. “Lucy wasn’t talking either. She had nothing much to say about what had to be an eventful few days. Isn’t that weird?”

“Nothing at all?” I asked, my breath quickening at the mere thought of hearing any kind of news about her. “Uh, so what did she say?”

She met my eyes. “Just that you were a total gentleman.”

“One of the few left in town,” Paige answered me, but it seemed like she only had eyes for Hunter tonight because since she got here, they hadn’t looked away from each other for more than a few seconds.

What the hell was I still doing here?

My hand drifted over my phone in my pocket as I contemplated texting her. Or maybe I should call her. What if I just drove over and stopped by?

“Do it,” Paige told me with sharp eyes.

“What?” I huffed a startled laugh.

“Go for it. Take out that phone and use it, Spencer.”

“You think I should?”

“Absolutely,” Piper answered.

“Bye now.” Paige wiggled her fingers.

“Yeah.” I grabbed my coat off the back of the chair and slipped into it. “I think I’ll take off.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Deacon said.

“Nice, that means you can pretty much do anything.” Hunter laughed.

“Hey—”

“Later,” I called over my shoulder, already halfway to the exit.

Without another word, I strode the rest of the way to the door, flinging it open and rushing to my truck, practically jumping into it once the locks disengaged.

I yanked out my phone with my heart pounding a reckless beat in my chest.

Waiting was stupid when you knew your feelings were real.

I remembered her words from our first morning together in the cabin.

“I’m sick of dating apps and meetings in bars. I’m sick of playing games too. I’m also tired of seeing where things go while he’s talking to five other women. If I see the letters WYD in a text one more goddamn time, I’ll lose my mind. And I’ll probably drop dead or end up in prison for murder if I get one more dick pick. I’m over it all.”

It was time to start giving her what she wanted.

SPENCER: WYD

Shit. Maybe I shouldn’t have sent that. God, I hoped she realized I was kidding. I threw the truck into gear and pulled out of my parking space.

I should just go to her. That text was an awful idea.

My text notification went off. Thankfully, I was at a stop sign.

LUCY: JAIL!! Immediate jail! No 200 dollars for you, evil, bad man.

I blew out a relieved sigh. Laughing out loud in my truck like a freak. Thank god. I texted her back, then took off again.

SPENCER: Is it too soon to say that I miss you?

Two notification pings in a row. I pulled over.

LUCY: I miss you too. So, no.

LUCY: Where’s my dick pic? JK

SPENCER: Maybe you should see it in person first. haha

LUCY: Good call. Maybe we should meet for tacos later and see where it goes.

SPENCER: I heard the weather is supposed to be great tonight

LUCY: O.M.G.

SPENCER: Too soon?

LUCY: Never

SPENCER: What are you wearing?

LUCY: LOL I’m dying. I’m in my favorite pink nightie with a matching thong

SPENCER: Pics?

SPENCER: For the record. I’m JK about the pics.

LUCY: Maybe you should see it in person?

I pulled back onto the road. The Honeybrook wasn’t far. I had to feel it all again. No waiting. I couldn’t go home and call her. I had to see her. Now.

SPENCER: Look out your front window, sweetheart.

LUCY: RUNNING

Grinning, I opened my door and stepped out. Her place was cute. I could see her living here, writing her books, watching TV, being adorable, and living her life...

Fuck, I hoped I would be able to be part of it. I wanted to be with her here and at my place and everywhere, all the time. I needed her.

LUCY: Wait. Confession: I am not wearing a pink nightie…

Laughing, I shoved my phone in my pocket. I didn’t give the first fuck what she was wearing. All I cared about was having her in my arms again.

She came flying out her front door with her gorgeous butterscotch waves trailing behind her in the cold evening breeze just as I slammed the door to my truck to head up her driveway.

She did not stop, so I braced my legs apart and waited for her.

“Sweetheart.”

I held out my arms and caught her as she jumped into them, wearing nothing but the hoodie she’d stolen from me and a pair of winter boots.

Upon further discovery, she hadn’t been lying about the thong. She hooked her legs around my waist, ankles digging into the small of my back as I supported her with my hands behind her thighs, right below the bare skin of her luscious ass. I felt the edge of it with my fingertips, lacy and soft, and groaned out loud.

“You’re here,” she murmured into my ear, peppering my face and neck with sweet little kisses. “I couldn’t fall asleep without you, so I wore your hoodie.”

She smelled like heaven, like lavender and vanilla. Like forever and a day. Like she was mine.

“I should have never left you.” I was breathless. It felt like I was home again with her in my arms. “If you tell me to come inside with you, Lucy, it begins. Me and you. We begin.”

She pulled back to look at me. “Do you think it would be a mistake? That this is happening too fast?”

“Fuck no, I don’t.”

She sighed, arms and legs tightening around me as she buried her face in the side of my neck. “Good. I don’t either. This feels so right. Come inside with me, Spencer.”

I walked us up the path to her front door. “Where are we headed, the couch? Or…?”

We made it inside and I kicked the door shut behind myself.

“Take me to bed, Spencer. My room is straight ahead.”

We didn’t make it to the bedroom. I had to kiss her; I couldn’t wait another second. Backing her up against the wall, I sealed my lips to hers, swallowing her sexy little moan and tangling my tongue with hers. Feeling for the first time all day that I had made the right decision.

I let her slide down the front of my body until her feet touched the floor.

She kicked off her boots and ran her hands up my chest. I shrugged out of my coat and let it drop to the floor behind myself.

“I am so happy you came over. You have no idea.”

I brushed her soft hair over her shoulder, smiling down into her eyes. “I couldn’t stay away anymore. I thought of nothing but you all day.”

“Me too. I didn’t want to wait for our date. I would have called you, but I didn’t have your number. I also didn’t have my car.” She dropped her forehead against my chest. “I mean, I wanted to find you,” she mumbled. “I was in full stalker mode, but I had no way to get to you.”

“I’m so sorry.” I cupped her cheeks and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll never let this happen again. You’ll always be able to reach me from now on. I swear.”

“Okay. Is this too much? I can be a lot.” Her voice shook and I wished she would look at me. “Should I back off?”

“No.” With a fingertip beneath her chin, I tipped her face up. “No way. I’ve wanted you for so long, Lucy. I just wouldn’t let myself feel it. Because somehow, I knew I had to be ready for you. That I had to be man enough to handle the way you have always, fucking always , made me feel. I shoved it down. I couldn’t allow it until I could give you what you deserve.”

“You’re mine now, Spencer.” Her eyes blazed as she gazed up at me. “Mine, okay? You’re just gonna have to put up with all the ways I’m going to spoil you. I’m talking some seriously clingy stuff, so don’t freak out, please.”

“Yes to all of it.” My entire face spread into a smile. “I want everything. There’s no freaking me out, sweetheart. I swear. I want it all.”

“Be sure, because I’m sure about you. I don’t want to go back to the way we were. I don’t want to lose this?—”

“You won’t lose me.” I kissed her quickly before continuing. “Listen, I’ve dreamed of this. Of you and me. Together, just like this. I’m yours.”

“I have too. So many times. You were in my dreams, Spencer, and now it’s real.”

“Yeah, baby, it’s real. Who cares if it’s fast? We know what we have. Nothing else matters.”

“You’re right. I want it. I want you, Spencer. Now.”

Grabbing my hand, she tugged me down the hall and toward her bedroom.

It was pink, with a white four-poster bed, but strangely, I felt right at home in this girly cloud of a room, probably because I felt at home with her.

She slipped out of my hoodie and tossed it to me, leaving her in a lacy white thong that showed more than it hid.

“I have condoms—a huge box from Costco, uh, in my bedside table. I won’t tell you that my mother drops them off every few months because she’s overprotective in even the cringey ways. Yeah, so anyway, we have nothing to worry about.” Her face blazed with embarrassment. She was fucking adorable.

“Promise me, Lucy. Swear you won’t ever change or hold anything back. Ever.” I bit back my laughter but couldn’t hide my huge grin. “I think you know this already. But I’m falling for you, sweetheart.”

“Thank god because I am too.” She held her arms up, and I bent low to wrap myself around her, lifting her off her feet, kissing the side of her neck, and smelling the sweet lavender scent of her skin. I couldn’t get close enough.

“God, you have no idea how many times I’ve imagined this.” I breathed into her hair. “Your gorgeous body. Getting between these pretty thighs of yours. I’ve thought about how you’d taste way more than I should, Lucy. Now that it’s real, I think I might lose my mind. You drive me crazy, and you’ve been doing it for years. I have never been more sure of anything in my entire life.”

“This is happening. It’s really happening.”

“Yes, it is, sweetheart. There’s no going back now. I want you too much.”

“I want you too. The cabin was real, but it also felt like it was too good to be true, like magic or a daydream. You being here tonight means the world to me.”

“To me too. I couldn’t stay away from you any longer.”

“You’re wearing too many clothes,” she murmured, wiggling to get down. “I want to feel you.”

“Get on the bed.” I watched her slip out of her thong and throw the covers back as I undressed.

“Oh. Wow, you’re big.” Her legs squeezed together as her eyebrows shot up. “I knew, in theory, I mean. Uh, that it was big because I felt it in the chair. But yeah.”

“Don’t worry. I will not hurt you. You’ll be ready to take me, I’ll make sure of that.”

Her nod was slight. Her eyes had not yet moved back up to mine.

But my god, she was beautiful, from her pink toenails to her pink nipples to the pouty smile on her pretty pink lips. She was soft, with curves for days and those shining butterscotch waves flowing down her back.

But it was more than that. She wasn’t just straight-out-of-a-dream stunning. She was in my heart. She lit me up. She had me feeling things I’d never felt before, and I never wanted this to end.

She sat on the edge of the bed, watching me with hot eyes and a sexy little smile as I prowled toward her, then tipped her back onto the bed to come down on top of her, giving her my weight for a second before straddling her, with my knees on the outside of her legs. I moved down her body, kissing a trail down the delicate column of her neck, between her breasts, and her softly rounded stomach before stopping to press a kiss at the juncture of her thighs.

“Can I? I want you ready for me. I need you so much.”

“Ummm, I’ve never come like this. It might take too long. You don’t have to.”

“Have to?” I laughed, letting my forehead drop to her stomach. “Poor Lucy. You should only ever be with a man who begs to go down on you.” I tipped my head up, resting my chin on her belly button.

“God, Spencer.” She breathed. “Are you serious right now?”

I darted up to kiss her lips. Then pulled back, smiling into her pretty brown eyes, watching her face change from hesitant to hot. She wanted it but was scared to take what she wanted.

“I’m dying to taste you.” I groaned against her mouth. “Don’t you know that? Remember the top four?”

She nodded.

“It’s number one now. You have to come first. You need to be ready for me before we go any further. Should I beg? Would you like that? I’m already on my knees for you and I’m not afraid to say please.”

Her eyes got big. She didn’t answer.

I kissed and licked my way up and down her body, taking one pink little nipple into my mouth, sucking hard, then releasing it with a pop.

“Please, sweetheart.” I nipped at her earlobe. “Trust me, I’m going to love everything about this, and I don’t care how long it takes to get you to come. I could spend the entire night right there between your pretty legs and be perfectly satisfied even if this is all we do.”

Her legs dropped open one then the other. I slid down her body and licked from her opening to her clit. Smiling against her slick, soft skin as she went boneless beneath me.

Gripping her hips, I licked into her, causing her to squeal, but I held her hips and teased her until she was writhing against my face, rocking against me, needy, desperate, and already close to losing herself.

“I’m—it’s happening. Oh god, Spencer.”

“Let go, Lucy. I got you.”

“I—can’t.”

“Do you need to say please, sweetheart?” I pulled away and darted my tongue against her clit. “Tell me to make you come, Lucy, and I’ll do it. Ask me for anything, and I’ll give it to you. Beg me for it, and it’s yours.”

“I—please, Spencer. Oh god, please, please, please…” Her eyelids fluttered, the swoop of her dark lashes making shadows over her cheekbones as she sunk her teeth into her bottom lip.

I sucked her sweet little clit into my mouth and drove a finger inside her, hooking it up to find that spot that would make her fly apart.

She was stunning.

She was everything beautiful in the world.

She was mine, and I was hers, and this was never, ever going to end.

I watched her; she was so close, almost there, biting her lip, grinding against my mouth, and trying to keep her moans inside. Fuck that, I wanted to make her scream, so I sucked harder, flicking my tongue and adding a second finger. I smiled against her slick skin when she squeezed it tight.

The muscles of her neck tensed, and her feet dug into my shoulders. She raised her arms above her head, gripping the headboard tight in her fists as she came for me. From the inside out, her body undulated beneath my hands and mouth in a beautiful, rippling wave as she cried out my name.

“Now you’re ready for me.”

I fumbled in her nightstand drawer for a condom, sheathed myself, then sank inside of her. I groaned out loud at the feel of finally being enveloped in her tight, wet heat.

“Spencer,” she moaned in my ear. “You were right. You feel so good inside of me.”

“God, you’re like heaven. You’re it for me, Lucy. So perfect.”

Her scent was in my beard—honey and spice mixed with the sweet smell of lavender as I buried my face in the crook of her neck and fucked into her. Slowly at first, then I picked up my pace as she dug her fingernails into my back and wrapped her legs around my waist.

“Please don’t stop. Oh god, Spencer. Please.”

I shifted my position, then took her hands in mine, pressing them into the mattress as I thrust into her, faster, harder, until we fell over the edge together.