14. Ellie

ellie

. . .

After dinner, which we ate at the tiny wooden table near the window, I told Gianni I’d take care of the dishes.

“You shouldn’t be on that foot,” he scolded, following me to the kitchenette with his plate.

“It’s fine.” Standing at the sink, I pushed up my sleeves. “I can stand on it for the ten minutes it’s going to take me to wash a couple plates and forks. Go take a shower, you need it.”

He wrapped me up in his arms from behind. “I thought you said I smelled nice.”

“I’m trying to get rid of you,” I said, gently elbowing him in the gut. “Go away.”

“Okay, but if it’s still puffed up like that tomorrow, you should let me wrap it. And maybe call the doctor when we get back.”

“Yes, Dad .”

Gianni laughed, and a moment later I heard the bathroom door shut and the water come on, the pipes squeaking and shuddering with age and effort.

I washed the couple pans Gianni had used, our plates and forks, and cleaned up the kitchenette as well as I could. We had a little wine left, so I split the rest of it between our glasses and brought them over to the bedside tables.

Stretching out on the mattress, I took a sip and leaned back against the headboard—and that’s when I realized I hadn’t stopped smiling for hours. In fact, this was the most fun I’d ever had with a guy. It was almost enough to make me wish I hadn’t told him to accept Hot Mess...if he stayed, was there hope for us? Or was I crazy?

I set my glass down and picked up my phone, discovering I’d missed a call from Winnie. She’d left a voicemail.

“Hey! Hope you’re still doing okay, everything is good here. Dinner was a huge success, and Dex is driving me home now. Felicity stayed to help close up the kitchen, and Gianni’s dad is going to take her home. If we need her tomorrow, she said she can be here anytime. Call me if you can, and I hope you’re still, um, enjoying yourself.” She laughed. “I cannot wait to hear all the details.”

The shower was still running, so I decided to give her a quick call.

“Hello?”

“It’s me,” I said quietly, keeping an eye on the bathroom door. “Are you home?”

“Still on the way.”

“How are the roads?”

“Shitty, but the snow has slowed down a lot. I don’t think you’ll have trouble getting back tomorrow.”

“As long as we get a tow truck,” I muttered.

“Oh that’s right, his car won’t start. Is it the battery?”

“No idea. He says he tried to get a jump, but it didn’t work.” I thought for a moment. “Although I don’t know who he asked.”

“Are you guys the only ones staying at that motel?”

“No, there are other people here. In fact, only one room was available last night. And there are still some cars in the parking lot.” But something wasn’t sitting quite right—something about this morning when Gianni had told me his car was dead, although I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“So how are things going? What did you guys do all day long, stay in bed?”

“We have definitely spent some time in bed, but we did other things too.” I told her about snowshoeing to the diner and the walk through the woods, including the part where I twisted my ankle.

“Oh, no! Is it bad?”

“It hurts, but I don’t think it’s a serious sprain.”

“How’d you get back to the motel? Did Gianni carry you?”

I smiled. “He probably would have—turns out he’s got kind of a chivalrous streak—but I was able to walk back with his help.”

“Chivalrous streak?” Winnie laughed.

“Yeah. Who knew?”

“Actually, it doesn’t surprise me. I could see that about him, especially with you.”

“Why especially with me?”

“I don’t know, just the way he looks at you sometimes. Or the way he gets jealous if you mention another guy.”

“He does not!” The shower went off, and I lowered my voice. “You’re nuts.”

“I am not! You’ve never noticed how he reacts when you bring up a dude you once dated or someone you think is hot?”

“Yeah, he puts them all down and makes fun of my taste. He’s been that way since high school.”

“Because he was jealous, Ellie. He had no chance with you, and he knew it.”

I thought about what he’d said last night. I lied and read your name off so I’d finally get to make out with you. I didn’t think I stood a chance otherwise.

“He told me something last night,” I whispered quickly. “He said he hadn’t really pulled my name from the hat.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Seven Minutes in Heaven!” I whispered frantically, my eyes on the bathroom door. “He lied and said he’d pulled my name so he’d have a chance to kiss me.”

Winnie gasped. Silence. And then. “I knew it! What the actual fuck happened in that closet!”

“Listen, it’s too much to explain right now, but I’ll tell you later.”

My bestie groaned, and I could hear Dex laughing. “But what does this mean ? Are you guys a thing now? Is this finally happening?”

“No!” But I bit my lip. “We’re having a good time together, that’s all. And getting to know each other better. But I still don’t trust him—not completely.”

“Trust him with what?”

But that was when he opened the bathroom door, and appeared in just a towel. He held it together at one hip, and it dipped low enough that I could see the V lines on his lower abs. His hair was damp and messy. His jawline and upper lip were scruffy. His blue eyes were sapphire bright.

My insides tightened. My heart fluttered. I might have drooled.

“Listen,” I said to Winnie. “I have to go. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“But—”

“Bye.” I ended the call and set my phone aside without taking my eyes off Gianni, who’d stopped moving and stood next to the bed.

“So can I sleep naked?” he asked.

“You’re asking my permission tonight?”

He lifted his broad shoulders. “I guess.”

My eyes wandered over his body, igniting my desire. “Drop the towel.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What?”

“Drop the towel.” My lips curved into a smile. “Earlier you told me to eat my heart out. What if I’m hungry?”

He let go of the towel and it fell to the floor.

God, he was so fucking beautiful. Every inch of him.

But especially those eyes, and the way they were looking at me, like he knew he should have gotten his fill, but had to have more.

I wasn’t sure what had taken my inhibitions prisoner, but suddenly I had zero shame about what I wanted. Maybe it was the wine. Maybe it was the end of the world. Maybe it was some sexual confidence in myself that this time with him had shaken loose from its moorings and set adrift.

Whatever it was, it felt good, and I realized that I might never have the opportunity to explore it again—there was a certain freedom in knowing that what happened here wouldn’t follow us home.

I got on my knees. I took off my sweatshirt. I watched as his eyes lit up and his cock jumped.

I smiled, getting on my hands and knees, and looked up at him coquettishly. “So what you said last night still applies, right?”

“What did I say?”

“What happens at the Pineview Motel stays at the Pineview Motel.”

“Sure.” He blinked at me with those thick black lashes. “But is this really happening? Because I’ve had this fantasy many times.”

“It’s really happening. But tell me what I do in your fantasy.”

“You crawl toward me wearing nothing but that pageant crown and put your mouth on my cock.”

“Well, I don’t have a crown, but I can make the rest happen.” I smiled seductively and licked my lips. “Come here.”

He got onto the bed, but when he attempted to pull me into his arms, I pushed against his chest.

“Lie back.”

He obeyed, falling to his elbows. “What’s gotten into you tonight?”

“I don’t know.” I leaned over, bracing a hand on either side of his torso, and pressed my lips to his stomach. His skin was thin there, and warm, and the muscles beneath it were hard and firm. My breath made them quiver.

I shook my head slowly, brushing my mouth back and forth over his skin. I heard him inhale, felt his hands in my hair, gathering it at the back of my head. I sensed his eyes on me.

“I like it. Whatever it is.” His voice was quiet and held no trace of the usual teasing tone.

I glanced up at him briefly, curious if he was smiling. He wasn’t—in fact, he looked so serious, his face was almost unfamiliar. But still gorgeous, and even more intriguing with his eyes on me that way, like he wasn’t sure who I was either. “I guess I just want to thank you for dinner.”

That made him crack a grin. “Yeah? Gas station spaghetti puts you in the mood, huh?”

“It wasn’t the spaghetti.” I moved my mouth down one side of his rib cage, toward the erection that was thickening between his legs. Without touching it, I licked my way up one side of the V, from the top of his thigh to his hip.

“Oh, fuck,” he breathed as I moved to the other side and did the same thing. “Then was it the snow?”

I laughed before circling his belly button with my tongue. “No.”

“You just—really love knotty pine?” He faltered mid-sentence, probably because I began nipping at the tip of his cock with my lips.

“Never been a big fan, actually.” I hesitated. “Although I might look at it differently now.” I licked him from the base of his shaft all the way to the top in one broad, slow stroke.

“Same. I’m gonna get a big fucking hard-on—in my great-grandma’s basement—every Christmas.” He struggled for words as I took his length in one hand and swirled my tongue around the crown, tasting him for the first time. He groaned, his fingers tightened in my hair. “Christ. You gotta tell me—what I—did.”

I paused what I was doing. “You really want to know?”

“Yes.” He was breathing hard. “But you can keep it brief.”

Giggling again, I took the tip in my mouth and sucked gently. “You told me the truth.”

“The truth about what?”

“About not pulling my name from the hat. About why you didn’t kiss me. About wanting a chance with me but thinking you’d never get one.” With each example, I stroked his cock with my tongue. “About why you came back here. About the offer for the new show.” I glanced up at him. “And for calling me the unattainable girl of your dreams.”

“It’s true,” he said seriously. “It’s all fucking true.”

“Well, it was .” I lowered my head, taking him in deep, then kept my lips tight around him as I slowly lifted it. “I think you might have to revise that post-blizzard. I believe you have attained me several times.”

“I’d like to attain you again before it’s over,” he said, groaning as I took him to the back of my throat once more.

And then he lost the ability to speak in sentences, but communicated plenty with curse words hissed through a clenched jaw and long, drawn-out moans, his fists in my hair and his abs rippling as his hips flexed. I used both my hands, working them up and down his solid length as I sucked and stroked him.

At one point, he pulled my hair so hard it hurt, and I gasped.

“Sorry,” he panted, “but you should consider this a warning. I’m about to come.”

“Good.” I went right back to what I was doing, and quickly discovered he hadn’t been exaggerating—in less than fifteen seconds, his body went stiff, his breathing stopped, and his cock got even harder before it throbbed rhythmically between my lips, a hot stream pulsing against the back of my throat.

Pleased with myself, I sat back on my heels and wiped my mouth with my wrist.

Gianni’s eyes were closed, his mouth open. His arms rested limply at his sides, his chest rose and fell with labored breaths.

“Are you okay?” I teased.

“No.” His eyes opened and he lunged for me, and I squealed as he tossed me beneath him sideways across the bed.

“Aren’t you tired?” I asked as he buried his face in my neck and kissed my throat.

“Nope.” His mouth traveled down my chest and he stroked my nipple with his tongue before sucking it greedily. “I do need a little recovery time, but I have plenty of ideas about how to fill it.” He tugged my underwear off and put his head between my thighs.

Turns out, he didn’t need that much recovery time, which suited me just fine, because he made me come so fast with his fingers and tongue.

“Let me do it this time,” I said when he jumped out of bed to get the condom.

He brought it to me, and I unwrapped it and rolled it on, knowing this was the last time we’d ever do this. Tomorrow, the sun would come up and the snow would melt and we’d leave our little oasis here at the Pineview Motel. We’d go back to our regular lives. Our real lives.

And as he moved inside me and our hands grasped and our skin grew slick and our mouths devoured and our bodies shuddered, released, and grew still, I pushed back against the one thought I absolutely could not afford to entertain, no matter what.

I don’t want this to end.