Page 12 of One Boiling Summer (Texas Summer #15)

CRAVINGS AND CAMPSITES

HUDSON

An hour later, Blue Betsy’s headlights bumped along the dirt road until we reached the lakeside clearing. The water shimmered in the moonlight, glassy and inviting. The camper sat in the clearing, ready for occupants.

Lacey hopped out, flinging off her sundress onto a beach chair, and revealing a bright blue bikini underneath. I almost choked upon taking in a good eyeful of her curves in the moonlight. Never in the years since she turned eighteen did I ever believe I’d be with her on a night like this.

“You’re going in already? I’ll join you.” I pulled off my shirt overhead and stepped out of my shorts, leaving only black boxers.

She glanced back at me, her eyes trailing down my body. “Nice cannonball attire.”

I chuckled. “Don’t tempt me.”

She ran straight down the small dock and into the water with a squeal, and my eyes bounced off her pretty ass the entire way. I followed with the most awesome cannonball ever.

“Impressed?” I asked when I resurfaced beside her.

“Maybe a little.” She floated away on her back. “God, this feels amazing,” she yelled into the night.

“Glad I could provide.”

She chuckled and lightly splashed in my direction. “Comparing yourself to the Almighty? Cocky much?”

“Very. Especially when it comes to you.”

Upright, she circled me, side swimming just out of reach. “There’s no one here to see us now, Hudson. You can stand down with all your tempting flirtations and looks.”

“What if I don’t want to?” I swam closer, my hand brushing her hip. “You think I invited you out here for the temperature?”

“Didn’t you?”

“Only half of it. The other half is because I enjoy your company.”

Her expression softened, unspoken words blooming between us.

“Remember how I volunteered for this? I meant it, that I’d do anything for you.” I reached out and fingered the ends of her long wet hair fanning out in the water. “So what do you want, Lace?”

“It’s been a long time since a man asked me that.” Her throat worked. My craving for her multiplied, my need for her ramped up.

“How long?” My other hand slid around her waist to her lower back. My cock twitched, dying to know the feel of her. To have her so close… She swallowed as I tugged her in even closer.

“Tell me. How long has it been since a man pleased you and made you scream into the night?”

Her breath hitched then she whispered, “Far, far too long.”

“Then I’m happy to volunteer.” I cupped her face and kissed her, deepening from the start. Her lips parted, body melding into mine.

She wrapped her legs around my waist, holding on tight as the moonlight gleamed off her skin.

One hand slid down her ribs, fingers tracing the line of her bikini bottoms. “Let me in. I can make you feel so good. Worshipped even,” I whispered.

She nodded, breath catching.

My fingers slipped past the fabric, teasing soft and slow. Her forehead dropped to mine, breath shuddering. I parted her seam and found her clit. To the tune of her moans.

“Oh, Hudson…”

“I’ve got you, baby. Just let go.” This was everything I’ve wanted since the night she waltzed back to town. Me and her. Together. This was only the start.

She clutched my shoulders, gasping as I strummed. Her hips worked with me, grinding against my hand, as I slowly brought her toward the edge she hadn’t known she needed.

“Yes. That’s it. Such a good girl. Don’t hold back,” I encouraged, claiming her lips with mine. Our tongues danced, the water rippled around us, and I hoped this night would last forever.

Her moans grew loud, echoing out into the lake, legs squeezing around me.

“That’s it. Come for me, baby. Let me hear it.”

She cried out my name, her breath hot against my neck.

This was what I craved. Not the act. Not the pretending. Only her.

And given my enlarged cock, I wasn’t pretending a damn thing.

“I need you so fucking much.” I carried her out of the lake toward the camper, water sluicing off of us. All went well until she broke away at the door, landing on her feet.

“Wait. Hudson, we can’t. I-I mean, we shouldn’t. Right?”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re you, this pillar of the Goodson family, and shouldn’t be tainted by me. Then there’s Carson?—”

I scoffed and shook my head, my cock deflating. Dammit, I should have known. “First of all, you’re not tainting anything. Don’t let other people tear down your confidence, baby. And as for my brother, do you still have feelings for him?”

“No. Not like that. Not anymore. As a friend, though, yes. He and I shared many wonderful times before we broke up and went our separate ways after graduation.”

I ran a hand through my hair, trying to wrap my head around this tangled web.

“I know he was your first. I get that may seem awkward, but I don’t care.

Lace, you’re not that girl anymore. You went off and proved us all wrong, moving to New York so bravely on your own.

You lasted ten years there, which frankly is about six years longer than most people who leave Poppy Valley and return. I respect you so much for that.”

I stepped closer to her once again. “I’m so fucking attracted to you. I only see the woman you are now before me as someone I’d like to get to know a whole lot better. Because I think you deserve a real man. Me. Not Carson.”

“You’re wrong.”

I blinked back. My heart sank. The air left my lungs leaving a hollow in my chest.

“Carson wasn’t my first. In fact, we never went all the way,” she said, clearing up a fact I’d always presumed.

A smile burst onto my face. “That’s good. Great, in fact. But something still holds you back.”

“I just don’t want things to be awkward if we push this further.”

I shirked at the notion. “What makes you think it would get awkward?”

“Hudson, if there’s one thing that’s become all too clear since I’ve been back here is that I don’t have a family anymore.” She paced away, shaking and rubbing her arms.

I grabbed a towel and came up behind her, wrapping her with it and my arms. “You have us. You’ve always been a part of the Goodsons.”

“That’s what I mean. Talking to Mama and being around you and your brothers has reminded me just how much I love and respect you all. It’s the closest thing I have to a family in this entire, lonely world. What if anything you and I do jeopardizes that?”

“But what if anything we do makes it even better? Huh? Have you thought about that? Have you even thought about me and you together?”

She turned in my arms, her mouth opening and closing.

“Ah. I see. You haven’t.” I dropped my arms and stepped away.

"Look at you, Hudson. You've grown to be this gorgeous man, how could I not be curious and attracted to you. But it's all so new."

I draped a towel around my waist, securing it low. “Then what do you want, Lace?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“Don’t know or don’t want to see what’s right in front of you?”

“You’re serious,” she gasped.

“I’ve been serious since the moment you walked back into town.”

“So... you’re saying you wouldn’t mind if we spent more time together.”

“I already said I’d help you with the house and help dispel the rumors you faced. I’m just not great at being used for cover long-term. That plan has to have an expiration date, making way for something more. Or not.”

“It started as an idea to shift attention, but now you want more? With me?”

Hell yes, I did. But I also wanted her to want it. I needed to not be some temporary filler until she figured out her life or went back to New York.

I stepped closer. The intensity of the fear in her eyes killed me.“I want something real with you, Lace. But I know it’s a lot to think about. I know I’m finally letting you into my head and where I stand?—”

Suddenly, my phone rang. The ringtone playing Travis Tritt's old song, Trouble, told me that it was the fire station. About the only reason they’d call me on my day off was if they had a major situation and needed all guys on hand.

“That’s the station calling me with an emergency.” I picked up my shorts and pulled out my phone, glancing at the message. “Oh, fuck.”

“What is it?” She stepped closer.

“It’s your house, going up in flames.”