Page 26

RIVER

“I swear, if I miss the cherry pie because of you, I’m going to be?—”

“What?” Dean cuts me off. “Big mad?” I shoot daggers at him when he throws my words back at me, but he ignores me. “ You were the one who insisted on getting dirty again after our showers.”

“That was one hundred percent your fault.”

“I’m sorry, did I make you suck my cock?”

I blush at his crassness.

I simply couldn’t help myself. He stepped out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel, the water tracking down his abs.

I just wanted to see where it landed is all.

Sue me.

“What the hell!” I smack at him, peeking around the sidewalk as we speed-walk toward the diner to make Sunday breakfast, making sure nobody heard us. “You can’t just say something like that, especially in public.”

“Or what?”

“Or…or…I’ll snuff you!”

“Snuff me?” He pulls open the door to The Gravy Train. “What are you, a mobster?”

“Guess you won’t know until you know,” I say, slipping past him and into the diner.

He doesn’t look the least bit scared.

We step into the line that’s already formed at the ordering counter, and I don’t miss the way Dean doesn’t remove his hand from the small of my back.

“Seriously, Dean, if they’re out of cherry pie…”

He moves toward me, cutting off my words as he pushes his body against mine. Warmth seeps into me, and beads of sweat begin to form on my neck.

I want to sweep my hair into a bun to help cool down, but I can’t. Dean’s hands are on my hips, squeezing me in a teasing manner. The five o’clock shadow he’s always sporting tickles my face as he bends down, bringing his lips to my ear.

“If they’re out of cherry, I’ll make it up to you.”

“Make it up to me?”

I feel him nod. “I’ll let you suck my cock again.”

I clench my thighs.

We’ve been sleeping together for three weeks now, and I’m still not used to the dirty words that fall from his lips.

I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to them…or over them.

“Stop it!” I hiss.

His grip tightens on me, pulling my body flush with his.

There’s no mistaking what I’m feeling.

He’s getting hard.

In the middle of the diner.

Right out in the open.

I take a deep breath and try to step away, but he doesn’t let me.

“Don’t even think about moving.”

I don’t.

“Then stop teasing.”

“Fine, but only because your best friend and her kid just walked in.” He waves to Maya, beaming at her. “Hey, guys.”

“You’re running late today,” she comments, eyeing us, not missing how close we’re standing. “Hope they still have cherry pie for you.”

“I hope they don’t,” Dean says, and I fall into a coughing fit, picking up on his double entendre.

I elbow him in the stomach, and he grunts, rubbing at the spot I hit, finally shifting away from me.

I welcome the space and miss his warmth all at the same time.

I gather my long hair into my hand, picking it up off my neck and wrapping it into a messy bun.

“Hey, Sam,” I say to my nephew.

He grunts, not looking up from the phone in his hands.

Maya rolls her eyes. “Pre-teens.”

“Choir,” Dean tells her, pointing to himself.

She shakes her head. “Still don’t know how you do it.”

“Lots and lots of whiskey and pie.” He nods toward our usual table. “Why don’t you two go grab our spot? Sam and I can manage this. Right, Sam?”

Another eloquent grunt from him.

“Don’t forget my cherry,” I say to Dean over my shoulder as Maya and I head to the table.

“Oh, yeah. I’ll get right on that.”

He winks at me, and I grin.

“Please tell me that wasn’t some kind of sex code,” she says as we grab our favorite seats.

“It wasn’t.”

“Liar.”

I giggle, and she smiles at me.

“You know, as much as I’m a little wary of your laissez-faire attitude about this thing you two are doing, I love seeing you smile so much. It’s been a long time since you’ve been happy.”

“I’ve always been happy.”

She shakes her head. “Not this kind of happy. It’s…different.”

It feels different.

I feel different.

“I’ve just been getting more sleep,” I tell her, which isn’t a lie.

I have been sleeping well. My insomnia isn’t gone, because that’s not how insomnia works, but having Dean there at night helps calm my worries and ease my mind. He gives me something to focus on other than my racing thoughts.

More than that, for the first time in a long time, I don’t want to focus just on work and hide behind it.

I want to live in the moment…with him.

“Even with your sex schedule?” she teases. “Lucky bitch.”

We laugh, giggling like fools, drawing the attention of a few other customers, including Dean.

When he lifts a brow, I wave him off, and he shrugs, turning back to Sam. They’re talking and carrying on like old friends, and I love how he’s able to draw Sam out of his shell. How he talks to him and relates to him on a level nobody else seems to.

“It’s Dean, you know,” Maya says.

I know it is.

She doesn’t have to tell me that.

He makes me laugh as much as he drives me crazy. Makes my body vibrate in all the right ways just as much as he does the wrong ones.

How can you loathe someone so much and still feel this good because of them?

Maybe you don’t loathe him at all…

I silence that voice that keeps popping up in my head.

I have to hate him.

If I don’t, I just might have to admit that maybe…just maybe…I never hated him at all.

And we promised no pressure, no plans for the future. This is just to relieve the tension.

“Good news.” Dean sets two plates on the table. “I was able to score some pie.”

“Bad news,” Sam adds. “It’s not cherry.”

“Did you seriously enlist my child to deliver the bad news to take the heat off you?” Maya glares at Dean accusingly.

“Yes.”

I snicker at his answer as he slides into the seat next to me, his arm brushing against mine.

“Sorry about that cherry pie, River.”

Heat creeps up my cheeks, and I dare a peek over at him.

He gives me a wolfish grin, bouncing his brows up and down.

I snap my attention back to my pie, shoving a forkful of gooey deliciousness into my mouth in order to refrain from leaning over and kissing him.

“Okay, wow.” Maya wags her finger between the two of us. “I like you two together. This dynamic is…wow.”

“Dean is your boyfriend, Aunt River?”

I pause mid-bite. Maya’s eyes widen, her mouth dropping open as she realizes what she just did.

Sorry , she mouths.

I rack my brain, trying to figure out how to answer this.

“I—”

“Yep,” Dean says. “That cool?”

Sam grins, nodding. “Totally.”

They go on talking like nothing happened. Like my heart isn’t hammering in my chest. Like it’s not going to explode over one word.

Yep.

He said it so easily. So calmly.

So sure.

And it felt so…right.

Why did it feel so right?

Maya’s foot brushes against my shin. I look up at her, and she tips her head, silently asking if I’m okay.

I shrug.

Because I don’t know if I am okay.

And I don’t know how to handle that.

Maya’s cell starts vibrating in her purse and she digs around, trying to find it.

I take the opportunity to slip away.

“I’ll be right back,” I mutter, pushing up from the stool and rushing to the bathroom without looking back at the table.

I lean against the door and inhale several deep breaths.

I’m overwhelmed. Confused. Excited.

Disappointed.

Not in Dean’s answer, but because it wasn’t real.

Why am I disappointed it wasn’t real? What the hell is happening?

There’s a knock on the door.

“Occupied!” I call.

“No shit. Open up.”

It’s Dean.

And for the first time in weeks, I don’t want to see him.

“No.”

“River, I will bust this door down. I can do it and you know it. Let me in.”

With a defeated sigh, I flip the lock.

He pushes the door open, slipping inside and putting the lock back in place.

He turns to me, his eyes sharp and worried. “Is everything okay? You just kind of disappeared out there.”

“Yeah. Everything’s good,” I lie.

He narrows his eyes. “I don’t believe you.”

“Well,” I say, plastering on a saucy smile, “that’s too bad. But now that I have you alone…”

I grab the collar of his shirt, dragging him down for a kiss, silencing all the questions and doubt running through my mind.

His big hands go to my hips instantly, and he pulls me tightly against him. He’s already getting hard, and I almost have to wonder if the man is always walking around half-cocked.

He walks me backward until I bump into the sink. With little effort, he picks me up and sets me on the counter, stepping between my legs. The skirt I’m wearing is scrunched around my waist, and I can feel the cool air hit my already heated core.

There’s no half-cocked about it.

Dean’s hard.

His erection brushes against my pussy, and I moan.

Hands slide up my neck and into my hair, pulling the messy bun free. He twines his fingers through the wavy red locks, playing with the strands like they’re his guitar strings.

He pulls his mouth away, panting, and presses his forehead against mine.

“You’re killing me.”

“Same.”

“We shouldn’t be doing this here.”

“We shouldn’t,” I agree. “But…”

“But…”

His lips find mine again, and we’re lost in another heated kiss, mouths moving together in a passionate storm.

Someone knocks on the door, and we ignore it, completely lost in one another.

I don’t know who comes up for air first, but we’re both gasping for it.

“Maya.”

“What?” he asks, confused.

“Maya—she’s out there waiting for us.”

He shakes his head. “She left. That was her ex-husband calling—family emergency with his mother or something.”

“Oh.”

His eyes turn two shades darker. “ Oh .”

Like we can read the other’s mind, we move at the same time.

He works to unbuckle his jeans and I shove my panties down my legs.

He crushes his mouth to mine and slips his hand between my legs, sliding a finger inside me. Then two.

Next he’s yanking me to the edge of the counter and sinking into me with one deep thrust.

He swallows my moans with his mouth, slamming into me over and over.

Fucking me hard. Fast .

Until I’m no longer scared or worried.

Until I stop thinking about the fact that I don’t hate Dean Evans.

And I start to fall.