Page 7 of Sweet Escape (Whispering Oaks Ranch #1)

Is it casual now?

? Casual - Chappell Roan

Olivia

The thud of the door closing startles me awake, and I’m surrounded by the unmistakable scent of fresh coffee.

“Morning, Cupcake. I come bearing gifts.”Wilder rattles the takeout bag in his hand and places a drink carrier loaded with cups and coffee condiments on the desk. “I wasn’t sure how you take it, so I got a little of everything. And if you prefer tea, I have that, too.”

Who is this man, and can I take him home with me?

“Impressive. What’s in the bag?”

“Bagels. I have plain, chocolate chip, everything, and cinnamon crunch.”

I select an everything bagel smothered in the perfect amount of cream cheese and doctor up a cup of coffee with two creams and one sugar. Wilder goes for a black coffee—no surprise there—and a cinnamon crunch bagel .

I savor each bite, grateful he thought to get breakfast for us. My bank account is already dangerously low, and I was fully prepared to suffer through hotel coffee and a protein bar that’s been slumming it at the bottom of my purse for God knows how long.

After breakfast, I dress in the same clothes I wore the day before and pack up the stranger’s suitcase, kicking myself the entire time for my epic fuck up.

I can’t be too mad about it since it got me several orgasms and breakfast the morning after.

Wilder carries our bags down to the rental car, and I settle into the passenger seat.

The drive to the airport is quiet. I’m not much of a morning person as it is, and I get the impression Wilder is a man of few words, flirty banter and dirty talk notwithstanding.

He pulls up outside the baggage claim entrance and waits for me as I head inside, hoping my luck has somehow changed overnight.

Surely three orgasms is a good sign, right?

Wrong.

The airline personnel are unable to locate my luggage, and I slink back to the car empty-handed.

“Do you want to stop somewhere to grab a change of clothes?” he asks, as I slump back into the passenger seat.

“I’ll be fine. Just drive.”

“Yes, ma'am.” He pulls out of the parking lot, and we settle into an uncomfortable silence.

I keep my gaze pinned on the blurring landscape as the weight of the last twenty-four hours comes crashing down around me.

Yesterday, I was convinced my boyfriend was about to propose. Now, I’m in a car barreling down the highway after having spent the night with a stranger.

I don’t know how much time passes before Wilder breaks the silence. “Do you want me to drop you off at the Nashville airport, or do you have somewhere else you need to go?”

It’s then that I realize I hadn’t thought far enough ahead to arrange a ride from the airport back to Oak Ridge. I’ll have to text my parents and have them pick me up.

“Liv?”

“The airport, please.”

“Sure. Is everything alright? Did I do something?”

“I’m okay,” I whisper. “I’m just struggling to process… everything.”

One hand leaves the steering wheel, resting face up on the console, and I hesitate for a moment before threading my fingers through his. It’s a strange pattern we’ve slipped into, but I take the offered comfort all the same.

“You can talk to me… if you want,” he says.

“I wouldn’t even know where to begin.” I glance at my fresh manicure and the still-empty ring finger. That’s when the first rush of sadness hits me like a wave crashing on the shore.

I didn’t stop to think when I packed my shit and walked out of the apartment, leaving Jake scrambling for his pants and Amber clutching the bed sheet to her chest. Nobody looked particularly stricken by the encounter, and maybe that’s why it’s all hitting me so hard now.

I charged out of there in a blind rage and never looked back.

I scoff, shaking my head at the ridiculousness of my situation.

“I thought he was proposing. He promised to take me to Red Rocks, but he'd been super cagey about the details leading up to my birthday. I could tell there was something Amber wasn’t saying, too. My dumb ass thought she was in on some grand plan. I feel so stupid.”

He squeezes my hand, and the feel of his rough palm against mine is almost grounding. “You’re not stupid for thinking they cared about you. If they can’t see how amazing you are, they don’t deserve you.”

“You don’t really know me,” I say defensively.

“I know you’re allergic to shellfish. I know you have a kind smile for every person you encounter.

Your favorite color is pink, and you have a birthmark in the shape of a butterfly on your lower back.

” He flicks the turn signal and swerves down a side road before he continues his speech.

“I know the sounds you make when my beard scratches between your thighs, and what you taste like when you fall apart on my tongue. And I know, without a shadow of a doubt, Jake made the biggest fucking mistake of his life letting you go.”

“Wilder…” His name comes out like a prayer as he turns onto a dead-end street, parking in a copse of trees that’s blocked by a large vacant building. It looks like it’s been uninhabited for years, possibly decades, with boarded-up windows and graffiti on the exposed brick walls.

He unbuckles his seatbelt, then mine in quick succession, before hoisting me over the console and onto his lap, one knee on each side of his hips. It’s a tight squeeze, but I don’t have a second to think about it as he slants his mouth over mine in a frenzied kiss that sends my pulse racing.

“Tell me to stop,” he says.

“Never.”

His hands are everywhere as he slides his tongue into my mouth. I grip his hair, grateful for the extra length to help keep me steady when I rock against his lap. There isn't enough friction with our clothing between us, and I lament our current position. I want to feel him. I want to fuck him.

“In the back,” he growls.

He helps me onto the pavement, then follows me out. He glances around the area, making sure we’re alone, then pulls open the back door, placing his balled up hoodie against the passenger side door, creating a pillow. “Be a good girl and get on your back for me.”

Once I’m in position, Wilder joins me in the backseat, one knee on the bench, while he braces his other foot against the floor. His hand travels up my thigh, and his expression goes from curiosity to awe when he discovers I’m not wearing any panties. How could I?

“No luggage, remember?”I lift a brow.

“You’re going to be the death of me.”

He hikes up my skirt and drapes my knees over his shoulders. His eyes meet mine for a moment, and he wets his fucking lips before bringing his mouth to my soaking core, licking a long path up the center of my pussy.

With nothing to grab onto, I slide my fingers through Wilder’s hair and tug. He whimpers against me, then sucks on my clit. The scrape of his beard between my thighs adds a level of sensation I can’t even begin to describe.

He circles my entrance with two fingers before slipping inside. The combination of his mouth and hands working me over sends me soaring to new heights. “You taste so fucking good. Want you to soak my beard.”

My pussy clenches around his fingers, and my thighs clamp down on his head as I succumb to the powerful orgasm coursing through my body. He continues to devour me through it until my chest heaves, and my hand falls away from his hair.

“Good girl,” he says, “but I’m not done with you yet.”

Switching our positions, Wilder rests his back against the driver’s side door and pats his lap. “Ride me, Pretty Girl.”

You don’t have to tell me twice.

I straddle his thighs and tug down his zipper, freeing his hard length.

“Now take my dick inside that tight pussy of yours and hang on tight. ”

There’s nothing soft and sweet about it as I fist his shaft and sink onto him.

He throws his head back in pure pleasure as I swivel my hips in a circular motion, enjoying the new angle and the friction of my clit against his pelvis.

His fingers dig into my lush hips as he helps guide my movements, and it doesn’t take long before I’m a sweaty, panting mess.

My knees quiver against his thighs, and he instantly takes over, fucking up into me while holding me in place.

“Come with me,” he says. “Touch your sweet little clit and milk me fucking dry.”

I moan as I comply with his gruff command, the delicious friction driving me higher and higher. He continues to fuck me senseless, and my orgasm coils tight in my belly. He bites down on my nipple through my shirt, and that’s all it takes for me to shatter, pulling him right along with me.

His body stills, and I collapse onto his chest as he sweeps my hair over my shoulder and kisses my forehead almost reverently. We lie like that for a moment or two while we catch our collective breath.

His deep chuckle reverberates against my cheek. “I can’t believe we just did that.”

“ We didn’t do anything. This was entirely your fault. I was just along for the ride.”

He slaps my ass, the sting sending a chill up my spine.

“And what a ride it was,” I add.

“Come on. We better get back on the road. As much as I like the thought of you walking around with my cum dripping down your thighs, I think it might be a bit uncomfortable for the drive,” he says nonchalantly, reaching under the seat to grab a box of tissues I hadn’t noticed before.

Once we’re cleaned up, Wilder helps fix my disheveled appearance as much as possible with my limited resources, and we hit the road.

Pulling out my phone, I tap out a quick text to my mom, hoping she’s not too busy to pick me up at the airport. She’s been helping out at the diner with Grammy lately, and I don’t want to pull her away if I can help it.

Olivia: Long story short, can you pick me up in Nashville this afternoon?”

Mom: You can’t just say long story short and drop a bomb like that, Liv. What happened?

Olivia: I caught Jake cheating on me and hopped on a flight, but there was a system malfunction and we landed in Memphis instead of Nashville.

Mom: How are you getting to Nashville?

Olivia: Rental car.

Mom: Ok. I’ll be there. Keep me updated and be safe.

Olivia: Thanks. Love you.

Mom: To the moon and back.

As the miles drag on, neither of us speaks, and something between us shifts. I busy myself with looking up recipes online and playing some sort of puzzle game. Every so often, I glance over at Wilder, but his eyes are locked on the road and his face is impassive.

Somewhere outside of Jackson, Tennessee, Wilder finally fills the silence. “So… about what ha ppened…”

“You mean the part where you fucked my brains out? Twice?”

He lets out a humorless laugh. “Yeah, that. Look, my life is really complicated right now. It sounds like yours is, too. I think it’s best if we leave it at that. Once we get to Nashville, we’ll go our separate ways.”

A sharp twinge of pain lances my chest, but I don’t dare give voice to it. Of course, this didn't mean anything; why would it? “Ok. If that’s what you want.”

“Olivia…”

The moment he uses my full name, I know whatever tenuous connection we had is gone. “It’s fine. I get it. We had our fun, and now we have to go back to real life.”

“I have to focus on my daughter,” he says. “She’s my number one priority. I can’t afford to get tangled up in a long-distance relationship.”

“Jesus, Wilder. It’s not like I asked you to be my boyfriend.” I sigh, feeling guilty for snapping at him. Gentling my tone, I add, “I get it. Really, I do. Your daughter is lucky to have you.”

“I do my best.”

“That’s all anyone can ever ask for.”

A quiet settles between us, and I waste no time turning up the radio to drown out the questions swirling in my head.

It’s not just the ‘what the hell just happened?’ of it all, though that is heavy on my mind.

It’s clear some small part of me thought this might be something more than it was, and I don’t know what to do with that.

I should know better than to pin my hopes on a man.

Leaning back against the headrest, I close my eyes and listen to the top hits station playing on the radio, content to switch off for a little while.

This whole trip has really taken its toll.

When a familiar intro to one of my favorite songs comes on, I crank the volume, letting the melody consume me.

I roll down the window, a wide smile breaking over my face as the wind rustles my hair.

“I freaking love Ruby Lynn Hayes,” I shout over the music.

Wilder glances over at me with his lips tilted up at one side and a quirk in his brow.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know who Ruby Lynn Hayes is? She’s only the biggest name in country music right now!”

“Oh, I know,” he says, turning his gaze back to the road, his fingertips tapping out the beat on the steering wheel.

I’m not sure what to make of the remark, so I ignore it, letting the music carry me through the rest of the drive. At least I’ll be home soon, and I can figure out where I go from there. Stay positive, Liv. There’s a silver lining somewhere. You’ll find it.