Page 24 of The Way Home (Pathfinders Lake Romance #5)

Riley

S omewhere in the distance I heard a ringing, but I was too out of it to make the connection. All I knew is that I was underneath a perfectly-weighted blanket that gave me a sense of calm and rightness, and allowed me to sink into this gravity-free space with no floor and no ceiling.

Another ring and suddenly my blanket pulled away, making me sink back down to earth and leaving me cold. I couldn’t move, though. I stayed in place, waiting for my blanket to return.

Through the fog in my mind, I heard a voice growing louder.

A laugh. I knew that laugh. It was Jeremy.

Thinking of him made me smile and squirm against the…

sheets. Sheets. I was in bed and feeling deliciously sore.

With his name in my mind, the fog cleared, but I stayed happily where I was, realizing it had been him on my back.

He had been my blanket. It wasn’t the first time Jeremy had slept on top of me like that.

Only Jeremy had been smaller then. Fit still, but nothing like the man he’d grown into.

His weight on me was so much more enticing now.

My hips ground into the mattress to get friction on my hardening cock.

The way he held me up against the wall… fuck , the image of it was hotter than any memory from the past, and it got me horny again thinking about it.

Maybe I didn’t want to move yet, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t be ready for him when he returned.

Even as sore as I felt, I was so turned on by the idea of him walking in here, seeing my ass in the air and taking me just like this.

I hugged the pillow under my head and pushed my ass up a little higher, in a not-quite-natural position.

His footsteps grew closer, and I heard him talking, and there was this thrill of knowing how he’d find me while talking on the phone.

I squirmed a little more, stifling a moan as my dick rubbed against the sheet.

“Yeah. I’m feeling pretty good about it. Now, at least. I was pretty stressed out initially. I just wish they would call me already. The waiting is so hard.”

When I heard him coming through the doorway, I couldn’t help but wiggle my ass to get his attention.

He let out a loud laugh. A laugh that made my heart feel light, and I turned my head to look at him.

Jeremy had put on a pair of those tiny briefs that seemed to magically stay in place.

I didn’t let myself look before—or tried not to—but now I could look my fill. Damn, he was gorgeous.

“Absolutely, you guys will be the first ones to know once I do.” Jeremy sat on the edge of the bed next to me and ran a hand over my bare back and resting at the top of my ass. He looked at me with a wicked grin. “I’d say we’re getting along pretty well.”

That had me perk up. My brows wrinkled as I turned to my side. Jeremy’s gaze landed on my very hard cock, and he licked his lips, which only made my cock jump with excitement. I tried to ignore it and whispered, “Who are you talking to?”

“Your mom. Want to say hi?”

My eyes rounded, and I sat straight up, pulling a pillow over my crotch as if she could see it.

Fuck ! Panicking, I was shaking my head.

No, no, no . This couldn’t be happening.

Jeremy laughed and said into the phone, “Sorry, Jackie, Riley’s a little…

indisposed at the moment. No, everything’s fine.

Sure, I’ll have him give you a call later. Love you, too.”

Jeremy hung up, laughing, and handed me my phone. My phone. Oh God, my mom called me, and Jeremy answered. Which wouldn’t be completely unreasonable if he hadn’t been balls deep in me not that long ago. My face burned at the idea of her somehow knowing what we’d done “What did she want?”

“She was just checking in, making sure we were being civil and all.” Jeremy leaned in to kiss me, brushing his lips across mine. My body responded, and my mouth moved with his, completely helpless to fight it.

Jeremy ran a hand through my hair, sending shivers through me. He held the back of my head as he deepened the kiss, the pillow in my lap squished between us. “I can’t tell you how fucking sexy you looked on the bed, so hot and ready for me.”

It would be so easy to get lost in him, except… I put a hand on his chest to stop him. “No. Sorry. We can’t. Not when you were just talking to my mom on the phone. Our mom. I just can’t. I… fuck , I don’t know. It’s too weird right now.”

“All right. Had I known you were going to be presenting yourself to me, I wouldn’t have answered the phone, because… damn! But, it’s okay. I can wait.” He gave me one more soft peck and sat back, giving me a little space to breathe and think.

My hands covered my cheeks as I thought of me sitting here all horned up while my mom was on the phone. “Wait… why did you answer?”

Jeremy shrugged. “I heard your phone ringing, and you were out cold, so I went to the kitchen and got it. When I saw it was her I figured I might as well answer. I’d been meaning to catch up with her anyway. She’s Mom, you know?”

“She’s Mom,” I repeated somberly. Fucking great.

Jeremy cupped my chin and tilted my head up. “It’s okay. We’re okay. We didn’t do anything wrong… except for forgetting a condom. I still feel bad about that. But I don’t regret a second of what happened. In fact, it was one of the best moments of my life.”

I knew he wasn’t one to lie, and to hear him say that made the butterflies flit about. Pushing my mom out of my head for a moment—because she did not belong in that moment—I stared at him and gave him a crooked smile. “It was for me, too.”

Jeremy beamed, lights sparkling in his eyes, sparkling like the Jem he was.

“That makes me really happy to hear it. Now, why don’t you get up, do whatever you have to do, and I’ll fix us something to eat.

Before you start getting too deep in your head, please don’t hide yourself away in here.

Whatever our next step is, we’ll figure out together, okay? ”

I blew out a deep breath. Together sounded pretty nice, actually. And he was right. I couldn’t hide from this. Did I even want to? I wasn’t sure. It felt too big to hide. Felt too good, too. “Okay. No hiding, I promise.”

Jeremy swept his thumb over my cheek before letting go of my chin. “Good. Now, I have no problem if you come out to the kitchen in your birthday suit, too.”

I laughed and gave him a playful nudge. “Asshole.”

“Just for you, darling,” He winked and left the room.

Ridiculous man. A ridiculous man I was completely smitten with.

I smiled to myself. If I wasn’t careful, I could fall for Jeremy all over again.

Though, it never really stopped in the first place, but getting to know him again added a deeper level to it.

It was weird because of our relationship, but…

I wasn’t ready to stop feeling how good I felt with him.

After getting dressed and freshening up in the bathroom, I found him in the kitchen, which was surprisingly devoid of evidence, with no clothes strewn about carelessly.

My eyes went to the spot on the floor where I’d straddled him.

Seeing the shine on the tile made my cheeks flush hot.

“Hey, have you seen my glasses? I don’t remember where they ended up. ”

Jeremy chuckled and pointed to the table. They were folded neatly sitting in front of the spot that had become mine. I grabbed them and put them on. “They were on a chair, but I found them when I was cleaning up, and yes, I mopped the floor. I threw our stuff in the washer, too.”

“Thank you. When did you have time to do all this?”

Jeremy put a couple plates on the table with BLT sandwiches. His was made without bread, the lettuce holding it together. “When I was talking to Jackie, filling her in on my interview, and you were busy having humpy dreams.”

“You cleaned up our sex mess while you were talking to our mom?”

Jeremy snorted. “It’s called multi-tasking.”

“Can we just stop talking about Mom for a bit?” I wrinkled my nose.

“I think that’s probably a good idea.” Jeremy sat across from me. “It’s a little late for lunch, but I wasn’t quite ready for a heavy dinner yet. So, here’s linner.”

“It looks great, thank you. My concept of time is all out of whack right now anyway.” So much had happened since our morning walk to the monument. How long had we spent there? How long had it taken us to get back? Of course, time was the last thing on my mind when we returned to the cabin.

“Did I sleep for a long time?” I asked. Even though he’d handed me my phone, I was in a panic at knowing who had been on the other end of it and never looked at it.

Jeremy gave me a look of adoration. “A couple of hours. You always did conk out pretty hard after sex.”

I was going to have to live with the fact that my cheeks would be in a permanent state of flush around him, especially since I could vividly see everything we did in this kitchen. “Not always. But that was… athletic .”

“Mmm. You surprised the hell out of me, Ri.”

“I surprised myself, too.” I gave an awkward laugh.

It was true. I'd been thinking about it the entire walk home from the monument.

Hearing Jeremy tell the legend again and the conviction in his voice as he said the right person would be worth fighting for, I felt it.

I let go of all the voices in my head that said we couldn't, and I focused on his voice that said we could.

Jeremy reached across the table, holding out his hand to me, and I took it. His playful expression turned serious. “You’re really okay, right? I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything you're not comfortable with.”

How was someone so hot and so sweet at the same time? And how had I gotten lucky enough to have it all directed at me? “Yeah, I think I am. Besides, I kind of took charge the second time.”