He quickly hushed me by pressing his lips against mine. His kisses purged my mind of every thought, question, and scenario until it became a blank canvas.
“Please,” he whispered as his mouth brushed back and forth.
I should’ve been leaving to get a good night's sleep. Work started bright and early on the farm, and I was already cutting it close. But as I gazed at Owen’s shimmering gray eyes, I couldn’t say no. Instead, I asked him to grab my phone for me and turn off the lights.
By the time he returned with my phone and blanketed the room in darkness aside from the moonlight coming from the window, I was tucked under the covers with a corner pulled back for him to slide into bed.
In the subtle blue glow, Owen tugged down his last remaining stitch of clothing and slipped in beside me. He trailed his fingers up my exposed arm until they reached my shoulder, then neck, the face. They combed through my hair as he leaned forward and pressed his mouth against my lips again.
I moaned in contentment until he pulled back and tucked me against him.
“This changes things,” he murmured.
And though I felt the same, I kept reminding myself this thing with Owen was temporary. He was leaving, probably sooner rather than later if his coach got his way.
And every once in a while, the nasty reminder that he was about to walk down the aisle just a few short weeks ago to marry another woman would make itself known. It was clear to me, and most people who knew him, that he hadn’t loved his ex-fiancée, but he had planned to make the commitment regardless of how he felt.
And that made it impossible for me to believe he was ready for something more than a quick fling. Even though my heart strangely decided she wanted a piece of Owen.
Chapter Fifteen – Owen
My days felt lighter since the night Aspen stayed over at my place. I’d woken at four in the morning, only a couple hours after we’d fallen asleep, with her delectable mouth on my cock.
It was the fucking best blowjob I’d ever had. And not because Aspen was skilled, but simply because it had been from her. I knew she was as innocent as they came. The moment I pushed a finger inside her slick pussy and found it tight beyond measure, all signs pointed to a virgin.
She’d hinted at it enough in the time we spent together, but it was different when I could feel it. I’d had many women claim to be virgins, or claimed I was their first time after the fact, but none were as believable as my cricket.
It still made me chuckle whenever her face hardened each time I said her nickname. But in the bedroom, she nearly purred. Which left me thinking she secretly liked it.
We hadn’t spent as much time together since that night. I knew she was busy with the farm, and I tried to give her the space she needed. Not because I wanted to, but because she was purposely ignoring me… again. I was growing addicted to her. Her taste, her smell, the way she made me laugh even when she wasn’t trying. It made me realize I’d been pretending with Vanessa. I guessed I wanted it to be real, but I never felt an iota for Vanessa what I did for Aspen.
Which caused a whole other problem.
Vanessa reached out to my lawyers. She wanted to fight me for the house and the ring. Which was ridiculous, because the house was in my name, and I had it prior to our engagement. The ring had been a hefty purchase that she selected, but there was no way a judge would rule in her favor. Especially since video of her indiscretions before the wedding started making their rounds. Mostly from guests, but a few of the hotel staff members posted their own takes, catching the couple in multiple areas of the resort.
I was certain her modeling agency and their lawyers were trying to get the videos taken down as fast as they could, but replicas continued to pop up with a flourish.
I no longer cared. My lawyers were certain it was going nowhere, though they suggested giving her money to keep her quiet. I wasn’t about to play that game with Vanessa. She graced enough covers and walked numerous catwalks for high-end designers. She didn’t need my money.
Or at least that’s what I’d been told by her and her “best friend.” I never expected something was going on between the two of them, but maybe I’d been blinded by my career. Baseball took over most of my life. If I wasn’t out on the field, I was training. There was very little personal time. Though, in hindsight, a lot of my teammates had families and looked forward to each day off they had. Many traveled with us when they could.
I’d never thought about having a family in the stands. Vanessa was only interested when the Coyotes were in the Championships and the game was on national television. Otherwise, she told me numerous times that baseball was boring and that there was no point in her sitting in the family section.
My coach tried to convince me to get my mom to come out, but I’d been hesitant and declined.
With our rocky relationship, I knew she would mess with my game. I’d find myself taken back to a time I’d rather not remember. To this day, I would never know how I held myself together all those years I played while living under my father’s thumb.
I was driving my sports car the back way to the bed-and-breakfast, where I was meeting my mother for lunch. Though most roads in Ashfield took a good while to travel, this route took me around one mountain that created a boundary around our town.
Our?
It had been years since I considered Ashfield my home. It was nothing more than a place I once lived. Whenever a fan or reporter asked where I was from, I always said California. But something recently changed how I felt about the picturesque town.
It was… different. Or more specifically, I was different while I was here. I’d made friends with owners in the shops. Chuck at the grocery store chatted with me about his grandchildren and their love of science. Garret, owner of the hardware store, emailed me a bunch of links about how to fix things around a home, since I kept coming in and asking questions when I decided I want to replace the back deck for Rory. The owners of the coffee shop knew my order the moment I walked inside their building. And Ronald McEntire now had a signed picture hung of me and him in his restaurant. With a standing reservation.
My teammates were still amazed at that feat.
Ashfield was different. So was I. And I knew exactly why the change happened.
The road swerved and wound around the mountainous landscape, bringing me to the backside of my family’s property—or what used to be our property. It belonged to the Easterlys, who now owned a massive expanse of land in Ashfield. As I passed the overgrown grass and the lake that looked like it had seen better days, I tried not to feel a sense of bitterness. I knew selling the land was the best thing my mom could have done. Not only to rid herself of the debts my father left, but to rid herself of my father all together.
God, I hated that man.
I’d slowed down as I crested a hill and stared over at the house that looked worse than when I’d seen it a few weeks ago. I’d done everything in my power to keep from coming back to the property.
What caught my eye was the slew of large equipment parked beside the house. A bright green dumpster stood out against the red brick and changing leaves of the trees.
Anger at what my father had done bubbled up to the surface.
“Fuck you, old man. I hope you’re rotting in hell right now.”
Off in the distance, a bird called out, and I took it as confirmation that he was decaying away somewhere. Mom and I didn’t have a funeral for him. We didn’t even claim his body. Once the police identified him in the cheap motel room, surrounded by booze, that was all the validation we needed. It wasn’t until we had to collect his things that I even paid much attention to the fact that he died.
My tires squealed as my foot punched the accelerator, propelling the car forward. Traveling faster than necessary, I nearly spun out around a tight turn that led me toward the Easterly event venue.
The renovated barn stood majestically at the top of a hill, with a gorgeous view of the mountain range just beyond. I knew from pictures in Rory’s house that the venue was home to some of the best sunset views around.
A few minutes down the road, Sunny Brook Farms came into view, and my heartbeat sped up. With the windows down, the sound of combines and tractors could be heard over the purr of my engine. I wondered if Aspen was out there wearing those denim cutoffs I loved so much.
