“More.” The word tore out of me.
He shifted, and I saw stars. My god.
I held onto him, unable to do anything but take what he gave. I felt the heat of another orgasm gathering. I surged, meeting him thrust for thrust, needing to feel every inch of him as he filled me and surrounded me with his body.
He crashed his lips onto mine and lost the rhythm above me, and I whimpered. Then he wrenched his mouth away and met my eyes again. “Come for me, baby. Because I—”
I shattered, tipping over the edge and into near oblivion as I felt him stiffen above me.
He groaned, his cock jerking inside me with his own climax, my walls squeezing him tight. He buried his head in my neck and I wrapped my arms around him, both of us holding onto each other for dear life as we rode out the waves of pleasure.
I whispered a curse, squeezing him hard with all of me. “I…” But I had no words.
“That…” he whispered as he fell on top of me, spent.
I shivered at his breath on my skin. “Exactly.”
After a minute, Aaron shifted onto his side, propping his head in his hand to gaze down at me.
I smiled contentedly. “Can we do that again?”
“Oh, I plan on us doing that again,” he leaned to kiss me, “and again,” another kiss, “and again.”
“No plans on stopping?”
“None.”
EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER: Devon
For once, I wasn’t running late. I was a solid ten minutes ahead of schedule, and thank goodness, because the caffeine gods were beckoning me to Daily Dose.
Never mind that Aaron had set the coffee pot to go off at 5:30 a.m., with the precise intention of the aroma luring me out of bed since he was already on shift at the firehouse. And it had worked. But Jodi had asked me to come by with the promise of the perfect oat milk lavender latte, and besides, I’d discovered that copious amounts of coffee were needed when it came to dealing with the students of Talladega Middle School.
Bless their hearts.
Actually, no. Bless mine. And their parents’.
In fact, let’s bless everyone, everywhere, who has to deal with kids going through puberty.
I put my new-to-me Subaru Outback into park and smiled contentedly. I’d never loved a car more. I’d purchased it with part of the modest profit off the sale of Gigi’s house, which of course I’d split with Rick over his objections. I’d kept chanting “twins, twins, twins” and “college fund” as I shoved the check at him. He’d eventually relented. And Jodi had already paid back a lot of the loan I’d given her, too.
I grabbed my purse and headed into the shop. As always, Jodi was behind the counter alongside Darius, who she’d brought on full-time. Jodi flitted from one station to the next, brewing coffee, pouring espresso, creating the perfect latte and then swiveling to nab a pastry and place it on one of the mismatched plates she used. She saw me and waved, her matte red lips parting in a smile.
I gestured with a silent Should I wait in line? question, and she beckoned me forward.
“Step over there and I’ll get your drink.” Then she turned to serve the next customer in the long line.
I looked around. It seemed more crowded than usual in here, but maybe that was standard for an early Wednesday morning. I was rarely in here on a weekday morning any more. After I’d sold Gigi’s house, Aaron had convinced me to move in despite my misgivings. Only they weren’t of the ‘will I get the itch to leave’ type—they were ‘will he change his mind about me’ type. But he’d persevered, and the mornings he wasn’t at the station were mornings spent rolling around in bed with him.
The past year hadn’t been the easiest, because it turns out we had a delightful set of issues to work through with each other. But slowly, I’d managed to lay down most, if not all, of my fears, and he’d done the same. We weren’t perfect, and we probably never would be. But we kept on showing up for each other, and that’s what mattered.
“Here you go!” Jodi said, stepping around the counter and handing it to me.
“Thanks. What’s up? Did you need to talk to me?”
She nodded. “Come over here.” She led me to the corner of the shop I’d come to think of as mine. It’s where I always gravitated, whether talking to Jodi and Ceci, sharing a decadent slice of cake with Mrs. Withers, grading student papers, or having a coffee with Aaron while he was on shift.
I tucked myself into the plush velvet chair and took a sip of the latte. “Delicious, as always.”
She squeezed her hands together and bit back a smile. “Thanks.”
I peered at her. “You’re acting weird.”
“Me?”
I nodded. “Yeah. You.” I leaned forward and lowered my voice. “Are you finally going to say something to Price?”
Her cheeks burned as she bit her lower lip. God, she was the cutest.
“Well?” I prompted.
“He’s never going to see me that way, Dev.” She shrugged and looked at her watch. “Oh, lookathatgottago,” she said, stringing her words together and bolting away.
I scooted to the edge of the chair and looked around. What was going on?
The front door opened and Samson came in, heading straight for me, his paws skittering across the wooden floor’s varnish.
