Every Time I Fall (Orchid Valley 3)

“I’m not seeing anyone, Dean. Have you forgotten why we started this to begin with? I don’t exactly have guys lining up—this milkshake’s not bringing the boys to the yard.”

I still think she’s wrong about that, but I have another concern at the moment. “But there’s someone that you want. Or someone you wanted before we started this.”

She swallows. “Right now I don’t want anyone but you.”

That’s what I needed. Maybe it won’t be enough tomorrow, but today it’s a start.

Claiming her mouth in a fierce kiss, I pour all of my need and hope and jealousy into the sweep of my tongue and the scrape of my teeth over her lips. I slip my hand down the front of her dress and inside her bra, cupping her breast. I graze my thumb across her taut nipple. “I want this in my mouth,” I say. I cup her face with my other hand and trace her lips with my thumb. “And I want these on my cock again. I’ll never fucking get enough of that.”

Her cheeks flush darker. God, she’s beautiful. “Go ahead and go home,” she says. “I’ll meet you there.”

“I’ve heard that before,” I say, giving her a pointed look and then softening it with a smile. “If you’re not ready—”

“No. It’s not that.” She swallows. “Better yet, I’ll go home first and you can meet me there. That way if I chicken out, I’ll still have to face you.”

“I just need to run home and let Trixie out first.”

Her eyes light up. “Bring her. I don’t want to feel guilty about taking you away from her all night. And she’ll distract me if I’m too nervous.”

I hold her gaze for a long time. “I promise you have nothing to be afraid of.”

“I don’t want to disappoint you.”

“Never.” I brush my lips against hers.

“What are you guys doing in the dark?”

The hallway lights blaze to life and then suddenly I’m standing there in front of Stella with my hand down Abbi’s dress.

Abbi shoves me away, but it’s too late.

Stella’s eyes are wide. She knows what she saw. “What— When— How . . .?”

My heart races as I stare at Stella, waiting for her to deny it somehow.

“Holy shit,” Stella says, gaze bouncing back and forth between us before landing on me. “Kace said I was imagining things.”

Abbi’s cheeks are bright red as she meets Stella’s eyes. “Sorry about the secrecy. We’re just . . .” She cuts her gaze to meet mine for a beat. “It’s not what you think.”

Stella blinks at her. “What is it, then?”

I close my eyes, not ready to hear the truth from Abbi’s lips.

“I don’t want to put a label on it, Stell,” Abbi says. “Please?”

When I open my eyes, Abbi’s staring at me, as if she’s nervous about my reaction to this request. In truth, I’m relieved. If Abbi’s willing to do what she’s asking Stella to let us do—to feel it out before we put any labels or limits on it—I couldn’t ask for anything more. It’s not enough, but it’s a start.

Stella gives me one last worried look before nodding to Abbi. “Okay. I . . . No problem.”

When she’s gone, I turn back to Abbi. “You okay?” Two of her friends know now, I realize. Our secret isn’t so secret anymore, and I desperately want her to be okay with that.

“I think so.” She shrugs. “I should’ve known we couldn’t keep a secret for long.”

She flashes a tentative smile, and I kiss it away to keep myself from asking any more questions—to keep myself from saying anything she’s not ready to hear. “Go home. Drive safely. I’ll see you soon.”

Chapter Nineteen

Abbi

I’m grateful for my new, insatiable lust. It’s the only thing keeping me from calling Dean and telling him I changed my mind. I want him, and I trust him, and I know it’ll be different with him, but I also know he won’t let me get away with my old tricks.

I haven’t been with a guy with the lights on in three years. The last time I was, I thought it’d be okay because that guy said he loved my curves, but then he spent the whole time he was inside me closing his eyes because, as he told me after when he suggested I “do a little toning,” “only tits and ass should jiggle.”

The last guy I was with didn’t care that I wanted the lights off. He just wanted to get off. To be fair, so did I. We were both buzzed, and lonely and orgasms don’t require a clear view. It was over way too quickly. He rolled over and started snoring like a freight train, and I was so turned off by his lack of effort toward my own pleasure that I didn’t even bother taking matters into my own hands.