Paige gave as good as she got, even boldly nipping his bottom lip. With a low growl, he tore from her mouth and sent her with a warning glare.
“Watch yourself, little girl.”
“I think we established the fact that I’m not a little girl months ago.”
“We did, and like I told you then…you’ll always be my little girl.” He arched a brow, daring her to refute him.
Suddenly, Paige’s eyes grew wide, and she sat up. “I almost forgot. Grandpa and I were eating lunch today at Toot’s when Bart Cochran came in and sat down at the table beside us. The three of us started talking about the Fourth of July parade next month, and the Lion’s Club Ice Cream Social next week, when an older woman strolled in. Bart looked up, did a double take, then bolted out of his chair and hugged her real tight. They started talking a mile a minute and laughing. She said she’d come back to Haven to take one last look at the town. She said was moving to Greece in a few days and wasn’t sure if she’d ever come back to the States.”
From out of the blue, a voice from the past echoed in Austin’s ears… One day I’m going to get out of this tiny town, and travel the world. My first stop is going to be Greece because it’s the most beautiful place on earth.
His gut churned. Bile rose in the back of his throat.
“After Bart invited her to join him for lunch, she sat down and started asking him about everybody in town. I figured she must have lived here once, so I leaned in and asked Grandpa if he knew the woman’s name. He said—”
“Ginny,” Austin murmured.
“Yes. Oh, my god. Was that your Ginny?” Page gaped.
Austin scowled and shook his head. “She never was my Ginny.”
“But she’s the same woman you were in love with, right?”
“Thought I was in love with,” he corrected.
“That doesn’t make sense. She asked Bart about nearly everyone but you.”
“It makes perfect sense.”
“I don’t mean to be catty, but she looks way older than you.”
“That’s because she is,” he forced from his lips.
“And you started having sex with her at sixteen?”
“Yes.”
“How old was she then?”
“I don’t know…twenty-five or twenty-six.”
Paige gaped at him. “That makes her a-a… Did she force you to… you know?”
“She didn’t have to force me to do anything.”
“But you were sixteen.”
“Sixteen-year-old boys have a mighty strong sex drive.”
“But she was a grown woman. She had to know what she was doing was wrong on every level.”
“It never felt wrong. It still doesn’t. It just feels like…what it was, a massive mistake.” Austin blew out a long sigh, then dragged in a deeper breath. “My folks hired Ginny to tutor me in history because I hated the subject and was failing it miserably. So, twice a week, I’d walk to her house after school, and she’d help me memorize dates and events and all that shit so I could pass my tests.”
Memories clouded his vision as they yanked him back in time.
“One day while walking to her house, I tripped and landed in a puddle of mud. When I knocked on her door, she had me stand on the tile of her foyer and told me to strip. So I took off my shirt and pants, and when she bent to pick them up, I got my first look at a woman’s breasts. She wasn’t wearing a bra. Being sixteen and unable to control things like erections, I got hard. When Ginny saw what I was unsuccessfully trying to conceal, she simply smiled and told me she’d seen a penis before, then peeled off my underwear. When my cock popped out like a damn jack-in-the-box, I wanted to die.
“Oh, my god. How embarrassing.”
“It was for a minute, then everything turned surreal. So while my clothes were getting clean in her washing machine, we were getting hot, sweaty, and dirty in her bed.”
“Well, you really do have an enormous and quite talented penis.” Paige blushed.
“I’m glad you enjoy it.” Austin smirked. “Would you like to enjoy it now?”
“Not yet.” Paige grinned. “I want to hear the rest of your story.”