He shifts in my arms, looking into my eyes. “You really think I can make it in college?”
“Of course you can. But I've never seen you more lit up—outside of me fucking you—than when you talk about hunting, fishing, and camping. Hell, you lit up just now, talking about putting a quarter panel on a truck.”
His cheeks go rosy, and whether it’s because I mentioned the fucking or from that sense of pride he has for a job well done, I don’t care. I kiss his lips because I can’t help it.
My voice gets a little rough, but I keep going. “You’re a special guy, Knox. I just want to make sure that when you go off to college, it’s to find something more than just a job in an office. I want you to find something that makes you light up inside, just like a lightning bug.”
“Well, my assison fire after you tore it up last night.”
I roll my eyes again, laughing with him. Taking a breath, I try to make him understand. “Baby, it’s just…you deserve to feel like that. Always. And maybe nobody ever told you that. And I swear, if college is where you get that, then go after it with all of your heart. Seriously. But if you're on this big adventure, then make sure to allow yourself to find answers in unexpected places.”
Like Elgin, Texas, for instance.
Shut up, Carter.
He takes a big, deep breath and lets it out, then leans forward, putting his forehead on my shoulder. I wrap him in a hug and run my hands up and down his back until I feel the last of the tension leave his body.
“I know I'm just a temporary speedbump in your life. But it would kill me if you weren't happy. It would just kill me,” I whisper into his hair.
“Okay,” he says, his gentle fingers finding my nipple once again. “But you’re not a speed bump. You’re a sex trap.” His grin is wicked as his tongue traces the other nipple.
“Mm, baby. You keep doing that, and I’ll lightning bug your ass all over again tonight.”
He gives me a hard suck, sending a sharp dagger of want down my belly.
“Oh no. The hot mechanic is going to punish me with sex. Whatever will I doooooo?”
“Brat.”
I push him down, covering his body with mine as I kiss and kiss and kiss him. I make him pay for spinning me up by edging him until he’s begging for it and then edging him just a bit more. By the time I slip into him, he’s babbling, cursing, and laughing. We both come so hard that I barely have the energy to wipe us off with my T-shirt before we fall asleep holding each other.
I wake up the next morning knowing that I would give up anything if I could somehow convince him to stay.
Chapter9
Knox
Mom wants to know why I haven't sent her any pictures of Austin yet, and why so many of my videos center around a sausage restaurant in Elgin. I'm not sure why—maybe because I don't want people to think I’m a failure—but I haven’t documented the whole drama with the car. Or, I have, but I haven't uploaded anything.
Either way, I’ve got to come up with something, or my mother will send in a search party. So I set an alarm for Saturday morning and sit outside on the top step of Carter's balcony, cutting together my misadventures in Elgin. I make it look like a side quest instead of a pathetic breakdown on all levels and add a peppy soundtrack so it reads like comedy, not tragedy.
I post the video and make some breakfast before heading back out to the balcony. Not ten minutes later, my mother’s name appears on my phone. Just as I suspected it might.
“Why didn't you tell me you’re having car trouble?”
I put her on speakerphone so I can keep drinking my coffee and picking at my eggs. “Because I needed to figure it out on my own, Mom. Besides, you saw the video. I was able to trade working at the shop for the maintenance on the car. They’re already finished with it, but now I'm letting some local vocational students test out their upholstery prowess on it. It’s sort of become this community project.”
“But where are you staying? Are you safe? Are these people taking advantage of you?”
“I'm safe, Momma. I promise if I needed help, I would've called you. But I've got good people helping me, and I'm staying in the apartment above the shop, and no one is taking advantage of me.”
Yep. Everything I'm doing is with my full consent.
“But that guy who owns the shop! He looks somean.”
“No, Momma. That's Carter. He was just scowling at an engine block. He's been known to do that, and I'm told that if he scowls hard enough, it just fixes itself.”
“Oh, you. Stop trying to make me laugh. You look a little thin. Are you eating enough?”
