“I’ve stupidly been in love with you since the very first time I laid eyes on you.”
His eyes went hot. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I croaked.
“Well, I can’t say the same,” he admitted. “You were too young when we first met. But it’s been increasingly harder to stay away from you since I met you. Each year that passed, I fell just a little bit deeper.” He chuckled as he cupped my cheeks with both of his hands. One scarred. One not. “And look at me now, so damn in love with you that I had to trick you into moving in next to me.”
I blinked at him. “You what?”
His lips kicked up at the corner, but the smile was lopsided. His scarred side didn’t work quite as well as the other.
But, despite the blemished skin, I could still make out just the slightest of indents.
One day, when we were old and gray, I hoped to see those same dimples on my children’s faces.
“Doc mentioned you were looking for a place. And I knew the place next to me was up for sale.” He shrugged. “I helped them move and everything just so I could get them out of their house faster. And when Searcy showed you this place, I made sure to stay inside so that you didn’t know that I was your neighbor.” He cleared his throat. “She didn’t even know that I was your neighbor. She thought I just lived nearby.”
I sighed. “I was pissed at first, you know.”
“I know.” He snorted. “You made very sure to let me know.”
“I was pissed because it was hard enough staying away from you when we were in the same places. If we were next-door neighbors, I knew that you would figure it out.”
“I didn’t figure out a thing until last night,” he admitted.
The knock on the door next to our faces had both of us looking sideways.
The police officer who’d been working the scene waved, smiling apologetically for interrupting us.
Jasper pushed open the door for him and said, “Hey, man.”
“Hey.” The officer nodded at Jasper. “We’re heading out. Nothing we can do here now. The firetruck turned around, but since nothing is left to burn…”
“Appreciate it, Gable.” Jasper offered him his hand.
“You’re welcome.” He turned his gaze to me. “Sorry for your…loss?”
I grinned. “No one was harmed. I’ll be okay.”
He nodded and went to turn around, but stopped and turned back. “So, the weirdest thing happened. I was outside walking the perimeter and found two plastic boxes filled with cookies right outside where the kitchen was.” He pointed at the porch right next to Jasper’s bike. “I picked them up and put them there. They look unharmed.”
I couldn’t stop it.
I threw my head back and laughed.
“We have to go,” I said as I allowed my hands to smooth into Jasper’s hair and tug.
“The roads are still bad,” he tried.
“The roads became passable an hour ago and you know it.” I chuckled. “Get up here and fuck me.”
He settled between my thighs and grasped his cock with his scarred hand, giving it a rough two pumps before a bead of precum wept from the tip.
I licked my lips at the sight, but didn’t get a chance to swipe it off with my finger.
He was already notching his cock at my entrance and pushing inside, slowly filling me to the absolute brim.
His hands smoothed up the length of my belly, latching onto me just below my rib cage, before he roughly yanked me back onto him.
