“Get. In. The. Van.” He walked forward with each word, watching as her breathing accelerated the closer he got.
Their staring contest didn’t last long before she rolled her eyes and spat out, “Fine.”
She turned and clambered into the back, and he jumped in after her, slamming the door behind them and shutting out the street noises. Bright afternoon sunlight filtered through the windshield and fell across the back, where the delivery racks were folded flat along each wall. The air was still and hot as they eyed each other from opposite sides of the space.
“Well?” Her voice lashed across the distance between them, but he kept his response intentionally calm.
“Well,” he replied.
“What do youwant?” She was shouting now, and fuck, he hoped he was playing this right. He was operating on a hunch based on the hints she’d let drop about her mother, the combative sides of her he’d seen in the past, and the whiteness of her knuckles where they curled into tight fists on her lap.
He went all in, leaning back and crossing one ankle over the other. “You’re obviously looking for a fight. So here I am.”
She flopped back against the opposite wall, hostility rolling off her in waves. “And what am I supposed to do with that?”
He laced his fingers over his stomach, projecting as much stillness as he could. “Talk to me. Yell at me. Punch the wall. Whatever you need. But I’m here for you, babe.”
“Oh, fuck you,” she snarled. “You’re not better than me because you never get mad about anything ever.”
He held his hands out to the sides. “Never said I was better than you or that I never get mad. But you’re the one having the bad day, not me. So take what you need.”
“What I need?” Her eyes glittered as she rolled her head to the side to study him with predatory interest. “And what if what I need is to fuck you until we’re both too tired to move?”
He didn’t dare let the hint of a smile slide across his face, even though that was exactly how he was hoping this would play out.That’swhat he could do for his girl: aggression release through orgasm. Her burning gaze followed his hands as he unzipped his jeans, pushing them down far enough to free his dick, which was well on the way to being ready for her.
“If that’s what you need, come over here and take it.”
He was only able to stroke up and down his length once before she was on him, her fingers clawing at his hair and her mouth on his. No gentle kisses today; they met with a clash of teeth and breath and lips battling for dominance. As she yanked up her skirt, he groped behind him until he retrieved the wallet that had tumbled from his back pocket, emptying the contents until his fingers touched a condom packet. As soon as he’d rolled it on, Josie impaled herself, sinking down until he was fully seated into the tight heat he’d never get enough of. One set of her nails dug into his shoulder and the other skated along his scalp as she worked herself up and down, those wild eyes never leaving his.
“How?” she panted. “So patient. How do you put up with me?” She gasped the words as she ground herself against him, and he absorbed her meaning and her movements and the rough treatment of his hair in silence, keeping his eyes locked on hers, keeping his hands clamped on her hips, letting her know that she might be the storm, but he’d be the cliff she could crash herself into. He could absorb her fury and stay standing. When her head fell back and her movements turned jerky and uncoordinated, he slid one hand up her back to keep her steady while he pressed the heel of his other hand against her where her body met his. He let her work herself against him until she came apart with a sob, and only then did he drive himself up into her hard and fast, following her over the edge.
Afterward, she slumped forward and draped herself over him, the fight draining from her limbs. But her breathing remained ragged, and it took him a moment to realize she was crying, soft and broken. Helpless in the face of her distress, he did the only thing he could think of and cradled her against his chest.
“I’ll get your shirt all wet.” She sniffled and tried to pull away, but he held her closer, and soon enough, her heart-wrenching snuffles quieted to nothing while he gently stroked her back.
Once she’d collected herself, she rolled off his lap and reached for her purse, producing tissues for both of them. She mopped her face while he dealt with the condom as best as he could in the back of a bakery delivery van.
After they’d both cleaned up and straightened their clothes, he asked, “Ready to tell me what’s going on?”
She shifted to sit next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. He reached down and twined his fingers through hers.
“Mommy issues. So pathetic.” She gave a shaky sigh. “I did warn you though.”
“Anything specific?”
“No. And yes.”
He remained still, giving her space to process whatever she was struggling with while every part of him howled with the need to do violence to anyone who’d ever tried to diminish Josie’s vibrancy. Especially her mother.
She shocked the hell out of him by not filling the silence that surrounded them, and the longer she kept her eyes turned downward on their joined hands, the more he chafed at the unnaturalness of her quiet. That was the only possible reason for him to open his mouth and tell her something he’d never shared with anyone before. Not Pops, not Gina. Nobody.
“When I was fifteen, I decided I wanted to live with my mom. Pops was working long hours, trying to get the crops in before the frost hit. We could go full days without seeing each other, and I was…” He sighed. “I was a teenager. Pissed all the time. Hated living on the farm. So I collected all my cash and got on a bus to Nashville. That was back when my mom still sent birthday cards with return addresses.”
Just like that, Josie shifted into comfort mode. “Oh, Erik. Was she not happy to see you?”
Her eyes flew up to his, and the sadness there, sadness forhim, made it hard to swallow. But he forced himself to continue, to recall the look in a different set of eyes from thirteen years ago. The same blue as his own, but dull and unwelcoming.
“Definitely not. Her new boyfriend didn’t know about her teenage son, and she told me she had a big opportunity at the Grand Ole Opry that she didn’t want me to ruin.” He laughed without humor. “It was an interview to work as a barback at a restaurant nearby. For that, she put me back on a bus. Pops didn’t even know I’d been gone.”
