Adjusting myself, I thrust into her in one punishing movement. She gasps and then moans, letting me fill her completely. I fuck her hard and fast, the frames on the wall bouncing haphazardly around us.
My thumb comes between us to circle her clit while my mouth covers her nipple. I bite and tug, sending Cole over the edge.
As soon as her pussy clenches around me, I can’t hold on anymore. My thrusts become erratic as I push and push and push into her, wringing out my orgasm. The primal side of me wants her to leak fordays.
“Fuck I’m going to be sore tomorrow,” she rasps, struggling to breathe.
“And the next day,” I reply, licking a bead of sweat off of her neck.
“Menace.” She smirks. I let her slide down the front of my body as she gets her feet back under her. Taking her mouth in mine, I kiss her thoroughly, not wanting to break away from her.
We rinse off together in the shower and a pang of sadness hits me square in the chest when the last of Cole’s lipstick washes off.
“I want another tattoo,” I tell her later, once I’ve settled onto my side of the bed. She looks up from the doorway, scowling at Ernest who is curled up next to me. I think I’m his new favorite after I took pictures for him on our hike.
Her eyes flick to my face. “Where’d you get those?”
I touch the reading glasses I put on after we got out of the shower. “I left a pair here for when I spend the night. Obviously,” I tease.
Cole sighs before joining me in bed. “You can’t just start leaving all of your things here.”
“You’re right.” I pick up the romance book that I definitely left here, pretending to read. “We should go look at houses soon. Then all of our things can be in one place.”
She tilts her head, trying to get a good look at the cover of my book. “That book isn’t mine either,” she grumbles.
“I know.” I wink. “I left it here.”
“Oh my God, you’re insufferable.”
“Thank you.”
“And we can’t go look at houses. I can barely afford school and this apartment.”
My brow furrows. “You shouldn’t be paying for school. And I have enough saved for a house.”
Her head tilts side to side. “I’m not technically paying for school with that new grant, but after my scholarship suddenly went away last semester, I’m not taking any chances. Any extra money I have is staying in my bank account in case of emergency.”
“There won’t be an emergency.”
“You don’t know that.” She meets my eyes, tucking the quilt around her before scratching the top of Ernest’s head.
“Yes, I do.”
“What if something happened to Ernest? What if I needed a medical procedure done? What if the apartment springs a leak and I lose all of my furniture?”
“If there’s an emergency,” I correct, “you won’t need to dip into your savings. I’ll take care of it. I’ll take care of you.”
“How do you have all of this money anyway? Am I allowed to ask that?”
“You, Red, are allowed to ask anything you want.”
Cole gives me ago ongesture.
“As you know—and so affectionately refer to me—I was a dreaded Finance Bro after college. I didn’t have anything else to focus on except for my job so I rose pretty quickly through the ranks. In fact, I’m pretty positive they were about to put me on the partner track when I left.” I look down at Cole, my brain flying through the many different ways my life could look different right now.
“Anyway, I lived in a tiny apartment that was haphazardly furnished with hand-me-down furniture. My only travel was coming back here to Sassafras to see my family. Most of what I made, I saved or invested. A few of my investments continue to do really, really well. I think I just got lucky, honestly.”
“If I know you, you worked your ass off to get where you are.” Cole eyes me. “And probably also got lucky,” she adds, grinning.
