Moments later, I feel it hit me, the wave of relief as I come deep inside of her, thrusting so deep that I can’t think of anything else. It is as though our bodies are coming together in the way that they have always been meant to...
By the time that both of us come back down to earth, I am still inside of her, and she is breathing hard, her eyes pinned to the ceiling above us, and a smile spreading out over her gorgeous face. I kiss her cheek and pull out, and she lies back on the bed.
"That was..." she murmurs, and I cover her mouth with mine before she can get another word out.
I don’t need her to say anything. I just need her to stay here, with me.
Maybe forever.
As long as it takes, at least, for the two of us to get our fill.
8
Spring
I wake the next morning to the sound of birds chirping in Shotgun’s yard, mixed with the soft sound of his breath as he lies next to me. I reach over nervously, sneaking a glance at the slumbering man beside me, and I can’t help but smile.
Got my first tattoo and popped my cherry in one day, huh? That has to count for something. He rolls over, wraps his arms around me tight, and I nestle into him happily. Yeah, I can’t see myself wanting to go anywhere for the rest of the day. I close my eyes, and I am about to doze back off to sleep once more when I hear my phone buzzing where I left it in my dress pocket the night before.
"Hmm?” Shotgun murmurs from behind me, and I groan.
"I’m sorry, I think I have to get this," I tell him. I’m sure that it’s going to be my father, asking where the hell I spent the night, and, though I don’t much feel that he needs an answer to that, I am sure that he is not going to back off until he gets one.
"You sure you can’t just stay here with me?" he asks, and his hand slides down my thigh, fingers tracing playfully against my skin in a way that makes me shiver with want.
"Let me just see what this is about first," I tell him, and I reach over to grab my phone, making sure to keep the covers wrapped around me. I don’t want to get out of this bed if I can avoid it. I want to stay here with him all day, doze in his arms, listen to the steady sound of his breathing and his heartbeat as he sleeps. I have never spent the night with a man before, but now that I have done it once, I am sure that I am going to be doing everything I can to make it happen again, as soon as possible.
I check the text that’s waiting for me – and my stomach drops when I see that it’s from Todd. Surely my father hasn’t sent him to do his dirty work, has he...?
And then, I open the text. And everything feels like it is spinning out of control.
Shotgun must have noticed the tension that entered my body, because he leans over my shoulder and plants a kiss against my arm.
"Are you okay?" he asks. My hand is shaking so much that I can hardly make sense of the message in front of me. It’s from Todd, yes, but it’s not about where I spent the night.
It’s about my father. And it’s telling me that he’s in the hospital. It’s timestamped a couple of hours ago, and it was the follow-up text that woke me up. We need to catch the next flight ASAP!! He’s in surgery.
How long has he been in there? And what am I doing, so far from his side?
"I need to go," I tell Shotgun at once, and I scramble out of bed, trying to grab my clothes and text Todd back at the same time, giving him my address.
"What are you talking about?" Shotgun asks. I can hear a tinge of hurt in his voice, though I am sure he is doing his best to hide it. I want to tell him that this has nothing to do with him, that last night was perfect, but my brain is so full of panic and distress that I can’t think of anything but getting out of here.
"I have – I just need to go," I blurt out. I can feel the tears pricking the back of my eyes. I need to get out of here. What happened to him? What am I going to do now? Is this my punishment, for going out into the world and doing something like this? Whatever happened to my father, I should have been there to stop it, should have been close by to make sure that it didn’t happen.