“This takes me back,” I said, perching on the edge of her bed. “The only thing missing are all the boy band posters. Are they hidden in your closet somewhere? We could drag them out and pretend we’re sixteen again, making out in a rush while your parents were working in the barn.”
Cleo leaned against the door, watching me with a dreamy smile. “Sorry to disappoint, but I trashed those the moment I got back from college.”
“Damn. It won’t feel the same, but I’m game if you are,” I said with a wink.
She laughed, but it quickly died. “What’re you doing here, Grady? I told you I would be back by.”
There were a million things I wanted to say, but they were filled with flowery bullshit I just didn’t have patience for. Might as well shoot straight and hope I hadn’t misread her excitement at seeing me standing in her doorway as anything other than relief.
“I wasn’t sure what you meant when you said that,” I replied honestly, staring down at my hands in my lap. “I got scared, bluebird. I thought maybe you weren’t going to come back, or if you did, it would just be to end things. Please know, I had no idea Liv was going to stop by. If I did, I would’ve told you?—”
“I know that,” she said, letting her head fall back against the wooden frame. “And honestly? Your fear is valid. I was scared, too. Scared of my own insecurities, of not being enough, of feeling like an outsider. I panicked and ran.”
Hearing her admit that had me feeling like I’d failed her. Though I couldn’t undo years of trauma in a matter of weeks, I was enamored by the idea that I’d done enough to reassure her of my feelings. That she had always been a part of me, of my life, even when we were apart. How my love for her was written into my music, immortalized in every song I’d sung across sold-out stadium tours. It hurt at first to put those feelings down on paper, but then it became solace.
Should I have gone to therapy somewhere along the way? Yeah, probably. But music had always been my way of working through even the toughest emotions. In the weeks after my mom passed, I became consumed with thoughts of grief and death, dealing with them the only way I knew how: by writing some of my most heartbreaking songs to date.
“The moment I pulled out of your driveway, I wanted to cut the engine and run back to your arms,” she whispered. “I felt so stupid and silly, Grady. That wasn’t the kind of first impression Iwanted to make on Olivia, who, I’m sure, thinks I’m a complete basket case.”
“Are you kidding? She kicked me out of my own house and told me not to come back unless you were with me,” I chuckled.
“A woman after my own heart.”
I held out my hands, elated when she pushed off the door and took them. “Your heart’s already spoken for, bluebird. I claimed it twenty years ago when I asked you on our first date, and I’m here to claim it again if you’ll let me.”
Cleo blinked, letting a single tear fall down her cheek. “It’s yours. It’s always been yours.” I widened my stance, inviting her to step even closer. “I don’t really know what the future looks like, baby, but I know I want to figure it out by your side. No matter what is thrown our way.”
I never considered myself a man in need of reassurance, but I realized I was different with her than with anyone else in my life. Cleo and I had hurt each other in the past, whether intentional or not, and things weren’t always going to be a walk in the park. We’d need to feel comfortable checking in with one another, to be able to talk through situations that’d likely play upon our fears, especially once word got out about our relationship.
“I can’t tell you how good it feels to hear you say that,” I murmured, bringing her fingers to my lips. “Because once we walk out of this bedroom, there’s no going back.”
“You’re mistaken if you ever thought we had a choice to begin with,” she said. “Our past may have been riddled with storms, but we’re still standing after the rain.”
I smiled. “That sounds like a good line for a song.”
Cleo leaned in, leaving only a fraction of space between our mouths as she whispered, “If you’re good, I’ll let you use it.”
“I think you know exactly how good I can be, bluebird,” I whispered, eliminating the space between us in a kiss. I meant for it to be quick, but Cleo deepened it before I had the chanceto pull away. Winding her fingers into my hair, she pulled me closer and forced me to give her exactly what she wanted.
Who was I to tell her no?
I hauled her into my lap, and she immediately began grinding herself down on my growing cock. Gone was the shy girl I used to know. This dominant version of Cleo was quickly becoming one of my favorite sides to her. It wasn’t even because of the sexual gratification I got out of it—which, don’t get me wrong, was fucking fantastic. But it was more about the way she seemed utterly unapologetic and unashamed about the things she wanted. She could boss me around in the bedroom all she wanted, and I’d say, “Yes, ma’am,” before obediently following orders.
My hands fell to her waist, feeling the roll of her hips as she moved. I couldn’t help myself, couldn’t stop the low groan I let slip free. She stopped, slamming her hand over my mouth before I had the chance to utter a muffled apology. “We gotta get out of here before we get caught,” she said a little breathlessly.
I glanced down at my dick, which was straining against the zipper of my jeans. “Yeah, totally. Let me just walk into the living room with your dad while sporting a hard-on. That doesn’t sound like a one-way ticket to getting my ass kicked or anything.”
She giggled, climbing off my lap before yanking me to my feet. “Maybe that’s the key. Think about all thereallypainful ways he’d torture you if he found out what we were just doing.”
Suddenly, I was envisioning some kind of western-themed horror film where Doug chased me through the woods with a chainsaw, laughing maniacally. “Yup, there it goes,” I said, quickly adjusting myself. “All good now.”
“Good.” Cleo leaned up to kiss my cheek. “Let me grab some more clothes, and we can get out of here.”
“Can we pull over on a back road before we get home?” I asked, half-joking. When she gave me a wink before steppinginto the bathroom, it took everything I had not to follow her in, consequences be damned, but I didn’t.
I was a good boy and stayed put.
My phone vibrated, and I pulled it out to see a message from Liv.
