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I cried out, tightening around him. He grunted. His fingers brushing my hair out of my face. I looked up to find him staring down at me with adoration in his expression. I was terrified of what would come out of his mouth, so I kissed him. And he came hard and fast inside of me.
“Fuck,” he moaned against me, pumping into me twice more before stilling.
“Fuck,” I repeated.
He put his forehead against mine. “You’re magnificent.”
I smiled sleepily, sure that I looked thoroughly fucked, and then kissed him again. He pulled out of me, and I went to the bathroom to clean up. Then I collapsed down onto our pillow fort, snuggling close to the dying fire. I didn’t want reality to crash back into my life just yet. So, I let Jordan pull me tight against him. My back to his chest. He drew circles on my skin until sleep was tugging me under. He kissed my shoulder once, soft and gentle.
I heard him whisper something behind me. Something that sounded a lot like, “I wish you were staying.” Those traitorous, vulnerable words that I’d uttered to him the last time we did this.
But then I was asleep, and I was sure that I’d misheard.
Part II
Friends with Benefits
8
Jordan
Annie was gone when I woke up.
I rubbed my eyes and stared at the empty pillow fort, half-full bottles of wine, and ash-covered fireplace. Dawn had risen bright and blinding through the living room windows. The precise reason that I’d designed my bedroom facing the other direction. I grumbled under my breath and then pulled sweats and a shirt back on.
I left the pillows strewn across the living room floor along with the bottles of wine and glasses.
Her purse was gone from the island. I trudged to the front door and saw that her car was missing as well. She’d disappeared sometime in the middle of the night without even waking me up or saying good-bye. Damn, that was cold.
I reached for my phone with a yawn and saw a dozen text messages from Julian, Hollin, and my mother but none from Annie. She’d really just ghosted.
I wasn’t sure what I’d expected from her. We hadn’t even been on speaking terms until last night and then all of that had happened so fast. We probably wouldn’t have even had sex if we’d both been sober. I hadn’t planned for it, but I sure as fuck wouldn’t regret it. Despite all the animosity that lingered between us, it was incredibly easy to be with Annie. It was how we’d tumbled into bed the first night. And last night too.
But if this was just another one-night stand, then fine. We’d done that once before and I was the one who left. It was only fair for her to get her chance.
I cleaned up the house, replacing the pillows, wine, and glasses before taking a scalding shower and getting dressed for my meeting with Julian and Hollin. I was supposed to have met with Sophia last night and gotten her take on the winery purchase. She worked with all the wineries in the area and had insider information that I’d told them both I needed before making a decision.
Obviously…there hadn’t been a meeting.
Nothing I could do about it now.
I grabbed a coffee from a local shop on the way to the winery and guzzled it before I arrived. I should have gotten a second. My mind was still fuzzy from the night before, and I hadn’t felt up to eating anything. Skipping my run had been bad enough.
When I drove into what had once been West Texas Winery, nostalgia washed over me. The barn still looked ramshackle, as if at any point, the entire thing might collapse in on itself. The surrounding vineyards, in contrast, were well maintained and beautiful, even in the barren January morning. Farther down the property was the main processing building and cellars. I’d seen detailed pictures of the facilities, but this was the first time that I’d been on the property for an assessment. First time since Annie and I had been here three years ago.
Julian and Hollin were standing in front of the barn with their arms crossed, looking up at it with broad smiles. I wasn’t sure that we saw the same thing when we looked at it.
“You made it,” Julian said.
He stepped away from Hollin and shook my hand. My brother was the main reason that I was here. Annie had hit it on the head when she said that I couldn’t say no to Julian. I’d been his protector my entire life.
In the beginning, it had been in elementary school when other kids picked on him for siding with the less popular kids. He always had this charismatic way about him and love for those others saw as weaker. He could have handled it himself, but I scared the kids who’d picked on him, and it stopped. In high school, he was a star athlete, running circles around everyone else on the soccer pitch. Even away at college, I kept recruiters from taking advantage of his generous nature. All of that was easy. But it was our father who was the hardest thing to protect him from. Our parents had briefly split when we were younger, and our dad had started a parade of girlfriends. I took the brunt of it and kept Julian from as much of it as I could. And I tried to shield him from our father for the years of manipulative, narcissistic behavior that followed our parents getting back together. It had been a relief when we finally saw the worst of him and could cut ties after the divorce.
