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“Are you ever going to tell me who this girl is? You’re never at home anymore. What’s the big secret? She actually ashamed of you? I mean, I get it if she is.” The asshole just laughs at me.
No. Maybe. I don’t fucking know.
“Fuck you. I’ll see you at the Goldrush.”
Jasper’s words hit a little too close to home. When I’m with Lily, it’s pretty clear that she’s into me. I never sleep at home. I spend every night at Lily’s house, cooking her dinner, talking, and then having sex. I fall asleep with Lily curled up against me, my arms wrapped tight around her every single night. I always wake up before her, and she’s never not touching me. I might cling onto her like a bear with a pot of honey, like she said, but she’s always touching me, too. Sometimes it’s her leg tossed over mine. Sometimes it’s her hand pressed against my chest. Usually on my ribs near the lemon tattoo I got for her. And sometimes it’s her lips against my skin. None of that’s in my head.
But the only place we get to act like we’re together is behind closed doors. At her house or behind the closed windows at her shop. I haven’t pushed her because I know she needed time to get used to the idea of us being together for real. But I’ve given her time. I’m tired of sneaking around. I want to tell my family and the whole damn town about us. I’m proud to call her mine. I just don’t think she feels the same way about me. At least, not yet.
I showered and put on a fresh pair of jeans and a t-shirt that says Sexual Healing before heading to Western Ridge. But that’s all I did. Lily never seems to care what I’m wearing or how dirty I am after a day working at the farm. If I’m really filthy, she’ll hop in the shower with me at her place. And I’m not trying to get a second look from anyone else at the Goldrush tonight. Only her. Only my Lemon.
When I get to Western Ridge, I park in my usual spot at the back of the grocery store parking lot across the street from the Goldrush. I started parking here because it was a good spot to leave my truck if I ended up going home with someone, but now it’s just habit.
After nodding to Tony, the bouncer who’s worked the front door of the Goldrush since I was a teenager sneaking in with a fake ID, I head inside. The room might be dark, but they lined the walls with old neon signs, giving everything a supernatural glow. My eyes are scanning for Lily before they even fully adjust to the darkness in the bar. The Goldrush is packed tonight. And it should get messy as usual with this layout. You’ve got to go past the bar every time you walk in or out of the Goldrush or go to the bathroom, so you know everyone is grabbing another drink. There’s a long line at the bar and it looks like only two bartenders working tonight.
Lily and her friends are already here. I spot her before I even make it past the bar. I can’t take my eyes off of her, not that she even notices.
She’s glowing. Wearing that white silk dress she wore when Selena had everyone over to the farm after dad got out of the hospital. Normally, I like Lily in anything tight where I can see every one of her curves. But this dress is soft and shiny, like silk or satin, or something. It sort of skims down over her body. It might not be tight, but it leaves nothing to the imagination. Thin little straps are all that cover her shoulders, and the dress falls down to a deep V in the front. I don’t know what kind of bra fits under this kind of dress or if she’s even wearing one. And the thought of her not wearing one… fuck me. This woman is going to have me coming in my jeans just looking at her. The dress is short, stopping before it even gets halfway down her thighs. And of course, she’s wearing it with her old scuffed up brown cowboy boots. Her hair and makeup are all done up like she’s going on a date or something. She looks fucking perfect. I can’t wait to get my hands on her.
My eyes are on her when she spots me, too. Her face lights up, and she gives me a big smile. The same big smile she gives me when I show up on her back porch every night. Then it’s like she remembers we’re at the Goldrush, and she looks around her, afraid someone might have seen her smile at me. No one saw. And no one cares. I wish she’d finally get that.
It kills me to not walk right over to her, wrap my arms around her, and show her how much I like how she looks in that dress in front of everyone. But I know she wouldn’t want that. She still needs more time, so that’s what I’m going to give her. Even if it’s fucking killing me.
I’m at the bar getting a beer when Jasper walks in, so I make it two. Then we set up shop against the wall near the bar where I can keep my eyes on Lily.
I’m not hideous to look at, so girls talk to me all night. Mostly ones I know from high school, or just from around town. But even though I’m not trying to be a dick, I don’t hear a word they say. I don’t even see them. I only see Lily.
I see her talk and laugh with her friends. They’re Lily and Jacks’ age, though, so we didn’t exactly hang out in high school. We weren’t even in high school at the same time. And I see her talk to guys. When she dances, it’s mostly with her friends, but there are a bunch of guys in there, too. And it takes every ounce of common sense I have in me not to march over there and rip their hands off of my girl. I know that’d piss her off more than I’m willing to risk. So, I stand across the bar and watch while my girl has fun with everyone but me.
“Why are you glaring at Lily? She do something to piss you off?” Jasper asks.
“Something like that,” I mutter, taking a long pull of my beer.
A few minutes later, I see Lily head for the bathroom. Pushing off the wall I’m leaning against, I hit Jasper on the arm to get his attention from the girl he’s talking to. Jasper never has any trouble getting a girl to talk to him, either. Not before he joined the military, and definitely not now. “I’m going to take a leak.”
One of the few nice things about this place is that the bathrooms here aren’t stalls. There’s three. And each one is a room all by itself.
Right when I get to the edge of the hall leading to the bathrooms, I see Lily walk into the third one down at the end. The other two are full. So, me lining up outside seems reasonable, and not at all like I’m a stalker. Until a pretty brunette steps out of the first bathroom and offers it to me.
“I’m all good. Just waiting on my girl,” I tell her the lie easily. It doesn’t feel like a lie. Lily is my girl.
The way I can’t stop thinking about her. The way she catches her breath before I kiss her. The way she comes for whatever part of me is rubbing on her clit. The way that sometimes she comes with just my dick inside her and nothing else. None of that is an accident. This girl is mine. I just need to convince her of that.
What the hell is she doing in there? My girl is keeping me waiting when all I want is to get my hands on her. When Lily finally opens the door, I’ve completely lost my cool. I’m standing right outside, arms above my head, and my hands on the doorframe.
“Shit! Jameson, you scared me!”
“What took so long? What the hell were you doing in here?” I ask, walking right into her. Catching her with my hands under her ass, I walk us far enough back into the bathroom that I can reach behind me and slam the door, and then flick the lock.
The gold bathroom and dim light make Lily glow like a candle in her white dress. Her long blonde hair is down and wild around her shoulders. I couldn’t tell from across the bar, but her skin is sparkling like a diamond up close.
“It’s none of your business what I was doing. What the hell are you doing?”
“I missed you, Lemon.”
“You missed me since this morning?” She tilts her head like she doesn’t believe me, but she can’t keep the smile off her face.
I nod, staring down into her eyes, my face inches from hers. “I missed you the second I stepped off your back porch. No, since the minute I dragged my ass out of your bed to get to work.”
