Page 8 of Recklessly in Love

“Uh, it’s almost time for the ceremony,” Nate finally offers.

I nod and brush past Joanie. “We were just heading out.”

Nate snorts. “Sure you were.”

I shoulder-check him with a smirk but say nothing as we look back at the girls expectantly.

Mia looks at Joanie, also saying nothing. Well, not with words, anyway. Her knowing look, however, speaks volumes.

“What?” Joanie asks innocently, looping her arm through Mia’s.

Mia shakes her head and laughs. “Nothing. Never mind.”

Nate and I let the ladies walk out ahead of us, arm in arm. As I make to follow, Nate stops me with a hand on the chest and gives me a hard look.

“Watch yourself with that one,” he warns me.

My insides tighten for a different reason this time. It doesn’t take me but an instant to recognize the feeling: fear.

“What do you mean?” I ask, playing dumb.

He glances furtively towards the girls. “I know she’s Mia’s best friend, and I don’t want to say anything bad about her. She’s just —”

“Nate?” Mia calls, looking back. “Come on, you’re going to miss it!”

His eyes dart back to me guiltily. “Never mind, let’s just go.”

This time, I’m the one to stop him with a hand to the chest. “Short version then,” I insist.

“Short version?” he parrots with a sigh. “What’s the female version of a player?”

I snort. “You’re worried she’s going to play me?”

He shrugs. “From what you’ve told me, you’re a relationship kind of guy. I just didn’t want you to expect that from her.”

I shake my head and laugh. “I mean, sure, I’ve had a couple of long-term relationships,” I allow. “But it’s not like I’ve never had hookups, dude. And here I was worried that she was clingy or crazy.”

Nate huffs a laugh. “Clingy? I don’t think so. Crazy? Well … if you’re okay with kink, probably not in a way that’s a deal breaker.”

Well, shit, that’s got my attention. “I appreciate your looking out for me, man, but you told me what I wanted to know about her.”

Nate nods knowingly. “Just … suit up, all right, man? Be safe and all that.”

That gets a full belly laugh out of me. “All right, pops,” I tease him with a wink. I like to rib him like he’s an old man, even though he’s only five or six years older than me. But right now, I’m in a pretty good fucking mood. He’s acting like a concerned older brother, and I dig that. But what I dig more is that Joanie may be exactly what I’ve been looking for.

CHAPTER THREE

JOANIE

Unfortunately, there were no screaming orgasms to be had Friday night after the tree-lighting ceremony. Lots of cider? Yes. Eating my weight in cinnamon twists that must have been laced with crack, they were so addictive? Absolutely. But the rest of the night was exactly as Hallmark as I’d pegged this whole event to be. Listening to a quartet that played holiday music. Oohing and aahing over the pretty tree.

Okay, to be fair, the tree was stunning. Then again, I helped decorate it, so naturally, it was beautiful. But at the end of the night, there were no advances. No invitations. And it all broke up so quickly that I didn’t have time to make my own before I was in Nate’s truck, heading back up the mountain to Mia and Nate’s glass palace in the trees.

So, lying in bed on Saturday morning, I decide that today will be different. Starting with a self-provided orgasm. All I have to do is remember how Greg pushed me up against that door, how his woodsy scent alone had me wet. Then there was the kiss. Shit, that was a fantastic kiss. I rub circles over my clit as I think of it. My back arches remembering his taste. How hard his cock was against my stomach. What it might look like. What it might feel like to lick around the crown while he watched, those bright blue eyes challenging me to take it all. The thought starts the low tingle in my core. I remember his breath against my ear as he demanded I say his name. The tingling spreads, and my nipples peak beneath my nightshirt. A few more swirls and presses, and I let myself remember his promise to fuck me against the door until I screamed his name while coming … and then I am. I keep quiet, which intensifies the orgasm, until I slump back down onto the mattress, only partially satisfied.

I try not to think of Nate and Mia in the bedroom upstairs, who I can hear frequently getting much more fully satisfied. I may have even used it as fuel for my own satisfaction once or twice. They do it constantly; I may as well reap the benefits of their ridiculously hot soundtrack. But now? Thoughts of my mountain man are all I need. Gary the Mountain Man. The thought makes me giggle. I really do belong on the naughty list.

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