Page 66 of The Only Goal

“Me too.” I quickly nod.

I’m still inside her, but I can feel myself retreating as my cock softens. For a hopeless second, I lament the fact that I can’t stay inside her forever.

“We’re gonna do this again.” She kisses my shoulder, working her lips up my neck, then whispering in my ear, “We’ve got all night, and we are definitely doing this again. And maybe even again.” Her fingers send tendrils of pleasure shooting down my spine as she lightly tickles my skin and laughs. “And maybe even again.”

CHAPTER 31

TAMMY

The fire crackles as Baxter adds another log to it. I watch the flames jump and dance around the wood, mesmerized by the orange glow, until my eyes track across to the sexiest back in the history of man.

I perch up on my elbow and reach forward, tracing the lines of Baxter’s tattooed angel wings. He must have gotten them after high school, and I want to know the story. I want to soak in every detail and reinvent our friendship. I want to make up for all that time we lost.

Will he let me do that?

He glances over his shoulder as if he can sense my perusal.

His smile is gentle and sweet, and my chest seems to expand, like my heart is beating just for him.

“C’mere.” I lift the blanket covering me, and his smile grows as he lies down on the floor beside me.

After our tryst in the kitchen, he led me into the parlor, creating a bed out of cushions and starting up a fire. It’s romantic and beautiful, and I’m not sure a bed will ever be better than this.

Sure, the pillows move, and my hip will no doubt end up on the floor by the morning, but I don’t care. I’m naked. Baxter’s naked. And we’re snuggled together under this blanket like we’re the only two people in the world.

Baxter lies on his stomach, resting his head beside mine and draping his arm across my waist. I continue drawing lines on his back, my finger tracing the intricate details of each feather.

“When did you get this?”

His nose twitches, and he mumbles against the pillow, “Dad and I both got tattoos on our road trip, after Mom…” His voice trails off.

“My heart broke that day,” I whisper.

His eyes dart to mine.

“I wanted so badly to come and see you. I just wanted to sit beside you and hold your hand.”

“You were married,” he mutters.

I shake my head. “You were my friend. I would have done anything for you.”

He sniffs, his lips dipping. “You were married.”

Tears sting my eyes, and I have to nod, because he’s right. I’d been married a week when it happened. The whole town was rocked. Everyone attended the funeral, and I stood next to Hudson but couldn’t take my eyes off Baxter.

I’d never seen his face so ashen. He looked like a lost boy, not even crying while he stood beside his father, who looked just as wrecked. It was impossible to know what to say because there were no words good enough to bring comfort. They just had to grieve.

I rested my hand on my belly. My baby bump wasn’t really showing yet, but my pants were tight, and it was only a matter of weeks before I’d be wearing new clothes and accepting the fact that town gossip would be rife. It already was. Who the hell gets married in high school? The people who didn’t want to acknowledge the truth thought we were soulmates who couldn’t live without each other. They thought it was romantic that Hudson had proposed in front of the entire school. They thought it was sweet that we couldn’t wait and tied the knot before graduation. Then there were the people who liked to judge. They whispered around every corner and made me feel like Hester Prynne every time I walked past them. Once I started to show, it would only get worse, but I couldn’t think about that.

All I could do was stare at Baxter’s ashen face and weep for the wonderful woman who was lost to us all.

“She was an angel,” I whisper.

His lips curl up in a smile. “She was.”

“Do you remember those cookies she used to make?” I laugh. “Who needs chocolate chips when you can use dried apricots and raisins.”

He snorts. “Or kiwifruit. Do you remember that disastrous batch?”

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