Page 74 of Love You Madly

I’ve always thought that was so fucking sexy. When a man is willing to take his time to please a woman and then makes her taste herself on his lips when he’s done. A few guys I have been with have tried this but no one actually lives up to the heat of it in my mind. I picture Owen kissing me roughly while he ravages the rest of my body, demanding and unable to get enough…Yes, please!

I let my imagination run wild for a little longer, thinkingabout what his hands would feel like on my skin. A man like Owen isn’t going to have soft hands. He’s going to have calluses and I guarantee his hands are strong, not even remotely soft to the touch. Thoughts of the way his firm grip would feel on my neck send a wave of pleasure through me.

His upper body strength must be pretty impressive too… Strong shoulders and arms…Fuck, I bet he could throw me around like a rag doll.

Thoughts of him picking me up and wrapping my legs around him as he pushes my back against a wall, slamming into me over and over play on repeat. My mind starts to go hazy as I pick up the pace pulling the vibrator out slowly and plunging it back in as images race through my mind of what being thrown around by a man like him would be like. My chest heaves and I bite my bottom lip as heat washes over my entire body and I come harder than I probably have in years.

After a few minutes, my breath levels out and I head to the bathroom to clean the toy. I come back into my room and open up my nightstand to put everything away. Definitely going to need that close by from now on. I toss the lube into the drawer and close it. Better keep that on standby too because the toy is not small by any means.

I’m going to need more batteries too.

I chuckle at myself and my insatiable pregnancy hormones, turning away from the nightstand when I hear a sound that makes me freeze where I stand.

My phone goes off with the sound of a beer bottle cap being popped. I slowly turn around to face my desk where my phone currently sits on the charger. I swear I do that slow blinking thing that happens in cartoons where you can hear the little “plink plink” noise as the characters eyes go wide.

Yep, that has to be exactly what I look like right now. As Ipick my jaw up off the floor, I walk toward my phone as if it’s going to bite me when I pick it up.

No. Fucking. Way.

My cheeks still feel hot from my orgasm and I try to take a deep breath before I can bring myself to actually pick up the phone to read the message.

thirty-two

OVER MY HEAD (CABLE CAR) - THE FRAY

OWEN - JULY 10, 2013

Istare blankly at my phone, the call with Sandra replaying in my mind. My old phone has been found, and all the messages and pictures I thought were lost forever are within reach. At this point, I’m just thankful that I didn’t leave it on top of a boiler where it would have melted and I really would have been screwed.

Relief mingles with dread as I consider what this means for my conversations with Callie. The weight of unspoken words hangs heavy in the air, my chest tightening with the uncertainty of it all. My stomach churns with anxiety and hope, the duality of wanting to reconnect with Callie and fearing what her response might be if I reach out.

If there even is one.

“Hey, Earth to Owen,” Will’s voice snaps me out of my trance. I look up to see him grinning at me, the fluorescent lights of the mechanical room casting a harshglare on his face. The familiar metallic smell of steam permeates the air, grounding me back to the present. “What’s going on?”

“They found my phone,” I say, my voice still tinged with disbelief. “Someone turned it in at the Verizon kiosk at the mall in Iowa City.”

“No shit?” Will’s eyebrows shoot up. “Only you would leave a cell phone in the fucking ceiling.”

“Maybe if you weren’t a giant with a bum knee, you’d be the one climbing up into the ceiling instead of me,” I retort, shaking my head. The clang of tools and the hum of machinery creates a symphony of background noise.

“Fair point. But you’re still an idiot,” Will laughs, clapping me on the back. His laughter echoes through the room, momentarily lifting the tension. “So, are you going to try reaching out to that Callie girl you were talking to before you lost it?”

I sigh, running a hand through my hair. “I don’t know, man. I haven’t figured that out yet.”

Will’s expression turns serious. “You need to make sure you don’t cross any lines you can’t come back from. Having inappropriate conversations with another woman, especially now that you’re dating Karissa, is still cheating. Even if you’re thinking about breaking up with her, it doesn’t give you a free pass to mess around.”

His words hit me harder than I expect them to. I feel a pang of guilt deep in my chest. “I know, man. I’m not going to, I’m not like that,” I assure him. “It was different when I talked to Callie and Karissa and I weren’t exclusive yet. I just… I hate the idea of hurting anyone. I need to figure out what the hell I’m doing.”

Will nods, his expression softening a bit. “Just be honest with yourself and with them.”

“Thanks, man,” I say, appreciating hisstraightforwardness. Will has always been no bullshit and I value that in our friendship. “I’ll figure it out.”

We get back to work and after a bit, he asks me if I’ve seen his channel locks. He’s always losing them. I really am surprised that it wasn’t Will that lost his phone somewhere random as fuck. I look around for a moment before I spot his channel locks and laugh.

“Nope, haven’t seen them anywhere, bud. But you can always use the one sitting on top of the cart right behind you,” I say, smiling because they are his channel locks that would have been directly in his line of sight if he had just turned around. He shakes his head, telling me to shut up and get back to work.

After finishing up work around 4 p.m, I grab my stuff and head straight to the parking lot. The drive from Mount Vernon to Iowa City takes about thirty minutes, but it feels like an eternity. My mind races with thoughts about the messages I might find on my old phone. The familiar scenery passes by in a blur as I speed down the highway, my heart pounding with anticipation.

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