Page 81 of Slash & Burn

“It would get great foot traffic,” Joey said, offering his own vote of encouragement.

My throat got tight and hot, and I wanted to walk away and not think about any of this. But three people who cared about me were staring me down in the middle of the sidewalk, and the part of me that still wanted to go after my dream was pounding through me, demanding I give it another try.

“Fine,” I bit out, my anxiety mixing with excitement in an unsettling combination. “I’ll look into it.”

“Yay!” LeAnn squealed, clapping her hands like she’d just won at the rec center bingo night. “It would be so perfect.”

Looking longingly at the store, I had a hard time arguing with her. It was the right size, in the right spot, and with the right neighbors—a coffee shop on one side and a bakery on the other. It scared me how perfect it was.

Grady stepped up beside me, his arm slipping around my waist. “You deserve your dream, too, Jilly,” he whispered, the soft timbre of his voice vibrating through me, amplifying the hope sprouting in my heart. It felt scary. But it also felt so, so good.

It wasn’t really sneaking into someplace if you had a key, right? I told myself it wasn’t as I climbed the stairs in Grady’s parents’ house as the sun came up a week later. We’d had a great event the day before—despite the stupid camera he kept making me use—and he was technically allowed to sleep in as late as he wanted to today.

But I had other ideas.

Tip-toeing into his bedroom, I spotted him sprawled out on his back, the dark gray sheets tangling in his long legs like he’d kicked them around all night. He’d said the nightmares were better, so I hoped that wasn’t what had caused him to make such a mess of his bed.

I shrugged off my cardigan and maxi dress, dropping both to the floor as quietly as I could before slinking over to his bed. It was good he slept in the buff, or my plan might have been a lot harder to pull off.

Crawling across the wide mattress, I gingerly lifted the sheet from his waist, my mouth watering at the sight of his morning wood. Everything about Grady’s body seemed oversized, and his cock was no exception. My pussy clenched just thinking about how tightly it filled me up, and I had to swallow down the moan my memories of the last couple of days brought on.

Sidling up beside him, perched on my knees, I lifted his cock and kissed a line from base to tip, watching Grady’s ass flex as his body stirred before he did. I flicked the tip of my tongue against the notch in the head and his stomach flinched as he grew solid and long in my hands. He moaned when I took him to the back of my throat, his hand landing in my hair as if he was reaching to stroke himself in his half-sleep state.

“Wha—” He lifted his head to find me smiling up at him with his dick in my mouth. “Jill? What the hell?”

I popped off him loudly, his thighs bunching. “I thought you could use a less abrasive alarm today.” Licking down one side and then up the other, he watched me, his jaw working.

When I pulled him between my lips, sheathing my teeth and sucking tightly as I stroked him with my tongue he bowed off the bed. “Fucking Christ.”

A turned-on Grady was like a shot of pure arousal to my core and I pressed my legs together to try and ease the ache. I pumped him with both hands, twisting gently as they followed my mouth up and down, up and down. It took no time before he was ripping at the sheets, throaty groans vibrating all the way down to where my mouth was suctioned around his length.

“I’m close,” he warned as I angled to hit the spot I knew he loved and sped up my pace. “Jill, I’m right fucking there.”

He tensed, his fingers tightening in my hair as he thrust up into my mouth, his senses going wild as he went over the edge.

“Fuck, baby, fuck,” he growled, bending up toward me, holding me on him for just a second as he came before he let me go and I pumped and sucked through every last tremor, his body quivering and red when I sat back on my heels.

He sucked for air, eyeing me from where his head lolled to the side. “Where the fuck did you learn to do that?” he asked, bewildered and sated, a sexy sort of adoration in his eyes.

“Iread,” I shot back, grinning wide as I wiped my mouth on the back of my hand.

A laugh barked out of him as he shook his head. “I love it. And they say book-learning is dead.” He reached for me, snagging my hand and yanking me across his chest. “My turn,” he sighed, licking his lips in a way that was so enticing I almost didn’t want to stop his train of thought.

“No time, hot shot.” I spun out of his hold, jumping to my feet and throwing my dress back on. “We’ve got a ferry to catch.”

Grady leaned up on one elbow, his eyebrows scrunching. “Am I forgetting something?” He looked around the room, even more confused than he’d been waking up with my mouth around his dick.

“No,” I sighed, perching on the edge of the bed, out of his reach since he was still giving me those fuck-me eyes. “I think we should go see your family.”

Old Jill would never have made such a suggestion; the idea of being an outsider at someone else’s family gathering enough to send my anxiety through the roof. But whatever nerves I had, they weren’t enough to stop me. And I kind of liked that.

I was a little worried I’d get a bad reaction to my suggestion, but Grady’s expression lightened until it turned into a beaming smile. “I’d really like that.”

Seeing him so excited made me really happy I’d risked it. “Good, then let’s get the hell out of here.”

After the lake tour last week, and his progress in the pool, I knew he was ready. He’d been noticeably better since telling me what had really happened the day of the near-drowning, and being around more people that loved and supported him could only keep that trend going.

As we boarded the Casco Bay Lines ferry with a crowd of tourists and locals alike, I kept hold of Grady’s hand. When I asked if he wanted to stay inside, he’d grinned at me like a little kid, eagerly tugging me up to the top deck. He put me against the rail and then bracketed me on either side with his strong arms, whispering into my ear the names of the other islands and places where he’d explored as a kid. It was fun seeing him so animated and by the time we off-loaded onto Peak’s, I wasn’t even nervous about meeting his family.

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