Page 75 of Mountain Daddy

Her hand slips between us. Fingers on her clit. And Ifeelit—that flutter, that pull—her body going taut like a bowstring before she breaks.

And when she does? It wrecks me.

She screams my name, her whole body shaking, spasming around me. The walls of her pussy clench so tight I see stars.

I lose it.

My head drops, my body locking as I push as deep as I can go, groaning her name like I now worship her. The orgasm crashes through me, white-hot, violent, and so goddamn good it’s blinding.

I empty into her with a raw, aching sound I couldn’t hold back if I tried. It feels like peace. Like release. Like fuckinghome.

We collapse together. Sweat-slick. Breathless.

Spent.

But in my arms, she still feels like mine.

And that’s the real problem because she’s keeping a big secret. Reality creeps back in.

She slides off the table, starts looking for her panties. I watch her button her blouse with fingers that still shake slightly.

"This doesn't change anything," she says without looking at me.

"Doesn't it?" I ask in a bored tone.

I pull a napkin from the dispenser on the counter. Write my address in sharp, precise letters.

"If you're gonna lie to me," I say, holding out the napkin, "at least do it to my face next time."

She takes it. Stares at the address like it might bite her.

"I'm not going anywhere," I tell her. "And neither are you. So we might as well figure this out."

I leave her standing there, clutching my address, looking at it like she’s seen a ghost.

18

LILLY

Ifind his wallet when I'm cleaning up the storage room. Expensive black leather, hidden behind a bag of flour like it fell out during our…activities.

I stare at it too long. I could toss it in the lost and found. Let fate decide. If he wants it, he’ll come back.

Then Rosa comes in early, and suddenly my hands are grabbing my keys. My mouth tells her I’ll be back soon. My brain screams to stop—but my feet are already moving.

I still have that address he gave me. My heart still races from the truth I know he knows. How long can I get away pretending he’s got it all wrong when he hasn’t.

He’s sharp. Sharper than most men in their mid-forties. Sharper than the observations of the youth and wisdom of the old.

He sees through me. Through the lies I wear like armor.

He’s already figured it out.

It’s notifI tell him the truth. It’swhen.

I roll the windows down. The mountain air smells like pine. It calms me. Gets my heart to settle. It would be nice to not carry this secret, wouldn’t it? To feel free of fear once again?

Maybe today.

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