Page 40 of Here You Are

“So far, I have picked up themes of money, drugs, and murder. I’m worried about you if that type of behavior turns you on.”

I turned my body back toward him slightly to look at him, which caused his hand to move to the front and then to the inside of my thigh. He had a sexy grin and leaned in to kiss me. A real kiss this time, not the granny kiss he offered me when he first arrived. My body turned more fully toward his, and he grabbed my face to deepen our kiss. Our bodies were lined up, pushing into each other from our chests to our thighs.

Then, the doorbell rang.

I pulled back slightly and said in a hushed tone, “Our food is here.”

“You want me to tell them to leave?” he replied. “I’m suddenly a different type of hungry.”

With a shake of my head, I pushed off of him and stood up to answer the door.

“Remember, you need to keep your strength up?” I said, walking toward the entryway.

“That was the Luke from the past. He was an idiot.”

I grabbed the food from the delivery driver and gave him a generous tip since he had to drive out to the boondocks to bring us supper. When I turned around, Luke was standing right behind me. He grabbed the food from my hands and went off toward the kitchen. I turned around to lock the door and turn off the front light once the driver made it back to his vehicle. By the time I started walking toward the kitchen, Luke was back in front of me—no food to be found.

“I put the food in the kitchen. Seems pretty hot. We’d better let it cool off,” he said, pulling me down the hallway, toward my bedroom. A room we never made it to the first night he stopped over, other than on the house tour.

“Luke. We have all night.”

“Cassie. I want you now.”

Luke pulled me toward the bedroom in a tangled dance of our bodies as we kissed. His hands roamed down my sides and around to my back. When we got to the bedroom, he grabbed my ass, fully lifting me up, which was possibly the hottest thing to happen this decade. I am not a tiny girl, and his walking with my legs wrapped around his waist was almost enough to push me over the edge.

When we reached the bed, he literally threw me down on it and then threw himself on top of me. My legs parted to make room for him as we continued our steamy makeout. I pulled his shirt over his head, and he returned the favor. My hands skated down his chest and stomach. The Luke I dated in my twenties had the body of a young man, thin and smooth. Grown-up Luke had man-muscles and a sprinkling of chest hair that faded out on his stomach.

Not wasting any time, we made fast work of getting the rest of our clothes off. Luke made his way down my stomach, kissing a path to between my legs. My eyes were locked on him, the sight almost too hot to handle. While I could have died happy with him there, I pulled his arms up, needing more of him. I reached for him, stroking him gently a few times, which had him groaning.

Luke settled between my legs and sank into me. After a very short time, he whispered in my ear, “I need to see you,” and did a smooth rolling maneuver that had me on top of him. He was right. The view was better this way. He relaxed into the bed while I did all the work, which I didn’t mind at all. He eventually eased his hand between my legs, rubbing small, gentle circles. One benefit of having sex with someone for years and years is that they know what you need. There would be no awkward moments of lying there incomplete with someone who knew how your body worked.

As I was about to finish, I smashed my lips to his, using the kiss to stifle my moans. Apartment living for so many years has made me conscious of being quiet. Even though I have a whole house now, there is no need to give Holly and WJ fodder for neighborhood gossip.

Luke returned the muffled groan into my mouth and pulled me close. I stuck my face in the crook of his neck, enjoying the warmth of his body and his slightly sweaty, mostly Luke, smell. I could live here, in this moment, and be perfectly happy.

We eventually made our way back to the kitchen to our unbelievably cold food. I dished up some plates for us while Luke got us some drinks from my garage fridge. We settled at the counter to eat our reheated takeout. Luke raised his beer bottle toward me in a cheers gesture.

“We deserve a cold one, babe. We put the work in tonight.”

He was not wrong. However, it was going to take more than a cold beer to cool down the heat I had for this new, older version of Luke. Everything with him has been great. Comfortable. Familiar. Hot. It was always nice being with him. Why did I ever stop?

Chapter 17

May 21, 2019

Luke and I made plans to go to a local brewery for their game night. It’s hot, it’s late, and I’m just not feeling it, but we’ve been having fun, so I’m forcing myself to go. We’ve been spending a lot of time together lately, and I’m pretty sure he is my boyfriend, even though we haven’t officially talked about it. He’s been clear that he hasn’t been seeing anyone else. I know it’s early days, but I can’t help wondering if I wasted years of dating other men and this guy was my guy all along. If I had just chilled on the commitment issue, could we have been happy together this whole time?

When we broke up, I had to erase him from my life so I could move on. The end of our relationship was the biggest heartbreak of my life, and I couldn’t leave room for what-ifs or future possibilities. Now that we are together again, everything feels right, and I feel a little regret that we wasted five years apart.

I decided to wear a tiny little romper since it is hot out, and began doing my makeup. One eyelash on, one eyelash off, the doorbell rang. I couldn’t believe that he was here thirty minutes early. That is unusual behavior for Mr. Chronically Late. Since he’s seen me in much worse states, I ran down to the door with one eyelash in my hand and one flapping in the wind. I swung open the door, and it was not Luke.

The sweaty neighbor I have been observing—Grass Daddy—was standing at my front door, extra sweaty and looking very nervous.

“Uh, Hi. Can I help you with something?” I said, rapidly ripping off my floppy eyelash.

“Hi, I’m Ben. I'm so sorry to just stop by and meet you like this, but I kind of have an emergency.” He then looks off toward his house and pauses. “Uh, I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to say it. My daughter is twelve, and she just came down crying hysterically because she got her period, and I can’t leave because she won’t stop crying, and the little one is sleeping, and I’m not a mom, so I didn’t plan for this, and I have no supplies, and you’re a lady, so maybe, can you help?” He wipes his sweaty brow with his arm. “I’m sorry, I was mowing when all this happened, and I’m actually panicking a little right now. I should have been better prepared for this. I should have just gone to the store. I’m sorry.”

“Oh? Okay. It’s completely fine that you stopped here. I have some supplies I can go grab for you. Do you want to step inside?”