Page 40 of A Matter of Time
The invitation in her words came through loud and clear, but my thoughts were still on Tonia, and I couldn’t stop myself from looking over at her, just in time to catch her looking in my direction. As soon as our eyes connected, she turned her head, laughing at something Tyler had said. She leaned a bit closer to him, his arm went around her, and my stomach turned.
This was ridiculous.
I needed a break. Placing my beer down on the table, I got to my feet. “I’ll be right back,” I told my guest before heading off in search of the restrooms. They were individual ones, a set of four doors down a narrow hallway, and I went into the last one, locking the door behind me and staring at my reflection in the mirror. The guy I saw there looked pretty pathetically miserable.
Obviously, my plan wasn’t working. I’d tried ignoring her. I’d tried being professional with her. We’d had that spectacular night together, which should have satisfied any lingering curiosity. If I was really over her, this shouldn’t be so hard.
The only conclusion that made any sense, then, was that Iwasn’tover her. And if I still hadn’t moved on, after all that time, would I ever be able to? Would there ever be a time when I didn’t miss her or want her, even when she drove me up the wall?
The man in the mirror had no answers for me, and as I looked into his troubled eyes, I just wanted to go home. I thought I could handle tonight, I thought having Kyra there would help, but obviously, it didn’t. I needed some space to think everything through and decide what the hell to do next, because everything I’d done to that point hadn’t worked.
With that plan in mind, I yanked the door open, ready to head back out and make my excuses, but when the door opened, Tonia stood on the other side, waiting for me.
Before I could react, she pushed me back into the restroom, the combined mass and heat of our bodies making the small space even smaller, and she locked the door behind her.
“What are you…” I started to ask, but I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence before her lips pressed firmly and hungrily against mine.
~Tonia~
Cam’s immediate, instinctive response when I kissed him was to kiss me back. Before his brain could kick in, before he could put his walls up, before he could think of all the reasons we shouldn’t do this or couldn’t do this, he simply kissed me back, and in doing so, answered the question I most wanted the answer to.
The signals he had been sending me that night were utterly baffling. He brought another woman with him, a woman who obviously wanted him, and he told me he didn’t want to talk about what happened between us. Those were the signs of someone who wanted to cut ties and move on.
On the other hand, Tyler had a different opinion when he got back from the bar. “When I said I wanted to get back together with you, he squeezed that bottle of beer in his hand so tight, I thought it would break right there and then. If that guy’s over you, I’m the next president of the United States.”
At that point, Cam came back to his seat and I heard the other guys ask him about his first kiss. He didn’t look at me, didn’t acknowledge me in any way, but I heard his response anyway: “Pretty dang wonderful.”
I felt just the same about it. No matter what had happened since then, there was no denying how wonderful that moment had been. It seemed time hadn’t soured it for him either, which made me even more confused about why he insisted we had nothing to talk about. Those were all signs of someone who wasn’t over much of anything at all.
So, when I followed him to the restroom, when I pushed him back inside where no one could see us and kissed him, a much harder and more experienced kiss than that first one he’d just been talking about, I simply wanted to see how he’d react. I wanted to know if he was hiding in there because he felt just as confused and conflicted as I did.
And I got my answer. His hands went to my waist, pulling me tight to him and his lips moved against mine with an intensity that stole my breath away. Heat raced through my body, spurred on by both his actions now and the memories of the night we shared together just a couple of days earlier.
Just as I could start to feel him hardening against me, Cam pulled back, taking a step back so quickly, he nearly tripped over the toilet, and stared at me in bewilderment. “What are we doing?”
Nowhe wanted to talk. Typical. “You didn’t want to talk about it this morning,” I reminded him. “And I don’t want to talk right now. That’s not why I’m here.”
Having any kind of conversation was definitely not what I had in mind, not when my body ached for more.
His lips pressed together as he thought about it, but it didn’t take him very long. In a matter of seconds, his arms were back around me and his mouth devouring mine once again.
Things had definitely changed since he was that kid with skinned knees on the dirt road outside of town. Then, his kiss had been tentative and unsure. There in the bar restroom, he knew exactly what to do, and he did it with no hesitation at all. His fingers ran through my hair, tugging just hard enough, just as I liked it, while the confident thrust of his tongue set my pulse racing. His hips angled against mine perfectly, letting me feel every concealed inch of him, hard and hot and ready.
“Do you have a condom?” I asked breathlessly. I knew without asking that he wouldn’t do anything without one.
When he shook his head no, I felt both disappointed and strangely relieved. At least I knew he hadn’t been expecting anything tonight with Kyra. His eyebrows raised as his lips spread into a smirk. “I don’t carry a supply around in my pockets anymore, Sugar.”
I had to laugh. He had indeed made a habit of carrying them around when we first started sleeping together, so that we were never caught out if our need for each other got too great, and I could remember him being mortified when he accidentally pulled one out in front of my dad while reaching into his pocket for something else.
Luckily, my dad had a sense of humour about it, but Cam couldn’t look him in the eye for a week afterwards.
“I guess we’ll just have to pretend we’re in my parent’s basement again, then,” I whispered against his ear, my breath as hot as my body felt, and Cam groaned in approval, knowing exactly what I meant.
Back in those early days, when we were desperate for each other but getting naked was too risky, we simply got each other off, our hands down the other one’s pants. A little mutual masturbation always worked to relieve the pressure.
His zipper got pulled down before I could get another word out, making me laugh again as he exhaled in relief. I’d worn a skirt that night, which made things easier for him, and when his fingers made contact with my damp panties, he groaned again.
“Fuck, Sugar, you’re so wet.”
