Page 8 of Stick Around
A warm swell pooled between Grace’s legs as Billy said aloud the sinful secret that she’d carried since high school, and a moaning whimper escaped her throat.
He slid his hands from her shirt and tucked a loose tendril of her long, dark hair behind her ear. “Come with me?” He arched an eyebrow.
Grace nodded. “Okay.”
He supported her as she climbed off his lap and stood up, then scooped up her blanket before standing and reaching out his hand for her to hold. She stared at it.
Billy had been friends with her brother, Noah, since they were ten years old and started playing hockey on the same team. Which meant she’d been dreaming about holding Billy’s hand since she was seven years old. And here he was, holding it out for her. Her middle school fantasy, right there for the taking.
She brushed her fingers against his palm before weaving them between his, half expecting to wake up at any second. He curled his fingers against hers in a determined grasp.
Is this happening? Am I going to have sex with Billy Miller?
4
Grace
Her mind racedas they drove to the outskirts of town in Billy’s pickup. There were a million reasons she shouldn’t have sex with him. If someone saw them together, rumors would spread like measles and her parents, or worse, Noah, would hear in no time. It was a terrible idea. So why was she biting her lip to keep a smile from breaking free?
Billy turned down the road to the old baseball diamonds, and Grace’s skin prickled.Yes. This is happening. Finally.She bounced her leg as her heart pumped out a mixture of adrenaline, desire, and nerves.
“You okay?” Billy glanced across the bench seat, first to her leg and then her face.
“Yeah.” She forced herself to still her jittering limbs. “I’m good.”
He narrowed his eyes and softened his voice. “We don’t have to do anything. You know that, right? I can take you home if you want me to.”
“I know.” She nodded. “I don’t want to go home.” She felt her cheeks burning. Billy grinned.
He turned again, into a small clearing of trees, and shut off the ignition. Without the engine noise, the silence in the truck was thunderous, and Grace’s heart beat so loudly she was certain Billy could hear it from across the seat.
Billy spoke first. “Grace, I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do.” His voice was gentle but adamant, his eyes unwavering. “Tonight was crazy, and I’m a mess, but that’s not why I’m here. I want to be with you, and I don’t want you to be here if it’s just because you feel bad for me.”
Grace’s body burned to show him how much she truly wanted him. It had been smoldering within her since high school, and his hands on her skin had fanned the sparks. Now, alone in the dark, it was a wildfire; the flames reached up and kissed at her throat, scorching the modesty that had allowed her to keep her desires at bay all these years.
Her inhibitions fell to a pile of ash around her until all that remained was the truth.
“I want to be here.” She held his gaze as she reached across her body to unclip her seatbelt. “I want your hands on me.” Twisting her body to face him, she reached her knee up on the bench. “I want your mouth on me.” She slipped her other leg over him, straddling his lap.
He let out a breathy gasp, and Grace’s confidence grew at the idea that she’d surprised him. She slipped her top off over her head and arched her back against the steering wheel.
Billy’s jaw clenched. “This is the last ounce of good guy I have left, Gracie. Tell me you understand this is gonna change everything. Because once you let my hands touch that skin,” his breath shook as he traced his eyes down Grace’s body, “I’m going to fuck you until the world outside this truck doesn’t exist anymore. Until all I can hear is you moaning my name and all I can smell is your sweat. Until all you know is your body clenching around my cock while you come for me.”
Grace took Billy’s face in her hands, his beard tickling her palms, and locked her eyes on his. “Promise?”
A low growl resonated from Billy’s throat, and in an instant his arms were around her body and his hands were clutching her back. He tugged her in, and their lips slammed together in a kiss. Hungry. Messy. His tongue forced itself between her lips, and her nipples responded with a warm tingle. She whimpered against his mouth.
Lips and tongues nibbled and bit and sucked in a blur of sensations. His hands were in her hair, around her waist, scratching up her spine, barraging her skin until she was dizzy. She attacked his body with the same urgency; racing her fingertips across his chest, clutching his biceps, fisting her hands in his hair, as if he were a glass slipper that might disappear at the clock’s next chime.
Billy spread his palm across her sternum and collarbones, pressing her back and detaching from her lips with a gasp. “Fuck. Let me slow down,” he panted. His palm shuddered against her chest.
Grace drew in a breath herself, exhaling in stuttering whispers. She leaned back, and they paused for a moment, studying one another. His eyes were wild, shining, and dilated.
He filled his lungs with air before seeping it out. Steadied, he lifted his hands to sweep Grace’s hair back before tracing his fingers down her back to the clasp of her bra. He unclipped the hook and ran the palm of his hand across her naked back.
The warmth of his hand melted the frantic energy vibrating through her muscles and her breathing slowed. She pressed her hands to Billy’s chest. His heart hammered against her palm.Billy’s heart. Right here. In my hand.She had waited so long for this, fantasized about what his body would feel like in her hands. Somehow, here he was. Under her hands and between her thighs.
She reached her hand up to her shoulder, hooked her middle finger under a strap, and slipped her bra down her arms. Billy’s lips spread into a deliciously wicked grin, but his eyes stayed locked on hers. She leaned back into his hands on her back, arching her breasts up.
