After she flew off the ledge, I washed her hair with the special shampoo and conditioner she left in the other guest bathroom. I snagged it before Autumn could give it back to her sister. Alex now used it anytime she stayed the night.
We fell into bed completely naked. I didn’t even bother with the briefs this time, because I knew Alex would have them off within minutes. I should have been a fortune teller, because my prediction came true the second her wet hair hit the pillow and her small hand wrapped around my cock.
There was no sleeping that night as we frantically fucked all over the room. Hard and fast. Slow and steady. We made our own personal mixtape of sexual positions and speeds as the night wore on.
As an early glimpse of the summer day peeked over the tops of the trees, I hovered above Alex’s writhing body, plunging my cock into her core where she needed me most. My lips muted her cries of pleasure. With our time running out and the light chasing after us, our coming together felt different from before. It was still as desperate, but there was a sense of something more that was exchanged with each kiss and thrust. Something that left me reeling as I spilled myself into the last condom I had.
We were making love and saying goodbye at the same time.
Chapter Twenty-Three – Alex
“Is this the last of them?” Andrew asked as he set the last container on the table. Today, the stations at the farmer’s market were converted into stands for the Ashfield Summer Festival. Across the way, in the large open field, they set up a small carnival. A Ferris wheel and carousel spun as the mayor anticipated everyone’s arrival.
Yesterday, I sold out of my one-bite cakes and had to spend most of the night baking all new batches. I didn’t mind, because I hadn’t slept a full night in the weeks since Nate left. It seemed my body could only pass out when I was in his arms.
“That’s it. Thank you for your help, Andrew. I know this is the last place you want to be.”
Since the blow-up three weeks ago, Andrew started coming around to me owning a cake shop. I wasn’t sure if I had Nate or my mom to thank for that. He and Nate were on better terms and texting regularly. Well, whenever Andrew remembered. He was terrible about checking his messages.
“It’s the least I could do.”
I had been struggling since the Sullivans left. And it wasn’t just Nate who I missed. Those two little girls took a part of me when they went back to California. We talked almost every day, and I loved chatting to them about the shop and showing them my latest cake experiments. The days their mother was struggling with her health were the hardest on all of us. They were too young to understand what was happening, and Nate worried he made the wrong choice. I did my best to assure them they needed this time with her, at least when she was feeling up to it.
We tried not to video chat when they were at Sasha’s place. I wanted to respect their time together, but the girls slipped a few times. Luckily, it was usually in a room away from her bedroom. I spoke to Nate when he could, but he seemed to spend a lot of time at Sasha’s bedside. My sisters thought that was strange, but I understood. He was making amends with her. Nate was too kind to stay angry at someone who was losing their life.
Not even Andrew was upset with Nate’s choices, and he despised Sasha up until recently.
“Here she is,” Andrew said from behind me. I whirled around to find him holding up his phone, and there were two little faces in the foreground. Beyond them was a smiling Nate. I couldn’t help my lips curling up to match theirs.
“Hi, girls! How are you this morning?” It was early here in Tennessee, so I knew it was even earlier in California. But Nate explained Sasha did better in the morning than the afternoon, so they all woke early.
“Good. We got to have ice cream for breakfast this morning!”
“Oh, did you? That sounds fun. What flavor?” I asked them as Andrew handed me his phone and went about unloading the rest of the containers.
“Vanilla. The others hurt Mommy Sasha’s belly.”
“Vanilla is always yummy, if you ask me. Are you all doing anything fun today?”
As the girls chatted about the video games and movies they planned to watch, I tried to lock eyes with Nate. At first glance, I could see how tired he was. Those bright brown eyes I loved so much of his were dull and faded. His face was a bit gaunt, and he had scruff growing on his chin. God, I just wanted to wrap my arms around him and take on all his troubles.
As the girls finished up, I turned the phone around and showed them all the cakes I brought with me to the festival. I kept the carnival out of the background, since I knew the girls well enough to know they’d be sad they missed it.
Off in the background, I heard a kind voice beckon for Nate and the girls. I could sense Nate’s waning smile as he apologized for ending the call early.
“Can you call me tonight? Maybe we can do that thing we did the other day?” I asked, holding the phone close to my lips to whisper into. Nate and I tried to find creative ways to have phone sex. Usually, he snuck into the bathroom if he was at Sasha’s place. If he was at the rental, it was hit or miss. The girls were usually glued to his side and had taken up sleeping in his bed.
“I will do my best, baby.” Nate looked over his shoulder and huffed out a heavy breath as he apologized again and then ended the call.
“Everything okay?” Andrew asked as I set his phone on the table. His hands were busy sorting out the cakes I packaged up.
“Yeah,” I said, faking some enthusiasm. I hated how tired Nate seemed, and I told Andrew so.
“He’s got a lot going on. I’m sure that’s all.”
“Yeah, I know. I can’t imagine what he’s going through. Oh, I got a message from the delivery service this morning, and they’re going to deliver the appliances on Monday morning. Do you think you can help me out?”
“Sure. I’ll let Dad know what’s up so he isn’t expecting me.”
