Big Man for Christmas - Penny Wylder Page 0,13

and I can’t get that shirtless image of him out of my mind.

One more memory from that night comes rushing back. Casey, coming inside me with a low groan that was nearly a growl. The sound shocked me, drawing brand new arousal into my skin. So much that I nearly rolled us over and rode him to a second climax. Does he still make that noise when he comes?

I will ever admit to anyone just how much I want to find out.

“How long are you in town?” Casey asks, drawing me out of my wholly inappropriate thoughts.

“Well, when I planned the trip it was only supposed to be a couple days after the fireworks. Now I’m not completely sure.”

He clears his throat. “Yeah…I’m sorry about your engagement.”

“Don’t be,” I say. “Please.”

Casey nods but he doesn’t say anything else which I’m grateful for.

“I don’t have the benefit of town gossip. What have you Bowmans been up to since I left?”

Pain enters his eyes. “Well, Dad passed a few years ago. And…Mom earlier this year.”

“Oh my God, Casey, I’m so sorry.” I’m wrapping my arms around him in a hug before I can even realize I’m moving. His arms come around me tight, and he doesn’t let go. “I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay,” he whispers, voice broken. He is clearly still grieving. I liked Mr. and Mrs. Bowman. I wish I’d known they’d died. I would have tried to come to the funerals.

I should pull away from him now, but Casey doesn’t let go and neither do I. It goes on too long until I finally force myself to pull back awkwardly. Neither one of us know what to say. But do I imagine what I felt against my leg when he was holding me?

Was Casey turned on by just a hug? The thought makes me blush.

He clears his throat. “I should probably get back to work.”

“Yeah,” I say. “I should probably get going anyway. See you around?”

Casey nods. “Definitely.”

It’s harder than I want to admit to myself to turn and walk away, even though it shouldn’t be. No matter that Tyler completely fucked me and our relationship, I feel a little guilty for being so attracted to someone else so quickly after the breakup.

Then I laugh. Who am I kidding? Tyler was fucking someone else for our entire relationship. It’s probably okay that I feel attraction to someone after deciding to cut him out of my life.

Is Casey taking his shirt off again right now?

As I walk all the way back to our farm, I feel lighter. That isn’t what I was expecting from my walk, but it is welcome. Who would have thought a misunderstanding could affect both of us for so long?

That light mood of peace and contentment sticks with me for the rest of the day. It feels like armor against more screaming kids and a family dinner where more than one strange look is thrown my way. It buoys me while getting ready for bed and having to face sleeping in the awful twin bed again.

I barely feel the terrible mattress because my mind is still completely filled with Casey. Comparing what I saw today—that gorgeous, toned body—to the body that I felt in the woods. Moving with me, over me, his head thrown back in complete ecstasy, lit up by the fireworks above.

The image morphs into Casey now, moving over me without a shirt, watching me come apart with that gaze that consumes me. I’ll never forget that look. Ever. Would it be the same if he were here with me?

I let my hand slip between my legs, finding myself already hot and wet, aroused by thoughts of him. The image is vivid in my mind, complete with the sweat on his body from fucking, working me in long, smooth strokes just like he did the first time we were together.

The memory is coming back clearer now, and I sink into my blended fantasy, making it better than it even was as I touch myself. I’ve mostly avoided thinking about Casey over the years, and until today, I had successfully pushed him out of my mind. But now he won’t leave, and all I can see was him.

It is so good to just feel anything, and I work myself higher, reaching for the release I haven’t had in forever. But it isn’t enough. Even imagining what it would be like with Casey’s mouth between my thighs isn’t enough to quite get me there, and after a while