The Wanted Short Stories (6 page)

When I pulled into Zilker Park, Ellie started laughing. “Oh my gosh. Are we going for a canoe ride?”

I nodded my head and smiled. “Yep.” I parked, jumped out of the truck, and jogged around to her side. I opened the door and held out my hand. “Don’t forget your sweatshirt.”

She grabbed it and jumped out of the truck. As we walked down to the water, I had a flashback to the day I’d brought her here. That day, I’d known I was in love with her and that I would love her always.

The song “Let Me Love You” by Neyo popped into my head, and my stomach did a crazy flip. I stopped walking, and Ellie turned to look at me. I just stood there and stared at her.

She slowly smiled and tilted her head. “What’s wrong?”

“I was just thinking about the first time we were here. Do you remember that day, Ellie?”

She nodded her head. “I do. We kissed for the first time down on the hike-and-bike trail.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, we did.”

I grabbed her other hand and pulled her closer to me. “I’ll always love you. Please don’t ever forget that, Ellie. You’re my everything. You’re my entire world. If I didn’t have you…” I shook my head and looked into her eyes. “I don’t even want to think about it. I promise to make you smile every single day, and I’ll never again bring a sad or hurtful tear to your eyes. I promise you.”

A tear rolled down her face. “I love you, Drew.”

“I love you more, Ellie.”

I sat back and felt the sun warming my face. It was slightly chilly out today, especially with us being on the water.

“Are you enjoying yourself, sweetheart?” Gunner asked.

I lifted my head and looked at him. I couldn’t help but smile. He was so breathtakingly handsome. His brown hair was slightly wavy, and his smile—
oh Lord, how that smile makes me do things I never thought I’d do.

“I am—more than you could ever imagine. It’s amazing to just sit here and relax. There are no fighting kids, no weeds to pull in the garden, no soccer practice, no PTA meetings…”

I let out a sigh, and Gunner chuckled.

“You love all that other stuff though. Don’t you?”

I nodded my head. “Yeah, I do. But I think everyone needs a little bit of
me
time…or
we
time. I needed
we
time.”

“I agree. I needed some
we
time, too.” He took off his sunglasses and looked at me.

By the look in his eyes, I could tell he was up to something. He began rowing over to the side of the river.

I looked around and said, “What are you doing?”

The left corner of his mouth rose slightly, and he laughed. “Baby, you challenged me. It’s time to show you I was serious.”

I sat up straight. “Huh? We already had sex in the truck.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Nah, that wasn’t public enough.”

My heart began to pound as I tried to figure out what Gunner was up to. He pulled up to the bank of the river and carefully got out of the canoe.

He reached his hand out for me. “Be careful, baby. Come on.”

I stood up and took his hand as he helped me out. He lifted the canoe out of the water and pulled it up onto the dirt path. A few feet above us was the hike-and-bike trail. I could hear people running by. I took a step over, looked up, and saw an older lady riding her bike.

I snapped my head back and looked at him. “No way, Gunner.”

He slowly nodded his head. “Oh, yes, ma’am. You can’t challenge me and then back out of it. I intend on making you orgasm right up against that tree.”

He pointed, and I turned around to see a giant cypress tree. I swallowed hard and felt my stomach clench. The idea of it thrilled me. I decided two could play at this game. I spun back around and looked out at the lake. Hardly anyone was on the lake since it was a weekday and chilly. I kicked off my sneakers and began unbuttoning my pants. Gunner licked his lips as I slid my pants down. Goose bumps covered my body, but it wasn’t because it was cold out. It was from the way Gunner was looking at me with hungry eyes.

I took my jeans and put them over a nearby branch as I watched Gunner unbutton his jeans.

“Holy hell, baby. You’re driving me crazy.”

He reached in and adjusted himself as I smiled.

I used my finger and motioned for him to come toward me. “I’m not walking over there without shoes on.”

Gunner smiled bigger and picked me up so quickly that I let out a small cry. I looked up and could barely see someone running by through the trees. Gunner walked us over to the cypress tree. I’d expected him to just pleasure me with his fingers, but when he leaned me against the tree, he pushed my panties out of the way and began teasing me with his tip. I was so overcome with what we were doing that I almost came on the spot.

“Oh God, Gunner. I’m going to come fast. It’s already building up,” I whispered.

He smiled. “Hold on, baby, you’re about to take the ride of your life.”

Before I could even say anything, he pushed inside me and began moving. Somehow, Gunner always knew the spot to hit to make me come fast and hard. He leaned down and began kissing my neck. The sounds of dogs barking and people talking, running, or riding their bikes were beginning to blend with my low moans of pleasure. I quickly looked out toward the water, and we were barely covered by all the tree branches. If someone looked hard enough, they would see what we were doing.

A warm feeling ran through my body, and I felt my orgasm building. Then, I heard a woman talking.

“So, Laura said the report is due back by five. That’s why she couldn’t join us.”

Two women had stopped practically right above us.

I closed my eyes as Gunner slowed down, and then he pushed inside me harder.

“Come, baby,” he whispered. He gently bit on my earlobe.

I placed my hands on his shoulders and began moving right along with him. I needed to feel more of him.

“Deeper,” I whispered.

“Well, that’s a shame. Laura was so looking forward to coming today.”

I closed my eyes and whispered, “So am I.”

Gunner pulled back, and I opened my eyes. He slowly smiled, and I let out a giggle. He pressed his lips to mine. The kiss started slow and sweet but quickly turned passionate. I pulled back and dropped my head against the tree. I began moving hips to meet Gunner’s movements.

Oh God. He’s so deep. It feels so good.

“Faster, Gunner, go faster.” I didn’t even care that I hadn’t whispered.

The two women had either moved on or stopped talking. All I heard was Gunner’s body hitting mine as he moved in and out, harder and faster.

It took everything out of me not to let out a scream when my orgasm hit me. I whimpered, and Gunner captured my lips with his. He kissed me, and my orgasm seemed to go on forever.

He poured himself into me as he whispered, “Fuck. Fucking hell, Ellie, it feels so good.”

Gunner and I rested our foreheads against each other as we tried to catch our breaths.

“I’m getting too old for this shit,” Gunner said as he looked at me and smiled.

I let out a laugh and hit him on the shoulder. Gunner looked up, and I did the same.

“Do you think they heard us?” I asked in a whisper.

I peeked back at Gunner, and he was smiling so big that it caused me to giggle.

“I’m pretty damn sure they heard us.”

I bit my lower lip. “You certainly rose to the challenge, Mr. Mathews.”

He laughed and began carrying me back toward my jeans and sneakers. He set me down gently and stood in front of me while I quickly got dressed.

I slipped on my sneakers. “God, I can’t wait to tell Ari this.”

Gunner shook his head and pushed the canoe back into the water. “Come on, I have another place I want to go.”

“More public sex?”

He helped me into the canoe and shook his head. “No, ma’am. No more of that. I was scared shitless someone would see you.”

I sat down in the canoe and watched as he got in and pushed away from the shoreline. My whole body was still on fire, and I couldn’t help but feel happy, knowing Gunner had worried that someone might me.

He looked at me and said, “What was that like for you, Ells?”

I felt my face instantly redden. “I thought it was hot. I don’t think I’ve had an orgasm like that in a while.”

He chortled. “Hot doesn’t even begin to describe that, baby. It was beyond hot.”

I nodded my head. “Yeah, it was. It’s not something you’d think a couple with two kids would be doing after being married for so long.”

“I feel another challenge coming on.”

I laughed. “No! No more challenges.”

The second I turned down Fourth Street, Ellie started clapping her hands. “Oh my God! We’re going to Halcyon, aren’t we?”

I chuckled. “Yep.”

“Oh, Gunner, I can’t even believe how incredibly romantic you are.”

I pulled into the valet parking, and a young kid walked up with a cocky little grin on his face.

“Wow, dude, nice truck.”

I smiled. “Yeah, it is. You put a scratch on it, and I’ll hang you up by your balls.”

“Gunner!” Ellie walked over to me and hit me in the stomach.

The kid’s smile faded, and he nodded his head. “Yes, sir. Not a scratch, sir.”

I put my arm around Ellie’s waist and began walking her to the Halcyon.

When we walked in, I was flooded by memories. This day was exactly what we’d needed.

“Oh, Gunner, today was exactly what we needed.”

I stopped and looked at her. “Ellie, I was literally just thinking the same exact thing.”

She smiled big, and her blue eyes sparkled. “Great minds…”

“I guess so.”

We walked up to the counter, and Ellie started talking to the young girl, “Good afternoon. Oh, let’s see, I’m going to take the chicken wrap and a lemon drop martini.”

I ordered next and got the Halcyon salad along with a chocolate espresso martini. I also ordered the tableside s’mores but asked for it to be brought out after we finished our lunch.

We sat down in the same corner booth where we’d had our first unofficial date. As we ate, Ellie began texting someone.

“Who are you texting?” I asked.

She looked up with sadness in her eyes. “Alex. She said she snuck her phone into class to ask if we were having fun.”

I smiled as my heart filled with warmth. I loved Alex and Colt so damn much. Alex was so much like Ellie. I could see it already. It was too bad she was also stubborn as hell like me. Colt, on the other hand, was so laid-back that it was unreal. Hardly anything bothered that boy, except his sister.

“I told her that we are having a wonderful time together, and we are very happy.” Ellie laughed and looked at me. “She just asked me if you are being romantic!”

My mouth dropped open. “How in the hell does she know what that means?”

Ellie giggled as she texted Alex back. She put her phone back in her pocket. “I told her you are probably more romantic now than when we first started dating.”

The waitress came over and cleared our plates as another waitress set down the tableside s’mores.

Ellie’s eyes lit up as she looked at the s’mores and then peeked up at me. “Gunner, it seems like it was just yesterday. Oh my gosh. My stomach almost feels like it’s in a knot, like it was on that day.”

I leaned over and gently kissed her on the lips.

“I love you, Drew Mathews.”

“I love you more, Ellie Mathews. I love you so much.”

I kissed her again, and I had to force myself to pull my lips from hers. “Want a s’more?”

She nodded her head in excitement as I began roasting a marshmallow.

“Gunner, do you ever think about our kids’ future? Like, where do you see them at the age we were when we got married?”

My heart dropped to my stomach. “Well, shit, Ells. Considering Colt is just eight and Alex is nine, I don’t even want to think that far ahead.”

She giggled as she tilted her head. “Without a doubt, I see Colt wanting to run the ranch. Luke, too. Ari said that it’s all he talks about.”

I smiled and nodded my head. “I do see that. Even Will tells Josh that he’s gonna run the ranch with the other boys.”

“Alex…I see her totally being a country girl.”