Near thirty and she still has a grip on my balls. I give her a mock salute and show Vincent the basement bedroom. “If someone else is using the john upstairs, you’re SOL,” I inform him. I learned that the hard way trying to clean up after jerking off to a memory of Melody doing something totally innocent like picking a pencil off the floor and flashing me with her honey thighs or putting a pen in her mouth and sucking on the end of it like it’s a lollipop or my dick.
Man, I had so many dirty fantasies about Melody in high school. Sometimes she’d wear a plaid skirt and long knee-high white socks with little bows at the back of the knee. She’d say it was Cher day, which I had no idea what she was referencing, but fuck if those weren’t some of my favorite days of the week. Another time, she wore a black velvet choker, and it made me want to haul her into the locker room with a leash, push her on her knees, and fuck her face until her cheeks were painted white with my cum. Not all of my memories are about screwing her brains out. She made me want to protect her. I remember seeing her walk out of the counselor’s office, face white and mouth in a thin line. I’d mowed down half the football team that was standing in the hallway to get to her. I’d asked her what was wrong, but she refused to share with me, telling me it was none of my business. She’d always kept a part of herself private, like she didn’t trust me or didn’t think I was worthy of knowing that much about her. Not gonna lie, that stung.
I had to leave town in a hurry because if I stayed here much past graduation, I was going to do something drastic that she and I would both regret.
She’s my sister’s best friend now. Practically my parents’ second daughter before that. I couldn’t touch her without the wrath of every woman in my family descending on my head. So I ran off to the Naval Academy, got my bars, and climbed into a plane. The thing is, no matter how far away I went or how high in the air I’d fly, Melody was always with me.
She’d dug her way under my skin. I could feel her, sense her. My lungs were filled with her to the extent that every breath I took carried her scent.
Now that I’m back in town, the full force of my need for her has taken me by the throat. I’m either going to have to fuck her or escape again. Either way, we can’t go on like this.
CHAPTER 2
MELODY
“Do you think he’s going to take the job?”
“I heard he turned it down.”
“No, I heard he already agreed.”
“I’ve got a job Frank can fill.” That last voice belongs to Steph as she comes to stand in front of the booth behind me.
Yeah, I’d been listening to every word they said. My ears always perk up when Biscuit’s name is mentioned. I guess he’s not Biscuit anymore. Ever since he returned to town with his new best friend Vincent, who stole my best friend Emma. Everyone calls him Frank because it’s the name he’d been given in the Navy.
I’m a bit curious why someone with the given name Benson Charles would be called Frank but then again, I was the one that started calling him Biscuit, and everyone else had taken to the name too. I suppose it’s for the best. I need to forget about Biscuit. He’s Frank now, and I want nothing to do with Frank.
“I thought you were seeing Corey.” One of the older ladies from the sewing club asks, fishing for gossip. They always are.
I knew when I sat down in the booth behind theirs, I’d hear a few good dirty things that might be floating around town, but it’s just my luck that they’re talking about Bisc—Frank, I mentally correct. That name is as dead to me as he is. No matter where I turn or go, he’s always the topic of conversation. And even though I want nothing to do with that man ever again, I can’t help but get jealous every time one of these other women talk or throw themselves at him.
“It’s casual with Corey, but Frank—” She lets out a sigh. I grit my teeth.
Steph and Frank had been in the same grade. I was one year behind them. She’s always had a bit of a crush on him, not that I can blame her. I was one of the many. Not that Frank ever paid much attention to anyone trying to flirt with him. Sometimes I think it went straight over his head when a girl was coming on to him. He’s a man of few words and doesn’t give much back when some try to lure him in. That just made them try harder.