She raised her voice. “I am not!”

I leaned in so we were nose to nose. “Liar. Admit it.”

“No!”

“Say it.”

“You’re crazy!”

“You know what, Val? I’d rather be crazy than a chickenshit. It must suck to finally be free to live a little and be too uptight to act on what you’re feeling.”

She scowled at me. “Screw you.”

My mouth curved to a wicked grin. “Is that an invitation? Because I’m right here whenever you want me. And since I’m only twenty-five, I can pretty much fuck on demand. I doubt old man Mark has it in him to go all night.”

Valentina’s chest heaved; I could feel the heat emanating from her body. When I glanced down, I found her nipples protruding through her shirt. She was as turned on as I was, though she wouldn’t budge from hiding it beneath her anger.

“You’re such an asshole!” she screamed.

Fuck it. If I’m an asshole, I might as well be a giant one.

There was only one way to win this argument. I wrapped my hands around her cheeks and smashed my lips over her angry mouth. She hesitated for a half a second, but once the initial shock wore off, she opened for me and mewled into my mouth. Feeling her tits pushed up against my chest, I pressed her against the kitchen counter and tilted her head to deepen the kiss.

Whatever restraint she’d had left gave way, and all hell broke loose.

We couldn’t get close enough. Grabbing the backs of her thighs, I lifted and guided her legs around my waist. The erection that had started to thicken during our argument grew painfully hard, feeling the wet heat coming from between her legs.

Valentina moaned, and anything and everything ceased to exist but the two of us. She dug her nails into my back, and I tugged at her hair. I fucking knew it would be like this. A physical attraction makes for intense chemistry, but a physical and mental connection is damn combustible.

I don’t know how long we went at it, but eventually we had to come up for air, and the one-second break filled with panting was enough to allow Val to start to come to her senses. She shoved at my chest and reached to touch her swollen lips.

I caressed her face and murmured, “Thanks, Dad.”

“Dad?”

I leaned my forehead against hers. “He once told me that the best thing to do when you’re having an argument you can’t win with a woman you care about is to kiss her—then you both win.”

She smiled sadly. “You should probably go home, Ford.”

I traced her bottom lip with my thumb. “Nina is my cousin. She came to spend the weekend with my sister.”

Valentina’s eyes narrowed. “Your cousin?”

“You thought I had a woman over, even after chasing you for a month? I’m not the kind of guy to use another woman to replace the one I want but can’t have.”

She looked down. I put my fingers under her chin and lifted so our eyes met again. “Tell me, Val. Did it feel as good kissing Mark as it did kissing me?”

It might’ve been an arrogant statement, but I knew without a doubt that kissing anyone did not feel like what had just happened, and I was willing to bet the feeling was mutual.

“I didn’t kiss Mark. And it wasn’t a date. Not that it’s any of your business if it was.”

I looked back and forth between her eyes. “Does he know it wasn’t a date?”

She shook her head. “You should go. It’s late.”

I might’ve pushed my way to that kiss, but I wasn’t actually an asshole. Plus, I knew her head was still fighting with her body, and it would take a while for them to be aligned, if that were even possible.

I wasn’t taking the risk that I’d only ever have that one kiss with her. So I nodded and leaned in, brushing my lips with hers once more. “Goodnight, beautiful.”

***

The kiss might have been over, but the memory was the gift that kept on giving. In the shower, I jerked off to the sounds she’d made while my lips were pressed to hers, to the feel of how wet she was, even through our clothing. I was so pathetic that I sniffed my own fucking shorts, hoping some of her juices had come through onto them.

In bed, I wondered what she was doing at this exact moment. Were her fingers inside of herself? I closed my eyes and imagined her lying spread eagle in her bed—her wild, dark hair splayed all over her pillow, and her big blue eyes glazed over as she pumped her fingers in and out of her tight pussy.

Fuck.

I really needed to jerk off again.

But instead, I reached for my phone on the nightstand. If she wasn’t already regretting our kiss, she would be at some point, and I wanted to let her know I felt no remorse. In fact, I wanted her to know I was fucking elated the kiss had happened, and I’d come home to celebrate it.

Ford: I’m not sorry I kissed you.

I watched as the text changed from Sent to Delivered to Read. But no response came.

Alright, well, at least you’re listening. So I continued.

Ford: I enjoyed it so much that I just came to the memory.

Sent then Delivered then Read, again.

I smiled when no return text came. I pictured her sitting in her bed, struggling with her own desire, her eager hand at the waistband of her underwear.

What was that? You want to hear more? Well, okay, then…

Ford: My cock was all lathered up and hard. I closed my eyes and imagined my hand was you. I heard the little sound you made when I yanked your hair. You liked that, didn’t you? I felt your gorgeous tits pressed up against my chest. I bet you’ll like it when I take your nipple between my teeth and tug hard, too.

Sent. Delivered. Read.

Ford: I came so hard…so fucking hard. But I wish it had been inside of you.

Sent. Delivered. Read.

Ford: Tell me, Val. Did you touch yourself when I left? Did you think of me? Did you use your hand? God, what I wouldn’t give to suck on those fingers after they’ve been inside you.

Sent. Delivered. Read.

Ford: That’s okay. You can tell me about it another time. I have something I need to take care of now, too. Again. So sweet dreams, my Valentina. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.

***

I’d hoped to see her before I left. But when I got up at six thirty, her car was already gone. I waited until almost eight, but when she still hadn’t come back, I had to get on the road. The meeting I blew off yesterday when Bella mentioned she’d left Val at the art exhibit with some guy had been rescheduled for eleven today, and I couldn’t screw this guy again. So I finished my coffee and headed out.

Though I only got about two miles before I came upon a roadside stand that sold fruit, vegetables, and fresh flowers. Sometimes my Dad and I would drive out to Montauk a day later than my mom, and he’d always stop and pick up flowers at this place. I’d passed it a half-dozen times over the last two weeks and never thought to stop.

I pulled over to the side of the road and picked out an oversized bundle of wildflowers with giant sunflowers and then drove back to the house. Valentina’s car was still missing, so I left them on the mat at her front door and stepped on the gas to get to my meeting.

A few hours later, I sat in the lobby of an office, waiting for my eleven o’clock meeting to start, and I decided to send her another text.

Ford: Morning, beautiful. Hope you slept well. You were up and out early this morning. I’d been hoping to catch you before I left for the city, so we could talk.

I stopped before hitting send and smiled, deciding to add more.

Ford: Or make out some more.

After a few seconds, the text changed to Read. I got pumped when the dots started to jump around. But then they stopped. A minute later they started again. Then stopped again.

Stop overthinking things, Valentina.

No return text had arrived by late afternoon, so I assumed this was how it was going to be until I could get to her in person. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to be today. I needed to go into the office and do a few things after my meeting. And traffic on Friday night would be a bitch since it was the first official weekend of summer.

But I wanted to know if Val had taken off—maybe gone home to New Jersey to avoid me. I hadn’t checked in with my sister all day, so I hit speakerphone and told Siri to call Bella.

“Hey. What’s going on?”

“You don’t have to call me just because I haven’t seen you today.”

I pictured Annabella’s eyes rolling.

“Just checking in. I wasn’t sure if you knew I wasn’t going to get back out east tonight.”

“Oh good. Let me plan a party. I’ll make sure to put it on Instagram so a few hundred strangers crash it.”

“Cute.”

“I’m fine, Ford. And Nina’s here for the weekend, and I have Val.”

“Is Val around? Her car was gone when I left this morning.”

“Yep. We’re planting flowers in her deck boxes for her party this weekend right now.”

“Party?”

“She’s having a barbecue with her friends.”

I’d forgotten she’d mentioned her best friend was coming out for a long weekend.

“Oh yeah. Alright, good.”