Chapter 22
We sat together at the waterfall for over an hour; just holding each other. I couldn’t stop looking at the ring on my finger. It felt so heavy, so foreign.
“I really thought you were going to break up with me.” I confessed, as we were walking back to his truck.
“I don’t understand why you would think that. I would have hoped you’d know me better by now.”
“It seemed like you were avoiding me all week. I didn’t know what else to think. I certainly never expected this.” I said, pointing to the ring.
“Oh baby, I’m sorry. I’ve been trying to research everything. We have a lot to talk about; a lot of things to decide. I also had to drive into the city to buy that ring. I couldn’t buy it in town, could I?”
“So what now? Can we even get married?” I asked.
“Yes, and no.”
“What do you mean?”
“Before I get into it all that you should know I went to speak to your father.”
“You what?!”
“It just seemed like the right thing to do.”
“And he didn’t shoot you?”
“I’m sure he thought about it. I asked for his permission to marry you. He told me no Cass. If we do get married, it will be against his wishes. I can’t say I blame him. If I were in his position, I’d say the same thing.”
“So what happens then? Do we need his permission?”
“No. Legally you are an adult. You don’t need permission. That being said, you do have a tough decision to make.”
“What? Tell me.”
“I’ve been giving this a lot of thought. You need to hear me out before you say anything.”
“Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”
“We’d have to move.”
“Move? Like out of your house? Why? There’s plenty of room.”
“No. We’d have to move out of town. I’m thinking out of state,” he said.
I felt my chest tighten as anxiety suddenly hit. “I’d have to leave school? I’d have to leave the river?”
“Hear me out. This is kinda what I’m thinking. I don’t want another year like this last one. I want to be with you, but I don’t like constantly looking over my shoulder. I think we should tough it out until the end of the year, get married and move away where we can be together. You’d have to go to a new school, or online, maybe get a GED, but we can figure all that out. I looked at your transcript and with all of your honors classes you could technically graduate after one more semester.”
“So what…do we move to Los Angeles?”
“We could. I’m sure my family would love you. If that’s something you want, we can do that or I had another idea.”
“And what’s that?” I asked.
“I don’t want to make you leave. I know you love the river but there really is no way for us to be together and stay here. Not even when you graduate. I’ve been doing some research and I found a city in Oregon. There is a place right on a river where you can float for an entire day. There is a good junior college you could attend if you decide. It’s a bigger city, plenty of places for me to find work. Plus, with all the work we did on my house I could sell it at a huge profit.”
“But you love teaching! How could you leave?”
“There are a lot of schools around there. I’ll apply, but if nothing comes up, I will find something else.”
Landon took his phone out of his pocket and showed me some pictures of the house he had picked out. The house looked like it needed a lot of updating but it was the pictures of the dock and the river that drew me in. It was perfect.
“I feel like I’m ruining your life. How can you give up everything?”
“That’s not true. I just moved here. The job, the house, those can be replaced. It’s you I want. You’re the one that will be giving up everything you’ve ever known. And before you say anything, this proposal is not an ultimatum. If you decide you want to stay, we’ll figure something else out. I just…I don’t want to wait to share a life with you. As you said before, I’m not getting any younger.”
I raised my hand up to my face and studied the ring. I still couldn’t believe it. “I don’t want to wait either. We can get married today as far as I’m concerned.”
“I think we need to try to tough it out until the end of the year. For one thing it would look bad on my resume if I left before the end of the year. My only real concern is your dad keeping things quiet. He’s already talked to the principal once about us. He could do that again, so we still need to be cautious. I’m pretty sure, based on my conversation with him, that he won’t say anything.”
“I guess I can’t wear the ring then.”
“I’m afraid not. You’ll have to keep it hidden. You’ll probably want to tell your friend you won’t be around after the school year. I know you said she could stay with you.”
Of course. That’s why he reacted when I told him about her. He was right. I’d have to let her down. “I still can’t believe this. I can’t believe you did this. I really thought you were dumping me.”
Landon took me in his arms, “You’re not getting away that easy.”
We held hands the rest of the way. I refused to let go of his hand even when we got in the car and started driving back. I looked down at our hands, my new ring sparkling between our dirt covered fingers.
Landon rubbed his thumb over my ring. “So I was thinking we could just lie low until the end of the year. I’ll resign and then we can get married before we move to Oregon. I know I sound like a horrible fiancé but we’ll probably have to just get married in city hall, and in a different city. If we do this, you’d be giving up the big wedding you probably always dreamed of.”
“Fiancé, I can’t believe I have a fiancé. I don’t care about any of that. I just want to be with you. I love you. I can call the money management firm and see about getting money for a house. I have more than enough.”
“Absolutely not. We aren’t using a cent of that. Your mother gave you that for your future, for schooling.”
“But you are my future. If we are going to be married, we need to share. It’s a partnership. I know I might be not able to work right away, but I should contribute, I don’t need you to take care of me.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just…it’s just you are already sacrificing so much to be with me, I won’t ask for more. Besides, I…we don’t need the money. I’ve got enough.”
My mind was racing. There was simply too much to process. How was I supposed to make it the rest of the year? What would I tell Tonya? Was I really going to be Mrs. Reynolds? I know I should have been scared but I wasn’t. I’d never been so sure of anything.
When we got back to his house I told him I would make dinner, and he excused himself, saying he would shower first. I’d started prepping the dinner when I heard the water running from his restroom. I don’t know what came over me, but I decided I couldn’t wait for a shower. I put the food back in the refrigerator and walked into his restroom. The steam had already started to cloud the room. I could only make out his silhouette behind the shower door.
Just hours ago I would never have considered joining him in the shower. But the ring on my finger gave me a sense of possession, like his body belonged to me all of the sudden. Landon was facing away from the door, rubbing some shampoo in his hair when I opened the shower door. I quickly removed all of my clothing and stepped inside.
Landon jumped when he felt my hand on his back. “Holy shit! Wha…what are you doing?” he asked, noticing my naked form standing in front of him.
“I thought we’d save water.”
“Oh my God. I don’t know about this.”
I put my hands on his well-defined chest and rubbed up and down, letting my fingers trace along his six-pack. He was instantly erect. He had to take a step back to avoid hitting me with his hardness. “I thought you could use help soaping off.” I told him.
Landon stood perfectly still, taking me in. I took his hand and placed it on my breast, encouraging him. He slowly began moving his long fingers, tracing my nipple. I leaned my head back and shut my eyes, absorbing his touch. He leaned down and kissed me, forcing my mouth open, his magical tongue, finding mine.
His hands went to work, caressing me everywhere. He had to adjust his penis so he could pull me close as we kissed. I could feel him rubbing up against my stomach. I instinctively reached down and started to stroke him. He was mine, every part of him belonged to me, like I belonged to him.
Landon took a step back and composed himself. We were both breathing hard, aroused and anxious. Landon reached over and grabbed the soap and started cleaning me. “You’re right. You are very dirty. I’ve got to clean you.”
He began at my neck, massaging along my shoulders and then down my arms; his strong fingers kneading into my flesh. His soapy hands moved back over my breasts, taking his time, making sure every millimeter was clean. I was going crazy; my body heat was rising and not from the hot water. When his hands started rubbing my hips, I could feel the intensity building inside me. The only thing keeping me from rubbing against him was his hardness pushing against my belly button, acting as a barrier. I thought his hands would find my center, but he kept them on my sides, instead focusing on my legs.
He knelt down, attentively working his hands along one of my legs before moving back up, along my other, over my knee, up my thigh. I opened my legs, giving his fingers access. He teased me, lightly grazing my smooth flesh.
Instead of touching me like I was yearning to be touched, Landon stood and grabbed me by my hips. “Turn around.”
I did as I was told, turning, facing away from him, giving him a full view of my ass. He soaped up his hands again and went back to work, massaging my shoulders. I stuck my ass out, pressing against his hardness.
“So I get a lifetime of this?” I asked.
“Only if you want.” He told me, his hands moving along my back, his thumbs kneading along my spine. I leaned forwards so I could support myself against the wall of the shower. As his hands were rubbing up and down along my back, his long cock was moving up and down along and in my crack. He leaned in, his hands reaching around, cupping my breasts. My body shivered when his lips started moving along the back of my neck.
“I love your body. Every inch of you.” Landon said, moving his hand down until he found the folds of my center.
I reached up, over my shoulder, rubbing my hands through his hair. His middle finger slid along my flesh, expertly moving in slow circles. My hips moved with him, my ass was completely grinding against his cock. I could feel his hardness rubbing along the crack of my wet ass. Our rhythm increased to a frantic pace, the excitement building inside me. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. I had found someone who could do that to me, could make me feel so good, and he was mine.
I let out a moan of disappointment when he moved his hips back, away from my ass. The disappointment quickly faded when I felt his cock move between my thighs. I could feel him rubbing up against my pussy. I thought for sure he was going to actually put it inside but he didn’t, just rubbed along my folds.
“Close your legs,” he told me.
I pressed my thighs together, squeezing Landon’s cock between my thighs. He was still reaching around, rubbing me with a fury. Between his fingers rubbing in circles on my clit and his erection pressing up between my thighs, it was only seconds before my orgasm overtook me. My legs weakened, and I almost fell straight down but Landon caught me, holding me by my hips. I thought he was trying to hold me up but quickly realized he was still rubbing against me. I reached down, between my legs and started rubbing his cock while he was pumping his hips. He was so close to being inside of me. His erection was completely running along my folds. Landon’s fingers dug into my sides as he guided me along his length.
“Oh Cass, Oh Cass.” He said, with a final push against me. White liquid shot out of his tip, onto the tile wall of the shower. He turned me so that I was facing him and pulled me into his arms. “I’m not sure you’re any cleaner.”
Laughing I responded. “No, I’m definitely not.”