#cornhole sets

[tamathaatam]

#cornhole boards #cornhole sets #cornhole #cornhole games #cornhole personalized sets #fun cornhole boards

[deityofhearts]

do y’all know what cornhole is

#deity dialogue #this is because once I was talking about cornhole to a coworker at walmart (we were putting away the cornhole set) and he’s not from here #and was like ‘that means something entirely different where I’m from’ I can only imagine he meant something to do with sex #but like cornhole here is this game #I’m so bad at cornhole but I’m generally terrible at throwing like #it’s a real affliction I once threw a toy mouse forwards and it like. it went left and we still don’t know how

[qveerthe0ry]

Have y’all ever heard of Fowling? Pre-outbreak Joel would totally take reader on a Fowling date

#it’s like bowling but with a football instead of a bowling ball #and it’s set up like cornhole #can you tell I have brainrot? I’m fowling rn

[coffinbutch]

Oh man I forgot to say that when we were visiting my folks we got out the cornhole set to play w my sister and her bf and discovered that the cornhole bags had been infested with corn fleas (?!) And they had eaten. All the corn. In the bags.

#it was just like flour left in there. totally demolished #so maybe the next set of bags they get should have polyfill or something #i told this to some friends at dinner the other night who are not from the midwest #and they were shocked that cornhole is typically played with actual corn. like yes bro i am from ohio. thats all we got out there #i should add that the cornhole set is cleveland browns themed #not relevant just amusing

[facethefashionsworld]

Kids Fun Game Cornhole Set

#cornhole set #zazzle cornhole set #fun game #kids gift #kids games

[iajicollection]

Checkout our latest collection. This Sets consist of 95 Best Gold Leafy Crest Monogram Wedding Invitation https://iaji.net/collection/250

#wedding reception games cornhole set gokd monogram crest leafy botanical wreath hand lettered script calligraphy classic modern el

[thefreakandthehair]

a little fluff for @starrystevie's birthday! hope it's the absolute best day! ✨

Eddie misses Steve.

It's equal parts cute, and maybe a little pitiful because it's only three days in Chicago for his friend's Bachelor Party, but it's already been two days and he misses Steve. Bandit digs his claws into Eddie's thigh as he makes biscuits and begs for pets, curling up comfortably next to Eddie's lap and leaving Steve's side of the couch overwhelmingly cold and empty.

"I know, kid. I know," Eddie coos, scratching their cat behind the left ear as he purrs.

He's glad that Steve had been able to get the time off from work to go, and he's glad that Steve's made friends on his recreational basketball league, and he's not jealous. At all. Not even a little bit.

... Okay, maybe he is a little bit jealous that Brandon gets to see him sweaty and gross in the June heat, running around doing whatever jock-activity they've planned in the backyard of their rented house all weekend, but who can blame him? Steve never gives him a reason to feel insecure so he knows this isn't about Steve. It's not rooted in anything even remotely related to him or their relationship— it's all about Eddie and the nasty voice in the back of his head that pulls out a bullhorn and screams not good enough on a loop.

Condensation from the beer in his free hand drips down his wrist as he rests his elbow on the arm of the couch. It's not the first time he's felt this way, and Steve himself has admitted to feeling the same way from time to time, so he knows that it'll pass. He just needs to focus on something else: DND campaign planning, sketching, writing, cracking out the ol' guitar. He could rewatch Howard the Duck for the hundredth time, or maybe even Labyrinth—

Buzz, buzz, buzz.

Eddie's phone buzzes on the coffee table and he fully expects it to be Gareth or Jeff, or maybe Robin. They have plans later that night, both of them missing Steve and all. What he doesn't expect is a series of text messages and 19 photos from Steve.

How funny. It's been five years since they'd become EddieandSteve but seeing Steve's name and smiling photo on his phone sets his little hummingbird heart aflutter even still.

steve 👑: it's so goddamn hot here steve 👑: we're playing cornhole now and just threw a football around steve 👑: sweating all the beer and vodka out as a I go, that's healthy, right? don't worry, I'm drinking a shit ton of water.

Steve includes a selfie of himself, smiling closed-lipped with a baseball cap on backwards and the neck of his tee-shirt drenched in sweat. Eddie wants to lick him dry and that's a thought he'll never tell a living soul, probably not even Steve. No, no definitely not Steve. He'll never live that one down.

steve ��: oh, and fishing was good! we made some bets on who could catch the most and then who could catch the biggest. I tied for first place for the biggest and I caught 17. brandon got 20 so he won that bet. I'm only letting it go because it's his bachelor party lmao

Eddie swipes to the next photo, one of Steve and Brandon holding their two biggest catches. Steve's sunglasses are sliding down his nose, no doubt from the sun warming his glistening skin, and he's smiling wide against the railing of a boat. As much as he misses him, Eddie can't help but mirror his smile. Call him lovesick or 'down bad', as Robin says, but seeing Steve happy makes him happy.

He continues swiping and reading the little blurb attached to each photo, some of which don't even include Steve but Eddie appreciates them all the same. They don't include Steve, but it feels a lot like Steve trying include Eddie in the weekend. The last picture is one of the entire group, all dozen or so guys lined up on the ship. Brandon stands in the center surrounded by the rest of the group with Steve shuffled in no meaningful spot but to Eddie, Steve is the center of every photo, every moment, everything.

Eddie starts to type a response when his phone dings again. This time, Steve sends a voice message and Eddie presses play so quickly, he nearly knocks poor Bandit off his lap.

Hey, takin' a break from cornhole. I won, by the way, had to make up for losing to Brandon in the fishing bet.

Steve laughs and Eddie's stomach flips. Robin's right. He's down very, very bad for this man.

But I just uh, I miss you, and I know maybe that's sorta lame but I do. The party's great and all, but I can't wait to get back home tomorrow. Tell the kid I said hi. I love you, Ed.

He replays it a few times and shamelessly taps Keep so it doesn't disappear before sending his own voice message.

It's no more lame than me sitting here with Bandit sharing how much we miss you, so you get a pass. I mean, you get a pass on everything all the time, but don't let that go to your pretty head, okay? I'm so fucking glad you're having fun and sowing your jocky oats, but selfishly, I can't wait for you to get home. I'll make it worth your while.

He huffs air through his nose and laughs low in his throat.

Oh, and Robin's coming by in a little bit so I'm gonna grab a bottle of wine. Don't be surprised if you get a FaceTime call later. I love you too, Stevie. So goddamn much.

Eddie sure does miss Steve, but it stings a little less knowing that Steve misses him, too.

#steddie #steddie fanfiction #steddie fanfic #steddie fic #steddie ficlets #steve harrington x eddie munson #eddie munson x steve harrington #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fic #stranger things ficlets #st fic #st ficlet #myblurbs #myfic #alcohol cw #eddie and robin do indeed facetime steve later a little wine drunk and steve obviously answers immediately #he misses his boyfriend and his best friend so fucking much #he gets to pass the phone around a little bit and introduce everyone #proudly (and a little drunkenly) proclaiming how much he loves his two favorite people #they play two truths and a lie over facetime with the rest of the bachelor party #when steve gets home the next day eddie and robin get standing invites to everything forever <3333 #no one look at me this idea came from nowhere and i know it's not any of my wips BUT the worms drive the bus

[pennylanefics]

Juice Box - Seth Jarvis

a/n: i'm not entirely happy with this, but it's something 😅 i also based this off something my family does because i was thinking about it with my grandpa and everything :)

summary: at a family picnic, seth helps a young cousin of yours after she is injured on the playground

word count: ~1.6k

Laughter and conversations filled the park gazebos, sounds of children screaming and adults playing games and catching up. Every year, your family has a picnic, where extended family members on your mother’s side get together at a local park, your uncles grill hot dogs and hamburgers, people bring cornhole and soccer balls or footballs to play with.

It was still quite early in the summer, so it wasn’t too chilly, but also not scalding hot to the point where it was unbearable to be outside. Thankfully today, it was also partly cloudy, so the sun gets shielded by the clouds here and there, cooling the air for a few moments.

You had invited Seth, who was beyond excited to get to meet even more of your family, most of which would be for the first time, since you don’t see them often and they’re not really around much.

“You have the pasta salad and brownies?” You ask Seth as you step out of your car. The food was in the trunk, to prevent it from rolling around the back seat. You grabbed the two folding lawn chairs from the back seat while Seth grabbed the food and cooler.

“Yeah, got everything,” he says, coming around to smile at you as he held it all. “Ready.”

You led him over to the gazebo that was rented out for just your family, the smell of barbeque already filling the air.

As you walk up and start greeting everyone, Seth stands around awkwardly, not knowing where to put the food. Your cousin comes up and takes the dessert from him, as well as telling him where to put the bowl of pasta salad, along with all the other sides, like buffalo chicken dip and a bunch of different chips.

You walk back over to Seth after getting the chairs all set up and hug him, your arms around his torso, curling your head into his shoulder.

“I would introduce you to people, but I’m gonna be honest, I’m not sure I remember all of their names,” you mention, looking around at everyone. Seth laughs and rubs your back softly.

“When you don’t see people often, it does get hard to remember names. That’s how it is with my mom’s side of the family. We don’t get together as much as my dad’s side, so I couldn’t tell you half of the people I see during family events,” he explains, his eyes scanning over the group of people, all chatting and smiling with one another, noticing a few familiar faces of those that he has met.

“I can tell faces, like I remember them, but there’s so many names and titles, you know?” Seth presses a few kisses to your temple as your aunt comes over to say hi to the two of you.

As time goes by and Seth grows a bit more comfortable with so many new faces around him, some of them even recognizing him and becoming a little starstruck, things start to ease up for the both of you. 

You get dragged over by your cousins to talk to a few people, cousins of all of your moms to be specific, and you can’t help but keep an eye on Seth, just in case.

“How long have you been together?” One of your mom’s cousins, Angela, asks you, nudging your arm and pointing in the direction of your boyfriend.

“Almost a year,” you smile, seeing his gaze trail over to you, your eyes meeting for a moment before he goes back to talking with your uncle. “He’s so wonderful, I can’t believe it’s almost been that long.”

“Oh wow. Do you have anything planned for your anniversary?” She continues, slightly prying but you knew she meant well and was genuinely interested.

“I’m not sure yet. We talked about going on like a week trip to the mountains in Colorado, but he has to make sure he doesn’t have any meetings. But he told me even if he does, he’ll skip it just to spend time with me.”

“Aw, that is so sweet! I can tell he really loves you. The way he looks at you is how my daughter’s husband looks at her. It’s very special, make sure to not let him go,” she winks playfully. Giggling softly, you nod and look back over, finding him laugh loudly, the familiar sound filling your ears even from so far away.

“I don’t plan on it,” you say, mainly to yourself. Insecurity rises in you but you try to push it down, the uncertainty of the future getting to your head.

You sigh loudly as she turns back to conversation with the others, Seth catching your eyes once more, and instantly, he can tell something is on your mind. He says something to your uncle and makes a bee-line right towards you.

“Hey, everything alright?” He wonders, his hands settling on your waist.

“Yeah, ‘m fine,” you murmur, reaching up to move a strand of his hair away from his eyes. He blushes and a small grin displays on his face.

“You’re overthinking,” he whispers, pulling you to the side, where there wasn’t anyone around you.

“A little, but it’s nothing.” He nods, but still doesn’t let up.

“Can we talk about it when we get home?” He wonders. Seth knows you so well, he knows that whatever is on your mind, you need to speak about it otherwise it’ll gnaw at the inside of your brain and send you into a spiral.

You nod at his question and give him a sweet kiss. Just then, your uncle announces that the hot dogs and burgers are done, and everyone is more than welcome to start eating.

Seth helps you get your plate, holding it for you as you place a bun on it, finding the perfect, charred hot dog out of the bunch. You move on to getting some sides and then find your seat, Seth following not too far behind.

The rest of the afternoon goes smooth, everyone continues to catch up and share stories, talking about their lives since the last time everyone saw each other. Your younger cousins even dragged Seth to the playground for a little bit, claiming they wanted him to play with them on the equipment that was far too small for someone his age.

You are caught up in talking to your cousin and uncle when a sudden crying fills the air. Everyone looks around and their eyes land on Seth, who comes walking up the grassy incline, with your five-year-old cousin wailing beside him. Seth holds his hand up for people to stay put, not wanting to overwhelm the young girl.

“Here, why don’t you sit in my chair, alright? You want something to drink? Do you have water? You want a juice box?” He asks her, kneeling down so that he’s at the same level as her. She wipes her tears and nods at his question.

Seth looks up at you, slightly standing over him to make sure everything was okay. You nod, understanding his silent request, and find a cooler with some Capri Suns, grabbing a random flavor and handing it to Seth.

He carefully opens the straw and punctures it into the opening, handing it to her.

“Now, let’s assess this scrape, yeah?” He holds her shoe in his hand to get a look at the scrape that was fresh on her knee. He looks back up at you and stands up. 

“You have a first aid kit in your car, right?” He asks.

“Yeah. You want me to go get it?”

“Please. It’s just a simple scrape, but it scared her.” You nod and rush off to your parked car to retrieve the small red box. The second you return, Seth opens it up and grabs an alcohol wipe and a band aid.

“Okay, this might hurt, why don’t you hold (Y/N)’s hand, okay?” Seth looks at the child with kind eyes, getting ready to wipe the scrape, knowing it’ll most likely burn, but he needed to clean it before. She nods and looks up at you. You hold your hand out for her to take and she does.

Seth gently presses the wipe against the scrape, your cousin whining and crying even more at the feeling.

“I know, Ophelia, but I have to clean it, alright? And…just like that, done!” He throws his hands up in the air. “The worst part is over, yeah? You did it! High five!” He raises one hand closer to her, and finally, she giggles at his playful tone, giving his hand a small smack.

“Now I just have to put the band aid on. And this is super easy!” He opens it up, handing you the trash, and when he’s done, he pulls a surprised expression on his face. “Just like that! You are all set and ready to go back and play!”

She giggles again and gives him a hug before running over to her mom, now in a much more calm mood than from when Seth brought her up, showing her mom the band aid and telling her what happened.

Seth throws the trash away in a nearby trash can and smiles sheepishly at you upon finding you staring him down.

“What?” He wonders, kissing your cheek.

“Nothing. I just think you’re so sweet,” you say, giving him a kiss on the cheek this time, his soft skin turning a pale pink.

“She’s a sweet kid. I tried to catch her before she tripped, but she was too far away. Her shoe got caught on a rock and she just went down.”

“She looks happy now,” you say, looking over at her jumping up and down. “You didn’t have to do that, you know?” Seth gives you a confused look.

“I didn’t have to, but I knew how to handle it,” he shrugs. “I don’t mind doing things like that. Gives her mom a break for a bit too.”

“I love you,” you whisper, curling into his side. He chuckles and throws his arms around you.

“And I love you.”

#seth jarvis #seth jarvis imagines #seth jarvis x reader #seth jarvis imagine #seth jarvis fanfic #carolina hurricanes #carolina hurricanes fanfic #hockey fanfic #nhl fanfic #nhl imagines #imagines #fanfiction #fanfic

[saturnville]

in the dirty south, II.

pairing: cowboy!coriolanus snow x black fem oc. warnings: old slang, sexual innuendo, flirting, sorta forbidden infatuation if you blink. shy!oc. content: while at a town fair with her family, delilah finds herself heavily infatuated with the new face in town. an: I'm not sure if I'll make another part to this. it depends on if I get more inspiration, but idk I like cowboy coriolanus.

tags: @snowlandsontopp @babyzzlove @hlstead @rosewine-5 @unicornqueen05 @thegabbyh @neeville @fastlikealambo @urfavesim @cherry2stems to keep your spot on the tag list, you are expected to interact!

The fair was just as lively as she remembered years ago. The sun was still beaming and the hustle and bustle ramped up by the minute. It was a beautiful sight of organized chaos. Tents and booths set up along the strip with excited members of the community engaged in every aspect. Small children chasing one another and giggling as they slid against the pavement, adults chugging beer like it was water, and young men and women engaged in an intense game of cornhole. Delilah smiled. It was light-hearted moments as such that made her days better.

Her mother had retired inside Turner's to combat the heat exhaustion she felt coming on. Luckily, the poundcake and milk were long gone, save for the slice Delilah saved for Coriolanus, so there was nothing to keep her outside. Delilah on the other hand, chose to sit perched underneath the tent with a fan in one hand and a cup of water in the mother. People watching would keep her amused for the time being.

As her dark eyes scoped the area, they landed on Coriolanus, who was engaged in a game of cornholl with Ezra and another young woman. Her eyes narrowed. The woman, who recognized as Lyra. They'd gone to school together years prior, and to say Delilah was fond of her was an understatement. She was a beautiful girl--dusty brown hair and fair skin with brown eyes--but she was mean. Delilah didn't like mean. But Ezra did.

She hummed to herself as she watched Ezra visibly melt as Lyra batted her eyelashes before throwing the sand-filled bag on the wooden plank. It seemed to get intense as Coriolanus grinned cockily after scoring, what she assumed to be, the winning point on the duo.

Delilah chuckled. Competitive just like every other man she knew. As if he could feel her heavy gaze on him, Coriolanu turned his head slightly. He tipped tipped his hat, which made her wave shyly.

Coriolanus said a few words to Lyra and Ezra before jogging over to where Delilah sat under the tent. "I hope you saved me a slice of cake." He took a seat next to her, knee brushing against her own. She said nothing rather slid the intricately folded napking that covered the poundcake toward him. Coriolanus smiled.

"Thank you." He unwrapped it and dropped a piece into his mouth, moaning softly at the taste. Delilah's body stiffened at the sound. Something within her was awakened. It didn't go unnoticed. Nor did the increased speed of her fan. Coriolanus raised his eyebrow. "You okay?"

"Just fine," Delilah replied. She turned to face him. "How do you know the boys? They're like my brothers and no offense, but they've never mentioned you before. Y'all get along like y'all have known each other for ages."

Coriolanus took in a breath. She was shy yet straightforward; he could respect it. The story of his relationship with her "brothers" was complicated. When he was exiled from the Capitol and thrust into District 11, he was alone. No familiar faces, no family, and no friends. But when he was stopped by Elijah, Malachi, and Ezra while walking to the fields for his early-morning shift, they'd become colleagues. Friends. Brothers.

"We work the fields together," Coriolanus said, turning to meet her tired eyes. "Stopped me on my way to work one morning when I moved to 11. Didn't have anybody. They became my somebody."

Delilah nodded. She thought about the mess he'd gotten himself in, and wondered how bad it had to have been if he was forced to move to the Districts. No one would move to the Districts from the Capitol. She loved being part of 11, but even she wouldn't pass up on the opportunity to experience Capitol living if it was an option.

"What about you, Miss Delilah Mae? Very pretty name, by the way." Coriolanus leaned toward her, his lips close to her ear. "Do you have somebody?"

Her fan stopped moving. Her fan stopped moved and her eyes cut to his. She'd never realized how pretty they were. They were like gentle waves in the sea. Could her boats sail across them and bask in their essence? She could only imagine.

Delilah brought her cup to her lips. Still stained red, they wrapped around the rim as she took a gulp. A singular droplet fell from the corner of her mouth and traveled down her cheek and neck until it slipped down the valley of her breasts. Coriolanus followed its route.

"No," she finally replied. "I don't. Why--you tryin' to be my somebody?"

A sly smile played on his lips as he shrugged. It wouldn't sound so bad. Getting to know the pretty girl with a whole lot of mysteriou treasure buried deep beneath her shy nature. He hoped to get lucky and find the gold.

Coriolanus brought a hand to her face and wiped away the remnants of water that rested there. His thumb and index finger cupped her chin gently. "I just might be, darling. Only if you let me."

#saturnville #black!reader #original writing #original content #black reader #coriolanus snow x black reader #fic inspo #young coriolanus snow #coriolanus x lucy gray #coriolanus snow x reader #coriolanus x reader #coriolanus snow #cowboy!coriolanus #cowboy!coriolanus snow #cowboy!coriolanus x black fem oc #coriolanus snow x you #coriolanus snow x delilah mae by saturnville

[cailins-posts]

**Summer at the Lake House**

Like hughes x reader

It was the perfect summer day at the Hughes family's lake house in Muskoka. The sun was high in the sky, casting a golden glow over the shimmering water. The lake house was alive with energy, filled with the laughter of friends and the cheerful banter of family. You had been invited to spend a weekend with Luke Hughes and his brothers, Jack and Quinn, along with a few other players from the New Jersey Devils and the University of Michigan's hockey team. You were sitting on the back deck, enjoying the warm breeze and the sight of the boat bobbing gently in the water. Luke was at the grill, flipping burgers and chatting with Jack, while Quinn was setting up a game of cornhole on the lawn. A group of Luke's teammates from Michigan, including Matty Beniers and Thomas Bordeleau, were already out on the water, laughing and playing with a frisbee. It was Luke who noticed you watching the boat. He flashed that bright smile of his and walked over, holding out a plate of freshly grilled burgers. "Hey, Y/N," he said. "Hungry?" You accepted the plate with a grin. "Always," you replied, taking a bite. It was perfect, just like everything else about this day. Luke sat down beside you, his knee brushing against yours. He seemed more relaxed here, away from the rink and the pressures of the NHL. "Want to go out on the boat later?" he asked, glancing at the lake. "We could take a ride, maybe do some tubing." "I'd like that," you said, meeting his eyes. There was something about the way he looked at you that made your heart skip a beat. After lunch, the group headed down to the water. The boat was sleek and fast, perfect for cruising across the lake. Jack took the wheel, while Luke sat beside you at the back, his arm casually draped over your shoulder. The boat picked up speed, and you felt the wind in your hair, the spray of water on your skin. As the boat zipped across the lake, Luke leaned closer to speak over the noise of the engine. "This is awesome, isn't it?" he shouted. "Yeah, it really is!" you replied, laughing. The thrill of the ride was infectious, and you couldn't help but feel alive. Later, after everyone had their turn tubing and swimming, the boat slowed down, and Jack brought it to a stop in a quiet cove. The water was calm, reflecting the pink and orange hues of the setting sun. Luke suggested you sit at the front of the boat to watch the sunset, and you gladly accepted. As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm glow over the lake, you and Luke sat together, your shoulders touching. It felt like a moment out of a dream, peaceful and perfect. You could hear the distant laughter of his brothers and the others, but here, it was just the two of you. Luke turned to you, his expression soft. "I'm glad you came this weekend," he said. "I've really enjoyed spending time with you."

"Me too," you replied, feeling a flutter in your stomach. The boat rocked gently on the waves, and Luke's hand found yours. He held it lightly, his thumb tracing circles on your skin. It was such a simple gesture, yet it meant so much. The sun had almost disappeared now, the sky turning a deep blue as night fell. "Would it be okay if I kissed you?" he asked, his voice low and sincere. You nodded, unable to hide your smile. "Yeah, I'd like that." Luke leaned in, and you felt his lips on yours, soft and gentle. It was a kiss that spoke volumes, full of warmth and promise. You closed your eyes, letting the moment wash over you. When the kiss ended, you stayed close, your forehead resting against his. The sound of the water lapping against the boat, the distant voices of friends, and the warmth of Luke's presence made you feel like you were exactly where you were meant to be. That weekend at the lake house was just the beginning of something special. Luke Hughes was more than just an NHL player; he was someone you could share sunsets with, someone who made you feel cherished. And as you sat together on the boat, watching the stars appear in the night sky, you knew this was a moment you'd never forget.

#hockey #nhl #nhl x reader #jack hughes x reader #quinn hughes #luke hughes blurb #luke hughes imagine #luke hughes x reader #luke hughes #new jersey devils x reader #michigan hockey

[tamathaatam]

https://www.zazzle.com/z/avpnhl1t?rf=238574319027651313

#cornhole boards #cornhole #cornhole sets #cornhole game #personalized cornhole boards

[rhoorl]

Delta Landscaping | Ch 14: Sparks Fly Like the Fourth of July

Series Masterlist | Chapter 14 A03 Link

Word Count: 8.2k (sorry!)

Previously on As the Mule Falls: The Pikes moved into the neighborhood and immediate sparks flew between Benny and Vanessa. The boys got materials and supplies to work on Melissa’s backyard and the neighbors organized another party via their group chat. 

In this Episode: Marcus and Victoria get their day off to a fun start. Frankie and Jo keep chatting. Cousin Joel and Sarah call Benny and Will. The neighbors meet up at David and Ty’s house for a party. Cue a montage: David in a red, white, and blue feather boa, Benny making Vanessa laugh, Will and Marcus conspiring, and a game of cornhole. We end with Will and Katie having a heart-to-heart. Have your bingo card ready for another PPCU Easter egg!

Chapter Warnings: Brief unprotected P in V (established couple), allusions to PTSD and complicated feelings around being a veteran, some angst, and Marcus Pike and Cousin Joel both need their own warnings. Feral David.

*Cue the theme music and roll opening credits*

“Babe, what’re doing?” Victoria whispered, peeking around the corner into the kitchen to find Marcus rifling through boxes in the dark. 

“Hey, I…uh…I was trying to surprise you,” he turned with a sheepish grin, his white V-neck shirt riding up slightly as he set a box atop the counter.

She cocked her head to the side as she walked further into the kitchen, her arms finding her husband’s waist. “And what surprise would pull you out of bed at 5 in the morning, mi amor?”

“I was looking for the griddle…I wanted to surprise you all with pancakes.”

“Ay, mi vida, you are literally the sweetest,” she brought both of her hands up to cradle his face, pressing a kiss to his lips. “How about pancakes this weekend when we have more stuff unpacked? How’s that sound?” She rubbed up and down his back.

“Ok,” he pouted. “We need to get groceries, there’s nothing in the house.”

“Well, we have that party today. We should probably bring something, can’t show up empty-handed to our first neighborhood party,” she winked. “I’ll shoot Megan a text later to see what she thinks and then maybe Nessa and I will run out to Publix this morning. We’ll pick up some donuts or something for the kids for breakfast.”

“You always have it all figured out,” he moved his hands up from her hips to her mid-back and bent down for a kiss. “One thing though,” he said against her lips.

“What’s that?”

“Well,” he pulled back, a devilish look coming across his face as she brushed the errant curl off his forehead. “Nobody’s going to be up for at least another hour…and since I’m off pancake duty…” he smirked.

“Special Agent Pike. Are you suggesting what I think you are?”

“We’ve already gotten the bedroom taken care of mi amor, how about the kitchen next?” He pushed her towards the dining room table, urging her to sit once her thighs grazed the edge.

“Marcus,” she giggled as he trailed open-mouth kisses down her jaw to her neck. 

Experts at quickies thanks to having two small children, they moved in tandem as she pulled down his sweatpants and he pushed her oversized sleeping shirt up her thighs and pulled her underwear to the side. As he notched himself at her entrance, his mouth returned to hers, swallowing her moan as he started to ease himself in. 

“You were ready for me baby,” he smiled against her lips, loving the sounds he pulled from her whenever he hit that spot. 

“Fuck, Marcus…” she mewled as he kept a steady pace. 

It didn’t take long before they both found their bliss and amidst soft giggles they cleaned themselves up and went back to their bedroom for round two.

Even though it had only been a day, Frankie and Jo kept in pretty consistent communication. From texts throughout the day to hours spent talking on the phone last night, they were both still giddy from their time together.

Her morning got started pretty early. Her company was a big sponsor of the Peachtree Road Race, an annual 10k in Atlanta held around Independence Day, so she had to be there to ensure everything looked up to standards. Although she grumbled when her alarm went off, she suddenly felt a lift when she saw a text from Frankie waiting for her.

Frankie: Good luck today!

Jo: Aw thanks! I can’t believe I got dragged to this. 

Frankie: You're going to do great! Send me a picture of the medal when you're done.

Jo: I'm not running the race silly

Frankie: Well, you deserve one anyway

Jo: Well, I think deserve a pic of you in your swim trunks later Morales

Frankie: I'll see what I can do. 

Frankie smiled at his phone as he tossed it onto the kitchen counter. He was still on cloud nine from the weekend and couldn't even feel the soreness of his muscles from yesterday's training session with Benny. He also almost forgot what day it was. 

The Fourth of July brought up different emotions for the guys. None of them wanted the attention that came from being veterans, they mostly kept to themselves on a day like today. But the idea of being around the neighbors of Mule Fall Court brought some comfort to Frankie, especially since Jo couldn’t be there in person. 

Although she wasn’t physically there, Frankie was excited about seeing her later on FaceTime for their virtual movie date. It was her idea to watch something together, figuring she could maybe help take his mind off things once the fireworks started. Her words from last night still floated through his mind, enveloping him in warmth.

“I want to be there for you the way you were there for me.”

“Hey man,” Benny walked in from his run to find Will leaning against the kitchen counter, staring off into space as he drank his coffee.

Will cleared his throat, shaking his head to try and rid himself of the anxiety that started to cloud his mind. “Hey…good run?”

“Yeah, yeah. All good. Listen, ah…I know we said we’d go over to David and Ty’s today, but if you’d rather do something else I’m down. We can…I dunno grab some beers and chill here. Or we can-”

“It’s all good Ben. It will probably be good for me, well for us, to …I dunno I guess it might do us some good to be around friends,” the corner of Will’s mouth perked up as he got a devilish look in his eye. “Besides, I need to see the girl who made little hearts float around your head,” he chuckled. 

Benny’s ears turned red as he faced away from Will, walking to grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He had no idea who may have given his brother the heads-up about Vanessa. Santi was the obvious first choice, but he had a feeling this was more of Frankie’s doing. His mind raced trying to figure out what to say, but relief washed over him when he heard Will’s phone buzz.

“Well look who it is! Hey there baby girl,” Will answered, beaming at the screen.

“Hi, Uncle Will. Happy Fourth of July!” Sarah waved a little American flag across the screen before wagging it in front of her father’s face of screen.

“Hey! Nothing for your favorite uncle?” Benny appeared behind Will, an arm around his brother’s neck as he winked at a giggling Sarah.

“Uncle Benny!” She squealed with the biggest smile on her face. “Daddy said you have a fight soon! You gonna win?”

“Of course sweetie pie,” Benny smiled back, putting on a brave face for his favorite girl. “Hey! You planned the shirt for this summer yet?”

For the past several years, Joel let Sarah design a special edition Miller Contracting shirt. It started one summer when she was playing with a new paint set and decided to get a bit creative with an old shirt of Joel's. Rather than get mad, Joel fed her artistic side and let her create a design. He then had the shirt replicated and ordered enough for his crew, Tommy, and his cousins and friends. Everyone looked forward to getting the “Sarah Special” each summer and wearing it proudly no matter the design or color.

“I'm thinkin’ like a bright teal? And the logo in white.”

“You goin’ easy on us this year baby girl?” Joel teased with a side-eye.

“Yeah, I was expecting you to bust about the big guns. Y’know I always get compliments on that neon pink one from last year when I wear it to the gym,” Benny added, his eyes twinkling as he saw Sarah crinkle her nose.

“That’s because you cut it all up…it’s barely a shirt,” Will winked as Benny rolled his eyes.

“Gotta give those followers what they want huh Bean?” Joel smirked, quickly changing the subject when he saw Sarah’s interest piqued. “So, ah, what’re you all up to today?” He put his arm around Sarah’s shoulder so she could rest her head on his chest.

“We ah…got a neighborhood party…gonna go over there for a bit, see how it is and then lay low once the fireworks start,” Will with a tight smile, not wanting to say too much in front of Sarah.

“Damn those neighbors of yours sure do love to throw a party.”

“Yeah well, we had some new ones move in yesterday and Benny seems pretty ah…interested from what it sounds like,” Will ruffled his little brother's hair as Benny slapped him across the stomach.

“Ah, gotta girl you like there Bean?” Joel raised his eyebrows.

“Ooo is she pretty Uncle Benny?” Sarah added which made Joel and Will both snort seeing Benny so embarrassed.

“Oh well, will you look at that…bad connection…we gotta go bye! Love you!” Benny switched off the phone as Will doubled over in laughter. 

Although Benny didn't always love being the butt of a joke, if it got his brother to laugh on a day like today, then he'd gladly take the hit.

“Babe, where’s my cup?” David yelled from the kitchen as Ty filled some coolers with ice on the lanai.

“Which specific one are you referring to, sweetheart? You have 20,” Ty responded sarcastically. David’s Stanley cup collection had grown exponentially over the past year, to the point that their kitchen cabinets were starting to become overrun by the things.

“The red, white, and blue one, duh!” David huffed as he came outside. “I have no idea where it is.”

“We need to install like shelves or something so you can see them all. Maybe if you see the whole collection you’ll stop buying more,” his eyes widened with a tight smile.

“Oooo, what if we have one of the guys install it for us? Could be fun for the both of us,” David winked as Ty rolled his eyes. “C’mon, admit it, any of them with a toolbelt…nailing…and hammering…and…”

“Ok…get your shit together, Blanche,” Ty cut him off. “We have guests arriving soon and I need you to quench your thirst.” He walked back into the kitchen, opening a cabinet and finding the cup in question. “Here.” “What would I do without you?” David walked up, kissing Ty on the cheek.

“Where’s your swimsuit?” Victoria raised an eyebrow as her sister came downstairs in an oversized T-shirt, jean shorts, and flip-flops. 

“I'm not wearing one,” Vanessa side-eyed her with her lips pressed in a line. She scooped up Mariella who was babbling “uppy uppy” at her.

Victoria sighed as she got her backpack together with some snacks and a change of clothes for the kids. “That person was an ass, Nessa, don’t pay them any attention.”

“Who was an ass? What happened?” Marcus asked, coming around the corner and tucking his sunglasses into the collar of his heather gray crew-neck t-shirt.

“Someone at the donut shop asked Nessa if she wa-”

“Hey! Stop, don’t,” Vanessa hissed, cutting her sister off. “Same old sh- I mean, stuff, Buck, you know,” she gave Marcus a pleading look, hoping he’d pick up on the fact that she wanted to change the subject.

He walked around the kitchen island over to her wrapping his arm around her shoulder, “Oh Vandy,” he kissed her forehead. “Don’t let some idiot ruin your day ok? We’re going to have fun,” he winked, seeing the slightest twinkle in her eye as she gave him a side hug.

“Francisco! Que allegria!” Lulu approached with open arms as Frankie and the boys walked into the party.

“We…I mean, she missed you so much, must be nice being the favorite huh?” David winked, shaking hands with the guys.

“Wow, I see how it is, chopped liver!” Benny sarcastically scoffed, as Lulu tsked and brought him in for a hug.

“Benny! How’s the training going? Lis says you have a fight soon?” Danny asked as he and Melissa walked up. All of the neighbors started to gather around the four newest additions to the party. 

“Oh ah, yeah, going good. A few weeks to go.” Benny rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well, I don’t have my rotation set in stone yet, but if I’m in town I’d love to come. I mean…if that’s cool with you. I haven't seen MMA in person in a couple of years and now I have someone to root for,” Danny smiled.

“Ooo yeah! A group outing! I’ve never been to a fight before! Sounds…fun,” David clapped his hands.

“You need a cheering section right, Benny?” Megan asked as she sipped her drink. 

“We'll make you signs,” Katie added, her mind already thinking of a design.

“Oh ah, yeah, the more the merrier,” Benny chuckled, suddenly realizing that he’d opened up the door for the entire neighborhood to come to see him possibly get his ass kicked.

“It’s gonna be a big night, our cousin may come from Texas…Ben’s gonna have quite the supporter’s section,” Will put his arm around his brother, noticing Katie’s head snap at attention out of the corner of his eye. 

“Are those the new neighbors?” Ty asked, looking past Benny and Will and toward the family who just walked in.

“Oh yes, the Pike’s! You’ll love them, they're super nice,” Melissa gushed, waving wildly and grabbing Victoria’s attention. 

Will side-eyed his brother and felt his back straighten. “So, ah, which one is your girl,” he whispered, as Frankie and Santiago snorted at Benny’s sudden change in demeanor.

“Shhh, she’s not my girl,” Benny looked down wishing he could shrink down to the size of an ant and scurry away.

“Purple hair,” Santiago muttered out of the corner of his mouth as he took a sip of the beer Frankie handed him.

“She’s pretty, Ben.” Seeing his brother so flustered was quite amusing to Will. “You gonna talk to her or…”

“I know how to talk to a girl,” Benny replied, a bit petulantly which made Will and Santiago stifle some laughs.

“Hey, hey, let him go at his own pace…I got faith in ya Benny,” Frankie winked, feeling a sense of accomplishment as he managed to get a small smile out of Benny.

“Hey, our movers! Great to see you guys again,” Marcus chuckled as he shook hands with the guys, stopping and introducing himself to Will.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Will, Benny’s brother. Seems like I got out of the impromptu moving duties yesterday huh?”

“You did, all good though, these guys were pretty efficient. Oh ah, Will, this is my wife Victoria and our kids Nico and Mariella,” Will smiled, shaking Victoria’s hand and managing to get a high five from each of the kids. “And this is Vanessa, Vic’s sister.”

“Hi Will, nice to meet you,” Vanessa felt a little intimidated by Will initially, but his sweet, genuine smile put her at ease.

“Vanessa. Nice to meet you. Cool hair,” he gestured up with his chin.

“Oh ah, thanks,” she played with the ends. I uh dyed it myself,” she looked down at her feet, shy that a handsome man complimented her.

“You didn’t tell us that yesterday!” Santiago chimed in. “So you a hairdresser or something?”

“Oh ah no, not professionally. I’ve always kinda dabbled with it.” She bit her lower lip, eyes flitting over to catch Benny softly smiling at her.

“She cuts my hair,” Marcus jumped in. “Haven’t gotten any complaints,” he winked at Victoria who rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a smirk. 

“You know, I could probably use a haircut soon,” Frankie took off his cap and ran his fingers through his hair.

“NO!” David yelled from across the lanai, everyone stopping to look at him. Ty lowered his chin and looked at his partner from over the top of his sunglasses. “I um…sorry, Ty grabbed the wrong cups. Babe, remember, we need to go grab the ones from inside,” his eyes widened as he backed away and scurried into the house.

“Ignore him, it’s been a while since we hosted anything,” Ty laughed it off, walking into the house after David.

Frankie chuckled and put his hat back on his head. “Benny, you were talking about getting a haircut soon weren’t you?” Benny swallowed hard and nodded. “Said it’s getting in his eyes. We need to make sure you can see those punches comin’ atcha Benjamin,” he shadowboxed towards Benny, who playfully batted away his hands.

“Oh, are you a fighter or something?” Victoria asked, moving Mariella to rest on her other hip.

“Oh ah no, not professionally. I’ve always kinda dabbled with it,” he caught Vanessa’s eyes and laughed to himself seeing her smile. “I do it from time to time. Have a big one coming up in a few weeks.”

“Well, I don’t want to impose if you already have something established, but I’m an athletic trainer. Happy to help if you need anything,” Victoria smiled.

“Athletic trainer, huh? You working for one of the pro teams in town?” Santiago chimed in.

“Oh ah, no, well, I used but now I work for a high school. Torrey Hills Prep. You all know it?” Victoria looked around at the group.

“That’s where my son goes! He plays basketball,” Megan perked up. “He’s around here somewhere,” she looked around, spotting Connor and Aria sitting together on a lounger. “Ah, he's busy,” she shook her head as everyone laughed.

“No way, that’s actually one of my sports this year! Our friend Ben is the coach and when he knew Marcus and I were trying to move back down here he put in a good word for me and here we are!” Vanessa replied.

“Well look at that, what a small world,” Megan smiled. “Coach Ben is great, everyone loves him.”

“We do too,” Victoria looked quickly at Vanessa and then back to the group. “He’s like a brother to us.”

Everyone turned when they heard a glass clinking, seeing David donned in a red, white, and blue feather boa and silver sequined cowboy hat. “Ok, looks like everyone’s here. Let’s fire up the grill and have some fun!”

Benny watched as Melissa ushered Vanessa and Victoria over to meet Olivia and her kids who were playing on a slip-and-slide David and Ty set up in the backyard.

“There a reason you haven’t turned on that Miller charm yet?” Frankie narrowed his eyes as he took a sip. 

“I dunno man,” Benny rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s probably going to think I’m just some dumb jock or something.”

Frankie chewed the inside of his cheek, observing Benny’s body language, shoulders hunched over and eyes downcast. Sometimes Frankie forgot just how low Benny got during his last relationship and the subsequent aftermath. It pained him to see how little his friend thought of himself, not missing the irony that when given a mirror his friends would say the same about him.

“Well, don’t put too much pressure on yourself, Ben. From my observations, I think she’d be…ah…receptive to you talking to her. Seems like a sweet girl. C’mon, see where it goes…have fun hermano,” Frankie put his arm around Benny’s shoulder and gave him a shake.

“Thanks, Fish,” Benny smiled.

“You doing ok?” Victoria leaned over to Vanessa as they watched the kids playing.

“Yeah…you?”

“Yeah. Everyone seems really nice.” Victoria got closer to his sister, lowering her voice to a whisper. “You should go over and talk to Benny.”

Vanessa looked over her shoulder to see Benny in deep conversation with Frankie. She could feel her sister's eyes on her as she turned back around. “What Vic?” she cocked her head to the side.

“Oh nothing,” she let out a breathy giggle. “It’s just…cute.” Vanessa furrowed her brows, waiting for her sister to continue. “What? Now I know how you felt all of those years ago trying to get me to talk to Marcus,” she teased. 

“So, is this like a big day for you guys or one you'd rather just get past?” Ty asked Will as they both observed the spread of food laid out in front of them.

“Ah, one I'd rather get past I guess, don't love all the attention,” Will gave a tight smile.

“Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to,”

“Naw it's all good man. It's kinda nice to be here and just hanging out. We appreciate getting just a regular invite and not having everyone look at us like “guests of honor” you know?”

“I hear you, I hear you. And hey, of course, we'd invite you…you're part of the family now,” Ty smiled, patting Will on the back before he walked away.

Vanessa watched with a soft smile as the kids played. Mariella made friends with Olivia’s little girl Diana and the boys were all chasing after Connor. She was so wrapped up in their ruckus that she didn’t hear the incoming footsteps. 

“Are you…um…having fun?”

Vanessa heard a deep Southern drawl behind her, turning around to see Benny leaning forward. His eyebrows were scrunched up and his bright blue eyes searched hers like he wanted to say more.

“Oh…ah, yeah…yes. Are you?” Vanessa bit her lip, wincing internally at how awkward she must be acting.

Benny nodded. “Yeah. Beautiful….day, it’s a beautiful day,” he smiled quickly shifting his weight from foot to foot. “You…ah…you going swimming later?”

“N-no,” Vanessa shook her head. “I didn’t bring my suit,” she swallowed hard and turned her attention back to the kids.

“You didn’t wear a swimsuit to a pool party?”

“Still unpacking,” Vanessa shrugged, hoping to get off the subject. The thought of getting herself into a swimsuit was hard enough, she couldn’t even fathom doing it in front of a guy like Benny, who practically looked like a male model in his simple black swim trunks and cut-off Army shirt.

Benny opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he felt something brush against his knees. He looked down and saw Mariella looking up at him with her big brown eyes, arms reaching up to the sky. “I…uh…” Benny’s eyes widened, panicked at what to do.

Vanessa laughed and bent down, “Ven aquí chiquitita,” she cooed. “She’s at a stage where she wants to be held all the time. Mari, you remember Benny? Say hi,” she gave an encouraging smile to her niece.

“Bunny,” Mariella responded matter-of-factly.

“No, mamita, his name is Benny…Ben-ny. Now you try? Ben-ny.”

Mariella shook her head up and down and assumptively said, “Bunny.”

“Well, your name is Bunny now. The queen has spoken,” Vanessa laughed, feeling her cheeks get warm as she saw a big smile come across Benny’s face.

“Well, who am I to deny a pretty girl,” he scrunched his nose up and booped Mariella on the nose. “Besides, I've been called a lot worse.”

Frankie felt that familiar buzz in his pocket that made his heart race. Quickly unlocking his phone he was greeted by a selfie of Jo, looking tired but as beautiful as ever.

Jo: Finally done. I need a shower and a nap.

Frankie: Wish I was there to help

Jo: You can later 😉

Jo: How's the party? You and the guys doing ok?

Frankie: Yeah all good so far. Everyone’s been cool, it’s almost like I forgot what day it is.

Frankie: Plus I’m trying to help Benny talk to a girl

Jo: The pilot being a wingman…nice

Frankie: Trying.

Jo: I don't want to keep you, but I'm glad it's going well. Call me later.

Frankie: I will. Enjoy your shower 😏

Marcus walked up to the cooler to grab a couple of drinks when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He turned around and saw Will who also was also on the hunt for a refill. The men exchanged pleasantries before drawing their attention to Vanessa and Benny who stood at the perimeter of the play area, observing all of the kids. She had her hand up to her mouth laughing as Benny animatedly told a story.

“Uh oh,” Will chuckled.

Marcus arched an eyebrow, “what’s wrong?”

Will smirked, “Oh no, it’s just…pretty eyes, a nice smile, and laughs at his jokes…that’s the trifecta for my brother.” 

Marcus let out a breath and softly laughed. “I have to say…she’s smiled more in the last day than I’ve seen in the last few months,” Marcus tilted his head, observing Vanessa cracking up.

“Well, I haven’t seen Benny this nervous around a girl since we were in high school,” he shook his head, smiling to himself as the memories flooded back. Marcus looked a bit confused so Will continued, “Our cousin dared him to talk to one of the seniors and ask her out….joke was on him though because the girl found Ben’s…goofiness…to be pretty charming. Ended up getting a date out of it.”

Benny glanced over in their direction. Years of reconnaissance made him acutely aware of when he was the one being watched. Realizing they were caught, Marcus and Will coughed and turned to face each other. 

“So…ah…you and Vanessa…you all close?”

Marcus glanced over fondly in her direction, “Yeah…she and I have always had this like unspoken connection. She means a lot to me…I love her very much,” he looked back at Will. 

“Look, I know this probably doesn’t mean much because he’s my brother and I obviously love the kid….but Benny’s a good guy.”

Marcus nodded, taking what Will said to heart. “So…I think we may both be on the same page here then?” Will nodded, so Marcus continued. “Vandy is probably going to kill me for saying this, but she’s not going to make a move. She's afraid of getting hurt…her ex,” Marcus shook his head, “he really messed her up.”

Will took a deep breath, “same for Ben. The kid hasn't always had the best luck.”

“Well, maybe we can partner up,” Marcus winked conspiratorially. “Seems like they're both interested right?”

“Ohh yeah,” Will chuckled. “Benny's interested alright.”

“Hey Will,” Connor walked up to get a bottle of water from the cooler.

“Hey man, what's up.”

“Santi and I are getting corn hole set up, think you and Benny want to play?”

“Actually,” Will smirked, looking over at Marcus whose mouth was slowly curling into a smile. “Think you could find a partner?”

“I think I know just the person,” Marcus chuckled. 

“Alright, c'mon let's go. Connor, you wanna help?”

“Ah, sure…with what?” He looked between both men confused.

“It's for Benny,” Will motioned over to his brother and Vanessa with his eyes.

“Oh.” It was as if a switch suddenly turned on for Connor. “Ohhh. Yeah ok! Tell me what I need to do.”

“Wait, backward? I don't even understand how that would work?” Vanessa giggled. 

“I get a strike every time. I'll have to show you,” Benny puffed his chest out a bit, feeling more at ease as he and Vanessa talked and got to know each other. 

He learned that the catalyst for her to pack up and move back to Tampa from Charlotte was two-fold: she recently lost her job and her mother wasn’t doing well. That coupled with the fact that Victoria and Marcus offered her a place to stay in exchange for some babysitting solidified the decision to move back “home”. 

As they talked, Benny grew more and more infatuated. Her laugh was music to his ears. She listened enthusiastically like she was genuinely interested in what he had to say. She was smart and really funny. And she was beautiful, he couldn’t help but admire that.

“Hey Benny! Hi, you're…Vanessa, right?” Connor appeared next to Benny, flipping his hat around backward.

“Yeah, that's right. Good memory,” Vanessa regarded the boy with an amused look.

��You having fun C?” Benny brought the boy in for a side hug.

“Yeah, it's been a good time. Hey, actually. We're getting a cornhole tournament set up. Will said you're like a five-time Texas state champ or something?’

“Five?” Benny scoffed, feigning offense. “Where you come up with five Will?” Benny called over to his brother who shrugged as he walked up with Marcus. “I’m a five-time Texas Cornhole League champ, but don't forget about my Delta Force Cornhole Tournament wins. But, my most prized trophy is from the Oak Hill Elementary School Family Field Day,” he winked at Vanessa. “My niece…Sarah. She and I kicked ass and took names that year.”

“She finally had it with her and her old man losing every year, so she brought in a ringer,” Will added.

“It was one of my prouder moments as an uncle, I have to admit.”

Vanessa could tell this little girl meant a lot to Benny with the way his eyes softened when he talked about her. She made a point to remember her name and to ask him later which of his cousins was her father. He mentioned a Joel and a Tommy already during their conversation but she didn’t catch which one of them had a daughter.

“Well, I myself may have won a tournament or two at an FBI family picnic over the years,” Marcus chimed in. 

“You did? With who?” Vanessa scrunched up her face.

“Before I met you and your lovely sister my dear. They wanted us to mingle with different agencies, so I got paired up with this guy from the DEA. He didn't want to be there and was chain-smoking the whole time. But, he and I made a good team and once we started winning he changed his tune. Even shared some of the whiskey he snuck in.”

“I have literally never heard that story before,” Victoria came up and wrapped an arm around her husband's waist. “All this time I've been married to a cornhole champ and didn't even know it,” she smiled as Marcus leaned down and kissed her forehead.

Vanessa playfully rolled her eyes at them and returned her focus to Benny. “So you still got it then?”

The corner of Benny's mouth turned up, “oh I still got it darlin’.”

“Let’s play then!” Connor clapped his hands. 

“With partners, it's more fun that way. Vandy you're with me hermanita,” Marcus wrapped his arm around Vanessa's shoulder.

“Ah, o-ok, um…sure,” she played with her hair, a nervous tick. 

“So, Vanessa and Marcus against Benny and Will then?” Victoria asked, purposefully not looking in her sister's direction. 

“No darlin’, two Millers is too much,” Will winked, noticing the way Vanessa's cheeks flushed. “Connor, you wanna take my place.”

“Sure! Yeah, is that ok Benny?”

“Hell yeah, we got this bud,” Benny clapped his hand onto the boy’s shoulder. 

“We playing for anything or just bragging rights?” Connor asked the group.

“Hmm…what a great question,” Marcus replied a bit too smoothly and Vanessa suddenly realized what was happening. “Let's see. Well, Will was telling me how you boys have been doing some landscaping around the neighborhood. And I know my beautiful wife would love nothing more than to make some…adjustments…to our lawn. What do you say Vandy? We play to get your sister some upgrades?”

“That's a lot to ask of them over a silly little game, Buck,” Vanessa scrunched up her face. “Can't they just like…I dunno buy us a pizza as like a housewarming gift?”

“No, we don't mind. Besides, bet whatever you want, it's not like you're going to win anyway,” Will quickly chimed in. His playful trash talk made Benny cock his head to the side, surprised to see his brother so animated. “So speaking as the team representative, if they win, we want you,” he pointed to Vanessa, “to give Benny a haircut.” Will wrapped his arm around Benny’s neck, as Benny looked down sheepishly. 

Vanessa eyes narrowed. “That hardly seems fair. Connor doesn’t get anything?”

“Oh I don't need anything,” the boy threw his hands up.

“Ok, well even so, hours of landscaping versus a 10-minute haircut seems like quite a lopsided bet.” Vanessa countered, missing the coy smiles Marcus and Victoria exchanged.

“Very true. You make a good point,” Will continued with the negotiations. “Well, then…do something for me then and…take my brother out. I could use a night of peace and quiet,” he winked.

Benny scratched the top of his hat. “W-what? N-no, you don't have to do tha-”

“Deal.” Vanessa extended her hand to Will who shook it. 

Everyone was in a bit of shock at the exchange, but no one more so than Vanessa herself. She chewed the inside of her cheek and avoided looking in Benny’s direction as she quickly turned around and walked over to the cornhole board.

“Where'd that come from?” Victoria whispered.

“I dunno. Fuck, it was too much right? Ugh that was dumb wasn't it?” 

“Are you kidding me? No, that was perfect. Who are you and what have you done with my sister?”

Next to them, Marcus snickered, trying to hold back a smug smile.

Vanessa playfully smacked him on the arm. “You. Ugh I played right into your hand didn't I?”

“You always do. Besides, I'm doing you both a favor. Neither of you were going to make a move so I'm helping…speed up the process.”

“Ok so I love you Nessa and I want you and Benny to go on a date but I would also really love to get that godawful flower bed sorted out and a tree removed. So, please try and win,” Victoria winked.

“Great pep talk babe, you sure do know how to inspire,” Marcus kissed the top of her head and softly smacked her ass as she ran to stop Mariella from running headfirst into a bush.

Will seemed quite pleased with himself as he, Benny, and Connor walked over to their side. 

“You fucker,” Benny tilted his head back, shaking his head. 

“Come on Bean, it was right there. If the shoe was on the other foot you woulda done the same thing.”

Benny rolled his eyes, annoyed that Will was right, and also touched that his brother was playing wingman. 

“Hey uh, Benny, listen I haven’t played cornhole in a while so…”

“All good, bud, I got this. Especially since I know what’s on the line.”

Will didn’t miss the way Benny’s eyes twinkled. 

Frankie tucked his phone back into his pocket as Santiago came up, burger in hand.

“These are really good, Ty’s giving you a run for your money when it comes to the grill.”

Frankie snorted, a lopsided grin making his dimple more prominent. “You’re just angling for me to cook something this weekend, I know your type.”

With a raised eyebrow Santiago continued, “You gonna even be here this weekend? By the sounds of it, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d be packing up and hauling your ass to Atlanta for a few months.”

“No…” he shook his head as he thought through his response. “At least not this weekend. She’s got some stuff going on. What?” He scrunched his face as Santiago started laughing to himself.

“Nothing…just…it’s good to see you happy Fish,” he pushed up his sunglasses.

“Well, what about you? What d’you have going on these days?”

“Well, you’ll be happy to know I’ve been… consistent.”

“For how long?” Frankie chuckled.

“Ok, it’s been a week…but it’s with an old…friend.” Santiago quickly took a bite.

“How old of a friend we talkin’ about Pope?” Frankie narrowed his eyes.

Santiago purposefully slowed down his chewing, a bit nervous about Frankie’s reaction. When he finally swallowed he took a deep breath and faced his friend. “It’s Amaryllis, ok?”

Frankie’s eyes widened, “Lil?”

“Yeah? Is that surprising?”

“I mean…kinda. When’s the last time you guys hooked up? Before you took off to Colombia. You lookin’ to get more of your shit thrown out on a lawn?” Frankie snorted and dodged a slap from Santiago.

“It’s not like that, things are different now.”

“Ok…whatever you say, Pope.”

“So what’s going on here?” Santiago asked, eager to change the subject. He motioned to the cornhole game in front of them. Benny and Connor kept high-fiving as Vanessa groaned at Marcus who sent another bag flying well past the board.

“I dunno but Benny seems pretty proud of himself though,” Frankie observed. 

“It’s really unfair you know? The guy hasn’t played cornhole in years and look at him. Throwing a four-bagger like it’s nothing,” Santiago shook his head as another of Benny’s bags went through the hole untouched. 

“You’re still bitter he never wanted to be your partner when we played on the base,” Frankie chuckled.

“Ok, C, you make this one and we win. No pressure,” Benny winked as he handed Connor the last bag.

“We’re ahead by a lot Benny, as long as I just get it on the board we win,” Connor fidgeted with the bag in his hand. He definitely held his own in the game, but Benny could have played on his own he was that good.

“Don’t just get it on the board, bud. You got this. C’mon the board is clear for you, go on for an air mail.”

“Got any tips?”

“Nah, I’m not sharing the secret sauce,” Benny grinned as he patted Connor on the back. “And I don’t wanna put any pressure on you but you’ve got a little audience.”

Connor turned around to see his mom, Katie, and Aria all huddled together watching. With a tight smile and a small wave, he took a deep breath to focus. He held his breath as he released the bag. Everything felt like it was in slow motion as he watched the bag fly across the 20-some-odd feet to the other board. 

“Holy shit, you drained that!” Benny whooped, picking Connor up. “Way to go!”

Connor was proud to play a hand in their winning, which clearly made Benny happy. Will came over and gave him a high five. 

“Hey,” Benny pulled Connor close for a hug, “I owe you man. Thanks.”

“Aw damn, we lost,” Marcus threw his hands in the air, going through the motions despite being giddy as all hell.

“I feel like you missed some of those on purpose, Mr. I won at the FBI picnics,” Vanessa narrowed her eyes.

Marcus gingerly rotated his arm in a circle, putting on the theatrics as he rubbed his shoulder. “I’m getting older Vandy, didn’t have enough time to stretch.”

“Don’t worry, Papi, I’ll take care of that later,” Victoria rubbed up and down his back with a coy smile.

Vanessa rolled her eyes and snorted as Nico made an exaggerated retching sound at the sight of his parents kissing. 

“Well, go claim your prize,” Marcus could barely get the words out before he dodged a playful slap on the arm from both Vanessa and Victoria.

Vanessa took a deep breath and smoothed her shirt as she walked over to the victorious and jovial trio on the other side of the lawn. “Good game,” she put her hand up, getting high fives from them all. 

“Hey I’m gonna go get something to drink, Connor wanna come with me?” Will asked.

“Oh ah…yeah…sure, yup, feeling real parched!” Connor’s tight-lipped smile and awkward delivery made the others laugh.

“He’s sweet,” Vanessa’s eyes followed as he walked away.

“Good kid, sensitive. Had some really shitty stuff happen to him. He’s actually become a friend, which is kinda weird to say because he’s like 16 and I’m old enough to be his dad, but…”

“I think that’s really sweet, Benny.” Vanessa’s eyes softened but quickly narrowed as he gave her an offended look. “What?”

“Who is this Benny? I thought my name was Bunny,” he raised his hands.

“Ah, true, true. My sincere apologies,” she responded sarcastically. “However can I repay you?”

“Well, looks like you have a bet to pay up. So, where we going?” He rubbed his hands together.

“Hmm…” she crossed her arms in front of her, tapping an index finger to her lips, which Benny tried with all his might to not focus on for fear that he’d embarrass himself. “Well, you were talking such a big game about being able to bowl backward, I want to see that.”

“I don’t just bowl backward, sweetheart. I get strikes,” he winked.

“Hey, you ok?” Katie had kept a close eye on Will throughout the party. Even though he had mostly been in a relaxed mood, she sensed a bit of tension in his shoulders as the early evening set in.

“Hmm? Y-yeah, I’m good.” His lips formed a tight line and he knew she could see right through it.

“Will,” she put her hand on his forearm, “do you want to get out of here? If this is starting to be a lot we can head out. Hey, I can finally get you to watch The Mandalorian with me,” she offered an encouraging smile.

His tight smile melted into a more genuine one, “You sure Kat? I don’t wanna take you away from the fun. I can just head home and watch a game or something.”

“It’s whatever you want, if you want to be alone I totally get it. But if you want company, I’m there.”

Will looked at her kind eyes and started to feel calmer. “Ok. Think David is going to be offended we’re leaving early?” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Nah, he’s got so many people here and is in host mode, we can sneak out,” she winked. “Do you need to tell Benny or anyone that you’re leaving?”

“Uh, yeah I should probably tell Ben so he doesn’t make it weird…” Will chuckled as Katie looked to the ground with a smirk.

“So what did you think?” Katie looked over as the credits rolled after the first episode.

When they started the show, they were on opposite ends of Katie’s couch, sitting straight up. But as the show went on, Katie decided to lay down sideways, curling up underneath a blanket as Will stole glances out of the corner of his eye. When it was done, she sat up, facing him.

“Not bad, Kat. I liked it,” he turned his head towards her, the corner of his mouth curling up.

“See, I told you!” She playfully slapped his arm. “I wouldn’t steer you the wrong way.”

“No, I don’t think you would,” he turned his body towards her, a knee propped up on the couch. His eyes searched hers, stealing a glance down at her mouth which didn’t go unnoticed as her tongue swiped along her bottom lip.

It was hard to tell who moved first, but Will brought his hand up to cup her cheek as their lips delicately pressed together. Their lips stayed locked for a beat, each one waiting for the other’s move. Katie teased his bottom lip with her tongue and Will opened his mouth, recognizing the faint aftertaste of black cherry seltzer on her tongue. But as quickly as they started, they both pulled away with scrunched-up faces.

“Uh…that was…” Katie chuckled, shaking her head.

“It was weird right? Like it was good, obviously, but like … kinda …weird?” Will rubbed the back of his head, realizing that his mouth moved before his brain.

“Yeah, it…look, Will, I really like you. I think you’re an awesome guy and…fuck…,” she winced a little as he started to fidget. “I just…I see you as more of a…”

“A friend?” He clenched his jaw, giving her a tight smile. 

She nodded, unable to say the words for fear that she’d hurt his feelings. But when his eyes started to crinkle and his smile relaxed she pursed her lips and her eyes narrowed.

“I was thinking the same thing.” He saw her visibly relax, both of them nervously laughing now that some of the tension was easing. “You’re amazing, Kat. You know that right? But, I don’t know…recently, I’ve started to see you as someone I can…trust. You know? Fuck,” he shook his head. “I don’t really do this,” he motioned between the two of them.

“Talk about your feelings?” 

“Yeah. It was a big reason why Jelly left…” he trailed off.

“Jelly?”

“Oh sorry, Angelica, my ex. She uh…well, I just never really knew how to process shit you know? Like Benny had fighting, he’d go and get the shit beat of out ‘em and while it didn’t make the pain go away he still numbed it you know? Pope would go out and pick up whoever he could at the bar, figuring he’d bury his pain in a…” he looked up, “never mind, you know what I mean,” he laughed. “And Fish…he had his own demons…” Will pulled his brows together, his forefinger pushing the cuticle on his thumb back.

“What about you?” Katie leaned forward, resting her elbow on the back of the couch.

“I just…kept it bottled up. She’d try and get me to open up but I just…couldn’t,” he closed his eyes briefly, shaking his head from side to side as if trying to delete a memory from his head. “And then one day there I was in the damn cereal aisle of a Publix, my arm around some guy’s throat. I wasn’t there I…” he took a deep breath, relaxing a bit when Katie rubbed his arm. “I was squeezing so hard, I blacked out…Jelly had to basically climb up my back to get me to stop. She scratched the shit out of me. I’ll never forget the way she was screaming at me, telling me to stop,” he swiped his hand across his lips.

“I’m here, it’s ok,” Katie soothed him, rubbing circles along his forearm with her thumb. 

“Anyway, I’ll spare you the details, but that was the beginning of the end. But looking back it had been coming for a while. I couldn’t be what she wanted, I wasn’t the same person anymore. And we were growing apart. She had goals and plans and I just…I wasn’t there. I wasn’t at the same place. And I guess bottling that shit up kind of just came to a head.”

“What happened?”

“She left. Well, not right away. She tried…she tried to get me to go talk to someone, but I just wasn’t ready yet. You’d think nearly killing someone at a fuckin’ grocery store would do that,” he chuckled to himself. “It was a bad time for all of us if I’m honest. Everyone was in a shit spiral. I ended up flying home, just to get away from it all. Felt like a loser staying with my parents for a couple of months, but I just needed distance. Then one night drinking beers on Joel’s patio it all kind of clicked. I didn’t want to be like that anymore…I don’t know, I can’t explain it. But the next day, I made an appointment to talk with someone and now fast-forward a few years and I’m the one giving speeches,” the corner of his mouth curled up. 

He told Katie about how he started volunteering and working with other veterans, helping others who were enduring the aftereffects of war and battle. If there was one thing Will was proud of, it was the way he paid it forward, helping others the way others helped him – when he finally let them. It was never anything he touted or wanted attention for. He quietly dedicated his time to volunteering and doing a host of other activities that the rest of the guys probably didn’t even realize he was doing.

“I think that’s amazing, Will, you should be so proud of yourself. I am.” Katie squeezed his arm.

“Sorry for unloading that all on you Kat,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “This day always makes me feel weird, I guess I never really talk about it. I feel I don’t deserve any of the attention this day brings you know? Like people will come up to us and thank us and say all of this stuff and they mean well…it’s just hard to reconcile all of the shit we’ve seen and had to do,” he let out a long sigh. “So all of that plus the fact that I don’t like loud sounds, is why today kind of sucks,” he laughed, his bright blue eyes looking up to find hers. “But today has kinda sucked less…and you’re a big part of that, so thank you.”

Katie was taken aback and her eyes started to tear up. “Oh Will, that’s sweet. You’re a good man. I hope you can see that. I’m happy I was here. I’ll be here anytime, ok?” He nodded. “Can I give you a hug?”

“C’mere,” he smiled, opening his arms as she reached her hands around him, nuzzling into his neck. They stayed in a tight embrace but Katie could feel the tension melting off of him. He pulled back, grabbing her hand, “thank you.”

Next Time on As the Mule Falls: Benny and Vanessa go to the bowling alley. Frankie and Jo try and figure out the next time they’ll see each other. The boys finish Melissa’s backyard. (There will be some time jumps we need to get to Benny’s fight night!).

A/N: Hi! Sorry it took me so long for an update! Aside from life getting a bit crazy, I also decided to focus and finish another series I had been working on. So, for now, this is my only WIP. There’s some really fun stuff ahead and I can’t wait to hear what you think!

Thank you as always for reading, sharing, or sending me a message about this story!

Taglist: @goodwithcheese / @gemmahale / @trulybetty / @noxturnalpascal / @periodtsparadox / @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin / @maggiemayhemnj / @mysterious-moonstruck-musings / @avastrasposts / @meveispunk / @chaoticfestninja / @beboldbebravethings / @casa-boiardi / @katw474 / @linzels-blog / @laughing-in-th3-purple-rain / @pimosworld / @lynnchun / @anoverwhelmingdin /@lilmizmoz / @pedrit0-pascalit0 / @titlee78 / @noisynightmarepoetry / @inept-the-magnificent / @perennialdoll247 / @for-a-longlongtime / @readingiskeepingmegoing / @harriedandharrassed / @musings-of-a-rose / @anavatazes / @sherala007 / @midnightraain / @partyofone3413 / @inthedarkestnight / @millennial-teenybopper / @csarab615 / @darkheartgatita / @southernbe / @weho2kcmo / @itspdameronthings / @mclibs23

#triple frontier #triple frontier fanfiction #pedro pascal character fanfic #garrett hedlund fanfiction #triple frontier fic #frankie morales #frankie friday #benny miller #william miller #santiago garcia #marcus pike

[formulaforza]

miss americana & the heartbreak prince

—06. Quarter of the Way —word count: 5.2k —warnings: none :) love, mackie... hiii guys!!! thank you for bearing with me while I sorted all of this out. my life is so crazy busy right now, and I have a weird outlining-rule that really restricted me from getting to bust this chapter out. it's a short one, and a lot of set up for the next chapter which WILL be coming soon.

The heads of the Elliott family tree—Bill, and his brothers Ernie and Dan—will tell you that what the Elliott’s do best is racing. If you ask the necks of the Elliott family tree—the ones who turn the heads; Cindy, Tammy, and Susan—they would argue that there is nothing quite like an Elliott family holiday. 

Chris is late, pulls onto the property an hour and a half after the start time posted in the massive family group-chat. She makes her own parking spot, like half of the family, since the driveway is well-filled. If her tally is correct, there are at least thirty people inside her family’s house right now. Or, at least thirty people somewhere on the property. 

She hauls her way inside with a hot crock-pot of mashed potatoes, which is the reason she was late in the first place. Her internal clock is so royally screwed up that it’s not even funny. She maneuvers her way through the herds of aunts, uncles, and cousins until she finally makes it into the kitchen. 

“Chrissy, you’re late, baby girl,” Cindy greets her daughter with a kiss on her temple, takes the crockpot from her arms and heaves it up onto the countertop.

“I know, I know,” Chris sighs, already starting to take off her coat. November in Georgia is not coat-worthy weather, but Chris is always cold, always. Sixty-five with a breeze does nothing for her. 

Hannah appears, seemingly out of nowhere, and drops a full wine glass into Chris’ hand. “Did you go tanning?” Hannah asks, picking up her best-friend’s arm to examine her skin tone in the light. “You’re glowing.”

Chris shakes her head and takes a big sip of her wine. “No, but, uh,” she chuckles. “I have a lot to tell you.”

Hannah scowls. “Good, bad, or in between?”

Chris smiles, gets that silly little warm and fuzzy feeling in her chest. The one she always seems to get when she thinks about him. Oh, when she thinks about him. It’s disgusting. “Good. Really, really good,” she says, takes another sip of wine and leans over to whisper into Hannah’s ear. “I’m seeing someone.”

“Do they work at a tanning salon?”

Chris laughs, whispers a “Shut up,” through gritted teeth. 

“Let’s go outside. Debrief on the swings?”

They sneak out the back door without being noticed by Cindy, who would undoubtedly have a long list of dinner-prep tasks for them if they stuck around for a moment longer. Wine glasses in tow, they make the journey across the porch, down the stairs, and to the back trail on the property, Chris greeting each family member as she walks past them. They’re all gathered around in the open yard, some playing cornhole, others positioned around the firepit, beers in hand, football game on the radio. Chase, who is playing catch with Reid and some cousins, warns of other family members out on the trails on the ATVs, tells the girls to be careful. 

As soon as they reach the cover of the trees, Chris is telling Hannah everything. Everything. She tells her about Austin, about how she met a guy who was just too charming to not get her number. About every nervous text and hours long FaceTime call and every picture and every conversation. She tells her about how crazy she feels, how insane she felt agreeing to fly across the world— “Wait,” Hannah questions. “You flew across the world?”

“Well, yeah. He’s not from here.”

“Where is he from?” Hannah takes a sip of wine. 

“Uhm,” she hesitates because she hasn’t dropped the big-bomb yet. “The south of France.”

“Mmm,” Hannah hums against the lip of her glass. “Tan mystery is solved.”

“Yeah,” Chris nods. “Anyways,”—She tells her about how she met his family, how they were nothing but sweet and inclusive and kind to her, even though she was surprised by half of them and looked like she’d just rolled out of a dumpster. She tells her about how they slept together, a few times, and how he pretended not to have every minute of their time planned. 

“So, he was good?” Hannah smiles. Chris blushes into her wine glass, ears hot, cheeks hotter. “Oh,” Hannah laughs. “He was good-good.”

“I hate to give a man the satisfaction, but,” Chris giggles, “but,” she shrugs, doesn’t elaborate more on the topic. Her teenaged giggles and pink cheeks are more than enough for the dots to be connected, she’s sure. 

Chris keeps going, telling Hannah about how she’s pretty sure he put off work to spend more time with her, and how she totally cried while they watched a movie and how he was totally freaked out by it, but in a good way? In a he-asked-me-to-be-his-girlfriend way. And then, after all that, Chris asks the burning question: “I know the RSVP date for me to have a plus-one was last month, but… is there any chance I can bring one?”

“For you? There’s room for a plus-million. I’d let you get engaged at my wedding if you wanted to—”

“I would never do that to you,” Chris assures. 

Hannah nods. “Honestly, he sounds really sweet, I don’t know why you hid this from me?”

“Because,” and here comes the big one, the answer to the question she’d been dreading, the one thing about Charles she’d been dodging like the plague, “he’s not just a guy I met at COTA.”

Hannah stops dead in her tracks. Chris turns fully to face her best-friend’s apprehensive face. “Don’t tell me what I think you’re about to—”

“He’s a driver.”

“Chris!” Hannah groans. “Why do you tell me these things? Now I have to choose between protecting you and telling my fiance everything.”

Chris’ stomach drops. The thought of Chase finding out from Hannah, but especially finding out tonight, is the worst-case scenario. She has to plan out how she’s going to do it, to break the news. “You can’t tell Chase.”

Hannah shakes her head, downs what’s left of her wine. “He’s gonna fuckin’ kill you.”

“I know, just.” Chris sighs. “Please. Don’t tell him. Let me tell everyone.”

Hannah scowls, gestures dramatically. “You make my life so hard, y’know?”

Chris nods, winces when she asks:  “But he can come to the wedding?”

“He can come to the wedding,” Hannah agrees, “as long as you tell Chase about him before his birthday.” 

Chase’s birthday is four days from now. Four days. She can handle that, right? Four days is a lifetime, she can totally do that. It’s not like their little rule was ever all that real, anyways. She didn’t grow up under a roof where it was forbidden for her to be with a racing driver. It was always more… Bill knew the type. Bill was the type, and he didn’t want that life for his little girl. And Chase, well. Chase didn’t want his kid sister around any more than she needed to be, and that included her fraternizing with his friends, or worse, with the enemy. She can one-hundred-percent well up the courage to take his grilling. 

“Just,” Hannah hesitates. “Are you sure about him?”

“What do you mean?” Chris questions, confused. 

“You love hard, is all,” She elaborates. “You put up with a lot of shit, I think. Stuff that you shouldn’t have to because you think you’ve found your soulmate. I just, I want you to be careful that you aren’t blowing your savings flying to Europe all the time for a guy who doesn’t love you like you love him.”

“I don’t love him,” Chris is quick to quip back. 

“Yeah, but you will.” 

Chris rolls her eyes. “Also, I didn’t pay for my flights.”

“Oh?” Hannah laughs. “So you’re a sugar baby?”

Chris slaps her shoulder, bursts out laughing. “You know that’s what I thought the entire flight to see him?”

– – –

Bill leads grace around the head table, and the entire meal, Chris is acutely aware of every single family member. Of all their undesirable habits and questionable conversation topics. All of these people are going to be at Chase and Hannah’s wedding, and in a few weeks, Charles is going to be interacting with them all on his own. She’ll be too busy to be a buffer the entire time, and suddenly she feels like she’s throwing him to the sharks. 

She’s never seen her family in such an unsavory light, and suddenly there are a million little flaws about everyone. Cindy is a gossip, and Bill’s accent is so thick that sometimes even Chris just smiles and nods. Chandler is half-absent, and when she is present, she’s a skunk with expensive perfume, always acts like she’s better than everyone else, more important. She has a 24/7 stick up her rear, especially if her girlfriend is with her. Chase is oblivious to his surroundings, has the attention span of a third-grader and eats like a wild animal. Reid, he’s a wildcard—just last spring he was sent home from school because he wouldn’t stop biting kids on the playground. He’s sitting at the kids table right now with nothing but rolls and corn and has his sticky little iPad in his lap. He’s feral, practically. Hannah is truly the only normal one in the bunch, but clearly something is wrong with her, too, if she’s deciding to marry into this mess. 

After dinner, Hannah, Chris, Chandler, and Cindy are all on clean up duty, and as an act of sick, sick revenge, Hannah spills the beans on Chris’ relationship status. They’re all able to move past it after Cindy has collected herself—she’s very, very upset that Chris didn’t tell anyone she was leaving the country. Very upset. She almost cries over the sink of dirty china. 

“You two will get along, Mama,” Chris tries to comfort her mother. “He’s also mad that I didn’t tell anyone.”

“Well,” Cindy starts, shoveling leftover mashed potatoes into takeaway boxes. “At least one of you has some sense. He could have murdered you.”

“He could’ve,” Chris nods. “He didn’t, though.”

“No,” Cindy chuckles to herself. “He just sucked your blood,” she says, taps her finger gently on Chris’ neck, on the caked-on foundation and concealer and color correctors. Chris looks at her with wide eyes. “Your foundation is the wrong shade, hun.”

Hannah and Chandler burst out laughing, but Chris is still shocked. “You knew!?” She squeals.

“I knew you were… having fun with someone—”

“Mom!” Chris blushes with embarrassment. 

“I didn’t know he was a…” she lowers her voice to a whisper, “racing driver. Or that he lived halfway around the world.”

Chris nods. “It’s more like a quarter, really,” she quips. 

“Christyn Claire,” Cindy warns, and Chris instinctively straightens, quickly finds a task to busy herself with. 

“Yup.”

After dinner clean-up, the girls finally join the rest of the family outside. It’s a cool night, chilly almost, but the bonfire takes the nip out of the cold. Reid and his cousins are running around the yard like little maniacs playing flashlight tag, filling the background with giggles and hollers and the occasional scream that elicits the attention of all the parents when it’s not followed by belly laughs. 

Chase is hunched over the fire, carefully roasting a marshmallow at the request of Hannah, who “could really go for a s’more right now.” For a moment, calmed by the ambiance of the fire and the lull of busy conversations, Chris considers telling him right now, around the extended family where he can’t cause a scene. He’d probably still manage to make one, she thinks, and instead kicks in the back of his knee when he stands up.

“You’re so whipped,” she teases. 

Across the fire, Cindy snaps: “Chris, be nice to your brother.”

“Yeah, Chris,” Chase mocks. “Be nice to your brother.”

“Alors qu’est-ce qui se passe avec cette fille, mec” So, what’s up with this girl, Mate? Joris asks, and everyone at the table’s ears perk up. 

Charles is having lunch with his friends, the whole group—Joris, Hugo, Thomas, Nico, Ricky, and Guizou. Charles rolls his eyes, glares at Joris from across the table. “C'était censé être privé,” That was meant to be private, he says, but it’s too late. 

“Attends, quelle fille?” Wait, what girl? Ricky asks, and Joris giggles like a little girl. 

“Ce n’est rien,” It’s nothing, Charles mumbles, takes a drink of his water and tries to glare so hard into the waitress’s head that she magically spawns at the table to take their order, that she shuts his friends up before they get to talking about Chris. 

It’s not that he’s embarrassed. God, no. Not even sort of. But, people are always listening, always watching. He knows this, and he knows that when they’re all together like this, he and his friends are anything but quiet and subtle. 

“‘Ce n'est rien’, dit-il, puis se promène dans la ville avec sa petite amie,” It's nothing,’ he says, and then walks around town with his girlfriend, Joris says, because the fact that Charles has suddenly gotten shy only eggs him on to keep talking. 

“Oh! Oui! Est-ce la fille avec qui je t'ai vu sur Twitter?” Oh! Yes! Is this the girl I saw you with on Twitter? Guizou asks, and Charles nods, scanning the room carefully. 

“Mec, tu as une nouvelle petite amie? Depuis quand?” Dude, you have a new girlfriend? Since when? Hugo chimes in, shoves Charles’ shoulder playfully. 

“Depuis qu'il la présente à Pascale,” Since he’s introducing her to Pascale, Joris adds. Charles wonders, momentarily, if it’s too late for him to pick a new childhood best friend, to dethrone Joris from this role forever. 

“A ta maman ?? Charlie espèce de mec ! Pourquoi n'avons-nous pas entendu parler d'elle?” To your Mom?? Charlie you dawg! Guizou giggles like a child on the playground. Why haven’t we heard about her?

“Je ne veux pas que ce soit un gros problème.” I don’t want it to be a big deal, Charles mutters, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in his seat. He looks around the room quick and inconspicuously, eyes scanning for anyone looking, anyone listening. He doesn’t see anyone, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t someone. He hates this kind of paranoia. 

“Tu n'aurais pas dû l'amener ici, alors. La course était assez risquée.” You shouldn’t have brought her here, then. The race was risky enough, Joris argues.

“Elle n'était pas à la course!” She was NOT at the race! Thomas laughs, hunched over the table so far he almost knocks over his glass of water. Charles thinks his friends are having far too much fun with this new revelation regarding his relationship status. 

He nods, though, “Elle était.” She was.

“Est-elle apprécié?” Is she cool? Riccardo asks. 

Charles nods and all he can imagine is the horrified look on Chris’ face when he tells her about this the next time they talk. She’s going to freak out, he knows it, and ask him to go over every detail a million and one times. He’ll do it, too, without a complaint. “Elle est très apprécié.” She’s very cool.

“Elle vit en Amérique. Géorgie.” She lives in America. Georgia, Joris adds again, because he really can’t stop himself, no matter how obvious Charles makes it that he doesn’t want to fucking talk about it. 

Hugo scowls. “Comment est-ce?” What’s that like?

Charles shrugs. “Je ne sais pas. Je vais au mariage de son frère dans quelques semaines.” I don’t know. I’m going to her brother’s wedding in a couple weeks. He hasn’t really had the time to fully understand the implications of the four thousand, seven hundred miles between him and his girlfriend just yet. It felt too sweet, too pure, too good to be true until she was standing in front of him again, and it’s only been a few days since he kissed her goodbye. 

“Oh? Rencontrer la famille?” Oh? Nico questions, sly smile on his face. Meeting the family?

“Elle a rencontré le sien!” She met his! Riccardo chimes. 

Nico nods. “Ils vont te détester.” They’re gonna hate you.

“Copain!?” Mate!? Charles exclaims, a laugh forcing its way out of his lips. He knows his friends are just fucking with him, but. Still. Damn, give the guy a break. 

“Je veux dire, tu vis de l'autre côté du globe. Les mamans n'aiment pas ça.” I mean, you live on the other side of the globe, Hugo argues, Moms don’t like that. 

“C'est plutôt un quart du globe.” It’s more like a quarter of the globe, Charles is quick to correct. 

“Est-ce une distinction que vous pensez que ses parents font?” Is that a distinction you think her parents are making? Guizou forces Charles to wonder. He supposes that it doesn’t really matter what distinction her parents are making, it really only matters what she thinks. 

“Ne vous mettez pas dans sa tête, les gars. Il ira bien, c'est de Charles dont nous parlons.” Don’t get in his head, guys, Joris says, finally bringing some sense to the conversation. Cleaning up the mess he’d made.  He’s gonna be fine, this is Charles we’re talking about.

Four days really flies by when you’re avoiding having a conversation with your older brother. Chase’s birthday dinner has come and nearly gone. Reid is already in bed, and Bill and Cindy have long headed home, so only the trio of terror remains. It is quite literally Chris’ last chance to tell Chase about Charles, and she has to. She can’t chicken out, because she’d already told Charles to buy his plane tickets. 

The moment creates itself when Hannah is ushering Reid back to bed for the fourth time in the last hour, because if there is one thing Reid got from his mother, it’s his FOMO. Her departure leaves Chris alone in the kitchen with her brother, who is begrudgingly washing dishes from his own birthday dinner. 

Chris hoists herself up onto the counter of the kitchen island, laying down so her back is spread over the cool marble and her eyes are fixed on the crown molding, half-blinded by the pendant lights that hang over the island. 

“I have to talk to you,” she says. “I’ve been meaning to tell you…” she trails off. It’s her last opportunity to chicken out of telling him, and she knows it. “I’m uh, I’m bringing someone to your wedding. A boy.”

“A boyyyy?” Chase teases, but Chris doesn’t laugh. She’s too busy freaking out. 

“A boy.”

“Who is this boy?” He asks. “Do I know him?”

“You might,” Hannah chimes in, rounding the corner from putting Reid in his straight jacket and locking him in the closet, or something not at all similar. 

“Huh?”

“Nothing,” Chris says. “You don’t know him. And uh,” there really isn’t any way to do it but to just rip off the bandaid. “He… drivescarsforaliving.”

“Hmm?” Chase hums. 

“Hedrivescarsforaliving,” Chris repeats, somehow quicker this time than the first. Chase turns around from the sink, soaped-up scrub-daddy still in his hand, and scowls before turning to Hannah.

“Do you hear her?” Hannah shrugs. “What the fuck is she saying?”

Chris takes a deep breath and sits up. Chase rolls his eyes like he doesn’t have time for all these dramatics. “He races.”

“Oh. Stock car?” Chris shakes her head. “Indy?”

“Formula One.”

The gears start spinning in her brother’s brain, his eyes darting between Chris and Hannah like he’s waiting for them to say it’s all a big joke, to burst out laughing. Neither of them do. “F1?” He goads. Chris and Hannah both nod. “What the fuck?” he laughs. “Who?”

“Charles Leclerc.”

“You’re shitting me.” She shakes her head again, awkwardly maneuvers to grab her phone from her back pocket and pulls up a picture of her and Charles on the plane back on the way from Abu Dhabi to Monaco. Charles’ second-place trophy is sat on the floor between his legs, and he’s got his arm around her, the biggest, dumbest smiles on both of their faces. You’d think they had known each other forever, how comfortable they look. “This is fucking crazy.”

“Why aren’t you mad?” She asks, tucking her phone back into her pocket. 

“Why would I give a fuck who you sleep with?” He laughs. “Just let me know if I need to kill him, or something.”

It’s not until he’s well into post-season testing at Maranello, nearly half-way through December that it really sinks in for him just how hard the long-distance thing is going to be. He’s sitting at dinner with Andrea and Joris when his phone vibrates in his pocket. He’s come to memorize the different notifications, and he’s certain this one is a text. He hopes it’s from her. 

It’s not. It’s a Whatsapp notification from the PR groupchat Mia and Slyvia have him in. Charles, hai una ragazza? Do you have a girlfriend, it reads. He blinks at the screen a few times like the message might disappear. It’s not the first time he’s gotten it, the ominous relationship from two people who, as much as he respects Mia and Sylvia, don’t need to know every detail of his dating life. Or any detail, really. 

He knows she wouldn’t be asking him if people weren’t asking her, though, which means there’s a rumor stirring somewhere. 

He opens Twitter first, searches his name and Chris’ name into the search bar. Full names, nicknames, first names only, last names only. Every search comes up with a load of nothing. There’s a sigh of relief, and then he searches just his name, plus girlfriend. Bingo. 

The original tweet, a screenshot of a TikTok, a picture of the two of them walking down the street. It knots his stomach, drops it straight to his feet. Suddenly, he’s not at all hungry for the meal in front of him. Instead, he thinks he’s going to have to fight to keep it down. 

There are probably two hundred, three hundred tweets about him and his quote–en-quote girlfriend. From trying to figure out who she is by searching through his following on Instagram to arguing about if it’s an invasion of privacy or not, with every comment about his ex-girlfriend’s and comparing them to the back of Chris’ head in the middle. It’s a disaster, he thinks, but at least nobody can come up with a name. 

Charles texts Chris before he replies to the team. Don’t freak. There’s a picture of you and I on… everything. No faces. You can call me if you want. And then to Mia and Sylvia, sure do.

Can I call you? Mia replies. 

No.

He’s mad. Fuming, almost. At the invasion of privacy, at the fact that he gives so much of his time to strangers, over and over again he maintains the mindset that it costs him nothing to give them some of his time. At the realization that no matter how much he gives them, they will always, always feel entitled to taking what he tries to keep. It will never be enough for them. 

He’s mad at himself, too. The how-could-I-let-this-happen kind of mad that feels a lot more like a never-ending pang of guilt in your chest. He didn’t know they were around fans, but didn’t he? He’s always around a fan in Monaco, it seems like, and here he is putting his arm around her while they walk down the street? Sending out the siren for anyone who might want to pry into his private life? It’s a mistake he never should have made. He’s smarter than this. 

He fumes silently at the table while everyone around him talks about their meals and the atmosphere and all he can think about, the only track his mind can follow, is what Chris is doing at that very moment.

He knows the time difference like it’s nothing, automatically converts it in his head when he looks at his watch. It’s 2:30 in the afternoon in Georgia, so she's at work. Today is Tuesday, which means special is at… 2? It’s art day, and he knows art is at 2. Or it is Gym today? Gym is at… what time is gym at? He can’t remember. 

He’s watching Mia type, stop typing, and start again, his leg bouncing under the table, shaking the booth underneath him. Undoubtedly, she’s typing up some essay for him to read. 

Chris calls, and he answers before the first ring can finish vibrating. “Hi,” he says, soft. “Hi,” he repeats, this time harder, calmer. Everything is fine.

Silently, he shoos Joris out of the booth so he can step away. 

“Hi,” she says, like she doesn’t have a care in the world, like social media isn’t digging through every interaction he’s had for the last month with pitchforks trying to find her. 

“Are you okay?” He’s asking before he can even process the emotions—or lack thereof—in her voice. It’s like he’s blind. The type of angry where you’re clouded by it, where all he can think about is her. 

He navigates through the restaurant, trying to find a corner of quiet solace. He can’t go outside, there were fans out there when he’d shown up. Maybe the bathroom will be empty, he hopes. 

“Yeah,” Chris says, and he lets out a heavy breath, the one he’d been unable to release since he got that first text. He thinks he believes her, that she’s okay, and that he’s freaking out over nothing. “I mean, you said there weren’t any faces, so…”

“I’m sorry that this happened like this,” he offers, ducking his head into the bathroom, peeking under the stalls. He finds one pair of shoes and settles for the hallway outside the bathrooms—there’s more room to pace there, anyways. 

“Like what?” She laughs. She fucking laughs, and it stops him dead in his tracks. His head falls back to the sky, a sharp exhale—practically a laugh of his own—leaves his nose. Of course, she’s laughing. “This is exactly how we knew it would happen.”

“It’s my fault, I should have acted different.”

If he closes his eyes, he swears he can see the frown on her face, the familiar little disappointed sigh filling his ear. “Don’t do that,” she says. “You were just being… just existing. You’re allowed to exist. I’m sorry that anyone feels entitled to your existence.”

God, she can be so annoying sometimes; has to go and make all this sense all the time, makes all his nondescript, word-scramble of thought feel simple and linear. She does it so easily, understands him with infuriating ease. Avec toi, je suis moi, he’d say, if he could properly convey it. 

He bites the nail on his pointer finger. “Are you sure you are okay?”

“Yes, babe,” she laughs again. It feels like she’s always laughing. He could listen to it, to the million variations of her laugh, for a long time. Maybe until he can’t hear anymore. “I’m so okay. The okay-est. Are you okay?”

“Me? I’m fine, yeah. Just worrying about you.” He’s not okay, but. He signed up for this life, and she didn’t. Charles asked for this, worked hard to have this. Sometimes he doesn’t know if he’s allowed to be upset when stuff like this happens, all things considered. 

“I can hear it in your voice. You’re mad. Talk to me. I have fifteen minutes until I have to get my kids from art.” Tuesdays mean art class, he was right. He knew. 

Charles groans, thinks that this must be how toddlers feel right before they throw a tantrum, when they have all these contradictory thoughts flying around every corner of his brain and he can’t make sense of a single one of them. “I just. God, I just. Fuck, I feel guilty to get upset, you know?”

“I know. You don’t have to feel guilty with me, though.”

“I don’t know, sometimes it is just,” he’s pacing again. He wishes more than anything, more than anything, that she could just be here. That they could be having this conversation on a couch somewhere together. Missing her is hard when things are going good, because all he thinks about is how much better they’d be if she was there. But when things are bad, when he’s about ready to channel his sixteen-year-old self and punch a hole through a wall, he can feel all four thousand and seven hundred miles. “It makes me angry that less and less things are mine. I can not even walk down a street without getting a call from my press officer. I belong to everyone but to me, and I know that I am very lucky to have this life I have, and I love driving more than anything. It just gets bigger and bigger and more out of control. And God. Fuck, I am so mad about this,” he pauses, waits for her to say something, but she doesn’t. She just holds the empty space. “I don’t know why I’m so mad about this one. I mean, I know that it’s because it’s not just me, it’s you too. But fuck, I’m pissed off.”

“You don’t need to protect me,” she says, and he rolls his eyes. He knows he doesn’t need to. 

“I know, but I want to. I want to be able to.”

Without pause, she says: “You could. I mean, I felt safe enough to fly halfway across the world without telling anyone I was leaving, right?” He smiles. God, it really bugged him that she did that. She should have told someone. Anyone. We’re keeping it lowkey, she’s said and he didn’t know what to say. He remembers thinking it’s a trip, not the fucking nuclear codes. 

“It’s actually closer to a quarter of the way around the world, you know?” He jokes. It’s such a stupid distinction to make. Half the world, quarter of the world. Who cares, really? It’s all too far. A six hour time difference just feels a little easier than a twelve hour one. 

“Yeah,” she says quietly, and he’s certain she’s been making the same distinction, reminding herself of the same thing to make it that little bit easier. “Yeah, that’s what I said.”

He leans against the wall of the narrow hallway, facing it, resting his forehead against the wallpaper and closing his eyes. He imagines he’s going back to a table with her sitting in the booth, that she’s inside the restaurant waiting for him. “I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.”

“Are you sure you are okay?”

“Are you?” 

“Yes,” he lies. She pauses like she can tell, like she’s trying to figure out if it’s worth it to call him on it. He really hopes she doesn’t, isn’t sure how much longer he can try to have a conversation like this with her while standing in the bathroom hallway at a random Italian restaurant. 

“Promise it won’t ruin your night?”

He chuckles. “I promise no such thing.”

“Okay,” she says quietly. 

“Two days,” he says, a reminder for him, a reminder for her. Two days until you’re in front of me. Two days and some change, for him—less than that for her. That’s what happens when you’re on different ends of the world, even your days are measured differently sometimes. 

“Two days.”

last chapter masterlist next chapter

thank you per usual for @silverstonesainz for being my forever beta mwah mwah

#ma&thbp #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc fic #charles leclerc fanfic #charles leclerc x oc #charles leclerc blurb #charles leclerc fluff #charles leclerc angst #charles leclerc #scuderia ferrari #ferrari f1 #f1 fic #f1 edit #f1 fandom #f1 fanfic #f1 x oc

[ewanmitchellcrumbs]

Here’s a request for Abraham as I only just found out who he is and I already would let him spit on me. He’s in the pub where he sees a girl with big boobs and a cheeky grin, he follows her out. Maybe she leads him to the stables? And he fucks her good and hard against the hay. However, just as he’s about to pull his pants up. He falls on the ground due to reader and she rides him like a pony. Maybe some dirty talk and against the hay he chokes her but while she’s riding him she chokes him. You decide how to interpret this and where it goes from there. Hope you have fun writing!

Hello! First off I'd like to thank you for your patience - I'm sorry it's taken me over two months to fulfil this request, I am slow and I have a lot to work through. Secondly, this request is absolutely bonkers, but I've done my best to fulfil it in my own style. I hope that you enjoy it.

Warnings: Infidelity, choking, fingering, smut. Word count: ~2.6k

It’s a bright and sunny July afternoon on Grantchester Village Green. The sounds of a brass band playing and children’s laughter float on the breeze, yet she is bored. It’s the Village’s annual church fête and every Grantchester resident has turned up to take part and lend a hand. Mr. Ruskin has lent a donkey from his farm to give rides to the children, there’s a tombola offering up various prizes of assorted chocolates and cuddly toys, and games of boules and cornholing have been laid out across the Green, under reams of brightly coloured bunting. She feels like she could scream from the civility of it all.

“Fetch you some more squash?” Robbie asks with a soft smile, gesturing towards her with his empty paper cup.

“No. I’m alright, thanks, love.” She replies, stiffening uncomfortably as he places a chaste kiss to her cheek before heading off in the direction of the refreshment stand.

It’s all so bland. She can’t stomach another cup of tea, another orange squash, another egg and cress sandwich. Worst of all, she’s not sure how much more of Robbie she can stand. They have been courting for almost a year - the perfect match in every sense - he is the Vicar’s son, polite, gentle, and inoffensive. She is the daughter of the head of the Village committee; pretty, well mannered and kind.

Truthfully, she finds Robbie painfully dull. He isn’t bad looking and doesn’t treat her unkindly, he is just unambitious and set in his ways. She had agreed to go steady with him because it was what was expected of her. He’d taken her by surprise when he’d expressed the desire to sleep with her three months into their relationship, and for the first time in all the years they’d known each other she’d actually found herself excited by him. That was until they did the deed and he’d rutted atop her with all the enthusiasm of a captain going down with his ship.

She’s heard the murmurs around the Village, the rumours that he plans to propose. Robbie hasn’t exactly been subtle about it either, the way he gawks in the window of the jewellers makes dread sink in her stomach like a stone, not just at the idea of him asking her to marry him, but the fact that she knows she’ll say yes. It’s what her father wants for her, and living somewhere so small, where everyone knows everyone and all their business, she doesn’t want the reputation of the girl that broke a good Christian boy’s heart.

A future as Mrs. Robert Chambers, wife of the vicar’s son, Village postmistress, daughter of the head of the Village committee. Boring, boring, boring.

Life in Grantchester had suddenly become more interesting when he had rolled into the village; part of the Romani settlement that had taken refuge in one of Mr. Ruskin’s fields. The locals had treated them with suspicion and hostility, such was the attitude to newcomers, especially travellers. However, something about him intrigued her; his slicked back hair, dazzling blue eyes and cocky smirk made her heart race, worsened by the fact that whenever she’d seen him around he always managed to catch her eye and send her reeling with a wink. 

She’d never dared to speak to him, yet she feels her breath hitch as she notices him and five of the other Romani men approaching the Green.

“Here comes trouble.” She hears her father sigh as he steps forward to approach them.

She gently grabs his arm. “Dad, leave it,” She pleads. “They haven’t done anything.”

“Not yet anyway.” Robbie says as he returns from the refreshment stand with a refilled drink.

“They’ve as much right to be here as anyone else.” She fires back, watching as the group sit themselves on nearby picnic benches.

“I’d like to see what sort of contribution they’ve made to the Church or Village.” Her father mutters darkly.

As if on cue, the eldest of the group stands from the picnic bench and walks over to Mr. Chambers, depositing a handful of coins into the money box he holds. 

“There’s fifty pence from each of us there.” He tells the Vicar.

“Very generous of you, thank you.” Mr. Chambers responds with a bow of his head.

“See?” She says to her father. “Just leave them.”

As the afternoon progresses, the group is rowdier than anyone else at the fête. The sounds of their jeering and raucous laughing drowns out the tuba and trumpets of the band, earning them glares from everyone else in attendance. However, they keep to themselves, doing nothing more scandalous than using the picnic benches to arm wrestle one another.

She’s taking a walk around by herself, watching a group of children toss bean bags at each other with squeals and shrieks when she spots him, leaning against an outbuilding and swigging from a labeless brown glass bottle.

He winks at her when he sees her and she feels her cheeks heat up.

“Having fun?” He asks with a raise of his eyebrow.

“Not really.” She says with a soft laugh.

“Tea and sarnies not your thing then?” He smirks at her and it sets off a fluttering in her lower belly.

“I can’t imagine it’s yours either.” She says with a shrug. “What’s your lot doing here?”

He sniffs, taking another swig from his bottle and offering it to her. Tentatively she takes it from him, a shiver running through her as their fingers brush for the briefest of moments.

“We’re moving on tomorrow. Figured we’d come pay our respects before we push off.”

She is unable to mask her disappointment at this revelation, her eyes widening as her heart sinks. “Tomorrow?! You’re leaving..?”

He leans in, his blue eyes locking with hers. “You gonna miss us?”

She takes a long drink from the bottle in order to avoid having to answer the question, spluttering around the acrid burn of the liquid in her throat.

He chuckles, taking it back from her as she coughs and wipes her mouth. “Pal’s home brew. Put hairs on your chest, that will.”

She whips around when she hears Robbie calling out for her.

“Go on then, run back to your little boyfriend.” She has to suppress a gasp as she feels the hotness of his breath against the shell of her ear, how closely he’s moved behind her in order to lean down and whisper to her.

She swallows thickly, walking away before turning back to him. “I didn’t catch your name…”

“Abraham.” He tells her, with a mock two fingered salute.

“Nice to meet you, Abraham. I’m-”

“-oh I know who you are. Seen you around.” He interrupts, eyes roving over her form appreciatively.

She bites her lip, feeling the heat return to her cheeks and turns back to rejoin Robbie and her father.

The next hour passes uneventfully, until she hears raised voices coming from the area where the donkey rides are being given. Curious, she moves closer to see what’s happening. She’s surprised when she sees Abraham squaring up to Mr. Ruskin.

“It’s my animal, I think I know best how to look after it.” The farmer says angrily.

“And all I’m saying is that if you’re gonna have the poor fucker carting kids back and forth all day, the least you can do is give it a drink!” Abraham spits back.

The two men stare each other down, until eventually Abraham turns around and walks away. She thinks he has left and is bitterly dismayed that she hasn’t had the opportunity to speak to him more, when fifteen minutes later he turns with a bucket of water, setting it down near the donkey’s hay bales.

Mr. Ruskin grumbles at this, telling Abraham to clear off, but makes no moves to take the water away. She smiles at this, she knows nothing about this mysterious man, yet it’s endearing to see how he cares for animals.

She doesn’t see him again for the rest of the day and it’s only as things start to get packed down for the evening that she realises his group has left. The bucket remains where Abraham left it and she decides she’ll return it to him, emptying the water out onto the grass before turning to let her father and Robbie know what she intends to do.

She thinks better of it as she sees the two of them grappling with the hinges of a long folding table, struggling to collapse it. Probably for the best that they don’t know where she’s going. She takes the bucket, heading off in the direction of the farm.

Abraham isn’t hard to find. He stands in a stall of the stable, running a brush along the back of a chestnut coloured thoroughbred. He is bathed in the orange glow of early summer evening, the dying sunlight plays upon the sharpness of his features, making him appear ethereal.

“He’s beautiful.” She says, making sure it’s the horse she nods towards as she approaches.

Abraham grins when he sees her, continuing to brush out the horse’s coat. “He’s alright. Still needs a bit of work, but he’s fast. Should be fit for racing soon.”

“Mr. Ruskin doesn’t mind you keeping your horses in his stables?” 

He laughs drily, tossing the brush to one side and stepping out of the stall. “He told us to. Pitched a fit when he saw the state they were making of his field.”

She nods in understanding, watching as he brushes his hands off on his trousers.

“So what brings you to me?” He asks, leaning against the door of an empty stall and eyeing her closely.

“Oh,” She steps forward, holding out the bucket. “You left this. Thought you might want it back.”

He takes it from her with a smirk. “Right, because Ruskin couldn’t have brought this with him when he brought the donkey back…”

She feels herself grow hot again, opening and closing her mouth as she struggles to formulate a response.

“Why are you really here?” He closes the gap between them, a predatory glint in his eye.

“I don’t know what you mean.” She whispers, feeling arousal seep between her legs, warm and sticky, as he grips her lightly by the tops of her arms, turning her and backing her into the empty stall.

“I think you do.” He says lowly, fingertips tracing her jawline, the pad of his thumb passes slowly across her bottom lip, pulling slightly. “See, I think that little boyfriend of yours isn’t fucking you the way you’d like him to, so you thought you’d come see if I could do a better job.”

“N-no!” She stammers, fighting to keep her composure, as her stomach feels as though it’s doing somersaults.

“Oh?” He cocks his head, the hand not cupping her jaw moves, pushing the skirt of her dress up her thighs. “You a good girl then? Tell me to stop.”

She knows she should, but what she should do and what she wants to do are at direct odds with each other, so she says nothing, her chest rising and falling quickly with the rapidity of her breathing.

“That’s what I thought,” He utters, inhaling sharply as his fingers come to stroke over her clothed centre, feeling the dampness there. “Good girls don’t soak through their knickers like this for boys like me.”

It’s then that he finally presses forward to capture her lips with his own. It’s like no other kiss she’s ever experienced before, as his mouth moves with firmness against her own, parting to slip his tongue alongside hers, it feels like he is staking claim to her. She clings desperately to his shoulders, whimpering as she feels him push her underwear to the side and slowly sink a long finger inside of her.

“So tight…” He mumbles between kisses, moving his mouth to neck to suckle at her pulse point as his digit curls and pumps within her heat.

She allows her head to fall back with a soft thump against the wood of the stall’s wall as he adds a second, the repetitive strokes across a particular spot deep within her cause her muscles to tense as she bucks against his hand, feeling her belly tighten.

“Gonna come for me?” He asks cockily, sounding pleased with himself. His thumb begins to stroke at her pearl in tandem with the push and pull of his middle and forefingers.

The motion causes the tautness in her to finally give way, a wave of warmth rushes over her body from head to toe, and she lets out a strangled cry as she tightens and spasms around him.

She whines, her knees buckling as Abraham slowly retracts his fingers, but he’s quick to hold her in place by her waist. “S’alright, I’ve got you.” He reassures, keeping her steady until her breathing returns to normal.

The haze from her climax lifts slightly when she hears the metallic sound of his belt buckle unfastening, anticipation causing her breath to come in shallow puffs when it has only just recovered.

“You gonna let me inside, pretty girl?” He questions.

It almost makes her want to laugh, after what he’s just done to her, now he’s asking for permission. She nods feebly, her eyes heavy lidded as they take in the sight of his length as he fists it, long and thick. For a brief moment she wonders how he’ll fit.

“Use your words,” He urges. “Tell me what you want.”

“You,” She whispers shakily, “Want you inside of me.”

He smirks, pressing into her with a satisfied groan and she mewls pathetically as he stretches her open, his grip on her thigh as he holds her open to him is sure to leave bruises.

“Fuckin’ hell.” He grits out, once he’s finally sheathed within her.

He smells faintly of sweat, musky and intoxicating as she holds him close to her. She has never felt so full before, and the roughness of the wood against her back through the thin cotton of her dress, combined with the press of Abraham against her is almost overwhelming. 

Her head lolls to the side and she gasps once he finally starts to snap his hips against hers. He places a hand around her throat, giving the sides a gentle squeeze. “Look at me,” He orders. “Look at me when I fuck you.”

She finds that once she meets his eyes, she couldn’t look away even if she wanted to. There’s a hunger that burns within those baby blues, commanding and insatiable, that keeps her trapped like an animal beneath the intensity of his gaze.

His pace is relentless. The slap of skin against skin mixed with the cadence of the wanton sounds that fall from her lips is lewd, utterly obscene, yet she is too far gone to care or feel embarrassed.

She knows that Abraham is close when his pace falters. He pulls out with a grunt, stroking himself furiously until ropes of his pearlescent spend coat her thighs and lower belly.

He falls forward, keeping a hand pressed to the wall beside her head to stop himself putting too much of his weight onto her, and rests his forehead against hers.

“Fuck,” He breathes. “We should do that more often.”

“You’re leaving tomorrow.” She says quietly, hoping her voice doesn’t betray the sadness she feels.

“So? Come with me.” He says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world, brushing the tip of his nose softly against her cheek.

“I can’t do that!” She huffs incredulously.

“Why?” He asks, stepping away, looking for something to help clean them both up. “What’s stopping you?”

She pauses, her brow furrowing as she struggles to think of an answer. Really, what is stopping her? She grins, her future suddenly seeming much less dull.

#abraham #grantchester #ewan mitchell #abraham smut #abraham grantchester #abraham fan fiction #abraham fanfiction #abraham fan fic #abraham fanfic #grantchester smut #grantchester fan fiction #grantchester fanfiction #grantchester fanfic #grantchester fan fic

[trickphotography2]

D-Day by TrickPhotography | Chapter 9

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x female!reader

Word count: 5.9k

Synopsis: After finding out his girlfriend is pregnant, Jake is ready to move in and get married. The last thing he expected was to be hit with a six-month deployment at sea and missing the birth of his first child.

18+, minors DNI

Chapter 8 | Master List | Ao3

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Chapter 9

Working on base was a whole different beast. While you still dealt with cocky pilots and big personalities, the transitory nature of working with the military meant no one was entrenched in their positions. Orders came through every few years, so squadrons were rebuilt repeatedly. The GS folks tended to stay in place, but with everyone spread across the different squadrons, a majority of the communication was held over Teams with weekly in-person meetings. Only four of your coworkers were with you in the Bounty Hunter’s hanger - and it was nice that you weren’t the only woman on the team.

The higher-ups didn’t stand for any disrespect to the GS employees. Once, in a standing-room-only meeting, an Admiral had forced a Petty Officer out of his seat for you. You were never called ‘sweetheart’ or asked to get coffee for the meeting. Even though you asked them to call you by your first name, you were often addressed as Ma’am or by your last name. 

It helped that you and Jake had hosted a misfit's Christmas party. 

Your parents had a tradition of inviting any Airmen that didn’t have someone to spend the holidays with to their house. It had started with them as a young married couple away from their families for the first time, and later as Dad climbed the ranks and became an NCO, he wanted to take care of his guys. So when they visited for Christmas and Jake gave them a flight line tour, it just kind of happened. The get-together ballooned from the four of you and Javy to about 30 people at Jake’s place - pilots, WSOs, and a few of your coworkers. There were single folks and married couples. When one of Javy’s coworkers showed up with their newborn, Mom was more than happy to play grandma and ensure the new parents had time to eat and relax. Everyone had contributed a dish, and beer pong and cornhole games were set up in the backyard. You and Javy ruled the beer pong table for four rounds before finally losing to Jake and a WSO called Boondock. 

For all his worry about meeting your parents, Jake had done phenomenally. Mom surprised him with a homemade stocking that matched yours, and he’d had to clear his throat a few times before thanking her. Dad gifted him an Air Force t-shirt and laughed when Jake thanked him for the rag to clean his truck tires. 

December faded into January, and Jake drunkenly declared that he was going to marry you when you kissed in the new year. 

Your first big fight was on January 3rd when your apartment’s 60-day lease renewal notice appeared on your front door. Jake wanted you to end your lease and move in. You wanted to keep your place - moving in 10 months into a relationship wasn’t part of the agreement, and you liked having your own space. He demanded to know what about your relationship made you question moving in. You tried to tell him that it wasn’t about not feeling stable in your relationship. It was about your comfort. He snapped that he wasn’t your ex trying to trap you. When he stormed out of the apartment, you refused to apologize. The stalemate went on for three days until you sent him a picture of your new short-term lease that would end in September - four months after your anniversary. Rent would be more expensive, but it was at least a compromise. 

Your second fight was about communication when he showed up at your apartment the next day. 

Happy Anniversary, darlin’. I wish I was with you, but we’ll celebrate when I get home. Love you so much - Jake

The flowers - the same arrangement that he’d bought you the first time he’d asked you out - had shown up on your desk first thing in the morning, and you’d endured some gentle teasing by the aviators, mechanics, and coworkers. And while you’d looked forward to celebrating one year with your boyfriend, unfortunately, he was deployed across the state with Javy. 

What he didn’t know was that you planned on surprising him. 

The late afternoon flight to Mirimar only took an hour. You left straight from the office, your weekend bag waiting in the trunk. You had a meeting with your old company to discuss a delayed delivery, and it had been so satisfying to see your old coworkers squirm when you asked them to explain the delay of services and the implementation of the penalties that had previously been negotiated. In preparation for the meeting, you’d decided to dress up a bit more than usual, anticipating getting to change before heading to the airport - traveling in a pencil skirt and button-down wasn’t the most comfortable. But the meeting had run long, and you’d had to speed to the airport only to find out your flight was delayed. And delayed again.  

It was almost 6:00 PM when you landed, and you’d missed Jake’s after-work call. Quickly, you texted him that you were stuck at the office and would call him back. He made your life easy by saying he would be at the bar but would make sure to step out to answer. He’d already told you about the regular spot the pilots congregated at, so you had a good idea of where you could find him. If all else failed, you could text Javy. 

Thankfully you were able to pick up your rental car relatively quickly. Since you were planning to spend time by the beach, you'd decided to splurge on a convertible. They gave you a newer Mustang, and you quickly snapped a picture to send to your dad.

The Hard Deck was a cute beachside bar and popular if the parking lot was anything to go by, especially for a Wednesday. After fixing your hair and freshening your lipstick, you hesitated a moment before undoing an extra button on your blouse. Leaning against the back of the car, you quickly swapped out your flats for a pair of stilettos that Jake loved, ignoring the looks of a few other patrons heading inside. With a final check to make sure your shirt was tucked in and your belt was straight, you headed inside.

80s music greeted you as you pushed open the door. Glancing up, you saw beer steins and replica planes hung on the ceiling and patches decorating the walls. Skirting the edge of the room, you kept your eyes peeled for your boyfriend.

After a week and a half, he was a sight for sore eyes, backlit by the setting sun as he lifted a beer bottle to his lips and watched a game of pool, checking his phone. Laughing to yourself, you texted him.

Leaving in five minutes. I’ll call you as soon as I’m off base.

He set his beer down and smiled at his phone. A minute later, yours vibrated in your hand.

Good thing we didn’t have plans tonight. Don’t forget to bring your flowers home.

Have I told you how much I love them? You texted back while making your way to the bar. 

I hope so. Blew my entire flower budget on this cute GS contract admin. Smiling, you leaned against the bar and waited to order, eyes trained on Jake, who kept glancing at his phone. 

“What can I get you?” the bartender asked. 

“Hi - can I get a whiskey and Coke and whatever that gentleman over there is drinking?” She turned to look at where you were pointing. Her smile was slightly more sarcastic when she turned back. 

“I wouldn’t waste your time, sweetie.” 

“Thanks for the advice, but I’ll take my chances. Do you have drink runners?”

“Might as well save yourself the money,” the man beside you said. “Hangman’s not worth the trouble.” You glanced at him - he wore a flight suit, which seemed to be a pretty standard uniform at The Hard Deck. 

“Is that so?” you replied, reading his name patch. Yale. As the bartender got the drinks, you turned to face him, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Yup. So how about we take those drinks and find a place to get to know one another.” His eyes flitted to your cleavage. When his gaze met yours again, you raised an eyebrow. You’d forgotten how cocky pilots were off base, surrounded by civilians. Anytime you were around them at home, the ones you interacted with either knew you from work or saw you with Jake and treated you with respect. The thought of putting him in his place made the corner of your mouth lift into a smirk. 

“How do you feel about a friendly bet?” Yale faced you, arm draped across the bar so his fingers nearly brushed yours. 

“What’s the bet?” 

“Hangman - that’s what you called him? - leaves with me tonight.” 

“And the terms?”

“If I’m right, you pay for our first round. But if you’re right, I'll pick up your tab for the night.” 

“That’s more than two drinks - I’ve already paid for rounds for my friends.” You shrugged. “You pick up my tab and have a drink with me.” 

“One that I would be paying for, presumably, since I’d pick up your tab?”

“A bet’s a bet.” 

You paused, tapping your finger against your lower lip as though debating your response. “Two-for-one terms don’t work for me. If you want me to pick up your tab and have a drink with you, you’ll have to pay for all my drinks for the night. Plus his.” 

“Done.” When he extended his hand, you reached for it but paused before shaking. 

“You have to bring him the beer.” When he shrugged, you shook his hand, forcing yourself not to laugh. When he reached for the bottle in front of you, you stopped him. “Hang on. This too.” Grabbing a clean napkin and a pen from the bar, you quickly scribbled a note before folding the napkin in half and handing it to Yale. 

“Thanks for the beers,” he smirked. 

“We’ll see.” With a chuckle and wink, he walked back towards the pool table. You tracked him, sipping your cocktail before glancing over in time to see Javy spot you. His mouth opened in surprise, and you quickly pressed a finger to your lips, motioning him to be quiet. Yale handed Jake the beer just as Javy reached his side. He scowled at the napkin as Yale said something. Javy glanced over Jake’s shoulder and grinned at you when he unfolded it. 

Jake said something to Yale before looking at the bar, gaze running over the other patrons. Finally, his green eyes landed on you. His frown faded, and your favorite crooked grin appeared. Turning to Yale, he nodded before lifting the beer to his mouth and taking a pull as he started towards you. Unerringly, his eyes found you as he navigated the crowd.

And then he was there, grinning down at you. “Working late, huh?”

“Something like that,” you laughed. Jake lifted the napkin and cocked an eyebrow.

“You’re stealing my moves, darlin’. Now, why exactly am I playing it cool?” 

“Because I’m about to take care of our tab for the night.” Stepping closer, you placed one hand on his chest, feeling his heart pounding under your palm, and arched an eyebrow. “I bet Yale that I could take Hangman home tonight.” Jake’s hand rested on your hip as he stepped closer, looming over you. 

“And what’d he bet?”

“That I couldn’t, and I’d have a drink with him and pick up his tab.” His eyes left yours to dart over to where Yale and Javy stood. Both men watched your exchange, Javy grinning around his beer while Yale looked disappointed. 

“Fuck the bet. I’ve got your drinks for the night,” he growled. His lips crashed into yours, hand sliding from your hip to your lower back and hauling you closer. He took advantage of your startled gasp and slipped his tongue into your mouth. Your hand slid up his chest to cup his jaw, thumb rasping against his stubble. When you finally broke apart, you lightly swept your thumb over his lower lip to wipe away your lipstick. “What are you doing here?” Jake asked softly.  

“Well,” you smiled, “it’s important to hold negotiations face-to-face whenever possible.”

“That right?”

“Yup. So are you ready to discuss the contract, Lieutenant?” Placing his beer beside your glass, he unzipped one of his pockets and pulled out his wallet. Instead of pulling out his credit card, he handed you a folded piece of paper. Tears sprang to your eyes when you opened it. 

It was your original contract.

“Ready whenever you are. Got a whole list of updates that I want.” You swayed closer and tilted your head back. Jake’s kiss was softer this time. “Love you, darlin’.”

“Love you too, babe.” 

“Wanna get out of here?” 

“You don’t want to introduce me to your friends?” 

“Not if they’re gonna hit on you,” he scoffed. You laughed, refolding the paper and handing it back. He slipped it into his wallet.

“I want to say hi to Javy and finish my drink. Then we can go back to my hotel.” Grabbing your glass, you pushed off the bar and walked away. Jake dragged his eyes down your body, lingering on your legs, before following.

Javy met your halfway and pulled you in for a hug. “Couldn’t even go two weeks without his ugly mug. What are you gonna do when he’s on a longer deployment?”

“Well, first, let’s not put that into the universe,” you laughed. “And second, it’s only because it’s a special occasion.”

“Right. Not sure how you put up with him for a year.”

“You’ve put up with him longer than I have.” 

“Alright, alright,” Jake huffed, tossing his arm across your shoulders and tugging you close. 

“I checked on your place yesterday,” you told Javy. “Everything’s good - I brought in a bit of mail that didn’t get stopped.” 

“You’re the best. How long are you here for?”

“I fly out Sunday morning. I have to work from the hotel tomorrow, but other than that I’m - ”

“Plenty of time to talk later, then,” Jake said, gently tugging you away. “Say bye to Coyote.” 

“Pool later?” you asked, pointing at Javy, who chuckled and nodded as you were pulled towards the back door. As you passed Yale, Jake lifted his hand from your shoulder and flipped him off. You couldn’t help but laugh as you stepped onto the deck. He led you to the stairs and paused long enough for you to kick off your heels before walking towards the line of Adirondack chairs facing the ocean. 

“C’mere,” he said as soon as he settled in one of the chairs, patting his thigh. You stood between his knees and dropped your shoes, placing your drink on the chair arm beside his beer. 

“God,” you sighed, curling your toes in the sand, “it’s been forever since I’ve been to the beach.” 

“Can’t believe you’re here,” Jake said, sitting up and wrapping his hands around your thighs, pushing the material further up your legs. His tongue darted out to wet his lips as he guided you closer. “I love and hate this skirt.” 

“Oh?”

“You look sexy as hell in it, but it’s too tight to let me touch you the way I want.” 

“That’s probably a good thing since we’re in public and surrounded by your coworkers.” Leaning down, you rested one hand on his shoulder and ran your fingers through his hair. “Missed you, Seresin. Happy anniversary.” 

“Happy anniversary,” he echoed, tugging you down to straddle his knee. Your skirt was tight across your legs and ass, and the wood was uncomfortable on your knees, but it didn’t matter when Jake’s lips pressed against yours, licking into your mouth as his fingers dug into your waist. When the wind blew your hair into your faces, you laughed against his mouth. He chased your lips when you pulled away and groaned when you stood up. Turning, you settled on the chair between his legs and leaned back against his chest, your bare feet brushing against his boots. 

“So, how was work today, Hangman?” you asked. The setting sun reflected off the ocean as you entwined your fingers together and rested them on your stomach. 

“Good. Spent the day in the air working the training course.” 

“For the mission you can’t tell me about, even though I have a top-secret clearance.”

"Yup.” His nose brushed your throat as you took a sip of your drink.  

“Is it really dangerous?” His hesitation was the only answer you needed.

“They brought in the best. Which for some reason includes those idiots in there,” he said, squeezing your hand. You knew he was trying to lighten the mood. 

“Well, not everyone’s a Seresin,” you shrugged. 

“You could be.” You sputtered, a bit of your drink spilling onto your chest. Chuckling, Jake lifted his hand to wipe it from your breasts and licked his fingers clean. Setting your nearly empty glass on the chair arm, you turned to face him. “What?” he shrugged.

“Is that your opening position in the negotiations? Marriage?”

“It’s on the list.” 

“You have a list?” Jake grinned, poking his tongue in his cheek as he raised an eyebrow.

“Are you tellin’ me that Ms. ‘I Negotiate for a Living’ doesn’t have a list of things ready for our contract negotiations?” 

“I have a mental list. That’s what we’re talking about, right?” 

“Sure, darlin’.” 

“Jake, you don’t have an actual list, do you?”

Jake did have a list. Saved on his phone. 

After giving Javy the keys to their rental car and stopping by the base dorms so he could grab enough clothes for the morning, you went to the hotel. He was reluctant to let you drive, but you reminded him that he wasn’t on the rental agreement and told him to enjoy being a passenger princess. The only time he could drive was when you had to go on base - even though you had your CAC card, you didn’t want to tempt fate with your civilian employee ID being rejected for going onto the wrong installation. 

“I want this as our tradition,” you said from your spot on the corner of the king-sized bed. Jake set his burger on the hotel desk and wiped at his mouth, cocking an eyebrow as you ate another fry. He’d tied the top half of his flight suit around his waist, and his black t-shirt clung to his chest and arms. 

“What? A hotel room?”

“No. I want us to get McDonald's for dinner.” He looked like he was trying not to laugh.

“You want fast food. Not a nice dinner, not a trip - McDonald’s.” 

“This is what we had the first night we were together.”

“We can do this until we get married. Then we’re gonna have a nicer tradition.”

“According to you, we’ll only get to do this once more, then. Twice if we do a long engagement.”

“It’s not going to be a long engagement.” You rolled your eyes. Jake wanted to get married this year, but you’d gotten him to agree to get engaged in exchange for keeping his rental house for another two years before looking to buy your own home. He wasn’t sure when orders would come down for him to move since he’d been with the Vigilantes for two years already. He was pretty confident he could move to another squadron on Lemoore when the time came, but he was hesitant to purchase anything when you might have to move shortly after. 

“I want to do this for our dating anniversary. We’ll discuss the wedding anniversary when we get to that point.”

“So you want two anniversaries?”

“Is that a problem?”

“Well, future Mrs. Seresin, since you want one that’s cheap, I guess I’m fine with it.” 

“Sentimental, not cheap,” you corrected. Your face flushed when he stood and walked closer, plucking the fry container from your hands and placing it on the desk. Leaning over you, he tilted your head back. 

“Sentimental it is, Mrs. Seresin.” You flushed under his heated gaze. Jake brushed his lips against your forehead and cheeks as you untied the sleeves of his flight suit and pushed it down his legs. “Love you, darlin’.” 

“Love you, too.” Planting one hand on the bed, he slowly lowered you onto the mattress while kicking off his suit. He quickly stripped off his shirt before licking into your mouth. His dog tags rested in the hollow of your throat, and you wrapped your hand around them, using them to pull him closer. 

“Wearin’ too many clothes,” he mumbled while working on the buttons of your blouse. Jake grumbled when you pushed against his shoulders until he stood up. 

“Sit against the headboard.” He took the initiative to strip off his boxers, his cock flushed and resting on his stomach. Smiling coyly, you finished undoing your buttons and slid the shirt from your shoulders. Your belt and bra hit the floor, and you shimmied off your skirt and panties. 

“Put the heels back on,” he said, voice rough with lust. “And get over here.” You did as you were told and crawled across the bed towards him, smiling as Jake’s fingers dug into your waist when you straddled him. “Fuckin’ missed you, darlin’.”

“Is that so, Lieutenant Seresin?” You ran your fingers through his hair and kissed the corner of his mouth. When he turned to chase your lips, you pulled away. Dragging your hand down his chest, you lifted his dog tags and traced his name. “You’re really ready to share your last name again?” 

“I’d take you to the courthouse today if you’d let me.” 

“I guess Javy can’t be too disappointed in you, since you waited longer than three months this time.”

“Darlin’, don’t talk about other men when you’re naked in my bed.” Smirking, you slid the ball chain over his head. His heated gaze watched as you put on the dog tags, the metal warmed from his skin, falling between your breasts.    

“Technically, this is my bed since I rented the room.” 

“Pretty sure the vows go ‘what’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours’.” 

“You’re jumping a few steps,” you scolded. “No agreements are binding until we sign the papers and you actually ask me to marry you, so you better behave, Hangman, or we’ll terminate the contract.”

“I’d like to see you try,” he chuckled, running his fingers along your core and smirking to find you already wet. Easing his middle and ring fingers into you, he pulled you down to whisper against your mouth, “Did you miss me?” At your hummed response, he nipped your lower lip. “Words, darlin’.” 

“Yes.” 

“Couldn’t wait for me to come home and take care of you the way you like, could you?” 

“No.” He added a third finger, holding tightly to your hip when you moaned at the stretch. Jake crooked his fingers, using his thumb to circle your clit as you panted against his neck. When you’d adjusted to his thick fingers, you ran your tongue down his throat and nipped his shoulder before closing your lips around the hurt, flattening your tongue against it. He groaned when you dug your nails into his back. Calloused fingers trailed up your spine and wrapped around your hair, drawing you away.

“Careful, darlin’. Can’t have you damaging government property, now.” Your sarcastic retort was lost in a loud ah when he thrust his fingers hard while tugging your hair. Hips moving of their own accord, you leaned back to brace your hands on his thighs as you rode his fingers. He grinned and pulled your breast into his mouth, sucking hard. His tongue flicked over your nipple before his teeth dragged along your skin and tugged. Your fingers carded through his hair, holding him against you as you shuddered and came with a gasp. 

Jake fucked you through your orgasm and slowly withdrew his fingers, the wet sound mingling with your heavy breaths, bringing them to your mouth. You opened for him and licked them clean, gagging slightly when he inched them toward the back of your throat, his Academy ring pressed against your stretched lips. “One. Now hold onto the headboard, baby.” Your stomach clenched when he wrapped his hand around your waist and encouraged you onto your knees, thighs shaking with the effort of holding yourself up. Grinning, he shifted down the mattress, his shoulders forcing your legs wider until your knees were beside his head. He’d wanted you to ride his face for a while, but you’d always hesitated. “Please, darlin’,” he said softly, arms wrapping around the back of your thighs. 

“You’re sure?”

“So fuckin’ sure.” Biting your lower lip, you nodded. He grinned while pulling you closer, brushing lips to your inner thighs. When you hovered over him, he pulled you down onto his mouth, placing soft kisses against your core. The first pass of his tongue was light and teasing, trying to get you comfortable. His nose bumped your clit, and you inhaled sharply, shying away from his touch. The motion dragged your slit across Jake’s mouth, and he groaned. The vibration made you moan, and your hips rocked. “That’s it, baby,” he encouraged before dipping his tongue into you and sucking kisses up to your clit to run his tongue around it. Your knees slid along the sheets as your thighs struggled to hold you up. 

Your grip on the headboard tightened, and you lowered your head, forcing your eyes open. Jake’s eyes were closed, clearly savoring the moment. Turning, you groaned at the sight of his cock, pink and dripping against his stomach, your black stilettos a stark contrast against his sunkissed skin. Reaching back, you dragged your finger through the precum pooling on his skin. His muscles jumped under your touch, and his pupils were blown wide when you turned to face him, sucking on your finger. “I want you in my mouth later.” Jake moaned against your pussy, and you yelped when he dragged you down to his mouth. All softness was gone as he attacked you, using every trick he knew to get you off. When you started to grind against him, he flattened his tongue and let you use him. 

Collapsing backward onto the bed, you tried to catch your breath. Jake chuckled, dragging his knuckle along the leg still draped over his chest. When you lifted your head to meet his gaze, he winked, chin glistening with your wetness. “Two. We’re doin’ that again, darlin’.” Rolling your eyes, you moved your leg, lightly tapping his temple with the toe of your stiletto. His gaze followed you as you moved to lie on your stomach, cheek resting on his thigh and feet in the air, ankles crossed. 

“That may be an anniversary treat.”

“Nope. Regular rotation.” Shaking your head, you lifted your hand to run your finger along the thick vein on his cock. “Put it in the contract.”

“Nope.”

“C’mon. You enjoyed it.”

“Not saying I didn’t,” you agreed, wrapping your hand around him and squeezing lightly. He grunted, eyes glued to yours as you shifted onto your elbow. “We’re not putting sex in the contract.” When he opened his mouth to reply, you dragged your fist up his length, stopping just under his flared head. “You were saying?” you teased. 

“I - ” You closed your mouth over his tip, tongue darting into his slit. “Fuck.” You hummed, twirling your tongue around his head before swallowing him down, fist covering what you couldn’t fit in your mouth. Tilting your head, you looked up at him so he could see the bulge of his dick in your cheek. His hips lifted, hitting the back of your throat. You gagged, tears springing to your eyes. Breathing through your nose, you swallowed around him. 

Jake’s moans were so pretty.

With each pass, you took more of him, his hand on your head encouraging you. “So good, baby. Love your mouth. Feel so good,” he babbled. Your hand slipped between his legs to cup his balls, tugging gently. Your whined name and his hand pressing you down was the only warning he gave before his salty taste flooded your mouth. After swallowing and kitten licking his cock clean, you rolled onto your back and pulled off your heels, tossing them onto the floor. “Aw, darlin’, I wanted to fuck you with those on,” Jake whined. 

“We’ve got all weekend,” you sighed. 

You worked from the hotel on Thursday, periodically interrupted by Jake sending pictures. He’d clearly taken one while flying, and you reminded him exactly how much his plane cost and told him that he needed to be more careful. Later that night, he demonstrated just how careful and detail-oriented he was as he made you come four times. 

The next morning, you presented him with the updated contract for his signature. After he signed, he’d written one more clause under your signatures. You reminded him that adding anything after signing wasn’t binding. He initialed both copies and made sure to show you just how little he cared when your cheek was pressed against the cold shower tiles as he fucked you from behind before leaving for work. 

When you’d mentioned wanting to visit the USS Midway on your day off and offered to wait for him, Jake just shook his head and told you to enjoy - he saw enough of carriers during his deployments. So you spent the morning exploring the ship and surrounding statues, and sending him and your parents pictures. After grabbing a late lunch, you browsed the art galleries and stores in Seaport Village before heading back to the hotel for a nap. 

On Saturday, you let Jake and Javy sleep in before dragging them to the zoo. As the day wore on, you saw the tension ease from their shoulders. By the time you left and they agreed to take advantage of the convertible to cruise down to the beach, both were singing along to Taylor Swift with you.

That night at The Hard Deck, you and Jake won a game of pool against Javy and another pilot named Payback. You met some of the other pilots on the special detachment - Jake made sure that you stayed away from Yale - including the infamous Bradshaw. As much as you wanted to give the pilot who cause Jake’s hangup with his callsign a piece of your mind, you held back. After all, that mustache and call sign - Rooster - were punishment enough.

Around midnight, you and Jake left the bar and went down to the beach. Walking along the shore, you held hands and enjoyed the lap of the waves washing over your feet. You didn’t go too far, knowing that you needed to leave soon so you could get some rest before going to the airport. But as you walked back up towards the bar to say goodnight to everyone, Jake pulled you to a stop when he heard the song playing. Tugging you into his arms, he slid his hands into the back pockets of your jeans and swayed with you as the Beach Boys crooned ‘Don’t Worry Baby’. 

That night, Jake took his time to kiss every inch of your skin as you undressed. His fingers drifted over your curves as though to memorize them. And when he finally slid into you, he made sure you knew exactly how much he loved you. 

You were reminded just how dangerous Jake’s job was on Tuesday. You were in a meeting when your phone chimed with his text. 

Everyone’s okay. Will tell you more tonight.

He didn’t answer your call or text asking for clarification, and neither did Javy, but an hour later, there was a news blast saying there was a training accident and an F-18 had crashed into the desert. It was well after 8:00PM when Jake called. You could hear the fear in his voice when he told you about how three people almost burned in - how he’d almost lost his best friend and could do nothing but stand by the radio in the Ready Room and listen, praying that he snapped out of the G-LOC in time. 

You stayed with him on the phone until he said he needed to shower. You whispered your love, promising to see one another soon.

As soon as you disconnected, you called Javy to check on him. He assured you he was okay, just had a headache. You made him promise to be careful and go get checked out if it got worse.

When you pulled out your laptop to check your email Wednesday morning, there was a notice for a requisition of a new F-18 for the Black Aces squadron. 

Being underway meant had limited contact with Jake. He had access to his official military email address, so he sent you periodic messages, but calls were limited. He managed a video call once to let you know that he was on his way back. As happy as you were to see his face, a new weariness in his eyes made you wonder what had happened. He tried to assure you it was just because of how shitty he slept on the carrier. 

When the six F-18s landed back on Lemoore, you ensured you were on the flight line to greet Jake and Javy. Both men looked tired but happy and quickly did their post-flight checks. You were able to drive them home but had to go back into the office after. 

After work, you stopped to pick up dinner before heading to Jake’s house. When you walked inside, he was asleep in bed. Once you’d changed into your pajamas, you slid between the sheets. 

Jake opened one eye and gave you a sleepy smile before moving closer, curling up on your chest. You ran your fingers through his hair until he fell back asleep, reveling in his weight pressing you into the mattress and knowing he was safe in your arms. 

Dating Contract - One-Year Update

Following the annual “Dating” contract review, the two parties identified below agree that all clauses and conditions have been met. It is recommended that parties continue with the contract, maintaining an exclusive and monogamous relationship. 

Recommend the following updates to the contract:

Strike three weeknight sleep-over policy. Parties agree not to set restrictions on the number of nights spent together.

Writer will move into the Contracting partner’s house following the termination of her lease in September. The Contracting partner will add the Writer to his lease.

Contracting partner agrees to allow the Writer to drink coffee in bed, and eat in bed on an ad hoc basis.

Parties agree not to walk out on arguments. Parties agree to request a ‘pause’ if necessary and will finish the discussion when cooler heads prevail.

Parties agree to acknowledge annual dating anniversary with dinner from McDonald’s

Parties agree to become engaged prior to the next annual review

Following the engagement, Parties agree to strike boyfriend/girlfriend and replace with fiancé/fiancée as appropriate

Parties will agree to a yearly review of the contract, with ad hoc meetings to discuss clauses and conditions as they arise. 

More Sex - J.S.

----------------------------------------------

Author's Note: I decided to give Harvard a break and make Yale the one who hit on Darlin'. I didn't want to spend too much time with them at TOPGUN since Jake would be focused on the mission, but they couldn't spend their anniversary apart! The contract had to be renegotiated!

Thanks for the patience with this chapter. I ended up scrapping what I'd written and restarting. Hopefully you liked the abbreviated holidays and meet the parents.

To the anon who asked if I'll be posting this to Ao3, I've decided that I will. Not sure if I'll get to it this weekend, but it'll be posted under my new pseud - TrickPhotography2

ALSO - @mayhemmanaged made these gorgeous Instagram posts of Darlin' and Jake that you should look at and love as much as I do.

Thank you for reading ❤️

Read Chapter 10

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[the-soliloquies-of-sadists]

#343

“When I told you that you could move in my spare room in my basement, when your parents threw you out for being gay, I knew you had no money. I said I’d figure something out. Well pussy-fag, I figured it out.  Every morning your job is to eat my shithole….

“Bitch, don’t act so surprised.  I know you are a pig.  I know you like what you see; your towel is not hiding your rock-hard pecker.  I’ve known for a while you’ve been into men.  I heard from a buddy that you frequent the bushes at the river front boat launch, not just frequent, but you suck or get fucked by a number of fishermen, dads, hell any man that makes his way into those bushes.  I asked Coach James about you, and he said that he caught you getting cornholed by quarterback Jenkins.  The only reason why nothing came of that is that Jenkins turned 18 and you were still underage, and he didn’t want his prize quarterback in any trouble.  I’ve known for some time—well before I saw you walking on the road to town—that you were a service minded faggot.  Now drop the towel and get that tongue to service my shitter. 

“Oh fuck!  You can lick the crack on occasion, but I need for your tongue to spend most of its time inside my hole….  Like that.  Fuck.

“I know you had the hots for me for some time.  Every time I would go into the Starbucks you work at in my Deputy uniform, you failed miserably to mask your lust for me.  It’s so easy to spot a hungry sperm burper with a cop fetish. 

“I knew you were still underage.  So I waited and watched over the next couple months, casually asking key men about you. Once you graduated and turned 18, I made sure that your conservative parents knew that you were a pole rider who frequented the boat launch. Then I waited for you to make that long walk into town from their farm. That’s when I picked you up and brought you here.

“Fuck your tongue feels so good inside.  You do have experience tongue fucking a man’s shithole.  Every morning, I want you to service me with your tongue.  Then every time I get off work, you will help me undress and meticulously fold and store my uniform.  Afterwards, we will go into the playroom through that door.

“Here pull back.  Let’s go in there now…. Leave the towel on the floor.  I want you naked at all times from now on.  Follow me.  Now you can look at the meatiness of my ass and appreciate it.  In this room, I have all the toys and equipment that it takes to satisfy me.  You look terrified.  Good….  Don’t worry, it’s going to take you time to get you ready for all this.  Hell, it’s going to be a while before you actually see my dick, not just over-flowing in my jock. 

“Ha!  That made you look down.  Go ahead stare at it.  It’s fucking huge, and it’s not even hard. 

“Your service to me is going to come in stages.  The first thing, see that chair in the middle of the room?  Next to it you see the table with the whisky and a cigar.  I want that ready to go before I get off shift.  After you undress me and put away my uniform, we will come down here.

“That cabinet over there is a humidor.  It holds over 4,000 cigars, but right now I have about 1,200 in it.  You will be trained on everything cigar related.  Every day you will select one for me to enjoy and set it on that table next to the chair.

“That is a wet bar over there.  You will pour me a whisky from one of my dozen or so varieties.  Again, you will be trained on everything whisky related.  A double on the rocks will need to be placed next to the cigar and the TV remote.

“I have over three thousand porn videos.  You are to select one and have it playing when I come in.  It should be muted.  I would also like voiceless smooth jazz playing over the speakers.  You will get to the point to where your selections of cigar, music, whisky, and porn all work together for my enjoyment.

“When I come in here, it’s to relax after a long day at work.  I want to hear soothing music, a nice cigar, some smooth whiskey, while watching hot porn, and a faggot’s tongue worshipping my shitter.  See that hole in the seat?  Your face is going to be under it when I plant my beefy ass for you to clean.

“Go on, around back and climb under it.  This chair was specially made for me by this rim chair designer who lives in the mountains with his slave.  Your head should fit snug but fine.  There should be neck support. 

“You look like you always belonged there.  Before I sit, I am going to show you my cock.  It’s not going to be hard, but you can appreciate its size.  Open your mouth.  You ever drink piss?  No?  That’s going to change right now.  I don’t expect you to swallow it all at once, but do make an effort.  You won’t get my dick until you have earned it by drinking my piss and cleaning my shithole. 

“Oh fuck.  You really must want my dick.  You aren’t freaking out like most other boys.  Swallow as you fast as you can, then open up for another piss load.  That’s good.  Don’t worry, I’ll have you well trained in no time.  Now it’s time for my ass. 

“The best part of this chair is that you cannot pull yourself out if I am sitting on it.  There’s very little movement side to side.  Your mouth is perfectly aligned with my shithole.

“You are to clean it, regardless of condition.  I don’t care if it stinks of sweat or piss, you clean it.  I don’t care if there are skid marks, you clean it. 

“It’s dark hunh?  You will find that the claustrophobia is rather liberating.  Focus on two things, my shithole and your mouth.  There is nothing in this universe other than those two things.  Going forward, you will put a blindfold on and noise cancelling headsets.  Again, it all comes down to my shithole and your mouth. 

“Now it’s time for me to relax, truly relax.  Oh, that just slipped out.  Consider that me blowing you a kiss.”