Chapter Twelve

Want

Beth’s friends had advised her to make a move on Tripp. Now she’d done it, and what a move it was.

She currently had a very strong and powerful man between her legs. But the way he was looking at her—like a man barely holding it together—it led her to believe she had all the power in the moment.

Or she’d had the power right up until she said the words, “I want you.”

Just that quickly Tripp was moving into action. His hand on her thigh moved around to her butt, pulling her against him with a firm tug. She gasped as she fell forward, her breasts pressed up to his hard chest. His free hand came up to the back of her head, his fingers delving into her hair as he slanted his mouth over hers.

The hunger in his kiss was more intense that anything Beth had ever experienced. It had no rival. Nothing came close.

There was no gentleness in the possessive way that he held her. Nothing sweet or simple in how his tongue delved into her mouth, demanding from her the same that he was giving. He made her entire body come to life. Made her desperate for more. Made her desperate for everything he offered.

His hand in her hair tightened, not too much to hurt, but just enough to make her scalp tingle with pleasure. He pulled her mouth from his, his lips sliding down to her throat.

The deep need that burned low in Beth’s belly spread, the desperate throbbing between her legs now unbearable. She started to move against him, seeking the pressure that she craved. And oh, did she find it.

Tripp was gloriously hard, his cock straining the zipper of his jeans. Just moving over him was making her more than a bit delirious. She was pretty sure she was going to lose her damn mind when he was actually inside of her, which she was hoping would be happening here shortly.

“Tripp.” His name escaped her mouth on a low throaty moan but any other words she’d been about to speak were cut off. He nipped at the sensitive skin just above her shoulder and her entire body shuddered.

She’d been slightly distracted by everything else—rightfully so—and hadn’t noticed when his hand slipped from her hair to her back. It wasn’t until he pulled the front of her dress down that she realized he’d undone the zipper. The material fell away from her body, the straps catching at her elbows.

“Look at you,” he whispered reverently as he pulled the material from her arms and freed her. The strapless bra she wore was black lace over a nude base, giving the illusion of see-through material over bare skin.

“You said you wanted my hands on you.” He reached up, pushing her hair behind her shoulders before he trailed his fingers down her throat and to her collarbone. It was the lightest of touches, just the very tips of his fingers across her skin.

She nodded, moving her hips again in a not even remotely subtle move. “Yes.”

Tripp’s nostrils flared as he took a deep breath. “I’ve imagined touching you like this more times than I can count,” he said, tracing the swells of her breasts. “Imagined what it would be like to kiss every inch of your body. To learn the taste of you here.” He touched the valley between her breasts.

“And here.” He was at the front of her bra, rasping his thumb over the puckered nipple that was just visible through the fabric. “And here.” His palm went flat as it slid to her belly. He ran his forefinger around her belly button before moving lower.

His hand delved beneath the fabric of her dress, his fingers at the very top of her panties. They matched her bra, more black lace and nude satin. He tugged at the lacy top just slightly before letting them fall back into place and moving down the front. It was then that he was touching her through the thin material, giving her just a bit of pressure where she wanted him the most.

Then he pulled her panties to the side. Beth grabbed onto his shoulders as he gently spread her, tracing his fingers over her folds. “I want to learn the taste of you here.”

“I want you inside me.”

“Which just so happens to be another want of mine,” he said as he slid a finger inside of her.

The gasp that escaped her mouth was followed by a low moan. Neither could be helped, nor could they be stopped.

“You’re so wet,” he marveled as he pulled his finger out of her. When he pushed back in he slipped two inside. “So perfect.”

“Oh God.” Her grip on his shoulders tightened, her nails digging into his skin through his shirt.

Tripp leaned forward and opened his mouth at the base of Beth’s throat. His tongue rasped over her skin as he moved down to her breasts. “I need you naked,” he groaned as he pulled at her bra with his teeth.

“Then what the hell are you waiting for?”

“That’s a very good question,” he said as he pulled his fingers out before pushing them back in. “I quite possibly could be waiting for us to be a little less exposed. Unless you’re a bit of an exhibitionist.”

It was at that moment that she remembered where they were, and she turned and looked around.

“No one can see us, Beth.” He smiled against her skin, and she could hear the grin in his voice. “Not unless they come right up to the shoreline, or walk into my backyard.” He pushed his thumb to her clit as he continued to move his fingers in and out of her.

The next moan out of Beth’s mouth was in no way quiet, and it echoed through the evening air. She would’ve been embarrassed if she hadn’t been going out of her mind with pleasure.

“Though, that doesn’t eliminate the possibility of us being overheard.” His mouth was on her throat again, trailing kisses along her jaw and to her lips. “And I don’t think you’ll be getting any quieter, so that could be a problem.”

“Tripp.” Beth grabbed his head in her hands, her fingers in his hair as she tugged. She pulled until he was just far enough away so that she could look down into his face, see the desire in his brown eyes. “Take me to bed,” she demanded.

More of that barely controlled heat flared through his eyes. The glorious pressure that Tripp’s fingers had been providing disappeared as he pulled his hand from between their bodies.

“Hold on,” he told her as he wrapped his arms around her. He palmed her butt, getting a good grip of a cheek in each hand, before he leaned forward and stood.

Beth wound her legs around his waist, locking her ankles together and holding onto his shoulders. “Not letting go.” She pressed her lips to his in a quick kiss before he adjusted her in his arms, holding her with one hand for a moment so he could let them inside the house.

He opened the door with ease, returning his hand to her ass as he stepped over the threshold, and kicked the door closed with his foot. His mouth captured hers as he made his way through the house, thrusting his tongue past her lips and making her squirm in his arms. She was vaguely aware that they were moving down a hallway, Tripp’s boots echoing on the hardwood floor with each step he took.

He didn’t lay her down on the bed when they made it to his room. Instead he moved his hands from her butt to her thighs, and then up to her waist as he let her slide down his body. Not until her feet were firmly on the floor did he pull back from the kiss, his lips hovering just above hers as they both let out unsteady breaths. When he shifted back a step, her dress fell to the floor, puddling around her feet.

And there she stood—in nothing but her strapless bra, matching panties, and wedge heels. There was just enough light from the setting sun streaming through the windows to illuminate the room. Tripp’s eyes raked over her body in a way that almost, almost, made her knees quake.

“Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?” he asked as he reached out, placing his hands on her hips.

Her face flushed, the burn moving all the way down to her toes. She wasn’t usually one to get tongue-tied…except, apparently, with Tripp. She couldn’t find her own words to respond.

“I look at you and I forget everything except the color of your eyes. I touch you and I get lost in how your skin feels under mine.” His hands trailed up her sides, making her shiver. “And then I kiss you,” he whispered as he stepped closer to her, his hands slipping around to her back and pulling her up against him. “And I never want to stop.” His mouth covered hers, taking possession in an instant.

His hands roamed over her body, up her spine, across her hips, down to her thighs, touching every part of her that he could. But why should he get to be the only one who did the touching? She needed her hands on his skin like she needed to breathe.

The buttons of his shirt proved to be simple enough to pull free. Good thing, too, because if they’d been the least bit difficult she would have ripped the front of his shirt open.

When each and every button was undone she pushed his shirt away and slid her hands down his sides. Palms flat, she ran them to his abs and then up to his chest. He groaned into her mouth as her exploration continued to his nipples, her fingers circling.

She needed more of him, needed to touch every part of him. Her hands skimmed down, down, down until she was at the front of his jeans. The top button was another that popped free with ease, and as she went for the zipper she couldn’t stop herself from tracing the outline of his straining cock.

And just that quickly her hands were pulled away and pinned to her sides. The whimper that came out of her throat couldn’t be stopped. Tripp pulled his mouth from hers, skimming his nose along her jaw.

“Beth?” He whispered her name and it came out all sexy and gravelly.

“I want to touch you.”

He pulled back just enough to look at her, his chocolate brown eyes so full of desire and heat it threatened to set her toes on fire. “Believe me, there’s nothing I want more than your hands on me…Well, that isn’t true”—his mouth quirked to the side—“I want my hands on you more. But if you continue to touch me there I’m going to lose the last ounce of rational thought that I’m holding onto.”

“And what happens when you lose it?”

He shifted his body and she inhaled unsteadily as the hard length of his cock brushed against her belly. Oh, how she wanted to feel him in her hands. Know the length of him. The weight of him.

“I throw you on this bed and fuck you hard and fast.”

Yes please.

Beth’s stomach flipped in anticipation. For the second time that night she asked, “What the hell are you waiting for?” She tugged to free her arms from his grasp, but he refused to let her go, his hold firm.

“I’m waiting for a number of things, Beth. First on the list? You still aren’t naked.” He let go of her hands and before she even had a second to react, he’d hooked his fingers in the sides of her panties and was pushing them down. They hadn’t even hit the floor before he was reaching around her and had the hooks at the back of her bra undone.

“Well, look who has quick hands and nimble fingers,” she said as her bra fell to the floor, too.

“You haven’t seen anything yet.”

Within the next second Beth went from being vertical to horizontal, the movement freeing her of her shoes and the clothes that had puddled around her ankles. She was flat on her back in the middle of the bed, Tripp firmly stationed between her thighs.

“And now we get to number two, which just so happens to be exploring your perfect breasts.” His mouth covered one of her breasts, sucking her nipple deep into his warm, wet mouth. One of his hands closed over her other breast, squeezing not so lightly. The pressure was delicious and made all the more so when his thumb rasped over her puckered nipple.

It was a moment or two before he pulled his mouth away from her breast and kissed his way across to the other. A shiver ran through her body as cool air wrapped around her newly exposed nipple, damp from Tripp’s mouth.

He looked up at her, the smile on his lips wicked. “Cold?”

“Not even a little bit.” She shook her head, her hair rustling across the comforter. “Actually, I’m quite the opposite.”

“Is that so?” he asked right before he rasped his tongue across her other nipple.

“Yes!”

“Maybe we should cool you off.” He blew across the spot he’d just licked and her eyes were rolling to the back of her head.

“God, Tripp.” She writhed against him, unable to stop herself as he pulled that nipple into his mouth a second later. “Not helping.”

He let go of her breast as he started to kiss his way down her abdomen. “Then the next thing on my list really isn’t going to help.”

His weight left the mattress and Beth opened her eyes just as he grabbed her waist and pulled. “Tripp!” she gasped as he brought her right to the edge of the bed.

The sure, steady weight of his palms ran up the back of her calves and to her knees as he placed her legs over his shoulders. “And now we get to number three,” he said as he spread her thighs apart.

Apparently the man was hell bent on taking his time, and he did just that as he kissed, nipped, and licked his way up the inside of her left leg. He started at her knee and stopped just before he got to where she was desperate for his mouth…and then he moved to her right knee, repeating the entire process.

She was panting by the time he finally buried his face between her thighs, and started kissing, nipping, and licking her there.

“Fuck,” he groaned, the vibration of his voice shooting through her. “I was right. You taste incredible.” He slipped two fingers inside of her as his tongue found her clit.

Beth cried out as her spine arched off the bed. Her hands went to the back of his head, her fingers in his hair, holding him to her. Though, with the way he was feasting on her, it wasn’t as if he had any intention of leaving any time soon.

But just to make sure…

“Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.” Yup, she was still panting.

He pulled his mouth away for just a second, his fingers continuing their delicious push and pull as he looked up her body and found her eyes. “I’m not stopping until you’re coming across my tongue. Understand?”

She nodded but he apparently needed more than that.

“Say it, Beth,” he demanded as he thrust his fingers into her harder.

“I-I understand.” She tugged on his hair, not all that gently either, until he was exactly where she wanted him.

The pressure of his fingers inside of her disappeared, and a moment later both of his hands were at her waist. His grip moved higher, his palms and fingers spanning her ribcage on either side as he held on to her.

His tongue speared into the very core of her again, and again, and again before he moved his attention to her clit. It was a constant back and forth, bringing her to the edge before pulling away. Lapping at her folds and nibbling on the sensitive skin of her inner thighs before returning to the center of her and starting all over.

“Tripp, please.” How was it that he was the one on his knees but she was the one begging? Because his mouth was magic; that was why.

She leaned up just a little to look and it was the most erotic thing she’d ever seen in her life. Watching as his head moved between her thighs, watching as his mouth worked over her core. Lips sucking, teeth grazing. His beard rasped against her skin and his tongue licked and pressed against her clit.

The ability to hold herself up any longer was gone, and she collapsed back onto the bed, letting the sensations overtake her.

True to his word, he never actually stopped his attention between her legs. He’d just taken a few detours here and there to get her to the final destination. And ohhhh man, when he got her there…

Wave after wave of pleasure rolled through her body, spreading out to her limbs and the very tips of her fingers and toes. Her back arched off the bed; her hands fisted in his hair as she screamed his name and who only knew what else.

Tripp’s grip on her sides tightened, his fingers pushing into her flesh as he held onto her. He brought her down from her orgasm with slow steady licks of his tongue and she trembled with the aftershocks that continued to pulse through her, her legs and arms shaking.

When she opened her eyes, it was to find Tripp looking up at her, that wicked grin of his still turning up his lips. He leaned forward, placing a kiss next to her belly button before he pulled her legs from his shoulders and stood before her.

“Damn.” He shook his head as he reached up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “The sounds you make when you’re coming are the sexiest sounds I’ve ever heard.” He took a few steps back and sat on the chair behind him. “I’m going to need to hear those again, but the next time I’m going to be buried inside of you when you make them.” He leaned forward and started untying his boots.

Beth sat up, pulling her legs underneath her in a fluid move and kneeling on the bed. “Is that so?”

“It is.” He nodded, not looking up as he pulled off one boot and then the other. His socks joined the pile a moment later.

“And you think you can?”

His head came up and he stood. “’That a challenge?”

Her eyes raked over his body, and for more than a moment she forgot his question. There weren’t words to describe how unbelievably sexy he was. No words. And he was hers…or was for at least the night.

His dark brown hair was tousled from her hands, and her fingers itched to dive into it again. The sleeves of his gray denim shirt were rolled up to the elbow, showing off his tanned forearms, while the front of it hung open, exposing his chest.

His muscles rippled and flexed as he crossed the room to her, and when he stopped in front of her she reached out. Her hands glided up to his shoulders, pushing his shirt away from his body. He let it drop from his arms and it fell to the floor, leaving him entirely bare chested in front of her.

Now this wasn’t the first time that Beth had seen Tripp with his shirt off, but that was before…before he’d ever touched her…before he’d ever kissed her…before she’d realized how much she wanted him.

And oh, how she wanted him.

She ran her palms over his shoulders and biceps, and then to his left side where she traced the tattoo inked across his ribs. Her fingers moved to his chest, touching the light dusting of brown hair that trailed down to his abs…and arrowed past the waistband of his jeans.

Speaking of his jeans, they were still unbuttoned and riding low on his hips, like they would fall down with the simplest tug. The zipper was still up but there was very little distance from the point where it joined to where the outline of his erection began. Apparently Tripp Black didn’t wear boxers or briefs. Nope, the man went commando.

Beth licked her lips as her eyes came back up to meet his. “It is.” She nodded as she grabbed the tab of his zipper and pulled down. “You think you can rise to the challenge?” She asked, slipping her hand into his jeans and wrapping her hand around his cock.

He was heavy in her hand, hard and hot. She stroked the length of him, enjoying the feel of every single velvety inch.

The deep masculine groan that rumbled out of his chest filled the room. “Beth, there is no think. Only know.”

“Really?” She let go of him, moving both hands to his sides. Her prediction was correct; his jeans did fall from his hips with a simple tug, and slid down his legs. He stepped free from them, standing before her completely naked.

She wrapped her hand around his freed erection, the question of him being up for anything clearly answered. Her eyes didn’t leave his as she moved her hand up and down, base to tip, swiping her thumb over the head. His nostrils flared with his next unsteady breath and she knew he was barely holding it together. He was so close to her, his chest hair tickling her nipples, his face inches from hers as she stretched up and closed the distance.

“Prove it,” she whispered, pressing her mouth to his.

“Oh, but I’m going to.”

He pulled her hand away before he stepped to the side, opening the top drawer of his nightstand and grabbing a condom. It was on the tip of her tongue to protest as he opened the package; she wanted to be the one to put it on him. But as he rolled it down his length, she was more than slightly distracted by the action. There was something about watching him touch himself that made her forget to speak.

But who needed to speak, really?

He took possession of her mouth, his tongue dipping past her lips. The next second Beth found herself flat on her back in the middle of the bed, his hips cradled between her thighs, spreading her wide.

One of his hands made its way between their bodies, his fingers running over her folds. And then it wasn’t his fingers moving through her wetness, it was the tip of his erection. He pulled his mouth from hers as he notched himself to her entrance, pushing in just a little as he looked down into her eyes.

“Ready?”

But he didn’t even give her a chance to answer. He didn’t need to. They both moved at the same time, him thrusting into her as she arched her hips up to meet him.

It took her breath away…the sensation of him moving into her…the tight fullness at the very core of her…how she was wrapped around the length of him…they way he was looking at her.

God, the way he was looking at her. The amazement in his eyes, the sheer pleasure radiating out of him. Or was that radiating out of her? She didn’t know where she ended and he began.

“You okay?” Tripp rested his forehead against hers, his breathing uneven as he waited for her to adjust around him. He was a tight fit to be sure, but he wasn’t hurting her.

“Yes.” Beth reached up, her fingers delving into his hair as she moved her mouth to his.

The kiss started off soft, just a brush of her lips against his. When she nipped at his bottom lip and pulled it into her mouth, he let out another groan. He took her action as a cue and started to move. His thrusts were measured at first; he was taking his time as he steadily moved inside of her. Each stroke seemed to go deeper as he built up the pleasure that stirred throughout her body.

“You feel so good,” he said, pulling out of her before slowly sliding back in. “So damn good.”

His hands were braced on either side of her, levering himself up from the bed so as not to put all of his weight directly on top of her. But she wanted that. She wanted him pushing her down into the mattress, wanted the pressure of his body. She would’ve told him, too, but his mouth was on hers, consuming her entirely. Besides, sometimes actions spoke louder than words.

Beth dropped her hands from his hair, looping her arms underneath his so she could touch his shoulders. Before she knew it, she was raking her nails down his back and to his ass. And oh, wonder of wonders, his ass was glorious. She gripped it in both of her palms, urging him on harder as she bent her knees. Her legs spread wider apart as she brought her feet to the backs of his thighs, changing the angle of their bodies. Tripp somehow slid into her even deeper than before and her back came off the bed in a high arch.

He wrenched his mouth from hers, a gruff “fuck” escaping his lips, while she started to chant, “oh God, oh God, oh God.”

There was no more slow and steady. Tripp’s thrusts became harder, more possessive, wild. He buried his face in her neck, his breath erratic across her skin. His weight shifted as he moved one of his hands between their bodies. He found her clit, circling and pressing as he continued to move his hips, thrusting and rocking into her.

It was then that she felt it, the pleasure reaching its crest. She was right there on the precipice, so close to going over. Tripp must’ve known it, too. His mouth was at her ear, his teeth nipping at her earlobe. “Come for me, Beth. Come for me now. Now!”

His words pushed her over the edge. She cried out his name, her body spiraling out of control as wave after wave of her orgasm rolled through her. She pulsed around him as he slammed into her over and over again. Then his entire body tensed, all of his muscles going rigid. Her name escaped his lips on a long low growl as he came inside of her.

He rolled to the side, not leaving her body as he pulled her along with him. One of his hands slid to her lower back, his palm going flat just above her ass, and then he was kissing her again. Not the all-consuming kisses from moments before, but soft and gentle ones that still had the ability to curl her toes and prevent her from fully catching her breath.

But Beth was beginning to think that when it came to Tripp, she’d probably never be able to fully catch her breath.

*  *  *

The lasagna didn’t burn.

By the time they’d finished their first round in bed, the lasagna had finished its first round in the oven. Tripp removed the aluminum foil and it went back in for another fifteen minutes, until the cheese was bubbling and golden brown.

While the main course finished its progression to perfection, Tripp and Beth finished getting dinner ready. He’d told her to sit down but she didn’t listen. She never listened.

Instead she threw her hair up into a messy bun on the top of her head and went about figuring out where everything was in his kitchen. She pulled out plates and silverware to set the table and fetched their wineglasses from outside and refilled them.

There was something about her moving around his home—barefoot and wearing the denim shirt he’d had on earlier—that fascinated him beyond words. Maybe it was because every time she stretched to get something out of one of his cupboards the back of the shirt rode up high on her thighs, giving him just a flash of lacy underwear.

Or maybe it was just her moving around his space with ease.

Or maybe it was just her.

They lingered over dinner, talking and eating, Tripp was constantly distracted by the fork disappearing between Beth’s lips. He’d never been more fascinated by a mouth in his life. It was her smile and her laughter.

Even when their plates were clean they didn’t move away from the table; instead Tripp pulled Beth’s feet up into his lap. When he started massaging them she moaned, another favorite thing of his that she did with her mouth.

Their back and forth questions from earlier continued, usually one for one unless the conversation evolved…which it did a number of times.

They talked about music, favorite bands, the first live concerts they’d ever been to. Hers had been to see Britney Spears; her sister had gotten tickets to the show in Orlando and they’d gone down together. His first concert was the Rolling Stones, and he’d gone with his dad and his best friend Landon.

She told him more about her love for gardening, how she loved being outside with her hands in the dirt.

“Yellow roses were my mom’s favorite flower,” she told him, her words more than a tad wistful. “And they became mine and Colleen’s, too. Every spring they’d bloom like crazy in the backyard.”

“Those weren’t the flowers that Duke destroyed, were they?”

At the sound of his name, Duke perked up from where he was lying a few feet away.

“No.” Beth shook her head. “Duke didn’t touch those.”

“Well, that’s something.” Even though the truth of Grant borrowing the dog was all out in the open now, Tripp would still feel terrible if those had been a casualty.

“Speaking of Duke? Why did you pick that as his name? If I’m remembering correctly, you went to the University of Georgia, so it’s not after Duke University, is it?”

“He’s definitely not named after the school.” Tripp shook his head as his thumb started in on the instep of her right foot. “He’s named after The Duke, as in John Wayne.”

“Ohhhh, so you’re a classic Western fan.”

“I feel like I lived in those movies I watched them so much. Until I was thirteen I was pretty damn sure I was going to be a cowboy.”

“Why did you decide you wanted to be a fireman?”

His ministrations on her foot stopped, and as tempted as he was to break their gaze, he didn’t. “The answer to that question isn’t short or simple.” Nor was it going to be easy for him to talk about. But she’d asked and for some reason he didn’t want to keep his answer to himself.

“I’ve got time.”

“That you do. Especially as we’ve already established you’re staying the night.” He’d made it pretty damn clear that he wanted her in his bed all night. She’d agreed with very little persuasion. “All right, well, I’m going to have to start from the beginning, when my parents met in college.”

“Oh, we’re going way back.” Beth settled back into her chair; the foot that wasn’t in his hands moved up his inner thigh.

“Yup. Forty years, to be exact.” He raised his eyebrows at her as he stopped her foot’s ascent. “You going to behave?”

“Probably not.”

“Good.” He put her misbehaving foot on his knee before returning his attention to the instep of the other. “My dad was a senior in college, my mom a junior. And my mom’s best friend was my Aunt Caroline. They were sorority sisters, met their freshman year when they pledged at the same time. As for my dad, his best friend was my Uncle Westley. They’d played baseball in high school, and as things would go, they both ended up getting athletic scholarships to UGA.”

His hands moved from her foot to her ankle, and then to her calf, his fingers increasing the pressure as he moved up.

“My mom and dad started dating first, and it was about a month before my aunt and uncle crossed paths. For my uncle, it was love at first sight. For my aunt? Not so much. It took him weeks to convince her. On his way to pick her up for their first date, he got a flat tire…in the rain. When he finally got there to pick her up, he was an hour late and covered in mud. My aunt was furious at this point and slammed the door in his face. But he wasn’t giving up.”

“Determination. I like it.”

“As you should.” He reached forward, grabbing the seat of her chair and pulling her close enough to drape her legs over his lap. “So he bangs on the door until she opens up again, and it was then that she notices the bags in his hands. He’d stopped by this hole-in-the-wall Chinese takeout restaurant and picked up about ten different cartons of food. He tells her she can either be pissed at him and go hungry, or she can let him in and share a Chinese food smorgasbord.”

“She let him in, didn’t she?”

“She sure did. They were married a year and a half later, right after Aunt Caroline graduated. As for my parents, they waited a few years until my dad finished law school. As it was bound to happen, my mom and my Aunt Caroline found out they were pregnant within a month of each other.” Tripp circled his fingers around her knee before moving to her thigh.

“Of course they did.”

“There was no other way for it. So my Aunt Caroline had Landon, and a month later I was born. As things were meant to be, Landon was my best friend.”

“Obviously.”

“They lived in Savannah, which was only an hour and a half away. We saw each other at least once a month, sometimes even more often than that, what with holidays and vacations. Summers were spent at each other’s houses. Half the time at mine, half at his.”

Tripp paused in his story for just a moment and he looked down. He started rubbing his fingers across the hem of the oversize shirt Beth wore.

He cleared his throat before he continued, still looking down as he traced the thread of the seam. “It happened during the summer when Landon and I were at my house. We were both twelve at the time. We’d been out riding our bikes all afternoon and my mom liked for us to check in every hour or so. As we rounded the corner to our house, I saw her sitting on the front porch, sobbing.”

This was where the story took a turn. Beth must have sensed it, because she reached forward and covered his hand with hers, her thumb tracing over his knuckles.

Tripp looked up at her before he continued. “Uncle Westley was an accountant at a pretty big firm in the downtown area of Savannah. His office was on the fifth floor. The electrical fire started on the second.”

Beth’s eyes closed hard before she opened them again.

“Instead of just saving himself, he tried to get everyone else out of the building. He saved nine people’s lives that day, but he lost his. It was a bad fire—seven people died, including two firefighters.”

“Tripp.” She whispered his name on a sigh, flipping his hand and pressing her palm to his. “He’s the reason you became a firefighter. Your Uncle Westley. He ran into the fire when it wasn’t his job.”

“Yes.” He nodded, twining his fingers with hers.

“What happened to Landon and Caroline?”

“They ended up moving to Kingsland a year later. Their house was just down the street from ours. Caroline still lives there. She didn’t remarry; she couldn’t.”

“That’s how it was with my dad after my mom died.” She shifted in the chair, the back of her thighs moving against the top of his. “And what about Landon? Are the two of you still best friends?”

“We are. He lives in Macon now, with his wife Jasmine and their three kids. Wes is eight, Clarissa six, and Tiffany two.”

“How did they meet?”

“Law school.”

“Really?” A small smile turned up her soft lips. “So he carried on your dad’s legacy, and in a way you carried on his dad’s. How poetic.”

“Poetic? I don’t know that I’ve ever looked at it that way.”

“Well, I do. What you chose to do with your life is an amazing tribute to your uncle.” She pulled their joined hands up, placing a kiss to the back of his hand. “I’m sorry he’s gone.”

Such a small gesture, her lips brushing across his skin, but it was comforting beyond measure.

“He was a good man. One of the best men.” His free hand was at her thigh, fingertips brushing just underneath the hem of the shirt.

“Thank you for telling me about him. For sharing that part of yourself with me.”

“Thank you for listening.” He looked into her soft blue eyes, knowing full well that sharing that particular part of himself was not something small…and he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about it.