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Race days were always chaos. People running, barking orders, jumping out of the way to avoid fast-moving carts supplies to and from the food stations. You were grateful when you were able to get to the 5th floor and get away from the hustle of the main floors.
You’d been managing VIP suites at the track for a few years now. The prep and small details were all ironed out months in advance, and the agenda you’d created contained all the moving parts. Your servers, attendants, and bartenders were hand selected to make the best impression towards the big wigs. You were moving through the different rooms chatting and overseeing when you received a call from your bar lead that the credit card machine was down. VIPs all had tabs on file with the raceway, but many of them liked to be able to swipe at the end of the evening or be able to use the ATM to get cash out for placing last minute bets, so it was important that it be up and running ASAP.
After doing some maintenance and even swapping out the machine with the spare you kept in your office, the gateway was still down. You decided to march down to the head of commerce department to see what could be done to satisfy your guests. They, after all, were the top 30% of all proceeds the raceway got, and it was critical they were catered to through the whole event. Unfortunately for you, that meant snaking down many flights of stairs in your heels and pencil skirt. You did your best to hustle while also trying not to sweat or lose your balance. It was always a big deal to your guests that you look your best and that meant careful precision to beat your normally clumsy and low maintenance everyday self.
After what seemed like miles of walking, you reached the door to underground tunnels where the commerce office was held. The entrance gate was propped open, and the hallway light off, both of which were out of sorts for an area that should be high security. Feeling a bit on edge, you opened the flashlight app on your phone to peek your head in enough to try to see if you had any cause for concern. Your heels were not going to help you out if you had to run.
Upon shining the light in the hallway, you heard a few echoes of voices arguing, so you walked down the path to the area known as the Vault. You stopped at the last corner because of the smoke and noise coming from the room. Peering around the corner through the smoke, you were shocked to see that cash was being siphoned into a massive machine! Somehow a hole was blown through the wall of the Vault, and there were about 20 black garbage bags sitting along the edge of the room that were overflowing with bills. Just as you started to check the other hallway and weighing the options of the best place to run back from, you were pulled forward and yanked around the corner. You yelped in pain as the attacker grabbed the knot of your ponytail and the wrist of your arm, twisting it behind your back to force you to walk towards the Vault.
“Watcha doin sweetheart? Looks to me like you was spyin!” the gruff voice said. “It’s too bad you’re real prutty, cause I think were gunna have to get rid of you with the rest of the evidence,” he looked at your lanyard. “But this could come in handy if we get stuck.” He ripped it from your neck, causing a friction burn along the nape.
“You can take it. I heard the voices, and I thought it was our crew fighting. I won’t say anything. Just let me go and you can have my phone and my clipboard, and uhm my radio. Whatever you want. I didn’t mean to interfere.”
The machine shut off and a deep southern voice came from behind the metal, it sounded strangely familiar, “Joe. You already sucked up my arm. What in the hell are you going on about...”? The voice yelled from around the back.
“I got a girl that I caught spyin. She works for the track in the VIPs, says so on this...What does VIPs stand for anyways Clyde?” He was just distracted enough to give you a good start at only self-defense you knew. You start to move through the S.I.N.G scene in your head; Elbowing his gut, stepping on his foot, giving a good head jerk back, and finally using the leverage to twist and bring your knee to his junk. Joe released and buckled over on the ground. Unfortunately, though you lost your balance and fell over too, hitting your head on the concrete floor. You winced, twisting over to your side to get up to run, but unfortunately were slowed by the fact that you were now dizzy, and would have to fight the man that was walking out from behind the machine.
“Darlin’?! Darlin’ is that you?” your eyes widened at the nickname you hadn’t heard in years.
“Clyde Logan is that you?” you asked, unsure if it was the head rush or your concussion that was causing you to see a familiar face on the large body moving forward.
“Darlin, what did you do?” He looked down at Joe, who was rolling over on the floor crying in sad sobs of pain.
“Umm…I sang. I didn’t think it would work that well.” You shrugged, still clutching your head in your hand.
“Well, I guess I’m glad I watched that movie with ya so many times then.” He smirked, allowing you to look at how his face had matured, his body had grown, and his smile had stayed as cheeky as ever. You were transfixed on the profile of his long nose for a moment and then heard the rustling of the cash bags in the back of the room.
“Clyde, what are you doing? What is going on here?” you asked looking up at him, he had grown taller than the last time you saw him.
“I know this is a lot to ask, but I can’t tell you. I don’t wanna get you involved, and I don’t want to get you more hurt than you already are. I’m so sorry you had to see me like this, and this is not how I wanted to see you again.” His eyes looked down at you, sad and embarrassed.
“What? I don’t understand what you mean Clyde, we haven’t seen each other since high school.”
“Now is not the time to explain, I can’t tell ya everything now. You remember the Duct Tape, the bar in the old part of town, I own it now. Come and see me if you still want to talk.”
“Clyde, I don’t understand what is going on. Why are you telling me where you are going to be after I saw you literally robbing something?”
“Because I’ve wanted to see you for a long time and I’m trying to make up for it now, please go, you’ve already been hurt enough. I gotta take care of Joe and get stuff cleaned up.” He looked you in the eyes, bending down to place a kiss on your forehead, “Please go, I’m trusting ya to find me later.” You slowly nod, look down to grab your clipboard, and pull out the map from under your folder.
“Here this has the map of the tunnel and the roadway on it, it’ll be easier for you to get out.” You fold it up, placing it in the chest pocket of his coveralls before turning to scurry down the hall. As you walk back up to your VIP section the memories came back.
---------------------
You hadn’t seen Clyde since high school graduation. He was, of course, different back then. He had his height, but he was lanky, unsure, and shy. He hung around with your crowd. It wasn’t uncommon for you to see each other at parties, or the occasional bowling night, you were friendly but never alone or overly conversational, as he was oftentimes staring at the ground, or behind a bottle of beer.
At the start of the second semester of senior year, you noticed him in the classroom at the start of Mr. Summers chemistry class. Since both of you didn’t have anyone else you knew in the class, you looked awkwardly towards him with a smile before starting to say, “Do you want to…” at the same time as he cleared his throat and said, “I suppose we...”
With the clash of words, you both laughed and moved to one of the last tables in the room. At the end of the class Mr. Summers announced our neighbor was our lab partner. Clyde looked over at you with a frown and whispered, “If Idda known that I wouldn't have sat with ya. I’m not gunna be much help.”
Feeling bummed that he was disappointed with himself, you motioned to the table at the front, “well I’d rather have you than one of them,” you said as you pointed to one of the jocks in the front row already starting to pick up and mix beakers of who knows what liquid. Upon seeing the mess that they were starting to make, Clyde laughed and smiled back at you, which immediately made your face flush.
During the following months, you’d notice him steal glances at you during class, and you could have sworn he held onto the beaker a little bit longer than needed just to touch your hand. You had gradually begun to talk more at lunch and saw each other at events on and off. You had fallen into a routine of chatting and teasing. You helped him study for the midterm and he helped to replace your car battery when you were stuck at school. As the spring went by you found you were a little sad to think about not having class with him anymore. You were going on separate paths, you off to college on the west coast, him off to the national guard.
During the last week of school, Millie talked you into attending a “small gathering” after the graduation ceremony. While your friends knew you normally didn’t partake in huge parties, you felt nostalgic and secretly hoped to see Clyde to say goodbye.
Finally deciding on a black skirt, your favorite Bob Segar concert tee, and your trusty jean jacket you walked your way over to the address you were given by Millie. As soon as you opened the door all you saw were red solo cups and pong balls flying every which way. Thankfully, you spotted Millie in the hallway and she dragged you through the hoard attempting to climb up shelves of the wooden built-in along the staircase.
“Some party huh?” She yelled.
“What?!” You yelled back.
“Some...you know what never mind let’s get drinks.” as she dragged you into the kitchen. She took a drink from Frank, the local “super senior.” You looked for a soda or mixer to put in your empty solo cup. Finally spotting some cans of Coke, you motioned to Millie you were going to go grab one. She was busy talking with Frank but gave you a nod to acknowledge as you went to the other room. You were walking forward while looking back and ran directly into someone who was standing in the arch way.
“Hey.” Clyde smiled down at you. “I was hoping to run into here.” He laughed. He reached around and grabbed a can of Coke to hand to you.
“Thanks” Taking the cold can and giving the tab a pop.
“This should be easy for us to keep an eye on,” Clyde said, as you took a sip.
You nearly choked, “Us?” you looked up with questioning eyes,
“Well, ya, I wanna keep an eye on ya. There’s a couple guys 'round here that I don’t trust.”
“Umm... thank you. I appreciate it. I’m not staying for long, so I won’t take up too much of your time.”
“That’s fine by me. I’ll leave when you do. But fer now, you wanna go back and check on Millie. I need to be sure Frank doesn’t take her nowhere.”
You nodded as you followed him out of the room. The party was packed, and you were having trouble getting through the crowds to keep up. Glancing to make sure you were still behind him; he reached for your hand and pull you through the crowd. Once you were on the other side you expected him to release you, but he looked down and gave light squeeze before continuing up the stairs.
You found Mille in a large group of people sitting around a glass bottle. You immediately knew what she was up to; she had a crush on Frank for a while and was bragging about her “spin the bottle” idea before the week was up. Unfortunately, it looks like a few more people were excited about it too. Millie looked and yelled from across the landing when she saw you standing with Clyde.
“Oh my gosh, play one round with us before you leave me to go to your fancy new school. Just play one round, for MEEEE.”
You gave a heavy sigh and looked up at Clyde, “I’m going to sit on the edge for a round, so she doesn’t complain all night, I’ll let you know when I leave.”
“No, it’s okay. I said I'd stay with ya till ya left and I meant it.”
Shocked at his response, you slowly sat down at the edge of the circle as a few people scooted back to allow Clyde's large frame to sit in the circle next to you.
After Millie seemed pleased with her crowd, she started out. “Alright everyone, you know the rules, spin the bottle, you get your 7 minutes in HEAVEANNNNN.”
“Whoa Millie, this isn’t wha...” You started to stand up to leave.
“Yay! A volunteer!!” Millie said with a smile. You looked out and everyone started cheering and chanting your name. Knowing there were very few ways to back out now. You stepped into the circle and picked up the bottle. “Wait, we have to give you your blindfold first!” Millie yelled before you could set the bottle back down.
“WHAT?” as a cloth came over your eyes.
“That’s how 7 minutes works, you don’t get to know who you were with unless they want you to know.”
You took a deep breath and tried to calm down, Millie wouldn’t let you leave until you had played her game, and you needed to be able to get through a silly drinking game before college. Millie stuck her hand in front of your face, checking to make sure you couldn’t see her after she tied the knot in the back.
“How many fingers am I holding up?” She asked.
“I don’t know but this is the one I’m giving you.” You flipped her the bird.
As you knelt and placed the bottle on the ground you gave a silent, and impossible plea for partner. As you turned your wrist and spun you heard the cheers from the crowd.
Millie came up next to you again and said, “We have a winner, please take our lucky lady to the closest and we will knock after 7 minutes. It only starts when you shut the door. And no peeking!”
Strong hand came to gently grip your shoulders to guide you towards the hall closet. You stopped as you heard the door open and put your hands out in the front to make sure you didn’t run into anything. Petrified you stayed facing the back as Millie yelled out, “Okay you two. Have fun!!” and then you felt the “whoosh” of the door being closed.
With the shut of the door, a familiar scent hit your nose, and your knees buckled. You gripped the shelves but not in enough time to prevent your tumble. Slowly you felt the ground get closer until your elbows were caught by the hands behind you. The body behind you sat, (taking up much of the room in the space with their long legs spread out). You sat down as well; knees pulled up against your chest. You tried to steady your breathing enough to stop hyperventilating from nervousness. “I’m sorry it’s not you, I’ve just never been in this kind of a situation before, and well I mean, I guess it is kind of you because I don't know who you are but...”
Your rattling stopped when you heard his voice, “shhh...darlin, it’s just me, it’s okay” the deep voice whispered, you immediately relaxed, upon hearing his southern tone.
“Clyde?! I’m sorry that you got roped into this.” you groaned, taking off the blindfold, and preparing to curse Millie, who you were certain forced him to play along. As you were starting to speak you felt his hand sweep your hair away from your neck, sending goosebumps down your spine. You thought he was just moving it out of his face until you felt his nose and lips lightly caress along the line of your neck and shoulder.
“Well…don’t give’r too much credit. I stood up the second they put the blindfold on you,” You gasped as you heard his confession.
“What? Are you serious?” You pushed up slightly, turn and sat on your knees, fully facing him. Your hands went up to cup his face, feeling the rough skin at his jaw.
“I’ve liked you since you started hanging with Millie in the 9th grade. I was just too shy to say sumthin.”
His admission made you smile, you moved your head forward to whisper against his ear, “I’ve had a crush on you since you smiled at me during the first lab in Mr. Summer’s class.” Clyde gave an exhale and put his hands on the back of your head, fingertips in your hair, turning you to meet his mouth. His kiss was sweet, but sure. He used his lips purposefully, his tongue came out to run the ridge between your top and bottom lip, eliciting a small moan from you. He pulled back first with a chuckle. “I’m sorry darlin. We only have tonight. I ship out for reserve training tomorrow.” He sighed, leaning your foreheads together.
“Well then, we have tonight, and maybe I can write to you when you’re at training?”
“Of course, I’d love that. But fer now, I just wanna be close to ya.” His hands moved down to wrap around your waist, squeezing you tight to his chest in an embrace. Your head rested on his shoulder, his fingertips on the back of your waist moved along the bottom of your shirt, further creeping up the patch of skin that had been exposed. As his palm was moving against your flushed skin he whispered, “Is this...okay? Don’t wanna move too fast or do nothin you don’t wanna do.” You smiled, appreciating his question.
“Please keep going Clyde.” With your approval, he moved his mouth back to yours, licking his tongue along the same ridge and sweeping forward to start to dance with yours when you opened to him. His playfulness surprised you, you were used to his shy, innocent demeanor. His other hand joined in and skimmed up your back, and moved forward to glide along your ribs, giving a small tickle before they ran along the ridge of your bra. He stopped and played with the lace. His mouth moved from yours to lick along your jaw slowly, lightly to your ear. Tucking a stray piece of hair away, he whispered, “You feel so nice, I wanna make you feel good. Can I touch you here?” moving his thumbs along the hem of the lace.
Between his hands and his mouth, you were already getting excited. He was so warm, and masculine, his offer was too good to pass up. You moved his hands from under your shirt and stood. You sensed his confusion but when you tapped the heel of your foot against the outside of his thigh, motioning for him to move his legs together, he caught on. He moved his legs together and slid his hands up your calves to your grip the back of your knees, helping to steady you as sat again, straddling his large thighs, bringing you even closer and giving some warmth to the aching between your legs. Your hands guided his back up to your chest, but instead of dancing along the hem, you put them directly under, giving a moan when the warmth of his palm grabbed at the sensitive skin.
“Mmmm, I love to hear that sound. Should I keep going?” His fingers skimmed up to circle your nipple, giving the hard peak a light trace. You moved your mouth to his, sucking his bottom into your mouth to tease and bite before releasing to kiss the nip... Your hands move from his neck down his strong hard chest before playing along his belt. Your fingers started to slip under his t-shirt, when his abs rolled, and he pulled away. Thinking you did something wrong; your hands left his stomach and rose to you head, “Clyde I’m sorry, I didn’t mean...” Sensing your fear, he gave a quick peck to your lips, “Oh no, I loved what you were doin’, I’m just ticklish there is all.”
“Ohhh,” You laughed, “So you’re telling me I shouldn’t do this.” Your hands attacked the spot they moved from, sending all kinds of laughs from Clyde.
“Hey! That’s not fair! You’re not gunna get away with that.” He moved to grab your hands and captured them to hold them in his strong grip behind your back. As he laughed into your mouth with his victory, you moved your hips forward, trying to release your wrists, but only succeeded in grinding into the now very evident bulge in his blue jeans.
You both groaned in tandem. “Oh, you wanna play like that?” he released your hands and moved his to your hips, pushing them forward against his ridge, encouraging the grind you so desperately needed, his mouth moved to your ear, and he whispered “Does that feel good Darlin? I bet it does, but I wanna make sure you feel even better."
All you could give was a “hmmmhm” as his grip strengthened, and his mouth wandered from your ear to your neck sucking at patches of what you were sure would be hickies tomorrow. All the while your grinding continued and quickened, finding just the right rhythm and ridge to push you closer and closer to your release.
“Clyde, I’m so close please, keep talking,” you whined.
His head came up to you ear, and he started to encourage you on, “You wanna hear me huh? What do you wanna hear? You want me to tell you how beautiful you are? You wanna talk about how you are the smartest girl in our class even though you had to put up with me? You want me to talk about how many times I imagined bendin’ you over the lab table and fuckin’ you till you screamed my name? Is that what you wanna hear, Darlin? How much I want you? Cause after this party I plan on driving you back with me and fuckin you in ma bed till your legs shake.”
“Yes, Clyde, please. You make me feel so damn good.” You moaned in his ear, grabbing his shirt at the collar, and gripping it while you reached the final ridge of your peak.
“That’s it Darlin, I wanna hear you moan who’s making you feel this…”
“COPS!!!!” You heard a scream outside the door. It shook you out of your trace at the worst possible moment. You were a second away from the best release you were ever going to have.
“SHIT. Looks like we need to head out to my place, love.” Clyde started to stand, his large hands grabbing yours to pull you with him.
“Okay, were just gonna go out, go out the back to my car. It’s parked two blocks south. If we get split up meet me there. Got it?” He opened the door just a peak and light streamed in, illuminating his handsome face.
“Two blocks south, back door. Got it.”
“Okay then, let’s go so we can finish what we started.” He gave you a wink and a smirk and swung the door all the way open.
It was chaos. People were running all over, grabbing bottles of beer and liquor to take with them. You saw officers coming in through the front door, at least 5 or 6 of them were on the first floor, putting kids against the wall.”
“Gezzz, this is nuts, look at everyone down there. We are never going to get out without getting caught.”
Clyde looked at you for a moment, and then looked down to the lineup. “We might both not make it but if I distracted ‘em, you can.”
“No, Clyde, you’re supposed to leave tomorrow, you can’t get arrested tonight. It would screw everything up for you. And I don’t want you to take a fall for me. We haven’t had anything to drink, maybe they will let us go.”
“We can’t take that chance Darlin, you got a scholarship to keep. The reserve don’t care if I got somethin on my record, I’ve already signed. I’ll go ahead and get them distracted, and you go out the back door and run home. You don’t live that far; they won’t be able to pin you if they focus on me. I’ll make sure Jimmy gives you the address for me and you can write me until I come back from training in 6 months for Christmas, we can see each other then.”
“But Clyde...I…”
“I know. But let me do this fur ya. You can think of it as a thanks for helping me graduate.”
You gave him a sigh and quick kiss before you pulled back. He kissed your forehead and moved you towards the stairs.
“I’m gunna go first, distract em, and then you slip through the kitchen and out that door.” You nodded.
Clyde ran down the stairs and yelled out, “Cauliflower!!”
You were so confused until you heard commotion from downstairs of fighting, and then the yelling of what sounded like Jimmy yelling back. “Cauliflower.”
The noises were so loud that you decided it was safe to creep down the stairs. You took one look in the living room to see Jimmy and Clyde, throwing punches at each other and the cops trying their best to break up the brothers. With their attention focused, just like Clyde said, you were able to run home without even being noticed by anyone else. When you safely shut the door to your bedroom you sent a text to Clyde that said, “Thank you for tonight. Please let me know when you get home. I’ll miss you.” You immediately got a response, “I’ll miss you too Darlin. See you when I get back. ;)”
You gave a sad smile to the wink and fell asleep dreaming about Christmas time when he would be home.
You had written Clyde a letter the next week, wanting to give him a little time to get settled and sorted. You went to the trailer that the boys had shared since their parents died to find Millie cleaning out the fridge. Sadly, Jimmy went to a football camp at the college down the road, and he wasn’t going to be home until Christmas, Millie didn’t know which camp Clyde had been sent to since she wasn’t considered “immediate” family. You walked away with tears thinking you wouldn’t be able to get letters to Clyde until Christmas.
And even when Christmas came after your very eventful first semester of college you didn’t see or even hear from Clyde, whom you were ever so eager to see again. Millie said that she hadn’t heard from him or Jimmy in months and assumed they both were busy doing other things to come back to town for the holidays.
This continued for years, but at each break from school you still went to the trailer to knock and hoped to see the warm smile and dark hair you knew.
***************************************
The rest of the race went by in a daze. You sat in your office, answering questions from your employees, trying to hide the bruises forming on your arm. You were grateful for the end of the day, opting to just say goodnight rather than attending the lavish afterparty that you were invited to. Not only did your arm hurt, but you were still in shock of seeing Clyde Logan, the one that got away. He still had the same smile but was so much larger than you remember. No way could this Clyde have been the one to sit in the closet with you. He wouldn’t have fit, you chuckle.
On your drive home you stopped and picked up some dinner and wine, wondering if you would even bring yourself to drive home to see the bar he talked about. You had meetings after the race that couldn’t be missed, so it wouldn’t be for at least a month, and by then who knows what he would have remembered or done with the money he was stealing. That is, if he didn’t get caught stealing it. You knew they didn’t have security footage in the tunnels, so there was no worry in you being caught “assisting” with anything, but it did leave you wondering what happened that caused him to steal all that cash.
The next day, all the news could talk about were the robbers. How they got in, how they got out so quickly, and the way that they were able to shut down the processing towers to run more cash through the vault. Luckily, because you only dealt with the VIP guests you were only questioned once about your credit card machine functions, if you had seen anyone the day before or after that looked suspicious, (and they did technically only ask about before and after, so it wasn’t lying that you didn’t), and if your VIPs noticed anything went wrong, which they hadn’t. With that you were in the clear and approved to resume normal duties which involved calling all the booth owners and informing them of the facts of the occurrence and the reassurance that the insurance of the track would cover the robbery. In all, it didn’t seem that too much was harmed, well besides the holes in the vault walls.
The month after the race went by, with brief thoughts of Clyde, and a phone call to your Mom, asking if she had ever heard anything about any of the Logans being back.
“Oh sure, the one you know owns the bar over in the next down, the tack or the tapeworm, something like that. And Jimmy was working construction, but then had to move to be closer to his daughter. His ex wife moved her out of state. Why didn’t Millie tell you all this?” She questioned.
“I haven’t really spoken to Millie in a while. I guess, I haven’t really had a lot of time with friends since I took this job.” You confessed.
“I told you that when you started with those 50 hour weeks honey. It’s no good for you.”
“I know Mom, I think you’re right. I’m going to take a trip to visit you guys this weekend. If that’s okay.”
“Of course, love, you know you’re always welcome.”
After saying goodbye, you called your manager and let her know you were taking some vacation to head home. She was surprised, but relieved, she knew you’d been dealing with the calls of the investors and wanted to be sure you weren’t overworking to keep them happy.
The drive home was a few hours, but you were happy to have some time to listen to your favorite podcasts and playlists. After pulling into the driveway at home, you grabbed your bag and walked in the door to hugs and welcomes from your parents. You were lucky that you had stayed close, even with your crazy schedule and job changes over the years. It was tough to admit you were regretful you didn’t take more time to come home.
It didn’t take long for you to settle into your old room, unpacking and sticking your bag under your bed for your time staying there. When you met an unexpected resistance, you leaned down to check what the bag was getting caught on. You pulled out the box and instantly remembered the contents. The dust fell off the faded blue cardboard top as you lifted the lid to grab the sealed envelopes inside. They were 4 years’ worth of letters you had written to Clyde, one for every break during college you had come home for, always hoping to get news of where to send it. Tears formed of the history that could have been if you had been able to contact him or let him know you still cared. The tunnel encounter had brought so many moments back of the time you had, especially the ones in the closet of the house party.
While you had a few boyfriends now and again, no one had ever been close to making you feel as loved and wanted as Clyde had in the few moments you had together. Finding the letters was a sign you decided, it was time to see him at the Duct Tape.
You had a nice dinner catching up with your parents before you went up to go get ready to go out. It had been a long time since you had been dressing up for something other than an investor meeting that you didn’t really have any of the typical outfits you thought were appropriate for bar scenes. Opening your old closet in hopes of inspiration, you spotted an old item that made you laugh. When you looked in the mirror after putting it on you were very pleasantly surprised to see that your Bob Segar top from “that” party did still fit and looked great since you’d filled out your curves a bit more since high school. Paired with jeans and a touch of makeup, you were armed with the best you could get to hopefully see Clyde again.
The drive to the bar was short considering you’d driven a few hours to get home easier in the day, but your thoughts made it feel like forever with the anxiety building in your mind and chest. Once you were safely parked in the back of the parking lot you hesitated to get out of the car. The thoughts of rejection, doubt and fear crept in, giving way to a small panic attack, which you hadn’t had in years. Trying to remember some of the breathing exercises and calming techniques it took about 15 minutes longer to slow your heart rate and regain control of the racing thoughts. You considered turning around, however, just as you put your head back against the headrest you saw someone walk out of the front door of the ar in your rearview mirror. The long dark hair, and tall body gave your heart a flutter, knowing who the frame belonged to. Breathing deep and looking down at your phone, you considered the conversations you had thought of earlier to start off. As you looked back up to check your makeup one last time you realized the frame was getting larger as it was walking towards your car. You cursed yourself for being frugal and realized that you drove the same red SUV your parents had given you as a graduation present.
Your breathing increased as you now had to handle him in this space, as opposed to the space you had planned. Him behind the bar, lots of noise, and other people if he decided to get violent when you asked about the robbery (while you didn’t think he would ever hurt you, you never knew what a crime spree did to people).
The knock on your window shot you out of your thoughts, as Clyde looked over to peek inside. “Hey, you, were you fixin to come inside or sit out here all night.” He smirked, making eye contact with you through the window.
He backed up as you opened the door and gave an exhale when he saw the shirt you were wearing. “Are you trying to kill me? It's not enough that you came to the bar, but you had to wear that shirt.”
“You remember this.” you questioned, tilting your head up to meet his eyes. He was even taller with you leaning against the side of the car.
“Of course, I remember that shirt. I could never forget my first kiss with the prettiest girl I ever seen.” He gave your whole body the up down and blushed when you caught his eyes on your chest. “I do gotta tell ya, I think it looks better on you now.”
“If we’re being honest then, you’ve definitely gotten even better looking than high school, I mean I don’t think you were this much taller than me back then.” Stepping forward to line your head up with his chest, then stepping back leaving your hand where your head was. “I barely reach your shoulder now and before I know my forehead just barely reached your chin.”
“I did grow a couple more inches since then I suppose. But I don’t think I’m better looking than then. You are still way too good for me, especially now.” He raised his arm up and folded back the cuff on his button-down shirt, to prove his point in the pale light the streetlights and moon provided. Your eyes grew wide, and a hand went over your mouth when you gasped to see his mechanical hand exposed.
“Clyde, I had no idea, when did that happen?” you reached your hand out to touch where his flesh met the metal, in disbelief that you missed it when you saw him in the tunnel.
“A few years back, I lost it as we were being driven to the airport on the way home from my last tour. The famous Logan Luck. I guess.” he shrugged, “Just like losing you right after we finally had a chance with each other.” He looked down at you, running his hand along your jaw to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear.
“Clyde, I don’t want to be too forward, but I think we were supposed to see each other in that tunnel, and ... I definitely expect an explanation for that day too, but you didn’t lose me, we went different directions for a while.” You placed your hand on his that rested gently on your face, and stepped closer to him, “I’m here now.”
Clyde looked down, “I think so Darlin, it’s so good to see you again. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw you in that tunnel, and seeing what you did to Joe,” he leaned down to whisper in your ear. “Taken’ him down like that. I’m glad I had to go back to jail that night otherwise I might have gone to find ya.”
“Jail, Clyde?! You have been up to more than I thought! I don’t know if I can be seen with a criminal.” You snickered, teasing him, and taking a step backward towards your car.
“Oh, I promise, my life of crime is over. Imma good boy now.” He remarked, stepping forward towards you, causing your back to be flush against the car.
“Hmmm… I don’t know, I kind of liked the thought of you being a bad boy.” Your hands came up to his chest and played with the buttons on the collar. You could tell Clyde was feeling a little more confident with his flirting as his hand came to the side of your head against the car door window. His metal hand came to rest gently against your hip, boxing you in.
“You do? Hmm. Well, I think I can arrange being a bad boy for you darlin’” He moved his head in to nip at the skin of your neck. “How bad do you want me to be? We can finish what we started all those years ago in the closet right now, against your car,” He bucks his hips into you, giving evidence of his excitement. “I can’t tell ya how many times I’ve thought of how sweet you were moaning my name back then.” He chuckles, taking a step back from you. “But I don’t particularly like to show others what’s mine. So, think I’d rather see you back at my place. Would you like to go with me Darlin? I’d be honored to host you.”
Taking a moment to compose yourself from the commotion that he had just stirred inside of you, “Ummm, yes. I would like to go with you, when do you get off?”
“Well, that's the best part of being the owner, I can do what I want. Let me go tell ‘em I’m heading out for the night. We can drive together since I don't got my license back yet.” He starts to walk towards the bar, your eyes rolled, you were still in awe of the fact that sweet Clyde had gotten into this much trouble since seeing him last.
He comes back out a moment later and opens the door for you to hop in the driver's side of your car. “Any other crimes I should be aware of before I drive off with you? Kidnapping? Arson? Murder? ” you half teased, half asked.
Clyde turned back to you from his spot in the passenger seat, “Nahh, I couldn’t hurt anybody, and I don’t like fire.”
You started the car and put it in reverse before starting to back out of the parking spot you were in. “I wouldn’t mind kidnapping you for a while though.” His voice lowered.
“CLYDE LOGAN. I can’t believe you just said that.” Your cheeks turn red, despite your panties growing wetter and wetter with his offer.
He grinned and asked about your job at the track. You told him about college and meeting some of the owners at the alumni dinner you were a part of planning. You went on to talk about the VIPs and the fun perks you got working with them. He grinned but then remained silent for the rest of the drive until needing to remind you about the turn back into the Logan property, the car slowly crept up the gravel road to a huge trailer with landscaping, and a bistro light lit porch.
“This is me; I know it ain’t much.” He says, unbuckling his seat belt and opening the door, he seemed more nervous than he was back at the bar.
“This is so cute. It’s nothing like it was when we were kids.” You remark, walking up the steps to the front door.
“Yah, I bought a new double wide and had the old one towed away to start over. I wanted to be able to have some more room for ma books and a kitchen. I like to cook even though it's just for me. It’s nice an quiet to be able to sit on the porch in the summer.” He opened the door to a warm lit room with wall to wall built in bookshelves. Your eyes got wild seeing all the shelves full and the large plush couch in front of them. It looked like heaven to be able to sit and read in such a cozy space.
The inviting room beckoned for you to sit and look at the books on the coffee table, inspecting what you imagined to be his current reads.
“Can I get you a beer, soda, or water. I remember you didn’t drink back in the day.” He offered, his voice a little shaky.
“Haha, I do drink now, maybe more often than I should, a beer would be great thanks.”
Clyde got some from the fridge and walked over to sit on the couch with you, but left some space between your bodies, like he was afraid to be too close.
“Well,” you looked up at him, with the beer in your hand, “Cheers to old friends” you offered, leaning over slightly to clink against his bottle. He took a swig and looked down towards the floor. You felt his unease, “Did I do something wrong or change your mind? I feel like you don’t really want me here anymore...”
He looked up at you and winced, “No, darlin, you didn’t. I did, I got all excited when I saw you, but I’m not close to good enough fer you. You’re so beautiful, and smart. All I got is a bar and this place. You deserve someone who can give you everythin’ you deserve, not just some simple country home and one hand.” He was so defeated, your heart ached when he put himself down like that.
“Clyde, first, I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t want to. I felt the same excitement as you when I saw you again. Second, my job is all I got, but I don’t have a lot of friends, or relationships, that’s all I do, so I don’t even have anyone to join me in the exciting things I get offered to do. Third, I think you’re so handsome and smart, I mean look at all these books Clyde, I can’t even tell you how sexy I think you are with those wall-to-wall shelves. That’s like my dream.”
“Did you just call me sexy?” He laughs, cocking his eyebrow up in disbelief.
“You heard me, I did. And I mean it, even though I told you I have all these cool people I meet, they still don’t give me the butterflies you do. And I’ve never forgotten how you literally sacrificed yourself for me at that party. You are selfless, you give more with your one hand than most people do with two.” you smiled at him. “I want to be here if you’ll still have me.”
Clyde shuffled over to you on the couch, placing his large palm on your cheek, “I’d love it if you stayed.” His pressed his forehead against yours, “and I’m a man of ma word, so I promised to finish what we started a while ago.”
You looked into his eyes, and smiled, “Well I think you’re going to have to remind me where we were.”
“Oh, really now. A minute ago, you said you remembered, and now ya don’t. I think you just want to tease me.” He said as he put his hands on your hips, pulling you up to straddle his lap. “If I remember right, I think we were somewhere about here.” His hands stay on your hips as he loops his fingers into your belt loops.
“I think I remember a little more,” you laugh looking up to the ceiling, tapping your chin. “But I think I might need a little more to jog my memory.” You leaned in to meet his lips, starting a kiss that spread through your body like fire. Clyde was fast to lick along your bottom lip, causing you to moan and open your mouth, which he was all too happy to take advantage of. He licked, sucked, and bit every bit of your tongue and lips, and you did your best to keep up in return. His hands stayed steady on your hips for a moment but as soon as you opened for him, he pulled the loops down causing you to grind against him, your jeans causing a delicious friction against your core. Feeling confident you moved your hands from your side to his shoulders, giving yourself an anchor with which to move from.
Clyde pulled back from the kiss, “Is this helping you remember darlin, you are a little more needy now though, you're grinding with me so well. I just love to feel you move all excited. I think I know how to help though.” Clyde's hands move from your hips to grab the hem of your top. “As much as I love what this does for you, I would love it even more if I could see ya. Can we take this off?” Your response comes by lifting your arms up allowing him to pull the top off and over your head, throwing it somewhere along the floor. “Wow,” he whistles, “I sure missed out on these back then.” He looks down at your chest and running his fingertips along the outside lace of the cups, ever so often wandering a thumb down to circle the outline of your nipples. You mewed into his touch, still grinding into his lap, noticing the growing evidence of Clyde’s excitement as well. Growing slightly impatient with his teasing, you decided to speed up the torture by unhooking your bra and tossing it off to join your top on the floor. Clyde’s eyes got wild, and his mouth reattached itself to your lips, and slowly sauntered down your neck to nip at the soft skin of your chest.
Just as soon as his face came level with your hardened peak he looked up and made eye contact before sucking you into his mouth with a dangerous groan. He lapped and tugged on each side, causing you to squeeze his shoulders even tighter biting into skin with your fingernails. You sat up and tilted your pelvis down even further on his lap, adjusting the seam in your jeans to align with the bulge in his pants. The movement of his mouth and the new placement was the mix you needed to push you further towards the edge of your climax, your moan must have broken him out of a trace because he released his hold with a “pop.”
You took in his arousal-fueled eyes as he moved past you to whisper in your ear. “Is this what you needed from me Darlin, all those years having to wait to be taken care of properly. I'm gonna help you finish here on the couch, then Imma bring you to my room and give you exactly the kind of lovin you deserve.” Your whimper told him he was on the right track and his hands moved to your ass to squeeze in time with your movement. “That’s it sweet thing. I know you need a release. So give it to me. I wanna see you let go. So tight and held up, let go for me baby.”
It was that last phrase that sent you over. His longing and encouragement tipped the scale giving you the exhale needed to move that delicious wave all down your body, unconsciously releasing the vice grip you had on Clyde’s shoulders. “Okay. That was worth the wait.” You smiled breathlessly moving your hands up through Clyde’s dark thick locks.
“If you thought that was good. Wait till I have you on ma cock.” He grinned, squeezing your waist. You stepped back off him, careful not to fall back into the coffee table and he got up, grabbing your arm to pull you into him and kiss your still flushed lips. While he was distracting you with kisses, he backed down the hallway to his bedroom. Just as you pulled away from him the back of your knees hit something soft causing you to fall back onto what was lucky was his mattress. His long arm reached over to turn on the bedside lamp and then worked to remove his shirt and pants, and boxers. The light was shining on his chest and you were able to take the moment to admire him. The grooves in his strong chest, the deep dips in his hips that led down to his long, thick cock. Clyde has obviously caught you staring as he smirked down at you sitting on the bed. “Darlin, I don’t know how I’m supposed to control myself with you lookin' at me like you wanna eat me up.”
“I mean, I will...” you laugh, standing to remove all the other remaining pieces of your clothing, “But can we save it for later tonight? Right now I really just need you inside of me.”
“If that’s what you want, then I want to make sure I keep you happy.” He moves to you, pausing to look up and down your naked body. “You are a goddess. How did I get so lucky?”
You blush, grabbing his hands to pull him towards the bed. “I think I’m the lucky one,” you sit on the edge, feet dangling over the side.
He looks down at your hand holding his metal one, “I haven’t been with anyone since this, but if it’s okay with you I’d like to take it off.”
“Clyde, you don’t have to worry about what I think of you, I’ll be happy with you whatever way I get you. You can take it off or leave it on, just so long as the other one touches me.” You wink.
Clyde laughs a little and removes the arm attachment and the sleeve before playfully pushing your chest towards the bed and stepping between your legs to encourage them to spread out further for his large stance. With your knees outstretched to each side, Clyde’s eyes went straight to your wet lips, and his jaw dropped open. “Oh fucking hell. You have got to be the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. I can’t wait for you to squeeze my dick with that tight hole. You ready for me baby.” Instead of responding you wrapped your legs around his hips and pushed your heels against his back. He lined up his length against your folds before running it up and down, teasing the wetness from your opening before finally sliding in, inch by inch.
The feeling was heavenly, you had never felt so full, so complete, so happy. Clyde looked down at you like you were the world, and when he started to pump you felt like it. His movements started slow and easy before quickly speeding up to thrust and clap creating the age-old motion. His hand moved all over you from your thighs, your chest, to your neck, lightly squeezing along the outside edges. Your moan from his squeeze made his eyebrows raise, “You like that hand around your neck baby. You like me taking control darlin.”
“Yes Clyde, please keep going. Harder, it feels so good.”
“I’ll go harder if you beg for it. Tell me you want it and maybe I’ll give it to you.” he clenched, getting excited by his own words.
“Please Clyde, please. I want it harder.” you whined.
“That’s a good girl. Alright I’ll give it to you harder if you cum for me. I wanna hear you moan my name. Like you were gunna all those years ago. Moan for me darlin.” Clyde practically growled. With his excitement and the angle he thrust into you, you were seconds away from your release, squeezing around him tighter and tighter with every thrust. Your hand moved down your body to your clit, to tease the last trigger you needed. The second your thumb circled your swollen hood your eyes rolled back with the sweet oblivion you reached.
“Fuck yes baby. I can feel you coming around my cock. You look so good teasing your little clit like that. I can’t hold it anymore. Can I finish in you?” You nodded, still in bliss, knowing your IUD was still in. “Shit darlin. I’m gunna fill you up. I’ve waited too long for this. Mmmm FUCK.” With his last moan you saw his abs twitch and his body crumple towards you in release. His hand released from your throat and came around you to hold in an embrace of sweat and sweet joy. After both of you regained your breath, your hand came to cup his face that was laying on your chest. “That was way worth the wait.” you laughed, smiling in satisfaction.
“Darlin, I’ve always known you were worth the wait. For everything, not just fuckin.”
“Can I stay here tonight, I’m too tired to drive home, and I’d like to make you breakfast in the morning.” Clyde sat up and rolled off you, so that you were both laying on your elbows face to face.
“I’d love it if you stayed the night. You can stay as long as you’d like, you don’t have to make me breakfast for it.”
“Okay, thanks, and uhm Clyde, you still owe me an explanation about the tunnels. I haven’t forgotten.” You playfully punched his chest, giving a knowing glance to his sudden smirk.
“I know, you’re too smart to forget that...but if I tell ya, you gotta promise to me you won’t tell Jimmy, or Millie I told ya.”
“I didn’t tell my boss so what makes you think I’d tell Jimmy or Millie, and why do they care.”
“Millie saw you in the tunnel and she was the one who recognized your car out front tonight. She pushed me out the door and told me not to come back until we had talked. She misses you but wanted us to talk first.”
“MILLIE! I always knew she was trying to get us together.” you shook your head.
“Well, I think it was the Lucky heist that really got us reconnected. So maybe we should be thanking Jimmy for his ‘cauliflower’ plan.” your eyebrows furrowed at the familiar phrase, not quite sure if you should ask or not what it fully meant.
“Or we can just call Logan Luck.” you smiled leaning in to give him a sweet kiss.
“Yes, we can darlin. Yes, we can.”