Succeeding Love

I Got You

Vin

“That was fun.” Lynn twirled in a circle on the less crowded trail leading to the hotel. “Preston has good friends.”

“Preston’s a good kid,” I smiled. “You did a good job with him.”

“Eh, he’s more of a parent than me most of the time.”

I chuckled, knowing what she meant. I saw endless examples of his maturity and how he looked out for his mother in so many ways tonight. As a man that also grew up with a single mother, I was impressed.

“She’s a natural drunk. No alcohol needed,” Preston had said to me after getting off the phone with his dad. I had barely grabbed his mom in time before she fell face first into the hoard of hungry ducks. “If she’s near water, she’s going to fall in if you don’t watch her.” He then warned me about her distracted driving, and not to let her listen to her books while she drives.

I took mental notes throughout dinner about how he treated his mom. He seemed like the parent most of the time.

“He likes you, you know,” Lynn bumped her shoulder against mine, looking all cute and smug.

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, feeling pretty smug myself. “What’s not to like?”

“I don’t know. I have no complaints yet,” she giggled.

“That’s good to hear. Please let me know if you ever do.” I kissed the top of her head.

Dinner was fun, even with that bump-on-a-log assistant coach glaring at me the entire time. Lynn was the life of the party, getting most of the kids to play some type of charades game on her phone while we waited for the food. Even the staff couldn’t be jerks to her. It was in their job description, but not one of them was a dick to my girl after the drinks came.

“It’s so pretty out here at night,” she said, looking up at all the hanging lights. “There’s not as many people as earlier, either.”

“They gather at the bars and clubs the later it gets. We’re getting far from the mall, too.”

“You know,” she twisted back to stare up at me, grabbing my hand on her shoulder with both of hers. “I haven’t been to a bar or a club in a long time.”

“Me neither. Well, maybe bars, but only the restaurant ones. I’m too old for that shit.” I used to have to pull my soldiers piss drunk out of bars in the middle of the night when they would start causing trouble. It turned me off to the whole idea of partying.

“You’re not old,” she droned.

“I felt old around all those kids tonight.”

“Really? They all seemed to think you were the coolest thing ever. They couldn’t get enough of your stories about their coach and the army.”

I chuckled softly. “Only old men tell stories like that to the younger generations.”

“Nuh uh. You’re too sexy to be old,” she said, then quickly covered her mouth with her hands.

“You think I’m sexy?” I teased her.

She sighed, dropping one hand and grabbing my hand with her other. “Who wouldn’t? I didn’t mean to say that out loud, though.”

“I like that you have no brain to mouth filter.” I hugged her to my side. “It’s one thing that makes you so sexy.” I wiggled my eyebrows to drive my point home.

“It’s not sexy,” she smiled, biting her bottom lip.

I shrugged. “Sexy. Adorable. The cutest fucking thing ever.”

“You’re sweet,” she giggled. “Fine. If you don’t mind my filterless mouth, I won’t mind it either.”

“You shouldn’t. I like your filterless mouth.” I bent to gently place my lips on hers. “I like it a lot.”

The lighting from above danced on her gorgeous face, and her eyes twinkled.

“I like your mouth too.” Her eyes glanced at my lips. She then whispered, “I really like what you did with it earlier.”

A fire lit inside of me. “What did I do earlier?”

Her face turned the prettiest shade of pink. “You know.”

“Did you suddenly gain a filter?” I laughed softly.

She stubbornly set her jaw. “No. That’s just…. Dirty.”

“Dirty, but delicious,” I whispered, kissing her one more time. “I plan on doing it again when we get back to the room. Maybe in the hot tub this time.”

She squeaked, making a smug smile spread across my face. Fuck, she was adorable. I wanted to put my dirty mouth all over her, right here, right now.

That was probably a bad idea. My kisses and groping were getting worse by the second. It was less crowded, but there were still people around.

We passed a bar with salsa music playing, signs for margarita specials posted outside. Lynn turned her head, clearly intrigued.

“Mmh, margaritas,” she got all doe-eyed at the sign. She was craning her neck to see inside. It was clear what she wanted.

I guess my dirty mouth can wait another hour.

“Want one?” I started steering us to the bar, already knowing her answer.

“Maybe one,” she beamed. Then she pursed her pouty lips. “Do you think we can get one to go?”

A shit-eating grin broke across my face. “Probably not. It doesn’t matter, anyway.”

“Why?”

“Because your mouth and mine will be busy with other things the second we get back.”

Her eyes flickered to my lips as she bit her own. Fuck, I didn’t want to wait, but teasing her was too much fun.

One kiss. One more deep, spine-tingling kiss. Then I’d be fine until we got back to the room.

~

Feighlynn

“Two house margaritas on the rocks,” Vin ordered after leading us to the bar. He looked at me for a long few seconds, assessing me, then added, “Actually, make hers a strawberry one.”

“Strawberry?” I giggled. “Why strawberry?”

He shrugged, a true action hero smile on his handsome face as he leaned against the bar. “You look like a strawberry margarita sort of girl. That, and you were staring at the picture of the strawberry one the hardest.”

“Oh,” I laughed. “It was the prettiest.”

He wiped a hand down his face, like he was hiding his smile. “Fuck, you’re adorable.”

He keeps saying that, and I’m believing it more and more.

The margaritas came and were good. Fantastic, but really strong. I was getting warmer and warmer with every sip. Mine was sweet and garnished with two strawberries. I tried to offer one strawberry to Vin, but he shook his head. He waited until I popped one in my mouth, then leaned over to kiss me, sucking the juice off my lips.

My mouth dropped.

Vin smirked, licking his lips. “It tastes better like that.”

My thighs clenched. “Did you have to go to some special training to learn to be that… that….?”

“That what?” He chuckled. “That smooth? That charming?”

“Sexy,” another word vomit slipped out, but the alcohol was making me not care. “My panties can’t handle much more of you.”

He coughed on his drink and adjusted himself on the stool he was sitting on. “Fuck, I don’t know if mine can handle much more, either.”

We teased and flirted some more than we sat and drank. I ended up ordering a second, and then a third margarita, while Vin drank Dos Equis. The bar livened up the later it got, and eventually people started dancing on the small dance floor on the pavilion outside. A live band was playing slow and smooth Spanish music, the deep tremor of the lead singer setting the mood.

It felt romantic. With the lights and the setting of the Riverwalk, and with my action hero date, I felt like I was in a romance movie.

I was mesmerized for a while, feeling tipsy and watching the band and dancing. The people on the dance floor were swaying softly, their heads bowed together as they swung and ground their hips.

“Do you want to dance?” Vin asked me, watching me intently.

“I thought you didn’t dance?”

“I never said that?” He smiled before taking a swig of his beer. “I said I don’t go to clubs and bars. Doesn’t mean I never did.”

“So you can dance?”

He shrugged. “I took ballet.”

I giggled at the reminder. I could just picture this big, hard-muscled ex-soldier in a tutu and tights.

Looking back at the dance floor, seeing those couples moving together, it became harder to picture Vin dancing. Maybe because I couldn’t picture myself out there dancing like that, and I didn’t want to picture him with anyone else.

“I can’t see it,” I tilted my head at him. “You’re so tall and muscly. I can’t picture you dancing like that.”

“Well, I’ll have to show you then.” He stood up and held his hand out for me, a confident smile on his wet lips.

I blushed, feeling self-conscious about the idea. I never had the chance to try dancing like these people were dancing right now. It wasn’t something Nick would ever agree to do, and I never had the chance to do it with anyone else.

“Come on,” Vin leaned in and whispered deeply. “Trust me.”

I did trust him. As much as I feared falling on my face or tripping on my own feet, I trusted him to catch me if I did.

“Okay,” I whispered, taking his hand and letting him lead me to an open space on the dance floor.

My heart was pounding, and it was only partially from the fear of dancing in front of so many people. It was mostly just from being in this moment with Vin, his authoritative confidence that had me wanting to give him all my trust and control. It was exhilarating, feeling open with someone like him.

“Do you want to stand on my feet?” He leaned down and asked, his green eyes shining into mine.

It was a teasing remark, but I was actually tempted to take him up on it. He was so much taller than me, and I felt that height difference standing with our bodies this close together.

“I’m sure I’ll step on your feet plenty.”

He chuckled, gliding his hands down my arms until they met mine. He rested my arms around his neck in a smooth motion, then slid his hands down to my waist and lower back. “You won’t. I got you.”

Got me, he did.

He pressed my body against his, his firm muscles making my mouth go dry like I was thirsty. Then he swayed, his hands on my back guiding me, forcing me to move with him. I was like his puppet, moving at his command, and loving every second.

His eyes looked hooded in the closeness of our bodies, his head dipped down to mine. His mouth was partially open, his tongue pressing against his teeth. He looked so sexy, so sensual. I felt sexy in his arms.

As the music wrapped around us, all the other people faded away. It was just him and me, moving to the erotic beating of our hearts pounding in our chests. I felt connected to him. Connected in a way that was so intimate, it felt sinfully right.

“I told you I got you,” he husked, his mouth just a breath away from mine.

“I knew you did,” I smiled softly, lost in his expression. “I trust you.”

“Good,” he rested his forehead on mine, closing his eyes like he was soaking me in. “You’re my girl, Lynn. I’ve got you. Always.”

My heart skipped a beat. “That’s a heavy statement.”

“It’s a promise.”

Then, his mouth was on mine, and I melted into him more.

His promise was making me more drunk than the alcohol could, and I wanted to intoxicate myself more and more. I believed him. This didn’t feel like something light, or just a casual partner to date and have fun with.

There was something deeper here. Something that reached deep down in me and healed that those parts of myself I didn’t even realize had been broken.

I spent most of my life catering to others. To Nick, and then my kids. Even to my dog and neighbors before I thought of my own needs or wants.

Vin made me want to be selfish. He made me believe I could be. That even if I gave in to all the things I didn’t realize I wanted in the past, he would be there with me to keep me safe through it all.

Like dancing tipsy in a random bar in a city a few hundreds of miles away from home. I never would have done something like this before, not wanting to worry my kids or anyone else.

I was safe with Vin, though. He had me.