Page 36 of Yours, Always

“Holy, shit, Pru!” Chuck stammered.

“We’ve never had car sex before. What’s the car dealer version of the mile high club?”

“The mile long club?” He laughed, reaching over to her.

Prudence leaned in and continued kissing Chuck. She wasdefinitelynot thinking about why she was so worked up. For sure there were no thoughts in her mind about Greyson, how she had watched him in the shower with his hard cock in his hand, stroking harder and harder until he came with a groan. She now moaned at the imagery in her mind, remembering his soft lips, how she had felt his erection, hard against her in bed. Chuck, rightly so, believed this was all for him.

Prudence stopped and pulled away. She knew this was a bad idea. No matter how she tried to keep what happened with Greyson out of her mind and focus on Chuck, she realized she hadn’t been able to focus on Chuck long before Greyson came back into town. All of her insistence with Annabelle yesterday afternoon at the diner now seemed like deflective reasoning.

“What’s wrong, babe?”

Prudence shook her head, not knowing what to say.

Chuck sighed, his hands gripping the steering wheel. “You know you’re a great girl, Pru.”

Prudence turned her head sharply toward Chuck. “What?”

“I just—” Chuck stopped, obviously trying to gather his thoughts. “There should…there should be more.”

“I don’t understand.” Prudence’s brow furrowed, even though she knew where this was headed.

Chuck slammed a hand on the wheel. “More, Pru! More than Friday bowling. More than just having fun.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Greyson and I talked the day of the commercial.”

Prudence’s heart started racing. “About what?”

“Nothing in particular at first, just guy talk, but it became clear pretty quickly that he’s not a fan of us seeing each other. He has this notion that we’re just having fun and it’s nothing serious.” Chuck stared ahead for a long moment, Prudence letting the silence settle over the car, not wanting to be the one to say what had to be said next. Chuck reached over and took her hand. “I may have led him to believe that, but…I think he’s right.”

Prudence immediately felt as though a fog had lifted. The fog that she’d been in since the night of Greyson’s concussion. She gripped Chuck’s hand.

“You’re more than someone to just have fun with, Pru. You’re someone’s ‘forever girl’, just not mine. You and Greyson have always been the ultimate couple, even though you’ve never actually been a couple. That’s how meant to be you are for each other. You’re already a better couple than you and I have ever been. Could ever be.”

“It hasn’t been all bad.” Prudence laughed, feeling lighter than she had in years. “My bowling game has never been better.”

The look of relief from Chuck was almost palpable. He squeezed her hand and let go. “I’ll drive you home.”

“That’s okay.” Prudence reached for the door handle and opened the door, sliding out. “You took me to the closest restaurant from my house. I can walk the block home. I think I need to be alone right now.”

Chuck was deep down a good guy, and they indeed had had fun. He’d find his forever girl, someday.

“Okay, babe.”

Prudence slammed the door and leaned to the open window. “No more ‘babe’, Chuck.” She turned to head home, the balls of her feet barely touching the ground as she almost skipped, her scrambled thoughts over the last forty-eight hours finally falling into place. Maybe she and Greyson were on the same page, and it wasn’t just the concussion that had prompted them to act on their long-simmering feelings. There was still a lot to unpack, but with Chuck no longer in the picture, things were starting to progress more than they’d ever let them since they’d come into adulthood.

Sighing, she unlocked her door, glad her Ben and Jerry’s was stocked. Thankfully tomorrow was girls’ night. She knew Annabelle and Devlin would want as many details as possible and would be ready to hear them over a glass of wine. Then, she had to figure out how to make Greyson remember.

Chapter Eighteen

“It’s done,” Prudence stated, sinking into Annabelle’s couch next to Devlin.

“Oh, thank God, Pru,” Annabelle said and handed Prudence a glass of red wine. “I honestly wasn’t sure if you would.”

“Wait, you broke up with Chuck?” Devlin asked.

“Hebroke up withme,” Prudence clarified.

“Oh wow,” Annabelle said. “I’d have loved to have been a fly on that wall.”

“Technically”—Prudence felt like she should have a pair of glasses on to push up her nose—“it would’ve been a car window, if you must know.”