Ignoring her, I pulled her into my arms and crashed my lips against hers. I moaned at both the contact and how sweet she tasted. My tongue ran along her lips, licking off the powdered sugar. When I finally pulled away, she was breathless. “You’re delicious,” I mused, licking my lips.
She giggled. “You sure you don’t want some cake, or do you want to taste me some more?”
“I might take a little of both.” I drew her to me and whispered in her ear. “Let’s go back to the bus for a little while.”
Jerking back from me, her eyes widened. “You want to leave the fair?”
“Yes, so I can make love to my fiancée.”
“You don’t play fair,” she pouted.
“You want a compromise?”
“What do you mean?”
Turning to the guys, I said, “Excuse us fellas.”
I took Lily by the arm and started leading her to the edge of the fairgrounds. “Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere private.”
She didn’t protest anymore. We dipped into the heavy thicket of trees just beyond some of the campers. When I thought we were far enough away from prying eyes, I pulled her to me. “I want you so bad, Lily.”
“Then I guess you’re going to have to take me. Right here in the woods.”
I grinned. “I had just the same thought.”
Pushing her back against one of the trees, my fingers went to the button on her shorts. I jerked them down her thighs, along with her panties. As our lips stayed locked, I worked to free my hard on from my shorts. Grabbing Lily by the waist, I hoisted her up and then impaled her on me. Gripping my shoulders hard, Lily cried out. “I’m sorry, baby. I should have gotten you ready.”
She shook her head. “Mmm, I’m good. It hurts so good.”
Her words and noises of pleasure drove my hard thrusts as I pumped in and out of her. I was afraid that even through her shirt, she was going to get splinters from being banged back against the tree. After I dipped my head, jerked down her shirt, and took her nipple in my mouth, she came, which caused me to as well.
We stood there, chests heaving and panting, from our exertions. “Our first time as an engaged couple,” I mused.
Lily giggled. “It’s so romantic being fucked up against the tree just a few feet away from a bunch of strangers.”
Cocking my brows at her, I countered, “You just came harder than you have in weeks.”
“That’s true.” After nipping my bottom lip with her teeth, she said, “I guess we’ll just have to have sex in public more often.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call this public, but I’m all for it if you are.”
With a grin, Lily said, “Can you put me down? I’m not sure my legs will work though.”
I eased her back from the tree and then sat her on her feet. I pulled her shorts and panties back up. Then I worked on getting myself presentable.
“Ready?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, I need to find a halfway decent bathroom to clean up in.”
We started out of the woods together. After a bathroom pit stop, we were back in business. As we walked through the crowd, I couldn’t help glancing over at Lily from time to time and smiling. When she finally caught on, she asked, “What?”
“Are you really disappointed that I didn’t get down on my knee when I proposed?”
She shrugged. “Maybe a little.”
“It means that much to you?”
“It’s just conventional for the guy to get down on one knee.”
When I stopped walking, Lily turned around. “What’s wrong?”
With a smile, I sank down onto one knee. “Lily Marie Gregson, will you make me the happiest man alive by consenting to be my future wife?”
Lily’s eyes widened. “Yes. Yes of course I do.”
As I rose back up, people around us started clapping. Lily blushed at the attention. “Are you satisfied now?” I asked.
She laughed as she threw her arms around my neck. “Yes, Brayden. I’m very, very happy.”
LILY
THE PAST
To everything there is a season, a purpose under heaven-- Ecclesiastes 3:1
Those words would mean a lot to me during the difficult periods of my life. It helped me remember during the times when I thought I could not go on, that it was just a season, and the hopelessness would pass. It was also a reminder to enjoy the moment because happiness is sometimes fleeting.
The summer Brayden and I became engaged was one of the happiest times of my life. I loved being out on the road with the guys, and I was sad to see it end. In the autumn, the guys hard work touring paid off. A promoter who saw them at a show in Anaheim sent their CD to a record executive. Within two weeks, the guys were offered a very lucrative record deal. Their first two singles topped the Billboard charts.
With the back to back success of Until There Was You and Twisted Reality, Runaway Train’s world literally went off the rails. Suddenly, they were everywhere. When I turned on the radio on the way home from class, I would always catch one of their songs. I squealed every single time, especially when Brayden came in to harmonize with Jake. They were sent out on a US tour almost immediately. Gone was the rickety old bus that had so many memories for Brayden and me. Now they traveled in style on the label’s half a million dollar home on wheels. They had handlers now—people you had to get through just to talk to them. It was overwhelming to me, so I couldn’t imagine how the guys were handling it.
And when the season changed to winter, everything in my life changed.
Nothing ever comes without a price, and the bounty to be paid for Runaway Train’s success was the slow demise of Brayden’s and my relationship. I’d never thought I would have to worry about him changing. He had always been so grounded and so humble. He didn’t have an ounce of ego in him like Jake and AJ. He never cared about wealth—he just wanted to be able to make a living from playing music.
But something happened when he signed on the label’s dotted line. It was like he sold his soul. With me doing my student teaching and working part-time at night, I was so busy that I didn’t notice things at first. The fact that my calls and texts went unanswered and unreturned, or he was always putting me off when I asked for their schedule so I could come spend the weekend with him. When I actually did talk to him, he sounded distant and not like the Brayden who used to talk to me for hours on end. Sometimes he slurred his words and said off the wall things. I began to worry that he was drinking too much.