The Outliers (The Outskirts Duet #2)

“What movie is this?" she asked bouncing on her butt and clapping her hands together. “What’s it about?”

“There were only a handful of movies that worked with this projector in my parent’s basement. One was about sharks, another about war, a documentary made in the seventies about porn."

"What's porn?"

"Uh…well." I felt my own face growing hot.

Sawyer remained expressionless while I stumbled around an explanation until she broke out into a fit of laughter. "Just kidding. I know what it is. But I loved that you're the one blushing now."

I reached in and tossed some popcorn at her hair which she expertly dodged.

"Anyway, to answer your earlier question. This one is called Juno. It’s supposed to be a comedy. Other than that, I don’t know much about it.”

“I’m sure I’ll love it,” she said, her wide smile beaming in the dark almost as bright as the light on the projector.

“Come here,” I said, pulling Sawyer into the crook of my arm. She snuggled against me while we snacked and watched the movie which wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be considering it turned out to be about teen pregnancy and giving a baby up for adoption. Spoiler alert: it ended with both the teenage mother and father crying in a hospital room over the loss of their baby.

As the closing credits rolled I looked over to Sawyer who had a confused look on her face. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

She lifted her head to look at me. “Nothing, this was just…this was everything, Finn. I'm happy. YOU make me happy. Thank you.” She placed her head back on my chest and I could feel her breath against my skin through the slit between the button of my shirt. She kissed my chest through the fabric.

“Can you…” she started, but then stopped. “I mean, can we…”

“Sawyer, all you need to do is ask and it’s yours. I've told you that." I said, feeling the heat of her skin through our clothes.

She fiddled with the buttons of my shirt. I reached down between her fingers and slipped the button out of the hole. “Is that what you wanted?” I asked on a rasp.

She nodded.

“Tell me,” I whispered. "Tell me what you want."

She looked up at me. Her golden eyes dark. Her pupils large and glistening. “I want you."

“Thank, Christ,” I swore, pushing her over onto her back and removing my shirt in record time. I pressed my lips to hers. She opened immediately so our tongues could meet and dance together. We groaned and moaned into one another as she reached for my belt buckle. When she had it through the loops, I popped the button and reached under her dress, pulling those white teasing panties down her legs. She used her feet to push down my jeans past my hips. My hard cock sprang free and I moaned when the tip pressed against the heat from her core. I stroked myself up and down against her pussy, coating my cock in her wetness. Teasing us both.

“Inside me, please,” she rasped, rocking against me, lifting her hips to feel more of me.

"Finally," I ground out, thrusting my hips forward and pushing into her in one long hard thrust. Her head shot back and her eyes closed. Her core clenched around me and I was squeezed from all sides, surrounded by the softest, wettest, warmest place I never wanted to leave.

We stayed out there on that blanket in that field for hours. We switched between fucking and making love. Sometimes we just stared at one another while I was still hard inside of her body and we caught our breaths. Sometimes we talked about everything and sometimes about nothing at all.

We came, we laughed, and we'd start all over again.

It wasn't until after midnight when I checked my phone and realized I had several missed calls from Critter. I clicked my text icon and froze. The world around me stopped. It was just me. Sawyer. And the text that glared at me hatefully from the screen in my hand.

"What is it?" Sawyer asked, turning me by the shoulder to face her.

"That was Critter." There was nothing I wanted to do less in the world than deliver the words I had to say next. I glanced up from my phone. "It's your mother. She's missing."

Sawyer gasped. "Where is…" I didn't need her to finish the sentence.

I shook my head slowly.

I wanted to save her from what I was about to tell her but couldn’t. My heart broke for her before I’d even uttered the words. "We don’t know."





Chapter 12





Sawyer





The second we landed we jumps into Finn’s truck and raced over to Critter’s house. Critter came out to meet us in the yard.

"What happened?" I asked feeling panic invade my entire body like an enemy I'd fought against and lost to before.

She was on the porch. Maddy went inside to get her some tea. When she came back out your mother was gone. At first, they thought she just wandered off. But we checked the sunflower field, and there was no sign of her.

Finn chimed in. "We can split up, cover more ground that way."

Critter shook his head. "You haven't checked your phone since you landed, have you?"

"No, why? What happened?" Finn asked, looking as amped up as I was at the news.

"Because Caroline is right here. She's home. She's safe. She got confused and wandered off. She was only gone for a handful of hours. Came back full of mud and mosquito bites. But other than that, she's okay. She's resting now."

My insides, which had felt shriveled up with the news that something happened to my mother, suddenly expanded again and I was finally able to take a deep breath of air. My first since Critter first sent word of my mother's disappearance. It was almost too much. I felt dizzy. I took one wobbly step and then another before strong arms caught me as I fell. I looked up into Finn's concerned beautiful face. He was shouting something at me, but I couldn't hear the words. I only saw his lips moving as his handsome face fading away completely until I was alone in the darkness.

Sawyer

Finn was sticking by my side closer than ever. Not just because I fainted and he freaked out but because we didn't know where Richard was. Apparently, Critter's man lost sight of him when he went into a bar and never came back out.

Finn wanted to leave again and I promised him we would go in a few days. After the scare with my mom I just needed to feel close to her and to Critter and couldn’t fathom leaving again right away.

Until then, I tried to go on with life as usual and make sure that somebody in our inner circle was with me always. Finn was tenser than ever. Looking out the windows every few minutes. Pacing in front of the door. Flexing his long fingers and occasionally cracking his knuckles.

"You need to calm down," I said, turning over a page in my notebook.

"I will. Once we know where that fucker is."

"Pacing isn't going to find him any faster," I pointed out.

"No," he agreed, "but it makes me feel better. If I sit still, I might launch through the roof."

"So, sit. That's something I'd like to see," I teased with a wink.