Chapter 98

Hailey fell asleep after white-knuckling the takeoff from Tampa International Airport. She pulled the armrest up and put her head on Phil’s shoulder. He decided even her snores were adorable.

He shook her awake a few minutes before they landed in Calder City. She blinked and smacked her lips before gratefully accepting a drink from Phil’s bottle of water.

“Sorry, I was beat,” she said.

“No problem,” Phil said, smiling over at her. “I felt you up a little. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Never,” Hailey replied, smiling back. “You can continue once we get to the hotel.”

“Oh, you can count on that,” Phil told her. Hailey held his hand tightly when they landed and let out her breath when the plane came to a stop.

“I think we’ll take the train if we need to go anywhere far away,” she said.

“You missed the best part,” Phil replied. “The takeoff and landing is rough but the middle part is fine – unless you hit turbulence or something. It was better this time because every few minutes I’d lean over and kiss you on the forehead.”

Hailey turned her big blue eyes toward him and Phil saw they so were so filled with love it made his heart skip a beat. She clutched his arm tightly as they headed for the baggage claim.

“I really missed having you beside me when I wake up,” Hailey admitted. “I haven’t been sleeping very well.”

“I know, Babe,” Phil answered. He put his arm around her waist as they watched luggage pass by. Hailey’s luggage came through first and Phil snagged it off the carousel. It was several minutes later when Phil’s bag came through.

They rode the airport shuttle to a hotel just a few minutes from the airport. It wasn’t five-star accommodations but it was nicer than where either of them had stayed the week before.

“Let’s take a shower and do all sorts of nasty things to each other,” Hailey said when they got inside the room.

“Nasty things?” Phil asked.

Hailey nodded enthusiastically as she unbuttoned her shorts and slipped them down her legs. She lifted her T-shirt over her head and stood in front of him in a teal bra and matching panties.

“I thought we might do a little bit of everything tonight,” she said. “I read this smutty story while we were on the beach this week. It was set in the Middle Ages. Apparently if you left a deposit in all of a woman’s – let’s call them orifices – in a single day, she was yours forever.”

“Is that something you’d enjoy?” Phil asked.

“Being yours forever? Absolutely!” Hailey answered. “As for the sexual perversions you’ll force upon me, I’ll persevere if that’s what it costs.”

She giggled as she unhooked her bra and let her breasts free.

“In fact, I’ll persevere so far as to let you put it between my boobies too,” she said, using her upper arms to squeeze her breasts together. She released them only to slip her panties down her thighs. Phil saw the tufts of blonde hair over Hailey’s puffy lips. She had shaved her pubic hair to fit into her small bikini. Now she took a finger and ran it through the hair and across her lips.

“You’re over-dressed,” Hailey pointed out as she turned toward the bathroom. She looked back over her shoulder as her butt swayed when she walked. She spun around and struck a pose when she reached the bathroom doorway. She put one hand over her head and crossed her ankles with a leg pointed outward. Her body was in the same position as the first night they had made love.

Phil rushed to get undressed when Hailey turned around and entered the bathroom. Phil heard the water come on just as his boxers hit the floor. He rushed forward to join her under the water.

Hailey wasn’t in the tub when Phil walked in. Instead she was sitting on the toilet.

“Oh, sorry,” Phil said.

“I was waiting for you,” Hailey told him as she motioned him forward with a finger. It was only then that Phil realized she was sitting on a towel and the lid was down. Hailey hooked Phil’s erection as he moved toward her and dipped her face downward to take it into her mouth.

She took one painted fingernail and tickled him beneath his balls, causing him to moan and jump slightly. Phil’s hard-on left her mouth and she dipped downward and sucked in one of his testicles. Her hand stroked his cock as she alternated tonguing his sac.

After making certain Phil’s balls didn’t feel neglected, she moved upward and ran her tongue around the head of his dick.

“I thought we should get the first one out of the way,” she said when she looked up. “I planned to give you a handjob on the plane but I fell asleep. I guess I’ll just have to make up for it.”

She moved her face back down and sucked Phil deep into her mouth. Hailey kept her hands on Phil’s hips as her mouth worked on his cock. Every few minutes she would turn her eyes upward to him and pick up speed.

“I’m close,” Phil warned.

“Umm,” Hailey murmured as her head bobbed faster. She wrapped her hand around Phil’s dick and jerked him off into her warm mouth. She swallowed his offering and licked her lips.

“I missed that,” she said. “Come on, let’s get in the shower. It’s almost midnight and you have two more holes to plow, Mr. Warner.”

Phil’s buzzing cell phone brought the two slumbering lovers awake. He found it in his abandoned shorts and saw it was his mother.

“Hey, Mom,” Phil said.

“We’re on our way in,” Beth said with a lilting laugh. “May I assume you and Hailey were making up for sleeping apart last week?”

“Pretty much,” Phil admitted.

“I figured,” Beth replied absently. “Your Dad and I do the same thing when we’re apart for a while.”

“Oh, man,” Phil said, closing his eyes to try to get the image out of his head. Hailey rolled over to her back and grimaced slightly. Her butthole was a little tender. They had tried a different position and the angle was a little awkward.

“Are you set up for tonight?” Beth asked in a lower voice.

“Yep,” Phil answered, sneaking a glance back at his girlfriend. He noticed that her toenails were painted the same color as her fingernails. He smiled in spite of himself.

“Good,” Beth said brightly. “We’ll be there in about 10 minutes. Can you two get yourselves together?”

“Give us about 20 minutes,” Phil said. “I must have slept through the alarm.”

“I’m sure Hailey kept you busy,” Beth laughed. “She complained about being away from you all week. Now get moving. We’ll pick you up and treat you to lunch.”

Beth and David were waiting in front of the hotel when Phil and Hailey emerged. Hailey gave them both warm hugs before joining Phil in the backseat of the Cadillac. They held hands as they drove a few miles to a chain restaurant. Phil suspected his parents were holding hands, too.

“Eat quickly,” Beth said. “I’ve got your dress all ready, Hailey, and your suit is pressed and in the closet. I bought you a new tie that will match Hailey’s dress. You’re both on your own for underwear.”

“I wasn’t planning to wear any,” Hailey said in a bright voice. David looked up at her in the mirror. “Oh, did I share too much?”

“You’re terrible,” David remarked.

“I’ll do it if you do it,” Beth said, turning around in the passenger seat.

“I can’t do that!” Hailey said. “My dress is too short. I’d be worried that something would show. I just like to pick on David.”

“Uh, I should mention that Danielle and Madison are in town, too,” David said. “I’m sure your dress won’t be any shorter than theirs.”

Phil groaned. The last thing he needed was to deal with his cousins. He hadn’t spoken to them often since his New Year’s revelation. Hailey put a hand on his arm and winked.

“That will be nice,” she said. “I really liked getting to know them at Christmas.”

Beth gave Phil a soft smile.

“They called just before they boarded the plane,” she said. “I hadn’t heard when I spoke to you a little while ago. I’m sorry.”

Hailey gave Phil a glance but he was looking straight ahead. She couldn’t read his expression. He didn’t speak for the rest of the ride home. She knew about the frank discussion during Christmas break but she didn’t understand why he was so unhappy.

She figured he was just unhappy about having to attend another Barton function. He had extracted a promise from his mother the year before that it would be his decision. Now Hailey had dragged him back.

Beth and Hailey went into SouthPointe for last-minute updates to their hair and nails. Phil and David sat down to watch college basketball on television. It was the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament.

“Those girls sort of screw up everything, don’t they?” David laughed.

“If it’s not one thing it’s another,” Phil muttered.

“Don’t let it bother you,” David advised. “You have plenty of time but it’s never going to be perfect. You have to accept that, try as you might, life isn’t going to be perfect.”

“Intellectually I can accept that,” Phil said. “I just keep thinking I’d like to just be done with the worrying.”

“Why are you worried?” David asked, turning to his son.

“A lot of reasons,” Phil admitted. “I’m not sure I can explain some of them.”

“If you’re worried about Hailey, maybe you should wait,” David offered.

“That’s not what worries me,” Phil said with a laugh. “I’m worried about me. This all happened so quickly. The whole living arrangement has worked out well but it could have been a disaster. I’m concerned that disaster still might be looming.”

Phil’s phone interrupted the conversation. He glanced down and saw it was Katelyn so he answered.

“Hey,” he said.

“I just wanted to let you know that we’re home,” Katelyn informed him. “I know you worry about us.”

“So the cops let you leave the state?” Phil asked, his mood lightening. The situation in Florida had him concerned, too.

“The DA agreed to let them plead guilty to drunk and disorderly and pay a fine if they agreed not to push assault charges against us,” Katelyn replied. “As soon as we got word, we headed out. Stacy and I slept all day yesterday so we split driving. We planned to stop somewhere to spend the night but the others were sacked out in the back so we just kept going through the night. We got in a few minutes ago, safe and sound.”

“I’m glad,” Phil told her earnestly. “I do worry about you on the highways. Thanks for calling to let me know.”

“The guys won today,” Katelyn added. “Bob sent me a text. I thought you might like to know that, too. He hit an inside the park home run and I missed it. I’m a little pissed we didn’t stay close last night so we could catch the game this morning.”

“Look at it this way, you’ll have hour after hour of listening to him describe it in vivid detail,” Phil laughed.

“And a reason to be nice to him once he gets back tomorrow morning,” Katelyn added, also chuckling. “We’ll, I’m sure you’re busy so I’ll let you go.”

“You just want to get some sleep,” Phil countered. “I’m just watching Villanova and New Mexico State play some hoops. Oh and waiting for my cousins to arrive. I found out this morning they’re coming in for the party. I guess their breaks coincided this year and they’re coming up here.”

“Are they going to come down with your parents tomorrow?” Katelyn wondered. David and Beth were driving Phil and Hailey back to college on Sunday morning. They planned to stay for a day or two to catch one of Phil’s games before heading back.

“I have no idea,” Phil admitted. “I guess that’s something else that got left out of the planning.”

“We’ll find a spot for them if they show up,” Katelyn said. “I can always spend the night with Bob and they can have my bed until your folks leave.”

“Or they can get a damned hotel room,” Phil stated. “They’re big girls. They can find their own places to sleep if they come down. I put up with that crap for 15 years and I’m done with it. I told them exactly that at Christmas. The world doesn’t stop just because Maddy and Dani decide they want to pay a visit.”

Hailey tucked her arm inside of Phil’s the moment he came around to open her door. The gathering was at the same downtown hotel where the Christmas party was held – and the same spot where Hailey and her mother had appeared the previous year.

A year earlier, Hailey and Hannah had planned to take the Barton Group by storm. Hannah planned to leave as president of Eisler and she figured Hailey would leave on the arm of one of the up-and-comers from some other division. It hadn’t worked out that way, of course. Now Hailey hadn’t seen her mother since the morning after and she hadn’t spoken to her in nine months. Her father had said that he had located Hannah if Hailey ever wanted the address or phone number. So far, Hailey had held off from taking it.