Summary: You and Sarah manage to convince Joel to dress up for Halloween. He's not too excited about it but agrees anyway. However, once he see's your costume...Halloween jus tmight be his new favorite holiday.
Author's Note: This is part of my kinktober celebration and the PPCU Halloween event. Thank you bunches to Sel @jupiter-soups and Harley @huffle-punk for setting it up! 💕💕love and hugs! I took two prompts; one from fluff: You and Sarah convince Joel to dress up for Halloween. He isn't thrilled. And one from smut: You surprise Joel by dressing up for Halloween as something that he has mentioned finding sexy. For the second prompt I didn't get specific because I figured it would be more fun for the reader to imagine their own sexy costume- whatever you wear- Joel LOVES it. I also want to thank my dear friends @flordeamatista and @mrsmischief209 for helping me with Joel's costume, you're both amazing! ❤️💕Thank you all so much for reading and much love always! ❤️❤️❤️
Warnings: it's fun and fluffy, silly and soft, lots of flirting and tension, Joel is sweet but definitely grumpy, reader has some sass, semi-public f-in-g-e-ri-ng, light d-ir-t-y talk, it's a whole ride lol
Kinktober 2023 Masterlist
Joel Miller Masterlist
“No.”
His hands land on his hips as he stares back at you.
“But Joel, it’ll be…”
Your words are cut off by his second, “no.”
“Joel!” you whine.
“Darlin’,” he warns.
You stick your bottom lip out in a pout and give him your best sad eyes.
“Still no,” he says.
You change tactics.
With a sweet smile you step into his space and press yourself against him.
“I know it’s not your favorite idea but don’t you want to do it for me? Make me happy?”
His hands falls from his hips and land on yours, pulling you closer.
“Now you’re playin’ dirty angel.”
Your lips curve into a wicked smile. “I can play much dirtier than this if you want.”
You lift your fingers to his hair and comb them through, lightly scratching his scalp before they slide down the back of his neck and trace his jaw.
With a light brush of your lips you whisper, “please Joel. Just this once. I promise it’ll be worth it.”
You kiss him before he can answer and you feel his low growl rumble through his chest as he pushes you against the wall of the bedroom.
With rushed hands you pull at his tee shirt, tugging it up and over his head. Your fingers caress his warm skin as his lips kiss and nip at your neck.
“Joel,” you moan.
He grabs your thigh, lifting it to spread you open so he can settle between you legs.
“Now who’s playing dirty,” you gasp when you feel his hardness press into your stomach.
His hand slides higher and his fingers dip into the waistband of your leggings.
“You started it,” he murmurs.
“Is that a yes then?” you ask, trying to keep your voice steady as his fingers tease your skin.
His cell phone rings before he can answer and you both let out a frustrated groan.
“One guess who’s callin’,” he grumbles.
He grabs his phone from his jeans pocket and flips it open, his eyes never leaving yours.
“Hey,” he says which you follow right after with, “hey tommy,” loud enough so he can hear it on the other end of the line.
Joel reluctantly releases you and takes a step back but his intense gaze tracks your every move while you fix your clothes.
As you start to walk out of the room you sing out, “since you didn’t say no that time, I’m going to take it as a maybe!”
Before you get out of the doorway he comes up behind you and smacks your ass, making you squeal. His arm wraps around your waist and he drags your back to his bare chest, his soft breath tickling your ear when he whispers, “a maybe.”
You can hear Tommy on the other end of the line asking what the hell is going and when you look over your shoulder Joel’s eyes are dark, his ‘maybe’ and so much more hanging in the air between you both.
“How many times did he say no?” Sarah asks the moment you walk into the kitchen.
“Only three times,” you smile.
She blows out a raspberry and stabs her eggs with her fork.
“BUT!” you continue. “I think I’ve got him at a maybe now and if you lay it on thick we might be able to convince him.”
Sarah smiles deviously and when you hear Joel’s heavy footfalls on the stairs you both straighten your shoulders in preparation.
“Hey dad,” Sarah chimes brightly when he walks in.
You match her smile and offer him a hot cup of fresh coffee.
He looks between you both, his lips pursed and his eyes narrowed.
“Don’t even try…” he begins.
“BUT DAD,” Sarah interjects, “we all have to dress up. You can’t come trick or treating otherwise!”
“Who said I wanna go trick or treating?,” he says before sipping his coffee.
Both you and Sarah give him a stern look.
“YOU HAVE TO!” you both shout.
He sighs and sits down at the table.
“PLEASE,” Sarah says. “We can think of something awesome for you to dress up as.”
“I already have an idea,” you say, clasping your hands together in excitement. “You’ll look amazing.”
You wink at Sarah and she grins before turning pleading eyes to Joel.
You grab your plate and seat yourself on Joel’s spread thigh, curling into him and grabbing his fork to feed him a bite of eggs.
“Please,” you say softly.
Joel studies your face before he moves his eyes to Sarah.
“Fine,” he mumbles then takes the bite of eggs off the fork.
You and Sarah let out an excited cheer. Sarah hops out of her seat and comes around the table to kiss Joel’s cheek. You do the same on the other side.
He grumbles out something unintelligible but you can see the smile playing upon his lips.
“See you guys later,” Sarah says as she grabs her schoolbag and rushes toward the door.
Just before she’s out of the house she turns back and looks at Joel to say, “your tee shirt’s inside out.” Then she disappears out the door.
You giggle into your hand but quickly press your lips together to suppress any further joy when Joel pins you with a glare.
“Shit,” he says, looking down.
“Oops,” you say with feigned innocence and a shrug of your shoulders.
With a smug smile you hold up the fork again. “You have to eat more before you’re late.”
He looks up and takes the bite but then removes the fork from your hand.
“Oh I plan on it darlin’,” he simpers.
He swats at your ass until you get up and then promptly moves the dishes over and sits you on the edge of the table.
“Joel…” you breathe out as your arms wrap around his neck.
Just as his thumbs hook into your leggings you hear the loud clunk and roll of Tommy’s truck.
“Ah fuck,” Joel sighs, dropping his face to your neck.
You let out a little whimper and cling to him.
“Later,” he promises before kissing you softly.
Tommy barges in all smiles.
“Hey you two,” he greets.
Joel mumbles some form of a greeting and you go give Tommy a hug.
Tommy gives you a squeeze then looks to Joel. “What up his ass?”
“He agreed to dress up for Halloween this year,” you answer happily.
Tommy grins and walks over to Joel, slapping him on the back. “Shit brother, your girls can get you to do anything huh?”
You do a little happy victory dance as you place the dishes in the sink.
“Come on,” Joel says to Tommy, “let’s go.”
“What about my breakfast?” Tommy asks, checking the pan.
“We’ll pick you somethin’ up on the road,” Joel sighs.
You gently pat Tommy on the back. “There would have been pancakes but we’re out of mix.”
Tommy gives you a lopsided smile and then grabs the last piece of toast.
“See you later babe,” Tommy says before he heads back out to the truck.
He takes one last look at Joel, the toast dangling between his fingers as he points and says, “your tee shirt’s inside out.”
With another muttered curse Joel grabs the back of his shirt and pulls it over his head.
He stalks toward you at the counter, caging you against it with his arms on either side of your body.
“You,” he whispers as he leans in and bumps his nose along yours, “are all mine when I get home.”
“Is all this gel really necessary?” he asks as you run your fingers through his hair for the hundredth time.
You stand between his spread legs and look him over, adjusting a piece of hair here and there.
“Yes. It is,” you state. “Eeeeeee Joel!”
After wiping your hands you check his bow tie, pulling on the ends to tighten it before you straighten it again.
“PERFECT! Sarah get in here!”
You grab Joel’s hand and drag him to his feet. Sarah rushes in and immediately gives out a loud ‘whoop’ before laughing.
“Dad this is so good,” she says. “You look just like Gomez!”
Joel turns to look in the mirror, his expression full of his usual grumpiness.
“Well, you’ve already got the grumpy look down perfectly,” you tease.
He just scoffs as he lifts his fingers to touch his hair.
“DON’T!” you tell him. “Just leave it!”
“You look amazing,” you tell Sarah. “Super scary.”
Sarah smiles and does a twirl to show off the full affect of her costume.
“You look great sweetheart,” Joel says before his eyes slide back to you.
“What about you darlin’? Where’s your costume?” he asks.
“Oh, I’m going to get ready now,” you say with a twinkle of your fingers. “See you downstairs.”
You pepper his face with kisses before shooing him away.
You’re just applying the finishing touches to your make-up when you hear Joel coming up the stairs.
“Angel, are you almost rea….?”
His words die on his parted lips as he takes you in, his eyes traveling hungrily from your head to your toes.
“Well?” you ask, smoothing your hands down your body.
The grind of his jaw says it all and your smile grows.
“Joel…?” you purr. “Couldn’t wait for me to come downstairs?”
He walks all the way into the room and shuts the door.
“I wanted to see what was takin’ so long…”
“Well I’m ready now,” you sing with a sweet smile. “Let’s go.”
He stops you with his body, his heat washing over you and his mouth dipping to your ear.
“You think I’m goin’ trick or treating and to some party with you lookin’ like this?”
“Like what?” you ask, your tone demure.
The air between you is charged and disappearing by the inch.
“Darlin’,” he murmurs, his breathe a whisper along the shell of your ear.
You look at him through your lashes, the light scruff of his beard brushing your cheek and making you sigh out his name.
“We’re going to be late and Sarah is waiting….”
You step back and hear his sound of disapproval deep in his throat. It makes you shiver.
His eyes are glued to you as you turn and open the door and when you meet his gaze again it’s filled with heat and filthy promises.
When you enter the kitchen Sarah whistles loudly and grins. “WOW!”
You give her a bright smile and start toward the door. “Time to trick or treat!”
Once Sarah has plenty of candy you usher her off to her friends house for the night. They are having a sleepover with scary movies and lots of sugar.
As soon as Sarah is safely delivered to her new destination Joel settles his hand at your lower back and starts to push you back toward the house.
“Did you forget we have to stop by the neighbors house for the adult party?” you giggle.
He stops walking and presses himself against your back. “Don’t you think I’ve suffered enough today angel?”
“No,” you state, turning to face him. “I don’t think you’ve suffered at all in fact.”
Joel opens his mouth to argue but you press your finger to his lips.
“I’ve seen you smile and I know you love how much everyone is gushing over your costume and it won’t kill you to hang out with some friends for a couple of hours.”
He kisses your finger and then grabs your wrist to pull your hand away.
“An hour,” he growls.
“Two,” you counter.
He stares at you daringly, leaning forward and covering the inches between you, his eyes falling to your lips.
“And it’ll be your fault when I drag you somewhere dark and get my fingers inside you.”
Your breathy sigh is followed by a lick of your lips, Joel’s eyes following the movement with a hungry stare.
You don’t respond, not trusting yourself when your brain and body are consumed by him, and instead take his hand and move in the direction of the party.
“All the beer is still warm so I got you wine.”
You hold the glass out for him then search for a seat. When you see there aren’t any left you situate yourself on his thigh and rest yourself along his shoulder.
He takes a sip of the wine, eyeing you over the rim.
“Any good?” you ask.
Without an answer he curls his hand around the back of your neck and drags you down for a kiss, giving you a taste.
“Mm,” you hum against his lips. “Yummy.”
You chat with some of your neighbors, snacking and sipping your drink.
“You’re pulling off the whole grumpy Gomez thing really well,” you tease when there’s a lull in conversation.
“Who said I’m grumpy?” Joel replies with a smirk.
You dance your fingers up his chest and then lightly scratch them over his beard.
“I want another kiss,” you whisper.
He happily obliges but when you press yourself closer, shifting in his lap, he groans out a curse and pulls away.
At your questioning look he sighs.
“Darlin’…unless you want to stay in this chair for the rest of the night you better stop kissing my like that and wiggling your ass.”
You move again, unintentionally, and the hardness between his legs pushes against you.
“Oh,” you squeak. “Ohhh….”
He tightens his grip, his fingers digging into your skin in warning.
“Behave.”
“I’ll be good,” you promise with a slow blink.
“That’ll be a first,” he mutters.
You kiss him again, giggling when he starts to squirm beneath you.
“Oops.”
“I’d smack your ass right here and now if it weren’t for the creepy neighbor.”
“Creepy…?” you repeat and look around.
You lock eyes with your neighbor from across the street. He’s starting, his eyes blatantly roaming over your curves.
“I’m gonna knock his teeth out,” Joel threatens with a low rumble.
“He’s definitely drunk Joel. Not worth it.”
“He’s starin’ at what’s mine.”
You take Joel’s chin between your fingers, dragging his murderous gaze away from the neighbor until he’s focused on you.
“Come on, let’s go get some fresh air,” you whisper.
You rise from his lap and he takes your hand, keeping you close as you work your way around the crowd of people in the living room. When you reach the back door he holds it open for you and ushers you outside, walking you toward a darkened spot on the side of the house.
He lets out a deep exhale before grabbing your waist.
“Finally,” he says, in a hushed, rumbling voice as he pulls your back against his chest.
His hand slides along your side, tracing the curve of your waist before he closes his fingers around your wrist and lifts your hand to his mouth, kissing softly along your knuckles.
“What a Gomez move,” you tease lightly even as you melt into his embrace.
His free hand brushes along your shoulder and his fingers dance along your neck until he tilts your chin back, exposing more of your skin. With teasingly soft kisses he works his way to the spot just under your ear and whispers, “lift your dress.”
“Joel,” you breathe out, your voice wavering when he nips on your earlobe.
“Angel, I’ve waited long enough, don’t you think?”
His hands wander along your skin, kneading and squeezing as he goes. When he finds your ass cheek he grips it hard. You don’t answer, arching against him, and when he gives you a sharp smack you cry out.
“Is this my punishment?” you ask as you catch your breath.
He smacks you again, soothing the sting with soft caress.
“Lift your dress,” he repeats, his voice low and deep.
Your fingers reach down for the hem and you slowly lift the front, whimpering when his hand leaves your ass and slides across your stomach and between your legs.
“Someone might see,” you gasp even as you spread your legs for him.
“Fuck darlin’,” he groans when he feels the wet patch on your panties.
His finger brushes over the damp fabric and he wraps his other arm around your shoulders to keep you pressed to his chest, his touch torturously light.
When he pushes your panties to the side and slides his fingers through your arousal he lets out hum of satisfaction.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmurs.
His finger slips inside you easily, pumping slowly in and out as he continues his kisses along your neck.
“You feel beautiful, too.”
He slides a second finger into you and growls, the sound vibrating right through you.
“Joel please…please,” you beg as your legs start to shake.
His grip tightens and he pushes his fingers deeper, pressing on your clit with his thumb. You wiggle and writhe against him, chasing your release as it builds.
“Joel,” you hiss through gritted teeth, trying your best to remain quiet.
He curls his fingers just right and continues circling your clit, the tightening of your walls giving him enough warning to slide his hand over your mouth and muffle your cries as you buck against him.
You slowly come down and sag into his strong hold.
He draws out your pleasure, pumping his fingers with deliberation and whispering praises in your ear.
“That’s my good girl,” he coos. “Letting me to fuck you with my fingers even when someone might see.”
He still has his hand clamped over your mouth, softening your continued moans.
“I’m taking you home,” he states, leaving no room for argument.
He slowly removes his fingers and releases his hold on you. You turn in his arms and watch as he slips his soaked fingers between his lips and licks them clean.
“First I’m goin’ to get a better taste and then I’m goin’ to fuck you good and hard.”
You let out a whimper of want and drag your hand down his chest, palming the hardness between his legs.
He stops you with a firm hold on your wrist and your lips part to argue but he interrupts, dipping his head and brushing his mouth across yours when he whispers, “no, not here angel. I don’t want to miss a single sound that falls past these pretty lips when I’m buried deep inside you.”
AHHH I love the Joel x reader series, the way their relationship unfolds is chef kiss! Can we have a fic on how they met, the process they went getting to know each other specially after Sarah’s mom left him must not be easy for Joel to fall in love again so it will be nice to read how reader broke his walls down
Have a nice day 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼
series masterlist
warnings - men (only stupid words, no name-calling, etc.), alcohol, cursing
word count - 11k
a/n: I didn't plan for this to become a two-parter, but I guess that's just how it goes sometimes haha. Also: this is SO long overdue, I'm so sorry, I took a break from this series, but I'm back! And there are more requests to come ˙ᵕ˙ thank you so so much for the request and your sweet and kind words🥺, I really hope you like this, and then the 2nd part that will include much more Joel x Reader content🤭 and I hope you have a wonderful day/night🤍🤍
You're Lonely. I Can Fix That. Pt. 1
1997
"Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit!" A familiar deep voice from behind you called out, catching you off guard. "If it isn't sweet lil' Y/N." With a forced smile, you turned to the left. Right away, your eyes found the one and only Tommy Miller. The infamous dark locks were still unruled on top of his head. He wore his hair slightly longer than you remembered. The cheeky grin, the entire town had come to know, was still as evident as ever plastered on his face.
He had just made his way to the bar, where you had been occupying a barstool for the past hour.
You welcomed him with a tight smile, "Hey, Tommy." Surprising you, the older man threw an arm around your shoulder to pull you into a side hug that you reciprocated slightly awkwardly. He had caught you off-guard.
"How the hell they're lettin' you in here?" With a smirk, he took a seat right next to you, his palms brushing over the dark oak of the bartop. He definitely felt comfortable.
You held onto the drink you had been nursing ever since you got there. "I just know the right people," you teased him with a smile, making him chuckle.
"Wow, breakin' the law now too? What happened to you?" His fake gasp almost sounded too real. You joined him, giggling at his comment. "How have ya been?" He added before you could add a snarky remark to his rhetorical question.
You nodded, "Good. Busy."
"You in college now?" Tommy asked. You wondered if his Southern Accent had gotten even stronger. After not seeing you for a good two years, the younger Miller brother wasn't yet caught on to your current life.
Another nod from you, to which he smiled. "Smart girl. What 'bout your sister? How's she?" The corners of your lips curled into a smile. You just waited for that question to finally drop. Her name had to enter the conversation at some point.
"Still not interested in you." You sent him a wide grin.
He shook his head with a chuckle. "Why you gotta hurt me like that, sweetheart?" You rolled your eyes at his love for nicknames - just like you always did - minus the fake gag you used to do behind his back.
Ever since you could remember, Tommy Miller, one of town's biggest troubles and flirts, had been ogling after your older sister. She was probably the only girl who had never given in to his charming personality. At one point, you had stopped counting the calm afternoons you were sitting in your parents' restaurant, either helping out or doing your homework, getting interrupted by the distracting loud voices of Tommy and his friend group. They always chose to sit at the same booth - the one with the perfect view through the slit window into the kitchen.
After a few months, you were convinced that they weren't visiting for the food or drinks. You had caught onto their actions. Tommy was after your sister. And knowing where to find her after school was for his benefit. Only problem: she was interested in anything, and everything, but the youngest Miller brother. It still never failed to amuse you how dedicated the boy was to get her attention in any way possible - even if it was for all the wrong reasons and probably just wanted to tick her off his list of 'girls in town I've slept with'.
And even now, years after she had left your Southern hometown, he was still thinking about her. It almost made you 'awe'.
"Where's she? I haven't seen her in forever." He interrupted your train of thought.
"Do you really wanna know?" You asked him teasingly. "I'm about to break your heart." He had to know at some point.
Over exaggerating, he placed his hand on top of his chest, holding onto the wrong side, idiot, and lowered his head. "Please do it quick."
No matter how annoying he was in the past, he was entertaining. You had to give him that. Your slight amusement was hard to conceal. "She's in New York."
Tommy looked back up at you right after those words left your lips, scrunching his eyebrows. "New York? Damn... going big, huh? What's she doin' over there?"
"Marrying a lawyer," you simply answered, leaving him with his mouth hung open as you took a sip from your drink. You almost choked on the liquid once you saw his face.
"Wow," he breathed out dramatically. "She really thinks a lawyer's gonna be better than me?" Both of you knew the answer to his question should stay muted.
You chuckled. "I convinced her that a lawyer would be better than you."
Getting a laugh from him in return. "You little-" He reached out, ready to destroy your hairstyle with his fingers, when the two of you got interrupted.
"This man's troubling you, Y/N?" The sudden voice of your friend behind the bar caught your attention. After serving the people on the other end, she had gotten back to you, expecting to continue your conversation from before, when the man next to you caught her eye.
"Oh, this is trouble in person," you told her with a smile.
Tommy sat up straight right away, a proud grin plastered on his face. He seemed to be very proud of the title you had given him.
"That would be me." He reached out his right hand over the countertop. "Tommy," introducing himself to your friend and bartender for the night.
"Maria," she accepted his hand, shaking it briefly, locking eyes with him for a second too long. You immediately noticed the change in her gaze, making your smile drop within a split second.
She was quick to turn on her work persona, asking him for his order and turning around to snatch the two beers he had asked for out of the fridge. Of course, not without sending you an amused grin. You had to hold back the shake of your head tickling you.
While Tommy still had his ass planted onto the seat next to you, you caught a glimpse of a group of men in a booth right behind the younger Miller brother. Their stares were too hard to miss. The faces seemed familiar.
You cleared your throat. "Your friends seem nervous."
Your comment caught Tommy's attention. With a swift look behind him, he sent them a nod before turning back to you. "Eh," he brushed it off, "They'll be alright. Probably just jealous it's me sitting here with a pretty girl instead of one of them." No. Just no.
"Tommy," you warned him, turning your head to look right into his eyes, a teasing smile threatening to expose you. "No." Just as quick as he had looked up, the little glimpse of almost hope evaporated, replaced by humour as he threw his head back in laughter.
"Oh well," he slapped the countertop, "I tried." You shook your head with a soft chuckle.
Maria was back, in her hand the two cold dark bottles filled with the liquid you couldn't even smell without gagging. She put them down right in front of the Miller brother. A grin that showed her dimple, splashed on her face. You leaned back to watch.
Tommy gave her a nod with a grin, reaching back into his jeans pocket, only to be stopped by your friend.
"It's on the house."
He held still mid-move. "Oh no. No, no, I can't accept that."
Maria held out her hand. "Don't worry 'bout it."
"Nah, I can't just let a drink go on the house. I've been here way too much," Tommy argued, that shit-eating cocky grin still on his lips.
"Never when I was here." The woman behind the bar smirked. You could've sworn she was damn close to winking at him. "So, trust me, it's fine."
With a defeated sigh, the man dropped his head, shaking it with a soft chuckle as he reached for the glass bottles. "I appreciate it, thank you, sweetheart." He stood up, only to turn towards you before officially leaving you alone at the bar again. "Y/N," he called out, getting your attention, "How about joining us for the night?" He nodded towards the table, where the rest of his group was still eyeing you with clear interest. "And Maria, I don't know how long you're working today, but we won't be leavin' anytime soon, so feel free to come too."
Before she could answer, you cut into it. "Thanks, Tommy. We're good, though."
With extended arms to each side, he sent you one last grin. "The offer's open. I ain't takin' it back."
When he finally turned around to join the other three men, you sighed, pushing your barstool straight to lean forward against the countertop. You were met with the crossed arms of your friend and neighbour. A conversation was about to start.
"What?" You wondered, going back to nursing on your drink, that she had made extra sweet just for you.
"'What?'" Maria mocked you, snatching a wet towel to wipe over the wood. "A hot dude just asked you to spend some time with his extremely good-looking group of friends, and you turned him down? What the hell is wrong with you?"
You dropped the straw back into the glass to gasp at her. "I came here to spend some time with you, not to sit around with some weird ass dudes. I know about them. I'm not a fan of them."
Maria didn't grow up around the area. She didn't know about Tommy's reputation just yet. She came to Texas for college after most of them in Boston had rejected her.
After transferring from one college in Kansas to one in your hometown, you had looked for people searching for roommates in the area, when you found Maria's flyer on the campus blackboard. One coffee date later, the two of you knew it was a match made in heaven. You had become almost inseparable ever since.
Back to her trying to set you up for no good.
She chuckled at your comment, switching to drying off some glasses her co-worker had left freshly washed on the counter. "Oh yeah, you're right. They're neither forty-plus nor one of our professors. How dare I even think you could possibly find any of them attractive?"
With an open mouth, you glared at her. "Are you judging me?" Getting only a grin and a shrug in return.
You leaned forward. "I have to pay for every single one of my drinks every time I'm here."
"Well," she put down the glass she had been cleaning, leaning in closer to your face. "You're not a hot country guy with a Southern accent." She really was that easy, huh?
You let yourself fall back slightly, arms crossed in front of your chest as you dared to take a quick glance over to the table, coincidently catching the eyes of one of Tommy's friends as he winked at you, making you almost shiver. And not in a good way.
With a shake of your head, you turned back to Maria, who had caught the quick interaction that made her chuckle.
"You know them?"
"Their faces. I know Tommy, kinda... but I have no idea who his friends are. I only know they're loud and... disgusting." After finishing your drink, you slid it over to her, with a wide smile asking her for another refill, which she accepted with a slight sigh.
"And how do you know him?" She continued interrogating you as she moved around the space to mix the alcohol and fruit juices to make your cocktail.
You raked your fingers through your hair, hoping to style it just the way you had managed to do, only hours ago when you had gotten ready in your bathroom. "He used to have the biggest crush on my sister. I mean," you stopped for a second. "Either that or she was one of the girls on his list."
"His list?" She took a quick look up at you before directing her attention back to the glass in front of her.
"His 'every girl in my year I still need to fuck' list."
Just as she passed you back your now freshly filled glass, Maria gave you an unamused glace along with it, making you chuckle.
"What? I'm serious."
"That was the name of his list?"
"Listen, maybe... maybe not. But I'm sure there was a list. I just couldn't care less what the actual title of it was." You took a quick sip. "So, don't you even dare." You pointed a strict finger at her.
"Don't I even dare what?" She wondered, teasing you because both of you knew where you were going with your thread.
"Give into his disgusting fake charisma!"
"Maybe it's real!" She fought back with a smile, earning herself a straight and monotone facial expression from you. Maria scoffed, "Oh, I'm sorry for being attracted to guys my age." You knew telling her about your crush on the humanity studies professor the two of you shared, would bite you in the ass someday. And now, she won't let it go. Ever.
"Look, at least we won't ever have to fight over a guy." You stated with a grin.
Your friend joined you with a bright smile as she pointed her finger at you, "Amen."
You raised your glass.
With a swift move, Maria threw a fresh washcloth over her shoulder. Her gaze was fixed on the table by the wall a few feet behind you. The one Tommy and his buddies had claimed. Their loud voices were echoing through the entire bar - hollers and shouts that could not be ignored. Maria chuckled.
"You should accept his invitation."
You had to roll your eyes. "I don't want to, thank you very much."
"What about that New Year's resolution of yours? 'Meeting new people', was it?" She teased you. Fuck, you cursed to yourself. She wasn't wrong. The new year was only about a month in, but Maria had already achieved 50% of her resolution, while you were still stuck on yours with 0%. After coming back to your hometown, you remembered most of your old friends from school (not that there had been many) had moved away just about the time you did. And no one had the nerve to come back. So, you were stuck. Stuck with having to meet new people to connect with. But that was a shadow you would have to learn to jump over. And that brings us to your New Year's resolution.
"But-" you groaned, but Maria was ready to interrupt you.
"No buts-" she pointed a strict finger at you. "And they're not even completely 'new' to you. You already know Tommy, that's a start. And that will make getting to know the other ones even easier." Her hands went back to cleaning the bar area.
"I don't even wanna get to know 'the other ones'," you mumbled under your breath, hiding your lips behind the rim of your glass.
Maria looked up. "What was that?"
"Nothing," you quickly added before ending the conversation with a sip.
You took a deep breath. You had two options to choose from. Either you continue your evening alone by the bar, sipping one cocktail after the other, with your best friend by your side whenever she wasn't focused on drunks stumbling over to the counter, lulling about which drink they'd want next. OR you could go after your resolution and try to have a good night with the random idiots you used to curse at back in your school days. You could've hit yourself over the head for even just taking the second option into consideration, but something lured you in.
With a shake of your head, unbelieving of what your body was telling you to do, you pushed yourself away from the counter. The barstool you had been occupying scraped over the wooden floor. Before you turned around, you got a hold of your cocktail - if you were going to do this, you would not be doing it without more alcohol.
By rolling your eyes, and your attention still on the grin Maria sent you along the way, you didn't see the man you were about to run into. Strong hands on your shoulders stopped you. You definitely felt like you had just stepped on someone's toes too.
"Oh, sh-" you whipped your head around. "Sorry." Glancing up, you already found the possible softest brown eyes looking down at you.
"Sorry," the man immediately spoke up too, taking his hands off you as if your skin had burnt him.
"S-Sorry about that," you couldn't help the stutter. God, those eyes were almost bronze, you thought, Jesus, and his curls too...
"All good," he cleared his throat, "just gotta make sure you ain't runnin' someone over with a force like that." His voice was just as warm as his looks.
You almost let an awkward chuckle escape if it hadn't been for Tommy's loud voice echoing through the rumbling background noises of the bar.
"Yo, Joel! Don't forget our beers! You can flirt later!"
Joel. The man didn't even hesitate to turn around. "How about you go get your beers yourselves?" He got a round of groans in return, only for the Miller brother to stand up and jog over to the two of you. You had to catch yourself back into the present again, daydreaming about the man standing in front of you can wait.
With a sheepish grin, Tommy stopped by your side and threw an arm around your shoulder. "Y/N, is this man bothering you?"
"I should ask her that about you, don't you think?" Joel's eyes fell to his brother's hand that had pulled you in close to the side of his chest. Tommy dropped it quickly.
"You're no fun," he hissed at the man in front of you before turning around to lean against the dark wood that was separating him from the bar area.
A weird silence spread between the two of you as your eyes lost focus on the Southern man now behind you.
"I'm sorry 'bout him," the soft voice apologised. Joel's voice.
You eyed him a little closer.
His shirt was somewhat tight, yet loose enough. It seemed to have a relaxed fit, but his arms and chest were definitely worked out enough to test the stretchiness of the material. It looked comfortable. With his lazy set of dark curls, this man radiated comfort. Even his beard, which he had decided to keep at a length that made it look well-kept, but not too neat, but not completely rugged, added to the softness of his entire appearance.
With a chuckle, you ran a hand through your hair. "It's alright, I- that's how I know him. So it's- you know..."
"You know my brother?"
Brother? Joel? Joel Miller. Tommy Miller's brother. How Tommy having a brother never crossed you, was beyond you. But then again, you literally only knew about the younger Miller brother because of your sister, so no surprise that you had never heard of an older Miller brother before.
"I- well, I wouldn't say 'know'-" you started, but the familiar voice interrupted you once again.
"Oh, come on, Y/N! Don't hurt me like that!"
You swiftly turned your head around to glance at him. "Tommy- we don't know each other that well." Unless you could count the multiple times he had asked you about your sister's well-being in the past, and now present. Or the times he had caught up with you on the street and bombarded you with questions about her.
With a kiss of his tongue, he brushed off your comment. "Don't be like that." He turned his attention to Joel. "You remember Izzy? Back in my High School days. The chick from the restaurant two streets down from our school?"
"Oh, God," the older Miller shook his head as he mumbled. His fingers pressed the bridge of his nose.
"Y/N's her sister," Tommy laughed, mostly to himself. "What are the odds of us meeting here tonight, huh?" He asked into the room, turning back around to the bar, happy about the next round of alcohol. "Joel," the younger Miller nodded towards him. "These are on you." He held up the four beer bottles he carried between his fingers. Not even waiting for an answer, he walked away, getting an annoyed sigh from his brother in return, who switched places with his brother.
Tommy bumped your shoulder. "And you're coming with us. Come on."
After daring to take a quick look behind you, finding Joel handing over the money to Maria and accepting a beer for himself, you followed his brother. The table with his friends seemed to already have been waiting for you as they welcomed you, and the beers, with loud cheers. You joined Tommy on his side of the booth, as the current situation was too uncomfortable for you to sit next to one of his friends. Especially if it was the one that had winked at you before.
"Alright, guys," Tommy's voice brought you back. "This is Y/N," he introduced you before moving on to tell you the name of each man on the table. "And the man of the evening!" He called out, his arm reaching out to the figure that was coming closer to your table. "My brother, the one and only Joel Miller." Looking up, you found him already looking at you again. You quickly diverted your eyes to the dark wood underneath your hands.
"The man of the evening when he didn't even want to be here in the first place?" One of Tommy's friends commented with a scoff. Mike? Yeah, it was Mike.
Joel slit into the other side of the booth, directly opposite of you. You noticed yourself sitting up a little straighter.
"Well, not all of us are thirty and have nothing better to do than to get drunk in the middle of the week," the older Miller replied. He casually sat back, taking a sip from his beer.
Mike chuckled. "Not all of us can't ever leave the house because they had a kid when they were a teenager."
Joel put the beer, taking a deep breath. The sudden change in atmosphere was evident to everyone at the table. Even to you. Well, this was already going great.
Tommy was quick to react. "Hey," he stopped the conversation, "I thought we agreed on no fighting today? Please, guys, come on. Get yourself together."
With your eyes on the oldest Miller brother, you could see his lips moving, mumbling something under his breath that you didn't catch, due to the loud background noises.
"Yeah, no fighting!" Trevor, you thought his name was, called out, raising the already half-empty bottle of beer in his grip. "To Tommy! Welcome home, brother."
Welcome home? Confused, you joined the table, everyone raising their glasses, clinking them all together in the middle.
Once you noticed the other side of the table had fallen into a conversation, you leaned into Tommy on your left.
"Where were you?" Your voice was too low for any of his friends to catch it, but loud enough to get the attention of the older Miller across from you too.
"Because of the 'welcome home'?" The man next to you wondered. You nodded, letting him continue. With a smirk, he put his bottle down. "Your sister didn't tell you?"
You rolled your eyes. "Tommy, she doesn't even know where you are right now, nor does she care. I can guarantee that." A chuckle from ahead of you made your head turn. You could see the smallest glimpse of a grin playing on Joel's lips as he tried to hide it by taking a sip of his beer.
"Wow," Tommy huffed out. "You're really just gonna put more and more salt into that wound, huh?" You ignored his overly dramatic comment, choosing to just continue glancing at him with a somewhat smile on your face, waiting for him to continue. He brushed a hand through his hair before giving you an answer to your question. "I was stationed in Iraq. As of last week, I'm a free man again."
You found your mouth agape. "Oh... oh shit, I had no idea." Your reaction made him chuckle. "Congrats?" Your reaction turned more into a question as you were unsure about what exactly to say to him.
"Thanks, girly," he smiled at you. "Although I am a bit offended that you didn't even notice I've been since graduation."
"Oh, please," you chuckled with a shake of your head. "But," you started again, getting a raise of his brows in return. "Now that I think about it, my mom did ask about you once."
"Really?" His eyes lit up. His reaction reminded you of a little boy being granted three wishes. You almost giggled. "What did she say?"
"Where's Danny Zuko and his entourage?" You smirked up at him. "It was around the time Izzy moved away. That's when she noticed how quiet it was without you guys."
"She called me Danny Zuko?" Tommy smiled to himself, raising one eyebrow as he glanced at you. You could already feel the greasy hand coming up to glide over his hair even before he actually did it.
From across the table, the warm yet rough voice spoke up, "Don't let it get to your head, Tommy." Joel was looking at his brother in slight amusement. You could tell he wanted to shake his head at his actions.
The younger Miller scoffed. "Don't be jealous just 'cause no one's callin' you the hottest man of the seventies." That's because Joel Miller might just be the hottest man of the century.
"Fictional man, though," you corrected him.
He gave you a quick glance out of the corner of his eye. "You bein' a smartass now?" Getting a sarcastic grin from you as an answer.
The conversation with Tommy moved more naturally than you had expected. You had been scared of awkward silences and pauses, but they had yet to happen, and you prayed they wouldn't even get an appearance this evening.
"So," a voice from the other end of the table caught your attention. "what do you do, Y/N? You lookin' a lil' young." Some of the other guys chuckled at his comment. Unessecary, but okay.
Before you could even open your mouth, Tommy spoke. "She ain't that much younger than us, Mike." Just clearing the air - you were thankful for that.
You cleared your throat, your fingers nervously intertwining underneath the table. "I'm in college."
"What are you studyin'?"
"Mathematic."
A scoff erupted from your side of the table, but on the other end, making it impossible for you to see exactly who it was from. "Mathematic? How the hell you gonna pay them bills? Doing fractions?" His rhetorical question got a round of laughter from almost the entire table. The guys continued joking about what you had just told them.
"Subtracting and adding, why the fuck would there even be a course for that?" Well, I bet you can't even calculate the tip you should give waiters.
"Everyone with a degree in math can't be anywhere else but in an office. What a life." A life where they earn more money than you, most likely.
"You also had those smartass kids at school that were good at math for no reason? Always hated them. So annoying, I swear to God." At least I was never crying at the dinner table with my dad trying to explain my homework to me.
You decided to stay quiet and let yourself fall back into the leather cushions behind your back. With a soft sigh, you brought your glass up to your lips, taking two sips of your cocktail. You didn't have the energy nor the need to speak up against them. You didn't know what their occupation was. And neither did you care. You're focused on yourself. You had to listen to far too many joking comments about your choice of degree to give a flying fuck about them anymore.
Your eyes wandered around the room before Joel's voice suddenly brought you back.
"What do you wanna do with that degree?" His question surprised you. Your eyes stopped at his face. Even in the dimlit bar, you could still make out his soft features. His coarse voice sent a chill through your entire body - a good chill though. The kind of chill you get after putting the first foot into a hot bath. That was Joel Miller's voice. Warmth. Pure warmth.
You put your glass down, pressing your lips together for a quick second. Looking up at him, his gaze was already on you, patiently waiting for your answer.
"I- ehm," you wiped your hands down your jeans. They weren't wet, you were just nervous, apparently. "I'm not sure yet. If possible, I would really like to get a Master's in STEM too, but..." you trailed off, not about to spill your entire life story to a, technically, stranger. "We'll see."
Joel nodded. His gaze never left you, following each word that fell from your lips. "And," he continued, "what could you do with a Mathematic degree?"
"Oh, a lot," you spoke up. You could feel yourself sitting up straighter, your hands back on top of the table. "A lot of people become financial advisors for companies. Or statisticians... ehm... I could also obviously become just a Math professor," you shrugged. "Most things are office jobs, though."
Joel had a soft smile on his lips, that only made you feel the heat in your cheeks spreading with each second. You hoped the lack of light in the room hid it well.
While you had added that last comment as a validation of most people's thoughts of the jobs you had mentioned being 'boring', you were surprised by his reply.
"So you'll have an easy life, at least. While also making quite a good amount of money. That's the smartest way to live if you ask me." Exactly.
The older Miller surprised you. He seemed to have taken in everything you had told him, giving you fitting answers. All while the men next to you had moved on to the degree they had claimed as 'useless' - Engish Literature.
"Very smart of you," he added at last. You almost caught yourself giggling as the corners of your lips curled up, your hands still stuck together.
"Thanks," you could only mumble. Get yourself together. Not wanting the conversation to end, you brushed some hair that had fallen into your sight away from your face. "And what do you do? Work wise."
Joel had started picking at the label of his beer bottle, snatching his fingers off it as soon as your question hit his ear.
"I'm a contractor," he told you. Impressive.
You nodded along. "Wow... that's- you know, not an easy job."
He smiled at your comment, ducking his head slightly. You found it almost endearing in a way. "Well," his hand came up to hold onto his neck. "Much easier than studying math, I can tell ya that much."
"No," an awkward chuckle escaped your lips as you crossed your arms on top of the table. "I meant like physically."
To that he tilted his head, nodding slightly in agreement, his hand wrapped perfectly around the beer bottle again. "Guess you're right about that, yeah. I already started praying for my back and knees." He took a sip to end his statement.
You wanted to ask about the kid they had mentioned. God, you were so curious. Something about him seemed so intriguing and you had already figured out that you were most definitely captivated by his warmth. The attention he had praised you with, whether it was out of politeness or not, had only added to your fascination with the man in front of you.
Tommy's loud holler right next to you made your head snap as you found the guys cheering on one of their friends as he held two beer bottles to his lips and tilted his head back to down it all in one go. What an achievement.
In your mind, you shook your head. That New Year's resolution can wait, you decided.
Just as you were about to take another sip of your glass, you noticed the lightness of it, looking down to find it empty already. You couldn't recall ever finishing it, which was already probably not a good sign. Without a word, you got up from your seat, your glass in your grip. You made your way back to the bar, the seat you had occupied earlier was already waiting for you.
Out of the corner of her eye, Maria caught your form coming closer, making her turn towards you, a glass of beer in her hands that she was about to give a waiting guest.
"You want a refill?" She wondered as soon as you had leaned against the counter, sitting yourself down on the wooden barstool.
You shook your head. "No, I'm good for tonight."
"What?" She called out in shock, stopping right in front of you as she took your glass. "Already? Are you okay?" You only nodded. For a second, she let her eyes wander across your face, choosing to refill the cup with water and slide it over back to you. "Drink that, you'll need it."
"Thanks," you mumbled. "But I'm fine, really. Just... tired."
Maria obviously didn't believe you. The time you had spent together let her get to know you better than you had wanted.
"Really just tired?"
You wanted to respond to her and had already opened your mouth, but a deep voice from the backroom that was only accessible from behind the bar called out.
"Maria, get you-!"
"Not now, Steven!" She shouted back, her eyebrows scrunched together in annoyance. You chuckled. Steven... one of the newbies of the bar's staff, but because of his apparently previous work experience as a barista he thought of himself much higher than most of the employees - at least that's what Maria had ranted about after each shift she had with him. With angry steps, he busted through the door, his eyes immediately on your best friend.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" His voice was filled with rage, making you sit up just a bit straighter.
But Maria wasn't that easily intimidated, especially not by a man the same height as her and two years younger.
"Helping a customer, you idiot. We're here together, so do your goddamn job and stop hiding in the backroom," she snarled back at him. With a huff and a shake of his head, he turned around towards the two girls who had been waiting by the bar.
"I'm telling you, I'm gonna get fired soon," she mumbled under her breath, but clear enough for you to hear her.
You shook your head in amusement. "You're not gonna quit?"
"I won't have the patience to do that. They'll fire me because I swear to God, I'm so close to fucking beat him up." With a deep breath, she collected herself again and leaned forward, her hands on the bar top. "Now," she looked up at you. "You're tired? Of?" Of course, she knew you weren't actually physically tired.
"Drunk unfunny men," you told her as your eyes followed your fingertips that were tracing each line of the wood underneath your palms.
A whistle sound from somewhere next to you caught both of your attention.
Maria rolled her eyes. "Yeah, tell me about it," before having to leave you to serve the man who had called after her. He was already waiting for her with a smirk on his lips.
You accepted the glass of water she had left with you and downed the entire content of it quickly. Before you could even stand up to finally leave, a figure suddenly appeared to your left and blocked your way. Just as you were about to complain, not in the mood for yet another stupid comment dropping from a man's mouth, you looked up.
Joel again. He noticed your movement.
"Oh- sorry, did you wanna go back?" He motioned with his hand past him and took a step back, but only a small one because of the barstool behind him.
You shook your head with a smile. "Eh- no, no... I-"
"Another one for you?" Maria suddenly appeared again. She pointed at the empty beer bottle Joel had put down. Her eyes quickly raked over both of your faces.
He motioned a polite no to her. "Thank you, but... that's gonna be it for tonight."
"You too?" She wondered, her head nodding towards you. "What's going on with you two? Why so boring today?" A soft smirk had made its way onto her face.
With a confused facial expression, you stared at her.
The older Miller chuckled, "'m sorry. But ehm... I got a lil' girl at home. Promised her not to stay out for too long, so I gotta get back."
Maria took the empty bottle off the counter. "A good dad, I see. I respect that," she nodded.
While she was occupied with some new dirty glasses Steven had placed in front of her, Jeol turned his attention back to you.
"Sorry, what were about to say?" He asked you. "You're gonna go back?" You shook your head again, nervously you had also subconsciously started playing with your fingers again.
"No, I... I think that was enough of Tommy Miller and his friends for me."
"Yeah," he sighed, letting himself sit down on the barstool next to you. "I-" he started again but stopped himself, the tips of his fingers tapping on the wood. His hands were beautiful, you noticed. Strong. Thick-
Maybe it was the three glasses of alcohol you had in your system but you could've sworn Joel Miller was glowing in the dim light of the bar. His skin was radiating gold specs and even his hair seemed to be more than just plain brown. It was deep, auburn and soft. And his curls, good God...
Your heart rate had slightly picked up now that it was only the two of you.
Joel nodded. "I get that. They can be a bit much sometimes. I'm sorry."
"It's alright," you chuckled, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, thinking about what to say next.
The silence took over the both of you for a good few seconds. Both pairs of eyes fixed on anything but each other. You took a deep breath, followed by Joel doing the same. Silence can be so unbearable sometimes...
"So," he started again. "You're gonna stay here?"
You gulped. "Y-Yeah, yeah... I... I'm just gonna wait for Maria, we live to-"
"Oh no, girl," your best friend suddenly jumped in. "Tonight's gonna be late. With Steven here, I don't know when I'll be done." She turned to Joel. "My co-worker's an asshole that doesn't know how to do his job, so...," she shrugged.
The oldest Miller chuckled and nodded, amused at her choice of words.
"It's fine, I'll just... wait," you argued, but she was having none of it, waving her hand in front of your face.
"No, no, you should get home. You said you're leaving?" She asked the man next to you, catching him off-guard with her question.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna go now."
"Well, that's convenient. Would you mind... maybe, taking her with you?" Your best friend nudged her head towards you.
"Maria!" You shout-whispered.
But Joel just casually nodded. "Sure." And stood up immediately.
"No," you stopped him. "It's fine, really-"
"Y/N," she interrupted you again, "you really should get home." Maria raised her eyebrows at you. "You got that thing tomorrow."
"What thing?" You asked her with a tight smile on her lips.
"You know... the thing. That you need to be well-rested for."
"Maria-"
"Can I trust that you get her home safe?" She ignored you, turning to Joel. A big grin and awaiting eyes on her face.
He nodded politely. "Yes, ma'am, I promise."
"Ma'am?" She gasped with a smile, "Oh, I trust you a lot." After exchanging looks with the Miller brother, she turned back to you, slapping your hands off the counter with the washcloth she had been holding. "Now get your ass out of the bar."
Your eyes kept following her as she continued to take a step back. Followed by another step. Her hands motioned for you to leave once again, making you shake your head and Joel next to you chuckle.
With a soft sigh, you stood up.
"You good to go?" He asked you, making you look up at him with a somewhat forced smile.
"Yeah."
He opened his palm, letting you walk ahead first. After thanking your best friend for the drinks, he joined your steps but kept walking behind you. You only came to a halt as you passed Tommy's table and only because Joel spoke up. If it had been just you, you would've continued to just pass them, they wouldn't have noticed it anyway.
"We're gonna head out," he told the table, his hand tightly on his brother's shoulder.
"We?" Tommy asked, turning his body just a bit to find you a few steps next to Joel. "You're goin' together?"
"I'm gonna get her home," he nodded.
A round of hollers erupted from the rest of the guys, taking you by surprise. "GET IT, MILLER!"
"Shut the fuck up, Mike," the older Miller was quick to argue back, clearly annoyed by their reaction.
Tommy laughed, "Don't mind him, brother, he's just jealous. Right, Mike?" The rest of the group joined in, starting by teasing and poking their friend, who was the same guy that had raked his eyes up and down your body back when you were still sitting by the bar. Wonderful...
Joel only rolled his eyes. "Anyways, we're goin' now." That made his younger brother suddenly stand up and walk over to you, his arms opened wide. Before you could react, you were engulfed in a tight hug. You were only able to awkwardly pat his back with one hand.
"It was great seeing you again, sweetheart," he let you know, freeing you again, and taking a step back. "Maybe we'll see each other again."
"Yeah," you could only let out an awkward smile, "maybe." With one last pat on your upper arm, he turned to his brother, doing the same thing to his arm before joining the rest of his friend group at the table again.
With no last words, Joel continued his walk straight ahead, coming to another stop right by the door, where the hooks that had been drilled into the walls were holding the outerwear of each visitor.
"You left a coat here or somethin'?" He asked you.
You nodded and pointed. "The beige one on the right."
He got it off the hook for you and opened it for you. Slightly taken aback by his kind gesture, you thanked him with a surprised tone and turned around to get your right arm into the coat first. He helped you with your left arm as well and only turned back to the hangers to get his own jacket. You waited patiently for him before walking over towards the door, pushing it open and holding it, making sure he got through it as well. As soon as the wind of the cold January air outside hit you, you pulled your coat tighter around you, cursing at yourself for not taking a scarf with you as well.
Joel walked past you, putting on his jacket just then. You noticed he was walking towards a specific direction, clearly to where he had parked his car, but you wanted to stop him. So you did.
"You know, you really don't have to." Your voice made him turn around. "I don't know what the hell Maria was talking about. A-And you don't me that well- and I obviously don't know you either. And I totally understand if you just want to get home quickly. You really don't have to bring me home too. I'm fine with just taking the bus-"
Joel couldn't help but be amused at your sudden rambling. He chuckled at you. "The last bus probably already left. And I really don't mind." With a few steps, he came closer, stopping to keep a comfortable distance between the two of you. "Plus," he looked around for a second before locking gazes with you again, "I promised Maria that I'd get you home, so... can't break that, you know?"
For a second you just looked at him. You noticed you were wrong. It wasn't just the dim lighting in the bar. Even with the almost freezing, for Texas, temperatures outside, he still managed to look incredible. His hair still looked as soft as before and his skin was still glistening golden. You knew exactly what Maria had tried to do. She knew it. Joel was the embodiment of your type.
-
He drove a truck. Of course he did. It fit him perfectly.
The car ride turned out to be less awkward than you had imagined it would be. Thank God. Joel had turned on the radio, giving the entire situation a calming background sound while the two of you talked about your days. He had started it.
Joel asked you about what you were doing in the bar in the first place and how you had known Maria, commenting on your relationship with, 'You two seem very close'. So your story about how you had moved away for college and came back only a few months ago started. He continued to listen to you attentively, nodding along to each word you spoke, giving you a comment here and there, but choosing to stay quiet for most of the time and let you tell your story. After you were finished, another moment of silence washed over you. So you decided to change the subject.
"You said you got a little girl at home?" You remembered the stupid comment one of Tommy's friends had dropped - you had already forgotten his name. And his answer to Maria's question hadn't left your mind ever since it came from his lips.
With your eyes on his side profile, you could see the slight curl of his lips.
"Yeah... I- I got a daughter," he took a deep breath. "Sarah."
You nodded. It warmed your heart the way he started speaking oh so softly.
"How old is she?" You wanted to continue the conversation, noticing the fond look on his face while he was concentrating on the street after you had given him your address, and he told you he knew the way since he had been in that area for work before.
"7. Her birthday‘s in August." You almost chuckled at his added comment, to let you know that her birthday was in the Summer. It was small but sweet.
There was another question burning the tip of your tongue, begging to be let out, but you knew that it was in no way your business to be asking that question. Yet, you were still intrigued about... her mother? As if he could read your mind, Joel continued.
"And I told her I wouldn't stay out too long. It's a school night, so I gotta get her out of bed early in the morning." So...? Single father? No, maybe his partner is on a business trip, who knows...
"Understandable," you nodded, swallowing down the other question and ignoring the voice repeating it inside your head. You couldn't help it. As much as you would've wanted to keep your thoughts sane, it was close to impossible when the man next to you was as attractive as Joel Miller. You had only met him a mere hours ago, yet he was able to captivate you in such a short period. Damn his looks and kind attention when you're speaking.
The rest of the relatively short car ride the two of you spent in mostly silence. Neither one of you wanted to come off as too strong and ask too many questions that might suddenly feel too personal. So you decided to stay quiet. Even though several questions were bubbling up deep inside you - it wasn't much different for Joel.
He brought the car to a halt right in front of your block. You glanced at him.
"Thank you." He was already smiling at you. "You- you really didn't have to, but... thanks."
He nodded, "My pleasure. Better stepping into the car of a stranger than taking a taxi, right?"
"Right," you chuckled, reaching out for the handle to push the door open. With one foot out in the cold again, you turned towards him for one last time. "Good night, Joel."
"Night, Y/N." He copied your sweet goodbye wave after you had closed the door and headed over to the entrance door. Only when you had gotten safe inside the building, Joel started to drive away.
"Stepping into the car of a stranger and a taxi is the same fucking thing, you idiot," he mumbled to himself, shaking his head in disappointment at his own misery. But at least it made you laugh.
-
You were finished with taking off your make-up and your skincare routine and had switched out your outside clothing for some comfortable pyjama pants and an old shirt you had kept from the musical production your High School had put up. The entire time you had spent in the bathroom, your mind had been anywhere but in the same room as you. You couldn't stop thinking about him. His voice. His side-profile. His lips. His hair- God... his curls. You shouldn't. You knew you shouldn't think of him that much. For fuck's sake, you had only met the man a few hours ago and suddenly he was occupying your mind more than what was then playing on the TV in front of you.
Your eyes switched to the clock Maria had put up on the wall to your left. It didn't fit the rest of the furniture even a bit. But she had found it at a garden sale and got it 'for a good deal', you remember her saying. The place needed a clock though and in that moment, you were thankful that you had one.
11:30 pm here, so 00:30 in the morning in New York.
Knowing your sister, she was probably still up and wouldn't go to sleep until closer to 2, or even past that - that girl needed to figure out her sleep schedule, but that was her worry and not yours. You only benefited from it.
With a big deep breath in, you pushed yourself off the couch and stumped over into the hallway to fish your phone out of your coat's pocket. Maybe she was actually still awake.
You clicked through your address list until your eyes fell on Izzy's number and you pressed to call her. Your feet took your back into the living room, letting you fall onto the cushion again.
It only took a few rings before you heard her voice.
"Hello? Are you okay?"
You chuckled. "Yeah, I am. Hi"
"Hey, how are you?"
After you had gotten through the casual formalities and explained to her what you were doing right now and why you had to call her, you were finally able to drop your first question.
"You remember Tommy Miller?"
A groan from the other line made you giggle. "Oh God... yes, why?"
"Did you know he has a brother?" You wondered.
"Ye-" she gasped, "YES, I do know! Omg yes, of course. Joel, I think his name was."
"Yeah, it is."
"Mm," Izzy hummed. You could hear the smile on her lips through her voice. "He was... Jesus Christ, he was handsome."
You laughed at her reaction. "He still is, to be honest."
"IS HE?!" She almost shouted into the speaker before remembering to keep her voice down as her husband was sleeping only a few rooms away from her.
"Yup, I met him today," you told her.
Another giggle came from her. "Ooooh, how?"
"Tommy was in the bar Maria works at, and he asked me to join him and his friends at a table, and his brother joined in too."
"Aah, okay okay," she nodded her head even though you couldn't see her. "And?"
You sighed, standing up to walk over into the kitchen. "And now I wanted to call you and ask you what you know about him." Your fingers brushed over the counter that desperately needed to be cleaned - you made a mental note.
"To be honest, not that much. He was neither a jock or a nerd or something like that, you know? Just... a guy... a really attractive one though. And he was... I don't know, like... two... three years above me, I think?" You listened to her talk while your eyes raked over the pantry, hoping to find something to snack on before you'd go to bed.
"OH-" She suddenly raised her voice, making you have to pull your phone away from your ear. "He was also a singer." Well, that caught your attention.
"A singer?"
"Yeah," she giggled. "Like a really good one, actually. That's why a lot of girls liked him. He played something on his guitar during one of our musicals. I don't remember which one, though." A singer...
"Interesting," you smirked to yourself at the new information. Plus the fact that you had found the last bits of your favourite chips package in the very back of the pantry.
She hummed in agreement. You could hear shuffling in the background but ignored it. "And," Izzy started again. "There was a rumour about him, but... I don't know if that's true."
"What rumour?"
"Apparently," she made sure to use a different tone with the first word, letting you know that it truly was only a rumour she had been confronted with. "Later in college, he got his high school sweetheart pregnant. When they were like 19 or 20. And that's why she dropped out. But I don't know how true that is."
'Not all of us can't ever leave the house because they had a kid when they were a teenager', you remembered the comment that came from one of Tommy's friends.
If he was two or three years older than your sister... and his daughter is 7...
A rumour... possibly not so much.
"Yeah, I don't think that's a rumour."
"What?!" She gasped. "Seriously?!"
Back on the sofa, you put your hand into the pack of chips and took one out to put into your mouth. "He told me about his daughter. She's seven, so that would work if he had her around 20, maybe like 22."
"I don't know, that's too much math for me, but if you say so, I believe you," she rambled before taking a deep breath again. "Wow... I never believed that. He didn't seem like the guy something like that would happen to... especially not in Texas, Jesus... But wait..."
"What?" You wondered with a full mouth after deciding that instead of one, five chips at once sounded much better.
"So, did he really leave his girlfriend, though?"
"Huh?" You scrunched your eyebrows in confusion.
"Some people back then said that they broke up after finding out she was pregnant. Is that true?"
You waited for a second. "Ehm... I don't know, maybe. But the daughter's with him."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah," you swallowed down the content in your mouth before taking two chips again. "He said he'll have to wake her up in the morning because of school."
"You know, I originally wanted to ask you all of those questions," you chuckled at the situation, your sister joining in.
"Sorry, I don't remember much else. Like I said, he was older than us, so... yeah." A moment of silence divided you two, only shuffling on her side and crunches from your side filled the phone line. Izzy was the first to break it. "But... do you remember Abigail? I think she had like History with him... I could ask her if you want."
"No," you brushed off her question, "it's not THAT important. I just... wanted to see what you'd know about him."
"Mm," a somewhat sad hum came from her. "A bit nosey, are you?"
You chuckled, "I mean," feeling your cheeks getting slightly warmer than before, "he IS really handsome. And he was really... attentive at the bar."
"You don't care about the age?" She wondered.
You scrunched your eyebrows, deciding you had enough of the chips you remembered to be much better than they actually were. "He's only like 31. That's not that much older."
"Maybe not in your eyes."
"And why would I care about anyone else's?" You asked her, throwing the colourful package onto the coffee table in front of you. "And even- I just- I only wanted to know a few things about him. I don't even know if I, you know... want something from him. Maybe he's got a new girlfriend right now, who knows."
"Okay, but I'm not saying you should throw yourself at him, you idiot," your sister chuckled. "Just... kinda like tiptoe towards him and see where things go. You're pretty, he's handsome, from what I can remember, so it can't hurt."
"Yeah... we'll see... It's very unlikely that I'll ever see him again even-" you stopped yourself for a second before mumbling, "Maybe in the bar again, actually... I don't know."
The next words of your sister went past your attention span as the front door opened. You shot up from your spot in the living room and walked over into the hallway, an already smirking Maria glancing right at you.
"Y/N?" Izzy's voice repeated your name a second time before you caught it.
"Yeah? Sorry, what did you say?" you apologised, motioning frantically for your best friend to take off her shoes and sit down on the couch.
Your sister chortled softly on the other end of the line. "It's alright. I just said I gotta go. I gotta get up earlier than usual tomorrow."
"Yeah, yeah, okay," you pulled your friend by her arm just as she tried to escape into her room. "Thank you for the info, and I'll talk to you soon, okay?"
"Alright, bye," she sang into the phone.
"Bye," you quickly ended the call, flipping your phone closed and throwing it onto one of the cushions.
Maria fell onto the couch with a giggle.
"What the fuck was that?" You snapped at her. "Yeah, it's really late, Maria, you were right."You looked down at your imaginary watch on your wrist before staring at her with raised eyebrows. "It was very necessary that Joel drove me home."
"You are very welcome," she leaned back into the backrest with a smug smile on her lips. "How was the drive?"
"How was-?! How do you think it was?!" You continued to stand right in front of her, arms crossed in front of your chest.
"Honestly," she started with a deep breath, taking the pack of chips from the coffee table into her grip, "going off of the looks you two gave each other, I'm gonna be very surprised if you tell you you didn't do it on the backseat of his car."
You closed your eyes for a moment and pressed your lips together, trying to hold back a burst of laughter that was about to spill. After finding her gaze again, you answered her. "We didn't do it on the backseat of his car."
"What?!" She shouted out. "Are you kiddin' me?! That's disappointing." And shook her head before popping a chip into her mouth.
With a shake of your own head, you made yourself comfortable on one of the single chairs you had placed right next to the sofa.
"I swear to God, that man was eye-fucking you."
"Jesus," you chuckled, a hand brushing over your face and rubbing your eyes.
"No, really. I mean, he was doing it respectfully, which kinda confused me, not gonna lie. But he still looked at you a little too hot and bothered. And girl," her smirk only grew when she eyed you closely, "I thought you were about to lick his skin the way you were looking at him."
You couldn't hold back your laughter any longer. With a loud chortle, you leaned forward, hiding your face behind your hands. Maria joined you.
"I'm serious!" She laughed out loud.
You looked up at her. Your face now clear red as you realised you got caught, "I mean... I wanted to."
"I knew it!" She jumped up, throwing the package of chips into your lap. "I knew it! You ain't sly, girly!"
For a few moments longer, the two of you shared rounds of giggles before you could catch yourself again and sat back down normally.
"Yeah, well..." you shrugged, brushing some hair out of your face.
Maria snatched the chips package back again. "Then why not in his car?"
"Ths situation wasn't like that. We... we talked. I honestly didn't think that he was even looking at me the way you just described it," chuckling again at the memory of the words she had chosen.
"Yeah, well... I've seen enough men at bars and how they look at women, so... yeah," she shook her head slightly. "He did it exactly like that, just, like I said, with... a little bit more respect- I don't know how to explain it."
"It's okay," you giggled, stopping her by showing her the palm of your hand.
After she finished the rest of the chips, she threw the now empty package next to her onto the sofa, the thought of the last bits of crumbles possibly falling between the seat cushions made you shiver.
"So, how was the drive? Seriously."
You shrugged. "It was good. We had a nice conversation. I talked about college, he talked about his daughter-"
"Listen, I'm not one for dads. But..."
"Hot." You ended the sentence for her.
"So hot," she agreed with you, biting down on her lip. "He really is quite attractive."
You nodded along with her before speaking up again, "I called my sister just now," nudging your head towards the flip phone you had thrown onto the couch. "And asked her about him because they went to school together-"
"And?"
"Not much else. She doesn't really know a lot about him. Just that he used to sing apparently, and... he's a young dad."
"What about the mother of the kid?"
You could only shrug again. "No clue. Izzy said that the rumour is- or, there was a rumour that he left the girl that he got pregnant in college. BUT... he said that he needs to get up early because of her school tomorrow... so, I'm confused."
"Maybe... he got another kid? So not the kid from the pregnant High School girl, but from someone a little later?" She wondered out loud.
No, you had done the math correctly. "Very unlikely. Because Izzy's 26 now. And she said Joel was about two or three years above her, which would make him around 30 now. And in the car, he told me that his daughter is turning 8 this year. If we're going just by estimations, it would work that he had her around 20-22 and not going to college because of it. I doubt that he left his high school sweetheart that he got pregnant at 20, only to keep the kid he got from another woman a bit later. I mean- everything's possible, but I doubt it."
Maria blinked at you. Twice. "You're confusing me with your calculations, but damn... you really thought a lot about that, huh?"
You let your head fall back with a chuckle. "I had some time, yeah." Then a groan echoed through the room. "Ugh, but I don't even know if or when I'd be able to see him again."
"But you know Tommy, maybe he can help," Maria tried to explain, but you glared at her with an unamused facial expression.
"I'm not gonna ask him to tell me where his brother is or to give me his number, Maria."
She looked at you with a somewhat surprised look, before standing up and raising her hands in defence. "I'm just trying to help you here, okay?"
"Yeah I know, but he could also be in a relationship for all we know."
"Not with the way-"
"He was looking at me, I know, I know, blah blah blah-" A sudden cushion that was thrown at your face made you shut your mouth. You were about to argue back, but Maria beat you to it, pointing a strict finger at you, while her other hand had made a ball out of the chips package.
"Don't 'blah blah blah' me."
You chuckled at her reaction. She scoffed as she turned towards the kitchen.
Just as you thought the conversation was over and she was on her way out, she stopped to take a quick look at you.
"I think that if he was a real gentleman and if the looks he gave you were real, he'll find a way to contact you. It's a small town, it can't be that hard." With her last statement, she exited the room, leaving you sunken into the armchair.
joel asking you to watch sarah is the perfect excuse to study somewhere that isn’t your apartment. its your last semester of undergrad and your neighbors provide anything but a quiet study environment and the stress is piling up. so what happens when joel comes home on a friday night, sarah having gone to bed hours ago, to you curled up in a chair at the kitchen table with papers and various large textbooks strewn about.
masterlist
Word Count: ~1k
Warnings: 18+ implied smut, pre/no-outbreak joel miller, stress, anxiety, final exams deserve their own warning, implied age gap (reader is a senior in college), FLUFF, joel being the boyfriend we all deserve, joel calls reader “sweet girl” and “my girl”, no physical description of the reader (he strokes your hair and you wear his shirt), no use of Y/N.
this is entirely self-indulgent so while a major is not explicitly stated i’m a psych major and one of the classes i took was adolescent psychology. the professor was awful and i did in fact cry over the class, many times. this is also my first fic since like 2017 so hopefully it’s good, it hasn’t been proofread. enjoy <3
You wouldn't really call it babysitting. You’d been dating Joel for a while now so when he asked if you could come over on weeknights to make sure that Sarah wasn’t getting into any trouble, “Sarah? Getting into trouble?” you immediately agreed. It was nice to have somewhere to go after a busy day of lecture after lecture and work on homework somewhere that wasn’t curled uncomfortably on your couch in your apartment, headphones in, desperately trying to drown out the almost comical stomping of your upstairs neighbors.
“I’d love to,” you smiled as Joel’s face physically relaxed at your response. “Thank you, darlin’, really you’re a lifesaver.”
“Am I still a lifesaver if I tell you that I’m just using you for the peace and quiet?” you teased.
Truth be told, this was your last semester of undergrad and you were grateful for the distraction. Between applying to grad schools and trying to keep up with your classes, it was nice to hang out with Sarah. You’d gotten close with her since dating Joel and you loved spending time with her. Plus since Joel worked pretty late some nights, it also gave you somewhere quiet to work.
You liked your apartment, it was cozy, all things considered, and it was nice to have your own space. That was until your upstairs neighbors moved in and decided that running laps up and down their apartment was a great way to pass the time. There was no amount of drowning them out that could make any kind of studying successful and you’d never really been able to study at the library, so Joel’s kitchen table it was.
It was the Friday before finals week and everything felt like it was crashing down around you. Assignments were piling up, professors were waiting until the last possible minute to grade any of the semester’s work, and you were overwhelmed. So here you are, textbooks littering the kitchen table and notebook paper full of your scribbled notes haphazardly strewn around. It felt like you’d been staring at the same pages of your textbook for hours and you couldn’t help a few tears of frustration falling onto the notebook in front of you. In fact, you were so knee-deep into making a study guide for your adolescent psychology class, you didn’t even hear the front door open and shut.
It wasn’t until you heard the scraping of a chair on the floor and heard Joel, brows furrowed in concern, saying your name in a soft voice that you noticed him. You straightened up quickly, suddenly very aware of the mess you’d made on his table and the tears streaming down your face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come in,” you sniffle, wiping your face with your sleeve and sighing. His face immediately softened and he leaned forward to place a comforting hand on your shoulder. “Hey no, no don’t apologize, sweet girl. C’mere, what's the matter?”
As soon as he asked it was like all of the stress and anxiety came barrelling forward, slumping to rest your head in your crossed arms, “My fucking brain hurts.” He exhales a hollow laugh and moves his hand from your shoulder to stroke your hair gently. You turn your head to look at him, “It’s just… I’m so tired, it’s like my professors are trying to kill me and then I think about how even when I graduate, I’ll just be back in school to get my master's come fall. And don’t get me wrong, I want my master’s but sometimes it's just a lot, I guess.”
He nods and continues stroking your hair reassuringly as you talk, hanging on to your every word searching for a way to comfort you. You shake your head and sigh softly, “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I just dumped all that on you.” He smiles at you warmly and tilts your chin up to cup your face. “You’ve got nothin’ to apologize for, I want you to know that you can always come to me.”
You find yourself leaning into his touch as he gently strokes your cheek with his thumb. “Thank you, Joel.”
“C’mere, darlin’.” He pulls you into him, pressing a kiss to your head and enveloping you in his arms, surrounding you with him. His smell, his warmth, all things Joel. “You’re the smartest person I know. Let’s just take a little breather, get you some water, and go sit on the couch away from all this.” He motions to the papers scattered on the table. “Sound good?”
You nod into his chest, not wanting to pull away from his embrace just yet. He chuckles and stands up, leading you to the couch. “You sit, I’m gonna grab you a glass of water” You crack a small smile and mock salute him as he goes to walk away. His own smile grows at the sight of you relaxing even just a little bit, “There’s my girl.”
He comes back with a glass of water and a blanket. He hands you the glass before settling in next to you, draping the blanket over your laps, and pulling your legs into his lap as you curl into his side. He looks over at you and smiles, his eyes focusing on your shirt for the first time tonight. “Is that my shirt?”
“Maybe,” you shrug jokingly, “it was absolutely pouring when I got out of my last class and I was parked down the street. So when I got here, I just grabbed one of your shirts and threw it on.”
“I like it, looks good on you.” He presses a kiss to your head. “Now do you wanna talk about what all’s worryin’ you with school or do you just wanna take the rest of the night off?”
You place the glass of water on a coaster on the side table and turn back to face Joel. You traced a finger over his jawline before placing your hand on his cheek and leaning in. He quirked an eyebrow up at you before closing the gap between you, capturing your bottom lip between his. Your lips continue to move against his, wrapping your arms around his neck to pull him down closer to you, his hands finding purchase around your waist.
A/N: another chapter in the books! I don’t want to spoil too much of what happens, so I guess you’re just gonna have to read and find out ;)
~word count: 8.3k~
Pairing | Joel Miller x horseback riding instructor f!reader
Summary: Joel and Tommy have a serious conversation, you and Joel talk things out and discuss the future of your relationship.
Warnings: smut, protected piv, dom/sub vibes, Joel is a whimpering mess, verbal consent, teasing, edging, denial of orgasm, sub! Joel, oral (f receiving) sex in public (on a bathroom sink) angst, panic attacks, discussion of relationship trauma, emotions, forgiveness, accountability, fluff, reader has no physical descriptions, readers nickname is clover because you’re Joel’s lucky charm, (+18) minors dni!
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Tommy Miller had only seen his brother have a serious meltdown on one other occasion; the night Joel came home to find his wife had up and left him and Sarah. The younger Miller brother almost didn’t know how to initially react when he found Joel crouched down against the side of his truck with his face buried deep into his hands.
“Joel?..” Tommy hesitantly asked as he crouched down in front of his older brother. “Hey man, what’s goin’ on? Do you wanna sit out here and let the skeeters get us, or do you want to sit in your truck?”
Joel wordlessly pulled himself up to his feet, refusing to make eye contact with his brother out of shame. Once Tommy unlocked the door, Joel quickly climbed into the passenger seat and slammed the door behind him.
Tommy took a moment for himself to mentally figure out exactly how he was going to approach this extremely tender situation. On the one hand, he understood why his brother was freaking out over the news he received from you. On the other, Tommy knew that he was going to have to knock some sense into Joel before he would have the chance to really spiral.
“Alright, before we get down into the nitty gritty stuff, you—didn’t just go and break up with her did you? Cus’ if ya did I’m gonna have no choice but to smack you upside the head.” Tommy asked as he pulled the driver's side door shut.
“I didn’t break up with her.” Joel murmured with his back facing the center console and his arms crossed over his chest in a protective stance.
“Well, ain’t that a relief.” Tommy responded with an exasperated sigh.
“At least..I don’t think I did. Oh god, did I? I just told her I needed some space to breathe and that we can talk when I’m ready. Does—does she think that we broke up? Fuck. I look like such an asshole right now! What the hell was I thinking?!”
“Woah woah woah. Easy there cowboy. Let’s not go and get ourselves all worked up, okay? Joel..can you look at me please? C’mon brother. I just wanna help you out here, but I can’t do that if your ugly mug is facin’ the other way.”
Joel grumbled out a response as he pushed himself as far into the corner of the seat that his broad frame would allow him to.
“Joel, c’mon. Ain’t gonna get much talkin’ done if you’re gonna be a little shit.” He gently placed his hand along his shoulder giving it a soft reassuring squeeze.
“I’m just terrified that this is all becoming too fuckin’ much for me to handle Tommy.” Joel responded with a deep sigh as he reluctantly faced his brother finally.
“..your relationship with Clover is becoming too much for you to handle? Brother, just this mornin’ you were goin’ on about how you want to marry her and that you want me to be the best man at your wedding.”
“Yeah and jus’ under 24 hours ago we confessed our feelings and had sex for the first time. Then this mornin’ we went at it like fuckin’ rabbits, and I brought up the marriage thing again. Then I find out that Sarah called Clover mom, and for fuck sakes Tommy, can’t I just feel for a minute?”
“Yeah, Ryder told me about how Sarah called Clover mom. So that’s what you’re really all freaked out about. Ain’t it?”
“Yeah.” Joel responded flatly.
“Alright well, how ‘bout you start off by tellin’ me what about this is freaking you out? I can make some educated guesses, but I’d rather you tell me.”
Joel responded with a huff as he sank back against the passenger seat, looking up at the weathered fabric ceiling. “Tommy, you and I both know that this is the first woman to get close to my daughter since—y’know. Not only that, but this changes the entire dynamic of our relationship.”
“How so?”
Joel looked over at his brother as if he had suddenly sprouted five heads. “How so? Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that I have to now think about the idea of co-parenting with someone after raising Sarah primarily on my own? How about the fact that I have to think about finances, and living with a romantic partner? How about—”
Tommy cut him off almost immediately. “Now hold on just a minute here. You’re makin’ it sound like this is some terrible thing that has happened. Co-parenting? Clover moving in? Shared finances? Brother, these are all good and exciting things to think about.”
“Tommy, what if this is just movin’ too fuckin’ fast for me to keep up with? I’m scared that these inevitable changes are going to ruin the relationship I have with her. What if down the line she ends up not wanting to be Sarah’s step-mom? What if we break up and things get ugly? Tommy, I can’t go through that shit all over again. I can’t come home to another fuckin’ empty house with no explanation. I can’t have my heart fuckin’ ripped out of my chest again, because—because I love so fuckin’ hard.” Joel spoke exasperatedly as he vigorously wiped the tears that were beginning to stream down his face. His voice cracked, and his throat felt raw as he finally broke down into heavy sobs that had his entire body trembling.
Tommy was immediately reaching for his brother over the center console. He did his best to wrap Joel up in the tightest hug possible from the angle he was at. His heart was snapping in half right down the middle as he did his best to try and bring him back down to earth.
“Joel, hey..hey, big brother..Joel, it’s okay. You listen to me alright? It’s okay. I know you love so fuckin’ hard, and you don’t want your heart to end up broken and I can’t blame you for that, I really can’t. But now I need’ya to listen to me real good now. That woman upstairs? She loves you. She loves you and your daughter unconditionally. She’s a dime a dozen, and I have never seen you light up so much around someone before. Your eyes fuckin’ twinkle man. They twinkle! Relationships are hard. They’re scary, and complicated and easy to get caught up in. Change is hard too, but you’re one of the strongest fuckin’ people I know. You’re my big brother, for fuck sakes. You’re the person I’ve looked up to since we were little shits.” Tommy was holding back his own tears from falling as he held onto his brother tightly.
“What I’m tryin’ to say is that you ain’t got nothin’ to worry about with that one. She loves you, and you love her. She’s the best damn thing to happen to ya other than when Sarah was born. I don’t believe in all that soulmate mumbo jumbo crap, but y’all? Y’all got somethin’ fuckin’ real. Like that shit out of those cheesy romance movies that Sarah loves to watch. Besides, if y’all did break up? Man, I think I’d stop believing in love entirely.”
Joel was holding onto his brother equally as tight. He wasn’t sure what he would do if he didn’t have the privilege of having a brother that was so supportive of him. Tommy just always knew exactly what to say when it came to situations like these. “Tommy..” Joel began to utter softly, “I don’t have a goddamn clue what I would do without ya.”
“Oh, you shut the hell up. I will not be sheddin’ any tears tonight! Don’t go and sayin’ sappy shit like that or else I will cry Joel.” Tommy playfully threatened him as he slowly pulled back from the hug.
Both Miller brothers sat in silence for a few minutes, sans the crickets chirping their nighttime tune, and the occasional soft hoot of an owl in one of the pine trees surrounding the property.
“Tommy?..” Joel softly asked as he broke through the silence. “D’ya think..I should go in there and talk this out with her tonight? I–don’t want her goin’ to bed thinkin’ that we’ve broken up, or for her to think that i’m upset with her cus’ i’m not..and I just think maybe I should–” He was cut off by Tommy literally holding his hand up in the air to signal him to stop talking.
“No. I don’t think you should go and talk to her tonight. Now, before you go and get your panties all in a twist, lemme explain my reasoning. I know this pretty much goes against your nature..but you gotta give her some space tonight. Y’all just dropped the love bomb on each other yesterday, and then proceeded to fuck like bunnies for half the mornin.’ Not only that, but she’s probably g’nna spend the night with Ryder and have some girl time. Y’know pillow fights and scissorin’ each other. Girly stuff.”
“Tommy, I don’t think they’re fuckin’ scissorin’ each other. D’ya ever think with that pea sized brain of yours?” Joel responded with a light snicker.
“Will ya let me finish? Sheesh. As I was sayin’, I think that tonight you go in there and spend some time with your kiddo. G’on n’hug her real tight. Read her and El a bedtime story and then tomorrow morning, you and Clover can talk. You’ve put yourself through enough emotional turmoil today, big brother. Tomorrow is a new day, and I don’t need you thinkin’ yourself into a hole, alright? This is your Clover we’re talkin’ about here. Not Sarah’s mom, not any of the other women you’ve been with. You ain’t gotta stress, alright?”
Joel nodded his head begrudgingly because deep down he knew his brother was right. Talking to you tonight was not going to make the situation better. Tomorrow was a new day, and he just had to trust his gut feeling that everything was going to be okay.
“You’re right.” Joel muttered under his breath.
“What was that? I, Tommy Miller, is right about somethin’ for a change?” He had the biggest grin on his face as Joel reached over and lightly punched him in his bicep.
“Yeah, y’heard me. Don’t go and let it get to that already massive head of yours.” Joel teasingly warned him.
“Pshh.” Tommy replied with a scoff, “I would never.”
“Mhm. I ain’t too sure about that.”
When Ryder found you in the upstairs bathroom, her heart sank at the sight of you pruning up in the tub. Your knees were pulled up to your chest with your cheek resting against your kneecap. The water was room temperature at this point, but you didn’t have the heart, nor care to move. Maybe you might have been acting a tad dramatic, but even if that were to be true, there was no denying the present pain you were feeling in your heart.
“Oh, babe..That bad, huh?” Ryder softly spoke as she went to sit down on the edge of the tub.
“I just..I thought he would be happy..” Your voice was barely above a whisper as a stray tear rolled down your cheek.
“Honey, I'm sure he is. Guys can just be..well, weird sometimes. I’m sure Tommy successfully knocked some sense into his head, and then you guys will be able to talk it through tomorrow, okay?”
You let out a deep sigh as you lifted your chin to the side so you could briefly make eye contact with your best friend. “Do you..think i’m overreacting about this right now? Everything was fine until I told him about Sarah calling me mom this afternoon and then it was like something suddenly flipped in him. I was already nervous to bring it up to him because I know that it is a big deal, but I didn’t think it would..freak him out that much.”
“Clove, you’re not overreacting about this at all. I think it’s completely valid that you’re upset over how he reacted to the news. I would have felt the same way if I was in your position. From what Tommy has told me, Joel hasn’t had it easy in the romance department, and you’re his..first real girlfriend since Sarah’s mom left. I’m sure he is excited to take this next step with you, but I can also understand why he was feeling a little overwhelmed.”
“Yeah, he hasn’t had it easy, and the last thing I wanted to do was stress him out over this. I think what’s hurting me the most is he was so focused on the logistic changes, and not the sentimental value? I don’t know if that makes sense, but he immediately brought up the fact that I would have to move in, and us co-parenting and finances..it just took away from the moment y’know?”
Ryder gently reaches for your hand that is now resting along the side of the smooth porcelain tub. She interlocks her fingers through yours and gives your hand a reassuring squeeze. “Clove, I completely understand where you’re coming from. If Tommy and I were in that situation, and he acted like that? I would be pretty hurt by it as well. Your feelings, and his feelings are valid. It’s all gonna work out baby. I promise. Now, let’s get you out of this tub and into some comfy pj’s and then you and I can snuggle all night? How’s that sound?”
You squeeze her hand back gently with a small smile tugging on the corner of your lips as you gaze up at your best friend lovingly. “You wanna snuggle all night with me? Just like old times?”
“Baby, of course I do. I can even ask Tommy if he can make us some tea?” She gently lets go of your hand and grabs a towel just as you're standing up from the tub. You’re shivering slightly from the slight chill in the air and being in lukewarm water for too long as she wraps the fluffy towel around your body.
“That sounds perfect.”
When Joel and Tommy return to the house Tommy could sense that his brother is torn about waiting to talk to you until tomorrow morning. The younger Miller shakes his head disapprovingly. Joel mutters under his breath as he saunters down the hall instead. He knows Tommy is right, but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to be stubborn about it.
He stops just outside Ellie and Sarah’s door that is half open. He can hear Ellie telling yet another ghost story from her book. Their girlish giggles are infectious as a warm smile graces his face. He knocks softly before gently pushing the door open.
“Daaad.” Sarah giggles as she playfully tosses her pillow at him. “What are you doing here? El was just getting to the best part!”
He catches the pillow with a soft chuckle. “Well, I was thinking maybe I could read to you girls tonight?”
“What about Clover?” Sarah softly asks as a frown slowly spreads across her face.
“Oh, she’s spendin’ some time with Ryder tonight. They need their girly time together y’know?”
Sarah and Ellie both look unconvinced by his answer, but agree nonetheless.
Ellie tosses him her book from the top bunk and he catches it with ease.
“You kids gonna make this old man climb all the way up there?” He muses with a gentle grin.
Both girls look at each other before giggling. “It’s not that high up, and you aren’t that old!”
Joel lets out an annoyed huff as he shakes his head. “Little shits. You’re lucky I love ya both so much.” He murmurs as he slowly climbs up the bunk stairs. “Move over and make some room.” He curses under his death when his head accidentally bonks into the ceiling of the top bunk.
When he finally gets situated, Ellie and Sarah are already snuggling up on either side of his shoulders as he opens up to the chapter Ellie left off on and begins to softly read. At some point, both girls doze off, and so does he with the book open and resting flat against his chest.
You’re the first to emerge from your bedroom the following morning. It’s half past 5 a.m when you throw on one of Joel’s sweatshirts and grab your book and pen before heading downstairs. Your footsteps are quiet as you don’t want to accidentally wake anyone up. You make yourself a fresh pot of coffee and head down to the dock. The lake is still with a gentle cloak of fog dusting across the surface as you sink down along the edge of the dock. Your legs loosely dangle above the surface as you languidly swing your legs back and forth. You scribble something down in your book as you finish up on the page you left off on. Your mind is at peace as you allow yourself to leave the present world and transport yourself into a fictional one.
It was around 7:30 when Joel had somehow climbed out of the top bunk without disturbing Sarah and Ellie. He bonked his head yet again as he quietly descended down the bunk steps. He rubs the sleep from his eyes as he trudges down the hallway and into the kitchen. Tommy is up and leaning against the counter as he glanced out the kitchen window where he has a clear view of where you’ve been sitting for what he can infer has been a couple of hours.
Joel spots your sitting Silhouette at the end of the dock as he pours himself a cup of coffee. “Mornin’ Tommy. How long has..she been out there?”
“Mornin’ brother. Not sure. She was out there when I got up, so maybe for a couple hours?” Tommy responds with a shrug as he takes another sip of his coffee. “Y’gonna go out there and talk things out?”
Joel sighs as he sinks back against the otherside of the counter. “Yeah, I’m plannin’ on it. Kinda nervous if I’m bein’ honest. I don’t even know where to start..” he trails off with a deep frown painted on his lips.
“Good. You should be nervous. Being nervous means that you give a shit. If you walked up to her all confident n’shit, she wouldn’t appreciate it.”
Joel couldn’t help but chuckle at his brother's words. He was absolutely right. You would not appreciate him going in and acting like he didn’t fuck up last night. “Yeah, she wouldn’t appreciate that. I will say after you and I talked last night, I definitely feel a lot better than I did before.”
“I’m glad I was at least able to calm you down. I know it was really upsetting for you, but I’m relieved that you’ve come to your senses. You just gotta be raw and honest and talk it out. Let her know you’re sorry and that you want to work things out.” He reached over and gently gave Joel’s shoulder a squeeze. “Get on out there and make up with your girl, lover boy.”
Joel playfully pushed him away with a roll of his eyes. “Alright. Alright. I’m goin’ now.” He took another nervous sip of his coffee before he left the kitchen and slipped out past the porch door. His palms were sweaty as he slowly walked down the dock, and it felt like his heart was about to fall right out of his ass. He swallowed his pride as he slowly sank down along the dock next to you. He held the mug between his thighs as his feet dangled above the surface of the lake.
“What’re you readin?’” He softly asked you as he glanced over in your direction. He watched the way your eyes skimmed over the page you were currently reading. He was trying to detect any emotion on your face, but you were doing a pretty damn good job of hiding anything that you were presently feeling.
“Game of Thrones.” You curtly responded before gently closing the book between your fingers to hold the page down. “Book number three, A Storm of Swords.”
“I’ve only read the first one.” He admitted softly as he nervously adjusted his posture. He could already feel sweat beading up along the back of his neck and below his hairline.
Relax. Relax, Joel. You just need to let her know that you’re sorry.
“Do you believe in soulmates, Joel?” Your question was unexpected for both you, and him, but after reading about how deeply devoted Oberyn Martell was to his soulmate and lover, Ellaria Sand, you couldn’t help but ask if Joel believed in soulmates like you did.
“I think I do. Well, at least in some capacity I do. I think there’s definitely a person out there for everyone. I’ve uh—never researched the topic or anything like that.” He cleared his throat as he rested his one hand between your two bodies. “Why do you ask?”
“Oberyn Martell was devoted to his soulmate and lover, Ellaria Sand, who could produce him no legitimate heirs as she was born a bastard. Despite this, she blessed him with several daughters. Oberyn's demise is caused by his desire to avenge his sister Elia Martell who is brutally murdered by ser Gregor Clegane. Ellaria is desperate to change her lover's mind as she fears for his life, and he refuses to listen. Driven by his lust for revenge, he grows cocky during the duel and is murdered in front of Ellaria by The Mountain.”
Joel can feel his stomach churn with unease as he tries to piece together why you felt it was necessary to disclose this information to him. You could tell that he was deep in thought by the way his brows furrowed and his eyes shifted to the calm lake below. “Clove, what does this have to do with yours and I’s relationship?”
“I’m telling you their tragic story because it’s relevant to what we’re presently going through, Joel. If Oberyn would have listened to Ellaria’s concerns, he would still be alive. If they had come to a mutual agreement, he would have ultimately realized that his lust for revenge would be in vain. While this takes place in a fantasy realm, and we live in the real world, I just want us to..be able to communicate our feelings on a mutual ground. I want you to feel like you’re being heard, but I also want to feel the same for myself.”
Joel let out a soft breath as his shoulders relaxed and slumped forward. He nodded his head in agreement, letting you know that he was fully listening and understanding what you were explaining to him. “I understand. I want that as well..and I know that a relationship is not a one-way street. I don’t want our relationship to be like that. I want it to be a two-way street where we both are able to discuss and communicate our issues.”
You both fell silent for a moment before Joel grew enough courage to finally say what he needed to say. He turned his body so he was fully facing you. “Clover, I am deeply sorry for how I treated you last night. I let my emotions get the best of me and I know it hurt your feelings. I know that you were excited, and nervous to tell me that Sarah called you mom, and I’m sorry that..my reaction was different than what you were expecting. There are a lot of things I wish I had said differently last night, and I know you and I share our own forms of relationship baggage and trauma. I was focusing on the fact that everything in our relationship will inevitably change, and I’m sorry if I made you feel like you weren’t ready for these changes or able to handle them. The last thing I wanted to do was make you feel like I wasn’t hearing you. That I wasn’t respecting the fact that you do have your shit together, and that you want to be more involved in my daughter's life. Truthfully? I was scared. I am scared. I’m scared because..I have gotten so used to raising my daughter on my own that I never thought of the prospect of settling down with a partner who I would co-parent with. I was so focused on the logistic changes that it clouded my underwhelming joy that Sarah loves you just as much as I do. That you have been more of a mother figure to her than her own mother has.” He felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders as he waited for your response.
“Joel, I know that you’re scared. I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t scared either. This is a huge step for me, as it is for you. You are the first man that I have ever thought about seriously settling down with. I know there are inevitable changes that are intimidating on the surface, but Joel, I want this life with you. I want all these changes. I want to move in with you. I want to get married and co-parent with you. Change is always going to be scary. It’s inevitably scary, but we can’t let our fears rule us. We can’t let them control our emotions and cause us to lash out at the ones we love most. Joel, we have all the time in the world. We can take these steps as slow, or as fast as we want. We can do everything at our own pace, our own comfort levels. If you’re not ready for me to move in just yet, that’s OK. I’m never going to shame you for your feelings, okay? Yeah, last night should have gone differently, but I need to apologize as well.” Your eyes locked on his as you slowly reached for his hand and interlocked your fingers through his and rested it along your lap gently.
“You’re..scared too? I didn’t know that you were. Well, that honestly makes me feel a lot better..but darlin,’ I want this life with you too. Even if it’s done in an unconventional way. It’s our relationship, and we can make it work however we want. I do need some time working through the idea of you moving in. Maybe to start we could do a couple sleepovers during the week? Just so Sarah can get used to you being in the house more. Maybe on the nights you sleep over, you can drive her to school and I can pick her up in the afternoon? Or vice versa? I know you usually have to be at the barn early, so we can plan a schedule out that works for the both of us. You’re right about change inevitably being scary. It’s scary as fuck honestly. I’ve struggled to not let my emotions rule me for years and I know that I have a lot I need to work on. I think our relationship has a strong foundation, and I wanna build up on that and make it stronger. Clover, you have nothing to apologize for. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He reassured you.
“Of course I’m scared. Joel, I wouldn’t be human if I wasn’t a little scared of the next steps in our relationship. I totally understand that you need some time with the idea of me moving in. We don’t have to jump the gun on any of this, but I think your idea to do sleepovers would definitely be a good way to start transitioning. We can work all those details out after this trip. I do however need to apologize because I reacted to some of the things that you said last night in a triggering manner. Joel, I know you didn’t call me baby to..take advantage of the situation and try and manipulate me, but past partners have used pet names on me during arguments to gain the upperhand. I know that’s not what you were doing, but I still reacted in the way as if you were doing that. Not only that, but I also acted like you were insinuating that I didn’t want to take this next step with you. I was pretty much putting words into your mouth and that wasn’t okay for me to do at all. For that, I am sorry. I’m working through my own issues and triggers everyday, but that doesn’t give me the right to take it out on you.”
Joel gave your hand a reassuring squeeze as he gently swiped his thumb back and forth across the top of your hand in a soothing motion. “Clover, I completely understand why you reacted the way that you did. It was an inappropriate time for me to call you baby, and your reaction was valid. Honestly? I probably would have felt the same way if you called me baby or something when I was already getting caught up in my own emotions. I’m sorry that past partners used it in a malicious context. I would never ever do that to you, but now I understand why you were triggered.” He took a deep breath as he squeezed your hand once more. “We both made some mistakes last night, and we’re both holding ourselves accountable. I love you, and I am willing to do anything I can to make this work. Do you forgive me?”
“Joel, I know you would never do that to me. After you left the bathroom I thought about everything that was said, and how I chose to react. There’s so many things I would have done differently, but I also love you, and I am willing to do anything I can to make this work as well. Of course I forgive you. I know you were coming from an emotional state of mind and you held no malicious intent. We’re going to work through this together, okay? You and me.”
“You and me.” He confirmed as he scooted closer to you so your thighs were touching. His head tilted down as he rested his chin along the crook of your shoulder, nuzzling his face affectionately against your skin as his arm gently draped along your lower back so that you could lean up against him if you chose to. “Now, can you tell me more about this infamous Oberyn Martell and Ellaria Sand?” He mused in curiosity as he pressed a feather light kiss to the base of your neck.
“Well, he is very handsome. Might even be handsomer than you are.” You teasingly responded as you gently leaned back against the weight of his arm.
“Is that so? Well, I highly doubt that.” He teased back.
“They call him the red viper, and he has the nicest cock in all of Westeros. Men and women of all shapes, sizes, and colors beg to spend a night in his chambers.”
“Now you’re just fibbin’ darlin.’ Nicest cock in all of Westeros? Lemme see where it says that.” He’s grinning against your skin as he reaches for the book. Before he can grasp it, you're gently grabbing his chin and kissing him sweetly.
You and Joel spend all morning out on the dock until it feels like your skin is baking under the rays and you are left with no choice but to retreat back inside away from the powerful rays.
More egg jokes are cracked as everyone enjoys a late brunch at the kitchen table, and Tommy and Ryder silently decide that you and Joel deserve some privacy in the house to ‘properly’ make up.
Joel is visibly apprehensive as you take his hand and lead him up the stairs. His heart is thrumming wildly in his chest as he glances behind him momentarily. You already reassured him that Tommy and Ryder were going to take the kids out on the lake for a couple of hours so you and Joel could work things out in total privacy. There was an edge of tipping into the unknown when you practically dragged him to the bedroom. You talked things out and were able to reach a mutual understanding of one another but now?…he wasn’t sure what was about to happen.
“You’re not in trouble, Joel.” You reassured him shamelessly.
“Kinda makin’ it seem like I am.” He murmured as you dropped his hand and made yourself comfortable along the edge of the mattress, smoothing the comforter down with your hands.
“Take your cock out and get on your knees Joel.” It wasn’t a request, it was a demand and you watched as your Texas tall glass of water blinked thrice. It was as if his brain was rewiring in a panic because you had never spoken to him in such a demanding tone. He secretly liked it.
“You want me to do what?” He asked in disbelief. Eyes in an innocent almost doe-like gaze.
“You heard me, Miller. Take your cock out and get on your knees. Now.” You raise your eyebrow in his direction challengingly.
His mouth has seemingly gone dry as he blubbers like a fish. He’s obedient however as he’s already reaching for his cotton shorts and pushing them down his thighs. His cheeks are flushed beet red as he can already feel his cock twitch in his briefs.
“Take it out, Joel.” You cross one leg over the other as you wait impatiently.
He lets out a visible puff of air as he grabs the hem of his boxer briefs and tugs them down his legs, kicking them off to the side. His cock springs free and you can’t help but smirk at how hard he already is.
“On your knees. C’mon and be a good boy for me baby.”
He sinks down to his knees like an obedient dog on a leash. His ears pathetically perk up to the sound of you using a pet name instead of his birth name.
“Good boy.” You praise him as you curl your fingers in a come hither motion in the air “Now, crawl to me.”
If he wasn’t so disgustingly in love with you, he probably would have scoffed at your demand and mutter out a ‘fuck no I ain’t doin’ that.’ He wanted to be a good boy for you, so he placed his palms down along the plush carpet and crawled to you.
You were already removing your sleep shorts and panties by the time he had reached you. You leaned over and grasped his chin between your fingers and tilted his head upwards so he was looking up at you. “I’m going to tell you how this is going to go, okay? You really hurt my feelings. I forgive you, and I love you, but I’m going to punish you in a way that is still enjoyable for both of us. If you wish to tap out, I will obviously respect that and won’t push you if you’re not comfortable.”
Joel’s pupils are blown out wide as he gazes up at you. “You ain’t gonna whip me..are ya? That’s uh—that’s where I draw the line.” He nervously asks as his cock shamelessly twitches between his thighs.
You can’t help but giggle as you shake your head, stroking your thumb across his cheekbone gently. “No baby. I’m not going to whip you. I’m going to play with myself and you get to watch. You can’t touch me, but you can touch yourself only in the way I tell you to do so. Most importantly? You can’t cum.”
Joel can’t help the pathetic whimper that slips past his lips as he leans into your soft touch as if he’s been deprived of affection and he’s desperate for it. “Fuck. That’s hot. I can’t touch you at all?”
“No. You can’t touch me at all, but you can get as close to my pussy as you’d like.”
His eyes roll back into his skull as his heavy cock twitches once more between his thighs. “Okay.” He murmurs in agreement.
You give his cheek a gentle loving tap as you lean down and steal a quick kiss. “Good boy.” You release his face gently before spreading your thighs open along the mattress. You reach behind you for one of the pillows and tuck it under your back so he has a better view of just how wet you are.
His mouth falls open when you lick your fingers before dragging them down between your thighs. He’s pathetically mesmerized by the way you shamelessly begin to play with yourself. He scoots himself as close to the edge of the mattress, locked in a trance as he rests his cheek along the comforter right between your thighs. His eyes are glazed over in utter, lustful, pathetic stupidity. They’re glued to the spot between your legs as drool begins to drip down the corner of his mouth and dribble down his chin. He’s yearning for a fucking taste and you’ve barely started to touch yourself. “ya know for such a big hearted lil lady you sure can be fuckin’ mean” he murmurs, whimpering at the sight of you glistening in arousal.
“I know, baby. You just have to be a good boy, and then I’ll reward you.”
He licks his lips as he slowly gazes up at you from between your thighs. He lets out a frustrated puff of air as he rubs his cock against the side of the mattress for some form of relief. “Can I touch myself, please baby?” He whimpers desperately.
“Yes, you can, baby. I want you to slowly wrap your hand around yourself first.” You request as you rub your clit in slow circles, lips parting open as your thighs fall open further.
Your Texas tall glass of water obeys as he slowly wraps his hand around the base of his cock. He’s so hard in his hand, it’s nearly painful.
“Good boy. Now, slowly twist your wrist. You can squeeze a little, but not too much.”
He pathetically whines as he slowly begins to pump and twist his wrist around his length. His face is so close to your pussy. So close that he can nearly taste you on his tongue.
“Don’t even think about it.” You tut as his tongue darts out for a quick taste. “Don’t be a bad boy.”
He breathes out a heavy puff of air through his flared nostrils and it fans your core deliciously as your fingers dip down and gather up your wetness. He lets out a shuddered breath when two of your digits slip inside your warmth. The squelching sound your pussy makes is nearly too much for him to handle as his freehand fists at the comforter, knuckles stark white as he continues to pathetically jerk himself off. His knees ache, his back aches, but he doesn’t care. He’s never been so fucking humiliated and turned on at the same time in his life.
“Please. Please let me taste you. Baby, please. I’m so sorry. I’ll never—never hurt your feelings again. Your pussy needs me darlin.’ She’s weepin’ for me. You’re killin’ me slowly ov’here. Please. I’m fuckin’ beggin’ you.”
He’s a blubbering mess as tears begin to roll down his cheeks. His words stumble out of his parted lips like word vomit. “Please. Please. Please. Clover, baby. This is fuckin’ torture.”
His pleas only seem to spur you forward before you’re ultimately giving in. You slip your fingers out slowly before tangling them in his scalp. He wastes no time to wrap his lips around your clit, sucking greedily as he murmurs ‘thank you baby.’ Over and over again with a mouthful of your pussy.
It’s late afternoon when Tommy, Ryder, and the girls come back from being on the lake for the majority of the day. The girls are visibly exhausted as they head to their room for a quick nap while the adults play a round of poker at the kitchen table. You and Joel are glowing from the inside out as you play footsie under the table like a couple of teenagers.
By 7pm everyone is piled up in Joel’s truck to head out for an excursion. He already told Tommy earlier in the week that it would be fun for everyone to go out for a sunset trail ride, so he found the nearest ranch to the lakehouse, and booked it without a second thought. It was a short 20 minute drive to the ranch and as soon as you passed by a field of horses grazing peacefully, you looked over at your boyfriend with a smile that lit up like a damn Christmas tree.
“How did I know that this little excursion that you have planned was going to involve horses? How did I know?” You asked with a grin. He replied with a little shrug of his shoulders and sheepish grin. “Jus’ figured we’d all enjoy a lil’ sunset trail ride before hittin’ the town for some good ole dancin.’”
Ellie and Sarah, who were smushed in the middle seats between Tommy and Ryder, both looked at each other before whispering in unison, “Yep. They’re soo twitterpated.”
Joel and Tommy looked like proper cowboys in their white tees and blue jeans that did absolute wonders for their thighs and ass. They both were sporting their cowboy hats as well. Man, you were gonna climb your Texas tall glass of water later like a damn tree. Once your horses were saddled up, you and Joel took the lead at the front as your horses calmly walked side by side along the marked trail. You held onto the reins with one hand while the other was outstretched towards Joel. He interlocked his pinky with yours as he looked over at you. “Did I ever tell ya that the sunset really brings out the color of your eyes? Man, are you jus’ stunnin.’” He’s grinning from ear to ear as you feel cheeks begin to get hot from his comment.
“Hmm..I believe you have. At least a dozen times at this point, baby. Have I ever told you just how fantastic your ass looks in a pair of blue jeans? You’re looking like an absolute snack this evening, honey.” You shoot him a playful wink.
He playfully fans his face with his freehand. His eyes squint under the soft glow of the fading sun as he chuckles. “Nah. I think this is the first time you’ve ever given’ me a compliment like that darlin.’ Does my ass really look that good? Snack worthy? Well, lil’ lady, that’s a mighty fine compliment. I am deeply flattered.”
“Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert worthy baby. I will be taking a little nibble on it later tonight.”
He blushes a deep shade of red as he looks away from you bashfully. It’s a good thing the kids are far back enough that they can’t detect yours and Joel’s disgusting flirting. “Jus’ a nibble?” He looks back over at you with the tips of his cheek still as red as a fire hydrant.”
“More like a bite than a nibble”
“Atta girl.”
The sunset is absolutely stunning. The sky is painted in a brilliant hue of pinks, purples, and oranges. The colors fade together like a watercolor painting. You and Joel are still holding pinkies when Ryder takes her camera out from her bag. She snaps a picture of the two of you looking over at one another lovingly.
The ride back to the ranch is equally peaceful and you make it back just before the sun has completely disappeared from the sky. Sarah and Ellie insist on giving their horses a well deserved carrot and brush down. The ranch owner ends up taking a group picture of the six of you and your horses.
You’ve never actually attended a proper ‘hoedown’ till now and boy, did you wish that you’d gone before. The barn where the dance was held was properly lit up with twinkling fairy lights along the wooden ceilings and panels, and a disco ball glittered brightly in the middle of the dance floor. Every attendee was dressed in some form of country attire to fit the theme. There was a bar area and food station, and the girls immediately filled up on kiddy-cocktails paired with burger and fries.
When the music started Joel wasted no time to pull you up from your seat so you could dance together. You’re both out of breath by the fifth song but man, you’re having so much fun you can’t even feel the ache in your feet or your heart pounding out of your chest. You're both filled with bright smiles and echoing laughter as a new country singer named ‘Blanco Brown’ takes the stage and performs his new song called ‘The Git Up.’ It's got all the classic country flare with a pop vibe mixed in. There’s even a choreographed dance to go along with it. Joel nearly eats shit on the last couple of spins but you’re right there to keep him steady as he twirls you around.
Even Ellie and Sarah are swinging each other around in a circle.
There’s not one frown in sight. Just smiles, laughter, and good music.
At some point you and Joel disappeared into the bathroom. He was smart enough to lock the door behind him so no one would interrupt. Your infectious giggles quickly turned into moans as he took you up against one of the bathroom sinks. Your own cowboy hat nearly falls off your head from how hard he is thrusting into you while you’re gripping onto either side of the sink for dear life. His freehand that isn’t presently grasping your hip, is gently placed over your mouth to block out your high pitched moans. “Gotta be quiet, baby. Or else we’re gonna get caught red handed. You didn’t think that I was actually gonna let you get away with your little game earlier, did ya?”
All you can do is shake your head as you cry out against his palm.
He’s a total gentleman after fucking you, so it comes as no surprise when he uses a wad of toliet paper to gently clean up the mess between your thighs before he fixes your dress for you. He kisses your lips sweetly as he wraps his arm around your shoulders and you reach up to interlock your fingers as you exit the restroom.
“Did you just—” Tommy raises a brow in yours and Joel’s direction as you approach the table he and Ryder are sitting at.
“Fuck in the women’s bathroom?” Joel finishes the question for him. “Absolutely not. That would be downright un-American, brother.” His subtle wink says otherwise.
It’s a little before eleven when you all arrive home. Everyone is doing their own thing as the energy from dancing all night begins to wind down. Joel finds Ellie out on the wrap around porch with one of Joel’s guitars resting across her lap. She’s messing with the strings when he sinks down alongside her on the outdoor couch. “Y’need some help, kiddo?” He can hear you and Sarah through the open window near the kitchen, mumbling about how stupidly difficult this puzzle is, and why won’t these pieces just fit? He can’t help the smile that washes over his face knowing that everything was going to be alright after all.
“Oh, hey Joel. Yeah..would you mind? I’m just not very good at this.” Ellie responds softly with a defeated sigh.
“El, that ain’t true. Y’jus’ need a bit of practice is all.” He murmurs softly.
The younger girl lets out a soft huff as she looks over at him. “Can you teach me then? I don’t even know where to start.”
“Course I can, kiddo. I’d love to teach you.” Joel wraps his arm around her in a gentle squeeze
Ellie’s eyes softly light up as she leans into his comforting touch, resting her head against his shoulder. Joel loves Ellie as if she were his own, and in some ways she is. He knew that her life at home wasn’t the best, but he didn’t know the full extent of her situation. What he did know is that he cared for her, and he’d be there for her no matter what. By the end of the night Ellie had learned a few chords and how to properly tune the strings on a guitar. Joel loved every second of being able to teach her.
After the girls were tucked in and Joel was finally back in bed with you, he found himself being the big spoon as he wrapped his body around yours.
“Whad’ya think about adoptin?’” He softly asks as he presses a gentle kiss to the back of your head.
“Is this hypothetical or something that you’re seriously thinking about?” You respond softly as gently grab his hands and bring them up to your lips, kissing his knuckles affectionately.
“Hypothetical..but it could be serious. It’s jus’ that Ellie’s folks are hardly ever around. She’s pratically fendin’ for herself, and it ain’t right. She’s just a kid.” He murmurs as he buries his face into your neck.
“Do you love her like she’s your own?”
“I do.” He softly confirms as he inhales your natural scent through his nose, followed by a soft exhale.
“Then I say..we should look into it.” You press another gentle kiss to his knuckles as you snuggle further back into his warm grip.
“Okay, you and me?”
“You and me, baby.”
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Summary: Your movie night takes an unexpected turn.
Word count: 1.286
Warnings: 18+, age gap, smut, unprotected p in v, public sex, pet names. Let me know if I missed something!
Author’s note: Hiiiii! I wanted to write a quick drabble so here it is!! Feel free to reblog, comment and like, let me know what you think, I hope you’ll like it! My requests are open so send whatever you want!
Walking through the isle of the desolated grocery store, you keep thinking about how much you’d like to be on your couch watching a movie. But what is movie night without snacks and drinks?
That’s why you forced yourself to put on some clothes and make a quick trip to the supermarket to buy what you needed.
The only positive thing is that you are alone there, just some teenagers and a man other than you, which means no queue at the checkout.
The sound of the heel of your black texan boots on the floor echoes in the building, your pink skirt and black tank top are still too much fabric on you, the heat of Austin is unbearable and walking frantically to get out of there as soon as possible is not helping at all.
The hair on your nape is damp and you take a detour to the frozen food section to take advantage of the cold there.
After five minutes of pretending to be interested in frozen veggies, you walk to where chips and various snacks are. You don’t think twice when you pick two bags of nachos and one of classic chips.
You then proceed to get the drinks, you opt for a cherry Coke.
You spot it on the top shelf, so you raise your arm as much as you can in an attempt to grab it while holding the food in your other arm.
You’re standing on your tippy toes and you have to repeat your actions a couple of times, just to end up being unsuccessful.
“Oh, Goddamit!” You exclaim frustrated, huffing with a scrunch of your nose, looking totally cute.
“Need a hand, honey?” The low male voice makes you turn your head to your right and your eyes meet those of the man you saw when you entered the store. Dark brown hair and brown eyes, whiskers adorn his upper lip.
Whiskers, your weakness.
His broad shoulders and biceps are trapped in a dark blue t-shirt and his legs are wrapped in some Levi’s.
He’s holding a pack of beers and chips and his eyes are studying your figure as if you’re the main topic of his next college exam.
“Um, yeah. The cherry Coke, please.”
Without hesitation nor difficulty, he flexes his arm to grab the plastic bottle and hands it to you. You’re about to take it in your hand and politely thank the man, but he retracts it before you can wrap your fingers around it.
“What’s your name?” His raspy voice is attracting, you can’t deny it. Actually, he’s hot. Very hot.
You debate for a while on whether you should tell a stranger your name or not, but he seems friendly and you’re looking forward to going home soon, so you just tell him.
“Nice name,” he says while holding out to you your drink, “I’m Joel.” He smiles and then, “Cherry Coke, by the way?”
“If you’re trying to mock me for that, don’t even start.” You answer back and let out a small laugh, making a few steps to get out of the aisle.
“Have you even tried it?” You continue as you see Joel walking right behind you, directed to the checkout too.
“I don’t need to,” he shakes his head chuckling, “Disgustin’”.
You rest your hand on your chest dramatically, laying your purchases on the conveyor belt. “That’s how you hurt my feelings.”
Joel imitates your actions, freeing his hands from the stuff he was holding.
You seem to be frozen watching him pass the tip of his thumb and index finger on his mustache, briefly looking at his plushy lips.
In fact, you don’t notice that the employee of the supermarket already scanned your items and is waiting for your payment. You seem to come back to reality when you feel Joel’s hand gently lay his hand on the small of your back, as to wake you up from your trance.
His burning touch gets to you as your cheeks are tinted in a light shade of red, clearly embarrassed of yourself.
You clear your throat and smile briefly at the man near you, patting the pockets of your skirt to look for your wallet. You even check your back pockets and when you realize it’s not there either, you widen your eyes, whispering under your breath an inaudible ‘Fuck’.
Joel, who immediately understands what is going on, lets another chuckle out, giving you a mocking look, “Forgot your wallet, uh?”
He lets the employee know he’s paying for everything and takes both bags, raising his eyebrows towards you.
You walk out of the grocery store side to side until he gets to his truck.
“Thank you for paying for my stuff too and not leaving me there to deal with it.” You laugh shortly, scratching a small area on your upper arm as to placate your discomfort caused by the recent events.
“That’s all ‘m going to get, darlin’? Thank you?”
You’re kneeled behind Joel’s truck on the concrete of the parking lot, it’s scratching your knees and you can feel the skin there burning. That doesn’t stop you from licking Joel’s length up and down, before taking it in the warm comfort of your mouth.
His big hand is drown in your hair and he’s guiding your movements to his pleasure.
“You should see yourself, baby. Fuckin’ naughty just for me.” He sighs from pleasure, tightening his grip in your hair as you teasingly look up at him from under his lashes. “Doin’ good with those cherry Coke flavored lips.”
The streetlights that were lighting the parking lot are turned off now that the grocery store is closed and Joel takes advantage of it, holding both your arms to make you stand up. You let his member out with a pop of your lips, a light opposing moan escaping from you.
Your heated center is also asking for attention and Joel seems to sense that because what you know next is that he pushes you against the bed of the back of his truck, your stomach against the hard metal.
In a quick gesture, he hungrily rolls your skirt up, moving your thong to the side. The action causing his fingers to graze your dripping folds. You sigh at the contact and let out a “Could you please fuck me, mister?
Joel groans because he knows exactly what you’re doing, acting all polite even though you’re about to get fucked in a parking lot.
Without a warning, he slips inside you and starts pounding into you as if his life is depending on it. He sighs and groans repeatedly while slapping and gripping your ass continuously, his left hand still in your hair to keep you still.
“You feel so good, behavin’ so nicely for me, darlin’.” And “Keep going, Joel, I want more.”
You don’t even try to suppress and contain your moans, he’s making you feel too good. He’s filling you up totally and you love when he gets out of you just to sink back in seconds after.
The sound of his skin slamming against yours turns on you both and you suddenly feel Joel’s teeth dipping in the skin of your shoulder as he fills you up with his warm liquid, right after you screamed his name clenching around him and coating his dick with yours.
Your damp forehead is pressed on the slightly rolled down window of Joel’s truck, the back of his hand is warm moving against your thigh and you’re chewing the nachos that Joel bought you while he’s driving you home.
You’re considering making more late night trips to the grocery store in the future.
Pairing: Joel Miller x reader (Pre-outbreak!Joel and neighbor!Joel)
Word Count: 2,284
Summary: You’ve recently moved into the neighborhood and thankfully your neighbor across the street happens to be quite handy...and hot so you have him over as much as possible to fix things and the tension builds until finally a night out at the bar he works weekends at pushes him over the edge.
Author’s Note: This is what happens when friends share their thots and I have thots...I’m ready for Joel to fix everything in my house...😁 and I love the jealousy/possessive trope- and the poor new cute guy- I didn’t even bother giving him a name because he never stood a chance haha! Thank you so much for reading! Much love always! ❤️❤️❤️Divider by the lovely @firefly-graphics thank you Daisy!🥰
Warnings: lots of fluffy fun and flirting and jealous/possessive Joel :)
Joel Miller Masterlist
“Do you know the bartender?”
You almost choke on your drink but manage to swallow down the rest of the liquid instead of spitting it all over the cute guy you’ve been flirting with for the past hour.
“Why?” you ask without turning around.
“He keeps staring at you and then giving me dirty looks.”
“I’ve never seen him before in my life,” you lie with a shrug.
Your new cute guy friend smiles and continues chatting with you until you’ve finished your drink.
“It’s beautiful out, do you want to go for a walk?” the cute guy asks.
“Sure,” you tell him and slide off the stool.
You go to open your bag and pay but he stops you with a soft touch and drops some cash onto the bar.
“Thanks,” you tell him as he gestures for you to walk ahead of him.
He places a hand at the small of your back and leads you toward the door. You glance behind you, looking over his shoulder and catching Joel’s eye.
He’s staring at you, his expression unreadable but you can tell his jaw is firmly set with the clench of his teeth. His eyes follow you until you disappear out the door.
The night is warm but breezy and as you walk away from the bar you relax into the ease of the conversation.
The sound of approaching footsteps doesn’t register and when Joel slides up beside you and gently grabs your arm you jerk back in surprise.
“Sorry darlin’,” he says, with a hint of sheepishness. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”
Your eyes widen but you don’t pull away.
“I thought you said you didn’t know him?” the cute guy asks.
You almost forgot he was there.
“She told you she didn’t know me?” Joel asks with a haughty smirk. “Oh we know each other all right. We’re neighbors in fact.”
You keep your eyes on Joel.
“What do you want?” you ask Joel, finally pulling out of his grasp.
“You okay?” he demands, cutting the other guy a sharp look.
The new guy shoves his hands in his pockets and holds Joel’s stare, unintimidated.
“This guy bothering you?” Joel asks, his arms now folded over his chest.
You open your mouth to answer but the new guy beats you to it.
“I wasn’t bothering her. We were just enjoying a walk.”
The new guy swings his eyes in your direction with a smile. “And besides, I’m pretty sure she wants to be here as much as I do.”
“Well ain’t that just the sweetest,” Joel says, sarcasm dripping from every word. “But I’m gonna need her to come back to the bar with me.”
The new guy keeps his eyes on you and waits.
You glower at Joel and grumble under your breath, “what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Just come back to the bar darlin’,” he answers.
“Joel.”
“Come on sweetheart,” he murmurs, taking your hand.
You can’t bring yourself to pull away and at the mere feel of his skin against yours your whole body reacts with a shiver.
Joel grins.
“If you don’t come with me I’m just gonna make a scene.”
You sigh and turn to the poor new guy, smiling apologetically before telling him, “I’m sorry. I have to go.”
The new guy looks taken aback and you frown, opening your mouth to placate him further when Joel cuts in and says, “move along,” and tugs you away from him.
You let Joel pull you all the way back to the bar before your anger catches up with you and you yank your hand from his, turning on your heel and striding toward the parking lot and your car.
Joel jogs after you.
“Where do you think you’re goin’?” he asks.
“What do you think you’re doing Joel?” you fire back.
“Aw come on darlin’. You weren’t really gonna spend the night with that guy…”
“And why not?” you ask, your tone incredulous.
Something flickers across his features but he steels himself before you have time to discern it’s meaning. He doesn’t answer your question, his hands landing on his hips as he takes a step closer to you, leaving very little space between your bodies.
It looks like he wants to say something but instead he grabs your arm and pulls you down the lane between the bar and the next building.
You protest but he doesn’t stop until darkness almost completely hides you both. He maneuvers you against the brick wall of the bar.
“What are you doing?” you gape.
“You have an awful lot of questions tonight darlin’,” he simpers as he leans his hands on the wall on either side of your head, blocking any escape.
You swallow hard, the sound audible over the loud thumping of your heart. He studies your face, his gaze intense as it slowly wanders over your features.
“Don’t be mad at me,” he says gruffly. “I just…,” he continues and sighs.
“Were you jealous?” you blurt out, your eyes getting round with the realization.
He huffs out an aggravated burst of laughter.
“Joel?” you push, folding your arms over your chest and lifting your chin. “Answer my question.”
He dips his head, pressing his nose to your throat and he groans, feeling your pulse flutter wildly against his lips.
His mouth moves over your skin, soft and warm, and your whimper of need is like a zip of electricity between you.
“Joel,” you breathe his name. A plea.
He nearly loses his mind as he lifts his head and looks into your eyes, filled with want.
His arms drop from the wall and wrap around you, drawing you against his body before his lips crash to yours.
You kiss him back. Hungry and deep, your hands the same as they caress his broad shoulders and slide along the nape of his neck and into his hair.
With a stumble you hit the wall, his hardness pressing against your stomach as he swallows your breathy moans. The lights above the back door of the bar go on, flashing brightly and lighting up your tangled bodies.
“Joel!” you gasp, breaking the kiss and pressing your hands to his hard chest.
For a moment he looks confused, his hair mussed and his lips parted with his heavy breathing. Then he turns his head to the door and sees the bar keep staring at you both.
You straighten your clothes and clear your throat, dropping your head as you start to walk back toward the parking lot. Joel follows you, stopping at your car and pressing his hand to the door so you can’t open it.
“Don’t go,” he says, his tone pleading.
“It’s late and you have to finish your shift,” you answer.
You stare at each other for a few tense moments before he pushes you against the car and kisses you again. Your keys fall to the ground and your fingernails scrape down the soft material of his shirt.
He growls low and deep, pressing his knee between your legs and nipping at your bottom lip.
The sound of crunching gravel makes you pull your lips away and you bury your face in his neck, clinging to him to steady yourself as a group of drunken people walk by.
“Are you still coming to fix my leaky faucet tomorrow?” you ask him, still hiding.
You can feel his smile against your skin and he moves back just enough to look you in the eyes.
“Of course darlin’,” he hums. “First thing.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow,” you whisper.
He brushes his nose to yours, his lips a whispered tease before he kisses the corner of your mouth and reluctantly backs away so you can open the car door.
You don’t even realize your keys are still on the ground and when he bends down to get them and holds them out you shake your head with a guilty grin. “Thanks.”
He nods, his expression soft but his eyes still filled with longing as he waits for you to get in the car and pull away.
“Shit,” he mutters before running his hands over his face and trudging back to the bar.
The next morning you take your fresh cup of coffee and walk to the large front window of your house, your head still filled with thoughts of last night and your body still alive with the lingering feeling of Joel’s hands and lips.
As if summoning him, the front door of his house opens and he walks out in tight dark jeans and a soft tee shirt that fits snugly in all the right places. You quickly step behind the curtain but continue to peek through, watching as he gathers tools from his pickup truck.
With every motion you can see the muscles in his back flex, the material of his shirt pulling tightly across the taut skin.
It’s too early to be feeling like this.
You know he’ll be showing up at your door soon so you grudgingly leave the delicious view and get yourself dressed and ready.
The doorbell rings and you rush down the steps, opening it with far too much force.
“Hey there,” he greets, letting his eyes sweep down your body.
“Hi Joel.”
Your reply is breathless and you turn away and walk toward the kitchen.
“I hope I’m not cutting into your day too much,” you say as he sets down his tools.
“Nah darlin’. Happy to help. Now let’s take a look.”
He drops to his knees and turns on his back, opening the cabinet under your sink and sliding into it as much as his shoulders will allow. His flashlight clicks on and you stare down at him, his thick thighs spread wide on the floor and his shirt riding up over his belt.
“Pass me the wrench, will ya darlin’?”
“Wrench,” you repeat quietly before tearing your eyes away and stepping over him to search the toolbox.
You move things around and try to remember what a wrench looks like. When you think you have it you grab the tool but when you turn around Joel is now standing in your space.
“Did you find it?” he asks, a smirk pulling at his lips.
“I think so,” you tell him, holding up the possible wrench.
He steps closer to you, crowding you against the counter with his body.
You feel the heat of his touch everywhere.
“That’s it,” he smiles, taking it from your hand and sliding it into the back pocket of his jeans. “Look at you. You could probably fix the sink yourself.”
“I have no idea what I’m doing,” you admit. “It was a lucky guess.”
He winks at you. “Good thing I know exactly what I’m doin’ then.”
“Right,” you agree, licking your lips. “What’s the next step.”
“I want to kiss you again,” he croons, his eyes falling to your lips. “In fact…” he whispers, dipping his head, “I’ve wanted to since the moment I saw you and after last night…” he continues, his breath warm as it fans your cheek, “I never want to stop.”
Your eyelashes flutter closed and you place your hands flat against his chest, his heartbeat fast under your palm.
“Jealously finally got you to make your move,” you tease, trying to feign some semblance of control.
He bends his head to yours, his lips brushing your ear and setting off a cascade of shivers down your spine.
“I don’t like it when someone else tries to take what’s mine…”
“Yours?” you gasp, your fingers fisting into his shirt as his lips trail down your throat.
“Mm hm,” he hums. “Mine.”
“What about my sink?” you ask, still trying to keep your voice steady and trying to ignore the fact that the very idea of being his makes you melt.
“What the hell do you to do me darlin’?” he murmurs, his beard brushing across your skin when his lips skim along your jaw.
He rests both his hands on the edge of the countertop, caging you in and keeping your body lined up with his.
“I didn’t do anything,” you answer as your hands slide down his chest and your fingers slip under the hem of his shirt.
“Jesus sweetheart,” he hisses, burying his face in the crook of your neck to breathe you in.
Your turn your head and you can feel his breath hitch when you press your lips to his throat. His hands drop from the counter and settle on your waist, his fingers digging into your skin before he slides them under your shirt and draws small circles with his calloused fingertips.
“You smell so fuckin’ good,” he hums, inhaling once more before he drags his face from your neck, his fingers moving higher. “Feel so fuckin’ good too.”
You hook your fingers into his belt and give him a little tug, bringing his lips down to yours. He groans and sinks into the kiss, his hands on every inch of skin he can find.
With one swift motion he has you up and onto the counter, his large body settled between your spread legs as he kisses you until you can’t breathe.
When you part to get some air, he slides one hand along your curves, his touch reverent as he moves higher and reaches your face to trace your jaw, brushing his thumb across your swollen lips.
“I promise I’m gonna fix the sink,” he murmurs as he takes your chin between his fingers and pulls you close.
“Later,” you whisper. “Kiss me again. I need more.”
“I’ll do whatever you want darlin’. I’m all yours.”
Summary: You're a brat and Joel acts like he doesn't like it but really...he loves it.
Author's Note: I saw the photo below and just caught fire...between the hands, fingers, forearms, open shirt, his hand in there, his face, the whole man. Dead. So here we are because I would love to rile this man up and then have him punish me for it. Thank you all so much for reading! Much love always! ❤️❤️❤️Divider by the loveliest @firefly-graphics thank you Daisy🥰
Warnings: flirty teasing, tension, brattiness from reader, Joel is still soft but it's super s-ex-y.
Joel Miller Masterlist
“Get dressed.”
You kneel on the bed and toy with the buttons of his flannel that’s draped over your otherwise naked body.
With one last warning glance he turns to walk into the bathroom.
“No.”
When he hears your defiant answer he swings back around and stalks toward the bed.
“Darlin’,” he growls.
“I don’t want to get dressed and I don’t want to go…”
Your voice trails off into a softer tone as your bottom lip sticks out in a pout. “I want to stay home and in bed with you.”
His eyes soften slightly but his jaw clenches with the grind of his teeth. “We spent all morning in the shower. It’s time to get ready or we’ll be late.”
“Joel,” you whine, shifting closer so you can plant your hands on his chest.
Your fingers slip into the open buttons of his shirt and graze over his warm skin. You slowly work your way down to the first closed button and pop it open.
He grabs your wrist, stilling your movements.
“Don’t.”
You lift your eyes and bat your lashes, still pouting.
“Don’t give me that look darlin’.”
“But…”
“But nothin’. Get. Dressed.”
You sit back with a frustrated huff, crossing your arms and arrowing your eyes at his receding backside.
After several minutes of lazily laying on the bed you finally drag yourself up, shrugging off his flannel and shuffling to the closet.
You’re still shifting through your clothes when he walks back in.
“You’re still not dressed,” he says.
“I can’t find anything I want to wear,” you explain, looking over your bare shoulder with innocent eyes.
You turn back around, purposefully bending over as you continue to pretend to search for a dress.
His large hand lands on your ass cheek, the sting making you moan out his name and when his arm wraps around your waist to pull you up and against his hard body your lips lift into a triumphant smile.
“Behave,” he murmurs, his breath just a whisper along the shell of your ear.
“Make me,” you counter, turning in his arms to face him.
“Fuck,” he rumbles. “You’re such a brat.”
You circle your arms around his neck and curl your fingers into his hair.
“It’s your fault,” you purr. “You won’t give me what I want.”
He presses his full lips together and his eyes darken. “I always give you what you want darlin’.”
You release one hand at his neck and slide it down his chest, slipping your finger into the waistband of his pants. With ease you pop open the button and pull down the zipper.
His eyes close for a second, his dark lashes fluttering against his cheeks when he inhales with a gasp of your name.
“If we’re late I’m never goin’ to hear the end of it,” he groans. “Now be a good girl and put some clothes on.”
Your hand closes around him with a light squeeze.
“Just give me what I want Joel.”
With another muttered curse he pulls free of your grasp, leveling you with a pained look. “Get. Dressed. You’ve got five minutes.”
He holds up his hand, his long and thick fingers splayed out.
You let out a longing sigh. “Don’t tease me with those.”
His expression transforms into a smirk as the corner of his mouth lifts and his eyebrows raise.
“Tease you?” he chuckles as he starts to walk away. “See you in five darlin’ and don’t make me come get you.”
“Don’t tempt me with threats,” you say back with a stomp of your foot.
You decide on a dress and throw it on then put on your jewelry and grab your shoes.
When you walk out of the bedroom and into the living room he’s leaning against the wall by the door.
His brown eyes slide down your body appreciatively. “You look perfect. Now, let’s go.”
With a sweet smile you saunter over, your heels dangling from your fingers.
“One sec. Just have to put my shoes on.”
You place your hand on his chest to steady yourself and bend down to start and slide the shoe onto your foot but he stops you and gently pushes you back toward the couch.
“Sit,” he commands.
He kneels and takes your foot in his hands then carefully slips on your shoe before starting to buckle it.
“These things are so damn small,” he mutters as he fights with the tiny clasp at your ankle.
“That’s just because your hands are so big,” you giggle.
He looks up at you with amusement dancing in his eyes. “Just how you like it.”
You hum in agreement and wiggle your toes.
He finally gets your shoes on then stands and holds his hand out for you.
With his palm at your lower back he leads you toward the door but as you reach to open it he pins you against it, pressing the hardness in his pants to your lower back.
Without a word he teasingly smooths his hand along your thigh and when he reaches the hem of your dress he lifts it until it’s above your hip.
The cool air hits your skin and his hand glides between your legs.
“I knew it,” he murmurs as his fingers continue to move at a torturously slow pace, tracing your bare skin where your panties should be.
“Isn’t it time to go?” you ask sweetly, feigning innocence as you try to wiggle free of his hold.
“Mm I don’t think so,” he croons, “you’re not going anywhere darlin’.”
When the calloused pad of his finger finds its mark you arch your back and whine out his name.
“Were you going to spend the whole party soaked like this…with nothin’ on under here?” he rumbles in your ear.
“Not if you just…”
Your sassy answer gets cut off when he grabs your chin with his free hand and turns your head to silence you with a kiss. It’s deep and rough even as his fingers are teasingly soft between your thighs.
You moan into his mouth and grab his wrist, sliding his hand lower until it stops at the base of your neck. He wraps his fingers around your throat as he trails his lips along your jaw and tightens his grip.
“I’m goin’ to fuck the brat right outta you darlin’. You’ll be lucky if you can walk straight when we leave this house.”
Summary: Between work and Sarah (whom you love) it’s hard to find time for just the two of you and when Joel has to wait a week for it well, he get’s grumpy and impatient.
Author’s Note: I’ve been wanting to do some pre-outbreak Joel because why not! I like the idea of him just existing and having happiness before the world fell into utter shit. Hope you enjoy, thank you all so much for reading! Much love always! ❤️❤️❤️Divider by the sweet @firefly-graphics thank you lovely Daisy🥰
Warnings: lots of fun, flirty fluff with tension
GIF NOT MINE: Credit goes to @manny-jacinto thanks so much sweets 🥰
Joel Miller Masterlist
“Hey there darlin’.”
You step out of the house and into his arms. Joel brushes his lips over yours, just a whisper, and at that tease of the taste of him your skin tingles with heat.
“You look beautiful,” he whispers against your lips.
Your thanks is lost in his kiss and when he finally pulls away you cling to him, still trying to steady yourself in a dizzying world.
He smiles softly and takes your hand, stepping back and studying you. His eyes travel the length of you, lingering on your legs before slowly making their way back up to your face.
His gaze burns right through you.
“I hope I can make it through the movie,” he groans.
Your teeth dig into your bottom lip and you giggle as he pulls you toward his pickup, opening the door and helping you in.
“But you’ve been dying to see ‘The League of Extraordinary Gentleman’ since you heard it was coming out,” you tease.
He gives you a boyish smirk as he starts the car.
“Yea but I’ve been waiting all week to see you darlin’.”
“Can we get ice cream!?” you ask as you walk out of the theater hand in hand.
Joel tucks you into his side and slips his arm around your waist.
“We could just have dessert at home,” he simpers, his lips caressing your ear.
“I don’t have any ice cream at home,” you answer cheekily.
He opens his mouth to make an equally cheeky remark but you press your finger to his lips.
“Pretty please” you ask and stick your bottom lip out.
“You’re making it very hard for me to say no darlin’,” he winks, kissing you before he ushers you toward the ice cream shop. “But after this we’re going straight back to your place.”
His tone leaves no room for argument but you decide to push his buttons because it’s fun.
“What if I want to go get a drink?”
“No,” he says as he scans the ice cream flavors.
You narrow your eyes but your lips twitch with a smile.
“You’re so bossy,” you sass.
“Yeah, I am,” he answers as he leans down to whisper in your ear. “And I’m taking you home after this. I want you on your hands and knees.”
The ice cream shop employee interrupts any chance of your response and Joel nudges you. “What are you gettin’ sweetheart?”
His eyes twinkle, the hint of heat lingering as he waits for you to order.
“Do you want to try some?” you ask when you catch him staring as you enjoy your cone.
He keeps staring.
“Joel?”
Suddenly he stands from the small booth and grabs your hand, tugging you behind him. He never responds as he marches you down the sidewalk toward his truck. He throws out his ice cream on the way.
“Get in,” he demands as he yanks open the passenger door.
You look at him in confusion but do as he says, taking another lick of your ice cream cone once you’re seated.
Within seconds the truck is pulling away from the theater and headed back toward your house.
“Get rid of it,” Joel hisses.
“Rid of what?” you ask, mid lick.
“The ice cream.”
“But I’m not done!” you whine.
“Give it,” he says, holding out his hand.
“Joel, you better explain why you’re acting like a cave man right now!”
He doesn’t and instead grabs the cone from between your fingers and chucks it out his window.
Your mouth hangs open in shock and you’re about to scold him but he makes a sharp turn down a darkened dead-end street, startling you.
Now you’re doubly irritated and turn to face him, folding your arms over your chest and huffing out his name.
“What is going on with you?” you ask him as he unbuckles his seat belt.
When he turns to you his voice is gruff with his demand.
“Get in the back.”
He unbuckles your seat belt.
“I can’t wait,” he adds, and when your eyes meet his you shiver from the hunger and need in his tone.
“Joel, someone might see…”
His fingertips graze your thigh, sliding higher until they reach the hem of your dress and slip under. He pushes your thighs apart, keeping his eyes on yours as his fingers brush over your damp panties.
“Get in the back, darlin’.”
“Okay,” you breathe out, climbing over the middle console and collapsing against the backseat.
He’s there in seconds, grabbing your hips and pulling them toward him so you slip down the leather and onto your back, his body settling between your spread legs.
His mouth crashes to yours, desperate, as his hands fumble with your dress, pushing the material up and over your hips. His lips trail along your jaw to the spot just below your ear, his breath hot along your skin when he murmurs, “the next time I have to wait a week to see you we’re staying home and in bed.”
