by Lexi Wilson
“I didn’t want to get upset in front of Allie.”
“Why would you be upset anyway? I have a right not to put my name on it,” I said in defense.
“But, why wouldn’t you? I just don’t understand. Are you embarrassed to be working with us? Is that it? Because if that’s the case, then you don’t have to be involved in this concert. You just need to let us know. I thought you were happy with us.”
“Is that really what you think, Jaxon? Really?”
“I don’t know what to think.”
I sighed. “Please, can’t you just leave it? You know I’ve run away from my past life. I’m here to start afresh. And right now, I’m doing my best to lay low. Maybe I’m being stupid, but I really don’t want my name on a flyer that’s going to be put around the whole town. I’m sorry, but I just don’t. I know you don’t understand… I know…” I couldn’t talk anymore because I was crying so much. I stopped, shook my head, and walked away.
I took a shower, brushed my teeth, and headed back to my room. Jaxon was nowhere to be seen, so I figured he wasn’t going to sleep with me that night. I couldn’t blame him. I was keeping so many secrets from him and he had every right to be upset with me. I switched the light off and tried to sleep. Moments later I heard him come into the room and felt him get into bed beside me. I breathed a sigh of relief at the feel of him next to me. I turned to him.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I’m so sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry,” he said. “You don’t have to apologize and you don’t have to explain yourself.”
Suddenly we were kissing, just like we were the first time he had joined me in bed, only this time it was even more passionate than before. We groped at each other and started pulling away clothing without even taking a breath. It was like we had to make love as soon as possible and we couldn’t connect to each other fast enough. I took in a breath as his mouth closed over my nipple and goosebumps broke out over my entire body. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been truly intimate with someone, and it felt so right. My hands wrapped around his dick and felt the hardness, and I was turned on in seconds. My pussy throbbed in response to his mouth on my breasts, his hands making their way down to my most sensitive area. He dipped a finger into the moisture there and I leaned back, allowing him entrance. About a second passed, in which he must have decided to skip the foreplay and get right to the action, so he wasted no time pulling away from me in order to arrange his body over mine, making it easy to slide into my open and waiting pussy, which enveloped him like it had been waiting forever just for him to come along. There was a sense of urgency as we made love again. I hadn’t realized how tense my body was until this moment. As he moved inside me, sliding his hard length in and out of my sleek, wet tightness, bringing me to a climax within mere minutes, I knew that I had been waiting to do this with him again. It felt so good having him in me, and it was like my entire body let out a big sigh and all my tension melted away as my pussy contracted around his cock. It was good all right; almost too good. I never wanted the orgasm, or the moment, to end.
Chapter 19
Jaxon
After the night with Kaylee, I promised myself not to push her too much. I had to keep reminding myself that she had been through more in her life than I would ever understand. I couldn’t keep expecting her to be the same as me. I was used to being open and honest about everything, but that was because I had never had anything to hide. Her life was very different, and she wasn’t just protecting herself, but also her child. When we woke the next morning, I kissed her lightly on the mouth and told her that she was safe with me. She never said anything, but I could tell she was grateful. After that we went back to the way things were before, although I definitely felt closer to her.
On the day of the concert she was a bundle of nerves, and I couldn’t tell if some of it was excitement. She looked scared, but I told her that everything was going to be fine. It wasn’t even a big concert, and the kids were going to be fine.
“What if I didn’t teach them right?” she asked. “I’ve never taught before this.”
I smiled. “Trust me, if there’s anyone that should be worried, it should be me. My kids are not nearly as confident as yours are. Anyway, it doesn’t matter how they do as long as they do their best. That’s all we encourage for them. These concerts are always a lot of fun.”
When we got to the school, we set up and then spent some time with the kids, getting them ready for the morning. When the parents and other guests arrived, we huddled them up inside the small concert hall and got started. Kaylee’s group was up first, and they did even better than I expected. I could see her grinning from the back of the room and she seemed to be holding back tears. I gave her a big thumbs-up and winked at her. The rest of the kids did well too, and the whole concert was a great success. Afterwards, my mother came up to me to tell me that the parents wanted to thank all the teachers, and asked that myself and Kaylee head to the front of the stage. I went to find her and asked her to come with me.
She shook her head. “Mind if I hang back here?” she asked. “I don’t really want to meet everyone.”
“I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you just come up with me, but we’ll let my mother and Mindy do the talking. I’m sure the kids in your class want you there. Come on, it won’t be so bad. We have a ton of food and drinks ready for everyone afterward, so I know this isn’t going to take long.”
She agreed, even though I could see she didn’t want to, and followed me to the front. I leaned in and whispered to my mother to please take over and to not focus too much on Kaylee, and she thankfully understood. We let them talk, and every now and again we would wave and smile at a parent, and I could feel how stiff Kaylee was beside me. When it was finally over, she breathed a sigh of relief. I took her to one side to talk to her.
“You okay?” I asked her.
She nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just glad it all went well. The students did well, didn’t they? I was so proud of them. I got all emotional watching them. It was like I was watching Allie up there or something. That’s how paternal it felt.”
“I told you they’d do well. They’re great kids, and they have a wonderful teacher.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
“And one day Allie might be the one up there playing the guitar.”
She chuckled. “That will be nice. I have a feeling she’s going to be great at it. I had no idea she would take it to it as well as she has. Thanks for teaching her.”
“My pleasure,” I said. “She’s an easy one to teach. She makes my job simple.”
“She’s a good kid. Uh, are you staying for the drinks and food?” she asked.
“I think so. The food looks delicious, and I’m starving. I barely had any breakfast today. How about you?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Don’t you want to?” I asked. I had envisioned her staying for the day with us.
“I’m a bit tired. I think I might call it a day.”
I nodded. “Sure, no problem. I’ll see you later.”
“Okay. Don’t clean up, though. I’ll come around tomorrow and clean up. Please tell your mother and Mindy not to either.”
As she left I considered going home with her, but I didn’t want her to think I was feeling sorry for her, and I didn’t want to follow her everywhere. She clearly needed some space. Still, seeing her around all these people made me realize that I’d been keeping her far too cocooned at my house. The only time I had really taken her out on the town was the quick trip to the mall, but that was it. Other than Susan at the diner and Thomas at the print shop, she hadn’t really met anyone in town. But I wasn’t sure what to do about that. Every time I asked her if she wanted to go somewhere with me, even if it was just to go grocery shopping, she would tell me that she preferred to stay at home. Sometimes I felt like I was making headway with her, and other times I felt like we were going backwards. This town was supposed to heal her, but sometimes I was
n’t sure if it was doing its job. I looked around at all the people who had come for the concert and I felt bad that she wasn’t there to experience it with me. The kids would’ve liked to have had her there too. I sighed. Kaylee was by far the most complicated person I had ever met, and I felt desperate to figure her out. I just wasn’t sure how.
“Jaxon! There you are.”
I turned around and saw Styles walking into the room. I hadn’t expected him to be there. For the most part, it had been mostly parents or family members who had come to the concert. I’d thought about inviting him, but the last time he’d come to a concert he’d been bored out of his mind.
“Styles, what are you doing here? Do you have a secret kid that I don’t know about?”
He laughed. “Don’t say that! I hope not. Nah, I was driving past and figured I’d come and say hi. How did the concert go?”
“It went well. The kids were amazing.”
“Good. Hey, want to pop out and get some lunch?”
“There’s food here,” I said. “But actually, yes, that’s a better idea. It’s a little bit too busy here for my liking. Let me just tell my mother.”
“Cool, I’ll come say hello too. Hey, you can invite that Kaylee girl if you want. I still haven’t met her,” he said casually. I could tell, however, that it wasn’t casual at all. He was curious about her.
“Oh, she already left. She went home as soon as the concert was finished.”
He frowned. “She has? But she’s a teacher. I thought she’d want to mingle with everyone.”
“Nah, she’s not good with crowds. I don’t blame her, though. I’m ready to go myself. I’m tired of being polite to everyone.”
Styles laughed. “Don’t lie. You love it.”
We found my mother and said our goodbyes. My mother loved Styles, so for a while I stood while she grilled him about his life. She berated him for not visiting often enough, and the two of them planned to meet up soon.
“Am I invited too?” I asked.
Styles shook his head. “Nah, I want your mother to myself.”
“Mom, don’t you want me there?” I asked.
She chuckled. “No way. How are we going to talk about you if you’re sitting with us?”
I groaned. “You guys are too much. Come on, Styles, let’s go. Love you, Mom,” I said, and gave her a quick hug.
We headed out to our local pub. We ordered some beers and a burger each, which is what we always ordered when we came to the place. We’d tried other meals but they were never as good, and we almost always regretted not just going for the burgers again.
“Man, I’m so hungry,” I said. “I tried to get some food earlier, but those parents sure are greedy.”
He laughed. “Yeah, there was quite the crowd. But I’m glad the concert went well. So, any reason why Kaylee went home?”
“I told you, she doesn’t like crowds.”
“Hmm,” he said. I could tell he was unconvinced. Unfortunately, he knew me too well and probably knew when I wasn’t telling the truth. “So, tell me, where exactly is home for her?”
“Uh… well…”
He raised his eyebrows. “What aren’t you telling me?”
I sighed. “She’s staying with me.”
“What? Since when?”
“Since I caught her sleeping in her car. Since that first week I met her.”
“She’s been living with you all this time and you haven’t told me about it? And she was sleeping in her car? What the hell, Jaxon? This is big news. Why haven’t you said anything to me about it until now? And were you even going to tell me?”
“Look, I’m sorry. I know it’s a big thing not to share with you, but it’s not really my news to share. She’s going through a tough time and she doesn’t want anyone to know what’s happening. I don’t blame her, really.”
“Well sure, but why was she sleeping in her car? She has a kid. That’s not safe.”
“I know. That’s why I told her to come and live with me.”
“You like her, don’t you?”
I sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe. She’s…she’s really cool,” I said. “And yes, I know I’m playing with fire, but I can’t help myself.”
“You want to protect her. It’s who you are. But what if you can’t? What if she’s trouble? She’s running away from something. What’s to stop her from running away again? Then what? You’ll be the one that’s hurt.”
I nodded. “Trust me, I’ve thought of all of that. I have. And that’s why I’m not allowing myself to get too involved. I’m just trying to help her, that’s all.”
“You’re a good person, that’s why. I have some news about her plates, by the way. I told you I was going to consider it some more.”
“You did? What did you find out?”
The food arrived just as he was about to tell me, and for once I cared more about the conversation than about the burger sitting in front of me. Styles took a bite of his and I had to wait for him to finish chewing before he could talk again.
“Man, this is good,” he said.
I groaned. “Forget the burger. What did you find?”
“Wow, you really are invested in this woman, huh? Well, turns out the plate was from some car in storage, and the original owner of the car died, which is why nobody is looking for the stolen plates.”
“Oh. So, what does that mean?” I asked.
He shrugged. “It could mean a number of things, to be honest, but right now it doesn’t help us much. Just in case, though, I’m keeping a lookout for any other Massachusetts plates that come into town. This isn’t a touristy sort of town, so it should be easy to spot when a car comes in that we don’t recognize.”
“Yeah, that’s what happened when Kaylee moved to this town. I noticed her car immediately. I really wonder what’s going on.”
“She honestly hasn’t said anything to you?” he asked.
I sighed and shook my head. “Not a word.”
“Hmm, well, she obviously doesn’t want anyone to know. She’s laying low. I’m not sure if she should’ve chosen this town to do it in, though.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “This is a great town.”
“It is. Sure. But not for someone who is trying to stay hidden. She might think that she’s laying low, but everyone knows that she’s here. She should’ve gone to a big town, filled with new tourists coming and going all day. She would’ve gone unnoticed.”
I sighed. “That’s true. I don’t want to tell her that, though. She might get spooked and leave.”
“You don’t want her to leave, huh?”
“It’s not that. She’s just doing so well at the school and all the kids really like her. I would hate to see her leave and to have to find a new teacher all over again.”
Styles laughed. “Oh, sure. I’m sure that’s the reason you don’t want her to leave. So, are the two of you sleeping together?”
I picked up my burger and took a bite. Then I mumbled, “Sorry, can’t talk. I’m eating.”
Styles shook his head and laughed. “Oh boy. I think you’re the one that’s in trouble now. Be careful, Jaxon. That’s the only advice I can give you right now. Be careful.”
Chapter 20
Kaylee
“I have an idea,” Jaxon said to me after work the following Friday. We had just gotten home and I was getting ready for a night in. I was going to suggest that we get pizza and watch a movie, even though that was what we did most Friday nights. Still, I liked doing it. I liked how safe it made me feel knowing that I had Jaxon and Allie next to me.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“How about we go out and get pizza for a change?”
I frowned. “Why? We can just have pizza here. I thought we could watch a movie, maybe.”
“We can still watch a movie later,” he said. “But I thought it would be nice to go out for a change. There’s this great little pizza place in town. I haven’t been there in such a long time, but they make the most de
licious pizzas. You’ll love it. Come on, what do you say?”
“I don’t know, Jaxon. I like staying in.”
“But you’ll like going out even more,” he said.
I desperately wanted to say no, but I felt so bad for the guy. He’d done so much for me, and I knew that he only stayed in because of me. I was stopping him from living his life, and I felt terrible about that.
“Jaxon, you can go out if you want to. I don’t want to stop you from going out. I’m fine here, and I don’t need you to stay with me. It’s enough that you’ve given me a place to stay, but I really don’t mind if you want to go out.”
“I do want to go out,” he said. “But I want to go out with you. Come on, don’t you want a change of scenery?”
“Where are we going?” Allie asked. “Out? Let’s go out!”
How could I say no to Allie? Although I wasn’t sure that I could say no to Jaxon either. The two of them had matching looks of excitement on their faces, and I couldn’t help but feel swept up by it.
“Okay, let’s go out,” I said.
“Really?”
I laughed. “Really. Can I just go and get changed quickly? I’ve been in this outfit all day.”
“Of course. We can leave in about an hour if you like?”
“Ah, perfect. Thank you.”
An hour gave me plenty of time to get ready. I had a shower, then stood in my bedroom wondering what to wear. I never went out anymore, so the prospect of finding an outfit was strange to me. I suddenly remembered the outfit that I had bought recently, as well as the jeans that Jaxon had gotten me. I still hadn’t worn them. I put them on and stared at myself in the mirror. I couldn’t help but smile. Looking at me like this you’d never think that I had any problems. I just looked like a normal 26-year-old girl ready for a night out on the town. I straightened my hair and then even put a little bit of makeup on. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d made any sort of effort like this. By the time I was finished it was time to go, and when I made my way back downstairs, both Allie and Jaxon gasped.
