"I'm not even thirty! I can't believe I'm considered old."
"In football years, you're getting up there. God, I'm so proud of you. You've been so good. No unsavory news coverage. You've maintained a balanced budget. And you've been attending the classes. They must've noticed. They said they saw you at the MS toy drive last week."
"Really? That was such a small event."
"Yes, but those are the kinds of things they want to see. Responsible adult behavior that kids will look up to."
"Shit. It's Jeff calling on the other line."
"Okay, take it. He'll fill you in. Remember to act surprised!"
"Okay, baby. See you later."
* * *
The rest of the day was a tumultuous. He had a conference call with some of the members of the NIKE marketing team. Then had some conversations with his attorneys and then with some of the Tornados’ Managment and then again with NIKE. It was the best news he'd gotten since having been drafted to the NFL. The money and exposure were huge, and it was for a long-term contract. By the time he got home he was exhausted, and Addie had a late meeting with a new player that evening.
He was sound asleep on his bed when he felt Addie's warm hands tighten around him.
"You're home," He rasped.
"Well, at your home, yes." She kissed his chest and then his shoulder. "And I need some sex." She said with a laugh.
"Oh you do, do you?"
"Yes! I mean, I'm here aren't I?" She said between kisses. Was Is this still the only reason she was there? He was beyond ready to tell her he loved her, but she was still so wary.
He flipped her over so that she was underneath him.
* * *
"Do you only come here for sex?"
"It's really really good sex," She said as she wrapped all her limbs around him.
He closed his eyes and placed his forehead on hers. "Hey?" She pushed him gently off so that she could look at his eyes. "What's wrong?"
He wasn't sure how to tell her what he wanted to tell her without her running away.
"Is this too much?" She pushed him off a little harder this time. "I've overstayed my welcome, haven't I? I'm so stupid." She stood up and began fumbling for her clothes. "You haven't gone out in months because I've been monopolizing your time. God, I'm so embarrassed."
He jumped out of bed and pulled her back to bed. She still had no clue whatsoever what she meant to him. And she was so damn cute and so fucking insecure—and in that moment and then he came up with a plan. He was going to marry her.
"You're fucking nuts." He said kissing down her body. "I don't want you to leave."
"You sure? You like this arrangement?"
"No. Actually, I fucking hate it.”
“What? But you just said that—"
“I want you here with me all the time.” He said, removing her panties. “I want to go to sleep with you.” He said between kisses. “I want to fuck you in the middle of the night if I’m in the mood or make love to you at noon. I want you to feel free to have your way with me before you get up in the morning. I just want you around all the time.”
“That’s too much, Gun. I like where things are now,” she said, as she pushed him on his back and began to kiss him.
“But Addie—”
She moved up, took his hard cock in her hand, and guided him inside of her. “No please. I don’t want to talk about this. If we talk about it, it’ll ruin things. We’re having fun, aren’t we? Things are great.” She said moving up and down. “Let’s leave it like this.”
“No!” He argued back even though it was impossible to think when she was gliding up and grinding down on his cock, her nails digging into his chest. He gripped her waist and helped her up and down, losing himself in the sensation. Every night, she was in his bed or he was in hers. She had to stop fighting him and realize they already were in a relationship—like it or not.
He put all those thoughts aside when she began to swerve her hips around and mewl in pleasure. “Oh…I’m going to come, Gun.” She moaned as her pussy tightened so hard around him it made him come without warning, hard and fast.
“Wow,” she sighed, sagging on him. “That was pretty amazing.”
Moving the hair away from her face, he kissed her forehead, “Yeah it was. It always is.”
“You okay? Did I upset you?”
“Nah, it’s cool.” He said, shifting her over so that he could run to the bathroom and clean up.
Once he was back in bed, she cuddled close to him and asked, "So tell me about the NIKE meetings today?"
"Great. Sunday night I have to leave for a week to New York to meet with them.”
“Really?”
“Yep. But they’re hosting a big gala the week after that here in town. Come with me?"
"Most of the NFL will be there, including Kellerman."
"I don't care. Be my date."
She looked at him and then turned around, giving him her back. "You know I can't."
"Why the hell not, Adalyn?"
"This little thing called work."
"Do you know how much money I'm going to be making off this deal on top of all the money I already have?"
"What the hell does that have to do with me?"
“You’re not fucking listening to me,” he said, louder. “I want you. All of you. Not just in secret. Not hiding. I’ll talk to Kellerman and Wayne and the entire Goddamn NFL, if I have to. They'll understand. You’re just using work as an excuse not to commit to me. To us!”
“What? No. Things are great. Why risk being hurt.” As soon as she said it, it was obvious she regretted it.
“I wouldn't hurt you. Isn't it worth risking a life together? Love? You're stuck on the past and you're not moving forward." He ran his hand through his hair. “Jesus, Addie!” He stood up. “Maybe I should just go home. Maybe you need to think things through. Alone.”
“No. Don’t go,” She got on her knees and reached for him. “Please, stay. I’ll try. I don’t know how much I can give you, but for you, I’ll try.”
He looked at her for a moment, frustration surely lining his face before he got back into bed and for the first time since reconnecting, he saw the look of fear on her face. How had he not noticed before? She was truly scared of losing herself again. It was clear as day. He needed to show her, that he wasn't going anywhere.
* * *
When Addie woke up the next morning, Gun was already gone. He'd left a note that said he had some errands to run which was odd since he’d never left before her and was always so eager to spend time together. She had been so harsh that evening. It was obvious he wanted more but she wasn't sure she could give him more. She got dressed and went home with a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.
She didn’t want to seem needy, but at some point, around mid-day she broke down and sent him a text.
ADDIE: I came home to do some work.
GUN: OK. See you later.
It was short and curt. But he was a short and curt texter.
After she finished working, she spent the rest of the day cleaning her apartment. She was starting to panic when it was seven in the evening and he had not called or texted her. She wasn’t even sure why she was panicking since she was the one pushing him away. She should be happy he’d finally decided to move on.
As she finished off a huge bowl of ice cream, her phone rang.
"Hey," Gun said. "Sorry I've been MIA."
"It's okay," she lied.
"What've you been up to?"
"Oh nothing. Had a lot of work to catch up on."
"I know you don't like to go out in public and are afraid you'll get caught but I'd very much like to have a late lunch with you tomorrow at The Rustic Dock before I fly out to New York. It's my favorite and you said you loved stone crabs and tomorrow's the last day of claw season."
She thought about it for a moment. The man wanted to go out on a date. They didn't have to be all over each other or anything. If they happened to run into so
me one, they could always say it was work related. And anyway, she was feeling that something was off and even though she didn't want to feel like the girl that chased the guy, she didn't want to lose him even though she didn't really know what exactly they were.
“You promised me you’d try,” he added.
"I know and yes, sure, I’ll go."
"Great. So, I'll pick you up around two."
"Oh, uh, so you're not coming over tonight."
She heard noises in the background. "No, sorry. Can't tonight. I'm with George he had an emergency and I can't leave him right now," he said, but she was sure she heard laughing in the background.
"Oh..…well...um. Okay. Hope George's fine."
"Yeah. He’s fine. Good night, baby."
"Good night Gun."
She stared at her phone for too long full of questions and unease.
8
Finally, Addie had agreed to go out on an actual date with him and, as he sipped his water, he was happy to see her looking relaxed. Maybe she would start loosening up. She mostly worked and she took work very seriously. Today, though, she wore a long flowery dress that went to her ankles, her feet were in sandals, and her hair was in a ponytail. She looked years younger and like she'd spent her day at the beach, although he knew first-hand, she'd barely seen the beach.
Addie didn't like to be pampered or for him to spend money on her, but when she mentioned her love for stone crab in passing, he'd made reservations at Miami's historic restaurant, The Rustic Dock, where stone crabs were the specialty. It was only opened seasonally and it was very pricey and hard to get a table, especially on the last weekend of the season. Luckily, he knew enough people to get a seat right outside overlooking the beach.
"My mouth is watering," she said as she looked around at everyone with piles of stone crabs in the middle of the table. "I've heard these are the best."
"They are. You're in for a treat."
"I'm sure it was very hard to get a reservation here, thanks for bringing me."
"For you, Addie. Anything."
She smiled and looked down at her plate. He reached across and used his finger to bring her chin up. "Why do you do that? You always look away when I tell you how I feel. Don't you believe me?"
"I'm trying to believe you, Gun. I really am."
As he was about to answer the waitress set a small mountain of crab on the table, along with fries, grilled asparagus, creamed spinach, baby carrots, and cornbread. "Oh my God, Gun! This is an insane amount of food!" she squealed as she put on her bib.
"I'm a big guy," he said, patting his stomach and realizing the heaviness of the conversation had passed but he'd definitely need to talk to her later. She needed to understand that—like it or not—they already were in a relationship. A committed, 'in for the long haul', kind of relationship.
She grabbed her first crab claw and tried to crack it. Her laugh was infectious and when she finally was able to open it and pry some meat out of it, she closed her eyes and moaned out.
"Babe, you need to get a handle on shit."
"What?" she asked, with big round questioning eyes.
"You sound just like you did right before we left my apartment. You know...when I was eating your pussy." Remembering how they’d been late to lunch because when he’d picked her up and saw her—he went crazy with the need to touch her.
Her eyes widened. "Gunther! You can't say things like that in public."
"Then you can't do shit like that. Eat your crab like a normal person, will ya?"
“I missed you yesterday,” she admitted.
“Fuck. Now that’s progress. I missed you too, baby. George had a fight with his new girlfriend. Long story.”
“Everything okay now?”
“Yes. Everything’s fine. He met his girlfriend in a nightclub while he was on a date with his previous girlfriend.”
"That's not dysfunctional at all," she smiled and continued to eat. "And when he thought he was on a date with me, did he have any of these two girlfriends?"
Gun shrugged. "I can't keep up with George's love life. There's too many parties involved."
She laughed. "So, everything's perfect now?" Things were moving toward perfection and by the end of the month everything would in fact be perfect. At least that was the plan.
They were about twenty minutes into their feast, her laugh was loud, uninhibited and infectious. Today, she was the Addie he remembered. The girl he fell in love with.
He was laughing out loud at her attempt to eat every single morsel of crab in the shell when he heard the familiar voice. "Gunther?"
Oh shit. He placed the crab down, wiped his hand, and took off his bib before looking up. He knew exactly what he'd find. His parents.
Katherine McCall wore a navy blouse with her pearls and matching earrings, her hair in a perfect bun. His father had on a navy jacket, with gold buttons, and khaki trousers. They looked as if they were going to an upscale yachting event.
Gun pushed his chair out and stood. "Mother." He leaned to place a kiss on either side of her cheeks. He then extended his hand to his father. "Father."
"I didn't know you lunched here, son." His mother said. Lunched? He didn't lunch. He ate a meal wherever he desired but he didn't lunch. "And who's this lovely young lady?" His mother said, her face tight and judgmental. How could they not remember Addie?
Addie nervously wiped her face and hands fumbled with her hair. Then she stood and extended a hand, but awkwardly realized she still had on the bib, so she yanked it off first. "Mr. And Mrs. McCall. Hi. It's me, Adalyn Finney. You probably don't remember me but I—"
"Adalyn Finney? The maid?" His mother interrupted.
"Yes, sir." Addie replied, but Gunther interrupted. "She is not a maid."
Addie's hand still extended but just hanging in the air. Gun added and took Addie’s hand in his, feeling extremely protective of her.
"How have you been darling?" His mother said. "What a pretty dress. Isn't it lovely Liam? You might catch a draft sitting out here by the water with all that skin exposed, though." God, his mother could be a bitch. She turned to Gun. "Gun, darling, you might want to hurry up and finish quickly so Adalyn doesn't catch a cold. Don't you agree, Liam?"
Her father nodded, his expression harsh. They didn't want their son being seen with Adalyn, it had been that obvious.
"Well, we've got to get going, our table is ready. It was nice to see you, son." She squeezed his shoulder before walking off, his father on her heals.
Once they walked away, Addie blew out a loud gush of air and plopped down on her chair.
"Sorry about my parents they can be assholes."
She waived her hands. "It's fine. It's fine."
"Can I get you another beer, sir?" The waitress came by at that moment.
"Yes, another one for me, thank you. Addie?"
"Nah, I'm good, thank you." She responded. Her bib was back on and she'd pulled another claw to her plate but it was obvious that the mood had changed. She looked 'off'.
"Addie, babe?" He reached across the table and took her hand, she looked up and smiled, but it didn't at all reach her eyes.
"This is so delicious, right?" She was distracted and wasn't eating it anymore. In fact, for the rest of lunch he noticed she moved her food around the plate but didn't eat another bite.
After dinner, Gun had planned to drive to the beach for a walk but she said, “I think I want to go home. I have a long day tomorrow.”
“You’re pulling away again. Don’t do that,” he said, as he drove.
“I can’t do this, Gun. You changed things. I was honest from day one. I told you this couldn’t be more than sex and you came in and made it more. Now your parents think we're in a relationship.”
"Like it or not, we are in a relationship. This isn't ten years ago. I'm not going anywhere.”
"We are not in a relationship!” Her voice was quaking and her eyes watered.
“Really? So, if I started dating other women righ
t now, you’d be okay with it? Because I would not be okay with you dating other men. In fact, the idea makes me fucking insane.”
"You can't date someone like me, Gunther."
"You know what, Adalyn. The one with the problem over our social class is you."
"Me?" she said, indignantly.
"You are the one that brings it up. You're the one with the chip on your shoulder. I pursued you, knowing your financial worth. Hell, I'm still pursuing you. I don't give a fuck about my money or what my parents think. But, you do. You're the one that can't handle it."
"I just think that we are too different and the issue with your parents will keep coming up and you'll grow to resent me."
“No. I will not. And all I can say is that you should know me better than that." He parked the car and turned to her. “You don't have to prove anything to my parents or to me.
? You don't have to prove it to anyone. You are worth it. To me you are worth everything. We're dating, Addie. Like it or not, we are in a committed loving relationship,” he said, his forehead practically on hers, his hands cupping her face. We’re practically living together. Now, the only thing left is for you to understand your own worth and for you to accept that I want you just as you are.”
She wiped her eyes and her chin wobbled. “Gun, you have to go or you’ll miss your flight. Give me some time to think about things, okay? I’ll see you when you get back.”
“Why do I feel like this is goodbye?”
“It’s not. I promise. Be safe and call me when you arrive?”
“You know this isn’t ten years ago, right?” It occurred to him that things seemed all too similar. “I am coming back. I’ll be back in a week.”
She nodded and he pulled her in and kissed her tenderly. “And Addie?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t you dare give up on us.”
She opened her mouth but he kissed her again, effectively shutting her up. He kissed her hard and deep, not able to get enough of her. When they finally separated they were both breathless.
9
The Maid Page 10
