Unconditional

by Tyler, Q. B.

  The sound of my front door opening reminds me that Aria isn’t here, and I smile knowing that Maddie will be thrilled to see her. And I need another reason to not get reckless. Aria would sniff that out in a second. Maybe I could pull the wool over everyone else’s eyes, but Aria is perceptive and she can read Maddie like a book like only a mother could.

  “Happy Thanksgiving!” I hear squealed from the kitchen.

  I hear my mother meet her with equal enthusiasm, reminding me to start counting how many drinks she’s putting away, but my ears immediately perk up when I hear her ask “Who’s this?”

  Aria brought someone? My eyes immediately go to Henry, but he must not have heard because his eyes are glued to the television like he didn’t just hear his wife’s voice.

  “This is Penelope…” I’m off the couch in an instant.

  No fucking way. I’ll kill her.

  I immediately enter the kitchen to see Aria and the girl I went on the date with last week. My eyes pass over them both and immediately find Maddie who’s staring at Penelope like she just might drive a carving knife through her.

  “Oh hey, Cal. Look who I brought!” Aria smiles, though it fades when she sees the look I’m giving her.

  Suddenly remembering that I do have some manners, and I can’t immediately pull Maddie out of the room to tell her that I had no fucking part in this, I speak up, letting a smile find my face to greet the woman I really wish wasn’t here. “Penelope…hey.”

  “Hey, sorry to totally intrude…”

  “That’s exactly what you’re doing.” Maddie’s words pierce the air and the room goes silent before Margie smacks her arm.

  “Don’t be rude, Madeline. She’s a friend of Aria’s,” she scolds.

  “Yeah, Mads, chill. She’s new to the area and doesn’t have family here. I didn’t want her to be alone on Thanksgiving. Besides, we all had fun when we went out, right Cal?” Aria shoots me a look that says, don’t let Maddie jump all over her.

  The room suddenly feels way too small, and Maddie’s anger is taking up most of the space. Keep it the fuck together, Maddie.

  No. I can almost hear her.

  “So, Penelope, that’s a pretty name,” my mom interjects as she tries to smooth the obvious tension, though I’m sure she hasn’t a clue why the air is frosty in the first place. “Where are you from?”

  “Los Angeles,” Penelope says with a nod. I’m only half listening as she goes into some story about growing up there when much to my reluctance, I pull Aria out of the room. I’m hoping that being in my mom’s presence will keep Maddie somewhat in check, though I’m probably about to blow all that to hell.

  “What the fuck?” I snap at Aria and cross my arms over my chest. “Your life is about to be hell next week.” I point my finger at her and she smacks it away.

  “What!” She presses her fists firmly into her hips. “You made out with her, she told me!”

  “A pity make-out because she invited me up and I said no. Why would you bring her here?” I don’t hide the exasperation or the irritation in my tone. My nerves are so tense you could snap them, and this is after Maddie had spent the last three days sucking all of the stress out of me through her kisses.

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s going to give her the wrong fucking idea. Introducing her to my mother? To fucking Maddie? You know I don’t take that shit lightly,” I growl.

  “Look she knows she’s here as my friend…not your girlfriend. But I thought maybe you guys could get to know each other a little better.”

  “No.”

  She stares at me confused. “What do you mean, no?”

  “It means no, and if you had bothered to ask, I would have told you that I wasn’t interested.”

  “Ugh.” She scoffs and rolls her eyes. “I forgot you’ve still got some fuckboy in you.”

  “Watch it,” I scold her like I do when we’re at work and she forgets that I’m her boss.

  “We aren’t in uniform, so you can kiss my ass.”

  “Aria, you always do this shit. You always think you know best and you can just control my life like you have any fucking say. Back off, Daniels, I mean it.” I grit out her maiden name like I always do when she pisses me off.

  Hurt flashes across her face briefly before I see it harden. “You’re being a dick.”

  “And you’re leading that poor girl on,” I snap. Not that I particularly care, but I can’t very well explain the root of my irritation, so this is the only card I have to play.

  “I didn’t make out with her! You didn’t tell me you weren’t into her.”

  “Did Henry know I kissed her? No. Because it didn’t fucking mean anything.”

  She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “Fine, I’m not going to ask her to leave though. And Margie will kick your ass if you do.”

  “Maddie will probably handle that.”

  She crosses her arms over her chest. “And what’s that about? I’ve never known her to be bratty like that.”

  “She’s not being bratty,” I snap without thinking. I’m always defensive when it comes to Maddie and rarely let anyone discipline her. Aria is the very small exception and even that needs to be cleared through me. “She doesn’t like being blindsided. You know that.”

  Aria narrows her eyes at me, and I immediately try to clear my brain of the last few days as if she could read the crude thoughts that I’ve been having about Maddie. I should relax though, never in a million years would Aria ever come to that conclusion. “You let that girl have too much power.”

  True. “That’s not what this is about.”

  “Oh? You’re flying off the handle because of Maddie’s reaction. You spoil her.”

  “And you don’t?”

  She runs a hand through her hair before putting it up. “That’s not the point. The point is you let her have too much say in your life. You always have.”

  “That’s what it means to raise a child, Aria. You put them fucking first.” The instant the words leave my mouth, I regret them. Not because I didn’t mean them. And God knows I do. I do put Maddie first. But to think of her as a child makes my stomach turn. I’ve been trying to rationalize my choices since the moment I pressed my lips to hers, and now the voice of reason is loud and abrasive and slithering up my spine and grabbing hold of my senses. I storm away from her and up the stairs to my room, not even bothering to go in the kitchen to excuse myself.

  You’re sick, Cal. You’re hurting Maddie for your own selfish gain. Where’s this going? Are you going to marry her? Fuck her? Breed her? That will go over really well with your family and everyone in town that considers you a hero for what you did for the poor broken orphan. All of my hard work and recognition and accolades will be tarnished. They’ll think I touched her when she was too young to know better.

  They’ll think I raped her.

  And let’s just say for argument’s sake that no one ever finds out. I manage to keep it from everyone until this relationship or whatever it is plays its course. Then what happens? We go back to the way things were?

  No. The relationship I had with Maddie before we started all of this is over. We can’t go back to that. Not after kissing her and touching her and…tasting her.

  Fuck.

  Sounds of sniffling break me out of my thoughts and before I can tell myself that this is the worst idea, I’m closing the door to Maddie’s room behind me. “Go away, Cal. I can’t do this with everyone downstairs. Not with your girlfriend down there.”

  “She’s not my girlfriend and you know that,” I tell her as I sit down on her bed next to her. “I’ve never known you to be insecure. You know you’re my number one girl.” I’m trying to keep my hands off of her, but her crying makes me feel like someone has wrapped barbed wire around my heart and every time she sniffles my heart constricts and the wire tightens.

  She wipes her eyes and avoids my gaze. “It’s different now.”

  “So, let me get this straight, now that we’re…
here, you think that you mean less to me than you did before?” I raise an eyebrow at her and her watery blue eyes meet mine.

  “She’s…pretty.”

  “She’s not…you.”

  She gasps slightly, air moves through her slightly parted lips and her cheeks turn pink. Her tongue darts out to wet her mouth and I shake my head slightly. “Later,” I whisper.

  “Please,” she whimpers, “just for a second.”

  I swallow, and in that moment, I damn my soul to the pits of hell. I free the beast from the confines of his cage, letting him run wild and free to take what he needed. I don’t care about what my family would say, what my job would say, what anyone would say. I’m certain that Maddie is mine. That despite the tragedy in her past that brought us together way earlier than I would have liked, she was meant for me. And she is going to have to go downstairs and watch another woman flirt with me.

  I would give her this and whatever else she needs later.

  I put her face in my hands, cupping her cheeks gently. “Hey, look at me.” She does instantly, as if her body has been trained to obey my every command. I rub my nose gently against hers, inhaling her sweet scent. I let my tongue dart out and trace her bottom lip, then her top lip before I press mine to hers, swallowing a delicious moan that makes my cock twitch. I pull away after no more than a second, not wanting to get carried away. “Wait five minutes before you come downstairs.” I stand up and open the door before I peek my head into the hall, grateful that no one is upstairs. I can hear rattling in the kitchen and Henry and Aria talking and I’m certain that Grant is still glued to my sofa.

  She nods before she stands up and wraps her arms around me. “I love you.” She looks up at me and gives me that smile that makes my heart stop. The smile reaches her eyes and her sweet dimple pops out. I haven’t explicitly told her I loved her since we’d crossed these lines, but I hope she knows. I hope she knows with every kiss, every touch, every moment I risk my entire life just to hold her in my arms in a way I knew I shouldn’t, I hope she knows that I’d give up everything to love her forever.

  THE TENSION IS SO THICK it smothers us like a weighted blanket. Things are always pretty tense whenever Grant and Henry are in the same room, but usually just the right amount of alcohol can loosen that situation. Unlucky for all of us, Henry hasn’t hit that sweet spot yet, so he is still brooding at the end of the table. I’ve never really understood why Henry hates Grant so much. From what I can see, he’s a good man that has treated Margie like a queen after their father left her heartbroken. I’ve always liked him, and from the jump, he has always been sweet to me. He’d helped Cal pick out my first car and anytime I saw him he was practically shoving money in my pocket.

  On top of the usual “you’re not my Daddy and I’ll never like you” tension between Henry and Grant, I’m grappling with my own issues of having this outsider at dinner. I’m trying my best not to appear like the jealous girlfriend, but I’m pretty sure I’m failing miserably.

  But really, why is she here? I stare across the table at her and cock my head to the side. She is really pretty, but she looks completely over the top for a Thanksgiving dinner, making me believe that she’s here for more than just “Aria’s friend with nowhere to go.”

  She wants Cal.

  Her strawberry blonde hair is pulled up into a top knot with a few strands hanging. She’s wearing a face full of makeup complete with a deep plum lipstick and overly done smoky eye. She’s wearing a long sweater over a pair of leggings and heeled boots that make her legs go on for days, and she towers over me.

  I’ve barely said anything since we sat down to dinner, contrary to my normal behavior which is me talking up a storm about anything and everything. The table is practically silent until Aria, whose looks I’ve been avoiding since the second I snapped at Penelope, stands with her wine glass. “I’m going to get some more wine. Mads, can you come help me?”

  “Get more wine? Sorry, I think you forgot the part where I’m not twenty-one yet.” I raise an eyebrow at her and take an obvious sip of the water in front of me.

  She taps a finger against the side of her glass, irritated, and narrows her gaze. “Like that’s stopped you, help please!” I don’t miss the growl that escapes Cal’s lips over her comment and it immediately sets my body on fire. Visions of him growling as he plows into me from behind crowd my brain and I bite my bottom lip. Do not look at him, Maddie.

  I roll my eyes before standing. “Would anyone like anything while we’re up?”

  “Put some more rolls in the oven.” Margie points at the empty basket of her infamous buttery bread that had the ability to incite a riot when we were down to the final few.

  I’m barely through the foyer when Aria is pulling me away from the kitchen and up the stairs to my bedroom. I can already hear the lecture about reigning in my attitude when she closes the door behind us. “Okay, what is your problem?” she whispers and puts her hands on her hips.

  “Nothing!”

  “You’re pouting like a moody teenager.”

  “I am a moody teenager.”

  “You never act like it. Something’s up.” She crosses her arms and I wonder if she could read my mind because immediately her face softens. “Mads, I know you…better than you know yourself.”

  “You think you do.” There’s no way you have any idea about what’s going on with Cal and me… you’d freak the fuck out.

  “No, I do, and I get that you hate the idea of having to share Cal, but don’t you want him to be happy?” I almost choke on her words. What the hell does that mean?

  “What are you talking about?”

  She sighs and sits on my bed. “I know that you’re a little…possessive about Cal, and that’s totally normal. Girls and their dads…especially when there hasn’t been a mother figure love interest for their father…” She waves her hand. “It’s Psych 101, hon, and you’re the textbook definition.”

  “Okay, first of all, don’t psych major me. Secondly, Cal’s not my dad.”

  “Maybe not technically, but he’s a father figure, and I wish you’d stop denying that. He’s done a lot for you, Madeline.”

  “I’m not denying anything, and Cal knows that I am beyond appreciative of everything he’s done for me, so I don’t know why you’re insinuating that he doesn’t know that.”

  “Okay, don’t get so sensitive, and how about we fix the attitude?” She shoots me her signature Mom look, and it is times like this that I know Aria wishes she had children of her own.

  I try my best to suppress the fantasy forming in my mind, but a flash happens before I can stop it, and I can’t stop the smile from tugging at my lips. Me. A positive pregnancy test. Cal kissing me and my belly when I tell him the news.

  “What’s so funny?” Aria asks and I shake my head as I remember that I’m supposed to be irritated with her.

  “Nothing, Aria. I just don’t think Penelope is the right girl for Cal.”

  “And you’re probably right, but don’t you think that’s up to him to decide? He holds your opinion in very high regard, Maddie, but give him a chance to figure out how he feels before you force your opinion on him.”

  “I didn’t force anything.”

  “Oh please,” she snorts and stands up to wrap a hand around my shoulder. “You’re seventeen, and you already don’t see the power you hold over a man. Lord, bless the soul you end up with.”

  “I resent that.” I glare at her, though I can’t stop the smile from creeping onto my face.

  “Speaking of which, what are we doing for your eighteenth besides getting you on a legitimate poker table? I was thinking about a nice dinner?” I was so excited to go to a casino for the first time; I’ve been practicing my poker game for weeks.

  “Dinner sounds good too.” A gasp leaves my lips as I have another idea and I clap my hands together and bounce on the balls of my feet. “Oh! Can we go to a sex shop too?”

  Aria stops in her tracks and turns around, closing the door tha
t she’d just opened. “Sex? Wait how, when, what, WHO?!” she shrieks.

  “No no no. I just mean because I can…” I shake my head. “Virgin still! Swear!” I grab Aria’s pinky and link them just as we always do.

  “Oh phew.” She puts a hand over her heart and chugs the last of her wine. “You almost…” she lets out a breath. “Okay, yes, you and I can go if you must. I don’t even know where there is one, to be honest though. We might have to go to Portland.”

  “Road trip!” I do a little shimmy and she rolls her eyes.

  “Attitude. In check.” She points at me. “I mean it, Mads. You’re a sweet girl, I’m just asking that you give her a chance.”

  “Fine, can I have some wine at least?”

  “One glass.” She holds up her index finger and points at me.

  “One? Well screw that, can I have something harder if I’m limited to one?”

  “Yes, that’s probably better anyway, at least you can pretend there’s no alcohol in it. Mix it with something dark.”

  “Cal knows I drink, Aria.”

  “Doesn’t mean either of us are too happy about it. Do you just not give a shit that you live with a cop?”

  “What’s he going to do, arrest me?” I cock my head, ignoring the thoughts of him using his cuffs on me to secure me to his bed like I’m in one of those sexy BDSM novels Sasha and I read.

  We make our way downstairs just as Margie pulls the rolls out of the oven. “I was wondering where you two went off to.”

  “Just some girl talk.” Aria grabs my jaw and squeezes before planting a kiss on my cheek.

  “And I wasn’t invited?” Margie pushes her glasses to her head and narrows her eyes at us.

  “I was getting yelled at,” I whisper before I grab a bottle of vodka out of Cal’s liquor cabinet.

  “Oh perfect, make me one, will you?” Margie hands me her glass and Aria puts her hand over mine stopping me. “And why are you yelling at my girl?” She looks at Aria the way grandparents look at parents for scolding their own children.

  “Mom…Maddie is not making you a drink.”