Heartbroken (Gritt Family Book 1)

by Gabrielle G.

  I’m not sure what her problem is, but I’m confident that’s not standard way to treat a parent. She’s hot, I give her that, but she seems as bitchy as how Hailey described.

  I’m ready to walk away and go discuss the issue directly with Patricia when her cleavage catches my eye.

  There is a lot you can forget about the first girl who made you come, but a star-shaped birthmark she has at the crease of her breasts is unforgettable.

  “Alane?” I ask, searching for confirmation in her eyes. I can see it now. Her hair is shorter and darker, wrinkles mark the eternal teenager face I thought she still had, her hips are rounder than they used to be, and her brown eyes show she’s lived through some hardship, but there, in front of me, is the girl I loved so much.

  “Asshole!” she mumbles between her teeth.

  “Wow, look at you. You’ve changed a lot!” I say, still dumbfounded not to have recognized her right away and hoping she did not realize I remembered her tits before her face.

  “You did too, but I didn’t need to look at your cock to know it was you though,” she bites back. I cringe.

  “I’m sorry… I…” Fuck. “You had the name advantage,” I say defensively.

  “You did, too. My name is still Smith,” she retorts in a sarcastic laugh.

  “Come on, you disappeared for almost thirty years, and your name is Smith. You knew Hailey was my kid, but I had no way of knowing you were her teacher.”

  “Whatever, we’re here to speak about Hailey, right?” she says all matter of fact.

  “What did you want to talk to me about, Mr. Gritt?” She sits and gets her reading glasses from her case, going through what I believe is Hailey’s file. The sexy teacher look fits her well, the bitch attitude, a little less.

  “I’m sorry, Al, I didn’t expect you to be her teacher.” I try to smooth things out, but she’s still looking at me as if I’m the worst scum she ever met. “I had no idea you were a teacher, I thought you…” I trail off, wondering what happened to the girl who was leaving for hockey prep school.

  Yes, I had never heard her name when the women’s national hockey team was playing, but I didn’t check women’s hockey either. Who does? I was curious, but I never wanted to know, afraid it would hurt, afraid she would be living her dream without me, afraid I would have remorse.

  “I had no idea you were a pig that needed to see tits to recognize women. I guess we’re both disappointed by whom the other one has become.” Ouch. I guess I deserved that.

  “Can we start over?” I say, asking for a truce. She scoffs, anger in her eyes. I can honestly say that in the almost three years we dated, Alane had never once been mad or angry with me. Is she outraged that I checked out her cleavage, or is she still angry I dumped her?

  Because I’m an idiot, I ask. “Is this because of what happened between us almost thirty years ago that my kids have problems in science?”

  I cross my arms and stare her down like I do at the restaurant when the staff fucks up. I know I can be intimidating, and I won’t let her bully my children because I dumped her almost three decades ago.

  If that’s her problem, she needs to get the fuck over it.

  I don’t know why she’s back in town, but I just can’t let her treat my kids this way, not with their absent mother and all the shit Hailey is going through.

  Alane’s breathing becomes heavier, like a bull ready to attack and she narrows her eyes at me. Gone are the eyes I met when she came in. Those eyes had no light, no drive, and no happiness in them.

  That’s certainly why I didn’t recognize her.

  The Alane I knew had the most promising eyes I had ever seen. The adult Alane has eyes that transpire fear and isolation. Now, her eyes are full of anger but also of fire and passion.

  I woke up something in her, even if I just insulted her more than a moment ago, and because I’m an ass, my dick swells.

  “Are you fucking kidding me, Aaron? Do I have any problem with Lawson? Did you know Hailey doesn’t do her homework? Did you know she copies it from Madison? Do you realize I can tell when someone gives me a paper that is not their own handwriting but their best friend’s? Has she told you how she spends her classes flirting with her boyfriend? I will fail her, and she can say goodbye to her scholarship. I don’t know if she’s acting up because your wife left you, or if she was always like this and everybody was too busy kissing her ass, but I don’t think it will teach her anything to come here, and degrade her teacher not knowing what the fuck you’re talking about. Maybe if your head was not focused on women’s tits, you could pay more attention to your kid!”

  “You’re such a bitch, Alane, no wonder your name is still Smith!” I don’t see the slap coming, but I feel it. I instantly regret what I just said. I’m angry but not with her, not really. I’m mad at Jess because she seduced me. I’m mad at myself for leaving Alane behind. I’m mad at Hailey for having lied to me. I’m mad at Patricia for not telling me Alane was back. I’m mad at Luke for not giving me any warning she was a teacher now. I’m just mad, and I lashed out at her.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere more interesting to be.” She walks away. The appointment lasted less than fifteen minutes, and I have a feeling she hates me more than she did when I walked away at eighteen.

  I’m about to climb in my car when I hear a voice coming from two cars over. Alane is holding the steering wheel, tears falling down her face, the window slightly open. Her lips are moving, but I don’t think she’s talking to anybody.

  I hear only scraps here and there.

  Something about an Adam, about being enough and deserving to live and have different plans. She seems hurt, lost, and it’s my fault. I never wanted to hurt Alane Smith. I always knew she was too good for me. Even when we broke up, I didn’t want to damage her.

  Needing answers, I call the only other person who knows her more than I did. Luke picks up right away.

  “What happened to her?” I ask my brother point-blank.

  “Why does it matter now?” He always was protective of her.

  “I just met with her about Hailey. You could have told me she was my kids' teacher.” I enter my car and connect him to the Bluetooth system. I don’t take a second glance at Alane, not because I’m a dick, but because I’m hurting for her, and I need to know I didn’t break her again. Luke knows me. He knows that if I’m asking, it means it certainly didn’t go well.

  “What did you do?”

  “I didn’t recognize her, or, let’s be more precise I didn’t recognize her face, but I did recognize the star-shaped birthmark she has between her tits,” I tell my brother.

  “Ah, the star…” he says, reminding me how I undoubtedly shared more than I should have with him when we were kids.

  “Do you have an answer for me? She’s so different, I would have never recognized her.”

  “I recognized her, Aar. She just grew older. You did as well. You have grey hair, for fuck’s sake!”

  “I know… Listen, Luke, just give me something.”

  “I don’t know what happened. All she said was that she’s a teacher, she has a son, she was married, and now she’s divorced. She’s back in Springs Falls because her mother is sick, and she needed to work not to be crazier than she already is. There, you know everything I know. Now go apologize and grow the fuck up.” He hangs up, letting me wonder why I didn’t recognize her, and he did.

  Luke and I never fought as kids. We never even had a disagreement. We were two peas in a pod, yin and yang, night and day, clouds and sun. The only time we fought, was when my parents told him I had broken up with Alane and even then, he didn’t say a word to me.

  He lost his temper, which is a hard thing to accomplish for my brother, and destroyed my room. He refused to say goodbye when I left for Seattle. He moved away two years later, once he was eighteen, and disappeared in New York City. It took me a long time to get back into his good graces, a lot of groveling, but it was never the same between us. I had Jes
s, and he didn’t come home except once a year for Christmas, and in a way, I knew it was because of me.

  He loved Alane like a sister, and he had felt he had to choose me. I don’t understand why they didn’t keep in touch, and I thought they had, until he told me otherwise. Trying to smooth things over once again, I send him a text.

  Me: I’m sorry.

  Luke: It’s not me you need to apologize to. Talk to her and do not look at her cleavage under any circumstances!

  I laugh. I think I learned my lesson today. Do not look at Alane Smith’s tits. Maybe Luke should tattoo it on my forehead.

  Once I get home, I rush into Hailey’s bedroom to find her kissing face with the boyfriend I didn’t know she had until an hour ago. Saying I’m pissed is an understatement.

  “Out!” I growl to the punk who has his hands under my daughter’s shirt.

  “Dad,” she starts to plead, but I don’t want to hear it. I raise my hand to shut her up and sit down calmly to find her eyes. That’s something I learned from my dad a long time ago. Screaming doesn’t have the same effect on your kids as sitting them down, looking them in the eyes and showing them all of the disappointment you feel because of them.

  “Hailey, do you think it was smart to send me in blind to meet with your teacher?”

  She shakes her head, tears already falling down her cheeks. “Do you think it was a good idea to manipulate me, lie to me, and deceive me?” She shakes her head again.

  “Why did you do it then?”

  “Because of Mom leaving…” She sobs.

  “No, Hal. I was the one who was always here. I was the one taking care of you, always taking care of you. If you lied to her for payback, I could understand, but lying to me? No. I’m sorry, but you’re grounded. I’m hurt and disappointed, and worst of all, I hurt someone because of you. I want you to go to Mrs. Smith and apologize, and I want you to work hard in science class. No acting up or drama will make your mother come back. She checked out a long time ago, but if you want to jeopardize your future, continue on this path, and maybe you can work at the farm shoveling shit for the rest of your life.” She nods, understanding I’m not done.

  “I’ll speak with Grandma and Grandpa tomorrow, but you will come home right after practice and work at the farm, shovel the shit and do anything they need. The days they don’t need your help, you’ll come to the restaurant and be my dishwasher. Then you’ll do homework, and if I need to check it like I was doing when you were in elementary school, I will. As for the boyfriend, if I hear that you suck face or flirt in class, I will destroy him. If I hear he’s dry humping you or more, I will destroy him and call your Uncle Barnabas to help me, and if I hear he gives you a bad reputation, we’ll call your Uncle Luke to be in on it as well. Understood?” She nods again.

  “Now give me your phone, I haven’t done a random check in a long time. I thought I could trust you, but you’re going to need to work to earn that trust again, baby girl.” Hailey hands me her phone and comes in for a hug.

  “I’m sorry, Dad.”

  “I hope so, Hailey. I acted like a dick because of you, and let’s just say, Mrs. Smith was the last person I wanted to hurt.” Hailey frowns when she looks up at me.

  “Why is that?”

  “Because, once upon a time, I destroyed our lives like a bulldozer. I don’t regret it because I had you and Law, but Hal, I hurt her badly a long time ago and was an ass to her today. That was not fun.”

  “Is that the girl Uncle Luke was talking about?” she asks sweetly.

  “She is.”

  “Shit, Dad, I’m sorry. I’ll try to make it better.”

  “Do what you have to do. Do not meddle in my business. Just do your own homework and work hard in science.”

  “And I’ll apologize to her. I’m really sorry,” she adds, crying on my shoulder. I kiss the top of her head and make my way to the kitchen. We live in a house not far from the restaurant. I built Gritt Your Plate on Luke’s land and our house on mine. When my parents decided to downsize, they gave us each a piece of land. Luke needed money to open the tattoo parlor, and I needed land to build the restaurant. It was an easy agreement between my brother and I.

  “And you owe me by cooking my favorite meal, Hal. You had yours under false pretenses, time to pay back.”

  “I’ll make lasagna with Grandma as a penance.” As if spending time with her grandmother was ever a punishment.

  9

  Then – Alane

  “Thank you so much, Mrs. Gritt. I didn’t know what to do for Aaron for his seventeenth birthday. I mean, with him as a junior and me as a sophomore, hockey, and his job, we haven’t had time to spend much time alone. I’m so glad you’re helping us. He planned so much for our first anniversary; I just wanted to pay it back, you know?”

  I’m in Mrs. Gritt’s kitchen, learning how to make lasagna for the boy I love, and planning a romantic dinner for him in his parents' barn, something rustic chic.

  His dad wasn’t happy having to move the boys and girls practices around when his wife asked him to, but he did it, nonetheless, because the Gritts are super cool like that.

  As for my parents, Mrs. Gritt called them herself and said I was invited for supper to celebrate Aaron’s birthday, which is not a lie, I just invited myself and hijacked his parents’ plan.

  I had to promise we’d have dessert with them.

  Luke wasn’t happy either, bitching that we never spend time together anymore. He had planned something with Chris for the four of us to do, forgetting to invite Patricia. Unfortunately, they’ll have to do something without me once they drop me off at home for curfew because I can’t be late, even for my boyfriend’s birthday.

  If the Gritts accepted me as one of their own, my parents still look at Aaron as if he’s the plague. He’s never been invited in, or to lunch, nevermind supper. They only seem to remember I have a boyfriend when I’m a minute late for curfew, and when he doesn’t come to church. He tries so hard to please them, but it will never be enough.

  “Al!” Barnabas shouts, running into my arms.

  “Hey, honey. How is my favorite boy?”

  “I’m dying. I need a kiss!” he says with a massive grin on his face. Barnabas is my favorite five-year-old. We bonded a lot playing G.I Joe when Aaron babysits his siblings. If Salomé wants nothing to do with me, Barnabas is all over me. So much over me, that Aaron has to remind him that I’m his girlfriend. Barnabas keeps saying he’ll marry me one day. It melts my heart every time.

  “Barnabas, leave the girl alone,” Mrs. Gritt says while Barn tightens his arms.

  “Never!” he says, burying his face in my neck.

  “You know,” Salomé says, “She’s never going to marry you! First, because you still pee your bed, and also because, why would she marry you if she has Aaron? He’s not my favorite brother for nothing.”

  “Salomé! That’s not very nice!” I scold her. The little bugger shrugs.

  “Kids, why don’t you go play upstairs and let Alane and I continue our cooking lesson,” Mrs. Gritt tells her two younger children. We continue preparing Aaron’s lasagna, and before I know it, everything is ready. All I need to do is shower and change into the dress I bought for the occasion.

  I’m just getting out of the shower when Aaron appears in his bedroom, sweaty and smelling like melted ice, exactly how I like him.

  “Sweets, what are you doing here?” He comes behind me and wraps me in his arms.

  “Shit, Aar, you’re early?” I turn around in my towel.

  “Yeah, I drove fast here to be with you.”

  “Does your mother know you’re here?” I whisper into his ear. He shakes his head and brings his lips to mine.

  Our kisses are not so sweet anymore, they are hungry for more, like the two teenagers we are. He always tries to be respectful, but not me.

  Still in my towel, a little wet, and my body against his, has me feeling warm when I should be cold. I feel pressure building between my legs, and I wish he
hadn’t made any stupid promises to my father. He deepens the kiss, shoving his tongue further into my mouth, and I tilt my hips toward his thigh. I can feel him getting hard just by kissing me. I want to let the towel fall, be naked in front of him and show him how wet he can make me, but Aaron backs away, groaning into my mouth.

  “Get dressed!”

  “Or what?” I say, bringing my hand to his bulge.

  “I’m going to marry you as soon as you’re eighteen and fuck you, Al, but for now, we made a promise. Please put clothes on.” He nibbles on my ear.

  “What if I don’t want to?”

  “Sweets, please. I’m really trying to be honorable here, however, if you continue pushing me, I won’t be. I can’t be.” He kisses me softly, but I thrust my tongue in his mouth and press my body into his.

  “I just want you so much,” I say in between kisses.

  “Fuck if I don’t know it. I keep thinking of what we did in my truck. I can’t drive anywhere without a hard-on.”

  My hand is on the knot of my towel. That could be his birthday present, seeing me naked, kissing my tits again and maybe more. I’m about to let the cloth go when a knock interrupts us, and I jump far away from him, afraid his parents are going to walk in on us.

  “Aar!” Luke’s voice comes through the door “I told Mom you were in my bedroom, but she was wondering if Al was ready. It seems the dish is.”

  “Give us a minute, and she’ll come downstairs,” Aaron tells his brother.

  “Oh shit!” I wanted him so much, I forgot about his birthday supper.

  It happens a lot lately.

  My brain and my vagina are so engorged with desire; I can’t think or skate properly. I need to take care of it regularly, in the dark, under my sheets, without making any noise to be sure my father doesn’t disinfect my hands with holy water or worse, make his Sunday sermon about self-adulation, mind-pollution and the Devil in his home. But the fear of getting caught is half the fun.

  Nevertheless, I would prefer Aaron’s fingers, tongue, dick or whatever else, as long as it’s him between my legs. I feel guilty most of the time, until I need a release again and masturbate some more, thinking about my boyfriend and how I would like him to take control of me. Of course, thinking about all we could do, I need a release right now. I rub my thighs together to try to ease some of the pressure, but it doesn’t work. I breathe in and out, trying to calm my hormones, but Aaron is still too close.