The house was almost like a wooden palace, one of those cabins you see online in shit-posts by friend on social media. A place you could only look at and dream of living in. It was a four-bedroom cabin, made of cherry stained wood, with a loft at the top showcasing a peaked picture window. Across the top floor in the front there was a long, front porch like balcony where you could sit outside any time of day, gazing out at the forest behind you. Behind the house, he had put in a beautiful man-made lake he filled with fish, never having to leave home to participate in his favorite pastime except for when he went out for bigger game. We were surrounded by woods, our only close neighbors’ maples and pines. My father would have lost his shit if he had been able to see the place. It was like his dream home. I finally made my way into the house, which was equally as beautiful on the inside as out. High ceilings and big open space. The kitchen was huge with all the amenities one would need to not only cook but entertain. The fridge was huge, having double doors and a chest freezer underneath, a special door made specially to place drinks in so you could reach in for drinks without opening the fridge completely. I was famished, and Link wasn’t expected until late, so I took heed of his words and made myself one of the frozen pizzas in the chest freezer I had bought. Link had told me I could have any of his fancy food stuffs, but I wasn’t in any shape to really delve into extravagance tonight. I grabbed a cold water and made it over to the double oven, hopping out of my chair for a moment to open the one closest to the floor. I struggled a little with putting the pizza in, the stone for it a bit heavy in my weakened hands, but with a little burst of vim and vigor I slid it in. I wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead, feeling a bit dizzy and sat in my chair, watching through the glass as the cheese bubbled. Suddenly, a strange noise came from my phone that I had left on the big kitchen island. I rolled over to the counter, expecting it to maybe be Frannie. I hadn’t heard from her in a few days, and she was usually the only other one to call me now, besides Link. He was constantly checking in on me since I moved in, especially while at work, usually only through text unless I didn’t respond right away- And I hadn’t heard any texts. I peered at it curiously, realizing instantly that it was my grandmother…making a video call. I groaned. Whose grandparents knew how to use technology like this in this day and age? Most of them couldn’t use computers to play anything other than solitaire, but there she was, video calling me from her phone. I felt so terrible, and probably looked equally as much, so I let it ring. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I started to wheel away from the kitchen island and back to looking through the fridge for ranch dressing, only to be stopped dead in my tracks again my phones joyous humming. I threw my head back, exasperated, groaning as I made my way back. Picking up the phone with dread at the pit of my stomach. “H-Hello?” “Hello Darlin!” My grandmother waved, “Can you hear me?”“Yeah I can hear you,” I put my hand to my face to stifle a laugh. The woman looked so confused. “Since when do you have a smart phone?”“Oh! Well I saw you had one and I asked the nice clerk at the department store about them, and I was so excited to hear about its features! Now I can video call with you instead of just calling!” She laughed gleefully, “Though I am not sure how to…operate everything on it yet. When you didn’t pick up the first time, I thought maybe I hadn’t done it right!” She frowned, making a fake pout. “Maybe you and that charming little boyfriend of yours could come over and show me how?” She looked around in her tiny screen box, as if to look past me for a moment. “Where is Link?”“He’s at work, he texted me earlier and said he got caught up and might be late.” I sighed. My grandmother began to babble about her day, and I nodded along, my thoughts wandering. Though this whole thing was a charade, I couldn’t help but finding myself becoming more and more interested in his life. At first, I thought maybe it was me being weird because of mom and I living together. We always told each other where we were going, what we were doing, and when we would be back. After my dad died, we were all each other had, so keeping tabs on one another became second nature. Neither of us really went out either, becoming pretty reclused. That was what had spurred the road trip that had never really started and ended abruptly in tragedy. We had realized that since dad had died, we were alive but we weren’t living, at least that’s what my mother had said. At the time, the thought of uprooting and becoming wanderers seemed amazing. Meeting new people, seeing new sights, checking off the things on our bucket list… We had both saved for three years for that trip, which had seemed like forever. Even still today, I could see the smile on my mom’s face as we drove on the highway, windows down, the wind from the window whipping her short hair around wildly. “Everything okay sweetie?” My grandmother looked concerned, apparently, I had spaced out while she had been blabbering away. “Yeah, it was just another hard day in PT.” I smiled and my grandmother gave a faint smile back. I could see the worry festering in her eyes. “I’m fine I promise.” I wheeled her around the house for a few minutes with me downstairs, showing off Link’s luxurious cabin. She gasped with excitement seeing how big the house was, including the living room, decorated in fishing things and cabin like fodder.
“Your grandfather love to fish too!” She seemed ecstatic, “I am so, so very happy you are out of that dingy hotel.” She grimaced, “the thought of you two having to stay in that roach house gives me a migraine.” She stuck out her tongue and fanned her face. I wanted to laugh at her ridiculousness, but instead indulged the southern belle some more. I showed her my bedroom quickly, telling her it was a guest room, then the bathroom and the other empty bedrooms. “Oh my, so much room for a family!” She squealed, “Oh I just love it! I am almost jealous!” she tittered.
“I am glad you like it! It is a very beautiful house. Expensive, but beautiful.” My grandmother nodded.“There was one more thing I wanted to talk about while I had you on the phone.” My heart skipped a beat. I hated it more than anything when someone pulled a ‘we need to talk’, but at least my grandmother did it eloquently. “I was speaking with your grandfather, and we were thinking since you’ve moved into your new place together, maybe we should let you have control over your trust before the wedding.” I was shaking. I had no idea what amount the trust had in it, but I was certain if they could pay me one thousand a month as an allowance, they probably had a big store of money for me. “The trust is somewhere around two hundred fifty thousand dollars- which is a small amount, but I think it could help you all pay a lot off your mortgage and such. It’s separate from what we’ve put together for great-grandchildren or a dowry, which is why we kept it more on the petit side of things.”
Small amount?! I wanted to jump up and scream in a fit of joy. Two hundred and fifty thousand would more than help me get a small trailer and cover all of my bills for over a year. I could see it so clearly, the picture forming in my mind easily. I could snatch it all up, move it on Frannie’s property like she said I could and live peacefully. On my own, independent, but not isolated.
“W-Wow!” was all I could sputter out, my mind completely blown, “Yeah that would be a big help!” my grandmother smiled, almost triumphantly. I wondered if she felt like this way she could make up her wrong doings with my mother. Make it right through me, since she couldn’t through her directly. Either way I was over the moon. “Well, I have to go now, your grandfather needs help in the kitchen,” She rolled her eyes which almost made me laugh. I could hear him hemming and hawing in the background about the stove. “I will catch up with you later, we can discuss this more later- maybe when Link is home so we can all talk about it? Hmmm?” She winked. “Okay! Sounds good!” I grinned, trying so hard not to scream until she hung up. As she waved goodbye and the screen went dark, I got up out of my chair and squealed with joy. Link’s crazy plan hard worked! That beautiful brain of his had hatched this plan and it was working without a hitch. Suddenly, a soft drip of melancholy tainted my overjoyed mood.
If I got the money, that would mean no more living with Link. I had been enjoying his company, livi
ng with him in his house. He would cook us dinner then wheel me out to the lake, and we would eat out there, chatting away like old pals. We could talk for hours, about anything just like old times- and that felt so good and so right.
But, how could I want to stay around the man who fucked me over in one of the shittiest times in my life? Was I losing my mind?! Just because he is nice now after my accident, doesn’t mean he likes me or wants to be my friend. He probably just felt guilt or pity about the poor cripple girl he dumped long ago.
The timer on my pizza went off and I carefully retrieved it from the oven, being sure to hold on to the pizza stone tight. I laid it on the counter, and as I waited for it to cool, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Link. Sorry I am going to be a lot later than I thought, please make sure to eat and just try to relax while I’m gone. No dishes. I glared at my phone and then smiled, what a thoughtful little shit he was. I already had food covered, and I planned on relaxing a bit while I ate…but I felt like, with all the stuff he was doing for me- even checking up on me during a crucial work-related thing- showed maybe he did care. People don’t just allow someone they hate in your house, no matter what’s happened…did they? I sat and pondered how I could make it up to him, cutting myself a triangular slice of pizza, and then it hit me- pie. My mom had always made these amazing pies when we were growing up. There were days we gorged ourselves son them until our bellies puffed out, watching cartoons and playing pogs. His favorite was actually not so much a pie but pie like- apple crisp. I teetered my way over to the shelves and looked to see if we had all the ingredients, satisfied to find out we did. Apple crisp was much easier to make than pie, and I loved it myself- so I would kill two birds with one stone. Thank Link for all he’s done while I break the news over some warm apple crisp with some ice cream to dot the i. I grabbed the peeler and started peeling the apples and mulled over what I was going to say. Thanks for letting me hang, here’s some apple crisp, Im outta here? As I chopped and mixed the apples, sugar, and cinnamon together I smiled. It was the first time I had baked since my mom died, and I was sure she would be proud of my reasoning. She always loved Link. When everything happened, it had been me who had been the hateful one. Mom had tried to reason with me, but I was beyond rage back then. No one could get through to me. The only time I wasn’t angry and crying, was when I was in front of my father. He was crushed that Link was gone, but he never said anything after the first day when I came home sobbing, speeding into the driveway like a mad woman. He had also tried to reason with me, that his parents were jerks and he was just trying to please them, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t hear of it. I stomped off to my room, leaving my father sitting there in the armchair, idly watching the soaps on the television my mom left on. The thoughts of old wafting through my memory like a bad smell soured my mood a bit. I put the apple mixture in a ceramic baking dish I had found under the island and crumbled the oats I had found in the cupboard. As I diced the butter over the top, I pushed the thoughts out of my head. Link wasn’t that jerk anymore, he couldn’t be. I slipped the crisp in the oven and set a timer, sitting back in my wheelchair and scrolled through social media a bit. The timer went off and I was already sleepy- it was about nine at night, and still no sign of Link. I decided to text him to make sure if everything was okay. He texted back he would be really late and not to wait up, there was some sort of accident and he was needed for consultation. I frowned upon reading the text, leaving the apple crisp on the counter and headed for the couch to watch some television. I was tired already, but I felt weird going to bed without him in the house. I had become accustomed to our way of life, the smoothness of it all, and the jagged silence of the house spooked me. My legs still killed me, so there was no way I would sleep anyways and if I did then at least I’d know he got home safe. At around two in the morning, the crackling noise of his tires hitting the gravel driveway woke me from my slumber. I had been watching television and fell asleep somewhere between one comedian and another. As he tiptoed in, he seemed super surprised that I was up and on the couch.
“I told you that you shouldn’t wait up for me.” I ignored what he said and gave him a once over. He looked dead tired. Splotches of blood were on his lab coat and underneath his eyes were dark rings. He looked like he was a soldier, back from a war, weary and broken.
I got up and limped my way out to the kitchen. “What are you doing?” he asked, curiosity belying his exhaustion.
“Well, you said not to do dishes, so I made a mess instead.” I laughed, hobbling back with two plates of apple crisp. His eyes lit up, and he wolfed it down like he hadn’t eaten in days. I sat down too, eating mine at a more reasonable pace.
When he came up for air, his eyes went to me, a worried look on his face. “Are you okay, Gwen?”“Physical therapy just wiped me completely out today is all.” I sighed before savoring a delicious bite. “There’s some pizza on the counter too if you are hungry. Pepperoni.” I tried to get comfortable sitting on the couch as I ate, but I found it impossible- and Link watched me wearily.
“Listen, you didn’t have to do all this…”“What? Leave you leftover pizza from dinner and make you some apple crisp?” I smiled, taking another bite. “It’s the least I could do for my amazing boyfriend, especially after he’s got me two hundred and fifty thousand dollars sitting in a trust fund ready to go! We just have to meet up with them.” The shock on his face was almost hilarious, especially since he made double that himself in a year usually. “That is amazing, Gwen!” He grinned, “I am glad I could help.” His face slowly went from happy to stone. I wanted to guess at his line of thought there, if he had experienced the same realization as me, but that seemed far too egotistical. He would probably be relieved that I was going to be out of his hair so soon.
He got up quietly, grabbing a piece of pizza and another piece of apple crisp before sitting back down next to me. I tried to curl up on the other side of the oversized couch, but to no avail. My dogs were barking, and I didn’t mean pets. The pain streaked like lightning all the way up my leg and into my thigh, so harsh it was hard not to cry. Legs were definitely not going to do anything remotely close to ‘curling’.
But, of course, as Link ate, he noticed again I was moving around a lot. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”
“No!” I waved him off, “You just got back. I’m fine.”“I don’t care, I just want you to be okay.” He quickly finished his pizza and second piece of crisp and set the plate down on the coffee table in front of us. “Listen, if you’re not going to let me take you to the hospital, will you at least let me try something?”“Try what?” I asked, propping my head up with my hand and looking down the couch at him.
“Do you trust me?” Link asked, a smirk on his face. I nodded suspiciously and sat myself up, propped against the arm of the couch. He motioned for me to give him my legs. I raised an eyebrow and he laughed. “Come on, Gwen. I think a massage might help and I am trained in it- took classes and everything.”“Why?”“Boredom, mainly,” he chuckled. I laid my legs on top of his lap, eyeing him suspiciously. He pulled my foot into his hand, watching the tv, and wrapped his strong fingers around it. God it felt good, his digits felt like heaven, and we hadn’t even got to my legs yet. “Do you mind if I take your sock off?” He asked quietly, still watching the television, blush forming on his normally ivory cheeks. I snorted and he looked at me. “What?”“Nothing you just look embarrassed,” I giggled, “You can take my sock off, sir.” I laughed. He pulled my sock off slowly, chuckling to himself as he did so, pretending to make it sexy. “Oh my!” I laughed even harder, his fingers wiggling and massaging my bare feet, the pain easing away with every passing second. I couldn’t help but feel a little shudder of excitement, but I tried my best to stay cool headed. This was a friend helping a friend, not an erotic display.“May I, Madame?” He chortled, moving his hand up to my calf muscle. I nodded, and as he touched the muscle all the pain melted away like butter. Damn it felt so good, the agony just rushing off me like a
waterfall, for the first time in a long time I was actually feeling pretty good. He slowly made his way up my leg and before he touched my thigh, he made sure I was okay. I nodded, my face getting hot, his face a flushed as well. His fingers fluttered across my thighs through my leggings, working a whole new magic all its own. As he rubbed, paying attention to the inner part of my thigh, my eyes lidded as he touched me. I was trying so hard not to make any noises, but my womanhood had a mind of its own, trickling fluid down between my lower lips and beginning to saturate my panties. He seemed not to notice, still working diligently like a good little masseuse just doing his job. He worked his way farther up, his hands almost reaching my junction, the touch of his hand on me sending me reeling- drunk off a sexual high I hadn’t felt in ages. Unable to control myself any longer, a little moan escaped my lips, and my eyes popped open to see that Link was watching me so intensely it was hard not to sweat. He put my leg down on his lap for a moment and I could feel his member, large and throbbing, pushing against the restraint of his pants. He stared at me hungrily, eyeing me over like I was a juicy steak, and he a hungry wolf. In one quick movement, like I was made of air, he pulled me to him and pressed a kiss to my lips.
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Pretend Boyfriend (Be My Boyfriend Book 4) Page 7
