Conflicted

by Heather Dahlgren

  “So nice to meet you, Kenz, congratulations on your engagement.” Kenz hugs her, and I look over at Campbell and smile.

  “Mel, it is so great to meet you. Dick has done nothing but talk about you. You are stunning, just like he said.” I see her cheeks blush a little with the compliment. They continue to talk, and Maddie joins them.

  “Dick, welcome home.” I turn to see Becca. She looks so happy, which makes me realize just how much we have both gained in such a short amount of time. I pull her to me.

  “You look so happy, Becca.” She pulls back and smiles at me.

  “That makes two of us.” I wink at her and look over at Mel.

  “Hi, Mel. I’m Becca. It is so nice to meet you.” Mel is the one who goes in for a hug, and I chuckle.

  “Becca, it is so nice meeting you. Oh my God, it is so amazing meeting you all. It doesn’t seem real.” They all laugh at her, and she shakes her head.

  “Oh, it’s real, sweet cheeks, believe me. This sexy beast you see in front of you is no dream.” Fucking Young.

  “Dick, it’s great to have you back.” I shake Jeff’s hand and thank him. I’m not only thanking him for welcoming me home, but for making Becca happy, but I think he got that. I hear a throat clearing behind me, and I turn to see Connie with her hands on her hips.

  “What am I fucking invisible? I’d like to meet your friends too.” I laugh and introduce her, my mom, Karen, and Doug. As always, my friends welcome them in with their huge hearts.

  “Can we get the fuck out of here, or are we just going to wait until Maddie gives birth to my son on the side walk?”

  “Could be a girl.” He looks at Maddie with wide eyes.

  “Why? Why would you say shit like that? It’s going to be a boy. A little mini me.” Everyone laughs at his dumb ass.

  “God help us all if that baby is anything like you.” Campbell gives me a high five, and we start to make our way to the cars.

  “Hey, fuck you, Dickhead. I’m going to teach my son to piss only on you, if you keep that shit up.” I can’t help but laugh at him. This, folks, is going to be someone’s father.

  We all pile into the three vehicles they brought. My mom goes with Becca and Jeff. The girls and Doug go with Young and Maddie. Mel and I go with Campbell and Kenz. Campbell leads the way since he knows exactly where my mom’s new house is. He told me it is only three blocks away from his parents, and that made me so happy.

  “So, I was thinking. My dad and Campbell’s mom are going to meet us there. With all of us, we should be able to have your mom settled pretty quickly. I say we celebrate at the bar tonight. What do you say? You have to let us take Mel to the bar.” How the hell can I say no to that? I want to show Mel everything, including my, I mean our, apartment. I look at Mel, and she is biting her lip, looking up at me. I lean in close so only she can hear me.

  “Up to you, sweetheart. You want to go have a few drinks tonight? I mean, you won’t be able to take your pain medicine though, and if you’re too tired, everyone will understand.” She giggles, and I look into her happy eyes.

  “Kenz, I would love to go hang out tonight. I’m excited as hell to get to New York and see it all. You know, one night we played truth or dare at the bar, and it was fun as hell.” The three of us laugh.

  “Mel, you haven’t seen anything yet. Dick sucks at truth or dare. Wait until you play with the pros.”

  “Please, your pussy ass has called truth before. I think we know who the pro is.” Kenz just shakes her head and laughs.

  “Be ready, Mel, we don’t know how to hang out without teasing each other.”

  “Believe me, I’m more than ready.” Yes, she definitely is.

  The rest of the ride goes quickly, and before I know it, we are pulling up to my mom’s new home. It is perfect. The landscaping is beautiful, and the little white ranch house is so well maintained. It is exactly what she deserves. We all get out to stretch and wait for the others. Thankfully, the moving van is sitting in the driveway waiting for us. “This house is so cute. Your mom is going to love it.” She sure is.

  Everyone else pulls up, including Campbell’s mom and Kenz’s dad. “Dick, you have been holding out on us. Connie is fucking hilarious, and Karen and Doug are adorable.” I knew they would all get along, but it is so great to actually see it.

  The next couple of hours consist of us helping my mom move in. We get her living room, kitchen, and bedroom furniture all set up and all the boxes in the right rooms. “Kids, you all have done enough. Go home. I’ll slowly go through all the boxes. Thank you all so much for your help.” Everyone hugs my mom and starts heading out. Campbell’s mom went to pick up his dad and some food for all of them, so John went for the ride. I’m glad she won’t be alone. I hate leaving her. Mel comes up to me and hugs me.

  “We’ll give you a minute.” I kiss her head in a silent thank you, and she walks outside with everyone.

  “Mom, I’m so proud of you.” She smiles up at me and gives me a wink, causing me to laugh.

  “Oh, my sweet boy. I’m only in this place because of you. Without your strength, love, and support, I’d still be, well, miserable. So, you may be proud of me, but it’s you who I’m proud of. The man you are, that you’ve become, I am damn lucky to be your mom.” She wipes a tear and hugs me. “Thank you for always protecting us, Keith.”

  “Mom, it’s a promise I intended on keeping.” After a minute, she pulls away and looks around. “You happy?”

  “You have no idea. Now go be with your friends, and keep an eye on Connie. That sister of yours likes to party.” I laugh and kiss her cheek. She has no idea that I threatened Connie, and I won’t tell her. Connie hasn’t gotten trashed since I told her she was turning out like our dad, and I said if that happens, she is on her own.

  “You got it, Mom. You want to hug the girls again before we leave?” She laughs and plops down on the couch.

  “I think I’ve hugged you all enough for a while. Now, get the hell out of my house.” We both laugh, and I walk to the door. I turn back to see her with a huge smile on her face, looking around her new home. This is the happily ever after my mom deserved. I walk outside and everyone is standing on the lawn.

  “Dickhead! Let’s go, douches.” That’s all it takes, and we are on our way back home.

  The two-hour ride seems to take forever. I am anxious to get home, to show Mel where she will be living. She’s been non-stop talking with Kenz and Campbell. Even though I am so fucking happy they are all getting along, I am just itching to get home. After a while, Mel looks up at me. “Everything alright?” I kiss her temple and pull her closer to me.

  “Everything is perfect.”

  We drop off Connie, Karen, and Doug at their building, and they tell us to let them settle in before we come up. We drive the two blocks over to ours. Campbell parks his truck, and we get out. They head right to the elevator, but I keep Mel back. “New York is amazing already, Keith.” I chuckle and gently pull her to me. I can’t help myself, and I slam my mouth to hers. She grabs onto my shirt with her good hand and deepens the kiss. My cock is screaming for attention, but I know it’s too soon. She moans, and it just gets me that much more turned on.

  “Fuck, yes! Free show.” We break apart, and I flip Young off even though we are both laughing. They all head to the elevator, and I look down at Mel.

  “Welcome home, Mel.”

  Holy shit, I’m in New York. It is unreal. His friends are just as amazing as I thought they would be, just like he told me they were. It was just so incredible to finally meet them, and they made me feel so welcome. The entire ride here, I talked Kenz’s ear off about how excited I am. Once all the buildings started coming into sight, I just wanted to take it all in. When we pulled up to Keith’s apartment building, I wanted to squeal. It is amazing, and we haven’t even gone in. When he pulled me to him and kissed me, it got me completely turned on. He hasn’t kissed me so deeply since the accident. It was amazing, even being interrupted by Young. Keith leads m
e to the elevator, and we ride up. I’m almost bouncing with excitement at this point. “You alright?” I look up into his concerned face.

  “Yes, I’m just excited. I promise I’m fine.” He gently kisses my lips and rests his head on mine.

  “I love you, Mel, so damn much.” I feel my eyes swimming with tears, even though I’ve heard it so many times. I’ll never get tired of it.

  “I love you too, Keith.” The elevator doors open, and we step out. He grabs my hand and leads me to his apartment. He opens the door for me, and I walk in. It is so much more than I thought it would be. It’s not huge by any means, but it is so fucking New York. I love it, and I just stepped in. He gives me a tour, which doesn’t take long considering it’s just the kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedrooms. He saves his room for last. He pushes open the door, and I am not surprised at all to see how it looks. It is all blacks and grays. The walls are white, the furniture is black, and the comforter is gray. It’s perfectly Keith. I am taking it all in, and he wraps his arms around my waist from behind.

  “We’ll change it. This is your room now too. We can even have flowers on the comforter, if it makes you happy.” I spin in his arms and wrap my good arm around his neck.

  “It’s perfect. I love it just the way it is.” He runs his hands down to my ass and squeezes, causing my pussy to ache with need. “Keith, I need you. No more waiting, I can’t do it any longer.” He pulls me closer, and I feel a bit of pain in my ribs, but I hide it completely. If he knew, he’d jump to the other side of the room.

  “Mel, let’s see how it goes. I don’t want to cause you any pain.” I give him my pouty lip, and he chuckles.

  “The only pain I’m feeling has nothing to do with my injuries, I promise you that.” He growls deep in his chest, and my entire body takes notice. I slowly press my lips to his with the overwhelming urge to taste him. He deepens the kiss, and I finally feel like maybe this might happen. That is, until there is a horrible banging on the door.

  “Tuck it away, Dickhead. We are going to eat some pizza and then get our drink on. Bring that sexy woman of yours out here.” I look at Keith with wide eyes, and he laughs.

  “Like I said, welcome home.” He pulls away from me, leaving me hot and horny, and walks out into the living room. I take a couple deep breaths before I follow him out.

  “The pizza should be here soon, and then we will head out.” I look around at everyone and notice they all changed. I look down at my travel outfit of jeans and a sweatshirt and turn to head back to the bedroom. I’m not going out for my first night in New York looking like this. I open up my carry-on bag and am so grateful when I see that I packed my favorite black sundress. I pull it out and really smile when I notice no wrinkles.

  “Hey, you want some help getting ready?” I turn and look at Kenz, Maddie, and Becca, all standing by my door.

  “Yes, that would be amazing. Everything is hard with my hand in this damn cast.” They all come in, and Kenz smiles.

  “Believe me, I know. Listen, we aren’t going to make you relive anything, but if you ever need to talk about anything, we are here for you. I know Keith is too, but sometimes you just need a friend to listen.” How the fuck is it possible that I feel so accepted already?

  The next half hour they all fill me in on Keith gossip, and every time they call him Dick, I laugh. I thought it would be weird with Becca, but it’s not. She’s so sweet. Maddie is so fucking funny, she reminds me a lot of Connie. Kenz, she is a mix of both. I can already tell I’m going to love these girls someday.

  They helped me dress and did my hair and makeup. “Alright, you sexy piece of ass, have a look in the mirror.” I stand up and look at myself.

  “Holy shit.” They all laugh, and I turn around to look at them. “I haven’t felt this good, this normal, since everything happened. Thank you, guys.”

  “That’s what we do. We take care of each other. You are a part of this big crazy family now, so get used to it.” I give Kenz a hug and wipe my eyes.

  “Oh no, bitch. I worked too hard on those eyes, blink those fucking tears back.” I laugh and do just that. They head out, and when I go to follow, Becca touches my arm. I turn, and she has a smile on her face.

  “I just wanted to thank you.” I give her a puzzled look.

  “Dick and I were never meant to be together, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want him happy. You make him happy. I’ve actually never seen him so happy. So thank you.” I hug her.

  “That means a lot.” I blink back my tears because I don’t want an emotional pregnant woman yelling at me and look at Becca. “Jeff seems amazing.” She blushes, and I giggle. “I guess he is amazing.” She shakes her head and grabs my good hand.

  “Let’s go eat.” We all sit around in the living room and eat pizza. They all laugh and tease each other, and I can’t help but laugh right along with them. This is what my life is now, surrounded by these amazing new people, and I fucking love it.

  After we finish up, we all head to the bar. I’m so blown away that we can walk there. That is just so cool to me. Keith has his arm around me and kisses my head. “You look beautiful, Mel.” I smile up at him.

  “You look hot as shit, Keith.” He bursts out laughing, and I join him. We get to the bar, and I giggle when I notice every one of the guys grabs a hold of his girl before walking in. We make it inside, and I look around, taking it all in. What an amazing bar. The bar itself is huge; there are pool tables and darts. Looks like a fun place to hang out. We make our way over toward the pool tables. The guys push two tables together, and we all sit down. Keith asks what everyone wants before he heads up to the bar with Campbell. “This place is great. This is where you guys always hang out?” I remember the stories Keith told me about the bar, but I’m not sure it’s this bar. Not until Kenz says it is. I smile, thinking I can now picture it all perfectly in my head. “I think it is amazing that you all met here.”

  “Yea, I had to pretty much beat them off my cock. It was embarrassing.” I laugh, and Maddie rolls her eyes.

  “You fucking wish. Anyway, is that the kind of stories you want this baby to grow up hearing?” He gives her a smirk.

  “I can’t fucking help it that his dad is, and will always be, a fucking God. It’s just something he’ll need to get used to.” I try not to laugh because honestly, I don’t know them well enough to know if Maddie is going to kick the shit out of him.

  “Young, you are so fucking lucky that baby’s mom and aunts are around to tell the truth.” Kenz winks at him, but he just shrugs his shoulders.

  “So, Mel, Keith told us you are a sketch artist for the police department. That is really cool.” I force a smile because I’m not even sure that is something I’m going to do again.

  “Yea, I was.” I think they sense I’m uncomfortable with it so they move on.

  “I finally picked out a color for the dresses. When do you guys want to start looking?” Becca says anytime, but Maddie rolls her eyes.

  “You better hope I’m not showing yet. I still want to wear something sexy. It’s not every day your best friend gets married.” I look over at the bar for Keith and finally see him coming back.

  “What about you, Mel?” I turn my attention back to Kenz.

  “I’m sorry what?” She laughs and gets up so Campbell can sit down. She sits on his lap, and he wraps his arms around her. How fucking sweet.

  “I said, ‘when are you available to look at dresses?’” I look at her completely confused before looking at Keith who is now sitting next to me.

  “Right, I may have forgotten to mention to you that Kenz wanted you to be a part of the wedding.” I look at her with wide eyes.

  “But you just met me.” Campbell kisses her cheek, and she smiles at him.

  “We may have just met you, but Dick loves you, that makes you part of us, we love you already. I can’t have my wedding unless everyone I love is there.” I keep looking from her to Keith. What the hell? Is it really possible to be a part of this group
so quickly? “Not that I want to make you feel pressured or anything, but is that a yes?” I snap out of my stupid and look around the table.

  “Oh my God, yes, of course. I’m honored you would even consider me.” Keith wraps his arm around my shoulders and kisses below my ear.

  “I told you they were amazing.”

  The next two hours, we drink and laugh. It’s been great getting to know them better. It really is impossible not to laugh when you are around them. Keith comes back to the table with a tray of shots. He passes one out to everyone and even gives Maddie one filled with water. I figure I’m feeling tipsy enough to make a toast. “I’d like to say something.” They all look at me. “I want to thank you for welcoming me to New York and into your lives.” They raise their glasses. “Cheers.” We all throw the shot back, but Keith picks up his beer.

  “Alright, I want to make a toast. Thank you for being the best group of friends anyone could ever have. For being there for me, when I’m here, and especially, when I left. I left here feeling so confused, but damn, I came back happier than I’ve ever been. You welcomed Mel without even blinking an eye. That’s the kind of friends you are. I love you all. Mel, I fucking love you with my whole heart.” Everyone says cheers, but I keep looking at him. How the fuck is this real life? I feel like it’s too good to be true. He finally notices I’m staring at him, and he tilts his head. “What’s up? You alright?” I don’t even say anything. I just lean over and kiss him. Not just a peck, I kiss the shit out of him.

  “Fuck yes! This is so much better than the cheesy ass toasts. Grab a tit, Dickhead.” Everyone laughs, except Keith.

  “Young, shut the fuck up.” He throws back his beer and laughs.

  “What? I was getting into the moment. Who is ready for it?” They all laugh, but I look around a bit confused. “Mel, you ready for your initiation?” I swallow nervously, but even Keith is laughing at this point.

  “Umm, I guess.” He gives me a wink and wraps his arm around Maddie. Oh shit, it better not be sexual. I’m all about trying new things, but with Keith, just Keith.