Dear Everly,

by London Casey

  All the kids applauded the parents.

  Then they collected their belongings.

  I finally took off the princess hat. The dress? I left that on for the moment. I needed to carefully take it off so I didn’t damage it. Not to mention I didn’t want to try and wrestle out of it and take off more clothing than needed.

  Outside the room, I waited for Sadie.

  When I felt someone touch my arm, I curled my lip, ready to spit fire like an angry dragon.

  But it was Emily.

  The only woman who could sooth the deadly dragon inside me.

  “Hey, princess,” I whispered.

  “You’re amazing, Jake. I’m serious.”

  “Are you still on this?”

  “Yes. What you just did for her…”

  “She’s my daughter. I would do anything for her. And for you.”

  “Do you mean that?”

  “Yeah. Why?”

  Emily moved to her toes. “I’m leaving in ten minutes. Any chance we can… be alone together?”

  I raised an eyebrow.

  Miss Emily was being a little naughty in the hallway, huh?

  I grinned.

  “I’m supposed to go to the garage,” I said. “Take Sadie to the babysitter’s.”

  “Right,” Emily said. “Then maybe tonight…”

  I slipped a hand to her waist and leaned in a little. “Em, I’m sort of the boss at the garage. You’ve been helping so much with Sadie while I was working late, too. I owe you. Tell me where to be and when.”

  “My place,” Emily said. “Thirty minutes. Don’t take this the wrong way, Jake, but wear the dress.”

  I laughed.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh, Jake.”

  I turned my head and Miss Anderson stood there.

  There were a few other parents looking at me too.

  “Well, when I put on a dress I get giddy,” I said.

  Miss Anderson’s cheeks went as red as the apple on the wall for the letter A.

  I looked at Emily and winked.

  I put my hand out and took Sadie’s hand.

  I wasn’t there to make friends or become a pillar of the community.

  I was just a single father trying to heal his heart a little.

  And every second spent with Emily seemed to take the pain away.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  A Dress on the Floor

  (Jake)

  I dropped Sadie off at Lisa’s. Lisa gave me the confusing wide eyes as I stood there with the princess dress still on. My saving grace was that Sadie still wore hers. Lisa didn’t ask a question so I didn’t give a damn answer. I hugged Sadie and said I’d pick her up in a few hours. I did feel guilty as I walked away, knowing I wasn’t going to work. Knowing that I didn’t have to leave Sadie there. I had never done something like this before. Leaving Sadie at the babysitter’s so I could do something for myself.

  I chased away the guilt with a quick stop at the store to grab flowers.

  Yes, me in a princess dress - but no hat at least - walking into the grocery store to get flowers.

  As I stood there looking at the bouquets, I realized the last time I bought flowers was for Everly. Probably for some dumb date on the calendar. I tried to keep her as happy as I could after Sadie was born. There was a short time when Everly went through a rough patch as she adjusted to becoming a mother. Several times she would cry for no reason or get upset for no reason. So I always brought her flowers and hugged her. I supported her. She came out on the other side of that and never once failed as a mother. And just because she wasn’t sad didn’t mean she didn’t deserve flowers.

  The last time I truthfully gave her a flower was at her funeral.

  So I skipped the roses.

  I couldn’t touch those things.

  I grabbed the biggest bunch of flowers I could find and walked to the register. Pink dress and all.

  Then I drove home.

  I parked in my driveway and I sat there, looking at the house.

  I really had no idea what the house was going to become. Were we really going to live there for the rest of our lives? Well, at least until Sadie was eighteen and then she’d go off into the real world. Then what? And if this thing with Emily kept getting more and more serious, would she sell her house? Move in with me? Eventually I’d have to figure out what to do with the master bedroom. Once and for all. The notion of packing up Everly’s things hurt me. Giving them away? Save them? What would I do? Maybe I should have addressed this shit earlier in life but my focus had always been on Sadie.

  I opened the door to the truck and climbed out. I removed a purple flower from the bouquet and placed it on the driveway.

  I’m sorry, Ev. I hope this doesn’t mean I’m hurting you. I just want what’s best for everyone. You know I’ll never stop loving you. I’m sorry for how badly I fucked all this up after you were gone.

  I touched the flower on the driveway and stood up.

  I left the flower there, for Everly, wherever she was now.

  I walked from my driveway, across the yard, to Emily’s house.

  I sat in a chair on her porch. Holding flowers. Wearing a princess dress.

  The crazy shit you do for someone when you love them…

  I put the flowers on the dresser and I put Emily on her feet. We were in her room. The room where I had studied and touched and tasted her sweet body that first night when things went wild. And things were feeling wild again.

  I grabbed for Emily’s face, stroking her soft cheeks, kissing her. Purposely kissing her hard, our tongues flirting, pulling away with wet kissing sounds.

  I ran my hands down her body and held her waist. My fingers started to cut under her shirt, feeling her skin.

  She playfully clawed at the scruff on my face and started to smile mid-kiss.

  “What’s wrong, princess?” I whispered.

  “I can’t believe what I’m about to do,” she said.

  “What?”

  “I’m going to a dress off another person…”

  “You’ve never done that before?”

  “No. And certainly not to sleep with them.”

  “No crazy college fun then?” I asked with a grin.

  “I don’t kiss and tell.”

  “Or strip and tell?”

  “Nope,” Emily said. Her hands touched the pink dress. She slid her hands around and grabbed the zipper. “I can’t believe you put this on yourself.”

  “I’m a man of many talents,” I said.

  Emily worked the zipper down, smiling the entire time. She pulled the sleeves forward, fighting for them to stretch enough to get my arms out of the dress. I backed up and got the hell out of the fucking dress for good. It was a sense of relief, even though the look on Emily’s face was priceless and worth everything.

  I stepped forward and Emily’s hands grabbed at my t-shirt. She ripped at it like getting it off my body was the only way to save my life. I let her take it off and she threw it across the room. Her hands touched my chest and slid down. I looked down, watching her fingers gliding against ink and muscle. I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  When her hands touched my jeans, opening them so slow it was goddamn torture like, her lips kissed my chest. I made fists and groaned. Then came her tongue. Kiss after kiss, across my chest.

  With my jeans open, she slid both hands into my jeans and pushed them down. Enough to expose me, her hands then touching my growing length. I was a steel rod in her hands, each second of touching making me suck in a breath to keep from losing my damn mind.

  It then became my turn.

  I grabbed Emily and walked her to the bed. When the back of her legs hit the bed, she released her hold on me. Her hand went flat to my stomach.

  I moved fast because I knew what I fucking wanted.

  I stripped her down to bra and panties and put her on the bed. She instantly arched her back, almost instinctively, allowing my hands around to unsnap her bra. I ki
ssed her neck and quickly began my descent down her perfect body. My tongue paused, swirling around her left nipple. Suckling against her, my teeth testing her, hearing her cry out in pleasure. I pulled away with a growl, my cock swollen and aching. Trying to hold back because my mouth wasn't done yet.

  Inching my way down some more, I touched her panties and began to pull them down. By the time they were at her knees, my tongue had moved down her lower belly and followed the most sultry curve of her body. Her sweetness attacked my senses as my tongue attacked her right back. As I tasted her, she let out a moan. That’s when her panties were finally off her body for good.

  My hands touched her inner thighs, opening her legs. I growled at the beautiful sight before me. The tip of my tongue curled up and touched her tender clit. I wrote her a quick love letter, one she’d never read but forever feel. I’d write the same words to her every fucking day for the rest of my life. Anything to taste her. Anything to feel her hips buck against my touch. Anything to hear the soft and sweet moans from her mouth.

  I savored her one last time and kissed back up her body. This time I paused at her other breast, kissing, tongue flicking against her nipple.

  I brought my lower half of my body down to hers. The swell of her heat welcomed me, along with her legs going around my body, her heels digging at me, wanting me to fuck her.

  Fuck it was so sexy to have Emily demanding what she wanted without saying a word. Letting her body take control and command. A woman that knew what she wanted and how. I fucking loved her even more for that. For trusting me to take care of her. For wanting me to fuck her.

  And as I sank deep into her core, that wild sheathing feeling against my cock, I gritted my teeth and put the tip of my nose to hers. When I exhaled a growl, she opened her mouth, her lips quivering, all but begging for a kiss.

  I thrust at her, deeper than ever, and as she started to cry out, I kissed her, stealing the cry.

  I held for a moment as I broke the kiss. I stared down at her.

  I fucking loved her. I really fucking loved her. In a way that was hard to explain but a way that really got to me.

  I placed my right hand to her face and stroked her cheek. With the lower half of my body I pulled back like the hammer of a gun.

  And I had her.

  I thrust harder, faster, slowly putting my hands to the bed so I could push up and look at her entire body. I wanted to see how she reacted to my touch and my thrusts.

  Her hands scratched at my arms and worked up to my shoulders. When she got to the back of my neck, she pulled herself up and brought her body to mine. I was on my knees, my feet hanging off the bed. She was tight against me, kissing and biting my neck.

  So I took another step…

  I put my feet on the floor and stood up, holding Emily, still inside her beautiful body. I turned and walked her to the shut door, pinning her against it. She let out a yell and dug her nails even harder against my skin.

  It was fucking perfect.

  Something animalistic suddenly triggered inside me.

  My hands squeezed her ass as I fucked her against the door. The sense of relief was intense. The sense of love was even more intense. We made the door knock against its hinges, the wood starting to groan almost as loud as Emily was.

  I turned her again. I walked her to the dresser. She threw a hand out and cleared the dresser of some clothes, pictures, a small box of jewelry, and a brush. She leaned back and bucked her hips at me. She reached up and back with her right hand, smacking it against the mirror, leaving a streaking handprint down it. Her head fell back as I kissed her neck, going down to her breasts. I traded back and forth, kissing, tasting, loving, all the while thrusting in and out of her.

  My hands rested against her hips and I started to pull her as I fucked forward. The feeling inside me was explosive. From the deepest parts of my soul through my entire body.

  “Jake!” Emily finally cried.

  I felt her climaxing, her body sheathing me even tighter.

  I pulled her away from the dresser, holding her once again.

  This time I simply just walked backwards. When I felt the bed, I crashed down to it, bringing Emily with me.

  Her hands flew to the bed to catch herself. My hands came around and took two handfuls of her breasts. She didn’t miss a beat as she started to rock her hips, thrusting against my cock. Moving with the perfect speed, taking me deep, knowing right where I wanted her and how I fucking wanted her.

  My hands slid up to her face and I pulled her down to me.

  The second we kissed, I thrust and groaned, feeling myself reaching the point of not being able to hold myself back any longer. Once that line was crossed…

  “Fuck,” I groaned as I knew I was just a few seconds away.

  “Yes,” Emily purred and she nibbled my bottom lip a little too hard.

  She came down on me and that was it.

  I grabbed her lower back and held her there as I came.

  Emily threw her head back with a primal scream that bounced off the walls. If any of the neighbors heard it they would have called the police for sure.

  I kept her tight against me but that didn’t stop her. She fought against me, grinding that beautiful body with masterful moves that kept me going again and again and again.

  She finally collapsed to my chest, her breath spreading across my chest. She was gasping for air at first and then it became fast breathing, trying to calm herself.

  My hands moved up to her back and I held her.

  I slowly started to scratch her back.

  I had only done that with one other woman…

  I felt Emily melting against me. Relaxing. Ready to fall asleep.

  She was calmed down, randomly kissing my chest.

  “Jake…?”

  “Yeah, Em?”

  “Are you thinking about her right now?”

  I looked down and Emily popped her head up.

  “I just want to know,” she whispered.

  “Yeah, a little,” I said. “It’s all new… sort of. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” Emily said.

  “I don’t get it, Em. Why? Why are you so…”

  Emily climbed up my body a little. She kissed my chin. “There’s something else I want to tell you, Jake. Something that happened to me. Something I never told another man about. It’s my greatest fear ever.”

  I propped up on my elbows. “Okay. Talk, princess. I’m right here.”

  “That’s what scares me,” Emily whispered. “Because you could be gone at any second…”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  The Other Story

  (Emily)

  What are you doing?

  I stared into his dark eyes and felt my heart love him even more.

  “There’s a part of me nobody knows about,” I said.

  “Okay. You have a thing for men in princess dresses? Because what we just did…”

  “Funny,” I said. “I was engaged, Jake.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  “Yeah. Really serious stuff.”

  “Obviously.”

  “He was a little older than me. Mid twenties. I was just nineteen at the time. I was sort of confused in life. I fell in love with his daughter more than him. I realize this now.”

  “His daughter…”

  “Yeah, Jake.” I swallowed hard. “He got a girl pregnant when he was twenty. She left him with the baby and he raised her. I think in some strange way I was just looking for a family. I didn’t want the party life and all that. He seemed stable. And we were… whatever. I took care of his kid. For a couple years actually. I did everything. I taught her to read. Write. Everything. He was out going to law school and working. But the thing, Jake? He was with his daughter’s mother.”

  “Shit.”

  I swallowed again. I had never told anyone the story before. Anyone who knew me then knew I had a boyfriend, it was serious, but it didn’t work out. He had a kid. Things didn’t work. Life goes on.r />
  “He decided to get back with her for real,” I said. “He took her away from me. His daughter, I mean. I was so close to her. We talked about everything. And he just… ripped…”

  Jake touched my hair. “Fuck, Em. Why didn’t you ever tell me this?”

  “I didn’t want you to think I was crazy,” I said. “That I’m looking for a single guy with a kid. I’m not. And it hurt so bad before. So fucking bad. I guess… I guess what I’m trying to tell you, Jake, is that the way I feel about you and Sadie, I’m willing to risk my heart for that. I stood there with his daughter clinging to my leg. Begging me not to let her go. Crying her eyes out. Wanting to know why she had to go. She thought she did something wrong and I didn’t love her anymore. And maybe that’s what he told her. To lessen the blow on himself and the mother. I don’t know. I never saw them again. I never heard from them again. I was empty. Alone. I had no idea what to do after that.”

  “Jesus, Em,” Jake said. “You held all that in because of me and Sadie?”

  “Crazy neighbor,” I whispered.

  “Hardly. I’m really sorry you went through that. You lost someone you loved. More than one person. Then you took care of your grandmother. Shit.” Jake hugged me. His strong hands against my skin. “You’re so fucking strong, Em. So fucking perfect. I don’t know how you do it.”

  “Stop,” I said. “I just don’t want you to think I’m crazy. I would never hurt you or Sadie. I would never try to steal Sadie from you. I would never try to steal memories from Sadie either. I would…”

  “Em, I know all of this,” Jake said. “I don’t want you worrying about that shit. Sadie loves you. And I love you. In my head, I’ve got things playing out that scare me.”

  “Like what?”

  “You being there when she’s older. Think about it from my eyes for a second. I have to be there for everything. Her first crush. Kiss. Breakup. When she gets her period. How the fuck do I handle that, huh? On top of that, I have to keep working, managing the schedules, cooking, just so much. And not that I look to you to cook me food or something, Em, but if you’re there and you guide Sadie down that unknown road, the parts I know nothing about, then, shit, I’ll give you the rest of my life. I promise. Because that’s something that would matter so much…”