by Amie Knight
I shouted, but I had no idea what as I shot into her over and over as she came around me. My heart thundered in my chest as I came down, Hazel beneath me breathing hard.
I kissed the tip of her nose and the apples of her cheeks. “Was that okay?” I asked, concerned it may have not been as good for her as it was for me.
She raised her eyebrows at me. “Was that okay? Was that fucking okay? Are you serious, Winnie? That was amazing. Are you sure you haven’t done that before?”
I leaned off her and noticed that her bra and her tank top were still around her waist.
“Let me help you.” I pulled her up and helped her out of them. “There, that’s better.”
I looked her up and down, somehow in a daze, stunned even. Hazel was in my bed. I’d had her. Finally. And I already wanted her again.
She lay back and sighed. “You wore me out, Oliver. You’re a beast.”
I grinned cockily. “Well, thank you.”
I lay down next to her and rested my head on my hand. “Are you staying the night?”
She batted her lashes. “If you’ll have me.”
I loved this. The sex was amazing. But this, the banter, the friendship. This was us. And I loved that we could finally have both.
“Of course I’ll have you. I already have and I plan to have you over and over again tonight.”
She stretched and purred like a cat and my dick instantly hardened again. “Sounds like a plan. Do you have a T-shirt I could throw on until you want to ravish me again?”
I grinned conspiratorially. “I have something even better.”
I got up and walked to my closet near the foot of the bed and rooted around in it for a minute when I felt hot eyes on me.
Looking over my shoulder, I saw her ogling my ass. “Like what you see over there?”
She blushed down to the tips of her toes and I knew it because I could see it all. And now I was ogling.
“I like it so much. Your ass is my favorite.”
I laughed and tossed her what I’d been looking for.
She sat up in the bed and unfolded the green jersey. “Oh my God, this is freaking amazing. Where did you get it?” She giggled.
She laid out the Mustangs jersey with the number eleven on it, but instead of Knox on the back, it said Winnie.
“It was a parting gift from my team at the end of the season.” By the time the season was over the whole damn team was calling me Winnie after Hazel’s stunt that day in the locker room.
“Are you asking me to wear your jersey, Oliver?”
“I sure am.”
“They nailed it! I love it so much.” She slipped it over her head and she looked adorable in the huge jersey.
“God, you look good in my colors,” I said, standing at the end of the bed.
Her hair was a messy halo around her head, her cheeks were rosy, and my green jersey practically swamped her body.
She raised a seductive eyebrow at me and looked me up and down slowly. “Well, you look good in nothing,” she sassed.
“Is that so?” I asked, crawling up the bed toward her, more than ready for round two.
I opened the door to Mable’s Diner in downtown Summerville. “Ladies first.”
Hazel blushed as she walked by me and it didn’t have anything to do with her being a lady or going first. It seemed like these days her cheeks were always pink around me. I wasn’t bragging or anything, but Oliver induced orgasms looked pretty damn good on her. The last few weeks had felt like I’d been in a dream. A really fucking good one.
Dates after work or sometimes dinner with Hazel’s pops and Ms. Caro and nights spent in my bed in my apartment made me happy as hell. I may have missed Scarlett when she left, but I was more than glad to have the space completely to myself. It meant that I could make sure my girl’s cheeks were pink like that every day and I didn’t have to worry about anyone hearing why.
Hazel walked over to a table where a woman sat who looked like my girl would in thirty years or so except she also looked like she’d had a hard life. My Hazel wouldn’t look like that. Her life was going to be good from here on out. I’d make sure of it.
The woman had her too long hair down her back and her face looked leathery, like maybe too much sun, and I wondered if she worked outside. I wondered a lot of things about her, since Hazel had told me very little. But maybe that was because Hazel barely knew her herself. They’d had a few short coffee dates and she’d even come over for dessert one night at Pops and Hazel’s, but this was the first time I’d set eyes on her since Hazel’s birthday when I had stopped at Level Up to give her a present.
I was proud of my girl. She was giving this woman a second chance when she didn’t have to. Every day I saw my girl grow. She was still scared, but she was trying not to hide anymore. And every chance I got, I told her how awesome she was.
“Hey, Hazel.” Brenda got up from the booth all smiles, her eyes still a little apprehensive.
“Hi, Brenda,” said Hazel quietly before introducing me. “This is my friend…boyfriend, Oliver.”
I felt the smile creep over my face despite myself. I knew I probably looked crazy, but I didn’t give a shit. I was Hazel Jones’s boyfriend. It had only taken me almost my entire life, but it was worth the wait of every second, minute, hour, day. I couldn’t wait to take her down to Florida where my parents retired to so I could show her off. They may have already known her well, but never as my girlfriend.
“So nice to meet you, again. I’m Brenda.” Hazel’s mother stuck her hand out and I shook it before we all sat down in the booth, her on one side and Hazel and me on the other.
Before we could get started, a waitress came and took our order and brought waters for us.
As soon as the waitress left, Hazel’s mom jumped right in. “So how long have you two been dating?” She looked back and forth between us. I didn’t know who should answer, so I let Hazel take the lead.
“Not long, but Oliver and I have been friends our whole lives.”
She looked surprised. “Oh, you have?”
Hazel nodded. “Yep, do you remember Scarlett?”
Her mother looked confused. And that wasn’t good at all. Because it felt like Hazel was testing Brenda and it didn’t look like she was going to pass.
“Refresh my memory.” Brenda tried to answer in a safe way.
Hazel stared at her in a way I knew was not good. “Oh, she’s just been my best friend my entire life.”
“Ohhhhhh, I think I do remember her.”
I could see Hazel rolling the shit out of her eyes in her mind, but on the outside she appeared calm and even nice. “Oliver is Scarlett’s brother.”
“How cool! That’s so amazing y’all have known each other for so long.” Poor Brenda seemed like she was trying so hard, but it didn’t come off as genuine and I knew Hazel felt that. It was one of the most awkward conversations I’d ever participated in and I’d told the love of my life that I was a virgin. So that was saying something.
We talked for a few minutes more about what I was going to school for and how Hazel’s job was going and our food arrived, pretty much saving the damn day.
It was in the middle of our meal that everything really went to shit.
Brenda’s phone started ringing and she put down her fork to reach into her purse beside her to answer it.
“Oh, good,” she said. “He will want to talk to you,” she said to Hazel.
Hazel looked completely perplexed as the woman answered her phone with a hello.
The phone may as well have been on speaker it was turned up so loud.
“You have a collect call from Jared at Tulsa County Correctional Facility. Would you like to accept the charges?” We heard through the phone and Hazel’s body locked tight next to mine.
I placed my hand on her knee underneath the table because I knew this was so fucking bad and her mother didn’t seem to have the foggiest notion of exactly how awful it was going be.
“Yes,” she
said, accepting the call.
Whenever Jared came on the line the call wasn’t quite as loud and while we could hear his voice we couldn’t understand anything he was saying.
“Yes, she’s here. You should see how gorgeous she is today. She brought her boyfriend and what a beautiful couple they make.” Brenda spoke into the phone and I felt like I was watching a head-on collision.
Hazel’s body was still ramrod straight, and her coloring was the palest I’d ever seen it. My inclination was to just get her away from this situation as fast as possible.
I pulled on her hand under the table. Her head turned my way, but it was like she was looking through me. “Let’s go,” I whispered, trying to get her attention.
She shook her head at me and placed my hand on her leg and covered it with hers, squeezing tightly. It looked like we were riding out this storm and by my guess it was going to be a hell of a doozy.
“You want to talk to her?” I heard Brenda ask and I thought maybe she’d lost her mind. Dread settled over me.
Brenda tried to hand Hazel the phone, but Hazel never reached her hand out. She simply stared at Brenda like she’d stared at me. She may as well have been looking at the wall behind her.
Brenda put the phone back to her ear. “I don’t think she wants to talk, honey.” She paused. “Yeah, we will try again another day.”
There felt like there was a ball in my throat that I couldn’t swallow. I watched the statue of a girl beside me, not knowing if she was in the middle of a panic attack or what. It scared the hell out of me. I squeezed her leg harder and she squeezed my hand back.
“Okay, call me later. Bye bye now.” Brenda placed her phone back in her purse and started to eat again. “It’s a shame you didn’t want to talk to your father, Hazel. He’s missed you as much as I have. And when he gets out, he’s going to want to see you.”
“No,” Hazel said with conviction. “I will never see that man.”
I watched, my heart feeling like it was going to pound out of my chest. I wanted to drag her out of the restaurant and away from this woman who’d so clearly upset her.
“Oh, come on, Hazel. He’s your daddy. Surely if you can forgive me, you can forgive him.”
Disgust painted my girl’s every feature. “I haven’t forgiven you. Although I was trying. But I’ll never forgive him.”
Brenda let out a long breath. “That sounds a bit dramatic to me,” she said, still picking at her food while it was clear Hazel and I were too upset to eat.
It became unbearably quiet at the table and I was just about to demand to Hazel that we leave because I couldn’t handle one more minute of her mother when she finally said something.
“Brenda. Do you remember when I was little and I used to hide in the closet?”
Brenda put her fork down on her plate and rolled her eyes. “So you want to rehash everything? Is that it? Do you think that’s going to somehow make matters better between us?”
Hazel glared at her. “You don’t want to rehash anything because my actions didn’t destroy your entire life. Because I didn’t emotionally scar you so badly that you can’t even have a healthy relationship. But you did do those things to me, Mother,” she spat. “So if I want to rehash the past, you will fucking sit there and listen. You owe it to me.”
Hazel’s hand shook beneath mine under the table and tears swam in the depths of her eyes. A small part of me wanted to pick her up and run. The bigger part of me knew she had to do this.
“I don’t owe y—”
“Stop!” Hazel yelled and slammed her fist on the table and the whole restaurant went dead silent.
Brenda looked around totally embarrassed and smiled apologetically at everyone and soon the restaurant was buzzing with conversation again.
Hazel blew out a long breath and her throat worked before she asked again, “Now, do you remember when I was little and how I used to hide in the closet?”
With a stoic face Brenda answered quickly, “Of course I do.”
“I’d sit in that closet terrified he was going to hit me like he hit you. And I’d ask God what I’d done wrong in heaven that he gave me to people who beat me and didn’t love me. And then on the days when he did beat me, I’d spend hours trying to figure out what I’d done wrong, so that maybe he would love me instead of hurt me.”
Every word out of Hazel’s mouth felt like a dagger to my heart. I’d had an idea things had been bad, but I’d had no idea how bad. My stomach dropped. I fucking ached for her with every fiber of my being.
Brenda sat stone-faced as Hazel continued. “I’ve spent my entire life feeling like I’m not good enough. Like I’m not worthy of someone’s love. And I’m done with that shit.”
Her voice broke at the end of her sentence and I wanted to reach over and pull her into my arms. I knew I couldn’t, though. She had to do this all on her own and while my heart hurt for her, it was also busting with pride.
“Hazel, your dad isn’t like that any—” Brenda started.
“You may be okay with some man beating your ass with no good reason at all besides he’s just an awful motherfucker, but I’m not. I didn’t choose that life. I didn’t deserve it and I damn sure don’t have to forgive or forget it.”
Hazel’s eyes finally left Brenda’s and found mine. “Let’s go, Winnie,” she said calmly.
I moved out of the booth and waited for Hazel to scoot out and we left that diner without even a backward glance. Hazel walked in front of me quickly like she couldn’t get out of there fast enough. When we got to the car, she jumped inside the passenger side and slammed the door.
By the time I got in, she was staring out the windshield, tears silently streaming down her face.
I leaned down and made sure my seatwas all the way back before I said softly, “Come here, baby.”
She leaned into my arms and I pulled her into my lap until I was cradling her. Her head fit so perfect into the spot where my neck met my shoulder, I just knew she’d been made specifically for me. She sniffled there and I held her tighter.
“I’m so damn proud of you. You were fucking amazing in there.” I rubbed big circles on her back.
She hiccupped into my chest softly. “How can she think it’s not a big deal? How can she just expect me to be over it? How can she think I’ll ever speak to him again?” she asked through her tears.
I knew that those were questions we would never be able to answer. “You can’t control how other people feel or what they do, Hazel. You can only control what you do and how you feel. And you were a fucking rock star in there. You were so strong and I’ve never been more proud of anyone in my life.”
Her hands tightened around my neck. “Thanks, Winnie. You’re pretty great, too.”
And we sat like that for a long while, Hazel in my lap, her heart beating against mine, her tears soaking the front of my T-shirt. I held and rubbed her head and comforted her as best as I could. I remember thinking how the day couldn’t get any worse for my girl, but I’d been so very wrong.
The ride home from the restaurant was a quiet one, but that was exactly what I needed. And just like always, Oliver knew that, so he stayed silent even if his eyes checked on me frequently to make sure I wasn’t going to break out into tears again.
I wish I could have said I was surprised about my mother, but I wasn’t. That didn’t stop the amount of disappointment I felt, though. But I wasn’t as disappointed for me as I was for Pops. How was I going to tell him that this was all some kind of sham? That my mother was still talking to my horrible father. That she wasn’t who he hoped she was. It made me so incredibly sad for him. He deserved better.
I stared out the window, trying to decide how I was going to break the news, when I felt Oliver’s hand over mine. It was warm and a little rough and it felt like home.
That was what I needed to remember. I had so much now. I had Pops and Scarlett and my new nephew would be here soon. And I had Winnie. Things had been so amazing between us, I was angry with m
yself for not letting this happen sooner. For being too scared. Because Oliver was everything.
When we arrived home, my anxiety kicked in. I had to tell Pops. This was going to break his damn heart. Oliver draped an arm over my shoulder as we walked into the house.
“Pops!” I called out, the house too silent for my loud pops to be there. “Poke your head out and check for his car,” I told Oliver. I hadn’t noticed it when I pulled in, but I wasn’t paying attention.
He stepped outside while I checked the kitchen. “Pops!” I checked the backyard next. The outside held no sign of him either. Maybe he was taking a nap and had turned his hearing aids off.
I walked down the hallway to his room and an ominous feeling hit me square in the chest that made my skin break out in goose bumps. I could hear my heart beating in my chest as I came into his room.
I was coming around the foot of his bed when I saw his blue sneakers that he wore all the time poking out. I ran around the bed to find him lying on his back looking like he was asleep.
“Pops!” I yelled, dashing to him and kneeling by his side. He didn’t move a muscle. “Oh my God,” I whispered, checking his head and then the rest of his body to see if he’d fallen and knocked himself out or something. “Pops!” I rubbed his face with shaking hands.
I heard footsteps coming down the hallway as I leaned over to see if he was breathing and noticed he was. Thank God. I grabbed my crossbody purse from around me, hysterical. My pops wasn’t answering me. He was on the floor. What was happening? I dumped the purse on the floor, scrambling to find my cell phone. “Call nine-one-one!” I shouted to Oliver.
He came in the room, his phone to his ear while I pressed my head to my Pops’s chest, listening for a heartbeat. A tear slipped down my cheek and onto the front of his favorite purple shirt.
“Come on, Pops. Wake up, please.”
