by Luxx Monroe
Dax gave me his best panty-dropping smile and pulled me into his big, bare chest. “Come on, babe. It’ll be fun to get out of the house for a little bit. Come and meet my friends. I’ve been so fucking ready to show you off.”
I smiled at his sweet words and tilted my head back as he started to place a gentle path of kisses down my neck. I figured it was time we went out and actually did something. Why was I in hiding? If this was becoming more serious than I’d originally planned, Krista was bound to find out sometime. “Okay,” I said quietly.
“Yeah?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said louder and giggled when he picked me up and swung me through the air.
“Let’s get ready.”
It was almost ten o’clock when we finally got to Savannah Montgomery’s house. Dax reassured me a million times that he’d never done anything with her and that it would be a really good time.
When I looked down at my short skirt and tank top, it made me feel about ten years younger, but the way Dax looked at me when I stepped out of my closet helped me decide I was dressed just fine.
“All the guys are going to try and steal you away from me tonight. You’ve been warned.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me, which only made me roll my eyes at him.
“Right, a woman who’s almost ten years older. I highly doubt that.”
Dax placed his right hand on my thigh and gently squeezed it. “Lena, look at it through my eyes. You’re like a fancy glass of wine. I have the real shit while those yahoos are still taking shots of tequila.”
I rolled my eyes at him, but that only made him chuckle and squeeze my leg again.
“I’m serious. You’re amazing. You were just married to a douche for way too long to know that.”
“Thanks,” I whispered and leaned over to give him a quick kiss. He had no idea how much is words meant to me.
“Come on, I want you to meet some of my friends. God, I’m so excited to show you off.”
I couldn’t help the girly smile that spread across my face. I couldn’t remember the last time anyone was so proud to have me by their side. Jared, maybe, at the beginning of our relationship in school, but soon after I seemed like more of a bother to him than a prize.
The walk up to the large house in front of us was like something out of a Van Wilder movie. Kids were drinking out of red Solo cups and cars were parked erratically across the large half-circle driveway. “I feel a little out of place,” I said as Dax went to open the front door.
“You’re going to have fun if you let loose a little. Trust me.” Dax winked and pushed open the door, letting me in to what I could only describe as a middle school teacher’s hell. The only good thing was I’d only been teaching at the local middle school for a few years, so it was highly unlikely that I’d see a former student. Now that would be awkward as hell.
Just as I was about to protest and turn around, a younger guy, who I assumed was Dillion, came flying down the stairs with a busty brunette behind him. “Duuude!” he hollered and embraced Dax in a side hug. “Look who is it! Shit, man, I didn’t think you’d come.”
Dax fist-bumped him and nodded to the girl behind him. Then he turned to me with the biggest grin on his face. “Dillion, I’d like you to meet my girlfriend, Lena.”
Dillion slowly turned my way with an almost bigger shit-eating grin on his face. “You sealed the deal, huh? It’s nice to meet you, Lena,” he said while holding out his hand. Dillion seemed like a nice guy, young and immature, but nice.
“Thanks, it’s nice to finally meet you, too.” He must not have been satisfied with just a handshake, because soon my body was being propelled forward into a full-on hug.
“Dax is a good one, so I’m glad he’s found himself a classy lady.” I might have smiled at his words, but inwardly I rolled my eyes because to me all I heard was that I was classy because I was so much older than them.
Dillion then turned to Dax and said something about a guy from their college being in the living room, and it sounded like a mini-reunion was about to happen. Dax turned and looked at me, reaching out to grab my hand when Dillion’s girl chimed in. “I’ll take her out back for a drink. I’m Kimmie, by the way,” she said and smiled, holding out her hand to mine.
“Lena. It’s nice to meet you, and that sounds great. I could use a drink.” I gave Dax a reassuring look, telling him that I’d be fine, and so we went our separate ways.
Kimmie was sweet, telling me who certain people were and how they knew each other. I was glad this wasn’t a high school party. Everyone there seemed to be over twenty-one at least.
“So, you and Dax, huh? He’s a freaking hottie, so good for you.” She bumped me with her shoulder and then motioned for me to follow her toward the back door.
I followed and just smiled back at her. “Yeah, he’s pretty great.”
Kimmie said hi to a few other party guests, and once we were at the keg, some guys filled up some beers for us and then continued talking like we’d just interrupted the most serious conversation ever.
I was about to ask Kimmie what she was up to when she started to wave to a young girl with bright red hair. I seriously didn’t know anyone at that party, and I started to feel even more like an outcast than I did when we were walking through the front door.
“Lena, I’ll be right back. Hold down our beers, okay?” Kimmie handed me her red cup and bounced off to her friend.
I sighed again for the fiftieth time that night, and found a few lounge chairs and set our beers down on a table right next to them. After I sat down and got a little comfortable, it wasn’t very long until I noticed a few girls behind me were obviously talking about Dax. I could hear them as plain as day and they did nothing to hide their conversation. Probably because they had no idea who I was.
“I heard Dax Tice is here. I haven’t see him in so long, but his pictures on Facebook are sure fun to stalk,” one of the girls said while another laughed.
“Seriously. I’m just pissed because I heard he came here with his sister, or aunt, or some shit. Who brings their aunt to a party? That’s weird. I still hope I can convince him to have a sleepover tonight. I’ve heard so many stories about that big dick of his that I think I’ll die if I don’t get it tonight.”
I wanted to turn around and tell them to shut up and that I wasn’t his aunt, but I decided to be the bigger person, so I just bit my tongue until Kimmie or the guys found me.
“Savannah, you’re so naughty, but Dax would be an idiot to turn you down.”
I heard the girls agree with her until one of them chimed in. “Seriously, but I don’t think that’s his aunt. I’m pretty sure it’s his new girlfriend.”
I heard an audible gasp from all of them, and now I was getting pissed. “Girlfriend? Geez, what is she? Thirty-two or some shit?”
Not able to hold my tongue any longer, I stood up and turned around to face them. “Actually I just turned thirty, but that doesn’t mean my body is out of commission. In fact, Dax just said something earlier about me being the best lay he’s ever had.”
All four girls stopped mid-drink, their mouths hanging open like goddamn bug catchers. I smirked and thought I had them dumbfounded until Savannah closed her mouth and matched my stare. “Thirty? Okay. So what, Dax is ready to jump on the marriage and baby ship? I know that’s all you older women think about. Have fun with Dax now, because soon he’s going to open his eyes and see what a hag he’s dating.”
Cold beer hit Savannah straight in the face, and I thought for a second I was having an out-of-body experience. I knew that I didn’t toss my drink at her, so I turned around and found Kimmie standing behind me with an empty cup. “You’re such a bitch, Savvy. I’ve wanted to throw a drink in your fucking dumb face since you told me my lunch box was ugly in the second grade.”
“Kimmie!” Savvy shrieked and ran back inside her house. The other girls followed, but not before turning around and giving us both very evil glares.
I turned toward Kimmie and couldn’t bel
ieve she’d just done that. “That was freaking amazing,” I said and high-fived her.
“Right? She needed that.”
I was about to go on about how badass my new friend was, but a hand wrapped around my waist. “Everything okay? I heard you’re throwing drinks at people.”
I stepped out of his hold and shook my head. “Not me, but Kimmie is pretty awesome.”
Kimmie smiled and did a little curtsy when Dillion scooped her up and made her giggle. “I guess we need to get out of here. Savvy said if you’re still here when she gets back, she’s disowning you forever.”
Kimmie rolled her eyes and gave me a quick wink. “Oh, boo hoo. Fine, let’s go. You guys coming?”
I looked over at Dax and pled silently with him. I was ready to leave and go home. “No, I think we’re going to take off. This was enough excitement for one night. Maybe we can catch a movie soon or hang out?”
Dillion nodded, liking the sound of that.
I looked up at Dax and heard Savannah’s harsh words in my mind. So what, Dax is ready to jump on the marriage and baby ship? I know that’s all you older women think about. Have fun with Dax now, because soon he’s going to open his eyes and see what a hag he’s dating.
“You want to leave?” Dax asked and nudged me with his shoulder.
Without saying a word, I nodded once and followed him out the back gate. I swore I heard whispering and gossip as we left, and I tried my best to not let it get to me. My best was shit, because it hit me right in the center of my fucking chest.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Dax
Walking up to Lena at that party was like a bad car accident. I’d heard enough of what Savvy said to know it was hurtful. I didn’t care what people thought about Lena and me because all that mattered was what we thought. And I thought she was pretty fantastic.
“Sorry about tonight,” I said and slipped my hand in hers. She didn’t push me away, but she barely held on to me.
“It’s not your fault I look like your aunt.” She tried to make it a joke, but I could hear the hurt in her voice. “I knew this was going to happen.”
I tried to ignore her comment, and I almost told her to not worry about it when I noticed my car was completely blocked in by two huge assholes. “Shit,” I sighed and pointed toward my truck. “We’re blocked in.”
Lena dropped my hand and looked around the party. There was no way we were going to get my vehicle out of that spot, so it looked like we had one option if we were getting home. “Feel like taking a walk?”
She laughed a little and shrugged. “Looks like that’s our only option.” I could still see Dillion’s tail lights in the distance, and I almost thought about texting him to turn around and give us a ride, but walking with Lena sounded like the better option. It seemed like she had some things on her mind and we needed to work them out.
“It’ll be nice,” I said with a huge grin and took her hand back in mine.
We had about five miles of walking ahead of us, and thankfully it was a beautiful summer night. “Want to talk about it?” I asked as we made our way past some downtown shops.
Lena stopped and walked over to a bench that was outside a little dive bar that a lot of locals hung out in. “Dax, I don’t know. I just…” She stopped and leaned her head back, taking in a huge breath. She pulled forward and met my stare with those stunning blue eyes. “I’m too old for you. This isn’t going to work. I want different things than you, and you know it. It’s better that we call it quits now before we get more invested.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “More invested? Are you kidding me? You’ve already made me fall in love with you and you don’t want to get more invested?”
Lena’s sharp breath let me know she wasn’t expecting that out of my mouth, but it was true. “I do, I love you so much. I love you more than I ever thought possible. You do something to me; something inside of me grows every time I’m around you. I’m not ready to say goodbye to you. I’ll never be ready for that.”
“You weren’t supposed to fall in love with me,” she said quietly, and that only pissed me off even more.
“Yeah? So you can look in my eyes right now and tell me you don’t love me. That you feel nothing!” I may have said the last word a bit too loudly, but I was teetering on the edge of a huge cliff, and I knew if I fell, my heart would be the first thing to shatter. “Look at me, Lena. Tell me you don’t feel it.”
She couldn’t. Her head was down, so I knelt in front of her and lifted her head with my finger. “I love you,” I said in a soft whisper and made her meet my stare. “Tell me you don’t love me and I’ll leave. I’ll leave this town and never come back. If you can do that, then I’ll play my part.” A single tear fell down her cheek, and I prepared myself for the worst.
When she had a ghost of a smile lift her lips, my heart beat about ten times faster. “I can’t, because I’ve fallen so deeply in love with you that if you left me I’d never be able to put the pieces back. With Jared, I was able to heal, but with you I’d never be whole again.”
I smiled. I smiled so fucking huge that I knew I’d created some permanent lines on my cheeks. Without saying a word, I pulled her mouth to mine and kissed her with such passion I’m pretty sure we’d get a citation for indecent exposure.
It was perfect. She was perfect. Everything was perfect until I heard her name coming out of some guy’s mouth behind us.
“Lena?”
Lena pulled away from me quickly and looked at the man standing behind us. “Kirk?”
I pushed myself up and turned to face none other than Kirk himself.
“I thought that was you.” He stopped talking and looked over in my direction. His eyes seriously about bulged out of his head, and his face turned a lighter shade than it was just seconds before.
“I’m Dax,” I said and held out my hand, but he didn’t take it.
“Your nephew? That’s who you’re dating now? What the hell?” he asked, and that made me just as confused as he looked.
“Nephew?” I asked and turned to look at Lena. She gave me a pleading look, which told me she must have lied about who I was. And I was actually okay with it. If she felt the need to say that, she must have had a good reason. So, me being me, I went ahead and played along.
“Yeah, but by a little blood. There’s nothing wrong with that in this state. In fact, you can marry your first cousin if you want to.” That was total bullshit and we all knew it. It was just funny as shit to see his face.
“Right, well, okay. It was interesting seeing you, and good luck, I guess.” He mumbled the last part and turned the corner.
I looked over at Lena and raised my eyebrow. She sighed and covered her face with her petite hand. “I panicked when you were at my house after our date.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her up beside me while laughing. “And I told him you were my cousin’s kid, so really, he thinks we are related by blood.”
I grabbed her hand in mine and just smiled. I was glad that I didn’t lose her that night. We laughed about the situation Kirk thought we were in, but I didn’t give a flying fuck about him. I was just glad that I still had her.
Walking home was refreshing, and we talked a lot about our future. Then it hit me that I was ready to start our future now. Why wait when you had exactly what you wanted right in front of you?
I stopped suddenly when we were just a few feet from her door. While I dropped down on one knee, I loved the bewildered expression on her face and spewed the only thing that was playing over and over again in my mind. “Lena, you are the most beautiful person I’ve ever known. Inside and out. I don’t want to wait to see what our future holds for us; I want to start our future now. Marry me? Make me the happiest man on this planet. Let me give you things that you never thought were possible. Marry me?”
Lena squeezed my hand and started to cry. Through her sobs, I thought I heard a yes, so I scooped her up and twirled her around in a million circles.
“Thank you,”
I whispered, which only made her eyes water more.
“No, thank you. Thank you for showing me that life will give you a second chance. You’re my second chance at life, Dax. So thank you.”
I captured her lips with mine and kissed her with a promise. A promise to never leave her. A promise to never hurt her. A promise of life together.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Lena
“I’m nervous,” I said to Dax as we walked up Krista and Gary’s driveway. It was time that I not only told my best friend that I’d fallen in love with her nephew, but that we were getting married in a week and moving to New York. Yup, she was going to freak.
“It’ll be fine. She’s your best friend, and all she wants is for you to be happy.” I rang the front doorbell and waited what felt like for a million years before the door opened. Okay, more like a few seconds, but it felt longer.
Brock, one of the twins, opened the door and ran over to give me a huge hug. “Lena!” he said in his cute voice and then did the same to Dax. “Dax!” he squealed and laughed when Dax picked him up in the air and gave him a little spin.
“Where’s your mom and dad?” I asked and followed him as he pointed to their backyard. I’d told Krista that I had something to tell her and that I needed her full support and attention. She knew something had been up with me the past month, but I was convinced she had no idea what it was.
“They’re out back waiting,” Brock said with a smile and ran as fast as he could through the open sliding glass door.
Dax grabbed my hand and squeezed it for reassurance. “We got this. Together.”
Last night after we got home from our crazy night out, Dax and I talked about our future until the sun hit the horizon. He’d told me all about his parents and how his father had left him a huge inheritance. I told him that we didn’t need that money and that we could make our own way. He said that it was the first time since he’d received the notice that his father had passed and left everything to him, that it actually felt good. I told him he could do whatever he wanted with it.
