Club Thrive: Predator

by Alison Mello

  “I understand that, but…” his words trail off. “I love you and I need to keep you both safe.”

  “Safe from what?” I’m getting frustrated because he sounds like he’s talking in circles.

  He shakes his head. “Why don’t you go take a shower and start getting ready, and like I said, we can talk about it more tomorrow when we have a day to just relax.” I nod and walk off to the bedroom to get my stuff ready, but I can’t just forget what Mikey said or his reaction. He thinks because he told me to drop it for now that it’s that easy and I can just let it go. I’ve watched my back for the last three years, and now when I’ve finally started to live my life, he’s bringing up my worst fears.

  I pull my uniform from the closet and lay it out on the bed. I need to clear my head of any fears I have, otherwise I’m going to end up having another panic attack. I haven’t even told Mikey that I used to have them, because I haven’t had one in a long time. I take a few deep, calming breaths, and when I feel like I have it under control, I begin the process of getting ready.

  It takes me about forty-five minutes to shower and get into my uniform. By the time I’m done, Mikey has dinner done and he’s in the process of serving it up. When I get back out to the kitchen, we all take a seat at the table, where Ryker is rambling on about how he helped Mikey, but I’m hardly listening because I’m still deep in thought about the prospect of moving in. I have so many concerns, why is he so worried about us? Is it too soon? Will he try to take over my life the way Eli did? Is this really what’s best for us? I need to talk this over with my sister. She’s the one person who has been able to help me think things through and make clear decisions.

  “Earth to Shelly?” Mikey calls out, and when I finally make eye contact, he says, “Ryker is asking you if he needs to take a bath.”

  “No, buddy. You can shower in the morning.”

  “Yes!” he cheers, running from the table.

  “Go get in your pajamas, young man.” He skips off to his room, and as soon as he does, Mikey pulls my chair away from the table.

  Grabbing my hands, he pulls me to my feet. “Did I really freak you out that bad?”

  “Like you said, we’ll discuss it tomorrow.” I grab the plates and walk them into the kitchen to begin the process of cleaning up. When I get back to the kitchen table for the cups, Mikey is standing there, shocked I didn’t give him a solid answer. I grab the remainder of the dishes and head back into the kitchen to clean up and load the dishwasher.

  “Baby,” Mikey says, standing behind me.

  “Mikey, stop. You said we would discuss it tomorrow, and now that I’m lost in my own thoughts, you want to discuss it. Well, it’s not going to happen. I need to get Ryker ready for bed and tuck him in with a movie.” I walk off to Ryker’s room, where I find him in his pajamas and sitting on the floor playing with his toys. “Come on, buddy, you need to brush your teeth.”

  “I forgot my toothbrush, Mommy.”

  “I asked you to make sure you grabbed it from the bathroom.”

  “I’m sorry, Mommy.” He looks to the floor, sad that I’m upset. He’s has never done well with me being upset or disappointed in him. He is such a people pleaser. He loves nothing more than knowing he has made someone happy.

  “I have an extra toothbrush in the bathroom under the sink. It may be a bit big for his little mouth, but it will do for tonight,” Mikey says while leaning on the door frame.

  “What do you say to Mikey?” I ask my son.

  “Thank you, Mikey.” The three of us head to the bathroom to get him situated with a toothbrush and help him brush his teeth. When he’s done, Ryker picks a Paw Patrol movie to watch on the TV that Mikey has set up for him.

  Mikey walks him over to his bed and tucks him in, giving him a hug good night before he leaves the room to give us a few minutes to ourselves. “Good night, buddy. Mommy’s leaving for work, but I’ll see you in the morning when you wake up. There’s a night light in the hall if you need to use the bathroom.”

  “Good night, Mommy.” A big yawn escapes him. I kiss my son on the forehead and walk out of the room, closing the door slightly behind me.

  When I get to the living room, Mikey is pacing. I can see he’s stressed and unsure of what to do. He pauses, looking up at me. He starts to speak but stops. “I’m heading to work.” Mikey nods.

  “I’ll be waiting up for you.” He steps closer to me. “I love you.”

  I give him a tight smile. “I love you too.” I press a kiss to his soft lips and walk out the door.

  I don’t know what’s gotten into him tonight, but he was right about one thing. I need to focus on work, and that’s what I’m going to do. Tomorrow we can talk this through and I’ll take some time to talk things over with my sister when I get out of class on Monday. Unfortunately, spring break is over and I can’t help but wonder if that’s what some of this is all about.

  Chapter 9

  Mikey

  “Thanks for waiting up for me last night. It was nice to come home to someone instead of a house of sleeping people and an empty bed,” she says with her eyes closed and her voice groggy from only a few hours of sleep.

  I’m lying beside her, drawing circles on her stomach, slightly baffled by her comment. “And yet you’re fighting me on moving in.” I look down, watching her beautiful eyes flutter open. I don’t get it. How can she tell me it was nice to have a man to come home to but yet she’s not sure she’s ready to move in with me?

  “How was Ryker?” she asks, totally changing the subject.

  “He was good. He woke up once around midnight and had a hard time going back to sleep. I got him some water and sat with him for a few minutes. Other than that he was fine.” She stretches her body, still tired from her rough night at work. “He’ll probably be up soon.” A dirty grin spreads across my face. “I was hoping we could make the most of our time alone.” I press my lips to hers, my cock is already hard and ready for her. She instantly opens to me and our tongues meet as I glide my hand up under her night shirt to her perky nipples. They’re hard and ready for me when I squeeze one between my two fingers rolling it around. She lets out a beautiful moan into my mouth as our tongues dance, tasting one another. I pepper kisses along her jawline to her ear. I nibble on her lobe and whisper, “I love you and want to take care of you in every way possible.”

  “Mmmm, I love you too,” she moans when my hand slides down into her panties and through her folds to find her wet and ready for me. I slip my fingers deep inside of her, curling them to hit that perfect spot. It doesn’t take long to build her up, her hips grinding in rhythm with me. She makes the most beautiful sounds as her pussy clenches down on my fingers from the orgasm shredding her body. Her eyes open and she watches as I slowly slip my soaked fingers from her pussy. Putting them into my mouth, I suck every last drop of her juices. She tastes heavenly. “I need to taste more of you.”

  I lick, suck, and nibble my way down her body to settle between her legs. I instantly begin lapping up her juices. Finding her clit, I suck it into my mouth, rolling my tongue over it until she’s begging for release.

  “Please, Mikey.” She rolling her hips.

  “You ready for another, baby?” I look up at her from between her thighs.

  “Yes,” she pants when I slip my tongue deep inside of her. “Fuck, your tongue is magical.” She continues to moan as I work her over, her hips grinding against my face to find that perfect amount of friction. Pressing my thumb to her clit gives her the pressure she needs. Her legs tighten and shake around my head as another orgasm takes over her beautiful body. Wasting no time, I slip on a condom and line my cock up with her opening.

  She looks up at me with the most amazing smile. “One more,” I demand as I seat myself balls deep inside her warm, wet pussy. Her eyes slowly close as she sucks in a sharp breath. I roll my hips as she thrusts hers forward, meeting me. I press my forehead to hers as I pick up the pace. “You need to give me one more, baby.”

 
; “I…” her words trail off. She wraps her legs around my waist, changing the angle slightly. I’m giving it to her hard and deep the way she likes it. “I’m going to come,” she moans. Her muscles tighten around my cock, squeezing it and sending me over the edge with her.

  “Fuck,” I growl out as I seat myself one more time, emptying all I have into the condom. A yawn escapes her. “Tired, baby?” She nods. “Stay in bed a little longer. I’m going to get rid of this and I’ll listen for Ryker.” I lie beside her for a few minutes, running my fingers through her hair, and in a matter of minutes she’s back to sleep.

  I slip out of bed, toss the condom, and head to the living room wearing nothing but lounge pants. I find Ryker sitting on the couch watching TV. Last night I showed him how to use my remote. He thought it was so cool that he could press a button, say the show he wanted, and it would come on.

  “Good morning, little man.” I take a seat on the couch next to him.

  “Morning, Mikey,” he says his eyes never leaving the TV. I could envision Shelly giving him a hard time for not looking me in the eye when he speaks. She’s so amazing with him. She works incredibly hard trying to raise him to be a good boy but what she doesn’t realize is all I want to do is help. I’ve not only fallen for her, but for this little guy too.

  “What are you watching?”

  He curls into my side still looking a bit tired, but I’m not surprised. This is a strange place to him still. “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” he says still not taking his eyes off the TV. I nod my head and sit with him to watch for a few minutes. I have no idea what’s cool as far as kid shows go, and as a child we didn’t have cable. My mom couldn’t afford it until I was too old to care. It’s coming to the end of the show, and all of a sudden he starts bouncing and singing along with the characters from the show.

  “What should we do today?” He shrugs his shoulders.

  “After this next show is over, what do you say we make Mom some breakfast?” He shrugs and nods his head. “Do you like omelets?” He shrugs. “Are you going to just shrug this morning?” I poke at the ticklish spot on his side.

  He giggles. “No.” He looks up at me. “Mommy likes omelets, she makes them at home.”

  I shake my head. “Well, come on then, I’ll show you how to make one.”

  He jumps down from the couch and follows me into the kitchen. I grab a step stool and place it next to me. He climbs up on it and gets ready to do as I tell him.

  I get busy pulling out what I need while he stands there staring at me. I try to teach him how to crack an egg but he accidentally cracks a huge piece of shell into the bowl and I can’t help but laugh. “Hold on, buddy, I have to dig that out. Egg shell doesn’t typically go down too well.” He giggles. His hazel eyes are full of joy to be helping in the kitchen.

  “Sorry, Mikey.”

  I ruffle his curly light brown hair. “No problem, little man. We’ll just pick it out.” Once I’ve gotten the chunk of shell out, I continue cracking eggs into the bowl. “How did you like your new bed?”

  “It was good. I like my new sheets.”

  “Good, I’m glad.” I pick up the whisk. “Now you have to use this to mix them. It’s called a whisk.” I show him how to do it, and once I have it started, I hand it over to him to finish. Really it doesn’t need any more whisking, but I want him to feel like he’s helping. He’s such a good boy, he loves to help and know that he’s done something good.

  I continue my instructions with him as I continue to cook the omelet. He’s inching closer and closer but he’s making me nervous. “You can’t get too close, little man. I don’t want you to get burned.” I slip his stool away from the stove as he watches me make him a ham and cheese omelet so he can eat while I make hers. As soon as his is done, I get him settled at my snack bar with his plate and some milk. I can’t help but glance over, watching him happily eat as I finish his mother’s breakfast. How did these two people walk into my life and make me fall for them so quickly? I’ve never fallen for anyone the way I have them.

  “Something smells good in here.” Shelly comes into the kitchen. She walks straight to Ryker and kisses him on the head.

  “Mommy, Mikey made me an omelet and he’s making you one too.”

  She smiles at me. “Well, it’s a good thing I’m hungry then, huh?” Ryker nods his head, pushing his empty plate away. “All done?” she asks him and he nods again. “Good job, buddy. Why don’t you go play in your room?” She picks him up, gives him a kiss, and puts him down so he can go play.

  “There’s coffee in the pot,” I tell her, nodding toward the coffee maker on my counter.

  “Thanks, where are the cups?” I show her where everything is, and then put our omelets onto plates so we can eat. She yawns, taking a seat next to me, but digs into her breakfast.

  “We agreed to talk today,” I say flatly.

  “We did. I need to talk things over with my sister. I told you when we first started dating that I’m not good with these things. I’m always questioning my own judgment since things went down with Eli.” She takes another bite of food.

  “Why is it so hard for you to see that I love you and want to take care of the two of you?” I’m trying not sound frustrated, but I too am struggling.

  “Because we’ve only been seeing each other for a few months, and now all of a sudden you want me to move in with you. I was with Eli for a year before I moved in with him and look where that landed me. I ran from him with nothing but the clothes I could fit in our car and a stash of cash I was smart enough to save.”

  “I’m not Eli, and apparently I need to figure out how to make you see that.” I can’t help the hurt in my voice. I thought she knew better than that.

  She sighs. “I know you’re not him, but it doesn’t make trusting any easier, Mikey.” I dump the rest of my breakfast into the trash and put my plate in the dishwasher. “Mikey,” she calls as I walk away to take a shower.

  “What?” She stares at me. “I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again. I don’t like your neighborhood. I grew up in one just like it and it’s not safe, but talk it over with your sister and let me know, and in the meantime, I’ll do what I can to ensure you’re safe from here.” I walk away, not saying another word.

  Chapter 10

  Shelly

  “How was your weekend at Mikey’s? I feel like I hardly saw you.”

  “He wants me to move in with him,” I whisper to my sister, who’s leaning against the door frame to the kitchen with a huge grin on her face.

  “That’s awesome.”

  “I don’t know, is it? I mean, I feel like we’re finally starting to get our lives back and I’m almost at a point where I can care for him myself. How do I just put all of that aside for another man?” I place some grapes and cheese on a plate for Ryker.

  “Who says you have to put that all aside? Why can’t you have both?” She looks at me with confusion.

  I stop to think for a minute. I knew this would happen someday. I would meet a man and all my fears and insecurities would surface. “I don’t know, Brea. There are so many what ifs, and I know there’s nothing that can take those away, but I’m not sure I can simply move in with him and give up all the freedom I’ve worked so hard for. Eli stole so much from me.”

  She steps closer. “He’s not Eli and you know it.” She takes his plate and walks out to the table with it. “Ryker, come get your snack,” she calls.

  “Thanks, Auntie Brea.” He takes a seat at the table as I’m placing his glass of juice down. On Monday nights we go to Sky’s for dinner, but we don’t eat until pretty late, so I like to give him a snack before we go. Then he’s not overly hungry and cranky by the time we sit down.

  “Thank your mom, she made it.” He smiles up at me and does as he’s told. I’m so lucky to have such a well behaved, sweet little boy. I ruffle his hair and tell him he’s welcome.

  “I need to finish getting ready.” I spent the entire afternoon in clinicals working with doct
ors and I want to freshen up before Mikey gets here to pick us up. Tonight we’re a lighter crew. Katie is due to have her baby anytime now, so Shane and Katie are staying home. She’s been battling swollen feet something fierce and is extremely uncomfortable. I quickly change into a pair of jeggings with a tank top and a lightweight sweater in case it gets chilly later. Once I’m ready, I grab Ryker an outfit to change him into. By the time I’m done, Mikey is knocking on the door.

  “Hi, Brea.” I hear him greet her as I walk into the living room. He gives my sister a kiss on the cheek and fist bumps Ryker. A smile spreads across his face when he sees me. “Hey beautiful.” It amazes me how happy he gets when he sees me. It makes me think about what my sister said about him not being Eli. Eli was mean and liked to disappear the second I got home, and Mikey just wants to spend more time with me. Part of me feels like I’m not being fair to him, but my gut tells me he’s keeping something from me and I don’t know what to do.

  “Long time no see,” I say jokingly, since he only dropped us back off at home yesterday evening after dinner.

  “Are you two ready to go?” he asks, slipping his fingers into my hair and pulling me in for a chaste kiss.

  “I think we are,” I tell him when he breaks the kiss.

  We pull up to Sky and Logan’s house about forty-five minutes later, and for once we’re the first ones here. That doesn’t happen too often because we’re one of the furthest away from his house. We’re instantly greeted by Sky, who is carrying Kent in her arms and feeding him a bottle. “He’s getting so big,” I say as I give her a quick one arm hug.

  “Tell me about it. He’s eating me out of house and home.” She chuckles.

  “That’s what you said about Stephan and you survived just fine,” Mikey says with laughter.

  Ryker says a quick hello and asks to go play with Stephan. Sky tells him that Stephan is in the playroom and my son runs off to join him. “I’m so glad they get along so well. Stephan looks forward to family dinner night, knowing he’ll have Ryker to play with.”