“In the kitchen cooking for his little girl.” He smiles at me, and I notice he’s missing his wedding band. I touch his ring finger and he beams. “He’s having it cleaned. Dork, I’m sure he’s going to do some lovey-dovey-romantic gesture.”
“Which you’ll call lame, but you’ll love and enjoy all the way.”
He smiles and nods at me. “Can you blame me? That man made me a softy, and I love him more because of that.”
Things between my parents are better than ever. They now travel together; one goes to where the other has to be and they plan their schedules in a way that neither one sleeps alone.
I hug him. “I’m glad you two are back together and happy.”
I take a few steps toward the kitchen, and Mason calls back. “Ainse, it seems this is going to take a while. I have to check on something I left in the car.”
Chris follows him, and I continue on my way to see my father.
Their kitchen isn’t much different from mine. Gabe has the four burners of the stove working with two pans, one pot, and a wok.
“Channeling the Wolfgang Puck in you, Dad?”
“Trying. The boyfriend is coming to visit.” He is tossing vegetables inside the wok as he shakes it. “I want him to know how he has to treat my favorite girl.”
I choose not to remind him that I’m his only girl. I kiss his cheek and offer my help.
“No, I have everything under control; your dad helped me make the rice from scratch.” Dad steers his eyes toward the opposite counter where the platter is filled with fried rice.
“Chinese food?” I frown. He knows better than to cook a ticking time bomb for me.
“Asian in general, with a few modifications so you can eat,” he says giving me the stink eye for doubting him. “We’re leaving for those lands by October, or the beginning of next year. I want us to get used to the food they have.”
“You are aware that this is an Americanized version of their dishes, right?”
“Don’t bring your logic to the table, child.” Gabe turns down the flame and places the pan he holds to the side, then cooks the raw chicken on a different one. “Where’s Mason?”
“Outside, being executed by your husband,” I dramatize the events. “We should’ve waited until after… I’m never going to get laid again.”
Dad stops everything, and his gaze turns to me.
“Ainsley Janine Colthurst-Decker, consider the boy dead.”
I can’t help but laugh at what he says, kiss him, and scoot out of the kitchen before I open my mouth and say another bizarre comment. Once I step in the living room, I spot Mason and the gray fluffball between his large hands.
Fluffy!
His fur is almost the color of Mason’s eyes. “Who is this little one?” I stroke his soft fur.
“He has no name yet. Any ideas?” Mason’s eyes shine, there’s satisfaction on that face, as if he just conquered the world.
After creating a cradle with my hands, Mason deposits the tiny kitten in them. I close my hands to secure him and embrace him against my cheek.
He’s adorable. “Is he mine?” I pat his small head with my thumb. The soft, whispery rumble he emits melts my heart.
“Yeah, do you like him?”
“I’m in love with him,” I lift my gaze and look at Mase. His heavy-lidded, cloudy eyes have a twinkle in the corner.
My chest, I now realize, is empty. That heart of mine has left the building. Yes, we can call this love. It didn’t take long. We spent last weekend together, and for the last week he has called me every night. Long calls where we don’t say goodnight until we’re ready to sleep. That would sum up everything we shared through the years. The moments he’s been my rock. He lets me lean on him while I recover from whatever had happened. Plus, the past weeks that we’ve been dancing this bizarre mating ritual is coming to an end.
Hold the words, I order myself.
My parents’ house isn’t the place for confessions or big gesture moments to show gratitude to his awesome. This is huge, as Mase gave me one of the things I’ve always wished for the most. A kitty.
“Toby,” I declare. “He looks like a Toby.”
“A cat?” My father’s rough voice makes me jolt.
Toby opens his tiny mouth, but no sounds come from it.
“You’re making it hard to convince her that she should kick you to the curb, boy?” Gabe takes off his ‘Kiss The Cook’ apron. “I might as well grab a couple of containers with food and send you back home with that beast.” Gabe looks at me and points at Mason.
“But family dinner?” I stumble my words, because the real sentence is really, ‘Thank you. Please keep the food. Love you. Bye-bye.’
My parents return to the kitchen. Finally, Mason and I are alone—with Toby.
“Thank you,” I lift Toby and kiss his furry head. “He’s the best present I’ve ever received in my life.”
I stagger to where Mason stands and pull his shirt with my now free hand. Our lips meet, and as I’m about to open my mouth, the voices of my parents interrupt us.
“Not in my house,” Chris yells. “A couple of feet of separation, Bradley. The cat only gave you points with her, not us.” He hands Mason a plastic bag.
“Oh Mason, before we forget.” Gabe gives him a half-lidded hard glare. “We can see when your car leaves. I’ll be watching; you better not try to stay overnight.”
Tonight, I’m not liking my fathers very much.
Impressive; twenty-five minutes and the parking lot of Decker’s Records hasn’t changed. The same number of cars remain. No more and no less. The spot right next to where I had parked my truck remains open. I slide Eleanor right back in as if no one had taken it and washed it. The big ‘Wash Me’ sign on the back window clued me in to do something nice for my girlfriend.
Girlfriend—that’s a big word I never thought I’d say again. Not that it matters if we have a title or not. It’s for her; last week she made it official. For me, it’s all about being together. I check off the list, car washed and now wondering how mowing the lawn should be tackled. Neither one of us owns a mower. I’ll find a way to continue my quest: accumulating AJ points, as she called them the other night when we fooled around at her house. Which, she made it clear, wasn’t a date. Damn, that fifth date is never going to happen. Appearing at night unannounced with a bag of frozen blueberries and peaches—that’s her favorite snack—and making out didn’t constitute a date, but it added AJ points.
“What are those for?” I wanted to know if there’ll be any rewards—like sex.
“I’ve no fucking idea, Mase,” she laughed hysterically and kissed me as if nothing else mattered but the two of us. “But sounds like a great incentive, doesn’t it?”
Some days, nothing else matters. Only her. So much that I’ve stayed a few extra days. Delegating has been a key element with my business in the past weeks. However, tonight I’m leaving no matter what my body wants. Those green eyes won’t hypnotize me; I have stronger willpower than those shiny gems have over me.
However, I’m on a quest to accumulate those points and find out what she’ll give in exchange when I get back. The car wash idea was easy, the execution not so much. Entering the music school, breaking into her office and finding her car keys, using what she calls my ninja skills, was a difficult task with so many busybodies going back and forth inside the school. Not that it mattered; the task is done, and I’m about to find out how many of those points I’ll get for it.
Her last class is about to finish. My watch reads seven o’clock. The sun is about to go down and I’m about to surprise her. After dinner, I plan on taking her to the movies to watch some action film that’ll bore her to tears so we can make out like a couple of teenagers blowing off curfew.
Watching the street, I detect a guy wearing a leather jacket leaning on the tree right outside the entrance to the music school. Freaking Porter Kendrick stares at the door and then turns my way. My gut tells me that he believes Ainse was the on
e who drove Eleanor, and he’s waiting for her to enter the building.
His body stiffens the moment I come into view.
“Off limits.” I repeat the same two words I did the last time I beat the shit out of him. “Do you need me to remind you what’ll happen if you come close to her?”
“She’s mine.” He tilts his head and lets out a small chuckle. “You can be around her like a little lap dog for as long as you want, but she belongs to me. Me.” He points at himself, and I remind myself of the promise I made to Nine—don’t go all macho staking a claim.
“For your own good, stay away, Kendrick,” I warn him and turn around.
“Our connection is profound and unique—AJ’s and mine,” he continues, and now he’s pissing me off. “We shared years together. She was mine first. Then there’s James—my son—a link you can’t break.”
That did it, he touched a sore point. James. The baby Ainse lost years ago. Porter was the father but treated her like shit when he found out about the pregnancy. “I forbid you to ever bring up James’ memory, Kendrick.” My fists grab the flaps of his leather jacket and I pull him close to me. “I have that fucking link. Ainse called me when she found out about the pregnancy and feared the outcome, including how the jerk she lived with would react to his own child. Those days you ignored her while you were fucking other women, I talked to her daily and reassured her that she’d be fine—a kickass mom. You disappeared for weeks. It was me who was there when she met the little pea.” I point at my head. “His heartbeat will forever be recorded here. A beat you’ll never know. Who do you think was with her after she lost him? Me, fucker.” The rage I harbor makes me push him against the wall. I slide my open hand up to his throat, pinching it. Then press him harder into the wall with my leg and the other hand. “Never speak of him again. Our pea is off limits, too,” I say with a low voice. “It hurts her. I hate when she hurts. Stay the fuck away, or I swear, next time my hand will press into your voice-box and it’ll snap like a piece of glass. There’ll be no more singing or talking. And if I push harder, you’re a dead man.”
The look of panic on his face, those bulging eyes, blood drained, and mouth agape doesn’t soften me. God I want to press, press as hard as I can to see him suffer part of what she suffered. Days. She cried for days, only stopping while she passed out from exhaustion.
“Son, take it easy.” I hear a calm voice; a palm softly squeezes the back of my neck. The world around me is no longer red. Chris Decker takes my hands and loosens the grasp I have on Porter. The fucker takes a few steps back, rubbing his neck. This is the part where I want to shout that if I see him again I’ll kill him when, in fact, I know that I won’t. The desire is there, to avenge Ainse and James. But that won’t bring him back or erase those painful memories from her mind.
“Porter, leave now,” Chris orders.
“I need to talk to her, Chris.” Porter’s desperate plea reminds me of a child asking for one last chance or five more minutes in the playground. “About a property I own…I need the money.”
Chris scratches his chin, looks at him, then at me, and finally speaks, “Call me tomorrow. Leave my daughter alone, Porter.”
Porter closes his eyes for meager second and strays away without a word. I regain control of my breathing, shake my head, and finally pay attention to Decker senior.
“You’re scarier than your father.” Chris’s attention is back on me. His green eyes so similar to his daughter’s, yet they don’t have that sweetness hers emanate. “And don’t forget, I’ve known him since before you were born, and he beat the shit out of many to save my ass several times.”
I give him a shrug.
“Are you planning on killing him, Papi?” Ainse’s sweet voice comes from behind me, and I pivot to witness her sway her hips to where we stand. The long, pale green dress she wears with the heels distract me, erasing the thoughts of me wanting to annihilate Porter. I instantly want to know what’s under it. “Someone mentioned there was a fight out here.”
“No, not yet,” Chris responds intercepting her and giving her a hug. “I promised your father that I wouldn’t kill him while you’re around.”
She tosses her head back and laughs, “Play nice, Papi.”
Nine angles her head and scans me from head to toe, her eyes analyzing every inch of my face and then my body. She releases herself from the protective hold her father has on her.
Does he think I would harm her?
“You okay, Ten?” She places a palm on my jaw and strokes it with the softness of a cloud. My lip curls, and I nod. “Good, I have a mission for you. My car keys disappeared from my purse… or I lost them.”
She nibbles on her lip, and I pull her into me, absorbing that carefree spirit she has today. As if there are no ghosts or bad memories inside her.
Brave.
“That’s a nice hug. Thank you, Ten.” She stays in the embrace, and I hold onto her for my own selfish benefit and in hopes that I can find my balance again. “So, how many AJ points do I get if I find your car keys?” Finally, I find my footing and can act normal.
She looks around the area and wiggles herself out of my embrace, then fixates her gaze on me.
“These many.” She shows me her hands, flipping them twice.
“Get your stuff, Nine.” I kiss her cheek. “With my ninja skills I might have those keys in hand by the time you’re back.”
She narrows her gaze then looks at her dad.
“No, come with me.” She entwines our fingers. “I need to show you something in my office.”
Ainse kisses his cheek and waves at Chris, “Love you, Papi. See you around.”
“Give us a minute, Ainsley Janine.” Nine freezes and, releasing my hand, she walks away. Chris never calls her that unless he means business; I’ve seen it through the years.
“Never lose your fucking temper in front of her, Bradley.” His voice is low but rough. “I noticed that she calmed you; still, make sure you learn how to level yourself when she’s close by.”
I give him a firm nod, and then he hugs me. “Thank you, for being there for her when we weren’t, and I’m sorry for your loss. I didn’t know how close you were to James.”
That last statement surprises me because I wasn’t close to James. Well, I did meet the grainy pea and heard that heartbeat, and fuck, I tried hard to convince the doctor to save him. No matter how much I begged, he said the baby was no longer viable. As if he referred to some object and not our little pea. But everything was because of Nine, nothing to do with me.
I salute him without uttering a word and head inside the school. The automatic doors slide open, and as I cross the threshold, I spot her.
“That didn’t take long.” She points at the door. “What happened?”
I shake my head.
She twists her mouth from one side to the other and appears to be solving some puzzling enigma inside her head. “We tell each other everything, always,” she reminds me.
“Porter was outside, Ainse. Can we not talk about it?”
She steps closer to me and kisses my chin, “Thank you, Ten. I…thank you.”
I forget where we are and capture her inside my arms, absorbing her citrusy aroma, her softness, herself. That combination controls the pain that surged through my veins while I confronted Porter or the memory of those days when I couldn’t do anything to bring the baby back to her.
“Everything okay?” She mumbles against my chest.
As I snap out of my trance, my arms loosen their hold on her. I snatch her keys out of the pocket of my jeans and she smirks. “Eleanor’s clean now.”
“That’s enough points for an invitation to dinner at home and a make-out session,” she suggests. “It’s not a date.”
“Some days I think you’re cheating.” I kiss the nape of her neck and she shivers. “Extending our dates to avoid the next step.”
“Anticipation has its rewards,” she gushes, kissing my neck. “Think when it happens how great it’ll be
.”
Anticipation is making my balls hurt. One more night, one more day, I can wait if that’s what makes her happy. I like happy Aisne even when I’m experiencing the worst case of blue balls.
“I was thinking about taking you to the movies tonight?” I suggest before heading outside. “A last chance for you to cheat since I’m heading out of town.”
“Can we go home instead?” she squashes my plans with just one innocent question and a mischievous smile. “Promise to make it worth your time.”
I grab her hand, and we head to our cars. Across the street, her parents wave at her. It surprises me that she waves back but continues her way to the car without stopping to chat with them. Maybe today is my lucky day.
“What are your plans after this?” I wash as Mason dries the dishes. His hand stops the circle motion over the plate, and his brows draw a perfect horizontal line. “Like leaving town, working, or something else?”
“You kicking me to the curb already?”
No! I’m trying to gather the courage to ask you to stay for the night.
Mason goes back to drying while I keep wondering how I’m going to tell him that I’m ready.
“We should get a dog,” Mason suggests as he puts starts putting away the dishes.
We? That’s a big deal. Are we there yet? We haven’t even had sex yet! I freak out after that exact phrase hits my memory bank. I said the same to my ex when he decided to buy a house without even asking me if I liked it.
“You’re quiet,” Mason breaks the silence and shuts down the running water. “What did I do?”
My gaze lowers toward the empty sink. I need to snap out of this; I overthink too much.
“You mentioned the dog.” I pivot and lean on the sink. “That’s a big step, and we haven’t even had sex. It reminded me of something I said in the past. Not that I’m comparing the two of you.” I laugh, just thinking about how stupid I was back then, “I bet he never waited for me—Porter. Fuck, I believed when he told me that we had been each other’s first. He had too many skills to be inexperienced.” It was a good thing we always used condoms, or I’d have been a walking STD.
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