by Dani Wyatt
“Dude, you look fucking happier than a pig in shit.” Derrick slaps me on the shoulder as Talia excuses herself for the ladies room at the Highland House restaurant. It’s late for the restaurant, but the bar is still fairly full as we lean into a high top table sipping on our beers.
She’s back to full smile after a bowl of chili and an order of potato skins.
I follow her every step with my eyes. She’s wearing this cute-as-fuck, sapphire blue wrap dress that clings to her every curve like a dream. I made her grab a sweater to tie around her shoulders though. It’s not that the dress is too overt, I just need her to be careful. She has no clue just how many horny dicks have been eyeing her since we walked in. She’s oblivious to her sexy draw, and I’m ready to get the drop on any fuck that brushes by her too close.
She’s waving to some of the staff. She looks happy. Proud. Her co-workers seem friendly with her, but thank goodness most of them are women. There aren’t too many other restaurants in town that are decent and she said she didn’t mind coming here.
Derrick lent me an old phone he had lying around. I’ve already texted and emailed Rodrick and Gerhardt. They’ve got IT working on a new cell phone and laptop for me. They will send them overnight to Talia’s place. I feel bad my parents don’t even know I’m in town, so I’ve got to give them a call here tonight as well, otherwise I will never hear the end of it from Mom.
“So, what’s on the agenda tomorrow?” Derrick sips his beer and taps his fingers on the tabletop.
I’m still watching where Talia disappeared into the ladies room. She comes out before I can answer him, and a couple of ladies that seem to be her friends greet her, and they are clearly admiring my girl in her blue dress. I smile, so fucking proud that I can say she’s mine. And after tomorrow, she’ll truly be mine. The thoughts I’ve had of putting a baby in her belly have only multiplied since I’ve been home. Once I get inside her, I won’t stop until she’s planted and bound to me in every way.
“Dude.” Derrick laughs.
“What?”
“I’ve been talking to you, and you haven’t heard a word.”
“Sorry, I’m distracted.”
“You sure are. But hey, I’m happy for you. It’s about fucking time.”
Just as I drag my eyes from Talia I hear a female voice from over my shoulder. Then some high-pitched laughter from behind me. I don’t need to turn around to know who it is. The laughter grows louder, I turn to see Amanda, Rebecca and Sonja falling inside from the front entry, looking half drunk and cackling like hens.
“What is she doing here?” I grouse at Derrick.
“Dude, I didn’t invite her. I told her I was picking you up at the airport today.” He raises his hands in surrender. “Then, I texted to check on her, told her I was headed up here to meet you; I didn’t think she’d have the balls to come. I didn’t think man. I’ll go take care of it.”
Before he gets to his feet, Amanda races up right behind me.
“Hi, Griff.” She says it loud enough it carries across the room and I see Talia turn my way.
Just then the two Hocus Pocus sisters start laughing hysterically, looking right at my girl as Amanda comes around and plops herself in my lap. Before I can toss her off onto the floor, my eyes hang on Talia’s startled face. I shake my head at her just as Amanda tries to plant an open mouth kiss directly on my lips. My hands bolt to her shoulders. I’ve never wanted to hurt a woman this much until right now, but it takes all my self-control not to throw her skanky ass across the room.
“What the fuck?” I get her on her feet and I follow, dragging the back of my hand over my mouth in disgust at the mere thought she almost kissed me. I’m backing away as Derrick stands up next to me with wide eyes and open mouth.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Amanda says, loud enough for the whole room to hear.
Sonja and Rebecca march and sway their way over toward where Talia is gape-mouthed and looking white as a ghost, her friends looking around to see what is going on as Talia pulls her sweater tight around her shoulders. Her eyes are filling with tears and my heart starts to tear from my chest.
Before I can get to her, Rebecca is holding a phone up to her face and she’s staring at it in horror. Then at me, then back to the phone.
She bites her bottom lip. Her work friends start to go nuts on Rebecca and Sonja as Talia turns and flies down the back hall at the restaurant.
“Talia!” I’m at a dead run until I get to the two bitches standing there laughing. “What the fuck did you say to her?”
“Just showing her the evening’s entertainment.” They’re too drunk to know any better, so they hold the phone screen up to my face and I nearly throw up. I’ve lost control. I grab the phone and slam it on the ground, crushing it under my heel. “Get the fuck out of my way or I will clean up this floor with you two. Fucking waste of human life.”
I’m gone, yelling for Talia and bouncing down the back hall through the wait staff and the kitchen before I hit the back door.
I catch her at the truck. We had to take her car since I didn’t have one. Her hands are shaking so bad she drops the keys.
“I told you I couldn’t be a joke. Anything but that. I’m so humiliated!” She screams the last word, her voice shaking me to my core.
“What are you talking about? I don’t have any idea how they got that video.”
“They said you sent them over to do it! Said it was your idea. Some bet between you and Derrick, if you could get me to do it with you within the first twenty-four hours you were home.”
“Talia, I have nothing to do with this. Or them.” I toss my hand behind me as she swings open the driver’s door with a sob.
She spins to glare at me with a fire that pushes me back. “From the first day we started talking, I said, please, just don’t lie to me.” Her voice raises and the hairs on my arms go up with it. “Don’t make me feel silly. Don’t let me be a joke. My father said I couldn’t handle the outside, and clearly he was right.” Her voice cracks along with my heart as she stares up at the ceiling of the truck.
I lean in, grabbing the keys from her hand as she struggles blindly to jab them into the ignition.
“I would never do anything like that. I’d do anything to undo this. Amanda is a troubled girl but I never thought she would do this and I didn’t know they were coming over. Or following me or whatever.”
“How did she even know we were there? Answer me that. How did she know you would be there and we were right in the window like that? I suppose that’s just convenient? Gahhh! I’m so stupid. Just let me go. Just admit this was some sick joke with you and your rich friend. I’ll get over it like I always do. It never changes, it will never change. I’m an idiot for coming back and thinking it would be different. For thinking you and I were something real. Give me the keys!” she screams, holding her shaking hand out palm up.
“We are real. We are the realest thing I’ve ever had in my life, Talia. Look at me, look in my eyes and tell me if you really, really think I could have anything to do with this?”
She tightens her lips, stopping the quiver. Her glowing, golden-green eyes darken, the light from the parking lot lamps streaming through the windshield. Her hair dangles around her face in tendrils, the bun she set on top of her head before we left her house falling loose and messy off to the left side of her head. And she looks absolutely beautiful.
“My whole life I’ve been the joke. Why would it be any different now? If not now, it will happen eventually. I’m not like other girls. I’m different. Weird. I play the ukulele and have never watched reality TV. I believe in faeries. I didn’t even own a pair of jeans or pants until a few weeks ago. I’ve never been to a salon, had my hair done, been to a mall. My best friend until I was six years old was the old rooster that lived in the yard. My house has been covered in eggs and toilet paper more times than I can count.”
“And if I could take away all that hurt and pain I would. But I love all of those quirky things abo
ut you, baby. I love that you’re not like ‘other’ girls. I love everything about you. You are perfect. You haven’t answered my question. Look at my eyes right now. Tell me you honestly think I had something to do with this.”
The tears overflow as I put my nose to hers. My hands cup her cheeks, forcing her to keep us eye to eye.
I lean in to press my lips to hers. Gentle, kind, unselfish, letting her breathe into me. Feel me here for her. She softens and her body loses the edge.
From behind the truck I hear the first whine and scream.
Talia and I look through the back window to see Derrick dragging his step-sister behind him by the arm, barefoot and stumbling.
He brings her near. “Tell her,” Derrick growls, grabbing Amanda by the shoulders and holding her out in front of him, but keeping her far enough away from me because he knows I’m ready to break my ‘never hit a woman’ rule. “Tell her.” He flicks her on the head with a slap of his hand. She yelps and crosses her arms over her chest.
“Fine.” She rolls her eyes and barely looks our way, not meeting our eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I overheard Derrick talking to Griff about dropping him at Talia’s house after the airport. Me and Rebecca and Sonja snuck over there. We were just going to throw some eggs from the sidewalk, but then the gate wasn’t chained. Then we saw inside. Saw you guys. It was stupid and I’m sorry.” Her canned speech lacked sincerity but it was at least a minimum of truth. “We were drunk. I do stupid things when I’m drunk,” she slurs and hiccups to punctuate her words.
“Yeah, you do. Maybe you should consider becoming a tea drinker,” Talia snaps from inside the truck. My heart swells with pride as she pushes past me and stands straight outside the open door, leaning into me.
My arm goes around her shoulders. As much as I’d like to flatten Amanda myself, I’d like to watch Talia do it even more.
“So okay. Bye.” Amanda turns to go, but Derrick holds her back, turning her and straightening her back up with Talia.
“Wait.” Talia turns around to look at me, then back at Amanda. “How did you get that picture of Griffin you showed me that night I waited on your table?”
“What picture?” I lean to the left, trying to get a read on her face but she holds a hand up to quiet me and I let her go; she’s on a roll and I want my girl to have all the power she needs right now, so I step back behind her and hold her against me.
Amanda crinkles her nose and sniffs.
“Answer her,” I growl from behind. I’m not sure what the fuck picture they are talking about, but Talia asked her a question and she’s going to get an answer and so am I.
Derrick smacks her gently on the back of the head again and Amanda crosses her arms with a grunt of defiance as she starts to talk.
“I took it off some guy Rodrick’s Facebook page. He tagged Griffin. I only did it to show you. I knew Griffin liked you. Heard Derrick talking to him one night about it.”
“What picture are you talking about?” I rumble because this is confusing the hell out of me.
“You with a blond girl at some bar in Berlin,” Talia says, her voice flat, but I can see she needs an answer. I know immediately what they are talking about. I don’t get my picture taken often and I remember Rodrick saying something about him posting on Facebook which I loathe.
“That was from the first day on the job. The team took us out after work. Most of them brought their girlfriends and wives. The girl in the picture is our boss’s wife. She heard I was a football player at U of M and wanted a picture is all. Her dad is a fan of the team. Said he would surely know who I was. She was hitting the beer pretty hard that night. It was nothing. I hardly remembered it until now.”
“You are a mean girl. I don’t know why, but I know there’s a reason.” Talia’s voice turns from rage to soft pity. “I have a feeling someone hurt you pretty bad too. And I’m sorry for that. I hope you can find some peace for yourself.”
Derrick and I look at each other and smile.
“Come on, sis.” Derrick turn her around with a shake of his head. “She’s a nice girl. You might want to take notes.”
“Hey.” Talia steps forward, but I keep one hand on her shoulder to reassure her that I’m right here to back her up. “One question.”
Amanda turns with a huff.
“Did you send that video to anyone else?” Her voice cracks a little and I realize as strong as she is, this is pretty horrible. Your first time doing anything like that and someone makes a video. I hate that Amanda’s tainted what was a beautiful moment in our lives.
“No,” Amanda mutters. “It was just on that one phone. The one Griff crushed.”
Talia turns to look at me. “You crushed the phone?”
“She’s lucky that’s all I crushed.” I put my other hand around her waist and draw her back to me. “Baby, I’m so, so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. I’m sorry I yelled at you. Doubted you. I didn’t believe you would really be in on that.” She pulls her lips to the side. “But, history is hard to forget.”
Derrick takes the cue and shoves his step-sister toward the back entry to the Highland House.
I lean in close to her ear. “You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever known and I can’t wait for you to be mine in every way. Do you feel that?”
I press the steel rod that is throbbing with need into her soft hip and watch as the smile curls her lips.
“Yes, I do,” she whispers. “Pretty hard to miss.” I chuckle at her innuendo.
I yell toward Derrick. “We’re going home.”
It takes him a moment to register, then he grins and nods his head, leading Amanda away, and I have Talia moving back into the truck.
“I can’t wait, baby. I need to be inside you. I need you to take me inside you. You’re going to let me have you, aren’t you, babe?”
“As many times as you want,” I manage before he takes the words from my mouth with a kiss.
C H A P T E R F I F T E E N
GRIFFIN
The ride back in the truck, we barely keep our hands off each other. The fuse has been lit. I wanted to wait until tomorrow until things were perfect. I wanted flowers and music and god knows what else, but, we’re both ravenous and my little wildflower needs me, and I am ready and willing to serve.
I carry her through the doorway, her lips on my neck driving me to the brink of insanity. Just inside the door we hear it. A horrible choking sound.
“Zeus!” I manage to get Talia’s feet on the floor before she’s running toward the painful wrenching sound in the kitchen. “Oh my God, Griff.” She flips her head around and I’m right behind her.
Zeus is laying on his side. Clearly he’s been sick for a while from the mess all over the slate tile in the kitchen.
“Stay there, we’re taking him to the emergency vet.”
Talia’s voice is soothing and sweet as she talks to the puppy, and I see Zeus' tail wag as his body starts to spasm again. He’s choking and gagging, gasping for air. It could just be he ate something bad, but with puppies, they can go down fast. She’s had him to the vet, so his vaccinations are all in order. But you never know and we’re not taking a chance.
I’ve got him wrapped in towels and we fly off the front porch to the truck, tearing through town to the one twenty-four-hour emergency vet clinic. The roads are wet from a light icy snow that’s falling and I hold the wheel tight making sure we stay straight and steady on the road. Talia’s old truck’s tires slip and the back end fishtails behind us.
“It’s going to be okay, baby.” I keep one hand on the wheel and one on Zeus
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry we didn’t get to...”
I cut her off. “Baby, don’t even think about that. I plan on having the rest of our lives to make love. Some things can’t wait and this is one of them.”
The meaning of my words is not lost on her, but we’ve pulled up to the clinic as Zeus lay limp on Talia’s lap. His eyes are unfocused and my heart
sinks. His mouth is open, the choking has stopped and I’m not sure that’s a good sign. I’m praying as we jump out of the car, my feet slipping on the sidewalk as we get to the glass doors of the clinic and rush inside, Zeus limp in my arms.
Inside they get us right into a room. I’ve got my arm around Talia the entire time the tech and vet work on Zeus. They take him into the back to take blood, x-rays, and other tests. They barely say anything in the room, but just grab him and leave, making it clear we are running out of time.
As soon as they are out of the room Talia breaks down in my arms.
I’ve never felt this kind of pain, the kind that only comes when you love someone more than you love yourself. The kind that makes you want to take every bad thing from their life and handle it. Clear it from their memory.
“Baby, shhhhh. Let’s just see what they say.”
“What about the money? He said if he has to stay here, or if it’s serious, the bill could be in the thousands. I don’t have thousands. I barely have hundreds.”
“Listen to me.” I grip my arm around her head, kissing the part of her hair and pulling her into my chest. “I meant when I said. We have the rest of our lives. And that means I’m here to take care of shit. You and everything that involves you. That includes Zeus, so don’t you ever worry about that. I’ll take care of the bill. And don’t even try to fight me on this, Wildflower, you’ll lose. I have a soft spot for you, but I’m a man and sometimes you’re just going to have to understand when I say it’s one way or the other, that’s it, and this is one of those times.”
She’s silent, breathing into me. I don’t need her to respond; I just need her to understand what it means to me to take care of her.
“Just seems every time we’re together, some crazy drama is going on. The party, then the video, now Zeus. I don’t know, maybe it’s not what you signed up for. Maybe it’s a sign.”
“Stop.” I sit her up, gently moving some hair out of her eyes.
Talia takes a breath to say something just as the vet comes back in the room with Zeus, looking at least a bit better than when they’d walked out of the room with him earlier.
