Golden Trail

by Ashley, Kristen

  “But –”

  “It wasn’t, Rocky.”

  “I think –”

  His hand and arm gave her a squeeze and she stopped speaking.

  “We’ll talk tomorrow,” he told her.

  “But Layne –”

  He interrupted her. “It’s dark.”

  She paused before she asked, “What?”

  “It’s dark, baby, you scared?”

  Silence and then a soft, “No.”

  She hadn’t even noticed he closed the curtains.

  So he made his point by repeating, “This was no mistake.”

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  He held her in the dark, it was late and he’d just fucked Rocky for the first time in eighteen years. He’d come, hard, after months of dreaming about her, each dream hot, but having her was far, far hotter.

  He was sated, relaxed, tired and close to sleep when she whispered, “Layne?”

  “Yeah, baby.”

  He heard her hair move on the pillow before she snuggled closer and, still whispering, said, “I’m hungry.”

  Layne suddenly wasn’t tired anymore. He rolled to his back, pulling her over him and he found her mouth with his.

  “Feel free to take as much as you like,” he invited on a mutter against her lips, felt her lips smile then she slowly made her way down his body and she took as much as she liked.

  Then Layne took as much as he liked.

  Then Rocky got up, pulling the tee back on, she cleaned up, came back and pinned him to the bed.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Live It with Me

  Layne’s body jolted awake when the doorbell went and kept going, a long continuous set of very annoying peals.

  What the fuck?

  Rocky moved, the weight of her head coming off his shoulder, her arm around his abs sliding to become a hand at his gut, she went up to an elbow and, in a drowsy voice, started to say, “What –?”

  She stopped speaking because the bell stopped and then it started right up again.

  “Fuck!” he hissed, sliding from under Rocky, not happy that his first morning waking up with Rocky after getting back together started with the goddamned doorbell and not happy that his first morning waking up with Rocky after getting back together started with the first thing he did was get out of bed and also not happy the next thing he was going to do was rip someone’s fucking throat out.

  “Layne, are you expect –?” Rocky started to ask as he rounded the bed, looking for his pajama bottoms.

  She stopped again because the doorbell also stopped again then it started right back up.

  “Baby, where’d you throw my pajamas?” he asked over the bell.

  “What?” she asked back and he looked at her. She was out of bed, standing at his side of it, her hair tousled, looking adorably mystified as her eyes scanned the floor in the weak light coming through the curtains. “I don’t know, um…”

  Layne saw them in a fold of the comforter, yanked them free, spied her panties also caught in the bedclothes, freed them and tossed them to Rocky who caught them then he tugged on his pajamas as he heard from below, “Jesus Fuckin’ Christ, keep your goddamned pants on!”

  Devin. Great.

  Then he heard a loud bark.

  Blondie. Even better.

  Devin would probably shoot whoever was at the door and Blondie would likely lick the wounds clean.

  He moved to the bedroom doors, Rocky moving behind him and he was three steps down the stairs when he heard a shrieked, “Oh my God! Who are you? What are you doing in my son’s house? And why do you have a gun!?”

  Fuck, fuck, fucking hell.

  Vera Layne had come calling.

  And, as suspected, Devin had answered the door with his gun.

  Blondie started barking.

  Layne moved faster down the stairs, turned the corner and saw Devin in wife beater and boxer shorts, carrying his nine millimeter and standing three feet from the front door just to the side, scowling. Layne’s mother was just in the doors looking pissed. And Blondie was prancing between both of them wondering who was going to let her out.

  Vera’s eyes came to Layne, her face started to gentle then her eyes went beyond Layne and her face went instantly hard.

  “I knew it!” she shrieked, her hand shooting up and she pointed at Rocky. “Flo told me and I knew it!” she went on, dropping her hand, stomping in four feet then stopping and rocking back. “You’re not back home a few months and there she is!” She exaggerated and threw her hands out to the sides in apparent disgust.

  Layne scratched Aunt Flo on the top of his mental shit list before he started, “Ma–”

  Vera’s eyes narrowed on Rocky. “Didn’t you do enough damage the first time around?”

  “Ma –”

  “And aren’t you married?” she shouted at Rocky.

  “Ma,” Layne clipped. “Shut it.”

  Her narrowed eyes went to Layne. “Do not tell me to shut it, Tanner Preston Layne! Do not!”

  “Maybe I should –” Rocky whispered from behind him and Layne turned to see her edging back along his wood floor in her bare feet; her hair down and mussed; her face free of makeup; her body covered by his big, maroon t-shirt and he remembered, not long ago, Rocky walking in his house for the first time, hair perfect, makeup perfect, outfit perfect, her high heels sounding on his floors.

  Now she’d cooked in his kitchen; she’d watched TV with him on his couch; she’d let out his dog; she’d laughed with his sons; she’d toasted with the only man who was even close to being a father to him; she’d slept in his bed; he’d gone down on her, she’d returned the favor and he’d fucked her twice.

  All in this house. His house.

  Rocky, his Rocky, was back and in his house.

  And she was not going to be made uncomfortable there. Not even, as much as he loved her, by his mother.

  “Roc, come here,” he ordered and her eyes flew to his.

  “Layne, I think I should probably –”

  He cut her off on a growl. “Sweetcheeks, get over here.”

  Her eyes held his and then, slowly, she moved to him. When she entered his reach, he tagged her around the waist and pulled her into his side, turning them both to his mother.

  “Maybe you’d like to try this again, Ma.” His voice was still a growl. “This time, you might wanna start over by welcoming Rocky back.”

  “I will not welcome that woman back into my son’s life,” Vera announced.

  Blondie barked.

  Layne turned to Devin. “Do me a favor, Dev, put your pants on, put down your gun and let the dog out. Not in that order.”

  “She escape from an asylum?” Dev asked instead of doing what Layne requested and he asked it with a tilt of his head to Layne’s mother.

  Layne closed his eyes.

  “Well!” Vera huffed. “Who are you?”

  Layne opened his eyes.

  “Devin Glover, friend of your boy’s, retired PI and good judge of character,” Devin shot back then turned away and started walking to the backdoor, making his point by saying on a huge smile to Rocky, “Mornin’ darlin’, hope you slept okay.”

  “I did, thanks Dev, hope you did too,” Rocky replied quietly, her body as tight as a bow.

  “Couch sucks,” Devin muttered as he kept moving, Blondie crowding him. “Too soft.”

  “Hello!” Vera called loudly, “I came all the way from Florida to stop my son from making a grave mistake, again. Anyone?”

  Layne’s eyes sliced to her. “Ma, seriously, no more of that shit.”

  “Are you kidding?” she returned then crossed her arms on her chest and finished. “Seriously.”

  Rocky started to pull away, murmuring, “Layne, I really think I –”

  “His name is Tanner,” Vera spat out and Rocky stopped moving. “Tanner. It isn’t hard to say. It isn’t hard to remember. I would never understand why you always called him Layne. Before, I didn’t mind, because I liked you. Now,
I do not like you.”

  “She calls me Layne because you told me when I was seven that my father named me Tanner,” Layne put in, Vera’s back shot straight and her eyes shot to her son. “I don’t hate the name, I don’t like it. But anytime someone says it, it reminds me it was the only thing he gave me and it wasn’t worth much.”

  Vera’s eyes had grown wide and her voice grew soft when she said, “You never told me that.”

  “I never told anyone except Rocky,” Layne replied. “She used to call me Tanner until I told her that. After I told her, she never said it again. I didn’t ask her to call me Layne, she just did.”

  Vera’s eyes moved to Rocky for a beat then came back to Layne and Layne kept talking.

  “Now, Ma, I’m happy to see you. The boys’ll love it that you’re here. It’s even cool why you’re here, comin’ home to look after your boy. But you don’t know what’s going on, you don’t know what went on and you’re not gonna know. All you gotta know is, what you see is the way it is. You don’t like it, I don’t care, you’ll have to learn to hide it. You can’t learn to hide it and keep actin’ like that, I hate to say it because I love you but I’ll show you the door. Is that clear?”

  Vera’s hand went to her throat and Rocky went solid beside him.

  “Layne,” Rocky whispered.

  “You’re choosin’ her over me?” Vera asked on a breath.

  “No, you’re choosin’ to hold onto something that isn’t there over Rocky. You never had a daughter, you told me when I hooked up with her you were glad I gave you a good one. Look close Ma, she’s back.”

  “She –” Vera started.

  “I know, Ma, it happened to me. It’s over. We’re movin’ on. That’s all you’re gonna get because that’s all you need,” Layne stated.

  Vera’s eyes moved back to Rocky then to Layne.

  “I just –” Vera began.

  Layne cut her off. “I know, now you can just cool it.”

  Vera stayed silent. Rocky remained unmoving against his side.

  Devin closed the sliding glass door and called, “Anyone gonna go get donuts?”

  “I’ll go get donuts,” Rocky said instantly.

  “No, I’ll go get donuts,” Vera returned.

  “Fuck me,” Layne muttered.

  “Jesus, I’ll go get donuts,” Devin stated and Layne heard a belt buckle clink.

  “Then I’ll go get dressed,” Rocky whispered.

  “Excellent idea,” Vera retorted.

  “Ma,” Layne said warningly and then looked down at Rocky. “Make coffee, yeah?”

  She looked back at him and replied, “Sure, but I’ll get dressed first.”

  “It’s Saturday and there’s a law that on Saturday, you don’t get dressed until at least noon,” Layne told her.

  She bit her lip, let it go and said, “Layne –”

  “Make coffee.”

  “Layne –”

  His arm gave her a squeeze. “Sweetcheeks. Make. Coffee.”

  “Someone make coffee, I’ll be back in ten with donuts,” Devin declared and, without looking at a soul, he walked through the bodies around the front door and out of it. While the door was opened, Layne saw he’d parked at the curb.

  Fucking Devin.

  “I’ll make coffee,” Vera declared, stomped into the house and rounded the corner into the kitchen.

  Rocky watched her, going so far as to twist her neck to look over her shoulder.

  “Baby,” Layne called gently and Rocky’s eyes snapped to his.

  “I need to go home,” she whispered and he turned her full frontal into him and wrapped both arms around her.

  “You don’t need to go home,” he replied.

  “I need to go home,” she repeated.

  “Okay, well, you’re not goin’ home and you can’t get home anyway, you don’t have a car.”

  “I’ll walk,” she returned, Layne grinned and dropped his face close to hers.

  “You think, after last night, I’m letting you out of my sight until you have to leave Monday morning to go to school, think again, sweetcheeks,” he murmured, pink came into her cheeks and her body shifted into his even as her hands came up to his biceps and gripped.

  “You said we’d talk,” she told him and his grin turned into a smile.

  “Well, that’s not gonna happen with Ma here, Devin here and donuts comin’.”

  Her fingers gripped harder even as her body pressed closer. “Layne, we need to talk.”

  He dipped his face closer, veered to the side and whispered in her ear, “I’ll talk and I’ll use my mouth but what I say won’t be words and how I use my mouth, baby, I know you’re gonna like.”

  “Layne,” she breathed and his cock twitched.

  Christ, he liked it when she breathed his name like that. That was new, that was this Rocky in his arms. She didn’t do that before. She might moan his name but that sweet, breathy hunger he’d never heard. And, fuck, but he liked it.

  He lifted his head and his hands, gathering her hair in both palms, he held it loosely behind her head, resting his forearms gently on her shoulders and went on. “Live this with me, just live it, whatever happens, however it happens, live it with me for two days. It doesn’t go the way you like, we’ll talk Monday night. It goes the way you like, we live it real and ride it out. Will you give me that, honey?”

  Her brows drew together. “Live it with you?”

  “Live it with me, Roc, live it here, with me, make it real, as real as it can get for two days.”

  “Make it real,” she whispered.

  Layne nodded. “For two days.”

  She stared up at him and he knew he had her when her fingers uncurled on his biceps and her hands moved to his chest.

  She confirmed it by saying, “Okay. Two days.”

  “Promise,” he pushed and she hesitated so he tugged gently at her hair and repeated, “Promise.”

  She gazed into his eyes and then whispered, “Promise.”

  He dropped his forehead to hers, ran her hair between his hands, his hands travelled down her back then he wrapped his arms tight around her and trapped her close.

  “Thanks baby,” he whispered.

  “Coffee’s brewing!” Vera shouted.

  Rocky jumped.

  Layne grinned.

  Then he heard the garage door go up, his forehead left hers, he turned his head and listened.

  Only he and Jasper had a garage door opener. Devin had the key to the front door. And Jasper had no reason to be there.

  Shit.

  “Is that –?” Rocky started and Vera appeared around the corner, she’d lost her antagonism, her face was beaming.

  “I think the boys are here!” Vera shouted.

  “Now I definitely need to get dressed,” Rocky murmured and it sucked but she was right. At this juncture, Rocky wandering around his house on a Saturday morning in his tee was not cool when both his sons were getting used to a new woman in his life as well as the fact that they both went to her school. It’d take awhile before it was cool.

  He decided he’d give it a month.

  They heard the backdoor open and Rocky shot out of his arms, her bare feet sounding on the floors as she dashed to the stairs, turned and disappeared while Vera threw both her arms up and yelled, “My babies!”

  “Grandma!” Tripp shouted and Layne saw his son connect with his grandmother, his tenuous hold on cool slipping, he threw himself in her arms and gave her a big hug.

  Layne moved toward the kitchen and saw Jasper hanging back, his eyes on his grandmother, a smile on his face.

  “Come here, handsome,” Vera ordered and Jasper moved forward, his hold on cool firm and strong, he muttered, “Hey Gram,” and kissed her cheek while she still had hold of Tripp.

  “What’re you doin’ here?” Tripp asked, stepping back and looking down at Vera.

  “You’ve grown, like, seventeen inches since the Fourth of July,” Vera noted, giving Tripp a head-to-toe, skipping past
the visit she’d made two months ago when Layne was shot and not answering his question.

  “What’re you doin’ here, Gram?” Jas repeated Tripp’s question, Vera looked up at her older grandson and Layne could see she was searching for a lie.

  She found it and it was lame.

  “Surprise!” she shouted.

  “Cool!” Tripp didn’t think it was lame.

  “Surprise?” Jasper saw right through it.

  “Surprise,” Vera repeated. “Can’t a Mama and Grandma surprise her boys?”

  “Totally! Anytime!” Tripp replied enthusiastically but Jasper’s eyes cut to his old man.

  Layne gave his son a “Later,” shake of his head and Jasper gave him a chin lift.

  Vera cupped Tripp’s cheek, smiled big at him then walked into the kitchen and went to the cupboard over the coffeemaker, saying, “That Devin man is going to get donuts. I hope he’s smart enough to get them at Hilligoss and not a grocery store. The grocery store donuts are okay but nothing beats Hilligoss.” She opened the cupboard, looked in it, appeared confused for a second then shut it, moving across the kitchen, muttering, “I forgot. You keep your mugs across the kitchen. Crazy. Mugs should be close to the coffeemaker.”

  Layne tipped his head back and looked at the ceiling not knowing whether to laugh or shout.

  He righted his head and looked at Jasper. “Family reunion over, boys, what’re you doin’ here?”

  Tripp looked at Layne then at Jasper then he ducked his head and moved to the door. “Gotta let Blondie in.”

  Layne’s eyes sliced to Jasper and Jasper jerked his head indicating upstairs. Layne nodded and Tripp slid open the door. Blondie bounded in then ran back and forth between Tripp and Jasper, jumping up on both of them but not giving either of them time to greet her before she pushed off and headed back to the other one. All this company and all her boys home equaled heaven in the form of a house in sea of similar houses in a small town in Indiana and she didn’t know what to do with herself.

  “Hey, where’s Rocky?” Tripp asked, sliding the door shut, crouching and capturing Blondie with both hands to give her a rubdown.

  Vera’s eyes shot to Layne and her face set straight to disapproval.

  Layne ignored his mother and answered his son. “Upstairs, gettin’ dressed.” He moved to the stairs and ordered, “Feed Blondie, Pal, okay? Jas and I gotta have a chat.”