“Good for her; now we’ll leave a day earlier. I told Liam I wouldn’t be in tomorrow. I wanted to make sure things were okay with you.” He grabbed her hands, kissing the back of one of them. “Took a few years off my life.”
“I promise you, if something feels bad enough that I’m worried about my life, you’re the first person I’m calling. There is no way in the world I would let myself walk into something that was obviously dangerous. We have her to worry about now.” She hitched her chin over in the direction of the little girl who still sat in her high chair.
He scooped her up in his arms, pulling her flush with his body. Pushing her hair back from her face, he tucked her head under his chin. “Make sure you keep that people radar oiled well, I don’t want you to ever be wrong.”
And neither did she.
Chapter Eleven
Getting up early had never been one of Meredith’s strong suits. Tyler was used to it because of his morning workouts with Drew, but Meredith liked to sleep. This morning, however, wasn’t one of those mornings. She was up with the sun, getting the three of them ready to hit the road.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this excited about anything.” Tyler laughed as she all but bounced through the house, directing him on which suitcases and bags to take.
“I am excited. I’m excited to spend a couple of days with my family, knowing that neither one of us are going to be called away for something. Plus, this is our first vacation with our daughter. I can’t help it.” She shrugged.
His excitement matched hers, but he’d had a lot more experience over the years hiding his feelings from others; it was much easier for him. “You ready?” he asked Addie, who lay on the couch, drinking her morning sippy cup of juice.
The little girl was sleepy, and they figured she’d be out like a light before they even hit the interstate. She nodded and lifted her hands up to him. There was nothing like the unprecedented trust she gave him. No matter what, she always came back to him, always ready to trust him. He picked her up and tucked her under his chin, much like he’d done Meredith the previous night.
“Wait,” Meredith whispered.
He glanced over to her, smiling when he saw she had her phone out, taking a picture.
“Thank you.” She awarded him with a smile. “I’m gonna be on your nerves by the end of this trip. I want pictures, lots of them.”
It wasn’t manly or anything like that, but since he’d never had a family before the club, he’d never had any pictures of himself growing up. Meredith captured everything, and he loved that about her. “Nah.” He leaned down, giving her a chaste kiss. “I love it, as much as I love you.”
She knew that was a whole fucking lot.
“You were right, she’s out,” Meredith told him as they hit the interstate, going north and then east until they got to Somerset, and then they would start traveling south to enter into Gatlinburg.
“I figured she would be.” He took his eyes off the road long enough to look back at Addie in her car seat. The sleep of the innocent always amazed him. Her head was cocked at an odd angle, and her sippy cup dangled from one hand. “You might wanna grab that cup.” He nodded back, so that Meredith would turn in her seat.
She glanced back, laughing softly taking in the scene. Unbuckling her seat belt, she reached back and grabbed the cup, sitting it in the holder attached to the car seat. Sitting back down in her seat, she buckled back up and smiled over at him. “Thank you again for taking time off so we can have a vacation.”
He reached over and grabbed her hand. “I don’t mind at all. I’m glad that Liam was able to give it to me. It’s gonna be nice to have a few days with you without a ton of people needing either one of us for something. It’s been way too long.”
Meredith tried to think back to the last time they’d had completely uninterrupted time together, and it had been well before Addie had come to live with them. Since he’d taken the VP position in the club, he was needed constantly, and she was obviously needed in her capacity at CRISIS. “Do you think our relationship has suffered because of that?” she asked him quietly.
He was silent for a long time. That either meant she’d touched a nerve, or he was giving it a lot of thought. She hoped he was giving it a lot of thought.
“If I’m being completely honest with you…” he started.
“Please do.” She swallowed roughly. “Because if you haven’t been, then there are some issues we need to work on.”
“It’s not a big deal,” he was quick to soothe her. “It’s just kind of like, we’ve gone from one extreme to another in our relationship, and I have to admit, some of that is probably my fault.”
Her eyebrows screwed together, she wasn’t exactly sure what he meant. “Can you explain what you mean?”
Scratching the back of his neck, he wondered if he’d just stepped into some shit he wouldn’t be able to get out of. “When you first came to stay with me, and even after we ran off and eloped, our whole lives were each other. Then we decided to try for a family. It was like every month you didn’t get pregnant, we pulled away from one another just a little more. You would volunteer more at CRISIS, I would work out more, or I would take on more responsibilities within the club. Now we have Addie in our lives and we’re still being pulled, but it’s different now…she pulls us, not circumstances we can’t change.”
She’d had no idea he’d felt that way, and truthfully, she hadn’t realized they’d pulled that far away from each other. If she was brutally honest with herself, she could see where he was coming from, and she could pinpoint the month that she’d started to retreat within herself. It was the month her period had been a week late, and she’d known with such certainty she was pregnant. Early the next morning, she’d woken up to take the test, only to find that her period had come, and it was then that she knew she wouldn’t be having her own child. That was the month, day, exact minute, she’d given up, and a piece of her had closed off from him, and it wasn’t until Addie had come into their lives that the part had opened back up. “I’m sorry you felt that way,” she whispered. “I see where you’re coming from, and I know exactly what you mean.”
“Marriage isn’t easy.” He cleared his throat. “There have been some circumstances we’ve been put in that would have broken other couples, but here we are.” He lifted up their hands, which were still clasped together. “We’ve never let petty bullshit tear us apart, and all I can tell you now is that from this moment on, we’re aware of the things we tend to do to one another. We keep our eyes open for when that happens again, because it will—we’re human. We call each other on it, and we don’t let our relationship suffer because of choices that we are making or have made.”
“Sounds good to me.” She smiled over at him, and for some reason, the clarity she saw in his eyes brought tears to hers. “Sorry.” She laughed, pushing against the tears that had started to leak out. “I am super emotional lately, and I have no idea why.”
“It’s been an emotional couple of years for us.” He chuckled. “You’re fine, baby, you just need some time away, and that’s exactly what you’re going to get.”
The rest of the trip went off without a hitch. They never hit a lot of traffic, and it turned out that Addie was a good traveling partner. As they entered Gatlinburg, Meredith assumed that they were staying at the same cabin she and Tyler had stayed in the last time they’d been here. To say she was surprised when he pulled into a condo was an understatement. From the car, she could even see a lazy river that went around it.
“Surprise.” He laughed as he parked. “I’ll be right back, just gotta get the room key.”
It was weird to see him walking out in public not wearing his cut. It was such an integral part of who he was on a day-to-day basis that she almost didn’t recognize him. She knew, though, that for their safety, he wouldn’t be wearing it. She grinned, thinking about the first time they’d come here, how they’d walked hand in hand with the snow falling down and asked people to
take their picture. Some of those pictures were still displayed in their home. For the most part, they were wedding pictures, since they’d not had anyone there, and some people still weren’t sure if they were joking when they told others they were married. That trip to Gatlinburg had been one of the best times of her life, and she couldn’t wait to make more memories with Addie.
“We’re gonna have so much fun in the lazy river, Addie.” She leaned back, talking to the little girl. “See it?” She pointed over to where there were a bunch of families and kids playing. Being normal was going to be a nice break, but there was a small part of her that wished the rest of the crew had come with them. She could see everyone having a great time here.
“Got it,” Tyler told her as he came back out and sat behind the steering wheel. He put a sticker in the window and grinned at her as they made their way to park at their building.
“This place is awesome,” she told him as she took in the amount of buildings there were.
“I know. I had to all in a few favors to get us a room here, but it was worth it. I’ll do whatever I can to make you happy.”
She knew the words he spoke were the truth, and because of him, she was a very happy woman.
Chapter Twelve
Back in Bowling Green, Travis was cursing up a storm in his cave.
“What’s wrong with you?” Christine asked as she came into the dimly lit room. It had been one of her favorite places since the two of them starting dating, but she hardly ever saw him this agitated.
“I think we’ve got a problem,” he told her, talking around the lollipop he held between his teeth.
She waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. “It would be awesome if you could tell me what kind of problem you think we have. Maybe then I could help you through it.”
“I think Stephanie is bad fuckin’ news, and when I say bad fuckin’ news…I mean bad fuckin’ news.”
Those words made Christine’s stomach drop. “What do you mean?”
He sighed. “Babe. I love you.” Steele reached in, kissing her on the cheek. “I need you to leave me be while I try to work this out. I don’t think she is any threat to you.” He emphasized the word.
“But she could be a threat to Meredith?” she worked out in her head. “Is that what you’re not telling me?”
He sighed again. “I love you, but go. Let me figure this out, and then I can tell you exactly what you want to know. I don’t want to waste any more time than we potentially already have.”
It went against the person Christine had become not to question him again, but he’d already turned around and was punching keys on the computer in front of him. If anyone could find something out about another person, it was Travis, and she knew that Travis wouldn’t let any of them get hurt. She only wished that she knew what Travis knew.
“Do you wanna go on the Ferris wheel?” Tyler asked his two ladies as they walked The Island later on that night.
“I don’t know.” Meredith grasped his hand in hers. “It seems so high up.”
He laughed. “It’s a Ferris wheel. It’s supposed to be high up. It’s enclosed though, I bet it’s beautiful at night,” he kept at her. “What do you say, Addie? Wanna go?”
She was excited because he was excited and squealed happily. “Yes!”
“Then it’s settled. C’mon, scaredy cat.” He put his arm around Meredith and pulled her to the line.
“Something tells me I’m not really gonna like this,” she whispered as they got to the person to pay. Before she could tell him not to pay, he’d already done so, they’d posed for a family photo, and they were stepping into the glass-enclosed space.
“Let’s sit on this side,” Tyler told her, sitting Addie on his lap.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she sat next to him and he put his arm around her, pulling her into his side. Deciding she should make the best of this, she grabbed her phone out of her pocket and extended her arm so that they could have a family selfie with the nighttime backdrop of Gatlinburg behind them. “Tyler, it’s so high up,” she whispered, as they got to the top and started to come back down.
“It’s awesome.” He laughed, pulling her in for a kiss over Addie’s head.
Opening her eyes when he pulled away, she dared to glance down. There she saw fountains that flashed different colors, dancing to a music beat she couldn’t hear up where they were. Swallowing thickly, she closed her eyes again. “It’s nice.” She licked her suddenly dry lips.
“Liar.” He chuckled. “If you want, we can get off the next time it goes around, but I think Miss Addie likes it, don’t you?” He looked down at the girl, who hadn’t spoken a word or made a peep since they’d gotten into the gondola. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open.
“Wow.” Meredith went over to the other side so that she could get a picture of them. “Something that made her speechless. We’ll have to remember this.”
Normally she chatted all the time. Even if you couldn’t understand a word she said, she kept a steady stream of noises and words going most of the time.
When they came around one more time, Tyler got the ride attendant’s attention so that they could exit. “What should we do next?” he asked them.
Meredith checked her watch. “How about we get some ice cream and head back to the condo. We can get a good night’s rest. Tomorrow’s gonna be a big day ’cause we’re goin’ to the aquarium.”
At the mention of the word, Addie’s eyes lit up. She’d been excited since the first mention of it, after Meredith had explained to her what it was.
“I still think she just gets excited ’cause we’re excited,” Tyler whispered. “I feel like we could call her all kinds of bad names, and do it in that tone of voice, and she would think it’s the best thing ever.”
“Tyler!”
“What?” he questioned. “It’s not like I’ve done it before or anything.”
She stopped walking in front of them and looked back at him. “Oh my God, you have. Haven’t you?”
“It was a scientific experiment,” he defended himself. “I was tryin’ to learn something, and I did.”
Meredith couldn’t stay mad at him; she’d never been able to stay mad at him long. “Don’t do it again.” She pointed her finger at him.
He leaned in, grabbing her finger in between his teeth and nipping gently. “Yes ma’am.”
There was something about the way he said the words that made her think she was in deep trouble when they got back to the condo and put Addie to bed.
“She’s down,” Tyler told her as he came out into the living area.
“I was worried she’d have a hard time because it’s a new place for her. She’s used to the clubhouse and stuff.”
He blew against his fingernails and rubbed them on his chest. “I’m that damn good.”
She giggled as he scooped her up from the couch. They’d come in from having ice cream and had all taken showers or gotten baths, so her hair was still wet, as was his. “We shouldn’t go outside with wet hair,” she told him as she saw him point them towards the balcony.
“It’s summer, wifey. Live a little.”
There was a piece of her heart that got excited when he called her wifey; it made her a quivering mess, to be honest. Never in her life had she thought she’d be that person who would get caught up in labels, but that was one label she would never give up.
“This place is gorgeous,” she told him as he took them out on the balcony and they had a seat on the lanai.
He pulled her closer to him, tucking her in front of him. “It is,” he agreed. “There’s something about the way the lights move and the way you can look at and see them for miles. You don’t see that at home. It always looks so inviting and like people are having a good time all the time.”
“The lights are probably to entice the kids and to make their parents pay a million dollars for all the fun things there are to do on the strip.” She laughed as she ran her hands up and down his legs.
“Good point, but you have to admit, we spent a pretty penny tonight, and Addie’s not really even old enough to enjoy much of this. We’re suckers.”
“That we are.” She leaned back and angled her head so she could see him. “She’s worth bein’ a sucker for, though. There isn’t anything that I wouldn’t do for her.”
“I agree with that.”
A thought occurred to Meredith. She quickly glanced to the sides and saw that no one could see them from the sides; no one could see them from the front either. Even though they faced the strip, there was no way for people to see their balcony. Turning over onto her knees, she gifted him with a saucy smile. “There’s nothin’ I wouldn’t do for you either.”
He knew that; she’d told him that many times over the course of their relationship, but there was something about the way she was looking at him, something about the way the air had changed between them.
“What do you have in mind?” he asked, wanting to know what was going on inside that head of hers.
The saucy smile turned downright sexy as she reached for the hem of her shirt and took it off. For the first time he noticed she hadn’t worn a bra after her shower. “Why don’t you sit back, relax, and I’ll show you exactly what I had in mind.”
Chapter Thirteen
The air whooshed out of his lungs as she leaned forward and bunched his shorts at his knees, effectively hobbling him from moving. When they’d come out to the patio, this hadn’t really even been a blip on his radar, but his dick had gotten hard in .02 seconds.
“Goddamn, Mer,” he breathed out. “What the fuck are you doin’?”
“If you don’t know, then I must be doing it wrong.” Her eyes met his, and she gathered her long hair in one hand before she leaned forward and circled the head of his manhood with her mouth.
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