Roots and Wings (City Limits #1)

by M. Mabie

  Plus, I respected her dad and Dean’s relationship, too. I knew what it was like to be a surrogate family member. I got it.

  So, I was the first to speak up.

  “I care a lot about her.” Then I wadded up my napkin and baggie, and went around back. That was all I needed to say that mattered anyway. It was the truth and it wasn’t debatable.

  How he felt about it wasn’t my business, and if he wanted to talk to Aaron about that, I didn’t need to hear.

  Hannah didn’t want to be with him, otherwise she would have been. The fact was, she was with me and that was all I needed to know.

  I’d promised myself that I wasn’t going to go over there bothering them while they worked. Besides, I really did have a shitload of lures I was behind on, so I only let myself drive to Vaughn’s on new roof day twice.

  The first time was that morning to make sure there wasn’t anything he and Dean needed before they started. Dean and Vaughn hadn’t really ever spent any time together, especially alone. I didn’t want them to be uncomfortable around one another.

  I knew Vaughn wanted to get to know him, he’d told me as much, but every time I invited Dean to do something with us, go out on the boat, or cook out, it was always maybe next time.

  It kind of shocked me, when I was telling him about Aaron helping Vaughn with the roof, how Dean was the one who chimed in that he’d be willing to help.

  Things at the shop had been good, but a little tense. My dad was still slacking on office things, and Dean and I were picking up extra duties we’d never been responsible for in the past.

  It was like my dad was kind of silently handing things over, but he never came out and said why. We didn’t know if it was intentional or by accident, and it was getting to a point where I needed to talk to him. I simply didn’t know how. The time was never right.

  Dean even agreed that something was up. Things were changing all over the place.

  When I dropped off some food and tea around lunchtime, everything seemed like it was going okay. Like they were getting along.

  The old roof was stripped off and they were already putting the paper down. Undeniably, they, too, worked well together.

  I didn’t kiss Vaughn in front of them, even though I really wanted to. Instead I asked him to look at something in his kitchen and pushed him up against the refrigerator for a quick kiss before I left.

  “What is wrong with me that I can’t go without kissing for too long?” I asked as he grabbed my ass and pulled me harder to him. He was sweaty and dirty and so fucking hot I wanted to strip his clothes off and lick him clean myself.

  A full-on Vaughn smile pierced my heart as he said, “I don’t know, but I think I’ve got a little bit of that too?” Then he playfully bit my bottom lip.

  “Stop,” I demanded, but wanted no such thing. “I need to go. I just wanted a quick kiss.”

  “Hannah, there’s no such thing as a quick kiss when you walk in here with those shorts on, slinging roast beef on rye at me.” His spoke into my neck before attacking me with his mouth. The delicious scratch of his stubble made me declare those jean shorts my most prized possession.

  It went on a little longer than it should and we had to stop before it got wickedly out of hand.

  Seeing them getting along made me happy. Dean was my family, and I didn’t like wondering if it would ever get to a point where they would spend time together.

  My dad, Dean, and Vaughn.

  My dad. My friend. And my boyfriend.

  I thought about a lot as I blew through the lures and flies on the order sheets that were coming almost every day at my dad’s shop. I didn’t even have time to make more to display there, always trying to get through the ones people wanted special for themselves.

  Later that evening, I was surprised when Vaughn hadn’t come over or called when I thought they’d be finished, but I just kept working, happy with my progress.

  Then it happened, and I knew the second that I’d done it.

  Just like Vaughn told me a hundred times. I was going to break my tooth. And I did.

  I broke the shit out of it.

  Trying to get this one stubborn band tight around this specific piece, my tooth gave out and I bit down hard as it cracked.

  I sat there having one of those did that just really happen moments when you hope your mind is playing tricks on you.

  My mind did no such thing.

  Untricked and chipped, I needed to call my dentist.

  He answered, “Hey, I was just about to hop in the shower. What are you doing for dinner? Want to run up and split a tenderloin?”

  That had become something we did about once a week. Then, we’d usually get a piece of pie for later and eat it in bed.

  Half a tenderloin and bed pie sounded a whole lot better than anything this conversation was leading towards.

  “Well, depends.”

  “Okay, depends on what?” he retorted as I heard him turn on the shower. He was probably naked. Yum.

  “Depends on if you want to be seen out with me sporting a chipped up tooth?”

  “Tell me you didn’t.” The sound of the water stopped, like he’d turned it off to listen.

  “I did.”

  Vaughn would never yell or shout at me, I knew this for a fact, but he was going to tell me how careless I’d been. He would have been right to do so. But instead, he didn’t do any of that because he asked, “Are you okay? Does it hurt?”

  I was okay, but, also, it did kind of hurt. I hoped it was because I’d bitten down so hard, and not because I’d done some real damage.

  “It hurts a little, not too bad, but I did a pretty good number on it.”

  “I’ll shower then I’ll run out there and look at it. Hannah, if it’s throbbing, tell me.”

  My mouth wasn’t throbbing, it was only if I pressed my teeth together that it was slightly tender.

  “No, I’m okay. I’ll be in my garage.”

  I heard the slide of his shower curtain along the metal bar and the shower came back to life. I looked down at the sliver of tooth in my hand and thought about driving like a bat out of hell to catch him in the shower instead.

  “What? You just chipped your tooth.”

  “It’s still going to be chipped in the house and I’m almost done with this one. I might as well finish before you get here and distract me anymore.”

  He grunted and laughed.

  I was getting pretty fond of his grunts. They were more like a growl when I frustrated him, but he always looked so good doing it. I tried to get him worked up about something at least every other day. It kept things interesting, that’s for sure.

  “Anymore?” he fished.

  “Yeah, I know you’re naked.”

  The sound of his warm laughter soothed my fractured ego.

  “How’s that?”

  “I can hear the water over the phone. You always take your clothes off in your bedroom by the hamper before a shower and walk in the bathroom, dick swinging.”

  “Oh, my dick isn’t swinging right now. It’s more like … well, it’s hard.”

  “See distractions everywhere. Hurry up,” I said and then hung up. I’d just chipped my tooth. Picturing him naked and erect getting into the shower would surely give me a hook through my finger.

  It was a safety issue.

  “Well, I can’t tell if you cracked it above the gumline without an X-ray, but it wouldn’t surprise me if you did, Hannah. It’s split right up the side.”

  My lips seemed so huge with the gap left from the missing splinter of my right front tooth. Up until that night, it had always been my loyal and trusty biting tooth. It really let me down.

  “I know. It was dumb, but I do it without even thinking.” Kind of.

  “Move over here and let me see it in this light?” He walked to where I had my desk lamp and he twisted it up to shine in my mouth. “Open up.”

  Oh, I’d open up.

  My mind went in one direction and my body went where it a
lways did when he told it what to do. Yielding to my new hussy-like tendencies, I shoved all of my smart-ass quips aside and opened up. I was already in a little trouble. Anymore and I’d be asking for it.

  “Ahhh,” I sang as he took a closer look in the new light.

  He pushed a little on my gum and said, “I think we better go in and fix that, Hannah. Before it does get sore. I don’t see any pulp though. I hope it’s just superficial.”

  I tried to answer, but he was still inspecting me and his finger was still in my mouth, which I usually really liked.

  “Ha-kai,” I agreed. “Ah go.”

  He drove us to his office and it was weird being there with the lights off, at night. I waited in the almost dark room, while he walked to the other side where the front doors were, to turn on the overhead lights.

  “Let’s get a quick X-ray,” he advised as he held out his hand for me to follow him down the hall and into the room where they did them. I put the vest on and he handed me the things to bite as he got the machine all set up.

  “I’d rather be getting a tenderloin with you,” I admitted with my teeth clenched.

  Even though Vaughn wasn’t exactly thrilled with me, he flashed me a forgiving smile as he prepared the X-ray thing.

  “I’d rather be picking out pie, but I think I have some ice cream at home.” He kissed my forehead, and I knew it wasn’t the end of the world. I was dumb, but he rolled with it pretty well.

  I always enjoyed watching him work on his house, but this was different. He was so focused. So in his element.

  After we looked at the X-ray and saw I hadn’t done any damage above my gumline, he was satisfied with giving me a cap made of this composite stuff. I didn’t even have to get numbed or anything.

  I was lucky, and he told me that probably ten times.

  “If this doesn’t feel strong, or gets loose, we’ll have to give you a different crown or a veneer,” he said as he walked around collecting the tools he was going to use and moving the light around to a spot that suited him.

  As he worked on my mouth, I watched his eyes, and every so often he’d catch me and he’d wink then go back to work.

  He couldn’t wink enough. I loved it every single time.

  My boyfriend, the dentist, was so handsome and, probably because it was just me, he didn’t wear a mask like Dr. Carver always did. So I studied his mouth, too. That talented son of a bitch.

  Finally, the last time he put the ultraviolet light on the work he’d done, he spoke.

  “I was going to ask you about something tonight. Yesterday, a lady from the country club was in and said they have a few plates left for the charity dinner they’re having next weekend. I didn’t know if you’d want to go or not, but I went ahead and bought two plates.”

  His eyes met mine, looking for a reaction. I wasn’t sure what my reaction was. So it was a good thing I still couldn’t talk.

  “It’s fine if you don’t want to go, but I thought it would be a chance to do something different and have a nice meal. Maybe a little dancing. Maybe a few drinks. I want to take you. I’d wear a suit and clean up real nice.”

  That almost made me laugh. He didn’t need a suit to look good to me. The more he talked about it the more I could tell he genuinely wanted to go.

  “But I know it’s short notice, and you might already have something planned for next weekend.”

  Meticulously, he tested the last thing he’d done to my tooth before flipping off the light above my head and pulling out the spongy worm things he’d shoved in the corners of my mouth.

  I stretched and moved my dry lips around and then ran my tongue over the cap. It felt really close to what my tooth was like before. A little smoother in the back, but overall, it was good.

  He handed me a little cup of water. “Feel okay?”

  “Yeah,” I answered and took a drink, which I desperately needed. “Feels good. Thanks for fixing it for me.”

  “Sure. We can’t have you hiding that smile, beautiful.” Then he quickly kissed me, remarking, “Feels the same to me.”

  “I’ll go with you on your fancy date, Dr. Renfro.” I’d never been to the charity dinner before, and, so far, all of the new things I’d tried with Vaughn were wonderful.

  More than wonderful.

  I often questioned, if I’d never met Vaughn, or if Rachelle hadn’t ever left him for his friend, would I have ever been that happy? That invested in someone else?

  I was glad there was no way to know those answers.

  Being with Vaughn had made me braver. I’d been shopping with Sunny twice that summer, and the closer Vaughn and I got, the more I wanted to look as beautiful as he made me feel.

  For me and for him.

  I was still me, only I was changing. And, in my opinion, all for the better. For the happier, anyway.

  “Good. We can just go and eat, or stick around and see if it’s a good time. Totally up to you. We can leave whenever you want.”

  “You’ll be there, it’ll be fun.”

  I even had a dress I could wear for it already. I’d found it on sale in Browning but hadn’t had any reason to wear it yet. A pretty light peach color, which would look awesome with the great tan I had.

  I leaned in and kissed him, knowing how he liked when I did. “So are you picking me up or what?”

  He looked up at the ceiling with a smirk. “I don’t know. Maybe you could just bring clothes with you Friday night and get ready at my place?”

  I’d gotten ready at his place a few times, but not ready-ready. Like doing nice hair and taking my time with putting makeup on-ready. That was his house. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have all of my things there.

  I didn’t dress up a lot, so I had to go a little slower than most. Sunny would have to help. It takes a village, people.

  “You know what? How about I spend the night Friday, then go home Saturday afternoon for a while and get dressed there? You come and get me, and after I’ll go home with you.”

  It wasn’t as large as I liked, but that got a little grunt out of him before he clicked back the chair I was in and proceeded to give me a real-life doctor/patient fantasy come to life.

  “I’ll let you win this time, but you’re mine both nights,” he told me in a seductive, rumbling tone.

  Suddenly my heart raced, knowing we shouldn’t be in there. The look on his face wasn’t to be taken lightly as he threw a leg over me and pulled my hands up over my head, biting his lip.

  “Are you going to be a good patient now and not use your teeth to bite things you shouldn’t?”

  I snapped my teeth at him, just to rile him up.

  It worked out for me just fine though.

  After my mouth on him wasn’t enough for either of us, I was bent over a dentist chair begging him to stop torturing me when he’d brought me so close to too many orgasms before backing off each time.

  “I won’t do it again. I promise. Just, please, don’t stop,” I begged.

  “That’s right, beautiful. I can’t stop now anyway,” he said as he grabbed my hips and thrust even harder into me. We found a new level of ecstasy in a procedure room under fluorescent lights, knowing it was totally wrong for us to be doing it there.

  It wasn’t until we were finished and he was cleaning the chair down like our genitals were radioactive, did he start really giving me shit about the tooth.

  “Seriously though, do you think you learned your lesson?”

  “Shit. What lesson? Crack a tooth and my dentist will give me orgasms? Lesson learned.” I hoped he’d never get sick of my sarcasm.

  “I wondered if you were going to be upset about the blowjob for payment arrangement I was making with you,” he teased.

  As he shut the lights off and walked out after me, locking the doors on his way, he asked, “So you still up for ice cream?”

  I was.

  I hadn’t eaten since lunch and I was always ready to see what he did with his share. Let’s just say the good dentist l
iked to play with his dessert.

  I stayed at his house that night and he had to get up early to take me home.

  There was no way to hide what was going on from my dad. Not that I felt like I needed to.

  I walked in the next morning, wearing what I’d been wearing the day before and one of Vaughn’s hoodies.

  He sat at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee.

  “Things are going pretty good with Astro, huh?” he asked. As I tried to walk invisibly past him on my way to the shower.

  Caught, I stopped.

  “Things are going really good, Dad.”

  “You’re spending a lot of time with him.”

  He was right. I was hardly ever home anymore, between Vaughn’s and the cabin. I’d been leaving him all alone.

  I took a deep breath and found some spine. I’d never lied to him, and not saying anything was the same as being dishonest.

  “I’m not sure what’s going on, but it’s new and fun. I’ve never felt like this.”

  “I know, kid.”

  “I hope I don’t screw it up.”

  “It’s not the same without you around as much…”

  I interrupted, “Dad, I’m sorry.”

  “You didn’t let me finish.” Then like he was about to say something else, he got up and kissed me on the forehead. “I just miss you is all.”

  Then he walked out the door.

  I knew I’d see him at work in an hour and he wouldn’t bring it back up. That’s just the way he was.

  While I was getting ready for work I got a text from Vaughn.

  Vaughn: I’m glad you’re going with me Saturday.

  Me: I can’t wait to see you try to dance with a boner. My dress is gonna kick your suit’s ass.

  Vaughn: I can do a good many things with this boner. I have yet to hear of any shortcomings from you.

  I laughed. He was right. I couldn’t give his penis all of the credit though. Vaughn, as a whole, was one completely skilled package. Always knowing what I wanted and how I wanted it, and then he’d deliver. Every time.

  Me: You got me there.