by C. A. Harms
“It’s not real, and one day you’ll wake up and the entire thing will be over. You’ll be forced to face the reality that you were only living in a dream world.”
“You’re an asshole, Tucker,” I said, disgusted I’d ever thought he was a decent guy.
“You may think I’m an asshole, but I’m not, Greer. I’m just the only person being honest with you. You need to realize this thing you have going with this guy isn’t real before you wake up one day with a broken heart and have no one to blame but yourself.”
“Not every man is you, Tucker,” I shot back venomously. “Not every guy thinks with his dick instead of his heart.” I ended the call before he could place any further doubts in my mind.
Was I just playing house? Was I on the path toward a broken heart?
***
I’d been on edge all afternoon. Immediately after I ended the call, the phone began to ring again and didn’t stop for hours.
My nervous energy was off the charts. To try and contain it, I did things around the house that didn’t really need to be done. I scrubbed the bathroom floor, intent on getting a stain to come up that I’m sure had been there for years. And I guarantee the windows had never been this clean.
I was a mess both physically and emotionally. My relationship with Darren couldn’t possibly be a fling. Could it?
He was an amazing guy, and he didn’t have to say the things he’d said to me. Nothing had forced him to take the steps he had. And if this was nothing but a summer fling, then why would he risk breaking his girls’ hearts?
I may not know everything about him, but I knew Darren could never place them in such a situation. Violet and Vivian were his whole life.
A knock on the front door had me spinning around from the kitchen sink, where I was currently scrubbing away at the knickknacks I’d found on the windowsill. They were covered in dust, and it was irritating me.
The water sloshed onto the floor, and in my attempt to hurry toward the door, I slipped on it. I caught myself on the edge of the countertop, grabbed a dishtowel, and tossed it over the puddle.
Taking a calming breath, I moved toward the front door just as another knock came. When I yanked it open, I was surprised to find Darren standing just on the other side. He’d been in such a rush to leave this morning that I figured I wouldn’t see him again until late this evening. He had become such a huge part of my everyday life that being away from him and the girls made me feel off-kilter.
“Hi,” I said as I lifted my hand to my hair to flatten the crazy mess I knew it must have become. When he stepped in, crowding my space, I backed up, but he wasn’t about to let me get away that easy.
He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close. “I need to know something,” he said as he held my gaze intently. His eyes were tense and focused.
“What?” I asked, wondering where his current mood was coming from.
“I need to know if you still have feelings for him,” he said, his gaze never leaving mine. “It’s too late for me to walk away from this unscathed, and it’s too late for my girls not to miss you like crazy, so I’m hoping like hell your answer is no.” He cupped my cheek with his other hand. “But I need to know the truth.”
I shook my head, suddenly feeling as if the room were much smaller than it was. “No,” I said, my voice much higher pitched than normal. My heart was racing. “What Tucker and I had was nothing. We were just two people that had been friends for so long we actually convinced ourselves we were meant to be more.” I wanted him to believe me. I needed him to. “I’d never want anything bad to happen to him, but he and I are nothing more than two people who once were friends.”
His gaze raked over my face as he stroked his fingertips over my cheek, toward my lips.
His silence was unnerving. I wanted to know what he was feeling. What he was thinking.
“I’m worried,” he finally whispered, and my heart ached.
Darren felt threatened by the very little Tucker and I shared.
And that was heartbreaking.
Chapter 25
Darren
Now that I was home, my worries had only intensified
“Worried about what?” Greer asked.
I could see the confusion in her eyes. If only she could feel what I felt when I looked at her. If only she could understand for just a moment how much I truly cared for her.
I knew what it felt like to be robbed of the time you should have been given, robbed of a life you thought you’d have. A traumatic event like losing someone you love makes you realize that wasted time is something you can never get back.
“I’m worried that what I feel for you and the things I want for us is one-sided,” I confessed. “I’m worried this was all just a way for you to forget what you left behind. A way to disappear for a while.”
“No,” she said in a rush, surprising me. Her hands shot up to cup the sides of my face, and I closed my eyes, loving her touch. “This is not a game to me. I would never hurt you or your girls by playing with your emotions.”
Relief washed over me as I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers.
I’d spent the day in my office missing her as I stared at paperwork, too lost in thought and worry to truly see a word. I wanted to be with her, yet I’d felt like I needed the time to think.
Now the only thing I could think about was how I wasted an entire day I could have spent with her.
“You once asked me what we’d do when you had to go home.” The idea of her leaving made my chest ache uncontrollably. “I don’t want you to go,” I added before kissing her once again. “I want you to stay.”
I was never surer of anything than what I was telling her. The idea of her leaving was unbearable.
“Make a life here, Greer,” I said, “with me and with my girls. Make a life here with us.”
When I pulled back enough to look into her eyes, I was surprised to find they were glistening with unshed tears. Her lower lip trembled as she looked back at me intently.
I felt just as emotional as she looked, and I was almost desperate to hear her say yes.
“You want me to stay?” she asked, and her question surprised me. Had she not realized by now that what I felt for her was real?
“Yes, that’s what I want, Angel.” I brushed my lips over hers once more. “It’s what I need more than anything. I need you here, baby.”
She slid her hands through my hair, gripped the back of my neck, and pressed her lips to mine.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Staying with the three of you is what I want.”
I could taste the saltiness of her tears as they ran over her cheeks and pooled where our lips were joined. I walked toward the couch only a few feet away, backing her up as I moved. When the backs of her legs hit the cushions, she sat down, taking me with her. Covering her body with mine, I took what she gave because I, too, was desperate for the connection.
Greer parted her legs and hooked them over my hips, holding my body tightly to hers. When she began grinding her hips upward, the moment quickly began to heat up.
Growing hard, I pressed my own hips forward, assuring her I also felt this desperation and uncontrollable desire.
“I need you,” she cooed. “I’ve missed you.”
The fact she was still eager for our connection even though it had been less than forty-eight hours since I was last inside her eased my doubts again. I’d given her the opportunity to back out of this, to admit this was only a fun summer away from her troubles, but she assured me it was more. And that was all I needed to hear.
“I missed you too,” I confessed, and I truly had.
***
I watched the expression of pure pleasure on Greer’s face as she hovered above me. Her hips swiveled as she rode me. I’d never seen anything more beautiful than the way she bit her lip with her cheeks flushed as she squeezed her eyes shut tight. I put my hands on her hips and let her continue to move as I felt her body beneath my palms. She was so soft and de
licate, the definition of perfection.
And in that moment, I knew our bodies became one as they connected. I’d fallen desperately in love with her, and I wanted her completely.
Her eyes opened and her gaze locked on mine, and for a second I felt like she could hear my thoughts. A sweet, knowing smile crossed her lips just before she tensed around me. Her hips rocked as her nails dug into my chest. “Yes,” she panted. “Oh yes, Darren.”
Just hearing my name fall from her lips was all it took for me to tumble over the edge.
Squeezing her hips tighter, I began thrusting upward as my toes curled into the sheet beneath me, my legs tightened, and my back arched as I exploded inside her. An intense feeling of not only pleasure but completion washed over me. It felt incredible, like nothing I’d ever experienced before.
Greer was it for me. In every way she was my perfect match.
Chapter 26
Greer
“Do you hear that?” Darren said, his voice husky from sleep.
“Hear what?” I asked as I curled in closer, trying to seek out the warmth I felt from his body against mine.
I just wanted to spend the rest of the night snuggled up in bed together. His parents had taken the girls out for a day of shopping, and I felt we should take full advantage of our “adult time.”
“Listen,” Darren said again as he sat up in bed, taking his body heat with him.
I was awake and alert now, but it had absolutely nothing to do with the sound he thought he’d heard. Oh no. It did, however, have everything to do with the exposed hips and thighs that were now on full display.
Have I mentioned just how much this man turns me on?
“Greer,” he said as he placed his hand over mine, stopping me from further exploring his manly areas. “Seriously, babe, I think I heard someone yell.”
I sat up next to him, holding the sheet to my bare chest. Both of us listened in silence. I was just about to tell him that he was obviously getting senile when I heard what he was referring to.
“Honey, we’re home.”
My eyes widened as the bedroom door flew open, and there in the doorway stood my gran. And if that in itself wasn’t already enough, my mother, my aunt, and my uncle were right behind her.
I was mortified.
“Lord have mercy,” Gran said as her gaze raked over Darren, who looked just as shocked as I was. “No wonder she wasn’t answering her phone. If I had me a man that looked half as good as this one, you all wouldn’t see me for weeks at a time. Only when I came up for air, and wine.”
I covered my face with my hands, embarrassed that none of them seemed to have a problem with standing in the doorway while Darren and I were naked in bed.
“Close the door,” I groaned in irritation.
No one said a word.
“Oh my hell, people, can you give us a few minutes?” I finally removed my hands and shot them a frustrated look.
“Back it up, everyone,” Gran said with a smirk. “Little lady needs a few minutes alone with her hunky side of beef.”
The door slowing closed, but Gran kept her eyes on Darren to the last second. She wasn’t taking a chance to miss a peek.
“Oh look, it’s a pussy.”
I gasped as my gran’s voice echoed through the hall just outside my room. “A sweet little pussy cat,” she clarified, as if she could sense my embarrassment, and I hung my head once again, trying to figure out how in the hell I was born into this crazy-ass family.
“Remember when I met your parents and you asked me if I was gonna run?” I asked Darren.
“Yes,” he said, and I could hear the humor in his voice.
“Now,” I replied, “now I want to run.”
He chuckled deeply as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me to him.
Of course he’d find this funny. It was the same situation Fiona had found us in not too long ago. Only I had faced that one on my own. While he snored deeply, I shrieked when she appeared in the doorway of his room and smiled, as if finding her adult son and his lover in the aftermath of a wild night was business as usual.
I will never be able to look her directly in the eyes again without remembering that very moment. The woman had seen my goodies, front and center.
***
I was mortified. Completely at a loss.
Not only was my uncle giving Darren an interrogating stare-down, but I had to deal with Gran undressing him with her eyes.
The hair dye and fumes from all those years of getting perm after perm had gone to her brain. That was the only possible explanation.
Was she panting?
I leaned in closer trying to hear.
Oh my God. She was.
“So this is the man you’ve fallen for?” I jumped in surprise when my mother spoke mere inches away from my ear. I turned to look at her and almost bumped my nose against hers. She laughed as I jerked back and almost fell out of my chair. I wrinkled my nose in confusion, and Aunt Stella joined in, also finding the humor in my nervous behavior.
“He has her all knotted up inside,” my aunt added, only making the embarrassing moment worse. “Or should I say loose and worn?”
“You did not just say that.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “I used to think you were the sane one,” I told her, and she threw her head back as she laughed.
“Oh, I said it,” she added through her laughter. “And I can tell I’m right. Oh honey, what I wouldn’t give for Uncle Mark to be able to ring my bell the way a young man like Darren is obviously ringing yours.”
My eyes widened in surprise, because my sweet, little, quiet aunt was apparently not the woman I thought she was.
Uncle Mark grunted in displeasure, which caught Gran’s attention.
“I bet he didn’t ring your bell even when he was younger. He ain’t built for a good time.” She pointed at him. “He doesn’t have the motivation and drive to go at it for hours. Hell, I bet he barely made it through the first five minutes. Mark, did you ever even let my girl get to her peak before you grunted and rolled over?”
My aunt and mother laughed again, and I was surprised by the deep chuckle Darren tried to muffle in his fist.
They were wearing off on him, and now I was mortified all over again.
Poor Uncle Mark.
I stood from my chair, rounded the table, and placed my hand on Uncle Mark’s shoulder. He looked up at me, and I could tell he wanted to run just as bad as I did.
“I think a walk to the marina sounds like a good plan,” I said, looking at him and hoping he saw that I was trying to rescue him from this bat-shit crazy bunch. “What do you think?”
Nodding, he stood to join me. “I think that sounds like a plan.”
“Let me grab my jacket,” Gran said.
“You,” I replied, pointing at her, “and you,” I added as I looked at Mom, Aunt Stella, and then over at Darren, “and you too. All of you did this. None of you are innocent. You are all not invited.”
I saw the laughter in their eyes, and even though I wanted to smile in return, I held it back. Uncle Mark needed someone in his corner. And I needed a break from all this insanity.
Being in Fiona’s presence would be a walk in the park compared to my current company.
I practically dragged Uncle Mark down the front porch steps without chancing a look back.
Darren was on his own with the three vultures. I just hoped for my sake he survived.
Chapter 27
Darren
I ended up with a house full of people. And the backyard too. I’m still not sure how it happened, but it was now overflowing with friends and family, both Greer’s and my own.
I was hosting a barbecue, but I did nothing to prepare for it. My family and Greer’s supplied the food and the drinks.
Hell, I didn’t even know I was hosting! When I came home, I found the event in full swing and was a bit taken aback by it all. Greer had looked just as surprised as I felt.
I found her standing in the
corner of my kitchen as the other women moved around as if they owned the place. She watched them and looked around the room as if she was scared to move. I found the entire thing to be hilarious, though I couldn’t blame her. My mother, combined with Greer’s mother Wendy, her grandmother Norma Raye, and Aunt Stella were creating all kinds of havoc. Those ladies were long-winded, dedicated, and stubborn. It was best to just stand back when they all got together.
I walked around the kitchen hugging the wall, doing my best to stay hidden until I reached Greer. When I stepped up to her, she forced a smile through her tension.
“You hiding?” I asked as I wrapped my arm around her from behind and pulled her against me.
“They scare me,” she whispered, and I leaned into her and buried my face in her hair, attempting to hide my laughter. “They’re like a pack of hungry wolves,” she added, only making me laugh harder. “I tried to help, but I got my hand smacked.” I pulled back to look down at her, and her eyes were wide in disbelief. “Like I was a child that tried to steal dessert before dinner, I got my hand smacked,” she repeated.
“Well, what did you try to do?” I asked, knowing it wouldn’t take much to get reprimanded from any of the ladies that surrounded my kitchen island. Cooking was like a competition to them. Each one looked so focused on the task at hand that you would think they were competing for a gold medal and it was down to the wire.
“I offered to cut the tomatoes,” Greer whispered as if saying it too loud would only bring their attention back to her.
“Well, since you’re not needed here, why don’t you let me rescue you?” I said, pulling her closer and positioning her before me. “The girls look entertained with my dad. The hovering hens have the kitchen activities covered.” I winked when the tension in her eyes finally began to fade. “Let me take you for a walk.”
“That sounds perfect,” she said, looking a bit more relaxed.
I took her hand, and ever so quietly we snuck past the ladies and out the front door before anyone noticed.
As we walked hand in hand down the road, I couldn’t help but smile. Even though my house was being invaded and Greer and I had barely had any time alone lately, I was happy. My girls were happy. Life was pretty damn perfect.
