Letting Lox In

by S. M. Donaldson

  I feel her quietly chuckle. “Sorry.”

  “Just for the record, it’s not that it doesn’t feel good. I would love to do more about it, but it’s not time for that.”

  She rolls to face me. “Thanks for staying with me last night. Seeing Lucas and going through all of those emotions was not something I planned to do this weekend. The seminar was great, your fight was awesome and that kiss last night was really great. Then he ruined it all.”

  I put my hand on her face. “He didn’t ruin it all. Yes, he was a pain in the ass, but that’s all. He proved to me and many of his teammates just how much of an ass he is.”

  She looks over at the clock. “Shit, we need to get packed up and checked out. It’s already nine.”

  Shit, she’s right. “Damn. Yeah, we better get going.” I jump out of bed and look down at my wrinkled dress pants.

  She laughs. “Sorry you slept in your pants.”

  “Hey, it’s the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a very long time.” I’m a little shocked to realize that I really mean that. Being close to her makes me feel something I don’t recognize. Making my way out the door, I throw one last look back her way. “See you in a little bit.”

  An hour later, we are making our way out of the hotel to the truck with Sly. He looks at Sloan and pulls her into a side hug. “You doing better this morning, Sunshine?”

  “Yes. Thanks, you guys. You were all great.”

  Sly turns to her, grabbing her bag. “Hey, I can be an asshole to someone anytime you need me to be.” He points to me. “Even him.”

  “Hey, dick.”

  He shakes his head. “No, that asshole last night, he was a dick. I’m just being honest to my friend here.”

  We all laugh as we climb in the truck. I look over at her and she smiles. “Thanks again for last night. Now I have to tell my parents. Do you guys mind distracting Sage for a few minutes when we pick him up? I need to let them know in case someone says something to the media, or God-forbid he approaches my parents.”

  Sly laughs from the backseat. “After meeting your dad the other day, something tells me that if he’s smart, he’ll never approach your dad.”

  I laugh and she looks at me. “What do you mean?”

  I reach across the console, touching her arm. “It means we’re big guys, but your dad is a pretty big guy, too. Little mister quarterback was stupid to be ugly to you in front of us last night and I wanted to beat him down. If his ass is really dumb enough to approach your dad, considering your dad knows your past, then he deserves to get his ass handed to him.”

  CHAPTER 20

  SLOAN

  I smile at the guys trying to talk me up from my sad mood. “Thanks, you guys. You’re really great.”

  They all start talking about the fights last night and about Huck being so pissed about his fight being forfeited. An hour later, we are pulling up to my parents’ house. We decided that with everything that happened, we should just go by their house instead of meeting them.

  Getting out of the truck, Sage comes running out. “Mommy!”

  I stoop down and scoop him up. “Hey, Bud! I’ve missed you.” I catch myself starting to tear up. “Go see what Sly and Lox are up to.”

  He smiles a big goofy grin up at me. “Okay.” He starts running over toward Sly. “Hey, guys!”

  My mom and dad look at me seriously. They can tell I’ve been upset. My dad takes my hand. “Sweet girl, what’s going on?”

  I nod and look back at Sage playing with the guys. “Yeah, um. Let’s go inside to talk.”

  Walking inside, we sit in the living room. My mom looks at me. “Baby, what is going on? You are scaring us.”

  I look at them and start telling them about running into Lucas. My dad’s color goes blood red and he stands up. He starts pacing around the living room, brooding like a bull. “That son of a bitch. I hope to God that he speaks to me, because this time I’m gonna kill him.” He starts for the front door.

  “Dad, stop! I don’t want Sage hearing any of this. Please, just stop.” I drop my head in my hands.

  “Derek, stop. She’s right, no sense upsetting Sage. It sounds like the boys got a point across.” She starts to chuckle a little. “I can just picture all of these people in dress clothes and a bunch of big ass football players and wrestlers squaring off.”

  “I don’t know. I wasn’t there, I ran to the bathroom.” I sink back in the couch. “I just heard the run down.”

  The front door opens and Sage and Sly come barreling in with Lox walking in casually behind them. “Sly, come see my playhouse in the backyard.” They run through the house and Lox comes in the living room.

  We all laugh at Sage and Sly. Lox sits down by me. “Sorry, my mom tried to teach him about running in the house. I guess no matter how hard she tried, he just couldn’t be house broken.”

  My parents start laughing and when we hear the back door slam, my dad looks at him. “Lox, we just want to say thank you for standing up for our baby girl last night.”

  Lox puts his hands up. “No thank yous are necessary. I grew up with a single mom who not only raised me, but pretty much raised my two best friends, too. He had no right talking to her like that and he better hope that I never see his face again. Because if she hadn’t been so upset and I felt like I needed to go check on her,” he takes a deep breath, “I don’t care how many people were holding me back, I would have kicked his ass right there.”

  My dad lets out a barking laugh and walks over to shake Lox’s hand. “Well, thank you anyway.”

  Once Sage and Sly come back in the house, I tell them we need to go. Sage starts to get all teary eyed. “Sage, baby, come on. We will be back here on Wednesday for Thanksgiving.”

  He nods. “I know. I don’t have school this week. Can’t I just stay here?”

  “Bud-.” My mom stops me.

  “Sloan, it would keep him from having to sit at your office all day Monday and Tuesday. He can stay if you don’t care.”

  I sigh. “Are you sure you don’t want to go home? I mean you’re going to miss your workout with Sly and Huck.”

  He looks over to Sly. “Sly?”

  Sly grins. “Take the week off, Slick, I’ll talk to Huck. When you come back, though, we’ll have to hit the gym twice as hard to get all the goodies you’ll be eating here off.”

  He nods. “Okay. I’ll try to go workout with my Uncle Jacob while I’m here, so I can try to stay on my training schedule.” He says, so seriously that I’m trying very hard not to burst out laughing. My parents are trying not to snicker.

  I pull him to me. “I love you, Bud. You be good for Nana and Pop. I’ll see you on Wednesday.” He hugs me hard and I kiss the top of his head.

  He looks up at me. “I love you, too, mommy.”

  Sly reaches over and fist bumps him. “Later, Slick.”

  He tips his head to Sly. “Later.” Turning to Lox, he fist bumps him. “Later, Lox.”

  Lox shakes his head, laughing. “Later, lil’ man.”

  My parents follow us out. “Boys, you are welcome to come back on Wednesday with Sloan for Thanksgiving. I’m serious now, there will be plenty,” my mom says, smiling.

  Lox looks at her, smiling. “Thank you, ma’am. We always cook Thanksgiving for my mom. She normally has to work, so we cook and take it to her and her coworkers.”

  My mom’s eyes light up. “That is so sweet. Your momma obviously raised some sweet boys.” She hugs him and Sly one last time before wrapping me up. “Bye, sweetie.”

  “Bye, Mom. Thanks for the help with Sage.” I wave to my dad. “Bye, Daddy. I love you.”

  He reaches over, kissing my head. “Love you, too, baby girl.” He looks up to the boys. “Nice meeting you boys. Be careful going back.”

  Once we pull out into traffic, I look at the guys. “Thanks for stopping. I hate that it was kind of a wasted trip since we didn’t actually have to pick up Sage.”

  Sly smiles. “No way, Sloan. I love getting to meet par
ents. They love me.” He shrugs. “Well, most parents love me-. Well, your parents and Lox’s mom.”

  Lox and I laugh. Lox looks over at me. “No, not a big deal at all. I liked getting to meet the real life Derek and Meredith myself.”

  Sly jumps around like a big ass kid in the backseat. “Yeah, that was awesome, too. Now I can’t wait to get home and catch up. The guys are a couple of episodes ahead of me, so I have to catch up to them.”

  I shake my head at them. “You guys are too much. You have my five year old talking like some muscle bound gym rat.”

  The both laugh and Lox shakes his head. “He was damn cute talking like a grown ass man.”

  “So, do you think your friend has my car ready?”

  “I’ll call him when we get home. If you need me to run you to work in the morning, that won’t be a problem.”

  I almost argue with him, but instead I smile. “Thanks.”

  CHAPTER 21

  LOX

  Standing in the shower, I wash my tired body after the trip home. My mind drifts to Sloan. Her laugh, her moan. How her body felt against mine, my bare hands brushing her magnificent tits. Her lips joining with mine so perfectly. Fuck! Now I’m standing in the shower with a rock hard cock, like I’m fourteen years old again. Damn it. I have jacked off more since I’ve met her than I have in ten years. I’m almost there. Her lips, her tits-.

  Suddenly, the bathroom door flies open, bouncing off the wall. I almost fall in the damn shower. “What the fuck!”

  “Mark died!” Sly screams.

  Throwing the shower curtain open and grabbing my towel, I quickly step out of the shower. “Mark who, Sly? What’s going on?” I feel my heart about to pound out of my chest.

  He’s looking around the bathroom wild eyed. “Holy shit.” Pacing. I don’t know why he’s pacing.

  “Sly, you’re scaring me. Who is Mark?”

  “Sloan, man.”

  My heart dropped to my feet. “Sloan? What the hell?” I start out the door and down the hall. Huck is sitting calmly on the couch. I look over at him “Dude, what the fuck is going on? Did something happen to Sloan after we dropped her off?”

  Huck bursts out laughing. “Oh my God. This shit is too funny.”

  I glare at him. “What is so fucking funny?”

  Huck shakes his head. “That dumb ass twin of mine is all worked up over Mark Sloan dying on Grey’s.”

  Now my body turns to rage. “I’m going to fucking kill him. He scared the ever living shit out of me.”

  I storm back down the hall where Sly is standing. I shove the shit out of him. He stumbles and looks up at me. “What the fuck, man?”

  “You scared the shit out of me. I thought something happened to Sloan or some guy named Mark. That’s it, you have to stay caught up with us from now on. You get too involved.”

  Huck is still laughing in the living room. “Dude, you both just looked fucking comical. I wish I had videoed that.” He takes a breath, wiping his eyes, “But I agree, no more unsupervised watching for Sly. He gets too emotionally involved, he’s too dramatic.”

  “Fuck you guys. You could have warned me. He was my idol. I was upset about Lexi, but him, too? That just rips my heart out.” Sly says, a little too worked up.

  “Do you need some tissues? Maybe some tampons or Midol?”

  He flips me off, “Fuck you, man.”

  I shake my head and go to my room to put some clothes on. Then I make my way back out to the living room. Grabbing my phone from the counter, I dial Serge.

  “Lox, my man. What’s going on?”

  “Not much. Hey, have you gotten my friend’s car ready yet?”

  “Yeah, man, I just had the alternator rebuilt. I figured that would be a little more cost efficient for her. I also serviced it, but she’d be smart to get rid of it soon.”

  “Yeah, I’d kind of figured that myself. We’ll swing by in the morning and grab it.”

  “Okay man, sounds good. What do I need to do with the bill?”

  “How much is it?”

  “Parts were one hundred and twenty five dollars.”

  “I’ll take care of it all. Just don’t say anything tomorrow. I’ll handle it.”

  “Okay, man, see you in the a.m.”

  Hitting end, Huck looks over at me. “Was he able to get to Sloan’s car this weekend?”

  “Yeah, we are going to grab it in the morning.”

  “And let me guess, you are paying for it.”

  “Shut up.”

  He shrugs his shoulders. “Hey, man. I’m just thinking she may not like that. Did she hear any more from Quarterback McDouchebag?”

  “No. Sage ended up staying with her parents until she goes over for Thanksgiving.”

  “Sly says her parents are pretty cool.”

  “Yeah, they are. Her mom is really sweet and her dad is pretty cool. But I can tell you now, that guy doesn’t want to mess with her dad.”

  “Is he a big fucker or something?”

  “He’s not little, but he’s not huge either. He just gives off that vibe, like ‘I will bury your body where no one will find you. But first I will make you wish you were dead when I torture you.’”

  “Shit.” He chuckles. “Sly was so excited about their damn names.”

  I shake my head. “Holy shit, you should’ve seen him in front of them. I swear sometimes that some of his chromosomes got mixed up and he’s a little girly.”

  Huck draws up one side of his mouth, rolling his eyes. “You are just now figuring out that my twin should’ve been a chick?”

  We hear Sly down the hall. “Fuck you guys. Just because I bake. You guys would fucking starve without me. But I can pull more pussy than either one of you douche bags!”

  I start my text to Sloan, laughing at the two of them.

  ME: Hey your car is fixed. I told Serge we’d swing by in the morning.

  SLOAN: Thank you so much. Thanks again for this weekend. Besides the Lucas thing I really did have a lot of fun.

  ME: Same here. We should hang out again before you go home for Thanksgiving.

  SLOAN: Sure, we can talk about it in the morning. Can you swing by my place about 715?

  ME: That’ll work. I’ll see in the morning.

  SLOAN: Thanks ttyl. ;)

  A wink face. Damn it. I let my head fall back on the couch, trying to ignore the thoughts of her in my head. This girl is going to be the death of me and my balls.

  CHAPTER 22

  SLOAN

  Finishing up my text with Lox, I can’t believe I just openly flirted with him. This is crazy. My hormones must be going to my damn brain and making me stupid or something. I grab up the novel I’ve been reading and start on it. The bad thing is the only thing I can think of is that this badass biker, Shooter, reminds me of Lox. Just trying to do the right thing, just trying to take care of me. But that is just a romance in a book.

  A little while later, my phone chirps with a text from my mom.

  It’s obviously from Sage.

  MOM: Goodnight mommy I <3 U.

  ME: I <3 you too Bud.

  This reminds me why Sage is the only man in my life. He’ll never get tired of me and let me down. He’ll never stop loving me. In my mind, I know that comparing Lox to Lucas isn’t fair, but life lessons like the one I learned from Lucas tend to stick with you. Men come and go, learning how to take care of yourself is the only thing you can count on.

  ~*~*~

  I storm into work after picking up my car. Kara looks at me nervously. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Lox.” I grit out. “We went to pick up my car this morning and his mechanic said that he’d already taken care of it.”

  She looks at me confused. “Okay? Well, that was nice of him.”

  “I don’t need someone taking care of me. I can do just fine on my own.” I storm toward our break room.

  She comes jogging behind me. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. What’s going on in the beautiful raven head of yours?”

 
; I collapse into one of the chairs, dropping my face into my hands. “Ugh, this weekend was just crazy.”

  She sighs, getting a cup of coffee. “What happened? Did Lox do something?”

  I fold my hands together and rest my chin on them. “I ran into Lucas. Everything came out in the open. Lox was going to beat the hell out of Lucas. I hid in the bathroom. Almost had sex with Lox. It was epic.”

  She drops the coffee mug she’s filling. “Shit.” She starts wiping up the mess and picking up the pieces of the mug. “Wait. So you almost had sex with Lox in the bathroom?”

  “No!” I take a deep breath. “I hid in the bathroom after I ran into Lucas. Then, later that night, Lox stayed with me. We talked and one thing led to another, but we stopped.”

  She looks at me. “So you stopped and then?”

  “He and Sly went by my parents’ with me. So I could fill them in on what happened with Lucas. Sage decided to stay with my parents until I come back for Thanksgiving. I came in and thought about why I haven’t dated since Sage was born. How Lucas just left me to deal with everything on my own. How white knights only show up in corny romance novels. I’m good on my own. If I only depend on me, then no one can fail me.”

  “So what happened with Lox? Why are you so pissed with him? He helped you with your car, but I’m just lost from there.”

  “He picks me up this morning to take me to get my car. When we get there, I go to pay the guy and he says it’s already been taken care of. When I try to get out of Lox how much I owe him, he just blows me off. Says that I should ‘let people do nice things for me’. I’m sorry, the last guy I trusted to just do something nice for me left me alone and pregnant with a child to raise.”

  “Hey,” she says softly while sliding into the chair next to me. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. Lox doesn’t seem like that guy. He seems like the guy who is going to stick by you.” She touches my shoulder. “He’s trying to do something nice for you. Don’t be mean to him.” She sighs. “I’m sorry about your run in with the ex though. Those always suck.”

  I let out a big breath I didn’t realize I was holding in. “Thanks. I really needed someone to talk me down.” I shake my head back and forth a little. “Okay, so what about your weekend? I need a change of subject.”