New Love

by Mj Fields

  MJ Fields

  New Love

  Book 2 of the Love Series

  Copyright 2013 MJ Fields

  Published by

  MJ Fields at Smashwords

  Copyright 2013 MJ Fields

  This book is intended for adult readers only.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be constructed as real. Any resemblance to person, living or dead, actual events, locale or organization is entirely coincidental.

  Dedication

  To all who fell as deeply in love with Lucas and Tessa’s story as I have.

  Thank you for wanting to learn more about them.

  To all who have given me constructive criticism,

  To my family and friends,

  To those who love love.

  I love you all…anyways.

  Table of Content

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 1

  Tessa came home from play practice and turned on the hot tub. Chewy, her yellow lab met her at the door, wagging his tail with his ball in his mouth. She smiled and pet him. He dropped the ball at her feet and she picked it up and threw it.

  “Good boy Chewy,” she patted his head when he returned with the ball.

  Lucas pulled in the driveway and brought him the ball Tessa had just thrown. He forced a smile. “Hello Tessa.”

  “Hey.”

  He walked past her and went in the house. She took a deep breath as he passed her. She loved the way he smelled. When he wasn’t fresh from a shower he smelled warm and outdoorsy.

  Lucas was walking out of the bathroom when they bumped into each other.

  “Sorry bab…Tessa.”

  Tessa smiled and went in and changed out of her clothes and into a modest bathing suit. She came out into the living room, and he was sitting on the couch with his hands in his hair.

  “You okay?”

  “Nope,” he looked up and raised his eyebrow.

  She stood briefly and watched his face, his jaw set; his green eyes looked lost as if he were searching hers for answers but quickly changed when he realized she was trying to figure out how to help him. He shook his head and smiled. She noticed his smile didn’t reach his eyes and knew he was hurting.

  Tessa ran upstairs and grabbed his trunks. She ran downstairs and threw them at him.

  “Suit up grumpy bear, relaxation time.”

  “Tessa there is nothing relaxing about being in there with you,” Lucas scowled.

  “Suck it up and let’s go,” Tessa smiled as she walked out the door.

  ~

  Tessa was in the hot tub when he walked out, she had on dark sunglasses so he couldn’t see her checking him out. One of the many ways she had figured out how she would get through this.

  Lucas stepped in and sat across from her.

  “So what’s going on Lucas?”

  “Honestly Tessa, three hours ago you sat out there in the field…” Lucas started.

  “I got hurt Lucas,” she said dryly.

  “Do you think I’m stupid?” Lucas asked, sitting back scowling slightly.

  “Depends,” she smirked.

  “Are you drunk?” Lucas asked callously.

  She threw her sunglasses atop her head swiftly, “Are you stoned?”

  “Tessa you have on sunglasses, its dark, and I really don’t see why that offends you.” Lucas said sarcastically.

  “I have drank three times in my life, how many times have you been stoned?”

  He smirked, “Sorry bab…Tessa.”

  Tessa threw a towel at him.

  “Sit back and cover your face,” she demanded.

  “What?” he asked laughing.

  “Cover your face it’ll be less dist…” she started, “It will help you relax!” Lucas did what she asked, and she watched his chest rise and fall with each breath. His lips were full, and delicious she wanted to suck them. She bit her lip as she looked at him; he lifted the towel and saw her watching him.

  “Damn it Tessa,” he stood up.

  She stood in front of him.

  “I want to talk about what’s bugging you Lucas,” she said softly.

  Lucas looked her up and down, his nostrils flared, and he clenched his jaw. Tessa reached up slowly to touch him, he closed his eyes. She pushed him down so that he was sitting and turned around and bent over the hot tub and grabbed two bottles of water. Fuck, he thought as he looked at her.

  Tessa turned around and handed him the water.

  She sat down and took a drink, “So besides all that what’s going on?”

  “I talked to the sheriff; he said I HAD to stay until mom was home. I argued, and he caved a little: I can go home on my nineteenth birthday,” Lucas looked away from her, so she didn’t see the hurt in his eyes.

  “Wow Lucas… I don’t even know your birthday,” Tessa looked pissed. “How could I not know that?”

  “It’s not a big deal,” Lucas’s birthdays where normal celebrated by mailbox gifts from his dad and partying with his mom, they really weren’t a big deal. She was scowling and looked down. “It’s December thirty first.”

  “Of course it is,” Tessa smiled coyly.

  “Why does that amuse you?” Lucas tilted his head to the side.

  “Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to,” Tessa pulled down her sunglasses.

  “No, I want to know.”

  “That was the date I picked,” he looked confused. “THE date.”

  “You were really going to make me wait that long?” he laughed. “You wouldn’t have lasted.”

  “I thought it was a sweet date,” she said softly, “you would have helped me stick to it.”

  “Sorry Bab…Tessa, I was just playing with you.”

  Playing with me, she thought and tried not to smile.

  “Okay so that’s only a few weeks away,” she said “your mom doesn’t get back for a few weeks after that right?”

  “Tessa it’s a long time,” his brows knitted together.

  “Lucas it’s less than five weeks,” Tessa tried to make it okay. “You get to visit your Mom Sunday right?”

  He smiled, “I do, don’t I?”

  “Yes you do, and then what are your plans for Thanksgiving?”

  “I am supposed to go to Jersey to see Dad and my sisters.”

  I was supposed to ask you-- that was the date I picked, he thought.

  “And that’s next week. See, you’ll be gone before you know it.”

  Her smile faded.

  He looked at her for a few minutes, “I can’t see you sad for another day.”

  “And I can’t see you go through this all alone,” she stared at him; “We can make this work, remember the rules from before about friendship
?”

  “Honestly I don’t. I’m pretty sure we broke almost all of them,” Lucas laughed.

  “Well we can’t anymore,” Tessa forced a smile. “I need to be your friend, and I need you to be mine, nothing less,” she started tearing up, and she laughed. “Didn’t we sort of go through this earlier?”

  “We did,” he smiled, fighting the urge to hug her.

  “We’re both smart right?”

  “I guess we are.”

  “And super competitive,” she added, a little louder.

  “Absolutely.”

  “And hot,” she laughed.

  “No doubt bab…Tessa,” he shook his head and they laughed.

  “We got this then.”

  “Hug?"

  “Hell no!”

  They both laughed harder.

  “I love you…my friend.”

  “You too, bud,” Tessa smiled.

  ~

  Ben and Alex pulled in and ran into the house. They changed and were in the hot tub in a flash.

  Ben sat by Tessa and smiled, “Hello Tess.”

  “Well hello, Ben.”

  “Did you check it out?” Ben whispered in her ear.

  “No, not yet,” she laughed.

  “Alex tell her what you got today,” Ben smiled mischievously.

  “I’d rather not.”

  His face gave it away and Tessa scowled at him and stood up, Ben smiled at her. She got out and dried off and stomped all the way to the house.

  “You get a Doe Alex?” Lucas asked. Alex shook his head no. “Oh,” he cringed and tried not to laugh.

  ~

  Lucas sat and relaxed for a bit. Somehow he ended up agreeing to hunt Saturday and Sunday before he got out and walked in the house. Tessa was on the computer with her headphones on; she didn’t notice him walk in. He looked over her shoulder, and she was on some sort of pregnancy website. He read and she felt his breath on her neck and jumped.

  “Sorry, may I?”

  She smiled and took her head phones off. She showed him a week by week site that she had found.

  “So this says that at twenty weeks, you can find out what the baby is. That’s not too far from now Lucas. Do you want to know?”

  “Honestly, no. I know I should want to, but I don’t.”

  “I want to know,” Tessa smiled and turned back towards the screen.

  “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  “Actually I am. I hope you have a boy. I hope he looks just like you, and has a heart like yours. I want to buy him a little Yankees outfit,” smiled. “Just don’t tell Sadi.”

  She clicked on a few links and got to the one she was looking for.

  “Your baby is fourteen weeks, I think, so that means she is past the most critical stage. You need to be sure she is taking folic acid and prenatal vitamins and extra calcium. Your baby needs folic acid so that it grows and develops; it reduces the risks of birth defects. See this,” she put the mouse on the picture, “he has little legs, arms, and eyes. Isn’t that cool? I ordered you a couple books, but you need to go the drug store before school and get her those vitamins Lucas. Actually you should text her now and see if she has them if she doesn’t make sure she takes them every day. He’ll be much healthier and have a better shot in this crazy world if she takes care of him now,” Tessa smiled.

  She looked at him, and he was pale.”You okay?”

  He shook his head no, and she got up and grabbed him some water.

  “Drink please.”

  Lucas got up and walked to the bathroom and threw up.

  “Oh, you’re sick?”

  He didn’t answer right away and then sat back, “No Tessa. I’m not sick. I just can’t do this shit.”

  She handed him a cup of water, “Rinse and spit.”

  She got his toothbrush and put paste on it, “Brush”.

  He rinsed and spit in the toilet. She knelt down, wiped his face, sat next to him, and held his hand. He pulled his knees up and wrapped his arm around them and put his head down. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders as he took deep breaths.

  Alex walked in and saw them, “Oh sorry, everything okay?”

  “Sure is. Lucas and I will be out in a few minutes.”

  She hated seeing him like this. As hard as it was for her, she knew he was never going to be able to escape Sadi. She couldn’t imagine what he must be going through.

  His phone chimed.

  “Can I get that?”

  He shook his head yes.

  “It’s Sadi, she says,” Tessa laughed. “You off the farm yet? How do you sign your name for her?”

  “Just L,” he answered in barely a whisper.

  -Nope stuck here until my birthday, sorry…L

  She pushed send, and kept on replying,

  -Are you fucking kidding me? Sadi

  -no, nothing I can do about it but move to Jersey, can you deal with that?...L

  -you better not be fucking her…Sadi

  -told you I wasn’t. How many weeks pregnant are you? Are you taking vitamins and folic acid?…L

  -fourteen weeks, and not yet why?...Sadi

  -it’s important, for our child, I’ll pick up some stuff before school see you tomorrow…L

  -as if you care…Sadi

  -I think we both should care if our child is healthy…L

  -Did you set up counseling or whatever that shit is we need to go to…Sadi

  -working on it will know more tomorrow, Dr.’s appointment?…L

  -will let you know, better behave or no go…Sadi

  -I will…L

  “Hope you don’t mind,” she said and read it to him.

  He cleared his throat, “Thanks, Tessa”.

  “Do you want to be alone?”

  “No--please stay.”

  Lucas scooted behind her and hugged her, resting his forehead against her shoulder. Tessa rubbed his head and kissed his cheek. After a long time, he kissed her neck.

  “Thank you, Baby.”

  Her heart pounded, and she turned to him and smiled.

  “Anytime BUD. You feel better?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Ready to get up?”

  “I need a shower.”

  “No a bath,” she turned on the water putting oatmeal in it.

  Tessa sat on the edge of the tub and mixed it up with her feet. Lucas watched her and wished things were different, but at least he had her now.

  “Time to get in,” she pulled him up.

  He kissed her head; “You’re the best Tessa.”

  She turned to walk out as he dropped his pants.

  “Hey Lucas,” she turned around; she smiled as she looked at him.

  “Yes Tessa?” he stood gloriously naked.

  “Wow… I’ve never seen it like that. Nice, Lucas,” Tessa walked by and grabbed him a washcloth, “Here you go.”

  ~

  She was on the couch when he came out with a towel wrapped around him. He threw the washcloth at her face and ran up the stairs. Lucas came back down with pajama bottoms and a tee shirt on and sat next to her.

  “Want to talk about it?”

  He looked at her confused.

  “Not really, but thank you,” Lucas said. “Why did you do that?”

  “What? Check out your junk?” she laughed.

  “No, I totally get why you’d want to sneak a peek,” Lucas laughed and then looked away, “The website stuff, order the books, talk me through it, and respond to her texts? Why?”

  “Gee, I thought you were intelligent. I like to help my friends through difficult situations,” Tessa nudged him

  “Alright then.”

  “Do you think Sadi will let me be there when your baby is born?” Tessa asked trying not to smile.

  “Someone better be, I’ll more than likely be on the floor,” he kissed the top of her head and stood up. “Thanks again. I’m going to bed.”

  ~

  “Tessa what’s going on?” Alex asked.

  “Reality jus
t hit I think, he’s going to need you and Tommy, Alex. He’s been alone for most of his life and taken care of his Mom when it should have been the other way around. Lucas has a good heart. I love him, and I need him to be okay. I think the only way he will be is if he has people who love him and let him know his true worth. His shield Alex, is the cocky arrogant ass everyone sees… that’s not who he is, not even a little bit. It’s just who he has had to be so he doesn’t fall apart,” Tessa said with tears in her eyes.

  “Tessa I think he’s a good guy, but… I’m worried about you,” Alex sat next to her.

  “I have all of you. I’m strong, I may screw up, but I’ll always be okay.”

  ~

  For the next few weeks, Lucas saw Tessa‘s strength. He was gaining strength from her, but he couldn’t wait to go home. Tessa needed to move on: she was the most amazing friend he had ever had, besides Tommy. He knew what was coming and it crushed him knowing he was going to crush her. Lucas knew how much she loved him, and he wanted better for her. She deserved better than him. There were no more make out sessions, they occasionally held hands and hugged. She kissed him on the cheek and head when she knew he was struggling. As much as he wanted to be strong for her: it wasn’t happening while he was under the same roof as she was. He needed her. He wanted her in his life. He loved her…and he always would.

  On Saturday, Lucas got his first deer, a big eight point. Tessa smiled when she found out.

  On Sundays, he went to church with her family, part as a condition of him staying with them and part because he loved to see her shine. He had basketball after school, and she had play practice at night. They only saw each other for a couple hours a day. She went to her mother’s on Wednesdays, and he and Sadi went to counseling on Thursday nights. Counseling didn’t seem to be helping, but it was an excuse to be away from Tessa. He hoped that the distance would help what would inevitably become of them. On Fridays he had games, she sat in the bleachers and cheered he and Alex on, those nights he didn’t come home until late. He hung out with Alex and Tommy if they weren’t with their girls. If they were, he chilled with Becca’s adopted brother Ryan. Ryan was cool, a few years back he and Jade’s brother Jasper were best friends, he had been pretty messed up about the loss.

  On Saturday night, Tessa and Lucas still worked at the Spot. It was snowmobile season and the place was busy all the time. Tessa sang less and was returning to her pre-Lucas self. She was a little quieter and more guarded around the opposite sex. Lucas’s mother was getting better; she had been sober for two months now, which was a record for her. Tessa set her alarm on her phone every night to wake up at two in the morning, she forced herself to get out of bed, drink warm milk, go to the bathroom and wash her face. About once a week (sometimes more), Lucas would sneak in and turn it off just so he could hold her and kiss her until she got through her nightmare. Those mornings she seemed a little happier, and he was as well.