Dramatic, Mushy, Complicated Love

by Leah Sharelle

  “Right at the end of this street, so you left home but only went as far as two streets away,” Meadow laughed.

  “Yeah, I guess I did,” I agreed with a chuckle as I followed her direction and turned into a no through road. “I have always loved the vibe of having the lake just across the street. The bustle of people and activities every weekend, and the dining is good too. There are five great restaurants just a short walk from my front door.”

  “It’s the house right at the end, the one with the big arse prime mover in the driveway.”

  Nodding, I looked down to where Meadow mentioned and saw that there was indeed a big arse prime mover sitting proudly and strangely not out of place in the drive of a neat but weathered and old wood-panelled house. The white paint was long overdue for a touch-up and the roof’s red paint was faded from the harsh Aussie summers. It was not unlike Meadow’s place, which was only five minutes from here.

  “Have your parents lived here long?” I asked, parking the car at the end of the drive. Noting that there were three other cars parked behind and beside the truck.

  “All my life. My brother was actually born in this house, the loungeroom, in fact. Mum swears the stain of the afterbirth is still on the carpet, and she will probably tell you that as soon as she gets you in there, but trust me, it isn’t.”

  Shoving the gear stick into park, I looked over at Meadow worriedly and a little grossed out. “Are you sure?”

  “As I said, trust me. Every time she tells that story to a visitor, Dad hires a carpet cleaner the next day and goes over the supposed stain. He really hates it when she tells people that.”

  I wanted to feel relieved, but Ace’s smart arse warning played in the back of my mind. Somehow I got the feeling he was right, and I was about to walk into the twilight zone. Needing a distraction from freaking out, and because kissing Meadow senseless while sitting in the car out front of her parent’s house might not be appreciated by her dad, I instead focused on a question I had been meaning to ask her since yesterday.

  “How come you say Mum and Dad, when you said you call your parents by their first names?”

  Meadow widened her eyes at me for a second, then burst into a fit of giggles.

  “Stalling tactics hey, okay, fair question. There are two answers to that; some people find it weird I call them by their given names. So, to avoid confusing people, I use one or the other, and two, well sometimes I just like to call them plain old Mum and Dad, ya know?” Meadow leaned over the console, her hand still in mine, and touched her lips to my cheek.

  “They don’t bite, and despite the weird things you have heard from me, they are really great people. Just not what you would call conventional. Now let’s get this show on the road!” Meadow whispered yelled, giving me one last peck before releasing her belt and throwing open her door. Something that pissed me off slightly. Her independence was a quality I admired, but I was old school thanks to my father. Manners were and still are a big thing in my family, and opening doors for women was high on his list.

  Racing out of the car, I rounded the bonnet, making it to her side just as she closed the door, her lips turned into a knowing grin.

  “Damn independence,” I growled, taking her hand in mine and lacing our fingers, then made our way up the gravel drive.

  “Don’t worry, Spunk. You will have plenty of opportunities to be a gentleman,” she quipped, patting my butt.

  Grunting in reply, I looked over at the huge shiny truck in awe. The colour was a deep purple, with so many shiny chrome pieces it looked more like a show truck than something you used every day.

  “This is your dad’s?”

  “Yep. Spring reckons he loves the truck more than he does his kids.” Her chuckle genuine. “He likes to enter it into Show and Shines at truck events. He has one coming up this weekend, so he won’t leave it at work overnight in the dusty yard until after the show.”

  “It’s his? The prime mover?”

  “He has part ownership in Charlene. My grandpa is his silent partner, but Lennie is working on buying Pa out,” Meadow explained, but I was stuck on the weirder part of her explanation.

  “I’m sorry, did you say Charlene? The truck has a name?”

  Laughing, Meadow stopped to give me a quick kiss. “Weirdos, remember.”

  “Oh, I remember,” I grumbled under my breath, “and it keeps getting weirder by the minute.”

  “You haven’t seen anything yet, Spunk.” Meadow’s ominous warning, delivered with her sexy, sassy smile, did nothing to alleviate my worry or my sweating.

  “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I challenged, following behind Meadow up the steep steps leading to the front door, then she looked over her shoulder at me.

  “Are you kidding! I am going to take a video so we can look back on this one day and remember the day you regretted putting your money where your mouth is.” Her giggles amplified to a full out belly laugh. Opening the door, Meadow called out to her parents, alerting them that she had arrived.

  I know where I want your mouth.

  “Patience, Spunk, meet the parents first, then blow job.”

  Huh, what? I said that out loud? And fuck, what a time for my dick to get hard. Meadow had me like putty in her hands, and she probably knew it too.

  The arrival of a woman that looked exactly like Meadow cut off my growl and stopped me from grabbing Meadow and kissing her.

  Patience? When it came to Meadow, I feared I didn’t have any.

  I attempted to hide my smile behind my slice of pizza as I watched Luca from the corner of my eye, but seeing him sitting cross-legged on the carpet in my parent’s lounge room was making that task very difficult.

  “More pizza, Luca?” Trish offered from her perch on the double beanbag I was sharing with her.

  “Thanks, Trish, I think I will have another piece of the barbeque chicken one.” Holding his plate out to her, Luca gave me a mock menacing frown, then winked at me.

  When we arrived an hour ago, I honestly thought Luca was going to pass out right there in the front entry. Being greeted by Trish went pretty well; her enthusiastic hug and patting of his cheeks was pretty understated for my mother, then Lennie walked out of the kitchen and into the hall, and Luca’s face practically turned white. I may have left out exactly how scary my dad was when I told him about my parents, but telling your very new boyfriend, your dad was a one hundred and fifty kilo mountain of muscle. Sporting a long handlebar moustache, neck tats and a man-bun had never worked well for me in the past.

  Meeting Lennie for the first time required a more soft and mellow approach. The less description beforehand lessened the urge for your new boyfriend to run.

  Watching Luca sitting happily on the floor accepting more pizza, the precise spot where Breckon entered the world, I might add, I knew he was definitely the one.

  Tick, tick and tick!

  “So, Luca,” Lennie rumbled out. “You blow shit up for a living, is that right?” My dad had the deepest voice, and Mum likened it to the header pipes on a Harley Davidson. A deep, low rumble that warmed and soothed you. At least, that was how we saw it, other people just thought he was scary. Thankfully, Luca had not shown any signs of running since sitting down across from my dad. In fact, when Luca shook Lennie’s hand and immediately praised Charlene, all concerns for his life dissipated.

  Even Breckon made an appearance, dragging himself from his room to sit and meet with Luca. He spoke in clear sentences and not his usual, hey or yo, one syllable words. All in all, the evening was going well, thank God!

  “I do Lennie, as well as build. Our engineering side of the business is growing every day. New clients are coming on board from overseas; in fact, we are in the process of engineering a cantilever bridge for a mining company. They have a man-made dam they use for the mining process and want a quicker way for their plant equipment to get from one side of the site to the other.”

  “Interesting. Do you do smaller projects or just the complicated engi
neering?”

  “Nope, we never turn down a job. The bridge design is our speciality, but we have a diverse portfolio,” Luca explained, giving my dad his complete attention.

  “Good to know. I have a buddy who wants to build a jetty with a deck at the end over his dam. Reckon you could suggest some pointers for a group of novice tradies?”

  “Any time Lennie, in the early days, that was my dad’s main source of jobs. Whenever you are ready, just shout out, and I will be more than happy to help with the planning and the building. My mate and partner, Ace, won’t mind helping out too and more so if there is beer involved.”

  From the other side of the room, Spring huffed out a laugh. “Ace would run down the main street for a beer, let’s face it, Luca.” Her mouth was twisted in a smirk, but I could see the softness in her eyes as she talked about her boyfriend. Thankfully, Ace stepped up and asked Spring to give him another chance. Personally, I applauded his grovelling attempts, even coming around to see my dad and apologise to him for hurting his daughter. It showed respect for Spring and real balls because Lennie was tenacious when it came to his girls—hurting our feelings a first-class hard no in Lennie’s book.

  “That boy is on probation as far as I am concerned, so he buys his own fucking beer,” Lennie growled deep. “Until I decide he can drink mine.”

  “Lennie, you are so hot and sexy when you get all growly, tonight you and I are sleeping in Charlene’s sleeper cabin,” my mother crooned, getting the same reaction she always got from her children with her inappropriate over shares.

  “Good Lord, Trish.”

  “Must you?”

  “Give me a break for the love of God.”

  All three complaints came at once from Spring, Brecken and me.

  “Trish, I am trying to keep Luca, not give him a chance to bolt,” I huffed good naturally, not meaning to sound nasty more flip. I gave up being embarrassed by my parents’ behaviour long ago, but this was Luca’s first time in the crazy loony bin, and I didn’t want him overwhelmed too quickly.

  “Oh, get over it Meadow, you should be so lucky as us after you have been married for twenty-five years.” Trish slapped me on the leg before turning to look at Luca.

  “Spice in a marriage is the key to longevity. Sex in the cabin of a truck, or out the backyard in the hammock, those and more are the reasons Lennie has been so lucky all these years.” Turning back to my dad, Trish gave him a sweet smile. “Isn’t that right, Stud?”

  “Fucking oath, gorgeous. Humiliating the kids in the process is just an added bonus to our happiness,” Dad agreed.

  “Well, I am definitely not running,” Luca announced, leaning over to take my hand, “I’m running to her, but not going to run away from her.” His eyes were boring into mine as he spoke, and in those deep blue eyes, I saw nothing but honesty and sincerity.

  Lifting my plate off my lap, I hastily shoved it in my mother’s direction and jumped off the beanbag, throwing myself down into Luca’s crossed legs. Awkwardly, avoiding his own plate, I wound my arms around his neck and pulled his face down for a kiss.

  “You are so sweet; I am definitely keeping you,” I mumbled against his lips, the taste of spicy barbeque sauce mingling with the beer Dad gave him and Luca’s own unique taste.

  “There was no other choice for you, baby,” Luca countered, nipping at my bottom lip. The grumbling from Brecken and Spring was not lost on me; I just chose to ignore it as I continued to kiss Luca in a parent watching friendly way.

  “Alright boy, I already like you more than Ace, don’t go messing shit up for yourself by mauling my daughter in front of me,” Lennie warned, making me laugh, and Luca tense slightly and end our kiss.

  Grinning at my man, I pressed my cheek to his but heeded my father’s light warning and pulled back on the PDAs. Inside I was brimming with encouragement and hope for our future and happiness, so much happiness. Our immediate connection scared me at first, so much so I couldn’t help questioning what we were and what was happening between us. Now I was fully in and looking forward to every day I could get with him.

  “Baby? Hey, baby, where is your head at?” Luca asked, pulling me out of my head and back to where my mind should be.

  “Sorry, babe, I was daydreaming.” Running a hand over his closely buzzed head, I heard a dinging sound coming faintly from Luca.

  “My phone. Can you grab it out of my back pocket for me please, baby?”

  “Yep, hang on a sec.” Unwrapping an arm from his neck, I reach around his wide frame and dug a hand into his jeans pocket, taking a second to cop a feel of his tight derriere and receiving a low growl and squeeze, then lifted the phone out and handed the vibrating device to him.

  “There ya go, Spunk.”

  “Minx,” he clipped, peaking my lips before sliding open his phone and put it to his ear.

  “You did well, Meadow Lavender,” Mum congratulated me in a hushed tone as not to be heard by whoever was talking to Luca. By the sounds of his grunts and the way his body was tensing under me, I had a feeling this was not a good sign for my plans of giving him a blow job.

  Damn it.

  “Thanks, Trishy, he is quite a spunk rat, isn’t he?” I whispered over my shoulder to her, earning another hip squeeze.

  “Very dishy, and I do like the whole bald thing he has going on. But for the wedding photos, he should grow it back.”

  “Trish!”

  “Mum!”

  Spring and I yelled at the same time, and this time Luca not only squeezed me, he nearly choked on his own spit halfway through talking business on the phone.

  “Run, dude, run before you get too deep,” Brecken chimed in, his mouth full of macerated pizza.

  “Brecken! Not helpful,” I admonished, but not worried. Luca was my one, and I was his. I was as sure of our future as I was my hair was blonde.

  “This whole house is certifiably nuts,” Spring murmured, “no wonder Ace freaked out.”

  “He freaked out before he met us, baby girl,” Lennie piped up, “I believe it was your crazy that scared him to leave in the early hours of the morning.”

  “Thank you, Lennie,” Spring huffed, “don’t you have a truck to polish and whisper sweet nothings to?”

  Laughing at my sister, Lennie got up from the floor, his colossal frame suddenly making the room seem crowded.

  “You know, Springy, your mother asked me to wear a condom the night you were conceived. But I said no, just food for thought, darlin’.” Bending over, he gave Spring a smacking kiss on the top of her head, then grabbed his plate and headed for the kitchen.

  “Want something else to drink, sugar?” he asked my mum, and I could see that he was strongly controlling his desire to laugh.

  I swear this family needs some major therapy.

  “Shit,” Luca hissed, and his phone landed with a soft thump on the carpet by our feet.

  Looking at him, I saw the thin line of his mouth and the regret in his eyes.

  Yep, no blow job.

  “Bad news?”

  “I am so sorry, baby, but yes. I have to get back to the office and meet with a client tonight. A discrepancy in the plans I drew up has just been detected by the safety officer on the job site. I have to get it fixed before the crew resumes work tomorrow morning.”

  “So, no putting my mouth where the money is?”

  Luca rumbled a laugh, his shoulders shaking around me.

  “Not tonight, but it will be where I crave it to be soon, baby, I promise.”

  “Okie dokie, no worries, Spunk.” Climbing off his lap, I reached down and offered him my hand. There was no way I would ever be able to lift him, but it was the thought that counts. Luca smirked at my offer but still took my hand and easily hauled his body up without giving me any of his weight.

  I can not wait until he throws me around in bed.

  “I can take you home before I head to the office, baby.”

  “No, that’s okay. I think I will hang out here with Trish and Lennie for a
bit longer. Spring can give me a lift when she leaves.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

  Wrapping my arms around Luca’s waist, I leaned into him, my head resting on his broad chest. For long seconds, I stood there with his arms around me, cradling me and enjoyed our closeness. I noticed that Luca sounded really upset that he had to leave and was shocked that I was happy to let him go straight to the office without first taking me home. I got the impression his mum and sisters were behind that reaction.

  “You go, get this issue worked out and I will see you tomorrow. We can try out that Italian take-out place you raved about and spend the night on my couch eating carbs all night.”

  “Can’t wait,” he murmured, hugging me tight. “Walk me out?”

  Nodding, I waited while Luca said good-bye to my parents, gave Spring a wave, then stopped when he turned to Brecken.

  “I have no intention of running, dude, I am already in deep with this woman, and I want to be.” With that parting shot, Luca took my hand and we walked out of the room. My smile so big I knew my cheeks were going to ache in the morning.

  Yep, he is a keeper.

  “You have to go, Luca,” Kayla insisted for the fifth time, “Dave is upset you aren’t there overseeing the plan changes, he doesn’t trust Roger or Rick to do it.”

  “That is fucking bullshit and you know it. I haven’t been on that job site once since we broke ground. The mistakes in the design were Dave’s, not the company’s, and not Rick or Roger’s.” Even as I ranted, I knew that there was no getting out of doing exactly what Dave wanted. Being there personally made no sense, and in my opinion, was an insult to my crew and to me, but this project was worth a lot of money to the business, and I could see no way out of it.

  “If you finish off the work you have on your desk now, you can be out of here in two hours and on the road by lunchtime.”

  “Whatever.” I was not happy. Not only had my night with Meadow been called short because of this calamity, by the time I calmed Dave down enough to reason with him and assure him I could fix the design without too much lost time, it had been too late to go back to Meadow’s place. I drove past her house in hopes that she was still up, but the house had been pitch black, not a sign of a light inside. I couldn’t help but notice that the whole street was dark without any street lighting and that made me pissed. It wasn’t safe for a woman living on her own to be without at least the security of good street lighting. I made a mental note to talk to her about letting me install sensor lights on her front and back decks, as well as some at the front gate.