“So, I hear you have girl problems.” I lift an eyebrow as he hands me a very full glass of whiskey. I take a quick look around to notice Josh didn’t follow me in here. What are they planning?
“Something like that.” I take a drink. Fuck, that shit is stout!
“You know, we never thought you would settle down.” I close my eyes with a sigh. What the fuck is going on? My dad and I have never had the talk about women. Why does he want to have it now? I open my eyes and gulp down another good size drink.
I nod. “Yeah, me either.”
“You know we’ve always been proud of you, son.” I look over to him as he continues. “You were always the wild one. You partied in high school, you partied even harder in college.” He takes a drink before looking back at me. “You always seemed to keep excellent grades, though, no matter what you were out doing.”
He looks down at his drink. “Even now you still party and get into fights. People always talk about you at the office.” He looks up to me. “About how good an attorney you are. I don’t care what you do outside of work because I know your job is important.”
I nod. I did party hard. There were times I would go into class with no sleep, still drunk, but I never missed my classes. School was always a main priority to me.
“I was just like you. Partier, different women, never wanted to settle down, until I met your mother.”
A slow smile spreads across his face as he mentions my mother. “Do you know the story about your mom and I?”
I shake my head no.
He leans back in his chair, getting comfortable. “I first saw her at a restaurant. I was twenty-three and in college at Yale. Your mother was twenty, an art student. I was eating dinner with some buddies when she walked in with a guy and I thought she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. My buddies started laughing and said she was way out of my league.”
He smiles a full on smile “I was never the kind to back down from a challenge. You’re like me in that way. Anyway, I went right over to her table where she and her date were sitting. She totally brushed me off, told me to go away. Said she’d heard of me, and how I was with women, and wasn’t interested in a man like me.”
I laugh before I take another drink, knowing how my mom probably went off on him. She’s pretty feisty.
Just like my Angel.
He sits up, putting his elbows on his knees. “I think I fell in love with her right then and there. I never gave up. I saw her every day for three months. For three full months she rejected me every day. It was hard work! I’d never had to work so hard for a woman before.”
“Well, it paid off.” I raise my glass before I down the rest of it. When I put my drink down, I notice he’s still staring at me. “What?”
“I told her within a month we were together that I loved her. You know when she told me?”
“No”
“Four months. Four months together before she said it.”
“Dad,” I sigh, “I’m glad to hear the story about you and Mom, but what does it have to do with me?”
“The point is, Son, anything worth having is going to be hard work. You chase after her as long as you have to, but you never give up. You make sure to see her and talk to her every day. I don’t know the reason you two are fighting right now, but I do know she loves you. Everyone knows that.”
I look at my empty glass. “She might love me, but she doesn’t want to love me.” God, it hurts to say that out loud.
“Well, then you need to give her a reason to change her mind. Women want to be shown, not told. You giving her space is showing her that you don’t think you need her, and no matter how strong she is, she wants to be wanted. Everyone who has ever been important to her has left her.”
“I would never leave her,” I say with a clenched jaw.
“Then show her that.” He shrugs
I hear Micah walk in.
“Hey, Dad. Hey, Slade. Why aren’t you with Sam?”
“What do you mean?” Do I have to explain to everyone that she doesn’t want to love me?
“I talked to Holly on my way over here and she said Sam called in sick tonight. I figured you would be taking care of her.”
I stand up. “Sick? What kind of sick?” Why wouldn’t she call me if she was sick?
He shrugs “I don’t know. She just said she was sick.” Micah sits down on the couch.
I turn to my dad and he smiles. “Good luck, Son.”
I nod and head out the front door, not even bothering to say bye to my mom or Josh. I have a feeling this is what they wanted me to do anyway. My family can be sneaky.
On my way to her house, I stop off at the store to pick up some chicken noodle soup. I know it’s not homemade, but it could help if she’s feeling bad.
As I pull into her driveway, my palms star to sweat. I’m so nervous. What if she tells me to leave, or that I’m not giving her enough time? What if she’s decided she just wants to end it?
I square my shoulders. I love her. I will never let her go without a fight, even if that means we have to have a yelling match out here on her front porch.
I ring the doorbell and wait for her to answer. Shit! I forgot the soup in my car. Oh well, I’ll go back out and get it after I see her. I might not be staying long, anyway. She may kick me out, or not even let me in.
As I ramble on inside my head, she opens the door. My heart breaks. She doesn’t look her normal radiant self. She looks like she hasn’t slept in days. Her eyes are puffy and red, and she looks thinner than before.
And she’s wearing my t-shirt.
Only my t-shirt and nothing else under it.
“Slade,” she says, wide-eyed.
I put my hands in my pockets and rock back on my heels. Here goes nothing.
“I didn’t get to say I was sorry before you left.” I take in a deep breath. “I’m sorry. For everything. The yelling and cussing at you. You didn’t deserve it. I know it seems like I’m always apologizing, and if I would just keep my mouth shut, I wouldn’t have to. Hurting you is never my intention, I only want to show you how much I care for you and how much you mean to me, I guess I just do it wrong.” I take in another deep breath as she stares at me teary eyed.
“I know you said you needed time and space. I can’t give you any more space, but I can give you more time. I’m not asking for you to say you love me, or tell me you can’t live without me, but these last couple of days have been torture. I need to sleep with you at night. Not fuck, sleep. Me holding you, touching you, loving you. I can’t do without you anymore.”
I pull my hands out of my pockets and place them up in front of me as I see tears slowly run down her face. “Please don’t be mad at me. I just couldn’t go another minute without seeing your beautiful face, or hearing your soft voice. These last two days, I haven’t been me. I’m not the same without you. I feel like a part of me is missing, the best part, because you are the best part of my life, Angel. Please tell me it’s okay that I’m here, standing on your door step, wanting to come in and spend the evening holding you in my arms. Because I can’t go another day without seeing my beautiful angel.”
She just stares at me as I watch her tears fall. I want to wipe them away. I want to kiss them away. I want to take her in my arms and hold her while whispering I love her over and over. I want to tell her I will never give up on her because she’s the best thing that I have ever known.
She shakes her head. “I haven’t heard from you,” she croaks out. “I thought you forgot about me and moved on.”
I step in her front door and place my body right up to her as I grab her face in my hands. “I could never forget about you, Angel. You are the best thing to have ever happened to me. You are all I think about. You have consumed me, Angel, in a way I never knew was possible.” I wipe a tear away as it falls. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Please, don’t push me away.”
She closes her eyes as a few more tears fall. “I’m so sorry, baby.” She opens them
. “I’ve missed you so much.” She wraps her hands around my stomach as she put her head in my chest. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and kiss the top of her head, then bend down and wrap an arm under her legs picking her up so I can carry her to bed.
“I missed you too, Angel.” I kiss her forehead as I lay down in bed next to her. I pull up the covers and we cuddle up to one another, holding on as tight as we can.
It doesn’t take long until I hear her breathing slow and her body relax. I lay there as I rub my knuckles up and down her cheeks. I love her so much. I don’t need her to say the words, I just need her to not push me away because I need her.
She is my life now.
I sigh and close my eyes, letting myself get the best rest I’ve had in two days.
I open my eyes and roll over. Where is Slade? I sit up and look around my room. My heart sinks when I don’t see him.
“Slade?”
Nothing.
I sigh and get up. I have no idea what time it is. I walk to the kitchen to get a bottle of water. I was so happy last night when I opened the door to find Slade standing there. After everything he said, I was speechless. All I could think was how I hadn’t heard from him; how his words had went against his actions. I did tell him to give me space, though. Was I expecting him to come after me? I have no idea. All I know is when I woke up this morning, I was happy to wake up next to Slade. Now I’m crushed all over again. My mind is playing very dirty tricks on me. Maybe I’m going crazy.
I grab a bottle of water out of the fridge then turn to see a note on my counter.
Angel- sorry I didn’t wake you this morning. I figured you needed your sleep. I had to be up early for work. I should be out of my meeting by 12:30. I want to spend the day with you and take you out. I’ll be back to your place around 1 to pick you up. Love, Slade
I start jumping up and down in my kitchen like a toddler.
He was here! I’m not going crazy! I’m going to spend the day with him! He loves me!
I catch sight of the clock over the stove and it reads 11:20. “Shit!” I grab my water and run to the shower. I don’t have much time.
True to his word, I hear the doorbell ring at 1 PM on the dot.
“I’m coming!” I yell as I pull my shirt over my head.
I swing open the door to see the most beautiful man, wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a gray t-shirt with a pair of tennis shoes. He walks right in, and lifts me up in his arms and I giggle.
“Good afternoon, Angel.” He kisses me deeply, sending chills through my body.
“Good afternoon, baby,’’ I say breathlessly as he pulls away and sets me down. “I need to put my shoes on real quick, then I will be ready to go.”
“Okay, hurry up.” He swats my butt as I walk away from him.
I stand in front of my full length mirror in my closet, checking my outfit. I have a bright pink t-shirt on with a black tank top underneath that’s longer so it peeks out of the bottom of my shirt, along with a pair of jeans that are flared and a pink pair of high heels.
As I walk out of my closet, I see him sitting on my bed. He stands and walks towards me. He places his hands on my hips and pulls my body to his. I watch as his brows scrunch together.
“What’s wrong?”
He steps back and holds my hands out to my side while his eyes look me up and down. “Let me see your shoes.” He’s looking down at my feet, but you can’t see them because of my jeans being so long and flared.
I let go of his hand so I can lift one of my pant legs. He starts shaking his head no. “What?” I look down at my heels. They are cute; bright pink with a skinny black heel.
“How tall are those?” He asks, astonished.
I shrug. “Probably four inches. I usually wear four, but I have some that are six.”
He starts shaking his head faster. “You need to wear tennis shoes today. Go change them,” he orders.
Didn’t we just have this talk a few days ago? He can be so bossy.
I let go of his other hand and cross my arms over my chest. “Why?”
“Because we are going to be doing a lot of walking today, and I want you comfortable.” He crosses his arms over his chest, daring me to argue.
I do.
“These are comfortable. I could probably run a race in high heels. Walking around town isn’t going to bother me,” I huff.
“Please, Angel. I want you to wear tennis shoes today.”
“Fine! Give me a sec,” I say unhappily. I turn around before I have to see that victory smile. I walk back out of the closet with my black Nike shox on.
“Let me see.”
My eyes snap to his as I give him an angry look.
“Please.”
I huff as I lift my pant legs.
“Excellent.” He takes my hand. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going today?” I ask as he opens his door to his car for me.
“We are doing some sightseeing.”
“Have you picked up your truck yet?’’ I ask as he turns off my street.
“No. they didn’t have my tires in stock, so they had to order them. It could be ready tomorrow, or a couple of more days before its ready.” He turns on his blinker to get on the freeway.
“Are you going to press charges against Jessica?”
He shakes his head. “There’s no way to prove it was her. We all know it, but none of us have any proof. It would just be a waste of my time.”
I nod in agreement. “How were you able to take off half the day today?”
“I didn’t have much to do. I couldn’t miss the meeting this morning, but the rest of my day would have been slow.” He reaches over to grab my hand, never taking his eyes off the road. “Even if it would have been busy, I still would have taken it off to spend time with you, though.” He gives my hand a little squeeze.
Geez, he is making my insides melt.
“What made you decide to be a lawyer? Did you want to do it just because of your dad?” I look out the window, trying to figure out the direction we are going, but I have no clue where we are.
“I’ve wanted to be a lawyer since I can remember. I can’t say my dad didn’t have some sort of influence on my decision, though, but he is not the main reason. Growing up, he always told us we could be whatever we wanted to be. He was always letting us do our own thing. He was that way with every aspect of our lives. I wanted to play football, Micah wanted to play baseball and wrestle. He and Mom were very supportive. They always made it to every one of our games or matches.”
“You played football?” I shouldn’t be surprised. He just has that look to him. A tall muscular body and a personality that just screams he’s a leader. I can see him getting his team wound up before a game.
“Yep. I started when I was six all the way to my senior year.”
“Quarterback?”
He looks over at me with a cocky smile on his face. “You know it, baby.” He wiggles his eyebrows.
I throw my head back and laugh. He’s a cocky bastard, and I’m sure he used that to his advantage getting girls in bed.
“What?” he asks, offended.
“Nothing,” I say, shaking my head. “I was just thinking about how you probably used that to your advantage to get laid.” I laugh again as he smiles, looking at the road. “I doubt you needed the help, though.” It should make me upset how many girls he’s been with, but it doesn’t. I can’t get mad over something I can’t change. What matters to me is that I have him now. Although, if for some reason any of those girls come back into the picture wanting him now that he‘s mine, they will see me go postal on their sorry little asses.
“Why didn’t you play in college?”
“Well,” he sighs, “Don’t get me wrong, I liked football. I just knew I didn’t have a future in football. I wanted to concentrate on my academics. I didn’t want football to take away from that.”
I nod as I turn my face to the road and see the St. Louis arch. I lean down to loo
k up through the top of the windshield to get a better look of it. Damn, it’s so tall.
“Have you been up to the arch?” Slade asks as I continue to stare at it through the windshield.
“No,” I shake my head at the windshield.
“Good.” I can hear his smile in his voice.
“Is that where we are going?” I ask excitedly.
He nods his head as I squeal.
He parks the car and helps me out. “We are going to eat first. You must be hungry.”
“I am.” I cuddle up to his side and grab onto his arm tightly. He laughs as he wiggles his arm loose and wraps it around my shoulder, pulling me close to his side.
We walk up to Arch View Café. “Would you guys like to sit inside, or on the patio?” A women asks once she’s greeted us.
Slade looks down to me. “Outside, please.” I want to sit out in the sun and enjoy the day.
We follow her out to the back patio where she sits us at a round rod iron table looking over the river. You can see tall buildings and the arch right on the other side of it. “Your waitress will be right with you guys.”
“Thanks.” The arch looks pretty as the clouds are rolling in. “It looks like it’s going to rain.”
“It’s not supposed to.”
“Never know.” I open my menu to see what I want.
“Tell me about your college days.” He doesn’t bother to open his menu as I feel his eyes on me.
“The first year was hard.” I look up at him through my lashes, “for obvious reasons.” I look back to the menu. “It got easier after that. I became a wino while in college. I don’t know how I would have survived without wine and Courtney. She came down and visited quite often. Well, she did until our senior year.”
“Why is that?”
“We were both busy with school. The first time I called my mom it was…”
I get so caught up with him that I sometimes want to tell him everything. But some things a girl just needs to keep to herself.
“...we were both busy with college trying to make sure we had everything we needed, getting ready for graduation. I picked up a few extra classes both semesters, and she had done the same.”
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