by C. A. Harms
“He really loves her.” I smiled without even turning around. I knew his voice, also Connor looked like he was about to puke, so that confirmed Eli was standing behind me. “Is there a reason why you’re harassing my girl?”
I looked back at him and narrowed my eyes. “He isn’t harassing, he’s just…” I paused as I looked back at Connor. “What is it you’re doing?”
“Talking,” he began to stand. “We were just talking.”
“Are you finished?”
Poor guy, I honestly felt bad for him. He nodded, stepped backward, and almost fell on his ass as he tripped over his own bag that had managed to get tangled around his ankles.
When he was scurrying across the lawn, I looked back again just as Eli was moving to sit beside me. “You are so mean.”
“Aw, do you have a soft spot for the boy?”
“Maybe I do,” I threw back and he laughed.
“Sorry, sweetheart, but I know your type, and Connor is not that.”
“What’s my type?”
He leaned in and pressed a very over exaggerated kiss to my lips. “Me,” he shrugged, “I am all you need.”
“Yes you are,” I agreed as I went in for another kiss.
“After all,” he pulled away, taking the chance for me to get another kiss, “where else would I find a girl who could harass my brothers the way you can?”
I smiled, knowing he was referring to the little present I left for Clayton. Or should I say the two presents?
“Chicken shit everywhere, sweetheart.” I covered my mouth to hide my laughter. “You should have seen him running around his room chasing those little bastards. He’d catch one and then the other would come at him like it was trying to protect his friend. Clayton squealed like a girl so many times you’d think there was a pack of baby pigs.”
“That makes me very happy.”
He chuckles. “So does this make you even?”
“Not even close.”
“Babe, you’re beginning to scare me.” I’d have thought he was serious if he hadn’t leaned in to kiss me once more and allowed me to feel his smile against my lips.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Elijah
“Keep her busy,” I said as I lifted the mattress, still attempting to hold my cell firmly to my ear using my shoulder. “We just need like thirty minutes to finish up.”
“What would you suggest I do?” I closed my eyes tight, fighting off my frustrations. The delivery men were late bringing the furniture, which in turn threw us behind on setup. Now here I was begging Marcus to occupy my girl before she came home from work to find her room in shambles.
“Take her for ice cream, buy her a fucking horse. I don’t know, Marcus, just please stall.”
“You’re feisty, Red,” he said with a chuckle. “I like that.”
Dude was insane.
“You owe me,” he added and frankly I was seriously scared of what that meant but I’d deal with the consequences later.
I ended the call and started directing everyone that we needed to hurry. Clayton, Corbin, Xavier, and I were moving around the room while Aunt Meg and Morgan worked on the decorations, as they called them. Pictures on the walls and a curtain on the one window Blake had in her room. I let them choose the theme because I wasn’t good at that shit, and just paid the bill when they were done.
I’d saved up the money I’d earned when helping Uncle Miles on a few side jobs he had. I was happy to drop nearly half of it on this for Blake.
They’d finally gotten the three-bedroom apartment, which now meant she wouldn’t be sleeping on the couch. But when I walked in to find she had just moved to an air mattress in the middle of a big ass room I felt like shit. Knowing that I’d be at home sleeping in a bed with a big warm comforter and sheets while she was here sleeping on that was something I couldn’t have.
Now she’d show up to find a full-size bed, matching dresser, and a nightstand. I was prepared for her to complain, but I was also prepared to tell her that I loved her and this was me taking care of her.
I wasn’t blind; I’d noticed how she melted whenever I told her I loved her. It was something she hadn’t heard over the last eight or nine years, not since she lost her father. It was gratifying enough to know that I gave her that peace with the three simple words she’d been missing.
Twenty minutes later we all stood back and took in the room.
Blake loved the color blue, ocean blue to be specific, so that was the tone the ladies went with. Morgan threw in a few splashes of pale purple and silver, to give it a pop. Those were her words, not mine.
Now that I stood back observing it all I had to agree, it was perfect.
My uncle had a bookshelf he had built for one of his clients but it ended up too tall, so instead he brought it here for Blake. It sat back in a corner with a large fluffy chair my aunt had delivered as a surprise, as well as a tall spider lamp that came out and over, providing her with a little reading nook.
I was so glad I had the ladies here to help me, otherwise it wouldn’t have turned out so well. I reached out to my sides, hooking them both over their shoulders and pulling them in close for a hug. “Thank you both.”
“Our pleasure.” Aunt Meg hugged me back. “This right here just confirms what I’ve always known.”
“What’s that?”
“You are a good man, Elijah Ray.” Tears pooled in her eyes and I ignored the use of my middle name for her benefit. “A very good man.”
“I owe it all to the two people who raised me, because they are two of the kindest, most generous people. They helped me become the man I am.”
“Quite frankly, Red, you’ve surprised me.” I looked over at Morgan, who managed to break the deep moment and I was glad. “I never imagined you being all gooey gooey over a girl.”
She poked at my side and suddenly she was whisked away by Xavier. “Leave the man alone,” he told her. “When you find the one, you can’t help getting all soft.”
“I’m not soft,” I announced loud enough to gain everyone’s attention and almost in unison they all sang, “yes you are.”
The sound of Marcus shouting, “Honey, I’m home,” had my heart rate spiking. Suddenly we were all moving around, the guys rushing from the room and Aunt Meg spinning in circles. “Slow down, woman,” I said through laughter. “You’re gonna fall and break a hip.”
“Always the smart ass.” She shook her finger at me. “I want to know her reaction, but I don’t want to be here when she tackles you and things get hot.”
Morgan laughed.
“What?” She shrugged. “If I came home to find a gorgeous man standing in my room after he spent the evening redecorating it into this masterpiece you better bet I’d be breaking in the mattress.”
Just then Blake appeared in the doorway and we all froze. Her eyes roamed over the room, her mouth gaping open slightly.
“Hey babe,” I offered and she looked over at me. I immediately noticed the glistening look in her eyes and for a moment wondered if she didn’t like it.
“Did you do this?”
I nodded. “I had a little help, but yeah, it was my idea.”
She remained in place, staring at me, and with each passing second I felt my stomach growing hollow as my nerves kicked into high gear.
“I can’t believe you did this for me,” she mumbled as her lower lip trembled. I could sense she was fighting her reaction as she quickly looked at my aunt, then to Morgan before looking back at me.
I saw out of the corner of my eye as Morgan slowly slipped from the room without a word. I think she sensed that Blake needed a moment. My aunt stepped forward and without a second thought wrapped Blake in her arms, which only triggered a crazy reaction inside me. I’d never felt so raw before.
“You are such a special girl,” Meg assured her and I couldn’t have agreed more. Suddenly she stepped back, releasing my girl before she too left the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
“Do you like it?”
>
Tears rolled along Blake’s cheeks as she nodded. “I’ve never had anyone do anything like this for me before.” I didn’t move toward her, only allowed her to move around the room taking in every detail. “It’s perfect, actually better than perfect.”
“I wanted you to have a place to call your own, one that makes you feel safe.” I stepped up behind her as she stood near her bookshelf, now filled with books. “I know things haven’t been easy for you, but that’s over. I love you, Blake, I just want you to be happy.”
“I am.” She nodded, turning around to face me. Lifting her hands, she cupped my face. “Just being with you alone makes me feel all of those things. I’ve never been happier and I’ve never felt safer.”
I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers.
“So what do you say we break in that gorgeous bed over there?” She laughed as she tucked her head against my chest. It was what I did, who I was when I was with her. Take a moment, whether it was sad or tense, and make it happy and memorable. Her tears killed me, because in my opinion she had shed enough of them in her lifetime. I wanted her smiles every fucking day.
“We can most definitely break in that bed.”
The best part about it was that she was the same way. She found my humor uplifting in times of sadness.
We were perfect for each other, there was no doubt in my mind.
Epilogue
Catherine
“Why does that woman keep looking at me like I’m the devil?”
I sat down on the couch next to Isaac and tried to use his oversized frame as a shield. Had I been sitting next to Eli it would have worked, but Isaac wasn’t quite big enough.
“That’s Frankie,” he said with a wide smile. “The reason behind her death glare, sweetheart, is because you stole her man.”
“I what?”
“You see…” Isaac turned sideways on the couch so he could look at me better and Eli shoved against his back as he walked around the back of the couch and moved to my opposite side. “What, man? I was just gonna clue your girl in on your ex.”
My eyes widened in surprise, which only made Isaac laugh harder.
“I can already sense you never told Blake of your love for older women.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Eli said as he sat down next to me and pulled my body toward his. “I have never dated nor would I ever date our cleaning lady. She does however have this little crush on me.”
I couldn’t help the laughter that spilled from me when I imagined this woman drooling over Eli. I couldn’t say I blamed her actually; he was very easy on the eyes, but it just seemed crazy.
“You remember that time she rubbed that soothing cream on his ass?” Clayton said through laughter.
Now this caught my full attention. “Excuse me?”
“Or how about that time we caught her running her fingers through his hair when he was sleeping in the recliner?” Brent added as he held the controller in his hands and pointed it toward the television. “She was in some type of trance as she carefully and oh so slowly allowed his hair to roll through her fingers.”
Okay now this was getting a little creepy.
“What about the stash of his boxers we found in her trunk?”
I spun around to find Xavier standing behind me, lifting an apple to his mouth and taking a huge bite.
Jay chimed in looking almost excited to be sharing news of the woman who apparently stalked my boyfriend. “Oh yeah, and his practice jersey under her driver’s seat, and his cologne tucked in the center console of her car.”
“This is like a fatal attraction thing,” I said as I looked around the room at each one of them.
“They’re lying,” Eli assured me only I wasn’t yet convinced. Either these guys were really great liars or they were telling the truth.
“Don’t let your guy fool ya, though,” Xavier spoke around his apple. “He loves the attention.”
“X?” Elijah said in warning.
“What? There was a time when I remember you looking forward to the possibilities of conjugal visits from your lover—”
Eli was up off the couch and sprinting after a bolting Xavier. The entire room burst into fits of laughter when they noticed my worried expression. Only I didn’t get the chance to say anything more before I was lifted off the couch and carried up a flight of stairs.
We were almost at the top when I saw the woman I now knew as Frankie step out of the room just at the bottom of the stairs. She gave me a narrow-eyed look and just for giggles I offered her a little wave, causing her to turn her back to me and walk away.
Suddenly I was tossed to the bed and I bounced on impact before Eli was descending on me.
“That was all bullshit,” he growled as he covered my body with his.
“I don’t know, she looked pretty interested.” He started kissing along my neck. “Should I be scared of her slipping in your room one night and…” He cut me off with his mouth covering my own. Instantly everything else was forgotten when he traced my lips with his tongue.
Later, I thought, later we’d revisit this topic. For now I wanted to focus on nothing else but him and me. That was all it ever took, just one taste and I was hooked.
***
Elijah
“Do you think he’ll like it?” Blake held out the t-shirt she’d found for Toby. “He loves turtles and I found this place online that personalizes things. So, I thought why not?”
It was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shirt, all of the turtles on front with the addition of a fifth one. Little bubbles above them told of them talking of a new turtle on their team. A turtle named Toby.
On the back it said Toby the Turtle.
“He’ll love it, babe,” I assured her as I nudged her toward the front door of Morgan’s parents.
She seemed nervous but I knew she had absolutely nothing to be nervous about. The kid was gonna be thrilled.
With a knock on the door there was barely a pause before it came open and there stood Morgan’s mother inside. “Hi you two.” She offered a smile as she motioned to us to come inside. “What brings you here?”
“I got Toby something,” Blake said as she nervously twisted the handle on the bag. “I hope you don’t mind us just dropping by.”
“Of course not. Toby is in his room doing what he normally does.”
We all knew that meant he was watching his movie. Every chance he got he’d watch it.
I led Blake down the hall and when we filled the doorway, Toby thrust his hands up in the air, growing excited with our arrival. “Toby my man,” I said, moving inside to fist bump him. “We stopped by to bring you something Blake had made for you.”
The moment Blake pulled out the shirt and we showed him what it had on it his eyes grew wide with excitement. I was no longer needed to break the ice because Blake took over.
I watched in silence as she and Toby interacted. They danced all the spots in the show that called for it. Together they recited the words of certain scenes and I was mesmerized by the beauty of my girl. She wasn’t only the most gorgeous girl I’d ever seen but she was also so very beautiful on the inside too. Her compassion and ability to love so strong when she never really had a chance to experience that growing up amazed me.
Yes, she had her father but the hate from her mother was such a dark haze over her for so long.
I’d do it all over again, every single moment just to see her shine the way she was. She was my world.
***Sneak Peek***
Just One Touch
Oh, Tequila Series #3
By C.A. Harms
Clayton’s Story
I rolled to my side and the urge to piss hit me. As in I felt like I was about to burst. Forcing my eyes open, I looked around and was thankful to find myself in my own room, and from the looks of it, I was in one piece.
You never knew what the hell would happen waking up in this frat house; it was a chance you took every time you closed your eyes. Especially when you threw alcohol in the
mix.
Finding the strength to finally move, I lifted my hands off the mattress and a panic shot through me. I couldn’t pull my hands apart; they were fused together. “Damn it,” I growled, feeling the urge to piss only growing stronger. Wiggling free from the blankets that were wrapped around my body using just my legs, I managed to climb out of bed. Only the sheet got tangled with my feet and I found myself landing face first into the bedroom door.
“Motherfucker,” I cussed upon impact as my cheek lay smashed to the wooden planks of my door. At this rate I would most likely piss myself before making it to the bathroom.
I managed to get myself upright once again and realized that opening my bedroom door with my hands superglued together was nearly impossible. Slowly and very carefully I used my thumbs to twist the handle and on the third try I was able to get it.
I practically danced down the hallway, the head of my dick tingling so bad it was making my fucking eyes water. The moment I reached the bathroom I lifted my head to the sky and said a silent prayer thanking whoever it was above that cut me a break by leaving the bathroom door open.
Once inside I didn’t take the opportunity to close the door but instead started using my thumbs to hook one side of my boxers down as far as I could before moving to the opposite side. Once exposed, I stood before the toilet wondering how in the hell I was gonna hold my dick securely while I took a piss without hosing down the entire room.
Whatever genius decided to glue my palms together was a god damn prick.
Deciding to take the easy way out, I spun around and used my ass to lower the lid because the last thing I needed was to fall into the toilet. As I was lowering the lid I sat along with it, and the pain that shot through me in that instant was like nothing I had ever felt before.
“Fuck!” my pained cry echoed throughout the dark house.
There I sat on the toilet, my dick caught between the lid and the base, and if I tried to move it I only managed to tug on it harder.
