by Elisa Leigh
Fourteen
Maci Kate
I turn the handle to almost as hot as it can go. I like it hot, but I’m not at that level of masochism. Stripping the dirty clothes from my body, I step into the shower and under the hot spray. My body begins to shudder and melt under the scalding water. Finally, I let the tears I refused to allow Reece see fall.
You can try to imagine what it’s like to be a single parent, but if you haven’t ever been one, you wouldn’t know the struggle and utter exhaustion that can consume you at times. Today was one of those days. Bennett has been sick before; life goes on. With Reece coming back into my life, asking to be a part of it all, I was battling with what help I needed.
I don’t want to be the whiney partner who needs her man to do everything for her, but I don’t want to play the martyr, either. Reece is right, and this is what I sought in a man. We are in this together. If I truly trust him and want to make us work, I need to give a little. I need to learn to rely on him for everyday things like help with Bennett and the house. That’s another thing we have yet to discuss. We’re engaged now, so does that mean he’s moving in? He keeps calling this place home.
“Hey, love, what time do you expect David to be here?” Reece asks from the other side of the shower curtain. I didn’t even hear him come in. I hope he didn’t hear me crying.
Getting my wits about me in a flash, I think about the biggest pain in my ass, David. He’s such a loser. I always knew he didn’t compare to Reece. It’s glaringly obvious who the better man is.
“Baby?” Reece says, getting my attention.
“Yep?” I croak, realizing I had drifted off in thought. “Oh, right. Umm, he said he’d be here around four, but that was a while ago, so who knows if he’s even going to show up. Why?”
His hands twist me around, and he pulls me into him, our fronts touching, and I know why he wanted to know. I don’t know how he does it. His presence, while intimidating, is also the most protected I’ve ever felt. I melt into him, knowing beyond doubt that he’d keep me safe from anything. I wrap my arms around him, loving his strong, thick build, and run my hands up his back. “Reece, you are my safe place, the only place I can be the truest form of myself. Thank you for being my person. Thank you for loving me and allowing me to love you without fear.”
Reece grabs my shampoo and puts some in his hands before he begins washing my hair. When he’s finished, he turns me and helps to rinse it out, then grabs the conditioner and repeats the process. “You’re my home, Maci. Wherever you and Bennett are, that’s my home base. I’ve been a free soul for a long time now, and I finally feel as if I’m setting down some roots. I’m wrapping those roots so tightly around you and Bennett, you won’t ever be able to get rid of me. Don’t ever ask me to give up my home, because I won’t be able to.”
I grab my loofah, put my body wash on it, and begin washing Reece. I start at his chest and wash down his stomach, to his hard dick. I take my time cleaning him there, showing my love for him, being careful with his balls, then turning him so I can wash his back and his ass. We take turns cleaning and rinsing one another until we are clean and wrapped up in towels.
The quiet that surrounds us is warm, and I’m scared to say anything and break the spell, forcing us back to the real world. Maybe this is one of those magical moments that will begin to fill in our cracks and broken parts. I pray for many more, because this is one of my most treasured.
While we’re getting dressed, I see Reece grab clothes from the bed that he had placed there before he hijacked my shower. “Reece?”
“Yeah, baby?” he asks, while pulling his sweats up.
“Where do you keep getting clean clothes?” I say after I pull my panties up over my butt.
He laughs and helps me pull my shirt over my head. “I had a bag in my truck. I wasn’t sure if I should bring it in, but it’s in your closet now. I’ll put my things away later.” He sits on the bed and pulls me between his thighs. Biting my lip, I stare into his blue eyes, mesmerized by the man holding me in his arms. “Is that okay, Maci Kate? I figured we’re getting married soon, and I don’t even want to contemplate sleeping without you next to me. Don’t even get me started about not being around at night for you and Bennett, in case anything happens.”
Grabbing him by his scruffy cheeks, I lean into him, kissing his soft lips. “Of course it’s okay. I want you here every night, but do you want to live in this house? It’s the house I shared with David.”
He waits a few moments, considering his answer. “What do you want to do, Maci girl?”
I answer him immediately, knowing the right answer and not needing to think about it. “I want to sell it and start over, new, with you and Bennett in our own home. I loved this house because it was a part of my healing and standing up for Bennett and me, but I’m past that now.”
“I thought we could find a house near or on the lake. A big yard for Bennett, maybe a dog. One with a lot of rooms to fill with our children.”
“That’s perfect,” I sigh, hugging him close and giving him my full weight.
“Good. Now, I’m going to check on Bennett, and then we can figure out dinner,” Reece tells me, kissing me chastely on the lips. I walk out to the living room and see that he cleaned the kitchen and picked up all the dirty clothes I had scattered on the floor. I didn’t realize how nice it would feel to have someone here to help me with all the day-to-day stuff.
I go to my laundry room and start a load, putting the pile of clothes in that were set neatly next to the washer. I laugh when I realize that I’m smelling one of Reece’s shirts. It’s all the little things that are making him the most important person in my life, besides my son. He’s always trying for Bennett and me. He shows how much he cares by being here for the hard, not just the easy. I fold the clothes that have been in the dryer for the past three days.
When I’m finished, I go back to my room to put away my clothes. When I get to Bennett’s room, I hear my boys talking to one another. Their conversation breaks my heart as I listen.
“Why doesn’t my dad love me?” Bennett asks
“I’m sure he loves you, buddy, he’s your dad. Who couldn’t love you?” Reece replies after some quick thinking.
“I guess, but not like you do.”
“What do you mean, bud?”
“Well, you play with me, and you don’t get mad when I ask you somethin’. You came to make me feel better when I was sick. Dad doesn’t do that. I wish you were my dad.”
“I’ll be your dad if you want me to. I’ve never been a dad before, though, so you gotta tell me if I don’t get something right. Will you do that?”
“Yes! Can I call you Dad and everything?” Bennett asks, excitedly.
“Of course, you can. Whatever you want.”
Unable to hold myself back any longer, I walk in and find the two of them snuggled on the bed. Bennett is in Reece’s lap with his arms wrapped around his middle, giving Reece the biggest hug he can muster for a four-year-old. Reece looks up at me with moisture in his eyes and a huge grin.
“Come here, baby,” he rasps.
I walk over, and before I can do anything, Reece has his arm around my waist, pulling me into the both of them. I relish this moment for what it is: the very first time I have felt part of a family—part of my own little family, that is. As the happy tears fall, I hug my guys tighter, feeling blessed for having yet another magical moment today.
“Uh, Mom, Dad, you guys are squeezing me too hard.”
We all laugh and release each other.
“Good. I thought you guys were going to squeeze me into slime,” Bennett says before sliding off Reece’s lap and running out of his room without a care to be had.
I watch him disappear, and just as quickly as he ran out on us, all the stress of the unknown slips away and my soul is light and free, like it hasn’t been since I was a child. For I do know. I know that Reece will be there for it all. He’s the one person above all else I can count on.
> “Why the tears, baby?” Reece asks as he wipes away the few that I didn’t know had escaped.
“Oh, I didn’t even realize those had dropped. These are happy drops,” I say while still holding onto Reece as he slides me onto his lap.
“Happy drops? I’ve never in my life heard of these. How about you tell your fiancé about them.”
“No one has ever told you about ‘happy drops’? I’m shocked! The outrage! You’ve been deprived for so long,” I say, clutching my chest.
“Brat. Tell me,” he says, right before tickling my side and making me giggle.
Settling down, I continue. “They’re special, you know. Hard to come by in your life. There are few moments that touch you so profoundly that the happiness filling your soul seeps out of you. You see, you’re not crying, because tears and crying are for moments when your soul weeps in despair of a circumstance you contain within you. Happy drops are the opposite.”
Fifteen
David Wilson
“What the hell is going on with you, David? I heard from Sherriff Calver today that your work is slipping. He says you’re coming in late for your shifts, your reports are half-assed, and he doesn’t know where you are most of the time.”
This is the last thing I need to be hearing right now. I’ve been at my dad’s house for the last hour, listening to him ream me a new asshole, about what? Hell, I’m not sure. I’m barely paying attention to the shit he is spewing. I couldn’t care less what that pompous asshole Sheriff Calver says about me. Why the fuck is he going to my father about this? What, the written warning he gave me last week wasn’t enough? The fucker shouldn’t have even gotten the job. He’s in his early thirties—how did he even swing that? I guess it pays to be the town golden boy.
“Are you even listening to me? You look like shit, by the way. You couldn’t even bother to shower and shave before leaving the house? If your mother could see you now, she’d be disappointed in the man you have become.”
“You have no idea what is going on.” I slam my hands down, shouting at my father.
“I know that you gave up your family to fuck someone that you aren’t even with any longer. At least when you were with Maci, you had someone to take care of you. Now, what do you have? I heard she’s spreading her legs for that Atwood guy. Do you like how it feels, knowing another man is raising your bastard child? You couldn’t even get that right.”
“What do you expect me to do, Dad? I tried getting Maci back, but she wanted nothing to do with me,” I say bitterly, and take a swig of my third Jack Daniels of the night.
“I expect you to make her listen. She’s your wife, and Bennett is your child. You’d better get them under reign, let them know who’s in charge, any way you need to. You’re weak and sloppy. It’s making the family look bad. Get your balls out of your ass and stop whining like a little bitch. Your mother wouldn’t have even dared to cross me as Maci has you, because she knew what I would have done if she did.”
I give my father a sharp nod and finish my drink. No time like the present then, to talk with Maci. This time, I’ll make her listen. I threatened to take Bennett away from her, but that’s the last thing I want. I don’t need the headache of a fight for custody of a kid I didn’t even want in the first place.
When Maci became pregnant, I told her I would support her in whatever she wanted to do. I didn’t think she’d have the kid. Who in their right mind wants a kid when they are still in college? Hell, I don’t even want a kid now.
When she decided to keep the baby, my father told me I had to marry her, or it wouldn’t look right. The Wilson name isn’t as respected as my father wanted me to believe, though. A few well-off—not rich—lawyers and judges in the family, does not a family name make. What the hell did I know when I was twenty-one, though?
Hopping in my black Charger, I drive straight to Maci’s house, fifteen minutes from town. When we bought it, she had no desire to live in town. She doesn’t realize the sacrifices I made for her. I gave in to her wishes far too many times, which is exactly why she thought she could leave me. Things are going to be different when we get back together, though. She’s going to learn how to be a faithful and dutiful wife.
When I pull up to her house, the lights are off and her car is in the driveway. I can tell no one is home; it’s too early for her house to be silent. She better not be with Atwood, that Marine motherfucker. Thinking he can swoop in and take my family from me…They are MINE. I drive to the only other place she might be—her parents’ house. There’s loud music and at least six vehicles in their driveway when I get there I guess they’re having a party.
I used to be part of this family, so I don’t see why I can’t join them for a brew and see my ex and kid while I’m here. Two birds, one rock, or some shit like that. I dig in my glove compartment and pull out my pills, pop the lid, and swallow two Oxy to prevent the headache I know is coming, in the form of her fucking family. I lean my head back, giving it a few minutes to work through my system.
I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I know, someone is beating on my window. I look out and see two big dudes standing beside my car, staring at me intently. Their pissed off expressions don’t dissuade me from opening my door and stepping out to see why they’re bothering me.
“Do we have a problem?” I cross my arms and ask.
They look at me without saying a word, keeping their eyes trained on me, as if waiting for something—or someone. When a third man steps out of the house and starts walking towards us, I stand up straighter and glare as he approaches. Reece Atwood stops in front of me, hands on his hips, as if he has every right to be here.
“David, why are you here?” Reece asks me, and I can’t help but laugh at his over-inflated ego. What am I doing here? What is he doing here? And who the hell are these guys with him?
“That’s none of your damn business. Maci and I need to have a conversation. Now get the hell out of my way,” I growl, and begin to walk in the direction of the house when Reece stops me by stepping in my way.
“Wrong. There’s nothing you need to do or say to anyone in that house. Why don’t you turn around, go home, and sleep off whatever you took? Nothing good will come from continuing in your current direction,” he says.
I look behind me and see the two men, who have still said nothing, with their arms crossed and their feet planted, eyes on me. I’m not a stupid man. I could take Reece, but I wouldn’t get out of this with all three of them coming at me. Giving all three of them the one finger salute, I turn and get back into my car.
I peel out of the driveway, needing to get rid of the adrenaline running through my system. I’ll call Mallory. She’s good at helping me release energy.
“Hello.”
“Hey, doll. You want to come hang out for a while?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, David. I’ve had fun with you, but I—”
“Aww, come on, Mallory. One more time. I just need someone to talk to tonight. I saw my ex and son with another guy, and it hurt seeing my kid with someone else. I like being around you; you make my days brighter, and I could use some of you to shine on me right now.”
“I don’t know… God, okay, David. This is the last time. Pick me up in twenty. Same place, alright?”
“See you then, babe,” I say and hang up, already on my way to our spot. Twenty minutes later, I pick her up at the park in town and drive to one of the pull-offs that are out of the way.
Mallory is a girl I busted at an underage party on the lake a few months back. All her friends ran off and left her wasted when I showed up to break up the party. I was off duty, but since I hadn’t met with my guy in a week, I was already running low on my supply. I knew once I showed up, they’d scatter, and I could score whatever they left behind when they ran.
We hang out occasionally. Sometimes she brings her friends, and we get loaded on something I’ve confiscated. I get to watch the girls fuck each other while I take turns fucking one of the othe
rs. Other times, it’s just her, and we have our own party. She gives great head, and she lets me fuck her how I want when I give her a taste of what I’ve got on me at the time. I usually only give her pain pills. I don’t want to corrupt the girl.
Mallory sits in the seat beside me, smelling sweet and innocent, even though she’s far from it. I run the back of my fingers up her bare thigh, lifting her flowy skirt higher. She grabs my hand and pulls her legs together, stopping me from getting to her pussy. “David, you said you wanted to talk. So, talk.”
“Aww baby, give me a kiss, make me feel better. Then we’ll talk, I promise.” Hesitantly, she leans over the console and pecks my lips. “Give me more sweetness, Mallory.” This time, when she kisses me, her tongue sneaks out and licks the seam of my mouth. She isn’t usually this shy. “Hold on, baby. I’ve got something that will make you feel better. Putting a small blue pill on the tip of my tongue, I pull her face to me and kiss her, giving her the goods. She takes it greedily, wanting the high as much as I need what’s between her thighs.
I suck her bottom lip hard and she moans, finally getting into the game. “That’s it, baby. Now open those legs for me, show me your sweet pussy.” She bites her lip but widens her thighs. I waste no time and pull her wet panties to the side, swiping my fingers through her pussy lips. “You’re such a dirty whore. You love it when I touch you, don’t you, little girl?” She cries out when I shove three fingers into her tight pussy, roughly fucking her with my digits.
“Ow, David. Shit, that hurts. Slow down.” I’m not fucking stopping. She should know that about me by now.
“Shut the fuck up and take it like the hungry slut that you are.” I fuck her pussy with my fingers until it’s raw, and she’s crying and clawing at the sides of her seat.
I pull my fingers from her and shove them up into her face, making her clean them with her mouth. I lean back in my seat and pull down my zipper, freeing my dick from my pants. “Get over here and swallow my dick.” Mallory is the epitome of a fucking mess in the seat next to me. Her back is against the door, and she’s staring down at the floor, saying nothing and unmoving.
