Forgiving Reed (Southern Boys #1)

by C. A. Harms

  “You live five minutes from here. I can follow you, and we can grab your things. Or I could just stay at your place.” I hooked my finger into her belt buckle and tugged at it playfully.

  “I’m tired, and you’ve had a long day. Let’s just call it a night.” God damn Maria and her fucking self-destruction. She was cock-blocking me, and I felt like marching over to Gavin’s and knocking some sense into her. “Maybe tomorrow night. Call me when you’re done working.”

  I nodded, but on the inside I was kicking at the dirt beneath my feet and cussing like a sailor. “Okay.” I kissed her once more and stepped back as she climbed into her car. Leaning in through the window, I kissed her again. Watching her carefully, I couldn’t help but ask. “Kori, did I do something wrong?”

  Shaking her head, she smiled forcefully. “No. I’m just tired. I just need a good night’s sleep. It’s nothing more than that.”

  “It’s just been four nights since we were together. I’m kinda missing ya. I got so used to having you both around all the time,” I declared.

  “Tomorrow night, I promise.” I agreed once again, but only on the outside. I wanted to force her to tell me what was going on.

  I watched her taillights as she drove down the driveway, and my stomach dropped. I was tempted to jump in my truck and follow her home. Why the hell did it feel like she was pulling away from me? The thought was driving me crazy.

  I wasn’t happy about the feelings I had flowing through me. They were quickly overtaking my mind. Something didn’t feel right. The idea of losing her made me nauseated.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “So asshole, did you ask her yet?” Ben barged into my office at the back of the bar. I had some paperwork to finish up, so today I would be tucked behind closed doors.

  He flopped down in the chair on the other side of my desk and crossed his arms. “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about, pussy. Kori, you were gonna ask her to move in.” He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “You grow a set yet, or you still thinking it over, coming up with a plan of attack?”

  “I’m working up to it.” I was in a pissed off mood today, and I really didn’t have the strength to fight this out with him. The guy could read me like a book.

  “Why you keep waiting? You two bounce back and forth all the time. Why not make it easier for the both of you?” I slid my chair back and pushed my legs out before me.

  I stared across my desk at my best friend for over twenty years, and at this moment I had a strong urge to deck his ass. “We haven’t stayed over with each other for five nights now, so I’m not sure asking her to move into my place would be a good idea. Not when I can’t even convince her to spend the night.” I ran my hand through my hair and sighed in frustration. “Maybe she’s having second thoughts about us. Maybe she thinks things moved too fast, and now she’s pulling back.”

  “Nah, you two are good together. She loves you, man, you can see it when she looks at you. You ain’t got shit to worry about. Just let it ride out.”

  “Yeah, I hope you’re right.” I sat back up, leaning forward on my desk. “She said we’d get together tonight.” I shrugged.

  “See, it’s all good, bud, no worries.” Ben stood up and walked from the room. I only wished I felt like his words were true. I had spent every moment since she drove away last night with my stomach in knots. The thought of losing her and Rhett was turning me inside out.

  ***

  Not working past 4. We still on for tonight? R

  Yeah, I’ll be at your house at five. I’ll bring dinner. K

  Okay, I love you. R

  Love you too. K

  Staring down at my phone, my heart raced. Tonight was it. I was going to ask her what the hell was going on and make her tell me.

  I finished up everything and stopped by the flower shop on the way home. I grabbed a bouquet of flowers and made it home before five.

  I was just climbing out of the shower when I heard Kori holler from the living room. “Hello?”

  I poked my head out the door and told her I was just getting dressed. “I’ll be right out.”

  I threw on a pair of lounge pants and opted out of a shirt. When I walked into the living room, I found Kori smelling the flowers on the counter that separated the kitchen. “Hey, baby.” I kissed the side of her neck. “Those are for you.”

  “Thank you.” She turned to face me and pressed her lips against mine. I took advantage of our closeness and deepened the kiss, swallowing her moans. “Wow,” she gasped as I pulled back.

  “Are we okay?” I asked

  Her eyebrows creased in confusion. “Of course, why wouldn’t we be?”

  “You just seem distant, and it’s had me worried. Like I messed up in some way, or maybe you’re having second thoughts about us.” Her hand traced the skin along the top of my lounge pants. It felt so nice to have her touching me.

  “I’ve been worried about Maria. She isn’t really talking to me a whole lot. She’s keeping her distance and not sharing anything. She won’t talk about Gavin. If I bring him up at all, she shoots it down.” She tucked her finger in the top of my pants and looked down. “She thinks I’ll go off on him again.” She shrugged and sighed. “I probably would, I just hate the entire situation. It makes me sick to my stomach because I know she feels more than he does. She’s setting herself up for disaster.”

  Kori came closer and placed a soft kiss against the center of my chest, before looking up into my eyes. “But never once have I regretted us, our closeness. I’m sorry if I made you feel that way. I love you.” I brought my lips to hers once more for another kiss. “If it wasn’t for you and the support you give me, I’m not sure where I’d be right now. You mean the world to me and to Rhett. Don’t ever think that I’m pulling away from you. Remember, we talk things out…we agreed.”

  I grinned down at the girl who stole my heart all those years ago, and my chest ached with the overpowering love I felt for her. She had the ability to weaken me like no other. Between her and Rhett, I had no hope of survival if I ever lost them.

  After dinner and the cleanup, we put a movie in and relaxed on the couch. I held her in my arms, and Rhett curled up next to me. I was getting used to the animated movies, those had become our go-to. Tonight it was The Croods. I’m pretty sure I could recite it word for word, if I were asked to. For only being a year and a half, Rhett was very attentive. He was able to sit through a movie, and we could all enjoy it.

  We put Rhett to bed in the room I called his. I had made it into a bedroom just for him. It was full of the things he loved, and most days it was like pulling teeth to get him to leave it. I imagined daily what it would look like to have his tractor bed, along with his other things, filling the room. I wanted them with me. I wanted to know that when I came home from work, they would be here.

  I was lost, so in love with the thought of both of them filling my home. I wanted that so badly.

  Kori and I crawled into bed, and I pulled her close to me, covering her body with mine. Her smile lit up my life in ways I couldn’t explain.

  “I’ve missed you the last few days. I don’t like being apart. I love having you both here.” I kissed her jaw and whispered in her ear. “You two mean so much to me.”

  Running her fingers through my hair, I felt her body shudder as I trailed kisses down her neck. “I love you too, and I love being here with you.”

  “Move in with me.” I met her gaze and grinned. “Move in, and let’s start our life together…here.”

  I could see the glistening shimmer in her eyes. She continued to look up at me as her lower lip trembled and her hand rested against my chest. “You sure you want us here, all the time? You won’t get sick of us?”

  I chuckled and skimmed my nose over hers. “There is no way I could get sick of either one of you. When you’re not here, it feels empty. I want both of you in my world always, every day. You said it needs a woman’s
touch, so move in and make it your home too.”

  She gripped the back of my neck and pulled me down, crushing her lips to mine. The kiss was heavy, her tongue sweeping through my mouth. It wasn’t going to take much to get me all riled up. It had been too damn long since I had touched her.

  “Okay,” she whispered, and that was all it took. I felt like the weight that had been pressing on my chest over the last week was now lifted.

  Over the next hour there was not a space on her body I didn’t kiss and devour. I was almost carnal, I did everything I could to keep my shit under control. It was one of the hardest moments of my life.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  “Oh god,” Kori moaned out as I drove inside of her sweet body over and over. “Yes, just like that.” Hearing her words drove me harder and faster. I reached around her waist and found her sweet spot, rubbing in a circular motion. Seeing her bent over in front of me with her back arched, pushing back against me with each thrust, was erotic.

  Just when I felt her body tense and she gripped my cock with such fierceness, I let go. I came so damn hard my toes curled, and I gripped her waist tightly, holding her against me.

  Kori’s petite body fell forward onto the mattress, and I crashed to the space beside her. She turned her head to look over at me, and a smile spread out over her full lips. Her hair was wild, halfway covering her beautiful face. I brushed the golden locks away and could tell she was still breathing hard.

  “That was, uh,” she panted. “Wow, I’m not sure I’m going to have full function of my legs tomorrow. They feel like jelly. My whole body feels like jelly, to be honest.”

  I chuckled and traced over her center of her back with my fingertips. “That was a week’s worth of loving you just got, wrapped up in one. I can’t go that long without you, it’s dangerous to your health.” That got a giggle out of her, which I loved to hear.

  “I’m sure I’ll be feeling that for days,” she whispered as her eyes grew heavy.

  “Well, you better recover quickly, because tomorrow night I’m gonna do it all over again.” I kissed her shoulder and pulled the covers up over our bodies. “I love you, baby.”

  She curled in toward me, tucking in against my chest. She was like a cuddling kitten. “I love you too, cowboy.”

  ***

  “You found your balls and became a man.” Ben chuckled handing me the bucket of screws. I recruited him to help me finish the room extension on the church. I had some other jobs that were approaching fast, and I needed to wrap this one up quickly.

  “I told you I was waiting for the right time.”

  “Right time, my ass, you were dragging your feet. You were just crying like a baby last night about her losing interest. You were scared shitless and you know it.” Ben chuckled as he continued to hold up the drywall.

  “Well, we talked last night, and things are good. She’s just having a hard time with Maria and Gavin.”

  “Yeah, what’s up with that? Leann told me she saw him dropping Josie off last Sunday morning. Then I hear he’s banging Maria.” Leann worked across the street from Josie’s apartment. She opened up a little hair salon when she came back home, and things took off from there.

  “I don’t get it. The guy is married and found his wife nailing his boss one night. He filed for divorce, and from what I hear, it’s messy. He picked up and moved here to get away from it all. The divorce ain’t final yet.” Placing the last screw in its place, we stepped back to grab the next one. “Screwing two girls in the same town, it’s gonna bite him in the ass for sure. Kori’s going crazy from it, she wants to beat the guy’s ass. When it comes to Maria she has a hard time just sitting back. That’s what’s been eating at her, and I see a battle brewing.”

  The emotional strain it was taking on my girl was enough to make me want to beat the man’s ass myself.

  “We still on for Saturday night?” Ben’s question pulled me from the virtual beat down I was giving in my mind. “Leann don’t suspect a thing. I told her it was just a night out, dinner and a few drinks.” Their anniversary was this weekend, and Ben wanted to surprise her with a celebration. I volunteered the bar and told him we could set up the back room for privacy.

  “Yeah, everything’s a go. The staff will get the room set up, and you just need to show up with your woman and a smile. He nodded, grinning like a fool. It was strange watching Ben with Leann. In our younger years he was the biggest horn dog. I didn’t think he would ever settle down. Now he had a beautiful wife and a daughter. He was happy, anyone could see that.

  “Eight o’clock on the dot. I’ll have her there.”

  ***

  Kori told her parents that I had asked her to move in. They were both happy, considering they hated her being at her place alone. Ever since the night she had the unwelcome visitor, we’ve all been uncomfortable with her being there. We agreed to slowly start packing up things and moving them over.

  One thing I did was go over to her place and load up Rhett’s bed. It was strange, but I needed to have it in my house. That made it seem final. That bed was the one piece of furniture from her place that made it all real.

  For the last two nights, I had stopped in the doorway of his room and smiled. That tractor bed tucked in the corner and his toys scattered over the floor made my heart race. They were home now, they were where they belonged, with me.

  Rhett had already been dropped off to his pappy, and Kori was in our room getting ready for our night out. Standing in the doorway, I watched as her hips swayed to the music that was playing from the stereo, as she curled her hair. She wore a pair of dark skinny jeans and an off the shoulder deep red shirt. It was form fitting and showed off the contours of her perfection. She had on a pair of black high heels and her hair was down. The back of her shirt was see-through and showed off a lacy little undershirt.

  I could feel myself growing a little too excited at the thought of peeling all of it off of her later.

  “You’re drooling, cowboy.” I met her cocky grin in the mirror and smiled in return. “You like what you see?”

  I closed the gap between us and pushed my hardness against her from behind. “I don’t know, what do you think? Does it feel I like it?”

  She bit down on her lower lip and wiggled her ass against my still growing erection. “It feels like you might,” she whispered breathlessly.

  I pushed her hair to the side and trailed my tongue up the side of her neck. Flipping against the lobe of her ear, she moaned softly. “I definitely like what I’m seeing. Later tonight I plan on showing you just how much, over and over.” I kissed her just below her ear. “Your beauty makes me weak, baby. I am powerless against you.”

  I looked up to meet her gaze in the mirror. Her eyes were shining with emotion. “You make me feel beautiful, thank you.”

  “Because you are beautiful, now hurry up before I say hell with tonight and tear you out of these clothes.” I pushed back and left the bathroom.

  I was serious about skipping tonight. I wanted to lock her sexy ass up in the bedroom and spend my entire night inside of her. That sounded so much better than sharing her with a bar full of people.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  When we got to the bar, it was almost eight. Most everyone was there, except the happy couple. We all settled in the back room and waited for the message that they had arrived. Marty, my bartender, was watching the door. Once they arrived, he would send a text so we could all get prepared to surprise Leann.

  I watched Kori and Maria talk in the corner. Kori had a worried look on her face. I wanted her to let it go. If Maria didn’t care that Gavin was using her, then Kori just needed to stop with the whole damn thing. I knew she loved Maria, but damn, enough was enough. I wanted a good night out with her, not a night of drama.

  They’re here

  My phone vibrated against my leg, and I warned everyone that Ben and Leann just walked in. I stepped up behind Kori and held her against my front. “Let it go, baby. Please stop trying to fix
it,” I whispered in her ear, and she squeezed my hand that rested over her stomach.

  Everyone yelled surprise followed by congratulations to the happy couple as they entered the room. Leann cried, because that was the kind of girl she was.

  I watched as everyone laughed and mingled. It was nice to see everyone having fun. The girls all went off to dance, while the guys chose to gather by the bar.

  Ben pulled up the bar stool next to me and leaned back against the counter. We were both looking out at the girls, keeping them in our sights.

  “When you gonna take the plunge?” Ben asked, and I looked over at him with confusion. “Come on, don’t act stupid. You know what I’m talking about.”

  I shrugged and chuckled. “Actually, I think you’ve had one too many beers. I have no damn clue what you’re talking about.”

  He held his hand up signaling Marty for two more beers. Then turned to me and grinned. “I’m talking about asking Kori to marry you.”

  I choked a little on the beer I had tipped up against my lips. After I cleared my throat and was able to gain my composure, I chuckled. “Do you want me to freak her out? I just asked her to move in with me. If I asked her to marry me, she would think I was nuts, damn. I would marry her in a second, but I’m not sure she’s ready for that yet.”

  He only shook his head and laughed. “You have no idea what she wants. I’ve seen the way she looks at you. The way you look at her. You two have got one hell of a connection, it’s like sometimes you’re the same person. Something like what you two share is hard to find.” Marty set our beers down in front of us, and I looked back over at my best friend. He was buzzing, but he was being honest and sincere. “I know when she came back here she was heartbroken. It took time for her to forgive you for what happened. Over that time, though, you two reconnected in a way you were never connected before. She’ll always have that spot in her heart for Rhett’s dad, but you’re hers forever.”