by C. A. Harms
I took in his words and rolled them around over and over. I was supportive of the fact that Blake needed to be remembered. I knew how important it was to have his memory live on, for Rhett’s sake. “I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I’m a little jealous. I wonder all the time if I will ever have the love he had from her. Will I ever be enough, or am I destined to always come in second to his memory?” I let out a deep breath before continuing. “Then I just feel like an ass for being jealous of his memory. Who the fuck gets jealous over shit like that?”
Ben place his hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay, Reed. You love her, you always have. Yeah, you messed up, and she found love somewhere else. That would be hard to swallow for any man. You have the future with her that he hoped for, so treasure it, don’t question it. Be the man he would want for her. Take care of her better than anyone else could. You got a second chance at happiness. Live it, man, to its fullest.”
Just then I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned to find Kim smiling at me. I groaned out in aggravation. “What?”
She turned just slightly and pointed toward the dance floor. “Looks like the woman of your dreams may have other things on her mind.” She smirked and crossed her arms over her chest, pushing her breasts up a little higher.
I looked over her shoulder and found a tall, dark haired guy with his hand on Kori’s shoulder. He slid it down her arm and gripped her hand in his. I saw her shake her head no as he tugged her in his direction.
“It appears to me that someone needs to learn his place.” Ben growled from the stool next to me.
I stood up from my stool and placed my beer on the bar. “Yeah, real fucking quickly.” I stalked off in the direction of the douchebag who had his hands on my girl. As I got closer, I could hear what was going on.
“Come on gorgeous, just one dance.” The guy was begging, and Kori continued to tell him no. The fact that he was still tugging on her hand got my blood boiling.
Leann looked over and saw me approaching. Her eyes grew big as a small smile spread out over her lips.
“I believe the lady gave you an answer.” I growled from behind the man, causing him to turn in my direction.
He grinned, full of arrogance. “I’m pretty sure this conversation is between her and me.” That only made me laugh. I felt Ben approach my side and turned to watch him cross his arms over his chest.
Leaning in just a little further, getting nose to nose, I gave him a silent warning with my eyes, squaring my shoulders as he did the same. “Anything involving her, involves me. When you mess with what’s mine, I will handle it.”
The guy laughed and looked over his shoulder back at Kori. “Yours, huh? Why is it she never mentioned a husband?”
That comment made my stomach tighten. No, she wasn’t my wife, but I hoped one day she would be. She was my world, though, and this guy was fucking with her. I never corrected him. Instead I stepped around him and pulled Kori to my side. She wrapped her arm around my waist and turned her body into mine. She slipped her hand under the front of my shirt, sprawling it out over my stomach. Her touch calmed me, and I looked down at her.
She looked nervous. “Let it go,” she pleaded, and I chuckled.
“Not a chance, babe. Why don’t you girls go get a drink? Me and your friend here are gonna continue our little chat.” She began to argue, and I passed her off toward Leann and Maria. “Take her in the back.”
She stood there staring at me and glaring. Yeah that wasn’t gonna work this time. “Go, Kori.” I would deal with her being pissed off later. Right now I had an arrogant asshole to deal with.
“I don’t think she was too happy with you telling her what to do.” Mr. Dickwad chuckled. “What’s wrong, pretty boy, you scared she’ll drop you on your ass when she gets a taste of something sweeter?”
The adrenaline shot through me like a bullet. I gripped his shirt in my fisted hands and shoved him backward, slamming him against the wall behind us. Being the owner of the place had everyone else clearing the area. “You don’t have a say-so in anything regarding my woman. As for touching her against her will, I should break your fucking arms. This is my place, my bar, and I want you outta here. If I ever see you in this place again or anywhere near what’s mine, I will break your face.” I let go of him and drew back, punching him in his stomach. His body hunched over, and I stepped back, looking over at the two bouncers waiting on standby. “Get his sorry ass out of here.”
My adrenaline was pumping, and my hands were still shaking. I looked back and found Kori standing about ten feet away. She was staring at me, seething with anger. I walked in her direction, and she held her hands up to stop me from getting too close.
“Come on, you can’t be mad about that. He had his hands all over you.” I gritted my teeth together to keep from saying anything more.
“His hands were not all over me. He grabbed my hand, Reed. It wasn’t like he was feeling me up. He wanted to dance.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “You had to storm over there and act as if I’m just a piece of property to you. I could have handled it.”
“Oh yeah, you sure looked like you were handling it. Maybe enjoying the attention was more like it.” I bit my tongue, the alcohol mixed with anger was not a good combination. It had me spouting out shit before giving it any thought. The moment it came out I wanted to take it back. Kori wasn’t like that. She didn’t feed on the attention of men.
She pushed against my chest and pointed her finger in my face. “Enjoying it, my ass, you jerk. I was trying to solve it peacefully, but no, you had to pin the guy against a wall and punch him.” I attempted to speak, but she held her palm out two inches from my face, and I stopped. “I’m gonna tell you one thing and one time only, Reed Jackson.” Once again she pointed in my face. “Don’t you ever command me to do anything again. I am not your dog, I don’t obey commands.”
She turned on her heels and stormed off toward the restroom in the back of the bar. A pissed off and mouthy Kori was like seeing a shooting star, very rare.
I looked at the faces of all our friends who just witnessed the battle. The girls looked shocked, maybe even a little pissed off at me as well. The guys were hiding the smiles and laughter behind their hands. Smug bastards were just glad it was me in the doghouse and not them.
Sitting down at the bar, I rested my head on my crossed arms and groaned out in frustration. Maybe I went overboard. I didn’t like him touching her, though, in any way.
Ben slapped my back and chuckled. “Well tonight got a little exciting. Kori can get pissed off for such a little thing. I had no idea she could lay it out like that.”
“Shut up.” I shook my head and looked toward the restroom. I had a feeling I knew what she was doing in there. Either she was crying or tearing into me behind closed doors. “I guess I fucked up.”
“Bullshit.” He slammed his hand down on the bar. “That cocky son of a bitch had it coming. I would’ve done the same thing if some man was messing with Leann. Kori won’t be mad forever. Next time, though, maybe you should ask her politely, not force her to leave. I’m pretty sure that’s what did her in.”
Groaning out once more, I let my head fall forward against the bar. “Yeah, that was definitely not the best way to handle her.”
When thirty minutes passed and she still hadn’t come out of the bathroom, I went to her. Pushing open the door, I heard a few squeals, and about five girls turned to face me. Not one of them was my girl. Panic set in; I hadn’t seen her come out. I turned in a hurry and began searching the bar.
Just as I was about to lose my shit, Leann stepped in front of me. “She had Maria call them a cab. She went home about fifteen minutes ago.” She shrugged, and I thanked her. I brushed past her in a hurry toward the door.
I had too many beers myself and couldn’t drive. I threw my keys to Marty and told him to pull my truck around back. Saying my goodbyes to everyone, I stepped outside and dialed the number to the cab company.
Leaning against the pole
out front, I began to formulate a plan. I had no idea how I would fix this, but I had to. Fighting with Kori was not an option. I couldn’t stomach her sadness. It broke me every time. I was a sucker when it came to my girl, and she knew it.
Chapter Thirty-Five
When I got home, I found her asleep on the couch. She was still dressed, and her eyes were reddened and swollen. My chest ached, and my stomach turned with uneasiness.
I slowly lifted her from the couch and carried her toward our room. As I lowered her to the bed she stirred and pulled away. “No.” One word was all she spoke as she curled away from me.
“Let me help you get undressed. I’ll leave ya alone after that. I promise.” I slipped her shoes from her feet and carefully slid her jeans down her legs.
She held her eyes closed tightly, not even attempting to sneak a glance. My throat burned more with each second that ticked by. At this moment I found myself wishing I had gone with my instincts and locked her up earlier in our room. We would have missed out on all the drama.
I decided it was probably best that I slept on the couch for the night. I changed out of my clothes and grabbed a pillow and blanket from the closet. Stretching out on the couch, I couldn’t shut my mind off. I didn’t know what time it was when I actually fell asleep. I just knew that it felt like it took forever.
I woke to the smell of coffee and movement in the kitchen. Looking up over the back of the couch, I found Kori standing at the sink. She was fully dressed and filling up a travel mug. Oh, hell no, she wasn’t running off. We were going to work through this.
I pushed up off the couch and walked right up behind her. I caged her in against the sink. “Can we talk?” She only shook her head and added creamer to her coffee. I stared at the contents of her cup as the dark brown liquid changed to light tan. There was more sugar and creamer than actual coffee. “I’m sorry.” I whispered against her neck, igniting goose bumps to rise over her skin.
She pushed back against me with her hips, causing me to step back. She walked toward the refrigerator and placed the creamer back inside. Pausing at the sink once more, she screwed the lid onto her cup and walked into the living room. Grabbing for her keys and purse, she slid on her shoes.
“Where are you going?” She continued to ignore me, and I stepped in between her and the front door. “Tell me how to fix this.”
Her beautiful, tormented eyes locked with mine, and my throat tightened. “Do you really think I enjoyed that man’s attention last night? Do you think I wanted our night to end up like that? Like it was some game I was trying to play to make you jealous?”
“No.” I lifted my hand toward her face, and she turned from it. “Kori, let’s talk this through.”
She shook her head and looked down at the floor. “Not right now, I can’t. I’m gonna get Rhett and take him back to my place.” The nauseated feeling filled my stomach with the thought of her moving back home.
“Don’t do this.” I was panicking, and I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. “Don’t leave me over this. Please, I’m sorry. I fucked up, okay?” I was begging her to stay and work this out.
Her eyes met mine once more, and they were filled with moisture. “I’m not leaving you. I just can’t talk to you right now. I’m still angry with you. When people are angry they say things they don’t mean. I don’t want to do that. I’m going back to my place and spend the day going through things, packing.” She took in a shuddering breath. “I just need some distance right now. I need to get past the hurt before I can talk to you sensibly.”
She stood up onto her tiptoes and placed a kiss on my jaw. I closed my eyes tightly, and my stomach coiled once again.
“I’ll see you later,” she said just above a whisper.
I watched her walk toward her car. I was left standing in the doorway as she backed down the drive and drove away.
“What’d you do, boy?” My father walked up the side of the deck looking all pissed off. “From the look on that girl’s face and yours, I’d say you screwed up.”
“You could say that. I blame it all on the Jackson blood in me. There’s a whole line of mean bastards, and that runs in my veins,” I responded as I looked back toward the empty drive, wishing for just a moment that she was still there. Coming up empty, I turned back to my front door.
My dad didn’t let the door shut, he followed right behind me. “Well, you gonna tell me or make me beat it outta ya?”
“Enough bull, old man.” I grabbed two mugs and filled them with coffee. I carried them to the table, and we both took a seat. I spent the next half hour filling him in on our night. Then I spent the next fifteen minutes after that getting lectured on how to treat a lady.
“Grab your damn pole, boy. Let’s get out Old Benny and let him soothe your soul. You’re gonna need to be calm and collected when Kori is ready to talk.” I shook my head and followed him toward the barn, gathering up our fishing tackle. A day of fishing with my old man sounded like a good idea. I needed something to pass the time.
***
When six o’clock rolled around and there was still no Kori or Rhett, I got worried. I grabbed my phone and called her. After the third ring she picked up. “Hello.”
“You coming home?” I asked.
She was silent for a moment, and the nervousness within my stomach only grew. “In a little while. Dad brought his trailer over, and we loaded some things up. He’s gonna drive it over and just leave it there so I can unload everything.”
I bit my tongue because I didn’t want her to know that it pissed me off. She didn’t ask for my help, and that bothered me. I knew she was upset with me already, so I let it slide. “You do know I would’ve helped, right?”
“Yeah, I came back home to get Rhett’s bag. I saw you and your dad out on the lake fishing. I didn’t want to interrupt. My dad offered when I called him to get a screwdriver.” I chuckled thinking about Kori with tools.
“I still would’ve helped, baby. But I understand why you didn’t ask me.” I took a deep breath and waited, but nothing came.
“I miss you guys,” I admitted.
“We’ll be home in less than an hour,” she replied and said a quick goodbye.
This entire situation sucked beyond explanation, and it was killing me. I was pissed off at myself for acting so aggressive last night.
I sat on the couch mindlessly flipping through the channels. Nothing was grabbing my attention until I heard the car doors outside. I jumped up quickly and marched toward the door. I saw Kori’s dad unhook the trailer and give her a quick hug, before getting in his truck to leave.
I walked out to the front porch and approached her car. Rhett was barely hanging on as his head fell from side to side. He was exhausted, and I hated that I had missed his entire day. I stepped up beside her and placed my hand on her lower back. “Let me get him to bed. I haven’t seen him in over twenty-four hours. You could go in, take a shower, and relax if you want. I can carry in some of this stuff for ya.”
She nodded in agreement and pulled Rhett’s bag from the floorboard. I watched as she walked up the stairs and went inside.
Turning back to the car, I carefully lifted Rhett from his seat and took him inside to get settled. After I put his pajamas on and kissed his forehead, he turned toward the wall and gave up.
I could hear the shower running just down the hall. Before I could analyze my movements, I was walking in that direction. Gripping the hem of my shirt, I lifted it over my head and dropped it to the floor. Sliding my pants and boxers down, I let them pool at my feet. I had to fix this, the void was insufferable. It couldn’t go on.
I slid the shower door to the side and stepped in behind her. She didn’t turn to face me, but I could see her shoulders shaking. I wrapped my body around hers from behind and held her to my chest. She shuddered against me, and I felt like I was being gutted.
“I’m so sorry I was an ass. I handled it wrong, all wrong. I was mad that he touched you. Then I was pissed that h
e acted as if I had no say in what happened with you. The guy fueled my anger, and I just needed him to know you are mine.” I buried my face in her hair and breathed her in.
“I said things I didn’t mean. You are not a possession to me, baby. You are the woman I’m so deeply in love with, and when it comes to you, I lose my mind. I just need to fix this, I need to make it right. Please tell me what I can do.” I pleaded for her to help me.
She turned in my arms, and her eyes met mine. “Make love to me.”
Her lips crashed against mine before I could respond. I gave everything I could over to her. I tried to show her within our kiss, our touch, just what she meant to me. The love I felt for her was so deep, raw, and uncontrollable.
Lifting her up by placing my hands under her ass, she wrapped her legs around my waist. Lowering her over my hardness, I slid in deep with ease. A tear fell down her cheek, and I kissed it away. “Forgive me, please, Kori. I need you to forgive me.” She nodded and kissed me softly.
Our bodies began to move together with the perfect rhythm.
“I’m sorry too. I know you meant well,” she whispered in my ear. “I love you, I need you.”
“You have me, you have me,” I declared as I looked into her eyes. Then we lost ourselves in the pleasure our bodies were creating.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Spring came and went, as summer was just setting in. Kori and Rhett were now all moved in and settled. She had been going room to room, decorating and making it a home. The place felt so welcoming and full of love. I knew it had everything to do with the ones who filled it, but the colorful warmness she spread throughout helped too.
