Forgiving Reed (Southern Boys #1)

by C. A. Harms

  Kori’s faced scrunched up in pain when she tried to move. I rushed to her side. “Baby, please don’t try to move.”

  “Hey, handsome, it’s so good to see your face.” Her voice was raspy and dry. “For a short time, I wasn’t sure I would ever see it again.” Tears filled her eyes, and I kissed the palm of her hand, sobbing like a baby once again. “I love you,” she whispered, and I looked up to meet her tired eyes.

  “God, I love you too. I was so damn scared. I felt like I was going nuts.” I bent over and kissed her softly. I was scared I would hurt her. “Don’t you ever leave me…ever. I won’t make it past that loss. I can’t breathe without you, Kori.”

  A tear fell from her eye, and I kissed her once more before sitting down at her side.

  She looked up over my shoulder and smiled the best she could. It was the most beautiful thing to see her smile again. I would never again take a single moment with her for granted.

  She pointed down at her thigh and giggled. “One thrusting thigh, how good do you think I can make it feel with just one?”

  Maria’s laughter filled the room. I was so lost with this whole thigh conversation. “Do you girls mind filling a man in here?”

  I looked at Kori, and she sealed her lips in a thin line. Maria cleared her throat and took on a serious face. “We have performed some serious thigh research. It’s been proving to be very, very, true.” Kori laughed behind her hand, and I waited for the rest of the explanation. “You see, a man with thick, muscular thighs has extra thrusting power.” This woman was completely serious. Her face showed no signs other than complete concentration. “Skinny guys with little legs tend to tire easy. When a girl is getting it good, they don’t want a man who needs to pause. They need a man with,” she held her hand out motioning to my thighs, “thrusting thighs.”

  I shook my head and chuckled. These two girls and their crazy ass theories. But in all fairness, I did ask.

  “You have thrusting thighs.” I turned to Kori to find her wiggling her brows suggestively.

  I leaned in closer to her ear and whispered, “Well, you have a long time of recovery, before I can put my thrusting abilities in action.”

  She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout, and I could only shake my head. Last night she was in surgery after being hit by a car, today she was talking about sex. Only Kori and Maria would be having this conversation less than twenty-four hours after such an event.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Kori’s recovery over the next twelve weeks was hard. She was frustrated and cranky. She missed the start of school and would be going back once she was cleared from the doctor. She hated being cooped up on restrictions. She wanted out of the house, and she hated the physical therapy for her leg and pelvis.

  She repeatedly stated that she could come up with better ways of providing her pelvis therapy. And yes, she did say that to the therapist. The reddened cheeks of the poor girl when she looked over at me had me feeling slightly embarrassed for her.

  But Kori pushed on and suffered through the agony. She was miserable, and most times a bear to live with. But at the end of the day she was here with us, and that was all that mattered.

  I continued to work, but I stayed close to home. Between Maria and Gemma, they were able to sit with Kori. Rhett spent most of his days with his pappy.

  After the accident and Maria’s conversation, I made a choice. I got too close to losing one of the most precious things in my life. I would no longer waste time with negative thoughts. I took Maria’s words and stored them. They were so meaningful, and it helped to remember them.

  I called Ben and asked if I could borrow his wife. I needed a woman’s opinion. Maria would only slip up somehow and share the secret.

  Leann and I spent an entire afternoon going through ring after ring at the jeweler’s. When I was almost to the point of saying to hell with it, it was there, back in a corner of one of the cases, and it was perfect.

  Kori was not a flashy girl. She didn’t need big diamonds and expensive things. To my girl, those things meant nothing. She was simple and delicate.

  After I looked at it and analyzed its every detail, I made the choice. That ring would be the one Kori, my wife, would wear for the rest of her life.

  ***

  Rhett’s second birthday was only a week away, and I took over with all the planning. We would be having it at our house. I had the cake ordered and the decorations ready to be put up. The invites were out, and the presents were bought. Most nights he and I snuck off to watch a movie in his room, while Kori rested in bed.

  I tried to go to bed once I knew she was already dozing off. She was vicious and determined. She tried over and over to convince me that having sex would be okay for us. There was no way in hell I was chancing it. Spanking it in the shower would be my routine until the doctor stated she was okay for normal activities. I would not take the chance of hurting her in any way.

  Avoiding her was my best option, because I was beginning to break. She was wearing me down, and if I had to use our boy as a buffer, so be it.

  Chapter Forty

  I came home from a day of paperwork and crashed on the couch. Maria had picked up Kori that morning and driven her to Statesboro for her checkup. I told her I would take the day off and take her myself, but she refused. She insisted Maria take her. They had made plans to shop afterward.

  Rhett was out helping his pappy tend to the horses. I took the opportunity to grab a nap before it would be time to find something to throw together for dinner.

  I woke up abruptly, shooting up off the couch, when I felt someone slide their hand up my thigh. Kori’s sweet laughter had me spinning around to face her.

  “What’s wrong? It’s been so long, you forgot what my touch feels like?” With her lips curled up in a smile she baited me with her seductive stare.

  “Maybe?” I stepped toward her, and she took a step back. “What’d the doctor say?”

  “He may have cleared me.” She shrugged.

  I grabbed for her wrist and tugged her back against me as she tried to walk away. “Take a ride with me?”

  “A ride? Where?” She looked back over her shoulder.

  “Just out by the lake, I wanna show you something.”

  Still looking at me with a puzzled expression, she agreed. I led her toward the barn. Crawling up onto the four wheeler, I slid back, making room for her in front of me. She climbed on, and I caged her in against my chest. I kissed her shoulder and skimmed my lips over her soft skin.

  Her head rested back against my shoulder, her hair tickling my nose. I drove out to the lake and around the back side. I came out here shortly after her accident looking for the best spot. I found it just a few hundred feet back from the dock. There was a stretch of sprawling flat land hidden behind a line of high grass and a couple trees. One large tree sat in the middle of it all.

  Bringing the four wheeler to a stop, she looked around slowly. I knew she probably thought I was crazy for driving out here when we could have been naked in bed by now. There was a reason I brought her here. I wanted to show what I had been doing, when I wasn’t at work. What Rhett and I had been building.

  I noticed the very moment her eyes locked on the tree house. They immediately glistened and her lip trembled. “You built him a tree house?” she whispered.

  I shook my head lightly. “He and I worked on it.” I chuckled. “He used his play hammer and nails, but he was out here with me.”

  “It’s perfect.” She crawled from the four wheeler and took a few steps forward, staring at it in complete awe. “You make me love you more every day,” she whispered as I stepped up behind her.

  I never touched her, but instead knelt down on one knee behind her. The moment she turned around and found me there in that very position, the tears ran heavily.

  “I’ve run this through my mind, I know, at least a dozen times. I planned it all out, then changed it again.” My hands were shaking uncontrollably, and I fisted them to hide the nerv
ous feeling running through me.

  “I made a wish that night I saw you in my bar. I wished you could see the good in me. I wished for forgiveness for the way I hurt you and betrayed your trust. I wished for another chance to show you how much I love you.” I swallowed and took a deep breath. “Your happiness and Rhett’s, it’s the most important thing to me. I live for your smiles, and his giggles. I want both of you as my forever. You both bring out the best in me, you make everything I do have purpose.”

  Kori reached out to me, running her hand through my hair before resting it against my jaw.

  “I want to be your forever, Kori. I wanna stand by your side for the rest our lives.” I pulled out the diamond ring from my back pocket and held it out before me. “If this last couple years have taught me anything, it would be that life is so short. You have no idea when it will shift and change forever. All those missed opportunities, never having an outcome. I don’t want to waste another moment without you as my wife.”

  Her lower lip trembled, and my throat tightened. My eyes filled with their own tears. “Kori, will you marry me?”

  She held out her hand, indicating for me to slide the ring on her finger, and I chuckled. “Baby, aren’t you forgetting something?” Her eyes connected with mine, questioning me.

  Then it hit her that she had not yet answered me. “I was screaming yes in my head,” she said and grinned.

  I shook my head and stood up, taking her face in my hands, and crushing my lips against hers. “Yes,” she spoke against my lips. “I’ll marry you.”

  I slid the ring on her finger, picking her up and spinning her around.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Maria walked into the house as I was gathering up the meat to take out to the grill. When she walked around the back of me, she poked at my side. I was not very ticklish, but I did have weak spots, my sides. I jerked sideways and almost dropped the entire plate of uncooked meat.

  “What the hell?” I put a safe distance between us and kept a careful eye on her hands.

  “Don’t what the hell me. You took Leann with you. To pick out a ring for my best friend, you took Leann, instead of me.” She placed her hands on her hips and scowled at me.

  “Don’t be pissed, I know how you are. You would have been proposing to her for me.”

  She thought about it for a minute before she shrugged and laughed. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

  She pushed past me and walked back out front to meet everyone for the party. I could only shake my head and laugh. Sometimes that girl exhausted me.

  ***

  The party turned out great. Rhett once again came out looking like he had won a shopping trip at Toys R Us. I was wondering where we were gonna fit it all.

  We were sitting around the fire just out back. Leann and Ben had already gone home for the evening. Rhett crashed early from the excitement of the party, and Kori had already put him to bed. Everyone else had left besides Gavin and Maria.

  Kori and I were snuggled in one of the loungers, and Maria and Gavin sat across the fire from us. They sat close together and on occasion would steal a glance or share a smile.

  I could feel the tension in Kori every time they inched a little closer toward one another.

  “So Gavin, when is your divorce final?” Kori asked, and I could see the scowl on Maria’s face from across the fire.

  “Well, that depends on when Nicole stops trying to drag it out.” I sensed his posture had changed. He now leaned away from Maria. The mood had just shifted, and I wanted to place my hand tightly over my fiancée’s mouth and tell her to drop it. That wouldn’t have been the smartest idea, though.

  “Is that the reason you have been going back to Savannah so often? Daddy said you went there twice this last week.” I poked her in the side, trying to be as casual as possible. She glared at me, and I did the same in return. I hoped it would let her know it was time to drop it.

  “She, uh…” He paused and looked over at Maria. Their eyes connected before he spoke again. “She’s trying to back out now. She says she wants to work things out.”

  I watched as Maria flinched at the words. “She what? How can you work things out with her? She screwed your boss behind your back.” He looked over at Kori and me, appearing slightly uncomfortable.

  “I never said I wanted to work things out. I said she did.”

  They sat staring at one another in a silent battle. Thank you, Kori. I loved the girl, but she needed to shut the door on this subject. It was time to move on and leave this garbage behind.

  ***

  “What was that all about earlier? Did you have to say something in front of Maria?” I asked Kori as I crawled into bed next to her.

  “Maria asked me earlier if I knew what he was up to. Apparently he told her that he cared about her, and once this divorce was final he wanted to see where things went between them.” She paused while we both got comfortable and she rested her head on my chest. “He promised he was done messing with Josie. Maria still thought he was seeing her. I was only trying to get him to talk about what he had been doing when he left town.”

  I nodded, still unsure why it had to go down like it did.

  “Maria asked me to find out. She never told me how.” She shrugged.

  “Oh baby, let them figure it out on their own.”

  I rolled over and placed my body over hers, looking down into her beautiful eyes. “Just promise me one thing.”

  “What?” she asked.

  “Promise me we’ll never reach that point. The point where we can’t talk it over and work it out. Losing you a second time just may end me.” I kissed her lips softly and skimmed her nose with mine.

  “I promise. We’re a team. You, me, and Rhett,” she assured me, and it only made me smile.

  “I want more kids, lots more.” I announced.

  “Lots?”

  I shook my head and laughed. “Oh yeah, and I think we should start now.”

  I wiggled my hips against hers, and she giggled. “I’m on the pill, it wouldn’t happen that fast.”

  I changed the mood quickly and looked at her deeply. “Stop taking them. Make the one you took tonight be your last.”

  She watched my eyes for any signs of question. There were none. I loved the idea of Kori carrying my child. The thought was humbling. I wanted to give Rhett lots of siblings. I wanted a house full of laughter.

  “We’ll talk about it more. Let’s just take one day at a time, okay?”

  I nodded as I began kissing her neck and sliding my hands under her shirt. I’d drop the subject for now. I would let her sit on it for a day or two. I knew we just got engaged, but I knew I wanted it all. I didn’t want to miss any chances of happiness.

  My next order of business would be to get her on the ball and start planning our wedding. I wanted a short engagement.

  Epilogue

  6 months later

  Reed

  It had been almost two and a half years, and it almost felt like a dream. A dream that I never wanted to wake up from. When I hurt Kori all those years ago, I never thought I would have the chance to tell her how sorry I was. How every day after that I felt as if I was only half a man. Now, each day I looked at her, each day I held her, I couldn’t believe how stupid I was. I was a fool, and you didn’t always get second chances. Those opportunities to fix the wrongs in your life were rare.

  The day Kori came back to Georgia, my heart broke for her. I had heard throughout the town about her tragedy. All I wanted was for her to be happy, to be loved. When I saw her after that, she was so broken, so lost. Seeing her suffer through those months was crippling. I wanted to fix something I had no control over, and that just pissed me off.

  Since then, we had grown together. We had learned to love one another again, this time so much stronger. In the process, I gained Rhett. That little man was my major weakness. I would do anything for him or his momma. I watched him grow from that tiny baby to a toddler full of energy. He’s such a happy kid.
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  It’s been an amazing ride. Every day I thanked God this beautiful woman was able to look past my adolescent behavior. She gave me a chance to show her I was no longer the dumb ass boy who hurt her.

  Things in our lives were about to change once again. I was waiting for her to tell me what I already knew. She didn’t hide the test very well. The trash can was going off like a god damn beacon this mornin’.

  Now, as I sat in my truck outside the school, I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. I had talked to her twice today, still nothing. So showing up here to meet her after school with Rhett was my plan of attack. I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed to hear those words fall from her lips.

  “Momma,” Rhett blurted out as he began bouncing up and down in the truck seat, pointing toward the school. She could still make me feel like a teenager. The raging hormones and racing heart kicked into overdrive while I watched her approach. She was beaming when her eyes locked with mine.

  “Hey, boys, this is a surprise.” I opened my truck door and stepped out, taking her in my arms for a hug. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed me softly.

  Rhett made his way across the seat and Kori took him in her arms. For just being two and a half years old, the boy was a tank. I quickly grabbed him and held him in my arms. Kori looked at me strangely as she scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. “What was that all about?”

  “He’s just heavy, I got ’em.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and shifted on her feet. “What’s going on? He was that heavy yesterday when I carried him around, and the day before that…and the day before…” I cut her off.

  “I know babe.” I grinned because, damn it, I couldn’t hold it anymore. “I know, I saw the test this morning in the trash. I just need to hear you say it to me. I’ve waited all day to hear the words, Kori. I can’t wait any longer.”