Exposed: An Anthology

by Brooke Cumberland

  Knowing that she was in desperate need to really vent about what happened at work and a drink, I told her I’d ask Derek if he minded watching the kids so I could go with her to dinner and maybe catch a movie. It has actually been a long time since we’ve just had girl time. With me and Derek now living together and being inseparable since we finally let go, Mallory and I haven’t really hung out. It was as if Derek and I couldn’t get enough of each other. Just like a pair of giddy teenagers. Butterflies and all. It’s only been three months since I agreed to become his wife and Mallory’s been coming over helping with the wedding plans on our weekends off work. Growing up I had always wanted an outside wedding. There was just something romantic about it. Jake wasn’t having it when I told him that’s the kind of wedding I had always dreamed of. He told me that if his family was paying for it, then it was going to be in a church like his mom had insisted on.

  Knowing that I really had no say so in the matter, I went along with it. I never really understood where his mom got the money she flashed around to everyone. Jake never knew his dad so I just assumed his mother either inherited it from her family or somehow his unknown dad kept her pockets full. Either way, when Jake died, Jaxon and I inherited a good chunk of money on top of the house that was fully paid off. It was then that I realized why he was so insistent on being in charge of the bills. He knew I’d question where it all came from and clearly he wasn’t willing to tell me. It explained him being able to pay Victoria off as well. It actually disgusts me that he took the easy way out by paying her off while letting me keep my rose colored glasses thinking he was the perfect husband. Letting his daughter be raised by another man still baffles me.

  Walking through the front door, I’m instantly hit with the smell of spaghetti. Derek was an amazing cook, volunteering to do half the cooking or at least helping with preparation. Something I was never used to. Jake never helped me cook. Or clean for that matter. I guess it’s true that you don’t know what you got until it’s gone, but in my case it’s more like you don’t know what you were missing. Well, something like that. I fell in love young. Thought Jake was the best thing since sliced bread.

  I had an amazing house and nice vehicle. Jake and I had our occasional arguments, but for the most part I thought our marriage was great. I never realized that I had fallen into a Stepford Wives type of role until he died. That was until Derek strolled into my life showing me how a woman should be cherished. I would have never known there was a difference if Jake was still alive. Never known what I was missing out on. It’s crazy how much more enjoyable relationships can be when each party is putting one hundred percent in.

  I used to think nothing was hotter than seeing Derek behind his drums just going at it. It truly is a turn on. But damn if him slaving over the stove isn’t a sight for sore eyes. I’m pretty damn sure this guy can make anything and everything look sexy. He doesn’t even know it. That’s what makes him even more attractive. Being careful as I walk up behind him snaking my arms around his chest, I climb to my tippy toes inching my mouth to his ear. “Hey baby.” I feel the chill run through his body. I’m not going to lie; I love the affect I have on him. The same damn affect he has on me.

  “Are you cold baby?” I ask teasing him. He gives the sauce one last stir before turning the burner off and twisting himself around in my arms so that we are chest to chest; or as close as we can be with the height difference.

  “You know good and well what you do to me woman.” He answers before bending down to kiss me. “Mmmm,” the lingering taste of sauce is still on his lips.

  “Dinner is almost done. I hope you’re hungry,” he says as he turns back around to give the noodles a taste test, seeing if they’re done.

  “Crap!” I don’t even have to check my phone to know that it’s Mallory calling me back. “Mal had a shitty day at work. She called me when I was driving home. I told her I’d talk to you about catching a bit to eat and maybe a movie tonight, but I’ll just let her know that you already cooked dinner so we’ll have to do it another night.” Stopping midair with the hot noodle he was about to taste he turns back around. “Why would you do that?”

  “Well because you already cooked dinner. Plus we don’t get to all eat dinner together every night.” I admit.

  “Yah, you’re right, but how often do you get a night out without me?” he asks. He’s right. I never go out. Well, without him. But I love spending time with him. Especially with his crazy ass work schedule.

  “Don’t get me wrong Jes. I love having you all to myself, but you can still have a life. It’s good to have things we can do apart. It’s healthy. Besides, you said she had a shitty day. She needs you. So go out and have a good time and be there for her.”

  This man of mine is constantly surprising me with more of his greatness every day. “When did you become so smart Mr. Jordan?”

  “Hmmm. I don’t know. I think being with you is the smartest thing I’ve ever done.” He gives me a quick peck before tending to the boiling noodles. “Oh by the way,” he says over his shoulder, “Jaxon is suspended from school tomorrow.”

  “What?” I shriek.

  “Chill Jes. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Actually, I personally can’t be mad at him, and I don’t think you will be either. He was just being a loyal friend.”

  Derek tells me how Jaxon’s friend was getting beat up by another boy. A much larger boy for that matter, who was a grade ahead of them. So Jax tried to pull the kid off of his friend, and when that didn’t work, he decked him. By that time there was a teacher showing up to stop the fight, they saw Jaxon punch the boy. They know he wasn’t fighting, but the fact that he did hit him as well, he had to be suspended along with the other two involved. Derek was right, there was no way I could punish my son for trying to protect his friend. No way. That’s something I’m proud of. Yes, he got suspended, but its good values to take up for the people you’re close to. I don’t want to teach him to just sit back and watch his friend get beat up if he could help in some way.

  I spot Mallory’s car as I pull into our favorite place to eat, Buffalo Wild Wings. I could seriously eat their wings all the time. She’s already seated and ordering our drinks. “Is a Dr. Pepper okay?” she asks as I pull my seat out draping my purse on the back of the chair and take my seat.

  “Yeah. You not drinking tonight?” I eye her curiously as I grab for the menu even though I already knowing what I want.

  “I don’t really feel like drinking tonight. I just want to have a chill night with my bestie,” she admits. She’s always up for a drink. This chick at work must have really put her through the mill today.

  After we place our order, Mallory lets it rip. “Ahhh. Jes, I have never wanted to punch someone’s face into the ground as badly as I did today. I had a whole Sick Puppies moment going through my mind. One of us is going down, bitch! And all I could do is sit there and smile. I know I was red. I can’t control that when I get mad. But I just smiled like I wasn’t planning her death in my head as that woman threw me to my own.” I know how cut throat people can be. Even more so when there’s a new job title at stake. I have a few coat tail riders at the dental office.

  She continues to tell me the story. How some fellow skank made it out to look like Mallory forgot about a meeting she was supposed to talk at. Once at this meeting, the girl pops up at the very end and ever so politely announces that ‘since it must have slipped Mallory’s mind, that she’d go over the notes that Mallory was supposed to.’

  “So, what happened after that hussy threw you to the wolves?” I ask as dipping my boneless wing in ranch before taking a bite.

  “Well, one of my bosses asked me what had happened in there. I told her that I was told that part of the meeting was cancelled and that I must have misunderstood. I was just trying to cover my ass you know?” She looks at me and shrugs her shoulders. I just nod completely understanding. Even though that is so out of characteristic for Mallory to keep her mouth shut.

  “But my boss ca
lled bull shit. She knew something was up, so as soon as she made it clear that she was there for me to vent, I let it all out. Told her everything that manipulative bitch did to me. She agreed that what Tara did was not team work and it was noted.”

  We continue devouring our wings and fries. Smothering each one in ranch as we go. It’s true, I have a ranch fetish. I tell her about Jaxon being suspended. That I can’t punish him for doing something he truly felt was right at the time. She told me about how she desperately wants to find someone to settle down with. Raise a family. The whole white picket fence with a wrap-around porch and walk in closet kind of life.

  “So what’s the deal with you and Seth? Y’all seem to get along great when he’s around.”

  Eyeing me with a look of regret she answers, “Yeah when he’s around. How often is he around? He keeps himself so wrapped up in his music to keep from having to allow anyone in. When we are together it’s amazing. Yeah, at first it was just about having toe curling sex with a hot lead singer I’ve always had a crush on. Now, I actually like the guy. There are times that he actually lets me see a side of him I know he keeps on lock down usually. But as soon as he realizes what he’s doing he shuts it down and then I go days, sometimes even weeks before I hear from him. It’s not like I’m putting my life on hold to make sure I’m available for him. But dammit, no matter what I’m in the middle of when he calls, I drop it for him. He has this pull on me and he doesn’t even fucking care. I’m probably just like all of his other hussies,” she huffs out.

  “You can’t really believe that Mal. I see the way he looks at you sometimes. I think he does have some feelings for you. Not sure how strong, but they are there. That’s why he shuts down. He’s scared to let you in. From what I hear his last ex, the one that broke his heart, really put him through the ringer. Apparently she had got pregnant, so doing the natural thing he proposed because he did love her. Five months later she had a miscarriage, dumping him after and running off. He could have handled losing the baby, but the fact she just took off without an explanation, has pretty much ruined him. So, like I said, he’s scared. You are bringing up feelings that he hasn’t had in years, so naturally he’s going to push you away. But seeing that he can’t stay away for long only proves my point that he does have them.”

  I take the last bite of my wing and instantly feel sick. Like I’m going to barf. I get up and run to the bathroom not even shutting the stale door as I fall to my knees to let out my stomach contents. Mallory is instantly behind me holding my hair back. “You okay Jes?” I can hear the concern in her voice.

  I nod.

  “Man, where the hell did that come from? I mean I have been feeling a little sick lately, but that’s the first time I’ve barfed.” And oh how I hate throwing up. I’d rather have my ass stuck to the toilet seat with the runs, than have to throw up. Mallory goes and wets a paper towel while I flush the toilet and stay sitting on the bathroom floor. She walks back over with a curious expression on her face.

  “What? Why do you have that look?”

  “What look?” She asks like she doesn’t have a damn clue.

  “That look like you’re working something out in your head or thinking really hard.” I place the cool wet paper towel she hands me on my forehead before wiping my face off with it.

  “Well, I was just wondering that it’s weird that you’re sick. You never get sick.”

  “I’m sure I caught a bug. Or maybe I ate a bad wing.” She’s right though. I rarely get sick, thankfully.

  “Jesika. When’s the last time you had your period?” Oh that’s what she was working out in her head. Now that I think about it, it’s been a good three months since I’ve had any sign of a period. How could I have not even realized that? Right, it’s because my periods have always had a mind of their own and the fact that I’m not supposed to be able to get pregnant.

  “Mallory, it can’t happen. You know all the crap that happened while I was pregnant with Jaxon. You know they said they fixed me to keep me from getting pregnant again because they said if I did, I’d likely die. And then on top of all of that, what in the hell will Derek think? He will think I lied and tricked him when I told him he didn’t need protection. I can’t be pregnant, Mallory.”

  She waves the waitress over to pay for our meal. “Seriously you know damn good and well Derek will not think that. He will probably be thrilled at the idea, but then scared shitless when you explain to him what all it entails. But right now you know what we need to do.” I look at her questioningly.

  “We gotta go to Walgreens.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Derek

  This whole family life is nice, if I do say so myself. Something I never got to experience as a child. I didn’t know if it was something Emma would ever get to experience or if she was just going to basically grow up the same way I did. Yah sure living with Seth had its perks. She’s had both of us wrapped around her finger since the day she was born. Having Emma around is what kept Seth from totally hitting rock bottom when that devilish ex of his took off after her supposed miscarriage. What a heartless fucking bitch to do that to somebody you claim to love. Someone you had wanted to marry. To be completely honest, I never liked that Allison chick. She seemed slimy from the get go. Like one of those groupie chicks just looking for the easy ride to money. Riding on some dumb bastard’s dick hoping he keeps her around until she got a ring on her finger, which never happens, or knocked up. Which in Allison’s case she got the latter followed by the former. So she completely lucked out because Seth had actually fallen in love with her. For some damn reason that I’m unaware of because she was a total bitch from what I could see.

  I’m glad to see him opening up bit by bit to Mallory. It’s not much, but in Seth’s world, it’s huge. He never opens himself up to anyone; well, except for me but that’s typical brotherly love. We’ve always had to count on each other with no dad around to raise us and our mom working two full time jobs to keep a roof over our head and food in our bellies. We were all we had. That’s where playing baseball first came into play. We gathered up the neighborhood kids and would just play around for something to do. It wasn’t until a few years after that we were introduced to music. Watching the teenagers up the block form their own little garage band is what inspired us. Even if we never went anywhere with it, we knew that’s what we wanted to do with our lives.

  It became our new passion. But baseball was always going to be a passion of mine as well. Hoping to get out of this town, I used those God-given pitching abilities to get out of this place on a scholarship. Seth was pissed. Me leaving the band we had formed as adolescents nearly ruined our relationship. He didn’t get it. He didn’t get my need to fly solo. See what else awaited me in the world. I didn’t want to be stuck in that town for the rest of my life. Maybe I got that from my mom.

  She was always complaining about how our dad, or my dad or Seth’s dad, who knows really, had ruined her life by knocking her up and then getting caught up in drugs leaving her stranded in this town to fend for herself and two children. Now that Jesika and I are a family and I’ll be making her my wife soon, I know I will do anything and everything to make sure our children have the best life ever.

  Seth is pretty busy with the band lately, trying to see if they can join another tour. But I still call him to see if he wants to come over and eat. I miss getting to hang out with his crazy ass all the time. And hell, the kids love uncle Seth. He is the fun uncle. Maybe that’s just because he’s the only uncle. It seems like the only time he truly relaxes is when he’s around the kids. He seems at ease even when he’s trying to whoop their asses at Mario Kart and fails miserably. They whip my ass all the time too, but I don’t bother to mention that to him.

  “So when exactly did you become a Suzy Homemaker?” Seth says while plopping down at the table.

  “Shit son, who do you think kept your ass fed when we lived together? It wasn’t those skanky broads you were sneaking in and out.”

&
nbsp; Flashing me a devilish grin, “You knew about them?”

  Hell yeah I knew about them, but I never brought it up because in reality it was his place too but also because he respected me and Emma enough to keep it hidden. Or try to. The kids hurry and eat their food because they want to go back outside before it gets too dark. Seth finishes right after them as if he hasn’t eaten a good cooked meal in months. He might not have since I haven’t been there to cook for him.

  “So when are you going to learn to cook something besides ramen so you can get a little meat on those bones. You’re fading away brother.” I tease. “Maybe if you’d find you a damn woman and settle down, you could have yourself a warm meal every night.”

  He sits his tea down while glaring at me. “I don’t need a fucking woman to be happy or to eat. I’m perfectly content with being single. Especially with all the shit going on with the band, why in the fucking world would I want to get attached to someone, just to leave them and hurt them? Because we all know that’s what I would do. I’d get on the road and screw every hot chick that’s willing to spread their legs. I’m not the faithful type. And I’m for sure not the committing type.”