Chasing You

by Kelly Elliott

  With a chuckle, I shook my head. “My gosh, Mom. Why did y’all make so much food for just the four of us?”

  Turning away from me, she pulled out the plates as she gave James a quick peek. “Oh well, we have a few more people coming over.”

  “Who?” I asked as I popped a piece of cut up cheese into my mouth.

  James took that has his cue to step in. “My daughter and son. Sandy and Rick.”

  “Your kids?” I asked slowly. “Wow, do they at least know about my mom, or are they walking in blind as well?”

  With an awkward smile, James shook his head. “I told them this morning. They’re both thrilled and excited to meet everyone.”

  Meagan walked up and helped my mother set the table. “That’s wonderful! Isn’t it, Gray?”

  I wanted to yell out no, but I was almost positive my mother would frown on that so I forced a smile. “Yeah, how old are they?”

  James flashed a proud smile across his face. “Sandy is twenty-six, and Rick is twenty-two.”

  With a quick nod, I grabbed a handful of cheese and headed toward the door. “I’m gonna see how your chicken is doing.”

  James laughed and stepped out of the way as I headed outside. I hadn’t bothered putting on a jacket.

  The cold air felt good as it hit my face. I lifted the grill and cursed.

  The chicken was of course fine since James had recently checked on them. I needed a few moments to collect my thoughts. Everything with my mother and James seemed to be happening all too fast. Truth be told, she needed to find love again and if James was the guy, then I’d try like hell to be supportive.

  The back door opened and I turned to see Meagan. “Hey, James’s kids are here, you want to come back in and out of the freezing cold?”

  Taking in a deep breath, I tried to not let any of it bother me. “Yeah,” I mumbled as I walked up to Meagan.

  Reaching up on her toes, she kissed my lips. “I’m sorry. I know this is all so fast and you weren’t expecting it. Just remember your mom is happy and that’s all that matters.”

  I knew she was right and I pulled her into my arms. “I’d be lost without you, do you know that?”

  With a wiggle of her eyebrows, Meagan replied, “You can show me later when we get back to your place.”

  My eyes closed as I exhaled a breath while thinking about being with Meagan again.

  “Come on, let’s go met Sandy and Ricky.”

  With a moan, I shook my head. “They sound like they should be from the movie Grease.”

  Meagan giggled as she lightly hit my chest. “Stop it.”

  Less than a minute later, Meagan and I were being introduced to James’s kids. Ricky was tall, about six two and built pretty big. He was attending college in Denver and had come home for the week to meet my mother. By the look on his face, I’d say he was just as surprised as I was to find out about all of this.

  Sandy was for sure not from Grease. She wore tight jeans and a shirt so tight and low cut, I was sure her tits were going to fall out just from me shaking her hand. I tried desperately to stay focused on her nose. That felt like the only safe zone to look at.

  “So, Grayson, what do you do for a living?” Sandy asked as she flashed me a fuck-me smile.

  “Gray, you can just call me Gray. I work for the Durango Police Department.”

  Sandy widened her eyes. “Is that so? What do you do there?”

  “He’s a detective,” my mother responded as I glanced over to her. “Sorry sweetheart, I’m just so proud of you I have to brag.”

  “It’s okay, Mom.”

  I couldn’t help but notice the way Sandy was staring at me. I’ve had lots of women eye fuck me before, but this was different and I couldn’t put my finger on it. Meagan was helping my mother pull out food as they brought it into the formal dining room. I decided to ignore Sandy and talked to Ricky.

  “So, Rick, what are you going to school for?”

  “History major. Trying to decide if I want to go into law like dad here, or maybe take it in another direction.”

  My eyes lifted as I looked over to James. So he was a lawyer? That was good; at least he could take care of himself.

  “Like what other kind of direction?”

  Ricky glanced over to his father and then back at me with a weak smile. “I haven’t decided yet.”

  Huh. Interesting. Sounds like Ricky is being pushed into law school and he might want to do something different. That reminded me of Mitchell. I still needed to talk to Meagan about him.

  “James, will you go grab the steaks, I think we’re about ready to eat,” my mother said as she smiled and motioned for everyone to sit down. “Meg, sit down. I’ve got the rest of this.”

  Meagan smiled and headed over to where I was about to sit.

  I pulled out a chair and began to sit down when Sandy took the seat next to me. Meagan tried not to show her look of shock as she moved and took the seat on the other side of me. Turning to say something to Meagan, Sandy talked.

  “So, how did you get to move up for a promotion so fast? You must not have done a lot of patrol work before moving up.”

  “I did a few months on patrol but tested high on my state licensing test, and well, they needed more detectives.”

  “Wow. Impressive how far you’ve come.”

  My eyes narrowed as I looked at her with a confused look on my face. With a wink, she leaned forward and talked to Meagan.

  “Meagan, how did you and Grayson . . . sorry . . . Gray, meet?”

  With a smile, Meagan took my hand in hers. “My best friend is married to Gray’s cousin, Noah. They live in Texas.”

  Sandy leaned back in her chair and took a sip of her water. “What a small world isn’t it?”

  Meagan laughed as we looked at each other. “Yeah it is,” she said as she leaned over and kissed me on the lips.

  “Time to eat!” Mom called out as she walked into the room.

  Everyone glanced over as my mom and James brought in a huge plate full of steaks. The rest of the dinner was everyone getting to know each other. Sandy seemed to lose her interest in me fairly quickly, which was a sigh of relief.

  After James, myself, and Ricky cleared the table, we headed into the living room while the girls cleaned up the kitchen. I had to admit, I liked James. He was smart, looked at my mother like she was his everything, and appeared to have normal kids.

  Everything on the outside looked good. I made a mental note of his last name of Kennedy and when Ricky mentioned his dad was turning forty-eight in six days. I made plans to run a background check on his ass first chance I got.

  While everyone sat in the living room and talked, I got up to get some fresh air. The whole idea of one big happy family wasn’t sitting right with me at the moment and I needed a few moments to let it all sink in.

  Leaning over to Meagan, I spoke softly against her ear. “I need a few minutes. I’m stepping out back.”

  Meagan’s expression turned to worry. “Do you want me to go with you?”

  I wanted to pull her into my arms and tell her how much I loved her. The sooner we got out of there and home, the better. The only thing I wanted to do was wrap Meagan in my arms and sleep. I didn’t want to think about my mom dating this guy or the fact that they were trying to mash us all together at once.

  “Nah, you didn’t bring a coat and I only need a couple minutes.”

  Her eyes softened as she whispered, “Okay.”

  I stood and headed into the kitchen and out the back door. Taking in a deep breath of cold air, it burned my lungs as I held it in. The pain felt good as I tried to make sense of the feelings I was having. I was happy for my mother, yet I didn’t like the idea of James.

  “Fuck,” I whispered as I dropped my head back and closed my eyes.

  “Feeling a little tense? I bet a dance from you would ease both of our tension.”

  My head jerked up as I spun around to see Sandy standing on the back porch wearing a smirk on her face.r />
  Fucking hell. “What did you say?”

  Sandy tilted her head and smirked. “I’m guessing you don’t remember the private show you did for me and my friends during her bachelorette party.”

  Sandy made a tsk-tsk sound as she moved closer to me. “Such a shame, that big ole cock sure felt good rubbing up against me.”

  Trying to make light of the subject that my mother’s boyfriend’s daughter knew I had been a stripper, I let out a chuckle. “Well, this cock has rubbed up against a lot of women.”

  Her smile faded some. “How would your pretty little girlfriend like to know her man was a male stripper? After all, she seems pretty innocent.”

  Okay, that’s funny.

  With a roar of laughter, I shook my head. “Oh Sandy, Meagan is far from innocent and she’s actually seen me in action, so she is well aware of what I did while trying to get through college.”

  “What about your mom, Gray? Does she know about this little side career you had going on?”

  I felt the anger begin to build as I stared into her eyes. “What are you getting at, Sandy?”

  She took a step closer and went to place her hand on my chest, but I backed away as she let out a laugh. “I’m not getting at anything. I just find it kind of funny that we met before under different circumstances and now our parents are dating. That’s all.”

  Lifting her hand to touch me again, I grabbed it and pushed her away. “Well let’s get something straight. What I did in the past is in the past. I’m very happy now with Meagan and I’m trying really hard to get used to the idea that our parents are dating. So, unless you’ve got something else on your mind, I say this conversation is over.”

  Sandy narrowed her eyes at me as she took me in. The way she was eye fucking me certainly was going to make the rest of the evening awkward. With a deep breath in, she slowly blew it out. “I won’t deny I’m a bit disappointed. It would have been fun going down memory lane with you.”

  Pushing past her, I started toward the back door and came face to face with Meagan, who looked between Sandy and me. Fuck. The last thing I wanted for Meagan to worry about was running into women I’ve danced for in the past. “What’s going on?”

  Taking her hand in mine, I glanced over my shoulder at Sandy standing there with a smirk on her face. “Nothing, let’s go say goodbye to Mom and get out of here.”

  Meagan remained silent the entire drive home. I wasn’t sure how much of my conversation with Sandy she heard, if any. I knew I needed to tell her what happened so she didn’t get the wrong idea, but I was pissed off and tired.

  By the time we got back to my apartment, Meagan had had enough of the silence.

  “Do you want to tell me what you and Sandy were talking about? The tension was so thick in the air, I could have cut it with a knife.”

  I rubbed my hand across the back of my neck and sighed. As much as I didn’t want to talk about it, I knew I needed to. “Turns out a few years ago Sandy and some friends of hers had a private party at the club I used to work for.”

  “Okay, so why are you so angry? Because she recognized you?”

  I was somewhat stunned Meagan took that bit of information as well as she did. “I’m angry because I don’t want to be running into women I’ve danced for, and I’m pissed she came on to me.”

  Meagan’s eyes widened in surprise. “What do you mean she came on to you?”

  I blew out a breath and looked away. “She tried touching me a few times and mentioned something about going down memory lane.”

  “What?” Meagan shouted as I glanced back over to her. “Oh my God, I wish I had heard that.” Meagan balled her fists up and shook her head. “Oh . . . oh . . . I really want to punch her in her—”

  I anxiously waited to hear where she wanted to punch Sandy. “In her what?”

  “Her throat!”

  Well, okay then.

  Lifting my eyebrows, I asked, “Her throat?”

  “That little cunt licker. I cannot believe, with her own father in the house, she had the nerve to make a move on you! Wait until our next family get together.”

  God, I love this woman.

  “Babe, did you call her a . . . cunt licker?”

  Meagan snarled up her lip as she narrowed her brows. “Ugh. Yes!”

  “Is Sandy a swinger?”

  Meagan’s mouth gaped open. “How the hell would I know?”

  Shrugging my shoulders, I let out a chuckle. “I don’t know, you called her a cunt licker.”

  Meagan pursed her lips together as she shook her head and let out a frustrated breath. “That’s just something Grace said once, and it seemed like a good time to use it.”

  “Because you think she’s a swinger?”

  Her hands flew to her hips. “Jesus H. Christ, Gray! I don’t have a damn clue what she is and I don’t give a flying fuck. All I know is she tried to get you to sleep with her and I want to punch her in her throat!”

  Laughing, I pulled Meagan into my arms and pressed my lips to hers. It didn’t take long before we were all over each other and in bed naked.

  It was the perfect way to end a perfectly shit-filled day. Meagan wrapped up in my arms as we drifted off to sleep.

  Meagan

  I LOWERED THE book I had been reading and stole a peek at Grayson. He was buried in files that were laid out in front of him. He worked so hard and I knew he was trying to prove to everyone he deserved to be the youngest, fastest promoted detective on the Durango force.

  “You hungry?” I asked as I stood up and stretched.

  “Nah, you go on ahead and eat something, babe.”

  With a frown, I slowly turned and headed to the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, I glanced around.

  Nothing.

  Ugh. Single men never keep food in their houses. Shutting the door, I made my way to the pantry. I wonder why I just don’t talk to Grayson about moving in together. What am I afraid of?

  I stood there mindlessly looking at ten different boxes of cereal as I contemplated talking to Grayson about living with him. It was the middle of March and we had been going strong as official boyfriend and girlfriend for two months.

  Two months. Maybe that’s too soon?

  Chewing on my thumbnail, I leaned against the island as I thought this through. Maybe having our two separate spaces was a good thing for right now. Even though I spent ninety-nine percent of my time here, I still had my apartment to go to.

  My phone buzzed in my back pocket as I pulled it out and smiled.

  Mitchell.

  Mitchell: Hey Meg. Are we still on for Monday afternoon?

  Me: Yep! I’ll see you at the office around 3:45.

  Mitchell: Okay good. See you then. Bye.

  I stared at the message and thought it was kind of strange for Mitchell to text me just for a reminder. I often gave my cell phone number to my patients. Melissa frowned on it, but I felt like it allowed them to trust me a bit more. Almost all of them communicated through text for their appointments or when they were faced with a tough time.

  “What are you doing staring at your phone?”

  My head snapped up as I smiled at the handsome man in front of me. My eyes roamed his perfectly toned body as I felt a pull in my lower stomach.

  Struggling to find my voice, I grinned and said, “It was Mitchell.”

  Grayson lifted his eyebrows. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about Mitchell.”

  My interest was piqued. “Oh yeah? What about?”

  The refrigerator opened and Grayson pulled out a beer. With a quick twist of the cap, the bottle hit his lips and caused me to moan internally. What I wouldn’t give to have those lips kiss my body. My breasts. My stomach. My throbbing wet—

  “Meg? Are you listening to me?”

  I shook my head to rid me of my dirty thoughts. “What? I’m sorry what did you say?”

  “I asked you if you knew Mitchell didn’t really want to be a cop?”

  Staring at Grayson like he was insa
ne, I let a quick chuckle out. “What? Of course he does. His mother said Mitchell wants to be a cop just like his father was.”

  Grayson leaned back against the kitchen sink and looked intently at me. “Has Mitchell ever told you that?”

  I went to answer when I slammed my mouth shut as I thought about it. In all the meetings I’d had with him, he never once really told me he had a desire to be a cop.

  “He hasn’t has he?”

  For some reason this bothered me, knowing I hadn’t caught on to the fact that Mitchell hadn’t ever said his true desires. Grayson caught on to it just by spending one afternoon with Mitchell.

  “How . . . what makes you think you know what he wants?” I asked as my body flushed with anger.

  Grayson pushed off the counter. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, Meg. He told me.”

  My mouth dropped. “He told you what exactly?”

  Pulling in a deep breath, Grayson blew it out. “That it was his mother’s dream for him to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Mitchell wants to play pro football and would like to be a coach after college.”

  I was positive Grayson heard the slamming of my heart against my chest. “He’s never once mentioned that to me.”

  “Have you asked him or did you just assume?”

  My eyebrows pinched together as I glared at Grayson. “Are you saying I don’t do my job well?”

  A look of shock moved across his face. “No! I’m not saying that at all. Maybe the kid just felt more comfortable telling me.”

  “That’s just you covering up for saying I’m doing a shitty job with Mitchell.”

  Grayson closed his eyes and shook his head before opening them again and looking directly into my eyes. “Meg, that’s not what I was saying. I’m just telling you what he told me. You do what you want with it, but honestly I’m exhausted and I don’t feel like turning this into an argument with you.”

  Lifting my hands up, I slowly shook my head. “Oh, by all means let’s just stop talking about it because that’s what you like to do when things get a little complicated for you. You either clam up or you fuck the hell out of me. I guess you’re too tired for option number two.”

  I spun on my heels and headed to the living room where I grabbed my book and purse. Slipping on my tennis shoes, I reached for my jacket.