Fetch

by A. J. Alexander

  I drop the envelope on his desk, but as I turn to leave something catches my eye. There are pictures of Heather, and I spread across the top. Pictures of us shopping, going out for coffee, having dinner at Noble. Picture after picture of the time I have spent in California. I can’t say that I am surprised that he was having me followed while I was in San Diego. He must have had to make sure I wasn’t doing anything to ruin the family name and all.

  Now that my curiosity has been peaked, I make my way around the desk to continue going through the pictures. Most of the pictures are of Heather and I, but I can soon notice there are also pictures from the night Cole met Heather and I at Noble. Just remembering that night makes my lady bits tingle. My Father's illegible scribble is written all across these photos, but there is no doubt that he isn’t happy I was spending my time with Cole.

  The envelope with a San Diego return address makes a lot more sense now, I grab it and rip it open. Spilling the contents onto the desk, I’m met with picture after picture of Cole and the bimbo he had with him on Friday night. Hanging all over him in different states of undress, kissing him, coming in and out of his apartment at different times of the day. Pictures speak a thousand words, there is no way that it was an accident she was with him at Noble that night. It was just accidental that I caught him in the act, my anger is coming back all over again.

  I pull my phone out of my pocket and immediately dial Cole’s number, I am going to let him know exactly what I think of him. No one, and I mean no one, is going to treat me like this and get away with it.

  “I can’t fucking believe him right now!” I scream as I storm into my bedroom, throwing the stack of pictures onto the bed. Heather comes running out of the bathroom wrapped in only a towel.

  “Where’s the fire sweet cheeks?”

  “I don’t even know where to start! First, my Father has been having me followed! Me! As if I am a child or something.” I pace my bedroom like a caged animal. I don’t care what happens now, I need to get out of here.

  “Holy shit, we knew that man was off his rocker, but I didn’t think he would go this far.” Heather inches toward the bed and begins looking at the pictures. “Well, at least we look fierce in all of these.”

  “This is not the time for jokes! Look at them, look at those pictures. He is such a fucking liar.” I grab the envelope and shove it under her nose, barely missing her face. “Look at these! That motherfucking piece of shit!”

  She takes the envelope from my hand, pulling the photos from it. She examines them for a few moments before she begins to laugh.

  “I don’t see anything remotely funny about those pictures, Heather. I was played for a fool. If I didn’t already call and give him a piece of my mind I would do it again.”

  Tears begin to roll down her cheeks as she grips her sides to contain her laughter, gasping for air.

  “I hope you choke.” I’ve had enough of this. I am sick of being the butt of everyone’s jokes. Before I can leave the room, Heather reaches out and grabs my wrist.

  “You…You…*giggle*…You…*giggle* called and cussed him out over these pictures?”

  “Did I stutter, I think we covered that already.” My response triggers another round of laughter. “I am really starting to lose my patience with you, so get to the point or leave me the fuck alone.”

  Gasping for air, Heather attempts to calm down again. “It’s not what you think. Damn, it wasn’t what either of us thought.” A bright smile spreads across Heather’s face.

  “What are you on their side now? I know what I saw! You can’t mistake a blonde bimbo sucking face with a man. That’s not something that someone can accidentally do. What is his excuse, ‘Sorry Addy, she tripped, and I caught her with my lips,’” I shout.

  “Look, bitch, if you would shut up for a minute and let me explain we can get to the bottom of all this.”

  “Well, I’m not the one sitting here laughing like a lunatic at someone else’s pain. I mean, damn, not only is my Father a fucking maniac, but my ‘relationship’ ended before it even started because he couldn’t keep his tongue to himself. A little sympathy please.”

  “Save the dramatics for the theater, Addy.” Heather throws the pictures back on the bed and stands. “You were just looking for something to be wrong with Cole so you could run,” she shouts directly back into my face.

  “What the hell are you talking about? You were the one ‘all woe is me’ in the bathroom because Wyatt brought you to the same restaurant he works at. Too blind to see that he is head over heels crazy for you.” Not to be the one to back down, I give it right back to her.

  By this point the two of us are shouting back and forth at each other, I don’t even know why we are fighting in the first place. “What the hell are we even fighting for?” I yell at her before hitting her over the head with my pillow.

  “Your dumbass jumping to conclusions!” Heather takes as good as she can give and smacks me right back on the side with a pillow.

  “I’m not jumping to anything! The bitch in all those pictures of Cole is the same one that he was sucking face with at Noble that night. How is that jumping to a conclusion?”

  I swing and hit her with the pillow one more time knocking her off balance and on to the bed. Not to be bested, Heather drops her pillow and tackles me to the floor.

  “That was Vickie, you ass! The chick hanging all over Wyatt that night was her whore best friend, Stacey,” Heather shouts into my face.

  Pinned to the floor, it takes a moment for what Heather said to register in my mind. “Oh shit.” I whisper.

  “Oh shit is right.” She climbs off me, and we both sit on the floor contemplating what our next move is.

  Suddenly her phone begins to chime, that reminds me that I turned my phone off after calling Cole. “Shit, the guys are coming to New York,” Heather says showing me a message from Cole.

  “What are we going to do? They can’t come here, not with my Father and all this bullshit. I can only deal with one issue at a time.” I begin to panic. Having Cole and my Father in the same place gives me hives just thinking about it.

  “Don’t you worry buttercup, I’ll take care of it.” Heather goes back to texting. After a few moments, she seems to be done. “Now that is taken care of, what are we going to do to get our men back?”

  I give her a quizzical look. “What do you mean our men?”

  “Don’t give me that! You don’t have a full-blown fight with me, a panic attack, and whatever else you call what just happened over some dude you met. Cole is yours, the sooner you accept that, the better. So are you in or not.” She raises her eyebrow waiting for a response.

  The only thing to do is give in, no matter how hard I fight it I was Cole’s the moment we met. “So, what’s the plan?”

  Chapter 23

  COLE

  It’s been three days since the last time I heard anything from either of the girls. Wyatt and I drank ourselves stupid that night, but reality called the next morning, and life returned to usual. I’ve even been having my assistant walk Delilah and Sampson, so I’m not tempted again to crowd on their request for space. As if that has helped any, my dreams are plagued by visions of Addison every night which has led to many sleepless nights.

  “Fuck, man, I don’t know how much more of this I can take.” Wyatt slams his fist down on the bar.

  “Have you heard anything from either of them since Monday?” I ask as I take another swig of my beer.

  Wyatt and I have been meeting up for lunch almost every day, comparing notes to see if we have anything different to report. A bunch of pussy-whipped pansies is what we are, which is funny considering that neither of us has had any in what seems like forever.

  “Nope, nothing. They both either have their phones off or are ignoring my text messages. After what you said happened when Addy called you, I have no desire for a repeat, so I haven’t called.”

  “Me either. Well, I need to do something, cause I’m missing out on serious bank a
voiding the Middleton’s side of town. Tomorrow is the day, come hell or high water we are going to figure something out.” Paying out my tab, I head back to my apartment, so I can head out for a run. Running always helps me clear my head, plus maybe I can find someone to help get Addison off my mind. Who am I kidding, no one compares to Addison.

  After I change, I head out down my usual route, pushing myself a little harder than usual hoping exhaustion will set in and stop the dreams of Addison from coming tonight.

  As I approach my apartment, I can’t help but notice the beautiful brunette sitting on a bench struggling with a golden retriever puppy. Thoughts of Addison instantly invade my mind, shaking my head, I focus on the task at hand. Turning on the charm, I head toward the pair to offer my assistance. I tap her lightly on the shoulder as to not startle her when I speak.

  “Hello, my name is Cole, the owner of Promener Le Chien. If you are ever in need of a dog walker, give me a call. I would be glad to help.”

  “Is that how you pick up all the ladies?”

  My face immediately breaks out in a smile. “I didn’t know you were back, Addy?”

  “Well, I have this puppy that will need to be walked since I will be at school teaching all the time. I hear that there is a very nice dog walker in the area that may be able to help me,” she says shyly. I am not exactly sure where she is going with this, but I will play along.

  “That’s me, and who is this little man right here?”

  “Well, right now his name is Cole, I named him after someone that I care about very much.”

  I look into her bright green eyes and see nothing but honesty.

  “It just so happens that my name is Cole, maybe it was meant for us to meet today. What do you say we head over to my apartment and talk about a walking schedule for little Cole here?” I can’t help but reach out and place my palm against her cheek. She nuzzles into it immediately.

  “I missed you,” I whisper.

  “I wasn’t gone for very long.”

  I drop my hand and take a step closer, wrapping my arms around her shoulders and pulling her into my chest. “Any amount of time away from you is too long.”

  “Are you going soft on me?” she says as she lifts her chin. I see nothing but mischief dancing in her eyes.

  “There is nothing soft about me, babe.” I press my cock into her.

  “You’ve kept me waiting too long Cole.” Addison begins to pull away, turning to head toward my condo. Little Cole following happily behind her.

  “You kept yourself waiting, princess. You knew all along what you had to do.” I walk behind her, watching her tempt me with the sway of her hips.

  Without missing a beat, she spins on her heels and marches back toward me. When she is close enough, she wraps her arms around my neck and pulls herself up, so she can whisper in my ear, “Please.”

  I immediately grip her around the waist pinning her to my body, bend down and pick up the puppy. Handing Cole to Addy, I tell her to hold on tight and make a beeline for my condo. I hope Cole is potty trained because it is going to be a little while before either one of us will be in any position to take him for a walk.

  ADDISON

  Waking up in Cole’s arms is something that I can get used to, but we can cross that bridge later down the road. Right now, there is something very small jumping up and down on my bladder.

  “Cole, your son needs to pee.” I sit up and stretch as I place puppy Cole on his chest.

  “When did the puppy become my son?” he responds as he climbs out of bed, giving me another peek at his delicious ass.

  “When I decided to name him after you, Cole Jr.,” I say with a giggle.

  “Well, then I guess Cole needs a sister. We can name her Addison.”

  “Slow down there KoJack, one thing at a time. I just gave up my entire inheritance. I need to get some things settled first, then we can talk about more fur babies.”

  In our bubble of bliss, I almost forgot about the mess that I am in by calling my Father out on his stalker tendencies.

  “You can’t just say things like that and leave me hanging. Let me go walk Junior here and then you can explain to me what is going on.”

  Cole heads out the door, and I get up to make us some coffee, it doesn’t take long for them both to get back.

  “Now explain to me what you are talking about,” Cole says as I hand him a cup of coffee.

  I take a deep breath and begin the story. “You remember how I told you my parents were slightly controlling during our twenty questions the night we went out.” He nods in response before I continue, “Well that would be an understatement. My Father has been having me followed while I’ve been here.”

  “Wow, that is a whole different level of control,” Cole says while taking a sip of his coffee.

  “Yea, well you should also thank him. His need to follow me is how I discovered that the bimbo sucking off your lips that night was Vickie. He had a ton of pictures of her and her friend all around your apartment and her hanging all over you in his office. I found them by accident.”

  “Wait your dad was following me too?” Cole is just as surprised as I was at my Father’s antics.

  “He was none too happy about me being around you. He already had someone lined up for me to be with back home in New York. He figured that if he could find some dirt on you, I would come running back home to him.” I shake my head; my Father knows nothing about me. Yes, I needed some time to clear my head, but I would never have given up my dream for Cole.

  “Well lucky for both of us it was all a misunderstanding.” Cole places his cup on the counter and wraps me in his arms.

  “Yea, I guess. However, he has frozen my trust fund until I can be trusted again. Basically, meaning until I do what he wants me to do.” I melt into his embrace. “The money I have saved up is slowly running out. School is starting soon, but I was hoping to be able to use my trust fund to secure an apartment at least before he cut me off.”

  I have no idea what I am going to do, but something suddenly occurs to me.

  “I never apologized to you, did I?”

  Cole gives me his patented smirk. “You can drop to your knees and apologize right now if you like.”

  “Seriously Cole, you are thinking about a blow job at a time like this.”

  “Addy, I am always thinking about your lips wrapped around my cock.”

  I pull away from him and head toward the room to get dressed, I need to head back to my aunts and figure out what I am going to do.

  “I can think of another way to apologize, stay here with me.” He pulls me back into his embrace and places a soft kiss on my forehead.

  “You’re kidding, right?” I pull back from him so I can look into his eyes, I see nothing but sincerity.

  “Nope, dead serious. You are going to be spending most of your time here anyway, well at least I plan for you too.” He winks before continuing, “This way you can stay here with me and save up for your own place. If you hate living with me, you can move, but when you love it, you don’t have to worry about moving.”

  “Do you ever not get your way?” I ask with a smile.

  “Not usually, but there was this girl once that made me work really hard for it. It was worth it in the end.”

  I think about it for a moment. “I’ll move in, on one condition.”

  “Anything,” he eagerly responds.

  “Beg.” We both begin to laugh.

  Our story didn’t start out conventionally, but who would have thought that a simple interaction at my Aunt’s front door would change the course of my life forever.

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  Also by AJ Alexander

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  Fate

  Acknowledgments

  To say that the journey to writing my first book was a long one would be an understatement. The road was full of twist, turns, dead ends, and even some potholes along the way. However, there were so many people that were there for me to help me stay positive and keep moving forward.

  Jenny Dillion, my editor is my sanity! This woman, there are no words to describe what she means to me as both an editor and a friend. No matter what I need, when I need it, she is there for me. I believe that she was sent to me for the exact purpose of keeping me from quitting this journey of becoming an author. Thank you love from the bottom of my heart. My words, this book, heck the journey, would never have been possible without you.

  Andi Jaxon, hooker this has been a wild ride but I did it! I finally wrote something on my own and you hate it lol. I guess that means it is going to do fabulous, right? No seriously, thank you for pushing me to become better. To become a writer in the first place and not continue to hide in your shadow any longer, even if it was mostly Facebook’s fault.

  Edith and Nicole, my two most trusted beta readers. It was my privilege to let you two read and critique my very first solo release. I have had the honor of working with you on many different projects, but this took the cake. If it was not for either of you, I don’t think I would have ever finished this story.

  Most importantly thanks to all of you. Thank you for taking this journey with me. Whether this is the first thing of mine that you have read or if you have joined me from reading the SEAL’ed series. I hope you take a little something from my writing. Thank you for sharing your precious time with me.