Addison didn’t give me those vibes. She didn’t speak about it like it was hers. She’d call it her father’s money, or sometimes family, but never hers. I knew for a fact they all pitched in on the ranch, some siblings more than others. She’d be entitled to something down the road, which would in turn allow her to live comfortably. Thinking about it didn’t make me feel threatened. What did would be the moment her family put two and two together and realized I was affiliated with the people they’d never be able to forget.
Despite the fact that our relationship was a ticking time bomb, I couldn’t refuse myself the satisfaction I received when we were together. I’d ride out this train wreck, because weeks with Addison was better than nothing at all.
The next morning I had to get up and go into work for a few hours. I didn’t have a standing appointment until noon, so I took my time waiting for her to wake up on her own. She wiggled around, finally opening her eyes to see me looking at her. She pulled the sheets up to cover her mouth. “Good morning.”
“It is good.” What she was doing was so cute to me. I wanted to tease her about it, but changed my mind when I knew she’d run and try to brush her teeth. “You slept well.”
“Did you not?” She questioned.
“I stayed up for a while thinking.”
“About what?”
“This. Us. Whatever this is.”
“What do you think it is?” Her question left me wondering if I should tell the truth. Did I put it out there only to retract it later, because it was the right thing to do?
“The start of something.” My reply seemed to ease her worries. We were on the same page for now.
“What are you doing today?”
I played with her hair while I answered. “I need to go into work for a while, which sucks, because I’d love to be here with you, in this bed, naked like we still are.”
Addison’s eyes went from normal to bugged. She peeked under the sheet and then back to me. “Oh my god. I totally forgot.”
“Because I’m that good.” I winked when I announced it, making her giggle behind the fabric shielding her mouth.
“You definitely proved a point. Where did you learn to have such strong willpower?”
“I don’t know. The Army I suppose. I’ve learned to appreciate things more when I have to wait for them.”
“I’ve never slept naked with a guy and done nothing. Is that bad?”
I slipped closer and whispered in her ear, just to be a little more dramatic. “That’s because you’ve never been with a real man before. The wait will be worth it, precious.”
She sat up, taking most of the sheet with her, and pulling it completely away from my cock. Her eyes darted in the direction of my package. “Worth the wait. Got it.”
Without waiting for it to get awkward, I climbed over her and walked proudly to the bathroom. I heard her giggling, which instantly made me smile. It was fun getting to know her intimately. I had a feeling it might get even better.
It was much to my surprise when Addison came following me in the bathroom. My strand of urine was constant in the toilet when I heard the sink being turned on. She eyed me up while beginning to brush her teeth. “See something you like?”
She spit before answering. “Maybe I do.”
I finished up and flushed, making sure to put the seat back down to impress her. At home I never did it. Making my way to where she stood wasn’t hard. I think my dick led the way for the most part. “Is sharing out of the question?” I pointed to the toothbrush.
She spun around and opened a glass medicine cabinet, pulling out an unopened package of them. “What color do you want?”
I raised a brow. “You must do this a lot.” I acted like I was offended, waving my hands around like a lunatic. “And I thought I was special.”
She laughed with me, but waited for me to make a selection. When I did, she smacked me hard on the ass and hustled out of the room.
I found her a few minutes later wearing a long t-shirt. She was crossed legged on the bed flipping through channels on the television. I pulled on a pair of boxers and plopped down beside her. I began kissing the top of her knee as I spoke. “When can I see you again?”
“That depends what time you get off work. I want to go to a meeting tonight. Do you want to come with me?”
This was hard for me. In many ways I didn’t consider myself an addict. I could stop whenever I wanted, though this last time the withdraws kicked me in the ass. Considering I wanted to be with her, to support her in any way I could, I decided to go along. “Are you offering me a ride?”
“Maybe I am.”
We kissed slowly. “Then maybe you can pick me up at four.”
“Maybe I will.”
It didn’t take long for me to begin exploring her with my hands. Quick kisses became paced. My intentions weren’t good, because I knew at some point I would need to ravish her. She was a temple and I wanted to worship her, bathe in her essence, until there was nothing left unknown.
For the life of me I couldn’t back down. I persevered on, using my tongue as an instrument to get my way. She wouldn’t refuse me, not when I made her tremble from a simple embrace.
“I need to get going.” It almost hurt to admit.
Addison reached down and felt my erection. In some ways it shocked me she was being this curious. “Are you sure? It doesn’t seem like you want to.”
“Trust me. I don’t.”
We kissed on the lips, sluggishly, taking our time to sweeten the moment. “Do you want to stay the night again?”
I nodded. “I guess if I have to,” I joked.
“Funny.”
“Seriously. Tonight I want to do something different.”
“What,” she asked.
“It’s a secret.”
After we cleaned up the mess from the night before, including a full bowl of melted ice-cream, Addison drove me to the tattoo shop. I didn’t care that I was dressed in the same clothes since I was one of the only guys working. We don’t notice shit females pay attention to. At least I’d showered.
Saying goodbye was hard. I wanted nothing more than to spend the day basking in the sun with her. I feared she’d somehow change her mind and cancel our plans, on account of how heated it had gotten the night before. I vowed to take it slow, but she was making it extremely complicated to do so.
“I’ll see you later,” I whispered against her lips.
“Okay.”
“We can pick up some steaks and I’ll cook for you.”
“I’ll get them. I’ll see you soon.” Her offer would help us spend more time together alone. I was all right with that happening, and I trusted she knew what a good steak looked like at the market.
“Don’t miss me too much. I wouldn’t want to have to pry you off me later.”
“Keep dreaming,” she teased as she pulled away from the curb, leaving me there to watch her go.
The day started with a few girls who came in to get matching pieces. While I was getting everything set up I heard them talking about me, taking bets on if I was single or not. For the most part I ignored them. I was there to do a job, and then spend time with Addison later. Then I got to thinking about hurting her in the long run. Wouldn’t it be easier to come off as a player in the beginning to keep her safe from misery? I was torn.
The girls were ridiculous, asking me every question under the sun. Each piece took about forty minutes to complete, and when I was finished the last thing I wanted to do was mess up a good thing with Addison, not yet at least. One chick handed me her number. “I’m seeing someone.”
“Is it serious?”
Was it? After a week was it serious enough to where I was off the market? Did I want to see her out with another guy? Joe?
Hell no!
“We’re exclusive. Sorry.”
“Keep the number. Nothing lasts forever.” Her words echoed in my mind. Maybe she was right. Nothing good stands the test of time. In my lifetime nothing did any
way.
It was already thirty minutes after three. The other guy who’d been working had been sitting around for an hour with his thumb up his ass doing nothing. I cleaned up my station and decided to wait for Addison out front.
I pulled my phone from my pocket to let her know I was available for pick-up.
I’m finished if you want to come get me early. – C
I’ll be there in five. Just checking out at the grocery store. – A
It took her about seven total minutes to pull up in front of where I was standing. She had changed her clothes and put her hair in a messy ponytail. Her makeup was light, and I liked her better that way. She was beautiful naturally. She didn’t need to hide it with shit caked on her face. As soon as I climbed in the car she was waiting to kiss me. I welcomed it, lifting my hand up to hold her cheek as we greeted each other.
A knock on the passenger side window stopped us. One of the girls from earlier was standing outside of the vehicle. I pushed the button and let it lower so I could see what she wanted. “Yeah?”
“I forgot to give a tip earlier.” She looked at Addison’s car, which happened to be an expensive sedan. “Now I know why you said you were exclusive. Anyway¸ you have my number. Call me if your status ever changes.”
I took the cash and clenched my jaw, wondering how I was going to explain this without hearing shit. By the time the window was up Addison was laughing her ass off. “Oh my god. What was that about?”
“Apparently she wants me.”
“She said you were exclusive. Do you have a girlfriend I don’t know about?”
Her smile changed when she realized who I was talking about. I’d been clear that this was casual. Now I had her concerned, and I wasn’t sure how to go about it. “I’m looking at her.”
“What changed your mind?”
“Everything. You did. I don’t know. Can we talk about it later? I just want to get the hell out of here.”
It was a douche move to ask her to drop it, but I couldn’t be responsible for my answers otherwise. This girl had me by my nuts. It wasn’t about the sex, or lack thereof. It was deeper; a connection that would bring me to my knees in pain if I didn’t figure something out quick. This woman would break me, more than the one before her.
When we pulled up at the ranch there was someone already swimming in the pool. A girl, resembling Addison walked up to the gate to greet us. “You must be Cole. I’ve heard so much about you.” She extended her hand for me to shake.
Addison came up behind me. “Don’t listen to her. I haven’t told her anything but your name. She’s nosey like that.”
I realized after that it was her sister Christian. “Oh, you’re Christian.”
“Chris. That’s Ethan over there.” She pointed to the guy who was reading a book with ear buds in, so he couldn’t hear a word we were saying.
“Cool.” I lifted up the bags of cold food. “We better get these in the refrigerator.”
Addison led the way into the main house. Once inside we put the food away. She came over and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me without a real explanation. “You okay, precious?”
“I am now.”
“Do you want to elaborate?”
She peered up into my eyes. “Do you want to be exclusive? I’m only asking because I hate sharing. I’m not selfish. I just like having my own things.”
“Am I a thing?”
“Well,” she snickered, “sort of.”
I placed my hands on her ass and squeezed. “I think I might be okay with this arrangement.”
“This is bad.”
I kissed her on the nose. “Says who? Seriously. Who makes the rules?”
She shrugged. “I’m not used to letting new people into my life.”
“I want to know all of you,” I explained while running a hand over her cheek. “Let’s forget about everyone else for once. We can call this what it is. I’m tired of searching for reasons why it shouldn’t happen.”
“No one is going to understand how all of a sudden we’re a couple.”
“We’ll take it slow. They don’t need to know details.”
“What about me being your sponsor?”
“Why don’t we try to keep our relationship separate from your professional life. I’m not saying you shouldn’t keep our relationship a secret, but maybe it’s better if I find somewhere else to go to meetings and be sponsored, if I go at all. To be honest I used more for recreation. I mean, yeah, it got out of hand. For a while there I went crazy. I’m not justifying my actions to sugar coat them. I’m just saying I’m in control. I don’t need a twelve step program to keep me in check. I’m not worried about going back there. It’s not even remotely interesting, not when I have something so much more worthwhile to look forward to every day.”
“How about this then. I’ll skip that extra meeting tonight. We can have a nice meal and do what normal people would do without having to think about an addiction.”
“I’m only okay with that if you are. If you need to go to a meeting I won’t stand in your way. I don’t want you losing track of what’s important.”
“I’m okay. When I’m with you I don’t think about who I used to be.”
“That’s good. You must really like me.”
“I do,” she agreed. “Probably way too much.”
Since we didn’t have to rush out to a meeting in town, Addison helped me marinate the steaks. She put a salad together, while I headed outside to start the grill. I’d only been outside a couple minutes before her sister found me. “So, how long have you been interested in my sister?”
I smiled and pretended I wasn’t nervous to divulge information. “I suppose I’ve been interested since we met.”
“Where are you from?”
“Here originally. I went into the Army out of high school and moved to Georgia. I got back a couple weeks ago.”
“Are you a player?”
“What?” I scrunched up my face. “I don’t have time for that shit. I’m real. What you see is what you get.”
“If you hurt my sister I’ll make sure you never get a chance to hurt anyone else again.”
I put down the grill brush and shook her hand. “I have no reason to let you down.”
“Good. You also might want to keep your dick in your pants. My sister doesn’t need anything to add to her problems. Stay clean. Don’t take her back to the place she was before. I’m not screwing around either. I will personally destroy you if you hurt her.”
“I appreciate your honesty, really I do, but you don’t have to worry about that. I like her clean and healthy.”
“Good. Ethan and I are about to leave. Don’t give me any reasons to come check up on you later.”
“I won’t.” It was funny being threatened by such a petite female, though I knew she meant business.
Once the steaks were on the grill, I went over and grabbed a pair of swimming trunks. I went inside to change and found Addison sitting on a stool in her swimsuit. “You went home and got clothes. That’s not fair.”
“I live right down the dirt lane. I took the golf cart while you were gabbing with my sister.” She lifted up a bag. “Don’t worry. There’s stuff in here you can wear.”
“I’m not wearing your dad’s clothes.”
“Oh my gosh, I’d never get you those. They’re Noah’s. He still has a closet full of stuff in his old room in boxes. It’s been years since he moved out, but I’m sure they’ll fit you, and he won’t miss them. Mom said she’s donating them anyway.”
“You thought of everything. What if I wanted to go home?”
She brought her foot up between my legs and teased me. “I’d persuade you to stay.”
I walked until I was in between her legs. “Oh, I like being persuaded.”
She bit down on her lower lip and smiled. “I bet you do.”
“I need to flip the steaks in approximately five minutes. Don’t you dare get me going so I screw them up.”
“I�
�m too hungry to do that.”
“Oh yeah? You like thick meat do ya?”
“Shut up. You can’t be serious.”
“I was serious,” I argued. “I wanted to know. I can satisfy any cravings you might be having, with the steaks of course.”
I kissed her quickly before walking back outside. This was getting dangerous. I was treading on thin ice that was about to break beneath my feet.
While I considered how quickly things were progressing, and what it all meant, my phone began to ring. It was Joe. He was the last person I wanted to talk to.
“Hey, man. What’s up.”
“Don’t hey man me. You’re using again aren’t you?”
“What? No!”
“You didn’t come home last night. You think I don’t know the patterns?”
“I’m at my girl’s house. I spent the night and she picked me up from work. Damn.” Of course he’d accuse me of being stoned. He’d never trusted me.
“Where does this girl live? I want to make sure you’re telling me the truth.”
“I’m not telling you my business.”
“Then you can get the fuck out of my parent’s house. I’m not going to stand for you hurting them again.”
“You’re being ridiculous. I’m a grown man. I’m allowed to make my own decisions.”
“Come get your shit, or I’ll drop it off to someone who needs it.”
“Whoa! Wait a damn minute.”
The line went dead. I rushed into the house after turning off the grill. “I need to go home.”
“Why? Did I do something wrong?”
“No. Joe is tossing my shit out. He thinks I’ve been using because I didn’t come home last night.”
“You were with me.”
“I know, but I didn’t want you to get mad if I told him.”
Addison grabbed her keys and started heading for the door. “I’ll bring the car around. Get the steaks and put them in the refrigerator until we get back. If Joe wants proof, I’ll give it to him.”
Chapter 13
Addison
It was time to stop hiding behind what I was afraid of. Joe was threatening Cole. He needed to stop assuming the worst in him. Since I’d met him he’d been nothing but perfect. It pissed me off how bad Joe treated him, not to mention he was ruining our night together.
Addison Page 10
