by Aliyah Burke
It had been six years so far and he’d welcomed Ellie with a gentle tail wag and a tongue lick. Tears fell immediately and she lay on the couch with him. Max didn’t mind, he allowed her to do what she had to.
She could hear Piper in the kitchen but she stayed where she was. Piper, true to her word had met her at the airport, hugged her, then hustled them out to the car. At her house, she’d put her to bed. Ellie had been awake for about fifteen minutes but didn’t feel much like talking so she’d curled up with Max.
Piper was her best friend and would be ready to hear her when the time came to talk, but she wouldn’t force her to spill what the issue was. Ellie closed her eyes once more only to waken when the enticing scent of pulled pork tempted her from slumber.
Yawning, she sat and smiled at Max who lay there, eyes open. He moved his look to her, thumped his tail twice, then got off the couch and ambled on into the kitchen. She loved that dog. He’d been awake, probably salivating at the scent, but didn’t disturb her.
She moved slower than the old man, stopped off at the bathroom and took care of her most pressing needs, then headed to the kitchen. She rubbed her bare shoulder before tugging up her cutoff sweatshirt.
“And a good afternoon to you.”
“Hey,” she replied, voice a bit scratchy.
Max was drinking from his paw-shaped water bowl, his tail still moving with that gentle wag.
Piper turned from the counter where she fixed their plates and sighed. “You look like shit. You’re going back to bed after you eat something.”
“How long have I been asleep?”
“A day. Mom and Dad stopped by and I told them you were here for a visit, that’s all. They don’t know you’re considering returning home. I didn’t want to tell them because I think once you have some perspective, you’ll be returning back to Hawaii.”
Ellie moved up beside Piper and reached out tug on the red braid hanging down her back. “What if I want to stay and don’t want to go back?”
“Then you stay. I just didn’t want to tell Mom and Dad anything concrete, it’s not my place to make that decision.”
“I do love you, Piper, you know that, right?”
“Of course I do. What’s not to love? I’m absolutely adorable and a kickass pastry chef who has her own business. I’m a flipping catch.”
“No argument here but I still don’t want you in that way.” She picked up the plates and carried them to the table. Piper was correct, she was a knockout.
Some people may think she was too heavy and not the standard of beauty for this country but, in Ellie’s opinion, her friend beat those skinny sticks hands down. Sure, she had curves, but she carried herself like a queen. Her amber eyes were always sparkling and full of laughter. A good many of years, Ellie had envied her outlook on life and willingness to just accept all that came to her. That wasn’t to say that Piper hadn’t had her difficulties, but she was always upbeat. She was the happy friend. Ellie was the needy one.
Piper brought over their drinks and sat across from her at the small rectangular table.
They ate in silence for a while, but after they’d finished and Piper had brought over a dessert of caramel pecan rolls, she held Ellie’s gaze, eyebrow up.
“This where I need to start talking?”
“Not yet. I’m wanting an explanation but we’re going walking with Max later, we can talk then.”
She ripped off a piece of her roll and ate it. Ellie followed suit and nearly purred. Damn, Piper could bake.
Two hours later the women walked along the edge of town in one of the large fields. Max ran—well, ambled free around—swinging by occasionally to check on his human. They were arm in arm as they strolled. Piper was taller by an inch and Ellie walked with her head resting on Piper’s shoulder.
“When does he come back?”
Piper stopped and turned so they were face to face. “I don’t know. I’m not one of his favorite people. I didn’t side with him like so many in town when you divorced him and left town.”
“Who married him?”
“Some secretary he met while out of town. I’ve never met her.”
“He’s doing the same to her that he did to me. I saw the bruises.” Her chest tightened and her lungs failed to provide adequate air. She stopped and bent at the waist, bracing her hands on her knees. “I shouldn’t have run. I should have fought. Now he’ll never be stopped.”
“This isn’t your battle, Ellie. You got out. You got away and you did report him. This is on the law who fell for his money that he flashed to them. You filed your reports, you asked for help. There’s nothing that you have to feel guilty about. This is on the cops who turned a blind eye to the broken limbs, bruising, and all the medical reports.”
“I’m damaged.”
“No,” she barked. “You’re a survivor, don’t you dare think any less of what you went through just because that fuckwad paid people off to stay out of jail.”
“Bennett isn’t ever going to want to see me again.”
She snorted. “From what I’ve been told about this man by you, that’s not the truth at all. He’s going to want you back. Hell, I’ll place a bet with you that he’s coming after you.”
“He called me close to fifteen times and I never picked up once.”
They began walking until they found a large bale of hay that they crawled up on and sat. Max continued to do his own thing, coming around to make sure Piper was still near.
“So, you get to apologize for being as ass and a bitch. But it’s understandable. You’d not seen Trevor for so long, it was a shock and you went into flight mode.”
“You could have said this when I was home, why didn’t you?”
Piper lay back. “Why would I do that? I’m selfish I missed my bestie and wanted you to come home for a visit. I think you needed a change of scenery. You know, get away from all that terrible tropical beauty and come back to this flat plain.”
“I’m sensing a bit of sarcasm there.”
“Only a bit? Perhaps I’m getting less subtle in my old age.”
“Not likely.”
“Let me tell you something, Ellie. I was pissed when you ran to Hawaii. I thought you were making the hugest mistake. Now, I think that mistake would be if you came back here.” Piper laced her fingers through Ellie’s. “Your home is no longer here in Kansas. You’ve found your Oz, Dorothy. Go back to it.”
“I don’t know if I have anything to go back to.”
“Why wouldn’t you? You didn’t quit your job. You didn’t get out of your lease. So stay for a few days then go home. Be here, keep me company. Help me out at the shop and we’ll see Mom and Dad. This isn’t the same place, Ellie. After being in Hawaii, I can’t imagine you’re going to enjoy it here. Especially when winter comes. And tornado season.”
“How am I supposed to face him after what I did?”
“I can’t answer that for you. I would, however, suggest something sexy and so very sincere. Look, you owe him an explanation, but your past is yours. You don’t have to share that with him if you don’t want to. I would because he is obviously into you.”
Ellie stared up at the sky with the fat, fluffy clouds moving along. The sky was blue, but it wasn’t that same vibrant shade she’d gotten used to seeing in Hawaii. She ran over the pros and cons of staying here and returning there.
There were serious decisions to be made and not ones to take lightly.
αβ
Bennett stood beneath the shower at the beach and washed off the saltwater from his skin and trunks. His mood had gone south, and he’d not been back to Last Call since he walked out after speaking with Dogfish. In fact, he’d gone to the big island for some extra work, needing to get to a place with memories that didn’t involve the woman who snared his heart only to rip it out and stomp it into the ground in tiny pieces.
He had a small studio apartment and went to an actual office every day to do IT work. For downtime, he surfed. He’d even reduced the amo
unt of times he spoke to his mother, and those few times he kept short.
Love fucking sucked.
He’d gotten her address and had flown to the mainland and followed her to Kansas. What a dismal place, in his estimation. No trees to speak of, no water, no place for him to stay.
He saw her once, she sat beside a curvy redhead as they talked and laughed. This didn’t look at all like the sad woman who’d told him to leave her alone. Seeing her there, in that situation, had only furthered the nail into the coffin on their relationship. Obviously, whatever she’d needed had been there and not with him.
Now, he did what he did and passed along in his day to day. Tugging on the chain, he turned off the water and shook his head, sending the droplets flying. Not bothering with a towel, he stepped off the wood and back onto the sand where the board sat, waiting.
Hefting it, he headed back to his place. He would be back in the water before nightfall. It was his weekend and most of his time was spent on the board if he wasn’t at work. He’d just rested it against the wall and walked to his fridge for a beer when a harsh pounding came on the door.
No clue who that should be. He pulled the door open and found his mother standing there with a look so fierce it took him back to childhood when he’d done something wrong and had about to catch her wrath.
“Hi, Mom.”
She shoved him out of her way, stomping past. “Don’t you ‘Hi Mom’ me. Are you kidding me right now? This is what you’ve done?”
He drank some beer and waited for her to take a breath. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m working. What do you mean, this is what I’ve done?”
“I thought you were going after her.”
He snorted. “I did. She was happy there. Didn’t need me in her life. And since she can’t trust that I won’t hit her, why continue to torture myself?”
His mother glared at him. “I thought we went over this when you were at my place. Apparently, you’ve forgotten what we talked about.”
“No, Mom, I didn’t but it’s not your business. I don’t want to discuss it.”
One plucked eyebrow rose and she stared down her nose at him, haughty and royal. “I didn’t ask if you wanted to discuss this.”
“It’s my life,” he argued.
“Then treat it like you deserve it.” Her words were low and harsh. “Look at you, standing here after running away. You love her and we both know she loves you. Yet you’re not with her.”
“She made her cho—”
“Don’t you interrupt me.”
He snapped his mouth shut. He was a man who’d battled insurgents, fought terrorists, and didn’t hesitate. Having faced down death more than once, he never faltered in his mission. But his mother who came to his shoulder and weighed a buck ten wet snapped at him, he froze and listened.
“I have something to say and you will damn well stand there and listen to it. I don’t want any words out of you until I’m finished. You don’t know what you’re wasting, well let me tell you. Time. You’re wasting time that could be spent with her. You could be creating memories with one another and yet here you are on another island, miserable and feeling sorry for yourself. You’re throwing away the best thing in your life.”
His mother took a moment and dabbed at the corners of her eyes.
“If your father had been alive. If here had been one small sliver of hope that he still lived, I would never have given up so easily. I would have gone wherever, done whatever I had to in order to reach his side, for that was where I belonged.”
He opened his mouth but closed it once more with a look from her.
“A relationship isn’t supposed to be easy all the time. Sometimes there is pain and hurt but if you can’t figure out how to weather the storm, how dare you believe you deserve the good times.”
“I tried to talk to her.”
“You accepted her reasons for not having time. And you left because she was laughing. Don’t you get it, son? There are many times when I laugh even though all I want to do is cry. You don’t have any clue as to what’s going on in her head and heart unless you face her and ask her.” She shook her head. “I’m ashamed of you. For giving up, letting her go when there are so many unanswered questions. That’s not love. That was lust, and the fact you can’t be bothered to fight for the one you claim to love.”
She flattened her lips as tears shimmered in her eyes. “You people are just so into throwing things away when you have to work for it. Love is such a precious item, it’s not a throwaway one. You should know better. You should be better.”
She walked out without another word and closed the door quietly behind her.
Bennett waited for a moment, thinking perhaps she’d come back into the apartment. But once five minutes had passed, he realized that wasn’t going to happen. She’d gone. He hated it when she was disappointed in him. That wasn’t ever his goal. He loved his mother and always wanted her to be proud of him and what he did with his life.
Right up to this moment, it had been something he’d accomplished. Now, he’d done the one thing he never wished to do. He jumped up on the kitchen counter and sat there thinking about what his mother had just schooled him on.
Okay, so she was correct. This was a throwaway society. You didn’t want to put the work into it, you got rid of it. Didn’t work properly, throw it out.
But is that how I saw my relationship with Ellie? He didn’t think so, but his mom’s words had him not positive on that any longer.
He hadn’t gone up to her in Kansas to find out how she was doing. He’d seen the smile and heard the laughter before making an assumption.
And I know what happens when I assume.
He may have fucked this up for good. Sure, she’d ignored his calls and left the state, but he had an opportunity and didn’t take it. He had to make good on that.
Placing his beer beside his thigh, he drummed his fingers on the countertop. He had intended to get some answers last time. This time, he was going to get the girl.
Chapter Fourteen
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Ellie called as she moved to the door of her apartment.
She’d been back on the island for two weeks now. Bennett hadn’t been to the bar once, Mikeyla had returned to DC and her law practice, and Dogfish had reclaimed his stool to overlook his domain.
Settling back into the routine hadn’t been as difficult as she’d thought it would be. What hurt was not seeing Bennett. But she understood, she’d pushed him away. One night she’d gone by his place but it was completely dark and his truck wasn’t in the drive.
Drawing open the door, her breath left her in a whoosh. Standing there, arm braced along the door frame was the man she’d just been thinking about, hunky Bennett Harvey.
“Bennett.”
His name fell from her lips on a soft sigh. God, she’d missed him. Every fine ass inch of him. Her body responded instantly, for not even Big Blue had been able to fulfill the ache she craved Bennett with.
His eyes were sleepy and hooded as he watched her. The tight blue shirt barely contained those guns he called arms, and his worn jeans didn’t help her lustful mind calm down and send peaceful thoughts through. Quite the opposite. More along the lines of dropping to her knees to undo them, peeling them down his strong legs. Drawing his thick, long cock into her mouth and sucking on it while he gripped her hair and pumped his hips into her.
Her nipples drew painfully tight as she imagined him sucking them into his mouth, teeth grazing the points. And her clit throbbed with anticipation.
“Hello, Smash. May I come in?”
Smash. He was calling her Smash. A name he’d created for her. Was that a good thing or a bad one because he wasn’t using Ellie?
Panic began sinking in as she didn’t know what to expect. Since words, coherent ones, wouldn’t come, she stepped back so he could move past her. She locked her stare in on his ass as he walked by.
It wasn’t fair for him to have an ass like
that. Not to everyone else in the world. No one wore jeans like this man.
He cleared his throat and she snapped her gaze upward, aware she’d been caught staring. Only since he’d turned, it wasn’t his ass but his groin she’d fixated on.
“You busy?”
Yes, she was, but it wasn’t anything that couldn’t wait for a bit. She really missed him. “No.”
“Good. Lock the door.”
She glanced from the door to him and back again. “What?”
“Lock the door. We’re not getting interrupted until we get this worked out.”
She locked it and turned back, resting against the cool wood. Her eyes flicked to the impressive tattoos he had on arms. Her mind flashed her back to the night she licked chocolate syrup off them. And a few other things. It really got interesting when he began drawing them on her with whipped cream.
“Is there really anything left to say?”
“A fuck load. Are you really thinking that we drop all we’ve been through together because some ass from your past shows up? Couples face things together, Ellie. Not separately.”
Her insides flipped a few times. “We’re not a couple.”
“We should be. We kicked ass together, Smash. You know it and so do I. We can’t argue that point.”
“So what, you want me to relive it all and tell you so you understand what’s going on in my head?”
“I’d like you to share it with me but I won’t make you. I will need you to understand that I’m here for you. To be with you. To be your rock when you need one. Christ, Ellie, I’ve fallen in love with you. That hasn’t changed over this time you’ve been gone.”
She wanted to believe him. So much.
“There’s that look again. You don’t believe what I’m saying. You think it’s a line I use and then I’m going to hurt you.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time a man has done that.”
“No, it wouldn’t be, but women do it too. I won’t and I trust that you won’t either.”
