by Kay Maree
My cousin, Jamie, put his law degree to good use and represented me. Avon was charged with assault causing bodily harm and sentenced to prison for seven years. I was relieved he was locked away, but at the same time, I was sad my baby would grow up without a dad; pregnancy hormones sure do a number to your rational thinking, well I should say lack of thinking.
After the trial, I moved back to Sandpoint and in with Mom and Dad. Once I was back on my feet, I moved into a cottage of my own and that is now where Ollie and I call home.
“Can we go to the doctor’s, Mom?” Ollie pipes up, my eyes snap to his with concern at his request.
“Why? What’s wrong, baby?”
“Nothing, I just want to see Doc Steel. He’s so cool.”
Fucking Doc Steel.
“Unless you are sick, we will not be going to the doctor’s office but we can go to Little League. Nana and Grumpy”—our playful term for Daddy since he is the least grumpy person around—“are going to meet us there.” My mom and dad dote on Ollie, he is the apple of their eyes and would do anything for him and me.
With him distracted, he runs into his room; a few moments later he returns in his uniform with his mitt tucked under his arm. “Ready, let's go.”
“Have you brushed your teeth?”
He frowns. “Yeeees,” he innocently says.
“Nice try, buddy. Give me your mitt and go brush them and then we can go.”
“Fine,” he huffs.
Thirty minutes later, I’m in the stands with the other parents. Mom and Dad are running late. I’m checking my e-mail when I overhear a conversation. “Have you seen the new doc in town?”
“That’s Griffin Steel,” Suzi ‘I’m a skank’ Jones says. “He grew up here. Ex-navy. I was a few grades below him, he was hot back then, but now…” She fans herself. “I look forward to when I run into him, I’ll show him my appreciation for his service.” They all giggle.
“I can’t wait to get sick,” another one pipes up and I scoff to myself. It must be louder than I anticipated because three heads turn to face me. Thankfully Mom and Dad arrive and I’m spared the wrath from skanky Suzi.
Ollie’s team wins and to celebrate the team heads to Jack in the Box, which has become tradition after a win. The kids are all eating, and us moms are at the next table chatting. When the door opens, the hairs on the back of neck prickle and I know; he’s here. Glancing over my shoulder, my eyes land on him and I stop breathing. Griffin looks like sex on a stick; he’s wearing navy blue cargo shorts and a white wifebeater that accentuates his chest and arm muscles. As usual, aviators cover his eyes. Peeking across his chest is a tattoo, but from here I can’t read what it says.
“Doc!” Ollie shouts and races over to him. He’s beaming at the man before him and Griffin returns Ollie’s smile. The two of them chatting excitedly.
The moms turn to me and their faces all say, ‘How does your son know him?’ “Ollie,” I holler, “sit down and leave Griffin be.”
“I don’t mind, Autumn,” he says, his voice husky and doing things to my body that I don’t want to happen. How can I despise the man as much as I do, but at the same time want him to ravage me? Whoa, where did that thought come from? Thankfully, I’m pulled out of my head when Billy, a kid on Ollie’s team, throws up.
Our time at Jack in the Box comes to an abrupt end. We pack up and leave. As I’m climbing into my car, I notice Griffin walking to his. He stops midstep and stares at me. My tongue darts out, licking my bottom lip before I bite down on it. Griffin mimics what I did, and my mind drifts to other things that I remember he can do with that tongue…
…The door to his bedroom isn’t even closed yet, and Griffin is already lifting my cover-up over my head. His eyes rake over my body, heating my skin. He steps to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. Leaning down, he licks across my collarbone. My head drops back elongating my neck; he runs his tongue up my neck to my ear. Nibbling my earlobe he huskily whispers, “Get on the bed Autumn and spread your legs for me.”
He gently pushes me back and I fall to the mattress. My blonde hair fans out behind me. Lifting my head, I undo the tie of my bikini top and flick it to the floor. My eyes are locked on his, he swallows deeply as I begin to undo the tie on the side of my bikini bottom. He shakes his head at me as he drops to his knees. Grabbing my ankles, he pulls me to the edge of the bed. With his eyes locked on mine, he leans forward; flattening his tongue, he licks along my groin, breathing in my scent. “Fuck, Autumn, I love how you smell.” With his tongue, he nudges the material to the side and flicks the tip of his tongue across my throbbing clit.
“Mmmmm,” I moan. Gripping his head, I press him farther into me. My bikini bottom is caught in my slit, the material rubbing all the right spots as his tongue laps at my mound. “More,” I groan, “I need more.”
He slides his thumb into the sides of my bottoms and pulls them down my legs. Dropping the material to the floor, he leans forward and plunges his tongue into me. “Griffin,” I moan as he continues to lick and fuck me with his tongue. He sucks my clit into his mouth, gently biting down. The nip is what I need and I explode around his tongue. He licks and sucks every last drop of my climax…
A car horn beeping snaps me back to the present. Griffin steps out of the car’s path and heads to his truck. I climb in, shaking my head at the memory that just surfaced, along with a pulsating throb between my legs. I start my car and pull out. Passing Griffin, he winks at me and my clit throbs harder. Even though he broke my heart, he clearly still has a pull on my body.
CHAPTER FIVE
GRIFF
I’ve just closed up the practice and am heading over to the cafe to grab some dinner, when I spot Autumn walking down the street with her mom and Ollie. Stopping in their path, she eyes me but I look to her mom and smile. “Mrs. White, it’s so good to see you.” Leaning over I kiss her cheek.
“Griffin, it’s so good to see you too. I’d heard you were back. And please, call me Carla. ” She glances to Autumn and they share a look.
“You’ve always been Mrs. White to me, it will be hard, but I will try…Carla.”
She winks at me. “How’s your dad?”
“Dad’s doing okay. He’s on a cruise at the moment, should be home next week, I think.”
“Ohh, how nice. John deserves that a treat after losing your mom.”
“Yeah he does, but a cruise? I bet he’s loving being trapped on a boat with four hundred strangers,” I joke.
“You’d be surprised,” Autumn interrupts. “He’s changed.” She says this with a tone that insinuates I don’t know my father like she does.
We fall silent. Autumn and I stare at one another, once again the air sizzling but this time, it's not sexual, it's zinging with anger. The intenseness of the moment is broken when Ollie says, “Hey, Doc.” Looking down to him, I see him grinning at me. His smile reminds me so much of his mother’s, I find myself grinning back at him.
“Hey, buddy,” I offer, as I ruffle his hair. “How’s it going?”
“Good. Nana and Mom just took me to the park and now we are going to get pizza for dinner and watch a movie.”
“Sounds like a great night.” My gaze lifts to Autumn. “Autumn, you look gorgeous.”
Still staring at me, her cheeks darken at my compliment. I used to love making her squirm when we were together. “Griffin,” she tersely replies, eyeing me with contempt.
“I’m going to take Ollie to get ice cream for after the movie,” Carla says. She takes Ollie’s hand. “It was lovely to see you, Griffin.” She turns and walks off, leaving me alone with Autumn.
I stare at her and she’s still scowling at me. “Have I done something wrong?” She eyes me. “Other than breathing.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “Ever since you returned, all I hear is Griffin fucking Steel this. Griff that. Doc Steel is so great. He’s so wonderful, the service he gave our country, blah, blah, blah. Don’t get me wrong, I
love that you served and protected our country but…” she swallows deeply and lifts her gaze to me. “You broke me, Griffin. You were my life, you were my everything, and you left me behind. They say time heals all wounds, but when it’s your heart, that’s a different story.”
“Autumn—”
“No,” she raises her hand, “you don’t get to say anything. I’ve bottled this up for twenty years now. The wound on my heart is just as raw today as it was back then. Your one decision changed my entire life. When you left, my life went into a downward spiral, and at one point it imploded in a way I never imagined.”
“What do you mean?”
“I finally put myself out there and met someone. I was hesitant at first, the heartbreak you caused was still fresh, even though it happened years earlier. I knew I had to move on, and Avon,” I shudder hearing his name pass through her lips, “was so sweet and patient. Again, I gave my heart to a man, but this time—he didn’t just stomp on my heart—he also stomped on me. Figuratively and literally.” My eyes widen at how blasé she seems about him and what he did. When the guys told me what he did to her, I was fuming. If the fucker wasn’t locked away, I wouldn’t be held accountable for what I did to him. You never, never raise your hand to a women and especially not when that woman is Autumn White. She sniffs and that snaps my attention back to her. “The only good thing to come from that man was my son. Ollie is my everything now. I can’t and will not let anything break me again.” She wipes away a stray tear. “I just can’t.”
Before I can say anything, she’s running away from me. She’s gone. I’m standing here, watching her retreating form, and my blood is boiling. Autumn was always so strong and knowing what she’s been through kills me. Any other person would be a mess, but not Autumn. She rose up from what happened and went on with life, raising her son alone. That makes her the strongest person I know. Her strength is one of her sexiest qualities, but underneath her strength is a broken woman, and I’m a cause of some of those cracks. As I watch her catch up to Ollie and Carla, I decide I’m going to repair what I broke. I’m going to win back the only girl I have ever loved. The heart I broke all those years ago is going to be fixed, and I’m the glue that will hold it together.
Autumn White is going to get her happily ever after and there’s nothing I won’t do to fix what I originally cracked.
That night as I lay in bed, I played my conversation with Autumn from earlier over and over in my head. If I had known that enlisting would have done this to the most amazing human to ever have roamed this earth, then I wouldn’t have. Who knew my decision would have such dire consequences for Autumn? I would have accepted the financial burden that medical school would have rung up, Autumn would have been worth every cent.
I’m not going to give up.
Autumn White is my one and only.
I just need her to open her heart and give me another chance…and I know exactly who will help me win her over.
CHAPTER SIX
AUTUMN
I can’t believe I told him all of that. I can’t believe I spelled out my life with Avon to him. I knew after chatting with Jason that the guys spilled some of the beans. As I was standing in front of him earlier, my mouth opened and it all came out. He looked shocked at hearing it come from me, and so he should. That was the worst time of my life. I thought after Griffin left me that would be the only soul crushing moment in my life, ohh how I was wrong. I went through a phase of blaming Griffin for Avon coming into my life. If he hadn’t have left, he and I would have been happy and I never would have ended up in Georgetown, but then again, Griff and I could have split up and I still could have ended up there. You cannot live your life with what-ifs, you can only learn from your mistakes and what life throws at you. I’ve learned the only person you can rely on is yourself and since I discovered this, I haven’t let myself down.
“Mom!” Ollie shouts as he races into my bedroom, launching himself though the air up onto the bed next to me.
“What have I told you about jumping on beds?”
“Sorry, Mom.” He smiles at me and my heart fills with joy. Ollie is my everything and he has me wrapped around his little finger. He manages to sweet talk everyone he meets. “I need to go to the doctor’s.”
His words startle me. “Why baby? What’s wrong?” I reach out and pull him to me. I feel his forehead for a temperature but he’s fine.
“Nothing’s wrong, Mom. I just want to see Doc Steel.”
I’m relieved to hear he’s not sick but confused as to why he wants to see the man who I haven’t stopped hearing, or thinking, about since he returned.
“May I ask why?”
“’Cause he’s cool.”
“And how do you know he’s cool?”
“He was in the navy and he’s a doctor and he drives a kick-beep truck…” I laugh as his beep and shake my head. “…and one day, I'll own a beeping cool truck, just like him.”
As soon as he mentioned Griff’s truck, I should have known. Griffin owns the sweetest truck I have ever seen. It's a 1968 Ford Bronco; it's black on black and sexy as sin. It’s no wonder Ollie is enamoured with Griff, or should I say his truck. My lil’ man is obsessed with trucks, any and all trucks. Thankfully he can now say the word ‘truck’ properly. When he was three or four he struggled with that word, and it was always in a public place. One day, we were walking down Main Street and he saw a fire truck, at the top of his lungs he shouted, “Mom, look, a fire fuck.” I thought Mrs. Miller was going to have a heart attack, the look on her face was priceless…the verbal lashing I got for allowing my son to use language like that was not so priceless.
I remember the first time he saw Griff’s truck. He was excited. Me? Not so much. My heart froze when I saw it coming toward us. The closer the truck got, the clammier my palms became. I didn’t want to see Griff, I wasn’t ready to see Griff, even though it had many years since I’d last laid eyes on him, I wasn’t ready. As soon as I saw it was Mr. Steel driving, I instantly felt relieved. He parked outside the coffee shop and Ollie ran straight over to him. He managed to sweet talk Mr. Steel into letting him sit in the driver’s seat. Seeing the joy on Ollie’s face broke my heart, because if Griffin hadn’t of enlisted and left me, this could have been what we did each and every day.
From that day on, every time we’d see that black beast, we’d have to stop and stare as it drove past, and if Ollie was quick enough, he’d get to sit in the front seat and pretend to drive. Mr. Steel always went out of his way when it came to Ollie and me. Sure, it was slightly awkward with him being Griffin’s dad and all, but seeing the joy on Ollie’s face, it made the awkwardness all worth it. I will do anything for my son. Anything.
“As I’ve told you before, Ollie, I don’t think it's appropriate to just pop in to see his truck, especially while he’s working. Just like we always have, if we see his truck around town, we can stop and stare.” Great, now I have that OneRepublic song stuck in my head.
“Well, can we have pancakes for breakfast then?”
Shaking my head at him, I smile. I love how his little brain flits from trucks to food so quickly. “Since it's Sunday, how about we head out for breakfast?”
“Can I get a chocolate milkshake with my pancakes?”
“Only if I can get a coffee with my omelette?”
“Der,” he sarcastically scoffs. “If you didn’t have your morning coffee, I’d think something was wrong.”
It’s scary how well my son knows me, but it has been just the two of us since he was born, so it’s no surprise he knows me so well. For a seven-year-old, he’s pretty tuned in and as his mom, that makes me super proud.
We’ve placed our orders and Ollie waves to someone across the street. Looking up I see Griffin, he waves back at Ollie and then he looks at me. He winks, and I lower my head and blush.
“I like Doc Steel,” Ollie says. “You should go out with him.”
My head snaps toward my son. I’m shocke
d at what he said, but before I can ask him to clarify, our drinks arrive. As usual, Susan goes over the top with Ollie’s milkshake. Even though it’s breakfast time, I let him indulge. I watch Ollie devour his milkshake, and I sip on my coffee and play his comment over and over in my head.
“Ollie, baby.”
“Yeah, Mom.”
“Why did you say that earlier?” He looks at me, confusion marring his chocolate-covered face. “About Griff and me.”
“Who’s Griff?”
“Doc Steel.”
“’Cause he’s beeping cool, and I like him and I like you. And like plus like equals Doc Steel.”
“I don’t like him,” I scoff in reply.
“Yes, you do. Nana and Grumpy even say so.”
“What?”
“Nana said the flame is still there. I asked her what she meant, and she said you used to date Doc Steel, and I think you should again. He’s cool.”
The moment is interrupted when Susan brings over our breakfast…and another milkshake for Ollie, but this time it's not as decadent.
“Thanks, Mrs. Susan,” Ollie says, as he takes a huge sip of his milkshake.
Before Susan leaves, she leans down. “Ollie’s right, you know.” She doesn’t say anything else; she just squeezes my shoulder and heads back to the counter.
As I eat my omelette, I think over everything that has happened this morning. Griffin fucking Steel is everywhere I turn…and now, he’s engrained in my mind and I don’t know what to do about it.
CHAPTER SEVEN
GRIFFIN
I’ve been back for a while now and I have to say, I’ve settled back into civilian life much easier than I expected. It probably helps that I’m home and everyone here is known to me, but I also think my job with Doc Miller is just what I need to keep me busy.
Today I’m the on-site medic at the local ball field for the county Little League tournament. From what I’ve heard, it’s an easy day, and an added bonus, I can check out all the hot moms—hey, I’m a guy, sue me. There’s one mom who my eyes keep drifting to, and each and every time my eyes lock on hers, I see that she’s staring at me too.