by Fields, MJ
Shaking my head, I tell him, “She’s been told to stay inside, and there isn’t much else I can do until—”
“She needs the fuck out of there, Blue.” He sets me on my feet. “She needs to be safe.”
“Right now, that’s not an option.”
“We always got options.”
The glint in his eyes is much the same as it was when we pulled into the parking lot.
“I’m gonna sell this place, because I don’t want us living in a place that ups—”
“A place where the man I love proposed with the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen on a surfboard? Where the heaviest burden I have carried was lifted? The place where I found out that my biggest prayer in the world was answered? No, Max, there is nowhere else. This is now my happy place.”
“Yeah?” he asks before kissing me sweetly.
“Yeah,” I say before kissing him back, not so sweetly, allowing my hand to travel down his body.
When I shove them down his gray sweatpants, he groans and bends down for a kiss. I step aside, my hand still around his quickly hardening cock, and start walking toward a house that will one day be our home.
“Where are you taking my cock, Blue?” He laughs.
“To pick a bedroom.”
“Mind if I come, too?”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
We walk into the bedroom on the left side of the beautiful open room with the balcony that overlooks the living space, where I imagine a Christmas tree so tall it nearly touches the ceiling. I imagine Cia and Saylor falling asleep in their own bedrooms, with their doors open, looking at the twinkling lights like they are magical, and Max and I making love with our door shut, looking at each other in much the same way.
“This one?” he asks, his voice thick and raspy.
“Yeah.” I turn around, and he grips the hem of my shirt, yanking it over my head.
“Gotta let go of my dick so I can get this shirt off you.”
“What if I don’t want to?” I ask as he unsnaps the front closure of my still wet bra and cups my breasts.
“I’ll make it work.” He leans down and takes one in his mouth, sucking and tugging on my nipples, as he rubs the other between his fingers. “Mmm …”
I whimper and grip his cock in my hand, stroking it back and forth.
He moves to the other breast and runs his hands down my belly, which is wildly aflutter. He pushes beneath my waistband then splits me with one of his thick fingers before he begins to rub slowly up and down my sensitive skin.
Burning inside, I grab his hair and pull it back so he’s looking up at me, and I kiss him. We kiss like we may never again, alternating from his lips, his neck, his shoulder.
My back now against the wall, he lifts one of my legs around his hips, and grinds against me. My head falls back, and his mouth again finds my tits as I pull my leg from his grip and start pushing them down, one handed, while still stroking him.
Together, Max and I quickly remove my pants, and even quicker, he shoves down his own.
As he brings my leg back up, I rub his cock against my now soaked core as I wrap my arm around his shoulders, wrap the other around him, and he thrusts inside all while still sucking and biting my tips.
Looking up at me, my nipple between gleaming white teeth, he growls, “Move your hand, Blue. I need all the way in.”
* * *
Standing in front of my dorm room, he kisses my cheek. “Gotta make a couple calls. Gonna miss the hell out of you.”
“I need to tell Lindsey she’ll need a new roommate next semester.”
“She can come crash with us anytime, Mila.”
I nod. “I know. I just want to make sure she’s okay.”
“I’m thinking she will be.” He kisses my cheek then my lips that feel a bit bruised.
“Mmhmm,” I say against his.
Breaking the kiss, he steps back. “Check in on your sister, yeah?”
I nod, and he runs a hand through his sexy mess of thick hair.
“How do you feel about adoption?” he asks.
“I feel like you’re jumping the gun. We’ve only had sex twice; I think we’re probably okay.”
He shoves his hands in the pockets of his pants and kicks at the floor. “I’m talking about Cia.”
“Aunt Pam will sign over legal guardianship whenever I—”
He shakes his head. “I’m talking when you and Saylor have my name, so does she.”
“You would do that?”
“Not just would, Blue, I want that for her.”
My eyes mist over immediately. “Have I told you how much I love you?”
“Please do not cry. I can’t handle—”
“I love you. I love you so much I may break the no sleeping in mine and Lindsey’s room rule.”
“Yeah?” He smiles.
“Most definitely.”
“Good to know. But not tonight.”
“You have a headache?”
“Funny.” He leans forward and kisses me. “Chat later.”
I watch him walk away, and that is when I notice people peeking out of their rooms.
Pissed, I tell them, “That’s all mine.” Then I open the door and yell back, “Move along.”
“Get in here!” Lindsey squeals as she walks out of the bathroom, holding a sparkling blue dress. “We haven’t much time.”
“Time for what?” I ask, seriously thinking I missed something.
“To try on this dress, fix your hair, and cover up those blotches,” she says, all sorts of flustered.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Don’t ask questions. Just go with it.”
“Lindsey, I need to show you something.” I hold out my hand.
She covers her mouth with both her hands, seemingly having forgotten that she was holding a dress. “He did it! He asked you to marry him!”
“He did.”
“And you said yes!” She lunges at me and hugs me. “Of course you did.”
“And the test came back. He’s Saylor’s father.”
She steps back. “You deserve this. You totally do, and I think he’s never going to become a Chet or Chip, but he’ll have the Chet and Chip money. I am totally jealous. But also grateful.” She picks up the dress. “So, did you love the house?”
“What? How did you know—”
“Don’t ask questions; just get naked.” Then … she pants me. “Like now.”
Ten minutes later, Lindsey flops back on the bed. “I used to want to be Cinderella’s fairy godmother, but I am totally rethinking that now.” She sits back up. “Unless magic wands are real. Do you think they are?”
“The one in your nightstand drawer is,” I say, looking down at the navy, form-fitted, sequined dress.
“It totally is.” She laughs as she hops off the bed, opens the drawer, and says, “Come with us.”
“If you think I’m following you anywhere carrying that thing, you are out of your damn mind.”
A minute later, I am following Lindsey to the elevator, and only because she swore she would keep that thing in her pocket. I have no idea where she is dragging me, but I have a pretty good idea it has something to do with Max.
In front of the lobby door, Lindsey takes my shoulders. “You look amazing, you make this fairy godmother job so worth it, so stay right here, and I will be back.”
Before I can say anything, she opens the door and slides out.
I hear a loud whistle and turn around. Boone is walking out of the elevator, and Max …
“Fuuuck.”
Max steps out from behind him in a freaking tux, and he looks … disgustingly handsome.
“Not yet, Blue, but I love the way you think.”
“And that, ladies, is the sound ovaries make when they burst.” Boone chuckles.
“Only one set of ovaries I care about,” Max says, stepping in front of me and looking me up and down. “When I passed that first dirty note to you in high school, my hear
t was racing. And when you looked at me with disgust, I knew you were something special.”
Everyone who has gathered in the lobby laughs.
He continues, “I charmed my way into your—”
“Panties!” someone yells.
Shaking his head, he says, “Graces and eventually lured you onto a boat, trying to show you I was a badass, telling you that I didn’t know whose it was.” He leans forward. “That was a lie. It was my uncle’s, but it worked like a charm.”
I laugh as I stay focused on his incredibly handsome face so I don’t freak out about being in the spotlight.
“And then”—he drops his voice an octave—“we got it on.”
I palm my face as the lobby, that is now getting more and more packed, erupts in laughter. Someone whistles.
“I begged you for weeks to go to a dance with me, the Winter Ball, but the night before that, I was in an unfortunate accident.”
“DUI.” Several people laugh like it’s funny, and I tear my eyes from him to glare around the room.
He takes my face in his hand and turns me to face him. “Actually, that’s what the rumor was. The truth? I got roofied, and my fragile male ego hid that shit. Because of my ego, you wouldn’t talk to me. You moved seats in shared classes, and I dated a lot.”
“Whoop, whoop, whoop,” some in the crowd cheer.
“It’s true that many have had parts of me, but no one in the world has owned my heart, except you.”
“Wife her,” someone calls out.
“Less than a week ago, I saw you again for the first time in years, and it was still here.” He holds his hand over his heart. “But again, you acted disgusted with me, even more so than before. A few days ago, I found out why. You were protecting something, something you love and something else I never will stop loving. She’s two, and she has her mommy’s eyes and—”
“Her daddy’s smile.”
“Today, I asked you to marry me”—he holds up my hand—“and she said yes.”
The crowded lounge erupts in cheers.
“But there is one promise I made to you before all that that I want to unbreak. Mila Miller, will you go to the dance with me?”
The front doors open, and I see Lindsey with her vibrator raised in the air, standing there, smiling from ear to ear, with a crown on her head. She waves it around, yelling out, “Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.”
I start laughing, as does everyone else, and then … it starts to snow.
Home
Max
“Blue, chill. I swear to you that it’ll be fine,” I say, pulling up in front of the Bayside complex.
“Do not tell me to chill. I am literally going to strangle you.”
I can’t help but laugh. “Breath play has never been a fantasy, but if you’re going to literally choke me, could you do it when I’m up inside you, coming?”
“Listen, smartass, you’re on freaking speaker phone, and Lindsey is in this … this … car.”
“Cool. How far out are you from Mantoloking?”
“You are so incredibly frustrating!”
Starting to get a bit worried, I say, “Okay, so maybe the last-minute change wasn’t cool. Maybe you should let Lindsey drive.”
“Lindsey sucks at driving.”
“Not nice, Mila. Redirect your anger. Or, better yet, change it into sexual frustration and take it out on me, it’s rightful heir at bedtime.”
“She’s not wrong. But on the bright side, my parents’ insurance agent gets to send his kids to a fancy school because of me.” I shut off the engine. “Love you, Mila. Mean it. See you at casa Steel soon.”
“Get pictures!” Lindsey yells.
“Whose fucking side are you on, anyway?” Mila snaps at her.
“The side that the HEA ends in good sex and a fat bank account.”
Laughing, I hang up, hop out of the truck, and head in.
I gave Cia a heads-up about the daddy/daughter date, and when I told her I thought that Saylor would feel more comfortable if she was there, she agreed without any hesitation or lip. Can’t blame her. She’s been on house arrest for a few days now. She even sent a thank you text when she got the shipment I had sent of some new clothes for the long weekend.
When she answers the door, wearing the sundress with the black Docs that I know damn well she did it to be rebellious, I tell her, “Edgy. It’s a cool look.”
“Yeah, sure.” She rolls her eyes. The one that was black and blue is now a nice shade of purple and, although I promised I would stay the fuck out of it, I want to kill the twenty-year-old who says Cia told him she was eighteen and swears up and down he had nothing to do with her getting jumped. His father assured Ranger that he would deal with it. Ranger buys it. I don’t. But Ranger promised he would let him know that, if anything happens, his boy will see time. For now, I’m leaving it alone. Well, sort of.
Cia steps back and waves her hand in front of her. “Aunt Pam is getting Saylor ready.”
“Cool.” I pull my phone out of my pocket, tap in the password, and then hand it to her. “The house.”
“I don’t want to leave here. Aunt Pam won’t make me.”
“Straight-up, Cia, you’re sixteen; you should not be making decisions like that. And you’re in luck; you don’t have to.”
“I’m not starting school on Wednesday. You can’t pull me out and make me start somewhere new. That’s cruel.”
“That’s a conversation to have later. But, right now, I wanna ask you something important.”
“You can only have one wife,” she says with a cocky, little attitude that makes me want to laugh. But I gotta adult.
“When Mila and I get married, we want two last names to change, along with hers—Saylor’s and yours. She told me you’d tell me no, but I’m asking you to feel it out while we’re at my parents’ house. You like the Steel vibe, Mila and I want to adopt you.”
“That’s stupid. Why would anyone want that?” She wants it, too.
“Because Mila and Saylor love you. Because I’m gonna love you, too. Because, when we all live in that big house together, I want that little sign that says Home Of to have one name. Because you’re gonna be family, regardless. Because you want to walk in a new place and not give them your story; you simply say you’re adopted by some rich-ass who wants enough kids to have a baseball team or some shit. Because, Cia, like it or not, you belong somewhere that’s not here, and that somewhere is with us.”
“Whatever,” she says, turning around so I can’t see the tears in her eyes. “I’ll consider.”
“Max Daddy.” Saylor comes running down in a cute, little, poufy blue skirt, white shirt, wearing pink, sparkly shoes and a pink, lightweight cardigan.
I squat down and open my arms, just like I saw Mila do, and she runs full steam into them.
“Hey, Saylor girl.” I hug her tight and feel all sorts of emotional.
She pulls back, slaps two hands to my cheeks, and smiles. “We go on date?”
“We sure are.”
She hops back and jumps up and down, clapping. “Yay!”
Swear to God above, I have never seen a happier kid in my life.
She hops over to Cia and holds out her hand. “Come on, C; we go on date.”
I look at Pam, whose eyes are tearing up. “Don’t know how I’ll ever thank you.”
“You just did.” I walk over and give her a hug.
* * *
We did two things today, both of which Mila suggested. We went to the marina, which Saylor loves, and we went to the aquarium, which she told me Cia loves. I took a million pictures of the two of them, hoping to fill one wall of the house with, so that I never forget our first date.
I see Mila sitting at the gas station that I told her to meet us at as we roll up to the corner, and she nods for me to go ahead, so I do.
Two miles down the road, I see balloons and shit on the mailbox and shake my head.
“Max Daddy, see balloons?” Saylor points.
“Yeah
, that’s where some of our family lives. Obviously, they’re a little excited to meet the two of you.”
“They’re excited to meet Saylor,” Cia says, trying to act like that shit doesn’t bother her. It bothers me. Then again, I know better.
“It’s never a dull moment,” I say as I pull over onto the shoulder.
Mila stops behind me, and I stick my arm out the window, point to the house, and wave for her to go. Looking in the mirror, I see her face, and she’s not happy. I wave again, and she finally goes.
I look over at Cia, and she’s smirking. I can’t help but laugh, and Saylor starts laughing, too.
Still laughing, we follow Mila and Lindsey into the driveway. I stop and throw the truck in park. Then I reach over and unbuckle Saylor from her seat.
Cia is sitting there, staring at my folks’ house. I give her seat belt release a push, and she doesn’t even move as I continue the task of unbuckling Saylor.
“We at the mall?” Saylor asks as she slides down in her seat and stands on the floor console, gripping the dashboard and looking up and out the window.
“This is someone’s house, Saylor,” Cia says as she opens the door then jumps out.
I open the driver’s side door, get out, and hold my hands out. “Come on, Saylor girl.”
She climbs up on the seat then dives into my arms, laughing.
“You know who’s here?”
“Max Daddy and Cia.” She grins.
“And your mommy,” I tell her.
“Mommy, where you?” she yells.
Mila hops out of the car and hurries to her. As soon as she gets close, Saylor attempts to escape, laughing and squealing, “See you!”
“I see you, too,” Mila says, scooping her into a hug.
“Lindsey, this is Cia. Cia, this is your sister’s roommate at JU.”
“Look at you!” Lindsey says as she hurries over to her and hugs her.
I give her a stern look when she stands there, lifeless, and then she pats her on the back twice. “Look at meeee!” she pretends to cheer.
“Hey, Cia.” Mila walks over and gives her a one-arm hug. “You keeping the shades on?”
“Absolutely.” Cia nods.