by Laura Lee
I pull him into my arms. “Hey, buddy! Did you have fun with Grandma and Grandpa?”
He nods. “Yep! We played Legos and dinosaurs and Hot Wheels and got to swim in a pool and eat lots and lots of sugar!”
Riley’s parents moved up to the Seattle area shortly after discovering they had a grandchild. Riley is an only child and they’re retired, so according to Rye, it was an easy decision for them to make. I love the fact that Nate can grow up with at least one set of grandparents since he never had a chance to meet the other.
“That does sound like fun!” I squeeze him as tight as I can without crushing him. “I missed you, little man. Two weeks is too long to wait to get my Nathan fix. Your mommy and daddy are never allowed to go on a honeymoon again.”
He giggles as he wraps his little arms around my neck. “You wanna play with me?”
“Of course, I want to play with you.” I set him down. “Just let me talk to your mom for a few minutes first, okay?”
“‘Kay.” With that, he runs across the room to play with his cars.
Devyn smiles fondly. “Hey, Drew.”
I pull her in for a hug. “Hey. You look great. How was Hawaii?”
She motions for me to join her in the kitchen so she can continue making dinner. My sister’s house has an open floor plan so we can easily see Nate from anywhere in the main living area.
“Hawaii was amazing. I was ready to get home to Nate though. Besides Vegas, which was only overnight, I’ve never been away from him before. Riley and I Facetimed him every day but it wasn’t the same.”
“I get it. I missed him like crazy and I’m just the uncle.”
She dumps some chopped onions into a pan. “You’ve never been just the uncle, Drew. He loves you just as much as he loves me and Riley. I don’t know what we would’ve done without you those first four years.”
I smile. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
Devyn stirs the onions a bit and sets the spatula off to the side. “I know you would.”
I nod to the cutting board as she slices some mushrooms. “What are you making?”
“Beef stroganoff. Do you have time to stay? I have more than enough.”
I pat my stomach. “I’m sure as shit not going to turn down a homecooked meal.”
“Ooh, you said a naughty word, Unca’ Drew!” Nathan shouts. “Put a dollar in the jar!”
“That kid has super hearing, I swear,” I grumble.
Devyn laughs as I shove a dollar bill into the swear jar on the top of their fridge. “You don’t know the half of it.”
“Where’s Rye?”
“We were out of egg noodles. He should be back from the store any minute.” As if on cue, the garage door starts opening. “Or right now, rather.”
My new brother-in-law walks in through the door that leads into the kitchen. He smiles when he sees Devyn, sets a bag of groceries on the counter, and pulls her into a kiss. “Hello, my wife.”
She sighs. “Hello, my husband.”
I make a gagging gesture.
Devyn rolls her eyes. “Oh, stop it.”
“I’m just giving you sh...crap. Marriage agrees with you guys.”
Devyn smiles. “Speaking of marriage...”
“Yeah, what’s happening with that?” Riley asks. “I got some really...interesting texts from Brody while we were on our honeymoon.”
“I can only imagine.” I roll my eyes. “At least he’s talking to you. It’s been two weeks and he refuses to acknowledge me or Charlee.”
He opens the fridge and grabs a couple of beers, offering me a bottle. “I can’t believe you married her, man. I knew you were fooling around but that takes it up quite a few notches.”
“So, Brody didn’t take it too well, huh?” my sister asks.
“Not even close. He punched me in the face. And then he gave me an ultimatum: him or Charlee.”
“Crap,” Devyn mutters. “What are you going to do, Drew? I know how much you like her.”
“I more than like her,” I say. “I have no idea what’s going to happen. I won’t give her up, Dev. But I don’t want to lose Brody either. I had hoped he would see how difficult he was being after he’d had some time to cool off but that doesn’t seem to be happening.”
Riley raises an eyebrow. “Well, who would’ve thought? The man who swore the M.P. is a myth has finally found his unicorn.”
Ah, the good ol’ magic pussy. He’s right; I didn’t think it really existed but as is everything with Charlotte Harris, I’m a new man.
“I’m that obvious, huh?”
He laughs. “Totally.”
Devyn rolls her eyes. “You guys are so crude sometimes. Can’t you just call it soulmates or something?”
Riley smacks a kiss on her cheek. “Sorry, baby, not gonna happen.”
“Unca’ Drew,” Nathan whines. “Come play Legos with me! You pwomised!”
I nod to the kid. “Uncle duty calls.”
Devyn gives me a sad smile. “We’ll continue this conversation later.”
Riley helps Devyn finish dinner while Nathan and I build Hot Wheel garages out of Legos.
“So, what’s new with you, little dude?”
He grabs his junk. “My pee pee pops out all the time.”
I fight back a laugh. “Maybe if you stopped touching it all the time, it wouldn’t pop out so much.”
He thinks about that for a few seconds. “But I like touching it all the time!”
I lose the battle with my laughter. “It is pretty fun, isn’t it? Just wait until you discover girls. It gets even better.”
He scrunches his face. “Girls are gross. My friend, Aliyah, at preschool tries to kiss me all the time. I told her to get her stinky face away from me.”
I lean down. “I’m going to give you some advice, buddy. You’re about to start kindergarten so I think we should discuss this man to man. Okay?”
Nate’s eyes widen. “Uh huh.”
“Girls are the most awesome thing in the whole world. You should always be super nice to them and tell them they’re pretty. You should never call them names.”
“Even mommies?”
I smile. “Even mommies. And you know what else?”
“What?”
“I love it when girls want to kiss me.”
“You do?” he asks incredulously.
I nod. “It’s one of my most favorite things.”
“Can it be one of my most favorite things, too?”
I ruffle his hair. “Maybe when you get a little bit older. But for now, you should practice being nice to them and telling them they’re pretty. Do you think you can do that?”
Nathan fist pumps the air. “I can do it!”
“Dinner’s ready,” Devyn announces.
I look over to my sister. “You wanna practice right now with your mom?”
He jumps up and runs across the room. As he wraps his arms around Devyn’s legs, he says, “Mommy, you’re pretty.”
She hugs him closer. “Oh, thank you, sweetie.”
Nate turns to me. “Did I do it right, Unca’ Drew?”
I give him a thumbs up. “Perfect, dude. You’re a natural.”
“Do I want to know?” Devyn asks as I join them at the table.
“Nah,” I say. “Let’s just say I did the future women of the world a favor.”
She just shakes her head, knowing by now she shouldn’t bother reading into that. “Just sit down and eat.”
I smile. “Gladly.”
.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHARLEE
“So...I did a thing,” I say.
Drew hits pause on the movie we’re watching. “What kind of thing?”
I shift on the couch so I can face him and tuck my feet beneath me. “I had a doctor’s appointment the day after we came back from Vegas.”
A crinkle forms between his brows, probably because he’s wondering why this is relevant over four weeks after the fact. “Okay...”
; “I know it was a little preemptive at the time, but...I asked her to put me on the pill again.”
Drew smiles. “Oh yeah? And you’re telling me this because...”
“Because I’ve been on the pill for just over a month now, which means it’s effective. And I have a clean bill of health. So if you’re clean too, then I think we should ditch the condoms.” I pause for a moment when my eyes become misty. “If this thing between us has to...end...then I want this. I want to be with you without any barriers between us before I can’t be with you at all.”
He scoops behind my legs and pulls me onto his lap. “Honey, don’t think like that. I’m not giving you up.”
I wipe a tear from the corner of my eye. “How can I not think like that? It’s been over two weeks and Brody’s still on radio silence.”
He sighs. “We will figure this out.”
I shake my head. “You’ve been saying that but we’re no closer to finding a solution than we were on the day he freaked out. So just give me this, Drew. Tell me you’re clean and we can be together without condoms.”
“I’m clean as a whistle, honey, but are you sure you want me to go bareback?”
“Yeah...if you want to.”
Drew nuzzles his nose into my neck. “Of course I fucking want to, Charlee.”
“I’ve never had sex without a condom before,” I admit.
He pulls back in surprise. “Really?”
“Really,” I shrug. “Have you?”
“It’s been a long ass time. Like, my freshman year of college. I was dating this girl for a while. She was on the pill so being my dumbass nineteen-year-old self, I jumped at the chance to go bare. Little did I know, she decided to stop taking birth control because she could sense we were drifting apart and thought getting pregnant would fix that.”
My mouth gapes. “What happened?”
His face sours at the memory. “She got her wish. Admitted everything to me after the fact.”
“Who the fuck does something like that? What did you do?”
He shrugs. “I was nineteen. I didn’t really know what the hell I was doing with myself, let alone was I ready to be a father. But I was determined to do the right thing and stick by her, even though I was fucking furious. But she, uh...lost the baby about a week after she told me. We split up pretty soon after.”
I give him a sad smile. “Oh Drew, I’m sorry.”
He places a soft kiss on my lips. “Thank you, honey. But it all worked out for the best. After that...I never dated anyone long enough to warrant ditching the rubbers. Honestly, the whole situation with Blaire—that was her name—pretty much killed my desire to ever be in a relationship again before I met you. I just wanted to have fun without any drama.”
I frown. “It’s funny how someone else has the power to ruin your entire outlook on things, huh?”
His eyes turn curious. “You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”
“I am,” I say with a shrug.
He plays with a lock of my hair. “What happened?”
“I’ve never told anyone this story before so you cannot repeat this.”
“I would never do anything to break your trust, Charlee. You know that, right?”
“I do.” I take a fortifying breath. “It’s just embarrassing to admit that I was so clueless. When I was twenty-three, I met this guy. We were together for about a year and everything was going well. I thought we could actually have a future together. Until the day he dumped me on my ass with no warning.”
Drew frowns. “Why?”
I laugh humorlessly. “That’s the best part. When I asked if he could ever see us getting married one day, he laughed in my face. Told me he could never get seriously involved with someone like me. According to him, I was the girl that guys fuck around with before settling down with the forever girl. I swore too much, I was too opinionated, too hot-tempered, and too wild to be marriage material. Oh, and I cooked for a living, which to him, wasn’t prestigious enough. Never mind the fact that my job pays a competitive wage, it helped me buy this condo at twenty-two, and I love what I do. None of that mattered to him. When I asked why he’d led me on, his exact words were, ‘Because you look great on my arm, even better naked on my bed, and you’re a fantastic lay. I’m not stupid enough to give that up until I have to. Evidently, that day has arrived.’”
Drew’s nostrils flare. “Motherfucker.”
“Anyway, I casually dated a few guys after him and they were exactly the same. It only took a couple of months before they’d make little suggestions here and there to modify my behavior. It quickly became obvious they were trying to mold me into some type of Stepford wife. After that, I figured it was much easier to avoid relationships altogether. I’d much rather find someone to scratch an itch when need be, than be told that I’m not good enough, yet again.”
He runs his thumbs alongside my jaw. “You know those guys are complete assholes, right? That you’re absolutely perfect just the way you are?”
“I love who I am,” I assure him. “They didn’t give me a complex or whatever. But no one likes hearing that they don’t measure up, especially from someone who’s supposed to have their back, so I chose not to put myself in such a vulnerable position again.”
He gives me a sad smile. “So, how do two people who’ve both sworn off relationships wind up getting married?”
I shrug. “I don’t know, Drew. When we’re together, I feel like nothing makes sense, yet everything makes sense. The rules don’t seem to apply.”
He kisses my temple. “That’s a great way to summarize it.”
I slide my hands beneath his t-shirt, scratching my nails over each rippled ab. “Can we be done talking about sad stuff and asshole exes now?”
Drew slides his hands up the back of my shirt and deftly unclasps my bra. “What’d you want to do instead?”
My body bows toward his as he moves to the front and brushes his thumbs over my nipples. “Fuck me, Drew.”
What? Do you think I should’ve said something a bit more delicate? I’m still me for shit’s sake.
He pulls my shirt over my head, throwing it on the floor. His shirt and my bra join it almost immediately after. As he takes my nipple into his mouth, he mumbles, “I’d be honored, sweetheart.” He lifts his head up to look me in the eyes. “I don’t know if you remember me saying this on our wedding night, but you’re it for me. That was not the alcohol talking.
“If you haven’t already figured it out, I fucking love every damn thing about you. You fucking own me. I’ve never said that to another woman before, and I know you may think it’s too soon, but at the risk of sounding like a pussy, I don’t want to keep it to myself anymore.”
“You couldn’t be a pussy if you tried, Drew.” I lean down to place a soft kiss on his lips. “And I’m glad you told me. I don’t think it’s too soon.”
“You don’t?”
I shake my head. “I don’t. Do you know why?”
He groans when I grind into his lap. “Why?”
My fingers run over his shoulders, before bringing his hands back to my breasts. “Because I feel it, too. You fucking own me, too.”
Huh. Look at that; my heart did recognize its match before my head did. Thanks for finally catching up, head.
He tests the weight of me in his palms. “Fuck, I need to be inside of you.”
I moan. “Right there with ya, Big Guy.”
I lift off his lap and quickly lose my shorts and panties. Kneeling between his legs, I peel off his basketball shorts and boxers. His cock springs up, tall and proud, and absolutely fucking beautiful. As I lean down to take the head into my mouth, Drew pulls me back onto his lap, my knees resting on each side of him.
“Hey!” I gripe. “I wasn’t finished down there.”
Drew smiles. “I love your thought process, but I might actually burst into flames if I don’t get inside of you.” I sigh as he dips two fingers inside of me, testing my readiness. “Fuck, Charlee.”
> I can’t help it; I start riding his hand with abandon as he pumps his fingers in and out. I’m a whirlwind of whimpers and moans, panting his name with reverence. As I climax, Drew’s sparkly hazel eyes latch onto mine. He tells me how beautiful I am, how lucky he is to have me. I position myself over his length as soon as his fingers are gone, and slowly sink down. When I’ve taken him to the hilt, neither one of us makes a sound. We’re motionless, breathless, simply absorbing the magnitude of this moment.
He takes my face in his hands and pulls me down into a kiss. With our lips locked, I rise up, almost to the tip, before sliding back down again.
“Fucking Christ,” he grunts.
Drew’s big hands wrap around my hips with an almost bruising force, guiding me up and down his cock in steady strokes. Our kisses are sloppy, half the time we’re just breathing against each other’s lips, but neither one of us wants to pull away. The muscles in his legs flex as he braces his feet on the floor and starts thrusting into me. When I take control, he runs circles over my clit and rolls my nipples between his thumb and forefinger.
I throw my head back as I feel my orgasm bursting through. “God...yes...Drew...fuck!”
We’re both almost mindless in our need to come. Drew says my name like a prayer as I finally begin clenching and pulsing around him. Then his movements become jagged as he chases his own release.
“Charlee...fuck...so good.”
He shivers as he spills his seed into me, slowly moving my body up and down, riding out the aftershocks. Once we’ve stilled, Drew pulls me into his bare chest and guides my head to his shoulder. Neither one of us say a word as we catch our breath. We just sit here, feeling our hearts beat against one another’s.
“Christ, that was intense,” I pant.
More like Earth-shattering. Quite possibly the best sex of my life. I’m pretty sure I sounded like a porn star at some point, minus the bad acting. But that’s neither here nor there. The fact remains that Drew Summers and his monster cock just blew my mind. I’ve had some really great sex in my life, but nothing like that. Not even our previous experiences together which are hands down at the top of my inspiration list when I’m engaging in a little ménage à moi. Is it because I’ve realized the depth of my feelings for him? Is that what makes this time so different?