by Ari Reavis
“Hopefully we don’t get pulled over when we get back into town,” Mariah says.
My parents knew the cops bothered me, even after I stopped getting into trouble, but I haven’t told them anything that’s been happening lately.
My mom and dad both turn their heads towards me.
“So they’re still harassing you then?” my dad asks.
“Sometimes.”
Mariah gives me an apologetic face, but I shake my head slightly.
“Let me guess, that dirty cop Miller?” my mom adds.
I nod. “Some tickets and he pulled me over a few days ago.”
My mom shakes her head. “That’s why I wanted you to move out here. Get away from those cops and start over.”
“My business is there mom,” I explain for the hundredth time.
“And you can build anywhere. People will be in need of construction anywhere you go.”
“But nothing like what I’m working on right now. There won’t be anyone wanting to build an apartment complex here, Mom.”
“Well, no, but is it really worth staying there and having to deal with those crooked cops?”
“They hate you, Son,” my dad says. “They’ll never believe you’ve changed your ways, and you should always beware the lengths someone will go to, to prove you’re exactly who they think you are.”
I nod. “I know, Dad. I can handle a few tickets.”
“And when it gets worse?” my mom inquires.
I hate that she looks like she’s fighting tears. It’s the face she would have every time my dad and her had to pick me up from the police station or the cops brought me home. I never want to be the cause of that face again.
“I’ll tell you what...” I walk over to the couch and drop to one knee before her. “After I finish this apartment complex, I’ll consider moving. Check out what my opportunities would look like out here. Okay?”
She nods quickly, sniffling a little. “I’m gonna need to be near my grandbabies anyway.”
“Yes, I thought you’d throw that one in.” I chuckle.
“You don’t even know the half of it.” My dad laughs. “If you think I’m bad...” My mom arches a brow at him and he backtracks. “Then you’d be completely right.”
When the movie’s over and we head to bed, Mariah curls into my side.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make your parents sad,” she says low.
“You didn’t know. I just don’t tell them anymore since they moved away. I know it still worries them.”
“Of course it does. They don’t want you getting into trouble, especially when you’re not even actually doing anything.”
“I’ll be okay. As my mom used to tell me, I should leave my worries with her because that’s what parents were for.” I chuckle.
She playfully scoffs. “Yeah, I never got that message.”
I hold her tighter at her words, kissing her hair.
“You can leave them with me. I’ll take care of them.”
“I just might take you up on that.”
This time I wake up alone, the spot where Mariah fell asleep in my arms empty. I don’t have to wonder why for long though when I hear her give a shout of frustration from downstairs. That and the smell of clearly overcooked bacon lead me to assume Mariah’s taking a stab at breakfast. I put on a T-shirt and head downstairs, desperately trying to contain my laughter when my mom’s words reach me.
“Damir likes his bacon fried hard. It’s fine.”
“If you say so,” Mariah murmurs.
“You did good for your first try. Don’t worry.”
I come to stand in the kitchen entryway, watching my mom and Mariah make the plates. My mom turns around and notices me first. Her eyes narrow in a clear warning as she tilts her head towards the plates. Even though I didn’t need the reminder, I nod.
“What smells so good?” I ask.
Mariah’s head pops up, and she looks at me over her shoulder. “Oh, um, I helped your mom make breakfast.”
“She did most of the work,” my mom insists. “I just guided her along.”
“Well I am starving,” I say as I sit at the island. “Is everything ready?”
Mariah turns around, putting the plate in front of me. “Yup.”
It is beyond ready. Everything on the plate looks like it was ready about five minutes before Mariah took it out the pan. The bacon isn’t fried hard, it’s black. The pancakes aren’t crispy, they’re burnt. And somehow, the eggs still look too wet to be done, but are charred.
“This looks amazing,” I lie. But I figure this is a good thing to not tell the truth about.
“Thank you.” She smiles. Then her eyebrows raise as she waits for me to take my first bite.
Not a single part of me wants to eat any part of this plate, but I wouldn’t dare do anything that would make that smile fade from Mariah’s face. I cut off a piece of the pancake, dip it in the syrup that’s collected around the edge of the plate, and get my first taste.
It’s bad. It’s really bad. It’s very, very bad... But I’ll be damned if I don’t put on a smile and chew like it’s the best freaking thing I’ve ever tasted.
“Mmm,” I hum around my mouthful of pancake.
“Really?” She beams.
I nod. “So good.”
“Try the bacon too.”
I pick up a piece and bite half of it off. Oh God, my tooth.
“I know it’s too...” She begins, but I cut her off.
“It’s perfect. I like it just like this.”
Her smile grows, and I may have just condemned myself to a lifetime of burnt bacon, but somehow, I’m okay with that.
“I’ll get you some juice,” she says before walking over to the refrigerator.
With a huge gulp, I swallow the bacon down. When I look at my mom she’s watching me with her lips tucked into her mouth, clearly holding back a laugh.
“I’m gonna get in the shower,” Mariah tells me.
“You’re not gonna eat?” I ask.
“I ate the pancakes your mother made. I’m smart enough not to eat my own cooking. I know it’s horrible.”
I burst out laughing while she walks around the island. She wraps her arms around my neck before kissing me on the cheek.
“The fact that you even put anything on that plate in your mouth, let alone called it perfect when it looks like something I scraped out of the trash can means the world to me. But uh, please, eat your mother’s food before you end up having to stop in the middle of our trip home to use some roadside port-a-potty.”
I shake my head, pick up the bacon and take another bite. “The plate you made for me is more than enough.”
She chuckles. “Your stomach won’t thank you for it, but I do. I’ll be back.”
“I really did raise you right,” my mom says once we’re alone.
“I’m a little insulted you even felt you had to warn me not to reject her plate. I would never hurt her feelings like that.”
“I know, but I wanted to make sure she didn’t get her feelings hurt too. She’s grown on me quite a bit in her short time here.”
“I can see that.”
“I hope you can also see that means I expect to see her again very soon.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’m going to walk away now, so uh, whatever you do with that plate will be witnessed by you and only you.”
“Okay.” I chuckle.
I do eat it, with a mouthful of orange juice accompanying each bite. Just so I can tell her I ate it all if she asks.
We hang around in the backyard, easy conversation flowing between us, until we head back inside to eat sandwiches for lunch. After we’re done, Mariah says her goodbyes to my parents while I put the bags in the car. Well, the bags and the fifteen pounds of food my mom packed up for us. I don’t think I’ll have to cook for the next week. My parents walk us to the car with one last whisper from my mom telling me I better marry Mariah, and soon, before we leave.
“It’s gonna be weird being alone after these past couple of days,” Mariah says when we get closer to her house.
“If I didn’t have to meet your brother, I’d be coming right inside with you.”
“Goodness. The two of you together.” She chuckles.
“We’ll be on our best behavior.”
“I believe you will. Liam on the other hand... His middle name might as well be Mischief.” She laughs.
“I’m excited to get started on his house though. Maybe then you’ll let me work on yours.”
“I may let you show me some plans.”
“That’s all I need to hear.”
We arrive at her house, and I bring her bag and some of the food inside before Mariah gives me a kiss so good it has me wishing I didn’t have anywhere to go. But I leave her and take the half hour ride to her brother’s house. Although I knew the city she grew up in, seeing it is different. I never had any reason to come out this way when I was younger, I found trouble just fine in my own town, but everyone has heard of this town. It was known as the ghetto of our state, where the throwaways lived. The town other people would say was across the tracks, and you only went there if you wanted to get robbed or worse.
Liam’s house is on one of the few streets without apartment buildings and has houses instead. I wish I could say his house is easy to spot, but almost all of them are pretty run down so I have to use my GPS to direct me to his address. And yup, they were right, it’s worse than Mariah’s. Liam is sitting on the front steps and gets up when I get out of the car.
“You’re not running away yet, so I guess that’s a good thing.” He chuckles.
“My legs are feeling real twitchy,” I return.
He turns around, and we both look at the house. I can already see the things I would want to begin with.
“First up, I’m gonna have to fix that roof. I’m pretty sure, just from looking, that you have a leak or two. There’s no sense in working on the inside just for it to rain, and we get some mold or water damage.”
He nods. “I don’t know the first thing about any of this, so whatever you tell me is what goes.”
“Can I ask why you stayed in this neighborhood?”
“The community center I work at is here, and the kids I work with are from here. They’re not gonna relate to someone they don’t think has lived the life they live. Will I stay if I ever have kids...” He shrugs. “I don’t know. I definitely wouldn’t want my kids growing up and seeing the things I saw in this neighborhood. But for now, I’m here.”
“I get it. My mom once again begged me to move closer to them this weekend, but the town I grew up in feels like home to me.”
“How was it this weekend? Mariah come out of it alive?”
“She was amazing. My parents loved her, of course. We went out to eat, to the movies, the mall. It was a nice time.”
“Did you get anything for Mariah’s birthday while you were at the mall?” he asks.
My eyes about pop out of my head. “Her what?”
His shoulders shake with a quiet chuckle. “I figured she hadn’t told you. Hence, why I’m ever so casually dropping it in this conversation. It’s in three weeks.”
“Why wouldn’t she tell me?”
“Mariah never likes to ask for anything. In her mind, telling you when her birthday is, is basically like asking you to buy her a gift. Even when we were younger, she’d be outgrowing her clothes, and I’d basically have to beg her to let me buy her more. Usually I’d have to just get them without her and leave them on the bed, knowing she wouldn’t waste money and not wear them either.”
“That explains why she practically fainted when I got her a bracelet at the mall.” I shake my head with a smile. “Well thank you for telling me. I’ll definitely start thinking of something to get her.”
“Now, back to this beauty.” He waves towards the house. “How long do you think it’ll take to get it into shape?”
I take a deep breath. “How much time do you have?”
Chapter 9
It has been one hell of a day. Between three students coming to school sick and having to then be sent home, and one of the kids crying for a full hour because her mother forgot to put cookies in her lunchbox, I’m exhausted. All I can think about is getting home and soaking in my halfway decent tub after eating some takeout. But all those thoughts flee the moment I walk to the school parking lot. Idling behind my car is a limo and standing next to it is Damir. My smile is instant.
“What is all this?” I ask as I get closer to him.
“Happy Birthday,” he returns.
Who the hell told him? The only person that could. Liam.
“Thank you.”
He walks the few feet to me and kisses my forehead, then, my cheeks, and finally my lips. Soft and perfect as usual, also over much too quickly. I don’t think I could ever get enough of this man’s lips.
“We’re going away for the weekend,” he tells me, leading me towards the limo.
“Wait. I have to get some clothes, my toothbrush...”
“I took care of all that. Don’t worry.”
I get into the limo and find white roses laying on the seat. Quickly snatching them up, I bring them to my nose.
“These are beautiful.” I smile over at him when he closes the door.
“But are they your favorite?”
“They just might be now.” I chuckle. “Lilies. Lilies are my favorite.”
“I won’t forget it.”
“I know you won’t. So where are you whisking me away to?”
“It’s a surprise, of course. A pretty long ride too.”
“Please don’t be offended if I fall asleep. It’s been a very long day.”
“Go ahead. I’ll wake you up when we get there.”
I stretch out across the seat and lay my head in his lap. Taking my hair out of its ponytail, he begins running his fingers through my hair, and if that isn’t the most relaxing thing ever. My eyes damn near roll back in my head. My eyes are drifting closed in no time.
“We’re here,” Damir says faintly in my ear.
I blink my eyes open and turn my head to look at Damir. He smiles down at me before leaning forward and kissing me.
“We’re here,” he repeats.
I sit up and he opens the door. The sun is just beginning to set and paints the sky with different shades of red and orange as Damir helps me out of the car. Then I turn away from the sun and look at the hotel in front of me. Although I don’t know if hotel is the right word. There’s a main building and eight two-story building that shoot off of it.
“Just what have you been up to Damir?” I look over at him.
“You have no idea.” He grins.
The driver hands Damir our bags from the trunk, and we walk into the lobby. He checks in while I look around, excitement rushing through me when I see a bunch of swimsuits and trunks in the store off to the right. That must mean there’s a pool here somewhere, right? Damir puts the bags on a trolley and comes over to me with a room key. His hand goes to my lower back, and I shiver, catching his smirk from the corner of my eye when I do.
I don’t even know the sound that leaves me when we enter the room. Something between a gasp and a squeal I’d say. No, there isn’t a pool somewhere. There’s a pool in the damn room. Not just a little circle pool. No, it has to be at least twenty feet long, has a waterfall dropping from the ceiling in the middle of it, and has a damn slide into it coming from the second floor.
“Damir!” I exclaim.
“You like it?”
“I love it. I’ve never even seen a room like this.”
“Only one-of-a-kind things for my one-of-a-kind woman.”
“One of a kind, huh?” I turn around and face him.
“One and only.”
“Well, your one and only wants to be in this pool right now.”
“Whatever you want. Let me just put these bags down in the bedroom.”
I follow him upstairs a
nd see a large bed, massage chairs against the wall, and a door opening to a huge bathroom. There’s a TV mounted on the wall and on the far side of the room is the slide going down to the pool. Damir puts our bags down and I arch a brow.
“Should I even wonder how you got a bag and I presume clothes from my house?” I ask.
He grins at me over his shoulder. “Your brother was helpful, in more ways than one.”
Pulling my bikini out, he holds it up to me. “Now I did bring your swimsuit, but honestly I’d much rather see that butterfly move in the water with nothing covering it.”
“Your wish is my command.” I smile.
“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that on your birthday?” He chuckles.
“Oh, you’ll be fulfilling plenty of wishes later.”
I unbutton my blouse, his eyes watching each piece of skin that reveals itself. He begins undressing as I slide my skirt down my legs. When we’re both naked, we stand there for a moment, staring at each other. Then I take off, shrieking as I run for the slide. Welp, the slide is dry and feels horrible going down, especially bare assed, but once I hit the water, all that’s forgotten.
A few seconds after I surface, I hear Damir splash into the water and I turn around. Seeing him emerge from the water, drops dripping down his face is a sight to behold. He smiles when he catches me eyeing him before walking over to me and bringing his lips to mine. My tongue seeks his out right away, sliding between his lips and tasting him. His dick nudges against my lower belly while my fingers stroke along his jaw.
“Let me see your wings,” he says against my lips.
Lord, the things this man says. He doesn’t even realize how his words burrow themselves into my heart. I turn around, and his hands drag down my back, that roughness I love scraping against my skin as they go. He goes up and down my spine before tracing the outline of my tattoo, then places a kiss to my shoulder and takes off through the water, swimming underwater until he’s standing under the waterfall in the middle. I giggle and join him. Kissing the man I love under a waterfall, even a man-made one, is definitely going to be one the greatest moments of my life.