“I-I-I’m sorry, Wes. I didn’t mean it to be harsh.”
I shook my head and then looked up to meet her eyes. She wasn’t looking at me like she pitied me, but like she actually cared. And when she took my hand and squeezed it gently, I knew I had to finish.
“You aren’t half as harsh as she was to me. The girl knew how to tear me down. I really was just a piece of man candy to her. Everything about our relationship was superficial and at first I was okay with that. You know, it got my dad off my ass finally. I could go on with my life. That is, until I found her in bed with not one but two of my teammates and one of the cheerleaders.”
Valerie gasped and I gave her a small smile. “Yeah, she was kind of a ho, I guess you’d say."
“I’m so sorry. You must have been really hurt.” She squeezed my hand again. This time she didn’t try and go for my cock, just offered her support. Which was what I needed. Valerie was what I needed.
I sucked in a deep breath through my nose and then let it out slowly through my mouth before I continued. “At first I was just more shocked than anything, so I just left and went for a run. I just kept running. I must have ran twenty miles. I ran all fucking day until it was game time. My calves burned so fucking bad, but I kept going. My dumbass teammates, the ones who fucked Myra, tried to talk to me and I ignored them. I just went into the game. I probably shouldn’t have played and I think I knew, in the back of my head, that if I did play I would get injured, but at that point I didn’t care that the only reason my dad was proud of me was for playing football and dating a slut. I just wanted out of it all.”
Valerie’s eyes were full of fresh tears that she quickly blinked away. “That’s not the story I was expecting out of you at all.”
I rubbed my free hand along my shorts. “Yeah, the former fat kid turned college jock turned Vegas stripper doesn’t have much of a ring to it, does it?”
“Well, if your dad is as much of a jerk as you say he is, I could see why being a stripper is better than staying with him. And even if it is a fucked-up situation, I’m still glad you’re here,” she said, placing our intertwined hands on my knee.
“Thanks, Val. It means more to me than you realize, but I didn’t say all that for your sympathy. I just wanted to tell you the truth.”
She laughed. “Trust me, I’m not one to hand out pity. That’s not how I roll.”
“I know. That’s what I like about you and that’s why I just told you all that. I wasn’t expecting a handout, I just wanted to let you know.”
“If you weren’t expecting a handout then why did you really come back to Chicago with me?” She sighed. “I know this is probably a terrible time to ask, but I have to know.”
I let out a slight laugh even though there was nothing funny about the situation. “I guess it was a heat of the moment thing. I saw something in you that I wished I had and really wanted so I jumped at the chance to have it. I wanted your confidence. Your way with words.” I took her hand and brushed my lips against her knuckles. “And call it fate or a shit-ton of alcohol, but in that moment I decided to take that chance and walk down the aisle with you.”
She arched an eyebrow. “It wasn’t just because you thought I was going to be your sugar mama in Chicago and you wanted to get away from the stripper life in Vegas?”
I took in another deep breath and exhaled slowly onto her hand. “Yes, I did want to get away from Vegas. I won’t deny that, but I also can’t deny that I felt something for you. Can you understand that? “
“Yeah.” She nodded slowly, but I could tell her thoughts were elsewhere by the way her eyes didn’t meet mine. “After what you told me I can understand.”
“Good. Now let me make you something that isn’t butter.”
Later That Day
I lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. Valerie was sleeping peacefully next to me, but I just tossed and turned. To her I was just a marriage by mistake. I was nothing. I couldn’t deny that the main reason I went after her was to get out of Vegas, but the more I got to know her, the harder I was falling for her. And the harder I fell the more I didn’t want to leave her. The only way I knew how to keep a girl was with my body, but it seemed the only thing Valerie ever got from guys was fucking. I needed to show her that there was more to a relationship than sex and be the man she deserved, not like the Yankee that just wanted to fuck her behind closed doors. No one deserved to be treated like they were unwanted. Something I knew about all too well ...
“Are you sure you really want to come out here, Wesley? They don’t call it Sin City for nothing and you don’t seem like the type whose into all this.” Brick’s voice was even thicker than I remembered it in high school. His two-pack-a-day habit was probably now up to at least three.
“I’m sure, man. I need to get out of my parents’ house. I promise it will only be temporary. And you said you can get me a job, right?”I glanced over my shoulder. I was about fifty feet away from the job site and still had twenty minutes left on my lunch break, but I never knew when my dad would find something else to give me shit about.
“Yeah, you may not like the work though ...” Brick trailed off.
“I don’t really care what I have to do right now. As long as it gets me the hell out of Alabama and my parent’s house, I’ll be happy.”
He let out a crackling breath into the phone. “Okay, man, I’ll remember that when you’re bitching about the job. When can you be here?”
“I’ll tell my parents about it today. I can hopefully get a plane ticket ASAP and get out of here sometime this week.”
Brick coughed and cleared his throat. “Okay, man, just let me know.”
“Okay, I’ll call you later. Bye.”
“Bye.”
“Who was that?”
I turned around to see Dad standing directly behind me, his eyes narrowed underneath his hardhat and a toothpick firmly placed between his puckered lips.
“Just talking to Brick about a job he has for me out west,” I replied, shoving my phone in my pocket and trying to ignore how badly my hands were shaking. I was a grown ass man with at least six inches and probably fifty pounds of muscle on my dad but the guy still turned me into the scared little boy every time he confronted me.
“Oh?” He crossed his arms over his plaid shirt and tried to stand taller, like his presence would overtake me. It did. I immediately shrugged and felt like I had shrunk about a foot. “And when were you going to tell me that you were looking for other jobs?”
“Well, sir, you did tell me that I had to either stick with construction, find the money to go back to school, or get another job if I was going to continue to stick with music,” I said, trying to hold my ground, but my knees were shaking and at any minute I felt like they would give out underneath me and my whole body would just go crashing to the ground.
He let out a laugh that was like a whistle through his teeth. “Shit, son, you’re still going to keep up with that pussy music stuff? I thought you were over that?”
“Sir, it’s not—”
He put his hand up. “Did I say you could interrupt me, boy?”
I shook my head, looking down and absently kicking a rock with my boot. “No, sir.”
“Now, you can go out west or whatever the hell you want to fuck up your life.” He stepped closer, lowering his voice. He was so close that I could smell the tobacco on his breath. “But if you think I’m going to let you step foot in my house again, you’re dead wrong, boy. Is that understood?”
Tears pricked my eyes, but I wouldn’t let them fall. Not for him and not for anyone. “Yes, sir.”
The Next Morning
“Morning, Darlin’.”
Valerie groaned at first but then I saw the hint of a smile appear on her face once she heard me say “darlin’.” I knew she liked it when I called her that. It was her kryptonite. That and neck kisses, but this wasn’t about getting her turned on. Just woken up.
“You do know that it’s Sunday and for once I don’t
have to work.” Her eyes opened slightly.
“Which is precisely why you should wake up, so we can actually spend some time together and see the city.” Since I couldn’t sleep much the night before I spent most of the night trying to figure out romantic gestures. I’d already done the breakfast and the foot massage and singing. I knew most of those had led to sex and now I had to figure out something that if it led to the bedroom would be fine, but had to show her that I wasn’t planning on it leading there, so I had to get her out of the house.
She sat up slowly. “I see the city every day. It doesn’t change much.”
“But I haven’t, and what better way to see the city than with a guy that has never ventured this far north and has no idea what this mysterious Bean thing is that I’m supposed to go and have my picture taken with?” I sat up on my knees, bouncing in front of her on the mattress.
“You seriously want to go take your picture in the Bean? You want to go be tourists?” She raised her eyebrows high on her head.
“Why not? Can you give me any good reason why?”
She let out a breath through her nose and dropped her shoulders. “No, I guess I really don’t have a good excuse for that. I’ve never really done the whole tourist thing in Chicago either, so let’s do it!”
***
We stood at Millennium Park in front of the giant, silver bean-shaped structure. There were dozens of people all around it taking selfies in the Bean.
“Is it ridiculous that I’ve actually never done this before?” Valerie asked.
“No, it just means that you were waiting for me to come along to have someone to do it with you.” I smiled and put my arm around her, pulling her close as she held up her phone to get us both in the shot.
“Okay, I think I got it.” She put her phone down and stepped back.
“Hold on, one sec.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “My turn.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You want one too?”
“Of course I do. Now get over here and make a duck face with me.” I held my arm out to her. At first she stared at me suspiciously, but I wasn’t going to let her get away that easily so I grabbed her arm teasingly and she laughed as I pulled her closer to me.
“Say cheesy tourist pose!” I yelled as I made a duck face and I held up my phone. She tried to make the same face but was laughing too hard and instead I got a genuine, all-out dimpled grin from her in the picture. Which I preferred.
“Oh my God, I look hideous!” She stared at the picture. “Delete that! Let’s retake it!”
“No, I love your dimples. I’m keeping that for my spank bank.” I put my phone back in my pocket before she could take it away.
“You totally did not just say that.” Valerie’s cheeks flushed and it wasn’t just because it was a little cooler out for April weather.
“Are you blushing, Valerie?”
That made her even redder. “No! It’s just cold out here. That’s all. My face is cold.” She put her hands on her face.”
“I think my good ol’ southern charm made you blush.” I laughed and laid on the accent even thicker.
“Stop it,” she said, swatting me on the arm. I knew she didn’t mean it though, the way her voice went up slightly with a flirty tone to it.
“I can’t stop now. I haven’t hit the sweet spot yet.” I grinned, knowing that would make her even redder.
She did get red, but the girl knew how to push back. “Then I’ll just have to push you further and further and further.” She took a step forward, putting her hands at my side so that her thumbs met the waistband of my jeans, sliding slightly underneath my shirt, the cold air whipping at my skin.
“Hey, no fighting dirty.” I may have said the words, but I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. The girl made me deliriously happy. Happier than I had been in a long time.
“You started this game and if you can’t handle it, then stay on the bench.” She reached her hand up my shirt, sliding her fingers over my abs. I sucked in a deep breath. I wasn’t about to say anything. She was the one who said she didn’t want to take our relationship public and I really didn’t want to screw her, but her hands did feel amazing when they were all over me.
Too bad that was short lived, because as soon as she reached my chest she tweaked my nipple and then slid her hand back out. It didn’t actually hurt. More like a slight pinch, but I still covered my nipple and groaned. “What was that for?”
She pulled her hand and covered her mouth, but couldn’t stop giggling. “I told you, stay on the bench if you can’t handle fighting dirty.”
I dropped my hands and raised my eyebrows. “Oh, it’s dirty fighting you want, ey?”
“What are you about to do?” She took a step back.
“Nothing.” I took a step forward and tried not to smile too wide, but I couldn’t help it, it was fun messing with her.
“I don’t trust that shit-eating grin.”
“Then you’d better run, darlin’”
“In these boots?” She looked down at her knee-high brown boots that, I confess, I had more than one fantasy about having her wearing nothing but them.
I took another step closer and she squealed, breaking into a run that was more like a prance, across the grass, farther into Millennium Park. Even after my injury, I knew I was faster than her, but I still thought I’d give her some headway. Just enough so that when she glanced back at me, her long blonde hair blowing behind her, I could catch a glint in her green eyes and her pearly white smile.
I caught up with her and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her closer to me. She laughed but didn’t put up much of a fight. It was as if she was just waiting for me to catch her. Like she knew that’s where she belonged. Her back was to me, her head just underneath my chin, and I could inhale all of her. She always smelled amazing. Like cherries and Magnolia blossoms. Which was why I couldn’t help but let my lips trail from her hair down to her ear and then to her cheek, placing soft kisses along her jawline.
“Wes,” she whispered.
I didn’t want to stop. I didn’t want to ever stop with her, but I had to contain myself. If I was going to keep up with the romance then I had to. I knew I could easily get her in the bedroom, which I had many times, but that’s not what she needed. She had to know how much I actually cared about her.
“Yeah, Val?”
“Um, my phone’s ringing and I need to get it.”
“Oh, sorry.” I stepped back as she reached into her pocked and pulled out her phone, sliding it to her ear as she walked forward like me kissing her never happened. Maybe it didn’t. Maybe the moment I just had with her was all in my head. Who was I kidding. A girl like her would never end up with a guy like me. It was probably that douchey Yankee who was calling her.
“Hey, Melanie,” she said in her sexy tone that she used to answer the phone. She really should have been a phone sex operator because it was amazingly sensual with the right amount of breathiness.
And Melanie didn’t sound like a boy’s name. The Yankee’s name was Max. If I remembered right, Melanie was her baby sister. Valerie didn’t walk too far away from me and I didn’t want to feel like I was intruding, but since it wasn’t a business call, I decided to stand beside her. If she wanted me to leave, she’d tell me so.
“Yeah, I know, sorry, things have been crazy and I haven’t had much time to talk.” She looked up at me and mouthed “sister.”
I just nodded, figuring she didn’t want me to out myself.
“You and John are coming to Chicago next weekend for a Blackhawks game and want to see me?” Her eyes practically bugged out of their head. She stared at me as if I would somehow have the answer. I didn’t. I had no idea what she wanted me to give her, so I just stared back at her.
“Um, well, you know I might be busy with work, or something,” she stammered. I couldn’t exactly hear what Melanie was saying at the other end, but immediately Valerie’s face fell and I could tell she was caving in as she bit her lip an
d sighed. “Fine, fine.”
Then she looked right at me “And would you be able to get an extra ticket for the game for my boyfriend Wes?”
An Hour Later
“I still can’t believe you told your sister I was your boyfriend.”
We sat in a small, dark, corner booth in a pizzeria. Valerie suggested going home, but I had to continue on with our tourist tour of Chicago and that included Chicago-style pan pizza at a place that barely had any lighting except for some small, stained-glass lamps above the tables that barely did anything to light the dark-paneled room.
“What else was I supposed to call you?” She took a tiny sip of her drink.
“I honestly didn’t even think you were going to mention me to her, so I guess it’s better than nothing,” I said before taking another bite of pizza. The deep dish thing was huge. I didn’t know what I was expecting when we ordered, but something that was an inch thick and had enough cheese in it to wrap around my fist, was definitely not it.
“I’m not going to just hide you in the closet when my sister comes to visit. Besides you may get along with her boyfriend. You two can talk about sports or something.” She absently waved her hand in the air.
“Or talk about how hot the Wilder sisters are?”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know where you think you’re going with all that sweet talk, Wes.”
“And I don’t know why you can’t look in the mirror and see how beautiful you really are.”
She didn’t respond, just looked down at her lap and lifted her napkin, placing it back on her lap. Once. Then twice. Before she could do it a third time I grabbed her hand and she gasped, her eyes finally meeting mine. “I mean it, Valerie. You’re gorgeous. Inside and out. Not many girls would take an almost stranger home with them from Vegas. No one else has ever shown me the kindness that you have. Do you understand how amazing you are? How many guys would kill for a girl like you? And how damn lucky I am that you happened to fall into my lap?”
The Wild One (Forever Wild #3) Page 2