Now Open Your Eyes (Stay With Me series Book 3)

by Nicole Fiorina

  “Zeke never liked this one.”

  Mia laughed. “Zeke watched Friends?”

  “Are you kidding? Zeke was obsessed with American sit-coms. The Office and Friends were his favorite. Played it all the fucking time.”

  “So, the real question is … were they on a break?”

  “That was their first mistake. You can’t put a technicality on love. They were both right. They were both wrong. End of story.”

  Mia’s shoulders shook, laughing, her arse rubbing against me, and my cock tightened inside my jeans. I had to control myself, being under her dad’s roof and all, but my tipsy hands had a mind of their own as they dragged up her thigh, under her shorts, and grabbed a palm full of her arse. Mia turned in my arms to face me, and her laughter faded, eyes growing heavy under her long thick lashes. “Ollie,” she warned.

  “What?” I grinned, lifting her thigh over my leg. “I’m not going to bang you at your dad’s house, Mia. That would be completely inappropriate.” A nervous smile tugged on her lips, and I tilted my head. “Why are you smiling, love?”

  “I’m just glad you’re real,” she whispered.

  There is that feeling you get when someone is watching you. With my eyes closed, my soul twisted and turned inside me, tapping my unconscious brain and doing jumping jacks inside my skin, anything to wake me and confront the eyes peering down at me.

  I pried my lids apart to see Diane standing over Mia and me with a coffee cup in hand, cringing as if she were in pain at the sight of us. It took seconds for me to put the pieces together before I jumped from the couch. Her gaze trailed over my tattooed chest to my jeans, and I looked down to see my knob bursting to get out.

  My eyes widened.

  Her eyes widened.

  I grabbed a throw pillow from the couch to cover myself.

  I’d never been embarrassed before, until that very moment.

  My throat went dry, words utterly lost on me. This lady looked like she wanted to kill me. And suddenly I understood Bruce’s fear. “I’m so sorry. I was up late with Bruce. He offered the couch. I didn’t want to drive home under the influence,” that sonofabitch left me to fend for myself, “I’ll leave.” Mia rolled over into the couch, her tiny body wholly hidden under the blanket. The only evidence of her was her brown locks sticking up from under the blanket. I looked back at Diane, who hadn’t moved. “We didn’t,” I shook my head, “It’s not what it looks like.”

  “Right, because that would have been disrespectful, you know … Fornicating on my white couch.” She brought the white mug to her lips and turned to walk into the kitchen.

  Diane sat in the kitchen, staring blindly out the arched window beside the breakfast table. “Your boyfriend left,” she whispered, her voice small and barren. “I made coffee.”

  I shuffled into the kitchen where her grief felt like gravity, compressing me into nothing. I didn’t know what time it was, but it was still early, and the smell of coffee swirled through the cracks of her gravity, pulling me in. The mugs hung from a black tree stand beside the coffee pot, and I took a mug, poured the coffee, and added heaps of cream and sugar.

  “I love your father, Mia,” she began to say, not looking at me but out the window. “I do. I’ve always loved him.”

  “I don’t know where you’re going with this.” It was too early, and I didn’t have the headspace to decipher her.

  Diane sighed, and she did that every time she was about to say something. I leaned against the counter and sipped from the mug, staring at the back of her blonde bob. She was in a fluffy pink robe, hair raveled, and not perfectly in place.

  “It’s not easy to fall in love with a man who lost his wife and daughter all at once. I’m a woman, so I’m expected to understand and mend the broken pieces. To turn a house into a home again. To connect with a girl who can’t connect with anyone. To pretend marrying me should’ve fixed everything, and the disappointment after when it didn’t.”

  “No one expected you to fix everything.”

  She shook her head, and her hair swung behind her. “When I couldn’t, I thought for sure the baby would. Maybe if I got pregnant, having a little one around would be the answer. And now I realize, all the pressure placed on me, I was placing on my baby. Maybe I am the one to blame for losing her. And I don’t know why I’m telling you this anyway. You don’t care about anything.”

  My fingers gripped the coffee mug that was still hot in my hand. “I’m trying to. To be honest, if I did know you were pregnant at the time, I probably wouldn’t have cared. But, I’m trying now.”

  “So just like that?”

  “Just like that.” I kicked off the counter and pulled out a chair beside her. “Did you ever think we’re just two women, both not filling expectations? All my life I was expected to remember, to feel, to relate, to understand. Now, I’m expected to have all the answers and know who I am. I’m starting to think we’re never supposed to have it all figured out, and maybe that’s the beauty of it all.”

  Diane swung her head to face me, eyes narrowing. “Who are you, and what have you done with Mia Rose?”

  “I have no idea,” I said through an exhale, and we both shared a laugh.

  Diane and I spent the entire day together, shopping for new clothes, having lunch, and getting to know each other. It was a fresh new beginning for the both of us, but it would take time for us to mend all the broken parts we both shattered over ten years. The night before needed to happen, opening a gateway to hoarded grief and blame. And after the day came to an end, I’d accepted things between us would most likely never be perfect. I still hated her stiff hair, the way she dressed in Ralph Lauren, and the way she treated the waitress as if they had a disease because of her nose ring, but we were just two completely different people brought together by devastation and love.

  Diane did love my father, and she was learning to love me too.

  Days passed in a whirlwind. I’d spent the majority of my time with Dad and Diane, and Ollie kept his distance. I hated it, but he encouraged the time with them. By the morning of the court date, I stood in front of the mirror, wearing a simple, sleeveless black dress Diane picked out. The hem hit mid-thigh, and the neckline was almost to my neck. The last time I wore a dress was the court date before Dolor, and I hoped this time around, things would go in my favor. My hair fell a little past my shoulders, and the only make-up I’d attempted was blush and mascara.

  “Mia, you ready?” my dad called from the bottom of the stairs.

  I didn’t answer.

  “Mia Rose Jett!”

  I smiled. “Two minutes!” I glanced up from my black heels and smoothed down the dress across my thighs, worrying the judge may take my disappearance as a sign that I wasn’t a changed woman. What if he decides he’s had enough and throws me in the mental institution? Or jail? My smile faded, and nerves set in, creeping from my numbed toes up to my neck. Suddenly, the neckline was too tight, constricting, and I wanted out of the dress. Balling my fists, I tried to breathe, and the room swayed.

  Then I felt his hands around mine.

  I lifted my head, and Ollie stood behind me, wearing black slacks, an ironed white button-down shirt, and a knockout grin. His green eyes took me in, and he ran his palms up the sides of my arms. “Breathe, my love. It’s going to be all right,” he whispered.

  “How do you know?”

  “Because, look,” he nudged his head in the mirror, “you’ve not only stayed with me, you’ve stayed with yourself. Not once have you given up. And if I’m not mistaken, you don’t need me anymore.” He cocked a brow and flashed a lopsided grin. “I think my job here is done.” I slapped him on the arm, and Ollie dropped his forehead over the back of my head, laughing.

  “In all seriousness,” he continued and wrapped his arms around me. “You’re absolutely breathtaking,” his lips hit the rim of my ear, and the vibrations went through me as he rocked me back and forth in place, “I need six minutes with you alone.”

  “Six?” />
  “One minute to admire you. Two to taste you. And three to lose myself inside you.”

  “Only three?”

  “If I’m being honest, I doubt I’ll last that long.”

  The judge called my name, and Ollie gripped my hand before I stood and stepped up to the podium with my lawyer by my side. The lawyer was young, no older than thirty-five, and slender with side-swept chocolate-brown hair. He’d advised me before we entered the court room to be quiet and let him speak for me unless the judge questioned me directly. Roger was his name, I think.

  It all happened fast. The judge and Roger spoke back and forth in legal jargon as I froze beside him, trying to focus on the judge’s hand movements and facial expressions. By the time I thought I had it figured it out, the judge had dropped the gavel and dismissed us.

  I turned to leave, still unsure of what just occurred. Ollie, Diane, and my dad stood from the bench, and all their faces were blank. “What just happened? What did he say? Am I done?” I nervously drilled Roger out the door. I whipped my head around to see Ollie walking behind me, whispering to my dad. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

  Roger continued to ignore me until all five of us entered the hallway, and the courtroom door closed behind us. “Well,” he nodded, “that went well.”

  “How well? Like free well?” I asked, looking between all four of them.

  Ollie took a step toward me and cupped my face in his hands. “You’re free, love. It’s over.”

  “Don’t do that to me,” I stomped my heel into the tile, “I saw your face, you looked like the judge sent me away again.”

  “I told you it would be fine. I wasn’t surprised one bit with the outcome.” Ollie kissed my forehead and turned to Roger to shake his hand. “Mia’s dual citizenship still intact?”

  “Yes, she can travel back and forth. No problem.”

  “Thank you, Roger, but I never want to see you again,” Ollie said through a chuckle, and the rest followed suit, shaking Roger’s hand before he left. I felt lighter, and Ollie turned to face me again, releasing a drawn-out exhale and his eyes glossy. He felt lighter too. “Let’s get out of here, yeah?”

  “Yeah,” I agreed, nodding.

  Diane and my dad joined us for lunch, and unasked questions lingered in the space between the four of us. What now? When am I leaving? Will I be leaving at all?

  Ollie’s hand slid to my bare thigh under the table as he reached for his tea, listening to my dad talk about the remodel he wanted to do in the kitchen. All I could focus on was the way his fingers dragged along the inside of my thigh, rising higher and higher …

  “What do you think, Mia?” Dad asked.

  My head snapped up, and I tried to lift my heavy lids. “mhm?”

  “I prefer white cabinets,” Diane interjected.

  I moved my sweater over my lap. “Yeah, white sounds good.”

  Ollie tilted his head to face me just as his fingertips reached my panties. I let out a whimper when his thumb scraped across my sex over the thin material. “Mia, are you okay?” he asked with a smirk.

  “Mhmm.”

  His finger pressed against my clit. “What about your kitchen?”

  “My what?”

  “Your kitchen back in Surrey. It’s small, but we could do white if that’s what you like,” his finger dipped beneath the hem and trudged through my slit, and my thighs clenched as I grabbed my Dr. Pepper off the table and sucked from the straw, “or would you prefer open shelving?”

  The soda sprayed from my lips as my hips jerked forward.

  “Mia!” Diane exclaimed, but I was too focused on Ollie’s skilled and slender fingers, making love to me under the table as we all sat around for lunch.

  “Excuse me. I think I left my phone in Ollie’s car,” I slid my eyes to Ollie who wore a smug grin, “Give me six minutes.”

  I got up from the table and hurried in heels through the restaurant and toward the parking lot, hoping Ollie would follow. It was mid-day, and I shivered against the wind in the vacant parking lot, pacing beside Ollie’s hatchback. The sun shone high above as Ollie walked toward me with his hands in the pockets and a mischievous grin rising on his lips.

  He walked past me toward the woods.

  I spun around. “Where are you going?”

  He turned to face me but continued to walk backward. “We have five minutes left. I don’t have time to admire you. Now, hurry up, I haven’t got all day.”

  I leaned forward as a laugh escaped before jogging up behind him.

  Ollie had unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt by the time we reached a field behind a layer of woods. In a swift motion, he picked me up and laid me over the grassy bed of flowers, and pushed up my dress and my thighs apart. Hooking my panties, Ollie yanked them to the side, and his flattened hot tongue dragged through my soaked sex as a moan escaped the both of us. “I’m going to come from this alone,” he whispered, then pushed two fingers inside me and curled. Over and over, his tongue stroked my clit. My hips bucked against his mouth, and I fisted flowers around me, pulling at their roots from the sensations threatening to erupt.

  Ollie pulled his hand away to release his stretched cock, fisting it between us while lapping his tongue over my entrance. My head jerked back, and I raised my hips, aching for our connection. He growled and lifted onto his palms over me. “Tonight, you’re mine. Tonight, we’re taking our fucking time, and I’m doing what I want, Mia,” he said, all in one breath. Nodding, I yanked his shirt down until our mouths crashed, and after one hard thrust, Ollie fell onto his elbow. “Jesus Christ, Mia,” he slowly pulled out before slamming back in, his trembling lips hovering mine, “You feel so fucking good.”

  “Stop talking, Ollie,” I cried through another mind-altering thrust.

  “Not into the dirty talk, either?” He smiled against my lips, his hips rolling torturously, grinding to the wild tune we created. A moan came up from my throat as he ground into me again, and I tried to shake my head.

  Ollie’s fingers dragged down my thigh and gripped my ass as he took me deeper while his other hand caressed my forehead with his thumb. I tasted myself on his lips as our tongues collided, and his mouth moved from mine, down my jawline, to my ear. His breath hit, and my core clenched around him.

  “I feel you, Mia,” he whispered as I met his every grind.

  Ollie sat up, eyes heavy and gaze licking over my body down to where we were connected. His fingers dug into my thighs, spreading me wider, and his other hand kneaded my clit. The buzzing white-hot flame lighted and drained the orgasm from me, and my sex contracted against his desperate beat. Legs shaking, I watched his green eyes adore me as I drifted inside a rapture, my lids flickering from the heavy intensity. Soon, Ollie let go, chasing the wondrous feeling.

  With my body sedated and knees relaxed and parted, Ollie took his sweet time, kissing the insides of my thighs, my core, my sensitive clit, and licking my wounds as the field of wildflowers surrounding us danced with the brisk wind. I jerked against his warm tongue as he built me up into another climax. He was relentless and utterly shameless in his addiction, and his lips moved delicately against me, painting an illusion we had all the time in the world. Because with Ollie, time didn’t exist, and nothing else mattered.

  Mia and I walked back into the restaurant, hand in hand with her delectable flavor skipping on the tip of my tongue. I picked a white flower from her hair as we sat at the table and averted the eyes of Bruce and Diane with a smile lingering over my face. One I couldn’t shake.

  “Get your phone?” Diane asked, all-knowingly.

  “I must’ve left it at the house.” Mia waved her hand in front of her and eyed the food that had arrived while we were gone. “Oh, man. This looks so good.”

  Diane rolled her eyes and sifted her fork through her coleslaw as Bruce remained quiet.

  My phone buzzed, and I pulled it from my pocket to see it was Travis. He had been silent since I’d sent him a message to only contact me in case of emergencie
s, and this was his third time calling this morning.

  “Excuse me. I have to take this.” Answering, I stood back up. “Yeah?”

  “I’ve been trying to reach you, where have you been?” Travis’s tried to get out through short breaths.

  “Mia had court this morning,” I explained, taking a step outside to the side of the building. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

  “No, Ollie. Things are not okay. I’m bugging out over here. Dex isn’t fucking around. They fucking killed him, Ollie. They killed him to get to you. If you don’t come back and give him what he wants …”

  “Slow down, who’s gone?” My gaze darted around until it found Mia eating on the other side of the window. “Who did Dex kill?”

  “Oscar. He was shanked last night at High Down. Your brother is dead. Now, I don’t know if he believes you two were close, but it was a fucking message. They can take anyone anytime they want. I don’t know what to do, Oliver. They don’t have your address, but I’m still packing up Summer and going to stay with her mom for …” his words fell into the back of my mind. The mobile shook in my hand, and the steady gaze I once had on Mia grew blurry.

  My brother was dead.

  Oscar was dead.

  “Ollie, are you there? Are you hearing what I’m saying?” Travis shouted into the phone.

  I dropped my head back and moved my fingers over my temples. “Yeah.” I couldn’t say more. My emotions betrayed me over a brother I’d once loved but learned to hate, but still always assumed he’d become this changed man one day, that I could help him change.

  “Leave Mia there and come back and handle this. Give Dex what he wants.”

  “When’s the funeral?”

  “Funeral? You can’t be serious. Your brother was a fucking wanker. He doesn’t deserve a funeral.”

  “His prison sentence—his fight—is over,” I reminded him through clenched teeth. “Stop punishing a dead man, it only thrives the hate that should be buried along with him. We are all worthy of closure.”