by Toni Aleo
“I did, it was one of my favorites. That’s why it’s on that wall.”
She gave him a dazzling smile before looking down at the gigantic bed that took up one whole side of the room. She shook her head at the largeness of the bed before admiring the bedding. It was a gray color and she loved the black and white pillows that he used to accent everything. The room was beautiful, it suited him well.
“Nice bed,” she said with a playful grin.
He nodded his chin to her. “It is. Wanna lay in it?”
She bit her lip as she nodded her head. “I could always use a nap,” she said before she crawled onto it, snuggling into the pillows. He laughed as he crawled alongside her, cuddling close.
“I wasn’t thinking of a nap,” he whispered against her hair.
“Oh you weren’t?” she asked innocently. “What else could we do in this huge bed?”
He gave her a seductive smile before nipping at her jaw, “Let me show you a few things.”
Air rushed from her lungs before she turned away from him, taking in a long breath. When she turned her head, looking back into his beautiful stormy gray eyes, she said, “I told Audrey I wouldn’t be long, though.”
“She won’t mind,” he insisted before running his tongue down her throat. “We will only be a few minutes.”
She scoffed. “Yeah right, we both know that’s a lie.”
“Maybe,” he chuckled and she smiled.
Things were so easy between them. So easy.
“I really do need to go.”
Lucas continued to assault her in the most amazing way and she knew if she didn’t stop him now, she wouldn’t. So she groaned out, “Lucas.”
“Fine,” he said rolling away from her. “Let me throw some clothes on and I’ll follow you back to the house.”
She gave him a look. “Not that I wouldn’t want you to come, but why are you?”
He laughed before running his finger up her bare foot on his way to his dresser. “I need to have a talk with our little guy.”
“Oh,” Fallon said sadly. She had been so engrossed in Lucas that she had actually forgotten the hateful words that had left her sweet baby’s mouth. Her heart ached as she brought her legs up under her chin. She was lucky to have been able to work things out with one of the guys she loved, but she was scared Aiden would always hold animosity towards her because she had kept Lucas away from him. It scared her to the core, and no matter how much everyone said that he didn’t mean it, it still stung and hurt. She felt Lucas watching her, and when he dropped the shirt he had in his hand to sit beside her, she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.
“You know he didn’t mean it, right?” he asked before resting his head on her hand. His eyes were light and playful looking but she could tell he was being serious.
“I know,” Fallon said, not only trying to convince him, but herself.
“He didn’t, he was just being a little punk.”
“Lucas…” she complained.
“What? He was,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. She smiled as he picked up his shirt and continued to get dressed. “I’ll fix it though.”
“If he’s a punk, it’s my fault,” Fallon said sadly.
“It’s going to be okay, Fal. Don’t beat yourself up over it,” Lucas said. He was right, and Fallon knew this, but what he said was easier said than done.
Fallon watched as he pulled off his pajama bottoms, his perfectly sculpted ass there for all the world to see before he put on a pair of jeans.
“You still don’t wear underwear?”
He looked over his shoulder at her with a grin. “Not when there is a chance I could get some.”
A naughty little grin came over Fallon’s lips as he turned, buttoning up his pants. “You ain’t gettin’ any tonight, buddy.”
He laughed as he crawled on top of her, pressing his lips to hers. Fallon’s eyes shut slowly as her hands went up his arms to his neck. He pressed his pelvis into hers and she gasped at the hardness of him. She needed to leave, but kissing him seemed way more important at that moment. Audrey could wait…
When they parted, Lucas gave her a smug look as she let out a complaining moan. When he started laughing, she smacked him arm.
“I’m not?” he laughed.
She pushed him off her and scooted out the bed. “No!”
“Sure I’m not. I could of had you right there.”
Fallon shook her head even though they both knew he could have. A slow, bright grin came across her face as Lucas got off the bed before going to his closet.
Wow, what a day, she thought as she watched him tie up his shoes. When he pulled out of her driveway earlier that day, she was convinced that she would never be blessed with his kisses ever again, but there she was — not only enjoying them, but craving them. She couldn’t believe it. It was as if they had done a 180-degree turn in their relationship and she couldn’t have been more blessed than she was in that moment. Fallon just hoped that she could do it and not let her trust issues come into play. She really wanted this; she wanted her chance with him, and she wanted their life together with Aiden. He loved Lucas, and if Fallon could give him his daddy and mommy, then, damn it, she was going to try her damndest to do that. As she continued to watch Lucas get ready, all she could think was that it wasn’t really going to be hard to try with him.
Lucas was on cloud nine.
He followed behind Fallon’s little Acura with the biggest grin imaginable on his face because he got his girl. Lucas had waited for this moment a long time, and he was feeling pretty damn good. There wasn’t a moment when he thought he wouldn’t be with Fallon, but then he had lived the past seven years without her. It was not only hard, but it was as if he didn’t really have a heart. Lucas had met many girls, had slept with those many girls, but no one had ever amounted to what Fallon meant to him.
Fallon was everything a man could want. She was beautiful, sweet when she wasn’t mad, compassionate, loving, and now he knew she was the most amazing mother ever. Even with her flaws — her selfishness and her anger — he still loved her with everything in him. It was as if he only saw the good in her, even when she was screaming at him. That’s was the way it was supposed to be, he was supposed to love her good and her bad.
All of her.
Lucas pulled in behind Fallon, and shut the truck off before getting out. As he hit the key lock, he watched as Fallon took her picnic basket out the back before turning and giving him a wide smile.
“I want my Tupperware back,” she said since she had left all the leftovers at his house. A grin came over his face as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. It was funny; his need to always touch her. No matter what, his hand had to be on her. It was so hard when they were constantly fighting. He just wanted to shut her up with kisses, to have the feeling of her lips on his and the taste of her lingering on his lips. Anything, he wanted it all. It had been a long couple months, but now that was all going to change.
“You will have to come get it. I don’t deliver,” he flirted. She gave him a pointed look with a smirk pulling at her lips as they made their way up the steps to the door. She went in before him, using her key to unlock the door and then dropping them in the basket beside the door as she made her way fully inside. Lucas also dropped his keys in the basket and when she looked up at him with an amused look, he shrugged, “What?”
“Making yourself at home, ain’t you?”
He flashed a winning grin. “Yup.”
Fallon shook her head as she made her way to the kitchen. Like always, his eyes drifted to where her ass read ‘Pink!’ and he was enjoying the impeccable view when she stopped abruptly. Lucas ran right into her since he was too busy watching her ass instead of where he was going. When he glanced up to where Fallon was looking, he saw Audrey with a bright red face and flour all over her. It took him back to the first day he came to the house to talk about Aiden and Fallon was covered in flour, looking like a sexy little house wife, but he couldn’t t
hink of that right now. Something was wrong.
Lucas could tell that Audrey had been crying. He glanced over to Fallon and saw that she was watching Audrey very intently with a worried look on her face. Audrey dumped a pan full of chocolate cupcakes onto the counter; she then picked up a white bag before putting the top of it into the cupcake and squeezing. It was like watching a train wreck. Audrey was obviously upset and with every squeeze of her hand, Lucas swore she was struggling to keep the tears in. He was so engrossed in what was wrong with Audrey and what she was doing that he didn’t even notice Aiden until he turned with a grin on his face.
“Hey Dad! AA is making cupcakes!”
Audrey looked up and Lucas could see the pain in her eyes. Fallon took in a sharp breath before looking up at Lucas. “Will you take Aiden upstairs?”
Lucas nodded before going to where Aiden sat. He picked up a laughing Aiden and carried him over his shoulder to the stairs. Aiden’s cast knocked into the back of his head but Lucas didn’t care, he was too concerned about Audrey and about what he was about to say to Aiden. He didn’t want to be a hard ass with him, but he kind of had to be. Aiden needed to know that he could never say those words to Fallon ever again. Not to his mom. His mom was supposed to be his world.
When Lucas reached Aiden’s room, he placed him on the bed before going across the room, trying to figure out what he was going to say. Aiden was giggling until he looked up and saw the look Lucas was giving him. He quickly stopped laughing and scooted back in the bed, hitting the wall with his back.
“We need to talk.”
Aiden looked down at his cast and started picking at the fluff that was at his thumb. “What about?”
Lucas took a deep breath in and found that he was actually nervous as he slowly lowered himself down on a bean bag. He didn’t want to do this wrong. He wanted to be stern and he wanted to be understanding of Aiden’s feelings, but most of all, he wanted to be a dad that his dad would be proud of. He moved around on the bean bag. He didn’t think he was very intimating on the bean bag but it was the only place to sit. He wanted to be across from Aiden, and this was the only place he could do that at. “Um, well your mom told me what you said to her.”
Aiden’s eyes didn’t leave his cast as he shrugged his shoulders. “She made me mad.”
“So?” he said angrily. He took a deep calming breath before saying, “That’s your mom. It doesn’t matter how mad she makes you, you don’t say something so horrible to her.”
“She said horrible things to you, and I’m sick of her being mean to you. I love you, and I want her to love you and stop being mean to you,” he said. He looked up at Lucas meeting his gaze. “I want to live with you.”
Lucas heart skipped a beat. He wanted that more than he wanted to breathe, but he would never take Aiden away from Fallon. Fallon would just have to come too, but that wasn’t happening anytime soon, so they both need to leave that alone for a while.
“Buddy, I want you to live with me too, and I love you, very much, okay? I won’t lie to you, the only way we’ll ever live together is if me and your mom got married. I care too much about her to take you away.” Aiden looked down at his cast again, and continued to pick at it. “The thing is, you can’t talk to your mom like that. I won’t accept it. She loves you more than anything, and when you say something wrong like what you said, it hurts the person you say it to. You don’t want to hurt your mom, do you?”
Aiden shook his head. “I just want her to be nice to you.”
“Okay, I understand that, but what happens between me and your mom is between us. No matter what we’ll always love you and you will always be number one to us, but your mom is your number one. I’m your number two.”
Lucas had no problem being number two to Fallon, and as Aiden thought it over all Lucas could do was hope that he had done right. That he had said the right things. Aiden looked up at him, his eyes full of tears. Lucas wasn’t sure how much more emotion he could take in one day, and looking into Aiden’s eyes he knew he needed to prepare himself for more.
Aiden let out a jagged breath before saying, “I don’t hate my momma. I love her.”
Lucas nodded as a tear spilled over Aiden’s plump cheek. “I know, buddy.”
Aiden nodded, wiping his cheek with the back of his hand. “Do you think she’s mad at me?”
Lucas shook his head, “No bud, but her feelings are hurt. I bet if you tell her that you’re sorry, and you never do it again, she would never think about it again.”
Aiden nodded and climbed off the bed, coming to Lucas. He dropped down into Lucas’ lap, and Lucas wrapped him up in his arms, placing a kiss on Aiden’s head. Aiden cuddled close to Lucas as he quietly sobbed. Lucas couldn’t believe that not even a puck breaking his arm could make Aiden cry, but hurting Fallon could.
It was another thing that they had in common.
**********************************
Fallon watched as Lucas carried Aiden up the stairs and made sure they were out of earshot before she laid her basket down. She went towards the island and stood beside Audrey, watching her fill each one of her cupcakes with what look like chocolate frosting.
“What is that?”
Audrey shook her head and Fallon could tell she was keeping back the tears. Audrey never made cupcakes unless something was bothering her. Fallon could always tell how bad it was by how complex Audrey made the cupcakes. Since she was filling them with something, Fallon knew it wasn’t good.
“Ganache.”
“Oh, what kind of cupcakes are you making?”
“Dark chocolate with ganache filling and topped with fresh strawberry, buttercream icing.”
Yup, it was bad.
Fallon looked along the island, noticing the mess that her complex cupcakes had made. Audrey was an amazing cupcake maker, but she was lazy and hated cleaning up the mess. That was the main reason she never baked unless she was upset. It calmed her, just like a beautiful glass of wine calmed Fallon.
“What’s wrong, Audrey?” Audrey shook her head again, but Fallon persisted. “A, this has went on long enough. Something is going on, and you need to tell me.”
Audrey stopped filling and dropped the pipe bag beside the pan just as a sob ripped from her body. “I’m in love with a man that doesn’t love me.”
Fallon’s heart broke at the cry before she wrapped her arms around Audrey. “Surely not. A man would be a fool not to love you.”
Audrey shook her head. “No really, like I called him and he’s with some girl right now and I just don’t understand ‘cause I do everything for him, and I..I…I..love him.” Fallon had to hold her own tears in as she held Audrey close. “You know, when we first started dating he was amazing and sweet. Then he like switched on me. He calls me names, and he like, ugh, I can’t believe I’m telling you this,” she cried.
“Tell me. I can’t help you unless you do,” Fallon pleaded.
“He’s really rough with me. Like when we have sex, he hurts me and I tell him and he doesn’t listen. You would think I wouldn’t be so stupid to keep going back, but I do. I don’t know what to do.”
Fallon ran her hand up and down Audrey’s back as her temper rose. She swore as soon as she learned the douche’s name she was going to kill him, but right now she needed to take care of her baby sister. Audrey’s body shook with her sobs as Fallon held her close. She kissed Audrey’s temple before saying, “Audrey, you gotta let him go baby. This isn’t right. No man should call you names or hurt you.”
Audrey nodded her head, tears streaming down her face. “I know but he keeps calling me fatty, fat ass, and just fat stuff, but he does it with a grin and he acts like it’s a joke. I just don’t know. I don’t know if it’s something I’ve done or what? I haven’t gained any weight! I just don’t know.”
“Audrey,” Fallon said, still not believing what her baby sister was saying, “Honey, you are better than this. Don’t let this asshole do this to you. Leave him.”
“I can
’t. I love him,” she said, looking up at Fallon with her wide, tear-filled eyes.
“No,” Fallon said shaking her head. “You don’t deserve this.”
“I know but I just love him and I don’t want to leave him.”
Fallon continued to shake her head, anger growing inside her with each passing moment. “Then what can I do but find him and kill him. That seems to be the only way I can get you away from him!”
“No, that’s why I can’t ever tell you who he is and that’s why I haven’t told you,” Audrey cried.
“This is nuts,” Fallon said, still running her hand up and down Audrey’s back.
“I know! I just wished I was strong like you. You can stand up to anyone and you don’t care. I can’t.”
“Yes you can,” Fallon stressed. “You can do anything.”
“No. I obviously have an issue when it comes to men. I couldn’t stand up to Dad, I couldn’t stand up to that douche I dated back in the day, and now I can’t stand up to the guy I’m with now.”
“Who is also a douche, and what did you not stand up to Dad about?” Fallon asked, confused.
“Don’t worry about it,” Audrey said with a wave of her hand. “Don’t worry about me.”
“Audrey Jane, really? You are a part of my heart! I will always worry about you.”
“Don’t, worry about you and Lucas. Make yourself happy. Show me how I need to do it, because I’m obviously an idiot when it comes to love.”
“You are not. Baby, you gotta listen to me, you need to leave him,” Fallon stressed again. She had to get through to Audrey. She couldn’t have her sister being abused like that.