“I’m so sorry,” I say, and she just smiles.
“I see it now,” she says, looking at me. “When I saw you, I could see why Manning would be drawn to you. You’re gorgeous, but you are genuinely a nice person.” She looks down now. “It’s about time someone put my son first.”
I don’t say anything to her as I clean up the kitchen. “I’m going to miss them,” she says, looking around when we finish as we sit down with another piece of cake. “After being here with them for two weeks.”
“Well, I think you’ll just have to visit more,” I tell her. “Nothing will stop you now.”
She smiles at me, and we both hear the front door open and close and then see Manning walking in. He sits down in the empty chair beside me. “Did it go okay?”
“As good as it could go,” he says, leaning over and kissing me. “I get him on Wednesday for dinner and then back on Friday.”
“He’ll be okay,” Rachel says. “Now,” she says, getting up, “I’m going up to shower and pack. I get to sleep in my own bed tomorrow.”
“We’ll be here to pick you up tomorrow at ten,” Manning tells her, and she smiles at me.
“It was a pleasure to finally meet you,” I say and look up at Manning. “You did good with this one,” I say, making her laugh. I look over at him, seeing him smile. “What are you smiling about?”
“Tonight, I had dinner with my woman and my son. My mother sat at the same table. It doesn’t get better than that.” I cut a piece of cake and hold it out for him. “Actually, it’s going to be better.” I raise my eyebrow. “I’m going to go to sleep beside you, and I don’t have to run out of your bed.”
“I can kick you out of my bed.” I wave the fork in front of him.
“I’d like to see you try.” He laughs, leaning over and kissing me senseless.
Chapter 35
Manning
“How long will it take you?” I look over at Evelyn, and she just stares at me. “What?”
“You just told me that we are going out to dinner with your friends at seven.” She turns her back toward the car door. “I’ve spent all day out of the house.”
“I know. I was there,” I tell her. We woke up together for the first time ever, and it was even better than I had imagined. Sliding into her at five a.m. and then leaving is nothing compared to sliding into her at seven and then making coffee with her while she wears my shirt. Needless to say, she was bent over so fast we forgot all about the coffee.
We had to rush out of the house and get my mother to her flight. I was shocked when Evelyn threw a fit that I was going to just drop her off. No, my girl made us park, and we walked my mother in. I could tell that it even got to my mother when she got teary-eyed and whispered, “Don’t let this one go.” I knew that already. I didn’t need my mother to tell me that. We walked her as far as we could before waving good-bye, and then we set off on our day.
“It’s five thirty,” she tells me, and I look over at her. “We have to leave at six thirty.”
“Yeah, about that,” I say, and she just shakes her head.
“What are you shaking your head about?” I ask. “Do you not want to meet my friends?”
“I have to take a shower,” she says, throwing up her hands. “And fix my hair. First impressions are everything.”
“They sort of already met you,” I say, looking over at her, and I grab her hand and pull her to me. “They were at the restaurant that night.”
“Manning.” She tilts her head back and looks at me. “Next time, you need to give me at least a twelve-hour warning.”
“It’s going to be fine,” I say, parking my car in her driveway. “It’s just the six of us.”
“What’s the dress code?” she huffs as she gets out of the SUV, and I grab the bag that I have in the back seat.
“Casual,” I say, walking with her to the front door.
“Casual dressy or casual jeans?” she asks, unlocking the door and walking in, kicking off her Nikes.
“Baby,” I say softly as she rushes to her bedroom and pulls off her sweater. My cock gets hard from looking at her. “I’m wearing jeans.”
“Ugh,” she says, peeling the pants off her and then going to the bathroom. I follow her, and I’m about to grab her hips when she turns around and points her finger at me.
“Don’t even think about it,” she tells me. I pull off my shirt, and she bites her lower lip. “We don’t have time for this,” she says and backs up, putting her back to the wall. I undo my belt and open the button of my jeans, my cock springing out. “Manning.” She moans out my name as I get closer to her. “You have four minutes,” she tells me. I pick her up by her waist, and she wraps her legs around my hips and slides down on my cock. Both of us moaning now. My mouth goes to hers as I press her back into the wall, and I fuck her hard, lasting a lot longer than four minutes.
“We are going to be late,” I tell her as I slip on my black boots. “Then they are going to know we’re late because we had sex.”
“This wouldn’t be happening if you kept your cock away from me.” She steps out of her walk-in closet, and I just look at her. My mouth salivates at her tight light gray jeans with a rip in one of her knees and a snug plain white T-shirt with a gold chain around her neck. My eyes go to the sky-high leopard heels she’s wearing.
“How do I look?” she asks, slipping on a short black leather jacket and pulling her long hair out of it. I bend down and kiss her lips, slipping my tongue into her mouth, but she shoves me away. “We don’t have time for that.”
She grabs her black purse, and we rush out of the house. We get to the restaurant ten minutes late, and she is shaking her head when we get out of the car. I look over at her as she walks to me, and I grab her hand. After we walk into the restaurant, the hostess sees us, and I hear my name being called. I look over at the fans and just raise my hand, never letting Evelyn’s hand go. “Um,” she says from beside me. “I forgot that you get noticed.”
“And?” I look at her as the hostess asks us to follow her.
“You’re holding my hand.” She looks down at our hands, and I don’t have time to address the question because we are brought into a private room. “There they are,” Miller says, looking over at us. I look at Evelyn, who looks at me wide-eyed.
“Sorry, there was traffic,” I say.
“Don’t mind him,” Layla says, getting up and coming over to us. “I’m sorry about my husband. He is almost like a senior these days because he eats at four, and when he doesn’t, he gets cranky.” She smiles at Evelyn. “I’m Layla.”
“Nice to meet you,” Evelyn says and holds out her hand. “I’m Evelyn.”
“We apologize for our friend,” Candace says. “I’m Candace,” she says, and instead of shaking her hand, she reaches out and hugs her. I can see that Evelyn is taken aback. “I’m his PR girl.”
“I’ve heard wonderful things about you,” Evelyn says with a smile, and I swear I’ve never been as happy as I am at this moment. We would often have dinner together, but I would always be the fifth wheel.
“I’ve heard nothing but good things about you.” She steps away. “And from just this meeting, you got my vote.”
“Really?” Evelyn says, laughing.
“Don’t mind her,” Layla says. “The minute you didn’t throw a drink at her, you had her vote.”
“Okay, can we sit and order, please?” Miller asks, and Ralph introduces himself. I wait for the four of them to go sit back down, and then I pull out the chair for her.
“You look the same.” Miller looks over at her, and we all look at him. “You know what I mean. Sometimes, you meet someone, and they look one way, and then you see them again, and it’s like a whole different person.”
“What the fuck?” Ralph says, and I just shake my head. Evelyn takes off her jacket and places it on her chair, and I reach over, putting my hand on her chair.
“Thank you, I guess,” Evelyn says.
“This guy was going nuts
for you,” Miller says, laughing. “Whenever we go out, he is the first person to leave, but he stayed longer than we did.”
“God, Miller,” Layla says, shaking her head. “What if he didn’t want her to know that?”
He looks at her, confused. “They are together, so I think it’s safe to say he likes her.”
We all laugh. The girls ask her questions, and by the end of the night, it feels like we’ve been doing this forever. When the waitress comes over, Candace asks her to take our picture, and Evelyn looks at me with big eyes. “I’ll go to the bathroom.”
“Why?” I ask, and she looks at me.
“She’s going to post the picture,” she says, and now everyone is looking at us. “And it’s still, you know.”
“I don’t,” I say, and my heart sinks, wondering if she wants to be seen with me. “Do you not want . . .?”
“I’m just saying if she posts this picture, people will see I’m here,” she says, and I see Candace smile and blink away tears. “And well, nothing is signed yet, and if Murielle sees it, she might change her mind.” Her voice goes low as I pull her to me and kiss the top of her head. She tilts her head back, and I kiss her lips. “It’s just easier.”
“I don’t care,” I tell her. “I don’t care if she takes this picture, and she puts it on the Jumbotron during the intermission at the game.”
“Well, this is brand new,” Candace says. “Does this mean you are finally going to get on social media?” I glare at her. “Okay, fine, but hey, at least he is letting me post it. Usually, it’s ‘don’t put me on there.’”
“Look here, everyone,” the waitress says, and I put my arm around her and pull her to me, so people know she’s with me.
When the meal is over, we all get up, and I slip her jacket on for her and bend to kiss her neck. We walk out of the restaurant with our hands together. We are stopped a couple of times, and I’m sure someone has taken a picture of us, but I literally don’t give a shit. The girls hug her good-bye while the guys hold up their hand to wave good-bye.
“Did you have fun tonight?” I ask her as we walk to my SUV. I open the door for her, and she tilts her head back. I push the hair away from her face, then bend down and kiss her lips.
“I did.” She gets into the car, and I walk over to my side.
I make my way to her house, and when we get in, I look at her. “Did you like any of the houses today?”
“I did,” she says, and I wait for it. We went to visit four homes, and I know which one I want, but I want her opinion.
“Which one?” I ask her as she slips off her jacket, and she shakes her head.
“It’s not about me,” she says to me. “It’s about you. It’s about you wanting to come home to that house every single day. You have to think about raising Jaxon in that home.” This woman never ceases to amaze me; again, she worries about Jaxon and me, and not once did she insinuate she will spend time there. Not once did she say I love this or you should get it. She always waited for me to say something before telling me how she felt.
“I think I liked the third house,” I say. Her eyes light up, and I know that’s the right one. “I’m going to put an offer on it.”
“I think it’s perfect,” she says.
“Do you think you could help me make it a home?” I ask, and she comes to me now.
“I will help wherever you want my help,” she says.
“Do you think you’d like to leave some of your stuff there?” I ask, and she throws her head back and laughs.
“Okay,” she says, and then she steps back. “We have to talk.”
I look at her, and she stands there in front of me. “I just.” She starts to say. “I don’t know how comfortable I’m going to feel sleeping there with Jaxon.” I’m about to say something when she puts her hands up. “Hear me out. I’m good for having dinner and even you kissing me, but I don’t think what he needs now is to have me crashing your place when his life is in an uproar.”
“When are you going to put yourself first?” I can’t help but ask her. “During this whole time, not once did you look at me and say what about me.” I don’t let her say anything. “Never in this whole time did you put yourself first. In this whole thing, all you worried about was me and Jaxon or my mother or anyone else but yourself.”
She throws her hands up. “Well, that’s what you do when you love someone!” she yells.
“I’ve never had that,” I tell her. “Never in my whole life have I had someone who put me before them. Besides my parents.” I look down, my heart almost exploding. “Thank you.” I grab her hand and bring it to my chest. “For bringing me back to life.”
Chapter 36
Evelyn
“I can’t believe we are finally getting together,” Stephanie says when I sit down at the table. “It’s been too long.”
“It really has been,” I say. The waiter comes by to tell us the lunch specials. “Sorry it has to be lunch and not dinner. Things have been just a touch crazy.”
“You look different,” Stephanie says, looking at me, and my eyebrows shoot together. “You glow.”
“Um . . .” I put my hands to my cheeks. “Thanks, I guess.”
“So tell me, what is new with you?” she asks, picking up her glass of wine.
“I met someone,” I finally say, and she smiles. “I actually met him at the restaurant where you had your bachelorette party.” She doesn’t say anything. “His name is Manning.” I wait to see if it clicks, and I see that nothing lights up on her face. “He’s amazing,” I say, smiling. “So thoughtful and basically just the nicest guy I’ve ever met.”
“You love him.” She points at me, laughing. “That’s what is different about you. You have that love glow.”
“I must.” I laugh, grabbing my glass of water.
“So tell me everything,” she says, and I fill her in on everything that has been going on. “Hold on a second.” She puts up her hand. “Is this Manning Stevenson?” she asks, shocked. “The one who caught his wife fucking in a car?”
“He didn’t catch her, but yes,” I admit, “that would be him.”
“Holy shit.” She slaps the table. “It was a soap opera.”
“Oh, trust me, I know,” I say, and we change the subject to her wedding, which is taking place in a month. I hug her good-bye and then make my way back to Manning’s house.
“Are you ready?” I ask Jaxon right before we walk out of the house. He puts his hand in mine, and I smile. “Are you hungry?” Both of us are dressed in black jeans with our Dallas jerseys on.
“No,” he says as I walk over to Manning’s SUV that he left here for me.
I open the back door of the SUV, and I wait for him to get in and get buckled. After getting into the driver’s seat, I push the button for the garage door to open. I pull out and look up at Manning’s brand-new house. He did not mess around when he said that he liked this house. He made an offer on it the next day, and in fourteen days, he was in. It was a bit of a whirlwind, to be honest, but he was gone for most of it, and when he was here, he was busy with Jaxon. The three of us went furniture shopping, and in one day, he had all of his furniture picked out. Paying a rush fee, he made sure it was delivered when he got the keys to the house.
“If you are hungry, we can get something at the game.” I look in the rear-view mirror and see him nod. I tried to move slowly with Jaxon, but the only problem with that was his father. He was on the road for over five days, and when he got home, I was waiting for him, thinking we would have dinner together, and I would leave. Well, he did not take that very well. In fact, he didn’t take that well at all. He put Jaxon to bed and then locked all the doors, arming the alarm with a code. “If you leave, you’ll wake Jaxon.” The next morning, Jaxon didn’t even bat an eye that I was still there. He just asked who was cooking breakfast. I want to say that it has been all smooth sailing, but it hasn’t. The only good thing is Murielle signed the divorce papers. That is where the good thing ends with her.
She calls Manning daily to bitch at him. He listens for five seconds, and when it doesn’t involve Jaxon, he hangs up.
“Is Caleb coming?” he asks, and I nod. “Yes. We are going to go by the glass and get some pucks.”
I smile at him, hiding the nerves running through my body. Tonight, I’ll be going to the hockey game officially as his guest. The secret that we are dating is no more. The night after the dinner party with the six of us, I woke up to the picture all over social media. My mother even called me.
I follow the instructions Manning gave me and pull into the secret underground parking. It really isn’t a secret when I see that fans are there snapping pictures. “Okay, buddy, tell me where to go?” I ask, and he guides me to Manning’s place. “Okay, let’s go,” I say, getting out of the SUV and waiting for him. “You tell me where to go.”
I’m almost at the door when I hear my name being called and look over to see Layla walking over to us. “Hey there,” she says, and she kisses my cheek. “Hi, buddy, did you grow?” she asks him, and he just smiles, then looks at me. “Are you ready?”
“As ready as one can be,” I answer her honestly as we walk in. I look around and see people are starting to trickle in. I walk down the corridor and stop when we get to a picture of Manning on the wall. He is looking at the play at hand, and it has his number with his name. I swear I smile like a fucking fool. That is my man, and I almost want to reach out and touch it. “It’s crazy, right?” I look over at Layla. “That he’s just Manning at home, and then we come here, and he’s a superstar.”
She shakes her head. “It can be an eye-opener, that is for sure.” We walk up some stairs, and you have to show your tickets to get on that floor. I open my purse to get them out, but I don’t need to because Manning is there in his workout gear talking to someone.
“Dad.” Jaxon calls his name, and he looks from the guy to us. He sees Jaxon, and then his smile gets even bigger when he sees me. He walks over and tells the man scanning tickets something, and he just nods his head.
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