Be My December

by Rachel Brookes

  “I’ve got more important things to focus on now.”

  “Like Eden?”

  “Yes like Eden.”

  “Is everything okay there?”

  “I think so. She had a nightmare last night and seeing her like that scared me Ash, I just couldn’t wake her and then when she did she just shut down. Her nightmares as so embedded within her; it’s like peeling back the most delicate layers because one wrong move will completely destroy everything.”

  “Have you two spoken?” Ashlyn asked.

  “She opened up to me about everything yesterday.”

  “That’s massive.”

  “I know.”

  Ashlyn jumped off the desk and moved to my office door then closed it. She leaned back on the wood and closed her eyes. Oh fuck. I knew that look. I knew exactly what was coming.

  “Can I completely change the subject?” She didn’t give me a second to reply before she dropped the bombshell. “So I may have had sex.”

  Why in the world she chose to have conversations like this with me never ceased to amaze me. I rubbed my hands over my face and sat back in my chair then put on my best friend hat. Fuck, this girl owed me big time.

  “Lachlan is obviously still in town and he has been staying at my place and he kind of stayed in my bed.” She continued in a rush.

  “So you are saying that his cock kind of fell into your pussy?”

  “Well when you put it like that. What the fuck am I doing Ky?” She sat on the couch and dropped her face into her hands and her shoulders sank. I had watched the demise of Ashlyn at the hands of Lachlan, and it was something I never wanted to see again.

  “Do you love him?”

  She nodded.

  “Well there is your answer. Fight for what you love. Nothing is worth it, if you don’t have to fight for it.”

  Advice that I would soon have to live by.

  ••••

  “We are going out tonight. Be ready in an hour,” I announced as I walked into the living room after showering and dressing in dark denim jeans and a black collared shirt.

  I had arrived home from work to find Eden sitting at the dining room table engrossed in her own work and tapping away furiously at her laptop. Photos of locations were spread out over the glass table top and she apologized profusely for making a mess which in response I told her not to worry about it. I knew she had spent the day busily organizing the shoot, her emails that came through were regular and she was in complete business mode with any correspondence we had. It was pretty damn sexy.

  But now she was in relaxation mode and was curled up on the couch with her Kindle and a distant look in her eyes. She was so engrossed that she didn’t even hear me talking to her.

  “Eden!” I said a little louder.

  “Huh?!” she asked finally looking up from her Kindle.

  “Good book?”

  “Uh yes and you just interrupted an epic kissing scene.”

  “Well I apologize to the characters for interrupting, but as I was saying, we are going out in an hour so you need to get ready.”

  She furrowed her brow before looking back down at her Kindle.

  Come on Eden, say it! One simple word, no. Reject me. You can do it.

  “Yep, okay.”

  Fuck!

  Rising from the couch, she placed her Kindle in the side pocket and headed down the hall without another word. I stood leaning against the kitchen island scrolling through my phone when I heard the shower start. I looked outside at the torrential rain; it had been raining for the past two days. Winter had officially set in.

  “Ky!” Her voice sounded from the hall and I whipped around to find her standing in the hall, her hair wet and hanging over her shoulders and her body covered only by a towel. I couldn’t control my eyes from running over every inch of her and taking in the curves that we on full display and enjoying the vision before me.

  “Yeah?” I asked, my eyes finally meeting hers.

  “What should I wear?”

  “You look very good in that towel but I guess jeans and a sweater will be fine.”

  She rushed back down the hall and I couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction. I was due to leave for Los Angeles again the next morning for meetings with Simon Davenport at the Beautify office and the thought of leaving wasn’t as exciting as usual because I would be leaving Eden here especially after her comment about not having anyone here.

  I looked at the clock on the far wall of the dining room; it was close to seven and my stomach announced to the silent apartment that it was hungry.

  “Eden, are you nearly done?”

  “I’m ready.” She walked into the living room in skinny jeans, a tight white sweater, and brown boots then crossed the space until she stood before me looking like she had the world on her shoulders. She had something to say but was hesitating.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s nothing. I’m ready to go.”

  “Eden, tell me what you are thinking about,” I demanded and crossed my arms over my chest. I could stand like this for hours. Frustration flew over her face and her gaze flashed with hesitation before she sighed deeply.

  “I don’t know why you are doing this. You know I can’t say no so why do you even ask. Just tell me, don’t ask me.”

  “Are you fucking serious?” I hissed. “Babe, last night you told me everything. It killed me hearing what you went through but you know what, it’s made me more determined. I am not going to tell you to do anything. I will continue to ask, and I will be sure to make you see that you can say no to me, that you can say no to anyone. Do you have any clue how dangerous what you do is? One wrong person Eden— you know what, I can’t even think about that. I’m not an asshole Eden, but I will do whatever it takes to make you see that you don’t have to fear every single person who comes into your life.”

  For the first time, I witnessed her shift, and as she glared at me, I couldn’t help but smile. She stormed through the apartment toward the door and heaved it open.

  She whipped around and glared at me. “Are we going out or not?”

  I chuckled as I found my keys and wallet and followed her out into the hall.

  “Is this our first fight sweetheart?” I wickedly grinned at her.

  “No.”

  “You just said no babe.”

  “Don’t call me sweetheart, we aren’t that friendly.”

  “But you let me call you babe.” I shot her a wink and watched in amusement as her lips ever so slightly curved.

  Babe it was.

  Thirty minutes later, after dealing with the constant downpour, I pulled up at Antonio’s and shut off the engine. Eden hadn’t said a word to me during the entire trip, instead choosing to play on her phone.

  “You’re taking me to have pizza?” She asked as her eyes took in the bright lights beaming from inside of Antonio’s.

  “No, I am taking you to have the best pizza you’ll ever have.”

  I looked out the window at the craziness of rain that was beating down outside and then I looked back at Eden and her white sweater that fit like a second skin over her chest.

  “You are going to have to make a serious run for it. Your sexy, tight white sweater plus rain equals a happy Ky but an embarrassed Eden.”

  Realization flashed over her face as she took in the insistent rain and without a word she shot out of the car and flat-out ran until she was under the awnings and safely dry. I soon joined her and my eyes went straight to her top.

  “Well that was no fun.” I winked at her and felt victory as she rolled her eyes.

  Antonio’s singlehandedly had the best pizza in the world. The aroma of fresh garlic and tomato hit me the moment we walked into the authentic pizza parlor. It was like stepping into Italy. Dad had been bringing Josh and me here for as long as I could remember and my memories were filled with laughter, eating until I was almost sick, and Antonio’s famous laugh.

  “Ky, this place is amazing.” Eden gasped as she took e
verything in.

  “Just wait until you try the pizza.”

  I led her through the crowd with my hand on the small of her back and the look she shot me over her shoulder was felt in my cock. I was testing every single border I could find tonight. Was it wrong that I wanted to break down her walls? No. Was it wrong the way I planned on doing it? Probably so.

  As soon as we slid into my usual booth and began looking at the menus we were joined by one of my most favorite people in the world.

  “Ky Crawford! You come and bring a beautiful girl with you.”

  “Antonio this is Eden, Eden this is Antonio, the best pizza chef in all of the lands.”

  His hands went to his hips and scowl took over his round face. “Why did I not know you have a girlfriend?”

  “Eden isn’t my girlfriend Antonio. We are just friends.”

  He looked between us curiously. “Are you sure about that?” He tapped his finger on chin and an all teeth showing smile appeared. “You would make cutest bambini.”

  As quickly as he arrived, he disappeared into the kitchen, and I swear I heard him saying our names and the word bambini to the kitchen staff. I shook my head and turned back to Eden who sat across me with wide eyes and mouth agape.

  “Did he just say we’d made the cutest children?” She gasped.

  “Yes but I told you we wouldn’t be having sex so no bambini for us. You can close your mouth.” I laughed and dropped my eyes back to the menu all the while knowing that she was still staring at me. “Have you decided what you want?”

  “Wine. Lots of wine.”

  My laughter echoed through the restaurant and soon enough her soft chuckle joined mine. We fell into quiet conversation as we waited for her wine and my Coke, and she seemed to relax as the night went on and eating was soon forgotten. I liked this Eden. The carefree, sassy, confident Eden who didn’t even know she existed. The one who gave me back as much as I gave her. The talk of babies was the joke of the night.

  “So when I impregnate you what will we call our firstborn.”

  “You did not just say that,” she sputtered as she choked on her red wine.

  “Oh, you know I did.”

  “No sex means no impregnation, so you are shit out of luck.”

  “Fuck I enjoy this Eden,” I gushed and smirked at her.

  “And what Eden would that be?”

  “Sassy and confident Eden.”

  “It’s the wine.”

  “Okay well then I’ll have to stock up on wine.”

  Antonio interrupted our discussion of our future non-existent children and arrived at the booth carrying two large white pizza boxes and an expectant grin.

  “No order means I choose and I choose best pizza from you two.”

  “Crap, I’m sorry Antonio we got caught up talking.” I looked around the restaurant and realized we were the only ones left and the staff had started to close up.

  “You two lovebirds were too busy with each other. Here, take this, but you make sure you both come back and see me.” Eden slid out of the booth and avoided my gaze. “And you two make bambini for Uncle Antonio.”

  I grabbed both boxes and followed Eden out of Antonio’s still chuckling at her reaction. As we stood under the awning as the rain continued to fall, I knew I didn’t want tonight to be over yet. The lock on my car beeped and we both made a run for it, slipping in just as a massive downfall hit.

  I pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards one of my favorite secret places, a place I wanted to introduce to Eden. Captain’s Lookout was my favorite place in the world. The view of the city was spectacular during the day and even better in the dead of the night. Due to the weather there was no one but Eden and me here. Hearing her gasp as I pulled into the parking lot pulled on my emotions.

  “Ky, this place is beautiful.”

  We sat in silence as we looked through the window at the twinkling of the lights through the downpour. Having her here was surreal; being in my car eating my favorite food from my favorite place was a mind fuck. This was date material, and I would be a liar if I hadn’t thought of that when I told her we were going out. I wanted to give her this, the perfect night where she could have fun with no expectations.

  “Climb into the backseat.”

  “What!” I was really beginning to get well-acquainted with her high pitched shriek.

  “Climb into the backseat,” I repeated.

  “I…”

  “It’s easier to eat back there.”

  “Oh.”

  “What did you think we were going to do? I told you, no bambini for us.” I laughed and caught the roll of her eyes as she handed me the two boxes that were on her lap and shifted her body and climbed into the backseat. My eyes latched onto her ass as she climbed over the seat and my cock twitched in appreciation.

  We sat side-by-side and ate in silence and hearing the tiniest of moans she would take after every bite was not only distracting but sexy as hell and I knew I would never look at Antonio’s pizza the same way.

  “Have you had a good night?” I asked, stuffing the final piece of pizza in my mouth.

  “Yes.”

  “Eden,” I said in a warning tone.

  “Why are you being such an ass?”

  “It was a simple question.”

  “Just stop.”

  The door pushed open and next thing I knew she was standing outside of the car in the pouring down rain. Fuck it. I threw the boxes to the floor and slid out and the moment I did the rain hit full force. I grabbed her by the shoulders and twisted her to face me.

  “Talk to me,” I demanded as rain drops saturated both of us.

  “I’m sorry that I am so far from perfect and that I don’t fit into your perfect expectation of who you want to spend this month with, but you know what, this is how I cope. What else was I going to say when I agreed to this month? I wish I could have said no but I couldn’t. This is my way of surviving situations like this. I don’t do this. I don’t sit in the back of cars with guys; I don’t go out for pizza with guys; I don’t do any of this because yes, I will get myself into dangerous situations. Don’t you think I know that?” she screamed into the night air.

  “You should have said no to me. It would have saved you all of this,” I yelled back.

  “I couldn’t.”

  “You could have,” I hissed. Through the light beaming from the lamppost I made out her features. She looked back at me completely spent but so vividly beautiful. I cupped her cheek, and she closed her eyes under my touch “You should have.”

  “There are a lot of things I should have done but I can’t change any of them now.”

  My need to comfort her, to soothe her, to own her, overtook every reasonable thought I could find. Whether it was being here, seeing her in a whole new light, hearing her fight me—I didn’t know but the thought of dominating those perfectly pout lips took control. I took a step toward her and she backed up until her back was pressed firmly against the side panel of my car. Her eyes shot open.

  “Eden, I am going to kiss you and when I say kiss you, I mean I’m going to completely and utterly kiss the fuck out of those perfect lips. I am going to touch you and show you that you can have pleasure from a man without fear. I want you to feel exactly what you do to me with just a simple look, a simple word. This right here is you. I am going to kiss you until I take your breath, until you can feel your heart thundering so hard in your chest that you fear it will stop beating.”

  She didn’t speak, but simply nodded.

  My hand grasped her waist, forcefully pulling her toward me, breaking any distance between us. Her gasp fueled the fire burning within me, and my mouth fell to hers. My need to kiss her had turned into sheer lust. My eager tongue traced the length of her bottom lip and a primal growl rose from deep within my chest as she opened for me, offering me the playground of her mouth. Our tongues collided feverishly, dancing through a sea of lust, need, want, and confusion. The sensation of kissing this girl while the
rain battered down on us was out of this world.

  Her arms wrapped around my neck; her fingers tugged on the hair above my neck and she pressed her body closer, grinding her hips into mine. With one swift movement, my hands cupped her ass and I lifted her from her feet and moved our bodies to the hood of my car. I broke our kiss and through heated eyes I took in the sight before me. Her lips were swollen and her eyes hooded with desire while the white sweater stuck to every perfect curve of her body. She parted her legs and I took the invitation. My hands fell to her hips, pulling her forward until there was no end to our bodies. My cock thickened and ached for relief.

  “Can you feel that? That’s all you.” I ground my cock into her jean covered pussy and her moan vibrated against my lips. Our chests formed as one, so close that I could feel the thundering of her heart against mine. “Can you feel your heart racing? That’s all me.”

  She pulled her lips away mine and took a deep ragged breath. My lips fell to her jaw, kissing and nibbling my way to her neck. Eden dropped her face to my shoulder and we remained there, our breathing combining together, struggling together, and rejuvenating together. I leaned in and placed the softest of kisses on her lips and leaned my forehead against hers. The rain was easing, but we were completely soaked.

  “I will never forget that for as long as I am breathing and I hope to God I take that memory to my next life,” I whispered into the darkness.

  I had never spoken truer words.

  It felt so strange being in Ky’s apartment when he wasn’t around. I had been here for four days, and going about my days as calmly as I could. Every waking hour seemed to be spent attached to my laptop as I searched for the perfect locations for the upcoming shoots. Beats and Bangs had hired me for six weeks so they were definitely getting their money out of me as they just booked me for another editorial.

  Ky had left this morning for an overnight business meeting in Los Angeles confirming that he would be back some time tomorrow. Before he left he made me promise that I would make myself at home, that I would eat his food, watch his television, and enjoy the comforts of his home. He had hesitated at the door as if he wanted to say something else, but he didn’t.