by Ryan Michele
He digs in like he hasn’t eaten in a month. Contentment soothes my nerves for a moment. I love that I can take care of him, make him happy, and still be me. I plate up and begin to eat also. It’s pretty good, if I do say so myself.
“We gotta head over to Ma’s for a minute.”
“What’s wrong?” We never just go over to his Ma’s house. There is always a reason, be it a party or cookout.
“Nothing. Ma has this tradition and even though I’m old, have my own place, and woman, she still does it.” My heart squeezes. “I’d make up some reason why I couldn’t go, but it’s just better to let her do her thing, and get it over with.”
“That’s sweet, babe.” It is really sweet and quite surprising.
His eyes narrow on me. “Sweet. Nothing sweet. I’m doing it so Ma will stay off my ass for a while. And if I don’t, she’ll fucking come here and bitch about me not coming. I’m just cutting her off at the go.”
Sure he is. I keep my mouth shut, but I know he loves her unconditionally. He may get pissed at her, but she’s his mom. One thing you don’t mess with.
“What’s the tradition?” I’ve never had any of those. Bam wasn’t really good at remembering that kind of stuff.
“Every year she gets Princess and I this chocolate heart covered in red foil.” My words get lodged in my throat. “She’s done it since before I can remember.” He chuckles. “When I was younger, I’d get so damn excited to get that heart. I counted on it every year and Ma never let me down.” He looks at me, a grin lighting up his face. “She’s done it every year. No matter how old I am, this is one thing that will happen every Valentine’s Day. I guarantee it.”
“So, you remember the heart every year but didn’t remember today is Valentine’s Day?” I tease. I don’t care that he didn’t remember, but giving him shit is fun.
“You’re shitting me right?” His fork bobs in the air as he talks and I stifle a laugh. “I was a kid. It was candy. Come on?”
“Sure, a red heart you remember,” I continue. I know I’m baiting a fierce tiger, but this is too good to pass up.
He rises from the table, walks to the counter, and grabs a wooden spoon from the utensil drawer. He sets it on the table next to me with a loud clack and takes his seat.
“One more fucking crack like that and I’m swatting your ass then fucking it.” A shiver hits at the thrill of his words. Damn man. Too bad I can’t let that happen.
“I remember Princess telling me about it. And we have to go to your Ma’s. No time,” I retort, taking a bite of hash browns.
He leans in close, his elbow resting on the table. “Angel, better believe I’ll make time.”
Not if I have anything to do with it.
My Angel. Damn, the curve of her ass in those jeans, my name stitched across the back of her leather, her long blonde hair in a braid down her back—great for holding onto…
Fucking. Hot.
It’s not a chivalrous gesture like she may think it is. For me, letting her go first is all about the sight of her walking in front of me. Fuck. Just fucked her twice and still ready for more. I’m always ready for more. But something seems off with her this morning. Surely she didn’t think I’d have some grand plans for this dumb ass holiday?
Throwing my leg over my bike, I rev the engine and nod at Angel to get on. Her heat presses against my ass, her arms around my chest, her tits trapped between us. Fucking hell. All this woman has to do to get me hard for her is breathe, let alone touch me.
I adjust my cock in my jeans and set off towards Ma’s house. I’m not asshole enough to tell her hell no, but I’m not a pussy, either. In my life, shit happens. I could wake up tomorrow and she’d be gone, then I’d really feel like shit for not doing this for her. It’s something simple and doesn’t take up a lot of time.
Bright sun shines down on us; thankfully my shades block it out. Angel’s head rests on my shoulder and she gives me a squeeze. She is the only woman I want on my bike, ever. I’ve loved her for so damn long and now that I have her, I’ll never let her go.
Pulling up to Ma’s, I cut the engine and wait for Angel to get off, then follow. She takes off her lid, swinging her head back and forth. My blood ignites. Fuck, woman. I pull her close and crash my lips to hers. The mint from her gum invades my mouth and I plunge deeper, her arms wrapping around my neck. Her body relaxes and I take in all of her weight. She’s so damn soft.
Reluctantly, I move away. Angel’s swollen lips and wide eyes tell me I’ve done my job. “Come on, let’s go do this.”
Angel takes a few moments to pull herself together and we walk to the door. “You know I love you, right?” she asks, clutching my hand.
I pull her fingers up to my lips, kissing it. “Yeah, baby. Me, too.”
Holy fucking shit. Inside the house can only be described as chaos. Cooper is running around like he’s tripped up on speed or something, darting from one room to the next. Ma and Pops just watch him, not saying a word.
“GT!” Ma rushes over to us, wrapping her arms around first me and then Angel. “Come on in.”
“I take it you’re babysitting today?”
“Yep. Princess and Cruz are spending the day together and we have this little guy,” she says as Coop spots us and makes a mad dash to the front door.
“Unca GT!” he screams in a tone I can only describe as excruciating. He flies into my arms and I pick him up, giving him a hug.
“What’s up, little man?” Coop has chocolate smeared all over his face so one could only guess why he’s so hyped up.
“I got chocket fom Mommy and Gamma!” His smile is contagious and I find myself following suit.
“You did?” I glance over at Ma. “No wonder he’s bouncing off the walls.”
She shrugs. “He’s fine. Leave him alone.”
“Aun Casee!” The little guy wiggles out of my arms and directly into Angel’s waiting ones. She takes him, but sets him down while smothering him with kisses.
“Did you leave any for me, Coop?” she asks, and he shakes his head.
“No, I eap it.”
“Come on into the living room, you two, and have a seat.” We follow, Angel talking to Coop about what he did for Princess for Valentine’s Day. And I have to admit, listening to it, it’s pretty cute. And I’m gonna have to give Cruz shit for cooking and burning shit. That guy is lost when it comes to cooking, not that I’m a hell of a lot better.
Pops sits in the recliner and I head his direction. “Hey, Pops.”
“Hey, son. Glad to see you got here. Your Ma was gonna have a heart attack if you didn’t show,” he says, low so only I can hear. “She’s been busy with Coop the last bit, though. Kept her mind off of it. I swear to Christ, that one year you didn’t come and we had to hunt your ass down? Fuck me. That’s all she can remember, boy.”
“I can hear you,” Ma calls from the doorway, narrowing her eyes at Pops.
“So what?” Pops retorts.
“So, stop feeding him a line of shit,” Ma shoots back. Angel sits on the couch, Coop on her lap still talking about what he did that morning. She’s undoubtedly listening to the conversation here, but keeping focused on Coop.
“It’s not a line of shit and you damn well know it,” he yells. They aren’t fighting. This is nothing compared to the fights they had back in the day. This is banter. Neither are seriously pissed. Maybe agitated, but that’s about all.
“Stop it, mister.” Ma comes closer, leaning down to kiss Pops on the lips then smiles and walks over to Angel. Whatever.
“You’re the one that started this whole thing anyway. Don’t know why your panties are in a bunch,” I joke, but it is very true. He started this Valentine tradition back when he and Ma first got together.
“Shut it, boy. I was young, stupid, and didn’t know what the fuck I was doing. But it was close to Valentine’s Day and our first date. Went to the store on the way, came up with a heart. My ol’ man gave me s
uch shit about that stupid fucking heart. Never let me live it down.” Pops chuckles but I would hate to be on the receiving end of a razzing from my grandfather. He was rough, hard, and packed a mean punch. I’ve seen it. But Ma talked way back when and my grandfather never let Pops off the hook.
“Anything going on today?” I ask, changing the subject, and sit next to Pops in the other recliner. Some ballgame is playing in the background, and I watch, not really giving a shit.
“Nope. Quiet day. We’ve got Cooper ‘til tomorrow morning so I’m staying low.”
“You’re liking this whole Grandpa thing, huh?” He’s always been a wonderful father so I couldn’t imagine him not being the same with his grandchildren.
“Son, you know how you drive me batshit crazy?” I notice he didn’t say used to; he said it as if I am doing so right now. I just nod, no use in fighting it. “Grandkids, they don’t. For the most part. See how wired he is?” I look over to Coop who has left Angel’s arms and is back to riding a stick horse around the room, saying ‘yeehaw.’ Christ. “See, I get to enjoy him for a day. Spoil the shit out of him and send him back to his folks the next. I don’t get the fallout from his time here. I don’t have to put up with the bullshit. I just get to enjoy the little guy.”
What he says makes sense, but fuck. When Angel and I have kids is this what we are going to come back to? I shake my head, no need thinking about that shit.
“Anything going on at the club?” I hadn’t heard of anything.
“Nah, some of them are going to Bimbo’s tonight for drinks, but told them I had the boy.” His attention goes back to the TV.
“Angel and I will probably go.”
His eyes cut to me. “Figured you’d be doing something else today.” He points his thumb back to Angel who just came up to the recliner.
“Hey, Pops.” Angel leans down, kissing him on the cheek.
“Oh, I will definitely be doing that, but we need a break sometimes.” I wink at Angel who just shakes her head.
Ma walks up holding a couple of her famous, red foil-covered chocolate hearts. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
I get up from the chair and envelop her in a huge hug, her arms encircling me, too. Happiness pours off of her. “Same, Ma. Love you,” I whisper into her ear so only she can hear. Her squeeze gets tighter.
“Love you, too, my boy.” She pulls back, a slight tear forming in the corner of her eye. Fucking shit. She’d better not cry. I hate that shit.
She doesn’t and turns to Angel. “This is for you.” Angel’s eyes well up with tears.
“Thanks, Ma. Low told me once about these and…” Her voice trails off as the words lodge in her throat. Damn, like I need two crying women today. “Thank you.” She throws her arms around Ma, hugging tight and not letting go for several long moments.
“Why you cwy?” Coop comes up to the two women, nudging their legs.
Ma bends down, picking him up. “It’s not sad, Cooper. We’re happy.”
“’kay.” He wiggles out of her arms and sets off around the house. Time to go.
“We’re gonna head out. Got shit to do.” I shake Pops’s hand and hug Ma. Coop barrels around the corner and I scoop him up, tossing him in the air. Angel gives her hugs and we bolt.
“Babe, I don’t know what you think about it, but we are not giving our kids chocolate.” I hand over her lid and instantly regret my words as sadness and fear enter her eyes. “Sorry, Angel.” I envelop her tightly.
“I’m fine, GT. Let’s ride for a bit. Can we?” She tries to smile it away, but it’s there, plain as day. Her eyes don’t lie.
“Ab-so-fucking-lutely.”
We ride for a couple of hours, just letting the open road take us where it leads and not having anywhere in particular to be. The trees stream by as well as cars. I take my time, not hitting the throttle too hard. If it weren’t for Angel moving every once in a while, I’d swear she’s fallen asleep. This shit is relaxing. It seems to wash all the bad shit out and only leave the good.
My mind flashes and I remember this tree out behind the clubhouse about a half a mile down the way. When we were younger, Princess, Angel, me, and a few other kids used to walk down there and hang out. For some reason, my bike heads in that direction. “Oaijfd” sounds near my ear, but it’s so muffled I have no fucking clue what she said. I pat her hand to tell her I heard her. If I had to guess, she’s asking where we’re going since it’s in the direction of the clubhouse.
Pulling up to the old tree, I don’t see a soul around. The space is covered in grass and trees, but the tree I’m looking at is hundreds of years old. Rumor has it that a couple was married under this tree when it had just begun growing, and it’s supposed to be all lovey and shit. But that’s not why I’m bringing her. It’s our memories I want her to remember.
Killing the engine, I wait for Angel to hop off and then follow.
“I love this place, GT.” She hands me her lid and looks around the space intently.
I smile knowingly. “Thought we’d just hang out for a while.” This time her lips come to mine. I cup her face with my hand and love her with my lips. God, do I love her.
She slowly pulls away. “Come on.” She tugs my hand, pulling me with her. She stops under the old tree with its huge, four or five-foot-wide trunk, and branches with leaves sticking out everywhere. “Remember when we came here with a cigarette you stole from Pops.” She laughs and I chuckle.
Fuck yeah, I remember that day. Got the shit beat out of my ass by Pops.
“And the fireworks!” she practically yells with laughter. God, I love that sound. For a while, I didn’t think I’d hear it again. I’m so fucking grateful she’s coming back to herself. Slowly, but it’s coming.
“Hell yeah, I remember that. We all tried to smoke and coughed our asses off. You were too scared to let off the fireworks so Princess and I did.” Shit. Thinking back on that day, I sit by the tree, my back to the trunk, and pull her between my legs.
She elbows me. “Bam beat my ass for that stunt and I told you two not to light them.” She did and in hindsight, we should have listened, but in that moment, we didn’t give a shit.
“I did, too, but I guess that’s what happens when you set fire to a bunch of trees.” I point over to the clearing where there used to be more massive trees just like the one we are leaning against.
“God. When it set off and went directly into the tree and all the leaves caught fire, I was so scared, GT.”
“No shit, you cried and cried.” I shake my head, remembering. “Then, you got all up in my face. Not Princess’s but mine, yelling and carrying on.” Fuck, we were in so much trouble.
“You kissed me,” she whispers so softly if there were a breeze I wouldn’t have heard it.
“I had to shut you up somehow.” Even at thirteen, I wanted to kiss her so damn bad. She gave me the opportunity and I took it without hesitation. When I pulled away from her, she looked up at me like I was her world. That moment, I knew she was mine. Angel elbows me, shaking me out of my thoughts.
“Yes, you did.” She pauses, surely remembering. “Then the fire trucks came and the police. God, Bam was so pissed at me.” She shakes her head against my chest.
“Bam was pissed? Try Pops. I got the belt and confined to my room. Princess got swats and confined to hers. Fucking sucked. I think we had two weeks on lockdown, only coming out for school and to eat dinner.”
“Whatever. You two snuck out and came to my window every night. I sent you away when you wanted to go out. I didn’t want to suffer Bam’s wrath again. My ass burned for a week.”
We were in a shitload of trouble, even had to go to the police station to give our statements. That was the first time I was there, but not my last. The only thing that all taught me was to be more careful with explosives.
“Thanks for bringing me here,” she whispers after our laughter dies down. The quiet of the wind is the only thing that can be heard.
Angel’s ass wiggles against my dick and her head falls back to my shoulder. “You need something, darlin’?”
“Thought maybe we could make some more memories.” Her lips slide up my neck and she nips my earlobe, waking my dick up.
“You do, do ya? What did ya have in mind?” I taunt as her lips move across my jaw. She turns around to face me, continuing to trail kisses along my jaw, her soft tongue licking every spot. I don’t let her answer; instead, I kiss her hard and deep, inhaling the gasp that leaves her lips.
I pull away, and stare into her molten eyes, hear her short spurts of breath. “Take off the pants.” She rises, stripping of her boots and jeans. I open my fly and pull out my cock, giving it a few rough tugs. Damn, that pussy is pretty. “Climb on.”
She balances by using my shoulders and my dick knows exactly where it wants to be. She lowers her hot, tight channel, taking me in, and it feels so fucking good. “Ride me, Angel.” I swear my woman should have been a jockey for the Kentucky Derby. She rides like a goddess.
She moves fast, my ass rubbing on the trunk or a rock causing a biting pain. Fuck this. I love her on top, but this isn’t working. “Up. Hands on the tree, feet wide.” She scrambles to her feet and does my bidding.
Now, that is a pretty fucking sight. My woman with my leather on up against a tree and shaking her ass, silently begging for my cock. Fuck yeah. Gripping her hips, I slide in. Angel’s moans and mewls spur me on faster.
I move inside of her, feeling her tightness suck me in. “GT,” she gasps and squeezes my dick hard, but I continue, feeling my own climax growing closer. Fuck. My balls draw up and a tingling forms in my spine. Three more thrusts and I’m coming hard. Euphoria consumes me.
After a minute, I get my breathing together and notice that Angel’s head is now resting on the trunk of the tree. Fuck. “Angel, did I hurt you?” I pull out and turn her in my arms.