“Thanks, Mom. I have a feeling I already knew the answer, but it helped to have you validate my thoughts and feelings.” She’d always been there for me. Whenever I fucked up, when I soared… it didn’t matter. Not in all the ways Lucas had been, but in the ways that a mother was.
“If you need a second opinion on her, you could always bring her here, and I’ll study her for you.” She snickered, and I laughed.
“She’s not a science experiment.”
I could almost hear her shrug through the phone. “Only trying to help.”
Shaking my head as I grinned, I looked to the cold sky. “Anyway, I better get going. I need to take care of something before she gets off work. I’ll call you and Dad tomorrow morning. Love you.”
“Love you, Logan. Always and forever. Never forget that.” Realizing I needed to get going, I pushed myself off the wall and started to walk down the street.
“Bye, Mom.”
“Bye, son.” As I put my phone in my pocket, my elbow hit someone passing me. Glancing up, I muttered an apology.
The girl’s eyes widened momentarily, but I kept walking and slipped into my destination. The same salesman was working.
“Sir. Good to see you again. Was there an issue with your purchase?”
“No. Not at all.”
After Stella got off work, I made her a stir-fry dinner, and then we went for a walk through Boston Common to see all the Christmas lights. It was beautiful and we took our time walking hand in hand through the park and past displays.
“Thank you again for coming all the way to Boston to spend Christmas with me.” The blue of her eyes glittered as they reflected the lights.
“It was the best decision I’ve ever made.” With a smile, I pressed a soft kiss to the tip of her nose before I turned us back toward her apartment.
We then took a long hot shower where we barely behaved.
Once we were dry and dressed, we watched Christmas movies snuggled on the couch, under the fuzzy blanket I had bought to use with the air mattress that was still in the box.
She fell asleep on my shoulder during Miracle on 34th Street. I carried her to bed, where I tortured myself by stripping her down and climbing in to snuggle next to her.
I was beginning to regret my offer to keep sex off the table. Because waking up to her sexy as fuck body draped over mine nearly killed me. I wanted to move her over a little and slide my cock in her to wake her.
But it was important to me that she believed I wasn’t using her as a “Boston booty call,” as she’d put it.
Unable to wait for her to open her presents and needing to rescue my dick from the abuse it was suffering being so close to her, I gently shook her.
“Stella?”
“Hmm.” She snuggled deeper into my side, eliciting a groan from me.
“Stella…, baby, come on, wake up.” Finally, she began to stir.
Lifting her head in confusion, she looked first at me, then at the window where sunlight was beginning to peek around the blinds. “What time is it?” she mumbled. God, she was cute as fuck when she woke up.
“Time to see what Santa brought you. Merry Christmas.”
She gave me a sleepy little smile.
“Santa, huh?” The rasp of my beard against her fingertips followed. “Santa must’ve colored his beard. And lost a little weight.” She patted my abs.
“Must have.” I smirked.
Stretching, she rubbed up against me like a cat. “Christ almighty. If you do that again, my no-sex agreement may become null and void.”
Giggling, she rolled off me and padded to the bathroom, where I heard water running and figured she was brushing her teeth. Like a dumbass, I’d watched the bottoms of her ass cheeks bounce with each step. Grabbing her pillow, I held it over my face as I groaned into it in sexual frustration.
Dragging ass, I followed and dug my toothbrush out as well. The domestic feeling as we stood side by side brushing our teeth hit me in a weird way. My heart started flopping around like a Mexican jumping bean.
She finished before I did and as she moved past me to go get dressed, she pressed her lips to my shoulder, eliciting a shudder down my spine. I might have brushed the enamel off my teeth as I watched her slowly pull on a pair of pink plaid pajama pants and a pale pink tank.
Did I mention she was braless? The rings on her nipples were outlined through the ribbed fabric, and I shamelessly stood there with the hard-on from hell. Toothpaste foam fell out of my gaping mouth and landed on my chest with a plop.
“Like what you see?” Without waiting for an answer, she sauntered out to the kitchen. I watched her ass jiggling in those fucking pants until she was out of sight before I hurried to wash up. Tossing my toothbrush on the counter, I snagged my sleeping pants and finished pulling them up as I stepped out of the room.
“What are you doing? We have gifts to open,” I insisted, even though after the show she’d given me, the wrapped packages were the last thing on my mind.
Raising a brow, she reached up into the cupboard to pull out two mugs. “Coffee first. Then gifts.”
Being able to stand there and watch her carry out the mundane movements of making coffee wouldn’t have been on my radar a week ago. That morning, it was life. I could see myself doing simple things like this with her for the rest of my life. Yeah, I wanted to show her the world. I wanted to be there with her as she checked off the boxes on her bucket list. I wanted to do things with her that no one else had done. I wanted to do things to her no one else had done.
But more than that…
I wanted to watch her make coffee.
I wanted to watch her find delight in Christmas lights.
I wanted to watch her drift off to sleep.
I wanted to give her children.
And like my mom had said, I knew. She was it. She was the one.
Within two steps I was behind her, caging her against the counter with an arm on either side of her hips. Her blonde curls were semi-tamed in a pile on top of her head, leaving her neck exposed.
Leaning closer, I nestled my cock along her ass crack and pulled her tender skin into my mouth. The coffeepot clattering on the counter barely registered as her head moved to the side.
Up and down her exposed neck, I savored her scent, the smooth feel of her, her taste. Burying my nose in her hair, I inhaled deeply. “Merry Christmas.”
Slowly, she turned to face me. My stomach jumped when her cool fingers curled in my waistband and pulled me even closer until I stood between her spread legs. “Merry Christmas.”
Reaching around her, I grabbed one of the cups and placed it in her hands before getting mine. “Hurry up. Caffeinate.”
The corners of her full lips tipped up over the rim of the cup. Cautiously she sipped the black brew. Once she deemed it cool enough, she drank as she watched me.
Finishing half of mine, I set the cup back on the counter and tugged her to the couch. “Sit.”
“So bossy, Mr. MacKenzie,” she teased.
A lecherous grin spread across my cheeks as I reached for the first gift. Turning slightly in her direction, I narrowed my eyes. “Oh, I can be very bossy.”
The bright pink flush on her makeup-free cheeks was stunning. More beautiful than any of the women I’d dated with their perfectly made-up faces. In fact, she was easily the most gorgeous woman I’d ever known.
“Catch!” I tossed the first gift at her, and she squealed in wide-eyed surprise. Fumbling, she caught it and clutched it tight to her chest.
“Dammit, Logan! I could’ve dropped it!” Chuckling at her feisty ass-chewing, I grabbed the other gift bags and packages.
She waited for me to settle in next to her. “Oh! Wait!” Racing back to the bedroom, I grabbed my phone and returned to the couch. I sat sideways with one leg bent up on the couch so I could face her.
“Okay. Now you can open it.” Turning on my camera, I framed her in it. She rolled her eyes at me and tried not to smile.
I expected her
to carefully separate the tape from the paper and set it to the side with ladylike poise, so when she ripped into it like a small child with delight all over her face, I grinned.
“Logan! It’s beautiful! Thank you.” Sincerity washed over her face as she flipped through the pink leather-bound planner. “I love it.”
It was the same process with all the smaller gifts I’d gotten her.
“Next!” I handed her the next gift and watched as she proceeded to tear into it like she had the first ones.
“Oh my God!” Shock was apparent as she uncovered the Tiffany blue box. “This is from Tiffany, Logan.”
“Open it!” I was deriving more pleasure from watching her open the glittering paper than in years past when women had bought me gifts.
Giggling, she lifted the lid and pulled out the matching Tiffany blue velvety bag. After working it open, she carefully poured the bracelet into her hand. Tears actually filled her baby blues as she reverently held it in the fingers. “It’s so pretty, but this is too much. I can’t accept this.”
“The hell you can’t. Here.” Not giving her a choice, I took it from her, placed it around her wrist, and closed the toggle. The heavy weight of the silver was perfect against her skin.
I got the same response when she opened the earrings. She tried to refuse them, but I wouldn’t let her. “It makes me happy to get you things I know you’ll like.”
“But Logan, I don’t need things from you.” Worry furrowed her brow.
“Don’t you see? That’s one of the things I love about you. You never expect anything from me and you never try to get me to spend money on you. Don’t you like them?”
“I love them, but now I feel really bad that I haven’t gotten you anything.” Her teeth tugged on her bottom lip.
Setting my phone to the side, I framed her face in my palms. “You gave me you, and that’s the best gift anyone has ever given me. I mean that. Those weren’t just words.” Giving her a chaste kiss, I held my lips to hers, savoring the contact, then sat back and reached behind me. “Last one.”
“Oh my God! Logan!” Exasperated, she smacked her forehead. I could only shrug and fight back my smile.
The bag I handed her was as light as a feather, and I watched as she narrowed her eyes and shook it gently before pulling the tissue paper out. Peering inside, she lowered her brows.
“What is it?”
“Open it!” Childish glee that I hadn’t experienced in years bloomed in my chest.
Confusion masked her features as she pulled out the envelope and set the bag on the floor. Running a nail under the seam, she ripped it open.
Astonishment filled her eyes as she looked at the tickets in her hand. Mouth agape, she stared at them before blinking rapidly and looking at me. “Vegas?”
When I didn’t answer, she cleared her throat. “You bought me tickets to Vegas?”
Suddenly nervous that I’d fucked up, I swallowed hard. “You said you’d always wanted to go, so I booked them during one of our breaks and far enough out that you’d be able to ask for time off. That is, unless you hear back from one of the editing jobs you applied for. Then it shouldn’t matter. Well, sort of.”
Tears filled her eyes, and my concern was magnified tenfold. Shit.
“I’m going to Vegas?” she whispered in disbelief.
Nodding, I cautiously watched her.
Moving so fast she was a blur, she jumped to straddle my lap, wrapped her arms around me, and gave me a huge kiss. By the time she finished, I was as breathless as she was. “I take it I did good?”
“I shouldn’t accept them. I should give them back to you because all of this is way too much. But I’m so damn excited, I can’t.” For a split second, the worry returned. “You’re going with me, right? That’s what you meant by during one of your breaks?”
“Yeah. Unless you don’t want me to, and in that case, I’d give my tickets to a friend of yours.”
“What?” she shrieked. “No way! You’re going with me. You’ve been there before so you can take me to the best places.” The grin on her face was precious and contagious. Resting my hands on her hips, I fed off her happiness like it was a drug. Something I was good at.
“You got it.”
A quick peck to my lips, and she stared at the tickets again. “I can’t believe I’m going to Vegas,” she said in a voice filled with wonder.
“I need to FaceTime my parents for Christmas. Will you join me?”
Alarm replaced the delight on her face. “Huh? No! I don’t have any makeup on, or clothes, and my hair’s not done. God, I look hideous!”
“Stella. You look stunning just as you are.”
Her face took on that rosy glow I loved. “Do they know you’re here with me?”
“Yes.”
“Like this? Or like friends?” Her gaze dropped.
“Does it matter?”
She simply shrugged a shoulder before turning her head away.
“My mom knows. I told her yesterday. But I think she may have known before I did.” Using my fingertips, I brought her face back in my direction. “God, you make me feel so fucking good inside.”
A shy smile snuck out as she allowed her hands to roam up my chest and over my shoulders. Her touch burned a path of desire straight to my fucking dick, making me realize I’d better put a shirt on before I called them.
“I gotta grab a shirt, unless you want my parents to think we’re fucking.”
Her face went from rosy to flaming red. It was cute as fuck.
“Grab my hoodie from the hook on the back of my door, please?”
“You cold?”
She lifted her tits in her hands and raised her brows. It was impossible not to stare at them. Whether she was cold or not, her nipples were at attention, the rings prominently visible. “Ahh, okay. Gotcha.”
Waiting until I was in her room to adjust my junk, I pressed on it, trying to get the fucker to behave and relax. All I could see in my mind’s eye was her tits, though, so it was a hopeless cause.
As I dug through my bag for a shirt, the familiar anxiety began to creep in. Tossing a nervous glance over my shoulder to ensure Stella was still in the other room, I felt around for the small pill bottle.
The white pills inside called to me. The more I tried to push down the thoughts, the louder they grew, until my hand trembled. Telling myself I would call Tracey to set up my rehab on the way home tomorrow, I shook out two and buried the bottle in my clothes again.
Ordinarily, if I’d been alone, I’d have taken more to obtain that floating carefree high. But to keep her from questioning me and it becoming a thing, I decided I’d only take enough to take off the edge.
Quietly, I stepped into the bathroom, held my mouth under the running water and swallowed the oxys before I could change my mind.
When I was with her, I really hated the slumbering beast dwelling inside me, that beast called Addiction that lurked in the dark depths of my soul, waiting to be unleashed so it could shred me from the inside out until I fed it.
I’m going to get control of it soon. The promise was made in earnest, but I knew I’d need help.
Tugging on a black T-shirt, I grabbed her hoodie on my way back out.
I handed it to her as I sat back down. While she pulled it over her head, I lifted her and sat her in my lap with her back to my chest. She was so small that her head almost fit under my chin. With one arm, I propped my phone up with the stand on the coffee table, and then wrapped my arms around Stella again.
She fidgeted in my lap; I could tell she was nervous as we waited for my mom to answer. “She’s going to love you, you know.”
The ringing stopped, and my mom’s smiling face filled the screen. She’d come a long way in the last few years, because she used to hate FaceTiming. It was like pulling teeth to get her to use it.
“Merry Christmas!” she announced with a grin. The picture jumbled and bounced as she moved, and I had to chuckle. Finally, it settled, and I realized she ha
d sat down next to my dad.
“Hi, son! Merry Christmas.” My dad waved. Parents were so weird with technology.
“Merry Christmas. I want you to meet someone. Mom, Dad, this is Stella. Stella, Mom and Dad.” My mom beamed.
“Hi. Merry Christmas!” Stella gave a nervous little wave, and I kissed the side of her curls.
“She’s so pretty!”
“Mom, she can hear you, you know.” Shaking my head at my mom, I tried not to laugh.
“And I can see you shaking your head at me.” Mom tried to act stern, but I knew she was playing. “So was Santa good to you, Stella?”
“Umm, yes, ma’am.” She glanced in my direction with a blush. “He was too good to me.” She gave me a small frown.
“As he should be! And please… call me Linda or Mom. ‘Ma’am’ makes me feel so ancient. So, what do you kids have planned for today?” No matter how old I was, I would forever be my mother’s baby.
“We’re going to make a big lunch, then sit around and veg. Watch some movies. Make some grandbabies. You know…, the usual stuff.”
My parents laughed, understanding my humor, but poor Stella gasped and her mouth fell open. “I’m teasing, babe. Mom, I promise, there is absolutely no baby-making going on.”
“Oh my God.” Poor Stella covered her face with her hands.
“Stuck In Your Head”—I Prevail
“Ready?” Tracey and Levi were in the vehicle with me as we sat in front of the exclusive rehab facility she’d found for me. He looked at me expectantly, and I had to fight the flashback of sitting in the car with Lucas that night all those years ago.
That’s what the thought of not having drugs or alcohol running through my system did to me. Off and on for years they had been my buffer from the memories.
That wasn’t completely true. I’d actually been clean for about seven months before Lucas’s accident.
After he’d died, I’d been alone with my demons. During none of my stints in rehab or detoxing had I ever discussed that night. He was my only anchor. When I lost him, I’d been set adrift, and I’d spiraled bad.
This time, I had a reason to be clean. Pulling out my phone, I stared at my lock screen. It was the picture of us from the first time I’d surprised her. It seemed like way more than the two months it had been. I couldn’t remember my life before her.
No Treble Allowed: A Straight Wicked Novel Page 11