by Claire Adams
We looked at each other, both of us surprised. The tension between us must have been strong enough for everyone to notice. I instantly felt guilty.
Millie walked away, taking Margie with her. I figured it was so Anna and I could talk in private.
I turned to Anna. “Listen, I’m sorry about last night. Your mom is right. We need to just let this go. I know I shouldn’t have made the bet. I should have dealt with it a different way, but what’s done is done. I have just one more fight. Just one that’s all. We only need to make it through this next one.”
Anna looked at me for a second, and at first, I didn’t think she was even going to respond, but then she did. She sighed, and her expression softened.
“Okay, Justin. I’m sorry for getting so upset with you. It’s just hard to watch you get hurt like that. I care about you so much.”
“I know it is, but it’s just one more fight. I’ve got this,” I said and pulled her in for a hug and a quick kiss.
“I’ll support you in this,” she promised. “Even though it’s hard.”
Margie ran up to us and hugged us both. “I love you both so much!” she said.
“I love you too,” Anna and I said at the same time, and everyone laughed.
We started walking along the nature trail, and Margie was fascinated by everything.
“Will we see any bears out here?” she asked Millie.
“Probably not, sweetheart,” Millie said.
“Bears typically stay away from people. They’re more afraid of us than we are of them,” Tom added.
“Good! I don’t want to see any ever!” she said. We all laughed at her innocence.
Anna and I walked hand in hand, enjoying the scenery and each other. Even after our fight the night before, it felt right to be there with her. I never felt that way about anyone, not even Tammy. I loved Margie’s mother dearly, but with Anna… we fit together like puzzle pieces.
“Are there snakes out here?” Margie asked a little while later.
“There might be,” Tom said.
“Oh no. Maybe we should leave, guys,” Margie said.
“As long as you don’t try to pick one up, you’ll be alright, sweetheart. They won’t get you; I promise,” Anna said.
“You’re so good with her; you know that?” I said as we walked.
“Thanks. I’m trying. She’s perfect. I love her so much,” Anna said. Part of me wished she would say that about me. I thought about admitting my own feelings, but I kept silent. Instead, I just smiled at her. Hearing how much she loved my daughter meant just as much, if not more, to me. Margie needed all the love she could get. I wanted her to grow up surrounded by supportive, caring people.
We walked for a good hour and a half when Millie said, “How about we turn around now and go get some dinner?”
We all agreed it was a great idea and made the trek back to the van. Halfway back, Margie asked Anna to carry her. She agreed and carried her the rest of the way.
Tom and Millie decided on an Italian restaurant in town that I’d never been to before. Margie was excited and told everyone about how much she loved spaghetti for the rest of the car ride.
“This is the best Italian place in the country,” Ally said when we got to the restaurant.
“Agreed,” Anna added, turning to face me. “Have you ever been here?”
I shook my head, “Nope, I sure haven’t. I love Italian food, though.”
“Me too,” she said.
We went inside and looked around. There were a few people, but it wasn’t busy yet. We were seated within a few minutes at a large, round booth. The inside was decorated like a place you might find in Italy, with soft Italian music playing over the speakers.
The waitress brought two baskets of bread and placed them on the table, taking our drink orders in the process. Millie and Tom picked out a white zinfandel for us to share. I wasn’t much of a wine drinker, but I figured trying a small glass wouldn’t hurt.
Margie picked up a crayon. She was sitting between Anna and me and leaned into Anna.
“Will you play this game with me?” she asked, pointing at a tic-tac-toe game that was on the back of her kid's menu.
“Sure, do you know how to play?” Anna responded to her.
“No,” Margie said.
“I’ll teach you,” Anna said. She picked up a red crayon from the pile on the table. “Do you want to be an ‘X’ or an ‘O?’”
“O!” Margie said.
“Okay. I’ll be ‘X.’” Anna said and then she walked her through the process of playing.
I watched as they played a round with Margie winning. I knew the tricks to the game, and I figured Anna let her win. It only made me love her more. Margie was so excited that she won her first game of tic-tac-toe. She grinned and bounced up and down in her chair.
“Good job!” we all congratulated her.
A few minutes later, Anna and Margie were finishing up another round, with Margie winning again, when the waitress brought our food out.
“I have to potty,” Margie announced.
“I can take her,” Anna said.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. I need to go, too,” she said.
“Thank you,” I told her.
They scooted out of the booth and made their way to the bathroom with Millie and Ally tagging along behind them.
“I don’t understand why all women have to do that,” Tom said with a chuckle.
I laughed with him, mostly to appease him.
“You and Anna get everything figured out?” he asked.
“Yes, sir. I mean, Tom.”
“Good. My daughter cares a lot about you, Justin. I can see it in just the way she talks about you and Margie. She’s a good girl. She’s never really been too serious about anyone. To be honest, I thought she was lying when she said she had a boyfriend that she never told us about,” he said, chuckling again.
I laughed, but it was uncomfortable and forced because she had been lying. We were just pretending before, but now I wasn’t sure anymore. It wasn’t a lie for me, at least.
“No pretending here,” I said truthfully.
“I know Millie already said this today, but she’s right. Don’t stress so much over the small things. Whatever it was that happened was obviously nothing big if you showed up today. Just remember that advice in the future. Things are going to happen that you guys might not agree on all the time, but you have to let those sorts of things go,” he said.
“I know,” I said. I wasn’t sure what else to say and wondered what Anna had told them about our fight. I was going to ask her about that later when we had a chance to be alone.
“You’re alright in my book, Justin,” Tom said.
“Thank you, Tom. That means a lot.”
“But don’t forget. If you hurt my little girl in any way, you’re going to wish you’d never met me.”
“I have no intentions of hurting her,” I promised.
“Good. You know, she cares a lot about Margie too. I always knew she’d make a great mom one day.” He looked at me like he misspoke. “Not that I’m calling her Margie’s mom. Not at all. I’m only talking about the way she cares about Margie.”
I put my hand up. “It’s okay. You don’t need to explain yourself. I love the bond that Margie and Anna share. It happened so quickly, too. Sometimes I forget that Anna isn’t her mom,” I said with a laugh. It was true; their bond had formed so quickly. If only Tom knew that the bond he saw had only been formed a few weeks ago.
The girls returned to the table, and we ended our conversation there.
“Did you go potty?” I asked Margie.
“Yes, and Anna helped me wash my hands for dinner,” she said.
“Good,” I said.
We went back to eating our dinner, the conversation flowing easily among us. I felt at peace there with Anna and Margie and Anna’s family. I felt like Margie and I were a part of something incredible, something that had been missing for a w
hile. A real family.
“Anna,” Margie said when she was done with her spaghetti, and we waited for the check. “Can you come to our house tonight?”
Anna looked at me as if asking if it was okay. “Do you want to come over? We could watch a movie and hang out?”
Anna nodded her head. “Yeah, sure. I’d like that.” She smiled at me, and I felt my heart melt. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on, and the love she had for my daughter showed me how amazing she was on the inside.
I didn’t know how I got so lucky.
Millie, Tom, and Ally took Margie into the game room for a few minutes on our way out the door. I pulled Anna to the side.
“Did you tell your parents about yesterday?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No, I didn’t think they needed to know. I have no idea how my mom figured it out.”
“You wear your heart on your sleeve, Anna,” I said.
“That’s true,” she said and then hugged me.
I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her forehead. “I don’t ever want to fight like that with you again.”
She leaned back to look up at me. “Me either, Justin. I’m sorry. I’m here to support you one hundred percent. I will be there at your next fight, cheering you on. I promise.”
We heard cheers coming from the arcade area, and we both turned to look. Margie came running out carrying a Pooh bear stuffed animal. “Look what Papa won!”
“Now you can play with him while you watch your favorite movie,” I said.
“Can we watch it when we get home?” she asked.
“You betcha,” I said.
But when we got into the car to head back to Anna’s house, she fell asleep, and I figured Pooh Bear was going to have to wait until the next day.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Anna
Spending the day with my family, Justin, and Margie was lovely. The nature walk was absolutely beautiful, and the dinner afterward was amazing. I decided to go home with Margie and Justin after we finished up. My parents dropped us off at my house, and I rode in the car with Justin and Margie. I figured I could just spend the night or call a cab if I needed to. Justin had no issues with my plan.
I felt like we needed some alone time to talk about everything from the day before. He didn’t seem upset with me though, which was good, but I knew I needed to apologize for how I acted.
When we got to Justin’s, he carried Margie to her room from the car, and she fell asleep during the story he read to her. She looked so peaceful sleeping there, and I knew I never wanted to miss any moments like this. I loved her so much, and I wanted to share their lives, but I still couldn’t figure out Justin’s exact feelings for me. I wished he would just tell me so we could figure everything out. So I could know my real place in Margie’s life.
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” I said as we sat on the couch together. “I guess it just makes me nervous, seeing you get hurt.”
“I know,” Justin said and kissed me on the head. “But, I’m going to be okay. There’s just one more fight left.”
I bit my lip. “Do you know who your opponent is yet? Do they release that information this soon?” I figured I should ask him more about his fights; maybe that would help me get more comfortable with it.
“Yeah, he’s a guy I know, actually,” Justin said. “We used to fight together back in the day. His name is Tyler.”
“Really?” I didn’t know they let people fight when they knew one another. But then again, I didn’t know much about it at all.
“Yeah. It’s pretty crazy we’ll be going up against each other,” he said.
“Is he tough?” I asked.
“Yes. He’ll be a tough one to beat.”
I cringed.
“But, I can handle it, Anna. I can handle him,” he added. I found it sweet that he was trying to calm my nerves.
“Are you sure?” I didn’t like to think about what might happen to him while he was out there. I wanted to make sure he was going to be okay. I knew he needed my support, but it was hard to support him when the possibility of him getting hurt hung over my head.
Justin put his hands on each of my shoulders so that I had to look him in the eye. “Yes, Anna. I’m sure. I know I can do this. You just have to be tough for me. You have to trust me.”
I nodded my head. “I know. I’m trying; it’s just hard to watch you get hurt.”
Justin pulled me into him and wrapped his arms around me. I wrapped my arms around his waist and melted into his embrace. I felt safe in his arms.
We sat like that for a few minutes, not speaking. Just being with one another was amazing. I wasn’t very hard to please. I could have just stayed like that forever, and I would have died happy. I didn’t need fancy things or grand gestures. I wondered if Justin had figured that out about me yet.
I felt his voice through his chest as he spoke, “Margie really likes your family.”
“I was thinking about that, too,” I said. It was true; I had been thinking a lot about how much Margie loved my family. She called Ally “Aunt Ally,” my mom “Nana,” and my dad “Papa.”
“She really needs people like your family in her life,” he said.
I didn’t know how to respond to that. I knew he was referring to his mostly absent family and Tammy’s family, which he said never came around. I wanted to ask him about her family. I wanted to ask him questions about her, but I figured it probably wasn’t the right time.
“They adore her. My mom wouldn’t stop talking to me about her the other day. I think she’s been so desperate for a grandchild, and now this is filling that void for her,” I said.
Justin whispered in my ear. “I’m glad Margie gets to be the one to do that for them.”
I looked up at him. “Me, too.”
There was another silent moment. It wasn’t awkward. It just felt nice. I loved that being around him was easy. I felt like I didn’t have to try, like I could be myself around him.
“You know how much I like you, right?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“I like you so much, Anna, that I don’t think I can picture my life without you now.”
My heart started beating faster and faster. I couldn’t believe he was finally admitting his feelings for me. It felt just as amazing as I imagined it would. My face flushed, and my chest felt tight, full of emotions.
“That’s exactly how I feel,” I said. “You and Margie already mean so much to me.”
Justin smiled and as he moved to pull me closer to him, but he winced suddenly.
“What’s wrong? Is it your shoulder?” I asked looking at it.
He nodded. “Yeah, I think I messed it up pretty badly.”
“Here, let me look at it,” I said. I removed his shirt and told him to lay on his stomach. He crawled onto the floor and laid flat. “Does this hurt?” I asked, and pushed around his shoulder blade.
“Yes,” he said, and I felt bad for causing him pain, but I had to know where it hurt so I could work my magic.
I started to gently massage the area.
“That feels nice,” he said.
I went a little deeper, and he flinched. “Ow,” he groaned.
“It’s going to hurt and be a little uncomfortable, but I have to do it to relieve the tension. If I can get some of this built-up tension relieved, it’ll heal faster.”
“Do what you have to; you’re the magician,” he said with a wink and then laid his head back down on his hands.
I laughed and started to massage him more, focusing solely on his hurt shoulder.
“Now for the next few days, you need to apply both heat and ice to it. Heat for an hour, ice for an hour. Do that for at least four hours. It’ll help keep it from getting too tight. Then you should be good to go for your fight.”
“Thank you, Anna,” he said and sat up.
He looked me in the eye, pulled me in, and kissed me deeply. He took me by surprise, but I wasn’t complaining.
<
br /> “You are so amazing. In every way,” he said and kissed me again. “I want you. Now.”
“I want you, too,” I said breathlessly.
We stood up, and I followed him into his bedroom. We locked the door behind us and made our way to his bed. Before we reached it, I grabbed him and pulled him to me. I kissed him with passion, not holding back at all. When we broke apart for a second, I pushed him backward onto the bed.
“Oh, I like when you’re in control,” he said playfully.
I rolled his shirt up and then he removed it. I moved to his button and zipper and undid both. I pulled his pants down and over his legs and then did the same thing with his boxers.
He was laying on his back, fully naked, and it took my breath away. I felt hot, and I had to talk myself out of stripping down and jumping on his hard dick right then. I really wanted to play a bit first, to tease him, drive him crazy.
I removed my shirt and shorts before climbing onto the bed between his legs.
“Oh fuck,” he said. I hadn’t even touched him yet, and I could tell I was already driving him crazy, just like I wanted.
I grabbed his dick with my right hand and gently moved my fingers up and down his shaft.
“Oh god, Anna,” he moaned.
I moved my hand up and down a little longer. Each time I moved up, I paused at the head, just to drag out the pleasure a little longer. After a few more times, I leaned forward and started twisting my hand around his shaft while I licked the head.
“Oh, my god,” he said.
I slowly removed my hand and took him into my mouth, making sure to keep eye contact with him.
“Holy shit,” he said. His voice was weak, like he could barely find the energy to speak.
I moved my head up and down on him faster than before. I alternated using my hand as well, and then I felt him pull my hair, and I moaned against his cock. Feeling him pull on me like that was a huge turn on.
I lifted my head, and he said, “If you don’t stop, I’m going to come in your mouth. I’d much rather come inside of you.” His words sent a chill down my spine.