“Babe, I wish I could take you but I have that conference call with Gary at 9:45. Besides, Joanie is waiting for you to pick her up. You’ve got to go,” I said as I dragged my hands across her thighs before capturing her hands and pulling her to sit up.
“Okay, fine; but just tell me I have time to take a shower!” she groaned.
“Yeah, I can stall the driver, but you’d better hurry.” I pulled her up until she was standing. I noticed her blonde hair, knotted and twisted with the evidence of our incredible moments last night and this morning. I pushed my hands through the back of her hair before clutching both sides of her face. “I love you…now get your ass in the shower,” I demanded. She smiled then pushed her mouth to mine, giving me a fast peck before heading to my bathroom. Damn, she tastes like strawberries laced with sweet whipped cream. Her flavor lingered as I slid my tongue along the ridge where my lips met. God, I wanted to taste more.
I would have preferred to sneak into the shower with Wilson, but I had to take a moment to pull it together, put on a pair of Levi’s and a random t-shirt. It was totally fucked up that we had to rush to get her ready to leave, but that was the way it was going to go. It was time for me to start handling my business. And the first order of business was to get my girl and her best friend in a limo waiting downstairs. I heard the water shut off, then listened as Wilson hummed a couple of bars to a song before her hums turned into words. “And I feeeel your finngerrrs, pound like thunnderrr…and I am so muuuuuch mooooore... I’m so much mooore. You’re turn, turn, turn, turning me on…like a slow fire burn…I know that it’s wrong, still I run, run, run, run right into you.”
My mind vacillated between the pure fucking turn-on of the tone she sang the verse in and the reality of the lyrics she chose to sing. I decided to make a mental note…ask Wilson who sang that song and make sure I download it immediately onto my iPhone.
****
Not long after Wilson was showered, dressed, and had me download the song (which was a duet between Matt Nathanson, of course, and Jennifer Nettles called Run; and it was, according to Wilson, the sexiest lovemaking song ever), I grabbed her suitcase and we traipsed downstairs hand in hand.
I was about a quarter of the way down when I saw Allen, our driver, in the foyer talking with my mom like old friends, sharing their favorite memories of my father. My mom broke out into a giant smile as she saw Wilson and me. Her damp eyes looked like they were recalling every time in my life where she’d greeted me at the bottom of the stairs.
“Allen and I were just sharing some old stories about your father,” Mom said against a bubble in her throat.
“Good morning, Miss Wilson, Mr. Goldstein,” Allen attached to Mom’s words. I wanted to remind him not to call me that name; it was reserved for my father. But, seeing that he found solace in the only name to connect me to my father’s legacy, I didn’t correct him.
“Good morning, Allen. Good morning, Mom, I bet you and Allen both have enough stories to keep even the busiest of people captivated,” I answered as I set Wilson’s suitcase down and pulled her against my side, embracing her in a one-armed hug while I shook Allen’s hand.
“Oh, well, your momma has more stories than anyone I know,” Allen answered.
“Well, let me say…the Aspen morning has paid you the best attention,” my mom sang, changing the subject as she pulled Wilson into her embrace. “You are just bright eyed and glowing like an angel,” Mom continued as she played with Wilson’s hair. I noticed Wilson put on her disappointment-masking smile. I knew it had nothing to do with the attention my mother was giving her and everything with what she would be missing when she headed back to California.
“Oh, Nancy, you’re too nice. Morning, Allen, good to see you again,” Wilson replied.
He nodded before collecting Wilson’s suitcase. “I know Miss Wilson is short on time, so let me load this while you all say your good-byes.” He shuffled out the front door as he caught Joanie, about to knock.
“Oh, pardon me, Miss,” Allen apologized as he shifted past J and carried Wilson’s suitcase down the stairs.
“J! What are you doing here? I thought we were going to pick you up,” Wilson called out as she rushed over and hugged her best friend.
“Oh, so this is Joanie?” my mom asked as she looked over at me then back to the two embracing.
“Yeah, this is Wilson’s best friend-slash-sister,” I answered her as I walked toward them.
“Hey, so how did you get here?” Wilson questioned Joanie casually.
“Nick dropped me off,” Joanie answered in a nervous whisper.
It wasn’t a millisecond later that I recognized the black Toyota Sequoia parked on the other side of my driveway, past the limo waiting to take the girls. Wilson glanced over at me and I felt all the muscles in my jaw and down the back of my neck tighten. My heart started to thrash in my chest and the burning need to keep my girl safe rushed through my body.
“Maxi, was that Calvin’s friend Nick?” Mom asked as she held the front door wide open.
“Yeah,” I answered in a low growl as I grabbed the door and shut it.
“Well, why didn’t he come in? I think Calvin is still upstairs.”
“Oh, he was just dropping me off, Mrs. Goldstein,” Joanie answered quickly.
“Oh please, Joanie call me Nancy,” my mom insisted.
Joanie smiled at my mother before she looked over at Wilson and me. Instantly, her smile fell off her face and her eyes widened as she read every last painful story splashed across both of our expressions. I think it was at that moment Joanie realized how truly destructive Nick had been.
There was a light knock at the door. For a moment I thought Nick had the balls to come up and face me again. But when I opened the door it was Allen, our driver.
“Alright, is this sweet lady my other passenger?” Allen asked, looking at Joanie as he approached the group of us. He was clearly unaware of the situation that had just occurred.
Wilson’s face lightened and mine followed. I wasn’t going to let Nick ruin my time to say good-bye to my girl.
“Yeah, this is Joanie Emerson, Wilson’s best friend,” I answered him in a protective tone.
“Well hello, Mrs. Joanie, I’m Allen, your driver today. It’s my goal to get you ladies over to the Aspen airport before your plane leaves in about 45 minutes. I already loaded your bags into the limo, so when you and Miss Wilson are ready…” he said as he nodded to me and gave my mother a kiss on the cheek. “I will see you later, Mrs. Goldstein.”
“See you later, Allen,” my mom answered. “Thank you,” she hollered as he made his way down the stairs.
“Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Joanie,” my mom said without missing a beat before pulling Wilson’s best friend into a hug.
“It was so nice meeting you too,” Joanie answered.
My mom turned to Wilson and I noticed tears begin to swell in her eyes.
“Wilson, sweetheart, I will miss you. If there is anything I can do for you…just ask, honey. I mean that! You call us when you get into California, okay?” My mom pulled her into a tight hug. I noticed Wilson’s eyes moisten at the words my mom so carefully shared with her.
“Thank you, Nancy. I promise to call the minute I land,” Wilson sighed as she tried to take a deep breath.
“Alright, I’ll leave you two to say your good-byes.” And with that, Wilson and I stepped out onto the porch. Joanie gave me a fast, courtesy hug.
“Take care of our girl, Joanie,” I whispered into her ear.
“I will,” she answered, and that was it. She pushed away from me and shuffled across the porch and down into the waiting limo.
I turned to Wilson. Her breath turned to vapors that floated across her face as she exhaled. She began to shake, and the time between her swirling, steaming breaths became almost nonexistent. Her nose red, her cheeks glowing rosy, I watched her eyes fill with the tears of our good-bye. As I pushed against her, her body was quivering from her core out
.
“You know I love you more than anything in this world,” I said as I held back the tears that tried to force their way into my good-bye.
“I do,” she managed.
“And you know I will call you every day, and text you as often as I can.” I felt her body push more heavily against me. The vapors of our steaming breath mingled and danced together, breaking the ability to determine whose was whose. “Oh man, you’re shaking, babe. You’re freezing. You’d better get into the car.”
“Not until you kiss me,” she said through her tears.
“You didn’t think I was going to let you go without giving you the kiss you deserve, did you?”
I pulled her chin up so our eyes met. We both had tears clinging to the edges of our eyelashes. She closed her eyes; her tears fell across her rosy cheeks. I pushed my hands across her face, tangling my fingers in the hair behind her neck. She leaned to one side, I to the other, and we pressed our mouths together. The cold that once owned my lips disappeared in her kiss. Our touch was delicate at first until she opened to my good-bye. Both of us without jackets, the Aspen winter tried to take our moment as she shook but I wrapped my arms around her back and pulled her body against mine. No amount of cold, time, or elements I couldn’t control were going to invade our kiss. I felt the cold slice and lick at my unprotected arms, but I didn’t care. Wilson was enough at this moment to keep me alive, keep me wanting to be the man I was supposed to be. She slipped her mouth down to the bend of my neck and I felt her vibrating in my arms. I knew it wasn’t from the cold; she was crying at our good-bye. I pushed my mouth against the wintry strands of hair across her ear.
“Wilson, remember, I will do everything in my power to get to you as soon as I can.”
“I know…I am just…I’m going to miss you so much.”
I pulled her away from my neck. I held her face in my hands as her tears ran down her cheeks and shattered against her chest.
“Wilson, you are my everything. My heart belongs to you…it always will. I promised you I would be there as soon as I can. I will not break that promise.”
She pushed against me and I pressed my lips to her creased forehead. Delicately, I pulled her arms from around me and walked her down to the limo. Joanie’s arms reached out of the door Allen was holding open. I gently pushed Wilson into Joanie’s arms and he made sure to secure the door. I held my fingers to my lips before thrusting them forward to the blackened window.
“I’ll take care of her, Mr. Goldstein,” he said.
“You have my entire life in the back of that car, Allen,” I answered him before he reached over, shook my hand, got into the car, and drove out of the driveway with the main reason I was living again.
Chapter Twenty-five
~ Wilson ~
Again, J had the arduous task of holding me in the limo as I cried in her lap. But this time I wasn’t crying because I lost Max. This time I was crying because life got into the way while Max and I were trying to live it.
I hated the fact that we had to be separated. I was angry because Max had to choose a company he grew up despising his whole life, over me. I was hurt that nobody stepped up to fight for me. Hell, I was really mad at my grandparents for dying, my mom for abandoning me, and the fact that my best friend in the whole wide world had fallen for the one guy that almost destroyed everything I had with Max. What the hell was that, anyway? Why did Nick drop my best friend off at my boyfriend’s house? I couldn’t believe he did that. And I couldn’t believe J even thought that was okay.
I turned over and looked up at her, her maple brown eyes filled with tears for me.
“I’m sorry, Wilson,” Joanie said, dragging her hand across my forehead, combing my hair out of my eyes.
“I am so tired of being hurt,” I whispered as tears filled the corners of my eyes. J pressed her hands to either side of my cheeks. I felt her warm hands thaw the stinging cold that struggled to keep my skin numb.
“Why Nick?” The words flew past my lips like a bullet blasted from a gun. I stared at her, waiting for her to tell me what made him so important to her. Why she would choose to be with someone who basically hurt her best friend through his lies.
Joanie’s hands dragged down past my hair and I felt her legs tighten under my head as her body shifted. I sat up off her lap and turned to look at her. I watched as she adjusted the way she was sitting. Almost as if she was cornered, I watched her lips curl and her eyes shift from her hands, to my face and back to her hands.
“I’m really sorry, Wil, he was supposed to drive away when I reached the steps,” she explained as she pushed her hair back from her eyes.
“No, I mean, of all the guys...why Nick?” I pushed.
“I don’t know, Wilson, it certainly wasn’t intentional. We just…connected. He needed someone to talk to, and he seemed so devastated by what he’d done. He made it so easy for me to feel for him.”
Unfortunately, I totally understood what she was saying. Nick was easy to talk to. He had this touching side that made you fall for him. But still, she should have kept her distance.
“Yeah, but Joanie, you know he lied to me about Max. He kept me from Frank’s funeral. He kissed me, even when he knew I loved—”
“Wilson, I know the whole story. I know everything that happened between you and Nick. He didn’t spare me any details, trust me. But you don’t know his whole story, Wilson. He’s more broken than you know. So yes, I’ve begun to feel for him. I’m not going to apologize for wanting to spend time with him. Come on, Wilson, it isn’t you or him. He isn’t going to take me away from you.” Joanie was seething. Her eyes were narrow and her lips were moving faster than the words could escape her mouth. I’d seen that side of her before. I’d known her almost my whole life, and when it came to protecting someone or something she loved or wanted, she would fight tooth and nail.
I felt every inch of my body react to her words. She was in deep with him. Yeah, that was J. All it took was one night of deep conversations and seeing that he was broken and she would hop on board as if he was sailing her to paradise. If he needed fixing she would sign up to be his first mate. Let’s face it, it’s written all over her track record with everyone in her life. Look at me. Broken, missing a family…and voila, J finds me. Then there was Messed-up Mike in the seventh grade, whose father was the DA for San Ramon and got away with beating the shit out of his kid until J helped him escape to his grandmother’s house. Once he had his life back, he wanted nothing to do with her; she began to lose interest anyway. Oh, and there were those abandoned kittens and broken winged birds she’d stay up all night nursing back to health, or to their deaths. Yeah, that was my best friend. The person who would bring back lost dogs so they wouldn’t be picked up by the pound. What made her so giving? What made her care so much? And why would she need to fix the one guy who should have been off limits? He kissed me, so that makes him automatically unapproachable. Where’s the code of conduct about best friends not sharing sloppy seconds?
“I am so goddamn tired of stories about lost kittens, broken boys, and bloody puppies, Joanie,” I spat as I slammed my hand down between us. Rarely did I actually call her Joanie, so when I said her full name she knew I was upset or serious. “I need you to back me up here, without thinking about Nick.”
“Jesus Christ, Wilson, what the fuck is going on in your head? Wake the hell up. I’ve always been there for you. I will always be there for you. That’s what family is about. What was I supposed to do, leave Nick there to bleed to death? Max beat the shit out of him!”
“I didn’t realize Nick was that bad…where was Cindy?” I snapped.
“She left him! He had a concussion, and his own sister decided to bail on him. What was I supposed to do? He had to have someone there to wake him up, check on him, and make sure he didn’t freakin’ die. So I’m sorry, Wilson, but I wasn’t going to leave him alone.”
J’s chest was heaving up and down, almost as fast as mine. I could feel the pendulum shift in
her favor. The story I’d built in my head started to crumble and crack under the pressure brought down by the timeline of J’s unselfish acts. She’d certainly earned her share of the brownie points one needed for heaven. And here I was, tossing mine away to the fishes.
I watched her as she slid her hands across her eyes and vigorously pulled her dark brown hair into a tight ponytail, magically tying it up. That’s when I totally snapped.
“What do you mean what the fuck is wrong with me? Let me see, in less than a week I’ve turned 18, had sex for the first time, watched my boyfriend’s dad die, got a call from my grandparents’ lawyers telling me I have to hurry back to sign papers, I lost my boyfriend, made out with Nick, got my boyfriend back only to have to go home without him, I could be knocked up, who knows, my best friend has fallen for the off-limits guy, and when I get back home I will return to a vacant house that my grandparents used to live in….let me see, did I forget anything? Oh, yeah, I got a call from my ‘birth mom,’” I spewed without taking a breath while pushing air quotes as I spat the words. I’d lost it. Yeah, I was at a breaking point, looking into the eyes of my best friend and vomiting my hell week all over her in spite of the fact that she unselfishly decided to leave Nick come back to California with me.
There was a sizable moment of silence between us just as the limo came to a stop. I looked out the window behind J and noticed we were at the Aspen Airport.
“Okay, you’re right, you’ve had a pretty fucked-up week. But let’s see…finally you’re an adult, you waited forrreeevvvverrrr to have sex, you haven’t lost the guy, you can’t be pregnant because we have the same cycle and our periods just came right before winter break, Nick is a good kisser, the papers aren’t lost and you aren’t going back to your grandparents’ house alone, and yeah, it really sucks that your mom called you. And if you are that worried about being knocked up, just pee on a stick! My question is this…what are you going to do about it? You can cave to the bullshit, or you can rise to the occasion. It’s your choice,” Joanie’s long response ended as the door to my side of the limo sprang open and Allen was waiting to help me out. She pointed toward the door. “Make a choice,” she said.
Beyond Eighteen Page 18