Duched (Duched #1)

by Xavier Neal

  “It doesn't have to be said to be true or felt.” Her quick assessment of the situation shuts my mouth once more. “The fact of the matter is, if you weren't in love with this woman, you wouldn't be contemplating between staying or leaving. You wouldn't have spent the past week bragging about spending time with her yet never letting the world know who she is. And you wouldn't be talking to me in hopes of soothing your fears.”

  Did I mention my brother's wife is sassy and brilliant?

  My voice weakly argues, “What if it's a mistake?”

  “It's not.”

  “But what if it is?”

  “How could it possibly be one? This is the first time in your entire life you felt like staying still instead of running. How is exploring that not a good idea? How is experiencing the one thing you've yet to truly experience a mistake?” Her words burrow themselves deep into the bones of my rigid body. “You have to make this decision all on your own, Kellan. But you should know, either way, whether I see you in a few hours or you send home an empty jet, we love you. Despite any stunt you pull, for better or for worse, we always will.” All of a sudden there's additional voices in the background and she sighs. “I have to go. Apparently, your father has requested I speak with a new stylist.”

  I stifle my chuckle. “Best of luck.”

  “In this family? I'll always need it.”

  The call ends just as we arrive at the light before the airstrip.

  “To the right?” Swiss asks, glancing in the review mirror.

  With the private strip that direction and the possibility of gaining something I had no clue even existed to the left, my back slams against the seat uncertain of what to do next.

  I guess the important question I should ask is which way will leave me feeling like my days were worth living...

  Brie

  “Missed you at dinner,” my dad says into the phone between smacks.

  I place my sketch pad down on my bed. “Sorry again that I couldn't make it.”

  He hums through the sucking of his teeth. “School first. We understand.”

  That was mainly the case. After I cried myself into a minor exhaustion coma, I woke up and started working on the final piece of my portfolio. I've been deliberating over what it should be for months, but when I woke up I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I immediately grabbed my sketch pad and have been working on drafts ever since.

  “Dad, why are you munching on Freddie's Fried Chicken?”

  He lightly chuckles. “How'd you know?”

  “You make a very specific sound when you're slinging back that kinda chicken.”

  “It's just so good,” he croons.

  “What happened to dinner? Mom decide not to cook?”

  “Your sister decided we should try something new, so they concocted this Mediterranean Quinoa salad with this berry vinaigrette and teeny tiny pieces of shrimp.” He grunts and starts smacking again. “Gonna cancel the food network if she keeps this shit up.”

  I helplessly smile.

  Obvious where I get my food habits from now, huh? Right down to how I compromise.

  “You know sometimes, Dad, it's okay to try new things. Sometimes you even end up liking them.”

  Or in my case loving...No. I don't wanna talk about Kellan.

  “This is not one of those time,” he declares. After a short pause, he groans, “Oh no...That's your mother calling. She's probably wondering where I am...”

  My face drops into my open palm. “What?! She doesn't know where you are?”

  “Told her I needed to pick up a friend.”

  “You lied.”

  “I don't consider it a lie.”

  “Fried chicken is not your friend!”

  “Well it isn't my enemy either!” I shake my head at the same time he sighs, “I should answer that. Call me later this week? When you have some free time?”

  “Of course, dad.”

  “Maybe we can squeeze in a quick burger. Or another bucket of this chicken...”

  We exchange quick I love yous before ending our call. Strangely enough just seconds after, there's a knock on my door. The first all day.

  Believe it or not, Jovi hasn't come to check on me before this moment, which is totally out of character for her. She did have to work this morning and was gone before I got home but I expected her to barge right in the minute she stepped through the door. Hm. Maybe she did and I was too knocked out to notice.

  “Come in,” I call and she instantly opens the door.

  Jovi leans against the door frame. “You okay? You've been shut in here all afternoon.”

  With a sweet smile, I lie, “I'm fine.”

  Okay so I'm not fine right now, but I will be. Eventually. If I can fall into......whatever it is I was dumb enough to fall into this past week quickly, then that means I should be able to fall out just as fast. Denial? Most likely. But could you just let me live here for a bit. It's easier than thinking about how much my chest literally aches when I think about him.

  “Fine?” Jovi repeats with skepticism.

  “A little tired.” My confession causes her to back down. “Didn't sleep much last night.”

  An excitement fills her eyes. “Please tell me it's because of the reason I'm thinking and not because you decided to binge watch something together.”

  I let my grin grow wild. “Definitely didn't watch anything but each other last night.”

  Her mouth cracks open.

  “And again this morning.”

  Jovi's hands fly over her mouth as she giggles profusely.

  Doesn't matter how old women get. We all get a little mawkish when romance is involved.

  “Why are you squealing?” Merrick's voice questions from the living room.

  She gives me an 'oops' look and I call out, “Because I said I would leave my room to be around the two of you despite my own desire for solitude.”

  Jovi mouths 'thank you' as I gather my sketchpad and pencils.

  Entering the living room, I'm startled by the sight of text books surrounding Merrick from his space on the floor closer to Jovi's bedroom. My head tilts in bemusement. “Are you trying to build a fort out of textbooks?”

  He hits me with a scowl. “That would actually be fun for me.”

  “I don't doubt it,” I sigh, flopping down on the edge of the couch closest to my room.

  “He's studying,” Jovi answers over my shoulder. “And he's going to keep studying or he's going to go to his apartment and study. Either way, he will be studying something tonight and it's not my anatomy.”

  The scowl deepens.

  Doubt he ever saw his cheap comment coming back to bite him like that.

  She slides onto the other end of the couch. “What about you? What are you working on?”

  I drag the coffee table closer and drop my sketch pad on top of it. “Early sketches for the final piece of my portfolio.”

  A small grin creeps on her face. “Oh yeah? Finally found some inspiration?”

  Rather than admit anything, I turn the question around. “What about yours? Have you started on it?”

  “Been working on it since August,” she replies confidently.

  “Painting?”

  “That's his skill set.” Her head nods Merrick's direction. “Not so much mine I've discovered. I mean, people say I've got an eye for spotting talent of that medium, but I actually prefer photography. My final piece is the blending of three photos. One from where I used to live or my 'old life' and one from here or my 'new life' and a piece that connects them.”

  Jovi's face drifts over her shoulder where her boyfriend is sitting up with a sense of pride.

  Another smile spreads on my face and I drop my attention to my sketchpad.

  Art doesn't always imitate life. Sometimes it's just trying to cement it. That's why the best pieces of art are often the ones that contain a memory or story that deeply speaks to the artist. Doesn't matter if it's music or writing or photography. If it moved or spoke to the creat
or it's going to move or speak to the audience. Guess it makes sense that Kellan would be the subject of my final piece.

  The knock at the door immediately grabs our attention.

  “I got it,” Merrick insists, standing up. “It's the pizza we ordered.”

  “You hungry?” Jovi asks me after he drops a quick kiss on her cheek.

  I shake my head and return to attempting to perfect the eye shaping I've been working on for the past hour.

  Haven't eaten anything since that pathetic excuse for a breakfast treat. Who on earth puts fruit in their danish? Fruit is a side at breakfast. Not a topping.

  “You're not the pizza guy,” he grunts, causing us both to turn around.

  “Sadly not,” Kellan states as he enters our apartment.

  My jaw becomes unhinged.

  Is he...Is he actually standing in our apartment? Are you sure we're not hallucinating? Can multiple people have the same exact hallucination at the exact same time?

  In a voice I hardly recognize, I ask, “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Is this not Doctenn?”

  His joke doesn't change my shocked expression.

  “My flat won't be ready until tomorrow afternoon and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind letting me stay the night? Perhaps crash on your couch?”

  Without hesitation I'm on my feet and racing across the room to him. I grab him by his shirt and capture his lips with such ferocity it slightly knocks Kellan a step backwards. His hands fall to my hips where they lock in a clear declaration that this is where he belongs.

  Where we both belong...

  When I pull back, his grin grows, and he slyly inquires, “Is that a yes?”

  My hands slide down the front of his shirt at the same time Merrick interjects. “Did you say couch? Why wouldn't you sleep in her bed?”

  Kellan's eyes linger in mine. “She's quite the bed hog.” His eyebrows lift in a playful challenge. “Plus, she snores.”

  I instantly smirk. “You fart.”

  A crimson color threatens his cheeks but to my surprise he laughs. “Never had a woman say that before.”

  “Doesn't mean it isn't true.”

  His smile softens. “May we speak in private?”

  Linking our hands, I lead us towards my bedroom, giving Jovi one final glance to see her barely able to contain her joy.

  All of a sudden there's another knock at the door and Merrick announces, “That better be the pizza guy and not another British dude.”

  “Doctenn!” Kellan shouts in return before I shut the door.

  I keep my hand on the handle behind my back, still in disbelief this isn't some weird delusion. When our eyes connect, I can feel my heart clawing back up my throat, the very place it was wedged this morning during our goodbye. “You're staying?”

  Kellan slips his hands into his suit pants pockets and nods. “Yes.”

  I breathlessly question, “Why?”

  “There are at any given time a number of things I dread about returning to Fayweather, but I realized this morning, the thing I would dread the most is being thousands of kilometers from you.”

  A sweet sigh escapes.

  You too?

  “Brie, I'm fortunate enough to have a job I can do from literally anywhere in the world that has a Wi-Fi connection, however, there is only one place in the world that contains that and the woman I'm absolutely mad about.” He takes a bold step towards me. “I don't think we should say goodbye if we don't have to...”

  Finally, I release the death grip on the door knob and approach closer. “What if things don't work out? What happens when you grow bored of this place? You're used to places that require you to wear the nine-hundred-dollar suit you're sporting. Not hole in the wall burger joints.”

  “Thousand.”

  “What?”

  “The suit. It's nine thousand.”

  I let my jaw drop again. “Seriously? What is wrong with you? Who flies home in a nine-thousand-dollar suit?!”

  “It's the only one that was clean!”

  Disbelief shakes my head.

  As much as I want him to stay, and believe me I'm admitting to you that's more than I ever thought possible, he needs to go home. He needs to be in his comfortable settings. He needs...He needs to find someone who fits in with his life not forcing him to fit into theirs.

  “And a suit at the end of the day is just a suit. And a burger is just a burger. It's the person you have those adventures with that matters.”

  His point drops my defensive shoulders.

  “It's the person you want to wake up to every morning. It's the person who announces in a room full of her friends that her boyfriend farts in his sleep.”

  I giggle at the victory of embarrassing him.

  Yes. I am purposely ignoring the boyfriend remark.

  “We've spent the last week compromising and I'm confident we can continue to.”

  My smile brightens for just a brief moment because insecurity prevails promptly. “What happens when you get bored with me?”

  Kellan's face hardens in seriousness. “Not. Possible.”

  Of course it's possible! I'm the first woman he's hasn't treated like she's got an expiration date on her ass. I'll only be the new and interesting thing for so long. Then what? Then we suffer this goodbye thing on a permanent basis? Then I have to wonder about him loathing my name rather than just remembering it? Then the struggle to move forward, to move on past this one incredible week becomes a life time battle to forget how amazing we were together?

  “Stop over thinking this,” he commands at the same time his hands slink down my lower back to cup my ass. “We'll figure it out as we go. What works and what doesn't. Isn't that what dating is all about?”

  Damn it. He doesn't get to be witty, romantic, and logical.

  I let my smile return and nod.

  “Good. Now that we're on the same page, get naked.”

  Ah. How he restores balance.

  When I lift my eyebrows in defiance he grips my ass a little tighter. “I've spent the entire day looking at flats as well as furnishings for them. I've spent the last hour looking at beds and mattresses, with the thought of you being naked on them taunting me the entire time. So, for the love of Christ, get naked.”

  His hardened cock gives me a light tap of encouragement through his pants. With a flirtatious smirk, I command, “Manners.”

  Kellan immediately groans and implores, “Please get naked.”

  I step back out of his touch, let my bottom lip slip between my teeth, and slowly remove my yoga shorts. The mixture of arousal and relief on his face rushes through my system causing an identical effect.

  My biggest fear between us was being just another nameless face to him, but now I'm worried about what happens when he becomes the face of my broken heart. What? Of course this is going to end in heartbreak. Sorry. This isn't a fairy tale. Every girl is not secretly a princess waiting for the right pair of shoes to change her life. There's a whole list of women the prince meets and chases before those stories begin....I guess I'm gonna end up on Kellan's list of conquests one way or another. Might as well enjoy it while I can.

  Kellan

  “It's been six weeks. Surely, you'll be returning home any day now,” my brother insists.

  I turn around from where the sun is finally beginning to touch the tips of the skyline.

  It has been six weeks and to say they have been the best six weeks I've ever experienced would be the understatement of a lifetime. Not only have they been filled with weekends of endless sex, but I've come to appreciate the other benefits of staying in one place such as driving a car, a comfortable couch, and home cooked meals. Though, Brie is a dreadful cook her mother is quite exquisite. We enjoy dinner with her parents Sunday evenings typically after exhausting all our efforts to work up an appetite for something other than one another. Considering this is the first time I've had an actual girlfriend, it's the first time I've met a woman's parents for that particular
reason. They're delightful and absolutely adore me. That last little tid bit drives Brie slightly mad.

  Seeing the look of concern on Kristopher's face from the other end of the computer causes me to smirk. He's sitting at the desk in the downstairs library, the very same room he was chewing me out in for not 'growing up' one day before I met the woman who reminded me of why he was wrong as well as right.