by Alex Grayson
After giving him another soft kiss, Bailey grabs the diaper bag and walks off towards Town Hall where she can sit and feed Amari. Jaxon’s eyes don’t leave her until she disappears behind a door. When he turns back around, he claps and rubs his hands together.
“Alright, ladies, put me to work.”
After ten minutes of working side by side, we finally get a lull in the crowd. I feel Jaxon step up beside me and plant a kiss on the side of my head.
“How’s my sister doing?” He asks.
Jaxon’s always been very close to both Anna and me, but since Anna’s death, he seems even more so determined to hold onto and strengthen that bond. I can’t blame him. Family is everything, and when you lose one of the ones you love, it makes you want to cling to the ones you still have left.
I lean my head against his shoulder when I answer, “I’m great. How have things been?”
“They’ve been good. Getting into the routine of having Mari. Fuck, Mia, that little girl and her mama have me wrapped around their fingers, and they both know it.”
I give off a laugh because he’s right. He would do anything for either of them. He’s so Goddamn whipped it’s almost pathetic. But he’s happy and I’m glad.
Out the corner of my eye, I see Nick walking over to one of the booths.
“How’s Nick?” I ask Jaxon. “I haven’t seen much of him lately.”
Nick was the one that was affected the most by Anna’s death. Nick and Anna had been together for several years and were completely and irrevocably in love. They were true soul mates. And anyone who saw them together knew it. Yes, she was mine and Jaxon’s sister and my mother’s daughter, but the connection that Nick and Anna shared was unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed.
When Anna died, it broke him, almost beyond repair. He turned into himself and never let anyone in. Nick never spoke of her death, and growled at anyone that mentioned it. I know that people grieve in their own way, but the way he was dealing with it was unhealthy. He was definitely not the same man he was before. When Anna was alive, Nick was one of the most easy going, happy, and carefree men I knew. Now, he’s quiet, grouchy, and outright mean sometimes. It’s hard to fault him for it though, so we just all ignore it when he’s like that.
“He could be better. It’s been close to two years and Bailey’s worried about him. I think she still feels guilt over it. I’ve told her over and over that she shouldn’t, but I think she still does. It hurts that she feels that way.”
Chris walks up beside us and grabs a soda out of the cooler. “She’ll get there, Jaxon. She just needs more time and so does Nick.” The last was said with her eyes lingering on Nick’s back.
“I know. It’s just hard to watch when she pulls inside herself. She has no reason to feel guilty. Everyone knows what she did for Anna, what she put herself through,” he says.
I reach over and put my arm around his waist and give it a squeeze. He looks down at me with my move.
“All you can do, Jaxon, is be there for her when she needs you. She’ll be okay.”
He gives me a slight nod before he drops another kiss on my head. “I love you, Mia.”
“Love you too, Jax,” I return with a smile.
Bailey walks up a few minutes later with a sleeping Amari in her arms. As soon as she reaches us, Jaxon takes Amari and rubs his nose along the baby’s cheek. It’s a sweet move he adopted right after she was born.
“You wake that baby up, Jaxon, and you’re putting her back to sleep,” Bailey warns.
Jaxon puckers his lips up at Bailey and blows her a kiss. “You know I have to get my Mari love, Angel. I won’t wake her.”
Bailey shakes her head with a small smile playing on her lips and turns to Chris and me. “Okay, girls, go mingle. We’ve got things here for a while.”
It’s so amazing how much Bailey has changed since she first moved to Jaded. The scared, timid, and shy girl no longer exists and was replaced with a strong confident woman.
“Roger that, Mama. We’ll be back in a bit,” Chris says with a wink and grabs my hand to pull me from under the tent. I have no idea where she is headed, but I really have to go pee. When I see her leading me towards Nick, who happens to be talking to Mac, I pull on her arm until she stops. She turns to me with a question in her eyes.
“I’m going to the restroom,” I tell her.
“Want me to go with?”
“Nope, I think I can manage it by myself,” I say with sarcasm.
Completely ignoring my smartass remark, she lets go of my hand. “Okay. Meet you back at the tent in thirty?”
“Yep, sounds good.”
She turns on her heel and makes a beeline for Nick and Mac. I look to Mac and see him watching me. I narrow my eyes at him, which causes a smirk to appear on his face. Rolling my eyes, I turn to make my way to the bathrooms.
After doing my business, I step out of the stall and wash my hands. Throwing the paper towel in the trash, I open the door and stop dead in my tracks. Mac is leaning against the wall with his arms folded against his chest right across from the ladies bathroom.
I step out into the hall and brace myself to face him. It’s unavoidable. He’s damn sure made it so.
Bastard.
I release a sigh. “What do you want now, Sheriff? I’m tired and don’t want to deal with this shit right now.”
“You can’t avoid me forever, Mia. There are things you don’t know that you should. Things I’ve tried telling you before but you haven’t allowed me to.” He moves away from the wall and takes a slow step towards me. It takes everything I have not to take a step back for every forward movement he makes.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s too late. Besides, nothing you say would make a difference. What you did, the repercussions on both our parts, is something that can’t ever be undone.”
“Pix…” He starts, but I don’t let him finish.
I throw my hands up to my ears, squeeze my eyes shut, and yell, “No! I can’t, Mac! I don’t want to hear it! And stop fucking calling me that!”
All of a sudden, I feel hands at my wrists, trying to bring them down. I jump at the touch and try to jerk away.
“Goddamn it, Mia!” I hear Mac’s muffled baritone through my hands that are still over my ears. “Fuck, you are one stubborn bitch, you know that?”
I drop my hands and sling my head up at his words. How fucking dare he! He’s the one that caused this mess. Now he wants to get mad because I don’t care to hear what he has to say.
Fuck that!
“You know what, Mac? You can kiss my ass. You get pissed because I don’t want to hear what you want me to hear. Go fuck yourself and leave me the hell alone.” My breathing is heavy because my emotions are getting the best of me. Mac always seems to bring out all my emotions.
Mac leans his head down so his face is level with mine and grits out, “Mia, it’s been ten fucking years. I think that’s long enough for you to finally give me a chance to explain.” When I go to object again, he stops me before I get a chance. “Shut it! You listen to me now.” I snap my mouth closed at his bluntness. “What I have to say may not change anything, but fuck all if you’re going to continue to live in the dark on what really happened that night.”
I glare up at him while he stares down at me with his beautiful green eyes, eyes that I sometime still see at night. They’re intense right now as they watch me. A low swirl starts in the pit of my stomach at his closeness. I can smell his woodsy scent, and it’s causing dirty thoughts to form in my head. Thoughts of him shoving me up against the wall and taking me hard.
My chest is heaving for a whole other reason now. As much as I hate him, I want him still. He notices my reaction, and his eyes flare in response. He takes a step closer towards me so our bodies are practically touching. I take a couple steps back until my body hits the wall, and he advances forward again. With him this close, I have to tip my head back to keep my eyes on his face. He cages me in with his arms on either side of my head.
“What
’s going in that head of yours, Pix?” He murmurs. “Are you thinking the same things as me? Are you thinking about me picking you up and wrapping your gorgeous legs around me so you can grind that wet pussy against my cock? Or, how about me flipping you around and pulling those tight ass pants down and feasting on your pussy? Or are you just skipping all the foreplay and going straight to me sliding my dick in your tight cunt?”
I lean my head back against the wall and close my eyes, trying to block out all the images conjuring in my head from his words. I feel his breath against my neck right before I feel the scruff of his five o’clock shadow.
“You’re thinking all those things, aren’t you? You want it all. You don’t want to want it, but you want me to finally take you,” he whispers in my ear.
It’s the word ‘finally’ that brings me back to reality. It’s such a simple word, but the meaning behind it is what causes my chest to hurt with unbearable pain. He should have already had me ten years ago. We should have had each other. He was the one to decide to throw it away to someone else, and in turn, someone else took mine.
I give a mighty push on his hard chest until he takes a step back. The only reason I am able to is because I surprised him.
I give him my best glare, hoping that he sees all the hate I have for him. “It’s too late for that, Sheriff.” I sneer the name. “You’ll never have me. You made sure of that when you gave Tessa your virginity instead of me. On my birthday! And you know what?” I lean in closer and whisper, “I gave mine away that night as well.”
After my spill, I turn to the side and go to sweep past him. A large hand grabs my wrist to stop me. He swings me back around and slams me against the wall, in the same spot I was in before.
“What the fuck? Who?” He growls in my face. The look in his eyes should scare me, but it doesn’t.
“That’s none of your business,” I growl right back at him.
“Goddamn it! Tell me who the fuck it was!” He bellows.
“No!”
“Who did you fuck, Mia? Who fucking took what was mine?” He booms.
A small sardonic smile creeps over my face. “I’m not telling you who, Mac, but I will tell you it felt sooo good,” I purr the last part. I’m also lying through my teeth. That night felt anything but good.
At my words, Mac rears back like I sucker punched him. For a minute, I feel remorse at my words and the hurt look on his face that they caused. But then I remember the pain of that night and the remorse is swept away. He deserves to feel some of the pain that I felt.
“Okay, Mia. You want to play it that way. That’s fine. I deserve that. But you’re still going to listen to what I have to say,” he says in a voice so calm it’s almost scary.
I roll my eyes and brush past him. This time he lets me go. I say over my shoulder, “Whatever.”
“This isn’t over, Mia. You will listen.” I hear him say.
I flip him off over my shoulder and keep walking.
Chapter Four
MAC
Her hair…
I’m standing around staring into the flames of one of the many fire barrels that are placed throughout the courthouse yard. It’s getting late and the festival is finally starting the setting down. The tents are all taken down and the supplies are put away. The only thing that’s left are a few coolers and the fire barrels, which will stay until morning.
As I stand there watching the flames, I go over in my head what Mia told me earlier. Obviously, I knew she was no longer a virgin, but I didn’t know she gave away her innocence the same night as me. The guilt I carry from that night heightens. When she gave away her virginity, I know it was to just some random guy. Someone that wouldn’t take the time to cherish her and her gift, the way she deserves. I know she was hurt and rebelling against that hurt.
Fuck! The thought of another man touching her makes me want to punch the ever-lovin’-shit out of something. I clench my hands at my sides. I may not have any right to her now, but I still consider her mine. That day on the pier when she kissed me, nodded her beautiful head to my question, and looked at me with such adoration, still stands. She’s mine, but I can’t have her. Or rather, she doesn’t want me.
I glance over to my right when I hear a commotion. Fucking Shady is at it again. He’s one of the local bikers and one of the only ones in the community you have to watch your back for. Every other week he’s causing some trouble one way or another, especially when he’s drunk, which he is now.
Right now, he’s sitting on a bench with a girl, Becca I think her name is, in his lap. A girl that obviously doesn’t want to be there, if her struggles are anything to go by. I head in their direction, ready to take care of the situation, and hoping it doesn’t get out of hand. I should have known better.
“Shady, let the girl go,” I say to him calmly. No sense aggravating the beast if I can help it.
“Fuck off, Weston. This ain’t none of your business,” Shady says while leering down at the frightened Becca in his lap.
Releasing a sigh, because I know it’s about to get ugly, I take another step closer to him and the scared girl. She lifts her head and I see fear in her eyes. I clench my hands into fists to keep from knocking the shit out of Shady. Several people have gathered around to witness the scene.
“I’ll tell you one more time, Shady. Let the girl go.”
My demand falls on deft ears as I watch him grab Becca’s breast and squeeze. She lets off a pained filled whimper, and that’s when I’ve had enough.
I step up to Shady, catching him off guard because his ass is drunk, and snatch the girl from his lap. I immediately hand her off to Nitra, a woman that works in Maggie’s Diner. The sudden movement causes him to teeter-totter for a minute, before he catches his balance. When he does, he jumps to his feet and sways again. Once his eyes focus on me, he emits a low growl and launches himself at me. Prepared for the move, I sidestep him and he stumbles past me.
Gaining his footing, he turns back towards me. “You took away my entertainment for tonight, Weston. Now I’m gonna kick your ass.”
“You might want to think about that, Shady. You’re talking to the Sheriff here.” I hear Nick say from beside me. I glance at him out the corner of my eye and see him casually leaning against a light post. Even though I won’t need it, I know he has my back.
“I don’t care who he is. All you boys think you can have any girls you want and leave Shady with nothin’. Fuck you, fuck him, and fuck the rest of you.” With that, he takes a step forward and swings his fist towards my face.
Ready for this to be over and done with, I lean to the left and catch his swing and bring his arm high and behind his back. He lets off a shout and starts struggling against me. I slam his ass down face first on a nearby picnic table and reach behind me for the pair of cuffs I have in my back pocket and cuff his wrists.
Leaning down, I say in his ear, “You stupid fuck. You should have just let her go.”
“Eat shit, you bastard. She was asking for it,” Shady grunts back at me.
I pull him up by his wrists, flip him around, and growl in his face, “Get a fucking clue. A woman doesn’t ask for something she doesn’t want. And she didn’t want it!”
With that, I drag his sorry ass across the courtyard and down to the station a couple blocks away, where he’ll sleep off his drink in a cell. As soon as I slam the door, Shady slumps on the bed and falls promptly asleep.
I run my hands through my hair and sit at my desk. Opening the bottom drawer, I pull out a shot glass and the bottle of Jack I have in there when I need it. Glancing down, I see a worn out picture sitting at the bottom. Picking the picture up, I study it. You can tell it’s been handled a lot because of the worn and frayed edges. In it is me carrying Mia piggy back style. We’re both laughing. Surrounding us are Jaxon, Anna, Nick, and Kaylee. It was taken the year I graduated, which made Mia sixteen.
We were all over at Jaxon, Mia, and Anna’s house for one of their mom’s bar-b-ques. Mia looks so diff
erent in this picture. Her hair is long and luscious, and the only piercings she has is small hoop rings in each ear. Her body is flawless and devoid of any ink. The Mia then was sweet, innocent, and meek. The Mia now is fiery, outspoken, and wild. I loved the Mia back then, but the Mia now drives me insane with lust. The colors on her smooth skin and the piercings adorning her body have me craving to see if she has them in forbidden places.
I take the photo and put it back in the drawer. Shooting back a couple of shots, I cap the bottle and put it away as well. I get to my feet and make my way to the little room that holds a simple military style cot. When I have someone in one of the cells, I sleep here, so they aren’t left alone. The bed is short and lumpy, but it is what it is. It’s not very often I have to use it.
Stripping down to my boxer briefs, I grab the cover at the end of the bed. I throw that over my waist once I’m settled. Ten minutes later, I fall asleep to the sounds of Shady’s snoring in the next room.
The next afternoon, I’m in my gym in the basement of my house. When I knew I wanted to update the house, I decided to put in a home gym as well. Jaded Hollow doesn’t have a gym, instead you have to drive to the next nearest decent size town, which is forty-five minutes away. It’s a pain in the ass to travel that far, but I did it for years to keep in shape.
After I’m finished with my workout, I take a shower and get dressed. I head over to Maggie’s Diner for some lunch. When I walk in, most of the booths are taken. I find an empty one in the back and settle in. I never look at the menu anymore, haven’t had to in years. I’ve eaten here so much that I know everything that’s on it.
A couple minutes later, a cute little blonde by the name of Karyn strolls over carrying her notepad and pen in one hand and a pot of coffee and a mug in the other.
After setting down the mug and pouring some coffee, she asks in a soft voice, “Hey, Mac, you want the usual?”
She’s short and her blonde hair is cut into a bob. She’s wearing a pair of tan capris and a black button up shirt with flat white tennis shoes. Over that is a standard red apron that all the waitresses wear. She’s only been in town a couple years, and the last I heard she and Ethan, another friend, were getting serious.