Like five.
That’s right.
Five girlfriends.
Two of those girls I had kissed.
Right on the cheek.
They giggled.
One kid said it was gross.
So, I hit him so hard in the eye that it was black and blue for a month.
You didn’t mess with me.
That was for sure.
But this new girl… next door… this four eyed girl… what was her name?
Laura? Lisa? La… Lauren?
I rolled my eyes as I carried my football out of the building.
Mom and Dad were going at it again.
Dad spent too much money at the bar last night and Dad told Mom to make more money. I could hang only until they started throwing stuff at each other. A cup. A bowl. A frame. Stupid stuff like that.
I hated my parents.
I hated everything.
I even hated the loser that lived next door.
It was a nice summer day and she was sitting on the porch reading a book.
What the hell could be in a book that was so good?
I paused and watched her.
The summer wind played with her hair.
It made the bottom of my stomach feel strange.
I didn’t get what it meant.
I mean, I had an idea… I wasn’t stupid or anything.
But still…
Whatever.
I turned to walk away but stopped.
I spun around.
Lauren didn’t look up from the book even though I was staring at her.
I whistled.
She looked up for a second but not in my direction.
Her eyes went back down to the book.
I had no idea what her deal was. Who she was. Why she was here. Why she was living with her grandmother. Part of me wanted to know her story. Part of me didn’t.
I looked at my apartment building and wondered what Mom and Dad were doing up there.
I looked at Lauren, sitting all pretty and at peace.
Before I could think, I threw the football.
I started to run toward Lauren as the ball arced through the air.
It was a perfect pass, coming down with the tip of the football hitting the book out of her hands.
It closed right up, falling to the sidewalk.
Lauren had jumped back, her glasses falling off her face.
I started to laugh.
I jumped the chain link fence and hurried to get my football.
“Why did you do that?” she called out to me.
She hurried to get her glasses on her face.
She stared at me with her cheeks all red and her face angry.
“What?” I asked her.
“Why did you do that?” she asked again.
“I told you to catch the ball,” I said.
“No, you didn’t.”
“I whistled.”
“So what?”
“That means to catch the ball,” I said.
“Go away. You jerk.”
I puckered my lips and whistled.
Then I tossed the ball gently at Lauren.
She swatted it out of the way like it had dog crap on it.
I laughed.
She climbed to her feet and ran inside.
“You left your book!” I called out to her as I continued to laugh.
I stepped over the book and got my football again.
There was this strange sense of guilt I felt.
But whatever.
I at least got her attention.
She was sort of pretty. In a dorky way.
I would never have her as my girlfriend though.
Maybe we could be friends.
Probably not.
I stepped over the book again and jumped the fence and started to run.
I had no idea why I was running. I just sort of felt like it.
I looked back a few times and smiled at the sight of her apartment building.
Lauren, huh?
My new neighbor.
Great.
All these ideas popped into my head.
Ways to keep getting her attention.
I could have just talked to her.
But where was the fun in that?
She looked pretty when she was reading her book.
But she looked even prettier when she was mad at me.
I just had to make sure she never decided to really like me.
28
(Lauren)
MORE THAN LATER
Everyone loved Brody.
Asher stood there at my side as he entered the world just after three in the morning. Which was fitting because that’s when Asher would send me his drunk confession texts. It was a crazy whirlwind as we went from a pregnant couple to parents in the blink of an eye.
Asher was a fierce protector of his son.
I loved watching him hold the baby and rock him and talk to him.
The days turned into weeks and weeks into months.
Brody spent time at the cafe with us, customers doting on him all the time.
Peggy had a new spark of life, loving her Little Bro-Bro as she called him. She succumbed and decided she wanted to be called something along the lines of Grandma. Which was fine with us.
Marissa quit to finally pursue her artwork.
We had two new staff people on board - Janelle and Chrissy.
They were college kids who worked part-time. They loved Brody. They had a crush on Asher. And I made it very clear that if they even so much as waved at Asher, I would grind them up like coffee beans. I laughed for good measure, which made it seem even scarier. The new girls didn’t like me. And I didn’t care.
Asher was basically our sexy handyman.
He couldn’t make a cup of coffee if his life depended on it, but everything else he could do. He took care of the cafe and swore to me up and down that he didn’t miss working at the shop.
He and Jared worked out their differences.
They went to the strip club and got into a fight. They got kicked out, fought the bouncers, and took off before the cops came. They went to the shop, got even more drunk, fought again, and ended up laughing and passing out in their own blood.
Men.
We used the money from the shop to buy a house.
A perfect house for our family.
There was a small office at the front of the house with french doors.
Asher set up a fancy desk with pictures all over it. The pictures were of him. Not wearing clothes. More specifically… a certain body part.
I replaced those pictures after Brody was born but I kept them hidden in my nightstand drawer. Just for safe keeping. Or use on a night when I was lonely and… in the mood.
Then again, with Asher, there was no shortage of supply of in the mood.
It was constant.
Morning.
Noon.
Night.
Naptime.
Shower.
Even in the office of the cafe.
A fantasy of mine I had been playing with for a long time.
The cafe had been packed.
And Asher cornered me in the office, leaving the door unlocked to make it even more dangerous. And he stripped me of my apron and my jeans. He put my back against the back wall and lifted my legs off the floor. Invoices ripped off the wall as I bit my lip and tried not to scream as he pounded into me over and over.
To the chiropractor’s office next door, it must have sounded like we were remodeling the office.
And that wasn’t the only time he did that to me at the cafe.
Let’s just say the electric company got a very sloppy written check because I had been bent over the desk trying to write out bills as Brody was napping in the pack-n-play in the corner.
It was all the time.
And it was good.
I opened the bathroom door with thoughts of Asher and I fucking in the office to find Peggy staring at me.
“Go h
ome,” she said.
“What?”
“You look tired.”
“I am tired.”
“Then go home. I’ve got it covered.”
“Asher is home with Brody. I’m fine.”
“Don’t argue.” Peggy grinned and winked.
I looked back at the sink and looked at Peggy.
How does…
“Okay,” I said. “I’m going to leave then.”
I passed by the front counter and looked at Janelle and Chrissy. They both froze and stared at me as I left.
I liked having power.
When I got to the house, I found Asher in the nursery with Brody on his chest.
They were both sleeping.
I never thought in a million years I’d see Asher like that.
Brody had a tight grip on Asher’s shirt as he slept peacefully.
Asher’s eyes opened and he smiled at me.
He stood up and held Brody tight.
“I’ll put him down,” he whispered.
“No. Don’t…”
“I need you,” Asher said and curled his lip.
He slowly put Brody down and then came after me.
I ran out of the bedroom and down the hall.
Asher got me by the waist and turned me around. He pinned me against the wall and kissed me.
I instantly melted.
His hands moved to my ass and he stopped.
“What’s this?” he asked.
Oh. Shit.
Before I could say a word, Asher had the positive pregnancy test in his hand.
“Uh… yeah. About that, Asher…”
“Again?” he asked me.
“Again.”
“We really need to stop kissing,” he said with a sly grin.
I took the pregnancy test from his hand and tucked it back into my pocket. “You realize that’s not how it works, right?”
“It’s worth a shot at least,” he whispered.
“But I’m already pregnant,” I flirted.
“Then I guess it’s okay to kiss you.”
I puckered my lips, but Asher didn’t kiss me.
I opened my mouth as he slowly moved down to one knee.
I already had an engagement ring on my finger.
He proposed to me in front of a cafe full of customers. Wanting to make another big speech. And he did it two days before Brody was born.
“I wanted a kiss,” I said to him.
“I know,” he said as he touched the top of my jeans. “I’m going to kiss you. I’m going to kiss you everywhere, four eyes.”
He moved fast and I gasped for air as his tongue did what it did best.
I grabbed at his hair and moved to my toes.
He was such an asshole… but… he was my Ash-hole.
THE END
Hey darlin’ … or, again, I should say, hey, love…
Here we are again. At the end of another amazing story. At least, I hope you think it was amazing. I know it was a little different than what you’re used to from me. I talked about it at the end of UNDER YOUR INFLUENCE that these novels are the ideas that aren’t based on my life. I wanted to bring some of these stories to life for you. And because of that, I value your feedback on whether you’d like me to keep writing these kinds of books or not.
So if you have a minute free here, leave your review on Amazon but also send me an email. Let me know what you think. I know these aren’t the deep hearted novels I normally write, but I wanted to capture something different and fun. The idea of ‘insta-love’ and yet still pack a punch. Here is my personal email: [email protected].
I’m not sure where these quick novels go now from here. I’d like to think there will be more, but you never know. So if this is for us and JL Caid and these fast and fun stories of love and more, then I want to say THANK YOU for supporting me and supporting these books. And as always, I hope you’ll be there for the next big novel. You won’t have to wait long. I promise.
Much love,
- Jaxson
aka
JL Caid
About the Author
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* * *
Look for heart wrenching, emotional upcoming novels including:
IMAGINE US
GETTING OVER YOU
* * *
The True Hearts Collection are all stand alone novels, meaning they have no reading order. They are all different characters, settings, and come with their own complete ending. They are based on similar themes of second chance romances, hard pasts, and love that is real.
Each book in the series has been Top 100 in its category, with half the collection reaching the Top 100 of the ENTIRE Kindle store, including titles award as ‘Kindle Unlimited All-Star’ novels.
Start reading the True Hearts Collection
(in order of date they were published -
THERE IS NO READING ORDER)
5 Years Later
Dear Everly,
Anna’s Dress
Let You Go
When I’m Gone
What You Don’t Know
Every Other Weekend
Check out the books here:
Jaxson’s Amazon Page
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. (This also includes the cover image and/or cover model(s) appearing on the cover. The context of this book does not in any way depict the personal life of said cover model(s). Image is licensed and used purely for fictional purpose only.)
First electronic edition February 2019
Copyright © 2018 by Jaxson Kidman writing ad JL Caid
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part of any form.
Copyright image iStock
Copyright cover Mayhem Covers
LUCKY KISS Page 14