by Kate Stacy
I trudge along to the kitchen and fix myself a cup. I turn to face them, and Madalyn gives a smile.
“How ya feeling, dollface?”
I just grunt at her. It’s not attractive at all, but I give zero fucks right now.
Jaxson laughs. “That’s what you get for drinking so much last night after I cut you off. You’re in big trouble for going behind my back to my bartenders.”
I hang my head and set my coffee on the counter. Shit. I did do that, didn’t I?
“I’m sorry, Jax. I was a mess last night.”
He walks over, wrapping me in a hug. “And you’re still a mess this morning.” He chuckles as he kisses my temple. “You know I love you, girl, but you also know that tequila doesn’t solve any problems. You’re better than that.”
“You’re right. I just...wanted to forget for awhile.”
“I get it.” He looks down at me. “You’re gonna want to check your phone. Drake was really worried when you wouldn’t answer your phone. He thought something bad happened to you.”
I squeeze my eyes shut as they fill with tears. “Shit. I didn’t mean to worry him. I just needed some time. You told him, didn’t you?”
“You know I did. You should have been the one to do it instead of ignoring him. You can’t leave him hanging like that, especially when he’s so far away from home and can’t check on you. He cares about you, sweetheart.”
A few tears leak out as I nod my head and bite my lip. “I know he does. I feel like an asshole.”
Madalyn chooses now to put her two cents in. “You’re not an asshole, Hails. You can’t stick your head in the sand and expect problems to disappear, though. You need to talk to him.”
“I will. I promise.” I take another big drink of coffee. Thankfully, between the caffeine and painkillers, the throbbing in my head is starting to ease. “I’m going to take a quick shower, then I’ll call him.”
“Sounds good, dollface. We’re gonna head out, if you don’t need anything before we go.” She comes over to hug me.
“No, I’m good. Thank you for taking care of me last night.”
We say our goodbyes and they both nod and head for the door. I follow, locking it behind them as they leave.
I don’t feel so much like the living dead after taking a long, hot shower.
The first thing I do after I get myself dressed for the day is dig through my purse to find my phone. So many missed calls and texts. All from Drake.
I really am an asshole.
I read through the texts, feeling even more terrible when I see how worried he was. I don’t know why I didn’t just talk to him. I’m an idiot.
I don’t listen to the voicemails yet, deciding to just call him instead. I waited too long already.
He answers quickly. “Mornin’, baby. How are you feeling?”
Why does he have to be so sweet after I was such a bitch?
“I think it’s afternoon now, but I’m feeling better after a shower.” I pause and take a breath. “I’m sorry, honey. I’m so sorry I didn’t answer my phone all night.”
The tears are pooling in my eyes again and I don’t bother to hold them back.
He sighs. “Don’t cry, baby. Please.”
I sniffle, wiping my eyes, but it doesn’t stop the tears from flowing. “I feel like such a bitch for making you worry about me all night. I’m sorry.”
“You’re forgiven, darlin’, but I hate that you feel you couldn’t come to me last night. I’m livid about the things she said to you.”
“I knew she was full of shit, Drake. I was fine up until she started spewing all the crap about how I’m only a pity fuck, and Elijah being a bastard. I couldn’t take that.”
“It will be handled. Don’t even worry about that. Please tell me that you know none of it’s true.”
I sit at the end of the couch, curling my legs under me. “I do know. You know I have insecurities, but it’s like she touched on every single one.”
“I get it, baby. I need you to come to me next time, though. I can’t help to reassure you when you run away from me and hide. Let me be there for you.”
“I will, I promise.”
“Good girl.”
The tears finally stop, and I smile.
God, I’m so stupid. I should have just called him right after she left. He would have made me feel better, then the mess of last night could have been avoided completely.
We change the subject and talk about a few other things before hanging up. I need to go pick up Elijah and run some errands. I hope I have enough time to get everything done. Half the day is already gone.
DRAKE
Hailee sounded a hell of a lot happier when we got off the phone earlier.
Our relationship is good, and that’s what matters when all is said and done. We can get through anything if she learns to talk to me when something goes wrong instead of hiding. I know it’ll take some time since she’s never had a guy actually give a fuck about her before, but I’m patient.
I still can’t believe the shit that Angie pulled. She’s going to hear about it. She wanted my attention. Now she’s got it.
I scroll through my calls to find her number and tap the screen. I’m dreading this call. I have no idea why she showed up at my house out of the blue, and I have no desire to talk to her.
For Hailee.
I remind myself.
I’m doing this for Hailee.
She didn’t deserve the hate that Angie spewed at her.
“Hi, baby!” The annoying whine of her voice makes my stomach roll. “I knew you’d call!”
“Angie.”
“Drake, baby. That troll you have living in your house was so rude to me when I stopped by yesterday! I can’t believe you’d allow her to treat your guests that way.”
“Angie, stop.” I can’t believe this girl.
I take a deep breath, forcing myself to not go off on her right now.
“What, baby? What’s wrong?”
“I’m not your baby. I’m not your anything. Get that through your head. We broke up months ago.”
She starts to speak, but I don’t let her get a word out.
“No, I’m talking. You’re going to listen. I don’t know why you’re darkening my doorstep and calling me after months of nothing. Honestly, I don’t really give a fuck. What I do care about...is you showing up at my house uninvited and running your fucking mouth to my girlfriend. Where the hell do you get off talking all that shit, when you know absolutely nothing about her or our relationship? How fucking dare you call her son a bastard!”
“D-Drake I...I miss you.” She sputters out.
“What the fuck?”
“It’s true. I made a mistake and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cheat on you. It’ll never happen again.”
I can’t hold back my laugh. “Are you fucking kidding me?! You’re goddamn right it’ll never happen again. I would never give you the chance for it to happen again!”
“But...”
“No, Angie. We’ve been over for months. This bullshit about how you didn’t mean to cheat on me? Give me a fucking break. You cheated on me, period. I’m not stupid enough to believe it was only the one time, but even if it was...once is one time too many. I deserve better than that, and I won’t settle for a woman with no loyalty.”
“We were so good together! Please give me another chance. I’ve changed.”
“Never going to happen. I’m with Hailee. We’re happy.”
I can hear her scoff and I know she’s rolling her eyes, but she doesn’t say a word.
“Don’t call me. Don’t text me. Don’t come to my house. Stay the fuck away from my girlfriend. I have absolutely nothing left to say to you.”
I hang up on her. I don’t want to hear whatever other bullshit she’s going to feed me. I don’t know where she would even get the idea that I would take her back. I told her when I caught her riding another guy’s dick that I never wanted to speak to her again.
I guess in
the long run she did me a favor.
I’m so much better off now.
HAILEE
Days like today are pure hell.
I’m exhausted, frustrated, and completely overwhelmed.
It’s early Friday afternoon, and The Sweet Spot is slammed. We’re so far behind on the regular items that we’ve been pushed even further behind on the custom orders. Our part-time girl scheduled for today called in sick, and we haven’t been able to reach our other part-time girl to see if she can come in to help.
I have a paper due today that I would normally work on between customers and baking, but I barely have a minute to breathe. There’s no way this paper is getting done.
On top of all of that, Elijah is in the back office. My parents are out of town, so I had to bring him to work with me. Normally it’s not a big deal, but he’s sick. He has a fever, he’s whiny and just wants to cuddle, but I can’t. I check on him constantly, wishing I could get him home, so he can really rest, but that’s just not possible right now.
I’m boxing up a few orders of cupcakes when I hear Madalyn’s loud voice in the front.
“Oh, thank you, baby Jesus! We’re saved!! Hurry! I’m putting you to work.”
I chuckle at her dramatics, but before I can walk over to see who she’s talking about, the kitchen door swings open and she’s pushing someone through.
“Drake!!”
I hurry over, throwing my arms around him. I breathe deep, the smell of his cologne comforting me instantly. It’s all I can do not to cry in relief. I missed him so much.
He is exactly what I needed today.
He kisses the top of my head and chuckles. “That’s quite a welcome, darlin’. What can I do to help?”
I tilt my head back to look up at him. “My hero.” I bat my eyelashes dramatically, causing a deep laugh to rumble from him.
“Come on, baby. Put me to work.”
“Actually, Elijah is in the office.” I nod my head toward the door in the back. “He’s napping, but if you could keep an eye on him for me it would be a huge help. I can handle everything else quicker if I don’t have to run back and forth to check on him.”
“Why is he here?”
I get back to work, but answer his question, “My parents are out of town, and I couldn’t find anyone else to watch him. It wouldn’t be so bad, but he’s sick and miserable.”
“Damn.” He walks back to the office door, peeking inside. “He’s still sleeping, so let me help you out here until he wakes up. Then I’ll take him home, where he’ll be more comfortable.”
“Really? You’d do that?”
“Of course, baby. Don’t you know I’d do anything for you?”
I cup his jaw and kiss him, pulling back when things start to get a bit too heated. Unfortunately, I don’t have time for that, either. Definitely later.
“Thank you. Here, let me show you what you can do.”
For the next thirty minutes, we work side by side mixing batches of muffins, brownies, and cookies. Thankfully, he at least somewhat knows his way around the kitchen and can follow a recipe easily. We flirt and joke around the entire time, which makes the time pass too quickly.
Our fun comes to an end when we hear Elijah cry out for me. I reach for a towel to wipe my hands, but Drake puts his hand on my forearm, stopping me.
“I’ll get him, baby.”
I smile as he walks back over to the office and goes inside. I can hear the deep rumble of his voice but can’t make out the words. I keep working and after only a few minutes he walks back out with the diaper bag slung over his shoulder and Elijah in his arms.
It’s the perfect picture or would be if Elijah wasn’t feeling so awful. Elijah is clinging tightly to him, his little head tucked up against Drake’s neck. Drake is a natural with him. They walk over to me, but Elijah doesn’t reach for me.
“I’m gonna go on and head out. Little man and I will go get some rest and wait for you at home.”
“Thank you so much, honey. There’s a thermometer and medicine for his fever in the bag. If it gets above ninety-nine, just give him a lukewarm bath and a dose of the medicine.”
“Will do, darlin’. He’s in good hands. We’ll see you in a bit.”
I stretch up to kiss Elijah’s head. As I start to pull back, Drake’s other arm comes up to grasp the back of my neck. He pulls me to him and kisses me softly.
His kisses cause a flutter in my belly and ignite heat in other areas.
Goodness, gracious.
I’m quiet when I say, “See you in a couple hours.”
I watch them leave before quickly get back to work. I wish I could go with them, but I’ve still got too much to do.
DRAKE
Elijah dozes off and on during the drive home. Poor little guy.
Once we get home, I carry him inside and put him down on the couch. He looks so damn miserable and he's burning up. There’s nothing worse than a sick kid.
He looks up at me with those eyes that look just like his mama’s. “Firsty.”
“You want some juice, buddy?”
He barely has the energy to nod his head before he closes his eyes again.
I hurry to the kitchen, grabbing one of his sippy cups to fill with juice. When I go back to the living room I decide to go ahead and take his temperature. Luckily, he makes it easy and doesn’t put up a fuss. When it beeps, I look at the reading—one-hundred point eight. Fuck.
I get him to sit up and drink some of his juice, while I run to his room to get a change of clothes for him. I stop in the bathroom on the way back, and start filling the tub. After I grab Elijah from the other room, I get him undressed and put him in the tub.
I have no idea what I’m doing because I’ve never given a kid a bath before, but it can’t be too hard. There are little toys in a bin beside the tub, so I dump them in so he can play if he wants. He perks up a bit and I see the smile on his face.
“Alright little man, you sit there, relax and play. Hopefully, this bath will bring down your fever.”
I get him washed up and let him play until the water cools a bit too much for my liking. I get him out of the tub, wrap him in a little, hooded towel, and pick him up to take him back to the living room. I dress him quickly and take his temp again. It’s gone down a small bit, but not enough. I give him a dose of medicine after reading the instructions on the box.
He cuddles up on my lap, so I turn on the television so we can watch cartoons together for awhile. It's not long before we're both snoozing. I wake up about an hour later, Elijah still sleeping on my chest.
I stand carefully, trying not to wake him, and take him into his room. I put him down gently in his bed and feel his forehead. He doesn't feel warm anymore, so hopefully the bath and medicine did their job. I'll check his temperature again when he wakes up.
I look at the clock and realize that Hailee will be home in about an hour, so I head to the kitchen to see if I can scrounge up something for dinner. She needs a break. Cooking dinner is an easy way to give her one.
I find everything I need to make fajitas, so I pull out some chicken breasts and season them. I peek in on Elijah and he's still sleeping, so I quickly go out back to light the grill.
I come back inside to the kitchen, grabbing the green peppers and onions to slice. Once everything is prepped and ready, I put it all on a tray to carry outside when it’s time.
I got a text from Hailee about twenty minutes ago saying she was on her way, so I go into my bathroom and start filling my garden style tub with hot water. I throw in a bath bomb that I grabbed from the other bathroom.
I head back to the kitchen just in time to fill a glass of wine, when Hailee walks in the front door. I hear her sigh as she closes the door.
I don't wait for her to come to me. I walk around the island, so I can welcome her home. She's got her head leaned back against the door and her eyes closed.
“Welcome home, beautiful.”
She opens her eyes and her lips slowly tip up
to a smile.
“Thank you, honey.”
I close the distance between us and lower my mouth down to hers. She always tastes so fucking sweet. Makes me wonder if she tastes this sweet everywhere else. The thought instantly makes my dick hard.
I groan, deepening the kiss. She responds by tightening her grip on my shoulders, digging her nails in deep.
Fuck. I need to control myself.
I pull back, drop a kiss on her forehead, and take her hand. “Follow me, baby.”
I lead her to my room, looking back at the surprised expression on her face. She hasn't been in here before.
It's not much, a king-sized bed with a nightstand on each side. A long dresser with a huge mirror attached to the back. There's a big, plush chair in the corner by the window with a couple of t-shirts thrown across the back. I lead her to my bathroom, which sits next to my huge walk-in closet.
She raises an eyebrow as I pull her through the open door and lets out a small gasp when I step to the side. The large tub is full of bubbles and surrounded by candles. I set her glass of wine on the edge.
“Oh, wow.” She looks at me with tears in her eyes.
“Baby…”
She quickly wipes her eyes and shakes her head.
“God, I'm sorry. Wow.” Her expression shifts to a gorgeous smile. “No one has ever done anything like this for me before.”
I can't stop a chuckle from rumbling out. “Get used to it, baby. I'll treat you like a queen if you let me.”
I tug her by the arm, pulling her close to me. “You deserve this, Hailee, and so much more.” I kiss her forehead before telling her, “You've had a rough day. I want you to soak in the bath for a little while and relax.”
“But...I have to…”
“Relax. That's all you have to do right now. I'm going to wake Elijah and check his temperature again. It was down after a bath and a dose of medicine, but I want to be sure.”
I put my hands on her hips and slowly start to lift her shirt. She doesn't stop me. I keep talking while I pull it over her head.