Pure Will

by Kristi Pelton

  He took a bite of the scrambled eggs that had to be cold and he nodded. “Yes you are. Wrigley needs you. Or you can stay with my parents. My dad will be my watch dog.” He grinned.

  “Will! What the hell? This is insane.”

  He swallowed slowly and stared at me. “It’s not insane,” he whispered. “But I do understand. I’ll just skip this competition. It’s not a big deal.”

  He stood, taking the tray with him and started to walk away. I’d hurt him and that hurt me. Decision time—are his small controlling ways okay with me? He only wants me safe. Isn’t that a good thing?

  “Will. Don’t go,” I said sitting on my feet. “Please.”

  He turned and looked at me with hopeful eyes.

  “It won’t be weird having me here when you aren’t home?” I asked.

  After setting the tray of food at the foot of the bed, he walked toward me. I rose up on my knees to be closer to him. “Having you here will make me feel better. And it will make me happy you are sleeping in my bed. And showering in my shower. And Kate can stay too if that would make you feel better.”

  “I’ll stay. You go.”

  A wide smile spread over his face.

  That next weekend I was actually excited to stay a Will’s. Kate was excited to have our apartment to herself, so I packed my bag and headed over for my unsupervised visitation. Will had given me the garage door opener and I parked in the garage, closing it behind me. I’d never seen a cleaner garage. Seriously, not a leaf, not a spec of dirt on the freaking floor. And the floor was painted. Who does that? I giggled as I stepped into the house, the alarm beeping…I hurried over and entered the four-digit code turning the red blinking button to a solid green. The beeping stopped. I opened the door for the mudroom and a noise sounding like a jet engine started howling and blowing at me with confetti and toilet paper shooting at me. I quickly darted out of the way trying to gather myself and slow my racing heart. What the hell? There was a mess of white paper and toilet paper everywhere. I pulled the plug on what looked like a leaf blower; clearly Will had set this up before he left.

  A note pad sat upright on the island that read: You’ve already made a mess of my place. I laughed, threw my purse on the island next to the pad and started to gather the crap blown everywhere. Creative Will.

  After throwing it all in the trash and unhooking the leaf blower from the homemade contraption he’d put together, I cautiously made my way into the living room where I was blown away again, but this time by the massive vase of bluebonnets in the middle of the coffee table. The state flower of Texas… The room smelled like them too. A card sat propped up against the vase.

  I want you to feel at home here—hope this helps

  The overwhelming feeling of love for this man flooded through me and I giggled with a joy I hadn’t had in…forever. Truth be told, I’d never been loved like this. There is an old saying that it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all…but the thought of losing him…would destroy me. And he was a bit of a package deal—because I was gaining a family too.

  I took my bags down the hall to the bedroom where the lamp on the end table was on. Giddiness rippled through me again when I saw in the middle of the bed…a satin night gown, his t-shirt and a new toy!

  “Oh my God!” I said out loud, my cheeks blushing. I dropped my bags and picked up the toy. There were three little buttons on the side. The first one I pushed was a soft hmmm. The second was stronger and the third resembled the sound of the damn leaf blower in the kitchen. I decided never to use button three.

  A note rested against my pillow.

  Camden- Wine is in the kitchen. I opened it for you right before I left. Drink two glasses. Put on the one of the two sleeping garments. Crawl in my bed. Keep the toy next to you and wait for my call.

  I giggled as a wave of muscles tightened below my waist; I went back to the kitchen to get the wine.

  Chapter—Will

  When I got back to the hotel room from the first day of competition, I was exhausted. All I wanted was my girl. I jumped in the shower and crashed on the king size bed. I’d only called one number in the past twenty-four hours and that was Cam’s. Given the two-hour time difference, I figured she was in bed…possibly asleep but she better have done as I asked. I grinned and popped wood just thinking about it. This was her first night in my house and I hadn’t been able to talk to her. I was as excited as a five-year-old in a candy store wondering what she thought of my pranks.

  “Heeey,” she answered groggily.

  “I woke you…I’m sorry.”

  “I wasn’t asleep silly. But I’ve got an almost empty bottle of wine,” she slurred.

  “You can sleep soon.” I grinned again knowing she’d done what I’d asked.

  “Thank you for the flowers,” she whispered.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “And you scared the crap out of me with the jet engine in the kitchen. That was a tremendous waste of toilet paper.”

  I chuckled out loud. “You can thank my dad for that idea.”

  She giggled into the phone.

  “What else did you find?”

  A low laughter rumbled through her. “You know what I found.”

  “Tell me,” I said tenting my boxers.

  “Willlll,” she whined and God I wanted to get back to her.

  “Tell me, baby.”

  I heard her inhale then exhale her breath. “You got me a toy. But I’d rather have you.”

  “Oh you will have me. But in the mean time, I want you to think of me. Do you have it there with you?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “Do you have the satin night gown on?”

  “No.”

  Yes! She went with my t-shirt.

  “Do you have panties on?”

  “Yes,” she said so softly I could barely hear.

  “Take them off now,” I ordered and slid my own boxers off.

  “They’re off.”

  “Good. Now I want you to take your left hand and rub over your breast. Do it on top of my t-shirt so it slides easily. Tell me when your nipple is hard.”

  “Will,” she sighed but I could tell by her voice she was doing it while I started a rhythm of my own. “OK,” she said.”

  “OK what?”

  “OK it’s hard. They are.”

  “Camden—talk to me. What’s hard?”

  She moaned into the phone. “My nipples,” she said.

  I slowed my rhythm.

  “Does that feel good?” I asked.

  “Mmmm hmmm,” she moaned.

  “I want you to close your eyes and imagine that’s me. My mouth. My tongue.”

  “Ohhh Will,” she cried.

  I knew exactly how she felt because right now I was as rock hard as I could get in my fist. I kept a slow, steady pace.

  “I know baby. Now, don’t stop doing that. But I want you to get your toy and I want you to turn it on low.”

  I heard the gentle hum through the phone.

  “It’s on,” she said.

  “OK. I want you to let your legs fall open as if I was between them. Then I want you to lay that against our favorite little spot.”

  She barely snickered.

  “Ahhhhh,” she groaned. “Will.”

  “That’s right baby…I want you to only think of me.”

  I knew now that this wouldn’t take her long so I increased my pace. The thought alone of her in my bed, getting off was enough to send me over.

  She panted into the phone, and I was about to make a date with Southwest Airlines when I heard her cry my name again.

  “Are you close Cam?”

  “Yesss,” she hushed out. “Will. Please come home. I need you.”

  Damn it. I thought this was doable, but I swear to God, I was going to pull a Forrest Gump and RUN back to my girl in Kansas.

  “Soon Cam. And I swear to God, next time you’re coming with me.”

  I was getting close to unloa
ding.

  Her puffs quickened and I knew she was about to go.

  “Come for me baby,” I ordered. As I heard her cry out my name like she had before, I let myself go with her. Damn!

  My breaths were raspy. “Camden? You ok?”

  “Uh huh,” she said sleepily. “All I need now is your arms around me so I can sleep.”

  “One more night…then they will be. I promise.”

  Chapter—Drew

  “What’s up, Son?” I asked answering William’s call after only two rings. There wasn’t anything more important in my world than my family. And William was in Vegas right now miles away from his momma.

  “I need your help, Dad.”

  I started walking to the bedroom and pulled my overnight bag out from the closet. After 25 years, I still hadn’t grown accustom to a near twenty- foot closet but it made her happy. I grabbed her bag and mine. I wasn’t going without her.

  “I’m on way. Vegas? What do I need?”

  “No. It’s there in Lawrence, Dad. It’s Camden.”

  A low chuckle reverberated through my chest. But this was my boy’s girl. I’d do what he needed. I tossed the bags back into the small bedroom of a closet and sat on the edge of the bed.

  “Will. It’s three in the afternoon. You should be in competition. What sort of trouble is she in now? Another strip bar?” I snickered.

  “Yeah. You’re funny. You’d do the same for Mom. We’re under a rain delay here.”

  The boy was right. I’d kill for his mother. She’d always been my Achilles heel. Gotten me in more trouble than I could have ever imagined. But truth be told, I wouldn’t change a thing. She was my rock, my anchor, my soul. And losing Matty destroyed her…destroyed all of us for a while. I knew I could do everything within my power to take care of my Abby, but Will struggled horribly. Arrested once for the DUI. The countless nights I picked him up from random girl’s places because he couldn’t drive after losing his license. My heart ached for my son over the past year. Ached in a way that left me helpless, lost and angry. He self-medicated…with alcohol first then with women. He was putting himself in situations that were self-destructive—in ways that were killing his mother.

  Abby would sit and cry at night, and all I could do is hold her. Will was twenty-three at that time and there wasn’t really a damn thing we could do. That’s when I sat him down and talked to him. About Matty. About his mother. About what it would do to her if she lost him. It had only been four months ago that he promised on Matty he would change and he did. He was back on his game in Cross-fit. Set to graduate in May.

  Then along came the girl. Camden was to Will what Abby was to me. I saw it in his eyes when he looked at her. I saw it in the gentleness of his touch when he touched her. I saw it in his smile. He was a replica of his old man. Camden had become his purpose in life, and that meant she was one of us. I would do what I needed to protect her.

  “Tell me, Son. What’s going on?”

  As soon as Will and I hung up, I called my buddy Dave.

  “Hey Denton.” Dave answered.

  “Got plans for this evening?” I asked.

  “Sounds like I do now. What’s going on?”

  “Will’s in Vegas. His girl is going out with a friend. Some Karaoke bar. We’re just gonna go hang out. Will doesn’t want her to know we’re there.”

  “Alright. Should we expect trouble?”

  I laughed. “Two cute twenty-one year old girls going out by themselves. Well, let’s just say the same two ended up in a strip bar VIP room last time they went out. So bring your money, you’re paying my cover.”

  “Fuck you Denton. You’re a damn millionaire you son of a bitch. Not only are you paying my cover and buying my top shelf booze but you’re picking my ass up and being my taxi home. What time?”

  “Eight o’clock,” I said through deep laughter. “And keep your hands to yourself on the way home.”

  After picking up Dave, we went straight to the bar. Will insisted I get there early enough that Cam didn’t see us. We sat toward the back of the bar in a booth. The place was pretty dead. But from where we sat, we could see the stage and most of the tables.

  Around 10 p.m., I spotted Camden making her way through the crowd with the same blonde from the strip bar. They were walking directly toward us with the blonde in front. I pulled out my cell phone and acted like I was looking at it so there would be no eye contact.

  “Damn. She’s beautiful,” Dave said. “They both are. Which one is Will’s? Tell me the reddish-haired one.”

  I glared at Dave. “Watch yourself. But yes, the smaller one is Camden.”

  “They sat right behind us in a booth.”

  Of course they did. Of all the luck.

  “Ham!” I heard one of the girls squeal.

  “Hey, Cam. Scoot over.”

  I casually glanced around to see him ‘Ham’ before he sat. Damn. He’d take Dave and me both. Note to self—thank Will.

  The evening was going smoothly and I’d only drank three beers in the three hours I’d been there. Will needed me sober, so I let Dave do the drinking; he did enough for the both of us.

  I honestly didn’t know how boys today did it. These girls walking around in short shorts or short mini skirts—all their business hanging out. Clearly they wanted to come across as easy.

  “Let’s go sing!” someone from behind us shouted, and I watched as Camden and her friend made their way to the stage.

  The bar was packed now. Standing room only. They chatted with the guy working the karaoke machine and I made Dave switch sides with me. By the time, we swapped seats, the girls were on the stage giggling.

  The yelps and whistles coming from the male crowd instantly irritated me, and Dave seemed to be measuring my response. I monitored the crowd carefully.

  “Like a virgin…touched for the very first time,” the girls sang slowly together. I knew the Madonna song. This wasn’t even their generation of music.

  As their song came to an end, I spotted a guy standing near the stage with a buddy. Each had a beer bottle in their hand, but they were pointing at the girls. Something about them made the hair on my neck stand at attention. The girls danced their way back to their seats, and I shifted my posture when I saw the guys following.

  “Nice job girls,” the Ham guy said as they sat back down.

  I could see now. My back wasn’t to Camden, but her back was to me, which was good. Kate could see me but I don’t think she remembered who I was.

  “Hello ladies. You looked sexy as fuck up there,” one of the guys said standing at their table.

  “Oh my God! Have you taken your medication today, Max? What the hell are you doing here? Go away!”

  Excellent this guy was there for the other girl.

  “Fuck off Kate. Speaking of meds. Did the penicillin help with the STD’s you’ve gotten since your knees haven’t touched in a decade?”

  “Whatever, Max. If I ever see your father, I’m going to fucking punch him for not pulling out of your mother.”

  “Would you two stop!” Cam said holding up her hand and Max took it.

  My eyes nearly bulged out of my head and I popped my neck from side to side.

  “Don’t make a move yet,” Dave spoke slowly.

  Cam jerked her hand away.

  “Who is this jagoff?” Ham asked.

  “Nobody,” Cam said. “I could tell you about his dick but it would be a really, really short story.”

  Kate cackled out loud.

  I chuckled at that one. Nice one Cam. But that also let me know that she’d been intimate with this guy, and by the look of the steam and fire coming from his nose, he wasn’t happy. I started to slide from the booth. This guy wouldn’t lay a finger on Cam. Dave held up his index finger trying to ward me off.

  “You’ve been with someone else?” Max asked.

  “She sure the hell has. And she is madly in love with him.”

  “Can we talk?” he asked, ignoring Kate.

 
; Camden shook her head. “No.”

  “Please?”

  “She said no,” Ham said eyeballing this Max character.

  Max stared at Camden who stared at Kate.

  “Leave Max. No one wants you here. And nice cologne. Must you marinate in it?”

  “You’re a bitch!” he spat at Kate, then shuffled around and walked away.

  I relaxed back in my seat and watched Camden as her head fell toward her lap wondering if Will knew about this Max character and what role he’d played in her life.

  “This one’s for you Cam,” echoed over the room and my eyes found this dickhead on the stage. Wasn’t this fucktacular!

  Buckcherry came up on the screen. Buckcherry? I glanced at Cam who simply stared at him.

  “Break me down, you got a lovely face. We’re going to your place, and now you got to freak me out. Scream so loud, getting fuckin’ laid. You want me to stay, but I got to make my way. Hey you’re a crazy bitch but you fuck so good, I’m on top of it. When I dream, I’m doing you all night. Scratches all down my back to keep me right on.”

  A lone tear trickled down Cam’s cheek.

  “Shit!” I hissed and Dave turned around and looked at her. “I can’t beat the kid’s ass. He’s a fuckin kid.”

  I dialed Will and walked to the men’s restroom.

  “What’s wrong?” he answered almost immediately. It was almost 10 in Vegas, so he was done with the competition.

  “Look. There is some asshole here named Max and he…”

  “MAX?” Will shouted and I pulled the phone away from my ear.

  “Yeah. Who is he?”

  “Dad get her the fuck out of there now! He hurt her!”

  I hit the red end call button and flew back into the loud room. Just in time to hear Max still singing.

  “You’re crazy but I like the way you fuck me.”

  Kate’s face was beet red and her middle finger was sticking straight up.

  Cam was hurt, I saw it in her eyes and I walked straight up to the table. Dave slid out and took position behind me. Her wounded, tear-filled eyes were drawn up to mine and when recognition settled over her, her little chin quivered. I held out my hand to her. Without hesitation or reservation, she took it.