by Alex Wolf
My name was called along with some of my accomplishments. I blushed as I walked across the stage. It felt so much longer than it probably was, and I heard cheers as I reached out to shake my teacher’s hand. It sounded more like younger guys than it did my parents.
Weird.
Afterward, I joined everyone outside, and we hugged each other as some of the pressure lifted from my shoulders. I found Valerie, and we spun around, squealing together.
“We did it!”
We both kept saying that over and over, laughing and nodding. I looked around, wondering if anyone was on their way out yet. Celebrations weren’t really my thing.
Valerie yelled Jake’s name and hurried away as I bit my glossed lip, feeling more alone than ever. I looked around for a familiar face, pausing when I saw the one that I never expected.
Gage?
What the hell?
He walked toward me, dressed in a suit and holding a bouquet of multicolored flowers. He looked amazing, and a million feelings rushed back to the surface. His smile was the same one that won me over from the start and he stared into my eyes as he paused in front of me.
Not now.
I didn’t know if I could deal with this.
I’d sat in my room, depressed for a few weeks, but I never really let it all out. Tears formed in my eyes and I didn’t know if I could stop them. I didn’t cry. Especially not over a guy.
“Wh-what are you doing here?”
He rushed over and wiped the tears from my eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s okay.”
I looked away.
“I just didn’t want to miss this. I know I screwed up, maybe I’m doing it again. I just—I watched you tonight, and you looked amazing. I’m so proud of you.” Gage handed me the roses.
I stared at the beautiful petals in silent shock for a second.
“How?”
“Valerie gave me a ticket. I was out there with Jake. We hollered for you when you got your diploma.”
I looked at him with wide, most likely bloodshot eyes.
He grabbed both my hands. “Bristol, I missed you. I wanted to call you so many times, but I needed to work on myself before I could face you again. I… pushed you away so hard and I’ve hated myself ever since that night. I’ve gone over it so many damn times and almost lost myself in the process. But, you were there for me. At least you tried to be. And I wanted to be there for you. At least this once.”
“I saw the look in your eyes in pictures. You didn’t look like the Gage I knew.”
He looked away, seemingly embarrassed. “I was in a bad place. But, enough about me right now. It’s your night. I’ll go if you want me to. I just wanted to congratulate you.” He turned to walk away.
I gripped him by the wrist. “It’s okay.”
“Really?” He raised his eyebrows.
“Yes, really. It’s good to see you like this. You look good.”
He shook his head. “I was an asshole, Bristol.”
“Yeah, you were.” I half-laughed.
“I’m sorry. I’m sure you hate me by now.”
“I don’t hate you. I just wanted you to talk to me. I wanted to know what you were going through, and that you were okay.”
He stepped closer. The heat flowed between us and my heart sped up like it always did any time he was around.
I blinked as I remembered where we were. My parents were here, and I heard my name called as I looked around. Gage reluctantly stepped back as they hugged me tightly. My mom was crying, and I wiped at her eyes.
“I’m so proud of you, sweetie.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Dad wrapped me up in a huge hug.
“I can’t believe you hollered and jumped up and down.” I shook my head at him.
“Me either. I don’t know what came over me. We’re just, so damn proud, Baby Girl. You did it. You! We knew you would.”
“I love you, Dad.”
“Love you too.”
“Who are the flowers from?” Mom asked.
I gestured to Gage, introducing them to him. He was polite but looked a little awkward. He had no idea I hadn’t told them much about him at all. I let him be nervous about it, and that made me grin a little on the inside.
Valerie’s family found us, and I grinned as she walked up with Jake. They were holding hands and beaming at each other. Just a fling, my ass. Valerie looked at Gage and then to me as I hugged her again. Someone pulled the flowers away from me as I wrapped my arms around her neck.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “Even if he has a lot of groveling to do.”
“He called asking for my help. I tried to hang up, but he was kind of persuasive.”
We pulled apart and made our way out of the crowd, talking about dinner. Everyone asked Jake and Gage to join us. They both agreed.
Gage was more gorgeous than I remembered. I saw the way other people looked at him and Jake in disbelief that they were actually standing with us.
We enjoyed a long dinner and chatted in the parking lot for a while before everyone went their separate ways. Our parents had hotel rooms and Jake took Valerie to his place for the night. I swallowed the lump in my throat and asked Gage if he wanted to come over.
He took me to his car and opened the door for me, his eyes on my lips. He was different somehow, maybe even more mature than before. Nerves pooled low in my stomach as we drove, unsure of what was happening between us.
We got inside, and he asked me to sit down on the couch after I got us something to drink. I did, and he took off the suit jacket and laid it over the couch. His tie was loosened, and he looked good enough to eat as I crossed my legs.
We had a lot to discuss.
Our eyes locked and I couldn’t stop staring at him. He had to know he still owned me, the same way he always had. The electricity was still there, the current stronger than ever.
I started to speak but his lips crashed into mine.
The only difference was this time I knew I owned him too.
Epilogue
Three years later
I heard the alarm, choosing to ignore it as I buried my face in the neck of the woman sleeping beside me. Her hair was growing out and tickled my face as I kissed her soft skin. She still tasted just as good as she did in the beginning. Bristol giggled under my weight.
“You know Charlotte will be calling for us anytime, right?” Her voice was filled with sleep and desire and I lowered myself between her naked thighs.
Who needed clothes when you were just going to end up taking them off? I still woke up at night sometimes just to bury myself inside her. Bristol was addictive, my drug of choice, and it was no surprise we had one daughter approaching age two and a boy on the way. I would have as many kids as she agreed to.
The band was popular, but I kept my touring to a tight schedule. I wanted to be home with my family as much as possible. I always hated leaving my wife and daughter behind. She married me at the end of summer after her graduation and Charlotte was my wedding gift. Bristol told me she was pregnant during our first dance. I proceeded to serenade her stomach with the song I’d written to sing to her on our wedding day. It was all perfect, our fairytale romance as she often referred to it.
“I still have time to enjoy my wife.” I whispered the words in her ear.
She snorted.
“Joke all you want.” I ran my hand down between her legs and cupped her sweet pussy, slick with need. “It never lies to me.”
“Never get enough, do you?” Her voice was full of desire.
I slid inside slowly, feeling her clench around me.
“Never.” It never did get old with Bristol, and despite my jackassery, I’d never been with anyone else after the first time I had her. I never looked back after the night of her graduation. My only regret was that few months she was hurt, and I’d spend a lifetime making it up to her.
We talked long into the night after dinner that night, and after sex, of course. We
worked everything out that was wrong between us. I came clean about the past that I wasn’t proud of and she accepted the apology, assuring me there was nothing she wanted me to hide.
Making love to her in her bed after the talk was the most intimate I’d ever been with a woman. Our bodies still fit together perfectly, and my life was right again.
I held her as she slept before waking up to climb over me for round two. I was more than willing and watched as she lowered herself on me, her gorgeous body on full display in the moonlight shining through the window.
Jesus, she was beautiful. She still was, even after one kid and another on the way. Even more so. She radiated beauty, and I had a hard time keeping my hand off her stomach all hours of the day.
Every day was a new adventure. We were perfect with everything out in the open and just our feelings between us. It wasn’t always roses and sunshine, and I had the tour to deal with, but we were both committed one-hundred-percent to each other.
I came back to reality as I felt her nails in my back just before she moaned my name. The sound of our daughter calling out for us followed immediately after and we both sighed.
“I’ll get her.”
I rolled away and watched her walk to the bathroom. Pregnancy suited her. I glanced around the master bedroom of the house we purchased just after the wedding. It was in Aurora, just a few houses away from the one Jake bought for Valerie. The girls were always together, so it made sense, particularly when she gave birth to their son six months ago. They were each other’s support system when we were on tour.
Bristol came out wrapped in a robe and blew me a kiss before heading across the hallway. I heard her laughing as she carried my little brunette girl in her arms to our bed.
Two tiny hands wrapped around my neck as I took her into my arms. She was a daddy’s girl for sure, even though I’d never tell Bristol that. I sang to her every morning when she woke up and every night when she went to bed, and sometimes in between for naps too.
What could I say? The girl melted my heart.
Charlotte giggled as she looked up at me with her eyes that matched mine. She was as beautiful as her mom.
“Hi, Baby Girl.”
Bristol sat on the edge of the bed and beamed at us. She stayed home with Charlotte once she was born and the joke was that she wasted four years of college only to never get a job. It was all in good fun since she was more than happy to be a mom. She still kept her licensing and planned to start teaching once Charlotte was in school, then news of the new baby came along.
We talked about everything, and I told her if she wanted to teach that we would find a way to make it happen, even if I had to cut the tour short.
Bristol wouldn’t have it, though. She handled things when I was on tour, sometimes joining me on the bus. It was a blast having Charlotte along and while she was young and not in school, it was becoming a tradition. “We get to go to the beach next week. How about that?”
There was a long giggle from her as she wriggled in my arms. We bought a beach house last year near the one she came to that first time. It was big, and we went in on it with Jake and Valerie since we were always together to begin with. It was like an extended family vacation home and it worked perfectly. Life was pretty damn good.
“Well, I can’t wait. I want to relax on the beach and get some sun before this one joins us.” Bristol rubbed her growing stomach, and I stared between her belly and Charlotte yawning.
This time we had a son on the way and I couldn’t wait to see him for the first time in three months.
I didn’t realize how much I wanted this until it drifted away from me that night in LA. Sometimes, I’d wake up in cold sweats in the middle of the night, thinking about what might’ve been if I hadn’t gone after Bristol a second time. I thanked Bristol every day for giving me a second chance with her.
She always reminded me that she missed me as well. She always told me how much she loved me, and I would beg her to tell me again. I needed to hear it over and over again.
Bristol climbed back into bed and lay down next to us. I sat there, awake for another hour or so, cradling my family in my arms. It was us. Our fairytale. Our own song.
The End
Preview Devil in a Suit
Brooke
If ever there was a day for some bullshit, this one takes the cake.
I throw up my hand in frustration. “Oh, come on!”
Some jerk just hopped in the cab I was waiting for. His dark eyes meet mine through the window as a cocky grin spreads across his face. Rubbing his chin, he says something to the driver.
Asshole.
I’m tired after my flight, and all I really want to do is get home and crawl into bed. My one-bedroom studio apartment is my sanctuary. God, how I’ve missed the comfort of living on my own after spending Christmas with my folks and our extended family in Vermont.
My Aunt Susan and her divorce was all everyone wanted to talk about. Depressing is what it was.
I look down the line of cars hoping another cab is mixed in there somewhere. Traveling during peak holiday season is a real bitch and right now so am I. I could’ve called Misty to pick me up, but she’s perpetually late for everything.
My flight was terrible. I was seated next to an overweight man who kept sniffling and blowing his nose, coupled with excessive coughing. Every time he went through the motions he elbowed my right tit. I probably have a bruise, and the last thing I need is to get sick with the caseload I know is sure to be waiting for me on my desk when I return to work. I would’ve asked to switch seats, but the plane was full.
When I pull out my cellphone to get an Uber, a deep voice calls out to me. “Wanna share?”
His tone vibrates through me, and he smirks when I look up from my purse.
My first inclination is to flip him the bird, but I want to get home more than I want to tell him to shove his head up his ass. “Oh, gee. Thanks.” I roll my eyes as I tug my luggage behind me.
The cabbie hops out, takes my belongings, and places them in the trunk.
The back passenger door hangs open, held by the cab thief and his charming grin he seems to wear with pride.
I stop by the door, waiting for him to move out of the way so I can get in. His gaze travels up the length of my legs, not stopping until our eyes meet when I slide into the seat next to him.
The first thing I notice about him is a small dimple in his left cheek, next to his well-groomed beard.
“You’re welcome.”
I scoff, unable to stop the shocked smile turning up on my face. “I think what you mean to say is, ‘sorry I jacked your cab.’”
He holds out his hand expecting me to shake it. “Weston.”
I accept it to be nice. His grip is firm and swallows mine. He’s definitely muscular, but not bodybuilder huge.
“Nice name for an asshole.” My tone is half-joking as I release his hand.
The annoyingly attractive man’s jaw ticks as he loosens his tie. I suck in a breath as the intoxicating scent of his cologne invades my senses. It’s a smell that I can only describe as pure male—woodsy and natural.
His tailored suit tells me he comes from money. The gray jacket hugs his biceps. I spot a hint of a tattoo under the collar of his shirt and I can’t help but wonder what it looks like.
The cabbie closes his door and turns to me. “Where to?”
“Village apartments. North side.”
The man nods and pulls into the traffic leaving DFW.
The world’s most annoying ringtone sounds from Weston’s pocket, and he flashes me an apologetic smile as I scrunch my nose at the whistling sound. My temples throb in warning of a headache. I’m sleep deprived.
He pulls his phone out, texting furiously.
I lean my head against the window, anxious to get home and fall face-first into my bed.
I don’t know what I was thinking flying home the day before New Year’s Eve.
My cellphone chirps from inside my purse.
Pulling it out I see I have a text from my mom.
Mom: Did you make it home safe? I worry about you traveling alone. Should have come with you and caught up with the girls.
Ugh. I love my mother, but I’m glad she didn’t. My mother thinks my friends are her friends.
Brooke: I’m alive. Tired. Call you soon.
“Boyfriend?” Weston, the cab thief, stares at me when I shoot a glare in his direction.
His breath tickles my ear as he leans in, invading my personal space.
“None of your business.” I hit send and stick my phone back in my purse.
“So, he dumped you.” He chuckles to himself, clearly having much more fun with this situation than I am. His eyes roam up and down my body once more, then his eyebrows raise. “Makes sense.”
This prick.
“I’m glad you had a moment of human decency back there, allowing me to ride in my cab, but I’m not in a chatty mood. I want to go home, take a nice hot bath, listen to an audio book, and enjoy a glass of wine.”
“I prefer whiskey, but I’ll settle for the wine if it’s a good year. We could help get you over this man that stole your heart and left you so bitter.” He has the audacity to wink at me and my traitorous body absolutely takes notice. The man is attractive and exudes confidence.
The way he stares at me seems to heat the cab up twenty degrees, and it’s not from the air blowing out the vents. Everyone thinks Texas is hot year-round. But in the winter things can get chilly.
“Wow. I mean, that’s some offer right there.” I roll my eyes.
“I don’t make bad offers.”
I close my eyes and count to three, trying to ignore my attraction to the raven-haired hottie who knows how to wear a suit and press my buttons. My eyes meet his again and what a mistake that is. His eyes are like dark pools threatening to drown me. “Jesus, you’re full of yourself.”
“You can be full of me too, if you play your cards right.” He smirks.
I look out the window, because I’m afraid he just made me blush, and I don’t want to give him the satisfaction. “Jesus.” I shake my head and realize I’m biting my lip.