A lump forms in my throat as I imagine how a young Harrison would have coped with all that.
“I didn’t believe for one minute she’d throw away what we had. I thought aside from her struggles that we were solid. She was seeing a therapist; I thought it would all get sorted and we could move on with our lives. Well, she moved on with her life. She’d been sleeping with him for months behind my back. I was at home with our kids while she was out there living the high life.
“Everything was about how it looked to the outside world. So she wouldn’t allow me custody, she took me for everything she could and ran off with him and took my kids.”
I can feel his anger oozing from every pour as he spits those final few words.
“They were my life. But off she went, and enrolled them in the most expensive boarding school she could find. I was only allowed to see them on my allotted time slot if they weren’t busy with school stuff, or any of the other activities she arranged for them so she didn’t have to parent them.”
“Wow, Harrison. I’m so sorry.”
“It is what it is. Now she uses them as a bargaining tool to get whatever she wants. She’s sick.”
A thought pops into my head.
“She made this happen.”
“Made what happen?”
“She phoned the house earlier. She knew they were coming and that I was home.”
“Fucking bitch,” he spits, getting up from the bed and pacing from wall to wall. “What did she say to you?”
“She told me that I was living her life and that you were lying to me.” I can hear her conniving voice loud and clear in my head. “She told me to have a nice evening. She had this all planned.”
Harrison’s face is red with anger, his chest heaves and his fists clench at his sides. “I’m so fucking done with her games.”
I give him a few minutes to calm himself down before asking a question I hope will distract him from wanting to do any more damage to this hotel room. The door already only just about shuts; I don’t need him putting his fists through the walls as well.
“Tell me about them?”
Looking up, his eyes soften when they land on mine. “You want to know?” His brows draw together in confusion.
“Of course I do. They’re your kids.”
A small smile twitches at his lips and I see the Harrison I fell in love with coming back to me.
“Their names are Alfred and Cassandra, although the three of us prefer Alfie and Cassie. They’re twelve going on eighteen. They both go to this horrendously pretentious boarding school the other side of the city. Alfie is a huge football fan, as you probably saw, and Cassie loves horses.”
The look on his face as he talks about them melts my heart—his love is as clear as day. It makes me think that everything’s going to be okay. That we’re going to be okay, even if our family is going to be bigger than I expected.
“Are they the reason you left me in Vegas?”
“Yes. Cassie fell off her horse. Rebecca was too busy in Madrid to come back to make sure she was okay, but I got on the first flight to be with her.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yes, just a little concussion, no lasting damage. It didn’t stop her getting straight back up on the damn thing either.”
The look on his face makes me wonder how he managed to keep them a secret all this time. It seems like, in reality, they’re the center of his universe, as they should be.
“You said Rebecca is in Madrid. She just leaves them here at school?”
“Pretty much. They hate it and I hate it. I’d love to pull them out of that school, put them in the one we went to and have them live with me. But it’s a fight I’m yet to win.”
Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, I watch as he heads into the bathroom, my mind filled with the idea of suddenly finding myself as a mother figure to two people over half my age. If people didn’t think I was too young for Harrison now, they certainly will when they see the age of his kids.
I’m so lost in my own thoughts that I don’t realize he’s looking down at me until he speaks.
“Summer,” he snaps, suddenly sounding pissed off.
“Yeah?”
“What the fuck is this?” He drops the box I left in the bathroom a few hours ago. My heart jumps into my stomach as his stare burns into me. “Am I not the only one with a secret?”
Harrison
I went for a piss. I didn’t expect to find out that I was going to be a dad—again.
Summer’s face pales as she looks between the pregnancy test box and me. Her expression drops as her panic sets in.
“Harrison, no…I…”
“What the fuck, Summer? How can you be angry at me for keeping secrets when you’ve been doing the exact same thing. What were you planning on doing? Running away and taking my baby away from me? Just like she did?”
“What? No, Harrison, I would never—”
“But you didn’t tell—”
“It was negative.”
“It was what?”
“Negative.”
I stare at her sincere face as everything I was feeling slowly washes away. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little excited about the prospect of being a dad again, but the fear of losing the chance overruled that. The pain of having my kids taken away from me pulls at my heart.
Falling down on to the bed, I let out a sigh, trying to get my head together.
Summer places her tiny palm on my forearm. “Harrison, I’d never take your child away from you.”
“It’s easy to say that. I never thought Rebecca would do it to me, but look at us now.” A thought hits me. It’s something we’ve not discussed before. “Do you want kids?”
She’s silent for a couple of seconds. “One day.”
Nodding at her, I can’t help disappointment settle in the pit of my stomach. As scared as I was a moment ago to find that box, I thought maybe I was getting my second chance to be a proper dad.
“One day,” I repeat. My tone must express my thoughts because she soon turns to me.
“Yeah, one day. We’ve got plenty of time for that. I’ve got things I want to do first before becoming a mom.”
Smiling at her, the thought of her swollen with my baby fills my head. Pulling her to me, I wrap my arms around her shoulders and breathe her in.
I thought I’d lost her tonight. I thought my stupid actions had put pay to what had been the most incredible thing in my life for such a long time. She may not forgive me for what I’ve done right away, but she will eventually. She just told me she wants kids one day, so it’s all got to be fine. Right?
Laying us both down on top of the bed, I hold her to me.
I had no idea how I was going to find her, but when Danni suggested I check to see if any transactions had been made on Summer’s credit card, I couldn’t help but think it was genius. Although if Summer really was running, I had a suspicion she would be smarter than that. And I was right. There was nothing from any hotel but there was a cash withdrawal. Once I found the location I was able to pinpoint a couple of hotels in the area and all it took was a little sweet talking of the receptionist downstairs and I soon found out where my wife was. It was too easy, something I’m sure Summer wasn’t too happy about when I first started banging on her door.
“I’m still mad at you,” she whispers and I can’t help but laugh.
“I don’t doubt it. You have every right to be.”
“You lied to me. I married you, moved my life halfway across the world for you, and you didn’t have the decency to tell me the truth about your life and who you are.”
“You know exactly who I am,” I argue.
“You’re a dad, Harrison. That’s a huge part of who you are, and you never told me.”
I flounder for the right words but there aren’t any. “I’m sorry,” is all I can come up with. “I really want you meet them properly.”
“Do they know about me?”
“Of course.”
A little laugh falls from her lips. “I guess I should be happy about the fact I’m important enough for you to mention me to them. I presume they knew I had no idea they existed?”
“I didn’t outright tell them that—”
“I bet she did,” Summer says, interrupting me.
“Why is she so intent on ruining my life?” I groan.
Summer shrugs against me but she doesn’t offer up an answer.
I must drift off to sleep. I’ve no idea what the time was but after the stress of the afternoon, it felt too good to have her in my arms. When I wake, I’m alone in the bed. Opening my eyes, I find the only light in the room is coming from a little lamp over in the corner, and staring down at the desk with a pencil in her hand is Summer. As I watch I allow the soothing sounds of the lead running over the paper relax me.
Her hair is pulled back from her face and she’s still wearing the same t-shirt and skirt she has been all day. She’s fucking beautiful.
Her phone lighting up distracts her and she picks it up before smiling down at it. I’m hit with a pang of jealousy that I’m not the one making her smile like that.
After typing a quick reply she places it back on the desk and resumes whatever she was drawing.
I watch her for the longest time, totally lost to her. But my need to touch her soon becomes too much and I slide from the bed.
“Shit,” she gasps when I place my hands on her shoulders and slowly run them down her arms, her whole body flinching under my touch.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you’d have heard me coming.”
Shaking her head, she drops it to the side and allows me the space I need to run kisses down the soft skin of her neck.
Her moan of pleasure vibrates against my lips and lust shoots straight to my dick. She might be pissed off at me, but I need her. I need to show her how sorry I am for not telling her everything from the beginning, and I need to show her what she means to me.
“Harrison—”
“Shhh…stop thinking. Just feel.”
She lets out a sigh but she doesn’t stop me.
My hands leave her for a couple of seconds as I pull my shirt over my head and drop it to the floor before coming to stand in front of her.
Her eyes hold mine for a few seconds. I can still see anger and disappointment darkening them. Guilt engulfs me that I’ve made her feel that way. That I’ve made her question what she means to me. Her eyes soon drop from mine in favour of my naked chest and as glad as I am that I can’t see the evidence of my stupidity staring back at me, I miss the connection instantly.
Locking down my thoughts, I step back up to her, grasp the bottom of her t-shirt and peel it up her body.
9
Summer
The second my shirt leaves my body, his palms encase my face and his lips press against mine. My brain tells me to stop him, that I’m too angry for this to continue, but my body says otherwise. The increasing pressure between my thighs convinces me that I need this, that I need the release he can give me to make me forget.
Kissing down my neck and over the swell of my breasts, his fingers fiddle with the clasp of my bra before the cool air surrounds my sensitive skin. The fabric has barely touched the floor and his mouth is on me. His tongue circles around one peaked nipple while he pinches the other with his fingertips.
I’m panting just from that alone, and I can’t help but moan when he releases my nipple with a pop and runs his tongue down my stomach then along the edge of my waistband. Heat pools between my legs as I think about having his tongue against me.
My button’s popped open before my skirt and panties get pulled down my thighs and dropped around my ankles.
“Sit back on the desk.”
I do as I’m told, the coldness of the wood making my breath catch.
Grabbing my ankles he spreads my legs wide open and stares down at me. “Beautiful,” he groans before leaning forwards and licking the length of me.
The sensation has my arms trembling and threatening to give way behind me.
He licks and sucks until I’m trying to back away from him. Knowing what I’m attempting to do, he wraps his arms around my thighs and pulls me right to the edge of the desk. His tongue plunges inside me and I break. I scream as my release races through me. Tingles erupt from my core and run all the way to tips of my fingers as I pulsate around him.
I throw my head back and fight to catch my breath as my release begins to subside.
“Fucking hell.” Pulling my head up, I find him staring up at me. My feet are on his shoulders and his eyes run over every inch of my exposed skin.
He places a kiss to each ankle before he drops them and pulls me to him. Wrapping my legs around his waist, he carries me over to the bed before gently lowering me down. His lips find mine and he kisses me for the longest time as his hands continue to roam my body, driving me crazy and getting me ready for another release.
Part of me doesn’t want to give him anything. I want to punish him for lying to me, but as the minutes pass it becomes clear that I need him inside me and I’m only punishing myself by holding back.
Running both of my hands down his back, I ensure my nails scratch as they go. A deep groan rumbles up his throat and my thighs squeeze together as the memory of his hot mouth assaults me once again.
When my fingertips hit fabric I run them around to the front and tease him through the denim.
“Fucking shit, Summer,” he grunts. The sound gives me the confidence I need to take what I want.
Once I’ve got the button undone, he helps me out by pushing his pants down his legs a little, allowing me the access I need.
Pushing him onto his back, I throw one leg over his waist before staring down at him.
“Have you uh...got any condoms?”
It takes a second or two for my words to register. Disappointment floods his face as realization hits. “No.”
I almost throw caution to the wind and sink straight down on him. I’m desperate to feel him inside me but knowing we’ve already been reckless, and after experiencing my first false alarm, I can’t do it.
Crawling down his legs, I go for my second option and wrap my hand around the base of him, sucking him as deep into my mouth as he will go, all the while cursing myself for allowing my shot to run out.
“Come and get in bed,” Harrison says from the doorway to the bathroom. Our eyes connect in the mirror, his pleading with me. I know I shouldn’t have been intimate with him. I knew it would lead to him thinking everything was okay, but the second he touched me I was powerless to put a stop to it. I might be angry at him, but I still love him, I still want him. That’s not changed.
I understand why he did what he did, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt that he’d keep his own children from me.
Dragging my eyes away from him, I stare at my own reflection and wonder how at only twenty-one I’ve managed to find myself married and in another country with two almost teenage step-kids. This really was not the life I was expecting to have.
“Summer, stop. Everything’s going to be okay.” His body heat warms my back as his hands creep up under the white shirt he was wearing earlier and come to rest on my belly.
“I know,” I whisper.
“Then come to bed. You need to get some sleep.”
I allow him to pull me from the bathroom and I crawl under the sheets when he pulls them back before resting my head on his chest, the events of the previous day still running rampant in my head.
“Who were you texting?” Harrison suddenly asks.
There was no way I could switch off and fall asleep when he did earlier, so once I knew he was asleep I slipped out of bed, grabbed a pad and a pencil from my bag and started sketching. I needed something to help clear my mind. When my phone went off, I was surprised to see Mom’s name staring back at me. Swiping the screen, I couldn’t help but smile when I saw her words.
Mom: I hope everything’s okay. I’m here i
f you need me. Whatever the time, you just call x
I had no idea if calling her earlier was the right thing to do, but I’m now so glad I did.
“My mom.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I needed to talk to her after…” I trail off.
“I’m so sorry.”
“I know you are. But you repeating it doesn’t really help. You still lied to me.”
“I know…I just…ugh. I don’t know what else to say. I didn’t do it to hurt you. I was just trying to do the right thing. But—”
“You fucked it up. I know. I’m just going to need a little time to get used to the idea.”
“I can do that,” he says. His arms pulling me tighter to him as his lips press into my hair.
“Let’s get out of here,” Harrison says the second I step foot out of the bathroom the next morning.
“Oh…uh, yeah sure,” I stutter. I’m not sure if I’m ready to leave the safety of this room yet and be thrust into everything I tried to run away from yesterday, but I guess there’s no time like the present to properly meet my newly acquired step-kids. My insides quiver with nerves. How can I be a stepmom at twenty-one?
After drying my hair, I gather the small amount of stuff I brought with me as I attempt to keep my anxiety from bubbling to the surface.
“They’re going to love you. Stop worrying,” Harrison says when we’re pulling down our street. The journey this far has been in silence. I think he’s giving me the time he promised, but this feels like anything but him giving me time. I’m about to meet the two reasons for all this drama.
I’d love to say I share his confidence, but I’m struggling slightly. I keep trying to put myself in their shoes. How could they possibly like me? I’m better suited to being their sister than their stepmom.
I follow Harrison into the house that had started to feel like a home. But as I walk down the hallway towards the kitchen, I can’t help but feel like everything’s changed.
Their Vegas Gamble Page 15