For some reason, I felt that could possibly be Amberly. I was drawn to her and I wasn’t sure why, but I wanted to figure it out.
We got to her apartment and she unlocked the door, we both realized her power was out.
I stepped inside with her and she sucked in a breath. “It’s so cold in here. I’m going to call Cricket.”
I waited while she dialed Cricket’s number and caught a few words of their conversation.
“Apparently the entire complex is out. Cricket went to Adam’s because the landlord said it wouldn’t be fixed tonight.”
She threw her phone in her purse and let it fall to the floor.
“You can come to my house if you need to.”
She opened up her refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water, taking a few gulps before answering. “No, I’ll be fine. I’ve got a million blankets in the spare closet.”
I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. “Amberly, quit being stubborn. Get some clothes and you can come stay with me. Maybe I can figure out rule number seven while you’re at my house.”
“But, I need to study for my test. I’m going to do nothing but bore the hell out of you.”
I chuckled and pushed her towards her bedroom. “As long as you are warm, you can bore the life out of me all you want. I’ll even make you some dinner.”
Chapter 17
Love You Like That
Amberly
I gathered a few outfits and a pair of pajamas, as well as other essentials, before loading back into Bryant’s truck. Cricket had told me I could go to Adam’s house if I wanted. Honestly, I was going to stay at the apartment because it wouldn’t be the first time I’d lived without power. I didn’t mind sitting in the dark, but I needed to study for my finals at some point because all four of them were next week. I didn’t have time to think about anything else. I had hoped I would get some study time in the night before the car show, but I had ended up staying in the same room as Bryant. As if I couldn’t be more pathetic, I had waited the entire night for him to kiss me again. I wanted to feel the rush I’d felt when his hands roamed over my body. It was the only thing I could feel at that moment. Nothing else mattered, that was a feeling I could get addicted to.
We pulled up to his house and he helped me grab my things. The trees in his front yard fell heavy with ice, making them look like skeleton limbs. It gave the illusion that the branches, twisted and frozen, were reaching out at us. A mixture of snow and ice covered his porch like a blank canvas, waiting for us to stomp our footprints into it. The wind slapped at the sides of the house, making a small Christmas decoration jingle against one of the front windows.
“I don’t usually decorate for Christmas, but Delia saw that and begged me to put it up.”
“She has good taste.”
He threw me a smile before shoving his key into the lock on the front door.
When we got passed the door, I shivered. I hadn’t realized how cold it was until then. I was no longer running on adrenaline from Bryant’s touch. I peeled my jacket away from my body and Bryant took it from me to hang it in the closet.
“There’s a spare bathroom to the right of the kitchen. You can take a shower or whatever you need to do. I’ll see what I can pull out of the refrigerator for us. Please tell me you aren’t a vegetarian.”
“Not a vegetarian.” I confirmed. I took my pajamas from the bag I brought and headed to the bathroom.
My blond hair was a complete mess from the wind, looking as though it had been presented to a cotton candy machine before being placed back onto my head. I took a brush out of the bag I’d carried in with me and ran it through the strands until it was sleek again, pulling it into a loose ponytail. I washed my face, getting off any trace of makeup from today and patted my face dry.
I exited the bathroom, running straight into Bryant’s chest. He caught me and helped me center myself before letting go. “How does steak sound?”
“Good.” I said.
“Let me get a fire going and then I’ll start cooking it.” He tossed a few logs into his fireplace that sat in a makeshift rack nearby and lit a piece of newspaper, throwing that in as well.
I plopped down on his couch, pulling my textbooks onto my lap. I sifted through their pages, looking for the study guides I’d made. I studied the words until they blurred together and Bryant brought me a plate of food. I had to admit that hearing the normal sounds of pans clanking together made his house feel more inviting than it already was. In between reading what was in front of me, I had studied the pictures on his wall. He had added a few decorations inside his home, including artwork in black in white of different buildings. The places that had been empty before held more pictures, demolishing any assumptions that he’d once had an entirely different family. A life before me.
“Thank you.” I managed, letting the paper I was holding drift to the floor.
Bryant turned on the television to drown out the sounds of us chewing. A football game filled the screen, with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. “Do you watch football?”
I shrugged, swallowing the bite I’d taken before he asked me that question. “Sometimes.” I loved football but wasn’t one of those dedicated fans that watched it above all else in the television guide.
He nodded his head and continued to eat his food. Neither of us said another word until our plates were clean. Bryant stood up and took his plate and mine into the kitchen. I picked up my paper to start where I left off.
I quizzed myself over and over again until I could recite it forward and backward. I didn’t want to study to the point of forgetting everything, but I also didn’t want to study too little that I broke down into tears when I couldn’t answer a question.
Bryant startled me when he yanked the paper from my hands and tossed it on the couch. “Take a break for a minute. I’ve got something for you.” He lifted me up from the couch and walked me into his bedroom.
He kneeled down by the bed and fished out a box, handing it to me as he stood back up. “Here.”
“What’s this for?” I questioned, gripping at the sides of the cardboard box.
He tilted his head to the side and ran his hand through the short strands of his hair. “Just open it.”
I struggled with the tape, taking what seemed like thirty minutes to rip it from the box. Crinkled pieces of paper sat on top of whatever was in the bottom so I started tossing them onto Bryant’s bed. Inside there were pictures of Haylie and me. They weren’t in picture frames and they weren’t in a photo album. They seemed to be turned into fleece before being stitched to a black and pink blanket. I plucked it from the box, unraveling it and holding it up in front of me. Pictures from Haylie and I at her softball games and older pictures taken before I had even enrolled her on the team were splashed across the blanket.
I broke down at that point, hugging the blanket close to me and sobbing as if my life depended on it. I felt Bryant’s arms enclosed around me and he tightened his grip.
“For Haylie’s birthday.” He whispered, rubbing my back with his hands in an effort to calm me.
“You didn’t have to get me anything for her birthday.” I was still sobbing, running a hand across the soft fibers of the blanket.
He kissed the top of my head. “That’s what a good boyfriend does.”
I giggled and tilted my head back so I could look at him. “Boyfriend? Don’t you have to ask me if that’s what I want first?”
He looked down at me and a crooked smile appeared on his face. “Is that how it works?”
I couldn’t answer that because I didn’t know. When you’re younger it seems so natural to ask someone to be your girlfriend or boyfriend, when you’re older it’s as if it just happens. After a few dates you become official and no one has to say anything. I had this conversation with Cricket at one point when I considered dating. It lasted for a millisecond before I was over it.
“Number seven, you have to be my girlfriend before I take you out on our first date.” B
ryant’s hands swept up and down my back and his eyes were no longer focused on me.
“Does that mean you’re going to start planning our first date?” I asked, letting my head fall back against his chest.
He rested his chin against my head. “Depends. Are you my girlfriend?”
I broke from his grasp and threw the blanket at him. “What if we go on our first date and you can’t stand all the boring topics I bring up?”
He threw the blanket back at me, aiming for my head. The blanket fell, covering my body. I dragged it down and wrapped it around me. “Then I guess I’ll have the most boring girlfriend ever.”
“And how would that make you feel?”
“Like I would have to hide you from all my cool friends so they wouldn’t know what a loser I was dating.” He lifted an eyebrow as he said ‘dating’.
“You’re impossible.” I stated, turning to go back into the living room.
Bryant followed me and tossed a few pieces of wood into the fireplace as I took a seat on the couch. Once the fire was going again, he disappeared into his room and reappeared with the blanket from his bed. He sat it in the middle of the floor, straightening out every wrinkle. Then, he lifted me from the couch, despite my protests, and laid me on a portion of his blanket. I could feel the warmth emanating from the flames as they licked their way along the bark of the wood stumps.
He took off his shoes and sat next to me, his eyes continuously focused on me. He licked his lips before he started speaking.
“From the first day you showed up at Haylie’s first practice, I knew there was something about you. I wanted you even before I knew what your favorite colors were. Even before I knew you were already taken. Even before I knew your age or what you wanted out of life. Then, I found out that your favorite colors were pink and black. I found out that you were married. I found out you weren’t much younger than me and that you wanted nothing more than to be a physical therapist. Every practice and game, I watched you. I watched how dedicated you were to Eric and Haylie. I wanted your happiness. I wanted what you had. Then, you disappeared. I tried to track you down but no one knew where you went.” He paused and inhaled, taking one of my hands and facing it palm side up. His fingertip traced along the lines in my palm. “It wasn’t just a coincidence that I ended up in the same town, at the same place you worked, Amberly. When you told me about Haylie, I broke down. I wanted to smother your pain. I didn’t know how, but I wanted to. The last thing I ever wanted to do was upset you. When I kissed you, and prevented you from telling me I was a mistake, I thought I needed to leave you alone. You were confused, and I didn’t want to make that worse for you. But, if you’re ready to start something I promise we can go as slow as you need. The way that you loved Haylie and Eric, I want to love you like that. I’ll do whatever it takes to help you through this.”
If he had more to say, I couldn’t be sorry I made him lose his train of thought. I leaned in and pressed my lips to his, inhaling their warmth. I tossed the blanket off my shoulders and crawled closer to him, straddling his lap. His arms encircled me and I crumbled against him.
“I want to be yours.” I said, pulling my lips away from him and letting my head fall to his shoulder. “I want you to love me like that.”
Chapter 18
Heaven
Bryant
I never thought eight words could knock me off my feet. In the figurative sense, of course.
Amberly Hodge wanted me to love her. I wanted to love her.
After she went back to her house Sunday, I started planning for our first date. I made sure I wrote down all of our rules so I had everything correct. Forget the fact I’d been out of this game for a long time. I didn’t know the first thing about taking someone out on a date. I’d been married for a decade and after a while, going out together never felt like a date. It had started to seem more like a chore than anything. I wasn’t even sure I could remember my first date with Mac. What I had planned for us or even what either one of us wore. It wasn’t because it had been so long ago, even though it had, I didn’t care. With time, my memories of the life I had with Mac diminished. All I could remember now were the bad times and how, as each day passed, she tried to make me more and more miserable. What I had with Amberly was never what I had with Mac.
As I was tightening on a few bolts, my phone went off, signaling a text. I reached for my phone that I kept in my back pocket while I was working in the shop. An instant smile spread across my face and my heartbeat paused, if for just a brief moment.
A: What kind of test could they possibly come up with for tennis?
Maybe one where you have to know what angle to hit the ball with your racket?
I didn’t receive another text for a while, and I assumed Amberly was trying to find the reasoning in my answer. She’d spent the entire weekend torturing herself with question after question, trying to memorize every single answer she could. I told her by Sunday she either knew it or she didn’t and now she needed to take the time to refresh her memory and touch up on the little things she wasn’t one-hundred percent clear on. She was taking the entire week off to study and take her finals. I thought that was pretty awesome of Adam to support her like he was. I had an inkling it had something to do with how close Cricket was with her. It didn’t matter, he was cool as shit.
“Hey man, there’s someone here to see you.” Adam appeared beside the dodge truck I was working on.
I picked up a rag off the hood and wiped my hands off. “Who is it?”
“Don’t know but she’s wearing a suit. I told her to wait in the lobby.”
I followed Adam through the doors and sure enough, a woman in a lavender suit sat on the couch. A briefcase rested by her black heels. She looked like she’d been dressed by my grandma, though she looked no older than mid-thirties.
I offered my hand. “I’m Bryant Kessler.”
The woman forced a casual smile, reaching into her briefcase while ignoring that my hand was hanging mid-air. “Mr. Kessler, my name is Mrs. Wilcox. I’m Mackenzie Jenkin’s attorney. I just needed to drop this off with you.” She clasped her briefcase shut and handed me a white envelope.
I ripped the envelope apart while the woman stood there, swirling her last name around my tongue. I knew her from somewhere, but I couldn’t place her. In bold letters it was a summons to reevaluate child support. The court date had already been set. I had three months to obtain representation. Since my old attorney moved, I would have to find someone new.
The woman left after she’d witnessed me open the envelope, the door swinging closed. “Damnit!” I roared, realizing that the woman standing in front of me mere seconds ago was Sadie Wilcox. I rushed out the doors, in time to see her peeling out of the parking lot. She was the same woman that I had pulled over and written her up with a warning. I made a mental note to call Lucas after work.
“Want to tell me what’s wrong?” Amberly was sitting on my couch, her feet tucked beneath her.
I wasn’t going to see her very much during this week because she was busy with school work, so I talked her into coming over after I left work. I had Delia this weekend so our first date would have to wait until the following week.
I tossed another log into the fireplace and wiped a hand down my face, trying to erase the stress I could feel creeping over it. “Not really. Why don’t you tell me how you did on your tests?”
She giggled and threw a pillow in my direction. “You know I won’t know until next week. It’s kind of unfair. I spent all semester gearing up for these tests and now I have to wait to know if I passed or failed.”
I made my way to her, pillow in hand and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. Her eyes closed every time I did this, as if she were savoring the euphoric feeling it gave her. “How do you think you did?” I sat beside her and pulled her legs over my lap. I massaged her feet, taking the breath out of her. I would do this every day for the rest of our lives if it meant I could get the same reaction out of her every time.
>
She pressed her lips together before licking away some imaginary piece of food on her front teeth. “I guess I did alright.”
Even though it was adorable for Amberly to be modest, sometimes it made me wonder what she would look like with a higher level of confidence venturing its way through her veins. I would probably have a lot of competition.
It was hard to keep my hands off of her and when I laid in bed every night, images flooded my mind. In the darkness I could even hear her moans from that night. I restrained myself because I wanted the anticipation. What she would feel like. What she would sound like when an orgasm washed over her. I wanted the anxiety to set in, until I was begging for her. It was hard, every time she crawled into my lap like she was doing right now. The one thing separating us were clothes that could be removed in a moment's notice.
She angled her head down to pepper a few soft kisses on my neck. I closed my eyes and my hands clamped down on her tiny waist. She started moving her hips, her breaths coming out like a gentle wind, fanning over my face. She smelled of brown sugar and lilac. It was intoxicating. Her lips moved closer to mine, teasing me as she pulled away every time I tried to draw her closer to me. I wanted to taste her, drown myself in nothing but her. I’d hoped it would keep my mind off of the papers I was served with today. She unbuttoned her jeans and took one of my hands, positioning it so I could feel her.
She was soaked and it made her bite her lip when I rubbed a finger over her clit. It was a game she was playing with me, one we had played all weekend. I didn’t even have to touch her and she was wet, ready and waiting on me to make a move. She and I both knew I wouldn’t and we would stop before we got started. It was thrilling, exciting to feel how bad another person wanted you. Every time I made her hand dive beneath my boxers she got this cute smile on her face while her eyes widened in disbelief. It took one look from her and I was hard. I couldn’t think of another time in my life where that had happened. No, it didn’t take more than a simple smile and I craved her.
Unbreak Me Page 11