I get up off the couch and make my way back to her room wanting to know who she’s talking to and why she’s trying to hide it from me.
I open the door and lean against the doorframe and listen to her as she has her back to me. “No. I’m getting ready for work,” she says digging through her open dresser. “It’s not like that.” She sighs heavily. “Tate…He’s different.”
My anger rises as I realize she’s referring to me. She’s defending me! Why the fuck is she having to defend me to someone? And why does the fact that she’s doing it make me mad at her? I don’t need her to take up for me.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” she whispers harshly, thinking I’m still in the living room. “Stop. Okay. You don’t know what you’re saying.” She tosses her shirt down on the floor and places her hand on her hip, getting irritated. “I know you were. And I thank you for that.” Her voice is softer. “No. Don’t come over,” she says quickly. “Because I’m running late. I’ll call you later.” She pulls the phone away from her ear and hangs up. She tosses it onto her bed before she bends down and picks up her shirt. She goes to place it on over her head when I step up to her and rip it out of her hands.
She spins around in surprise. “Who was that?” I ask glaring down at her.
She looks between me and her door a few times before her eyes narrow on mine. “Were you eavesdropping on me?”
“Yes.” I don’t know if I would call it that but whatever.
She places a hand on my chest and pushes me back, needing space. “How dare you,” she snaps as she goes to walk around me.
I grab her by the arm and pull her back, shoving her into the dresser. I place my hands on her face, holding her in place. “Who. Was. That?” I demand.
She huffs. “It was Braxton.”
That motherfucker. “What the fuck did he want?”
“He just wanted to see if I was okay,” she explains and I shake my head.
“What else did he want?” I arch an eyebrow. “What was he saying about me?”
She pulls her face out of my hold. “Drop it, Tate,” she growls before she turns around and walks away from me.
“Missy…” I say following after her but her doorbell rings, interrupting what I was about to say.
She lets out a sound of frustration as she yanks her shirt on and then makes her way down the hall to answer her door. She swings it open and stands frozen as Braxton greets her. “I told you not to come over.”
His brown eyes widen at her tone, and I must say I am quite surprised by it myself. She’s not the typical bitchy type.
“I just wanted to check on you,” he says as he takes a step into her apartment.
I make my way down the hallway and come to a stop, crossing my arms over my chest. His body freezes once he looks up and notices me. “Oh,” he says in surprise.
That’s right, fucker!
Missy runs a hand through her long blond hair and lets out a sigh.
“So, it’s true?” he asks looking to her. “You two are together?” he asks.
“Yes,” she says quietly as her eyes drop to the floor trying to avoid his. “I was going to call you later and explain,” she explains.
“Explain what?” he asks as his eyes narrow.
She looks up at me nervously and nibbles on her bottom lip. “Ah,” he says when he realizes she isn’t gonna answer. He then looks at me. “Well, let me explain a few things to you.” He takes a step toward me.
Missy’s eyes widen and she grabs his arm and tries to pull him back. I uncross my arms and stand taller. “Please. Don’t,” Missy begs and my jaw tightens.
“You need to leave,” I warn him when I finally speak.
He chuckles. “All of a sudden you’re gonna take care of her?” he asks.
I fist my hands down my side. “Braxton. Just let it go,” she says trying to pull on his arm.
“No,” he snaps turning to face her. “This man destroyed you,” he declares as his voice rises. “Or do you not remember?”
She shakes her head as tears start to fill her eyes. “Hell, you ran into my arms just nights ago crying your eyes out because of him.”
I look from him to her, and she drops her eyes to the ground. What is he talking about?
“He all of a sudden decides to give you the time of day and you run to him with open arms,” he spits out at her.
I walk up to him and grab him by the back of his dress shirt. I yank him back and then shove him out the front door as he stumbles over his own feet. “The only reason I’m not kicking your ass is because you’re Parker’s brother,” I shout pointing my finger at him.
He looks from me to Missy. “I won’t be there next time he breaks your heart Missy,” he states and I slam the door in his face.
“I’m sorry, Tate…” she says frantically. “I went to his house the night of my birthday. But I didn’t…”
I pull her into me and kiss the top of her head. “It’s okay,” I say. It’s really not. I can’t even think about her being in his arms, but I slept with Cindy that night. And I know Missy and Braxton didn’t go that far. I can’t hold that against her. Not when she ran to him because of me.
I pull her away from me and lean down placing my lips on her.
She belongs to me.
She’s all mine.
Remind her of that. I reach down and grab her ass and yank her up. She wraps her legs around me as I carry her back to the bedroom ready to take her once again.
******
MISSY
I’m tired. Physically and mentally. My day has been awful. On top of Braxton showing up at my apartment this morning, I messed up an order at Angel’s Dream and then I had to redo the icing on another because I used the wrong color.
Once I got off, I ran to the grocery store to get a few things for Tate’s house. I don’t feel right staying over and not contributing something.
Now I walk into his house trying to carry three bags of groceries when I find Parker making out with a blonde who looks like she could be my mother. She pulls away panting and whispers, “Hammer.”
He sees me and his eyes light up. “Sweetie,” he says with a smile as he pushes her away.
What the heck?
He gets up off the couch and walks over to me. He throws his arm over my shoulder and gives me a kiss with his still wet lips on my cheek. I would slap him away if I didn’t have two hands full of grocery bags.
“I’ve missed you today,” he says to me and I arch an eyebrow.
I look between the blonde sitting on my couch and him a couple of times. “Oh, how rude of me,” he speaks. “Haley. This is Missy.” He then looks at me with an awkward smile on his face. “Haley came over last night,” he says through his smile. Oh, so that was the woman I heard yelling out his name. “I told her my sweetheart would be home soon and here you are,” he says excitedly. He then leans into my face as if he is gonna kiss me and I drop two bags of groceries and shove him away.
“What the hell?” I shout. What was he thinking?
The girl stands from the couch quickly with wide eyes. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.” She rushes past me to the door and nods her head to Parker.
I look over at him as he sighs and falls down on the couch. “Thanks,” he says smiling up at me. “That could have been awkward.”
I stand there staring down at him wondering what in the hell just happened. “Hammer?” I find myself asking.
He nods with a smirk. “It’s what I call my cock,” he says in all seriousness and I feel like I may puke. “Get it?” he wiggles his eyebrows. “Hammer…nails…”
I lift my hand to stop him and choose not to respond to that. “You were gonna kiss me,” I say.
“Actually, I was gonna give you an Eskimo kiss but you freaked.” He laughs. “Thanks, though, she took your hostility for being a jealous girlfriend. I couldn’t have planned it better myself.”
“Planned?” What is he talking about?
“Yeah. Planned. I couldn’t get the bitch to leave.” He rolls his eyes. “I’ve been waiting for you to get off for over an hour.” He looks down at his watch on his wrist. “I told her my very jealous girlfriend was going to be here soon, but she didn’t believe me. Your reaction was priceless.”
******
Tate and I have been ‘together’ for a little over a week now. I’m not gonna lie and say that it has been all hearts and flowers. It has been awesome and also awkward all at the same time. The man has enough mood swings for five women.
I’m trying not to step over any imaginary boundaries, but that’s hard. I’m trying not to be the clingy girlfriend and spend every waking moment with him. I’ve stayed a couple nights over at his house, and he has spent a couple at mine as well.
Last night when I told him I was going to go home, he got mad. He didn’t say it, but I could tell by the way his attitude changed that he wasn’t happy about it. But he didn’t ask me to stay, and he didn’t offer to come over to my place either. I’m just trying to give him his space. A man like him—one who is used to going from one woman to another—doesn’t want to spend every waking moment with the same person.
I want this to last. I don’t want him to realize that he doesn’t like me or that he’s tired of me after one week together.
“So…?” Sam says as she leans up against the countertop beside me with a big smile on her face.
I tried to keep our relationship a secret. I don’t know why—guess because I didn’t want people to look at me as if I’m trying something that they know will never last. When I had last spoke to Sam about me and Tate, I told her we weren’t together. And at the time that was the truth. And even Braxton hadn’t said anything about it. I don’t even know where he got his information from.
My secret was going great until the second day. Parker came home to find me and Tate cuddling on the couch. I had been having some pain and Tate made me take one of my pain pills. It ended up knocking me out, and he fell asleep as well. Parker had come home from work and took a picture of us. Then the idiot posted it on his Facebook page. When Tate yelled at him and told him to remove it, he said no and laughed. That it would make him look like a loving and caring friend and that he had captioned it with ‘wish I could find a cuddle buddy’. Whatever that meant. The guy will do whatever it takes to get laid if you ask me.
“Things are going good,” I say answering her question.
“Good?” she asks arching an eyebrow. “That’s all you’re gonna give me?”
“That’s all I got,” I say with a laugh. “It’s only been a week,” I remind her.
“Yeah but that’s like forever in Tate’s book.” She pats my shoulder before she walks over to the back office. She comes out a few moments later with her purse over her shoulder. “I’m gonna head out. I gotta go pick up Sadey from the in-laws,” she says as she waves, walking through the door that leads to the front.
“Bye,” I call out before I look back down to the cupcake in my hand. I spread the icing evenly before placing it on the tray.
We all came in early this morning, but since Holly and I are the only ones without kids, we stay later. Holly ended up leaving after lunch today, though. She’s been sick, and we all have a bet going that she’s pregnant.
I pick up the next cupcake and start to cover it with icing when I hear the door open again. “Forget something?” I ask not bothering to look up.
“You.”
I smile when I hear Tate’s deep voice. He comes to stand behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. I tilt my head to the side allowing him access to my neck. He loves to kiss me there.
I set down the now iced cupcake and spin around in his arms. “What are you doing here?” I ask placing my arms around his neck.
He smiles down at me and it makes me smile wider. He may still have his crazy mood swings but I’ve never seen him smile as much as he has in the last week.
“I came to take you to dinner,” he says simply, and it has my mind wandering off.
Tate still works for my parents’ repair shop but it’s only part-time. He, Slade, and Parker are still getting their security company up and running. They did a few jobs this week, but I’m not sure how much it pays.
He has a nice house, bike, and truck and is always spending money, but I don’t know where it comes from. And I’m afraid to ask. I’m afraid he won’t tell me or I really won’t want to know the answer.
His father had passed six years ago. He had left his twelve million dollar company to Sam, along with his house and everything else he owned. He didn’t know that he had a son. He had no idea about Tate. But when Sam placed their dad’s house up for sale, Tate bought it. I know he wishes he could have spoken to his dad before he was killed in a car wreck. Even though he never talks about it, I know he wishes he could have told him the truth. That he was his son and that he loved him. Tate may not say I love you, but I know he has a heart.
“What’s wrong?” he asks getting my attention.
I smile up at him. “Oh, nothing. Just was wondering what sounded good for dinner.”
“I’m thinking sushi.”
I nod my head excitedly. “Sushi sounds great.”
“I missed you last night,” he whispers roughly, and I know that was hard for him to say. Tate doesn’t like others to know how he feels. He would rather them know his angry side than his softer side. But I’m learning very quickly that he has one.
“I missed you too. Did you sleep well?” He’s been having nightmares quite frequently in the last week. That was another reason why I stayed at my place. He wakes up dazed and confused. Sweat dripping from him. And he looks at me with terror in his eyes. Like a lost little boy who wants someone to help him. Then his face turns hard and he looks at me as if I did something wrong and he wants to kill me. I’m not afraid of him, but I’m sure that bothers him for me to see him like that.
“Yeah,” he answers my question, but I know he’s lying. “Come on, let’s go eat and then I wanna run by your place to grab your bags,” he says.
“What for?” I ask already knowing the answer.
“Because you’re staying with me, baby.”
I laugh. “Don’t I get a say?” I tease.
“Nope.”
CHAPTER TEN
TATE
We just walk into my bedroom from dinner when Missy places her bag on the floor.
“I wanna go out tonight,” she says, bending down to dig through it.
I haven’t been out in a while so that actually sounds good. “Where do you wanna go?” I ask as I lean back against the wall and watch her undress out of her jeans and t-shirt. I’m not the type of guy who tells a woman she’s beautiful over and over, but every time I look at her I think just that. Her long blond hair falls down her bare back as she takes off her bra. I just wanna lay her down on her stomach and kiss the soft curve of it.
She bends over to place a foot into a clean pair of jeans. I watch as she pulls them up and over her legs. My cock hardens at the thought of having them wrapped around my waist as I fuck her. I’ve been restraining myself though. She has had pain once this week, and I thought maybe our sex was what caused it.
She places a new bra on and turns around as she places a soft pink top over her head. “I don’t care. You can decide,” she throws over her shoulder as she walks to the bathroom and shuts the door. Completely oblivious to the fact that I was just eye fucking her and that I’m fucking hard now.
This week has been hard for me. Trying to adjust myself for her. I went from pushing her away for so long to wanting to be around her twenty-four seven. Last night was torture with her not being here. I lied when I told her I slept well. I know she was asking due to my nightmares that I’ve been having—when in reality I didn’t sleep at all became she wasn’t here. But that’s an easy fix. She’s here now and she’s not leaving. Decision made.
I get myself to calm down and walk into my closet where I put a new clean shirt on. I then make my
way to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and I find Parker sitting at the table. His stupid cat, Puss Puss, is lying on the table in front of him on its back as he rubs her stomach.
Eww. “Why is that cat on the table?” I ask.
He rolls his eyes before pulling her off and placing her on the floor. He crosses his arms as he stares off in front of him not really seeing anything. I wonder what he has been through. This week has taught me that you really don’t know your friends. I mean you see them all the time but you don’t know what happens when you’re not around. Or how much they just choose to keep bottled up inside of them.
“Missy and I are going out tonight,” I say getting his attention. “Would you like to join us?” I offer and I almost roll my eyes at myself. Since when did I start trying to help people when they were down?
He nods his head. “Yeah. That sounds fun.” Then his light brown eyes widen and his smile grows. I imagine it’s the same look he had when he saw a pair of tits for the first time when he was younger. “Can I take your bike?” he asks and I chuckle.
“Sure,” I say before turning around and walking into my room to finish getting ready. “Parker is joining us,” I say to Missy as I see her come out of the bathroom.
“Okay.” She frowns as she places her hands on her hips. “Is he riding with us?”
“You don’t want him to go?” Maybe I should have asked her first. Is that what guys with girlfriends do? Ask for permission? I almost laugh at myself for that thought. Yeah, that won’t happen. I won’t ever ask anyone if I can do anything. I’m a grown-ass man. And if they don’t like what I do then they can fuck off. That part of me will never change.
“No. That’s fine. I was just wondering because I’m sure he’ll bring some girl home with him,” she says over her shoulder as she walks back into the bathroom to grab her makeup bag.
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