by J. E. Parker
“See what?” she asked from behind her hands.
“Everything. Marriage. A house. Kids.” I paused. “I can see our future. Together.”
She dropped her hands and her head dipped towards me. “Ask me, Hendrix,” she sobbed. “Ask me so I can say yes.”
“Marry me, pretty girl... Marry me so I can spend the rest of my life showing you how much I fucking love you.”
Jumping from her chair and slamming into me, Maddie knocked me backwards. My back hit the floor, and she landed on top of me. Her legs straddled my hips. Ring box still unopened in my hand, I laughed. “Yes!” She shouted, raising her hands to the ceiling. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” She clapped her hands together. “Now gimme my ring!”
Fuck. This girl. Sitting up, my chest pressed against hers, I popped open the small, satin lined box. “When I saw it, I knew it was the one.” I pulled the ring out and grabbed Maddie’s ring finger.
“Oh, my God,” she gasped. “It’s beautiful.” It was beautiful. Just like her.
Sliding the ring down her finger, I pushed it over her knuckles and secured it in place. It was a perfect fit.
“I looked at a couple of diamonds but they were too plain. This ring, though, was perfect.” White gold. Emerald. Princess cut.
“You seem to be obsessed with all things green.”
I shook my head. “Nah, baby. I’m just obsessed with a certain green-eyed girl.”
“Kiss me, handsome.”
Her request was simple. Just three words. But I felt them all the way to my soul. Leaning forward, I kissed her. My lips touched hers and her breath fanned over my chin and jaw. Dropping the box, I ran my hands up her back, stroking her sides as I went. She loved it when I did that.
She responded by arching her back and moaning into my mouth. She pulled away, her lips breaking away from mine. “Hendrix.”
“What do you need, pretty girl?”
She exhaled, closing her eyes. Her head dropped back, her long hair falling over my hands on her lower back. “You. I need you.”
My cock hardened, and she rocked in my lap. Back and forth. Up and down.
“You have me.”
She shook her head, her wild hair whipping around her in a torrent of brown waves.
“No. I want you to make love to me.” Back and forth. Up and down. “One last time before I leave.”
Picking Maddie up in my arms bridal style, I stood up. She was light, weighing no more than a buck thirty-five. Easy for me to carry. “Hold on, pretty girl.”
She did, wrapping her arms around my neck. Walking over to the bed, I laid her on the mattress and followed her down. My body blanketed hers. “You want me, Maddie?”
Kissing my jaw, her hands massaged the sides of my neck. “Yes.” She bit my ear lobe. “Make love to me, Hendrix.” Her hands slid down my chest and her thumbs caressed my nipples. “Make love to your fiancée.”
If possible, my cock grew harder. My fiancée.
“Make love to your future wife, baby.” She bit my shoulder. “Make love to me.”
And I did.
I made love to my girl, my fiancée, my future.
I made love to the love of my life.
I made love to Maddie.
My Maddie.
Maddie
My bags were packed, and Daddy’s truck was loaded.
In a few minutes, it would be time for me to go.
Nestled on Hendrix’s lap in the center of the porch swing, I stared at the man who meant more to me than anyone or anything in the world. “Hey,” I said, wrapping one arm around his shoulders. “You okay?”
With a clenched jaw, he nodded once.
I sighed. This was a bad idea. A terrible idea. What in the hell had I been thinking by agreeing to this?
Hendrix’s long fingers encircled my wrist. “It’s the right thing to do, pretty girl.”
I looked at him and raised my brows. “What?”
He rubbed his thumb across the top of my cheek and I closed my eyes for a moment. “I know what you’re thinking. Just stop.” He pulled me closer. “Going to Vanderbilt is the right thing for you to do.”
My voice shook. “How?” I wasn’t convinced. Not anymore.
Forcing a smile, he said, “Because you’ve worked your ass off for it. Not to mention you’re following in your mother’s footsteps, something you’ve always wanted to do.”
I closed my eyes at the mention of my mother.
I didn’t want to think about her. Not now.
If I did, I’d have to confess that she was the only reason I’d wanted to go to Vanderbilt in the first place. I’d never met her, but I wanted to be like her, wanted to walk in her tracks. And I knew Daddy wanted it too.
And don’t even get me started on the fact that I would graduate debt-free thanks to my scholarship. I mean, how could I turn that down? Daddy and Grandmama certainly didn’t have the money to send me to college, and I refused to rack up thousands of dollars in debt that Hendrix and I would have to pay off later.
That wasn’t happening.
My throat tightened, and my eyes burned with tears. Gripping the front of his shirt in my fists, I cried. “But I don’t want to leave you.” And I didn’t. My mind felt like it was short-circuiting as indecisiveness swamped me.
To hell with Vanderbilt, to hell with college, to hell with everything. I could live without it.
What I couldn’t live without was him.
Leaning forward, Hendrix pressed his chest into mine and slid his hands into my hair. “It’s only temporary. Swear to God, I’ll come see you as soon as I can, and your Daddy promised to make sure you’re home for every break and holiday.”
It wasn’t enough.
Nothing would be enough.
The first sob ripped from my chest, and my body jerked. Hendrix pressed my face into his shoulder and he buried his face in my neck. “Baby, please don’t fucking cry. I can’t...” His voice broke, and I cried harder. Heart pounding, I held on to him with all the strength I could muster as sob after sob racked my body.
The screen door opened and a pair of heavy boots thudded against the hard porch floor. “Maddie, honey.” Daddy spoke from behind me. “She okay?”
Hendrix cursed under his breath. “She'll be fine. Just needs a minute.”
These two had never liked each other. Daddy didn’t think Hendrix was good enough for me, and Hendrix thought Daddy was an overbearing asshole.
Both were wrong.
Hendrix was perfect for me. Unlike Daddy, I didn’t judge him based on who he shared DNA with. I didn’t care that he was the product of a dead-beat mother or an alcoholic father. The only thing that mattered was how he treated me.
And there wasn’t a soul in this world that treated me better than Hendrix Cole.
On the flip side, Daddy wasn’t the bastard that Hendrix thought he was either. He was protective and had always been strict on me, but I was his little girl.
I expected nothing less.
“We need to go, Maddie. You have to check into your dorm by two.”
Hendrix ground his teeth together. “Five more minutes, Keith. She needs five more fucking minutes.”
And here we go…
“What did you just say, you little shit?” This was going nowhere fast. If I didn’t do something, they’d surely come to blows.
Wouldn’t be the first time.
Madder than a hornet, I leaned back and looked over my shoulder. “Stop it!” I looked back at Hendrix. “Stop it, right now!” My chest heaved from the force of my words and the tears still falling down my cheeks. “I don’t want to hear this.” Hendrix tensed beneath me. “Not today!”
The screen door opened again, and Grandmama stepped outside. Her steely blue gaze met mine, and her features tightened in agitation. “What in the name of sweet baby Jesus is going on out here?” She tossed a dishtowel over her shoulder and placed her fisted hands on her hips. “Well”—she stomped her foot— “somebody better tell me what all this hollering
is about.”
I climbed off Hendrix’s lap, and, like a three-year-old hell-bent on tattling, I pointed at him and Daddy both. “These two”—I looked at each of them— “can’t ever get along. Even on a day like today!”
Grandmama scowled and ripped the dishtowel from her shoulder before tossing it in Daddy’s face. Ooh, she was mad. “Keith Edward Davis! I raised you better than this!”
Eyes wide, Daddy stepped back. “All I did was tell Maddie that we needed to go. And this”—he pointed at Hendrix— “little asshole jumped in the middle of it.”
Hendrix stood up from the swing.
Uh oh.
“What did you call me?” His body was rigid, his jaw tight.
Daddy mirrored Hendrix’s stance. “You heard me. You. Little. Asshole.”
Hendrix moved in Daddy’s direction, but I stepped in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. His chest hit my back, and I wrapped my fingers around his muscled forearm. “Don’t you dare,” I hissed.
Instantly, he relaxed.
Daddy smirked.
Whack! Grandmama smacked him upside the head. “Wipe that look off your face.” Hendrix laughed as Grandmama continued to rip into Daddy. He was enjoying this—immensely. “There was a time when all Melody Davis had to do was toss a smile in your direction, and you’d melt into a puddle of goo.”
Internally, I fumed. My mama’s name sure was getting thrown around an awful lot today!
Hendrix laughed and Grandmama glared at him. Raising a wrinkled finger in his direction, she began fussing at him next. Her tone was harsh, scathing even. “And don’t think you have me fooled. I know you’re not innocent.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Besides, I’m still mad as all get out at you, young man.” She leaned forward a couple of inches and the small hump at the top of her back became more noticeable. “Don’t think I don’t know what you did this morning.”
Daddy raised his brows. “What did he do?”
Grandmama cut her eyes at him. “Are you blind, Keith or do you just pretend not to notice certain things so you don’t have to deal with them?”
Confused, he rocked back on his feet and shoved his hands in his pockets. He looked at me before staring Hendrix down. “What are you talking about?”
Grandmama shook her head. “To be so smart you sure are dumb.”
Still baffled, Daddy looked at me. I shrugged even though every nerve in my body was riddled with trepidation. He is going to lose his mind. “Grandmama,” I said, my eyes pleading, “not right now. Please.”
Her eyes moved to my left hand before bouncing back to my face. “Why? There isn’t anything to be ashamed of, sweetheart.”
I looked at Hendrix, and he smiled down at me before touching the tip of my nose with his index finger. “It’s alright, pretty girl. I’m man enough to explain.”
Man, enough to explain? It had nothing to do with that.
Nothing.
I was more worried about Daddy having a coronary or trying to kill Hendrix. Maybe when I came home for Thanksgiving break we could talk about it.
Damn it! I should’ve known Grandmama would see my ring. The woman had hawk eyes and a penchant for detail unlike anything I’d ever seen before. It didn’t help that I never wore jewelry—I was as far away from high maintenance as I could possibly be—so my new ring stuck out like a sore thumb.
Seriously, I should have known she’d see it. She’d have to be an idiot not to.
Speaking of idiots…
Daddy ripped his hands out of his pockets and turned to face Hendrix. “Explain what?” he hissed through gritted teeth.
Wrapping his arm around me, Hendrix pulled me into his side. I leaned my head against him. “I asked Maddie to marry me.”
Here we go. Cue Daddy’s stroke in one, two, three—
“You whhhhaaaaattttt?” Daddy screamed so loud my ears rang. Face turning redder than a beet, he looked down at my left hand. He spotted my ring and any control he had left snapped like a taut wire. “YOU FUCKING WHAT?” I jumped out of Hendrix’s hold and covered my ears as his bellow echoed around us. Hendrix moved in front of me and shielded my body with his in a protective gesture. My Daddy would never hurt me but Hendrix was acting on instinct alone.
Daddy may have been angrier than a hornet but Grandmama was madder than a puffed toad. She put starch in her spine and straightened herself to her full five-foot-one height. Body trembling from the anger roaring through her veins, she screamed like a banshee at Daddy. “Don’t you ever curse at one of my grandbabies again!”
Hendrix stiffened in front of me the moment Grandmama claimed him as one of her own.
Ha! I knew she loved him.
Daddy opened his mouth wide, no doubt to scream back but Hendrix jumped in before he could. “You raise your goddamn voice to Grandmama and I swear to Christ I’ll rip your fucking throat out!”
Daddy stilled, his entire body vibrated with barely constrained rage as he cut his eyes to Hendrix. He shook his head once and I knew he was about to lose his crap. Refusing to let this shit show go on anymore, I circled around Hendrix and stood in front of him. “Goddamn it, Maddie.” He grabbed my arm and tried to tug me back behind him but I wasn’t having it. I planted my feet wide and ripped my arm away.
I looked around the porch, meeting everyone’s eyes before speaking. “Would everybody calm down for a minute? Please!” My voice shook with nerves.
Grandmama shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m calm. It’s these damn men around here that are causing all the problems.” She puffed out a breath and pushed a stray grey curl out of her face.
How she went from spitting mad to calmer than a cucumber in two seconds flat, I’d never know.
The air around us crackled with tension. Still, Grandmama lifted my left hand and looked at my ring. “Hey Keith, I betcha I know what she said when Hendrix proposed.” Her teasing voice was calm, sweet. It was a stark contrast to the venom laced tone she’d possessed only moments before. She dropped my hand, turned to the side and elbowed me softly in the ribs. She was goading Daddy and I couldn’t help but snicker. After the way he’d hollered a few seconds ago, he deserved every ounce of the sass Grandmama was throwing his way. “Go on, honey bun, tell us what you said.” She elbowed me again.
Hendrix wrapped his arm around me from behind and placed his hand on my belly. “Yeah, tell him, pretty girl.” He rested his chin on top of my head. “Tell him that you agreed to be my wife.”
Oh hell.
These two were seriously going to give Daddy a heart attack!
Surprisingly, though, he didn’t have an outburst at Hendrix’s comment. I don’t know if it was because he was in shock or if he was just waiting for me to confirm.
Standing tall, I placed my hand on the one Hendrix rested on my belly. There was no reason to hide this. I was proud to be his fiancée! Squaring my shoulders, I followed Grandmama’s lead and threw a little sass of my own. “You’re dang right I did!”
Hendrix’s arm tightened around my waist and he kissed the top of my head. “Was there ever any doubt?” Smartass!
Mouth gaping, Daddy snarled at all of us. “I can’t believe this.” He threw his arms up in the air. Then, with only inches separating us, he pointed his finger at me. “You are NOT getting married!” Then he pointed his finger in Hendrix’s direction. “Especially to him!”
Fire and determination bubbled in the pit of my belly. Ripping myself away from Hendrix’s iron-like hold, I placed two hands on Daddy’s chest and pushed—hard. He stumbled back a foot. I wasn’t necessarily strong but I was angry as hell. My chest heaved and I narrowed my eyes. I loved my Daddy with my entire heart but I’d be damned if I let him tell me what I was going to do with my life! “You don’t get to make that decision.”
Daddy’s head snapped back in shock. Whether it was from my outburst or the fact that I’d pushed him, I didn’t know. Didn’t really care either.
With more space separating us now, he leaned forward, closing the gap. �
��The hell I don’t. You’re my goddamn daughter!” It was the first time he’d ever yelled at me. He’d been harsh before but he’d never—not once—yelled at me. I’d cry about it later but right now I was too pissed for my feelings to be hurt.
Hendrix’s defiance must have been wearing off on me because I snapped right back. “I may be your daughter, but I’m his fiancée!”
Hendrix sounded off from behind me. “You’re fucking right.” For once, Grandmama remained silent.
Daddy’s nostrils flared but I stood tall. I wasn’t gonna let him think that he could push me around and make my decisions for me, especially when it came to this. He could either get on board or he could get the hell outta my way. “I’m eighteen, Daddy. I get to make my own damn decisions!” My throat burned. I never yelled and my poor vocal cords weren’t used to it.
“Check … and … mate,” Hendrix whispered behind me.
My head whipped around. His arms were crossed over his chest and he stood tall too. “You’re not helping, handsome.”
“Sorry, baby.” He dropped his arms to his sides and shrugged before smiling. “I just like seeing you get all riled up.”
Butthead.
Grandmama finally spoke. “Looks like it’s a done deal, Son. Might as well get on board while you still can.” She lifted her hand and examined her perfectly manicured nails. “And remember, Maddie is the one who’s responsible for picking out your future nursing home. Don’t wanna go and piss her off now, do ya?” Hendrix snickered and I snorted. We were so refined. Gah! “Not to mention, you want to think of your future grandchildren. Whether you like it or not, they’ll be half Hendrix.” She lowered her voice and whispered, “Let’s just hope it’s the good half,” before speaking normally again. “Seems to me you might wanna keep that in mind.”
Daddy’s head jerked back and the color drained from his face. Until that moment, I don’t think he’d ever thought about me having kids, especially since he wanted me to stay a little girl forever.