by Shelly Jones
“Yeah, the song just got to me. It’s really fitting for us.”
“Yes it is.”
Everyone in the bar applauds and I look over at Rachel and Brady and Rachel is crying. When I get a chance, I’m downloading that song.
“Dance with me,” she asks as “Love Your Love The Most” by Eric Church comes on
“Of course,” I say and I grab her hand and lead her to the dance floor. I wrap her in my arms and sing the song to her. She looks up at me and smiles
“I could so get use to you singing to me every night.”
“Anytime babe, anytime,” I whisper and then I kiss her on the lips gently.
We make our way back to Rachel and Brady.
“Well sis, I think we are getting ready to head out. Want to get lunch tomorrow and maybe do a girly day with manicures and pedicures?” Rachel asks Katie.
“Um maybe, it depends on if Eric keeps me tied up all day,” she says.
“No worries babe, I have to go into the firehouse for a six hour shift from noon until six PM,” I tell her.
“Well then it’s settled, when we’re done you can get Ava and wait for prince charming to come home and cook you dinner. He did lose the bet,” Rachel says winking at me.
“Alright, I’ll call you when I’m ready,” Katie says. “Eric, do you mind if we go home too?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” I say, and we walk Brady and Rachel out.
“I’m telling her when we get home FYI. So you might want to tell Katie soon,” Brady says.
“No worries, I got this.”
Katie and Rachel say their goodbyes and Katie and I get into my truck, and she yells, “Holy shit, Eric!”
“What?” I say as she makes me jump.
“This is the first time since you’ve been back in town that we’ve had a drama free night outside of my house,” she laughs.
“Wow you’re right, well shit. Let’s leave so we don’t jinx it,” I say putting the truck in drive.
We pull into the driveway to her house and I put the truck in park.
“Tonight was fun,” I say to her.
“You’re coming in right,” she says with her eyebrow up.
“Yeah, if you want me too.”
“What part of me making sure you weren’t keeping me tied up all day tomorrow before I made plans with Rachel didn’t you get? It was pretty obvious that I was hoping you’d stay with me tonight. But if you don’t want to that’s fine too. I just sort of hoped you’d stay,” she says to me.
I’m speechless, but who am I to argue with her. If she wants me to come in, well then I guess I’m going in. I just don’t know if I’m going to be able to keep my hands off of her. It’s been hard as hell keeping my hands to myself all these days and nights I’ve spent with her over the last month. Now that we are alone, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to be good.
“Hello, earth to Eric,” she says snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Yeah, ok. Yes I’ll come in.”
“You ok?”
“Yeah I’m fine. I’m good. I’m here. Sorry.” She looks at me weird and gets out of the truck. I follow her into the house.
“Want a beer?” she asks.
“Sure.”
She hands me the beer and looks at me, “Are you sure you’re ok? You seem like you’re off on another planet.”
“Katie, I’m fine. I was just thinking about something.” When the words come out, I know I have just fucked up. The way I said it came out like I was snapping at her. She turns on her heel.
“No one made you come in, if you have somewhere better to be then please, go. No one and I mean no one, is stopping you,” she snaps.
Ok we could go two ways with this, I could snap back and ask her what the hell that was supposed to mean or I can just brush it off and kiss her. Fuck it. I put my beer on the counter and walk up to her, corner her up against the counter and I kiss her, none of this sweet, mushy, gentle shit either.
“What was that for,” she asks.
“Does it answer your question as to where I want to be?” Her face turns a beautiful shade of red and she bites her bottom lip. “Well does it?” I whisper against her lips.
“Yes...” she says in almost a moan.
Fuck, I’m hard as hell. She keeps rubbing herself up against me and it’s driving me insane.
She pushes me away and heads for the back yard where she takes the cover off the hot tub. She walks back into the house. “So are you going to stay in here all night, or are you going to join me in the hot tub?” she says with so much confidence it’s just fucking sexy.
“I didn’t bring my swim suit.”
“Who says you need a suit?” she says walking to the closet to grab towels. “So did you make up your mind yet? You joining me, or are you just going to stand there and stare at me like some creeper? Oh, I should remind you, I do have a .38 special and pepper spray that I use on creepers,” she says giggling.
I take off my boots and socks following her outside. She’s standing there in the full moon light, looking hot as hell. I start to unbutton my shirt when she turns around.
“It’s about time you got out here,” she says and she bites her lower lip.
She takes off her teal top, then her jeans. She’s standing in front of me with nothing but a black lace matching bra and panties set. My dick is so hard right now, it’s starting to hurt. I take my shirt and jeans off in a hurry.
She walks over to the hot tub, stripping out of her bra and panties and throws them at me as she slips in, naked! I stare, transfixed on her as I strip off my boxer briefs and climb in next to her.
“Hi...” I say.
“Hi...” she whispers back. She puts her legs over my lap and giggles when my boner grazes her legs.
“So..... Did you have a good time tonight?”
“I did Eric, thank you for everything. It was perfect.”
“Well I have one more surprise for you...”
“You do?”
“Yeah, I was going to give it to you earlier but decided I wanted to give it to you when we were alone.”
“So what is it?”
“In my truck, but I have back stage passes and VIP seating for the Luke Bryan concert on July third, if you want to go.”
“Oh my fucking god! You’re shitting me right?”
“Nope and the added bonus, Rachel and Brady are coming with us. Brady and I got the tickets for you girls.”
“Eric, oh my god,” she says and then she straddles me and starts kissing me. “You’re truly amazing, but I hope you know that you don’t have to do this stuff to try and convince me you’re not going to hurt me and you’re not leaving. Eric I know you’re here and I know you’re not going to hurt me.”
“Katie, I’m not doing this to kiss your ass, I’m doing this because I can and I want too. I like making you smile and I couldn’t say no to these tickets.”
She starts kissing me, our tongues dancing. She starts to grind me with her hips, teasing me. I gently pull her hair and expose her neck. Kissing, licking and nibbling it, making my way down to her breast. I cannot get enough of this woman. Her moans are enough to drive me insane. “Quit teasing me, and let me in, please baby!” I beg.
She lets out a giggle and just allows the tip of my cock in. Fuck this, I grab her hips and pull her down all the way.
“Fuck you feel good inside me,” she moans in my ear. She rocks, she grinds, and she bounces. She’s going insane and I’m not going to last long.
“Katie I’m going to come,” I say against her lips as we make eye contact.
“Come with me Eric,” she says and that’s all it takes. She and I come together and it was one of the hottest fucking things I’ve ever had happen to me. “Wow,” she whispers and kisses me.
“Yeah,” I put my head back against the side.
“Are you staying the night?” she asks.
“Do you want me to?”
“I’d like you to, but if you don’t want
to it, it’s ok.”
“I’m staying the night.”
She starts yawning and gets off my lap.
“Come on, let’s go inside,” I say standing up and reaching for her hands. She stands up and I get out and wrap a towel around my waist. I get her towel and open it for her to step into and wrap it around her. She walks over and turns off the lights on the hot tub and we walk inside.
“I’ll make sure everything is locked up tight,” I tell her she smiles at me and walks back to her room. I run to my truck and grab the tickets and lock up my truck. I get into the house and make sure all locks are locked. When I get back to her room, she’s coming out of the bathroom.
“All locked up?” she asks.
“Yep.”
She walks over to the key pad and hits her codes. I grab my boxer briefs and put them on.
We crawl into bed. She lays her head on my chest.
“Thank you,” she says.
“You’re welcome, I’m glad you had fun tonight.”
“No, I just don’t mean tonight. I mean everything you’ve done. I don’t know what I would have done these past few weeks if you weren’t around, and even now I don’t want to admit this, I know I’m going to need you over the next few weeks.”
“Katie, you don’t have to thank me. I just wish I was here a long time ago.”
“Stop with that. What’s done is done. You’re here now. We’re here together. I don’t know what we are, but all I know is my heart is happy.”
“Katie, will you be my girlfriend?” I ask her.
She looks up at me and starts to giggle. “Oh my god, I feel like we’re in the fifth grade. Yes Eric I will be your girlfriend,” and she laughs even harder.
“Ah now we’re official,” I chuckle.
“Nope, we’re not official until its Facebook official,” she laughs.
“Well do what you want. I don’t care who knows.” I kiss the top of her head, and we lay there talking about just random things. Once she falls asleep, I lay there and think about the talk her dad and I had the other day. It was a long time coming and I knew if I wanted to get any closer to Katie and Ava, I’d have to talk to him.
“Mr. Brooks, thanks for letting me come over,” I say. I’m fucking shaking.
“Well it’s about damn time you got over here. I thought maybe you would pussy out on me.”
“No Sir. I know you wanted to talk to me. I just didn’t want Katie to know about our talk unless you wanted her to know.”
“No, no this is good. So you want a beer?”
“Sure, I’d take one,” I say. What the fuck, I’m acting like a fucking teenager getting busted by the father for fucking his daughter in the back of his car.
Mr. Brooks hands me a beer “Come on, let’s go out back,” he says and I follow we take a seat on the chairs on the deck.
“Alright Eric, are you sure you’re back for good?”
“Sir, I wouldn’t be spending time with Katie and Ava if I wasn’t sure. I know I fucked up, more than just once, but I’m here. I’m here for good. It took me awhile to realize where home was, but I know in my heart, Katie is home. It’s always been and always will be Katie. She’s my home. I know I can’t take back what happened in the past, but Sir, I need her... I was a piece of shit for a man without her. Now that she’s back in my life, I can breathe. I don’t know what else to say. I know what I just said probably made me sound like a pussy, but it’s alright, it is how I feel. She makes me whole.” I take a deep breath and a long drink from my beer.
Mr. Brooks is just sitting there staring at me. I’m not sure if I should get up and run or what. He clears his throat.
“Remember what I told you the night of graduation and the night of Steve’s funeral?” I nod my head yes. “I told you not to show your ass back up here unless you were sure you were ready to love my daughter, and if you weren’t sure, you were better off staying away so I wouldn’t have to hurt you? The night of graduation, you did just that. You left.
“When you showed up for Steve’s service, I had such big hopes that you were coming back for the right reasons, but then we talked and I knew you had a lot more growing up to do. I know you’re the one for my daughter; I’m not blind or dumb. I know she loves you. She never stopped. When she woke up from that coma and called out your name, I knew she wasn’t over you. Then when Steve died, she called out your name so many times in her sleep. For whatever reason, you’re it for Katie. When I heard you were back in town this last time, I called your dad. Your dad and I talked. He agreed he would keep you away from her. But then....” he starts to say and I cut him off.
“Then she came to my parent’s house and I watched Katie, my mom and dad in my mom’s room from the cameras we have in mom’s room. Here she is being strong, after she’s just gone through hell and back and she sat there with my mom for three hours. Sir she even brushed my mom’s hair and put it in a ponytail. Do you know how bad I wanted to rush in that room and tell her I was here and that I loved her? But I didn’t. I wanted to do it right. Then it all went to hell and she yelled at me. For a couple of weeks she had so much anger for me, but I let her have it. I deserved it all. Then when the truths were coming out about Dean and Steve and Reagan, she let me in. Mr. Brooks, sir, I’m here, I’m not going anywhere. I will put my own life on the line for her and Ava. I hope you know that.” I let out a breath. My hands are shaking.
“Eric I know that. I know that now more than anything. I know you love her. Just give her time. She’s a fighter and she has one more fight to fight. If she pushes you away, don’t walk away from her. Let her fight with you, but be there for her. She’s going to need it. I don’t know what’s going to happen when that bastard gets out, but we all have to be on guard. Keep Ava safe and keep Katie safe. If you can promise me this, well then you and I will be just fine.”
“Of course I will. You know I will.”
“Well ok then. I guess we’re fine, and for the record, welcome back Eric. It’s good to see my baby girl smile,” he says to me.
“Yeah it feels good to make her smile!”
We sit on the back deck for another hour. I told him I wasn’t going anywhere and that I will always love his daughter, even when she hates me. I’m not going where.
I get into my truck. “Well thank god that’s over with. Now to make sure Katie knows I’m here and I’m not going anywhere, that she is my home,” I say to myself. I turn my truck on and back out of the drive way and head for my parents’ house, Jason Mraz’s “I Won’t Give Up” comes over my speakers. “Yep Katie, I am not giving up!”
Katie is now on her back and I’m lying there watching her sleep. She is so beautiful. I fucking love this girl. I always have. I want to tell her I love her, but I think it’s too soon. Oh well, fuck it, when the time is right I guess. I start to yawn, but I don’t want to sleep. I just want to lay here and watch her. I think she’s having a bad dream; her face keeps making mad and sad expressions. I push a piece of hair away from her face. “Don’t worry baby, you’re safe as long as I’m with you. I’m never leaving you Katie,” I whisper in her ear. She smiles when I say that.
My eyes are getting heavier and before I know it, I’m asleep. My dreams are weird. Katie and Ava are there, but I see two more kids, one boy and one girl. They’re giggling with Ava. Katie is sitting in the grass, looking happy. She looks over at me and she’s pregnant.
All of a sudden, all three kids coming screaming up to me, “Daddy! You’re home! Daddy’s home!” I wake up and look over at Katie, she’s still sleeping.
“What the fuck kind of dream was that?” I say to myself. I’ve never seen myself as a dad, until Ava came into my life and now, and well right now I want to have a ton of kids with this girl.
I shake my head and lay back down, I grab Katie and put her back up against my chest, burry my face in her hair and I’m out again.
Chapter 13
Katie
I wake up to the smell of bacon and coffee coming from the
kitchen which instantly puts a smile on my face; nothing like the smell of my two favorite things to wake up too. As I lay in bed thinking about last night and how perfect it was, I can’t help but think it was a once in a life time kind of night. It took my mind off Dean’s release on Tuesday and the unfinished business I have with Reagan. I really wish I could just grab Ava and run. Disappear so no one can find me, but I won’t do that. I’ve never been one to hide from a fight. I am by no means tough or a badass, but I will fight my own fight.
I grab my robe and walk to the kitchen. Standing in the door way watching Eric cook breakfast is a sight. He’s got the iPod on and “Hey, Soul Sister” by Train is playing. He’s singing and trying to dance, I think. Not exactly sure what you would call those moves, but either way they’re cute. I stand there a little while longer before he turns and catches me.
“You enjoying the show?” he says.
“Um, yeah, I am actually. Why did you stop?”
“Because I don’t like an audience.”
“Ah, well I’ll go hide so you can keep dancing,” I say with a wink. I walk over to the coffee pot and pour myself a cup. I look around at the kitchen to find French toast and bacon.
“Mmm smells good,” I say grabbing a piece of bacon. I walk up to him and kiss him on his bare shoulder. “Good Morning,” I say against his bare skin. He turns around and kisses me.
“Good Morning. Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah, the best in a long time. How about you?”
He brings our plates to the table and sits down. “I slept good, it’s nice being able to cuddle with something other than a pillow,” he says.
I laugh.
“You excited about your girly day?”
“Very, I need a good girly day out. It’s been a long time since I’ve had one. Are you going to come over after your shift tonight?”
“Well, seeing I owe you a month’s worth of dinners, I guess I should,” he says with a smile, taking a bite of his French toast.