“Well, Mrs. Towers. If you win, you get to pick the name. If I win, I get to pick it.”
She smiled and bent over to break up the balls. “This is going to be easy.”
“How do you know I wasn’t hustling you all this time?” I laughed just saying it.
She made two balls and walked around the table. It was funny. I was so used to seeing her play in tight jeans, or nothing at all. Now she wore a maternity sundress and had bare feet, but she never looked more beautiful to me.
“Does it really matter? I think we both came out winning.”
I watched her shoot at another ball and make the shot. “Yeah, we sure did.”
She missed her shot and walked over to me. “Here’s your chance, hustler.”
I smiled and thought back to when I was playing her to stay with me. “I think you like letting me win.”
She started laughing and shook her head. “Only when it gets me what I want.”
I bent over to shoot and looked up at her. “So, do you have what you want?”
She leaned against the table, letting me look down her shirt. “I have more than I could have ever hoped for.”
I missed the damn shot because I was too busy peeking at her tits. She stood up and started laughing. “You need to work on being distracted.”
“You need to wear hoodies when we play.”
She reached back and unzipped her dress, letting it fall to the floor. “Oops!”
“I forfeit.” It took me only seconds to make it around to where she was standing. “You don’t play fair.”
“I play to win.” She said as our lips brushed.
We heard the kitchen door slamming and two kids arguing. Vessa reached down and grabbed her dress, while I headed for the steps. “Cheaters never win, you know,” I teased.
“I love it when you’re losing.”
“I love it when you’re naked!” I laughed as I ran up the last couple steps. I knew she was playing games with me and I loved every second of it. We both loved the game of pool. It had brought us together. She was the only partner that I needed. One day I would beat her fair and square. I had our whole lives to do it.
Chapter 24
Vessa
Our story was far from being romantic. Some may have said that we rushed into it. Others have said that it was a relationship based on two people rebounding.
We didn’t care.
Our love was real and we were happy.
I didn’t meet Ramsey’s parents until I was seven months along and already his wife. He’d talked to them frequently, but we just had never had time to take a trip to visit. I would have been nervous meeting them as his girlfriend, but meeting them after we’d already married and gotten pregnant wasn’t exactly reassuring. I was so nervous that I threw up the whole way. The kids were excited, realizing that new grandparents meant more Christmas and birthday presents. My husband was the only one who remained calm, smiling the whole way.
We pulled into a small community with only a few houses. Each one looked different and they were surrounded by large pine trees giving each yard complete privacy. His parent’s house was a large white colonial. It sat off the road and had a long circular driveway. Black shutters were dressed around every window and it was fully landscaped.
I felt like it was more from a movie than and actual place that Ramsey had grown up in. “Don’t let the size fool you. My dad built it and they got the property for next to nothing. It’s the idiots that have moved into the neighborhood after them that are the rich ones.”
I tried to smile, but still felt overwhelmed. It wasn’t just that I was meeting his parents. I felt like I had to compete with Jules. I felt like they were going to look at me like I was just a replacement. Maybe it was selfish, or possibly my hormones. Ramsey always said I was the only person who thought things like that. He said that Jules and I were very different and he loved me because of that reason.
At any rate, by the time we got to the front door, I was shaking like a leaf. The kids were giddy and standing behind us talking about being at a mansion. It wasn’t close to being a mansion, but I guess it was the biggest house they’d been in.
When he took my hand and opened the front door, I thought he was going to have to carry me in. My feet wouldn’t work. He leaned down and started laughing at me. “Seriously, you act like they’re horrible people. Would you just calm down.”
Reluctantly, I squeezed his hand and proceeded into the foyer. We found his parents sitting in a family room off of the kitchen. His mother stood up and came rushing over toward us. After hugging her son, she turned all of her attention to me. She grabbed both of my hands and gave me a once over. “I am so happy to finally have you here, Vessa. Talking to you on the phone and seeing pictures just doesn’t even compare to spending time together. You must be exhausted from your long ride. Come sit down and I will get you something to drink.”
“Thank you.” Ramsey smiled as his mother pulled me into the living room. His father stopped us before I could sit down. He reached his hand out to shake mine, but I hugged him instead. He seemed to get a kick out of it. I noticed that on his arms he had a couple of old military tattoos. I’d worn a cardigan to try to hide what was on my arm. I had no idea what these people would think of me and I wanted to make a good impression. I didn’t have any family, so having them was special.
For the next few hours, I got to know the people that raised Ramsey. His mother broke out photo albums and told stories of when he was a teen. She talked about Jules, but not in a way that made me feel uncomfortable. She even talked about Katie, not that she had to. Her walls were covered in her.
For dinner, his mother Maggie, made a turkey and we ate a feast like it was Thanksgiving. We joked about how Ramsey couldn’t even boil water without burning the house down. He was trying to do better, since we had a restaurant to run.
Ramsey’s father, Joseph, took the kids on a nature walk and told Logan all about being in the war and what it was like to be a soldier. They talked about planes and then they got talking about fishing. Asha followed Maggie around like she was her apprentice. I enjoyed seeing her bonding with another female and it seemed like Maggie was feeling the way.
Throughout the day and into the evening, Ramsey kept making sure that I was alright. When it was time to go to sleep, he climbed into bed humming. It was strange to hear, since he’d never done it before. “My parents love you. I told you it would be fine.”
“They’re really nice people. I told your mom that they need to come stay with us when the baby is born. The guest room will be ready by then.” Right now it was full of all of Ramsey’s things from the cabin.
He placed his hand on top of my belly. It was something that he did every night. The closer I got to our due date, the more I knew that he was becoming anxious. I knew what he feared, and although I couldn’t predict the future, I was certain that everyone was going to be okay.
Sometimes our life together seemed surreal. I had never imagined being so happy with someone. He loved the kids and they loved him back. He was good for them, always making sure they were never left out, especially when it came to decisions about their baby brother or sister.
Finding out the sex of the baby had been a huge ordeal. Since I was still young and had never had complications with my first two, our insurance only covered two sonograms. We had one at twenty weeks and that poor technician tried her hardest, but couldn’t get a good enough look to make a determination. So we’d been suffering to know ever since.
Ramsey swore it was going to be a boy. Since I already had one of each, it didn’t matter what I had. My main concern was that it came out healthy.
“My dad wanted to know if you’d be interested in…” Ramsey stopped mid sentence.
I leaned up and looked over at him. “What’s wrong, honey?” He just seemed off.
“They have the cradle that he made for Katie up in their attic. He asked me tonight if I wanted it for the baby.”
“What
did you tell him?” I could see it in his eyes that he didn’t like talking about it.
“I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t talk about it.”
I reached out and rubbed his back. “I think it would be really special if the baby got to use the same cradle as one of their big sisters.”
He pulled my hand up to his lips and kissed my wedding ring. The diamond was my mother’s and it meant so much to be able to finally wear it. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Always know what to say? Where would I even be without you?”
I tried not think about that. Our life was too great to think about what could have been. “It doesn’t matter. You’re always going to have me. I can’t get rid of you now. I have three kids to raise,” I teased.
“We have three kids to raise. As my best friend and my wife, I’ll never let you do it all alone. That goes for Asha and Logan too. I know they have their dad, especially when he gets his shit straight, but I want them to know they can always count on me.” He laid his head down on my stomach and after a few seconds the baby started moving around. “I’ll miss them everyday, but this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
I felt his hand reaching into my panties. “Are you seriously trying to get freaky with me in your parents house?”
He laughed and kept moving down lower. “Maybe.”
I grabbed his arm, not letting him go any further. “We can’t!”
He sat up and pulled out of my hold, then started pulling my panties down. “We can! This was my room. I think it’s like a fantasy to sleep with a woman that’s even sexier than the ones that used to hang on these very walls.”
“I am fat and pregnant.”
“You’re beautiful. I want you every time I look at you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Seriously, buttering up isn’t going to make me want to have sex.”
He tugged one last time, getting my underwear completely off. He was ignoring me, pulling off his pants anyway. He grabbed one of my legs and held it up against his shoulder. His gentle, wet kisses covered my ankles, leaving me fighting to hold my ground. Once his lips got to my calf, I was pretty much forfeiting the battle.
Ramsey had a way of persuading me into doing whatever he wanted. He was never really unreasonable, so I went with whatever he had in mind. We were adults and since we were married and expecting, I hardly can imagine that his parents thought we never had sex. It still felt weird, except with Ramsey’s seductive tactics, it was impossible to stop him, when he loved pleasing me so much.
We spent the next couple days doing things with his parents. They took the kids to the aquarium and came back with their hands full of presents. As for me and Ramsey, well, we spent the afternoon at the cemetery.
I was nervous going there. I just felt like it wasn’t my place, but he insisted. Since it seemed so important to him, I agreed to go. The cemetery was actually beautiful. The landscaping and statues of angels made for a serene atmosphere. We walked down a little hill after we parked and came up to a small bench. He pointed to the two headstones across from it and I read the names. Then he took my hand and we both sat down. I had fresh flowers in my hand, but was afraid to make a move. Ramsey was so quiet. He sat still, just staring at the headstones. He kept my hand in his, sometimes rubbing mine with his thumb. I understood his silence, but it was hard to say nothing when I knew he was in pain.
Finally, after at least ten minutes, he just started talking. “Jules parents put the bench in a couple months ago. They come here every Sunday.”
“It’s very pretty here.”
“Yeah, I think so.”
I put my arm around him. “Do you want me to give you a minute? I can go back to the car.”
I didn’t want him to feel like he couldn’t say something because I was there. This was his own personal time with his girls. I knew how important it was.
He put his arm over my shoulder and pulled me closer, while kissing the top of my head. “There’s nothing I have to say that you can’t hear, Vessa. You being a part of this is important to me. They’re my past, but you’re my future. That’s never going to change.”
I smiled and leaned my head into him for a second. Without asking if it was okay, I walked up to Jules’ stone. It was hard with my belly, but I knelt down in front of it and set up the flowers in the holder. “I promise to spend every day of my life taking care of him, Jules.”
When I turned around to look around he was smiling with tears in his eyes. He mouthed the words ‘thank you’ and held out his hand to help me stand up. We stood there for a few more minutes holding hands.
Once we set up Katie’s flowers, we headed out and had lunch. A couple people recognized him and came over to say hello. He introduced me as his wife and told them about our life in West Virginia. I was surprised when the guy asked him if he still shot pool. He laughed and looked at me, before explaining that he married me to steal all of my skills.
When they finally walked away, he was all smiles. “Do you miss living here? We can move if you want. I mean, we could always sell the restaurant and buy another house.”
“Vessa, I love where we live. I don’t want you having to worry if I’m coming home at night, like I know Jules did. I don’t miss the city life, at all. I like my job. It’s easy and I can be with you whenever I need to be. My old station was constantly working on cases. I worked eight hours running around with criminals and putting my life on the line. We don’t have that where we live. The kids can grow up and play outside without us having to be out there with them. That’s the kind of life that I want for my family.”
“I just want you to be happy. I feel like you’ve taken on my life and I don’t want you to have to do that.” I knew what it was like to be in a marriage where it was all about the other person. I couldn’t take him ever resenting me.
“I’m the one that wanted to get married. It was my idea to fix up the restaurant. I love living in your aunt’s old house. It big enough for all of us and the property is fantastic. Would you stop with the worrying. I will be so glad when you pop out that kid and get back to being your spunky self.”
“I worry too much.”
“Yes, you do. Just relax and enjoy life with me. You never know what tomorrow brings and I will spend every minute of my life being happy. I’ve wasted away enough time.”
“I really do love you, so much.” He was everything I could have asked for in a man. “I even loved the stubborn hermit that you used to be.”
He reached over the table and kissed me. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. I love you too, honey. Now finish eating before the kids talk my parents into taking them to Disney World. I don’t know which one of them is more excited about having each other. Did you see my parents light up earlier today? I told you that you had nothing to worry about. Everything is going to be alright.” He sang like Bob Marley. I laughed and rolled my eyes.
When it was time to say goodbye, I felt like a weight had lifted off of me. Ramsey had been right all along about his parents. They never made me feel like I was just a replacement. His mother was genuinely grateful that I’d pushed my way into her son’s life. She didn’t know that he’d pushed his way right inside of mine. At the end of the day, I was thrilled to have such considerate people to call family.
We were so blessed and seeing my kids so happy made me overjoyed.
Logan always called Ramsey his hero. He would always be my hero, too.
Epilogue
Ramsey
You’re probably wondering who won the bet about naming the baby. We actually didn’t get to play our match until a week before the baby was born. With the construction finished on the restaurant and everything else we hand to do to get it going, by the time we got home at night, we were both too tired to go downstairs and stand around.
Finally, on a Sunday morning, I found Vessa downstairs folding clothes. She insisted on doing the laundry, even when she couldn’t carry up the baskets a
nymore. I tried to explain to her that I could wash clothes, but after she’d seen me attempt to cook some things, she decided that she was just going to do it.
That was the hardhead that I fell in love with.
When I started balls around on the table, she came into the pool table area with her hands on her back. Her belly was so big that standing became a task on its own.
We’d talked about baby names, but each time, we went back to letting the game decide.
Vessa pointed to the rack that was hanging on the wall. “Are we starting over?”
“Of course. I’ll even let you break.”
She smiled and pulled her dad’s old stick out of it’s case. I watched her chalking it up and making sure I didn’t give her a loose rack to break up. It was kind of a way to cheat. The looser the rack, the harder it was to break out the balls. For a good player, the break was a big part of the strategy to run out the balls. If no balls were made, you lost your turn.
I started laughing when I saw her questioning me. “What? I was just making sure you weren’t …”
“I see how you are. Break up the balls, woman.”
She won the first rack easily, almost like she hadn’t taken a day off from playing. That woman had skills, that was for sure. The second game consisted of a bunch of safety shots on both of us. I managed to win, barely. I broke and ran out the third game. She kicked my ass the fourth game. During the fifth game was when I saw her change her game. She started smiling and laughing when she missed. Finally, with her next turn, she got on the eight ball. “As soon as I make this, I can tell you the names I picked out,” She teased.
I felt defeated.
Then she grabbed the cue ball and tossed it in a pocket, forfeiting and giving me the win. She giggled and walked up to kiss me. As her lips pulled away from mine, she opened her eyes. “I wanted you to win.”
Hustle Him (Bank Shot Romance #2) Page 21