I nod. “Yes,” I say with a smile. “She wants to have girls’ dinner.” Make him believe the lie.
He frowns. “Girls’ dinner? Where are you girls gonna go?”
Why does it matter? “We don’t know just yet. She is gonna talk to Courtney and then call me back,” I say bringing the hot cup up to my lips.
I pucker up my lips and lightly blow on the coffee when I look up at him leaning against the fridge staring at me.
“What?” I ask lowering the cup.
He pushes off the fridge and walks over to me. He takes the cup from my hands, even though I protest, and sets it on the counter behind me.
“Do you know how beautiful you are?” he asks staring down at me with a straight face.
I blush. It’s hard to hear him say things like that. He’s not the type to give compliments, and I’m not the kind of girl who accepts them.
“Stop.” I playfully slap his chest. He catches my wrist and places it around his neck.
“You don’t mean that,” he whispers as he lowers his lips down to my throat.
I sigh as I allow my head to drop back. “I don’t?” I question breathlessly.
He pulls back shaking his head as he reaches down and lifts my shirt up and over my head. His lips go back to my throat as he kisses his way down my chest to my breast. “Parker?” I question remembering he lives here.
“He’s not here.” His tongue licks over my hardened nipple, and I gasp when I feel his teeth bite into my sensitive skin. “You’re mine,” he says as he falls to his knees in front of me. “Say it,” he demands.
“I’m yours,” I say running my hands through his cropped hair.
“And what does that mean?” he asks spreading my legs and placing them over his shoulders.
I lean back and place my palms on the countertop to hold myself up. “That you can have me anytime you want,” I say breathing heavy.
The fact that Parker could come home and walk in scares me to death but it also excites me.
He smiles as he presses a soft kiss to my inner thigh. “And…” he asks as he presses another kiss closer to my sex.
“And I want you to have me right now.” I speak softly.
“Such a good girl,” he breathes against my thigh before he kisses it once again. My nipples harden to pebbles as they crave to be touched.
I throw my head back as my heart races and my sex tightens the closer he gets. I whimper when I feel the wetness of his tongue lick the inside of my thigh.
So close… “Fuck me,” I pant.
“With…?”
“Your tongue.” I swallow. “Fuck me with your tongue.”
I gasp when I feel his tongue run over my lips. He spreads my sex with his tongue. He runs it up and then around my clit.
My chest rises and falls quickly as I breathe deeply. His tongue penetrates me and my body bucks.
His hands come up and grab a hold of my hips to hold them down onto the counter. “Sit still, baby,” he mumbles against my clit.
Argh. “I can’t…” I pant as he goes back to pleasuring me with his mouth. My chest rises and falls quickly and my hips rock back and forth. Doesn’t matter how much he gives me, my body wants more.
My head falls back as my body shatters and knocks into the cabinet that hangs above me.
I gasp for breath as he slowly laps up every last drop of my arousal. He lowers my shaking legs and they hang lifelessly against the bottom cabinets.
He stands up and places a hand in my hair and pulls my head up to look him in the eyes. I look at him through hooded eyes, and he licks his wet lips.
His free hand falls between my legs and I whimper when his fingers lazily run up and down my soaked pussy. “You’re shaking, sweetheart,” he whispers. “And guess what?” he asks, but I can’t answer. Not yet.
He presses his lips to mine, and I feel his finger roughly enter me. I gasp. “I’m not done with you...”
***
I now sit in my car outside of the airport and take a deep breath. I have only met his mother once and she wasn’t the nicest to me at Sam and Slade’s wedding. And it didn’t go all that well.
I sigh heavily and look over to see Tate as he dances on the dance floor with some brunette that I’m sure Sam didn’t invite to this wedding.
Laura, Tate’s mother, stands in front of me as she talks to Sam. She pauses for a second to look over to her son and then back to me. “You have your work cut out for you.”
I look at Laura wide-eyed. Do I look that pathetic? Can she see that I love her son and that he broke my heart? “Excuse me?”
Laura gives me a kind smile. “Every person in this place can see how much you love my son. And they can also see that he does not care.” Her words take my breath away.
“Laura,” Sam scolds her.
“No. It’s okay,” I says softly, looking down to the floor. “You’re right. He doesn’t care about me.” Or about what we lost.
“That is not what I said.” I look up to her confused. “I said he doesn’t care that you love him. I didn’t say he doesn’t care about you.”
“Is there a difference?” I ask, still confused by this woman.
“Of course. Your love for him can’t change him. But he knows the love he could have for you would. Tate needs someone strong, Missy. Tate hides things very well. He keeps things bottled up and tries to fight all his demons by himself.”
I shake my head. “Nothing’s going to happen between us.”
Laura smiles, like she knows something we don’t. “Just stay strong. Animals prey on the weak,” she says with a straight face.
Animals prey on the weak. Is that why it worked when I stood up to him last night?
I’ve been nothing but weak for I don’t know how long now. But she was right. Tate needs someone as strong as he is. Someone just as stubborn and hardheaded as him. I can be that girl. And I will.
I smile as I see a beautiful woman departing from the airport. She has her jet black hair over one shoulder. Her head is held high as she pulls a rolling suitcase behind her.
I exit the car and greet her. “Hello, Laura,” I say with a smile.
She lets go of her suitcase and wraps her arms around me. “Hello, Missy. How are you doing?” She pulls away and cups my face with her hand. “How are things with my son? I heard you two are a couple.”
“Who told you that?” I ask, wondering who she has talked to.
“Sam filled me in on it last night when I called her,” she tells me as I grab her suitcase and place it in my trunk.
“We are,” is all I say, coming around the car and getting in. She smiles happily and I ask the question that has been on my mind since she called. “What are you doing here?”
“I got a letter from Jonathan.” She reaches into her purse. “He said that he’s being released early and that he was coming for Tate.”
I frown. “Why would he send you a letter? That would be evidence.” That’s not very smart.
She looks over to me. “He plans on destroying all things, sweetie.”
“I don’t understand,” I say, looking out the windshield. “Why would you come back here?”
“I let my son down for too long. I won’t allow Jonathan to hurt him anymore.”
I nod my head in understanding. I drive a few miles before I speak. “I hope you don’t mind, but I got you a hotel,” I say softly. I feel like the wicked girlfriend who hates her boyfriend’s mother. But Tate won’t even answer her phone calls. I think it’s gonna take me a couple of days to get him to speak to her face to face. And I still don’t have a plan on how to make that happen.
She nods. “That’s for the best.” She looks over giving me a soft smile. “Thank you for helping me. I know you don’t have to do anything for me.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
TATE
“Dude, she was hot as fuck,” Parker says referring to the woman that he brought over to the house earlier this afternoon. “But she couldn’t fuck for shit.�
�� He laughs. “That’s usually how it goes, though.”
I shrug ‘cause I have encountered that before.
“I mean, really. Give me a girl who is good on her knees and on her back—I may fuck her more than once,” he continues.
I chuckle as we pull up to Sam and Slade’s house. I had spoken to Slade earlier. He said they weren’t doing anything and to come on over. They were just gonna be chilling at their house. And by they—I’m guessing he means all the guys since the girls are having a girls’ night.
I get out of the car and walk up to the front door. I don’t even knock. I just walk on in with Parker behind me.
“Time to get this party started,” he yells as he heads for their kitchen holding a thirty pack of Bud Light. “We brought the booze; now, Slade, you can call up the bitches.”
“Shhhh.” Sam rushes into the kitchen and whispers, “Shut up you idiot. Sadey is asleep,” she chides him.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, looking at her pajamas that have little kittens all over them.
“Nice,” Parker says as he notices them too. “You know I’m a big fan of pussy,” he jokes, and her green eyes narrow on him. “Especially more than one.”
She ignores him and turns to me. “What do you mean what am doing here?” she snaps. “I live here.”
I frown. “What’s wrong with you and why didn’t you go out with the girls?”
She goes to speak but pauses for a second. “The girls didn’t go out tonight,” she states placing her hands on her hips.
“Yes they did,” I argue. “Missy told me earlier today that you guys were having a girls’ night tonight.”
She shakes her head. “Courtney is at home with Josh and the babies. Austin is sick.” She gets a big smile on her face. “And Holly is home with Micah. She can’t drink. She’s pregnant,” she squeaks jumping up and down.
I don’t understand. “I came into the kitchen this morning and I heard Missy talking on her phone and she told me it was you. And that she was going to be busy with a girls’ night…”
I trail off when I see the smile drop off of her face and her face has the look of fear on it.
Parker laughs. “This is gonna be good.” He holds up his index finger. “But if she skipped out on Tate to see my brother; I will cut him.”
“Shut up,” I say snapping at him and then look back to her. “Tell me what’s going on,” I demand and she looks at me with uncertainty. “I know that you know. And you better tell me.”
Her shoulders lump and she lets out a breath. “She went to the airport,” she says reluctantly.
“Why the hell would she go there?” Parker asks through a mouthful of potato chips. “There’s nothing entertaining there.” He then smiles. “Unless you wanna join the mile high club. And my brother would never do that. He’s too fucking boring. I, on the other hand…” He reaches down and lifts his pants up with a cocky grin on his face. “I’m a member. Have been for years.” He winks over at her.
I ignore the fucking idiot and his ramblings. “Why?” I ask as well when she just stands there.
“Because she had to pick Laura up,” she whispers.
I stand there and stare at her, wondering if I just heard her right. Did she really just say my mother’s name?
“Who’s Laura?” Parker asks. “A hot friend that she will share with me?” he asks hopeful.
Sam rolls her eyes. “Laura is Tate’s mother.”
“Oh. I remember her. I …”
I glare at him as he trails off. “What were you gonna say?” I ask him.
He gives me a smile. “I might have kissed your mother at Sam and Slade’s wedding,” he says lifting a shoulder. “I didn’t know who she was.” He raises his hands defensively.
I let out a breath. I couldn’t care less if he kissed her or fucked her. I don’t know what I was expecting him to say but that was not it. I wave him off.
“Why is my mother in town?” I demand, moving my attention back to my sister.
She sighs heavily. “Laura called me. Said she needed to talk to you. She was so worried about you. I told her that you were fine and about you and Missy. She wanted Missy’s number. See how things were going with you. So I gave it to her.”
“How does all that lead to Missy going to pick her up at the airport?” I question. The fucking bitch just can’t let shit go. And it’s irritating to the point I wanna punch the wall.
“She wanted to come and see you.”
I turn around giving her my back as I run hand over my face. This is why I hid in the shadows for so long. Why I kept who I was a secret. People think they know what’s best for you when they have no fucking clue!
“She’s worried about Jonathan coming…”
I laugh darkly. “I don’t give a fuck what she’s worried about. I don’t want to be around her,” I bark.
“I totally get it. I avoid my mother like the plague,” Parker mumbles to himself.
“What time was she coming in?” I ask needing to know how long I have until Missy drops her off at my front door.
“Six thirty.”
I pull my phone out of my pocket and look at the time. It’s past seven. “I gotta go,” I say heading toward the door. “Either leave with me, Parker, or find a way home,” I throw over my shoulder as I walk out.
Once I get in my truck and notice he hasn’t come out, I presume he has decided to stay. I start up the truck and pull out squealing tires.
After I make my way to my house, I pour myself a glass of Crown and sit down on the couch in the darkness.
I feel like that same little boy that I used to be, hiding out in the closet, waiting for my mother to come and find me. Or for Jonathan to swing the door open and yank me out as he yells at me for all the wrongs she has done.
My jaw clenches as I think of Missy. How could she do this? Go behind my back? Does she really think that I won’t care? That I won’t be mad at her for lying to me? That I would smile and say oh I love you, Mommy. You must have had a reason for all the shit you allowed. Fuck that! Missy honestly thought that she has changed me.
She’s acting just like my mother. Putting me in a situation that I didn’t ask for. I take a drink of the Crown as I let out a deep breath.
It’s over! And there is nothing she can do or say that will change my mind.
MISSY
I walk into Tate’s house. I give him a smile as I enter the living room and see him sitting on the couch. “Hey, sweetie,” I say happily, flipping on the light.
He lifts the glass tumbler in his hand and downs the dark liquid before he calmly lowers the now empty glass down to his knee.
My smile slowly fades as he stares at me with a dark expression. His eyes are hooded and his lips are in a straight line. A muscle ticks in his jaw and his right hand is white knuckled as he holds onto the empty glass.
“Just how many lies have you told me?” His deep voice comes out as a growl.
“What do you mean?” I ask heart racing. He knows that you lied about dinner with the girls. But does he know that the lie involves his mother? God, I hope not.
He looks down to the empty glass and then back to me. “Is that too hard of a question for you?” he asks as his eyes drill into mine. “It’s simple, really. How many lies?” His eyes drop to my stomach and I instinctively place my hand over it.
“The lies…?” he snaps. “How many were there?” He doesn’t let me answer. “I actually believed all that bullshit you told me,” he says shaking his head at himself.
“Excuse me?” I straighten my shoulders.
His lips twitch in the corners as if he wants to let an evil grin appear but he refrains. “Gonna stand up to me, are you?” He lifts an eyebrow—challenging me. “Gonna demand that I break you?” I have a feeling he wants to literally break me. “Or do you think I’ll lie down and be the good little boy that you want me to be?”
“Tate…” I say swallowing nervously.
“Don’t,” he interrupts me. �
�Go ahead. Call me Jonathan.” I watch the way his body stiffens when he says that name.
“Why would I…?”
His eyes narrow on me. “You really think I’m that fucking stupid?” he snaps. “You think I don’t know that my mother told you everything?” he shouts furiously as his face reddens from his anger.
I shake my head. “She didn’t tell me anything,” I say as my chest tightens. “She just wanted me to pick her up.”
He tilts his head to the side lips thinned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I lower my head and stare down at the floor. “Because I knew you would be mad,” I whisper.
I expect him to yell at me. “Yet you did it anyway.” His voice is now calm as if he was speaking to a child.
“She’s you mother…”
He stands from his couch in one quick movement and throws the empty glass across the room. It shatters as it hits the far wall and I jump back. “When will you understand that that means nothing to me?” he shouts losing his patience.
“She loves you,” I say trying to keep the tears back.
He stalks over to me his dark blue eyes stare down at me. “That word also means nothing to me,” he whispers harshly before he walks past me. “You should know that by now. You’ve said it to me plenty of times.”
I have and he refuses to say it back. It hurts more than I want to admit. “When will you realize I just want to help?” I shout to his back. “She just wants a chance.” I want him to believe in second chances. I gave him one. Why can’t he give her one?
He stops, his body stiffening, and he slowly turns back to face me. “A chance?” he repeats as his eyebrows rise to his hairline. Surprised by my words. “I gave her a chance. I gave her hundreds of chances. Mainly because I didn’t have a fucking choice in the matter.” He fists his hands down by his side. “She failed every fucking one of them.” His jaw tightens. “I begged her to save me.” He jabs a finger at his chest. “I begged her to save herself.” He shakes his head. “I was a fucking fool,” he roars as his eyes drill into mine. “Just like you are. Once you realize that, you will be better off,” he finishes off sharply.
Unforgettable Page 20