“One, don’t take that tone with me. Two, don’t even dare “mom” me with that attitude after what you just did. Three, you’re not going to the concert so don’t even try sucking up to me right now. Four, this was talked about and discussed before you broke the rules. You pay the consequences. Five, you’re grounded for three weeks and you will not see Ben.” She stood with her hands on her hips.
“But Mom. That’s not fair and you know it. I am a grown woman now! You can’t say those things to me. It’s my body!” She fought back and I saw this night not ending well.
“Like hell it’s your body! Keep pushing and I’ll make it two months! I swear to God, Kate! There were two rules and you have another think coming if you think you’re a grown woman! Let’s see Kate, did you use protection to protect yourself from getting pregnant? No . . . sex rule one, and rule two . . . not in this damn house!”
“Who are you to tell me when I can or can’t have sex? It’s my life!” She shouted.
“Your life under my roof until you’re eighteen! You’re fifteen, Kate, in case you forgot. Don’t even start this with me young woman. You’re lucky your father and I have let you have a boyfriend! Now get your ass in your room because you’re not going to the concert!”
She stomped away to her room and I flopped on the couch watching all this before me. Millie opened the patio door and told Ben that it would be best if he called his parents to pick him up and take him home, informing him the concert was still off. Then, she shut the door and took a deep breath looking at me on the couch.
I felt like she was going to break down.
“Well, this was not how I thought the night would unfold.” She put her head in her hands. I patted the couch next to me and she came and sat next to me. “That was exhausting.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” I wrapped my arm around her. “Still want to go out tonight?”
“I do. Just give me a moment. I need to clean up a little and call Brian. He needs to know about this. I’m also going to ask my mom to keep an eye on her. I don’t want her alone.” She looked at me and I kind of felt hurt. I wanted to be that person Kate loved as her father too, but I knew Brian would always come first in her heart. This process wasn’t going to be easy, but I needed to just let it happen how it was happening. I had to understand I wasn’t going to let anyone down.
Millie disappeared into her bedroom while I waited in the living room for her. I hoped her talk with Brian would go smoothly considering her last encounter with him wasn’t good. I glanced at my phone and noticed that my brother had called again. I realized I never called him back after the first time he called and now I was starting to wonder what was so important he kept calling. Something must be up. I sent him a text.
Me: Hey Dex, I’m busy tonight at The Cove. What’s up man?
Dex: We need to talk.
Me: What’s up?
Dex: No, like we need to talk in person. Shit’s gonna get real here real soon.
Me: What are you talking about bro?
Dex: Call me tonight, I mean it, been trying to get a hold of you. It’s important.
Me: Later
“Who’s that?” Millie entered the room and I quickly put my cell phone away.
“Just my brother, no biggie. You look gorgeous.” Changing the subject hastily.
“Thanks, let’s get the hell out of here.” She walked down the hallway in her heels and I followed her like I was a dog following its owner. I wanted to own every part of her body in the dirtiest way possible. Those curves, those lips, those tits . . . I wanted every part of it. She stopped in Kate’s room and informed her she was leaving. Her glowing cheeks and yearning look that spread across her face when she set her eyes back on me while she closed Kate’s door made me weak in the knees. For a guy, that’s not good. The things this woman made me feel.
A short while later, we arrived at the restaurant called The Cove which was situated nicely off the lake and next to the Ocean Line night club where we were headed next. I never figured out why they called it Ocean Line when it was clearly a lake. A fairly large lake, but still a lake. Millie looked so beautiful I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. We sat down at a table facing the lake. I could tell something was wrong. Her eyes kept wandering the room and she was fidgeting with her hair, whipping it over her shoulder.
“Millie.” I said in a calm voice, hoping to soothe her nerves down or whatever was going on.
She looked over at me and beamed her genuine smile at me. “Yeah, sorry, I’m all over the place. My mind won’t turn off. Plus images won’t leave my head. I feel like I failed as a parent.” She placed her hand across the table towards mine. “I’m really happy you’re here with me tonight. I’ve been looking forward to this night all week.”
“Don’t worry about Kate. Maybe she learned her lesson and you won’t have to deal with that for a long time. How did the talk go with Brian?” The waitress came to the table with glasses of ice water. We placed our drink order and she went on her busy way.
“I hope Kate knows the consequences, that’s all. She may think she’s smart sometimes, but she’s not all there in the new world of boyfriends yet. She had an argument with Ben because he was being honest with her.” She laughed. “She has a long way to go before her head will be screwed on completely straight in the grown up world, which is fine. She’s got time. Hell, my own head still isn’t straight!” she laughed. “I didn’t catch Brian. I left him a message to call me.”
“She’s just a teenager, doing what teenagers do. She’ll get there, hon.” I replied hopefully. The way teenagers were these days didn’t seem to be how it used to be when I was one.
She looked at her phone that started going off. Her eyes rolled and she mumbled “Perfect timing. It’s Brian. Let me get this. I’ll be right back.” She excused herself from the table and made her way towards what looked like the ladies room. Thoughts hounded my mind on how Brian would take the news his daughter was having sex. Whether or not she was going to mention if I was there crossed my mind. The wind picked up a little and I stared off around to the other people sitting at the restaurant until my eyes spotted my brother. What in the fuck was he doing here? Was he following me? His eyes met mine and we had a little stare down before I decided to get up. I looked towards the ladies room and still saw no sign of Millie. I quickly placed my napkin from my lap to the table and headed over to his scrawny-looking self, wearing sweat pants and a hoodie. He was my height but super skinny, which made me think he was back on drugs again. I grabbed his arm and pulled him to the corner where nobody could hear us.
“What are you doing here, Dexter?” There was nothing more unsettling than knowing this night could go from really good to really bad with this jackass being here.
“Dude, why the fuck didn’t you tell me about her? Mom’s flipping her shit right now and you’re not returning my calls or hers.” His eyes looked around the room before narrowing them at me, leaning in closer to me while he spoke. “What were you thinking?”
I took a deep breath and looked around the room spotting Millie coming from the bathroom. Shit. He has to go and has to go now.
“What, is that your hot little number walking over here?” He pointed his chin towards Millie then looked at me. “Don’t worry, I’m gone. But this damn discussion isn’t over yet. Quit avoiding your damn family.”
“Don’t ever approach me like this again. Lay off me, Dex. I mean it. Keep that shit to yourself.” I turned and walked away from him and headed back towards the table to meet Millie with of course a confused expression written all over her face. I was freaking out about her questions before she even asked them. I didn’t want to lie to her but I wasn’t ready for her to meet my family yet. Or meet my family again. Nothing like knowing how bad you want something or someone, and knowing there was always something that could possibly ruin that possibility tore at me.
“Who was that?” She sat down. I sat across from her putting the napkin back in my lap.
“My brother.” I kept it short and simple. The last thing I wanted was to discuss my brother on our date.
“He should have joined us. Haven’t seen him in years. I didn’t recognize him.” Her eyes still looked confused and I was trying my best to make my answers satisfy her.
“Nah, he had to go to work.” It hurt me to look on my family who once used to be a pretty normal
family . . . ones who didn’t talk shit and got together because they loved seeing you and wanted to spend time with you. Now all they wanted was to start drama. They wondered why I didn’t want to be around them and I shouldn’t have to give them a reason for them to get the fucking hint. Millie was my focus right now, not those damn clowns who wanted to call themselves my family.
“That’s a shame. So, tell me, how is your family? You don’t talk much about them.” She reached her hand across the table and squeezed mine. It didn’t help the fact I didn’t want to talk about them but knew if I didn’t she wouldn’t be too happy, as I could tell she was definitely curious.
“There’s a reason I don’t discuss my family much. They’re not who they used to be anymore, and I stopped being a part of their drama circle. I have my brother Dexter and my sister Nina. I’m the oldest, Nina is the youngest. My parents split up a few years ago and that’s when everything went to shit. Then my grandmother passed and that was even more of a shit storm that tore my family to pieces . . . pieces that can’t be picked up anymore.” I picked up my beer and took a swig, placing it back on white table cloth. “My grandmother would have loved you, Millie. You’re so real, down to earth, and I’m just mesmerized by you. The first thought that I think of in the morning is how I can’t wait to see you. Then my last thought is how much I’ll freaking miss you until the next time I see you. Catch my drift?” I smiled at her which in turn made a big smile stretch across her face.
“That was sweet, Dean. It’s all hearts and flowers for a little while.” She beamed at me.
“It’s always hearts and flowers when you’re mine.”
“Oh really? Honey, I’ve learned not everyone has a happy ever after, and if that’s my life, then I’m going to learn to be okay with that.”
“Millie, your rock solid heart has dug a hole in mine since the first night we went to dinner and you danced with me. Feeling your broken heart so close to mine made things right. I knew then it was right. I’m going to treat you like you deserve.”
If I wanted her to be mine, she was going to know everything eventually and I wanted to know everything about her. If anything, I wanted to know more about Kate. That was exactly what the rest of the night consisted of.
~*~
Millie
After a wonderful dinner, getting to know Dean a little bit more, and eating some to-die-for food, we got up to head over to the club. I started walking hand in hand with Dean until I stopped dead in my tracks. There off in the corner was Brian with Becky. My heart sank in my stomach and feelings I thought were over washed over me. Dean rubbed my back and whispered to me.
“What’s wrong?”
Brian’s eyes met mine and it was almost like whiplash how quickly I moved my head towards the door and started to walk.
“Nothing, let’s go dance!” I shook it off, or so I thought, and walked out of the restaurant onto the sandy walkway to the club. Glancing over my shoulder, Brian’s eyes followed me. I intertwined my fingers with Dean and settled close on the middle of the dance floor that was only feet away from the restaurant. Dean wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in to him. I started swaying to the slow song trying to kick Brian out of my damn mind, but now I couldn’t. He was seriously out to dinner with Becky? Then my mind kicked into overdrive. That asshole ignored my call about our daughter. All hell was breaking lose in my mind but I tried to keep my cool for Dean’s sake. I wondered how much it pained Brian to see me with Dean, though I doubted it. He’d obviously gotten what he wanted.
Dean’s hips picked up the pace with the beat of the song changing to a faster one. I slid my hands down his shoulders and slowly down to those hips that swayed back and forth. He looked so incredible dancing and I had no clue he was this good at it. I stepped up my game a little more, whipping my hair behind my shoulders while I popped my back out. Turning around, I dug my heels into the floor and rubbed my body into Dean’s. His hands moved to my ass guiding my moves to the beat of the song. I turned back around facing Dean, my eyes low and full of wanting. My hips moved rapidly to the song and I threw my hand on his chest and dug my hand into his shirt, gripping it, making him get even closer to me. I kicked my leg swiftly in between his legs and started circling myself against him. I could feel his dick perk up, pressing into my stomach. The more I rubbed myself into him the harder he got. Those luscious lips of his came crashing down to mine. He took my hands and pulled my arms around him while we grinded into each other while Usher sang. The things Dean was making me feel distracted me from the thoughts about Brian and Becky. As much as I knew Brian must be able to see our dancing, I didn’t care. I needed Dean right now. A waitress made her way around the dance floor with shots. Dean and I grabbed two each and downed them. The cool breeze from the lake would shortly go away with the burning sensation going down my throat, heating up the moment even more.
“You’re so beautiful, Millie. And you make me so hard for you.” He tightened his grip around my back pulling me in closer until his mouth started sucking down my neck and back up to my lips. I pushed my tongue in his mouth while we made out to the loud music around us blaring in the beautiful night. The dance floor kept getting even more crowded and the drinks started flowing more freely. Every time I saw that skimpy waitress floating around, I grabbed more shots. I must have been waving money around at that point. I was barely able to move around without feeling like my world was spinning. Dean and I laughed and kept dancing the night away.
“I’ll be back, baby. My bladder is screaming at me.” I giggled. I stumbled off to the ladies room and pushed my way through the crowd of people. I decided to take on the men’s room since they never have any lines and I had to go bad. I couldn’t wait for these ladies to tinker around. After not seeing any men in there, I made my way in and did my duty. As I left the men’s room, another skimpy waitress wearing barely anything was carrying shots. I grabbed two more and tipped them back one at a time. I slammed the glasses back on her plate. I flipped a ten dollar bill at her and headed back towards the dance floor. My mind was a bit fuzzy and if I moved my head too fast, everything was blurry. My vision focused very quickly when I saw Dean dancing with another woman with a damn drink in his hand. Apparently I wasn’t the only one inebriated. He was all into dancing until his eyes caught mine. I didn’t want to deal with the drama right now so I just started dancing by myself. That was until some random guy just started dancing with me. He didn’t touch me . . . just danced with me watching my every move. I was barely coherent as the alcohol was finally settling in, making me beyond drunk. I knew I wasn’t comfortable in this situation. The next thing I knew, Dean was running full swing at the guy in front of me. In . . .
5
4
3
2
1
Dean was throwing his fist into the guy’s face. The men took on a full out brawl as the stranger started fighting back. My eyes drifted closed slightly feeling the alcohol taking its full course through my body.
“Millie.” That familiar voice grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side.
“Back the fuck off, Brian!” Dean yelled from a distance while security was escorting him out.
Chapter 5
“Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex. Outcomes are uncertain. People are irrational.” – Hugh Mackay
Millie
“Are you okay?” Brian asked me while holding me up before almost face planting on the floor right then with how drunk I was. The room started spinning before me. Brian lifted me in his arms and carried me out of the club.
“Pu
t me down, put me down.” I begged softly as I felt bile rise up in my throat. Oh this night was just fan-freaking-tastic. Brian set me down gently and the closest thing to me was a flower pot. The flower pot saw a nasty side of me just then. Brian held my hair back and he couldn’t help but to chuckle. The alcohol or at least parts of it left my system into the flower pot enough to sober me just a tad.
“It’s not funny. You’re not funny, Brian.” I pouted as tears started flowing down my cheeks. I had no idea where Dean was. Frankly, I was a bit upset. He was supposed to be taking care of me, not Brian. Not my ex-husband. Why did he go off on that guy so damn bad when he was standing there dancing with a girl himself. What the hell was that all about?
“I’m sorry, it’s not funny. But it sort of is.” He wrapped his arm around me. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
“Why?” I looked up at those freaking eyes again. I was so confused. Why was he doing this? Why was he here? I was still so mad at him for punching Dean the other night.
“Why what?” he looked confused. His brow creased in anticipation of an answer from me.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what? Taking care of my ex-wife who hates my guts?”
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