by Lacey Black
“Hey. What are you doing here?” she asks, standing up and coming around to greet me.
Standing before me, she looks almost nervous. Sid wrings her hands together in front of her and she shifts her weight from one foot to the other. It’s as if she doesn’t know how to react or what to do about my surprise presence in her office. Her nervousness is cute as fuck.
“I was in the neighborhood.” Lie. I was nowhere near this hotel. I was sitting in my office daydreaming about my former neighbor. “Actually, that’s not true.”
“It’s not?” she asks, surprise registering on her beautiful face. I don’t miss her tentative step backwards, the retreat in her eyes.
“No, it’s not,” I start, taking a step towards her, eliminating the gap. “I was at work, and it was torture. I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” I tell her honestly.
“Me?” she croaks out.
“You,” I confirm, advancing one final step until we’re practically touching. Her breath fans across my chin as she gazes up at me with stunned eyes. “I was thinking about how much I wanted to see you again. So here I am.”
“See me again,” she mimics, like she doesn’t quite believe the words.
“See.” I kiss her left cheek. “You.” I kiss her chin. “Again.” I go in for the kill and kiss her lips.
There’s no hesitancy on her part. She kisses me back with just as much passion and gumption as in my own kiss. Simultaneously, we wrap our arms around each other, her mouth angling upward so I can deepen the kiss. My body starves for her touch, and when she threads her long fingers into my hair, I almost come in my pants.
“I want to take you out again Saturday night,” I direct without removing my lips.
“I can’t. I have plans,” she replies breathlessly as I sweep my swollen lips down her neck.
“Plans?” I ask, licking along the wildly beating pulse in her neck.
“Yeah,” she groans through gritted teeth. “I can’t change them.”
“Who is he? Who do I have to kill?” I’m only half kidding.
Sidney chuckles and pulls back a bit. I’ve discovered her eyes turn a darker shade of green when she’s turned on. “You can’t kill him. I’m quite fond of him.” Her smile is small and full of something I’m not prepared for: love.
My heart all but stops beating when I realize there’s someone else in the picture. I never thought Sidney would be the type to lead me on while keeping another on the side. Or am I the side dish?
I release my hold on her and take a step back, then another. Her shock is evident, her eyes conveying her disappointment. Well, get in line, sweetheart. I’m pretty fucking disappointed right now too.
Laughter pulls my attention away from the woman before me and back into the here and now. Before I can even process the fact that someone is outside the half-closed door, it flings the rest of the way open and a boy runs inside. Sidney drops to her knees just as the boy throws his arms around her neck. She smiles brightly, the flush of her cheeks still obvious from our little make-out session.
“Hi, Jacobi!” Sidney exclaims, throwing a second hug to the boy before standing up.
When he turns around, I’m slammed with recognition and astonishment. The boy, maybe nine years old, looks exactly like Sidney. Reddish blond hair, light freckles spread across the bridge of his nose, and a scrawny, lean build. He’s all knobby knees and pointy elbows.
And the resemblance is uncanny.
He turns his toothy smile towards me, and for the first time, his dark green eyes slam into mine. A shockwave crashes, my mind races, my heart stalls.
Realization slams into me like a freight train. The semblance, the timeframe, the fondness they clearly have for each other.
I can’t believe it.
She has a son.
We have a son.
Chapter Nine – Appearances Can Be Deceiving
Sidney
Luke looks like he’s seen a ghost. His tanned complexion turns chalky and grim right before my eyes. He keeps looking between Jacobi and me as if he can’t believe what he’s seeing.
What is he seeing? I don’t understand.
“Luke?” I ask hoarsely, my arm wrapping protectively around Jacobi’s shoulder.
“Who’s that?” he asks just as hoarsely. In fact, it’s almost inaudible.
“Jacobi,” I reply, smiling down at the little guy beside me.
Luke rubs a shaky hand across his forehead, swiping at sweat that has suddenly appeared. “Is he…is Jacobi…ours?” The words seem almost painful for him to say.
“Ours?” I ask, not fully computing his question.
“Ours. From that night,” he whispers on an unstable breath.
I glance down at Jacobi, who, in return, looks up at me in confusion. When I stare back at Luke, it hits me. The meaning behind his question becomes perfectly clear. Our night together. Ten years ago. The boy standing next to me with an eerie resemblance.
Luke thinks this is my child–our child that we created together.
“Wait,” I stutter. “No! This is Jacobi. My brother.”
Several tensely filled seconds pass before the tightness in Luke’s face starts to ease. I watch, mesmerized, as he looks down at the boy standing beside me. When he crouches down so that he’s a little closer to eye level with my brother, Luke finally smiles again.
“Hey, Jacobi. I’m Luke, Sidney’s friend. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too,” Jacobi says, offering Luke a small smile. “Do you like NASCAR?”
“I love it,” Luke replies. “Who’s your favorite driver?”
“Junior. He has red hair like me.”
“He does,” Luke confirms. “I like Junior, too, but I’m really a Johnson fan.”
“Jimmie Johnson? He’s awesome! I was supposed to meet him at a fan greet last year, but he was sick and they sent Kasey Kahne in in his place. He’s okay, but he’s no Jimmie Johnson.”
Luke chuckles at my brother. “I agree.”
“Sid pretends to hate race cars, but she really loves it. And she has the hugest crush on Jimmie.”
My face burns with mortification as my gaze lands on Luke. “Really?” he asks with a cocky smile. “Jimmie?”
“Oh yeah! She says she’d marry him if he wasn’t already taken.”
I can’t help but laugh at my brother and his stellar memory. I did make that comment a couple of years back when we went to our first racing event together. That was when I was trying to get to know the little brother I had very little contact with up until then.
“It’s true. I’d totally marry him,” I chime into the conversation.
“Good thing for me then that he’s already married.” Luke’s comment strikes me as odd considering he strikes me as a man who runs as fast as he can away from marriage and commitment.
“Anyway, I have big plans this weekend with Jacobi. It’s my turn to pick the activity and dinner. I’m thinking of going to see that new chick flick and then eating Chinese food.”
“Awwwwww! Not a chick flick! I can’t stand to watch all that girly giggling and crying and lovey, dovey stuff. It makes me sick!” As if to prove his point to Luke, he continues. “And there’s never even one gunfight or explosion in the movies she picks. Plus, there’s kissing. Lots of kissing,” Jacobi says, making a horrified face at the end.
Luke and I both laugh.
“Fine, no girly movie this weekend. What about the arcade? I could show you how skee-ball is supposed to be played,” I say.
“Yes! Let’s go to the arcade! And can we get deep dish pizza?”
“Absolutely,” I tell him.
Jacobi looks over at Luke. “Mom never lets me have anything good like pizza and burgers. If we do, they’re always tofu burgers or something gross like that.” Again, my brother makes a face.
“Then you should definitely have pizza this weekend,” Luke adds.
“Hey, Luke, you sh
ould come with us! Have you been to the arcade before? It’s super fun!” My heart stutters in my chest.
“I’m really good at skee-ball. I’m not sure you can handle my skills,” Luke says in mock seriousness.
“Sidney is the competitive one, not me. Her ears will turn red and she’ll get all huffy if she doesn’t win,” Jacobi says seriously.
Luke laughs. Laughs!
“Oh, I remember how she gets. One time, we had a race down the block from our mailbox to the stop sign. I even gave her a head start and she still didn’t win. Cried for ten minutes about tripping over a rock.” Jacobi is hanging on every word Luke says.
“There was a rock!” I exclaim, my defense falling on deaf ears.
“That’s what she keeps saying,” Luke conspiratorially whispers to Jacobi with a wink.
“So you’ll go, right?” Jacobi asks, eyes wide in anticipation.
“I’d love to go,” Luke confirms before turning back to me. “If that’s okay with you.”
Words evade me at the moment. I have a hard time picturing him running around a video arcade with my ten-year-old brother. The Luke I remember always had plans or a date every weekend, often sneaking back inside the house well after curfew.
Instead of answering, I nod my head. “It’s settled. I’ll raid my piggy bank for quarters.”
“You don’t need quarters,” Jacobi says. “You buy tokens with your debit card.”
Jacobi and Luke chat for a few minutes about different video games, while I look on in a perpetual state of shock. The only man I’ve ever had around my brother was Mick, and Jacobi wasn’t a fan. In fact, Jacobi made a big production of having to spend time with Mick. And as soon as we were married, Mick always seemed to not want to bother with my brother, which was like a big red flag.
“Are you okay with this?” Luke whispers in my ear, startling me from my thoughts.
“Sure,” I croak.
Luke’s eyebrow shoots upward.
I give him a small grin. “Luke Thomas doesn’t have plans on a Saturday night?”
“Surprised?” he asks, the cocky smirk I know and love joining the conversation. “Actually, I was invited to a gathering in the old neighborhood, but I was trying to get out of it the moment my mom said something to me. Spending the evening with Jacobi and you seems like a far better choice than some stuffy party.”
“Wait, your mom invited you? And you said no?”
I can’t believe my ears. Luke and Blake’s mom was always hovering and governing where Luke was concerned. I just have a hard time picturing her easing up on the control. But then again, it has been several years since I’ve seen Mrs. Thomas. Maybe she’s lessened her need to be involved in every aspect of her youngest son’s life.
“I said no,” he says with a shrug as if it were no big deal.
But it is a big deal–at least, to me. Luke always tried to be the peacemaker, never wanted to ruffle her feathers. He went along with her antics because it was easier than not. Maybe they’ve come to some sort of understanding.
Or maybe he’s just tired of her shit.
“You don’t have to go with us if you don’t want to. Don’t think you have to go just because Jacobi all but demanded you go.”
“You want me to go, right?” I nod. “You’re okay with me interfering with your night with your brother?” Again, I nod. “Good, because I can’t want to spend time with you two.”
With that, he places a kiss on my forehead, and says his goodbyes to my brother. Before he slips out of my office, he asks me to text him the details for tomorrow night. Then he leaves, but not without leaving his scent behind. Not to mention that I can practically feel his presence lingering in the room, his touch haunting my body.
Offering a smile to Jacobi, I turn off my computer and lock up the filing cabinets. “Ready to go?” I ask, grabbing his overnight bag.
“Yep!”
“Do you have homework?” I ask, noting the book bag on his shoulder appears a bit heavier than usual.
“Science project,” he grumbles as we head out of the office.
“You still haven’t completed your science project?”
Jacobi shakes his head and drops his eyes.
“I’ll help you, buddy. We’ll get it finished before you go home Sunday night.” Together, we wave goodbye to Cass and head towards the parking lot.
“Sid?” he asks, stopping in the middle of the lot. “Can’t I just stay with you? Like…always?”
My heart stalls in my chest, a lump lodging in my too-dry throat. I hate this conversation. It’s not the first time we’ve had it, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. I hate sending him back to Penny just as much as he hates going back. But I don’t make the rules, and unless she grants permission, I can’t just keep him forever like I want.
Instead, I’ll continue to encourage him and be as active in his life as I possibly can. It’s all I have. She’s not abusive or neglectful. He has absolutely everything he could possibly want or need, except the one thing he ultimately wants and needs: her time.
“You know I would keep you with me all of the time if I could. This is just the way it has to be. For now.”
Ruffling his hair the way he hates proves to be the distraction he needs. He scolds me for messing with his hair as we slide into my car. He’s a little quiet during the drive home, but that doesn’t surprise me too much. Whenever he brings up his desire to stay with me full-time, it’s usually followed by a brief period of sadness.
I know what he wants, what I would kill to give him.
I just wish I was in a position to grant his wish.
Chapter Ten – I Am The Crane Game King
Luke
“See the crane. Feel the crane. Be the crane. Just move it until it’s directly above your prize and hit…the button.”
Jacobi pushes the red button and watches in fascination as the crane drops into the sea of stuffed animals. He picked the big green frog that is partially caught beneath a pink and purple teddy bear. It’s going to take just the right angle to clip the head and the leg that is buried, but it’s not an impossible feat.
I’ve snagged worse.
He woops loudly when his winning is raised from the sea of stuffed animals and carried over to the drop zone. Before he claims his prize, I’m engulfed in a big hug. Jacobi smells like a combination of pizza sauce and Sidney’s shampoo, which makes me smile and slightly turns me on at the same time. That scent turns me on, not the boy. The only hugs I’m used to getting are from my niece, Natalia, who usually wipes sticky fingers on my shirt.
“Great job! You boys make a great team,” Sidney says from the table opposite the crane machine.
“Did you see how perfectly it reached down and snatched the frog?” Jacobi says to his sister, demonstrating the reach and grab of the claw with his own arm.
“I did see that,” she replies with a smile.
“Are you going to grab your frog?” I ask, unable to wipe the smile off my face. Jacobi bends down and removes the stuffed green frog from the bin.
“He’s awesome. Look at his face. He’s not, like, a cute frog. This one’s tough. I’m going to name him Diesel,” Jacobi decides.
“Excellent name for a bad ass frog,” I say without thinking. Jacobi’s eyes light up and a giggle slips from his lips. I’ve been trying to watch my mouth, especially in light of a recent event when Nat called her dad a sandbagging motherfucker, but sometimes they just slip out. Blake still hasn’t forgiven me for that little gem.
“Oops, sorry. I should watch my mouth,” I reply apologetically. I hope my slip of the tongue doesn’t tick off Sidney. I’m having a really great time hanging out with them tonight, and I’d hate to jeopardize it because I sound like a sailor.
“It’s okay,” Jacobi says as he walks over and sits back down in his seat across from Sidney. “My mom curses all the time. Lately she started doing it in French, but she forgot she made me watch those Fr
ench videos on how to speak French and the YouTube video she showed me had mostly cuss words.”
“Nice,” Sidney mumbles as she dips her breadstick in the cheese sauce aggressively. She dunks it repeatedly, each time a little more firmly, like she’s trying to drown it in dairy.
“Hey, Mike Tyson, what did that breadstick do to you?” I ask quietly after sliding into my seat beside her. Jacobi insisted on sitting by himself. He’s almost a man now, you know. At least that’s what he told us when he insisted on sitting across from us.
Sidney seems to register my question and glances down at the mangled bread. “Oh.” She glances over at Jacobi, but he’s more interested in eating another slice of pepperoni. “I just get so mad at her. She barely pays any attention to him. She didn’t even take him with her to France and she made him learn French. Why? So she could pretend to be French now and have conversations with him. In French. Not in English. She drives me crazy,” she vents, lines of aggravation and stress marring her beautiful eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her. What else can I say? It sucks he was dealt a dud for a mother, but at least he has one, right? I mean, he’s already missing his father, but at least his mom is present in his life. Even if she is a fucking ding-dong. I almost say as much, but I don’t want to overstep. She knows the situation a hell of a lot better than I do, that’s for sure.
Sidney turns those aqua eyes on me; eyes that look more green tonight than blue. The sight of those eyes with even the slightest hint of sadness in them is my undoing. I was powerless against those eyes twenty years ago, and they’ve been my kryptonite ever since.
And because I’m a glutton for punishment, I reach over and touch her hand. The slightest touch has blood flowing to my cock so fast that I see spots. Her skin is smooth and soft, and I’m only touching her hand. Just imagining what her legs, her tits, her pussy would feel like has me practically dizzy with lust.
“You okay?” she asks, confusion and worry etched all over her face.