Tan leans his head into the living room, flashes his sexy smile and says, “No, it’s not a good thing. It’s a great thing.”
The butterflies fly away and I believe him whole heartedly. This is a great thing, I mean really, a new house, new boat, new mafia bodyguards…hell, what more could a girl ask for? This apartment, so many memories it’s crazy. We must have written over one hundred songs in here, right on that fluffy couch. I can’t even pretend to know how many sunrises we’ve seen together after staying up all night writing and talking. And of course, in this very apartment, in my very own room, that’s where we proclaimed our love for one another. That’s what’ll forever remain the most special memory from this place.
Mom’s high-pitch, “Oh honey, look at this place. Seems like just yesterday we were checking out the new apartment y’all moved in to.”
I shake my head and say, “It sure does. Well, y’all will see our new house at the same time we will.” Mom looks at me like I’m nuts. Quickly I tell her, “Tan wouldn’t look through the whole thing without me and he just knew it was the house for us.”
Mom looks at Tanner and says, “Son, that’s either the most romantic thing or the stupidest thing ever. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt though.”
“You’ll see. When you see it, you’ll understand.” The truth of the matter is that I couldn’t give two shits about what the house looks like. I’m sure I’d love anywhere we live as long as we were together. Luckily, this house is badass and I haven’t even seen the inside!
We hear the movers coming down the hall, as does everybody that lives within five miles. The dolly sounds like they drove the truck itself up to the apartment.
Three big country men walk in and before I can even say hello, one of them says, “Dang, thought those watchdogs downstairs were gonna check my butthole for weapons.”
I couldn’t help my laughter, I tell them, “Sorry, he’s just doing his job.”
The maybe not so smart one asks, “His job is to check people’s buttholes?” We all bust out laughing.
Tanner says, “No bro, they are just protecting us from a whack job. That’s probably enough about buttholes. Let me show you what’s being moved.” The three men nod their heads. Tan says, “Actually, it’s just all the boxes, everything else is staying. If y’all want any of the furniture, it’s yours. If not, I called the Purple Heart Assoc. to come pick it up as donations.”
The shortest man says, “That’s cool dude. My Uncle Red is a VET.” We all say a few niceties and then head toward the door. I know if we don’t leave right now, we’ll be here for another hour listening to stories of Uncle Red. Tan shakes each of their hands and confirms the address. Wow, I can’t believe this is happening.
As we pull up to the house, my heart begins racing. I’m holding the keys in my hand and with every bit we travel up the driveway, my hand clenches tighter to them. There’s a part of me that is waiting for the shitty to happen, and by shitty, of course, I mean that skanky tramp, Jennifer. Tanner’s warm hand touches my thigh and all the shit in my head disappears. Dads, Mom, and Sophia are right behind us. As soon as we park the car, I jump out and run up to their car.
“Get out, let’s go see it!”
Mom and Sophia hop right out but the Dads take their sweet-ass time. Tanner has a pride that is just beaming off him, and let me tell you, he wears it well.
I toss him the keys and say, “You do the honors.” He waits a minute until the Dads get up on the porch with the rest of us and then opens the door.
“Holy amazeballs!” This place is unbelievable.
Mom says, “Holy amazeballs is right. Look at this place, it is amazing.”
Tanner grabs my hand and leads me somewhere. He says, “Without a doubt, this will be your favorite part of the house.” Oh my God! I am standing in the middle of our very own recording studio. I jump up on him, wrap my legs around him and cannot seem to stop yelling. The family runs in and each of them is in awe over the studio. Tanner says to the crew, “Y’all check it out, we’re gonna check out the upstairs really quick.” Nobody even acknowledged him, they just kept looking at everything. Tan smiles at me and says, “Let’s go see our new love nest.”
I laugh and say, “Tan, you really are all kinds of messed up.”
He smiles and says, “Come on slowpoke.” We run upstairs like kids and at the end of a long hallway are double wooden doors with music notes carved into them. We both stop in our tracks and words can’t find their way out.
I whisper, “Those are the most beautiful doors I’ve ever seen.”
Tanner smiles and says, “I can’t believe this. This house was made for us, baby.” He gently threads his fingers with mine and we open the doors. The whole room is lined with bay windows facing the lake. To the right are French doors that open to a balcony.
I say, “Umm, I don’t think I’ll be able to leave this room, ever.” It isn’t just massive, it is gorgeous. The bathroom is set with his and hers vanity areas and sinks. The closet is big enough to almost be considered another bedroom. But the view! There is nothing that can compare to this view. I look at Tan and say, “We shall call this the family expander room.”
He chuckles and pulls me into him. His mouth is on my neck and he whispers as he grips around my waist tighter, “Can we start right now?”
I kiss his beautiful lips and say, “I’d say we have about thirty seconds before the fam bursts through those doors. Raincheck for this evening?”
He smiles, sticks out his pinky and says, “Pinky swear?”
Damn, could he make it any harder to resist him? I pull him toward the balcony and as we step out, a cool breeze blows into us.
He points and says, “Perfect for a table and chairs right there. We can create many songs right here.” As he says it, I can envision it perfectly.
The crew comes right into the room and Sophia comes out to the balcony while Mom and Dads explore the rest of the room.
She says, “This house is amazing! Honey, you didn’t even see the kitchen yet, did you?”
Shocked, I say, “Oh my gosh, I haven’t even seen the kitchen!” I grab her arm and we run downstairs. It’s like I’m in Disneyland. Dark wood cabinets, stainless steel appliances, double oven, and granite counters everywhere. There’s an island with one of those pots and pans rack above it. Oh my gosh, the sink is deep and gorgeous. I open the fridge and it is so massive. How in the world will I ever fill it? Normally, I have a few items of food and the rest are beverages.
As I’m staring into the fridge, Sophia comes behind me and says, “When you have kiddos, you’ll easily fill this up.” I turn and smile at her. I can’t believe she knew what I was thinking.
The rest of the gang comes into the kitchen and Mom says, “Shall we check out the backyard?” We line up like we are in grade school and file out one by one. The pool and spa are sparkling.
Tanner says, “The pool is heated if you want to go swimming.” He looks at me and we both smile.
Dad says, “Heated pools are for wussies.”
I laugh and say, “Bet you won’t say that after you jump in.”
“We’ll see about that.”
I point to the grass area and say, “That’s where we are getting married.”
Everybody looks at me and both Mom and Sophia say, ‘Oh honey, that is perfect. It’ll be absolutely gorgeous.” It really is perfect.
Tanner’s dad says, “The Jacuzzi sure looks inviting. I’m gonna need to test that sucker out.”
I say, “Hop in! Come on, get on in it.” Everybody joins my banter and he takes his shirt off and then off comes his pants. Luckily, he leaves his briefs on. We can’t stop laughing. Like a child, he runs and jumps into the Jacuzzi.
“Hey son, would you put the jets on?” Tanner walks over to the panel on the wall, hits a few buttons and then we hear, “Oh yeah. This is it, right here. Honey, come in with me, you’ll really like the jets.”
I say, “Yuk!”
He says
, “On her feet, geez, Dylan.” My face grows redder than red.
Mom looks at us and says, “Dad has a point. I’ll catch you guys later.” One by one, the clothes come off and our family is piled in the Jacuzzi with just our underwear on. It really does feel great. What could be better than this? I look at my man and he has the most peaceful face right now. When his caramel browns look at me, I know he’s thinking the exact same thing.
Chapter 21
‘You aren’t just part of my heart, you are part of my soul.’
Tanner –
Everything went according to plan, which is crazy seeing as though this whole deal happened in less than one week. The boat is sitting pretty in our dock, beds were delivered for every room, and most of the family is here. Anthony and Lorenzo have made themselves at home in the back bedroom. Anthony placed surveillance cameras all around the outside of the house. This guy’s the real deal.
Even though we didn’t have to move our things ourselves, everybody is exhausted from the excitement of the day. We decide to order some bbq from one of our favorite places, Rudy’s Country Store & Bar B-Q. Lyrics must be starving because she damn near orders everything on the menu.
Mom asks, “Are more people coming over?”
I laugh and say, “Not that I’m aware of but with that order, it sure seems like it.”
Lyrics smiles and says to the person on the phone, “You know what, let’s add another large creamed corn.” She winks at me and it’s impossible for me not to laugh. When she hangs the phone up, she asks the crowd, “Do you think I got enough?”
Her dad says, “For us or the Army?”
“I just wanted to make sure there was enough.
In unison, we all say, “There’ll be enough!”
As I’m unloading one of the boxes, Anthony comes to me and quietly asks me to come with him for a moment. We walk into the back room and he rewinds something on his computer screen and says, “This car has driven past the driveway about four times now. Do you recognize it?”
I watch the feed a couple of times and say, “No, never seen it before.”
“Okay, we’ll keep our eye on it.”
I ask him, “Any word on Jennifer?”
Lorenzo chimes in and says, “That crazy bitch is all over the headlines today.” My heart beats hard.
Quickly I ask, “What for now?” He pulls up some cyber news link and pushes play on the posted video. Jennifer is clearly drunk and she’s yelling at some photographer that apparently refused to work with her, thanks to Chip.
On the video, she says, “Fuck you. You really think I have to rape somebody? That fucking fag is a liar. I wouldn’t want to work with you anyway!” My stomach knots up and instantly my fists clench. The mere sight of her makes me want to puke.
Lyrics yells from downstairs, “Tan, guys, dinner is here.” I motion for them to shut that crap off, I don’t want Lyrics to see or hear anything to do with that criminal skank.
The warm smell of smoked brisket, spicy sausage, and all the delicious sides wipe my mind clear of all that bullshit. We’ve been going all day and haven’t eaten at all. The food is spread across the island in the kitchen and there’s a line waiting to dig in.
Mom says, “Dylan, good call on the extra creamed corn. I could probably eat one whole tub by myself.”
Sophia says, “We may have to wrestle for it.” Both our dads look up as if they just heard the best idea ever. The first one to laugh was quiet Lorenzo, which makes the rest of us bust up. Clearly everybody was starving. The room becomes silent for the next five or so minutes until the groans of overeating begin.
Dad says, “The problem with this food being so damn good is that I never stop eating when I should.”
“Dad, you can swim it off later.” He looks at me like he’s about to slap me across the back of my head. I say, “Or you can just sleep it off.”
Dad gives me a crooked smile, “Yeah kid, that sounds better.”
When we finish eating, we all gather in the living room on the floor in front of the fireplace. We haven’t picked out furniture yet, so it’s floor or stand and everybody with their full tummies chose to pop a squat on the floor. Lyric’s dad starts the fire and we all make a comfortable spot for ourselves. The fire is roaring and the crackling it is making is beautiful music that lulls us all into a trance-like state.
Lyrics says, “Mom, tell us how you and Bo met.”
Mom says, “Oh Dylan, you’ve heard this a thousand times.”
“I know, but it’s one of my favorite stories.”
Sophia says, “Well I haven’t heard this story.” Mom loves telling this story but acts like she doesn’t. Personally, it is one of my favorites too.
Mom begins by saying, “I had this friend named Mary Sue Jackson, and she was gorgeous. She was the type that caught all the attention when she walked into a room. I was your basic farmer’s daughter, nothing like her at all.”
Dad chimes in and says, “You were stunning. Girl, you’re still stunning.”
Mom blows him a kiss and continues with her story. “Mary Sue invited me to join her at a bonfire party one Friday evening and told me that there was going to be some strapping gentlemen there. I was eighteen years old, but I knew my daddy wouldn’t let me go to some party so I lied to him. I told him that Mary Sue’s church was having a bonfire for girls only. He was happy to let me go when he heard that. Daddy was such a good Christian, but I lied anyway.”
I interrupt her and ask, “Mom, did you ever tell Papa that you lied to him?”
She shakes her head no and says, “Oh no honey, he’d have probably still punished me.” We all chuckle.
Lyrics says, “Let Mom continue, she’s getting to my favorite part.”
I zip my mouth and Mom continues. “It was July, hot as hell but I had to dress like I was going to a church function. I knew all the other girls would be in shorts, tank tops, and flip flops but I knew daddy wouldn’t let me go to a church function in a tank top and shorts. My outfit was a skirt that went to mid-calf, a collared short-sleeve shirt, and Mary Jane shoes. I was so embarrassed, but I wasn’t about to let that stop me from checking out the strapping young men promised to be at the party. I kissed daddy good-bye and was riddled with guilt. I asked God over and over to forgive me for lying. As I was driving to the bonfire, I had a weird feeling about the night. Finally, I got there and let me tell you, Mary Sue didn’t lie about the strapping men. The rodeo was in town and many of the young bull riders were at this party. I was dressed like I was chaperoning the party not attending it. Finally, I found Mary Sue in the middle of a herd of men, all of whom were gawking over her. She busted through them and practically fell on top of me. She was plastered. About ten minutes into the party, the skies opened and rain poured down. Everybody ran to their cars and left the property, except me and drunky bo bunky who was hanging on to me while I practically dragged her across the never-ending field. Of course, I found the biggest mud hole to slip into and my whole side was covered with mud. Finally, I get her into my car and my car won’t start! Out of nowhere, comes this beat-up truck with the cutest man I’d ever seen. He gets out of his truck, laughs at the mud plastered all over me, and then introduced himself to me. I almost choked on my tongue when he said his name was Bo. I always loved that name. He looked at the engine and smugly told me that my battery was dead and that he would give us a ride home. Of course, I’d lied to daddy so that was not even an option for me. He said, ‘Here, I thought you were a good girl.’ Mary Sue slurred, ‘She is a good girl. Too good if you ask me.’ Bo rolled his eyes and pulled his truck up to my car, put a tarp over the two hoods and jumped my car. I thought Superman himself had come to my rescue. To make a long story short, he asked me to a movie and dinner the next day and almost exactly two years later, I became Mrs. Staff.” Dad pulls Mom close to him and gives her a kiss on her forehead.
He says, “God knew what he was doing.”
I reach over and grab Lyrics hand. I say, “He sure do
es.”
It is getting late and everybody is noticeably sleepy. Each couple disperses to their designated rooms, each equipped with one plush bed, and nothing else. All I can think about is getting my fiancé into our room and making this first night one to never forget. Luckily, our room is far enough away from the other rooms, so neither of us will have to muffle our noises. What she doesn’t know is that I made a quick stop into the lingerie shop while she was with Mom. Just thinking about her in the outfit I bought her, is making me rock hard.
“Check under the bed. There may be something for you?” She looks at me and hops down off our very high bed and reaches under, pulling a red box out.
She smiles and says, “For me or for you?”
I smile and say, “Both.” She opens the box and pulls out a long red body suit. It’s made completely out of fishnet material. She looks at me and says, “What do I do with it?”
Quickly I say, “You put it on so I can take it off.”
She seductively goes into the bathroom to change and I hear her say, “Holy shit, this bathroom is fucking huge.” When she comes out, my breath leaves my body. This can’t be the same girl that has been my best friend all these years. This woman is so fucking sexy. The body stocking fits her perfectly, allowing her perfectly hard nipples to find their way out of two of the holes. Her long beautiful legs seem to be begging to wrap around my body. When my eyes focus on how the fishnet lays deliciously over her sculptured pussy, I’m ready to cash in now! This beauty with no make-up, hair windblown, and bbq stuck in her teeth, is the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes upon in my entire life.
Standing in front of our new bed, in our very large and empty room, my hands find their way to her long beautiful hair. As my fingers thread to her neck, she rolls her head back as if my touch melts her. I want to kiss her so badly but my hands find their way roaming her body. When my fingertips find her hard buds poking through the material, my mouth crashes against her neck and she releases the first moan, which hits me directly and hard in my balls. If my cock were to be any harder, it would burst.
Soul-O (Music & Lyrics #2) Page 11