“Jace?” I say, running my fingers over his face.
“Yeah,” he answers softly, leaning into my hand.
“It’s almost our eighth anniversary.” He opens his eyes and looks at me with his eyebrows pulled together, biting down on his lip. “We met on Wednesday, October fourteenth,” I tell him with a wide smile. “Will my boy make me a homemade card on our special day?”
CRAZY MOUTHFUL OF LOVE
I HAVE NO DOUBT in my mind what I will be doing with my girl on our eight year anniversary, and she will be getting a homemade card that will be a calendar-worthy moment. That’s for damn sure.
“Does my girl miss her love notes?” She juts out that perfect pout and nods, making her soft waves fall around her. “I promise you’ll get a special love note on our anniversary.” I lean over and kiss her neck. “Eight years? God, time flies when you’re having fun,” I say, wiggling my eyebrows.
“Well, the last year hasn’t really been fun, lost boy.”
“I was only lost in your eyes for a few days. You always knew where I was.”
“And I hated where you were.”
“Don’t think about that. Think about the eight years that no matter where we were how incredibly in love we’ve always been.” I lift her bracelet-filled wrist and kiss it. “I remember a very special day on the beach where my girl and I talked about forever and how many kids we’d have one day.”
“Me, too.”
“There’s a certain saying I remember hearing when I was a kid, and we’ve already perfectly mastered the first thing.” I kiss her chin and the corner of her mouth.
“What’s the first thing?”
“First comes love…” I set my guitar down so there is nothing between us.
“Yeah…” she says with a giggle.
“Then comes marriage…” I kiss her bare collarbone.
“What’s the last thing?” she asks as I pull back and look into her eyes.
“You know what the last thing is, baby.” I pull her gently by the back of the neck to my lips. She smiles, putting her arms around me.
“Tell me,” she whispers.
“Then comes baby in the baby carriage,” whispers back to her. She straddles me, and I can’t help it. As tired as I am from the drive, I just want to be inside her. “Stop taking that shot,” I breathe into her ear.
“What if I get pregnant right away? We aren’t even married.”
“Then I guess we have the second thing to do before we have all those pale blues to run after,” I tell her, grinding against her. “I want my girl to be my wife.”
“I want my boy to be my husband.”
“We’ve already been committed to each other for eight years. I don’t want to wait. I want it all now.”
“I don’t want to wait either,” she says.
“Give me what I want,” I whisper to her as her hands work their way through my hair.
“I’m always going to give you what you want, Jace, but right now, I’m going to give you what you need.” She pushes me back on the bed.
“I need you, Shay.” I lick my lips with tired eyes as she slides down, pulling my pants off.
“You need to relax, biker boy. That was a really long ride,” she says with a little bit of sassiness.
“No, I want to love on my girl,” I say sleepily.
“Nope, time for you to close your eyes and relax.” She giggles as I close my eyes.
“You’re mean.” I open my eyes, giving her a little glare. Then, I close them again with a huff as she massages my legs. Moving her hand, she wraps it around first bedroom touches, and I open my eyes wide. “Remember the first time you—”
“In my bedroom when you gave me a mouthful?” she interrupts me. I shake my head slowly as I watch her take me in her mouth.
“Just close your eyes and relax. You’re about to sleep like a baby,” she teases naughtily. I bite my lip with the touch of those perfect lips.
“God, I love the way you relax me.”
“I know, right?” she says, making me crazy with that pretty little mouth. I’m completely silenced by the feeling she gives me. Her mouth was made for me. She’s right—after she gives me reminders of first moments, I give her a crazy mouthful of love and then sleep like a damn baby.
“WAKE UP, SLEEPY HEAD,” I say, trying to wake up Shay the next morning. A soft moan leaves her lips as she backs up into me. And now she’s really waking me up.
“I don’t want to get up yet. It’s warm under these covers.”
“It’s warm back home, baby, and I want to get us back there.”
“I’m enjoying spending time with Grace. I don’t want to leave.” She turns over and snuggles into my chest.
“I’m glad you’ve had fun, but we are a week away from working on a major project that I have no idea what I’m doing.”
She looks up at me. “It’s no different than what we’ve always done, Jace.”
“We’re not playing in the sand with you in your cute bikini and the sun setting over us. This is different.”
“Well, if you want, I can wear my pink bikini in the studio while we record.”
“Definitely not happening. All those artists that go there will be begging to work with you, and I’m already having to deal with one that I’m not happy about,” I say, pulling her on top of me and pinching her butt. Hands resting under her chin, she peeks up through her dark lashes.
“I only want to make music with you.”
“Whatever you want.” I put the loose strands of her dark waves behind her ear. “But, this guy thinks you are recording a song with him.”
“Hunter really is a nice guy, Jace.”
“He took off with you, and if it wasn’t for the fact that I can’t ever react again, I would have stopped that from happening. He’s lucky I didn’t touch him.”
“You promised me you would never do anything to risk us again.”
“I won’t, baby. I’m just stating a fact. He can be nice all he wants, and maybe he is, but he will never put you in his car again.”
“You are being alpha boy right now.”
“Shay, don’t be naïve. Every guy that looks at you wants to be more than your friend. And, I know that’s something I need to work on because I can’t keep you all to myself all day long.” I smile wide. “Well, when we are working anyway.”
“I won’t do the song then,” she says, twirling her hair around her finger.
“I’m not telling you not to do the song. I’m sure it’s fine.”
“Can we not worry about that right now?” she says, lying back down on my chest.
“I don’t want you to worry about anything anymore.”
“Me either. I just want my boy.” She twists her lip.
“You got me.”
“I just don’t ever want to be apart again,” she whispers, crawling up my body and snuggling against my neck.
“Never.”
“Except for right now.” She jumps up, looking at me. “I’ve got to pee.”
“Go pee, baby,” I tell her, laughing as I get up and throw on my jeans. She turns her head over her shoulder and smiles, swaying those perfect hips, and bites down on that pretty bottom lip. My God, my girl is so damn sexy.
“Be right back.”
“I’ll be right here waiting for you.” I zip up my jeans as she stares at my bare chest. “I’m always going to be waiting for you,” I say with a grin.
DRUNK AS A SKUNK
GRACE GATHERS JACE’S clothes into a big box and hands it to his dad as I carry his guitar to the car. While Jace is helping his adorable grandfather Robert carry firewood into his house from the barn, I’m going with Jason to send some of his belongings back home.
“Cool car,” I say, setting his guitar in the backseat.
“Thank you. I love this car.” He leans over the hood as Grace shuts the front door. “A little secret between you and me, I think Jace was conceived in the backseat,” he confesses.
My eyes get
big, and Jason laughs, just like Jace. No lie, the same laugh.
“I started restoring it when I was still in junior high school,” Jason is quick to change the subject.
“Jace restored his bike himself, too. I guess he got the handyman gene from you.” “I think he got more than just my handyman gene.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right.” I laugh.
He stares at me with a big smile, and little crinkles line his eyes, warming my heart. “I never stopped loving him or his mother for a second. I just didn’t know where to find them. Gracie and I loved really hard when we were kids, but I partied hard, too. I lost my way, and ultimately, lost my family because of it. That’s not a figure of speech either. I really lost them. I had no idea she was in California, and she wasn’t going by her last name either. She took mine.” He lets out a breath. “As hateful as I was the last time she saw me, she still gave my son my last name,” he adds with a mixture of both hurt and love in his eyes.
“Jace James is the most handsome name ever,” I say with a wide smile.
“I can see why my son is so in love with you. You are adorable.”
“I’m the lucky one, Jason. You have an incredible son.”
“I’m seeing that, and I can’t wait to get to know him, and be the father I always wanted to be for him.”
We both smile at each other. After he puts the box of Jace’s belongings in the car, he starts the engine of his old, restored hot rod, and I catch my breath as he speeds down the road.
“Wow, this car goes fast.”
He answers with a grin, “I’ve always liked to go fast.”
I turn to the window and watch as we pass huge redwood trees and think to myself, I found one thing about Jason that is not like his son. Jace doesn’t like fast. He loves to go really slow when he does things, at least most of the time. Okay, inappropriate thoughts right now. I miss my boy, and he’s only been away from me an hour. I bet Grace and Jason were one heck of a ride when they were young and in love. I can’t believe I’m sitting in the car Jace was probably created in.
We pull into the mini post office on the side of the road, and Jason jumps out and gets the box out of the trunk as I get Jace’s guitar. Signed, sealed, and set to deliver tomorrow evening, my boy’s belonging are on their way to our home. With a push of the door, I practically run into a cute girl with a long dark ponytail.
“I’m sorry,” I say, moving aside.
“No problem,” she replies, stepping back and staring at me. Jason stares at her with a tight jaw as we start to walk to his car. “Umm, wait. Aren’t you Shay Stark?” She tilts her head to the side and grabs the ends of her ponytail.
“Yes, I’m Shay.” I look at her a little more closely. Her lips turn up slightly on one side, and she gives me a sly smile.
“How’s Jace?” she says with a condescending tone, causing my heart to beat quickly.
“Jace is fine.”
“Yeah, he’s really fine.”
“Amber, leave it alone,” Jason chimes in.
“What? I’m just complimenting your son’s good looks.”
Amber… Her name is Amber.
As I move past her to get into the car, she stops me. “He was pretty upset the night I met him, but don’t worry. I made him feel better.”
I stare at her with my heart in my throat. “I don’t know what kind of rise you’re trying to get out of me, but I trust my boyfriend one hundred percent. If you’re looking to create a problem, you found the wrong guy to create one with,” I spit the words out.
“He said he was your fiancé.”
Jason looks at me, and I don’t really know what to say. Nobody knows that Jace asked me to marry him over a year ago, and he didn’t want anyone to know until he asked my dad his blessing. I’ve honored that, but the fact Jace wanted this girl to know I was marrying him makes me happy, and I won’t deny what he told her. I want the world to know I’m his.
“He is my fiancé, the boy I wrote ‘Moon and Stars’ for, the boy I gave my heart to when I was in elementary school. So, like I said, you picked the wrong boy to start drama with.” I’m not a spiteful person, but she’s messing with my boy, and I won’t ever play around when it comes to my relationship with Jace.
“I have a picture to prove I spent time with him.”
“No, you have a picture that you took without his consent of him leaving a bar. That’s what you have. Nothing more. I saw the picture that you clearly wanted me to see.”
“Amber, don’t try to make trouble. I was there when Jace was trying to leave,” Jason says.
“Yeah, drunk as a skunk—”
“Maybe he was. Don’t try to take advantage of that.”
She twirls her ponytail and softens her eyes. “Well, okay, he definitely was not into anything other than the drinks he was consuming. I’ll be honest about that.”
I stand there, seething, as Jason stands off to the side of his car, arms crossed just like Jace does. I can see the defeat in Amber’s eyes.
“So, can I have a picture with you? I mean, you are Shay Stark, and your brother is one of my favorite actors.”
Is this girl serious? She just tried to start drama that could reach the damn media, and now she wants to take a picture with me? I stare at her for a moment as her eyes lose their nastiness.
“You know there’s nothing to do around here, so it’s pretty cool that the girl with the biggest song on the radio right now is in our town.”
This is where my dad’s voice finds me, warning me about what the media can do if you let it. I could be nasty right now and walk away angry for what she tried to insinuate, but if I do, the first thing this girl is going to do is take an insane amount of pictures from her phone of me leaving upset and then upload them onto social media sites. The caption will most likely read that this girl met Shay Stark who was enraged from a picture she has of Shay’s drunken fiancé, which would cause nothing but negativity for Jace and me in the public eye. Or I can grin and bear it, smile with forgiveness to change her outlook on the Jace and Shay encounter and leave in a positive light.
I take a deep breath. “I don’t mind taking pictures with people who like my song, but I don’t want to be taken advantage of when I do.”
She pulls her phone out of her back pocket and takes a quick selfie of us. I give a small smile. “Thanks,” she says and walks away. I get into Jason’s car, and he looks at me sadly.
“I know I just met my son, but I picked him up the night Amber’s talking about, and there is no way she’s telling the truth. I just thank God Grace and I got there before he took off on his bike. He only left the house because Grace and I just reunited, and I think he felt overwhelmed about everything. He made a mistake getting so drunk, and as soon as he slept it off and knew Grace would be okay, he took off back to you.”
We drive back to Grace’s with small talk that I can’t seem to focus on, and even though I know in my heart nothing happened, I still hate that Jace was drunk in a bar and could have left on his bike. He never drank growing up because of his mom’s addictions.
Jason pulls up, and we get out of the car and head into the house. Grace is in the kitchen making lunch for Jace and me before we get on the road. I’m not hungry. The encounter with Amber has left my stomach in knots. Grace looks up and greets me with a smile.
“Jace just got back, and he’s in the shower. He came in with wood chips all over him.” I give her a tight smile. “Is everything okay, Shay?” Obviously, she senses something wrong.
“Yes, I’m fine.” I walk to the bedroom, shutting the door behind me. I sit on the bed and break into tears.
YOUNG AND RECKLESS
I GET OUT OF THE SHOWER after moving a truck full of wood and walk into the bedroom. Head down and pretty fingers playing with her charms, Shay brings a smile to my face. “I missed you, baby,” I tell her, running my fingers through my wet hair. My girl doesn’t say anything, just rolls her charms around on her wrist. Only wearing a towel, I throw my h
ead back and walk over to my girl. “How’s my girl?” I shake my wet hair over her to get her attention. She looks up, and I’m greeted with a tear-filled face. “Shay?” She doesn’t answer, so I lift her chin with my damp hands. “Why are you crying?”
“I met the girl in the picture with you.” I turn around and lock the bedroom door. Then I walk back to Shay, pick her up, and sit on the bed with her on my lap. “She said you spent time together drinking. You were always so adamant growing up about not drinking. Do you like to drink now?”
“No, I don’t like to drink. I tried it and hated it, but I was drowning in misery missing you.” I wipe her tears. “Where did you see her?”
“She was at the post office Jason and I went to,” she replies, looking deep into my eyes. “I saw the picture, and I know nothing happened, even though she tried to make me think—”
“I’m telling you right now I would never hurt you like that, ever,” I cut her off. “Whatever she said…”
“She said you were upset in the bar, but she made you feel better.”
“Made me feel better? I barely even spoke to her. I don’t even know her name.”
“Her name is Amber,” she says with hurt in her voice.
“Well, Amber didn’t get much of a conversation from me. Except for asking for a drink and me telling her you were my girl, I had nothing to say to her. I was upset because I was away from you, and I knew I had majorly screwed up. I had just met my father, and I stupidly sat in that bar to have one drink. As soon as I heard your pretty voice on the radio, I drank more. I was so miserable.”
“She said you were drunk as a skunk.”
“I was, and if she hadn’t thrown my keys outside on the ground, I would have ridden my bike completely trashed.”
“Why did she throw your keys outside?”
“Because she came on to me, and I pushed her away.”
She puts her face in my neck. “Oh my God, she tried—”
I gently pull her back, looking into her eyes. “Did nothing.”
Questionable Love (A Love Beyond Labels #2) Page 42