by Lacey Black
“So, are you getting serious with Erin?” he asks casually.
I blow out a big breath. “Well, I like her…a lot. We haven’t exactly had the ‘are we in a relationship’ conversation, but the thought of her having one with another guy makes me want to rip someone’s face off. And honestly, I’m not interested in seeing anyone else right now either. For the first time, I’m actually considering a relationship with someone. Like a real, call each other all the time, have stupid cutesy nicknames for each other, only have sex with one woman, kind of relationship. What does that say? Am I a pussy?” I ask with an incredulous chuckle.
“A pussy? No. A douchebag? Well, the jury’s still out on that one,” Nate smarts off with a cocky grin.
“Thanks, little brother,” I reply with my own grin.
“No problem. That’s what I’m here for.” Nate stands and approaches my bed. “To answer your question, I think Erin’s a good girl. If you’re ready to actually date one girl for awhile, I say give it a try. If it doesn’t work out, you can always head over to the pub and give all the girls there each a turn in your bed like ol’ times.”
The thought of that makes my stomach turn. I don’t even want to think about spending the night with anyone else but Erin.
“Well, I need to get to the station. Will you make sure Erin gets her phone?”
“Yep.”
“Good.” Nate leans down and gives me that half hug, half shoulder nudge kind of hug and turns to walk away. “I’m damn glad you’re okay, brother.”
“Thanks, Nate. Be careful out there.”
“I will,” he says as he turns and heads out the door leaving me to think about all the important things we just talked about. I love my job and understand that it could be scary for Erin to adjust to. She’s never really had someone in her life that puts her first - well, except her grandma. I just don’t want her to run away from me because she can’t deal with my job. It’s dangerous and daring. Can she handle that?
God, I hope so.
*****
I learned real quickly that there is nothing on television during the day. I was bored out of my ever-loving mind all day waiting on the doctors to release me and for Erin to return. She called from her landline after she got home and ended up going into work for a few hours - at my insistance - so that I could get some rest. Honestly, I just thought that her being back in her routine and in her element for a little while would do her some good.
Erin arrives just before five p.m. to take me home. I’ve got my bag already packed and am sitting in the chair waiting on the discharge papers when she walks in the door. I’m tired of being cooped up in this little ten by ten room and am itching to get the hell out of here.
When she walks in the door, my face lights up like a Christmas tree. She’s stunning in her conservative work clothes, all signs of paint have been removed from her morning shower. A shower that I would have loved to have joined her in.
“Hey, you. You look good,” she says as she brings her lips down onto mine.
“I always look good, and I’m feeling pretty good. Ready to go home.”
Doctor Cambridge comes into the room at that moment, papers in hand. “Well, here you go, Jake. Sign here,” he says as he hands me a clipboard with papers. “Now, it’s important to take it easy for a week or so. Make sure you keep wearing that sling for the next five days. It’ll help. Get plenty of rest and avoid anything that could cause further bumps to your head. If you feel sick again, light headed, or dizzy, come back to the Emergency Room right away. Here’s your prescription for pain medication. No drinking alcohol or operating heavy machinery while you’re on them. Okay?”
“Sounds fine, doc. I’m ready to go home and relax with my girl.”
“He said for you to take it easy,” she says with a knowing smile.
“Yeah, but he didn’t mean I have to take it that easy. That just means you’ll have to do all the work, darlin’,” I reply with a big wolfish grin.
“Jake!” she replies, face flaming red with embarrassment.
“Just take it easy and avoid head bumps and you two should be fine,” Doctor Cambridge replies with a little chuckle as he walks out of the room.
“Come on, darlin’. I’m ready to go home.” I throw my arm over Erin’s shoulder as we head out of the room and towards home.
An hour later, Erin is fussing over me - again - as I sit on the couch, waiting on Maddox, Avery, and Brooklyn to come over with pizza. “Erin, stop. I’m fine. You don’t need to adjust my pillows every two minutes. If I need them adjusted, I’ll do it,” I say as I make a grab for her hands that are reaching for another pillow.
“I’m sorry. I just want to make sure you’re comfortable.”
“I’m fine. I promise. You’ll be the first one to know if I need something, okay?”
“Okay,” she says as she leans down and places another kiss on my lips. Every time she brings me something or adjusts my pillows, I steal a sweet kiss from her lush lips.
“Actually, I do need something.”
“What? What do you need?” she replies instantly.
I grab a hold of her hand and bring it down to my groin. “I need some attention right here.”
“Jake!” she says as she pulls her hand back. “Be serious!”
“Oh, believe me, darlin’. I am very serious.” Erin steps away as a knock sounds on the back door. She takes off out of the room like a rocket eager to get away from me and my hard-on.
“Uncle Jake!” Brooklyn exclaims as she runs into the living room and stops right in front of me. “Are you better fwom getting shot?”
“I’m working on it, Bean. Come here,” I reach out for her with my right arm. “You can sit on my lap on this leg. Just be careful not to hit this arm here, okay?” I say as I point to my left arm.
“Otay. I colored you a pitcher,” she says as she holds up the colorful picture of a cat.
“It’s a beautiful picture. I’m going to hang it on my fridge.”
“Otay. I’ll go put it up dere for you,” she says as she hops off my lap and runs back into the kitchen.
Avery walks in a few moments later. “How are you feeling, big brother?”
“Good. Erin’s fussing over me like Mom so I haven’t had a chance to be anything but good,” I quip.
“Oh, leave her alone. She was freaked out. We all were.”
“Well, I appreciate all of the concern, but I’m fine.”
“And for that, I’m happy. I’d be so pissed off at you if you upstaged me at my wedding by dying or something,” she sasses with a big smile.
I laugh hard. “Well, we wouldn’t want that.”
“Maddox says the parties are still on for this Saturday. Is that smart?”
“I’m gonna need this party to get my mind off of the boredom I’m going to be dying from come Saturday. The parties are most definitely on. Besides, it’s not every day my little sister gets married to my best friend.”
“True,” she says with a smile.
Maddox and Erin come into the living room a few moments later carrying pizza boxes and paper plates. We all pile around the coffee table and dive into the delicious deep dish pizza. This is so much better than hospital food.
“So, Jake, what exactly do you have planned for Maddox’s bachelor party?” Avery asks.
“Nothing too big. Why?”
“Are there going to be strippers?” she asks with a raised eyebrow.
“Why would you think that?” I ask as I take a big bite of pizza.
“Um, because you’ve been talking about strippers since we got engaged at Christmas.”
“What’s a stwipper?” Brooklyn asks as she turns her attention from the cartoons on television to the adults sitting around the table. Everyone’s face becomes super serious and all eyes roam from face to face waiting to see who is going to respond to the three year old’s question.
“It’s someone who is going to dance at daddy’s party this weekend. Like the clown at that b
irthday party you went to a few weeks ago,” Avery says.
“Wike a ballerwina?”
“Yep, kinda like a ballerina, princess,” Maddox says. We all laugh as Brooklyn is pacified with the stripper definition and returns her attention back to the television.
“Isn’t Holly going to have entertainment at your party?” I ask Avery.
“God, I hope not. I’m not interested in that,” she replies.
“Why would she need to see some half-decent-looking guy dance around and strip when she has me and all of my hotness at home? I don’t think you girls need to see a stripper. My mom is going to be there and I really don’t think she wants to see one.” Maddox says clearly pulling out all the stops.
“Shows you what you know, Maddox. So, I basically understand that it’s okay for you to see strippers at your bachelor party, but not okay for Avery to see them at her bachelorette party. Is that correct?” Erin asks with a curious grin on her face.
“Exactly. I’m glad you get it,” Maddox replies before taking a big bite of his pizza.
“Oh, I get it alright,” Erin says. “And that’s very sexist of you. I hope the first thing you think about as some woman is shaking her naked ta-tas in your face Saturday night is the image of your future wife with some big, buff greased-up macho man shaking what God gave him in her face while straddling her lap.”
The look on Maddox’s face is absolutely fucking priceless. Avery and I die laughing. Avery leans over and high-fives Erin before settling back down to eat her pizza.
“So, we don’t need strippers, Jake. I’m good,” Maddox mumbles.
After the pizza is devoured, Maddox and Avery hang out for just a short time before taking off to get Bean home, bathed, and in bed for bedtime. Erin has been in the kitchen for the past half hour cleaning up what little dishes we had and doing some general cleaning.
“Come here, you,” I say as I walk into the kitchen.
“You’re supposed to be resting. Get back on the couch,” she says as she looks up from scrubbing my stove.
“Stop cleaning my kitchen, woman.”
“This thing borders on disgusting. I can’t believe you cook on this.”
“I don’t cook on it. It holds my take-out boxes for me.” I walk up behind her and snake my good arm around to her belly. I pull her gently back against my body, careful not to wrench my left arm. “It’s getting late. Are you staying here with me?”
“I brought a bag just in case. I fed Miss Whiskers before I went to pick you up at the hospital so she’ll be good until the morning.”
“Good. Let’s head back to my room.” I walk over to the backdoor and throw the lock. Erin waits for me in the doorway and flips the light off for the kitchen as I approach her. I take her hand in my good one and steer her back towards my bedroom.
I realize as we step inside my room that this is the first time she’ll actually spend the night at my place. We stopped by here once, but ended up at her place the night before. “So, how about that tour of my bed that I promised you?” I ask with an ornery grin.
“Better not, cowboy. You’re under doctors orders to take it easy. You don’t exactly have an easy bone in your body.”
“Oh, I’m easy, all right.”
Erin walks over to me and starts to unbuckle my belt. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
“No. You’re going to sleep tonight, Jake. I’m not going to be responsible for you re-injuring yourself or causing brain damage.”
Erin removes my belt, and I’m actually kind of glad she’s here to help. I’m not sure how I would undress while using only one arm and unable to throw my shirt up and over my head.
Once my belt is off, Erin helps remove the sling, lifts my shirt to my armpits and gingerly guilds my bad arm out of the sleeve of the t-shirt. I lean forward as she gently pulls the shirt over my head, careful not to hit the staples on the back. It’s actually quite the production. When the shirt’s off, she helps slide my pants down my legs. She looks up at my hard groin and shakes her head.
“Don’t blame me for that. You do that to me. I can’t help it.”
Once she has me down to my boxers, she guides me back towards my bed, pulling the covers down for me. “I’ll go get a glass of water and your pain pill. Be right back.”
A few minutes later, Erin’s back with a full glass of water and my pill. As I take it, I’m treated to the incredible view of Erin undressing. She shucks her pants, socks, sweater, and bra before turning towards my dresser. She opens up a few drawers until she finds my t-shirts. Erin slides one of my old concert shirts over her head, covering up her bare body. My half hard-on becomes a fully fledged hard-on at the magnificent image of Erin sauntering towards my bed while wearing my too-big-for-her-petite-body shirt. It’s seriously an image that wet dreams are made of. And it’s now burned into my memory; something I’ll be able to think about for the rest of my life.
Erin slides into bed with me, laying her head on the crook of my good arm. She feels absolutely amazing snuggled against me. I don’t even care that I’m hard and want to ravish her body right now. The feel of her snuggling against me is enough for me for tonight.
“Good night, Jake.”
“Night, darlin’,” I reply as I run my hand up and down her back and lean forward to kiss the top of her head.
Erin raises her head and kisses my lips. I love the taste of her. It’s all sweet and minty. It doesn’t take long for the kiss to go from gentle to holy-shit. I run my tongue along her lips, tasting her. Her hands are wandering up and down my chest. I love the feel of her soft hands on my bare chest.
“As much as I’d love to keep going and finish this the right way, you’re probably not going to let me, so we’d better just say good night right now before I can’t stop myself anymore.”
“I don’t feel comfortable having sex tonight, Jake. I’m sorry,” she says as she snuggles back tightly against my chest.
“I know. You’re probably right. I need to get some rest and you have to work tomorrow.”
“Did you just say that I’m right?”
“Don’t let that go to your head. Tomorrow I’ll be back to being bossy and domineering. Tonight, I just want to hold you as I fall asleep.”
“I can handle that. Good night, Jake.”
“Night, darlin’,” I mumble as I carefully rest my head against the top of hers. I inhale her intoxicating tropical shampoo and stroke my hand against her back. I feel her gentle breath against my neck. In the past, I’ve never been a big snuggler. Once I spent the night with a woman, I was out of there as quick as I could. Sometimes I went back for seconds, sometimes not. But with Erin lying next to me, against me, I feel content. Calm. Happy. That’s the last thought I recall as I drift off to sleep with my girl in my arms.
*****
For the next three nights, Erin and I settle into a comfortable routine. She runs to her place after work, grabs a fresh change of clothes, feeds her cat, and then comes over to my place. When she gets here, we make dinner, eat in the living room, and hang out. She generally reads while I watch some sporting event or an action movie on television. When its bedtime, we fall asleep in each other’s arms until morning where we do it all over again.
To say I’m bored come Friday is an understatement. My days are filled with watching television or entertaining company. Maddox comes over with Bean on his days off and bitches about the rookie he’s partnered up with until my return.
“Seriously, I can’t even say ‘shit’ without him either throwing my ‘foul mouth’ back in my face or quoting scriptures. It drives me crazy. It drives me fucking crazy!”
“Maybe you’ll start appreciating me a little more now, man. You didn’t realize how good you had it until I’m not there every day to keep track of you.”
“This straight and narrow shit is for the birds.” We both laugh. “So, what’s the plan for the party tomorrow night?”
“Just be ready at six. We’re gonna stop by and pick you up on our way
to Laverne’s. Dinner is our first stop. We’ll end up at Jack’s at the end of the night. And don’t worry about driving or anything. I’ll be picking you up and chauffeuring you around since I can’t drink yet.”
“Are you still planning the whole stripper thing? Cause I’ll be honest, I’m not exactly excited about Avery having a stripper. Maybe we should skip it and then she’ll do the same.”
“Don’t be a pussy. And trust me. You’ll have a great time with what I have planned,” I say with a big smile.
Maddox stands up and grabs his coat. “Trust you. Last time I did that, I wound up naked, wearing a sombrero and cowboy boots, and dancing on that table for tips.”
I laugh hard at the memory of our first weekend home following boot camp that involved a handful of girls and a whole lot of tequila. “Who knew you had such moves, my friend.”
Maddox laughs. “Let’s just keep my clothes on this time. I doubt your sister would appreciate that, and I’d prefer to actually live to see my wedding day.”
“Deal.”
“Big plans tonight?” Maddox asks as he heads towards the door.
“I’m going crazy in this house. I’m planning on taking Erin out to dinner and then maybe a movie. Anything to not stare at these walls for another night.”
“Well, have fun, man. If you need anything, let me know.”
“Will do. See you tomorrow at six,” I say as Maddox heads out the door with a wave.
Well, I have about three hours until Erin gets here so plenty of time to plan a date night. Now, I just have to decide what to do. Dinner is a must but I’m starting to rethink the movie idea. The last thing I want to do is sit and watch more mindless TV or another movie. So, now what?
*****
“Honey, I’m home,” Erin says as she comes in the backdoor and sets down her bag on the kitchen table.
I’m in the kitchen to greet her a few moments later. “Hi,” I say as I lean forward and give her a kiss.
“Hi, yourself,” she murmurs against my lips. “Hey, where is your sling?”
“I was sick of it. It’s been five days and I was tired of it restricting my movements. It had to go,” I say as I move my shoulder around like I’m a pitcher warming up.