She chuckled. “Oh yeah? And how exactly are you going to do that, Mr. Knuckles? I have, after all, just pinned you to the ground.”
“Do you really think that’s going to stop me?” I teased.
“Ha! I’d like to see you try. Tell me, how are you going to get me off you?”
I immediately turned her over and pinned her to the ground.
“Like that,” I said. I chuckled. “You have no idea how light you are. Or,” I said as I looked down at her face, “how beautiful.”
I leaned down and kissed her.
Chapter Eighteen
Blaire
It had been a long time since anyone had made me feel the way that Ryan made me feel. It was more than just physical. I enjoyed being around him for more than just his looks. Although, at that moment, the only thing that I could think about was how sexy he looked.
“You have no idea how light you are. Or,” he said to me, “how beautiful.”
He leaned down and kissed me. I was still pinned to the ground, and I liked it. I was more than happy to let him win in a fight with me. Eventually, he pulled me up so that we were both in a seated position on the floor and he slipped my shirt over my head, then did the same with his own. I unclasped my bra and threw it to the other side of the room, which made him laugh.
“You are the sexiest opponent I’ve ever had,” he said and pinned me back down to the floor.
He kissed me softly on the mouth, and then he parted my lips with his tongue as the kiss became more and more intense. It was hard not to get intense with Ryan. He was a very passionate lover and put everything he had into it. When he kissed me, I always knew how badly he wanted it. I could feel it with every breath he took. He stood up and took off the rest of his clothes while I lay on the floor just watching him. He was larger than life, and clearly very happy to see me. I was just about to get up, but he wouldn’t let me.
“You’re pinned down, remember?” he said even though there was nobody stopping me from getting up. Then he kneeled down and pulled off my jeans and panties. I continued to lie on the ground, watching him.
He pulled open my legs and put his fingers inside me. He watched me as he fingered me, and I didn’t shy away from his gaze. I felt both powerless and powerful at the same time as we watched each other. Eventually, I closed my eyes and groaned. I was so close to coming and could feel my body losing control. He stopped just before I was about to let go. He pulled me up so that we were both sitting, kissing, touching one another. Then I pulled him down, pinning him to the ground.
“My turn,” I said as I rubbed him with my hand. Matching his movements, I watched him as I moved my hand up and down, up and down. I could feel him getting harder in my hands, and I could see how excited he was. He looked at me, his teeth biting his lip as he tried to stay in control. And then, just at the point of no return, I stopped. While he lay there, catching his breath, I went to grab a condom. I placed it on him and then climbed on top of him.
“And Blaire Kaplan has her opponent pinned to the ground. He is unable to move because her sheer strength and determination,” I said and then groaned as he entered inside me.
After that, neither of us said a word. I rocked over him, letting him touch and caress me until neither of us could take it anymore. As he came, so did I, and our entire bodies trembled in release.
“And just like that, Blaire Kaplan wins the entire tournament,” I said.
He smiled, pulled me down, and kissed me gently on the mouth. “Oh, I think I’m the one that won that round.”
We lay there for a while until I started laughing.
“What’s so funny?” he asked. “I’m a little worried that you are laughing after we just had sex.”
I chuckled. “I’m just laughing because we’re still lying on the floor. Why did neither of us think of having sex on the bed like normal people? I mean, the bed is right next to us.”
He laughed. “I guess we’re not like normal people then? I didn’t even notice the bed, to be honest.”
“Yeah, neither did I. You know, bringing me to Seattle was one of the best things you could’ve done for me. I haven’t even thought about what’s been going on back home. In fact, I haven’t thought about much other than having a good time here. I think I needed this. Thanks for bringing me.”
“And thanks for coming. It would’ve been very boring without you. Oh, by the way, I have to go and see Reed tomorrow at his work. I’m going for a checkup. But I’m sure the whole thing won’t take too long.”
“A checkup? Is everything okay?”
“Oh yeah, it’s only a routine checkup. It’s something I have to do for the MMA board. We all have to do it. It helps that I’ve got a brother in the medical business.”
“That’s no problem at all!”
Chapter Nineteen
Ryan
I was enjoying waking up with Blaire next to me. After an afternoon of sex, and an evening of hot dogs and milkshakes, we’d fallen into bed early. Reed and Trinity had enjoyed the dinner that we had brought home for them and the four of us had enjoyed a nice evening together. I lived alone and spent most nights eating by myself. Every now and again I’d meet a girl, and I’d spend a bit of time with her. But never in the way that I was spending time with Blaire. And being with Reed and Trinity too was a nice addition. Had I forgotten how good it was to have people that I liked around me? I hadn’t visited Trinity in way too long. Had I forgotten what it was like to be around family? I gave Blaire a little kiss on the forehead and smiled at her.
“Morning, Sunny.”
She smiled. “Good morning. Sleep well?”
“Yeah. I think I was in some sort of food coma, though.”
She laughed. “I cannot believe we had hot dogs for lunch and for dinner. And you want to know something crazy?”
“What’s that?”
“I could so easily have hot dogs again today. That place is addictive. I’ve decided that I don’t want them to open up a branch in Los Angeles.”
“Oh, that’s such a pity,” I said. “I already had the whole thing organized with the owner as a surprise to you. I’ll have to call them to cancel it now.”
She sat up quickly. “What? Are you serious? No, don’t cancel.”
I chuckled. “I’m just kidding! When would I have had the time to organize something like that? But now I know where you really stand on the situation.”
She punched me in the arm. “You’re cruel. I actually got excited for a second there.”
“You’re cute. I had no idea you’d feel this way about a hot dog.”
She chuckled. “It’s not just any hot dog. We both know that. Come on, let’s go get some breakfast so I can get my mind off it.”
The moment we walked into the main house, Trinity came running up to us.
“Guess what? Guess what? GUESS WHAT?”
We all laughed at her enthusiasm. “Let me guess . . . you’re getting a brand new car today?”
“No!”
“You’re going to cut all your hair off?”
“No!” she said and giggled.
“You’re going to turn into a mushroom?”
“No!”
“Okay, I give up. Tell me.”
“I’m not going to school today!”
“Really? You lucky girl. So, what are you going to do today?”
“Follow Daddy around!” she said and laughed. “He said I could come with him to his office.”
“I’m also going to Daddy’s office,” I said.
“You too? Are we all going?” she said in excitement.
I wasn’t sure that it was such a good idea to have Trinity in the office with him. I knew how busy he was, but, clearly, he had given in to her pleas that day.
“Where’s Linda today?” I asked.
“She couldn’t come in today, unfortunately. She called me early this morning to let me know. And I don’t have time to get Trinity from school later so I just said she could come along with me. I do
n’t think she realizes just how boring it’s going to be.”
“It’s not going to be boring. It will be fun. I can be a doctor for the day too. I can help all the patients get better,” Trinity said.
We all knew it was a bad idea, but nobody knew what to say. Until Blaire came to the rescue.
“I have an idea,” Blaire said suddenly, and we all turned to look at her. “Why don’t I look after Trinity this morning? Ryan, I know you have an appointment with Reed this morning, and it’s pointless us all coming along. And that way I get to spend some time with Trinity. What do you think?”
“YES! Yes, yes, yes!” Trinity shouted. “Oh please, Daddy. Can I stay home?”
Reed laughed. “Oh, now you want to stay home?” he looked up at Blaire. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Of course not. I think it will be fun,” Blaire said.
“It will be fun,” Trinity said.
“Thank you, Blaire. That’s very nice of you. And that will be a huge weight off my shoulders today.”
“YAY!” Trinity yelled.
I looked at Blaire and smiled at her. “Thank you,” I mouthed, and she grinned back at me.
I couldn’t believe how nice Blaire was to make that suggestion. I watched the two of them talking about what they were going to do that morning, and I couldn’t help but feel a strange feeling come over me. Was I falling for her?
“How would you like your eggs?” Reed asked, and I snapped out of my reverie.
“Oh, whatever is easiest for you. Why not scramble them all?”
“If you don’t mind?”
“I don’t.”
“I don’t, either,” Blaire said.
“Oh, you guys are amazing,” Reed said. “You’re making my life a lot easier.”
“You know,” Blaire said. “Not that long ago I just ate fruit for breakfast.”
“Really?” I said. As far as I had known, she’d always had a healthy appetite. “That’s a boring breakfast. What changed?”
“At first it was being in Wyoming when I did that cowboy movie with your brother. Everyone there works very hard so because of that eat big wholesome meals. I sort of got used to it. I came back to Los Angeles with that mindset. I slowly started going back to my old ways, but lately, I just haven’t been caring so much about it. I sort of don’t see the point anymore. Anyway, I run almost every day, and I really like my food.”
I beamed at her. “This is way better. There’s nothing worse than someone that won’t eat.”
“Well, that’s the problem with being an actress. We all want to look a certain way because we have the world watching our every move. But we forget that we are also supposed to be a role model for everyone around us. Starvation is not being a role model. Maybe it’s easier for me because I’m not such a well-known actress, but I figured it would be good to change my mindset now.”
“I like spaghetti,” Trinity said and we all giggled.
“Good, keep it that way,” Blaire said to her.
We sat together eating scrambled eggs on toast, and then when we were done, I got up to leave with Reed. I gave Trinity a big hug and told her to be good.
“Are you going to be nice to Blaire?” I asked her.
She seemed to take the question very seriously. “Yes,” she nodded. “I am going to be nice to her. We’re going to have so much fun!”
I laughed. “I’m sure you are. Thanks again, Blaire.”
“No problem. See you boys later.”
“Yeah, bye boys,” Trinity said.
I walked over to the spare car, but Reed stopped me. “Nah, come with me.”
“Oh, but I don’t think I’ll stay all day,” I said to him. I couldn’t of anything worse than spending the entire day with Reed at work, and I wasn’t sure why he would even want me to.
He laughed. “I know. But I don’t have any appointments for this afternoon. So once we’re all done, I just have a tiny bit of paperwork to do, and then we can come back here.”
“Oh, that’s great. I bet Trinity is going to be happy.”
“Yeah, more than likely. Although she doesn’t seem to mind me being at work now that she has Blaire around. But yeah, she’ll be happy. Sometimes I don’t get to spend as much time with her as I would like. It’s a fairly demanding job. I feel so bad sometimes. But I do the best that I can.”
“Don’t beat yourself up about it, Reed. You’re doing an amazing job. She’s such a good girl. She’s hilarious too. She must get that from me.”
He laughed. “Oh, so are you claiming to be the funny one in the family then?”
“Well, it’s certainly not Ian.”
He burst out laughing. “That’s true. Although, I hear he’s different these days.”
“Apparently so. He’s heading the motorcycle club. Can you believe it? Can you even imagine someone like Ian standing up and talking to a crowd full of people?”
Reed shook his head. “I can’t imagine it. Although, I guess it’s not just any crowd. It’s a crowd of people who all love motorcycles as much as he did. I guess that’s the difference.”
“Yeah, that’s true. Well, I’m happy for him. Like I said before, he’s a good guy.”
“Yeah, I’m happy for him too. I always knew he needed a bit of direction. Okay, well, here we are. Let’s go in.”
I marveled at how different Reed’s life was from mine. The moment I stepped inside the building, I wanted to run back out, whereas when I got inside the training facility, I never wanted to leave. But I supposed that was the difference between working here and being a patient.
“So, you’ve been suffering from headaches?”
“Uh yeah, but it’s probably nothing. I mean, it’s not every day,” I said. Although, that wasn’t exactly true. Lately, it had been every day. Sometimes more than once a day. And the severity of it had definitely increased. But I didn’t want to divulge all of that to Reed. It would only make him think it was more serious than it was.
“Well, it’s always best to just check it out. Like you said, it’s probably nothing, but every now again it can be something. Always good to just know. So, we’re going to do a CAT scan and test it out. Ever done one before?”
I didn’t even want to think about doing a CAT scan, let alone talk about it. “You know me, I’ve always been more of a dog person,” I said and tried to make light of the conversation.
He laughed. “Knucklehead.”
“So,” I said to change the conversation. “What’s happening in your life? Now that Trinity is not here, I figured I could ask you.”
“What do you mean? You know my life. Work, be a father. Work, be a father. That’s all there is to it, really. It’s hard work, but I’ve gotten into an easy routine now. And it’s pretty rewarding, I have to admit.”
“And there aren’t any women in your life? You’re not dating?” I asked. I thought about what Blaire had said about perhaps trying to push him in the right direction and decided it was worth trying. Also, I’d do anything not to talk about the upcoming CAT scan that he was now preparing as we talked. I tried not to look at any of the equipment.
“A woman? No, definitely not. I don’t have time for dating right now. I’m too busy. I can have fun later on, but right now the only thing I can do is provide for my daughter. That is the number one thing in my life.”
I wanted to tell him that it was time that he put himself first, and that he had to stop using his daughter as an excuse, but I couldn’t find the words. I’d already said more than I usually did. But he was the one that changed the subject before I could.
“How about you? What’s happening with Blaire? She seems nice.”
I smiled. “She is nice. She’s more than nice really. She’s amazing. I’ll be honest; I have no idea what’s going on. We haven’t really discussed it. I took her on two dates before bringing her here. There’s been some weird stuff happening back at home with someone knocking on her door and running away, or calling her and then not saying anything. Sh
e was pretty freaked out, so I decided to bring her along with me.”
“Seriously? That’s horrible. What’s wrong with people?”
“Yeah, exactly. Anyway, there have been no phone calls since we’ve been here so hopefully it was just some kids playing a prank or something. It’s nice to have her here. I didn’t think it would be as easy to have her around as it is.”
“Sounds like you really like her. I’ve never heard you talk about anyone like this. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever met one of your girlfriends before. You don’t really date, do you? You normally just hook up with girls.”
I laughed. “That sounds about right. I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s different with Blaire. I think I’m starting to really fall for her. I’ve never known something like this before.”
“I’m glad for you, Ryan. But be careful, okay?”
“Be careful? What do you mean?”
“I just don’t want you to get hurt like I did.”
“I’ll be careful,” I said. But I wished that Reed could see that not every situation was going to turn out the way his did with his ex-wife.
After that, we turned our attention back to the CAT scan. Reed explained how the whole worked and slowly took me through the process. Afterward, he asked me to wait for him in the waiting area until he looked through everything. He didn’t make me wait too long, but it still felt like forever. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I picked up a magazine and paged through it only to realize I hadn’t actually looked at the pages at all. When he finally walked in and called me back to his office, I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. There was something in the way he had looked at me that made me feel uncomfortable.
I sighed. “Okay, give it to me straight, bro.”
“Ryan, it looks like you have severe head trauma. That’s what’s causing the headaches. And, from my look at the scan, I have a feeling your headaches are much worse than what you’ve been telling me. Am I right?”
Dirty Daddy_The Maxwell Family Page 80