“Your parents seem pretty nice,” Miller remarked as he stroked my hair and I turned sideways to curl my body against his.
“They are pretty nice.” I propped my head up on one hand, sliding my other underneath his t-shirt. “And I think they like you just about as much as I do.”
“Well, I hope not that much.” He smirked as he reached down and pushed my hand away, instead lacing his fingers with mine. “Remember what your mom said. Try to keep your hands to yourself. I know it’s hard, but your parents are in the other room.”
I frowned and he kissed my lips. “Don’t pout, even though you do look pretty sexy.”
“But dinner’s not for a little while longer, we have plenty of time. You know, I was always the good kid growing up. I think I need to break the rules. Don’t you want to help me?”
I batted my eyelashes at him, and he sucked in a sharp breath when my hand landed on the front of his jeans this time and I gave a good squeeze.
“Well, I guess if you really want to break some rules, I can help you out.” He stopped talking after that and I threw one leg over his as he devoured my mouth. Licking and nipping, until finally our tongues met in an art we’ve seemed to perfect together. “Is this enough rule breaking?” he said into my mouth and I shook my head, pushing my leg over further so I was straddling him, and he was looking up at me with an amused smile. “What if your parents walk in?”
“I locked the door.”
“Oh, so you were planning this?”
“I was hoping.” I dropped down so our faces were inches apart and he reached up, pushing a strand of hair out of my eyes.
“Then I guess I can help you keep breaking ‘em.” He quickly rolled our bodies over, so he was on top, and I laughed.
“You always have to be in control, don’t you?”
“Most of the time,” he replied before pushing his body hard against mine, and I forgot about everything else, half-delirious as his rough hands slid up my sweater dress, and he sucked eagerly on the side of my neck. “This is gonna be quick. Try not to scream.” The hoarseness of his voice sent shivers down my spine and made my thighs squeeze together in anticipation.
I felt my panties being yanked down and heard his buckle being undone, and then he was hovering over me once again. His fingers landed in-between my thighs, pumping in and out a few times, before he lowered himself down and rubbed the tip of himself against my entrance and then rammed in the rest of the way.
I bit down hard on my lip, trying not to make any noise, as I wrapped my legs tightly around his waist. Miller smirked at me before covering my mouth was his, muffling any sound that came out. The bed that I remembered having since I was a little girl squeaked and Miller must’ve noticed too, because he suddenly stopped and picked me up, carrying me until I was backed against the wall. He pushed right back into me so quickly my head was spinning, and cupped my ass as I held on for the ride. I was mentally screaming his name on the inside as he relentlessly pounded away. I raked my nails across his back, digging them in, which only led him to speed up his pace, possessive, as he continued going faster and rougher than ever before.
“You’re mine,” he breathed out hoarsely against my neck and that was my undoing as I completely became unraveled and fell harder than I ever had before.
“ARE YOU SURE you really have to go, Miller? It would be so nice if you could stay with us for the holidays. You’ve been such a gentleman to have around.”
Miller grinned wickedly in my direction before turning back to my mom, who was all but trying to physically keep Miller in our house. She was head over heels in love with him after he spent only two days with us. I didn’t want him to leave either, but I knew he had to get back to his own busy life.
“It was a pleasure to meet you both,” he said, turning on that southern charm as he hugged my mom and shook my dad’s hand.
“Same here, Miller. Feel free to come back anytime. Monroe’s all yours whenever you want her,” my dad replied gruffly and I rolled my eyes.
“Gee, thanks for letting him have me,” I grumbled.
Miller winked at me. “I’m sure we all know how independent Monroe can be, so probably not whenever I want.” I shivered at the double meaning, wishing my parents weren’t here for our goodbyes, but I thought it would be a little rude to tell them to get the hell out of their own house.
Miller hugged me, kissing my forehead once before he pulled away. “Be careful driving, pull over if you get tired, and call me. Multiple times,” I demanded and he laughed.
“Don’t worry, I will.”
“Hey,” he called with his hand on the front door, about to leave me even though I wasn’t ready. At all. “I left something in your room for you. Don’t open it until I’m gone. Okay?”
“Sure.” I twitched in place, already wondering what in the hell it could be, and Miller knew me because he paused again, smiling as he watched me. “Okay, you can go now.”
“Oh, now you want me out of here? Before you didn’t want to leave. You’re breakin’ my heart.” He clutched his chest and I stepped forward, kissing his cheek while pushing on his shoulder at the same time.
“Okay, Billy Ray. Time for you and your achy breaky heart to get out of here.”
“You’re so impatient. At least wait until I get out of the driveway.”
“Okay, I promise.” I waited one second until the door was shut and ran toward my bedroom, my parents looking at me oddly as I sprinted by them. I saw a small, square box sitting on top of my pillow as soon I entered, and since my room sat at the front of our one story house, I could see that Miller was now pulling out of the driveway, which made my stomach drop because I already missed him. But I couldn’t wait to see what was in that box. Miller might not seem like the kind of guy to be thoughtful, but he really was.
I carefully removed the pretty ribbon and set it on my nightstand, wanting to save it. Yeah, I was that kind of girl. I had boxes and boxes of sentimental things from over the years that someday I would be able to rifle through and remember the good old days. Miller would have his own special box.
I found an envelope inside and quickly opened it, revealing a single airline ticket with a one way trip to Atlanta dated for two days after Christmas. I’d been talking to Miller about going back to Georgia before winter break was over so we could spend New Year’s together and apparently he wanted to make that happen.
I groaned at the thought of Miller spending his money to buy me an airplane ticket. I had still not figured out how I was getting back to Georgia, but I knew I would get there somehow, even if I had to hitchhike so I wasn’t a burden on my family.
I was upset that he had done that, until I read the note that was attached.
I grinned, loving the fact that he knew me so well. I guess if I did look at it as a Christmas present, I couldn’t be too upset. I still hated the fact that he’d spent that much money on me. I knew plane tickets weren’t cheap; that is exactly the reason why I hadn’t bought one in the first place.
And then I realized there was another note behind that one.
My eyes were blurred with tears as I finished reading the note that Miller left, the best present he could give me. It didn’t matter that he didn’t say it to me face to face, in my eyes at least, and like he’d said before, when it came to our relationship, we were the only two who mattered. Really, this note meant even more. I knew about his trust issues and well, even his love issues. Anyone could see how much he loved his mamaw that had raised him as her son and he couldn’t even say it to her. I would take I love you in a note from him any day.
I grabbed my phone off of my bed because I needed to call him. So what if he’d only left minutes ago? I needed to tell him exactly how I felt, too.
“I LOVE YOU, too,” Monroe rushed out as soon as I answered my phone, not even able to get a word out first.
I felt my body relax against the back of the seat, relieved that she wasn’t pissed that I wrote something like that in a note. Whenev
er I tried to say those words to anyone, it was like my mouth and brain froze up at the same time, refusing to cooperate. The root of that problem was my ma. I’d heard those three simple words out of her mouth so many times, but never with any follow through. When someone tells you over and over again that they love you and then turns right around and leaves you again, not to mention her telling it to you after every time your so called dad beats the shit out of you and she stands by doing nothing, the words lose all meaning. Yeah, I realized I still had some issues to deal with and I probably always would.
But hearing those words out of Monroe’s mouth, even over the phone, had meaning.
I knew that I was loved by my mamaw and Luke, and even Tanner, it was just saying it back to them that I couldn’t quite handle. Now, I could add Monroe to that list, too.
“And you got your present, right? Did you really wait until I got out of the driveway?”
“Um…sure I did.” I laughed, knowing that she was totally lying.
“Thank you so much, it really is the best present. Even though you shouldn’t be spending that kind of money on me, it’ll be nice to fly back.”
“Good, I’ll be waiting at the airport to pick you up.”
“You will?” she asked, sounding surprised and I had no idea why. I made it as clear as I could how I felt about her. Maybe it wasn’t as clear as some other guys could be, but for now, it was as good as I could get.
“Of course I’ll be there.”
I heard her sigh through the phone. “Well, I can’t wait. I do have to go though. We’re getting ready to make cookies. Apparently my mom thinks I’m five again. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“All right.”
I tossed my phone onto the seat next to me and tried to settle in for the long drive ahead, but it was impossible. All I could think about was Monroe and what in the hell I was going to do while she was gone. She was like an addiction, albeit a good one to have, one that I didn’t need any kind of intervention for. Mamaw seemed to be coming around to her, too. Even though I’d seen Tara a few times recently at the restaurant, Mamaw hadn’t breathed another word about the possibility of a relationship to us. She’d even told me that she liked Monroe, so I would take it.
The drive seemed to pass by more quickly than I expected and I called Monroe a couple of times on my way, texting her when I pulled into my driveway. I noticed a few lights on in my house and knew that Mamaw was here, probably cleaning away. With the holidays being in the next couple of days, she would go in full on crazy woman mode, just for everything to get messed up again by my family. I didn’t understand it.
“Miller! You’re home earlier than I expected.” She set down the mop she was holding and came over to hug me. “How was the drive? I’m guessing you got Miss Monroe there safely.”
“Yes, ma’am. The drive back wasn’t too bad, but I’m pretty beat now and I’ve got to be back in the office tomorrow.”
“Oh, please, just close that dang office early for the holidays, give yourself some time to relax.”
“Maybe,” I answered, throwing my keys on the counter and dropping my bag next to the couch, which Mamaw eyeballed but surprisingly didn’t say anything about it messing up the clean house.
“So, her parents liked you, I’m sure,” she stated matter-of-factly. That was Mamaw, no matter how much of an ass I was to people, she was convinced everyone couldn’t help but like me.
“I think so, they seemed to be pretty nice people. Luke staying at your house still?”
“Yes, he figured he might as well just hang out there for a bit until he figures out when he’s going to get a place of his own. I certainly don’t mind having him around.”
“Well, that’s good. I’m going to head to bed. You need help with anything before I do?”
“No, sir. You go get yourself some rest. I’ll have everything ready for Christmas Eve. There’s not too much work to be done since it looks like you actually started some of the decorating. I’m guessing Monroe likes ballet.” She raised a brow, tilting her head toward the tree that was lit up with white lights and dotted with a bunch of ballerina ornaments. Monroe insisted on having that kind of tree and I couldn’t help but give her exactly what she wanted.
“She is and she insisted on decorating. I just watched.”
“Hmm…I think I’m starting to like that girl even more.”
“Good, because I like her an awful lot. Night, Mamaw.” Love her, in fact, was what I wanted to say, but that word just refused to come out of my mouth, no matter how hard I tried to get it out.
THE HOLIDAYS WENT by quickly, which was good because that meant Monroe would be back into town soon. I didn’t realize how much I would actually miss her but there was this ache in my chest with her gone and I knew it wouldn’t go away until she was back. I was picking her up from the airport and I kept anxiously checking the time on my watch. I was sitting near baggage claim for her, and suddenly, the minutes seemed to drag by, it didn’t help that she had a little bit of a delay because of the ‘gross white stuff.’ Her words, not mine.
My phone alerted me of a message and I pulled it out of my pocket to see that it was from Monroe.
Finally made it!!!
Immediately, I jumped up from the bench I’d been sitting on and started pacing back and forth, scanning the hundreds of people scurrying toward the area that I was in to pick up their bags.
“Miller!” I turned around to see her coming from the opposite direction , and she started running at me full force, landing in my outstretched arms and wrapping her legs around my waist. I squeezed her tight, breathing in her scent that was starting to fade from my pillows. In person, it was so much better.
I spun her around a few times and she giggled when I set her back down, brushing a piece of her dark hair away from her glittering green eyes. “That was straight out of one of those romance movies that you hate to watch. Thanks for making my day.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” I replied, grabbing onto her hand and not wanting to let go of it for the rest of the day. “Let’s go find your bags. How many did you end up with?”
“Just the two that I originally brought. We’ve never done hundreds of gifts at Christmas, but spending time with my parents was good enough. Even Holland and Jackson.”
“Well, I’m glad you got to spend time with your family. What about Carter? Did you two hang out at all?” I tried to sound casual when I asked her, but I knew that was impossible. My whole body felt rigid while I waited for her answer and we came to a stop at the carousel where her luggage was supposed to be.
“Um…I saw him a few times. There’s something you and I need to talk about but I’ll wait until we get to your truck.”
Yeah, that didn’t really help to relieve any of the mounting tension. Why did I bring up Carter? Well, that was easy. Because I needed to know if she’d been hanging out with him while she was back home. I knew he had a thing for her and I didn’t trust the guy at all. Monroe, on the other hand, I think I trusted, but you never know. People could turn on you so quickly and I knew that first hand
I helped Monroe with her bags once she spotted them and then I hurried her along to my truck as quickly as I could. Once we were inside, I started it up but turned off the radio and stayed in the parking spot that I was in. “Okay, what’s going on?”
She licked her lips, turning sideways in her seat to look at me. “I know things are getting a little bit more serious between us, Miller. So I thought I should tell you something because you might not want to be with me anymore,” she finished quietly.
“Monroe, I couldn’t imagine what would make me not want to be with you anymore, unless something happened between you and Carter.” I slammed my hand down on the steering wheel, my temper starting to flare up, but I was trying to keep it under control until she said what she needed to say.
“Nothing happened between me and Carter, Miller. I swear. Not that Carter didn’t want something to happen, because like I already told
you, he has this notion in his head that we’re meant to be or something all of a sudden. Carter’s always been a part of my life, but I don’t see him the same way that he sees me.” She squinted her eyes slightly and it made me wonder if there might be a little part of her that still wondered if something was possible between the two of them someday, but I tried to ignore it. “I just hope I’m not getting ahead of myself here by telling you this, but I think you should know. I have no idea where our relationship is going to go, no one does. I’m still young so I haven’t thought about it too much, but it’s always been there in the back of my mind since I found out.”
She was over-talking now, so I was going to do what I always did when she got like this and stay quiet. I could tell she was nervous about telling me whatever it was she needed to say, so I grabbed onto her hand and she managed to give me a shaky smile.
“When I was in high school, I used to get the most horrible periods. Every month, I would be in the school nurse’s office, throwing up because my cramps were so bad. So, eventually my mom took me to the doctor and after some testing, they came to the conclusion that I have endometriosis and they put me on birth control. The birth control is supposed to help relieve some of the symptoms and it has seemed to help somewhat, but I still get pretty painful ones from time to time. I tried going off the birth control for a while just because I didn’t like some of the effects it had on me, but all of those symptoms just came right back, even more painful than before.”
Midnight Ballerina Page 22