Center Mass

by Lani Lynn Vale

  “Not to interrupt, AC, but your daughter wants to know when she can go home,” James drawled from the doorway.

  I turned and found him smiling with a phone to his ear. “She and Rowen are getting antsy, and something about you promising them Frozen and ice cream were mentioned, as well.”

  The tension in the room broke.

  “Call Baylee and tell her what’s going on, ask her to come get them, and I’ll pick the girls up tomorrow with Reese. We’ve got a lot of paperwork and questions that need to be answered once I’m done here,” Luke sighed.

  I shook my head.

  The man had lost a lot of blood, dodged death twice with two shots to the head, and he wanted answers.

  Men.

  ***

  “God,” I said sadly, thinking about how Rowen lost her father.

  Gruesome wasn’t even good enough to describe what I’d just heard.

  “What was her reasoning? I don’t understand why she would’ve done all that,” I shivered.

  Would Rowen even understand?

  Agent Lawrence looked over at me and then swung his eyes back up to Luke. “Should she even be here?”

  I wanted to kick him, which I probably would’ve done but Luke rolled away from the man when he felt my leg tense.

  “Assault of an officer, regardless of the reasoning, is enough to get you jail time, honey,” Luke whispered into my ear.

  I sighed and relaxed. He was right. That wasn’t what we needed right now, but I couldn’t help the way I felt.

  Weston, although not the best one in the world, was still Rowen’s father. A man who’d never be able to walk his daughter down the aisle.

  “She stays,” Luke insisted, keeping his arm around my belly.

  I leaned into him, pressing my nose against his neck.

  “What kind of retaliation are we looking at here?” Luke asked when no one continued.

  The chief, Luke, Nico, and Agent Lawrence had started this meeting a little over an hour before, and it’d been the most intense, gruesome hour of my life.

  I’d listened to how Weston and Lydia had been tortured, supposedly by Russian mafia standards, for nearly a day before Anita had finally killed them. Then I’d listen to Luke as he recounted what had happened. Then again from Nico’s point of view.

  I’d been sick to my stomach before the meeting, but now I was positively green.

  I felt god-awful. In fact, I wanted nothing more than to go crawl in bed with Rowen and Katy, and have Luke’s arms wrapped around us, protecting us from this harsh world.

  “Only time will tell, unfortunately. The kid lived, mostly due to the part Nico’s played in keeping Anita alive long enough for the medics to get there. Anita’s death is bound to have some backlash; but, as of right now, I won’t know what kind until we look into it more.” Agent Lawrence shook his head.

  My eyes squeezed shut at the thought of any ‘retaliation’ at all.

  I was, however, deluding myself.

  I lived in a world that was harsh and cruel.

  We would definitely need to be vigilant, and I knew Luke would be there for us. Always.

  ***

  Later that night

  “I love you, Luke,” I sighed, resting my head on his chest.

  He kissed my forehead and dragged the covers up over our naked bodies.

  He’d just let me, for the first time ever, make sweet, slow love to him.

  I was totally in control, and he took it like the man he was.

  Only taking over at the end when my orgasm had leached all cognitive movements from my body.

  I was still on top of him, and he was still inside of me.

  His cock had gone down, but not completely as we caught our breath.

  “I love you, too,” he rumbled.

  I turned my head and kissed his naked chest, right over the strong beating of his heart, then laid my head down to listen to it.

  “Your heart is talking to me,” I teased.

  I could tell he was smiling.

  “And what’s it saying?” He played along.

  “It’s saying that you need to take your pain medication,” I quipped.

  He chuckled softly. “Yes, ma’am.”

  He didn’t move, though, and neither did I.

  “It’s also saying that we need to have a quick wedding. ‘Cause I’m not living with you until we’ve got the same last name,” I said in all seriousness.

  He sighed. “My heart knows my head. We’ll get married next week at the courthouse.”

  I laughed, running my nose along the ridge of his pectoral muscles. “Nice try, big boy. But I want it all. The huge poofy dress and the large flowers surrounding us.”

  He grumbled. “Somehow, I knew you’d want that. You’re not easy, that’s for sure.”

  I bit him softly on the nipple, and felt his cock jump inside of me. “Nothing worth fighting for is ever easy.”

  “No, I can’t say that it is,” he said as he started to move slowly inside of me again.

  Epilogue

  Love, because chocolate isn’t always enough.

  -Valentine’s Card

  A decade of notes

  I sat down on the edge of the bed, lifting the large book that Luke had given me only moments before.

  Luke sat on the bed beside me, smiling, as I opened the first page.

  My eyes started to water instantly.

  He’d saved them.

  Each and every one of them.

  My hands shook as I scanned page after page.

  ***

  My soon to be husband,

  I can’t believe I’m marrying you in less than an hour. It seems like just yesterday when I met you at Katy’s school.

  I knew you were hot, but as I looked at you through the window while you are playing with Rowen and Katy a few minutes ago, I find you beautiful. I’ve never felt like this. Never even thought it’d be possible.

  I just want you to know how happy you make me, and I’ll try with all my heart to get over how you never pick up your socks from wherever you happen to be when you take them off.

  Reese, your soon to be wife

  ***

  My soon to be wife,

  Your ass looked good in your scrubs. I liked how Captain America’s shield cupped your shapely behind. If anything, you should be thanking the maker of those scrubs, otherwise I would’ve never taken a second look at you. (Just kidding.)

  Your daughter’s your mini-me, how could I not love her since I love her mother with all my heart?

  Thank you for putting together my socks. Just for that, I’ll put up with she-who-shall-not-be-named (Reese on her period) every month without complaint (To your face, anyway.)

  I love you, now come walk down the aisle to me. I’m ready to put a ring on it.

  Lucas, your soon to be husband (If you’d pull the lead out)

  ***

  Luke (My dear husband),

  I see that you forgot to take the trash out again. Let me remind you that I’m thirty months past due with your spawn of Satan. It pains my vagina greatly to walk more than five feet. Stairs are a DON’T! When you are the one carrying the spawn, I’ll take the trash out for you. Marriage is give and take.

  Your lovely, beautiful, pregnant wife.

  Reese

  ***

  Reese (Satan’s carrier),

  I’m sorry I forgot to take the trash out. I got a page that took priority over the trash. Please, forgive me. I’ll take it out now. There. Done. Now what else do you have to bitch nit-pick about? I gave you my dick last night, what more can one want? Not to mention I brought home some pickles. I’m the best husband ever!

  You’re devoted and ever so helpful husband,

  Luke

  ***

  Lucas Roberts (Asshole),

  I’ve spent the last seventeen and a half hours trying to push out your baby, and I’d like you to know that my vagina will never resemble the perfection it was before. You shall forever be sliding yo
ur dick into the endless black hole that will be my new vagina. I hope you know what kind of sacrifice I made when I chose to have our baby vaginally.

  Reese Roberts (The Asshole’s wife)

  ***

  Demon Spawn’s soon to be mother,

  I love you and your loose vagina.

  Roberts (Demon spawn’s mother’s lover)

  ***

  Ungrateful bastard,

  I made you motherfucking dinner last night, after spending three hours with your children making sure they had enough Christmas cookies each to take to their school Christmas parties. The least you could’ve done was say thank you.

  After spending hours in the kitchen with your child on my boob half the time, you don’t even eat it?

  If you value your life, I suggest you take it to lunch.

  Your sleep deprived wife,

  Reese

  ***

  My perfect wife,

  I’m sorry I didn’t eat (your shitty) dinner last night. Sandwiches didn’t sound good (And for some reason, I don’t think this took you very long to make). However, I have them in my hand, as I write this, to take with me to work. Please forgive my children for making you work so hard. Maybe next time you should go to the store and buy the cookies instead of baking them (They’re kind of ugly, and they’re a little burnt on the bottom). I love you, I’ll meet you at Mario’s for the police banquet tonight. Don’t forget to pick up my suit.

  Love, your husband (who will be eating his sandwich even though the bread is soggy.)

  ***

  Husband (the man who went to sleep instead of having sex with me last night),

  I’m sorry I snapped at you this morning. I’m pretty sure you broke my heart when you came in and didn’t even give me a hug when you flopped into bed.

  I know you don’t realize it, but you don’t have to use my boobs as a pillow. They’re a part of me, and there are times that I like to sleep on my stomach. Please try your hardest to use your own pillow from now on, okay?

  Your sleepy wife (The one you didn’t have sex with last night)

  ***

  I laughed a watery laugh and laid my head on Luke’s shoulder.

  “You kept them,” I sniffled.

  He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his chest.

  I wiped my hand over the laminated pages as if they were spun glass. As if the tiniest of touches would break them to pieces.

  Those notes, the ones that were written from the heart, meant the world to me. And it meant even more to know that he’d saved them all.

  “It took some doing. I had to find the right person that I trusted with our lovely notes before I could hand them over. They’re precious to me,” Luke rumbled.

  My eyes closed and I breathed in Luke’s scent.

  He’d been mowing the yard, as he did ever Sunday if he had the day off, for the last ten years we’d been together.

  “Mom, dad!” Katy yelled from behind our closed door.

  “Yeah?” Luke called, getting up to open the door.

  Katy barreled in, her eyes filled with tears.

  Katy had grown into a very beautiful woman over the last ten years.

  Now, at eighteen and a half, she was in college nearly four hours away.

  Something Luke hated.

  However, it was what Katy wanted, and that was enough to convince him to let her do it.

  I looked at my watch in surprise.

  Twelve in the afternoon.

  “Katy…what are you doing here?” I asked as she barreled into the room and fell into my arms.

  I wrapped my arms around her shaking shoulders, and looked at Luke in helplessness.

  He looked torn.

  He was a sucker for tears on most women; on any of his kids, he was a goner.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, brushing her hair out of her face.

  “I came home early to visit Luca, and he was with another g-g-girl,” she hiccupped.

  Oh, dear.

  Luke’s mouth tightened, and his eyes went hard before he stomped out of the room.

  Luca was the son of our friends, Gabriel and Ember.

  Our kids had met when they were young and had grown up together.

  Slowly, over time, that had turned from friends to more.

  That more had grown into a young love.

  Luca had chosen to go into the army when he graduated early, which had been a major decision factor on why Katy had chosen to go to college so far away. She’d chosen to pursue her degree while she waited for him.

  Katy was a smart girl, but every girl goes a little stupid around the love of her life, which even I did on occasion when I was in Luke’s presence.

  A soft knock on our door had me looking up in time to see Rowen walking in.

  At sixteen, she was a force to be reckoned with.

  She was beautiful, and had developed into a ravishing young beauty just like her sister, much to Luke’s consternation.

  “Mom?” Rowen called, looking at her sister with a sad glance.

  “Yeah, honey?” I asked.

  “Um, dad wants you,” Rowen whispered.

  I nodded and gave Katy a kiss on the forehead. “It’ll be all right, Kit Kat. You’ll see. Rowen, honey,” I said, getting up. “Come sit with Katy.”

  She did so, always my good little girl, and the two girls hugged.

  I walked out of the room, unsure what to think.

  Luca wasn’t the type to cheat.

  In fact, he was so much not the type, that it literally had taken my breath away.

  When I came out to find Luke in Luca’s face, I sighed.

  Our son, Derek, was standing with his arms crossed, watching the altercation.

  Derek looked like Luke’s younger clone.

  They had the same mannerisms, the same looks. The same hair color and eyes. At times I felt that he was produced by Luke’s DNA alone. Although I knew it was impossible, it was crazy to me how much he acted like his father.

  Like now, for instance.

  Derek’s muscles were filled with tension, and he was looking at Luca like he was ready to take his head off.

  “Mr. Roberts, I swear to God, I wasn’t doing anything with that woman. I just met her today. I was coming home and she was walking down the road. I only gave her a ride because she looked like she was about to pass out,” Luca explained.

  Luca rode a motorcycle like his father.

  And that meant that Luca had to have that girl plastered up against him to give her a ride, which I’m sure was when Katy had seen him.

  “Luke” I sighed. “It’s time to let Katy fight her own battles. Let him in.”

  Luke gave one long look at Luca before he moved to the side.

  Not enough for Luca to get in without brushing shoulders with Luke, though.

  Luca didn’t flinch as he passed first Luke and then Derek.

  He smiled once he got to me. “Where is she?”

  “She’s in our room, honey. I’m glad you’re home. You look good,” I patted his shoulder.

  He gave me his father’s devastating grin, and walked past me after giving me a peck on the cheek.

  I smiled as I turned to find Luke and Derek looking at me like I’d betrayed them.

  “What?” I asked.

  They didn’t say anything, instead walking into the kitchen and grabbing a drink.

  Derek, of course, didn’t know how to leave well enough alone, and had to open his big mouth. “You know, you have a large, wide bed in that room…”

  I caught Luke’s hand before he made it past me, and shot Derek a glare. “Your room, now.”

  He tossed back a laugh and walked past us, “Yes, ma’am.”

  I pulled Luke by the arm until we were on the front porch.

  Then I pushed him down into the swing. “You’re bad.”

  He glared at me for all of five seconds before he shook his head and sighed. “That’s my girl in there.”

  I kissed him on the che
ek and curled up in his lap. “I know, honey. But she’s grown. You’ll have to give her room to make her own mistakes.”

  He nodded. “I know. But I don’t like when they hurt.”

  I nodded against his chest.

  He still, after all these years, had an incredible chest.

  He was forty five now, but no less sexy than the first day I’d met him.

  His chest being just as defined now as it’d been ten years ago.

  “We’ve raised them right, Luke. Trust them,” I whispered.

  He wrapped his arms around my neck, pulling me into his chest.

  “I have a meeting in about an hour,” he sighed.

  Luke had become the chief of police two years ago when the old chief had retired.

  He was loved by everyone. Police and community alike.

  He did have a lot of work to do, though, and I rarely saw him.

  “So…an hour?” I asked with a raised brow, standing up and walking to the garage.

  I walked quickly into the garage and started stripping my shirt as I went.

  I could hear Luke’s quick footsteps as they finally became unstuck from behind me.

  I giggled and started loosening the buttons on my pants.

  By the time Luke finally made it into the garage, I was already naked and sitting on the hood of his GTO, spread out for his viewing pleasure.

  The GTO had been upgraded in the past ten years, now sporting a jet black paint job with cherry red racing stripes down the center.

  The scoop on the hood was the perfect spot for me to grasp on to, so I’d found.

  Luke’s sharp inhalation from across the room gave away his desire, and he closed and locked the door in jerky movements.

  Pulling the blinds on the windows, he flipped on the overhead lights and prowled up to me, slowly working his stiff length out of the front of his sweaty jeans.

  “How do you want it?” He asked, need evident in his voice.