Pieces of You

by Marie, Lisa

  My hand comes up and reaches hers. Squeezing slightly, I take a breath and continue.

  “This is Riley. She doesn’t know why I brought her here today. It’s not just for the company, it’s so she can see that I am finally ready to move on. I miss you every day, Mel. Every day! But I need to move on, and this is the woman I want to move forward with.”

  Her hand squeezes my shoulder, and I look up at her.

  “Mel, I know you would love her. She is amazing. Talented and beautiful. Riley is fun and smart and she makes me want to move forward. She makes me want to remember you. She makes me want to love again.”

  Riley’s eyes fill with tears, and she kneels beside me.

  I continue.

  “Mel, I dreamed of you every night for a year until I met this woman. I started sleeping better and through the night again when she came into my life. I started smiling again when she gave me attitude and showed me the fire that fills her belly. She made me live again when she smiled at me.”

  Silence falls over us on Mel’s grave. I’m with the two women that mean the most to me, and I care for both of them deeply.

  She clears her throat.

  “Hi, Mel. I’m Riley. I want to thank you for being a part of Ty’s life. For in a way, being a part of mine. I know how amazing you were and how special you were to him. It was hard competing with you. I won’t lie. I had to walk away to keep my sanity, but it didn’t work. I thought about him every day we were apart.”

  I drop my head and chew on the inside of my cheek, while I listen to Riley talk to Mel. Telling Mel how she feels about me, and how thankful she is to her.

  I listen as Riley takes a breath and reaches for my cheek, brushing my beard with her thumb. I know in this moment that this decision is the right one. This is the closure I need.

  “So, Mel, I’ve come to say goodbye. Your mom gave me her blessing to come here today so I could say goodbye to you properly. Your dad would never allow it. He told me as much in the hospital, along with other words that were not very kind. But we know how your dad felt about me.” I laugh. “I want to move forward, hopefully in the same direction as Riley.”

  I stand and walk to her marker, brushing it gently with my fingertips.

  “I remember how your skin smells. I remember how soft your hair was. I remember your gentle voice.” I take my wallet out of my pocket and open it. Two of my fingers slide out a small photograph from one of the ID slots. It’s a picture of us kissing in one of those mall photo booths. I don’t know what happened to the other ones, this is the only one I have. Taking out my pocketknife, I make a slit in the sod at the foot of the headstone and slide the photo into it.

  “I love you, Mel. I always will. But I have to go now.” I look back over my shoulder and see Riley standing there wiping her eyes. “I think I have someone waiting for me.”

  Leaning over, I press my lips to the cold marble and run my fingertip over her name one last time. “Bye, baby,” I whisper onto the stone.

  Turning back to Riley, I reach my hand for hers in hopes that she will take it and walk with me. Nodding, she accepts my offering, and I wrap my arm around her waist, bringing my free hand to her face. Brushing her cheek with my thumb and staring into her eyes.

  Taking a deep breath, she releases the air with a sigh and nods briskly before bringing her lips to mine. Her pillow lips greedily attack mine, and I willingly surrender to her. Pulling away, I kiss her forehead, and she brings her fingers to her swollen lips.

  Together we join hands and walk back to the car. I open the passenger door for her and climb into the driver’s seat. Before I turn the ignition, I stare back at the entryway to the cemetery and take a deep breath.

  “You okay?” Riley asks reaching for my thigh.

  “I am. I’m better than okay.” I lean over and kiss her lips. Turning back I throw the car into reverse and pull onto the street.

  The funny thing is I feel better. A huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders, and I don’t miss her so much. The pain isn’t as crippling and the world looks brighter. I wondered what would happen when I did this. Would the day be gray and cloudy? Would Riley walk away and leave me stranded at Mel’s grave? Would I go through with it?

  But I did, and the world looks different now.

  *

  We drive the entire way home, without stopping. It’s a six hour drive, but we push on until we’re home. I pull in front of my house and cut the ignition. I turn to face Riley. I gently run my fingers over her lips and cup her cheek. Riley closes her eyes and leans into my hand. Sighing, she blinks her eyes open, and they shimmer while darting around my face.

  “How are we going to do this, Ty?” she asks hopefully.

  “Let’s play it by ear. I don’t want to rush anything with you. I want to take it where it needs to go, when it needs to happen.”

  “Can we play it by ear in the house? My legs need to move.” She grins and brings her lips to mine. “And I need to pee,” she says against my lips.

  I nod and reluctantly I pull away from her lips. Opening the car door I climb out and round the car helping her out of her door. Taking her hand, we walk to the house and step inside.

  “You want coffee?” I ask walking into the kitchen. Reaching for the beans from the cupboard and filling the maker with water.

  “Please. I’ll be right back,” she calls out and rushes down the hall to the bathroom.

  I fill the filter and press the power button. Grabbing a couple of mugs, I place them on the counter and lean forward on my elbows, dropping my head. Finally, the weight of the day falls on my shoulders, and I’m exhausted. My head swims with the memories and my heart swells with the girl whom I want to give my whole heart to.

  She comes back and joins me in the kitchen. Her hand travels the length of my spine and rubs between my shoulders. Her touch invigorates me. Lifting my head, I turn to face her, and she steps into me. Her back presses into the counter as I box her in with my hands. My forehead meets hers and I close my eyes again, absorbing her scent. Our noses sweep each other. Barely touching.

  Neither of us use our hands, instead we brush lips and cheeks. I bring my nose to her hair, and my lips find the tender spot just below her ear causing her to shiver. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time, Riley” I whisper.

  “So have I,” she replies and arches her neck making it an easier target. I appease her and allow my lips to travel down to her collarbone, licking gently when I reach my destination.

  Slowly I pull away and bring my lips to hers one last time. When I pull back we open our eyes and look at each other. “I don’t want to rush this, Riley.”

  “I understand, Ty. I do.” She conveys to me as the coffee finishes brewing. “Let’s just take things slow and see what happens.”

  “Agreed.” I plant a chaste kiss on her lips and push off the counter turning to fill our waiting mugs. Riley takes her mug and heads to the sofa, pulling her feet up beneath her, hugging a pillow.

  I follow her into the room and stand beside the sofa watching her for a moment. Swallowing a mouthful of coffee, she turns to me. “What?” she asks playfully.

  “I wanted to be so mad at you, Riley. I wanted so badly to be able to walk away and hate everything that I felt for you.”

  “You aren’t the only one. When you told me you wanted to move forward with me but didn’t know how. That scared the crap out of me. I wasn’t ready to face my feelings. I felt cornered and scared. I ran because that’s what I do. I run.”

  “I don’t understand.” I sit beside her on the sofa.

  “I flip houses so I don’t have to stick around anywhere for too long. So I can leave without guilt. So I can do what I want to do and not meet anyone, not fall for anyone. And it has worked up until you.”

  “But you flipped the house and you will be moving on to the next one. Same as always.”

  She smiles devilishly.

  “What’s that look for?”

  “That’s not entirely
true.” She bats her eyelashes. “I didn’t sell the house.” Riley lifts the coffee to her mouth and swallows.

  “You didn’t? I’m so confused.”

  “I rented it out. The people living in it are my tenants. They tried to buy it, and I wouldn’t let them. I needed to be able to come back when the time was right.”

  This is new news to me. It changes so many things, and it makes me want to grab her and hold her tight. She felt the same way I did.

  “So you knew I wasn’t ready and stepped off?”

  “Basically.”

  “How did you know I would come around?” My fingers find her hair, and I pull it free of the elastic holding it in place.

  “I didn’t. I just hoped you would. I’m sorry if I upset you. But I needed it to be clean for both of us just in case that was it.” She looks down at her lap and places the mug on the table. I sit beside her and drape my arm around her shoulders. She nuzzles into my arm, and her fingers play with the buttons on my shirt.

  It was in the past. It doesn’t matter. What happened between us brought us to where we are now, and that’s all that matters. My fingers dance on her shoulder, and I kiss the top of her head.

  We fall asleep in each other’s arms on the sofa and nothing feels more right than this. If this is what moving on feels like,

  I’ll take it.

  Chapter 12

  Three weeks have passed, and we have been inseparable. Well, as best as we can considering she’s in the middle of flipping another house in the city. Every weekend she stays here, we still haven’t made love, but we do sleep together touching and caressing each other every chance we get.

  Tonight we are going to The Shake. Well, Riley will be meeting me there after she meets with her tenants. The Band is playing and it’s my first time back since I was hit over the head with the bottle.

  I pull into the parking lot and throw the car into park. Stepping out, I walk slowly toward the bar. Princess smiles when he sees me approaching.

  “TURTLE! So glad to see you, my friend!” he calls out and opens the rope for me. I reach out my hand and we shake. “You’ve gotta be all healed now. You feeling good?”

  My hand travels to the spot where I was hit and I nod. “Feeling pretty good. I think that most of the glue is gone now.”

  “Good. Good.” Princess smiles. “Go inside. The crew will be happy to see you.”

  “Sounds good. Oh and hey, I have a friend coming tonight. Make sure they get in okay?”

  “Who is it?”

  I ignore his question and wander into the bar. It’s still early so not many people are here yet. Looking across the bar, I see The Band and Trina. Her eyes light up the minute she sees me, and she rushes out from behind the bar.

  “It’s so good to see you! I was wondering when I would see you again, handsome.” She wraps her arms around me and stretches up on her tiptoes. I’d be lying if I said her breasts pressing against me wasn’t exciting. They feel amazing.

  I place my hands on her shoulders and step back. “It’s nice to see you too,” I reply and remove my hands from her arms. She offers me a look of puzzlement.

  Tim raises his beer, still unsure whether or not he should approach me after my hospital release. I can’t say I blame him, but he doesn’t know what I did after. How he pushed me to move on and make the best decision of my life. Stepping around Trina, I leave her behind as I walk toward him.

  “How’s it going, man? I haven’t seen you in a couple of weeks. I thought the concussion got ya,” he says with disinterest and takes a drink from his long neck bottle.

  “If you were that concerned, man, why didn’t you call?” Trina returns to her place behind the bar and slams a beer down in front of me before walking away. I shake my head, and Tim looks between us.

  “What’s going on here?” he asks suspiciously.

  “Nothin’,” I reply and take another pull from my bottle. “Expecting a big crowd tonight?” I ask as I turn to see the stage set up somewhat differently, and there’s a couple of new bouncers scattered around the bar.

  “Since you were hit, we couldn’t risk it again. The owners figured they didn’t want any lawsuits from guys like you just helping out, so they actually hired more people. You aren’t gonna sue them are you?” Princess asks me as he walks up with Riley on his arm. “I think I found your friend.”

  “Hi, baby.” I cup her cheeks with my hands, kissing her lips. It feels like the world goes silent and it’s just the two of us. I hear Princess cheer behind me, before he claps me on the back and returns to his post at the door.

  Linking pinkies, Riley joins me at the bar and takes a drink from my bottle. Tim’s mouth hasn’t closed yet, he stares at us in bemusement. “Trina, a beer for my girl please,” I order.

  A look of understanding covers her face, and she nods sadly. “Sure thing, Ty.” She takes a cold one from the small fridge and delivers it to Riley. “I’m Trina. You’re a lucky lady. He’s a really good guy.”

  Riley smiles and blinks in my direction. “Thank you, Trina. I’m Riley. He is a very good man.”

  “Okay, what?” Tim asks me and I almost laugh beer out of my nose.

  “This is because of you. That day you dropped me off and told me I was being stupid, I took a look at myself and decided to change.”

  “So you just changed?” He shakes his head. “You can’t just change.”

  “You’re right and I’m still working on fixing myself, but I…” Riley takes my hand and squeezes. “We drove out and said goodbye to Mel.”

  This gets his attention, and he stands up looking me in the eye. “How? I was there the day her dad went ballistic on you in the hospital. You were never supposed to know where she was. You were never to see her resting place.”

  “I called and asked permission from her mom. Had he answered the phone, I never would have asked. I would still be in the horrible state of self-loathing that I was in.” I lift the bottle to my mouth and wrap my arm around Riley. “Anyways, here we are.”

  “It’s about damn time. Welcome back, Ty!” He raises his bottle and winks at Riley. “You sure you want this?”

  She smiles and hip-checks me playfully. “Ah, it will pass the time.”

  It doesn’t take long before the crowd starts to fill The Shake, the sound of voices rises above the sound of music. It doesn’t take long before the DJ turns up the volume slightly.

  As the people at the bar get more demanding, Trina is running off of her feet and has little time to chat with us. However, I do catch her looking over her shoulder and offering a sad smile. I wonder how different things would have been had I not gone back outside but instead stayed in asking her out like Tim suggested that night.

  The Band heads to the stage and the crowd follows them and erupts in cheers and screams. Riley and I step closer, she stands in front of me and I tuck my thumbs in her front pockets. With her back pressed to my front, together we sway to the music.

  My lips find her neck, and her hands reach up and touch my hair. Turning her body, she presses her mouth to mine. Swiping at my lips with her tongue. Her fingers dance in my facial hair and her body presses seductively into mine.

  Looking into her eyes, I know I’ve made the right choice and nothing else matters. “Wanna get out of here?” I whisper into her ear and trace the length of her neck with my fingertips. Her eyes close and she nods.

  “Take me home, Ty. I want you to make love to me.” This causes a low growl to erupt from my throat. and I feel her demand all the way through my body. I raise my hand to wave at Tim, who’s not paying attention to me anyways and together we leave the bar arm in arm.

  I lead Riley past Princess, and to my waiting truck. I open the passenger door and help her into her seat. Her legs part slightly, and her hands find my hair as our mouths connect, and I press in as close as I can to her. “You sure you want to do this?”

  “I am, if you are,” she answers.

  Reluctantly, I pull away and close her door. Walki
ng around the truck, I climb into the cab and start the engine. Pulling out of the parking lot, I drive toward my house full of nervous energy.

  *

  We step into my house, and I take her hand. We’ve done this a dozen times at least, but this is different. This is the next step, and I am scared shitless. I take a deep breath and expel it before leading her into my bedroom.

  Closing the door, we turn and face each other.

  Anxious.

  Excited.

  I lick my lips and nervously run my fingers through her hair. Her eyes close and she leans into my hand. Riley’s hands find my face and with her guidance, she leads our mouths together.

  Taking my hand, she slowly leads it to cup her breast, and I suck in a sharp breath of air hissing it out as she releases me. My thumb dances over her blouse and I feel her nipple bud below the delicate material of her bra. Bringing my other hand up, I begin the slow process of unbuttoning her blouse, exposing the line of pale skin between her breasts and her navel.

  I step back and admire the sight before me. Bringing my lips to her neck, I follow the trail with my tongue. Slowly, I remove the shirt from her body and step back to admire her again. She stands there, breathing heavily with anticipation in her bra and jeans. It’s the same soft bra from our trip, but now I see how amazing it looks on her body and the way her nipples pop through the material.

  I take a step back and unbutton my shirt, keeping my eyes on her the entire time. I tug on each side, pulling the tails from my denim jeans and push my arms back, allowing it to fall to the floor. Together we stand there looking at each other. Her hand comes up over my stomach muscles causing them to jump. Her long fingers trace the line from my navel to my belt, and I am covered in goosebumps again. Dipping her fingertips in, she tugs at the waistband and pulls me closer. Our lips find each other again, and our bodies press together. My arms wrap around her and undo her bra, letting it fall to the floor, feeling the entire length of her torso against me.