"Shit! I made dessert last night and forgot to bring it." I bark with dismay. I started baking after my dreams of him began. It was my solution to ridding my mind of his images during the night.
"What did you make?" He asks.
"Brownies. Your favorite, I'll run and get them," I start walking towards the door.
"Wait, I'll go with you."
Chapter Ten
We arrive at my place. "Come, I'll show you around." I motion for him to follow me in.
"This is the living room," I explain as we walk through the door. He's obviously already seen the room, but I can't help myself. Being around him brings out my inner school girl. We walk straight back and to the left. "This, of course is the kitchen." I grab the brownies and put them on the table.
Back in the living room we make a right down the hall. I motion to where the bathroom is and show him Ruby's room. "And this," I say in a grand display reserved for real estate agents, "is my room." He compliments the house and quickly steps inside my room. I reluctantly follow.
"I think dessert can wait." He tugs at my waist line, pulling me farther in the room. "I’ve been dying to do this since I first saw you." He says, right before pressing his lips to mine. His tongue presses inward. The kiss is intense and erotic. He must have sensed my hesitance because he breaks the kiss and whispers against my lips. “Just go with it.” Walking me backwards, we land on my bed.
My heart beat is so rapid it feels as if will burst out of my chest and bleed out on the mattress. I’m nervous. I edge my face away from his. “I haven’t been with anyone in a long time,” I say looking in his eyes.
“I haven’t either, so what’s the problem? I want to reclaim what’s mine,” he says looking in my eyes, his eyes travel to my lips. And he presses his mouth hard against mine.
Sending my hesitation out the window, our clothes find their way to the floor, but I can't think about that. I can only think about the nearness of his flesh against mine. Arching my back, he licks his way down my body ever so slowly, planting tender kisses along the way. Once he reaches his destination, he looks up with hooded and intense green eyes as he works on reminding me of the pleasure that only he can give. I can’t look away. He is gorgeous. His chest is firm and chiseled. His arms are well defined but not too huge. His legs have the right amount of muscle tone. Before I cum, I pull him up and kiss him deeply, tasting myself on his tongue. I roll on top and nibble on his ear as he lets a moan escape his perfect lips. I lightly trace my tongue down the center of his chest.
“Holy fuck,” he says, taking in a deep breath. He knows right where I’m headed. I trace my tongue over his length and take him in my mouth. When he can’t take it any longer, he flips me on my stomach and he enters me from behind while he rubs my clit with his fingers. The physical fight is over. I give my body completely to him and succumb to ecstasy.
I wake up the next morning…alone. I don’t know why he left. Maybe it was because he starts his new job today? I hope that’s the reason.
In the kitchen I glance at the left over brownies and smile. We got to the brownies, eventually.
I send Pierson a text telling him to have a good day. Then I get ready for work myself. Before I can make it out the door I bump right into Ruby.
“Just where do you think you’re headed?” She asks.
“Work, where else?” I reply with a mischievous smile.
“Oh, no you don’t,” she says pulling me back into the living room. “I need details bitch.”
Sitting on the couch across from her, I fill her in on just enough details to satisfy her curiosity, but keep the most intimate details private. She is giddy with delight and is practically jumping up for joy.
“Geez, calm down will ya?” I say laughing. Changing the subject, I ask about her weekend with Trevor.
“The weekend was amazing. His parents have a cabin in the Poconos. It was nice and secluded,” she purrs, giving me a double wink. The Poconos is only a few hours’ drive from where we live.
Ruby and I walk together to work. The nail shop she manages is a little farther away than my catering office so she waves goodbye as I reach my office. We part, agreeing to meet for lunch.
At the office, Sara fills me in on the next scheduled catering job. It’s for a wedding tomorrow and makes me nervous because I haven’t done too many of those. Weddings are a whole other beast when it comes to catering. The food has to be perfect and presented on time and everything has to be planned to a tee. We go over the details and agree that both Sara and Sam will organize this with me. Throughout the morning I check my phone to see if Pierson has replied to my earlier message. He hasn’t. I try not to panic.
At lunch time, I meet Ruby at Waffle House. It is the halfway point between both our jobs. We eat here so often that we can order without looking at the menu.
“How is your day going?” She asks, sipping on her water.
“Good I guess. I have a wedding to do tomorrow so it is a little nerve wracking and I sent Pierson a text this morning and he hasn’t replied.”
“He’s probably just busy,” She says reassuringly.
After lunch we part our respective ways. Back at the office, Sam, Sara, and I add the final preparations for the wedding. It is busy and I barely have time to think about Pierson. Once we are done making the preparations needed I give Sam and Sara the rest of the day off with the agreement that they come in early tomorrow to finish up and get the van loaded.
On my walk home I can hear the playful voices at the community pool. It makes me smile. Just as I reach for the door, my phone beeps. It's a text from Pierson.
Hey, sorry I didn't get back to you earlier. I’m just trying to make a good impression on my first day. It was a good day. I'm on my way home now.
Glad you had a good day. Want to come over for dinner? I'm making spaghetti.
Absolutely! I'll be over after I grab a shower.
Chapter Eleven
After dinner, Ruby insists on doing the dishes. So Pierson and I enjoy a quiet moment on the back patio.
"Want to go grab an ice cream?" He asks, nudging my shoulder with his.
"Sure. I need to walk off this spaghetti anyway," I say jokingly.
"Thanks for dinner. It was delicious and hit the spot."
"Oh sure anytime. You've been awfully quiet since you came over," I say trying to get him to open up.
"I just have a lot on my mind," he says.
Does he regret last night? Does he regret coming home? Is he leaving again?
"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask, uncertain if I really want to know.
"There is something I have to tell you and I'm not sure how you will take it,” he says. We sit on a bench eating our ice cream.
"What is it?” I ask, bracing myself for what’s to come. He is leaving. I knew it. He is going to break my heart again.
"Well, whenever I was granted a leave in the military, I would go with a buddy to their home. I didn’t want to come here and keep breaking your heart over and over. But once, I did come home. I knew you came home on the weekends from college."
I stare at him with a blank expression. I don’t move or make a sound. My body is numb.
“It was two years ago when your parents passed away. I didn't even know until I got here and mom told me."
"How come I didn't see you?" I ask.
"I didn't want to mess with your emotions. You were already dealing with a lot and I didn't want to interfere. I knew I'd be leaving again and I didn't want to add to the grief," he says with a sorrowful look on his face.
My eyes sting with water. "So you just couldn't bother to come see me when I needed you the most!" I spew out at him while trying to keep from crying uncontrollably, but I know I'm going to lose it. I jump up from the bench and start to walk away before it gets any worse and we make a scene.
He catches up to me and grabs my arm. "Where are you going?"
"Let go! How could you come here and not come see me on one of the worst
days of my life?" I cry.
Without answering, he releases my arm. I hear him yell out my name but I ignore him. My head is filled with anger. The tears are streaming down my cheeks and I feel like a fool. I can't believe what he just told me. If he really cared about me while he was gone, how could he have done that? I don't understand. My heart is beating rapidly and my chest hurts. I feel as if my legs might betray my intentions and send me careening to the ground. Am I about to hyperventilate? Once in the house, I got straight to my room in the hope of avoiding Ruby.
"Maura, what happened? Open the door.” She yells through, shaking the door knob aggressively.
"Go away! I don't want to talk about it right now," I say through the tears and in between sobs.
I ignore the phone calls and text he's sending me but after finally having enough, I send him one.
Leave me alone. Wasn't it enough that you broke my heart once?
After a short nap, I emerge from my room and pad out to the kitchen for leftovers, even though my stomach is in knots. Is this what it feels like to be a zombie? I'm certain of it. The apocalypse has finally arrived.
"What the fuck happened Maura?" She screams, but it just sounds like a muffled wail to me.
"Please don't make me explain." I sit on the stool, rubbing my head.
"You better tell me what the fuck happened. I'm not leaving this house until you do."
She is a demanding little bitch. Plus where would she be going at this time of night anyway?
I give her the run-down of what happened, just to satisfy her curiosity.
“I honestly don’t know what to say. I think he had good intentions but he should have at least come by. Did you find out the real reason he came home?”
“No, we didn’t get that far. I mean I didn’t even think that far ahead. I was too pissed.” I tell her.
“I’m sure you will both work it out. I know you guys never could stay mad at each other for long."
That’s true. But I’m not so sure this is one of those times. I mean this is big.
After chatting with Ruby I attempt to sleep, but it proves to be useless and I mostly toss and turn. I dream about my parents and relive the accident all over again. The fear of losing them makes my heart ache all over again. What if Pierson did come to see me? The situation wouldn’t have been any better. The next day comes too soon.
“Good morning,” I say coldly to Sam and Sara who are already at the office early like they agreed to be.
“You look like shit.” I love it when Sam is blunt.
“Gee thanks,” I reply.
Getting to work, we focus on the remaining preparations for the wedding and my mind couldn’t be farther away. One minute I think I over-reacted with the Pierson situation and the next I feel justifiably mad. But I never did find out the real reason he came back.
Pushing the thoughts aside, I try to focus on the task at hand. Sam moves everything into the van and off we go. We arrive at the wedding destination a half hour later to set up. Once everything is perfect, I go through and check everything a second time because I am a perfectionist when it comes to my job. I make sure there are no hiccups and that the bride and groom are happy, though I'm wearing a plastered smile, I really just want to throw up.
Sam, Sara and I serve the intimate dinner and present the wedding cake to the bride and groom. They are ecstatic how well it turned out. I'm glad someone is happy.
On our way back to the office I get a text from Pierson. I glance at it and roll my eyes.
The text reads:
Please come over after you get off work. We should talk about this.
I ignore it.
There is no way I am going over there. I’m still fuming mad and I just don’t want to hear his excuses or deal with it. How many times do I have to relive my parents’ accident or the heartache that he’s caused? How many times? How much longer is my life going to be a fucking nightmare? How much is my heart able to take? I blink back the tears before anyone notices.
Chapter Twelve
Several days pass in a blur as I try to get out of my funk. Ruby keeps checking on me and telling me that everything will work itself out. I could care less about anything. I’m less mad but still, the hurt is there.
"Do you want to help clear out the rest of the stuff from storage?" I ask her, trying to occupy myself when I'm not busy at the office.
"Sure, let me change," she says walking towards her room.
While she gets ready I grab a few waters to take along. Once we arrive we get straight to it. It doesn't take long to clear out the rest of the storage. We donate most everything and trash what isn't worth keeping.
On the drive home Ruby grabs my hand.
“You should call him or go see him,” she suggests. “You’ve been mopping around long enough. You need to get this straightened out before it eats you alive. I know you miss him. See what he has to say.” Why does she always have to be right? I give her hand a squeeze.
I hesitantly grab my phone and look at Ruby for encouragement as she nods at me as to say go ahead. I text Pierson while Ruby continues to drive. I think I’m ready to listen. Can I come over?
My phone beeps. Yes, it reads.
Ruby drops me off at Pierson’s house, as I walk up the driveway my stomach turns and twists. I hesitate as I walk toward the door, but the door swings open before I have a chance to change my mind. I suddenly wonder if remaining in my state of funk wouldn't have been a better option. He looks sleep deprived, but great nonetheless.
“Please come in.” His hair is disheveled and his clothes look like they have been worn for days.
Stepping inside I can't help but notice that his place is a mess. It looks like he tried to clean it up in a rush, without success. He looks like he hasn’t slept or shaven.
“Before you say anything please hear me out,” he pleads.
I shuffle some of the contents on the couch so I can sit. He positions himself in front me as if he's afraid I'll run. Seeing him on his knees does little to calm my nerves.
“I am deeply sorry that I was not there for you when you needed me. You have to know that I love you. I loved you the day we first met and I still loved you when I saw you again. When I came back, I hoped I wasn’t too late. I know it sounds crazy but I selfishly hoped that you had waited for me. Please forgive me. No matter what happens I will be here for you from this day forward. I’m not going anywhere.”
My eyes swell up with tears. I wonder how I can I possibly stay mad at him. He is hopeless and I’m completely in love with him in this very moment, but I don’t speak.
He continues, "I guess I freaked when I heard about the accident. I just didn't know what to do. I mean I wanted to be there for you but I was in a messed up place, mentally. I just felt like I couldn’t even escape the war, even being home. The war is just one big mind fuck. It really messes with your head. I've seen friends get killed, amputations and seriously injured. I’ve seen stuff that is completely unimaginable. It was pure hell on earth. I don't regret it, but I did everything I could to stay alive because I had every intention of coming back to you.”
I run my fingers through his hair and pull him close. We kiss for what seems like eternity, and then he breaks the kiss.
“You don’t have to say anymore,” I tell him.
“Please let me finish,” he says with a painstaking look in his eyes. “Your picture was the only thing that kept me sane while I dodged bullets. You saved me without even knowing it.
I caress the scar on his cheek with a finger. "How did you get this?” I ask, it is small but relatively noticeable up close.
"Shrapnel is unforgiving. I have many battle scars, mentally and physically. Don't feel sorry for me though, mine are not as severe as others.”
“So what have you been up to this past year?" I ask.
"Seeing everyone around me die messed with my head. I was depressed, jumpy and had severe mood swings. I was diagnosed with PTSD and suffered with depression. In Oct
ober I was medically discharged from the Corps. I spent eight months in Philly getting treated."
"You were in Philadelphia?" Philadelphia is only about 3 hours away. It’s hard to believe he was so close.
"Yes, you have to understand. I was getting the help I needed so that I could come back to you. No one knew except my mom. It's not something I wanted to go through and I didn't want to put any of you through it. God knows you had been through enough already. I didn’t want to come home as damaged goods.”
“You know damn well I wouldn’t have thought that.” He moves up to the couch and takes my hand in his lap.
“I know that, but you know this is a small town and people talk.”
That was the truth. I nod in agreement.
“I’d say I’m doing fairly well since I’ve been home but I do have nightmares about the war and they cause me to lose sleep. Sometimes I’m afraid to even close my eyes.”
“Is that why you were gone when I woke up the other day?” I ask, hoping to find out more about his disappearance the night we made love.
“Yes. I panicked and didn’t know how I would react through the night so I slipped out when you fell asleep. Is all this too scary for you?” He asks with a pitiful look on his face.
“Pierson Hammer! There is nothing you can do or say to scare me off. I mean you might piss me off every now and then but I will eventually get over it. I’m here for you just as you say you are for me.” I tell him before gingerly planting a kiss on his scarred cheek.
“Aren’t we a scary bunch?” he jokes, laughing aloud.
“Speak for yourself.” I give him a light shove.
“I’ve missed you so much.” He hugs me tight.
“I’ve missed you, too."
“Come.” He pulls me toward the back of the house and leads me to the bathroom.
“What are you doing?” I ask as he strips his clothes off.
“Come on, we both could use a shower, and mine is big enough for the both of us,” he says with a smirk.
I don't even hesitate. Taking our time, we soap each other up. He grabs the shower head off the hook and rinses the soap off my sudsy body and I do the same for him. Before we can make it out of the shower, he pins me against the wall. He slowly and methodically caresses my breasts, perking my nipples with each stroke. He slides his hand down and teases me with his touch. I jump against him and wrap my legs around his waist. He nuzzles and kisses my neck. Arching my back and my head, he presses me against the shower wall. He thrusts himself inside my throbbing core, sending me over the edge as our glistening bodies collide in an explosion of neglected rapture and needed forgiveness.
Coming Back to You Page 4