by A. K. Evans
“Alright, I’ve got to head out. I’ve got a long day ahead of me tomorrow,” Zane said.
“I’ll just grab my keys and I’ll be right back,” Emme said as she turned to walk out of the kitchen.
“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. Going to take Wes’ truck home so you don’t need to go back out tonight,” Zane said.
Emme looked to Wes and back to Zane.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “You did me a favor. It’s really not a problem for me to take you home.”
He gave her a sexy half grin and chuckled.
“I’m sure. You can walk me to the door, though,” he said as he winked at her. Then, he turned his attention to Wes and me. “Catch ya later.”
“Good night,” I said.
“Later,” Wes replied.
Zane and Emme walked out of the kitchen and Wes turned me into his body.
“I guess you are staying with me tonight.”
“That’s the plan, gorgeous. Not going to leave you alone after everything you went through today.”
“That’s good because I really didn’t want to be alone tonight.”
“Are you ok?” he asked.
“I will be as soon as I know Greg is in the clear.”
Wes leaned down and kissed my forehead.
“I assume everything is ok with you and Zane,” I stated. Even though Zane didn’t know about my argument with Wes, I hoped what happened earlier today didn’t affect Wes’ interactions with Zane.
“We’re good. He knows where everything stands.”
My eyes got big.
“You told him we argued?” I asked, shock filtering through my voice.
“I wouldn’t say I told him we argued. I all but congratulated him on making the decision to pursue your girl. I told him I was mostly happy about this because I was ready to knock him out in my office today when he had his hands on you.”
“Seriously?”
“He’s a guy, Charley. He feels even a fraction for Emme what I feel for you, he gets it. Based on his reaction to that dress she wore on New Year’s Eve, I’m pretty fucking sure he would feel the same if someone had their hands on her.”
My breath hitched at his words.
“What’s that about?” he asked, not missing my reaction.
Shit.
“Nothing. I’m exhausted. I know we have to go to work tomorrow, but I’d really like to stop by the hospital in the morning to check on Greg.”
“If you want to take the day off, Charley, it’s not a problem. I wasn't expecting that you’d be up to working,” he said.
“No. I definitely need to work. It’ll help me destress. But, I really appreciate you giving me the option.”
“Whatever you need. We’ll go to the hospital first thing in the morning then. After, we’ll help you destress by going to work. For now, why don’t you go have a seat on the couch?”
“Wes, I’m ready for bed. Not really up for TV.”
He looked at me and his eyes warmed. “I know, baby. I just want you to relax for a few minutes while I make you some food. You haven’t had any dinner. Neither have I, for that matter. Going to make some eggs and bacon if you are good with that.”
I hadn’t even realized that I never ate dinner. I loved that he was always looking out for me.
“I’m good with that,” I said as I smiled at him. “Thank you, honey.”
I kissed him quickly on the lips and walked in the other room to sit on the couch. Emme had just come back from walking Zane to the door when she saw me on the couch.
“You ok?” she asked.
“Yeah. Wes is making food,” I answered.
Her eyes softened and she gave me a small smile.
Wes stepped out of the kitchen at that moment and looked to Emme. “You eat dinner?” he asked her.
She shook her head.
He nodded to me sitting on the couch. “Have a seat with her. I’ll make extra.”
“Oh, no. It’s ok. You don’t have to do that,” she said.
His jaw clenched. “Emme, sit on the couch with Charley. It’s eggs and bacon, not Thanksgiving dinner. It’s not a problem to throw some extra on. Consider it a thank you for bringing Charley’s Jeep back tonight.”
“Ok,” she said meekly.
Wes shook his head, turned around, and walked back to the kitchen mumbling, “Fucking stubborn fucking women.”
Emme looked to me, her eyes got big, and she laughed. I laughed right along with her and I loved Wes for making that happen.
Chapter 31
Charley
Healing. It’s one of those things that oftentimes takes longer than we’d like. And, sometimes you might never heal completely. After Taj’s death, it took me the better part of ten months before I even began to feel normal. I was certain, though, that I’d never fully recover from the pain of losing him.
It was now five days after Greg’s car accident and he was still in the medically induced coma. Greg had made it through the most critical period and he was improving. The swelling had gone down significantly, and they had just started slowly reducing the medications he was receiving in an effort to wake him up.
I was just finishing up my day at work and was planning to stop by the hospital before going home tonight. Other than Wes and I, everyone else had already left for the day. It had been an absolutely crazy week between work, needing to tie up loose ends before we went out to Aspen, and the constant worry over Greg. I had stopped by the hospital every day since the accident. Oddly (and luckily) enough, I never ran into Greg’s parents. Tony was there every single time I went and Hannah had been there once as well.
The first day I stopped in following the accident Tony incessantly thanked me for having had the courage to put Greg’s parents in their place. I explained my position to him and he understood where I was coming from. It was important to me that he know that I never meant to humiliate Mr. and Mrs. Williams, but I couldn’t stand and watch them make even more of a mess of a really horrific situation. Tony didn’t seem to care either way what my reasoning was. He was just happy to be able to be at Greg’s bedside.
Yesterday evening when I stopped at the hospital after my day at work Tony updated me on Greg’s status. His vitals had been steadily improving and the swelling was going down. The doctors started making the adjustments to medications and while they couldn’t make any guarantees they said that he could wake up as early as this afternoon.
As much as I had wanted to stay at the hospital today and not go to work, things were so busy with the X Games approaching that I really wanted to make sure I did my part to help make it a success. Thankfully, Tony promised to keep me updated and had texted me earlier that morning to let me know that Greg had woken up briefly, but soon fell back asleep. Several hours later he texted again to update and let me know that he managed to have a conversation with Greg. I could not wait to finish at work and get over to see him.
“Hey, gorgeous. Any news?” Wes asked, looking up from his desk as I popped into his office.
“Tony said Greg woke up a second time this afternoon and they had a conversation. I haven’t heard anything since then, though,” I answered as I walked over to him.
“That’s good to hear. You heading over there now?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been itching to get over there all day today.”
“You could have spent the day there today, you know?”
“I do know, Wes. I wanted to do my part here, though. There’s a lot happening here right now, especially since we are leaving in a few days to go to Aspen. I want to be a part of the success of that, regardless of how small my part in it is.”
“Baby, just putting together those designs for Zane, Stone, and Luke was huge. The effort you’ve put in over the past few days has been magnanimous. You have definitely not had a small part in the preparations. I’m grateful for all the work you’ve done,” Wes said.
I smiled at him. Then, I made my way behind his desk as he pushed his chair
out. He held out his hand as I sat in his lap and put my arms around his shoulders. I had missed him. Even though we worked in adjoining offices I felt like I hadn’t seen much of him over the past couple of days.
“Thank you, honey. That feels good to hear. I am so excited that Greg seems to be improving every day. As much as I really want to go on this trip to support you and the guys, I was starting to rethink it with Greg’s accident. Knowing that he’s doing better and woke up this afternoon is comforting. Can’t wait to see him today.”
“You good to go on your own or do you want me to come with you?” he asked.
“I think I’ll be good to go on my own today. Thanks for offering, though.”
He nodded and pulled my hand up to his lips to kiss my knuckles. “Ok. I need to check on a few of the boards we’re debuting at the Games with your designs on them. Want to make sure they are perfect. We will have some there for people to check out in person, but the website is also going to have all the new designs for the Fire model starting on day one of the Games. When we get back from Aspen, I want to have the Air model designs in the works. Luke will probably take a couple days off after we get back from Aspen to recover, but I know he’s ready to start testing the models.”
“I already have some ideas for the Air model so I will be ready to go on those when we get back,” I said.
We sat in silence a minute and I felt myself grow sad.
“What’s the matter?” Wes asked, his voice filled with tenderness.
My eyes welled up with tears and I looked away.
“Charley, talk to me. What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing, Wes. I’m just being a big baby.”
He growled. “It’s not nothing. Tell me.”
I looked back at him. The concern on his face was too much. “I’m sorry, Wes. It has been an exhausting and extremely busy couple of days. Between the preparations for the X Games, the new model launch, the upcoming trip, and Greg’s accident I have so many different emotions running through me. And when it really comes down to it I’m mostly just missing spending time with you. I really want to spend a day on the mountain riding with you. I miss that a lot.”
His eyes softened for a moment before he closed them and dropped his head, shaking it. “You’re it, Charley.”
My eyebrows drew together as I asked, “What?”
He looked back up at me, “Everything I need. Everything I want. You’re it.”
I stared at him and felt the warmth spread through my body. “Wes…” I said, my voice raspy.
“Fuck. There’s no better sound in this world than my name coming from your mouth with that voice. Give me your mouth, gorgeous.”
I missed him and despite the mix of emotions I was feeling I knew that this was what I needed to feel the most. I leaned forward and kissed him.
I moaned.
He groaned.
My hands went to his hair and gripped tight as I pressed my body into his. I rocked my hips back and forth over his hardened length under my ass. This caused him to groan again and squeeze my hips.
He tore his mouth from mine, held onto me as he stood, and set my ass on his desk.
“Thinking now would be the perfect time to take you on my desk,” he said as he slid my skirt up my thighs.
“Please, Wes. I need hard and fast,” I pleaded, putting my hands to the waistband of his pants.
“Whatever you need, Charley,” he said, pulling my panties down my legs. “Always.”
Seconds later, he was giving me the goods. Hard and fast. It was exactly what I needed. It wasn’t long before I was feeling that familiar feeling deep in my belly. Wes kept giving it to me, knowing I was on the verge of orgasm. Mere moments had passed when I was coming apart around him. He didn’t stop or slow down and continued to give it hard and fast. Then, Wes pulled his cock from my body. I nearly cried at the loss of him. He brought his mouth down, kissed me hard, and moved his mouth to my ear.
“My greedy woman. Don’t worry, baby. I’m not done with you. Want you bent over my desk so I can take you from behind,” he said as he pulled his head back to look at me. His sexy smirk spread across his face.
He lifted me off the desk, onto my feet, and spun me around so that my back was to his front. One of his hands gripped one of my hips as I felt the tip of him at my entrance again. I braced my hands on the desk just before I felt Wes slam into me. He powered in and out as I pushed back into each thrust. Wes’ free hand wrapped around the front of my body and found my clit. I was a mess of sensations and, somehow, despite having just had an earth-shattering orgasm I was on the brink of a second one.
“Fuck, Charley. I can feel you already starting to squeeze my dick again,” he growled. “Feels so fucking good.”
“Oh, Wes. I’m going to come,” I rasped out.
“Take it, gorgeous.”
So, I took it. And, Wes took it right along with me.
Wes held my body up to support my now liquefied legs. After he pulled himself from my body, he turned me around and held me for a moment before I took off to the bathroom to clean up.
After taking care of business in the bathroom I came back out into Wes’ office. He was standing next to his desk as I approached him. Putting his arms around me he looked down at me and said, “I’m sorry we haven’t had much time for ourselves the past few days. I promise I’ll get you back out on the mountain after we get home from Aspen.”
Home. Yes, this was home now.
I pressed my cheek into his chest and said, “I’m very much looking forward to that.”
We stayed like that for a while. I’m pretty sure Wes knew I needed it and it was obvious to me that he needed it, too.
“I should head over to the hospital now,” I said breaking the silence.
“Ok. I’m going to be here for a little while yet, but I’ll walk you out to your car first.”
I knew how much work he had left to do and was going to protest, but knew that it wouldn’t get me anywhere and would just delay him further so I kept my mouth shut.
“Wise choice,” he said as if reading my thoughts.
We walked to my car and Wes told me to call with any major updates. He also made me promise to call when I got home that night. I promised and kissed him good before heading out.
I pulled into the hospital parking lot, parked my Jeep, and went in. After riding the elevator up to the fourth floor I walked down the hallway to Greg’s room. When I walked in I nearly jumped for joy at what I saw. Greg was holding Tony’s hand and smiling at him as Tony rattled on about something. Tony noticed me walk into the room and stopped speaking.
“There’s our girl,” he said to Greg.
Greg turned his head to look at me and while he still looked pretty beat up seeing him there smiling and alive was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. My eyes immediately welled up with tears so I quickly looked away to try and stave off a total breakdown. It was useless.
“Oh dear. She’s going to lose it,” Greg said.
It was music to my ears and my heart couldn’t handle it. I broke down.
I felt strong hands grab my biceps while the voice said, “Come here, girl.”
Tony walked me to the chair sitting at Greg’s bedside. I sat down, tears streaming down my face, and looked at Greg.
“I’m sorry. I am such a mess,” I said.
“Girl, after what you’ve done for me and Greg you take all the time you need,” Tony said.
I blinked up in surprise, my eyes going back and forth between the two of them, and said, “What?
“My dad was here earlier today. He told me that once I’m well enough to get out of here and go home he wants to take Tony and me out to dinner.”
I sucked in a sharp breath.
“I never thought that I’d ever have that, Charley,” Greg said.
“Oh, wow. That’s incredible news, Greg.”
He nodded.
“Thank you,” he said. “My dad told me that he's incredibly so
rry for how strained things have been lately and he wants to make amends. He is obviously not happy that I landed in the hospital, but was extremely thankful to see that I’ve got good people around me. People who are so good they’ll stand up for what is right. He was referring to you, Charley. He said it took the words of a little spitfire in the emergency room waiting room for him to realize that he was making a huge mistake. Said that he prayed every day from that day that I’d wake up so he could right his wrong.”
“I’m so happy for you…for the both of you,” I said looking between the two of them not sure what else to say. And because I was so overcome with emotion the tears spilled over my cheeks again.
“Charley girl, what’s wrong?” Greg asked.
It took me a minute or two before I could pull myself together enough to answer. I said, “I’m so thankful that you are ok, Greg. I’ve had such bad things happen in my life and they didn’t turn out so well for me before. Nobody I cared about made it through such tragic and horrific events. I was devastated the day of your accident. I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle having another person I care about not survive. When I saw your parents that night I reacted to everything I was feeling over the loss of my parents and my brother. Your parents still had you and they were throwing away their relationship with you for no good reason. I don’t have my family anymore and I’d give anything to have them back.”
“I am so sorry, girl. I hate that you have lost so much. Thank you, though, for giving me part of my family back. I could never thank you enough,” Greg said.
“Your mom hasn’t changed her mind about things?” I asked.
He took in a deep breath and shook his head.
“I’m not sure if she will or if she’s just going to need time. Maybe things will go well with my father and he’ll get her to come around. I won’t upset myself over it anymore. Life is too precious to spend it worrying about things you can’t change.”
“You’ve got that right,” I said reaching out to squeeze his hand.
I spent the next hour and a half with Greg and Tony. Greg fell asleep once during this time as he was still feeling the effects of the medication. He apologized to me, but I told him it was no big deal. I spent that time catching up with and getting to know Tony a bit better. Eventually, I told them I had to get going and that I’d stop in again over the next couple of days until I had to leave for Aspen. We made tentative plans to have a celebratory get together as soon as Greg was out of the hospital and feeling up to it. Not a chance I’d be missing that.