by Cara Dee
"The head—sensitive," he chuckled hoarsely, panting. "Ah, hell…my ass."
I grinned, my heart pounding. "Speaking of sensitive things, or…?"
"Hah…yeah." He winced as I pulled out from him. "Damn."
Blowing out a breath, I ended up on my back. "Take a shower with me?"
"In a minute." He rolled over and landed a leg over mine. His arm across my chest followed. "Am I strange for liking the mess?"
I smiled as my eyes closed. The contentment blanketing me was fucking heaven. "No." Or, if it was, then I was strange, too. "I just figured we should get a move on. Aurora…"
"We have some time, sweetheart." He kissed my chest.
I had to correct him. Lifting my head, I cupped his cheek and pressed my lips to his forehead. "We have forever."
He looked me in the eye, wonder and relief filling his expression. "We finally do, don’t we?"
"Fuck, yeah." I brushed my thumb over his bottom lip. "I'm not letting you go."
Progressing with our relationship slowly or not—for the sake of our children and Will's recovery—he was the love of my life. With him by my side, I could, at long last, indulge in dreams about a future that held a fuckload more appeal than it used to.
Only forever would do.
Epilogue
Two years later
William Calvert
After tucking my shirt into my pants, I knocked firmly on Matthew's door. Well, it was Brady's too, but he didn’t sleep here often anymore. He'd transferred schools after freshman year and was in Seattle now. When he graduated, I suspected he would come home to an apartment of his own.
"Time to wake up, Matthew."
He groaned sleepily. "Ten more minutes…"
I chuckled. "You don't want to miss the bus, buddy."
He was joining Brady in Seattle today for his first day of college. Kelly was swamped with work as well as giving the keys to the new tenants at the cabin in Westslope, and I had back-to-back meetings with new students and their parents. Thankfully, Brady would be there, and Kelly and I would drive down there tomorrow.
"Aurora, honey?" I heard Kelly say, and I turned to see him knocking on her door. "If you want me to take you to school, you gotta get your butt in gear."
"I'm sick!" she hollered back.
Kelly and I exchanged a glance of mild amusement.
"If I go in there, I'll end up telling her she should consider exploring with girls instead," he said. "I'm wiping my hands of this." Oh, yes, he often said he wasn’t equipped to handle girls. They terrified him, especially when they cried. "You do that. I do breakfast."
"Fair enough," I sighed. Bracing myself, I entered her room, finding her with her face buried in her pillow. "Morning, princess. This illness wouldn’t be completely fabricated, would it?" I sat down on the edge of her bed and tugged gently on her ponytail.
It was highly frustrating to have a daughter who couldn’t let go of an infatuation when the boy in question was my stepson. She had Kelly pretty wrapped around her finger these days, so I'd imagine it was even more frustrating for him.
She was lucky Brady didn’t know. He considered both Matthew and Aurora as siblings.
"No, I think I'm dying." Her voice was muffled by the pillow, and she moaned in complaint at my laugh. "You don't get it, Dad!" She sniffled. "I wanna call Mom."
"She'll be home in a week, and I'm not sure this qualifies as an emergency."
Lissa was at a spa retreat in Phoenix, and I could only hope for her sake she didn’t run into my parents. I'd had no issues cutting ties when they learned the truth about Kelly and me and said they couldn’t accept it, but they still liked Lissa a great deal. It wouldn’t surprise me if they roped her into dinner. She was too nice to say no.
"Come on, princess. Kelly's making breakfast."
She sniffled some more and sat up. "I have to get dressed and fix my makeup. I can't eat breakfast in PJs." There was a duh somewhere in there, too.
I hmph'd, and left her room to grab a tie and some papers for work.
By the time I joined Kelly in the kitchen, Matthew was sitting at the table inhaling his scrambled eggs. I poured us coffee and checked my reminders on the fridge. My memory continued to fail me on occasion, so I put notes on the fridge or in my phone.
I had to reschedule my therapy session. It was time to adjust my meds again, and I wouldn’t be available tomorrow. Sixty milligrams returned to forty shortly after I asked Kelly and Matthew to move in last year. Now we were hoping forty would become twenty.
It'd been a solid seven years since I took antidepressants that mild.
"You got a text earlier, baby." Kelly nodded at my phone that was charging by the coffeemaker.
I passed him by the stove and dropped a kiss to his neck. "After dinner with the boys tomorrow, we're staying in the city, just so you know." I swiped up my phone and read a message from Lis.
Hi, William. Hope everything's going well. I'll be home a couple days earlier with someone who misses his little brother.
Strange. It had to be my brother, of course, but his visits were rare.
"Oh?" Kelly extended a plate with eggs and bacon to me. "I don't think we can fit into Matt's dorm."
I chuckled and leaned in to kiss him. To no one's surprise, he tasted of coffee and apples. "That’s not where we're staying." We needed a quick getaway, Kelly in particular. I was adamant about not taking on too much nowadays, knowing I could slip easily; he was different. Most days, he wasn’t home until after eight. "I checked your schedule. You can move things around on Friday, and Aurora's staying with a friend."
He smirked. "You planning on wining and dining me?"
"Mmhmm." And much, much more.
"Then count me in." He kissed me once more and then looked over my shoulder. "Uh, she can't fucking wear that."
I frowned and glanced behind me, only to freeze in horror.
At the same time, Matthew choked on his eggs.
"Hey!" I pointed in the direction of Aurora's room. "You're going to school, not the nearest strip club." Jesus H, the girl was going to give me more grays. Tops that showed cleavage and stomach were called bikinis, nothing else. "You're fifteen. Do you seriously need a reminder?"
"Everyone wears—"
"Not you," I snapped. "Change. Now."
That earned me foot stomping and the shrieking of several colorful names.
I pinched the bridge of my nose while Kelly laughed.
She may wear makeup, go on dates every now and then, and speak of college, but she was no adult yet.
"That was fun." Kelly smirked and passed me with his own plate. "Just another day of madness, huh?"
Indeed.
"Am I nuts for loving it?" I wondered, joining them at the table.
I took a bite of a piece of bacon, humming at the flavor. When my appetite and sense of taste had started to return, I gained a few pounds pretty quickly. One evening—I remembered we didn’t have the kids—I hesitated when Kelly asked "Sex or pizza?" So he smacked my arm and then ordered two pies. We brought them to the bedroom.
He shrugged and opened today's paper. "Probably, but the crazier our family gets, the more I love it, so you're in good company."
His use of "our family" stuck with me.
For the longest time, having a normal relationship with my best friend didn’t exist. He was forever to remain a friend, someone who was off-limits, a love to keep secret. Today, I shared a family with him. Hormonal teenagers, busy schedules, and domestic chores included.
It was my kind of perfect forever.
Now I only needed him to promise me that forever in front of this crazy family of ours.
###
In Camassia Cove, everyone has a story to share
Lissa
Alex
Jameson
Brady
Jack
Matthew
Adam…
Coming soon, Filthy, with Alex and Jameson Grady, Lola and Justin—introduced briefly
in Home—and newcomer Harper, the daughter of Jameson's ex girlfriend. M/F, M/M, mild BDSM/Daddy kink, and filthy, filthy play.
For more, visit: www.caradeewrites.com