“Missed you tonight.” I kiss her and pull her into a tight hug.
“The light bill was paid,” she says once I loosen my hold on her, and she starts toward the light switch.
“They work.” I grab her hand and walk us to the couch, where I have a bottle of wine and two glasses waiting. “Have a seat.”
“Wow, this is nice.” She sits down with her legs tucked under her.
I hand her a glass and then pour myself one before sitting down.
“It was busy tonight,” she says after she sets her glass down on the makeshift coffee table: a pallet with wheels attached and painted black. “I think I may have made enough to buy a mattress.” She smirks.
“Is that your way of telling me you wanna go right in there and get to it?”
She twists her hair between her fingers. “This is nice.”
I sit back and take another sip of my wine. “Nice?”
She nods, grabs her glass, and drinks it down. “It was a busy night.”
I suck my cheeks in, trying not to laugh at her obvious desire.
“Don’t laugh at me. You should like that I look forward to Wednesday nights.”
“Yeah, I was thinking about that. Woke up this morning—hard, of course, because I was dreaming of you—rolled to my side while still half asleep, and seriously thought I broke my dick.”
She laughs out loud and covers her mouth so she doesn’t wake up little chick, and then I lean over and kiss her. When I have drunk her in enough, I lean back, but she follows me, kissing me as she climbs on my lap and straddles me.
She takes the glass out of my hand and tosses back my wine. “You said you missed me when I came in. I think you should prove it.” Her hips circle as she pushes against me. “What’s this?” She smirks again and reaches between us.
“Hold up there, little momma.”
She grabs the package in my pocket. And by “package,” I’m not talking about my cock.
“What is this?” she asks again.
I take her hand and kiss it. “I would love nothing more than to be buried in you right now, but against my better judgment, I am gonna tell you a story first.”
“A story?”
“All about ass.”
“Is that right?” She gives me a confused smile.
“Before you, I would plan my day around the type of ass I wanted that night.” Her eyes narrow a bit, but I am determined. “I’d go to different casinos, knowing there were different types of woman, all with different needs and desires. I even named the ass. Women who were rowdy and could game for a little PDA action at Rehab pool parties, well, I called it Ready Ass. At the Cosmopolitan, I would run into Dominant Ass, or Submissive Ass—could always tell which, and I can promise you I didn’t like the dominant ones. First-Class Ass could easily be spotted at Caesars. Those chicks thought they were better than everyone else, and a lot of times, I needed to show them different.” She crosses her arms and glares into my eyes. “Okay, just hear me out. Aria is where you would find Settled Ass—older women who had been married and underappreciated for way too damn long. You know, the ‘What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ type?”
She shakes her head, and I realize immediately that this little plan of mine was a fucked-up one at best.
“I’ve had a lot of ass, baby. Never wanted to settle down, ’cause ass was ass in whatever variation. All pink in the middle, all—” She shifts and rolls her eyes. “My point is, until I met you in that parking lot, I never believed there was one person made for me. The minute I kissed you, it was different from any other kiss. The minute I tasted you, I knew I was ruined. The second I was inside you, I knew without a doubt that I had found the perfect ass. Platinum, baby. You were platinum then and you still are.”
I pull the ring box out of my pocket. “You own me. You own my heart, my soul, my desire, my attention at all times. You consume me, day and night—hell, even in my sleep. You are the only person I want beneath me or on top of me. We love each other, baby. That’ll never change, and I swear to you, I will never let you feel settled. I will cherish you for a lifetime. Hailey Poe, I have my balls back, so the only answer I’ll accept is yes.”
I take the box out of my pocket and open it, revealing the platinum ring with a cushion cut two-and-a-half-carat diamond.
Her eyes sparkle. Then she chokes back a sob and covers her mouth before her eyes return to mine and she gasps, “Too much.”
“Last splurge, I promise. I am done wanting all the material things. When you say yes, the only thing I will ever want, even though I may not deserve it, is platinum. You.”
She swallows hard and nods her head. “Yes.” She wraps her arms around my neck and holds tight as she whispers yes again against my skin. “We do deserve each other, Morrison. We deserve this. We deserve to be happy. You make me happy, so happy. I’m not settling; I am getting you. And that’s more than I ever thought was possible.”
“I need to put this on you, little momma. Make it official.” I slip it on her shaking finger. “Wow, the ring looks even more beautiful now.”
She holds it out and looks at it and smiles. Then she leans in to give me a kiss.
“Mommy?” We hear a sleepy voice coming from the hallway, and Hailey sits up. “You crying?”
“I’m fine.” She wipes her eyes and laughs. “Come here.”
Marisa walks over to her, and Hailey picks her up and hugs her.
“I have to pee-pee.”
“Okay, little one, let’s go.”
Hailey looks at me and smiles as she gets up.
I blow out the candles and put the glasses in the sink.
“What is that?” I hear Marisa ask her mother as they walk out, holding hands.
“Morrison asked me to marry him.”
“Is that why you crying? ’Cause if he makes you sad, you should—”
“No, not sad. Very, very happy.”
Marisa stops and looks at her. I am expecting her to laugh, to say something that sounds an awful lot like “Congratulations” but probably not quite.
“I know what I want for Christmas now.”
“You do?” Hailey has been asking her, and Marisa’s response so far has been, “Nuffin’.”
“A princess wedding, like in the books.” She yawns again. “I’m tired. We can pick my dress tomorrow.”
I finish cleaning up and decide to get comfortable, so I take off my shirt and socks, then unbuckle my belt.
Hailey is backing out of Marisa’s room when I quietly walk up to her. She turns around and scowls at me.
“What’s wrong?”
An eyebrow creeps up.
“Oh, shit, my bad,” I say. “But she likes it. She likes it a lot.”
“Last big purchase?” She holds up her ring finger.
“Baby, no fighting tonight.” She shakes her head. “The only F-word I am interested in is—” I stop when she starts coming at me.
She is in front of me almost instantly, and I hold my hand out to stop her.
“Promise—no fighting tonight at all.”
“Fine. I give you tonight.” As she smiles, I pick her up, and she wraps her legs around me. “Take me to bed.”
I open the door and kiss her hard, keeping her attention where it belongs—on me. I walk toward the bed, knowing Hailey is a woman of her word. She may grumble, but to her a promise is a promise.
As soon as her back hits our new bed, her eyes pop open and she looks around. Then her head swings back, her eyes focused on me.
“You promised,” I remind her as I lift her shirt and kiss down her belly while unbuttoning her pants.
“Manipulative.”
“No, little momma—sick of the backache on Thursday, sick of my woman sleeping on a fucking air mattress, sick of fucking on an air mattress.” I pull her pants and thong down. “Platinum pussy deserves, at the very least, a real bed.”
“You owe me.” Her breath hitches as I blow on the bare skin between her legs.
“
That I do.”
My mouth covers her as I spread my girl wide on a bed fit for a queen—my Queen of Hearts who owns my everything, with a pussy that’s better than platinum.
Epilogue
“Rings?” I ask as I pace back and forth in Hendrix’s office.
“Check,” Jagger says as he holds them up.
“I can’t believe Jared talked her into marrying us,” I grumble.
Hendrix laughs. “Man’s got a way with words.”
“I swear to fuck, I just want him to say, ‘You are now husband and wife.’ I’m sick of living apart, sick of waking up hard and not having the cause of the hard-on to impale,” I say, making my brothers laugh, but I don’t. “Shit’s not funny. She’s gonna walk funny for months, maybe years.”
“Like on Thursdays?” Jagger smirks.
“What the hell are you talking?” I stop and shake my head as it hits me. “Just like Thursdays.”
For the past few months, I only stay over on Wednesday and Sunday nights. Those nights, I borderline abuse that little momma. She not only takes it, but she asks for more. Then I slip out before Marisa wakes up.
That’s the thing about having a little chick to worry about. We both agreed Marisa didn’t need to see me in the morning, not until we’re married. She’s got enough to overcome, like having a shitbag father who will surely someday come up in conversation. Someday, she’ll know her old man was in the big house. Someday, she’ll realize what he did to her mother. But someday, she’ll also realize her momma wanted better and got the hell out. And she’ll realize that if a man loves you, he’ll treasure you. I’ve been working on that for a few months now, and it’s been working like a charm.
“Place is packed, man,” Jagger informs.
The door to the office opens, and I see her belly before I see her.
“Livi’s belly is here.” Jagger laughs.
Hendrix lets out a growl. “Sexy as hell.”
“That’s kind of fucked up, man.” I laugh at him as she walks in.
“Hey, baby, you okay?” Hendrix asks as he gives her a kiss and then holds her belly in his hands.
“We may have a problem,” she whispers, thinking I can’t hear her.
I walk past her, into the bar, where I see a few customers looking out the window, so I walk over to them and see Hailey outside, pointing and giving someone hell as snow falls on her, creating the sexiest off-white gown I have ever seen.
I run out the door and am shocked when I see my old man standing there with a cigarette in one hand and an envelope in the other.
“He doesn’t owe you shit. Not a word, not a moment, and certainly not what you’re asking. You made a bet—”
“What the hell is going on?”
“Your woman is trying to protect you,” he says with a menacing grin.
“I don’t need protecting. What the hell are you doing here? Haven’t seen you in almost a year,” I say as I tuck Hailey under my arm.
“Need some help. Used your name to get in on a fight and placed a bet.”
“You what!” Hendrix barks as he walks out with Jagger behind him.
“Ran into a man in Vegas at a fight, told him my son’s name is Aces.”
“How the hell do you know what they call me?” I snap.
“I know everything.” He takes a drag from his cigarette, throws it down, and stomps it out. “Man’s name is Blade, and I owe him ten grand. He adds a grand a day.”
“Go fuck yourself,” Hendrix hisses at him. “Get the fuck away from my place.”
Hailey stiffens under me, and I watch my father stare at her.
“Tell him about Blade, Hailey,” my father taunts.
“Blade is holding half of Monte’s books. Marshall is holding the other half. That way, if one fucks him over, he has the other. It was always the plan, should he get caught in an underground game. Marshall was responsible for me and Marisa, along with all of Monte’s personal assets, while Blade handles his small businesses. Together, they manage the ‘side business.’ In the end, Monte never loses a dime or a wink of sleep.”
My blood is boiling. “Which means what to us, exactly?” I question even though I know the answer.
“Your father owes Monte. When he gets out, he’ll come looking for him.”
“Let him look. Now get the fuck out of here.”
He looks up at Jagger. “Need to make some money, son. Come to Vegas.”
“Get the fuck out of here before I drag you out back and fucking slit—”
“Morrison”—Hailey touches my cheek—“not worth it. Monte gave his word.”
“I gave him life!” our old man snaps at her.
“You dumped a load. His mother gave him life,” Hailey snaps back as she stands in front of me. She looks up at me. “Marry me now—forget him. We’re fine. He’ll get what he deserves. No one but you, me, Marisa, and your family matters.”
“Our family,” I correct her.
“Not yet. Take me in there and make it happen. I don’t want him to ruin this day. Not our day. It’s ours, right?”
“You bet your sweet ass it’s ours,” I huff.
She smiles and leans up to kiss me, and then suddenly she’s pulled back.
“Jared, you better get your hands off my woman.”
“You kiss her when I say you can,” he grumbles, making Hailey laugh. “We’ll see you inside.”
With Hailey inside and away, I walk up to the old man. “You better figure out how to fix this.”
“You’re good with cards; I taught you that. You owe me.” He points his finger at me. “You all owe me.”
“We don’t owe you dick,” Hendrix says as he steps to my side. “Now, like I said, get the fuck away from my place.”
“You ungrateful—”
I grab him by the collar and push his sorry ass against the brick wall. “I hope you get what you deserve, and much more. We don’t owe you one damn thing.” I let go of his collar and turn. “Let’s go.”
Once inside, I take a deep breath.
“Fuck him,” Hendrix says as he stands in front of me. “Shake that off, man. Today is the biggest day of your life. Today’s the day you become the man Momma raised you to be.”
“That’s right, man.” Jagger slaps my back. “Let’s do this.”
“Fuck him,” I say.
“Fuck him,” they repeat.
I head to my position on the dance floor, to our temporary altar of sorts, and look around. The place is wall-to-wall with all the regulars, all the women Momma was friends with, and Hailey’s girl Jamie.
“Tell Her You Love Her” by Echosmith starts, and then I see Marisa walking down the stairs, holding Livi’s hand. She has her hair all done up and topped with a crown. Little chick is in all her dressed-up, princess glory. As soon as her little feet hit the floor, she runs to me and jumps into my arms.
“Look at all these people here to see us officially become a family. They’re your loyal subjects, little princess. Give ’em that wave you’ve been working on.”
She smiles and does the princess wave, then turns to me and grabs my face between her little hands. She leans forward and looks me square in the eyes, a serious expression on her face. “You read me books.”
“Yes, I do.” I don’t laugh but instead smile at her, because, damn, her sweetness makes me putty. It’s also gonna make me give this kid anything she wants.
“You read me more than three.” I nod. “You take me on dates.”
“Always will.” I wink at her.
She smirks and blinks at me, ’cause she just can’t get the wink yet. “ ’Kay, so I think you’re the best daddy I eva had.”
Damn, didn’t expect that out of a three-year-old’s mouth. I swallow down my emotions.
“I plan on being that way always.”
“So, I wanna call you that.”
“I’d love that, Marisa, almost as much as I love you.”
She wraps her little arms around my neck. “I love you, too.”<
br />
I absolutely get choked up. This is one of those moments when I realize that what just went on outside, and a million things like it that happened over the years, could have molded me, my brothers. Life would have been so much different if we hadn’t had Momma. I look up at my brothers and swallow down even more emotion.
Marisa grabs my face again, and I look back at her. “You ready?”
“I’m ready.”
“Good. Now put me down.”
Once her feet hit the ground, I look up to see Hailey watching us. She is wiping away tears and wearing a smile that isn’t just for me—that smile is for all of us. She holds her hand over her chest and swallows. Then she starts down the stairs.
She is walking toward me, smiling, tears still falling. There is no game, no show, no tell. With her wall down now, I swear she is more beautiful than ever before.
“It was an obvious choice for Hailey and Morrison to ask me to marry them,” Jared begins. “Hell, look at Hendrix and Livi. Pretty clear they’re still enjoying married life.”
“Hell yes, we are,” Hendrix blurts out over the laughter in the room.
“Love. What is there to say about it that I didn’t say seven months ago? No, really, I don’t remember, and honestly—hell, neither do you all; you were drinking, too. What is there about love that I didn’t know seven months ago?” Jared looks at Livi and Hendrix, then smiles.
“Love is not just a feeling; it’s an action. Actions don’t require flowery words”—he looks at me—“or extravagant gifts. It requires work. Relationships are work. The W-word isn’t something these boys shy away from, and it’s not something their brides shy away from, either. If you don’t work at it, if you don’t trust in each other and share in every part of each other’s lives, you lose it.”
Hailey reaches out and grabs his hand, and he winks at her.
“You have a good woman here, Morrison. Can’t tell a joke for shit, but she’ll do just fine.”
Once people finish chuckling, it is quiet for a minute.
“From what I understand, communication is key to a lasting relationship, but when I was married, we never talked about communication. One night in a former life, my wife communicated to me that she thought we should go out and have fun like we used to. I thought it was a hell of an idea, so I asked her to leave the hall light on if she got home before I did.” When the crowd laughs, he holds his hand up, stopping them. “Just so you know, that did not go over well.
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