“The one who ran away from you like you had the plague?” Travis asked, amused.
I threw the dirty rag and it hit him in the face before he could catch it. Sputtering, he pulled it off his face and glared at me.
I snickered. “That’s the one. We spent some time together,” I said cryptically, not wanting to give away too many private details. “I didn’t have any issues.”
“Yeah?” Travis smiled. “That’s awesome. So, are you gonna see her again?”
Unable to keep myself from grinning, I nodded. “We have a date tonight.”
“You better let us meet this girl soon. Angel will be stoked to have another woman around.”
Whenever Travis said ‘us’ he was referring to both himself and Angel. They’d become a ‘we’ couple. Even when the other wasn’t around, they still spoke as if they were right next to each other. It was sickeningly sweet. I used to find it a little nauseating, but now I could admit that I was just jealous—I wanted that for myself.
And for the first time ever, I had hope that it could happen for me.
My pleasant thoughts were interrupted when the greasy rag came flying at me and smacked me in the forehead. I wiped at my skin, probably only making it dirtier.
“You’re a dick,” I called after Travis as he walked away, laughing.
Ellie’s neighborhood was nice. Two-story houses, mature trees, and brick-paved streets gave the older part of town a nostalgic feel.
As I approached the light-blue colonial, I remembered Ellie said she lived with her parents. Dave and Susan Mitchell had been like second parents to me. They’d loved me and always welcomed me into their home.
I just hoped they still felt the same way now that I was here to take their daughter out. Swallowing hard, I tried to keep the nerves at bay.
I knew these people and they used to know me. What I hoped they didn’t know was that Ellie and I had already been intimate. Parents had a sixth sense about those kinds of things.
I groaned because now I was thinking about the other night. What it felt like to have Ellie naked. Writhing and moaning. Coming on my cock.
Normally, I would’ve been happy to get a boner, but right now was a bad time. The last thing I needed was to show up at Ellie’s parents’ house rocking a massive hard-on.
I adjusted myself in my jeans and tried to think of the time I’d walked in on my grandma in the bathroom. Or spiders—I fucking hated spiders. Or those sad ASPCA commercials with all those neglected animals. Anything to get my erection to go down.
It seemed to work, so I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. The chime I heard ringing inside the house wasn’t just a simple ‘ding dong’. Instead, I heard the tune of ‘She’ll be Coming Around the Mountain’ followed by rapid stomping of feet, as though someone was literally sprinting to the door.
I started to smile, thinking Ellie must be really excited to see me, but when the door swung open I had to glance down to see my greeter. Looking back at me was a three-foot-nothing little girl with big blue eyes and long brown hair.
“Uhh… Um…” I stuttered and took a step back, thinking maybe I had the wrong house.
The door opened wider and someone came up behind the girl.
I recognized Dave immediately. In my youth, he’d seemed like a mountain of a man. Now he and I stood eye to eye because I matched him in height. His full head of once-dark hair was now peppered with gray, and his face owned a few more wrinkles than I remembered.
“Colton.” He smiled and gestured for me to come inside.
Once I got past the threshold, he threw his arms around me and clapped my back in a manly hug.
“Dave, it’s great to see you again,” I said, looking around at the nice house. The staircase was to the left of the foyer, and off to the right there was a living room with a big blue couch. The kitchen was straight ahead and I thought I saw Susan walk by the doorway as she wiped down the counters. Original woodwork lined the baseboards and crown molding, giving the home character.
“You, too,” Dave responded with a smile. “What a small world, right?” His face suddenly got serious and he crouched down next to the child, who was still staring up at me. His voice got quieter as he talked to her. “What have we told you about answering the door?”
“I’m not supposed to do it,” she replied immediately.
“And what did you do?” Dave asked.
“Weeeeell,” she started, drawing the word out. “Actually, I sort of did answer the door, but actually, it was okay. Yeah. Because I actually knew who it was.”
I had to stifle a laugh at her explanation and her overuse of the word actually, which she definitely couldn’t pronounce correctly.
“You know who this is?” Dave asked, pointing up at me.
She nodded. “Colton.”
“And how do you know that? You’ve never met him before.”
She let out an exasperated sigh and held out her hand. “Because you just said so.”
Well, she had him there.
“We’ll talk about this later.” He gave her a pat on the head and I could see he was fighting back a smile. He stood up to face me. “I’ll go tell Brielle you’re here.”
“Thanks.” I watched him walk up the stairs, then realized the little squirt was still hanging around.
“Can you guess what I am?!” she asked excitedly as she waved her arms up and down while running in place.
“Uhh…” I laughed. “Are you a bug?”
It seemed like a logical conclusion because she was wearing some sort of green dress with wings attached to the back.
“No!” She burst into a fit of giggles.
She covered her mouth with one hand while pointing at me with the other, and the wild laughter continued.
Great. I was being mocked by a toddler.
I couldn’t help but laugh, though. This kid was crazy.
Then it occurred to me that I had no idea who she was or what she was doing in this house. The family resemblance was there, and I tried to mentally calculate how old Dave and Susan were. I guess it wouldn’t have been impossible for them to have another kid a few years ago. Unusual, but not impossible.
“What’s your name?” I asked the bug, who was still hopping around and flailing her arms.
“Nope! You hafta guess what I am first.”
I snapped my fingers as it came to me. “You’re that fairy. The one from Peter Pan.”
“No!” More giggling. More tap dancing.
“I give up.” I shrugged and held my hands up in defeat.
“I’m a caterpillar pig-fish!”
“Well, I never would’ve guessed that in a million years,” I told her honestly.
“Ava, are you entertaining my friend?” I glanced up to see Ellie coming down the stairs dressed in skinny jeans and a form-fitting long-sleeve T-shirt with horizontal black and white stripes.
She had a lot less makeup on than when she worked. Her hair was up in a loose ponytail and runaway strands fell around her face. It reminded me of the little tomboy she used to be.
Again, I was stunned by how gorgeous she was.
“Hey.” My voice cracked on the word and I cleared my throat. I guess I was more nervous than I thought.
“I showed Colton I’m a caterpillar pig-fish,” Ava said as she went back to skipping around.
“You’re the cutest caterpillar pig-fish I’ve ever seen,” Ellie responded, beaming down at the little girl.
Just then, Susan came around the corner. “Colton,” she said with a big smile on her face as she leaned up to give me a hug. “You certainly look different than the last time I saw you.”
“Well, you look exactly the same,” I told her, and she made a dismissive sound while blushing. I wasn’t kidding, though—she really did look like the woman I remembered. Her dark brown hair was styled in a short bob and her eyes—the same honey brown as Ellie’s—had a youthful glow.
Dave and Susan had both aged well. My guess was having another kid in
their mid-forties must’ve kept them young.
“You kids have fun tonight,” Susan said, as if we were still seven years old. Then she looked down at Ava. “I’m about to make some cookies and I think I need a helper.”
“I’m a helper,” she replied, her hand shooting up into the air, and they started walking to the kitchen.
“It was nice to meet you, little bug,” I told Ava, unable to remember what kind of hybrid animal she’d called herself.
She waved without looking back at me.
“I love you and I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ellie called after her and shrugged when she didn’t receive a response. “Sometimes cookies take full priority, I guess.”
Chuckling, I placed my hand at the small of her back and reached for the doorknob.
“Hey!” Ava shouted, and I turned around to see her running back over to me.
She tugged on my arm until I had no other choice but to kneel, our faces level. When she smiled, I noticed a familiar indent in her chin and a warm feeling of affection filled my chest.
“How did you know my mom calls me ‘Bug’?” she asked.
I glanced over at Susan, who looked amused.
“I didn’t. It was just a good guess.” I shrugged.
She seemed to be satisfied with that answer and, with quick, thundering footsteps, she disappeared into the kitchen.
What a funny kid.
Walking out to Colton’s truck, I mentally rehearsed how I would tell him I was a mom. That dating me didn’t mean just dating me.
There would be another person involved, and I had no idea how he would react to that news. I’d specifically instructed my parents not to inform Colton of who Ava was because I wanted to be the one to tell him, but now the anticipation was killing me.
We passed my beige Camry and my heart raced as Colton guided me over to the passenger side of his dark blue Ford pickup truck. Like the gentleman he was, he opened the door then gave me a grin that caused a fluttery feeling in my stomach.
Those adorable crooked teeth got me every time.
As I closed the door to the truck, I took a deep breath. I wanted to get the inevitable over with as soon as possible.
After Colton got behind the wheel, I opened my mouth to let the words come out, but he spoke first.
“Before we go out, I feel like we need to get a conversation out of the way… It’s kind of awkward,” he said, and I felt my heart break a little.
Here it comes.
I sat up straighter, steeling myself for the rejection I’d encountered so many times before. “Okay.”
“Do you know what performance anxiety is?” he asked, and it took me a second to comprehend his random question.
“Um, you mean like stage fright?”
“Yeah, exactly. Only it happens in,” he paused, seeming to try to find the right words, “sexual situations.”
“I guess I don’t really understand what you’re getting at,” I said, pinching my eyebrows together in confusion.
He sighed and ran a hand over his jaw before looking at me. “Sometimes I have trouble getting it up. My dick, I mean.”
“Really?” I asked, surprised. “You didn’t seem to have any trouble the other night.”
He smirked. “Nope. Come here for a sec.”
I hadn’t put on my seatbelt yet so I was able to scoot over to him. He took my hand and put it over the front of his jeans.
My eyes went wide when I felt the bulge beneath the fabric. “Are you seriously hard right now?”
“Yup. You seem to do that to me. I’m beginning to wonder if you’re a hazard to my health,” he joked, then his face got serious. “I felt like I needed to tell you in case it ever happens. I thought if I told you about it and you were okay with it, maybe I wouldn’t feel so much pressure…”
His face looked tortured as he glanced away from me, and I caught a glimpse of an insecure side to him I’d never seen before. It was obvious that someone in his past hadn’t been okay with it, and my protective side kicked into gear.
“Hey. You never have to feel embarrassed around me. Not about anything,” I said softly and squeezed his hand. “Remember that time you peed your pants?”
Giggling, I covered my mouth and Colton’s jaw went slack.
“You promised we’d never speak of that again,” he said, his voice hushed as if someone might overhear. “You pinky swore.”
“My point is, it doesn’t get more embarrassing than that. I’ve already seen you at your worst.”
His face turned incredulous. “There was a huge spider crawling up my leg. It was that big!” He held his thumb and forefinger in a large circle that was an exaggeration of the real thing. “And I was six. It was fucking scary.”
I laughed. He huffed.
I soothingly rubbed his thigh as my voice turned patronizing. “You’re right. It was a big spider. Very, very scary.”
A slow smile spread over his face. “Move your hand a little higher and something cool might happen.”
Quickly removing my hand, I scooted back over to my seat. “I’m not opposed to getting busy with you in your truck, but not in my parents’ driveway.”
He barked out a laugh. “Fair enough.”
“Colton, wait,” I said before he could put the truck in reverse. He relaxed back in his seat and gave me a lazy grin that caused more butterflies to erupt in my stomach. “Before we go out on this date I need you to know something.” He raised his eyebrows and waited for me to continue. “Do you remember when you said the other night that dating me was like getting two for one?”
“Yeah.” He grinned again.
“Well, you’d literally be getting two for one. Ava is my daughter.”
Although I was nervous about what Colton’s reaction would be, pride and happiness caused me to smile when I claimed ownership of my little girl.
Holding my breath, I watched his smile fade as shock appeared on his face, and I braced myself. I expected awkwardness, the ‘let’s just be friends’ speech, and fear—I was always surprised by the number of young men who were totally freaked out by little kids.
Instead, the corner of his mouth quirked up.
“Wow,” he breathed out. “She’s like a mini-you.” He shook his head, still smiling. “That’s awesome, Ellie. She’s awesome.”
My mouth opened and closed several times, not knowing how to respond. I finally settled on a simple, “Thank you.”
He let out a chuckle. “You’re just full of surprises. I thought she was your sister.” Glancing at the house, his eyes bounced from window to window as if he was looking for her. “Is her, uh, father still in the picture?” he asked, his face going serious as he turned toward me.
I shook my head. “No. Obviously, Ava was an accident—a happy accident. I got pregnant at the end of my senior year. At first, I was devastated,” I told him truthfully. “I didn’t know how to be a mom and all my plans had to change. I never even considered the possibility of not keeping her and, at the time, my ex, Josh, was supportive of that decision.”
“So what happened?” Colton asked, reaching over to hold my hand. Just that little action gave me the support and courage I needed to get through this conversation.
I shrugged. “I guess he changed his mind. After we graduated, he told me he planned to get a job in our town. But over the summer, he kept partying with his friends and became more distant. Then he told me he got accepted to an out-of-state university and that he was going. He didn’t even come back for the birth,” I said, remembering how heartbroken I was. “And when Ava was two weeks old, he called to tell me he didn’t want anything to with her. Or me.”
“Anyone who would leave you like that is a grade-A asshole,” he stated, his voice filled with rage. “You could’ve fought it, though, right? I mean, legally, he should’ve been responsible.”
“No,” I said firmly, “I didn’t want that. If he didn’t want to be involved, then he would’ve been a terrible father.” I gave him a small smile. “Ava a
nd I do pretty well for ourselves. We have a good life together.”
Colton looked down at our intertwined hands and fiddled with my fingers.
“I’m hoping you’ll let me be a part of that life,” he said softly before glancing back up at my face. My heart skipped a beat because his words were so sincere, so honest. “Do you want to bring Ava to dinner with us?”
I paused, taken aback. “You want to take Ava on our date?”
“Sure, why not? I don’t know much about kids, but I can learn. She’s cool as shit.” He grinned, then his face turned horrified. “I mean—shit. Crap.” He shook his head and laughed at his inability to stop cussing. “I’m gonna have to learn how to watch my language.”
I nodded. “She’s heard me slip a few times, but I try to control myself. She’s like a little sponge. Kids soak up everything they see and hear,” I said. “And you have no idea how much it means to me that you want to know her. But tonight, I’d kind of like for it to just be you and me.”
“Maybe next time, then?” he asked hopefully and I could tell he meant it—he really wanted to include Ava.
“Definitely.” I couldn’t stop the big goofy smile on my face. “So what are we doing tonight?”
“Going dancing.”
When Colton said dancing, he meant line dancing. I had no idea this was something he liked doing, but I was up for it.
That is, until I saw him attempt the moves.
As ‘Head Over Boots’ played through the tavern, he looked totally lost as he watched the people around him and tried to copy their steps. I wasn’t familiar with this particular dance, but years of dance classes made it easier for me to follow along.
Colton bumped into an older woman and apologized, sending her a charming grin, and I swear I saw her blush.
The small-town bar he took me to was way busier than I expected it to be. When we arrived, the gravel parking lot had been so full we had to park down the street. Aptly named The Brick House, it was exactly that—a ranch-style home with a brick exterior, metal roof, and pink shutters. The inside smelled like fried food, beer, and popcorn, and the small wooden dancefloor was packed.
The Good Guys Box Set: TRUCKER, DANCER, DROPOUT, and A Trucker Wedding Page 33