by Amy Muscat
Right there over the skin of his heart was the letters ‘Pie’ in intricate writing, it was so beautiful.
I was in a state of shock.
I can’t believe that he had my name... well nickname tattooed on him, over his heart no less.
“Keller...” I didn’t know what to say to him.
He grabbed my hand from where I had dropped it in the shock and placed it over his heart rubbing it, like he was rubbing the pain away and said to me,
“You’ll always have my heart Peyton. Always have and always will do.”
“Keller was we even together then? ‘Because I don’t remember you having that or you even showing me that.” I was still frozen from the shock of seeing that.
“No, we weren’t together.”
“Then why...”
“Because even though I’d thought you’d broken up with me, I still loved you. I said to myself that one day I would find you and fight for you, and me getting this name tattooed on me represented that. It represented the fact that you would be the only one for me, always and forever baby.” He said this with such a passion that it broke the dam that was holding the tears at bay.
I didn’t know how to respond to that.
I mean how does one respond to that?
I love Keller with all my heart, but five years of hating him and what he’d supposedly done to me and Ivy, was a lot of years to just take back.
“I don’t know what to say to that Keller, I really don’t,” I told him what I was thinking and even though he looked so sad he nodded and said he understood.
“I need to go to bed, and so do you,” I needed him out of my room before I did something I shouldn’t do, like kiss the fucking crap out of him, and I couldn’t do that.
“Okay, goodnight Peyton,” giving me a kiss on the forehead with them lush lips and grabbing his stuff walked out.
“Goodnight Keller,” I said, following his boxer-clad ass walk away from me with my eyes, before putting some shorts on and a cami and climbed into bed laying on my side, as I didn’t think I could take sleeping on my bruised back.
****
I felt someone shaking me gently and grunting I rolled over onto my back, but quickly sat up wincing.
What the fuck was wrong with my back?
Then like a wrecking ball I remembered everything from the night before.
Andrew and what he was going to do to me. Keller saving me and me telling him about Ivy to him coming to the hospital and then coming home with me.
I groaned. Oh god.
It was then I remembered someone shaking me awake and looked over and saw Keller standing there looking bone tired in his boxer briefs and I swear I drooled.
“Sorry, but the doctor said to wake you every two to three hours, but you can go back to sleep now,” his sleep ridden voice said.
“Okay,” I told him blinking away the images that had popped into my head of him on and in this bed.
Nodding at me he started walking back when I called his name and he turned and waited for what I was going to say.
“How’s the couch?”
“It’s fine, a little small, but it’s all good. Go back to sleep Peyton, I’ll be back to wake you in a couple of hours.”
“No-wait. Just come sleep in here Keller. It’s better than the couch and I don’t want you to hurt your back ‘cause of it. No funny business though,” I told him and pointed my finger at him.
“You sure? I don’t mind sleeping on the couch.”
“You don’t wanna sleep with me?” I realized how that sounded and blushed before correcting myself, “in the bed with me. That’s what I meant.”
“No, I would love to sleep with you... in the bed,” he said walking over and got in the other side.
I laid back down and snuggled into my pillow trying to ignore the sex god next to me.
It took a while but, eventually, I feel asleep.
ELEVEN
The sound of pounding on my bedroom door woke me up and as I moved my head, I felt my pillow move.
Opening my eyes, I saw the right side of Keller’s sculpted inked up chest, and realized that I’d been using Keller as a pillow.
It was then that I noticed I was practically draped all over him, like his own personal duvet.
My leg was slung over him, my knee at his hip, his hand on my ass and I could feel mini Keller twitching on my stomach.
Shit, it was turning me on being this close to him with his scent surrounding me and having his growing erection making friends with my belly button.
I felt his hand clench on my ass and relax before I felt him freeze under me.
“Shit,” he said in his just woken up husky voice that was doing nothing to douse the heat building up in my body.
“Do you think you can take your hand off my ass?”
“Do you think you could take your knee away from my cock before I explode?” He said in an amused, still husky voice.
“Fuck, sorry about that,” I said moving my knee away. Giving my ass a small squeeze he moved his hand away.
I slapped his chest lightly for the squeeze and he chuckled at me.
I stared up at him like the fucking idiot I am, and had to smile at his cheeky grin.
“How’re feeling today?” His question sobering the both of us and I lowered my eyes and told him fine.
I felt his finger come under my chin and pulled my face up so I could meet his eyes.
“Hey, you okay?” The concern in his eyes and voice made me tear up again.
“Sorry, all I seem to do lately is cry,” I said wiping my eyes and blinking rapidly not wanting anymore to fall.
“Don’t worry about that Pey, what I want to know is why you looked ashamed just now?” He was looking dead in the eye and I couldn’t move even if I wanted to.
“It’s just... I don’t know really. Lottie always says to me to quit and I would love too, but children cost money. A lot of money and Ivy deserves the best. And the only way to pay for Ivy and living expenses- without any qualifications, and make good money- is stripping. I’m not ashamed of doing what I do, if it means putting food in my child’s belly and clothes on her back then so be it. And even though we don’t pay rent here, we still gotta pay the other bills. So even though I hate my job with a passion, it pays for my child and I’m fine with that. I don’t do what the other strippers do. I don’t have sex with customers, I don’t go down on them and I don’t let them touch me. You were the first person I’d ever gone into a VIP room for, and even then I made some stipulations.” I blew out a big breath after my rant, but it felt good to tell Keller why I do what I do.
“Wow baby... I understand. I’m not particularly happy about it, but you kept my child and yourself feed and housed the best way you knew how to. I’m proud of you for that Pey. But I’m here now and I’m gonna pay for Ivy. Whatever she needs I’ll get it and I’ll give you money for them 4 years that I wasn’t here to provide for her- don’t argue with me Peyton... I will be paying for my child and all the years I missed. I still can’t believe someone did that too us. Can you think of anyone who would do that?” He said looking angry and upset that someone was that spiteful that they’d mess with three people’s lives.
“No, I’d honestly thought you didn’t want us. I’m so sorry Keller... I should’ve known that you would never do that, but when you’re pregnant, you’re very hormonal, you do and think crazy shit, and I just didn’t think. I was just so devastated that I’d overlooked everything. And when I’d had Ivy all I could do was hate you for doing this and putting me in a position where one day I’d have to tell our child that her daddy didn’t want her, and I hated you for that Keller. Fucking hated you so much,” I was crying again, but I wiped my eyes and soldiered on. “So for you to come back after five years and tell me that you didn’t have a fucking clue what I was talking about, sort of fucks with a person’s head, you know?” My voice broke so many times during that speech that I was afraid that I’d lose it.
�
��I’m so sorry Pey-” He was interrupted when there was a knock at the door, and it reminded me of the reason I’d been woken up in the first place.
Drying my tears and clearing my throat, I called out a ‘yes’, and Ivy’s answered.
“Momma, tan I come in, please? I’m sorry for last night, I didn’t mean to be naughty, promise,” she said this with a wobble in her voice and I knew she felt bad about her behavior yesterday, but I’d completely forgot about that, what with everything that had happened.
I heard Keller suck in air when he heard her, and I turned to him with a smile and asked him, “Fancy meeting your daughter?”
“Yeah baby, I do.”
“You can come in Ivy,” I called out to her and a second later she came running in.
“Aunty Lottie told me that I was bad for talking to yo- DADDY!” She gasped when she saw Keller in my bed, and ran over to the bed and jumped on him and squeezed the life out him. Keller’s arms locked around her body automatically and he held her in such a gentle way, that my heart clenched painfully.
“I missed you sooo much daddy!” Ivy’s exulted voice was loud and clear.
“I’ve missed you so much too princess, it’s unbelievable,” Keller’s voice was drenched in a mixture of confusion, happiness and sadness.
I loved that he called her princess.
“Do you have to go back to war daddy?” She asked this with such innocence.
“No princess, no more war for me, would that make you happy?”
Nodding her head and making her big, brown messy curls bounce she said to him in her most-serious tone, “yeah daddy. Me and momma won’t be upset no more, and we can see you all the time.”
“I’m so sorry I missed out princess, I really am. You’re so beautiful, just like your momma.” Tears started leaking from his eyes and Ivy reached up and gently wiped them away.
“Don’t cry daddy, its otay, you’re back now,” she said.
Predictably, I was a sobbing mess, and watching that moment with Ivy and her dad was one of the best moments I’d ever witnessed.
“Daddy’s back momma! Daddy’s back, tan you believe it?” She said jumping up and down on the bed in between Keller’s legs.
“Yeah baby, I can believe it. I told you he’d be back didn’t I?”
“You did momma, you did.” She sounded so excited, my daughters face right now was one I’d always remember; eyes big and shining brightly, smile so wide I thought her face might split in two.
Keller’s eyes were still wet, but no tears were falling, and his face was the spitting image of Ivy’s.
With their same color hair and eyes they looked like the perfect father and daughter, and oddly I felt like I was intruding. I started to get up to give them some space when I felt his strong muscled arm wrap around my waist and pull me backdown, holding me Ivy tight to his chest. I was on his left side my head just below his tattoo of me and Ivy’s head below his mini-shrine for his mom.
“My girls,” he said sounding relaxed and happy.
“Keller...”
“Shh Peyton, just let me enjoy this moment please,” he whispered so as to not let Ivy hear.
Sighing I nodded. I didn’t want to give him any false hope, ‘cause at the end of the day, we’d only been reacquainted for a week and even though I loved Keller, I wasn’t in love with him and I wouldn’t be jumping back on the wagon just yet. This was all still new for me. I’d spent the last five years with mixed emotions about Keller -mainly hate- and right about now? My head was a massive jumbled mess.
****
After a couple of minutes of cuddling, I slowly pulled away while Keller asked Ivy some questions.
“So what do you normally do on a Saturday princess?” Keller asked her, sounding very curious.
“Me and momma go park and den we come back and we sit and watch movies all day but aunty Lottie said we can have a girl's night in, as momma had one last week and I stayed at nana’s and pop’s,” she told him with a big grin.
He smiled back at her like he couldn’t stop it. I understood, Ivy had a smile that was so cute she could probably make the guards that stand outside of Buckingham palace smile.
“Do you wanna come park with us daddy?”
“Erm who said you were going to the park? You were bad yesterday, remember?” I reminded her raising an eyebrow at her.
“Oh... I am sorry momma, I really didn’t mean it,” she looked sad now and I’d only been joking with her, so now I felt bad.
“I’m only joking baby. You said you were sorry and that’s what matters, just no more being bad from you okay?” I said holding my arms out for her and she jumped in them and gave me a hug.
“Otay. Sorry. So can daddy come park with us momma? Please, please!” She had her begging face on, and I hated that look as I could never say no to it, and I think she knew that, that’s why she used it often.
Ivy could be such a little stinker.
“Well, you should ask him first Ivy, daddy might be busy today,” as I was saying this Ivy’s face dropped and she looked even sadder than before, at the prospect of Keller not coming.
She looked over to him and gave him the begging face she’d just gave me, and the poor bastard fell for it too, you could see him practically melt.
“I’m not busy princess. I’d love to come to the park with you.”
She wiggled out of my arms and over to Keller and shouted her elation.
I looked over to Keller with my baby girl in his arms and found his eyes already on me. ‘That okay?’ He silently said, and I nodded to him, ‘thank you’ his lips said back.
Ivy needed to spend some time with her dad, and Keller needed to get to know her too, so coming to the park with us was a great idea.
I realized this was going somewhat too fast, but I’ve known Keller my whole life, and she WAS his daughter, so who was I to say no?
“Okay, I need to go home and change and then I’ll be back in about an hour?” He said standing up and stretching his arms above his head.
WOW.
His body was... I don’t think there were words to describe his hotness.
I felt my sex clench from the sight in front of me.
I started from the top of his shoulders and worked my eyes down his well-muscled chest stopping on his ‘PIE’ tattoo before my greedy eyes travelled down to his tight six pack and further down to his belly button, where a faint trail of hair disappeared into the black boxers he was wearing. Lucky piece of cloth.
“Peyton...” I snapped out of it when his hand waved in my face looking amused. He’d obviously caught me staring.
Crap.
I blushed so hard I could feel it creeping down my neck and move over my chest.
Remembering his question I nodded and told him,” yeah an hour should be fine.”
“Okay, I’ll see you then, can I have a hug princess?” He said squatting down to Ivy’s level and held his arms out to her and she smiled and jumped in them, holding him tight.
“Hey, I’ll be back soon okay?”
“You weally promise?” Her question was muffled where her face was tucked in his neck.
“Promise.” I heard him say then he whispered something in her ear that I couldn’t hear and she giggled.
“Otay, daddy.”
When he left five minutes later and Ivy ran to her room, I walked out to the kitchen and found Lottie sitting there with a cup of tea and she didn’t look too happy.
Here we go.
“Hey,” I said to her.
“Hey.”
It was quite for a couple of minutes while I made myself a coffee.
I sat next to her at the table and asked her what was wrong.
She did something I wasn’t expecting. She burst out crying.
“Ohmygod Lottie! Why are you crying?” I was out of my chair and hugging her in seconds.
“It’s... It’s... I’m so sorry that happened to you last night. I keep having all these thoughts in my head of what could�
�ve happened. Please tell me that you’re not going back to work at that place?” She was a mess. Her normally perfect hair was in a big ball of knots atop of her head, her eyes red and glassy, her face was white as a sheet of paper. She looked drained. Not my Lottie.
“Well, I was thinking I could ask Jimmy if I could possibly have my job back as the barmaid. Because Keller said he’d start giving me money for Ivy and at first I refused, but he’s very persuasive. And I thought maybe I could work once a week at the club, like a Monday when it’s quiet. I’ve got some money saved up, so I know I’ll be alright not working for a little while, and I could spend more time with Ivy and you, so...” I said shrugging in the end, wondering what she thought of my plan.
She pulled back and pondered for a minute while wiping her cheeks and around her eyes before nodding and saying, “yeah Pey that sounds good, and it’s about bloody time he pulled his finger out of his arse and started paying for his child.”
“Lotts, he didn’t know. Please don’t.” She said ‘fine’ but she didn’t sound happy about it.
It looked like she wanted to say something else and she didn’t disappoint.
“So what was Keller doing at the club?”
“He said that he’d been there every night, waiting to speak to me,” I told her.
“Well, I suppose it was a good thing that he was. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to save you last night. What are you going to do about that perverted prick anyway?” She had fire in her eyes when she spoke of Andrew.
“I’m gonna press charges. I mean shit Lott the stuff he said he was going to do to me...” I trailed off as I remembered and I felt my eyes start to tear up again, but I blinked and blew out a big breath so I didn’t cry.
I’d cried too much lately and quite frankly it was getting on my nerves.
I never cry anymore, but this last week I feel like a dam has broken and my eyes are taking the blunt force of it.