Beautiful Abyss (California Dreamers #3)

by Dakota Madison

I’ll be hanging out with Abby and Sadie for dinner and a movie. I don’t want to wear a dress shirt, but a t-shirt is too casual.

  I finally decide on blue polo shirt and jeans.

  This time I’m bringing Abby some fancy chocolate that Nellie recommended. Nellie says she loves them, but doesn’t buy them very often because they’re so expensive.

  She wasn’t exaggerating. The candy is really pricey. I got the smallest box they had and it was still twenty bucks.

  I just hope Abby likes it.

  I take my moped to her aunt and uncle’s house. She told me to arrive after six, so they’d already be gone. I’m really good at following instructions, especially those that mean that I won’t be threatened with a gun again.

  Even though Abby insists he wasn’t serious, and that her uncle wouldn’t hurt a fly, his threats still freaked me out.

  Luckily there isn’t a car in the driveway when I arrive. When I take off my helmet I run a hand through my hair so it looks half-way decent. Then I grab the box of overpriced chocolates and head to the front door.

  Abby opens it before I have a chance to knock.

  “You must have EST,” I tell her.

  She laughs. “ESP. Extra sensory perception.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Come in.” She moves over so I can enter.

  I hand her the box of chocolates as I head inside.

  “These are really expensive.” She stares at the candy.

  “I hope you like them.”

  “I’ve only had them once before. They were like heaven in a bite.”

  I notice Sadie is sitting in a plastic thing on wheels. She’s playing with an animal shaped toy. Is it possible that her eyes got even bigger since the last time I saw her? Are her eyes growing faster than her head? Is that a thing with babies, or just Sadie?

  I realize there’s a lot I don’t know about kids.

  “Something smells really good.” Is she baking bread?

  “Homemade pizza,” she tells me.

  My mouth starts to water.

  “I hope you’re hungry,” she adds.

  “Starving.”

  “Good. It’s almost ready. I should probably check on it.”

  While she’s in the kitchen I walk over to Sadie to get a closer look at what she’s doing. The toy always seems to end up in her mouth. When she notices me she smiles and tries to hand me the toy. Drool is dripping from it.

  “No thanks,” I tell her. Then I wonder if babies even understand English. I think they have their own language and at some point you have to teach them English. I wonder when that happens.

  Luckily Abby comes out of the kitchen quickly and Sadie tries to hand her the toy instead. Abby grabs the slobbery thing like it’s nothing. “Thank you, Sadie.”

  The baby jumps up and down in her plastic wheelie thing.

  Maybe I should have taken the toy from her. She seems very happy that Abby took it. It just looked so slimy and wet.

  “Dinner’s ready if you are,” she tells me.

  I follow as she rolls Sadie into the kitchen. The table next to the front window is all set up. Abby even lit a large white candle.

  She places Sadie in a highchair at the end of the table. I take the seat at the other end and Abby sits in the middle between the two of us.

  The homemade pizza has fresh tomatoes and mushrooms on it. No meat. Probably because her aunt and uncle don’t like it.

  “The crust is gluten free,” she tells me.

  I have no idea what gluten is, but I do know a lot of people don’t like it.

  “And all of the ingredients are organic.”

  I can tell by the tone of her voice that she’s being a little sarcastic. Right now I’m hungry enough to eat almost anything, even rabbit food.

  “Dig in.” She points to the pizza in the middle of the table.

  I take one slice just to make sure that I like it.

  She watches me while I take the first bite. It’s not bad, but it’s definitely not something I’d go out of my way to eat.

  “It’s good,” I tell her after I swallow.

  “I know it’s not great, but it’s better than kale salad.”

  “Definitely better than kale salad,” I agree.

  I take another bite of the pizza. “It’s starting to grow on me.”

  Abby takes a few nibbles of her food. Then she feeds Sadie a few small bites of the crust.

  This is the part I hate about dating. The awkward silences because I don’t know what to say that won’t make me look like an idiot. That’s probably why I’ve avoided it all these years.

  “So what’s your favorite movie?” Abby asks.

  At least that’s something that’s easy to answer. “Don’t laugh.”

  She smiles. “Is it E.T.?”

  “How did you know?”

  “Because it’s my favorite movie too.”

  I take her hand in mine. “Isn’t it weird that we have so much in common?”

  “Maybe we were destined for each other,” she says.

  My heart feels like it could expand right out of my chest I feel so much love for Abby right now. I know I’m not the brightest bulb in the closet, but I’m smart enough to know that I need to keep my feelings to myself for a while.

  “What kind of music do you like?” I ask her.

  “I like almost everything…”

  “Except country,” we both say at the same time.

  I quickly finish the rest of the pizza on my plate.

  “Do you want more?” Abby asks.

  Even though I feel like I could eat more, I’m not sure I want any more gluten-free organic food.

  “I’m good,” I tell her.

  “You’re great,” she fires back.

  We both laugh.

  “You’re great too.”

  “I’d better clean up the dishes.”

  “You hardly ate any of your food,” I observe. No wonder she acts like she’s starving whenever we go out.

  “I’m not that hungry.” She rises from the table. “It shouldn’t take me very long.”

  “Do you need some help?” I offer.

  “Would you mind feeding Sadie some applesauce while I do the dishes?”

  I panic. Maybe I should tell her I’ll wash the dishes and she can feed the baby. Although I’ve never actually washed dishes. That’s what a dishwasher is for. “Your aunt and uncle don’t like dishwashers either?”

  She shakes her head. “Nope. We’ve got to hand wash everything.”

  “I’ve never fed a baby before,” I admit.

  She waves a hand at me like it’s nothing. “She loves applesauce. It will be fine.”

  She hands me a small spoon and a tiny container of applesauce. My heart starts to pound when I look over at Sadie. Her huge eyes look hungry.

  Before I have a chance to tell Abby I can’t do it she disappears into the kitchen with all of our plates.

  I let out a sigh. I guess I don’t have any other options. I’ve got to feed the baby the applesauce.

  How hard could it be?

  Apparently it’s a lot harder than I thought. She keeps spitting the stuff back out when I feed it to her. And then she laughs like it’s a game. There’s more applesauce all over her highchair, her shirt and my shirt than actually went into her mouth.

  When Abby finally gets done in the kitchen she cracks up when she sees the mess Sadie and I have made.

  “It’s not funny,” I tell her.

  “It’s a little bit funny.”

  “There’s applesauce everywhere.” At least I managed not to get any on the floor.

  “Let me get some paper towels and wet wipes.”

  She disappears again and returns with the cleaning supplies. Abby is definitely experienced in this area. She’s got everything wiped up in no time. She’s even got the applesauce off my shirt.

  “Sorry about your clothes,” she tells me.

  “It’s okay.”

  “I hope that wasn’t too traum
atic for you.” Her voice sounds so sad.

  “Next time I think I’ll wash dishes, and you can do applesauce duty.”

  “Are you sure you want there to be a next time?” she asks. At least now I understand why her mood changed so quickly.

  “Of course there’s going to be a next time,” I assure her. “Wild horse riders couldn’t keep me away.”

  “I’m not sure you’ve got that quite right, but I appreciate the sentiment. Would you like to watch TV while I give Sadie a bath and put her to bed? Then we can watch the movie.”

  I frown. I know my feeding skills were nonexistent, but I don’t want her to think I’m totally useless when it comes to helping out, even if I probably am.

  “I don’t want to scare you off with a diaper change,” she tells me. “We’ll save that for another day.”

  She takes Sadie into her arms and I follow her into the living room. She points to the remote control on the coffee table. “Watch whatever you want. I shouldn’t be too long.”

  I plop down on the couch, but don’t bother to turn on the television. I don’t really watch it that often. I grab a magazine from the coffee table instead.

  It’s got more advertisements than actual articles. Most of them are for clothing or perfume. I finally land on a page that’s advertising lingerie. At least it’s something I enjoy looking at. It’s even more fun peeling it off whoever is wearing it. I imagine what Abby would look like wearing it.

  Hot.

  Sizzling.

  I wonder where I can buy it for her.

  I think about Abby lying in my bed in the black silk teddy. Her beautiful dark hair stretched across my pillow. Her perfectly sized breasts peek out at me from her lingerie.

  My dick is getting hard just imagining the scenario. But I know I need to keep it in my pants tonight. What if her aunt and uncle came home while we were right in the middle of something? He’d shoot me for sure.

  When Abby returns she’s got some kind of electronic thing in her hands.

  “What’s that?” I ask when he sits down next to me.

  “This is a baby monitor. So we can make sure everything is okay with Sadie.”

  There’s so much I still need to learn about kids. “How do you know so much about babies?” I ask.

  “I took a parenting class. And I’ve read a lot of books.”

  I’m not a big reader. I can’t even remember the last time I read an entire book. Maybe it was in high school, but probably not. I did a lot of skimming and asking other kids to tell me what happened in the stories.

  A book that could teach me about babies I would definitely read. “Can I borrow one of those books?”

  Her eyebrows rise. “You want to read one of my parenting books?”

  “Yeah. I don’t know anything about kids, but I think I should know.”

  She grins. “You really want to do that?”

  “I really do,” I insist.

  “Okay, I’ll loan you one before you leave.”

  “What would you like to watch?” she asks.

  I shrug. “Whatever you want.”

  “Something very adult,” she tells me. “The only movies I usually watch are for kids.”

  She hops up from the couch and grabs a movie from the small collection on the shelf next to the television. Then she turns on the television and pops the DVD into the player.

  “When Harry Met Sally,” she says when she sits back down next to me.

  “I’ve never seen it.”

  “It’s funny.”

  I grab her hand in mine. “I don’t usually do this.”

  “Do what?”

  “Sit and watch a movie with a girl.”

  She tilts her head. “What do you do on dates?”

  “I don’t go on dates,” I tell her.

  “Ever?” Her voice rises with surprise.

  “I go on dates with you.”

  “What about before me?”

  I shrug. “Maybe in high school. I can’t remember. I was really busy with sports, but I did go to prom. Does that count?”

  “No movies? Dinners? Bowling?”

  I have to laugh. “Bowling? I’ve never been bowling in my life. When I’m with a girl I’m usually doing what I’m good at. Entertaining her in the bedroom. This kind of stuff I’m not that good at.”

  She starts to rise. “Would you rather go into my bedroom? We have time before my aunt and uncle get home.”

  I pull her back down on the couch with me. “That’s not what I meant. I like what we’re doing. I’m just not used to it.”

  She relaxes her head onto my shoulder. “Is this something you could get used to?”

  I put my arm around her and pull her close. “This is something I could definitely get used to.”

  Her hair tickles my nose and I get a whiff of light strawberry scent. Maybe it’s from her shampoo? It’s actually turning me on a little.

  Is there anything about Abby that doesn’t turn me on?

  No. Everything about her turns me on. A lot.

  Just as I’m about to kiss her there’s a knock on the door. It startles both of us.

  It’s late, and I know she’s not expecting anyone, so I get up and head to the door with her just in case. You can’t be too safe.

  After she looks through the peephole she lets out a huge sigh. “Shit.”

  “Who is it?”

  After a long pause she says, “Dex.”

  Her asshole ex. What is he doing here?

  “I have to get it,” she tells me. “Sorry.”

  She only opens the door a crack. Is it because she doesn’t want him to see me? That puts me on edge.

  “What are you doing here?” I’ve never heard her be so short with anyone. Abby seems to be sweet with everyone except her ex.

  “Spring Break,” he announces.

  “Sadie’s asleep already,” she tells him. “It’s nearly eight.”

  “I didn’t come here to see Sadie.”

  “It’s not a good time,” she tells him.

  He laughs. What a prick. “It’s your aunt and uncle’s date night. That’s always a good time.”

  Without giving her a chance to respond he pushes his way into the house. Luckily I’m right there to meet him in the entryway.

  The look of shock on his face is priceless. For several moments his jaw moves up and down but no words come out.

  There’s a reason they invented the word douche: for guys like Dex.

  I have no idea what she found attractive about the guy. He looks like a rat. He has little rat eyes and a pointy rat nose. The only thing he’s missing is a tail. Or maybe it’s hiding in the cargo shorts he’s wearing.

  “Who are you?” He points a finger at me. He’s got the smallest hands I’ve ever seen on a guy. And you know what they say about guys with small hands.

  Little hands, little heart.

  Apparently there are other parts of his body that are supposed to be small as well. I don’t know. I don’t go around comparing dick sizes with other guys.

  No one has ever complained about my package, and that’s all that I care about.

  “Who are you?” I fire back at him just to see what he’ll do.

  He crosses his arms in front of him. The guy couldn’t even intimidate a rat if he tried. We’re the same height, but Dex is a skinny thing. He’d blow away in storm if he wasn’t tied down.

  “I’m…I’m…” he stammers. What is he going to say? He’s not Abby’s boyfriend. I wouldn’t even call him her lover. He’s the father of her child and an occasional fuck. That’s it.

  I raise an eyebrow and glare at him as I wait for him to do more than sputter.

  “This is Dex,” Abby says finally. “Sadie’s dad.”

  “Dex, this is Chris Rhodes.” I deflate a little when she doesn’t call me her boyfriend. I realize we haven’t been together that long, but we have been intimate with each other.

  “What is he doing here?” Dex directs his question at Abby.

&nbs
p; “We’re dating.” I grab Abby’s hand and lace our fingers together just to piss the prick off even more.

  I’m extremely happy when Abby gives my hand a squeeze. She just as easily could have pulled away. That would have been embarrassing.

  Dex’s nostrils flare. Then he jabs one of this little girl fingers at Abby. If he gets any closer to her with that finger of his I’ll shove it somewhere else for him.

  “Are you fucking him?”

  Abby gasps in horror. As much as I want to slug the asshole he’s such a dick that he’d probably call the cops on me. Even though they say all publicity is good publicity I don’t really think getting arrested would help me land the acting job I’m up for.

  “Dude.” I snap my finger in his face to get his attention. “I really don’t think that’s any of your business.”

  His little rat eyes narrow until they almost disappear into his ugly rat face. The guy is so angry I can actually feel the heat being released from his body. Did he think Abby was just supposed to wait around while he had his fun at college and then be thankful for the scraps when he came home on his breaks and felt like fucking her?

  “I’ll always be Sadie’s father,” he barks.

  When I laugh in his face he turns red with rage. I can actually see the veins in his neck bulge.

  “You have no idea what it means to be a father,” I bite back. “If you really cared about Sadie you wouldn’t have run off to Yale to go to college. You could stayed here and gone to UCLA or USC and actually helped to raise your daughter. If you had stepped up to the plate and shared the responsibility of taking care of Sadie, Abby probably could have gone to college too.”

  His mouth is now gaping, and I’m not even close to being done with the asshole.

  “She said she didn’t want to go to college,” he mutters.

  “For a guy who is supposed to be so smart, are you that stupid?”

  He starts to blink really fast, like he’s confused.

  “Every time she talks about college she sounds like she’s talking about the best ice cream in the world that she’s been craving for years, but just can’t have. Of course she wants to go to college. She just doesn’t know how to make the dream a reality because you bailed on her and she has to raise your daughter on her own.”

  “You’ll never be Sadie’s father.”

  I really want to slap the smug look off the guy’s face, but I decide to hit him with words instead. It’s time for the final blow. “You’re right. I wasn’t the sperm donor. But I’m here now, which is more than I can say for you. I never knew my biological father. He took off and I was raised by my step-dad. He’s the one I call my father, not my sperm donor. I’m not going to lie and say that my step-dad was the best parent in the world, but he never abandoned me. He was right there with my mom every step of the way. I consider him a real man, which is more than I can say for you.”