by Jamie Knight
It was all true. I tried to deny it based on nothing but my own stupid pride. Making me a lot more like Nina’s dad than I cared to admit.
Sarcasm aside, business at the shop really was great. Better than it had ever been since we opened. Even before my semi-blacklisting after having to let Hank and Mike go. The majority of the customers were repeats, most of whom came in because of Nina. Because of her work's speed and precision and her excellent personal skills, many customers asked for her by name.
She was clearly popular among the crew, at least if their threat to quit en masse if I fired her was anything to go by, and the customers loved her, particularly women. There was, unfortunately, a bit of reputation among mechanics, particularly the more traditional ones, to talk down to women or patronize them. I knew I was in no position to criticize, but I wasn’t too proud to admit I’d made a mistake.
Sweet-natured and honest, almost to a fault, Nina put people at their ease, and as so often happened, they told their friends. I wouldn’t have been at all surprised to find out that most, if not all, of the new business had come by way of word-of-mouth. No matter how much it hurt just to think about her, I would have to be crazy not to keep her around.
My fingers shook slightly as I dialed. I was in no fit state to be around customers and needed to get away. Will had a set of keys as well and would be able to lock up at closing time. I’d put a private door for emergencies that went out the back of the shop.
“What’s shakin’, good buddy?”
John hand answered on the second ring. His powers of deduction often reaching the point of the uncanny. He’d been that way since we were kids. One of the main reasons, along with his no-bullshit honesty, was why we’d been friends for so long.
“My hold on reality,” I said, only slightly exaggerating. “Do you think we can meet at the La Muerte Grande?”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” said my best and last remaining friend in the world.
Chapter Twenty-Six - Chad
Cold beer and red hot chili, the last real salve for lost souls. What better way to heal a broken heart than burning it out? At that point, I wouldn’t have minded the oblivion. Things had gotten to the point that a busty, sexy skeleton couldn’t even make me lift my head anymore. Time was, not only would I have looked down her top without shame, chances were I would have had her in my bed by the end of the night. I had been so thoroughly demolished, however, that I couldn’t even muster an impure thought — much to the relief of my Sunday school teacher, no doubt.
All my thoughts and lust, as well as my heart and cock, were dedicated to Nina and her alone. Even if I was no longer sure if I loved her. Or, more accurately, I wasn’t sure what good it did anymore when I wasn’t sure I could trust her not to go running back to her family at the first sign of trouble. The fact that she was still young and lacked the perspective of someone on the saner side of 30 played a role in my assessment.
“What’s the good word?” John asked, sitting at the table.
“You’re not trying to bring me back to the church, are you? Because honestly, I’d consider it.”
“Shit, that bad, hey?” John asked.
“Hard to say.”
The lid hissed off of the cap of the thirteenth bottle of Guinness that night. My lucky number combined with the luck of the Irish. I was getting really desperate. It was only a short jump to nailing horseshoes over every door and carrying around a disembodied rabbit’s foot, which honestly seemed gross even to me. I’d always eaten meat and had no real problem with animals being killed for my benefit but keeping souvenirs seemed a bit serial killer-like.
“You really need to stop pretending,” John said, cutting right through my pretense like none else I’d ever known.
“Pretending what?” I asked, still playing dumb.
“That you don’t love Nina with all your heart. In addition to being bullshit, it is already getting old, and you are hurting yourself way more than her. You want revenge. I get that. It reminds you of your mom, and I must admit, I can see the similarities, but I got news for ya, good buddy. Nina ain’t your momma.”
“She already left me once. Her asshole oil baron of a dad came bashing on my door, generally being a jerk, and made it clear he would shoot me if I tried to stop him from taking Nina away. As it turned out, he didn’t need to bother, because Nina went with him willingly. She probably wants to be back in their palace, taking horsey rides and going to balls and all that shit. She already left me once to go back to her cake-eater life and I can’t trust her not to do it again.”
“Odd, I didn’t know you had telepathy. Okay, I’m thinking of a number between one and a hundred,” John snarked in his own, very special way.
“Fuck you?” I guessed.
“Close, but no. You want to fuck her, and it is clearly driving you nuts. Thing is, the only way for that to happen, or for you to ever be happy again, is for you to get the fuck over yourself and give love a chance. She did come back after all. She’s not in San Antonio. She’s with you.”
“The fuck she is.”
“I meant in terms of proximity, dumbass. She is with you, not her dad. In El Paso, not San Antonio, and she’s helping you make a success of your business. Word is going around that you’re seriously getting into the black. There’s one only thing that’s changed that I can see.”
“That’s true,” I conceded, “and she did ditch her family for me.”
“What?”
“I don’t quite remember it all. I was pretty pissed at the time. Nina was talking really fast, but I seem to remember her saying about her basically being disowned. No inheritance, no trust fund, no money at all. She actually seems really happy to keep on working at the shop.”
“You do realize how that sounds, right?” John asked, arching his eyebrow in a way that always made me want to slug him, but mostly because he was usually right.
“I’m starting to,” I said.
“Good, because you’re being a complete asshole. A girl who is perfect for you and who is helping you make money has sacrificed everything to be with you, and you are in a bar trying to drink yourself to death. I hardly need to point out the significance of that.”
“No, you don’t, but you probably will anyway,” I said, heaving a mournful sign in memory of my dignity.
“Ditch her at this point, and you’re the worst kind of scum, particularly when it is so laughably clear that you still love her,” John said, giving me a chummy pat on the back.
I wanted to say he was right, but it seemed so obvious to mention it might cause the universe to implode.
“Stop making up excuses, and just fucking admit that Nina loves you. Be brave, give love a chance.”
With those last words of Hallmark wisdom, my best friend and moral compass took his leave to return to planning his wedding to his beautiful wife.
It was a strange urge, to be sure, but that didn’t mean I felt it any less. As John left, I was overcome with the need to turn and look. Just to make sure he was actually there in the first place instead of being some sort of spirit gone.
John had indeed disappeared by the time I turned around, adding credence to my alcohol and chili inspired spirit theory. In his place stood my sweet little Nina, in an instance of coincidence that was quite nearly enough to make me believe in divine intervention. The only real question was which deity in particular. My money was on Aphrodite.
Chapter Twenty-Seven - Nina
My heart felt like it was beating in my ears. I didn’t like conflict at the best of times, but Auntie Blair was right. I had to fight for what I loved. Even if the battle pitted me against Chad. Or at least my shyness against his insecurities. Locking eyes with the man who should be my love, I walked over to the table where he sat. Each thump of my boots on hardwood conjured another way to broach the subject. Chad turning away from me halfway through my cross room sojourn did little to boost my confidence.
“How long are
you planning to keep up this act?”
“What act is that?” he asked, only half turning.
“Pretending you don’t love me or want to be with me.”
“Who said it was an act?”
“I did, just now,” I said, not quite sure where that had come from.
“You left with that asshole.”
“Who is my dad. I also came back and turned my back on my family. My dad wanted me to go back with him to Terrell Hills. Be his little doll to dress up and moving me about according to his own whims. You know what I did?”
“No, do tell.”
“I refused. I told him I loved my life here and told him to stay out of it. When he told me he would be cut me off, and I told him to go eat his hat.”
It was the first time I’d seen it in real life. Chad’s jaw actually dropping open in sheer shock.
“You didn’t.”
“I did. I screamed it, actually, right before I stormed back to my room at my aunt’s house to unpack. I thought he was going to have a heart attack.”
Silence stretched between us. Chad just stared at me, his eyes full of deep thoughts. Finally, he did something odd. He pulled a box out of his pocket and set it on the table. I recognized it immediately. Small and covered with black velvet. The lid on hinges, so it opened like a clamshell. There was only one thing that came in a box like that.
“I bought this a few days ago,” he said, gesturing to the box on the table, “I was going to propose, but then I didn’t because your dad had other plans for you. I really didn’t think you were going to choose me.”
I laughed. “Got that wrong, didn’t you?”
“Apparently so.”
“Maybe you should get down on what knee and see what happens,” I suggested sweetly.
After a moment’s consideration, the scratch of wood on wood sounded through the restaurant as Chad pushed back from the table and got down on one knee — still managing to be about my height.
“Nina Dunn, will you be my wife?”
“Of course, silly,” I laughed, wiping away tears of joy.
He pulled me into his arms and stood up, taking me with him, so we would be at the right height for smooching.
Everyone in the place cheered and applauded.
“I have another surprise for you,” I said when Chad returned me to my feet.
He laughed. “Oh, no, I’m not sure I can take any more surprises.”
“This is a good surprise, trust me.”
“Okay,” he said, though it didn’t sound too confident.
“I’m having our baby,” I said, the tears of joy already beginning to roll down my cheeks.
He sat down quickly, so pale it looked like he might faint. “H-how long?”
“I wouldn’t think too long under the circumstances,” I laughed.
Chad laughed, too, realizing how silly the question was. I was a little more than a week along. Auntie Blair had gotten me to a doctor to be sure and started making me all kinds of weird and exciting food that was supposed to be good for pregnancy.
He lay a gentle hand on my belly, and I covered it with both of mine. I didn’t have the heart to tell him there wasn’t much there yet, as I had recently found out. The crash course I’d gotten in reproduction was vigorous but also quite informative.
When he finally looked up at me, I know everything was fine. Chad had the most serene smile on his face. He looked peaceful. “Ready to go home?” he asked.
“Definitely,” I said, hoping he meant his house.
Chad took me up into my arms, which he knew I loved, and carried me out to his truck.
My pussy was aching by the time we got through the door. I honestly wouldn’t have minded if he’d stripped me naked and bent me over right there in the hallway. To his credit, he was admirably patient and lovingly gentle, carrying me into what I’d come to think of as our bedroom and slowly undressing me.
My love started with my boots and then my socks before caressing his hands up my legs to unfasten my jeans. They were of the tighter variety, so it took some doing to actually get them off, but we got there in the end. Next was my shirt. A rolled sleeved lumberjack thing that had him undo the buttons one by one, planting a warm wet kiss on each area of bared flesh. I hadn’t worn a bra, sports or otherwise, in hopes that things might go well. Indeed presumptuous, but it had turned out, so it was okay.
Taking mercy on me, Chad slipped his hand down the front of my panties. He lovingly stroked my aching little pussy as he swirled his tongue around my left nipple, lightly stimulating the right with his other hand.
“Yes,” I moaned, “harder.”
“Are you sure, sweetheart?”
“Yes, please.”
At my word, he both sucked and stroked harder, putting two fingers inside me to give me direct stimulation on my G-spot. My insane pleasure came out in moans and gasps of sheer joy.
Chad was so generous with his affections, I was coming within a few minutes. Delicious tremors rippling through me like a rock thrown into a still pond.
“That’s it, sweetheart, cum for me.”
I could feel my pussy tighten around his magical fingers. Chad applied delicious pressure to my most sensitive areas until I’d reached the very peak of ecstasy.
Kissing his way down my belly, mixing in light licks, he worked his way down to the waistband of my panties, sucking his fingers clean before pulling my panties down and off. Leaving me naked and open to his every desire.
Shedding his shirt as he used one hand to stroke the outside of my pussy, Chad took off his boots, pants, and boxers with one-handed. I whimper with desire when I saw his hard cock.
Getting down between my legs, Chad eased my legs apart and kissed up my inner thighs on his way to my pussy. Finally landing with a long, light lick from bottom to top. He repeated this action several more times before gently spreading my lips and licking the inside, spiraling his tongue around my rock hard clit with each pass. It was all I could do to keep mostly still as he pleasured me. Before long, he introduced fingers into the equation, focusing his tongue exclusively on my clit until he’d brought me to a second massive orgasm.
“May I suck you?” I asked, actually desperate for his cock.
“Of course, sweetness,” he said, stroking my cheek before feeding me his massive member. Slipping it between my lips into my warm little mouth.
Taking hold of the base, I focused every fiber of my being on pleasuring my handsome man. Caressing my lips along his gently throbbing shaft, first slow and then faster, taking care to swirl his tongue around the head and massage his balls. Gently nursing the sweet cum from his balls, as Chad blessed me with a tasty load. I closed my eyes and focused on swallowing every last drop.
“You like that, sweetness?” Chad asked.
“Absolutely!” I enthused before sucking his glistening head clean.
“You ready to get fucked?” he asked in the sweetest possible way.
By way of response, I lay back on the bed, planting my feet on the edge of the mattress. Just how he liked it. Rather than putting my legs over his arms or my ankles on his shoulders, he pushed them way back, getting me to hook my arms under my knees. Giving him total access to both my pussy and asshole. I wondered for a moment if he was planning to fuck me in the ass. Sending a tremble of both apprehension and delight through me.
“You okay, sweetness?” he asked, laying a warm hand on my chest.
“I want to try it with the butt plug.”
Kissing me full on the mouth, he got the plug and lube from the drawer, leaving his hand on my chest.
Carefully working the plug all the way into my tight, virgin ass, he also put lube to my pussy. I was confused for a second, my natural lubrication always being enough before. Things became clearer when he actually started to fuck me.
It wasn’t hard, far from it but fuck if it wasn’t deep. Both my holes being filled to the absolute limit. My ass by the plu
g and my pussy by his huge cock. As he thrust, he reached down and took hold of the base of the plug, moving that too. Giving me the double sensation of getting fucked in both places. Stimulating my clit with his thumb as his cock stroked up against my g-spot.
I barely saw the orgasm coming, so to speak. Sure, I felt something beginning to happen but really had no idea what was in store.
It was so hard I screamed out his name and fell into a blissful sleep.
I woke in the warm bathtub. Chad loving stroked my pussy and stretched out asshole under the soothing suds.
“H-how long was I out?” I asked.
“About two hours. How are you feeling, sweetness?”
“Wonderful.”
Life had a way of throwing me for a loop. Despite all that and the machinations of my dad, I’d finally found my path and was where I was meant to be with the person I was meant to be with.
Epilogue - Nina
It was even bigger than we’d anticipated. Chad was a real sweetie about helping to plan the wedding, there for every significant decision, acting like it was his day too, which was really cool. We also got some help from John and his wife, whose recent nuptials gave them some valuable insights. Particularly since all of my family showed up.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised. The knock was as distinctive as his hat. Yet there dad stood, darkening our door, the biggest bouquet of flowers I’d ever seen.
“May I come in?” he asked sheepishly.
“I guess,” I said, still worried he might try to drag me away in a sack.
“Listen, Nina, I know I’ve made mistakes. In fact, by my estimation, the entire way I raised you was one big mistake. My fault, not yours. I know it is late, but I hope you will let me try to make amends.”
Dad was many things. A good liar wasn’t one of them. I always knew when he was trying to get something past me, and he wasn’t then. Every word had been spoken in sincere honesty. I’d never been one to hold a grudge and decided it was time to forgive him.