by Amy Davies
“How did it go?” my brother asks.
“So-so. I explained about Rachel. So, I can only hope that she forgives me. How was she?” I say as I pull the little box out of the car.
“Good as gold, mate. Do you think it will work?”
“I fucking hope so.”
“Text me when you need a lift, yeah?”
“Will do. Later, man.” I carry the box into the house and see that Cassie is sitting in the same position. Our eyes lock as soon as I come around the corner. It’s like she was waiting for me to return, and that shit right there makes me feel ten feet fucking tall, knowing that she is wanting me.
“What’s that?” she enquires.
“Oh this?” I reply, lifting the box a little. “This is something that will show you how in love with you I am. How committed to you I am. As you know, babies should not grow up without a mummy or daddy. Am I right?” She nods her head, but doesn’t say anything. I sit on the coffee table in front of her and set the box on the floor at my feet. A whimper comes from inside the box, and she gasps.
“What is in there, Jay. Please, tell me that you didn’t steal a baby.” I burst out laughing at her question, and shake my head, before I lean forward to remove the precious gift in the box. I lift the little thing up, and Cassie gasps. Sitting back, I hold the present in my arms and watch as Cassie’s eyes fill with tears again, but the smile reassures me that she isn’t upset.
“Ohmygod, she is adorable, Jay. Gimmie. Gimmie. Gimmie” I can’t help but chuckle. I lean forward, ready to hand over the pup, but stop and lean back again.
“I will hand her over on one condition.” Cassie pouts, and I laugh again. “Move in with me?”
“No,” she states without hesitation.
“What? Why?” My heart sinks into my feet.
“Because.”
“Because, what?” I prompt. Don't leave me hanging here, baby, I think to myself.
“Because I have the bigger garden for the dogs to run around in.”
“Wait. What?” Did she just say what I think she said?
She shrugs. “I said, I have the bigger garden. Maybe you can move in here.” She holds her hands out for the pup. “Now gimme the baby.” I finally hand over the eight-week-old Dalmatian puppy. I sit back and watch as Cassie fusses over the little black and white pup. I look around for Stark and MJ.
“Ummm, where are the furbabies?”
“Oh, they’re over at my parents’ house. Stark was getting antsy because he couldn’t jump up onto my lap.”
“Fair enough. She is pretty cute, huh?” I lean in and run my hand over the pup’s head. Her smooth fur feels soft and silky under my fingertips.
“She is perfect, Jay. Thank you.”
“My pleasure, baby. I know that you asked me to move in with you because of the dog, but I need you to want me to move in here because you love me and want me to.”
“I do still love you, Jay, I never stopped. But you hurt me, and that may take some time to get over, but this little girl helps. The texts you sent… I see now that they were truly from the heart. I loved them, by the way. We have a lot to talk about. About our future. That little tattoo image you sent me was so pretty.” I look down at my wrist and play with the cuff of my shirt. I peek up through my eyelashes and see that I am no longer the center of her attention. I smile at her fussing over our new furbaby. That word feels so girly coming from my mouth, but she loves it.
“It wasn’t just an image I found, Kitten.” I lift my cuff slightly to show her my new tattoo. It sits in line with my thumb, on my wrist.
“Oh my God, Jay. I love it. I want it,” she demands. I chuckle, knowing she would want one. This tattoo links me and her together.
“We’ll get it sorted soon, babe. Now, do you need anything? Painkillers? Something to eat?”
“Nope. I’m fine. But we do need a name for this little girl.”
“That we do. So, what do you suggest?”
“She needs a powerful female name. A wicked name.” She taps her chin with her dainty finger, and I smile at her. She is cute as a button. Okay, that part is a little creepy. She stops suddenly and brings her gaze to mine. I see the name pop in her head.
“Oh my God, it is perfect. She is going to be tall for a dog, and strong and wiry. She will be smart and fearless, just like her namesake.” She lifts the pup to her face so they are nose to nose.
“Welcome to the family, Ripley.”
“I love it.” Sigourney Weaver would be proud. “So, when do I get to move in?” I ask, hoping she says tomorrow. Her eyes glass over and I know she is going to cry, but I don’t know why. I thought we had cleared everything up.
“Jay.”
“What? You said we could try and move on.”
“It will take time, Jay. Do we really have to put a timestamp on things?”
“Yeah, we do. I love you and you love me. We have our furbabies, so we need to live together.” I keep my voice calm.
“I do love you, Jay. But you cannot expect me to turn off the feelings that you made me feel. I truly thought, for weeks, that you were done with me. You say you came to the hospital but the way I see it, you never tried hard enough to see me.”
“Your dad and Chris threatened me. I stayed away in the beginning because I thought you needed time, and that you would come to me, but you never did. I didn't want to add to your stress. I stayed away because I thought you seeing me would affect your healing, and I needed you better, babe. Your mother was right. I was hurting you more. Plus, I was still dealing with Rachel as well. She kept turning up and causing trouble. It took Penny to sort her out. I’m sorry, baby. Never again. No more pain, I swear.”
I fall to my knees and lean in to lay a gentle kiss on her soft lips. The lips that I have missed so much over the last three weeks. We both shiver at the contact. I deepen the kiss and probe her lips with my tongue. She doesn’t disappoint when she opens for me. I can taste her tears on her lips, and I hate myself all over again for making her cry.
A wet tongue licks my chin, and then Cassie’s. We both laugh at Ripley trying to get our attention. Already a cockblock. God help me when we have kids. I stand and move to sit next to Cassie on the couch to watch some Netflix with my girl. I have no idea what is happening on the TV, I am just happy sitting here, at a weird angle I might add. I had to sit in such a way that I wasn’t hurting my kitten, but I wanted to touch her. My arm is sitting on the back of the couch, playing with her blonde hair at the base of her neck. She shivers every time I touch her heated skin, and I smile to myself. Cancelled.
It doesn’t take long before I hear a little snore coming from Cassie. I smile and slowly move away. Ripley perks up and watches me with big puppy-dog eyes.
“Shhhh, baby girl. I need to cover Mummy with a blanket.”
“Jay,” Cassie stirs. Her hand shoots out to touch me, but when she senses I’m not there, she jolts up to look for me. But that only causes her more pain, and she cries out. “Ahhhhh.”
“Bloody hell, Cass. Take it easy. I’m here, baby. I was just getting you a blanket, you fell asleep.
“Oh.”
“I am not going anywhere, babe. Now come on, it’s just past ten o’clock. Let’s go to bed, okay.”
“Okay.” She doesn’t fight me. I mentally high five myself for not being turned away. I take the pup and set her down on the floor. I lift Cassie’s legs up and over the front of the couch, slowly, careful not to hurt her. She holds her hands out for me to pull her up.
“Ready?” I ask.
“Yep.” She takes a big deep breath, because she knows this is going to hurt like a motherfucker.
“On three. One. Two. Three.” She grits her teeth and lets me pull her to a standing position. “Good girl. Now, slowly walk with me.” We take each step slowly. The closer we get to her bedroom door, the harder my dick gets. The last time I was here, I fucked her into the next day. We made love all night long. In the bed. Against the wall. On the kitchen table. No sho
wer sex, though. Oh no, my girl hates shower sex. ‘It’s way too bloody dangerous’ she says, ‘We could slip and break our necks’, she says. Shower sex is fucking amazing, each of you getting all slippery and wet. Fuck, my cock thickens at the thought of making love to her again.
We walk into her bedroom and I help her climb into bed. I hate seeing her in pain. I could kill the fucker that lost control of his lorry. Everyone knows that corner is a bastard to drive around at high speed. He should have been going slower. I place Ripley in the dog bed that is sitting in the corner of the room. It’s Stark’s bed, but he won’t mind. I strip out of my clothes, just leaving my boxers on and climb into the bed beside her.
“I love you, Cassie Dawson.”
“I love you, too, Jay Castle.”
“One stitch at a time, baby. One stitch at a time.”
jay
It is the middle of June, months after Cassie and I got back together. Today is Phoebe’s first birthday, and we are having a big-arse party. Well, once we close up Castle Ink. I smile over at Dex and Addy as they fuss over Phoebe’s dress. They are making today a huge deal for her, and rightfully so. She is our little princess, in her castle, with some pretty big, burly uncles to protect her, as well as some kick-arse aunties. And some bad-arse parents. I close the book and turn the till off.
Cassie and me talked over everything that happened, and we worked through it together. We are stronger than ever. We are stitching ourselves back together, and stitching ourselves to each other. One stitch at a time. I tuck her under my arm and lift her wrist to my lips, kissing the tattoo I put there. Cassie had the matching tattoo to me. The arrow one I have on my wrist. I did it a month after we sorted everything out.
Luke comes strutting out of his backroom with some random chick. I can see the bandage on her left hip and Luke smirking behind her. Fucking horney bastard.
“See you next time, Jess,” Luke says to the girl.
“My name is Jenny, not Jess.” She looks pissed. Luke just shrugs.
“Oops. Jess, Jenny, whatever. A hole is a hole, chick.” All the women gasp, but Luke just shrugs. The girl goes to slap him across the face, but Addy catches her wrist.
“Oh no, honey. You don’t get to do that. But I do.” Addy spins and a loud crack echoes around the room as her palm connects with Luke’s cheek. Cassie giggles and then high fives Ads, then Penny. Bloody women sticking together. The girl stomps out of Castle Ink and we all turn to look at Luke, who is staring at Addy.
“Dude, I can’t believe you slapped me. That fucking hurt, Chief.” Luke got into the habit of calling Addy ‘Chief’ because she runs a tight ship at Castle Ink, and at home.
“You deserved that and more, Luke Baker. I wonder what your mother would say if I told her about the way you talk to the ladies.”
“Baby, she was no lady,” Dex chimes in.
“Not the point, Dexter.”
“Anyways, are we ready?” Cassie asks the room. I pull her to me and sniff her hair – creepy, I know, but fuck does my girl smell amazing. “Perv,” she mutters.
“Always, baby.” I wink at her and turn towards the door.
The door opens and in steps a young woman, maybe about my age. She has a little boy with her who looks to be about five, maybe six. His eyes catch me off guard. They look just like mine and Dex’s. Oh no. Not now. Not when everything has been going great for both of us.
“Can I help you?” Addy steps forward.
“I’m looking for Dex and Jay Castle. I was told that they own this tattoo shop,” the girl answers. I look back at Dex and he steps beside me.
“I’m De-”
“No. Fuck no. What the hell did you do, Dex?” Addy all but screams at him. I can only assume she sees the likeness of the boy and us Castle boys. Addy hands Phoebe to Liam and steps up to us. The girl goes white as a ghost and looks like she is about to pass out. Both me and Dex step forward, but it is Luke that gets there before us. He takes her over to the couch and sits her down, calling to the little boy.
“Come here, kid. Mummy isn’t feeling well. Come and sit next to her.” Luke speaks in a soft tone. The boy must see that Luke is a good guy because he goes straight into Luke’s arms, and not next to his mother. The scene before me - us - has us all shocked. Penny brings over a bottle of water for the girl and she takes little sips. She takes a few deep breaths and smiles at the little boy.
“Mummy is fine, Carter. See, this nice man helped me, and I’m feeling better.” She looks at Luke, and then back to Dex and me. The fading bruises on her don't go unmissed, either.
“I didn’t mean to cause any trouble, but I was told I could find you here.” She takes another deep breath before continuing to explain. I see it before she says anything. Her hair is dark like ours, and her lips are a similar shape to Dex’s.
This kid isn’t ours but...
“My name… my name is Ivy Bilson. I believe I am your sister. We all share the same father.”
The End
1.Justin Bieber ~ Coldwater
2.Shaun Mendez ~ Stitches
3.Justin Bieber ~ Let Me Love You
4.Usher ~ Love In This Club
5.Pixie Lott ~ What Do You Take Me For?
6.3 Doors Down ~ Let Me Go
7.Little Mix ~ Touch
8.ACDC ~ If You Want Blood
9.One Direction ~ Kiss Me
A huge thank to the main man in my life. My husband Darryl. Thank you for always supporting me and being right by my side. Love you babe.
My kids, as always, don't ever change. #5 thank you also for being there when I needed you. <3
Dana Leah, what can I say? You have done it again. You have taken my vision and make it perfect. You made Jay's cover come to life. I love it.
Kelly, my #bookbestie you have been my rock throughout this book. Thank you always telling me I can do it.
Stef, thank you for being there to help with the words.
The Graphics Shed for making the inside of my book look amazing.
Esther, you are my #NervousSister and thank you for supporting me during this book. You fucking rock.
Steph, again for making Jay readable. Let's hope no one else claims Jay from you.
A HUGE thank you to everyone for their support. For always being there and reading my books. I am so grateful for you sticking by me.
Goodreads
Let Me Love You
The Phoenix Boys: Rafe
The Phoenix Boys: Ryder
The Phoenix Boys: Reeve
What Are The Chances
This Time Around
DEX: Castle Ink