by Ali Parker
Vince tried to wrench his arm away from her but she held fast. Then he spotted me and practically started foaming at the mouth. “I wish I’d never met you,” he growled as the cops walked him past us.
I stepped closer to Aiden and wrapped my arms around his bicep.
Daniels folded his arms over his chest. “I’m sure Ms. Sommers feels the same way about you. You’re an absolute delight.”
“Fuck you, man,” Vince spat, stumbling over his own feet when the female cop gave him a good shove forward.
“To the car,” she said.
Maybe she wasn’t as much of a rookie as I’d first thought. She didn’t seem intimidated by him in the least.
Daniels turned back to us. “Do you plan on pressing charges?”
Aiden nodded. “Yes.”
“Good. I hate guys like this. They get away with everything because of the size of their check books. But not this time. And not this guy. We’ll hit him with the book for this stunt. The fact that he’s drunk as a skunk will favor the two of you. Make sure to call your insurance company tomorrow about the door.”
“Will do officer. Thank you,” Aiden said.
“You should let the medics take a look at you. Looks like your nose is broken.”
“I don’t need—” Aiden started to say.
I tugged on his arm to shut him up. “He will, thank you.”
Daniels gave us the first smile of the night and nodded. “Alright then. We’ll keep you updated on how things move along from here. Have a good evening, folks.”
He and the other officers got into their cruisers as the ambulance showed up and pulled halfway into the driveway. I walked Aiden down toward them, and while the two medics milled about him, setting and splinting his nose—which was much too terrible for me to watch happen—Ellie and Axel distracted me.
Ellie tapped her chin with her forefinger. “You know, if Vince goes to jail for this, which, let’s be real, he probably will, that big house of his is going to be empty. Just sitting there.”
Axel peered down at her. “What are you trying to say woman? Out with it.”
Ellie shrugged. “I’m not trying to say anything. Just that the house with the in ground pool in the backyard will be empty for the rest of the summer. And with everything Vince put Cheryl through it might be nice for her to enjoy the house and take her time moving out. You know?”
Axel grinned. “Ah. I see. Yes. A good idea.”
Ellie beamed at me.
I shook my head at them. “I don’t know how I feel about that.”
“Oh come on,” Ellie said, whispering like she was a teenager telling me a secret. “It would be fun. You could have the whole place to yourself for the rest of the summer. You could actually enjoy it before you move on to the next thing.”
“The next thing,” I breathed. “I have no idea where to go from here.”
Ellie draped an arm over my shoulders. “Don’t worry, babe. We’ve got you. You’re family now.”
Axel winked. “Better run while you still can.”
I couldn’t fight the smile that stretched my cheeks. “Family, huh?”
“You know it,” Ellie said. “Be warned. There are a lot of us. And we don’t do small introductions. In fact we don’t do small anything. But you’ll fit right in. Trust me. And if you ever need anything you’ll have a whole crew of people there to help you. Always.”
I liked the sound of that. And I really liked the sound of family.
It had been three years since I felt like I had people of my own to call mine. I missed my mom and dad terribly. I missed the comfort of having people who loved and trusted you and knew you better than you knew yourself. This new family might not know me, but if they accepted me, that would be better than anything I had with Vince.
Hell. Anything would be better than what I had with Vince.
We were interrupted by Aiden when the paramedics finished with him. They closed the back doors of the ambulance as he came over to us and patted my ass. “You guys gossiping about me?”
“You wish,” Ellie said. “No. We were just welcoming Cheryl to the family. Officially.”
Aiden held me to his side. “Look at that. All it took was your psycho ex trying to kill me and you got the stamp of approval.”
I buried my face in my hands as the three of them laughed at me.
“Better get used to it,” Axel warned.
“It never ends,” Ellie added.
“Sure it does,” Aiden said. Then he waved his hand in a ‘go away’ motion. “You two need to scram. I’m going to go lie down, put my feet up and put some ice on my face.”
He had a white bandage over the bridge of his nose that stretched beneath his eye as well, covering his cheek bones. There were two strips in lieu of stitches holding the gash in his eyebrow closed and the medics had cleaned up the split lip and wiped the blood off of him.
Axel nodded toward his truck which was parked on the other side of the street. “We should head home again, babe? Poor Jamie is probably ready to go home.”
“She’s probably asleep on the couch. Let’s be honest,” Ellie said.
Axel nodded. “Probably. But we’ll get out of your hair, man. Let me know if you need anything. Or help putting in a new garage door,” he snickered.
“Yeah, yeah. Beat it,” Aiden said.
Axel and Ellie headed to their truck and Aiden looked down at me. “Ready to go inside?”
I nodded. “Please.”
Following him through the hole in the garage, we went inside. He locked the door behind us and then we went into the kitchen, where I fetched a bunch of ice cubes from the trays. I put them in a plastic bag, wrapped it in a thin dish towel, and brought it to Aiden where he was getting comfortable on the sofa.
He thanked me and held the ice to his nose. He winced until he found the right spot. “Better,” he sighed.
We sat quietly together for a minute. I curled my legs up under myself and leaned into his side, resting my head on his shoulder. “Thank you for protecting me.”
He rested his cheek on top of my head. “I’ll always fight for you, Cheryl. Always.”
My heart swelled.
“Unless you cost me another bike. Then we might have some problems.”
Chapter 27
Aiden
Everything ached when I woke up the morning after the whole shit show with Vince.
There was a lot of grunting and groaning as I tried to roll over to face Cheryl, who’d come to bed with me last night. Neither she nor I wanted her sleeping alone on my sofa, so we’d cuddled up together in my bed. I’d passed out pretty quick. The pounding headache and sore body demanded rest.
When I finally managed to flip myself over, I found Cheryl’s side of the bed empty.
Frowning, I rubbed at my eyes and peered around the room. I listened to see if I could hear her in the shower, but no sounds of running water reached my ears.
Then, after about thirty seconds of listening, I picked up on sounds in the kitchen.
Dishes. Something frying.
That’s when I picked up on the smell.
Bacon. Most definitely bacon.
My mouth started watering right away. I sat up slowly, being mindful of my ribs and all my bruised body parts as I rose to my feet and indulged in a quick, gentle stretch. My muscles protested at first, but once I rolled my shoulders a bit and twisted my torso, I was much more nimble.
Nimble wasn’t the right word.
I was less stiff. That was more fitting.
Padding over to my dresser, I found and put on a pair of sweat pants and a loose gray t-shirt. Then I made my way out of the bedroom to the bathroom, where I took care of business, slapped on some deodorant, and sprayed myself with a bit of body spray just for good measure. I didn’t want to go out there smelling like sweat and blood on top of looking as rough as I did.
When I walked into the kitchen the sight that greeted me was a marvelous one.
Cheryl was wearing o
ne of my shirts. It was much too big on her and came halfway down her milky thighs. She had no bra on and I could see her nipples through the thin fabric of my shirt as she hurried from the opposite side of the kitchen to the stove with a bunch of chopped veggies on her cutting board. She poured them into a sizzling pan and mixed the contents around with a spatula.
I wandered into the kitchen. “Good morning good looking.”
Cheryl shot a smile over her shoulder as she continued cooking the concoction in the pan. “Good morning. How are you feeling?”
“Pretty good. Still a bit stiff and sore, but nothing I haven’t dealt with before. How about you?”
“I didn’t get used as a punching bag last night so I feel just fine. You slept okay?”
“Didn’t wake up once.”
“Good,” she said. Then she nodded toward my coffee pot. “Can I pour you a cup?”
“Sure,” I said, sitting down at my kitchen island to watch her work. “You didn’t need to go to all this trouble. Cereal would have been fine.”
She stopped halfway to the coffee pot. “Um. No. Cereal would not be fine.”
“Alright,” I chuckled, a little thrown. “And why not?”
“Because I owe you. And one way I like to express gratitude is to cook for people.”
“You don’t need to express any gratitude.”
“I know I don’t need to. But I want to. And I like cooking for people who are special to me.”
I waggled my eyebrows at her. “Lucky for you. I like eating food made by people who are special to me.”
She laughed as she poured me my cup of coffee. She remembered that I liked it black and brought it over to where I sat, turning the handle to me when she placed it down. “There you go. I hope you like eggs and bacon.”
“Who doesn’t?”
“Vince hated it.”
“Yeah, well, fuck that guy.”
She smiled as she returned to the stove to resume cooking. It smelled amazing. Like bacon and cheese and cooking onions. “Yeah. Fuck that guy.”
I stood up and brought my coffee with me. She had her back to me when I went up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, leaning in to nuzzle my chin into the groove of her shoulder. “You know, it’s going to be hard for me to get through breakfast with you looking so damn sexy in my shirt.”
She giggled bashfully and pressed her cheek to mine as she stirred the contents of the pan. “You’re hurt. So you’re going to sit and enjoy your meal and get better. No funny business.”
I pushed my hips forward so she could feel my erection through my sweats.
“Aiden!” She said, twisting playfully in my arms.
“What?” I asked innocently, grinding my hips against her ass.
“You’re bad,” she scolded.
“Lady, you have no idea,” I purred in her ear.
She squirmed away from me with bright pink cheeks. Her blue eyes were wild with playfulness as she pointed her spatula at me. “Down boy.”
“Fine,” I said, shrugging one shoulder and leaning against the counter. “I can wait until we’re done eating.”
“Until you’re better,” she clarified.
“I can’t think of a better cure for my ailments than a nice fuck. If you have other options by all means, share them.”
Her cheeks were no longer pink but dark red.
I went to her. She didn’t fight me off with her spatula. I cupped her cheek, stroked a strand of hair off her face, and smiled at her. “You saved my ass, too, Cheryl. So I want to show you how thankful I am. But I’m a terrible cook. So I’d rather we do something that caters to my strengths.”
“Your strengths?” She whispered, her skin flushing from head to toe.
I nodded and looked down the length of her. “You’ll see.”
“Oh. I’ve already seen,” she said.
I grinned. “That was nothing, kitten. Just foreplay.”
Her mouth worked but no words came out of her. Then her eyes widened. “The eggs!” She hurried around me to the stove where she removed the pan from the element and gave it a quick stir. Luckily, she had saved it from burning and set it back down after turning down the heat.
Then she wiped her brow and looked at me. “You’re going to spoil breakfast.”
I held up both hands. “I’ll keep my hands to myself until we’re done eating. I swear.”
“You’d better.”
“I swear,” I said again, unable to stop the smile from creeping across my lips.
She shook her head at me. But she was smiling too.
“Can I help you with anything?” I asked.
“What?”
I nodded at the pan in front of her. “With breakfast. Is there anything I can do to help?”
She blinked. “Um. No. I’ve got it. Thank you, though.”
“Alright,” I said, then I settled back on my stool to sip my coffee. “Maybe next time I’ll make you breakfast.”
“I thought you said you couldn’t cook?”
“I’m not exceptional at it, but I can whip up a few things. I make a pretty mean french toast.”
“I’ve actually never had a man cook for me before.”
I watched her open the oven and check the bacon which was laid out in strips on a baking pan I didn’t even know I owned. “Seriously?”
She nodded and closed the oven door. “Seriously. But I guess it makes sense. I mean, I was only ever serious with Vince. The other guys I dated before him were first year college relationships and high school boyfriends.”
“It does not make sense. You were with Vince for years.”
“Yep.”
“And he never cooked for you? Not once?”
“Not once,” she said, putting her back to the stove. “But that’s okay. Because all of that is in the past and I’m only looking forward now. I gave him as much time as he’s going to get and I refuse to waste another minute regretting how I spent my years with him.”
“Sounds wise.”
She shrugged.
After a few minutes she pulled the bacon out of the oven. Once it cooled a bit she set the crispy strips down on a paper towel and wrapped them up to absorb the grease—a hack I had never seen before. As the bacon, degreased for lack of a better word, she plated our eggs and topped off our coffees. Then she set the bacon on our plates and she came and sat beside me at the kitchen island.
“Bon appétit,” she said.
I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I took a first bite of the eggs. Then I devoured them, shoveling the good food into my mouth one forkful after the other while Cheryl watched me, trying to keep her opinions to herself.
“Someone was hungry,” she said, after I cleared the eggs off my plate and started picking at my bacon. “I should have made more.”
“No, this was perfect. I just didn’t realize how hungry I was.”
“You worked up an appetite last night.”
“And I’m going to work one up again in a few minutes,” I winked.
She rolled her eyes and giggled. “You’re impossible, do you know that?”
“I’ve been told once or twice. Mostly by Ellie when she’s sick of my shit.”
“I can see that.”
We finished eating and I cleared our plates. Cheryl sat and watched while she finished her coffee, and then I came back to sit with her and put a hand on her knee. “Do you know what you want to do next?”
She shook her head. “No idea.”
“Have you thought about what Ellie said about the house?”
“Yes. A little. I can’t make any decisions until I know what’s going to happen with Vince, but I would like to have my own space I think. I went from living with my mom and dad to living with Vince. Two dependent households. I want to know what it’s like to stand on my own two feet.”
“I think that’s a great idea.”
She smiled. “You do?”
“Hell yeah. Living on your own is pretty awesome. Nobody to tell you
what to do and when to do it. Nobody expecting anything from you. Nobody judging or criticizing or micromanaging. It’s a game changer.”
“Sounds like you’re happy flying solo.”
I shrugged. “Well, I don’t know if I’d say happy. I’m good at it, but there’s a difference.”
“Oh?”
I nodded. “There are pros and cons to everything. It would be nice to have someone to share all this space with. Someone to share my bed with. Someone to kiss in the morning when I wake up or at night before I go to sleep. Someone to shower with.”
Her cheeks started to burn again. Then she slid off her stool and held out her hand. “Come with me.”
Chapter 28
Cheryl
I pulled Aiden along behind me through the living room. Past the front door. Down the hall and past the bathroom and linen closet. And then finally into his bedroom. The bed sheets were still messed up from sleeping in them and there was a bit of dried blood on his pillow but none of that mattered.
What mattered is that he was here and so was I.
And he made me feel some kind of way.
I let go of his hand and turned to face him. I placed my hand in the center of his chest. “Stay,” I said softly.
He stopped and watched me back up toward the bed. When the back of my legs touched the mattress I stopped and swallowed hard.
I’d never done something like this before. I’d never wanted to.
My body had always been something I wanted to hide. Even back when I was thin and fit, I was still insecure. But now, with Aiden, all of those anxieties had melted away. I was me. And I knew that was why he liked me.
I rolled up the hem of his shirt, working it up my thighs and pausing when I reached my hips, flashing him a peak of my red panties. I moved my hips back and forth, teasing him with a slow seductive dance.
I’d seen the way he watched me at the concert last night. I knew he liked how I moved and I wanted to give him his own private show.
Aiden’s eyes roamed up my legs. As I pushed the shirt up my stomach his gaze followed, all the way up to my breasts, which weren’t confined in the bra I always insisted on wearing. I teased him by showing him only the underside of my boobs, and then I let the shirt go. It fell back down around my thighs and Aiden took a step forward.