by Dana Mason
“Pills.” She leaned in, kissing him. “God you smell good,” she slurred into his mouth, pressing against him.
“Melissa, those pills are too strong for you. You should’ve only taken two, or uh . . . maybe only one.”
“But I feel better.”
“Yes, but now you’re asking for trouble,” he said through the kiss. Melissa’s hand traveled up his torso and cupped his neck, pulling him closer. An entire gymnastics team tumbled around in his stomach at her touch. Her warmth was too inviting, natural and warm, her lips so soft. She leaned over him, and her hair fell around her face and brushed his cheek.
“Sweet Jesus, Melissa, are you trying to kill me?” he asked, pushing her face away carefully. Her scent, her touch, her lips, the sultry sound of her voice, he had to stop this now.
“I would never hurt you.” A smile spread across her face. “I love you.”
“Lissa.”
“Brian.”
“You’re high from the pills, babe.” He couldn’t hide the gritty heaviness of his voice. God, she felt so good. It’d been too long. He just wanted to sink into her, but, hell, he knew he couldn’t.
Her hands slid under his t-shirt. “I feel better now.”
Brian gasped when he felt her hands travel up his bare chest. “Please stop,” he pleaded. “I’m only human. I can only take so much here, sweetheart.”
When Melissa’s tongue brushed the base of his neck, his body jolted from the sensation. He moaned, grabbing her wrists. He flipped her onto her back with her hands above her head.
She looked at him, and her serene face had a smile he hadn’t seen in many years. He could no longer think about when, where, why, or how. He could only think about who. Melissa—whose smile lit the room and scored his heart. He never thought he’d see that smile again. He was sure he’d rubbed it out of her when he’d broken her heart. She arched into him, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t resist the urge to grind against her, making her purr in pleasure and push back against his body.
Their eyes were locked and—God he wanted her. “I love you, too, Melissa, do you understand me?” She bit her lip and nodded her head. “When you wake up tomorrow with a headache from those pills, will you try to remember that?” Melissa smiled again. “Remember I love you. Okay—”
Melissa cut him off when she lifted her head and parted his lips with her tongue.
“Ah fuck.” He pushed himself against her, lost in the sensation of her body against his. “God damn it!” he shouted at himself. “I have to get out of here.” He gritted his teeth. “I can’t do this.” He cupped her face and held it. “You don’t even know what you’re doing.”
Melissa’s smile faltered, and she half-heartedly tried to free her other hand. He recognized the confusion in her eyes and the hurt staring back at him.
“Don’t leave,” she whispered as a frown touched her lips and a hand came up to touch his face.
“Melissa, if I don’t leave, you’re going to hate me.” His voice faltered. “I finally got you back in my life. I can’t lose you again.”
She shook her head and tried to talk, but Brian cut her off. “You love Chase, remember? You’re going to marry him. You only want me because you took too much pain medication. When you’re awake, you’ll thank me.”
Melissa squeezed her eyes closed and pushed him away weakly as she rolled away from him, then she curled up into the fetal position.
”Good night,” he whispered, but she never looked back at him.
“Brian,” Melissa whispered, twisting one of his curls in her fingers. “Wake up.” She giggled quietly. Brian swatted at her hand and she laughed again. “Good morning,” she said brightly when his eyes fluttered open.
He glared at her for a second before rolling over and tucking his face into the couch cushions. She ran her finger along the slope of his ear and he swatted at her again. “Go away, evil woman,” he groaned, covering his face with his hand.
“I made coffee,” she teased. “I brought you a cup.”
Brian stuck his nose out and sniffed. “One cream, one sugar?” he asked.
“Yep, just the way you like it.”
He twisted and sat up as Melissa sat down next to him and put the coffee on the table. “Why didn’t you wake me up last night? I thought we were going to talk to Erin when you got home.”
“I did wake you up.” Brian sipped his coffee. “Why are you—how did you get down the stairs?”
She lifted her left foot and knocked on the boot she’d been given. “I have hardware.”
“You still shouldn’t be up walking around and making coffee.”
“I’m fine.” Melissa stared at him for a moment, not sure what prompted the bad mood and the scowl. “What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing. Out of sorts from the couch.”
“Sorry about that, but you should’ve woke me up.”
“Melissa, I tried. You took too much medication, and they kicked your ass. You weren’t going anywhere last night.”
“I’m sorry, Brian.” Melissa’s stomach dropped at the angry tone in his voice, taking her off guard. She hadn’t intended for him to sleep on the couch.
“Forget it.”
“Okay, uh . . . I’ll go home. You can go back to bed since you didn’t sleep well. I guess I should have stayed with Ali last night instead of stealing your bed.” Heaviness pressed on her chest as she stood to leave.
He reached out for her. “No, you don’t have to leave.”
“Yes, yes I do. I’ll see you later.” She walked toward the door, but Brian grabbed her arm, surprising her.
“I’m sorry, really. I’m not trying to chase you off. I’m not mad about the bed. I’m worried about Erin, and I got suspended from the department last night, amongst other things.” He tugged on her arm. “Please don’t leave.”
“They suspended you? Couldn’t Ali do anything?”
“She did. She got me suspended. Better than jail. Ali promised you wouldn’t press charges against Jeffries, if he didn’t press charges against me. Jeffries agreed, but only if the department punished me instead.”
“Wow. I’m sorry.”
“Well . . . Ali only agreed if the school district suspended Jeffries for harassing a student.” Brian grinned. “Considering he had an affair with said student’s mother, they didn’t have a problem with suspending him, too.”
Melissa stared at him unblinking for a moment before she finally said, “I bet he’s pissed now.”
Brian nodded his head vigorously, his messy hair bouncing around his head. “Oh, yeah.” His smile faded, and he pointed to a chair. “Get off your feet, damn it.”
When she sat back down, he lifted her booted foot and laid it on the coffee table. Then he plopped back down on the couch. “And I’ve got weeks of sitting around on my fat ass to look forward to.” He ran his fingers through his hair and leaned back against the cushions.
“At least you can spend more time with the kids now.”
“Great!” he said. “I’ll switch from police detective to soccer dad.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being a soccer dad, and Erin needs you around more.”
“I know.” He waved his hand. “But I don’t know what to do with myself when I’m not working a case.”
“So make Erin your case.”
“There is something there.” He looked up at the ceiling. “I can’t put my finger on it yet, but something is going on with her.”
“Yeah, I think so, too.”
“Will you stay until we talk? She seems to be more open with you.”
“Which reminds me. Did I tell you she asked if you and I were getting back together?” Melissa squinted, trying to remember. “She said she knew you were supposed to marry me, but married her mom instead.”
Brian’s face paled a shade. He sat back up and looked at her. “What the hell was Julie thinking when she told her that?”
“She said Julie didn’t tell her, but she wouldn’t tell me how she fou
nd out.”
Brian stood up and paced the room with a bit of a limp.
“Are you hurt?”
“Uh . . . no.” He walked to the front window with his coffee. “Are you seriously telling me you don’t remember me waking you up last night?”
“No. Why? Did something happen?”
“Nope—nothing,” he said.
She threw her hand out. “Why don’t you tell me what the problem is?”
He shrugged. “There is no problem.”
She remembered taking another pain pill before falling asleep in his bed. She very clearly remembered being able to smell him and even dreamt about him, but that wasn’t unusual.
When Brian turned back around, Melissa put on a smile, hoping to hide her stupid, ridiculous, unrealistic, and self-destructive thoughts. She cleared her throat and said, “I can make you some breakfast.”
Brian stared at her for a few moments, and Melissa felt like she was under a microscope or sitting in a room full of people, naked and vulnerable, and that made her feel pathetic. She lowered her eyes and shook her head at the thought.
“Let’s go out to breakfast.”
“No, actually,” she said quietly, “on second thought, I’ll go home.” She stood up and looked around for her purse.
“Fine. Fine, Parker.” He waved a hand at the door. “You wanna go, then go.”
“Brian, I don’t understand why you’re pissed at me.”
“Because I’m inviting you to eat with us and you want to run away. It’s Erin’s birthday, can’t you just have breakfast with us and help me acknowledge it, especially since she refuses to acknowledge it on her own.”
“I don’t want to leave, but you’re obviously angry, and I don’t understand what I did—besides sleep in your bed.” She met his eyes. “Is that it? Are you upset because I slept in Julie’s bed?”
“Don’t be stupid. Of course not!” He scowled at her. “Look, I had a shitty night. It’s not your fault, and it wasn’t the bed, or the couch. Okay? Gimme a break.”
Melissa swallowed hard, staring at him, trying to figure out what he wasn’t telling her.
“I’m trying hard to do things with my kids and create new memories with them that don’t included Julie, to give them a sense of something to look forward to.” He shrugged, his eyes darting to the floor. “They love spending time with you, and I would like your company.”
Melissa nodded then turned when she heard quick footsteps on the stairs. “I’m hungry,” Cody said, coming into the living room.
“Good morning to you, too,” Brian said. “Go wake up Erin and tell her we’re going out to breakfast.”
“Can I have pancakes?”
“You can eat all the pancakes you want if you eat eggs, too,” Brian said.
“Fine, I’ll eat eggs, too,” Cody mumbled as he climbed the stairs.
“I’m going to get dressed,” Brian said, hobbling away.
When Melissa was alone, she dropped to the couch and threw her head back. “What the hell is going on?” she whispered. “Damn it . . . why is this so hard? Why am I here?” She wanted to scream and kick her feet in frustration. “Give me a fucking break.” She covered her face and tried to rub away the tension.
“A break from what?”
Melissa jerked her head up and looked at Erin. “Good morning.”
“What’s wrong?” Erin asked.
Melissa gave a humorless laugh. “My life.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Erin asked.
Melissa gave her a warm smile. “No. But thank you for asking.”
“You always talk me off the ledge. Thought I’d return the favor.” She laughed at Melissa’s surprised face. “Not literally.”
“Oh—good,” Melissa said with a hand to her chest. She tilted her head. “I hope you know, Erin, you can talk to me about anything.”
Erin smiled. “I know. Thank you.”
“And happy birthday. How does it feel to be sixteen?”
Erin’s smile faded. “Pretty much the same.”
Melissa stood and hobbled over to Erin with her arms outstretched. Erin’s embrace was tighter than Melissa was expecting. They held each other for a moment and Erin said, “I guess it’s D-day with Daddy.”
“As in, tell Daddy everything day, yes, it is.” Melissa withdrew from the hug. “It’s time, Erin.”
“I know. Do you want to borrow some clean clothes?”
“Would you mind?” Melissa asked, looking down at herself.
“Of course not, but wait here so you don’t have to climb the stairs.”
Chapter Twenty-One
They returned from breakfast around noon, but Brian was yawning like it was midnight. “You can take a nap, Daddy,” Erin offered.
“Nice try, but no, we’re talking.” He poured water into the coffee pot as Erin and Melissa took a seat at the kitchen table.
Once the coffee started brewing, he walked over and propped Melissa’s foot up in the vacant chair before sitting down. “You suck at following doctor’s orders.”
Melissa fought the grin as it inched across her face. “Sorry.”
Brian looked over at Erin. “Spill it.”
“Well . . . yesterday—”
“Erin, this isn’t a game,” Melissa said. “Start from the beginning. The third day of school.”
Brian looked at Melissa. “So you’ve heard this?”
“Not everything, but . . . Erin’s the person who . . .” She blinked rapidly, realizing why Erin was having trouble with this. No matter how they explained, it would break Brian’s heart. “Erin told me about Julie’s affair.”
“What?” Brian stood up, knocking his chair over onto the floor with an echoing bang. His finger bounced between the two of them. “You knew about your mother and Frank Jeffries?” he said, his finger landing on Erin as he looked at Melissa. “She told you?”
“Yes, that’s why I couldn’t tell you. She made me promise. Brian, she was worried about hurting you.” Melissa didn’t want to sound defensive, but she was pushing up on the border of guilt and self-righteousness. Where should her alliances begin and end? When Erin had confided in her, she couldn’t, wouldn’t break that unless it was life or death. But what a thin line. Physical danger wasn’t the only peril to consider here. Ugh. Yes, Erin’s emotional well-being teetered on a dangerous peak, but what would have done more damage, telling her parents or keeping the secret?
“I can’t believe this crap!” Brian stared at them wide-eyed for a few moments, but then he turned around and shook his head, pacing the kitchen.
“Brian, this isn’t easy to tell you, not for me or Erin.”
He waved a hand at her to stop talking. “Let me get this straight, you knew about Julie’s affair and you didn’t tell me, but even worse—Erin’s the one who told you—and you didn’t tell me!”
“Erin told me in the strictest confidence. I couldn’t break that.”
“Daddy, I made her promise, and I didn’t tell her it was with Coach until later.”
“Coach—fucking coach—wait—” Brian ran his fingers through his hair. “Jeffries was your swim coach.” He made a fist in his hair. “That’s why he looked familiar and explains how he and Julie connected.”
Erin nodded when Brian turned to look at her.
“And I guess that’s why you quit water sports.” Brian walked to the coffee pot and poured himself and Melissa a cup before placing them on the table and righting his chair.
He looked into Erin’s eyes and took a deep breath then stared down into his steaming cup of coffee for a moment. “I’m sorry.”
“Why, Daddy?”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that, and I’m sorry you felt you couldn’t talk to me. Mostly . . . I’m sorry your mother . . .” His voice cracked, and both Erin and Melissa reached out to touch his hand. “I’m sorry your mother wasn’t more discreet.”
“It’s not your fault, Dad. It’s Mom. She did this.” Erin’s voice hardened w
hen she said it.
“I want to hear everything. How you found out, when you found out, everything.”
“On the third day of school, I walked into Coach’s classroom, and he and mom . . .” She looked over at Melissa, and Melissa nodded in support. “They were in there kissing. I ran out before either of them saw me.”
“That’s when she called me,” Melissa said. “I picked her up, and we talked most of the afternoon.”
Brian met her eyes, and his expression told her how pissed he was at her. She’d expected it, but she wouldn’t change what she had done. Erin had very few people to confide in, especially since Julie’s death. She needed trustworthy and reliable adult friends, and Melissa was thrilled to be one of those selected adults in her life.
“Why were you with him yesterday?” Brian asked.
“He wants me on the water polo team after winter break. He even has the other players trying to talk me into it. Yesterday, he cornered me and started asking how I was doing and asking about Cody—as if he actually cares.” Erin started crying. “I keep telling him to leave me alone, but he keeps pushing.”
The little muscle in Brian’s jaw jittered as he fought for calm. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Look what happened yesterday. I didn’t want to start that. I don’t want you to go after him and get into trouble.”
“Instead, you’re willing to continue to let him harass you.”
“No. I called Melissa and asked her to pick me up. I thought she could talk to him.”
“Why? So he can put the moves on her like he did your mother?” Brian shouted, forcing Erin to flinch.
“Brian!” Melissa said
“No, Dad! Melissa is smarter than Mom.”
Brian turned on Melissa. “If I hadn’t met you there yesterday, what would you have done?”
“I would’ve called you. I would have pushed Erin to talk to you. I’ve been trying, Brian.”
“Yeah? It’s been three months. Apparently you weren’t trying very hard!”
“Daddy, this isn’t her fault.”
“Are there any other secrets you two need to share?” He looked from one to the other. “Erin? Anything else you need to tell me about this guy?”