Текст книги "Hold On"

Автор книги: Kristen Ashley

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 28 (всего у книги 35 страниц)

He was still smiling when he turned to Cher.

That smell.

Her right there in his kitchen, looking pretty.

Her kid giving him the best welcome home he’d had in years, even though he hadn’t even said hello.

All that, Garrett wanted to give Cher more than gooey.

Ethan right there, he couldn’t.

But with what he did give her, he managed to touch his tongue to hers briefly before he lifted his head.

“Hey,” he murmured.

“Hey, gorgeous. Good day?”

It had been a good day.

He’d had an important conversation with his father that settled his soul and maybe, he hoped, neutralized the poison in his gut for good—or at least made it so he could manage it.

He’d discovered his woman and her kid were never in any danger, but now they were really not in any danger with Carlito and his crew picked up and being processed on RICO charges.

And it was looking good that Wendy Derian’s killer was behind bars with the RICO haul. The gun in the suspect’s possession was the caliber that did Wendy, had been recently discharged, and Robert Paxton didn’t have a firm alibi for the time of her murder. He was also in possession of her cell phone.

Jake still had to run ballistics, but during interrogation, Paxton gave Mike and Garrett indication he may roll over on a variety of things, including being ordered to carry out the hit on Wendy, doing this in order to make things tougher for Carlito but easier on him.

He didn’t tell Cher any of that.

He said, “Yeah. More later.”

She studied him a beat before she nodded.

“You gonna tell me what that smell is?” he asked.

“Garlic cheddar chicken, buttered noodles, fresh rolls from Kroger, and…” She dipped her voice quiet. “Green beans.”

“I heard that,” Ethan called.

She smiled up at him, not having moved from the curve of his arm, not an inch.

And he saw it. There in her face. That look he had memorized. That look, part of which she’d given him over and over for years and he’d been too blind to see.

That look now he’d never forget

She was happy. She was safe and happy.

And the part that had been his for a long time and he didn’t notice.

She was in love with him.

He lifted his free hand to slide it into the side of her hair as he took that look in.

He was wrong.

She wasn’t prettiest first thing in the morning.

She was at her prettiest any time of the day when she was looking into his eyes.

And hers were happy.

And in love.

* * * * *

Ethan

Ethan looked from the TV to his mom and Merry in the kitchen.

They were being gooey, standing close, staring into each other’s eyes, Merry’s hand in his mom’s hair by the side of her face.

Totally gross.

Even after witnessing the gross, when Ethan looked back at the TV, he did it smiling.

Chapter Twenty-One

Overachiever

Cher

Late Thursday Evening

In my cami and pajama bottoms, I sat cross-legged in Merry’s bed, facing Merry.

He had his back to the headboard, his body stretched out, his chest bare, the covers pulled up to his hips.

And he’d just shared his day.

For once in my life, I was at a loss for words.

But, being me, it didn’t take long before I found some.

“That BMW bitch…she have dark hair cut short and look-at-me-I’m-loaded sunglasses?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he answered.

I knew her. She’d honked at me too. More than once.

“I’ve seen her wear those glasses during a thunderstorm,” I shared.

Merry said nothing, just kept looking up at me with half his mouth hitched up like he thought I was cute or something.

“You got outta your car, flashed your badge, and gave her shit?” I asked.

“Yep,” Merry answered.

So…totally…fucking…loved this man.

“You do something like that with me around to witness it, straight up, a month of blowjobs at your command,” I announced. “Any time. Anywhere. Swear. You give the word, I’ll drop and suck you off better than you’ve ever had it, baby.”

His hand, resting on my knee, slid down the side of my thigh as he shifted down the bed and slightly to his side. He caught me at my hip and gave a tug.

I fell forward even though I could have righted myself. I knew what he wanted, so I didn’t.

I uncurled my legs and stretched out on top of him.

We ended with one of his hands on my ass, the other sliding up my back, both of mine trapped between us on his chest.

“You’ve already given me that, Cherie,” he muttered.

I’d given him the best head he’d had?

Awesome.

“Then I’ll give it my all to give better,” I vowed.

He smiled, his hand sifted into my hair, and he pulled me down for a short, hard kiss.

He released the pressure and I lifted my head.

“You got no reaction to that Ryker shit?” he asked quietly.

I did.

I found it mildly annoying.

I also found that Ryker, the most up-front guy I knew, was full of shit.

Yes, sure, Lissa was a sweetheart and she wanted the best for the people she cared about.

But Ryker didn’t do the whacked-out shit he’d done to make Lissa happy.

He did it because he liked me and he liked Merry.

And because, under all that muscle and crazy, he was a romantic.

This meant I had fodder for years to give him shit.

Which I did not find annoying at all.

“I’ve decided for my peace of mind to jump right from mildly annoyed to amused,” I answered.

“Probably a good call,” Merry murmured. His hand moved from my ass so he could wrap his arm around my waist as he said, “All that shit taken care of, you’re good to go home tomorrow.”

As crappy as I thought Merry’s condo was, this was disappointing.

I didn’t share that.

I just said, “Yeah.”

“That’s why I didn’t arrange a bed for Ethan. After tonight, he’ll be in his own,” Merry told me.

I nodded.

“Though, thinkin’ of cleanin’ out that junk room and setting it up,” Merry stated. “Just in case.”

More sleepovers.

And my kid was invited.

That made me giddy.

I hid it and just smiled, though I had a feeling my smile was super huge because it hurt my face.

Merry’s gaze dropped to it, his lips quirked, his eyes fired, and his arms gave me a squeeze.

Because he was Merry and pretty much perfect, he didn’t rub it in, but instead let it go and looked back to my eyes.

“During that talk with my dad today, he mentioned he wants us all over for dinner.”

I knew Dave Merrick. I liked Dave Merrick.

I liked it more he wanted me and my kid to come over with his son for dinner.

A whole lot more.

“Okay,” I whispered, cleared my throat and suggested, “Maybe he’d like to come to Ethan’s party.”

“No maybes about that.”

Oh yeah, I liked that. A possible grandpa for Ethan.

I liked that a whole lot.

“When we go to Dad’s, we’ll get Rocky and Tanner, invite your mom, and make it a family thing. You think Grace’ll be up for that?” Merry asked.

My mother might literally be up for that if she could manage to make a miracle and walk into Dave Merrick’s house, doing it how she was feeling—floating on air.

“Think I can talk her around to it,” I muttered.

Merry smiled at me.

I didn’t want to take that smile away, but I had to ask.

“You okay with Mia’s dad’s surprise visit?”

His fingers at my waist started stroking the skin there. “Not really. But he’s not as hardheaded as she is. I think he got my message. Whether he’s able to get it to sink in for her, no clue.”

I hoped he could. Except for the unknown of whether Peggy and Trent had something up their sleeve, or if they’d actually smartened up and were giving Ethan some space, Mia was the only wildcard we were dealing with.

“You think all the crap swirling around us will settle and we’ll find out what it’s like to be together when it’s just normal?” I asked.

“Wouldn’t know. Never had normal. But my guess is, normal is probably really fucking boring,” he answered.

That was a good answer because I wasn’t sure I had it in me to be normal. I’d also obviously never experienced it. But my guess, too, was normal was probably mind-numbingly boring.

I used my thumb to trace the beautiful column of his throat, saying softly, “Good you had that talk with your dad.”

“Yeah,” he replied softly, his blue eyes warm, but I could see it there. Actually, I saw it the minute he got home that night.

Something was missing, but something else had replaced it. And what was gone was bad, but what was in its place was not.

Now I knew what all that meant, what I saw in his eyes.

Relief and maybe even a little bit of contentment.

Like everything, Merry wore it well.

“Maybe good your dad had that talk with you too,” I suggested.

His fingers at my hip stopped moving and curled tight. “Not sure he’s ever gonna let go of the guilt, brown eyes.” He kept hold of my hip and my gaze. “But I am sure I now get why he won’t.”

My thumb stilled on his throat.

Was he saying…?

“Merry,” I whispered.

“He loved her. He lost her. He misses her. He took risks that meant the end of her life. He didn’t end it, and I think in some part of his head he gets that’s not his fault. But he couldn’t hold on to her as tight as he’s still holdin’ if he ever let that go. And I get that. I get that love he has for her. I get that need to hold on. I get it now.”

He got it now, holding me, staring at me.

Holy fuck.

“But yeah,” he kept going. “Even with that, you’re right. It was good for him we had that talk too.”

I didn’t push the other part, the part that made my heart pump fast, doing that shit still making it feel lighter.

I told him something I knew for certain.

“No matter how many years pass, it means something to a parent when their child needs them. At first, kids need you so much, all you want them to do is grow up so they can do things for themselves. Then you learn. You learn you should have savored every time they reached for you or called your name.”

Merry was still staring at me, but the look in his eyes had changed. There was a sweetness there that I liked a lot but had never seen.

Oh yeah.

If this worked, I was totally going to be able to talk him into kids.

Me, being me, not perfect but wanting to give Merry everything he needed, I didn’t push that.

But I did keep talking.

“You quit needing your dad in any real way a long time ago, honey. So I know for certain you going to him about something important meant everything to him.”

When I finished, his look turned darker but warmer, just as his arm tightened around my waist and pulled me up so our faces were closer.

“Ethan was pretty jazzed about that test and you pullin’ out the pistachio ice cream sundaes to wash away green bean residue,” he surprisingly remarked, considering I thought his look and movements were leading somewhere else. “Thinkin’ he’s out, but his sleep may be light.” He tipped his head on the pillow and the look that hit his eyes I felt in my womb. “Early morning date for the bathroom?”

Okay, so he was going where I thought he was leading.

It would just happen hours from now.

I forced my other arm from between us, shoving it around him so I could get closer, and replied, “Oh yeah.”

His hand in my hair twisted gently.

“Liked comin’ home to you and your boy, Cherie.”

Oh God.

God, God, God.

I liked that.

“Liked you doin’ it, Merry.”

And I did.

It was a dream come true, nearly literally, except in the dream I’d had, we were at my place.

But I had a feeling I was going to get that dream too.

“We’ll get you and your boy home tomorrow. But let’s set that up to happen more often, sweetheart,” he suggested.

Oh yeah.

I was going to get that dream too.

“Okay,” I agreed readily.

“Now, give me some gooey and we’ll get some shut-eye so I can wake you up early and fuck you.”

I melted into him and gave him the gooey. It turned into a mini make-out session, but neither of us pushed it far because my boy was probably sleeping lightly down the hall.

Merry turned out the light, I got under the covers, and we curled into each other, safe in his bed in the dark in his crappy condo.

But even if you’d offered me the world as a choice, I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else.

* * * * *

Early Friday Morning

I bit the flesh of Merry’s shoulder when I came.

His deep groan sounded against the skin beneath my ear, driving down my neck, my chest, and right to my clit when he did.

Eventually, he dropped my leg that he was holding around his hip and I again felt the water hitting us.

Right. We were in the shower.

As my leg fell, he slid his cock out of me but kept his arms around me.

I turned my head his way to say something cocky or smartass, just to see him smile.

I didn’t get it out.

Because, early morning fuck in the shower done, my man felt like kissing me.

So I let him.

* * * * *

I stared at Merry and my kid leaning in to the counter on either side of Merry’s bar. Ethan was up on a stool on the outside; Merry was on his feet in the kitchen. Both were bent over their bowls, shoveling bright yellow, egg-cracker goo in their mouths.

And Merry was not gagging.

In fact, it appeared he liked it.

This fact made it clear that crap actually was dude food.

This was surprising enough.

The rest of what was happening shocked me silent.

“So, talk to your buds. Get their parents’ permission. Be ready at quarter to six. I’ll get you, swing ’round to pick them up, take you all for some grub, to the game, and drop them home after,” Merry stated.

“Cool,” Ethan grunted, shoving more egg goo in his mouth.

They were making a date.

Merry looked to me. “Before your shift, you wanna go to dinner with me and the boys?”

I was an afterthought.

Why did I think that was so fucking awesome?

“How ’bout I trade my own Merry time later for you havin’ a guys’ night tonight?” I suggested.

“Works for me,” Ethan said to his bowl.

Merry winked at me.

It worked for him too.

He turned away and recommenced eating.

“You on call this weekend?” Ethan asked his bowl.

“Nope,” Merry told his bowl.

“Waffle morning tomorrow?” Ethan asked.

I held my breath.

Merry’s gaze slid to me.

I nodded once.

His attention went back to his bowl before he answered, “Yup.”

“Cool,” Ethan grunted.

I watched and listened, my eyes feeling funny. They were stinging, but not because they were dry.

Merry straightened from the counter. “You finish that, bud. We gotta hit the road, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Ethan replied, scooping the last bite out of his bowl.

Merry headed my way.

I started to pull my shit together.

Since I was standing at his sink but was busy pulling my shit together, I didn’t move even as he got in my space, right in my space, looking down at me as he reached around and put the bowl in the sink.

I heard the bowl hit as his face dipped to mine.

“Dig dude food, brown eyes,” he said.

“You give me an egg-goo kiss, I’m gonna barf,” I replied.

He burst out laughing, but lucky for me, he stepped back before he did it.

I watched, enjoying every second.

Merry gave me a grin before he turned and strode through the living room, muttering, “Best go brush my teeth.”

Ethan jumped off his stool, declaring, “I’m gonna do that too.”

I blinked, then stared at my son.

He brushed his teeth by his own choice…never. Like I had to ride him to take a shower, I had to get on his ass to brush his teeth.

It seemed having Merry around wasn’t only good for orgasms and getting a variety of different kinds of warm and squishy.

It was good for a vast number of other things.

Fifteen minutes later, after getting a toothpaste-flavored good-bye kiss from my man and two different style waves from both my guys, they were gone.

I turned to the sink and cleaned up dude food.

* * * * *

Friday Evening

I walked into J&J’s for my shift and knew I was in for it.

This was because Colt was on his stool. Cal was standing by it. Mike was sitting on the stool next to where Cal was standing. Ryker was hanging close to Cal and Colt.

And Benny Bianchi was standing, leaned into the bar next to Mike.

Benny Bianchi was Joe Callahan’s cousin.

They might be cousins, but they were tight so they were more like brothers, and them being family couldn’t be missed.

Cal was sheer male beauty, marred by the hardness and heartbreak of the life he’d endured and the scars on his face. Though, both of these made him even hotter than he probably was back in the day before all that had happened.

Benny was just sheer male beauty. Very male. Very beautiful.

Like a movie star.

But better because he was real.

He was also taken, married to my girl Frankie, who’d lived in the ’burg for a spell, and when she’d lived there, we’d become friends.

She’d moved back to Chicago to be with Benny, who lived up there and owned a pizzeria.

His pizzeria was the bomb. I knew this because, since Frankie had moved away, I’d taken Ethan up there for several weekends, stayed with them, and discovered this fact.

Ben worked the pizzeria; Frankie had a sweet job where she made a shit-ton of money.

She also had the job of popping out babies for Benny. In their time together, which had not been much, they’d already had one and she was heavily pregnant now.

I knew this before I walked into the bar because she’d called me six months ago to tell me.

I knew this right then because the only good part of my current scenario was that she was also there, around the curve of the bar, in a girl huddle with Vi and Dusty. All three of them were on the outside of the bar, Feb and Dee were on the inside.

The chicks would take my back.

But the reason I knew I was in for it was because in all the years I had it bad for Merry, the only person who called me on it was Benny.

In fact, he’d done it the first night I’d met him.

He, Frankie, and me had gone out to have drinks. Merry had showed. Benny had sussed things out. They took me home, Benny walked me to my door, and he’d laid it out.

He was cool about it. He wasn’t a dick when he told me to soften up, and if I did, I’d open up enough to let a guy in, that guy being Merry.

I hadn’t taken his advice.

In the end, I didn’t need to. Merry and I finally got there, and looking back, even though Benny’s advice was solid and he’d given that advice to me a couple of years ago, years some might consider were wasted, I believed in my heart it had to happen this way.

Merry needed that time to travel his path how he needed to travel it.

I was just crazy-lucky it led to me.

But I knew, walking in the bar that night, that Benny knew I’d scored Merry.

And he had a dick, so no doubt he was going to give me shit about it.

“Do not say a fuckin’ word,” I warned the instant I got close to the gang.

His handsome, white smile got huge as his hand came up to his broad chest. “Me?”

“Just shut it,” I ordered.

“Cher!” Frankie cried, just having seen me.

She popped off her stool and rushed to me.

I stopped glaring at her husband and smiled at her, moving her way.

Frankie was one of those bitches who had the ultimate power—she could look all class showing skin, and for her, the tighter the dress, the higher the heel, the better.

She obviously didn’t change when she was pregnant. Great figure, big, beautiful belly, all encased in a long-sleeved, skintight dress that showed cleavage and had a skirt that hit her three inches up from her knees. And on her feet, six-inch platform stilettos.

She looked amazing.

We hugged.

“Cher hugging. Already, gettin’ laid regular is makin’ her a girl,” Colt remarked.

I let Frankie go and turned on Colt.

“I hug bitches I haven’t seen in months. Get over it.” I gave both Benny and Frankie a look. “And you guys have shit timing. Ethan’s birthday party isn’t until next weekend.”

“We know,” Frankie said. “We brought him a present. But I’ve still got that work thing I told you about happening next weekend, so we had to come down and celebrate Vi and Cal’s news this weekend. And anyway, we had to come to cut the crazy since Vinnie and Theresa are here too. The good news with that is that they’re lookin’ after the kids. A night out with my man, reconnecting with our posse in the ’burg, there is no bad news.”

Vinnie and Theresa were Benny’s parents. The whole family was Italian (or, in Frankie’s case, her being a mutt, only the dominant parts of her were Italian), so they could find a reason to celebrate the sun rising.

Even so, Vi was my girl and I had no idea what news they were celebrating.

But I could guess.

I looked her way and guessed.

“Are you knocked up again?”

Vi smiled and shrugged.

I did not give her shit for not telling me. I understood she was giving me time with Merry.

And anyway, this wasn’t big news. The bitch was always pregnant.

I looked to Cal. “Jesus. How many do you need?”

“One more after this,” he stated.

“No more after this,” Vi snapped.

Cal looked to his woman and grinned.

Vi looked to the ceiling.

Merry had told me his sister was also pregnant.

It was like it was contagious.

I turned my attention to Dusty. “You knocked up?”

“Not yet,” she said.

They were trying.

I figured Mike had the mojo the rest of them had, which meant he only had to look at his woman, think dirty thoughts, and she’d be carrying his kid. Thus, I figured that joyous news would be celebrated next week.

I looked to Feb.

“I love my little Jack, but I got a four-year-old, a dog, a cat, a bar, and an alpha male on my hands. I think I’m good,” she decreed.

My eyes went to Dee.

“I got two and Morrie, which makes it like I actually have five. I’m definitely good,” she shared.

“When are you and Merry gonna start?” Colt asked.

“Kiss my ass,” I said as answer.

I got girl smiles and man chuckles to that.

Whatever.

“A brother can be in a nursing home and make babies. Not you, sister, so you best be gettin’ the lead out.”

This advice came from Ryker.

I turned my attention to him.

Everyone went silent.

That meant everyone knew about Ryker’s matchmaking too.

I said nothing.

Ryker said nothing.

I won our staring contest when he prompted, “You just gonna stand there and stare at me?”

“I’m not standing here staring at you. I’m waiting for you to grow wings and hover over us with your golden bow and arrow,” I returned.

Ryker grinned his scary grin. “As you’ve experienced, I kick fuckin’ ass with my golden bow and arrow.”

“Just to say, the ’burg can do without your version of Cupid,” I remarked.

“I can wait for the gratitude,” Ryker declared magnanimously. “You and Merrick can name your first kid after me.”

“Dude, Merry and me got our shit together. Your bullshit coulda fucked us up,” I shared.

“Tell yourself that,” Ryker replied.

My eyes narrowed. “How thick is your skin?”

“I’m half reptilian,” he returned. “The alligator kind.”

“Okay, how thick is your skull?” I kept at him.

“Not as thick as yours, you wasted years before you fell on your man’s dick,” he retorted.

I shouldn’t have even started this.

So it was time to end it.

“I’m feelin’ like making tips tonight, not cleanin’ up blood,” I decreed.

“Like you could cut me,” Ryker scoffed.

“Don’t underestimate a pissed off woman,” I warned.

“That’s why I got sugar in my bed, not spice. Don’t ever need to worry about that shit,” Ryker stated.

This was going nowhere.

“I need to get to work,” I muttered, turning to the office.

“Cher,” Ryker called.

I sighed and looked back to him.

“Lissa’s over the moon,” he shared.

That might be true, but it was Ryker who was happy for me.

“You’re all soft under all that crazy,” I replied.

He grinned a grin that many children would witness and have nightmares for decades.

“Don’t tell anyone.”

I rolled my eyes and walked to the office to get rid of my purse. When I walked out, Dee was out on the floor with her tray, which meant I was back of the bar with Feb.

I got the lay of the land, made some drinks, then hit my posse at the end.

“You ready for your show?” I asked Dusty.

She made pottery. It was awesome pottery, but I didn’t get it since she also made a shit-ton of money off it. Apparently, some people really liked pottery. Enough to spend hundreds of dollars on just one piece.

“Yeah,” she answered. “And I’ve set a piece aside to give to you and Merry for your wedding.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Don’t you start with that shit. You’re a chick. You’re supposed to have my back.”

“It’s more fun to mess with you,” she returned.

Damn.

I should have seen it coming.

Dusty was a lot like me. She had some girlie in her but not much. Mostly she was a straight shooter who had it completely together.

I lifted my hand and did a sweep of the far end of the bar, declaring, “I think Feb can cover you all with drinks.”

“Weak,” Cal grunted.

“I need to be in a good disposition to earn tips,” I retorted.

“Why?” he shot back. “You been earnin’ tips for years not in one.”

He had a point.

“You can kiss my ass too,” I returned.

“Lame,” he muttered.

He was not wrong.

God, with Merry giving me the warm and squishy, making me happy, I was losing my edge.

I wasn’t proud of continuing the lameness, but I actually did have to earn tips.

So I muttered back, “Whatever,” and wandered down the bar.

The night wore on and it was Friday at J&J’s. Time to herald in the weekend and do it right by going out, throwing a few back, and communing with your ’burg brethren.

So I was busy.

And it was much later when the opportunity was afforded to him.

Being Benny, he took it.

Cal was deep in conversation with Ryker and Colt, Vi at his side, his arm curled around her neck, holding her close. And Mike, Dusty, and Frankie were gabbing with Dee, who was standing with them, carrying a full tray of empties.

Benny was in on the Cal conversation, but he made himself free to catch my eyes when I was forced down their way to nab a bottle of beer that was in the fridge closest to them.

“Happy?” he asked quietly, just for me.

“Yeah,” I answered quietly, just for him.

“Good,” he replied and gave me the flash of his white, movie star smile.

He was wrong.

It wasn’t good.

It was beautiful.

But I didn’t correct him.

I looked to his pregnant wife, then back to him.

He knew what beauty meant.

I shot him a return smile.

Then, before anyone noticed our moment and gave me shit about it, I ended it and got back to work.

* * * * *

Saturday Afternoon

I slid my lips up Merry’s throat as the last tremors of my orgasm drifted out of me.

I could tell the last of Merry’s were still with him at the thick gruffness of his voice when he murmured, “Seems my brown-eyed girl can make love.”

I smiled.

My kid was at a friend’s house, hanging out.

And I was at Merry’s condo, trying my hand at giving as good as I got.

Seemed I’d succeeded.

I slid my lips to his jaw.

I was on top, Merry still inside since we’d just finished, his arms around me tight. But as my lips drifted, his arms loosened so his hands could float light and sweet over the skin of my back.

“Got the reservation at Swank’s, baby. Six thirty. That good?” Merry told me.

“Yeah,” I told his jaw, wondering what I was going to wear and hoping one of Ethan’s two dress-up outfits still fit him.

“And got a lock on tickets for the Colts’ next home game. Need to know from you if I should get two or if Feb can make it so you can come with us.”

At his words, my head shot up and I looked in his eyes.

“What?”

“Colts versus Saints. Sunday after next. Can you get Feb to arrange that day off?”

“You’re buyin’ tickets?” I asked.

“Uh…yeah. Just said that, babe.”

“Colts tickets are expensive, Merry.”

“Maybe, Cherie, but Ethan told me he’d never been to a game.”

I shook my head. “He hasn’t, but…Swank’s…” I let that hang since that said it all.

And what it said was that he was a cop, not a Rockefeller. Dinner at Swank’s for four could easily set him back close to five hundred bucks. I’d never been to a Colts game either, so I didn’t know how much tickets cost. But I knew they didn’t give them away.

“Yes, that’s his present,” Merry confirmed. “Steak you can cut with a fork and a Colts game.”

I stared down at him, totally uncertain what to do.

Because in all the boons Merry had given me, straight up, this was the one that was the most amazing.

It was also one I had to control.

“Gorgeous,” I started carefully, “I love the generosity, but you’d break the bank if you try to give him all the things he hasn’t gotten in life.”

“Brown eyes,” he returned, sounding like he was being careful too, “he’s already gotten all the important things he needs to get in life. He’s smart, so he knows that. And since he’s smart and knows that, appreciates it, and shows that by bein’ a good kid and lookin’ after his mom and grandma, he should be rewarded for being the good kid he is by being able to go to a Colts game.”

“You’re lookin’ at buyin’ a house,” I reminded him.

“There’s always gonna be houses. But there’ll only be this one opportunity to take a newly-turned eleven-year-old boy to his first Colts game.”

That feel hit my eyes, and when it did, it hit simultaneously in my throat and my belly.

Merry’s face warmed.

He knew what I was feeling.

And he knew me, so he didn’t say shit about it.

He asked, “So, you gonna ask Feb for the day off?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna ask Feb for the day off.”

His hands stopped drifting on my back and he wrapped his arms around me. “Then I’ll get three tickets.”

I shoved my face in his neck and muttered, “That’d be cool, Merry.”

We lay there together, connected, a girl who never allowed herself to dream, lying on top of a dream come true.

When it was time, Merry slid me up to slide himself out of me. He shifted us. He shifted the covers. He went to the bathroom to deal with the condom. And he came back, shifting us so I was exactly where I’d been before he’d moved me.

Lying on top of a dream come true.

“Why Rivers?”

Merry asked that, and hearing it, I lifted my head to look at him again.

“Why what?”

“Rivers, baby. You could have picked any last name you wanted. I like it. It’s cool. But why’d you pick Rivers?”

I shrugged, dropped my head, and nuzzled my face in his throat again while giving him the simple answer.

“I like water.”

“You like water?”

I nodded against his neck and gave him more.

“Mom’s always been a waitress. Dad’s always been a deadbeat. She couldn’t give me a lot, but she tried to make sure every summer we went on vacation. Without any money, we didn’t go far and we didn’t have much. Shitty motels. Diner food. But she did her best. And she always found water. Driving us to some lake. Putting our asses on a Greyhound down to Florida and hitting some seedy hotel, but one that was on a beach. We didn’t give a shit it was seedy or cheap. I was an asshole to her, but not on vacation. We had fun. We relaxed. We forgot life sucked.”