The Ford Brothers Series Box Set, page 58
“Mmmm…” she says, and I can feel her insides begin to clench. I open my mouth and softly nip her bottom lip, sucking it as I break contact. Lifting her head, she pulls my face to hers and crushes her lips against mine. My tongue meets hers as we both wrestle with the urge to cry out in the throes of passion. Her rear is bucking, meeting my thrusts, as we make love to a perfect rhythm against her bedroom wall. It feels so fantastic and erotic. We’ve never done it against a wall before, and I hate to admit it, but it’s really hot.
The faint slapping of our skin making contact, and heavy breathing is all that can be heard in Nora’s room as we try to be as quiet as humanly possible. Nora’s body is clenching me so tight I know she’s close, and I’m climbing so fast as I feel her tightening against my impossibly hard dick. “Don’t stop, Garrett.” She whispers against my lips as I stifle her usually loud orgasm with deep kisses. As I feel her muscles contract, it always throws me over the edge, and tonight is no exception. When I come, I feel myself shoot so strong inside her, I have to shut my eyes tight and hold my breath, so I don’t groan like I’ve just fought with a tightened bolt that I’ve finally loosened. Only this feels a million times better.
And it’s at this moment that I realize I forgot to put a condom on. I hang my head on her shoulder and draw in a deep breath. “Oh, man.” I whisper, kissing the skin between her neck and her shoulder.
“I know, that was so good.” She murmurs.
“Yeah, and I forgot to use a condom.”
She’s silent for a moment. “Too late now.” There isn’t a tone of concern in her voice. It’s like I told her I forgot to put the garbage out. Her nonchalance towards birth control is alarming.
I release her waist and let her lower her feet to the ground, releasing myself from her. When suddenly we hear a bang coming from Missy’s room.
Chapter 8
Garrett
Wade hands me a beer from the fridge and sits back at the kitchen table, strumming his guitar. The kid brings that thing with him wherever he goes. We’d just taken a break from cleaning the old Ford mansion before I put it up on the market for sale.
“Remind me again why I’m selling this place?” I say, semi-breathlessly, having just pulled the kitchen table out from the wall so I can clean the floors. Wade senses the sarcasm.
“Hey, I’ve got no ties to this place. Get rid of it, man.”
Dalton chimes in. “From what I can remember, dad only ever slept here he was at the office so damn much.”
“There’s a bed in his office, too.” Jack adds. “Remind me to throw that thing out…it’s kind of creepy.” He shudders.
It sort of breaks my heart that my brothers didn’t have much of a sentimental connection with my dad the way I did. Admittedly, it made it a lot easier to convince them to let me sell. Not that I needed their permission.
“Why the hell did you get rid of your other place? There was nothing wrong with it.” Jack asks me.
“What’s the point in having two places? Besides, my neighbor begged me all the time to sell it so her kids could move in next to her. She gave me a shit load of cash for it. I couldn’t say no. It wasn’t a great neighborhood anyway.”
“Rich people drive me nuts.” Wade says, and none of us respond, knowing that in the thick of it all, we would be classed as rich people. Wade is the only one of us who doesn’t have any Ford money…yet. It’s being held in trust until he’s thirty or married. My dad was a little cruel, I’ll admit. We’ve all offered to help him out, seeing as he’s a starving artist and all, but he’s too proud and won’t take a dime of it. Not even to record an album. He’s adamant to do it all himself.
“So where are you going to live? Any thoughts?” Dalton asks, changing the subject quickly.
“Anywhere, really. The point is to have a place that’s fit for me…not for a family of six.” I lift a finger. “And don’t ask for keys to the place, either.”
“Yeah, we get it.” Jack interrupts. “You need your privacy. Shit, man. We knock.”
I guffaw. “Yeah, right.”
“So, are you getting along any better with the kid?” Wade asks.
“Missy? Yeah, she’s okay.” I tell them about the moment we had in the kitchen the other day, when the bowl fell on Missy’s head and knocked her out.
“Shit. Did Nora flip out?” Wade asks.
“No, she was fine.”
“Missy okay now?” Dalton asks.
“Yeah…it was a little odd later that night though.”
“What do you mean?” Dalton asks, Wade stops strumming his guitar to listen. Jack is helping himself to another beer from the fridge. He’s already had like six, but I don’t say anything.
“Nora gave her these pain pills from the hospital. But she woke up all wired, going through her room like she was looking for something.”
“What were you doing in her room?” Wade guffaws.
“I wasn’t in her room. Nora and I heard a bang from her bedroom. Nora ran in and saw her routing through her stuff like she’d lost a precious jewel or something.”
“Why didn’t you go in, too, mister perfect?” Wade goads.
Jack is sipping his beer and stops, stifling a laugh. “Probably because he was banging her mother and had his pants down at his ankles.”
My face goes beet red. I try to turn away, looking busy, but Jack catches the look. He points at me and laughs. “Shit, you’re as transparent as a piece of fucking cellophane wrap!” he slaps his leg, and Wade tries to stifle a chuckle by strumming his guitar. Dalton bites his lip, but I can see his eyes are dancing.
“Alright…get it all out of your systems.” I relent, shaking my head.
Jack’s laugh gets louder. “Grow up.” I whine, taking a sip of beer. “Besides, why would I go in her room in the middle of the night, anyway?”
“Exactly.” Wade agrees, and I’m about to thank him for showing his maturity, when he adds, “I know why you’d go in her mother’s room in the middle of the night though.” He can’t help himself.
“Hardy har.” I say. Dalton presses his lips together in a smile and claps me on the back. “At least you’re getting some action, my brother.”
“Speak for yourself.” Wade argues. “I get plenty of action.”
“Pullease.” Jack says. “The only action those fingers have seen lately is on those guitar strings.”
“How the hell would you know?” Wade barks.
“When Colton’s not around, I watch you, little brother.” Jack is matter-of-fact as he places his index and middle fingers to his eyes, and then directs them towards Wade’s eyes, as if to say ‘I’m watching you’.
“Okay, children. Enough.” I lift a hand. “We still have to go through the rest of dad’s stuff. Can we please focus?”
Three hours later, Jack and Dalton are passed out in their childhood beds, dead drunk, and Wade and I are sitting in the back yard, after boxing up the stuff that we’re donating from dad’s belongings. We’d divided up a few remaining items amongst each other, saving an item or two for Colton when he gets back from Afghanistan.
“I hope Colton’s in better shape when he comes home. Pam fucking wrecked him, man.” Wade says, surprising me. He usually leaves the room when Pam’s name is brought up. He hated her since day one, sensing there was something off about my brother’s now ex-wife.
“Yeah. I think he’ll be better. It’s amazing what eight months in combat will do to your psyche. Probably seems to him like getting his heart ripped out by her was nothing in comparison to being on the battle grounds.”
“I’m amazed he went back, man.” Wade shakes his head. “You’d think him nearly dying the last time would stop him.”
“You know Colton. His mission isn’t over. He doesn’t like unfinished business.”
“You think he’s over her?”
“Probably not.”
“I’d bet money he’s not.”
I slap Wade on the shoulder. “Well, now, you haven’t got any money to bet, little brother.”
“This again?” Wade smirks. “You’d think after dad’s first heart attack, and the fact that I looked after him, that he wouldn’t pull this shit on me.”
“Thought you didn’t want any of dad’s money.”
“I don’t. But it’s a fucking slap in the face. Why did he do that? After all the shit I went through looking after him and going into the military. I did everything he wanted yet he still punished me.”
I pull the beer out of Wade’s hand. “You’re cut off. When you start whining about dad, I know you’re drunk.”
My little brother ignores me. “Fine. Shit. I didn’t want to go into the fucking family business. Whoopy shit. So what. It’s not like there aren’t enough of us Ford kids to run the business. Fuck.” He shakes his head.
“Okay, bedtime, soldier.” I rise and take Wade’s guitar out of his hand. The night sky is inky black, and I walk towards the back door. Wade follows behind me. I walk up the stairs, after arming the security alarm for nighttime, and follow Wade to his room, making sure he gets into bed.
“You love her, man?” Wade asks, his voice is muffled in the pillow, as his face is smashed into it. He turns his head to the side, and his eyes are already closed.
“Yeah, I love her.” I answer, placing the garbage pail next to him on the floor. Wade is never one to puke from drinking, but I figure now isn’t the time to test that theory. I haven’t seen him this drunk in a while, but then again, I haven’t gone to watch him play for a while, either.
“She love you back?” he slurs.
“Yeah, she does.”
“She’s a good girl, that Nora. I want to meet the kid, though.”
“Well, I’ve told her about you. She’s into a lot of music. Your kind of stuff. In fact, she mentioned she’d like to hear you some time.”
“Bring her to Mingles.”
I chuckle. “Wade, she’s thirteen. I can’t bring her to a bar.”
“Bring her anyway.” He says, as if I told him that it’s against her religion to go to bars.
“Goodnight, Wade.” I say, turning out the light.
“Goodnight, Colton.” He says. I know he misses Colton, but come on.
As I walk into my room, I’m reminded of the last time Nora was here, and we made love in my bed. The sheets still smell like her. It’s probably gross, but I haven’t washed them since. Her scent helps me sleep. Little do I know that I’ll need sleep because the next few months are going to be very trying.
Chapter 9
Nora
The call comes at a most inopportune moment. Mr. Klein, a patient who had been admitted three days ago with a ruptured artery, just passed away. Me and another nurse had just finished unplugging all the monitors, and we were just about to slide him onto the gurney to take him to the morgue, when I heard my name being paged overhead by the receptionist downstairs. “I have to take this.” I explain, leaving the room.
“This is Nora.” I answer the phone, feeling my heartbeat go into automatic panic mode. I never get calls at work. I knew there was something wrong.
“Hi, Nora. This is Mrs. Benjamin, Missy’s homeroom teacher.”
“Yes, can I help you?”
Mrs. Benjamin clears her throat. “Nora, I just wanted to let you know that Missy’s grades are slipping. I gave the students a test last week on material I know that Missy is very familiar with, and she only achieved sixty-two percent. This is very unlike her.”
“Really? She’s been in her room studying constantly lately.”
“I’m sure she has been. She’s my number one student. Has she given you any impression that she’s struggling with anything?”
“No, not at all. She did get a bump on the head about a week ago, but I don’t think that’s relevant.”
“She told everyone about that, actually. And she seemed fine. Has there been any change in her life or yours at all recently?”
I hesitate. Oh, God, this can’t be about Garrett. “I’ve recently started a new relationship. But she seems to be doing well with him.”
“She’s mentioned her father. Is he…err…still in jail? I’m sorry, I don’t know how else to approach that.”
I chuckle. “No, no, that’s okay. I appreciate that. Yes, he’s been out of jail for quite some time.” The school was made aware of David’s past because he was restricted from picking her up, and I had to make the school aware of that. “He’s actually doing quite well. He’s being allowed unsupervised visits for the first time in God knows how long.”
“Oh, that’s very good, Nora. I’m happy to hear that. I know Missy struggled a little bit the last time he had a bad spell. But she’s so resilient. That’s why this is so perplexing.”
“I know. I’ll talk to her. Thanks for letting me know.”
“I don’t mean to be melodramatic. I realize this is only one test. It’s just so confusing why she didn’t do well…like I said, she nailed the material.”
“I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical reason. I’ll talk to her.”
“Thank you, Nora.”
“Oh, thank you, Mrs. Benjamin.”
I hang up the phone and finish preparing Mr. Klein for the morgue. The coroner had already done his work. By the end of the day I’m dying to talk to Missy. As I head to my car in my scrubs, I check my phone for any messages. Garrett has left a set of lips and the time he’s expected to be home from his flight in a text message. I immediately smile. I text him back that my shift is over, and he texts back that he’s just arrived home. It’s past nine o’clock, and by the time I get home, eat, and have a discussion with Missy, it might be too late to see him. I dial his number. He answers on the first ring.
“God, it’s so good to hear your voice.” I say as he says hello.
“Well, that’s the nicest way to answer a phone.” He giggles. “How was your day?”
“Awful. And it’s going to get worse…maybe. I have to talk to Missy about something that happened at school. Do you have an early flight in the morning, or can I come over after, depending on how late it gets?”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes, it’s just something I need to talk to her about. It could be nothing.” I decide to keep this private until I’ve discussed it with Missy. Teenagers tend to get upset over silly things sometimes, and I don’t want to rock the boat any more than I have to with her.
“Come over whenever you want. I have a late flight tomorrow. But then I’m away for three days, so get as much as you can of me, baby.” His tone is sultry. My thighs feel damp just hearing his voice.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Okay. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
As I walk in the door, the house is silent as usual. Missy is in her room with her ear buds in, listening to music. When she sees me open the door, she looks up. “Oh, hey, mom. Mrs. Nelson was over earlier.” She lifts her lips into a half-smile. “You know, I don’t need a babysitter anymore, mom. I’m almost fourteen. I can look after myself.”
“I know. I just don’t like you staying alone this late at night. I know you can cook and do all that yourself.”
“I mean, she’s cool and all, but I’m fine.”
I take a seat next to her on the bed. “I know. Hey, Missy, can you turn your music off for a minute please?”
She groans and rolls her eyes, which is a relief, since that’s typical behavior. “Oh, geez…what did I do now?”
“Nothing. I just…wanted to check in, that’s all.”
“What do you mean…check in?”
“You’re getting along okay with your friends, right?”
“Yeah.” She answers as though it’s a ridiculous question. Her friends are not by the house very often. I think it’s a single mother thing. Parents don’t like their kids over at an unsupervised house, so Missy usually only gets to see her friends in school.
“And you’re okay with Garrett?”
“Yeah.” There’s that look again.
“And you and your dad are okay?”
She’s exasperated. “Mom, what is this? Why are you giving me the third degree here?”
I decide to go in for the kill and see how she responds. “What happened at school on your last test?”
Eye contact lost. “Oh, that.” She guffaws. “I don’t know. I just kind of…blanked out.”
“What do you mean?”
She pulls at a piece of loose thread on her comforter. “I don’t know. I just…forgot what the answers were, I guess.”
“How come you didn’t tell me about it?”
“Because it felt weird. I just want to forget about it.”
“Are you okay? Do you need me to take you to the doctor or something?”
“No, mom. I’m fine.”
“Were you distracted? Is there a boy in your class that you like?”
She gives me a look.
“Sorry…or a girl.”
She barks out a laugh.
“Well, I’m trying to be a liberated mom, you know.” I smile.
“No, mom. There isn’t a boy…or a girl that I like in my class.”
“Are you sure? Because it’s okay.” I place a hand on her arm.
“Mom…” she laughs. “No boy or girl is worth a bad score on a test. Unless they…had a gun to my head, threatening to kill me if I didn’t do my share of pulling down the bell curve.”
I’m satisfied. “Okay. You would let me know though…if there was a problem, right?”
“Well…ya. Of course.”
“Good.” I change the subject. “Did you eat?”
“Yep. Are you going over to Garrett’s house?”
“Maybe later. Why?”
Missy shrugs. “You just seem…tense. You’re not tense when you’re around him.”
“Would you rather him come over here? You don’t mind when he’s here, do you?” and then I remember that Garrett will come over, but after the last incident, he won’t make love with me when he’s here. Unless Missy isn’t home. Cue sleep overs for Missy.
