Page 51 of Bless My Heart

“Trust me, I wish I didn’t have to leave you. But I’ll head your way as soon as I’m back on Friday, ok?”

“Ok.”

“Tell Karla to save some of her pie for me.”

She smiles up at me, “I will.”

I lean down to kiss her. I mean it to be a quick goodbye kiss, but I can’t stop myself. When I try to pull away, I grab her bottom lip between my teeth and suck it into my mouth. She lets out a little moan. I release her lip but then follow up with my tongue, tracing her lips until I part her mouth, and she let me in.

Her arms pull me in closer to her body. I know she feels my cock pressing on her stomach, but she doesn’t care. If anything, it makes her kiss me harder.

I finally pull back.“Alright, I really have to go.” She drops her head to my chest, and I place a kiss on her hair.

“Ok. Be safe. Text me when you make it to Atlanta.” I smile. It’s nice to have someone besides my mom caring about my well-being. Not that my friends don’t care, but they definitely don’t ask for text updates on my whereabouts.

I haven’t been back to our house on Rage Road in weeks. I literally just stop in now and then to make them food and grab some clothes, but no one has bothered asking me where I go all the time. I’m sure they just assume I don’t want to talk about it.

“I will. And let me know when you make it to your parents.”

She nods her head. I steal one last kiss from her swollen lips before I head out.

The next day, me, Stella, and Ozzy all pile in Stella’s car to make the trip up to Atlanta.

My mother greets us at the door with apple cider. I watch Ozzy take the cup from my mom and reluctantly drink it. He hates the stuff so much but doesn’t have the heart to tell Mom. We will never tell her if we don’t like something because we just want her to be happy and healthy.

Ozzy practically grew up in this house because his parents are dead beats. My parents took him in, and he’s been a part of our family ever since. He hasn’t been back to Atlanta since we left for college, but he decided to come back for Thanksgiving this year. My mom was excited when I told her the three of us would be coming home. As she always says, “The more, the merrier.”

And I was happy to have some extra time with Oz and my sister. I’ve been so wrapped up in Hazel recently — literally and figuratively — that I haven’t been around much to hang out with them. I miss them.

After dinner, Ozzy, Stella, and I go upstairs to the extra room that Stella and I deemed our “entertainment” room when we were kids. It’s basically just a playroom that changed with our interests. Now, it has a TV with some gaming consoles, movies, and random things I left when I went off to college. Nothing too exciting since we aren’t here much anymore.

“Man, it’s so nice to be home and just chill for like a day and not have to worry about anything,” I tell them both as I lay back on the couch with my PS4 controller.

“Yeah, bro. You’ve been gone a lot. Things working out with that girl, I take it?” Ozzy asks.

“You could say that.”

Stella shoves my shoulder. “Why are you being so secretive about it? Is she like a secret foreign diplomat or something?”

“Yep. That’s it. She’s actually a princess from a country in Europe I’m sure you’ve never heard of.” Stella laughs. “But really, we’re just taking things slow. Enjoying our time together.”

“Taking things slow? Man, you have barely been home in weeks. Poor Ezra started DoorDashing Taco Bell to the house because you aren’t there to cook for him.”

I laugh. “You’d think someone who wants to be a doctor wouldn’t be so obsessed with Taco Bell. There is no way that stuff is good for you.”

“Yeah, but it’s so fucking good,” Ozzy says.

“I know. I know. I can’t wait to introduce you all to my girl. She just wants to keep it like this, just the two of us, for a little bit longer.”

“Yeah, man, you do what you gotta do.”

Thankfully, they seem to understand and drop the topic as we move on to our next FIFA match.

A while later, we all head to our separate bedrooms. Ozzy has stayed with us so much that there’s a guest room we consider his.

I climb into bed and FaceTime Hazel.

“Hello?” she answers all groggily. I can see she’s laying in her bed at her parents house. The same bed we were in when she finally let me taste her.