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“Fine, honest. Just a thank you note from a student,” I say, grabbing my papers from the printer, “enjoy your afternoon,” I tell her as I head back towards my classroom. Once inside I shut the door and press a hand to my racing heart. This doesn’t seem like something Jason would do, but I can’t imagine anyone else wanting me out of town. I slide the envelope into my gradebook and stuff it in the bottom of the drawer and try to push it out of my mind.
???
It’s been two days since Ronnie went back to New Jersey and I’ve been sulking around the house feeling sorry for myself. We had such a good time while she was here between family dinners with Ford, Clarissa, and his entire family and shopping at the local farmers market to staying up til the early hours of the morning chatting about anything and everything. She’s part of the only family I have left even if she isn’t blood. I never knew who my dad was. My mom worked at this small diner back in our hometown as a waitress and when she was 19 she met a man on a Harley who was just passing through and they shared one weekend together. A weekend without condoms, obviously, because he left town without them ever exchanging more than first names and nine months later I came screaming into the world.
It was always just the two of us until I was 17 and she suddenly died from a brain aneurysm and I was left as an orphan. She was an only child and both of her parents died when I was little, so there was no family to take me in. I bounced from foster home to foster home until I met Jase later that year. This incredibly sexy and smart man who was also a cop, offering me the world on a silver platter? I jumped in headfirst and we saw where that got me. Spending time with Ronnie was exactly what I needed but now I’m sad that she’s gone and I’m eating my feelings. Clarissa is working at the bar one town over and I’m halfway through a pint of Rocky Road when my phone dings from the coffee table. Dropping my spoon in the container I lean forward and snatch it off the table, seeing Ford's name.
Ford: Put the ice cream down and get dressed.
I roll my eyes and put the container down on the table, typing out a reply.
Me: No. I just want to eat my feelings and watch trashy T.V. Let me wallow.
Ford: Baby. Dressed. Jeans and boots if you have them. I have somewhere I want to take you.
Me: I don’t own boots, Crawford. I’m from fucking Jersey.
Ford: Fuck baby, I love your filthy mouth. Fine. Sneakers. But old ones. Be ready in 20.
I shove off the couch with a sigh, taking the ice cream back to the freezer and begrudgingly heading to my closet to find something to wear. There’s no possible way he can make me feel better about Ron leaving, but I’m willing to let him try.
Ford
Lex lets out a ‘whoop’ next to me and clutches the ‘oh shit’ bar
tighter. I gun the truck and we fishtail in the mud, slinging it up and over the windshield and I flick my wipers on to try to clear some of it away. I can’t help the smile that’s spreading across my face from how much fun she’s having. I knew taking her mudding would cheer her up. I can’t believe she ever doubted me.
“Oh my god, that was incredible!” She states breathlessly as I turn the truck into a clearing in the woods and throw it in park. I chuckle and turn it off, hopping out. Lex meets me at the back of the truck as I’m lowering the tailgate and I jump in the bed to remove a blanket and some pillows that I stuffed in the toolbox earlier, spreading them out and arranging them in the bed of the truck. She arches an eyebrow and presses her hand to her chest.
“Now Crawford, I’m not sure just what kinda girl you think I am..” she teases, pressing her hand to her chest. I narrow my eyes at her.
“I know exactly the kind of girl you are, Alexis. Now get your ass up here.” She throws her head back and laughs, hefting herself up into the truck. I pull two beers out of the cooler, popping the tops and passing one to her. She takes a drink and settles her back against the side of the bed, her legs kicked out in front of her and crossed at the ankles. I take the same position on the opposite side of the truck, taking a long pull from my beer before speaking.
“So, I take it you’re having fun?” I ask her, a grin tugging at my lips.
“I really, really am,” she answers, taking a swig of her beer and sitting it beside her. “I never thought I’d go mudding and enjoy it, but here we are. Thank you.” She tips her head, smiling at me.
“Anything to see that smile.”
Her cheeks start to turn red and she changes the subject by looking around us.
“It’s so quiet out here. How’d you even find this place?”
“I stumbled upon it right after I lost Zoe. Some nights when I thought Aria would never fall asleep, I’d load the kids up in the truck and just drive, sometimes until two or three A.M. On one of my drives I saw a for sale sign on a few acres of woods, there was a clearing that cut off from the main road in between the fields. And on nights when I just needed to breathe after the kids fell asleep in the truck, I would pull over and just sit there, listening to the crickets chirping and the bullfrogs croaking.” I clear my throat, thinking about that time in my life. How painful it was to know that all these kids had was me and I had to hope that I didn’t royally screw it up.
I keep talking, “Zoe had been gone just a few months and that pain was still so fresh. I didn’t think I’d ever get through it.” I finish speaking and let my eyes fall on Lex and I can see the sympathy etched on her face. She wipes the tears off her cheeks and crawls across the bed of the truck and climbs onto my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck and resting her head on my shoulder.
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that all alone. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been.” She leans back and lets her fingers fall to the nape of my neck, her eyes bouncing back and forth between mine before she leans in and presses a kiss to my lips. There’s so much emotion behind it, the hurt of my lost wife, the trials and tribulations she’s faced that brought her to Monroeville.
I take control, sliding my hands under her shirt and running my fingers access her stomach, slipping my tongue into her mouth and pressing her body into me. This. This and my kids are the only thing I need.
She shifts so she’s straddling me and I run my hands up her back, unhooking her bra. She breaks the kiss and leans back, her eyes darting around us in the darkness. “Listen, I am all for a little exhibitionism every now and then, but aren’t we going to get in trouble for being here?” She asks while still rocking herself against my growing erection. I lean in and nip at her lower lip.
“I know the owner,” I say, dragging her shirt up and over her head and tossing it aside. I slide her bra the rest of the way down her arms and it joins her shirt. Leaning down, I flick her nipple with my tongue and hear her breathing start to get shallow.
“Slow down, slow down,” she pants as she grips my hair, effectively holding me against her while her words state the opposite. “You’re sure… oh my god yesss,” she hisses as I palm her tit and pluck her hardened peak,
I twist her hair with my hand and give it a hard tug and her eyes meet mine. “I’m the owner, Lex. I bought five acres. Now please, let me fuck you.” I end the statement with a bruising kiss and she becomes frantic, tugging my shirt out of my jeans and up and over my head. Scraping her nails down my chest, she flicks the buttons on my jeans and backs off of my lap to do the same with her own. We both finish stripping and I lay her back gently on the blankets I had spread out, kissing her shoulder and sweeping her hair out of the way. I kiss my way up to her neck, relishing every little whimper and moan coming from her.
