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“It’s locked. Piper is hogging the bed. So, I’m gonna sit on the floor and wrap a blanket around me.” Cammy isn’t wrong. I’ve had my youngest niece lie on the couch with me a time or two. She kicks and punches in her sleep, so while Piper might say she’s hogging the bed, the truth is no one wants to get hurt with the way Piper moves and spins around.
“Are you all bundled up?” I ask.
“Yep. How much longer?” I’m going as fast as I can without getting pulled over to prolong the process. That doesn’t mean I’m as close as I’d like to be.
“Not too far out now. Do you want me to call the grands? They’re closer,” I offer.
“That’s okay. Daddy said if we’re ever scared to call you.” That doesn’t surprise me. Mom had a heart attack last year, stress and worry being the culprit, which she still has, so inserting herself into a situation that could create more as well wouldn’t help.
“How was your day at school?” Maybe this will help pass the time and keep her mind preoccupied. I half-heartedly listen to my niece while the tires eat up the pavement until I’m finally pulling into their subdivision. Even then, I don’t hang up with her. I won’t do that until I know my brother and his children are safe.
SEVENTEEN
Hendrix
“So,did you resolve everything with Madden last night?” Journey asks the next day at work. I don’t bother responding. I’m so annoyed with myself and the situation which I’ve created. Stupid men, stupid hormones, and stupid me. I know Journey is not going to let me stay quiet. It’s not in her nature. Especially since she and Nico are in happily-ever-after land. If I give in to her too quickly, she’ll be singing that song about kissing in a tree, and I do not want that to happen.
After sprinting out of the restaurant last night, I went home, where I could tell all of my woes to my girl, Jolene. The best part about having a best friend who doesn’t talk back in human form is that there’s zero judgement. You can tell your four-legged friend anything, and all they’ll do is listen. I mean, maybe they’ll cock their head to the side in a ‘what the hell are talking about’ way, but for the most part, it’s exactly what most people need. After I greeted Jolene, I was immediately unzipping my dress, bending down to unclasp my high heels that wrapped around my ankles. Then I was marching my ass to the shower, taking a cold one, refusing to touch myself even though I was still burning hot. Madden gave me one orgasm, I repeatone, and now I’m, well, I don’t know what the hell I am.
Ignorance is bliss as I hum to myself, make a cup of coffee before pulling the ingredients out to cook us breakfast. Eggs, bread, bacon, fruit, avocado, butter, along with a gamut of seasonings.
“Uh, Hendrix, honey. Is there a team coming over for a meeting I’m unaware of?” Journey asks. I’m so lost in my task, trying to ignore the giant elephant in the room. I know I’m going to have to come clean about the whole Madden incident last night, but that won’t be right now. It doesn’t help the matter that I’m exhausted after constantly tossing and turning all night, punching my pillow to fluff it, turning it over for it to be nice and cold. Nothing helped. Now this is where I am.
“Nope, just hungry, is all,” I reply casually, which I am. No dinner makes a girl act crazy, clearly.
“Well, help yourself. I’ve got a phone conference in ten minutes.” Journey side-eyes me, a smirk on her face.
“You’re early. The meeting was postponed by an hour. Something about time zones and they wouldn’t be ready at this hour. It makes no sense to me because they’re three hours ahead of us, but maybe it’s their lunch break?” I sent Journey the text first thing this morning when I was thrumming through emails while lazing around in bed. Jolene was curled at my feet, not budging in the least. It worked well because some days, her zoomies take hold, and we’re out the back door the second her eyes open.
“Huh, how did I miss that text? I bet it was while Nico and I were in the shower.”
“Nobody likes a bragger, you know,” I toss at her with a laugh. Journey is the absolute best.
“If you’d quit dragging your ass around acting like something big didn’t happen last night, I wouldn’t have to talk about myself. Come, tell Auntie Journey all of your deep, dark secrets.” Okay, now my friend and boss is acting like a loon.
“Auntie Journey? Is this another Nico-ism I should be concerned with? And last night was a complete disaster. I’m embarrassed at how I behaved. I should have done some digging around the deep dark web, found out his address, dropped the money in his mailbox, and carried on with life.” I aggressively crack two eggs into the frying pan, then go after the bread to place in the toaster. “I fucked up, okay? I mean, I know it happens to the best of us, but this was so out of place. The whole situation has been, really. Madden is a freaking enigma. I mean, nine times out of ten, I want nothing to do with the man, except my traitorous vagina and hormones have other plans. So, what do I do after I have an out-of-this-world orgasm? I run. What is wrong with me? Why am I like this? I mean, my ex was a piece of shit; I made peace with that. Have I become this hag of a woman who feels like every man is gum on the bottom of her shoe?” I take a deep breath. Journey doesn’t say anything, allowing me to be my flamboyantly dramatic self. “I don’t feel like I am. I love Wylder, Nico, and Mace like brothers, so seriously, what in the actual fuck is wrong with me?” After all this ranting and raving, my appetite has diminished. I put away half of the shit I was going to make, minus the eggs, fruit, and toast. There’s no need for bacon and avocado. Journey isn’t eating, so breakfast for one is coming right up.
“Wow, that’s a lot to lay out. I think you’ve been holding that in for far too long, and so what? You got an orgasm. There’s no orgasm police saying you can’t get yours. Though, I really think you could have done with maybe two or three more.” I glare at here as I butter the toast. “What? I’m just saying, multiple is better than singular.” Nico has unleashed the freaky side in Journey.
“That was a probability until I came on his fingers and then ran out of The Hyacinth right after without staying for dinner,” I admit.
“Wow. Did you even give him the money back you were so insistent on repaying?” I drop my head, not saying a word. Another reason I’m annoyed with myself. “Wow, Madden really had you all worked up. I guess if you want to be done with him, you can just lose his number, take it as a gift, or you could call him to make things right.” Journey leaves me to sit and stew on those parting words. I stomp my foot and take a bite of my food, pouting by myself. Friends are such a pain in the ass, especially when they’re right.
EIGHTEEN
Madden
I went aheadand took the rest of the week off after the shit at my brother’s house went down, having to call the police and giving a statement as to what I saw, then calling my parents. Luckily, we managed to sneak the girls out of the house without them seeing their mom in the back of a cop car and their father in need of stitches from what Krissy did to him. It’s going to be a long fucking road ahead of him, especially since Krissy found out about the divorce and this was the catalyst. Having to call our parents was inevitable, much to Forest’s annoyance. Once I told him the girls needed a place to sleep without all the noise and it would take hours along with a call to his attorney after hours, there was no way I’d leave him by himself. It was either the girls go with our parents and I stay with him, or I take the girls and our parents stay with him.
That didn’t mean the rest of my week would have me sequestered in my house. Forest called this morning, giving me a story about how Cammy would like to spend time with me, which means Piper would, too. The call came early. I’m talking the sun was barely shining when the phone was ringing off the hook. Cammy came on the line when my brother handed her the phone, saying she needed her uncle, no matter that she had her dad and grandparents right beside her.
So, after taking care of Cooper and grabbing a quick shower, I was off to my parents’ house, where they fed us breakfast, and I chugged the black coffee like it was a lifeline after only getting a few hours of sleep. How Forest looked mostly human with a busted lip, stitches along his eyebrow, and a black eye, I’ll never know.
“Cammy, do you want your floaties on?” I ask, knowing if the girls are in the water, that’s where we’ll be until both girls are waterlogged and falling asleep.
“No, me jump and swim!” She does a little happy dance around the pool deck. The girls are waiting for their sunscreen to dry. Even with a pool screen enclosure, my nieces won’t be getting burned on my watch.
“Are you sure? I’m not going to get in and out of the pool a hundred times,” I tell Piper. Cammy already knows her sister’s game and goes to grab the floaties out of the pool deck box that holds all of their toys and floats.
