“I have a question.” I said to him as I lay naked in his arms, my fingers playing with his light spread of fine chest hair.
We have done nothing but lie there and talk after our love making. Both exhausted and slick with sweat, we tangled our legs and stole little kisses in between conversation. I could not stop touching his face. It was so soft and silky, smooth and clean. I could not believe he had a face underneath all that wire of hair before.
He had told me about the microwave dinners he had tried cooking for the boys, forgetting to peel off the foil wrapping, and then needing to buy a new microwave after it blew up.
I laughed. It felt so good.
It felt wonderful to lie in his arms and just feel happy again.
We talked more about Harvey and Karen, his plan to have the boys on a more permanent basis, and even of a weekend away to his parents. He was really trying. I could not wait to tell people we were engaged. However, I was not too sure if people would be impressed that Griffin had proposed on the bathtub floor in a seedy motel room, where we then proceeded to have some dirty, horny sex. Oh, well.
He stroked my hair softly. “What’s that, pretty?” I loved when he called me that. It was more personal.
“If you were at the bar tonight, and Karen too… where are the boys?”
His answer was not immediate, but it was as if the wheels in his head began to turn, realising that they were both out without the kids. “That’s a good question. She was meant to have them tonight.”
“She’s been at the bar every night this past week.” My hand paused. “She wouldn’t leave them alone, would she?”
“She’s had the kids every night. I’ve been flat out at work. I kind of threw myself into it.” He sat up, searching around for something and then sighed. “I left my phone at the house. I can’t call them.”
I looked at him cautiously, knowing that he was beginning to worry. I had to put aside my bitter feud with that woman and do this for him. “Do you want to go back there?” I asked.
He turned to me, raising a brow. “You hate that house if I remember correctly.”
Point taken. “You know why.” The ogre from across the road was the reason why. “But we’re technically engaged.” Things will be different this time.
“There’s no technical about it, pretty. We are engaged.” He lay back down, pulling the blanket over us both. “Let’s get some sleep. There’s nothing much we can do at four am, anyway.”
“It’s that early?” Time went by fast. I liked this bubble that we were in, just us.
His arm slid underneath the pillow my head laid on as he turned to his side, pulling me flush against his front. My back was to his front, and my ass was against his groin. Both of us were very naked. “I don’t want to sleep.”
“Me either,” he whispered back, and I turned in his arms again.
“You’re not going to regret it, will you?” I asked timidly.
“No.” He knew what I was referring to.
I closed my heavy eyes as I lay against his chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat underneath my ear. Today, last night... It was hitting me all of a sudden. I was utterly exhausted. “You didn’t pull out.”
“I was going to,” he said, brushing his lips against my forehead. “But then I couldn’t stop picturing you pregnant and how beautiful you’d look.”
“Mmm.” I smiled. I liked that. I really liked that a lot. “Promise you won’t change your mind when I wake up?” I was afraid it was all just a big dream.
“Promise. Now go to sleep.”
Peeking through one open eye up at him, I tilted my head back and held him tighter. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
I fell into a deep, completely sated sleep. Nothing felt so good to lie here, completely relaxed and at peace. It felt as though all my previous worries were vanishing away. We had grown so much in the time we spent apart, and I was not the only one who suffered. He suffered too in his own way. I can only hope that from here on out, we grow and take the steps forward to keep our relationship strong.
***
My body was not awake yet. It wanted to stay asleep, but someone had other ideas.
“Wake up. We’ve got to get up.”
“No…” I moaned, not wanting to move. “Sleeping… Too tired..” I was so not a morning person especially when I did not have coffee around.
“It’s almost check out. Come, and you can sleep back at the house.”
My eyes flung open but closed again. I was trying to force myself to wake up. This happened at least four times. Each time, Griffin was still in the same spot, watching me.
Trying to pull the cover up to just below my chin, I gave a little pout. “I don’t want to get out. I’m nice and snuggly.”
“And here I thought you were excited to see this ring I’ve brought you. Very well. I’ll go pay for another night then.”
“No.” I was up. “I’m getting dressed.” I was not moving, just grinning at him. “I want to see the ring.”
We beat check out by three minutes. Griffin drove us back to his house—our old home together. I had spent the drive staring into the mirror, looking at the awful bruising forming around the top of my cheeks and underneath my eyes. Thank god I was a girl who had concealer at home.
She was not out the front when he pulled up, and when we walked up to the front door, she still was not outside. That was new. Maybe she did not feel the need to pry on him because she assumed we were still broken up and over.
Oh, if only she knew.
Standing in the living room where we had had our last huge fight, a flood of memories surfaced again, and I swallowed, trying to pry them away. This was a clean start. We were starting over. We were both on the same page.
“You okay?” His arms slid around my waist, pulling me back against his chest.
Nodding, I rested my head underneath his chin. “I am. Tired, but I’m ok.”
“Let’s get you back to bed.”
Without warning, he picked me up and carried me down to the bedroom. Everything was the same here. Nothing had changed except for me. I moved out and was gone for a while. Other than that, there was no sign of us ever living together or a girl being in the house.
Once I sat down on the edge of the bed, I smiled, watching as he walked towards his bedside table and pulled open his drawer. Searching around, I noticed a bottle of lube being taken out. He reached further in and pulled out something else.
A red velvet box.
Turning towards me, he paused, looking clueless. “Now? Or do you want me to propose again? Maybe over dinner? Romance… I should do it that way.”
I stood, my smile not once faltering. “Griffin, put the ring on my finger before I go crazy waiting. You proposed perfectly.” I did not want him to ask me any another way. The way he did it in the shower... it was perfect, full of emotion and so him.
The lid on the box opened, and I began to feel nervous. My eyes dropped down, and I felt every ounce of emotion I carried spring to life as he began to take out the ring with his large fingers.
“Hold out your hand,” he whispered. His voice was showing his nerves. “If you don’t like it, we can take it back. You don’t wear rings, and we’d never really spoken about them. I didn’t know what you would like, so I just went for pretty and expensive, and I remember you wanted sparkles.” Sitting the box back on the dresser, he reached for my hand and slid the ring onto my finger.
Perfect fit.
Perfect ring.
Perfect man.
“I love it.” It was stunning: rose gold, pear-shaped, and covered with little glistening diamonds. “You chose really well.”
“Are you sure? Tell me if you don’t like it, though. You said white gold, but I liked this one.”
“Oh, I definitely love it.”
A squeal escaped my throat as I held my hand up and wiggled my fingers, making it sparkle even more. My arms flew around him, and he picked me up and carried me back to the bed.
“I can’t wait to marry you.” I could not wait.
He grinned back. “Me either. Now, I want to fuck you wearing only that ring.”
I laughed at that. With my back securely on the bed, he began tugging down my jeans and throwing them on the floor. “I want to see how good my ring looks as I’m holding your cock in my hand. Up here, baby!”
His cock looked amazing.
***
I called my parents, letting them know that I was alive and safe. I left out the staying with Griffin part, which was a conversation for when we are in person. I could not spring it on them over the phone. There was also our engagement, but I wanted to tell them that in person too.
Standing in the kitchen wearing a shirt of Griffin’s and none underneath, he walked in as mum was talking about some cake she made that did not rise. Mid-conversation, my fiancé walked in wearing just a pair of tight boxers, and I looked up then back down. He was rock hard, again.
Arousal was taking over me as he came at me like a predator, pushing his body against my ass. His hands were starting to slide underneath his shirt. I had to end the call now. “Umm… Mum, I’ve got to go.”
“Are you sure you’re okay, honey?” she asked. Jesus, yes. More than freaking okay.
“Promise, I’ll see you both later.”
Ending the call and placing my phone back on the bench, I leant forwards as he ran his hard length up between my folds and slammed inside me. We both cried out in pleasure.
“Your mum… you told her?” he asked, easing back out again.
Don’t stop. “No.. I have to go back later today.”
Only the head of him was inside me, so I tried to move backwards, wanting to engulf him completely, but he would not let me. “You’re going back?”
“Mmm… Please, can we discuss this when I’m not twenty seconds away from coming?”
His hot breath blew against my ear. “Move back in. I can’t stand being away from you any longer.”
“Griffin…” I don’t want to live here. “It’s just...”
“Fuck me.” A deep thrust, and his cock was buried to the hilt. “We’ll move.”
And that was how we decided to move and buy a house together.
I was sore and tired, and my thighs were killing me. We had fucked, fucked, and fucked some more. I was absolutely fucked and literally unable to move. I passed out once we had our second shower for the day, and did not wake up again until his room was dark, and it was quiet.
Wandering into the living room, I saw him sitting on the couch with his legs propped up on the ottoman, cradling a laptop on his lap. Thank god. I could not do another round. My legs ached too much.
“Hey, you.” I smiled, still half asleep. I took my spot beside him.
“Slept well?” he asked, turning to place a kiss on my forehead.
“Mm, I did. When did you get up?” I never heard or felt him move.
“Under an hour ago. I ordered some Chinese for us and then thought I would reply to emails before you wake up and drag me back to bed.” He smiled.
Chinese. Yum. “I’m starving, and maybe we could look at houses?”
Eying me, he lifted his arm and wrapped it around my shoulder. “Ayla, you do know what I do for a living, right? Why don’t we look at styles and build?”
“I work in a café; I can’t afford to build a mansion.” I pointed out. He knew this already.
“Stop worrying about the price and just look. You might see something you like. There is a lot of nice houses to design that doesn’t cost a fortune.”
Easy for him to say. “I’m only worrying, because—”
Sighing, he went back to his laptop search. “You’re not like her. So stop thinking you are and get the door. Dinner’s here.”
I laughed. “How do you know that?” I asked just as there was a knock on the door. Dragging myself back up, I called out and walked around the couch to the front door. “Fine. Make sure there’s a walk-in pantry, and I want an en-suite for us with a huge bathtub!” If he wanted a list, I’d give him a list.
“Money’s in my wallet,” he added.
My head bowed, searching through his wallet for a fifty as I pulled open the door. I went to hand it over—until my eyes locked with the ‘delivery man.’ It wasn’t a man, nor was it our Chinese. She looked surprised to see me and shot me a glare. This would be interesting to see.
“Griffin,” I called out. My nose could not handle another hit. “It’s for you.”
“What?” he asked and peered his head over the couch. “Shit. Karen, what are you doing here?” He was up and off the couch in seconds, heading to us at the door.
“I… I… Oh, I came to talk about the custody arrangements.”
She was not here for that; I could tell.
“Now isn’t a good time,” he replied. “We’re about to eat.”
Speaking of food, the delivery guy turned up. About time. She moved aside as the young guy handed us two bags of food, and I eyed Griffin. How much food do you think we’re going to eat? He shrugged and took the bags as I handed the money.
Should have realised that as I was reaching towards the guy with the money in my hand, someone was going to notice the huge diamond sparkling her way. Her mouth opened and snapped shut.
“Enjoy!” The young guy grinned after Griffin had told him to keep the change.
“You’re… back together?” she asked, her words coming out like bile up her throat.
I nodded, and Griffin did the talking. “Yes. We’re getting married.”
Her eyes snapped to mine. Oh, boy. “You’re marrying her? Are you fucking kidding me! How do you think the boys feel about that? You know you can’t just decide all this on your own without consulting me. I am affected by this too. I don’t feel comfortable with her around my children, Griffin.”
“Excuse me?” he asked with a steady voice. “I don’t have to ask shit from you. I’m a grown man. I make my own choices. Speaking of the boys, where were they last night?”
Oh, yes. She’d been out. Her eyes narrowed. “They’re old enough to take care of themselves. I was out for an hour. After that, I came back home.” I did not like that one bit. Those boys should still be watched. Maybe I was being over protective.
“After you decided to go to Ayla’s work and attack her? You should have been with them, Karen. That’s irresponsible.”
She snorted. “Don’t talk to me about being irresponsible, drag racing! You deserved getting busted.” She smirked. She so told on him. Then her gaze came to me. “Oh, and if you mean after I kicked her ass, then yes, exactly.” She was grinning. “How’s the face?”
I was not going to give her the glory of knowing it hurt like hell. I just ignored her and turned to Griffin. “I’m going to take the food and keep looking at houses while you take out the trash.” Yes, I called her trash. Petty, but Griffin chuckled.
He stepped outside, half-closing the door, and I could hear them well. She was never one for whispering as her voice screeched at him loudly.
“How could you go propose to her? She’s a child.”
He scoffed in disgust. “She’s far from a child. It’s none of your business, Karen. The boys love her, and so do I. You need to stop trying to assume there’s something here between us.” He went quiet. “I don’t love you.”
“You used to…” She pleaded, and my stomach knotted in jealousy that should not be there. “Don’t you want your children to have a family? A proper family with both their parents together?”
I listened hard for his answer as I scrolled down on the laptop, pretending to be searching for houses.
He finally replied after a moment’s silence. “I thought I loved you, Karen, but we were young, and I just thought with my dick. You tricked me by getting pregnant, and I stuck around for the sake of the kids. That’s all. I’m sorry, but I can’t give up my life just for the sake of our children. It wouldn’t be fair, and they deserve to know what a family is really like, not one where their Mum and Dad are yelling and sleeping in separate rooms.”
“You can’t give them a proper family life with Ayla. She’s not their mother.”
He cut her off. “She’s a mother to them. She may not be biologically related, but she loves them as her own, Karen. You just assume the worst in her. I wouldn’t have asked her to marry me if I didn’t think that part through.”
“She’s not their mother.” She seethed in anger. “You hear me, bitch! You’re not their fucking mother!”
I just sat there and did not bother to react. I knew I wasn’t. If only she knew Mack called me mum, she would blow a fuse big time.
“Karen, enough. You need to go home to the children. If you have anything else to say to me, speak to my lawyer. I’m done. I gave you whatever you wanted, and you fucked me over with it.”
“I want you,” she whispered. “You’ll pay for this if you marry her, I mean it.”
“Goodbye, Karen.”
I heard the door close shut and the lock flick over. It was time to change the subject for him. “So, I think I found one I really like. I’m just spending like you’ve got money to burn.”
He smirked, coming back beside me. “Oh, yeah? Is that so?”
I turned and looked at him. His hand reached up and caressed my cheek. “I love you, Ayla.”
“I love you.”
“I’m sorry about Karen,” he said apologetically. “She’s delusional. I’m sorry I didn’t see it before.”
I nodded, thinking of all the drama it could have saved us if he did. “I think she’s been hoping you’ll go back to her. It’s only hitting her now that it’s not going to happen. Let’s not talk about her. I just want to focus on us.” I did not want her to put a damper on our evening together.
Not when I had my new shiny ring to stare at all day.
“Do you want to keep looking? Maybe we can go and do some more baby making?” he asked, wiggling his brows.
I laughed loudly. “Is that what we’ve been doing all day, huh?” I said, smiling as I nuzzled my nose against his. “How about we eat and keep looking at houses? Then maybe we can go give the ovaries a good shake up.”
With a swift kiss, he smiled and pulled away. “Sounds like a plan to me, pretty. Now, let’s see what I ordered. God, I’m hungry, and you need to eat.”
He soon began digging through the delicious smelling bags of takeout. He had ordered all my favourites. Our night consisted of sitting on the couch, eating Chinese, and going through pages of homes to buy.
Turning to me, he moved the laptop from my lap. I eyed him cautiously. “Follow me.” He stood, helping me up as well.
“What are we doing?” I asked as he led me down to the office.
“Do you remember the house I’ve been so busy building? The one out on a couple acres?”
“The really perfect one with everything in it?” I smiled, unable to forget that. “Have the owners moved in yet?”
He looked up, walking over with a black folder of paperwork. “How about next week?”
I did not understand. “Huh?”
“How about we move in next week?” He opened the folder, revealing drawings and interior designs. “It was for Christmas, but since it is finished now, why don’t we move in next week?”
Then, it began to sink in.
“You built this house?” He nodded. “For us?” He nodded again. “So we were moving all along?”
“Yes. I was building us a home, a place away from here.” He placed a hand over mine, squeezing gently. “I knew you weren’t happy here, Ayla. I wanted to surprise you.”
“Oh, Griffin!” I threw my arms around him, drawing him in. “I would love to move there, definitely.”
It was a perfect night in, but even though we were in our own bubble of happiness, I had a feeling in the back of my mind that the perfect bubble, was about to burst.