Chapter Thirty-Five
When I got home, I found her asleep on the couch. She was still dressed, and her eyes were reddened and swollen. My chest ached, and my stomach turned with uneasiness.
I slowly lifted her from the couch and carried her toward our room. As I lowered her to the bed she stirred and pulled away. “No.” One word was all she spoke as she curled away from me.
“Let me help you get undressed. I’ll leave ya alone after that. I promise.” I slipped her shoes from her feet and carefully slid her jeans down her legs.
She held her eyes closed tightly, not even attempting to sneak a glance. My throat burned more with each second that ticked by. At this moment I found myself wishing I had gone with my instincts and locked her up earlier in our room. We would have missed out on all the drama.
I decided it was probably best that I slept on the couch for the night. I changed out of my clothes and grabbed a pillow and blanket from the closet. Stretching out on the couch, I couldn’t shut my mind off. I didn’t know what time it was when I actually fell asleep. I just knew that it felt like it took forever.
I woke to the smell of coffee and movement in the kitchen. Looking up over the back of the couch, I found Kori standing at the sink. She was fully dressed and filling up a travel mug. Oh, hell no, she wasn’t running off. We were going to work through this.
I pushed up off the couch and walked right up behind her. I caged her in against the sink. “Can we talk?” She only shook her head and added creamer to her coffee. I stared at the contents of her cup as the dark brown liquid changed to light tan. There was more sugar and creamer than actual coffee. “I’m sorry.” I whispered against her neck, igniting goose bumps to rise over her skin.
She pushed back against me with her hips, causing me to step back. She walked toward the refrigerator and placed the creamer back inside. Pausing at the sink once more, she screwed the lid onto her cup and walked into the living room. Grabbing for her keys and purse, she slid on her shoes.
“Where are you going?” She continued to ignore me, and I stepped in between her and the front door. “Tell me how to fix this.”
Her beautiful, tormented eyes locked with mine, and my throat tightened. “Do you really think I enjoyed that man’s attention last night? Do you think I wanted our night to end up like that? Like it was some game I was trying to play to make you jealous?”
“No.” I lifted my hand toward her face, and she turned from it. “Kori, let’s talk this through.”
She shook her head and looked down at the floor. “Not right now, I can’t. I’m gonna get Rhett and take him back to my place.” The nauseated feeling filled my stomach with the thought of her moving back home.
“Don’t do this.” I was panicking, and I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. “Don’t leave me over this. Please, I’m sorry. I fucked up, okay?” I was begging her to stay and work this out.
Her eyes met mine once more, and they were filled with moisture. “I’m not leaving you. I just can’t talk to you right now. I’m still angry with you. When people are angry they say things they don’t mean. I don’t want to do that. I’m going back to my place and spend the day going through things, packing.” She took in a shuddering breath. “I just need some distance right now. I need to get past the hurt before I can talk to you sensibly.”
She stood up onto her tiptoes and placed a kiss on my jaw. I closed my eyes tightly, and my stomach coiled once again.
“I’ll see you later,” she said just above a whisper.
I watched her walk toward her car. I was left standing in the doorway as she backed down the drive and drove away.
“What’d you do, boy?” My father walked up the side of the deck looking all pissed off. “From the look on that girl’s face and yours, I’d say you screwed up.”
“You could say that. I blame it all on the Jackson blood in me. There’s a whole line of mean bastards, and that runs in my veins,” I responded as I looked back toward the empty drive, wishing for just a moment that she was still there. Coming up empty, I turned back to my front door.
My dad didn’t let the door shut, he followed right behind me. “Well, you gonna tell me or make me beat it outta ya?”
“Enough bull, old man.” I grabbed two mugs and filled them with coffee. I carried them to the table, and we both took a seat. I spent the next half hour filling him in on our night. Then I spent the next fifteen minutes after that getting lectured on how to treat a lady.
“Grab your damn pole, boy. Let’s get out Old Benny and let him soothe your soul. You’re gonna need to be calm and collected when Kori is ready to talk.” I shook my head and followed him toward the barn, gathering up our fishing tackle. A day of fishing with my old man sounded like a good idea. I needed something to pass the time.
***
When six o’clock rolled around and there was still no Kori or Rhett, I got worried. I grabbed my phone and called her. After the third ring she picked up. “Hello.”
“You coming home?” I asked.
She was silent for a moment, and the nervousness within my stomach only grew. “In a little while. Dad brought his trailer over, and we loaded some things up. He’s gonna drive it over and just leave it there so I can unload everything.”
I bit my tongue because I didn’t want her to know that it pissed me off. She didn’t ask for my help, and that bothered me. I knew she was upset with me already, so I let it slide. “You do know I would’ve helped, right?”
“Yeah, I came back home to get Rhett’s bag. I saw you and your dad out on the lake fishing. I didn’t want to interrupt. My dad offered when I called him to get a screwdriver.” I chuckled thinking about Kori with tools.
“I still would’ve helped, baby. But I understand why you didn’t ask me.” I took a deep breath and waited, but nothing came.
“I miss you guys,” I admitted.
“We’ll be home in less than an hour,” she replied and said a quick goodbye.
This entire situation sucked beyond explanation, and it was killing me. I was pissed off at myself for acting so aggressive last night.
I sat on the couch mindlessly flipping through the channels. Nothing was grabbing my attention until I heard the car doors outside. I jumped up quickly and marched toward the door. I saw Kori’s dad unhook the trailer and give her a quick hug, before getting in his truck to leave.
I walked out to the front porch and approached her car. Rhett was barely hanging on as his head fell from side to side. He was exhausted, and I hated that I had missed his entire day. I stepped up beside her and placed my hand on her lower back. “Let me get him to bed. I haven’t seen him in over twenty-four hours. You could go in, take a shower, and relax if you want. I can carry in some of this stuff for ya.”
She nodded in agreement and pulled Rhett’s bag from the floorboard. I watched as she walked up the stairs and went inside.
Turning back to the car, I carefully lifted Rhett from his seat and took him inside to get settled. After I put his pajamas on and kissed his forehead, he turned toward the wall and gave up.
I could hear the shower running just down the hall. Before I could analyze my movements, I was walking in that direction. Gripping the hem of my shirt, I lifted it over my head and dropped it to the floor. Sliding my pants and boxers down, I let them pool at my feet. I had to fix this, the void was insufferable. It couldn’t go on.
I slid the shower door to the side and stepped in behind her. She didn’t turn to face me, but I could see her shoulders shaking. I wrapped my body around hers from behind and held her to my chest. She shuddered against me, and I felt like I was being gutted.
“I’m so sorry I was an ass. I handled it wrong, all wrong. I was mad that he touched you. Then I was pissed that he acted as if I had no say in what happened with you. The guy fueled my anger, and I just needed him to know you are mine.” I buried my face in her hair and breathed her in.
“I said things I didn’t mean. You are not a possession to me, baby. You are the woman I’m so deeply in love with, and when it comes to you, I lose my mind. I just need to fix this, I need to make it right. Please tell me what I can do.” I pleaded for her to help me.
She turned in my arms, and her eyes met mine. “Make love to me.”
Her lips crashed against mine before I could respond. I gave everything I could over to her. I tried to show her within our kiss, our touch, just what she meant to me. The love I felt for her was so deep, raw, and uncontrollable.
Lifting her up by placing my hands under her ass, she wrapped her legs around my waist. Lowering her over my hardness, I slid in deep with ease. A tear fell down her cheek, and I kissed it away. “Forgive me, please, Kori. I need you to forgive me.” She nodded and kissed me softly.
Our bodies began to move together with the perfect rhythm.
“I’m sorry too. I know you meant well,” she whispered in my ear. “I love you, I need you.”
“You have me, you have me,” I declared as I looked into her eyes. Then we lost ourselves in the pleasure our bodies were creating.