Simply Us
Four Months Later
~Caroline~
Don’t ask questions you are not prepared for the answers to—Tessie’s biggest piece of advice when dealing with Rex. Of all the things she could tell me, she gives me that.
Four months ago, when Rex came to pick me up from Shooter’s, that is what Tessie said to me. “Don’t ask questions you’re not prepared for the answers to. Sometimes, it’s best we don’t know.”
Rex climbed off his bike, and I was at his side before he could hang his helmet on the handlebars. I watched him as he watched me. In that moment, our world stopped around us, and it was only the two of us.
“You gonna stand there and stare all night, or are you gonna come over here and kiss me?” he asked, arrogant as usual.
“Thought you’d be home sooner. Maybe I wanna make you wait a little longer,” I teased back.
“Been a long ride, Lux. One that brought me right back here to you.”
“Funny, you’ve said that to me before.” I stepped closer to him.
He reached out and pulled me into him as his lips crashed down on mine. Wrapping my hands around his neck, I held onto him as we got lost in each other.
“Not you, too!” Axel cried out from behind us. “First my mom and Shooter always kissin’ when they think no one is looking, and now I gotta deal with my dad and Lux.”
“Caroline,” Tessie corrected. “Her name is Caroline.”
“Hey, Dad says she is the deluxe model woman. You are, too, Momma, don’t worry. You’re like the Cadillac of cars, so we can call you Caddy if it makes ya feel better.”
I pulled away from Rex to burst out laughing as Axel approached. Rex yanked me into him again, placing a quick kiss on my forehead.
“I’m always comin’ back to you, Lux. Always.”
With that, I stepped aside so Rex could scoop Axel up in a giant hug. He set him down, and I laughed as the energy radiated off the little boy to have his dad home.
“We gotta fix Lux. You can’t leave her here like this again. She broke the code, Dad.” Axel quickly threw me under the bus. “She helped Momma make oatmeal.”
“Sweets for breakfast is part of the guy code, Axel. Of course Lux has to make oatmeal. That’s what all the girls do. It’s training for motherhood and shit.”
“Shhhh … Man, you’re gonna get caught cussin’ around these broads. Momma’s threatening soap now. She got Lux over to the breakfast dark side”—Axel shakes his head dramatically—“so it’s only a matter of time before she fusses about the yucky words.”
We went inside to gather my things. I left Shooter and Tessie’s house that night, unsure of what my future would hold, and Rex took me to his place. He never asked me where I wanted to go, but truth be told, it didn’t matter where I went as long as I was with him.
I have been living with Rex for four months now. Higgins’s business closed, his house sold, and no one has seen or heard from him.
Don’t ask questions you’re not prepared for the answer to.
I don’t want to know what happened to him. I don’t need to know. I don’t have to look over my shoulder anymore. I don’t have to worry about him following me. The fear is gone.
The governor tried to get my mom to come to Aruba and live there as his housekeeper. She declined, and neither of us have heard from him since. DNA does not spell D-A-D. Sperm doesn’t make a man a father. Besides, I am doing just fine without him.
My past is my past. A glass house is covered in smudges if you look close enough. Tiny, almost invisible scratches mar the surface. No matter how you clean it and pretty it up, there will always be scratches right under the surface. However, my life is good now. For the first time, I am comfortable with who I am.
The invitation in my hand has me laughing.
“What’s so funny, Lux? Did someone send you a cock picture? It’s laughable in comparison to the D-Rex in my pants, isn’t it? Hey, we can’t all have a beast for a cock. No need to laugh.”
“No, Rex, no one sent me penis pictures.”
“Well, I can give you a live viewing of mine right now.” He winks at me.
“I’m sure you can, but I’m laughing because this is an invitation to a company dinner party for a client. I was thinking about how uncomfortable you were in the suit.” I walk over to him and wrap my arms around his waist. “Getting you out of it was fun.”
“Sweetheart, I’ll do anything for you as long as I don’t ever have to wear a suit again.”
“You aren’t gonna wear a suit when you marry me?” The words fly out of my mouth before I can fathom what I am saying.
Rex stiffens before pulling away to look down at me. “Lux, are you sayin’ you’ll marry me?”
Well, I am this far in, so why hold back now?
I bite on my top lip, holding it in for a moment. “Depends … Are you asking?”
~Rex~
Call me a pussy-whipped, pansy ass, motherfucker. I somehow got roped into getting engaged. How does the saying go? The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Well, I have long been on the path to Hell, and it has been filled with many good intentions.
Innocent intentions have given me everything I never thought I wanted. Sure, I wanted to fuck Lux the moment I laid eyes on her. Except, my plan was to keep her safe originally, not marry her.
When Doll told me to be a safety net, to give Lux a safe place to sort her shit, I did it without hesitation. I agreed to help her with this Chad guy, not to win her heart. No, nothing chivalrous or honorary. It was simple. Shake Chad up a bit so he would back off. It was innocent. Be her friend, give her security. It was pure. She has always been real with me, even when I didn’t want to hear it. What formed as a friendship has become my lifeline.
Pops always told us, “It’s not the woman you want to be within the moment with who is the one for you. No, boys, the woman you want to be with is the one you can’t be without. Wants, desires, needs, and dreams change over time. What you want today may not be what you want five years from now.
“The person who impacts your world in a way that won’t ever let go, that’s the woman for you—the woman who has such a hold you can’t imagine being without her. Finding someone to get by with, to settle with, is easy. Finding the one you can’t let go of, finding the one who challenges you to be a better man, that’s the one you make your wife.”
Looking into the eyes of the woman I can’t be without, I run my fingers over her jaw as I cup her face. “You want it, sweetheart, you got it.”
“Rex—” she whispers
I cut her off. “If you want me in a suit, consider it done. If you want me in a church, I’ll pray it doesn’t burn down before we finish. If you want me at the courthouse, I’ll be there. If you want my last name, it’s yours. If you want to be by my side to raise my son and give me more babies, I’ll give you a damn football team. Whatever you want, however you want it, you got it. We were supposed to be friends, innocent enough. Now, I stand here as a man who will give anything in this world to call you not my friend, not my lover—no, Lux. I’ll give anything to call you my wife.”
Tears fill her eyes while she tries to speak again; only, I shake my head at her.
“The ride isn’t easy. The ride isn’t smooth. The ride is about freedom, and I found my freedom in you. I love you, Caroline. If you want it, you gotta take it … so I ask, Lux, you takin’ my last name or what?”
While she giggles and nods her head, my heart swells as my lips find their way to hers. This is what love is. It is not the cars you drive or the house you provide. Love is two souls standing against all odds to support each other. I needed her as much as she needed me, maybe more.
This is our ride, and nothing can stand in our way.