Chapter 21

 

 

 

 

 

Drew and I dressed and walked out to the back yard to retrieve the mower. The yard really wasn’t that bad. Dawson had kept up on it throughout the summer. I primed the pump by pushing the little ball three times and had to explain to Drew why I did it.

“Where’s the key?” He wanted to know. I couldn’t help it. I laughed, really laughed. He couldn’t be that domesticated. No man was that ignorant.

“That’s it. We’re not friends anymore,” he determined and started walking away.

“I’m sorry. Come back. I promise not to laugh at you for the rest of the day.”

He wrapped his arm around my back and kissed me. “If you do, I’m going to bend you over my knee and beat your sexy little ass,” he promised.

Okay, maybe I would laugh at him again.

“Pull the handle,” I explained, pointing to the T-handle cord.

He pulled it gently and nothing happened. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing again.

“You’re asking for it,” he warned.

“Pull it like you mean it,” I coached, and held the handle to engage the blades. He did; it started right up. He grinned like he just passed a milestone or something. I know most women would have been turned off by his lack of manly mechanical ability, but I wasn’t. I thought it was cute.

“You’re ready,” I called over the loud motor. “Just go in straight rows, up and back,” I explained.

I watched as he made his first swipe. He had the biggest smile as he turned and mowed the next strip toward me.

“This is kind of fun,” he said, stopping to kiss me.

“Pull back on the handle and lift the front wheels when you turn,” I told him, still wrapped in one of his arms.

“Why?” he asked. That’s when I noticed Dawson parked across the road, standing by his cruiser with Lauren, both looking right at us.

I self-consciously stepped away from Drew. “So that you get a clean straight line without the curves,” I explained. He didn’t catch my sudden retreat and did what I told him to do.

I smiled over at Dawson. He sort of smiled back. He was hurt, and it was killing him to see me with Drew. Lauren just had a pitiful look. She didn’t like the hell that I was putting Dawson through.

I retrieved the weed eater from the shed and started doing the trimming while Drew mowed my yard. I wanted to walk across the road and go to Dawson, but I couldn’t, not at the time. I wouldn’t know what to say anyway.

Drew and I spent an hour in the yard, and then he helped me pull weeds from the flower bed, which surprised me. I was sure he had never in his life pulled a weed. I looked up to see Dawson backing out of Lauren’s driveway. He had his hand on his chin, staring right at me.

Drew helped me carry the car ramps to the driveway next. I really didn’t need them and wouldn’t have even bothered had he been a little more mechanically inclined. I placed the ramps in front of both tires. He was afraid of running over them, so I had to pull the car up.

“I can’t believe that I’m lying under a car in the gravel,” he said.

Our heads were side by side, and our feet hung out the front of the car. I thought it was extremely sexy for some reason.

“What do we do now?” he asked, moving his lips to mine. He must have thought that it was pretty hot too. He kissed me for at least three minutes.

“Are we changing the oil or are we going to get it on?” I asked, ready to say the hell with the oil.

He smiled on my lips. “I’m changing the oil. Tell me what to do.”

“This is the drain plug,” I pointed. “You have to take it out and let the old oil drain into the pan.” I had to tell him to back up before he got a face full of oil.

We stood by the car and waited for it to drain.

“Your friend left,” he said, looking over to Lauren’s.

“You noticed that?”

“Yes. I noticed, and I don’t like the way he looks at you,” he admitted.

“Will you buy me a new car so that I can drive to find my mother?” I asked, totally circumventing his comment.

He laughed. “No. I would rather you fly. I will get you a private flight.”

“I don’t want to fly. I want to drive. I drove all the way from Vegas to here in this car,” I explained. I did want to drive. I wanted the alone time to think, and try to figure out what road I should take in my fucked up life.

“I don’t like it, but, you don’t need me to buy you a car. You have enough money to buy every car on the lot. I will go with you though. I’m definitely not letting you drive this thing.”

“This has been the best car I have ever owned,” I assured him.

He laughed again. “How many cars have you owned, Mrs. Kelley?” he asked with a kiss.

I didn’t answer. It didn’t need an answer. It only needed my tongue, dancing with his.

“I never imagined an oil change could make me wet,” I said to his lips.

He took a step back. “You can’t say stuff like that.”

I laughed. “Why?”

“Because it makes me want to slide my fingers inside of those skimpy little shorts, and find out for myself.”

“Jesus, Drew. You can’t say stuff like that,” I demanded, using the same words.

He smiled. “Okay, that’s enough foreplay. Let’s get back to the oil change. What do I do now?”

I took the wrench for the filter and explained that we had to change the filter. He got it off, and was damn proud of himself for the small task of removing the old and securing the new filter. He backed the car off of the ramps, and I showed him where to add the new oil. He closed the hood, and we put the ramps away.

“Now can we go look for more of those jewels?” he asked.

“I’m kind of hungry. Can we eat first?”

“I guess so,” he whined.

We ate toasted cheese sandwiches with a jar of Starlight’s homemade tomato soup. Nobody made tomato soup like Starlight. It was the best soup in the world, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that either.

Drew and I walked down the rocky path toward the beach. I really hoped that he found a piece of sea glass. He was really excited about it, although I wasn’t too optimistic that he would. It didn’t get washed up very often.

I told him everything that John had told me about looking for it. We squatted at a gravel pile and carefully moved rocks looking for the dull glass. We had walked for quite a while, scavenging through the little rocks. He found a piece of shiny green glass with sharp edges. He was super excited. I hated to burst his bubble, but I had to.

“Yes!” he exclaimed wiping the dirt and grime away with sea water.

“That’s junk Drew,” I explained. “Throw it back and maybe someday it won’t be.”

“What do you mean it’s junk? It’s pretty,” he assured me.

“It’s nothing but a broken bottle. It hasn’t been ground or polished by sand and rock, and it doesn’t have any erosion from the salt water.”

He pouted with a long face and threw it back to the sea as hard as he could.

I was beginning to lose hope when we searched our seventh pile of graveling sand. I saw the black glass. My heart even started to pick up a few extra beats. I knew that the black glass was the rarest of all to find. I didn’t want to point it out. I wanted him to find it. He was just too excited about it.

My sneaker tapped, nervously, waiting for him to see what I was seeing. Black glass was so hard to find because it looked so much like a normal pebble. This piece however, showed the frosting from time and condition. I almost pointed it out when he picked it up and brushed his thumb across it.

“How about this?” he asked, looking up to me.

I feigned ignorance and took it from his hand. “Yes. Do you have any idea what you just found?” I asked. He stood, curious as I held it to the sun.

“What is it?” he asked.

I handed it back. “Hold it to the sun and you will see that it’s not actually black at all.”

“It’s purple,” he said. “Do you know what it’s from?”

“My guess is an old medicine bottle, at least a hundred years old.” I explained how they were made with iron slag. Because of no refrigeration back then, they made the bottles stronger and more resistant to shattering. The dark bottles kept the harsh conditions “I found a rare piece?” he asked with a boyish grin.

“The rarest,” I assured him. “That piece may have even come all the way from Italy.”

“Wow. Really?” he asked, looking at his treasure through the sun again.

“Yup,” I smiled at his excitement.

“I’m going to have a necklace made out of it.”

“Are we done hunting sea glass?” I asked. We had been there for almost three hours. I was hot and needed something to drink.

“Yeah, but I kind of wanted to climb that rock,” he said, pointing to the peak, where the sea only let you cross at a certain time of the day.

“You’re joking,” I said, hoping that he was.

“No. Come on,” he said, placing his new treasure safely in his pocket, pulling my hand.

“Drew, we can’t climb that rock. One of us is going to get hurt.”

 “I’m a doctor,” he said, ignoring me.

 I didn’t laugh. This was not just a little rock. This was a cliff. There was no way we were going to make it to the top without breaking our necks.

I complained the whole walk back, protesting his mission. He won.

Drew made me go first, and I slowly and carefully chose where to put my fingers and toes. This was ridiculous. This was the type of rock that you wore harnesses and had security ropes for when you fell. We were going to fall. There was no doubt in my mind. Maybe that was the plan. If I fell to my death rock climbing with my husband, he would inherit all of my fortunes. I started to panic, wondering if I was climbing my way to my death.

“Morgan?” Drew said, grunting from behind me, pulling himself higher up the sea cliff.

“What,” I answered, pulling myself up the complex elevation.

“Thank you for this. This has been the best couple days of my life.”

Okay, maybe he wasn’t planning on murdering me. I smiled as I continued against my will to make my way to the top.

We finally made it, and my seldom used muscles quivered. Rock climbing was hard work. I couldn’t believe it when we finally sat on the edge of the cliff. We were high, really high. Our feet dangled over the dangerous cliff. It was absolutely breathtaking.

“How are we getting down?” Drew asked with a laugh.

“We’re not going down,” I assured him. “We are going up.” There was no way I was climbing back down.

He laughed. “Take your shorts off so that I can fuck you up here.”

My first thought should have been no fucking way, but it wasn’t. I looked around. There was absolutely no way anyone could see us up there, except maybe the sail boat, if they had binoculars.

“Drew?” I said in a question.

“What?” he mimicked my tone. “I will do all the work. You just get naked and lay back.”

“You’re serious?” I asked.

He unbuttoned his jeans and removed his half-staff cock. “Take your shorts off, Morgan,” he demanded, stroking himself and letting me know that he was more than serious.

Of course, I did just that. What the hell else was I supposed to do? My vagina always seemed to be working against me.

I slid out of my shorts, hooking my panties with them and laid back. Drew stroked himself up my wet pussy a couple of times before sliding into me.

Fuck…

The sound of the waves below us, the sea salt breeze and the heat from the sun while Drew made love to me on top of the world was something that I’m sure I’ll never experience again for the rest of my life. Drew took his time and made slow passionate love to me. He brought me to bliss not once but twice before he plunged deep into me, releasing himself.

He stayed inside of me for as long as I could stand the rock digging into my lower back.

“I love you, Morgan,” he said, staring down at me.

“I love you too, Drew,” I assured him. I did love him. I knew that I did. The problem was, I loved Dawson too. “You have to get up,” I finally said.

“I don’t want to,” he admitted with a smile.

“I don’t want you to either, but you see the thing is, I have this rock digging into my back and it hurts like hell.”

He laughed and slid out of me. I pulled on my shorts, and he pulled me to my feet. We walked on up the cliff, through the woods and into a clearing that led to my road. He held my hand as we walked through the neighborhood back toward my house. I didn’t want him to hold my hand. All of my neighbors knew that I was supposed to marry the town sheriff. I wasn’t going to explain that to him though.

“When were you planning on going to North Carolina?” he asked, brushing his sea glass with his thumb.

“Next week.”

“I really wish you would fly. I can arrange for a plane and a driver for you.”

“I’m not going to fly, Drew.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think so. I think you should get a sports utility vehicle. It’s safer.”

Drew sat at my table and searched vehicles online while I started supper. I knew he would probably complain, but I was so hungry for sausage, eggs and gravy and biscuits.

I set our plates on the table. He gave his plate a strange look.

“Breakfast?” he asked the rhetorical question.

“Hmm, yes, I was hungry for it,” I replied taking a bite of the scrumptious gravy and biscuits.

He raised his eyebrows and took a bite. “Hmm, this is good. Where did you learn to cook?”

“I cooked a lot growing up, and Rebecca taught me a lot.”

“You cooked growing up?”

“I had too. I didn’t have the best parents in the world.”

“Mr. Callaway knew that. That is why he paid your mother to stay away from you both. He wanted you both to have better lives.”

“But why wouldn’t he want me to be with my brother?” I asked. I didn’t understand that part. I loved Justin, and he loved me.

“That wasn’t him, Morgan. That was all me. I talked him into doing it that way because I didn’t want a kid getting in the way of my plans for you.”

“That makes me want to hate you, Drew.” 

“You should hate me. I hate me for the things that I have done.”

I could have very easily thrown him out of my house at that moment. I was pissed, but abstained from talking anymore about it. I knew that he was leaving the next morning, and I didn’t want it to end in a fight. He admitted he was wrong and was trying with everything in him to make it right. Me, opening up old wounds wasn’t going to solve anything.

“Did you find anything?” I asked about the car shopping instead.

“Yeah, a few things. What do you think of this?” he asked, sliding my laptop for me to see.

I looked at the BMW X6 M and swallowed the lump in my throat. “Starting at $92,000, Drew?” I asked. I drove a 1993 Honda Civic. I didn’t need a car that cost that much, let alone one with 555 horsepower. “What the hell am I going to do with that much car?”

“Drive it, what else?”

“No. Thanks for your help. I think I will just go shopping myself tomorrow.”

Drew helped me clean up and then went to the shower. I sat at the table with my laptop and opened up my email while I waited for my turn. I felt like the worst person on earth when I read Dawson’s email.

Hey, beautiful. I just wanted to see if you were okay. You didn’t call or text me like I asked you to. I’m sure you’re fine. You looked to be very happy when I saw you with your husband this morning. I can’t do this, Ry. I love you, and I want you more than my own life, but I can’t just keep waiting on the sidelines for you to decide what you want. You have a husband for Christ sake. I should step out and let you try to make it work. I don’t want to. I hate the thought of you being with anyone, especially a man that I would love to stick my gun in his mouth, but I have to. It’s breaking my heart, and I just need to distance myself. I love you, and if you ever need anything, you know where to find me.

Fuck…

I wanted to go to him right that second. That wasn’t an option. Drew was in my shower.

I quickly emailed him back.

Don’t you do this, Dawson. I have known my name for two weeks. You can’t expect me to just go back to who I was. I love you too, and you know it. Don’t give up on us, Daw. Please. Give me some time. I am going to North Carolina for a few days next week to try and make some sense of this tangled mess. Give me that much, please. I don’t want to lose you, Dawson.

I started to log off of my computer when I saw the, one new message, pop up in the corner. I didn’t want to be talking to him when Drew came out. I had enough to deal with without adding him to it too.

Is he still there?

Yes. He is leaving in the morning. Will you come over tomorrow night so that we can talk?

I can’t tell you no. Yes. I will be there.

Okay, I will see you tomorrow. I quickly replied and closed out of the email when I heard Drew open the bathroom door.

Of course, he was wearing his jeans low on his hips, no shirt and no shoes. He made me want to devour his sexy as hell body with kisses. His hair was uncombed, and only towel dried. Shit. Why did this have to be so difficult?

“Your turn,” he said, pulling me from my wicked thoughts about him being naked.

I closed the laptop and grabbed a quick shower and shaved speedily, just in case.

I dressed in short white shorts, with a light pink cami, purposely pulling it up to show my midriff. I walked behind Drew sitting at the table and ran my hands down his sexy as hell, bare chest.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“Maybe I should be the one to step out,” Drew said, moving my hand from his chest and standing.

Dawson’s last message was displayed with the rest of them. “I love you, Riley.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be reading my emails,” I snapped.

“I give up Morgan or Riley, whatever the fuck your name is. That right there tells me that I don’t have a chance in hell.”

“Why, Drew? I never once lied to you about Dawson. You knew that I was supposed to marry him. I told you that I was in love with him. How was I supposed to know that you could be this person?” I said waving my arm around animatedly. “You’re going to get pissed at me because I’m confused about whether I should choose the man that I know will always do right by me. Do you really think that it’s that easy? What, Drew? Do you think I should choose the one that has hurt me more times than I can count?”

“No, Morgan. I think you should choose Robocop. It’s obvious that you are going to hang over my head what I did, and bring it up every time you get pissed off.”

“What the fuck do you expect, Drew? I have had a hell of a lot of shit dumped in my lap the past couple of weeks. Can you not get that?”

Drew turned and grabbed me by both of my arms, hard. He had the look that used to scare the hell out of me. My heart plummeted to my stomach. His eyes were dark and cold, the same eyes that I saw so many times, right before his hand came in direct contact with my face.

“I’m scared, Drew,” I whimpered, trying to get him to calm down.

He eased up on his grip and pulled me into his arms. “Jesus Christ, Morgan. Don’t be afraid of me.”

I relaxed. “I’m sorry, Drew,” I apologized. “I know this is hard for you too, but please try to see things from my eyes.”

“I’m trying, baby, believe me I am. What I really want to do is force you to get on that plane with me tomorrow and keep you locked up forever, but I can’t. I don’t ever want you to run from me again. It’s kind of like that old saying about if you love something let it go, if it comes back to you, it’s yours forev—”

I laughed, stopping his stupid quote. “Drew, please don’t say that. That is so lame.” I couldn’t help it. I always did hate that saying. I mean come on, If it comes back to you, it’s yours forever if it doesn’t it never was? Can you say puke in my mouth?

Drew sat on the sofa and pulled me into his lap. “I’m going to let you go, Morgan,” he said, looking into my eyes.

“What does that mean, Drew?”

“It means that I’m going to give you your space and let you spend the time you think you need with Dawson. I have no right not to let you.”

“I don’t want you to let me go, Drew. I want you to give me some time.”

He looked sad. He moved his eyes from mine to my bare leg. He rubbed my leg and softly spoke.

“I have to let you go, Morgan. I can’t turn my back while you’re doing, what I know you will be doing with Dawson. I can’t. You do what you need to do, and I will understand one way or the other.”

I moved myself from his lap, walked over to the refrigerator, took out a beer and walked out to the deck. I had to. I was ready to explode on him. I put up with so much shit from that man, and he couldn’t chill out long enough for me to figure things out? Bull shit.

Drew followed me out. He could tell that I was pissed.

“Morgan?”

“You remember one Goddamn thing, Drew. I didn’t walk away. You let me go.”

“How am I supposed to feel, Morgan?”

“You know what? I have no clue. I don’t even know how I should feel. How the hell am I supposed to tell you how you feel?”

“I should just go. It’s obvious that we need a time-out from each other.”

“Yeah, you probably should, except there are no cabs, or a phone call away drivers around here,” I coolly said crossing my arms. I was done. What the fuck? This man should be kneeling at my feet, giving me everything I ask for.

“I can take care of myself,” he assured me.

Go for it…

“You do whatever you have to do,” I demanded. I didn’t mean it. I didn’t think he would really leave. Where the hell did he think he was going to go in the middle of nowhere? I couldn’t stop him. My proud ego refused to go after him. He would be back or call or something. I hoped.

He didn’t come back. I wanted to call Lauren and tell her to get her ass over to my house and bring every alcoholic beverage she could find. I couldn’t do that either. She got up with the chickens for work.

I went to the ringing doorbell after six beers. I laughed. I’m sure most of my humor was alcohol induced. It was still funny. Poor bastard probably never even left my front yard.

I opened the door with a smirk.

Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Hey,” I managed to spit out.

“You okay?” Dawson asked.

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I just presumed that you and your husband must have had a fight or something.”

I looked at him peculiarly. “Why would you presume that?”

“Can I come in?”

“Oh, sorry. Yes, come in.” 

“I just picked him up and gave him a ride into town.”

“You did?” I asked, stumbling a little.

“Are you drunk, Ry?”

“Yeah. I think maybe I am. Where was he going?”

“I don’t know, but he was on the phone arranging for someone to pick him up. I can’t imagine calling someone and telling them to send the plane, not just a plane. He said the plane, like he owned it or something.”

“He kind of does,” It wasn’t a complete lie. He did kind of own it, as long as he was married to me.

“Did you guys have a fight?”

“Yes.”

“About what?”

Kind of nosey, eh?

“You, he read my email while I was in the shower.”

“Is he gone for good or just gone?”

“Dawson, please don’t do this. I can’t handle either one of you anymore. I’m ready to tell you both to go to hell,” I said walking away.

“Jesus Christ, Riley. Did he hit you?”

“What? No.” I said in disbelief. “Why would you say that?”

“How the hell did you get that enormous bruise on your back then?”

I didn’t know that I had a bruise. I couldn’t see my back, but I knew exactly what it was from.

Dawson lifted my shirt a little in the back. “Shit, Ry. What the hell did you do?”

“I fell on some rocks down by the beach,” I lied.

“Do you want some ice?”

“No. I didn’t even know that it was there. I’m fine.”

“You can’t feel that?”

“I can now that you pointed it out. Thanks a lot,” I smiled at him.

He smiled back with his perfect white toothy smile. Son of a bitch. How can you be this in love with two men?

“Did Drew know who you were?”

“Oh, he knew alright. I made sure of it?”

“Oh God, Daw. What did you say to him?”

Dawson shrugged his shoulders and puckered his lips. Shit. Those damned lips. Okay. I was drunk that had to be the beer talking, either that or I was seriously beginning to lose my mind.

“Not much, just that he didn’t deserve you. I let him know that I knew all about his purchase, what he did to you. I made sure that he knew that I was the one there night after night when you woke screaming or crying because of him. And I told him that I love you and that I think that I’m more stable and more of the man that you need.”

“What did he say?”

Dawson scratched his head. “He’s kind of weird. He said to give you a message and to tell you the quote, when you love something set it free if it comes back to you… you know the one.”

I laughed. Oh, Drew, Drew, Drew. “Yeah, he is kind of weird,” I agreed.

“He said he let you go so you could make a go of it with me. Is that true, Ry?”

I snorted. “Yeah, I guess so, that’s what he says anyway.”

“You don’t sound like that is what you want.”

“I don’t know what I want, Dawson. I’m in love with both of you. I want you both.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen. I’m not willing to share any more than he is.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of clear.”

“I think that you need to talk to someone, Riley.”

“You mean a shrink?”

“No, a professional that can help you with your feelings for him,” he replied.

“My feelings for him?”

“I don’t think your feelings for me are from Stockholm syndrome.”

I laughed. I had to. I was now a case in Dawson’s eyes. “Stockholm syndrome is when you fall in love with your abuser. I didn’t fall in love with my abuser. I hated him. I fell in love with somebody totally different than that man.”

“Ry, stop being so naïve. He did horrible, inhumanly things to you for six years. What makes you think that he isn’t going to flip and do it again. It’s obvious that the guy’s a nut case.”

“You know what, Dawson? Just stop. You know nothing about Drew Kelley.”

“I know that you’re getting pissed off and defending the bastard.”

I shook my head, giving up. This whole thing was hopeless. “Did you come over for a reason?” I asked, annoyed.

Dawson grabbed me and kissed me. I was shocked. I wasn’t quite sure where his abrupt behavior was coming from. His hands went up my back, and his lips dropped to my neck, my throat, my collarbone, and then my chest.

That’s it. I’m getting a fucking vagina transplant.

I was acting like the same maniac that he was, pulling his tucked shirt from his pants, and unbuckling his belt. What the fuck was wrong with me? He lifted my shirt over my head, and I removed my shorts on my own. I swear my vagina overpowered my brain sometimes. Dawson pulled me to the back of the couch and entered me, sending my head back with some sort of preposterous whimper.

“Oh, God you feel so good,” Dawson murmured. I couldn’t reply. He felt good too, and I was going to come. Shit. I was going to come.

I came and went. Dawson was still driving in and out of me. What I mean by I went is, I wanted more. I wanted the kinky fuck that Dawson wasn’t going to give me. I wanted him to bend me over the couch and finish in my ass. I didn’t act on my sudden need. I let him finish, and we were finished, no, spanking, no oral, and no backdoor, just raw sex. It was good, don’t get me wrong. Had it been six months ago I would have been satisfied with that. By the time I had landed back in Drew’s tangled web, I was getting used to the love making with Dawson and had stopped fantasizing about the fucked up sex that Drew and I had.

Dawson spent the night. We made love again after going to bed. I was gratified once again, and felt like I was right where I belonged as I lay naked in his arms. I didn’t know whether I was coming or going. It felt right when I was with Drew, but dammit if Dawson didn’t feel right too. I knew exactly what I was going to do. I was going to buy a car the next day and do some traveling. I was going to find my mother and lay that one to rest. I had so many questions for her. I wanted to see her and put that part of my life in the past. I knew that I would have one chance and one chance only. I would never see her again after this. I didn’t want to ever see her again. I drifted off to sleep with soft kisses to my forehead from Dawson. He did love me, and I loved him.

I was just getting ready to have another amazing orgasm the next morning. Dawson should have been at work two hours ago. I wouldn’t let him out of my bed. My amazing orgasm was interrupted by someone ringing my doorbell. It was only eight in the morning. Lauren was at work already, besides she would have just unlocked the door and walked in anyway.

I pulled on a pair of shorts, a bra, and a t-shirt. Dawson dressed and came out with me.

“I’m coming,” I yelled at whoever was blowing up my doorbell.

“You would have been if you had stayed in bed with me,” Dawson said behind me. I looked over my shoulder and smiled. I still planned on doing that.

My mouth dropped when I opened the door.

You have got to be kidding me.

There was a man holding a clipboard with a car waiting in my drive to pick him up. Just in front of his ride was my new ride, a beautiful BMW X6 M.

“I need you to sign for your new car, Mrs. Kelley,” the man smiled. I was sure by the smile on his face that his Monday morning commission made his day.

“My car?” I asked. I knew it was a dumb question. I knew that Drew had arranged to have it delivered to me.

Dawson walked up behind me and looked out too. He didn’t speak, and I’m sure had I had eyes in the back of my head, I would see bulging eyeballs and an opened mouth.

“Yes, ma’am. The paper work is complete. I just need a signature that you have received it.

I signed the X on the clipboard.

“Riley!” Dawson scolded from behind me.

I turned and shrugged my shoulders. The man thanked me and asked if I would like a demonstration.

“No. Thank you.”

I walked out to the car, hopping like a bunny as the sharp gravel penetrated my bare feet.

Holy fucking Hawaii.

This car was fucking hot. No, hot doesn’t even come close to describing this car. It was sophisticated, striking, elegant, and I swear it had its own personality. I can’t even describe the color of it. Its official name was nightfire metallic red. That’s what the window sticker said. It also had an MSRP of one hundred and twenty-two thousand dollars. The black porosus crocodile leather was the softest leather I had ever felt. It barely felt like leather at all. The dash looked like something from a Sci-Fi movie, and the GPS was outrageous.

Dawson sat in the passenger seat, still speechless as he looked over the window sticker at the massive amount of standard and available equipment that this thing had. It had it all.

“Ry, you can’t accept this. Do you have any idea how much this guy spent on this thing?”

Yeah, not a penny, it’s my money.

“Drew’s not really the type to take back a gift,” I said, running my hands over the indulgent steering wheel. I was in a luxury trance. I could so see myself driving this car on my adventure.

“Riley, are you serious?”

“What Dawson? I told you that I was going to find my mother. He didn’t want me driving the Civic that far.”

“How far? Do you know where she is?”

“Yes. Drew found her for me.”

“Oh, well, thanks for discussing this with me.”

“I just found out two days ago, Dawson. We haven’t really discussed anything.”

“Let me come with you. I will get the week off, we’ll go see your mom, and spend the week together.”

Um… that wasn’t going to work.

“Dawson. I’m going to get away from you and Drew. Can you give me that and try to understand?”

“Yeah, sure, Ry. I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later.”

“What? Now you’re pissed off?”

“Not pissed off, fed up.”

“What the hell, Daw?”

“Nothing, Ry. You go wherever it is you’re going since you think running away by yourself is going to fix your problems. Riley loves Dawson. Morgan loves Drew,” he stated and slammed the door.

“Riley loves Dawson. Morgan loves Drew,” I repeated his words out loud to my new car. He hit the nail right on the head. I was giving myself a split personality.

I jumped when the phone in the car rang. Where the hell was it coming from? How the hell did I answer it? I finally figured out that I only needed to push the little phone button on the steering wheel.

“Hello,” I said, looking like an idiot trying to figure out where I was supposed to be talking.

“Do you love it?” Drew asked.

“No. I freaking hate it. You idiot.”

Drew laughed which made me smile. I loved his laugh.

“You’re such a liar. Tell me how you really feel.”

“I love it. I can’t believe that you did this. How did you pull this off so fast?”

“Money talks, baby.”

“You’re not supposed to be talking to me, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah. I won’t talk to you tomorrow.”

“Can I go in and make coffee and call you back?”

“Yes, but make sure you call me back. I want to hear if this car is as sleek as everything I have read about it.”

“It is. I’ll call you in a few.”