Chapter 5

Brandon

I rolled over Sunday afternoon and hit something warm beside me. Suddenly, a soft object moved between my legs, and the night slowly started coming back to me. All tits and fake red hair. Crimson lips and a nose piercing. Thick thighs covered with juices before we stumbled into a taxi.

Fuck, I’d brought that woman home.

“Hey there, handsome,” she said sleepily.

“Hey there, gorgeous,” I said.

“Don’t worry. I don’t remember your name, either,” she said, giggling.

I rolled over and took in her blue eyes. They were red with lack of sleep, and there were marks all over those beautiful tits of hers. She rolled on top of me, and I could feel how wet she still was. My morning wood instantly slid into her soft warmth. She began riding my cock, my eyes still hazy with sleep as her hands planted on my chest. I laid back and enjoyed the attention, sighing as she bent her nipples down to my lips.

My hands rounded her ass as she swirled in my lap, her tits flooding my face as I moaned into her skin. I could feel her juices leaking onto my skin, sliding down my thighs as her scent filled the room. Her fingernails curled into my skin, leaving red crescent marks I’d surely remember her by.

Until the next woman, that was.

“Oh, fuck. Your dick is so nice. Oh, yes, baby. Just like that.”

I began thrusting my hips up into her, jolting her further and further toward my face. I peppered her skin with kisses, breathing in her morning scent as her pussy began to clamp down around my cock. It was all the same, really. A few kisses there, another nip there. A mark on her fake breast and a tug of her hair. Enough to get my cock twitching and my hips shaking just before my toes curled.

Same pattern, different woman.

I tugged her hair, pulling her neck back as she moaned out in ecstasy. Some women just enjoyed it rougher than others, so I decided to ratchet up the thrusting. I pounded into her as she fingered her clit, her juices spraying out all over my bed. I’d have to do laundry before I laid back down in it again for work tomorrow, but right now, all I could think about was how my balls were pulling back into my body.

“Yes. Yes. Yes. So close. So close. Oh, fuck that pussy. Let me suck you down.”

I pumped a few more times as I felt her pussy vibrate around me. She moaned out her orgasm, her jaw unhinged as her tits flexed with delight. I watched her implants bounce as my cock finally twitched before I pulled out and sprayed my come all along the crack of her ass. She panted, her hands cupping her tits as I slowly released her hair. Strands of it tangled around my fingertips as she fell to my body, pressing my face in her tits one last time before she rolled off.

“Well, I better get going,” she said. “You know, stuff and all.”

“I’m sure you can find your way out,” I said.

“What? No goodbye kiss?” she asked.

“Nope.”

She left with a huff as I laid there. My dick was shriveling up, and my bed was soaked with her smell. I couldn’t stand it. I never did smell quite right. Quite like her.

Melissa.

I got up out of bed and cleaned myself up before I went for a workout. I had to pick Max up at my mother’s soon, and I didn’t want to be late. I’d promised him we would go to Michael’s and have pizza with them, and the last thing I wanted to do was disappoint my own son. I decided to take some aggression out on the treadmill for a few miles before I hopped in the shower, and I was relieved when that woman’s scent slowly fell from my body. I took my time in the hot shower, allowing the steam to cleanse me of my disgusting nature. Then I stepped out and dried myself off. I’d need to grab a shake or something on the way to pick up Max, so I decided I’d grab him one, too.

He was a sucker for strawberry anything.

Soon, I was in the car with two fruit smoothies in hand. I pulled up to my mother’s house just as the nanny texted me to see if I needed anything. I gave her the entire weekend off and told her she wasn’t to report anywhere until tomorrow morning. That woman worked like a dog for me so I could build my practice and help people the way I wanted. The least she deserved was a fucking weekend off.

“Daddy!”

“Maxy-boy!”

My son ran from the porch and jumped into my arms. These were the moments I enjoyed. The moments where he was happy and delighted to see me. The divorce from his mother had been hard, but her signing over her parental rights did a number on both of us. I knew we married just so she could gain her citizenship, but I never thought she’d be the kind of woman who would abandon her son in the process. He was a beautiful boy. Looked just like me, save for his smile. Every time he smiled, I saw her, and my heart ached all over again at the life I’d brought him into.

The subpar life he had been given because of my idiotic mistakes.

“Is that for me?” he asked.

“It is. Strawberry with extra ones, just how you like it.”

“Thanks, Daddy. Michael and pizza?”

“Yep. We’re still going to Michael’s for pizza.”

“Sounds like a fun day,” my mom said.

She came off the porch, and I wrapped her in a massive hug. This woman had been my life support through every decision I’d made. She supported me even when she didn’t agree with me, and she was always there when I needed help with Max. She walked me through my anger when his mother abandoned him. She took my phone calls late at night when Max was crying and I didn’t know why. She even came over a few times to help when we were both sick.

That woman was my fortress, and I was so glad I had her in my life.

“You look like hell,” she said.

“Love you, too, Mom,” I said, grinning.

“You got time to come in and sit down?” she asked.

“Not really, but I promise I’ll make it over this week. Listen, I want you to know how much I love you and appreciate you.”

“Honey. You bought me a house and a car. I know,” she said, giggling.

“No, I mean it. With Max and all you’ve done for us. For taking him this weekend so the nanny could have some time off. So I could have some genuine time off. With what you do for the two of us, the hole you fill in Max’s life, I couldn’t buy you enough things to show you how thankful I am for you.”

“I love you, son. You’re my boy. And that’s my grandson. I never thought I could love someone the way I love you until that little boy came along. He can come stay with me any weekend he wants.”

“Next weekend?” Max asked.

“We’ll see, buddy,” I said, grinning.

“Pizza and Michael!” he exclaimed.

“I better get this kid in the car and off to Michael’s before he explodes,” I said.

“The two of you have fun. Tell Michael I said hello.”

“I will, Mom. I promise.”

I hugged her neck and kissed her cheek as Max scrambled into the car. He was sucking down his smoothie faster than I’d ever seen him, and the brain freeze he got made me chuckle. No matter how many times it happened, he always ate ice cream and drank smoothies way too fast. He was stubborn, always wanting things the way he wanted it right then and there.

Sounded a bit familiar, to be honest.

We headed on to Michael’s, and when I pulled up, I ordered the pizza. Michael came up and got Max out of his seat, throwing him up in the air before he put him down onto the ground. I prided myself in the workout schedule I kept, but I’d never understood how Michael could hoist that four-year-old into the air the way he could. Max would always giggle with delight before he rushed off to play with Michael’s children.

Really, he had two puppies that adored Max.

“Already got the pizza ordered,” I said.

“I got the game on the channel and a bed prepared for Max and the puppies. You know they’ll curl up to him when he goes down for his nap.”

“Thanks for having us both over,” I said.

“No worries. Max is always welcome here, and that nanny of yours deserved this weekend off.”

“No fucking joke. Come on. I’m sure we’re missing pregame interviews.”

We settled onto his couch while Max rolled around on the floor with the puppies. By the time nap time rolled around, his stomach was full of pizza, and he was asleep right there on the hardwood floor. The puppies were curled up beside him as he snored lightly, and all I could do was smile. If there was one thing in this life I did right, it was having that boy. He was my world. The thing that kept me going throughout the week. The one thing in this world that kept my head above water when it felt like I was drowning.

“Want me to just throw a blanket over him?” Michael asked.

“Yeah. I think he’s using one of the puppies as a pillow,” I said.

“Well, they’re all asleep, so I don’t think they give a shit,” he said.

The game was a blowout. Michael and I kept our cheers to a minimum while Max and the puppies slept, but things got loud once they were awake. Max kept cheering with us and clapping every time someone threw the ball, and during the commercial breaks, I took out my phone to check my schedule for the week. I felt it buzzing on my hip all afternoon, so I decided to go ahead and make sure nothing was happening. A few emails here, a couple of reminders to call in prescriptions refills, and a change to my schedule.

“Melissa Conway,” I said.

“New patient?” Michael asked.

“Yeah. Four o’clock tomorrow,” I said. “Probably shouldn’t have said that out loud.”

“Well, she’ll just be a patient we don’t talk about from now on.”

Melissa.

Of course her name had to be Melissa.

“You okay, Black? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What, you know her or something?”

“Nah. Not a Melissa Conway.”

“But you do know a Melissa. Triggering memories?” he asked.

“Stop shrinking me. Yes. A Melissa Jenson back in high school.”

“Oh, touchy, touchy.”

“Can it, Michael.”

“Can it! Can it! Can it!”

Max began to chant, and I couldn’t help laughing. Michael settled into the couch as the game came back on, and Max crawled up into my lap. He curled into my chest and watched the game, yawning with his full stomach as the clock crept closer and closer to ten o’clock.

“If you guys need to slip out, you’re good,” Michael said.

“We’ll sit here for a bit and then head out,” I said.

It was moments like this that were fewer and far between with Max. I wanted to cherish this time together while I could before the moment had to be wrecked with getting home. It seemed as if Max wanted less and less to do with me, and I knew that was because I wasn’t at home all the time.

I wanted to make sure he knew I was present with him whenever I got the chance.

“I love you, buddy,” I said.

“Love you, Daddy,” he said, yawning.