Chapter Sixteen
Nick
“What the fuck were you thinking, leaving her there?” Dan growls.
His hands clench into fists by his side, and he glares at me as I tighten my grip around his daughter’s waist. I frown because I’m beating myself up enough without him hammering it down my throat.
“I left her there at eight-thirty in the evening in a quiet town, Dan,” I say. “It wasn't like it was three in the morning in the middle of the Bronx. She wasn't ready to leave, so I let her stay.”
My heart pounds. I’m seconds away from breaking but doing everything I can to keep it together. Thank fucking God she isn’t hurt.
“Not fucking good enough,” he mutters, his eyes narrowing. “It was your responsibility to get her home safe. You couldn’t even do that right, and you want me to accept this?”
“I’m tearing myself up for leaving her there because I love her, and that’s what you do when someone you love gets hurt,” I snap. I stand up so I’m facing him, my heart pounding because I’m so angry. Gritting my teeth, I force myself to continue. “But you don’t get to make me feel bad when I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Dan mutters something under his breath and storms back inside without another word. I sigh and glance down at my hands. God, I’m shaking. I sit down on the step, defeated because I think now I realize that he’s never going to accept us. Anna rises to her feet and walks over to me, sitting down next to me on the step. She takes my hand and pulls me into her embrace, wrapping her arms around me.
“I should be the one comforting you,” I say in a gruff voice. I glance over and realize she’s smiling at me. I look at her inquisitively.
“You love me?” she says, her eyes shining.
I chuckle and press my lips against hers. “You’ve just figured that out?”
She grins and lifts her mouth to mine, kissing me again.
“Thank you for standing up for us, but there’s not much else we can do until he’s ready to accept that you’re a part of my life.” She shrugs, but I see the sadness in her eyes and know that it hurts her.
“And if he doesn’t?” I ask softly. It’s been weighing on my mind. What if he never accepts us? Because right now, it’s feeling like a possibility.
She thinks for a moment. “I don’t know,” she finally replies. “Can I come over to your place?” she suddenly adds.
I nod. I was hoping she’d want that, but after what she’d been through tonight, I wasn’t going to pressure her. Especially with Dan being home.
“Sure. If you’re sure, it’s not going to inflame the situation.”
“It can’t really make things worse, can it?” she grins. “If I stay here, he’s not going to leave his room, anyway. I’d rather feel loved tonight, not hated.” She pauses, looking over to me. “And I kind of don’t want to be alone right now.”
“I’ll make you feel more than loved,” I murmur, kissing her neck. She giggles and playfully pushes me away.
It's late when we get back to my place. I take her straight up to my room, determined to get her into bed and resting. I peel her clothes off and practically force her into the bed, determined to tuck her in. She giggles as I climb in beside her.
I kiss her and wrap my arms around her, hoping she feels safe in my arms. Every time I close my eyes, I think about what happened to her. In one moment, everything could've changed. I'm so thankful that it didn't, but I can't stop thinking about how badly things could’ve gone.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I ask.
I know she’s not. She jumps at every noise, and she looks distracted. Not that I blame her. She was attacked. While nothing happened, it easily could have. That's got to be hard to think about. I’m sure as hell struggling with it.
“I will be,” she whispers.
“Close your eyes. I'll be here all night. I'm not going to leave you,” I whisper, kissing her forehead. She smiles and closes her eyes as I trail my fingers up and down her back.
I watch her, listening to the sound of her breathing.
All I can think about is that little shit that hurt her. God help me if I see him. I’ll break his neck. I have no idea how Dan didn't kill the guy. If it had been my hands on him tonight, he wouldn't be breathing. I take a deep breath, willing myself to calm down. Me being angry isn't going to help her get over this.
Somehow, I fall asleep.
I wake up early the next morning to the sound of banging on the door. I groan, mumbling something under my breath as I drag myself out of bed. Anna wakes up with a start as the second round of pounding begins, her eyes wide. The way she’s reacting makes me wonder if she had nightmares. I hand her my robe, which she slips on and wraps tightly around her waist, and then I grab a pair of boxer shorts and throw them on. I move through the living room toward the front door, more annoyed that whoever this is has woken Anna than me.
Anna lags behind me, not getting too close, but still wanting to know what’s going on. I open the door and Dan bursts in. He walks straight past me and over to Anna, who I can see is bracing herself for another argument. Hell, I am, too, but I’m tired of all the fighting. It’s hard to believe that just a few days ago, Dan and I were friends.
“Do you love him?” he asks her. She glances at me, her eyes wide, then she looks back at her dad. No hello or anything, just straight into the question.
“Yes.”
“How long has it been going on for?” he asks. My jaw clenches because he asked me that same question and I didn’t answer. I couldn’t lie to him.
“Since you made me come over here,” she whispers, her eyes darting to me.
“Jesus, Anna, I wanted you to make him feel a little better, but not like that,” he mutters, rubbing his jaw. His hair is a mess, and the dark circles around his eyes make it clear to me he didn’t sleep much last night, if at all. Has he been up all night, thinking about us?
“And you?” he asks, turning to me. He’s frowning, but the anger seems to have lessened. Or maybe that’s just because it’s barely seven in the morning. “Do you love her?”
“I told you that I did last night,” I say, my voice stiff. “Yes, I love her.”
He sighs and stares me in the eye, then turns back to Anna. I can see the fear in her expression as she waits to hear what he’s going to say. Hell, even I’m holding my breath. He shakes his head and rubs the back of his neck. I frown, wishing he’d just get on with it.
“If you really love each other,” he begins, nearly choking on the words. “Then I’m not going to stand in your way.”
He walks out, leaving Anna and me standing there, staring at each other in disbelief. I sit down, and she wanders over to me and takes my hand, sliding onto my lap. Her bare thigh peeks out from under my robe.
“Did that just happen?” she whispers, her eyes wide. “Do you really think he’s okay with us being together?”
“I think he will be,” I say. I don’t think he’s there yet, but I really do believe he’s going to try. I turn my attention back to her and smile, narrowing my eyes. She narrows hers back at me.
“What?” she asks suspiciously.
“You love me?” I tease.
She rolls her eyes, her cheeks tinged pink. “You said it first,” she retorts, poking her tongue out. I laugh and bend her backwards, kissing her.
“There are still two other people who might have an issue with us being a permanent thing,” Anna points out.
“You mean Victoria Greenway and Marsha Parks?” I quip, naming two of the housewives who had been vying for my affections for the last three weeks. Well, it may not exactly have been my affections they were after unless I hide my affections in my pants…
Anna laughs and hits my arm, narrowing her eyes playfully.
“No, you idiot. Your kids.”
“Right.” I nod. They knew we were seeing each other, but being serious about someone was a different story. The last person I was serious about had been their mother. “I’ll talk to them tonight.” I pause for a second and smile at her. “Would you like to join me?”
She looks surprised but then smiles. “Yes. I’d love that.”
“Good,” I grin. I lower the robe to reveal her left breast. She giggles as my mouth finds its way to her nipple. I suck on it until it’s as stiff as my dick, which is starting to find its way out of my boxer shorts.
“Should we, uh, go back into the bedroom before you scar your kids for life?” she teases, glancing down at my erection.
“Good point, but please never ever speak of those two things in the same sentence again,” I mutter. I scoop her into my arms and carry her back into my room, where I lay her down on the bed.
I climb up and under the covers, motioning for her to snuggle in my lap. She does, gently grinding herself against my erection. I sigh and kiss her neck before turning her around, so she’s facing me.
“How are you?” I ask her.
“I’m okay.” She smiles at me and nods like it’s obvious I don’t believe her. “Really. It’ll take me a little bit to get over what happened, but I keep telling myself that it could’ve been much worse.”
“I’m so glad it wasn’t,” I murmur, kissing her lips.
“Me too,” she says.
We lay there, she in my arms, and just enjoy being with each other without having to hide who we are, or what we mean to each other. I smile and kiss her cheek, realizing that she’s fallen back to sleep.
I could get used to waking up like this.
Well, except the part where her dad nearly banged down my door. That part I could go without. But the rest of it? No fucking way. I don’t think I could go back to how things were.
Not now that I’ve had a taste of how good they can be.