Chapter Twenty-Two
Levi
It’s midafternoon when I finally pull myself from the deep coma I was in. Work was fucking brutal last night with several minor accidents, one fatality involving a truck, and even a few water incidents, thanks to the overload of tourists still trying to get the most out of what’s left of their summer vacation.
My head is fuzzy but I can tell instantly where I am. This bed is softer than the one I normally sleep in and carries the scent of a certain woman who gives me more boners than a Penthouse magazine.
And speaking of boners…
In typical guy fashion, I scratch my nuts and gaze around the room, searching for the woman who might be able to help me with my little problem. She left the curtains closed and a glass of water on the nightstand. The apartment is quiet; the only sound is the gentle hum of the air conditioning and the ticking of the clock on the wall, which tells me she’s not back yet from lunch with her family.
Grabbing the glass of water and chugging half of it before hopping up, I head to the bathroom on a mission. Even in here, I’m assaulted with a rich vanilla scent that reminds me solely of her. Smiling, I grab her toothbrush and paste and scrub the grossness off my teeth. It doesn’t even weird me out that I’m using her brush.
The kitchen is clean and tidy, the coffee pot already washed and sitting in the drying rack. I take the glass pot and fill it halfway with water before dumping it in the maker. It’s something I’ve done a million times for her, but for some reason, it feels a little more domesticated now.
There are a few bills stacked up on the counter right next to the place I imagine bending her over and sliding between those luscious ass cheeks. In fact, it was around three o’clock this morning when that naughty little image entered my dirty brain, rendering me completely bone-ified for the next hour. Do you know how hard it is to drive around in an ambulance with another dude when you’re sportin’ wood? Hard. Wood. Get it?
Anyway, I’ve been fighting a raging boner since the early hours of the morning, and there’s only one woman who can satisfy my craving. Snuggling against her this morning was killer, but I was too exhausted to do anything about it. Now, don’t get me wrong, if my girl had wanted a little early morning nookie, I’d have risen to the challenge. But since she was still out cold, I took the opportunity to cuddle in close and pass the hell out.
Her fridge is kinda bare, except a couple of chicken breasts and some veggies she picked up for dinner tonight. I love to grill and I can’t wait to show her a thing or two with those breasts. (The chicken’s, not hers.)
Digging in the fridge, I find that apple butter she loves and some fruit. I’m sure she has something in the cabinet to throw in the toaster. I just need a little something to tide me over until dinner since I missed lunch with her family.
I hear the key in the lock and the door start to open before I can pull my face out of the refrigerator. “Glad you’re back. I’ve got a little problem that only you can take care of,” I quip, smiling at myself, as I think about spreading her out over the counter.
“I’m pretty sure, whatever that problem is, I am the last person you want to assist you.” Turning to face the door, I’m statue-still, mostly naked, and staring straight at Abby’s father, Brian.
“Shit,” I whisper harshly.
“Yeah,” he says, averting his eyes. Apparently, I’m not the only one who realized I’m standing in a pair of boxer briefs with a raging hard-on in his daughter’s kitchen. That pretty much squashes my boner and any future erections I may have for a while.
“Uh, excuse me, sir. Let me grab some…pants.” Hightailing it to Abby’s room, I find the shorts I was wearing when I slipped across the hall around seven this morning and top it with my wadded up, wrinkly tee.
I don’t embarrass easily, but this might not be one of my proudest moments. Realizing that I just propositioned my girl’s father for some afternoon dick-play isn’t one of my finer moments, that’s for sure.
Hanging my head, I make my way back to the front room and find Brian standing pretty much in the same spot I left him in. “Abby forgot her sweater,” he says, setting the white short-sleeved little top on the counter.
“Yeah, she always complains about getting cold in the diner,” I add, scratching the back of my neck.
“She does.”
Awkward silence descends, making this officially the worst impression I could possibly make on a parent of the girl I’m seeing. “So, I bet you’re wondering what I’m doing here. In Abby’s place and not my own,” I stammer like an idiot.
“Not really,” he says, making my eyes jump up to his. “Come on, Levi, you and Abby are the only two who haven’t realized that there’s more than friendship building between the two of you. Sure, it started that way, but you’ve been slowly dancing around it for a long time.”
Unable to speak, I just nod.
“Abby met you when she needed you most. Her mom had just died and our family was a mess.” His eyes shine with tears, but he keeps them locked on mine. “It was brutal raising six girls between seventeen and nine, alone. They needed their mom more than anything. Shit, do you know how many nights I begged for the Lord to take me and spare her?” He casts his eyes downward, probably so I won’t see the tears fall, but when he returns them to me, I know that’s not the case. He’s not afraid to cry in front of me. He’s lost in the memory and pain of losing his wife.
“If I can butt into your business for a few moments, it’d be to say this: If you love my daughter, don’t let her go. Show her every day how much she means to you because if you’re not paying attention, it could be taken away from you in the blink of an eye. I lost my love to cancer, Meghan lost hers in a car accident. Those events were going to happen whether we wanted them to or not. What is important is how much we loved while they were alive.
“I’m not saying Abby’s gonna be taken from you or anything like that. My point is love her. For a day, a year, a lifetime, just love her as long as you can. And when the time is right, tell her. Don’t be afraid to say those words because there is nothing greater than the feeling you get when she says it back. By God, son, show her because my little girl deserves the moon and the damn stars. Are you the one to show her?”
Swallowing is difficult, but somehow I get the word out. “Yes.”
Brian smiles at me, a real, genuine smile. “Good. I always thought you were. Even when she dragged home a gangly little ten-year-old boy with skinned up knees and crooked teeth, I knew you were the one,” he says, rendering me speechless all over again.
“You know, Levi, I’ve always thought of you as the son I never had. Trish and I tried and tried again, but it just wasn’t in the cards. You were at our house more than anyone else, and I’m damn proud of the man you’ve become.”
Jesus, he’s going to fucking make me cry like a baby.
“Thank you, sir.”
“I know things just got real heavy for us, and I apologize. I didn’t come over here to ambush you or anything. Hell, I didn’t even expect you, but the opportunity presented itself. My little girl is an amazing woman and I want to make sure the man she loves is worthy. You’re worthy, Levi, if you take the chance and follow your heart.”
“Love? Abby loves me?” My eyes search his for any sign that he’s pulling my leg, but all I see is sincerity and understanding.
Smiling, he says, “Of course she does, son. She’s always loved you.”
We’re quiet for a few minutes, both lost in our own thoughts. He wasn’t kidding when he said it got heavy, but it’s what I needed to hear. I knew I was falling for her, but until he put it all in perspective, I didn’t realize how much she really meant to me. I love her. Fuck, I’ve been in love with her for years.
“I never thought I’d say this, but do you have any idea how happy I am that it was you who caught me half naked in Abby’s kitchen and not Orval and Emma?”
Brian laughs. “Well, I’m not so sure any father wants to find someone in his underwear in his little girl’s kitchen, but I see what you’re saying. Did I ever tell you about the first time they caught me with Trish?”
Shaking my head, he smiles again, grabs a beer from the fridge for himself and a water for me, and sits down across from me at the table. “We were on our fourth date, I think, when things got a little hot and heavy in my ol’ truck. You know how it is,” he adds with a sheepish grin. “I never intended for it to go as far as it did, but when you’re young and dumb, sometimes things happen. We were parked on the back of her property, about a hundred yards from the house. There were trees between us and I thought, for sure, there was no way they could see my truck from the house.
“Anyway, afterwards, we were barely dressed when there was a knock on the driver’s side window.”
“Oh shit,” I say, fighting the urge to laugh.
“Yeah, not exactly the impression I wanted to make on her parents. Orval just stared at me with this stern look, and Emma started in on Trish. Asked her why she hadn’t saved herself for marriage like she did. Then Orval just looked at her and said, ‘What are you talking about, woman? You didn’t save yourself for marriage. We barely made it through our first date before I had you naked.’”
I can’t help it, I die laughing.
“Yeah, poor Trish was mortified, afraid I was gonna run for the hills. And maybe I should have, but I might have fallen in love a bit with those two ol’ kooks that night. Emma had just looked at Orval and said, ‘Oh, yeah. Never mind.’ And then asked if we needed more rubbers.”
I guess now we know that kinda thing runs in the family, huh? Poor Jaime and Ryan didn’t stand a chance. I can’t believe the same thing happened to her parents thirty-five years prior. That’s probably why Orval and Emma like telling that story so much about having to bail them out of jail following the cops finding them parked along a field; it reminds them of the time they busted Brian and Trisha.
Sitting with Brian, I find myself listening to story after story, each one better than the last. I can’t help but wonder if I’ve ever smiled as much as I have in the last thirty minutes listening to Abby’s dad share moments from his past.
This is just the kinda crazy family I’ve always seen myself being a part of.