It was such a comfortable routine that I had to remind myself of why I was there and what it meant to me. Not that I needed to really try all that hard, because the sight of Jordyn was enough. Waking up in her bed on another morning, looking at her naked, smooth back; the way her shoulder blades pressed against her skin. Her hair moved to the left, exposing her neck, random strands of messy, bed hair, refusing to comply with the rest. Her slender shoulders giving way to her bare arms. The swell of her right breast pressed to the bed, almost making me jealous that the mattress was feeling what I wanted to feel.

I laughed in my head, realizing how crazy I was about this woman.

I had opened the floodgates to my past. With more to tell, sooner rather than later, I felt a small sting of guilt for not telling Jordyn everything just yet. Truthfully, this was the first time I’d fallen in love on my terms, my way, and believed in it. To me, everything that happened before the night I met Jordyn meant nothing.

I looked down at the tattooed initials of my brother on my side.

Sorry, little brother. For everything. You should have had a better life. You should have had a mother like Jordyn to love you. You should have had a father like our Uncle Tom to care for you. You should have had a better older brother…

The thoughts faded the moment I touched Jordyn’s back. My fingertips traced a gentle line up to her hair. I dug my fingers in a little hard, enough that she started to stir, groaning with enjoyment. I gritted my teeth and moved my fingers down, touching the soft skin of her back again, following her spine. Her back arched to my touch. My eyes studied her skin, counting a total of eleven freckles on her back, with plenty more to count. My attention shifted gears as my fingertips eased over the curve of her ass. Cutting down and between her legs, Jordyn groaned again, still not fully awakened and looking at me. My fingertips pressed against her warm bud, her legs shivering as they began to open.

She started to lift her head and I quickly made my move.

I pressed my lips against the back of her neck and started to kiss.

She groaned even louder. “Oh, Rams…”

“Morning, darling,” I whispered and kissed again.

My fingers pressed harder, entering her warmth, feeling just how good of a morning it really was.

I slowly inched my body over hers, positioning my legs between hers. With my right hand, I reached under her beautiful body and gently pulled, bringing her lower half back to me.

I eased my fingers away from her sex only to slide my boxers down. My cock was already hard, ready for Jordyn. I placed my hand to her hip and inched forward. The swell of her heat overtook my body as I sucked in my breath through gritted teeth. As I entered her early that morning, her back arched even more. She put her head back, her hair sprawling across the middle of her back. Her hands reached for the top of the bed as she thrust her hips back at me, allowing me to take myself to the hilt.

I held there, almost chewing on my tongue, feeling her, seeing her, unable to comprehend just how fucking beautiful Jordyn truly was.

“Rams… we have to hurry…” she was already breathless. “I’m sorry… but… hurry…”

My hands slid up to her sides and I gripped her tightly.

“That won’t be a problem, darling,” I said.

I pulled back like the hammer of a gun and raced forward.

Jordyn lowered her head and I watched her hands tighten around the top of the bed.

Forget coffee and breakfast, this was the best way to start a morning.

* * *

I was in the kitchen of a new build, reviewing the plans with Doc, organizing when we needed to coordinate for the plumber and electrician to come.

“Bring both in and let them figure it out,” Doc said.

“Not going to work,” I said. “We do it right.”

“I like working with your uncle better,” he said.

“Times change,” I said. “When are you due to retire?”

Doc smirked. “When I’m dead.”

“Then I guess we don’t have much time left to argue over dumb shit, huh?”

“You remind me of your uncle,” he said and slammed a hand to my back. “Company is in good hands then. I’m going to grab me a smoke and then go back upstairs to work on the bedrooms.”

“Yeah, no problem,” I said. “Enjoy yourself, Doc. Don’t work too hard.”

“Never do,” he said, as he strutted away with a limp in his right leg.

I left the plans laid out on the kitchen island and looked around at the walls. Anyone who saw the place would think it was a mess. But in no time, it would be a house. Another job completed, and then we’d move to the next one.

The work was good to have, especially with winter coming. We’d take anything we could get right up until the ground froze. Then it would slow down and pick back up in the spring. The ebb and flow of the business, the year, and life.

Amazing how I was suddenly thinking about life so much.

Hell, I was sleeping at Jordyn’s place three nights a week. Sometimes more. Thanksgiving came and went, leaving me sitting at Aunt Millie’s dinner table with the usual cast of characters, picking at the most delicious turkey in the world, thinking about Jordyn and Sam. They had dinner with Jordyn’s friend, Brenda. Aunt Millie insisted that Jordyn and Sam came for the holiday, but Jordyn promised we’d do another dinner soon.

I hated to be away from her though. I never took much stock in holidays before, but it felt a little lonely and empty, picking at pumpkin pie, drinking a beer, looking to my right, wishing that Jordyn was right next to me.

I did get to see her later that night though. After Sam was asleep, I came over and we did more than just relax.

The thing was… the whole idea of more got to me. I wanted more. Whatever that was. I wanted our lives to just slam together once and for all and be together. It wasn’t completely easy to do because of Sam, which was a line I would never cross.

“You motherfucker,” a voice yelled.

I snapped out of my puppy dog love trance and walked into the living room just in time to see Matt take a swing at Chris. He just got Chris’s jaw, enough to make him sidestep a few steps to the right.

“Oh, shit,” I whispered.

I jumped forward but not before Chris returned Matt’s punch with one of his own. He got Matt in the nose, blood spraying toward me.

When I got between them, I had a handful of Chris’s shirt.

Matt took another swing and hit me in the eye. It wasn’t all that much of a punch, but enough that I released my hold on Chris and gripped on to Matt’s shirt with both hands and drove him back until he slammed into a wall.

I let him go and looked back at Chris. “Go out back. Right now. Take a fucking break.”

“Yeah, fuck you then,” Chris said. “Tell him to go the fuck home and get over his shit.”

“Out!” I ordered.

Chris stormed out of the living room.

I looked at Matt. “What the hell was that about?”

“He’s a fucking prick,” Matt said. “Standing over my shoulder, telling me what the fuck to do. I’m not an idiot.”

“You two were punching each other over that?” I asked.

“Yeah. Fuck him. Him and his goddamn opinions. The way he talks.”

“Come outside with me,” I said.

We went out front.

The air was really cold and had the slight smell of snow. I looked around, knowing we were up against it to get this house done before winter rolled in. We needed to get everything finalized so it would have heat and electricity for the winter months.

“Tell me the truth,” I said to Matt. “No fucking around. Everyone knows Chris is an asshole. We all want to punch him.”

“I guess I was the only one to have the balls to do it,” Matt said.

“Not a chance.”

“It’s over. Okay?”

“What’s over?”

“My fucking marriage.”

“Christ,” I said. I ran a hand through my hair. “Over…”

“It’s done,” Matt said. He leaned against the railing. “We talked last night and made the decision.”

“You both made that decision?”

“I can’t force her to be where she doesn’t want to be,” he said. “And it was probably a long time coming anyway.”

“Shit, man, I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” Matt said. “Everything with her was so fast and so planned. It was fucking crazy with her, you know? And then something changed. Like we went to bed one night and woke up different.”

“I think that’s called time, Matt,” I said.

“Yeah, well fuck time then.”

“Time is inevitable,” I said. “I’m sorry you two grew apart. I’m sorry it all happened this way.”

Matt sniffled and cleared his throat. “It was just the dumb shit, Rams. The stupid little fights. I never thought much of them, but she did. Those were her cries for help or change. I asked her why she didn’t just talk to me when things were changing, you know? I mean, I knew we were changing, but I thought it was a bad day. Or a bad month. Or a bad year. People have those, you know? It’s okay to have a bad year. I just didn’t realize it was going to be a bad year leading into a fucking divorce.” He put his head back. “Ah, shit, divorce. What a fucking word.”

I approached him. I made a fist and gently hit his ribs. “You’ll get through it. At least you know what’s happening now. No more waiting around. No more sleeping on my couch.”

Matt laughed. “Yeah, right. She’s got it all worked out. We’re going to sell the house, split everything down the middle. I mean, I’ve been here for how long… wondering what to do or how to fix things. And she’s at her parents’ house, fucking some guy, planning our divorce.”

“That’s rough,” I said. “I know there’s nothing I can do or say. I’ve never been down this road. So, anything I’m going to say will probably piss you off.”

“Then don’t-”

“But since you punched me in the face… you owe me.”

Matt curled his lip. “Fine. Have at it, Rams.”

“You two were fools for a while,” I said. “You spent nights on my couch. That was a sign, Matt. Things were crashing for a while, man. Face it. When she left to go to her parents’ house, she knew the ending already. That doesn’t make it right to find another guy and start over, if that’s what she’s doing. But now you have to face it and do the same.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I guess not everyone can be your aunt and uncle.”

“Nobody is my aunt and uncle,” I said.

Except I want that… with Jordyn…

“You really did dodge a bullet with Sarah,” Matt said. “I don’t think I could ever forgive you for leaving me standing up there with her, waiting for you.”

“We’re not talking about me,” I said. My stomach felt a little ill. I couldn’t think about that time in my life. “Why don’t you take the rest of the day off? Go figure your shit out.”

“No,” Matt said. “This job is all I have right now, Rams. When I leave here today, I have to start packing up the house. We’re going to make arrangements for Mary to come out and get her shit. Then it’s going up for sale.”

From the corner of my eye I saw Chris walking through the front door.

“Are we done fucking crying yet?” he asked.

“Chris, man,” I said, curling my lip.

“It’s fine,” Matt said.

He walked toward Chris. I hoped the two would shake hands and move on. But that’s not how it worked.

“You know you need a three-fourths,” Chris said.

“If you tell me what to do again, you’re going to get three-fourths of my foot up your ass,” Matt said.

“Better than the whole thing,” Chris said.

Matt pushed his shoulder into Chris and went back inside.

I stared at Chris. “What a fucking mess.”

“And you wonder why I refuse to fall in love,” he said.

Chris disappeared, and I stood there alone on the porch.

Strange as it was, all I wanted to do right then was call Jordyn and tell her I loved her.

* * *

It was Friday afternoon and I stood on Jordyn’s front porch, looking down at a small packed bag, a teddy bear sitting on top of it, along with a rolled up blanket and a pillow. In the front yard, Sam was playing some kind of game of tag with himself and imaginary good and bad guys. Inside the house, Jordyn was on a quick conference call, which didn’t bother me at all.

“Hey, Sam,” I said.

He froze and looked at me. “Yeah?”

“Do you want to play catch?”

“With what?”

“A football,” I said. “You have one inside.”

“Oh. I don’t like football.”

“Neither do I,” I said. “But it’s fun to play catch.”

“I don’t know how to catch,” Sam said.

“Can I teach you?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Okay.”

I went inside and remembered spotting the neon green and orange football tucked next to a pile of mismatched cars and trucks. It was a squishy foam ball.

Jordyn’s boss’s voice echoed from the kitchen as he talked interest rates and escrow.

I smiled.

Good luck, darling.

Outside, I raced down the porch steps.

I bent to one knee and had Sam stand on the other side of the walkway from the porch.

“Just put your hands out,” I said. “I’ll toss it to you. When you catch, pull it to your chest.”

I tossed the ball and it hit Sam’s arms and fell to the ground.

“Good job,” I said.

“I dropped it,” Sam said.

“So what?” I pointed to the ball. “Pick it up and throw it to me.”

Sam grabbed the ball and threw it like a five-year-old probably would. It went in a random direction and came nowhere near reaching me.

“Okay,” I said as I got the ball. “Hold your hands out again. And then pull the ball in when you catch it.”

I gave another small toss. Sam winced as though I was throwing a jagged rock at his head. The ball hit his arms, he stuck his tongue out, and he actually caught the thing. He pulled it in and his eyes went wide.

“You did it,” I said.

“I did it,” he yelled.

“Okay, dude. Now try to aim for me when you throw it.”

Sam made a quick throw, not really to me, but in the vicinity where I could lean to the right and make a one-handed catch.

“Awesome job,” I said.

I threw it to him a few more times. He caught two out of three. His confidence was instantly boosted, laughing and smiling as he threw the ball back at me. And just like that, I was playing catch with Sam.

I had a very distant memory of my father doing this with me. One of the rare times when he wasn’t completely drunk. There was a beer can on the ground next to him when we played catch. He couldn’t function without booze, there were just variations of how much he drank.

“I’m going to back up a little now,” I said. “Ready?”

“Let’s go,” Sam said and clapped his hands together.

He was getting cocky and it was fun to see.

I tossed the ball and he curled his arms to make the catch.

“Nice,” I said.

“What’s happening out here?” another voice asked.

Jordyn stood on the porch, watching us.

“He’s teaching me how to catch,” I said to her.

“Watch, Mom,” Sam said.

He threw the ball and it spun in all directions and hit the ground, bouncing toward me. Sam sighed and frowned.

“It’s okay,” I said. “Here, make the catch.”

Another toss and Sam made another catch. He looked right to his mother for approval. Jordyn clapped her hands and cheered for him. She did a little goofy dance, jumping one foot at a time like a bug was crawling toward her.

Watching her dance like that and hearing her cheer made me laugh.

How the hell did this happen?

Falling in love with Jordyn like I did. Taking a little bit of a back seat to make sure her love and care for her son was always the first and most important thing on her mind.

“Okay, throw it back, Sam,” I said.

“How about you throw it here, kiddo?”

That wasn’t Jordyn’s voice. And her dance and cheering ended abruptly.

I turned my head to the left and Keith came walking down the sidewalk. Wearing the same dark jeans and same leather jacket from the night at the hospital. The same high school spiked hair and asshole look on his face.

I stood up and felt every muscle in my body tighten.

He looked at me, curled his lip, and then looked at Sam.

“Give me the ball,” he ordered.

Sam handed his father the ball and Keith inspected it. “Not a real football, huh?”

“It’s squishy,” Sam said.

“It’s for girls,” Keith said and chuckled.

I gritted my teeth.

“Sammy, come get your stuff,” Jordyn said. “I’ll walk you to the car.”

“No need,” Keith said. He walked down the sidewalk to the steps. “I can pick up my son. I don’t need help.”

“When was the last time you got out of your car to come get him?” Jordyn asked.

Keith didn’t respond. He handed Jordyn the football and pointed to Sam’s stuff. “Is that Sam’s or Ramsey’s?”

“Funny,” Jordyn said.

Keith looked back at me.

“My stuff is already inside,” I said.

Keith stepped away from the porch and came toward me. From the corner of my eye I saw Sam watching everything very closely. That meant I needed restraint. Restraint I wasn’t sure I was capable of.

“You have something you want to say here?” Keith asked me.

“To you? No.”

“Remember where you are, Ramsey,” he said. “This is my life you’re stepping into.”

“It’s only your life twice a month, right?”

Keith curled his lip again. “You think you’re funny, don’t you?”

“I think your son is waiting to leave.”

“Yeah. Well, enjoy my leftovers.”

“Wow. I haven’t heard that before, Keith.”

He stepped closer to me.

Jordyn moved down the steps to get closer to Sam.

I sidestepped and walked away from Keith. Now wasn’t the time or place to rehash old beefs or start new ones.

“Have a great weekend, dude,” I said to Sam.

I winked, and he smiled at me.

My best bet was to go inside and stay out of the situation. It pained me to do so because looking at Keith brought back memories of my father. And looking at Sam brought back memories of Brian. In some strange way I felt like it was years later, and I was in the same position.

I waited in the dining room, my eyes looking at the hand turkeys we all made that first night I met Sam. The family of turkeys with weird looking eyes and different colors, staring at me.

“Well, that went as expected,” Jordyn said as she came back inside.

I turned and smiled. “Fuck Keith.”

“Well said,” she said. “He never gets out of his car. He knew you were here. That’s why he did that.”

“Nervous, huh?” I asked.

“Jealous. He knows he’s wrong, but he’ll never admit it. He said he’s going to stop and get Sam a real football.”

I laughed. “So, is that the game here? We’re going to be one upping each other with Sam in the middle?”

Jordyn was within reach of me when she stopped and touched the back of a chair. “That’s up to you, Rams. Are you going to try to one up Keith?”

“No,” I said. “It’s not my job. I don’t even know what my job is, to be honest.”

“What you just did with Sam was amazing. He was so happy throwing that football with you.”

I looked around the house, trying to collect my emotions.

Of course, the house was decorated for Christmas already. Jordyn said she and Sam had a tradition to decorate the day after Thanksgiving. An artificial Christmas tree standing in the corner of the living room. A plastic train under it with all the classic Christmas characters poking their heads out of the windows with the big guy driving the train. Lights, garland, knickknack decorations were all scattered throughout the house.

It even smelled like Christmas inside the house. A hint of cinnamon and pine.

“What are you thinking right now?” Jordyn asked.

“How crazy I am about you,” I said. “How when I look around here and see all the evidence of the holidays and family, it makes me excited.” My eyes met Jordyn’s. “How long do you plan on renting here?”

“No clue,” she said.

“My house is empty. And it’s meant for a family, darling.”

“Are you asking…”

I closed in on her and slipped a hand to the small of her back. “I’m not asking anything, Jordyn. I would never put you in that position. I just want you to know that my house is empty and is meant for a family. And if that ever crosses your mind, I’m okay with that.”

Jordyn moved up to her toes as she sighed. She kissed my scruffy jaw and shook her head. “You find something to say each time I’m with you to make me fall for you even more.”

“That sets the bar high for me, darling,” I said. “I have to keep up with that.”

“You’d better. I have high standards.”

I laughed. “I’ve met your ex, remember?”

She pushed at me. “Jerk.”

Before she could slip away, I grabbed her wrist and stopped her. “I’m serious, Jordyn. About everything.”

“I know,” she said. “I believe you. You just have to promise me you’ll show me the plans for the house. So I can approve them.”

She puckered her lips and blew me a kiss.

I let her go and stood there a little shocked.

If I could get Jordyn to give me her forever, I would knock my house to the ground if she asked me to.