Chapter Twenty-Three

Jensen

I roll over in bed, and my hand lands on the empty place beside me. My body feels like I just ran a marathon, but I can’t remember a time I’ve been happier in my life. I smile when I hear singing coming from the kitchen. Seeing it’s only nine a.m., I climb out of bed and grab a pair of shorts. I walk to the kitchen, seeing Hailey in my plaid button-down shirt as she stands by the stove singing and shaking her ass. My cock wakes up to play. I walk into the kitchen, and wrapping my arms around her waist, I bury my face in her neck as I smell her. “Morning, baby.” I kiss her as she melts into me.

“Good morning, handsome,” she says, flipping the pancake and placing it on the plate. “You need to tell that bad boy I need food before he gets another round.” She wiggles her ass, making my bad boy want her even more. She turns in my arms, getting up on her tippy toes to kiss my lips. My hand grabs her ass, and I pick her up, wrapping her legs around my hips.

“Oh, my god.” I hear my mother’s voice, and my lips pull away from Hailey. I turn to see my mother with her hand against her mouth, her face in shock, and her other hand on Mila’s shoulder.

Hailey untangles her legs from my waist, mumbling, “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.”

“Hailey, did you have a sleepover?” Mila walks away from my mother and climbs on a stool. “And you made pancakes. Nana, can we eat here?”

“Um,” my mother says, still looking at us.

Hailey looks like she wishes the floor would eat her up, standing half behind me now. “Did you put chocolate chips in the pancakes?” Mila asks, not even picking up on what is going on.

I turn to Hailey and grab her face, making her look at me. “It’s fine.” She just shakes her head no, but then nods yes.

“Can I have two please?” Hailey asks, looking around us at the stack of pancakes on the counter.

“Yes. You can,” I tell her, then turn to my mother. “Sit down.” She just nods.

“I didn’t know,” Mom says softly. “I had no idea.” I get the plate out and pile pancakes on it for Mila. “I’m so sorry.” She looks at Hailey.

“Everything is good,” I say, putting the plate down in front of Mila. “Hailey, get your coffee.” I motion with my head.

“Did you sleep in Poppa’s bed?” Mila asks, picking up a piece of pancake with her fork. “Did he make funny noises with his nose?” She mimics me snoring.

“No,” Hailey says from beside me as she hides her legs behind the counter.

“So what are you doing here?” I ask my mother, putting a cup of coffee in front of her.

“Mila forgot her rain boots, and we wanted to go hiking a bit.” My mother looks at me and then at Hailey. “I should have called.”

“Well, that won’t happen again,” I say under my breath as I drink coffee. We don’t say anything while Mila finishes her pancakes. “Go wash your hands and grab your boots by the door,” I tell her, watching her walk to the bathroom. “Now, Mother.”

She puts her head in her hands. “I’m so, so sorry, Hailey. I swear I had no idea.”

“Okay so now that it’s out there,” I say, looking at my mother and then putting my hand around Hailey’s neck and bringing her close to me. “We don’t have to keep it a secret.”

“Jensen,” she whispers, “what about Norma, and …” I don’t let her continue; I just kiss her lips and smile.

“I don’t care,” I say. “I don’t give a shit if they plaster it in the papers. I don’t care if they take a billboard out on the highway. I don’t fucking care,” I tell her, and my mother smiles as she watches us.

Hailey’s arms go around my waist. “Okay.” She leans up, kissing me. “I really, really like your son,” she tells my mother, opening her eyes. “Like a lot.”

“I can see that,” my mother says. “I can also see how happy he is.” She smiles at us and then frowns. “I owe your grandmother a hundred dollars.”

“What for?” Hailey asks from beside me.

“She called this.” My mother points at us. “She called it the minute you stormed into the house and saw Hailey there.”

“He hated me.” Hailey laughs, looking up at me, her eyes crinkling from the smile.

“I didn’t hate you.” I hold her closer to me. “I hated the situation.”

She shakes her head. “I hated him.” I glare at her. “You were such an asshole.”

“I wasn’t that much of an asshole.” I roll my eyes. She pushes me away from her.

“You kicked me out of the house, you basically said ‘no wonder my husband left me’.” She uses air quotes. “And then I carried your kid in my bare feet, got ten stitches, and you kicked me out of the room.” She puts her hands on her hips, and the shirt, even though it reaches her mid thigh, raises a bit.

I shake my head, rubbing my forehead with my hand. “You’re right. I was an asshole.” I look at her to see that through all this she isn’t sad about it or mad about it; she’s joking about it. I walk to her, my hands going to her neck. Her hands wrap around my wrists. “Forgive me,” I whisper to her; she just smiles and shrugs her shoulders at me.

“Maybe,” she says, getting on her tippy toes to kiss me. “You can think of ways to make it up to me.”

“Oh really, I can think of a couple,” I start saying when my mother yells for Mila, who comes back into the room with her pink rain boots in her hand.

“Give your poppa a kiss,” my mother tells Mila as she gets off the chair. “See you two tomorrow.” She waves at us, grabbing Mila’s hand and walking out.

“Oh, my god,” Hailey finally says. “I thought I was going to die.”

“Why?’ I ask her, smiling. Grabbing some pancakes, I pop them in the microwave to heat them up.

“Your mother knows we’ve had sex.” She points at herself and then me.

I raise my eyebrows, slamming the microwave door after it beeps. “She was bound to find out.”

“Really?” She crosses her arms over her chest.

“Really.” I pull out a stool, sitting down.

“How so?” Her head tilts to the side, and I’m not sure if this is a test or not.

“Well, since we are now officially dating”—I chew—“it’s not going to be a secret.”

“You mean just because we’ve had sex we are officially dating?” Her glare tells me that I should tread lightly.

“No, we were dating long before then.” I drink some coffee. “But you kissing me in public yesterday made sure that we are ‘officially dating.’” I use air quotes.

“I didn’t kiss you; you kissed me.” She points at me.

“Don’t give a shit who kissed who. It’s out there, and I’m not hiding this.” I finish eating, bringing my plate to the sink to rinse it off. “I wanted to sit down with Mila and tell her, but considering she found out you slept over, it’s too late for that one.”

“We aren’t hiding this,” she whispers, shock on her face as she takes in my words.

“Nope,” I tell her, turning to lean against the sink and look at her. “Why do you want to hide it?”

She looks down in thought, and then looks up. “No,” she says softly, then loudly again. “No, fuck no.” I walk to her. “I’m happy.” My fingers start unbuttoning my shirt that she is wearing, and her eyes watch my fingers. I push the shirt open a bit, cupping her breast in my hand. She’s fucking perfect; she was perfect before I slept with her, and she is even more perfect now. I roll her nipple between my fingers, causing her eyes to glaze over.

“Before you start something you can’t finish, Walker, you’d better go bolt that front door.” She removes the shirt from her shoulders, and seeing her standing in my kitchen naked, I can admire her in the light now. She has whisker burns on both breasts. My finger touches them lightly, and she shivers.

“I like this.” I trace the little spot. “My mark on you. I’ve never had the urge to claim someone, for everyone to know that person was mine, but with you, with you”—I shake my head, not sure I can even explain—“I want that. I want everyone to know when you walk down the street that you are Walker’s girl.”

“Well, unless I walk down Main Street naked, they are going to have to be okay with you kissing and holding my hand in public.” She laughs, turning around and walking to my bedroom. “But in the meantime, how about you mark me from behind?” Turning to walk into my room with me following her, by the time we are done, four hours later, we are both out of breath, her ass is pink from my handprint, and my teeth have marked her shoulder. “We need a break.”

She looks over. “Where are your t-shirts?”

I point at the closet. “In the closet in the second drawer.” My hand on my chest as I try to get my breathing back to normal. That is the best sex I’ve had in my life. I’ve had two partners my whole life, Julia and now Hailey, who hands down is the best sex I will ever have. Fuck, she ruined me. “Why?”

“Because I need to sleep, and me naked is too much for you to handle, so I’m going to cover myself.” She goes to the closet and comes out wearing one of my t-shirts with my name across it.

I rise to my elbows. “If you think having a shirt on is going to stop me from wanting you”—I laugh—“you are sadly mistaken, especially when you’re wearing my shirt.”

“Fine, I’ll go home,” she counters, and my laugh turns into a scowl.

“I’ll drag you back here,” I tell her, “kicking and screaming. I don’t give a shit. Now get in bed so we can nap.” I pull the covers off so she can climb in.

She puts her knee on the bed. “Pinky promise you will let me sleep?” Her pinky comes out, and I wrap my pinky around hers.

“Fine.” She gets into bed and lies on her stomach. I settle behind her, my legs entwining with hers. “I crossed my fingers.” I laugh, my hand roaming up her shirt to hold her breast. “I will still let you sleep.”

She wiggles her ass, getting comfortable, and we actually sleep until way after the sun has gone down. Later that night, with her in just my t-shirt, we sit at the island eating frozen pizza with not a care in the world. We spend the night together again, and this time, I wake up to her sucking my cock and taking what she wants. She climbs on me, and as she sinks down, we both groan. By the time we actually get up, we are late.

“What time is lunch again?” She gets on her hands and knees, looking for her other shoe somewhere in the room.

“My grandmother said to be there at noon.” I button up my shirt, coming out of the closet and seeing her jean covered ass. “Fuck.” Her head turns my way.

“No. No sex. Found it.” She grabs the shoe sitting on the bed and slides it on. “We are on a break from sex.”

My eyebrows pinch together. “Who is? I didn’t agree to this break.” Her head leans back when I stop next to her for a kiss.

“I have to go home and change.” She pushes me away, getting up. “Let’s go.” She walks out of the room to the front door. We get to her house in seconds. Jumping out of the car, she dashes into the house, and I follow her in just as the laughing starts.

“I’m surprised she can walk.” Crystal laughs as she stands by the sink in a flowered long-sleeved sundress. “Morning, Romeo.” I shake my head, going to fridge and grabbing a water bottle.

“So did you score?” Crystal folds her lips together, looking down the hall to Hailey’s bedroom. “If you hurt her, I will fuck you up,” she whispers, coming closer to me. “I’m a nurse, so I not only know exactly where to stab you so you bleed out fast, but also where it would hurt the most.” I don’t say anything because she continues, “That fucktard is lucky he died because if he was alive”—she shakes her head—“he would wish he was dead.”

“I’m not going to hurt her,” I tell her.

“I know you’re not because you love her.” She tells me, and I stand there, my mouth suddenly dry, my neck starting to burn. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell her.” She turns to walk away from me. “I’m leaving,” she yells. “See you there.” The door slams behind her, leaving me looking around.

I love her. I do, completely and utterly love her. I don’t know when it happened—fuck that, I know exactly when it happened. When I saw her sitting on the cold beach watching the water, day in and day out. I would take walks, see her, and turn around, then I would spot her sitting and watch her. Watching the same water she watched. Seeing the waves crash into shore, I would gaze ahead at the water, but my mind watched her. I let go of my hatred. I let go of my anger, and I let my guard down.

The night I sat with her, I let go of Julia, and I let go of the future I thought we would have. I let go of the promises I made her … I let go of that part of me. Except with Hailey, that part turned over twice, and it made me see that sometimes no matter how you plan things, how you map it out, life has twists and turns. Sometimes what you think you want isn’t what you deserve.

I deserve a woman who will love me and only me. I deserve a woman who wants a life with me, who craves a life with me. Who will put me before her. That is what I deserve. I deserve that perfect love story.

“Ready.” I hear Hailey’s voice as she walks into the room from her bedroom. Her flowered skirt flows around her legs; her short sleeved white silk shirt tucked in. She is wearing another pair of high heels, but my eyes go to her face.

Her hair pinned back at the side; her eyes shine. There is no sadness there, no emptiness like before. Gone is that girl who first sat on the beach watching the water with all the questions and no answers, and in its place is a woman who is so breathtakingly beautiful my heart skips a beat when she walks into the room. A woman who got her heart ripped out yet is still standing here.

“What’s the matter?” she asks me, coming closer to me, her hands going to my waist. “You okay?”

I push her hair from her shoulder to the back, so I can kiss her neck. “I’m fine,” I say, and it’s not a lie. “I used to watch you.”

Her eyes look at me confused. “When you would sit outside, at night, during the day. I used to walk down the beach, see you, and stop.” My thumb rubs her pink cheek. “I used to sit and watch the water with you, watch you as you worked through your storm inside.”

“I,” she says softly, my finger stopping her from talking.

“The first time I saw you, I thought you were so beautiful. But you looked broken; your eyes looked dim, the light gone.”

I can’t go on without kissing her, so I lean in and kiss her lightly. Her lip gloss stays on my lips. “But each time you left that beach, you got more beautiful, which, to be honest, I didn’t think could happen.”

Her thumb comes up to wipe my lips. “I was broken.” She starts to talk. “I was empty; there was nothing left to me.”

“I know, and the sad thing is so was I.” I shake my head. “I had the best kid you could ever hope for, I had a successful business, I had a family who loved and supported me, but I was empty.”

I smile at her. “I was. I’m not anymore.”

“What do you mean?” She looks at me.

“You … you made me whole again. This thing with us, it started with me wanting to be your friend, it started with two broken people on the beach asking for answers we weren’t going to get.” I kiss her. “Or we were each other’s answers. We were the answers to each other’s questions.”

“Jensen.” A tear rolls down her cheek.

“I love you,” I finally tell her, causing her breath to hitch. “I love you.” Another tear falls from her eyes. “More than I thought I could love anyone else besides Mila.” I smile as the heaviness from before vanishes.

“I don’t …” she starts saying.

“You don’t have to say anything.” I lean in to kiss her lips. “I just wanted to tell you. Now, let’s go because we are going to be really, really late,” I joke.

“You’d better call and tell them we will be by later.” She turns to walk away from me as I stare at her. “I love you.” I stand and am about to say something when she holds her hand up. “You had your time; this is mine.”

I cross my arms over my chest, watching her look at me. “Okay.”

“The worst day of my life was when my husband died because I thought I would die with him. It was a pain that seared through me to my soul. I collapsed in the middle of the hospital to my knees. I asked God to take me too. To take me so I could be with him.” She wipes a tear away as anger and fear fills me at the thought of her not being here. “Then the second worst day of my life was finding out that my life was a lie. That everything I thought was real wasn’t but a mirage of what life was supposed to be like.”

“He was a fool.” The words come out.

“For one month, I couldn’t sleep until I passed out drunk.” She wrings her hands together. “That is how weak I was. I got drunk so I could stop the thoughts, so the memories of us were too blurry for me to remember.” Her hand goes to her stomach. “Just thinking back, it makes me sick that I gave him that much more power over me.”

“You did what you needed to do to survive,” I tell her as she blinks. The tears falling now, one after another.

“My grandmother came to visit me, showing me a picture of this house. It was the day my life started again. The swings in the front and the back pulled me here.” She laughs. “The picture was a bit deceiving since the house was falling apart when I got here, but the minute I stepped out of the car, I started to breathe again. The weight that had crushed my chest for so long was lifting, slowly. I would sit on that swing in the back at night when I couldn’t sleep at the beginning, watching the ocean fight its own storm. Seeing the contrast of the calm water out on the horizon and then hearing the waves crash onto the shore. It was my life.”

“You are stronger than you think you are,” I tell her, making sure she knows.

“I am, and I know that now. I know that because I had to have the two worst days of my life to have the best days of my life to come.” Her body goes tall. “I sat on that beach every single day looking for answers, asking questions that no one would be able to answer, because the one person in the world who could answer them wasn’t here.” She looks down and then up. “Then the answer came to me, you.” She sobs. “You, you were the answer all along.”

I rush to her, grabbing her face and crushing her lips with mine to swallow the sobs as I hold her. Her hand grips my shirt, holding me as much as I’m holding her. She starts unbuttoning my shirt, and my hands pull her shirt over her head. “I love you,” I tell her as I kiss the middle of her chest and feel her heart beating under my lips. “With everything that I am, I love you.”

I look up as the tears dry, her eyes sparkling. “I love you more,” she whispers. “You, Jensen Walker, are my perfect love story.”