Clayton
“Where are you going looking all hot?” Blake asked, and I didn’t miss the glare I’d received from Eli when she’d called me hot. “Oh, will you stop it?” She curled herself around him and kissed his jaw. “No one is as hot as you.”
It didn’t help he still looked at me like I’d done something wrong. Jackass was ridiculously territorial over Blake, which is why I loved to press his buttons.
“I’ve got a date with a pretty girl,” I told her with a wink. He growled and I chuckled, so I pushed more. “I hope that don’t make you jealous, kitty cat. I know you’ll miss me.”
“You want to keep that pretty face of yours clean?” Eli stepped forward and Blake slipped her arms around his center.
“You keep my girl busy until I get back, Red. I don’t want her sad that I’m not here to make her smile.” When he lunged for me, I slipped out the door just as it slammed behind me. Damn, he was fun to fire up. But nothing would ruin my mood, not even an overgrown meathead like Eli.
I was excited, more excited than I had been in a long damn time.
When I got the text from Emelie inviting me over to her place to watch a movie, I was surprised. She left me standing next to my car after one hell of a kiss without knowing where we’d go next. So when the invite came, it gave me back a little of the confidence I’d lost only hours before.
I’d seen the look in her eyes after we parted—it was regret. Now I just needed to prove to her there was absolutely no reason to feel that way.
Twenty minutes later I parked in front of a large apartment complex and crawled out of my truck. Two large pizzas and a small cheese in hand, because the lady at Pizza Hut said it was my safest bet for a two-year-old, I started walking toward apartment 4B.
Tucking my keys in my front pocket, I lifted my hand and knocked on the door. A few seconds passed before it slowly creeped open, and there in the doorway stood Emelie. “Hey,” I said as I scanned over her. She wore a pair of those tight stretchy pants girls wear, but for some reason they looked amazing on her. The t-shirt she wore was fitted as it hugged her waist and hips. Across her chest were the words “my eyes are up here” with an arrow pointing upward on the last E of the sentence. It made me smile, and when I looked upward she was smiling too.
“Pervert,” she mumbled and narrowed her eyes playfully as her smile grew wider.
I shrugged. “Wish I could say sorry about that and actually mean it.”
A loud squeal erupted behind her and she stepped back, turning around and the door opened wider. Barreling toward me was Ethan with his hands out to his sides and what looked like a diaper in one of them. Looking down further my eyes widened a bit when I realized the boy was nude from the waist down.
“Ethan, no!” Chasing after him was another girl, tall with long, dark, flowing hair. “I swear he only does this to me,” she complained as she scooped him up in her arms. “Hi.” She offered a wave. “I’m Palmer the best friend, and aunt to this little rugrat.”
“Hey.” I chuckled as I watched the little guy fight her to get loose.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go duct tape this diaper to his butt.” As she walked away, I gave Emelie a look that I’m sure mirrored my thoughts. When she laughed and motioned me to enter, she took the pizzas from me.
“She’s not really gonna tape it on him, is she?”
“She might,” Em said with a shrug and moved toward the kitchen, placing the boxes on the table. “He is always testing her.”
I looked around the small apartment and all I found were little boy’s things throughout. Toys, books, a highchair tucked up in the corner.
“It’s a bit messy.” I turned my attention back to her and found she had that crazy ass timidity about her once again. I hated that look. She was a beautiful girl, and in no way should she be trying to hide that beauty.
“It’s not a mess.” I stepped in her direction and she crossed her arms over her chest but didn’t try to step away from me. I hooked her around the waist and she looked up at me, biting her lip nervously. “Toys don’t make a place messy, it just shows how great a mom you are.”
When she tried to look away from me, I cupped her cheek and held her still, ensuring that she looked at me. “Why do you do that?"
“Do what?”
“Get embarrassed, or shy. I’m not sure what’s running through your mind, but there isn’t anything about this place or your life that should have you hiding.”
“You’re so sure about that.” I nodded and she shook her head. “You’re looking at a girl that got knocked up by some guy she’d just met at her first college party. Then he turned his back on his child before he even knew the sex of the baby. My parents want nothing to do with Ethan either, because he wasn’t in the plans they’d envisioned for me. I’m now an embarrassment and he’s a reminder of the life I’ll never be able to have now. In their eyes, I’m a disappointment.”
“Well, then they are the ones that should be ashamed, not you. They’re the ones missing out on you and him. It’s their loss, Em, and you’re better off without their venom in your life.” I tried to control the ticking in my jaw that her declaration warranted. What kind of fucking guy turns his back on his child? And her parents? I may have never met them, but they were nothing but two selfish pricks in my eyes. Fuck them all; no wonder she had trust issues.
“What are you gaining from this?” Her question surprised me. “Being here, getting wrapped up in my mess?”
“I’m gaining a beautiful girl and her adorable son. I’d say I’m the lucky one.”
She attempted to tuck her head downward to hide her smile, but I wouldn’t allow her to. Instead, I leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth, watching her eyes flutter shut. “You need to stop blaming yourself for the bad choices of others, because one day those idiots are gonna wake up and realize what their poor choices cost them. And when they do, I’ll be able to say that they’re too late because now you’re mine.” I kissed her again. “Both of you.”
“Clay—”
I didn’t allow her to argue with me; I knew instantly that was her intention. I covered her mouth with my own and slowly began to kiss her. It was all I’d thought about since the second she ended our first kiss earlier that day.
One hand holding her face firmly in place, I used my other to pull her body in as close as possible to my own. Damn, she felt good in my arms. “I’m here with you because I want to be, not because I have some hidden agenda. I like you, Em, and I like Ethan too.” I rested my forehead to hers. “I know the two of you are a package deal, and I want the whole thing.”
Her eyes were still closed, and I continued to hold her close. That is, until I felt a tug on my pant leg. I looked down to find a now fully clothed Ethan looking up at me. He held a kid’s cup in one hand and he smiled wide.
“Hey, buddy.” When I said that, Emelie jumped back from me like we’d been caught doing something dirty.
I also didn’t miss the way she looked around the room, most likely in search of her friend. I kneeled down and scooped Ethan into my arms. “I’ve missed my little pal,” I told him and ignored the attention I was now getting from Emelie as she watched me with her son. “Where’s your tunes?”
“He’s got them in the living room,” Em answered. “He’s been listening to it all day long.”
“Do you wanna show me your toys?” He nodded his head, still staring up at me with a smile. It choked me up a bit as I thought of his father turning him away without a thought. It pissed me off actually, because he didn’t deserve that. Emelie didn’t deserve that.
I put him down on the floor and he reached up for my hand. I looked back at Emelie. “We’re gonna go play with some trucks.” I leaned in, offering a quick peck on her lips that seemed to surprise her. “Call us when it’s time to eat.” I winked and started walking with Ethan toward his toy box, sitting on the floor at his side.
One by one he started to pull out each truck and placed it on the floor in front of me while I watched in amazement.
Before I knew it, we were building a town out of blocks on a huge rug that looked like a landscape of roads, hills and trees. We had garages and houses that Ethan slammed into, then laughed.
The next time I looked up toward Emelie, I found her leaning against the counter with her friend at her side as they both watched us play. I wasn’t sure, but it almost looked like Emelie had tears in her eyes.