Brock
I pull my phone out of the cup holder and dial Ripley’s number; she answers on the second ring. “Hey. Where are you?” I hate that her voice is indifferent to me, but I deserve it. I accept it, but I’m going to work my ass off to change it and make things right with her.
“I’m almost through Indiana so I should be there in three and a half hours. Tiny’s getting impatient and I’m getting tired.” I’ve been on the road for eight hours and all I want to do is crash.
“Are you heading to your mom’s or your grandparents’ house?”
“I’m heading to my grandparents’ place. My mom doesn’t have a yard for Tiny and he’ll need space to run around for a while. Also, I’m pretty sure my granddad missed Tiny more than me.” I smile at the sound of her laugh; it feels me with a warmth I can only get from her.
“I don’t think that’s true, but I know Alex misses that dog something fierce. Oh, Jonah and Jessica got back from their honeymoon yesterday. They’re both tan and relaxed, and I swear Jessica’s absolutely glowing.” Her sigh comes through the phone. “You should see all the stuff they brought home for Alex. It was a little excessive, but trying to tell them not to is like talking to myself, so I don’t even try anymore. I just can’t wait for Alex to see it all.”
“I’m putting you on speaker.” I slip my phone into a little holder so I can talk to her. “I’m glad they had a good time.” After taking a deep breath, I blurt out, “I’ve missed you.” Silence greets me on the other end. Was that too much? Well, it’s too late now. I already put it out there. “Rip?”
“Yeah I’m here.” Her voice is soft, and I hear Alex’s little voice in the background.
“Can I say hi to Alex?”
“Sure hold on, just one second.” Her muffled voice is all I can hear in the background.
“Hi Brock! Where’s Tiny? I miss him so much! Are you coming ober? Please come ober today!” he screeches excitedly.
“Hey buddy! It’ll be too late to come over tonight, but how about this: if it’s okay with your mom, Tiny and I will come over tomorrow.”
“Mommy can Brock and Tiny come ober tomorrow?” he shouts loudly into the phone. I hear Ripley’s voice in the background. “She said yes!”
His enthusiasm is contagious, and I smile as I listen to his excited chatter. Finally, Ripley gets back on the phone. “As you can tell he’s super excited to see Tiny . . . no offense.”
“None taken. Their bond is sweet. Is that okay though, you know, that we come over tomorrow?”
“That’s fine, just let me know what time. We need to go grocery shopping, but we’ll do that in the morning.”
I’m glad she is agreeable to letting me and Tiny come over tomorrow. “Okay, I’ll text you in the morning. I’m going to let you go because traffic’s getting heavy so I need to concentrate. Bye Ripley.”
“Be safe,” she says before disconnecting our call.
“Tiny?” I hear a woof from the back seat. “I think I’m going to have my work cut out for me. They’re worth it though.” I murmur the last part to myself.
I wake to the smell of coffee and bacon. After throwing on a t-shirt, my first stop is the bathroom to take a leak, wash my hands, and brush my teeth. In the kitchen, I find my granddad making breakfast and Tiny sitting next to him, begging for bacon.
“Good morning.” I give Tiny a big head rub before slapping my granddad on the back.
He pulls a coffee mug down and brings it to me after filling it with some hot brew. “Morning son, how’d you sleep?”
“Great. How has Tiny been? Poor dog does such a good job traveling, but it can’t be super comfortable for him.” As soon as we got back last night, he went right to my grandma and collapsed at her feet.
“He’s been a good boy. We played fetch a little bit and then tug of war, and then we went for a walk. Now he wants bacon.” My granddad grabs a piece of bacon and passes it to my dog. Yes, my dog is spoiled, and he’s not ashamed to beg for food.
“I appreciate you seeing to him and letting me sleep.” Tiny and I got back at ten-thirty last night and I was exhausted. My grandma shooed me to bed and said they’d get Tiny sorted. Sure enough, as soon as I collapsed on my bed, I passed right out.
“Of course. You were dead on your feet. Are you going to relax today?”
I shake my head. “No, Tiny and I are going to go visit Ripley and Alex.”
“That’s great. I’m sure there’s lots to talk about. Son, I want nothing more than for you to find happiness. In my gut I know it’s with Ripley and Alex.”
“I know it too. I just have to prove to her that I’m not going to leave her again.”
Once breakfast is done, we sit together and eat in a companionable silence. After I finish eating, I clean up the kitchen then jump in the shower. I shave and brush my teeth before heading back into my room to get dressed. Since I’m heading to Ripley’s with the dog, I just throw on a muscle shirt and some basketball shorts. After I throw a ball cap on my head, I shoot a quick text to Ripley to see if she’s home. A minute later, she says they just got back and to come on over.
After I get Tiny loaded up, we head over toward Ripley’s. It’s like he can tell where we’re going and begins whining from the back seat. “Shut it, boy. We’re going to be there soon.” I look at him in the rearview mirror. “You’ve got to help me win them over. They belong to us and we belong to them, and Ripley needs to see that.”
A bark is his reply as we reach her street. As soon as I stop my truck, I see Alex come tearing out of the house screaming for Tiny and Tiny trying to break out my window. “Jesus fuck dog. Calm down, let me open the door.”
I don’t even bother leashing him because he goes right to Alex. Stepping into the yard, I notice Ripley standing at the bottom of the steps. She’s gorgeous. Her hair is braided again and she’s wearing another Cubs shirt with cutoff sweats that show off her tan, toned legs.
On autopilot, my feet carry me until I’m standing right in front of her. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she softly says. I pull her into a hug and at first, she holds her body stiff, but then I feel her arms wrap around me. It’s still a little stiff and awkward, but I keep holding her until I finally feel her relax into me, resting her cheek against my chest while we watch Alex and Tiny run around in circles. “I’m glad you got home safely.”
“Thanks. I think someone else is happy too.” Alex is now lying on his back while Tiny licks the side of his face.
After the boys get up I follow behind them as we step inside and Alex runs up the stairs with Tiny following behind him.
“Alex, no running!”
“Okay Mommy!”
I sit on the couch and watch Ripley fidget around, almost like she can’t figure out what to do with herself. That ever-present ache in my stomach starts to build because I hate seeing her uncomfortable and knowing it’s because of me. “Rip, come sit with me. Let’s talk a little bit.” She looks at me with wide eyes. “No, not about that, not about Alex, okay?” With reluctant steps, she comes toward me and sits down.
I rub my sweaty palms down the legs of my shorts. Fuck, this is crazy. Why am I so nervous? Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly and grab her hand, lacing our fingers together.
“I know I have no right to expect anything from you, but I will never be able to apologize enough for hurting you when I left. You’ve been the one true good thing in my life and when I hit you, all I saw was my dad hitting my mom, hitting me. I know I’ve got some issues, but I’m trying to get past them. First things first, I wanted to tell you about the day I was shot.”
Her hand squeezes mine. “Sure, of course.”
“Well, I’ve told you I was a scout sniper in the Marines. My team was doing some reconnaissance and surveillance after we got some intel about a possible terrorist cell. We were only supposed to get close enough to gather information, and it didn’t take long to realize we’d been given false info and it was a trap. My partner took one to the chest, and it was while I was dragging him away that I took one to the shoulder and one to my leg.
“We got to safety as the rest of our team moved in and got control of the situation. Luckily, both bullets went in and out, so I wasn’t out of commission long.” I turn and see she’s looking at me, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “Hey, no tears. You can see that I’m okay.”
“I know, I just don’t like the thought of you being so far away from me and being hurt.” I reach out, wiping away the lone tear that’s sliding down her cheek. Her chin’s wobbling and I grab her hand, pulling her toward me so I can wrap my arms around her. She buries her face in my t-shirt. Stroking Ripley’s back, I feel her shudder and hug her tightly to my chest. A few moments later, she finally calms down and pulls away from me.
“No more tears. Please, they’re breaking my heart.” I press my lips against her forehead and hear that beautiful sigh slip past her lips. “I promise I’m okay, and I’m out now.”
Ripley scrubs her hands over her face and blows out a breath. “I’m good. Sorry.” She looks toward the stairs and back at me. “They’re being really quiet.”
In a flash we both fly up the stairs to Alex’s door, where we can hear Alex’s excited chatter. “A is for apple. B is for ball. What’s this letter? That’s the letter C for cat.” Tiny gives a snort that we hear through the door and Ripley smiles at me widely. “Tiny, you’re gonna lib with me. You can sleep right here.”
I grab her hand and pull her to me. Without thinking, I back her into the wall, and then my lips are on hers. She holds herself rigid at first, until suddenly her mouth opens and her tongue is connecting with mine. My dick is hard as fuck right now, but I can’t do anything because her son is in the other room. Plus, we should really be taking our time. There’s so much we still need to talk about, and we shouldn’t be getting intimate until we do. I don’t want what I want us to build to be built solely on the physical.
What we used to have was so much deeper than that. Even when we were driven by hormones, our relationship was still so much more. I reluctantly pull my lips away, but our bodies are still touching. “You make it very hard for me to behave myself.”
Her lips twitch and I can tell she’s trying hard not to smile. “Same,” she whispers. Ripley presses her forehead into my chest.
“Are you sniffing me?”
She pulls her head back to look at me. “Maybe. Are you hungry?”
“I could eat.”
After Ripley checks on Alex—who is “starbing”—she leads me downstairs where we stand side by side to make grilled cheese sandwiches and a fruit salad.
A few minutes later, Alex comes barreling into the kitchen, followed by Tiny. We sit at the table and listen as Alex tells the sweetest little stories. I just can’t take my eyes off of him—that sweet little boy is my brother. I can’t think about it though, because all I can think about is what happened to Ripley.
We finish lunch and I take Alex and Tiny outside while Ripley vacuums and picks up the living room. I offered to help, but she said keeping an eye on Alex would help her more. Tiny and Alex play fetch as I sit down on the back steps. I hear a door open, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Ripley’s neighbor.
“Hey,” he hollers.
I look in his direction and give him a chin lift. “How’s it going?”
“Good. Where’s Ripley?” This guy is something else.
“She’s inside. Why do you ask?” I stand up.
Tim, Tom—whatever his name is—just shrugs his shoulder. “No reason. Just saw Alex out here and thought maybe he was alone. You were gone for a bit.”
“Yep, had to take care of some stuff back in North Carolina, but I’m back for good now.”
“Well, I kept an eye on them for you.” Did this guy really just say that to me? Like what . . . I should be grateful? The fuck I am. If I had it my way, I’d move them right out of this place.
“Thanks.”
I turn to where Alex and Tiny are sitting. “Alex, it’s time to head inside.” Turning back to Ripley’s neighbor, I make my point very clear. “I appreciate you looking after them, but I’m back, so I’ll take over.” He holds my stare until turning away and walking into his house.
Following Alex and Tiny, I step into the kitchen and find Ripley leaning against the counter with her arms crossed over her chest. She looks at Alex and says, “Why don’t you and Tiny go watch one of your shows. We’ll be right in.” She turns back to me. “Seriously?”
“What? I don’t like that guy.”
Ripley moves until she’s standing in front of me. “Brock, I promise you he’s completely harmless. Yes, he stares at my boobs, but he’s never tried anything. If I’m not worried, you shouldn’t be either.”
A squeak slips past her lips as I pull her to me. My fingers spear her hair and I tip her head back; I want to kiss her again, so bad, but I shouldn’t. With a sigh, I let her go and step back. Hurt crosses her features, but she quickly hides it.
“Rip, I want nothing more than to kiss you and kiss you again, but I’ve hurt you over and over again. I need to prove to you that you can trust your feelings with me and trust me with your son’s too.” I can’t help it—I have to touch her, so I reach out and cup the back of her neck with my hand and pull her back to me. “Please let me do that.”
“You’re right. I need you to prove you’re not going to leave us again.” Her hands rest against my chest. “Please don’t hurt me again.” Ripley’s voice takes on a pleading tone.
“I wish I could make that promise, but you know I can’t, just like I know you can’t. I promise that if I do hurt you, I will do everything in my power to fix it.” I lean forward until my face is right in front of hers. “Baby, I’m going to screw up and so are you, but I swear to you, no more running.”
Ripley’s eyes close and I hug her to me, my hand stroking over her braided hair.
We finally break apart and head into the living room, where Rip walks quietly to the coffee table and grabs her phone, aiming it at Alex, who is curled up on the floor with his head resting against Tiny’s side. Both of them are fast asleep. I grab my phone and snap a couple of pictures too.
“Do you want to see some pictures of Alex as a baby?” Ripley’s voice pulls me from staring at Alex and Tiny.
“Yeah, that’d be great.” She tells me to go sit in the kitchen and that she’ll be right back. A few minutes later, she returns with a thick photo album.
“I’ve got a lot, so just tell me if you’ve had enough.” Her voice carries a hint of laughter when she says it.
We start at the beginning with Ripley in a hospital bed with a huge belly, and fuck me, she looks beautiful. The next one is of her with a gooey-looking baby on her chest and Jonah at her side with tears rolling down his cheeks, smiling widely. In the next picture, Ripley’s in a pink nightgown in a rocking chair with Alex in her arms. My chest aches as I flip through more pictures and listen to her stories behind them.
There are a lot of pictures of Alex and Ripley’s dad, and sadness washes over me that he won’t have his grandpa around to teach him and guide him like he guided me. It’s obvious that Alex is a very well-loved boy.
“I know it’s crazy how many pictures I have, but Mom is crazy about taking pictures and making memories. She doesn’t trust just saving them digitally.” She’s quiet for a minute and then looks at me. “I was glad that Alex looks like me. After I had him, I was afraid he’d look like . . . well you know, and what if your mom saw him, or your dad, and they saw it. I just didn’t want to answer questions that would be uncomfortable.”
My hand covers hers. “I can understand that.”
Alex wakes up a little while later and I ask to take Ripley and him out to dinner later. I tell her to dress up and then leave so I can take Tiny back to my grandparents’ and get ready. At her front door, Ripley grabs me by the front of my shirt.
“I’ll see you in a bit.” I kiss her cheek and holler goodbye to Alex.