Forgiving Reed (Southern Boys #1) (19 page)

Chapter Thirty-Five

When I got home, I found her asleep on the couch. She was still dressed, and her eyes were reddened and swollen. My chest ached, and my stomach turned with uneasiness.

I slowly lifted her from the couch and carried her toward our room. As I lowered her to the bed she stirred and pulled away. “No.” One word was all she spoke as she curled away from me.

“Let me help you get undressed. I’ll leave ya alone after that. I promise.” I slipped her shoes from her feet and carefully slid her jeans down her legs.

She held her eyes closed tightly, not even attempting to sneak a glance. My throat burned more with each second that ticked by. At this moment I found myself wishing I had gone with my instincts and locked her up earlier in our room. We would have missed out on all the drama.

I decided it was probably best that I slept on the couch for the night. I changed out of my clothes and grabbed a pillow and blanket from the closet. Stretching out on the couch, I couldn’t shut my mind off. I didn’t know what time it was when I actually fell asleep. I just knew that it felt like it took forever.

I woke to the smell of coffee and movement in the kitchen. Looking up over the back of the couch, I found Kori standing at the sink. She was fully dressed and filling up a travel mug. Oh, hell no, she wasn’t running off. We were going to work through this.

I pushed up off the couch and walked right up behind her. I caged her in against the sink. “Can we talk?” She only shook her head and added creamer to her coffee. I stared at the contents of her cup as the dark brown liquid changed to light tan. There was more sugar and creamer than actual coffee. “I’m sorry.” I whispered against her neck, igniting goose bumps to rise over her skin.

She pushed back against me with her hips, causing me to step back. She walked toward the refrigerator and placed the creamer back inside. Pausing at the sink once more, she screwed the lid onto her cup and walked into the living room. Grabbing for her keys and purse, she slid on her shoes.

“Where are you going?” She continued to ignore me, and I stepped in between her and the front door. “Tell me how to fix this.”

Her beautiful, tormented eyes locked with mine, and my throat tightened. “Do you really think I enjoyed that man’s attention last night? Do you think I wanted our night to end up like that? Like it was some game I was trying to play to make you jealous?”

“No.” I lifted my hand toward her face, and she turned from it. “Kori, let’s talk this through.”

She shook her head and looked down at the floor. “Not right now, I can’t. I’m gonna get Rhett and take him back to my place.” The nauseated feeling filled my stomach with the thought of her moving back home.

“Don’t do this.” I was panicking, and I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. “Don’t leave me over this. Please, I’m sorry. I fucked up, okay?” I was begging her to stay and work this out.

Her eyes met mine once more, and they were filled with moisture. “I’m not leaving you. I just can’t talk to you right now. I’m still angry with you. When people are angry they say things they don’t mean. I don’t want to do that. I’m going back to my place and spend the day going through things, packing.” She took in a shuddering breath. “I just need some distance right now. I need to get past the hurt before I can talk to you sensibly.”

She stood up onto her tiptoes and placed a kiss on my jaw. I closed my eyes tightly, and my stomach coiled once again.

“I’ll see you later,” she said just above a whisper.

I watched her walk toward her car. I was left standing in the doorway as she backed down the drive and drove away.

“What’d you do, boy?” My father walked up the side of the deck looking all pissed off. “From the look on that girl’s face and yours, I’d say you screwed up.”

“You could say that. I blame it all on the Jackson blood in me. There’s a whole line of mean bastards, and that runs in my veins,” I responded as I looked back toward the empty drive, wishing for just a moment that she was still there. Coming up empty, I turned back to my front door.

My dad didn’t let the door shut, he followed right behind me. “Well, you gonna tell me or make me beat it outta ya?”

“Enough bull, old man.” I grabbed two mugs and filled them with coffee. I carried them to the table, and we both took a seat. I spent the next half hour filling him in on our night. Then I spent the next fifteen minutes after that getting lectured on how to treat a lady.

“Grab your damn pole, boy. Let’s get out Old Benny and let him soothe your soul. You’re gonna need to be calm and collected when Kori is ready to talk.” I shook my head and followed him toward the barn, gathering up our fishing tackle. A day of fishing with my old man sounded like a good idea. I needed something to pass the time.

***

When six o’clock rolled around and there was still no Kori or Rhett, I got worried. I grabbed my phone and called her. After the third ring she picked up. “Hello.”

“You coming home?” I asked.

She was silent for a moment, and the nervousness within my stomach only grew. “In a little while. Dad brought his trailer over, and we loaded some things up. He’s gonna drive it over and just leave it there so I can unload everything.”

I bit my tongue because I didn’t want her to know that it pissed me off. She didn’t ask for my help, and that bothered me. I knew she was upset with me already, so I let it slide. “You do know I would’ve helped, right?”

“Yeah, I came back home to get Rhett’s bag. I saw you and your dad out on the lake fishing. I didn’t want to interrupt. My dad offered when I called him to get a screwdriver.” I chuckled thinking about Kori with tools.

“I still would’ve helped, baby. But I understand why you didn’t ask me.” I took a deep breath and waited, but nothing came.

“I miss you guys,” I admitted.

“We’ll be home in less than an hour,” she replied and said a quick goodbye.

This entire situation sucked beyond explanation, and it was killing me. I was pissed off at myself for acting so aggressive last night.

I sat on the couch mindlessly flipping through the channels. Nothing was grabbing my attention until I heard the car doors outside. I jumped up quickly and marched toward the door. I saw Kori’s dad unhook the trailer and give her a quick hug, before getting in his truck to leave.

I walked out to the front porch and approached her car. Rhett was barely hanging on as his head fell from side to side. He was exhausted, and I hated that I had missed his entire day. I stepped up beside her and placed my hand on her lower back. “Let me get him to bed. I haven’t seen him in over twenty-four hours. You could go in, take a shower, and relax if you want. I can carry in some of this stuff for ya.”

She nodded in agreement and pulled Rhett’s bag from the floorboard. I watched as she walked up the stairs and went inside.

Turning back to the car, I carefully lifted Rhett from his seat and took him inside to get settled. After I put his pajamas on and kissed his forehead, he turned toward the wall and gave up.

I could hear the shower running just down the hall. Before I could analyze my movements, I was walking in that direction. Gripping the hem of my shirt, I lifted it over my head and dropped it to the floor. Sliding my pants and boxers down, I let them pool at my feet. I had to fix this, the void was insufferable. It couldn’t go on.

I slid the shower door to the side and stepped in behind her. She didn’t turn to face me, but I could see her shoulders shaking. I wrapped my body around hers from behind and held her to my chest. She shuddered against me, and I felt like I was being gutted.

“I’m so sorry I was an ass. I handled it wrong, all wrong. I was mad that he touched you. Then I was pissed that he acted as if I had no say in what happened with you. The guy fueled my anger, and I just needed him to know you are mine.” I buried my face in her hair and breathed her in.

“I said things I didn’t mean. You are not a possession to me, baby. You are the woman I’m so deeply in love with, and when it comes to you, I lose my mind. I just need to fix this, I need to make it right. Please tell me what I can do.” I pleaded for her to help me.

She turned in my arms, and her eyes met mine. “Make love to me.”

Her lips crashed against mine before I could respond. I gave everything I could over to her. I tried to show her within our kiss, our touch, just what she meant to me. The love I felt for her was so deep, raw, and uncontrollable.

Lifting her up by placing my hands under her ass, she wrapped her legs around my waist. Lowering her over my hardness, I slid in deep with ease. A tear fell down her cheek, and I kissed it away. “Forgive me, please, Kori. I need you to forgive me.” She nodded and kissed me softly.

Our bodies began to move together with the perfect rhythm.

“I’m sorry too. I know you meant well,” she whispered in my ear. “I love you, I need you.”

“You have me, you have me,” I declared as I looked into her eyes. Then we lost ourselves in the pleasure our bodies were creating.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Spring came and went, as summer was just setting in. Kori and Rhett were now all moved in and settled. She had been going room to room, decorating and making it a home. The place felt so welcoming and full of love. I knew it had everything to do with the ones who filled it, but the colorful warmness she spread throughout helped too.

School was almost over for the summer, only one more week to go. Kori was looking forward to the time off with Rhett.

Maria was still keeping a safe distance, and that ate at Kori so heavily. She came around, but she was very limited on what she would talk about. I wished I could fix it for them, but I chose to stand back. It really wasn’t my business, unless somehow in the process Kori was hurt. Then it became my business, no matter who the hell liked it or not.

Gavin ended up moving into the house that was once Kori’s. He had more room, and I assumed it was for the privacy too. Sharing a drive with Kori’s parents made it difficult to keep his business his own. This in turn only made it difficult for Kori to keep a watchful eye on Maria’s involvement with him.

I had just taken on a job in Savannah. Ben’s uncle got in an accident at work and was now bound to a wheelchair. His house was anything but prepared for his return home. So we packed up our tools and got to work on making his home one he could function in.

Of course this meant it was almost a two hour round trip between Kori and me. Ben and I decided to bust ass to get this done as quickly as we could, and the best way to do that was grab a hotel during the week. We would go back home on the weekends.

His uncle was in a rehabilitation center for now. They hoped he would be coming home in a few weeks. We had to widen the door frames, build ramps, and a company would be coming in to put in a lift for the stairs. Ben’s aunt was lost right now, and having him close was really helping her cope. They had no children, so Ben was the closest thing they had to a child.

***

We had just finished up our third day there, and we were both exhausted. It was a little after eight at night, and I could barely get my body moving. I could hear Ben talking to Leann on the patio just outside of our hotel room.

I jumped in the shower before making my call to the people I was missing terribly.

When Kori’s voice came through the phone, followed by Rhett’s giggles, I chuckled in return. “How are things going?” she asked.

“I’m missing you two like something fierce. We’ve got a long way to go, baby. This week is dragging ass. I just wanna come home and hold you both.” I ran my hands through my hair and let my head fall back against the headboard.

“We miss you too. Only two more days, then you’ll be home. We’ll make a weekend of just us.” She sighed. “You know, now that school is over for the summer, Rhett and I could come over for a visit during the week.”

“Yeah, maybe Leann and Chloe could join you. I’m sure Ben would like that. We need to plan ahead, though. I’m not sharing a room on those nights.” I chuckled.

We talked for about an hour. She told me about Rhett helping his pappy in the barn. He even got to ride the tractor I knew he loved. That boy loved his tractors.

Apparently he had picked up a new word from Kori’s dad that she wasn’t too fond of.  I guess a nineteen month old running around saying s
hit
was frowned upon. I tried to cover up my laughter when she told me, but it was pointless.

Over the next couple days we did all we could to get ahead. That meant we worked through lunch and well into the evenings. When Friday late afternoon rolled in, both of us were in my truck and driving to our families.

It had been one of the longest weeks of our lives.

***

I dropped off Ben first and then drove by Kori’s parents’ making sure she wasn’t there. When I didn’t see her Escape, I kept driving past.

A few minutes later I pulled into my driveway and found myself laughing at the sight before me. Just to the side of the house was a big air filled slide with some kind of slip and slide attached.

Maria, Kori, and Rhett were running around sliding and laughing. I took in the beauty of my girl in her tiny pink bikini and found myself adjusting my pants. It had been a week without touching her, and her lack of clothing wasn’t helping my raging hormones one bit.

When I stepped out of my truck and shut my door, I turned toward them. Within seconds I was tackled and a set of arms wrapped around my neck. Kori’s lips crashed to mine, and I gripped her waist, lifting her from the ground. Turning her around, I pressed her against the side of my truck. Her legs immediately encircled my waist.

“Did you miss me?” She nodded and sucked my lower lip into her mouth. “You know, if you keep it up, things are gonna be getting real dirty, real fast.”

She bit her lip, smiling seductively. “I like dirty.”

I shook my head and grinned. “Oh, you’re gonna get dirty, baby. Just not in the middle of the driveway with an audience.” I cupped her ass, and my fingertips grazed over her center. She gasped, followed by a moan.

Leaning close to her ear, I whispered, “I’m sleeping inside you tonight. We have a lot of catching up to do.” I felt her body shiver against mine as I slowly lowered her back to the ground. Rhett was coming toward me, and I needed to hug my little man.

The summer weather was hitting hard. It was warm and sticky, and Rhett loved the water. He was like a damn fish. It was harder than hell to get him out of the tub without a fit on his part.

I set Rhett down at my feet and knelt in front of him. “You want me to slide with you?” He nodded enthusiastically as he turned around and ran toward the water. Kori took my hand in hers, and we walked to the side of the house. I slipped my shirt up over my head and my shoes from my feet. Taking off full speed ahead, I spread out over the plastic and slid forward. Rhett’s laughter followed, and he trailed right behind, crashing against me in the pool at the end. I spent over an hour sliding around with him and Kori. I felt like a kid again. These two brought out the best in me. It was perfect

Maria ducked out shortly after I got home. She said we needed some family time. Family…I loved the sound of that. They were my family, and I was damn lucky to have ‘em.