Inconsolable (19 page)

“You’re right, Anna, Mary-Beth was a bitch, and I went after her because she was what I couldn’t have.  I never had those feelings for Sam.  Mary-Beth was the only person I saw, until well… until I came home.”

“Sorry about your eye, Carter.” Luke says as he replies to a text on his phone. 

“Sorry about the metal to your gut.” Jameson retorts.

“Well dude, at least it wasn’t my nuts. I want kids one day, a day that is very far away.” He gives us both a smile. “I’m off to meet Skylar.  You two be good and I’ll talk to Sam.  Just let her come to you.  She has to calm down.  I should have known you wouldn’t go back to Mary-Beth.”  He puts his hand in a fist and holds it in the air waiting for Jameson to bump his against it.  Jameson does before Luke turns to walk out of the shop.  He walks with a bit of a pep in his step.  Jameson lets out a belly laugh and Luke turns back around. “What?” He looks around confused. “Am I bleeding or something?  Got something on my back?” 

“Nah man, you just got them moves like Jagger.” Jameson says through his laughter. Once I understand
what he’s said
I can’t hold back my own bubble of laughter.

“Ha, you’re right, Jameson! He does have some moves like Jagger with that walk!”  I say, as Luke’s feathers start to ruffle.

“Whatever!” He smiles. “You’re just jealous ‘cause you can’t do it.” He sticks his tongue out and walks out of the store.

“I am sorry about, Mary-Beth.  I knew she was mean sometimes, but this really is a new low.  I’ll talk to Sam if you want.” I say to Jameson, I can’t stand that she is really that much of a conniving bitch.

“Thanks Anna, but it’s time for me to be a man. Sam will come around.
I’ll make sure of it.”

“With that look you have on your face, I’m going to leave you to your mischievous planning.” I bend down to grab my purse.  “I know she’s my best friend, but I never thought she was good enough for you. Sam is the one that belongs with you.”  I put my hand on his arm to make sure he’s listening. “If you ever, and I do mean ever, repeat that I will cut you.” I look at him
and smile before adding.  “Or Blake will.” I shrug, then open the door and make my way to the shop.  I wonder what kind of betting will be happening today. 

I walk into the shop and notice Garrett sitting there waiting for his haircut.  Great, I forgot I had to deal with the other half today. I plaster on a fake smile as I walk into the room.

“Morning, Garrett.”

“Morning, Anna. I heard you aren’t speaking to the girlfriend anymore.”

“She tell you why?” I ask as I pull out the stuff to do his hair.

“No, she might have left that out.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, you can ask me anything.”

“Why do you like Mary-Beth?” I am genuinely curious about his answer. While I love Mary-Beth, I sure as hell don’t like her right now.

“Honestly, I’m pretty sure I love her. She is this amazing woman. She treats my son and I well. I know she is still
kind of hung up on Jameson, which is normal for your first love. Hell, Brooklyn’s a bitch, but I still care for her.”

“Twenty bucks, Barb!”  Diane yells from the other room while Barb swears. 

“Damn boy, you weren’t supposed to admit that!” Barb yells back.

I shake my head and he chuckles. I wet his hair and start to cut. “What happened to make me mad at Mary-Beth isn’t something I can tell you. She should tell you in her own time. She may do me wrong sometimes, but I am not about ruining her life. It isn’t something I can do.”

He sits there looking at me in the mirror and I try my best not to squirm under his scrutiny.  I like Garrett.  He’s underestimated and treated poorly by the women he chooses to love.  I hate seeing him upset and hurt by my best friend.  The more I think about it, the more I think I need to re-evaluate my relationship with Mary-Beth. As I’m finishing up Garrett’s haircut, Brooklynn comes through the door with Trinity.

“Hey Daddy!” He says running in and wrapping his arms around Garrett. 

“Hey buddy, wait just a minute. Let Ms. Anna finish my hair, you’ll get it all over you.”

“Daddy! I missed you! When are we going to see Mary-Beth again? I really like her.”

“I bet your daddy does too, son.” Brooklyn sneers from behind us. I try to ignore this.

“Brooklyn, this is not the time nor the place. Mary-Beth is my girlfriend and Anna’s best friend. Could you not bring Anna into this?”

“Well, why the hell not?” Brooklyn practically yells. I grit my teeth together and smile at Garrett in the mirror. I nod my head to the door and he gives me an apologetic smile.

“Look, um Barb. I’m gonna head out for a bit.”

“Sure thing, baby, I wouldn’t wanna be in the middle of that cat fight either.” She gives me a sigh and then looks over at Diane. “Maybe it’s time to let her go.”

“WHAT?” I ask in shock. Diane is quick to jump and run up to me.

“Oh, baby not you. Brooklyn. She doesn’t seem to be doing as well as she used to.”

“Don’t do that, she needs to work to take care of Trin.” I reply, knowing damn well she wouldn’t have to work if she didn’t want to.  Garrett would take care of them both in a heartbeat.  I suppose when your daddy owns Logan Enterprises it wouldn’t be hard.   “I’m gonna go grab some coffee from Penny’s.  Do y’all want something?”  They both say a “no” as I turn to leave I hear Brooklynn screaming through the door.  It’s gonna be a messy conversation today.  Why can’t they do this crap at home?

I walk down to Penny’s and order my usual Caramel Macchiato. I add a blueberry muffin to my order and grab a seat in the corner booth. I see a streak of purple pass by me and look up to see Sam standing there, ordering. Great, maybe I can talk to her about what happened.

“Hey Sam.” I say and wave. She smiles, walking over after Mrs. Penny hands her the coffee she ordered.

“Hey Anna. How are you and Blake?”

“Oh, we’re
good thanks for asking.  Look I wanted…”

“I don’t wanna talk about it, Anna.” Sam interrupts me before I can get it out.

“It wasn’t him though. Mary-Beth did it all. He loves you Sam.”

“Sure seems that way.” She gives me a sad smile. “How can you be friends with someone like that?” She seems genuinely intrigued. “I mean, you’re nothing like that, Anna.”

“I know, I was just telling myself it’s time for me to have a re-evaluation of whom I call a friend.” 

“I’m always here.  I have to head to the office, but text me later.”  She smiles, waves and walks away. 

I sit at Penny’s for about another thirty minutes, hoping the storm has passed and I can head back to work.  When I get there Garrett is gone and there is twenty dollars laying on my desk.  I smile and look around for Brooklyn.  I find her under the dryer texting on her phone.  I hope she finds someone that makes her happy.  She makes me want to say “bless your heart” all the time. 

Work seems to go by in a blur and I haven’t heard anything from Mary-Beth.  It’s starting to kind of worry me, in truth, I never expected her to really believe what I said.  She never has in the past, but she has never done something like this either.  I get in the car to drive home, planning to start my homemade chicken n’ dumplings for when Blake comes over tonight.  I pull into the driveway next to Blake’s Rover, a smile pulling at my lips.  I can’t believe he’s here already, I wonder what he’s doing.  I walk in and the aroma assaults me.  I can’t believe it, he’s made me supper. 

“Babe?”

“In here, Sunshine.”

“Oh gosh, Blake. This is amazing.” I feel my eyes starting to moisten as I look at the kitchen. He’s got wine sitting out in glasses with a candle lit between them, on the plates he has cooked pepper jack chicken, mashed potatoes and what looks to green bean casserole. It looks and smells delicious.

“I hope you like it. I talked to Carter
and I know you have had a pretty crappy day. I wanted to do something to make it better for you.” He gives a sheepish grin and I can’t help, but smile.

“I know you cooked this for me, but I have an idea on how you can make it even better.”  I lick my lips.  Just imagining what I have in mind is sending my body into turmoil.  My sex is instantly wet and my core is tingling wanting the pleasure only he can give me. 

“Oh, is that right?” His eyes darken with lust, as he realizes what it is that I want.

“Mmm hmm.”  I reply wrapping my hand around his neck, leaning up on my tip toes to kiss him.  I whimper against his lips, before sliding my tongue out to trace his lip.  He opens his mouth and grants me access, but quickly takes charge, showing me just who has control in this situation. 

He runs his hands down my back, grabbing my ass, lifting me until my legs are wrapped around him. He pushes me against the door in the kitchen
and slowly lifts up the skirt I’m wearing.  He slides his finger into the damp lace of my panties and groans.  “Always so wet for me.”

I just nod as his fingers assault my pussy. I moan loudly before his mouth is on mine again. I hear the sound of his zipper before I feel his fingers moving my panties aside. I moan as I feel the head of his cock against my sex. I scream a release of pleasure as he sheaths himself inside
me. This is right. It’s pure bliss. How could I have waited for this? He moans into my ear, his finger running over my bundle of nerves and sending me rocketing off into space. I gasp, as I feel his release inside me. We have
never not used a condom and
that’s why it felt so different this time.  He sags against me, his head on my shoulder as we both come down from our highs. 

“Okay Sunshine. I’m going to need some food after that. Let’s go get cleaned up and then eat supper.”

I shake my head in agreement, as he carries us to the bathroom. We get cleaned up, eat dinner together
and talk about what happened with Mary-Beth and Jameson. For once, it’s nice to have someone just listen to me and let me explain to them how I’m feeling. We clean the kitchen together, then snuggle on the couch while watching
Safe Haven
.  I love that Blake is okay with me picking movies like this. As long as he can snuggle with me, that’s all that matters to him. I curl up in front of him
and within the hour, I’m out. 

Waking up to Anna in my arms is
one of the best things that has ever happened to me.  Seeing her resting so peacefully makes me want this every day for the rest of my life.  I wonder if I should ask her about living together.  I also wonder if that is too soon.  She stirs beside me, turning and looking into my eyes. 

“Mmm.  Good morning.”

“Morning, Sunshine.”

She stretches in the bed, her shirt rising up her pale, flat stomach.  This vision overtakes me of Anna’s stomach swollen with my child inside her.  I shake it off and wonder when the hell I lost my mind.  I look over at her, then attack with my fingers.  She squeals, thrashing as I tickle her. 

“Please! Stop!” She lets out breathlessly and I can’t help but laugh. “Blake! I’m going to pee my pants if you don’t stop!”

I immediately let up, no one wants to wash piss out of
the sheets this early in the game. I smack her ass as she gets up and makes her way into the bathroom. I get up, throw on some sweat pants out of my bag as I walk over to the bathroom door.

“Anna, I’m gonna go run for a bit.”

“Okay
babe.  I’m gonna soak in the tub then.”  She opens the door with a towel wrapped around her. 

“Sounds good. I’ll be back in a little bit.” I lean over, kissing her lips before I walk out of the room, slide on my shoes and make my way out the front door. I run around the block to Anna’s house. I have this weird feeling that something isn’t right. It’s the same feeling I had that morning in Iraq and it’s worrying me. I don’t want Anna to know
because it is probably nothing. I listen to the music in my beats as I run at a steady pace. I think about how to tell Anna I’d like us
to move in with each other
and I worry about what her opinion is going to be.  I make the block and start to slow my running to a jog.  

Ten minutes later
and I am walking back into the apartment. Anna is sitting on her phone, entranced by
something, so I just walk by her to take a shower.  When I come out she is sitting there still, she looks up and jumps into action.

“Something’s wrong with Mary-Beth. She didn’t sound like herself. We need to go.” She looks around frantic for her keys. I groan. We were supposed to be having a good time today, not worrying about Mary-Beth’s drama.

“Anna, come on baby.  Let Garrett handle that.  We were supposed to go to the movies, remember.”  I want to kick myself when I see the expression she makes, but I am so tired of Mary-Beth ruining anything we have planned.  It always seems like it’s me fighting for attention. 

“You’re right. I need to stop letting her get to me so much.” She smiles and grabs her purse. “Come on baby, let’s go spend the day together.”

We get in the car
and drive to the movies.  We decide we both want to watch
Oz, The Great and Powerful
. It’s a pretty interesting movie, to see how the wizard became the wizard and how Eleanor became the Wicked Witch of the West
and damn, it was amazing seeing how they made Mila Kuniz look like the evil witch. After the movie we go and grab some food, but as soon as we finish our meal the phone’s ringing.