“I’m not a dumb fucker.”
“You won’t be able to help yourself. You’ll be a dumb fucker because that’s what pussy does to men. It turns them into dumb fuckers. And that’s even more true when the pussy is attached to a woman you love.”
“You really have a lot of room to be lecturing me on the topic. Adelyn has you so pussy-whipped you can’t see straight.”
“Not denying it. I am a slave to her pussy. But it doesn’t stop there. I’m falling so hard for her.”
Porter’s head jerks upward from its lowered position. His eyes, wide. His lips parted, but no words coming from them. “I fucking love that woman.”
Porter rubs his hand over his chin. “Damn, Stout. I wasn’t expecting you to say that.” It’s true so why deny it?
A soft rap on my door prevents me from completely owning up to just how fucking deep I am with Adelyn. “Yeah, come in.”
Lawry pokes her head through the doorway and sees Porter. “Busy? Need me to come back?”
I can tell he has decided. He’s giving Frankee the full-time art department job. “Your mind is made up?”
“Yep.”
“Then I think we’re done here.”
I fully trust Porter’s decision. He wouldn’t jeopardize Lovibond for a piece of ass. But I’m not certain he’s considered the business side of hiring her full-time or where his responsibilities will lie as her direct superior. “Don’t forget to stop by and tell Molly to change Frankee’s status to full-time so her benefits will kick in first of the month.”
“On it.”
Lawry waits until Porter is gone to say anything. “Frankee’s being given the full-time designer job?”
I totally forgot that position is also responsible for BCC’s design and marketing. “Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about discussing that with you. My bad.”
“I’m assuming she does good work or you wouldn’t be giving her the job.”
“Have you seen her label for the Winter Lager?”
“No.”
I take out Frankee’s design and push it in Lawry’s direction. “Reminds me of Tap.”
“Oh, my God. It totally looks like an illustration of him. He’ll think this is hilarious.”
“The position is in the art department. She’ll be under him so I thought he had the right to choose. And he wants her to have it.”
“I think we both know what he wants under him. And her daddy will shit when he finds out.”
“Then Scott should probably get ready to shit.”
Lawry lifts her brow. “They’re already sleeping together?”
“He denied it.” I’m calling bullshit. Porter is my best friend. He forgets I can tell when he’s lying.
“You know what, Ollie? It’s not our concern. Porter’s a grown man and is very aware of what he’s doing.”
“Turns out I was pretty wrong the last time I tried to judge someone else’s relationship, so I should probably do myself a favor and back off.”
“Exactly. And who knows? Frankee might be the one.”
“Maybe.” Twenty-fucking-one. She’s legal. Considered an adult, but shit. I see her as a kid. And Porter should, too.
What happens if things go badly? What happens when Scott finds out? Because he will find out. It’s inevitable. Fuck. Porter is his employer. Lovibond would go to shit without a good warehouse manager. We need him. And he needs his job. He has a family to support. Other kids besides Frankee.
“Okay. So what kind of plans are we making for Adelyn?”
“I’m taking her to Savannah for a long weekend. I need you to help me organize a romantic getaway.”
“Oh, fun. You have to stay at The Bohemian. Great place for hotel sex.” I’m not sure I needed to know that from my sister. “And you have to do the candlelight dinner in the vault at The Olde Pink House. I can take care of getting that lined up for you. Horse and carriage over the top?”
“Let’s save the horse and carriage for another time.”
“Good idea. That might make her think you’re going to propose.” Lawry’s eyes grow large. “Are you thinking of asking her to marry you? Is that what this trip is about?”
“No. I just told her I loved her for the first time last week.”
“Aww. My baby brother is in love.” She sighs and puts her hands over her heart.
“Shut up, Lawry.”
“Don’t be that way, Ollie. I think it’s wonderful. I adore Adelyn. So do Mom and Dad. I think she would make a great wife for you.”
I once thought I was ready to be married. But it turned out the one woman I thought I could trust with all of my heart betrayed me. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to allow myself to be that kind of vulnerable again.”
“You said you’d never love again but look at you. We’re sitting here planning a romantic getaway because you love Adelyn.”
“I do love her but marriage is a huge deal.”
“You’re telling me marriage is a huge deal?” Lawry is looking at me with her are-you-fucking-kidding-me face.
“Okay. That was dumb to say.”
“Being married is wonderful. Brou and I are so happy. It would have been such a shame for us to miss out on this life together because he was burned by his first marriage and didn’t allow himself to be vulnerable again.”
Lawry and Tap are so perfect together that it slipped my mind he was once married to someone else.
He flat-out refused to ever marry again or have children so Lawry left his ass. Both were a fucking mess until they got their shit together. It was a long six months.
“Does Adelyn want to be married one day?”
“I don’t know; we’ve not discussed it.”
“If you’re saying ‘I love you’ to each other then the marriage conversation is going to come up soon. You might want to have an idea about how you’ll respond.”
“If I’m smart, I will.”
“You feel the way you feel. You can’t help that. But I’m doubting Adelyn is going to want to hear that you can’t move forward with her because of the pain another woman caused you.”
“I doubt she’d like hearing that at all.”
I loved Eden. It wouldn’t be true to say I didn’t just because I despise her today. But what I had with her doesn’t compare to the love I have for Adelyn Maxwell. It’s in a whole other league of its own. I will do anything for her. Be her alpha. Be her protector. Maybe even her husband if she wants that from me.
“Brou thought he couldn’t move forward with me because of the past, and it almost ruined us. What Eden did destroyed the relationship you had with her. Don’t let it wreck what you have with Adelyn. She isn’t the one who betrayed you, so don’t punish her by withholding your trust.”
Eden loved the attention of men. It should have been a red flag but I ignored it; I thought she was hot. And I thought the sex was even hotter. She was talented in bed. I’ll give her that. But there was always a disconnect, like I was fucking an empty body.
Complete opposite with Adelyn. We connect, intertwine, weave until we become one. She gives me every part of herself. Wholly. Willingly. Happily. I feel her in my bones.
In. My. Fucking. Bones.
“Don’t worry, sis. I won’t let the past dictate my future. I love Adelyn too much to let that happen.”
* * *
I’m lying on my side behind Adelyn, my cock still inside her. She’s slick with my semen as it oozes out of her around my dick. Our morning routine. “Is it weird I love filling you with my cum? Especially in the morning so I know there’s a little part of me inside you all day when we can’t be together.”
“Maybe a little weird but I like it. It makes me feel like I’m really yours.” She twists and looks at me over her shoulder. “Is it weird I like feeling owned by you?” We have reached a good balance. Adelyn doesn’t want to be dominated all the time, but in the bedroom, she wants me to step it up a notch and allow her to be led. To be loved assertively, not necessarily ag
gressively. I’ve loved it.
“I want you to feel like you’re mine. ’Cause you are.” I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her against me as I kiss her shoulder. “And I love you.”
She laces her fingers through mine and squeezes. “I love you too.”
It’s been a few days since my marriage conversation with Lawry. I haven’t been able to get it out of my head for a second. And I’m glad. What I want out of life has come full circle.
Bringing up the marriage topic feels like I’m turning the crank on a jack-in-the-box. Any second the motherfucker could jump out of the top and make me shit my pants.
I want to ease into the conversation. Turn the crank slowly. But it’s a slippery slope. “There’s something I want to talk about, but I’m afraid you’ll freak out.”