Always the One (Always and Forever 1)

I salute him. “Yes, sir!”

The first thing I notice when I walk in is the cute old lady sitting at the cash register.

“Hey, sweetie,” she says.

I smile and wave my fingers in greeting toward her.

“Hi!” We are in the middle of nowhere; I wouldn’t expect anyone out here to be this peachy. “Where’s the restroom?”

Her smile widens and she readjusts the glasses on her round face before she answers. “It’s right over there, sweetie pie.”

Bless this woman’s sweet heart, she has to be at least sixty and filled with as much delight as a grandma making cookies for her young’uns.

“Thank you,” I respond, making my way toward the area she was pointing to. I guess I could’ve looked for the big sign that says restrooms.

I refresh in the bathroom and touch up my makeup. Then I go back out to search for my Barq’s root beer. Not any other kind, Barq’s only.

My search is halted when I’m stopped just outside the door by Trey. His smile is boyish and cute. “What?” He brings his arm around to his front, showing me what he’s hiding. Root beer. “Wow. Smooth, guy, smooth. First the Trolli’s, now this? If I didn’t know better, I would think someone is trying to get some extra lovin’ at the hotel tonight?” I lock my arms around his sexy stomach and cling to him.

“Oh, babe, you have no idea. I don’t have to try. I will get some amazing lovin’ tonight.” He is so smug.

“We’ll see about that. Now buy my drink.” With an extra pep in my step, I take off toward the car. Slapping him hard on the butt, as payback for his outside.

Trey

WE PULL UP TO THE hotel at a quarter to five and I’ve never been so happy to see a bed. This drive was exhausting, but so worth it because Shay and I got to talk. I mean really communicate. It still surprises me how much we have to talk about, even though we have known each other for such a long time. You’d think we would run out of shit to say.

Just thinking about the things she told me about her mom gets me a little hotheaded. Her mom had a chance to raise a beautiful, smart, loving woman, and instead she chose to waste away her time, jumping from bed to bed with random men. I feel bad for Erica, because she may have been physically there, but she emotionally checked out, missing out on some of Shay’s best moments. The day she graduated with honors, her first prom, her first date—which I witnessed with gritted teeth—or the day she took the key and signed the papers for her boutique.

All these monumental experiences and parts of her life, her mother wasn’t there. We were both handed shitty mothers who never thought about the aftermath of the fucking tornados they plowed through our lives. Shay has her dad, just like I do. I know they’re close, so she can sometimes fill a tiny part of that void in her heart. But she couldn’t hide the look on her face when she realized her mother wasn’t at her graduation, when she didn’t take her dress shopping for senior prom, or when she didn’t move to Portland to be closer to her. Realizing this both breaks my heart and angers me beyond control.

Lying here on the bed, getting lost thinking about the shit her mom put her through; it makes me furious. My thoughts are interrupted when I hear the bathroom door open and see Shayla coming out, wrapped in a towel. I’m done being irritated, all I want to do is spend the next few hours staring at her and loving on her, showing her the love she deserves.

She’s distracted, looking through her suitcase, and I get lost drinking her in. Her tan skin is glistening with little droplets of water and her hair is sticking to the side of her neck. I love that neck and the way it feels under my lips. Luckily, these hotel towels are so small and cover nothing, no complaints though. Her thighs are small and toned and the muscle on the back of her legs looks like fun to bite. She brings the obsessive side of me out, the one that wants to own every part of her body. I’m a goner and I know it, especially when she bends over to grab something from her bag and I get a glance at her beautiful ass.

“Baby.” Her top half lifts up and she turns to me.

“Yeah?” She looks beautiful makeup free, and her lips look even more ample than before.

“Come here.” I sit up and scoot my body to the edge of the bed to meet her. When she’s standing in front of me, I move her closer, pulling her hips toward me, resting my forehead just below her breasts. Even when I’m sitting, she’s still small in comparison to me.

I breathe in and inhale her scent. She smells like some fruity shit from the shower, but I can still smell her natural scent. Her hands move through my hair, scratching lightly. It makes my hair stand on end.

“I’m sorry about your mom, baby girl.” The rise and fall of her chest moves my head slightly each time.

“Trey, I’ve accepted it and you don’t need to be sorry. We were both victims of a lack of love. It’s no one’s fault but theirs.” The mentioning of my mom makes my jaw tighten. She’s a monster, and I’m glad she isn’t in my life anymore.

“Yeah, but I want you to know that even though she wasn’t there all those times, you had me there. You will always have me there.” I kiss her stomach through her towel and hear her sniff a little. I look up and notice the pools building in her eyes, making my chest constrict. She has a strong grip on my heart.

“Same with me, Trey. I have and always will be there for you.”

I’ve always been a sensitive guy, not many men would openly admit that, but I have. Usually, when you’re exposed to something so harsh, like losing your mother due to a lack of love, you become stone-cold. I think it did the opposite for me, because I found myself emotionally craving that love. A real man can admit and

accept his faults and insecurities when he knows that they’re the key to making him a better man. When I’m with anyone but Shay, I can hide that sensitive interior. But with her, I can be me. I can lose the façade of being this macho guy with no feelings or emotions. I’m completely me when she is completely her.

“Can I touch you, beautiful?” I’m aching to touch and consume her.

“You don’t have to ask, baby.”