Caught up, p.24
Caught Up, page 24
“Oh, Caitlyn,” I whispered. She shook her head.
“No. Don’t you dare feel sorry for me? I was hateful to your mama. And I told her that today. And you know what? She never ever returned that hate. She still loved me. And I was too stupid to see how much I loved her. But I was afraid. Just like you are now. And it’s fine to be afraid,” she replied, tears coursing down her cheeks.
“We are a sad sight aren’t we? Crying on the front porch. If Mama saw us, she would have a fit,” I said with a laugh, even though tears were coursing down my face again in less than two hours. Caitlyn laughed.
“It would be an angry blonde tornado in pink. She would tear us a new one and make us think that she had complimented us,” replied Caitlyn with a giggle. I started to laugh harder as I pictured the last time Mama had gotten pissed. Soon, we were both laughing so hard we were clutching our stomachs.
“The thing is, Aaron told me he had everything under control, in that office,” I told her.
“Yeah, I saw that. You don’t believe him do you?” she asked. I didn’t answer for a minute. It was one thing to sit there and be unsure of what I wanted, but another to question the motives of the man I loved. I closed my eyes and tried to picture my life three years from now. Aaron was in it. Aaron fixing his bike in a garage attached to a small house. Me in the backyard playing with a little dark haired boy, throwing a ball to him. I opened my eyes.
“I’m an idiot,” I replied. Caitlyn snorted.
“Why now?” she asked. She twirled her hair around her finger and grinned.
“I have been sitting here like some sort of wimpy bitch pondering shit when I should’ve been doing things,” I replied, standing up. She cocked an eyebrow and squealed when I grabbed her arm.
“Come on, bitch, we’re going to go on a road trip,” I told her. I dragged my sister down the side walk and to my car.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
“I’m not going to sit here and pine away for his ass. Daddy is pissed at me. Mama is pissed at Daddy. You’re knocked up, I’m knocked up and it’s high time that I do something about it. I get so pissed off when people are too stubborn to change the things that they can in their lives. So I’m going to change this something,” I replied. She nodded.
“Sounds about right. You know there is nothing you can do about Daddy right?” she asked. She buckled her seat belt as we drove up the street.
“Yeah, you’re right. But there is something that I can do about the man that I love,” I replied. We pulled onto the highway and I let out the breath I had no idea that I was holding. There was this burning urgency inside of me to do something. Aaron consumed me. His touch warmed me, even when I didn’t know that I was cold. Without him, I was cold inside, empty. I had no idea that it was like that until I met him. But I was scared and that’s what fueled me. I was fucking terrified of losing him too and I wasn’t going to let him get away. He wasn’t really going anywhere, but I wasn’t going to let him sit on his ass and not do anything. He lit me up, always had. Reaching into my purse between my sister and me, I grabbed my cell and tossed it to her.
“Call Bleu, Jack, Axel, Matt, and Spike, and ask them to meet me at the Diablo Club at six tonight,” I told her.
“Okay... ” she replied hesitantly. Frustrated, I tucked my long hair behind my ears and wracked my brain trying to get my thoughts in order.
***
“Could someone please explain to me why we are in a sex club?” asked Bleu, whispering the last two words. I laughed. We were in the club owned by Matt’s Aunt Kellan. The club was closed today and we needed a place to meet. The floors of the club were dark, polished wood; the walls cream with dark wood trim. There were tables spread throughout the place; heavy, square wooden tops and comfy plush seats with navy blue cushions. The interior looked like a spa or a high rollers club. It wasn’t sleazy or cheap. I could also tell that Matt’s aunt spared no expense in the decorating. It was plush and elegant.
“You sound like one of those little old ladies on TV. You know, the ones who whisper words like homosexual and penis?” commented Axel. I giggled. Matt nodded.
“We’re here because the shit hit the fan with my parents and Aaron is too stubborn to do anything about it,” I said looking out at everyone I’d invited. Bleu sat at a table with Jack; Matt sat with Cait and Axel and even Spike leaned back in a chair. I was sitting in a cushioned chair near to Matt alongside my sister Cait.
“Why didn’t you ask my dad or Uncle Sid here too?” asked Spike. He leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table in front of him.
“Hmm... how do I put this?” I started. Axel held up a hand.
“Because, Uncle Tangler can’t keep a secret and neither can Uncle Sid,” Axel said. Spike nodded and grinned.
“That’s for damn sure!” Spike agreed. Bleu frowned.
“What are we doing here? Is this about your parents, Chloe?” she asked. I shook my head.
“Guys, I love Aaron. But I have also learned that he is stubborn. So, I’m going to make an honest man out of him,” I replied. Bleu smiled slowly, while Axel’s eyes widened.
“Axel, I know you’ve been against your father and me, from the beginning. But, I’m asking you to trust me on this. Please?” I asked, tears welling up in my eyes. He studied my face and nodded.
“I’ll do whatever it is you need. I know... I’ve been a dick. I’m sorry,” he said softly. Spike patted him on the back and laughed. Cait gave Axel a small smile and he returned it.
“What can we do?” asked Matt. He was chewing on a toothpick and he gave me a confident smile. I took a deep breath.
“In a couple months, Willowvale is going to be celebrating its 200th anniversary. They are going to have a huge festival. I was piercing one of the committee members last week and we got to talking. She told me about the festival and different ideas they were tossing around. You know me, I can’t keep my mouth shut. I shot some ideas her way and she loved them. I wanted to share my ideas with you,” I told them. Matt nodded his head.
“I would like our shop and the garage to have a booth there. Doing tattoos and I could pierce kids’ ears. Also, my parents and some of their friends are going to provide entertainment. I spoke with Matt earlier, and we thought a freak show theme would be cool for the booth. And it’s free advertising for our shop. Oh! And the best part! A classic bike and car show. I just have to make all of the arrangements for that part,” I muttered.
“Uh, what does that have to do with Dad marrying you?” asked Axel.
“The Willowvale festival? Our booth? It’s all about performance, the freak show element and all that right? Well I’m tiny, and he’s going to be dressing up as the Strong Man for the booth, I just have to ask him first. I thought I’d have a whole thing about watching the Strong Man and the Tiny Pixie get married. A freak show match made in heaven kind of thing,” I replied. Axel nodded.
“Like in the Muppets,” he commented with a grin. Bleu raised an eyebrow.
“What are you talking about?” she asked. Axel groaned.
“In the Muppets Take Manhattan, at the end?” he whined. Spike nodded.
“Yeah! Miss Piggy tricks Kermit into marrying her!” replied Spike, earning a fist bump from Axel. I shook my head.
“I can honestly say, I’ve never seen that movie. I just thought it would be a good idea... a way to get him to the altar. I plan to propose and then we’ll get married,” I replied. Axel and Spike frowned.
“You’ve never seen Muppets Take Manhattan?” they asked in unison. I shook my head along with my sister Cait. She raised an eyebrow and I just shrugged.
“When this whole meeting is over, we’re going to my house and watching it,” replied Axel. Spike nodded.
“Fine, whatever!” I muttered in frustration. Cait laughed.
“So, I’ll run the whole Strong Man thing by Dad when I see him and you can handle the rest?” asked Matt. I nodded.
“We already have everything set up for the booth and festival, so there isn’t really anything extra that we need. I told my ideas about the booth and the altar to Seattle, so he made all the necessary changes. It’s all set up. All I need is my groom,” I said wistfully. Bleu clasped her hands together and nodded. Jack smiled.
“Why did you call this meeting then?” asked Jack. Bleu smacked him in the shoulder. I smiled.
“Bleu, I would love if you would me my matron of honor. Cait is going to be my maid of honor, that way I can have both of you stand up for me. I need the guys for Aaron. I also need your help getting costumes, aka the tuxes. So there is a lot that I need help with, Jack. If that’s alright with you?” I asked. Jack nodded. Bleu smiled happily.
“I would be happy to be in your wedding, Chloe,” she replied with a teary eyes smile. Cait clasped my hand and I gave my sister a smile of my own. Damn hormones, everyone was weepy as hell.
“I wasn’t trying to be a dick, it just seems like you have everything under control,” Jack remarked.
“I do. But I still need help. I need someone to prevent Tangler, Sid, Almeida and my parents from finding out and spilling the beans, so to speak. We will tell them, but closer to the day,” I replied. Spike nodded in understanding.
“Why don’t we meet up next week sometime for coffee... in a coffee house?” remarked Bleu, looking around at the empty sex club. Matt frowned.
“Hey, this place is cleaner than the Old Mill,” remarked Jack. Bleu laughed.
“I bet if we had a black light in this place right about now, it would look a lot less clean,” commented Spike, making Axel choke with laughter. Cait giggled and Matt shook his head.
“Eww, you’re fucking nasty,” said Bleu. Jack held up a hand.
“That’s not right guys. For all we know, Matt was conceived here. Let’s go easy,” remarked Jack. Matt shook his head and ran a hand over his face.
“I wasn’t conceived here, asshole,” he muttered. Bleu poked Jack and gave him an “I told you so” look. Jack shook his head.
“No?” asked Axel with a grin. Matt flipped him off.
“No. I was conceived at the Demon’s clubhouse,” he shot back with a smile. Axel gave him a thumbs up.
“But, Dad did fuck my aunt and mother here....numerous times,” Matt finished. Axel paled, frowned and gave him the middle finger. Spike barked out a laugh and shook his head.
“You always did suck at burning people, Axel,” he said. Axel shook his head and his frown deepened.
“Yeah, so next week. At Starbucks or someplace?” said Bleu loudly. Everyone nodded and stood up. Bleu sprayed her hands with sanitizer and I laughed. She shrugged when she caught me watching her. Jack put an arm around her and we all walked out of the club. Axel turned to me.
“Meet me at my house. Spike and I are going to give you a Muppets education,” he replied with a grin. I looked at Cait.
“Here we go,” I told her with a shitload of sarcasm in my voice. She laughed as we climbed into the car.
Chapter 18 ~ Aaron
“Hey, Aaron?” called Tangler. I looked up from the hood of the Impala I was working on. He sauntered in the garage and gave me his trademark smirk. I put down the wrench in my hand and wiped it with a rag.
“What is that look for?” I asked. He shook his head and leaned on the car.
“I heard you were visited by a very angry redneck this morning,” he replied with a laugh.
“Quit laughing. Your wife burned your shit on the front lawn because she found your cock ring in the dishwasher,” I retorted. His grin faded.
“That was low, mate,” he replied. I patted him on the shoulder and laughed.
“I know. But you had it coming to you, sauntering in here like you were John Wayne or some shit,” I replied. He picked at a thread on his jeans and frowned.
“What is the real reason that you’re here?” I asked. He looked at me and sighed.
“Chloe is up to something. She is having Almeida and Bleu go over to your place tonight and they won’t tell me what for,” he replied. I snickered.
“Are you tattling on your wife and niece now?” I asked.
“No,” he replied.
“It’s probably another book club thing. Don’t worry about it,” I replied. He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned.
“What?” I asked.
“What are you going to do about you and Chloe?” he asked.
“Who said I have to do anything?” I asked. His frown deepened.
“Frowning causes wrinkles,” I told him.
“I’m a bloke. It will make me look distinguished, like Sean Connery,” he replied.
“Why are you so concerned about Chloe and me?” I asked.
“You knocked her up and that’s that? Nothing after?” he asked. I shrugged.
“Guys like me don’t get happy endings. Or at least not the ones that people are expecting or are accustomed to. I have to accept that,” I replied.
“That’s bollocks!” he thundered. I took a step back and looked him up and down.
“Come again?” I asked.
“What you just said... the words that just came out of your mouth... absolute bullshit! You’re not some star crossed arsehole in a novel... you stupid fuck... you’re a regular man and she is one hell of a woman!” he yelled. His chest heaved and his eyes were wild with anger.
“Uh... really? Since when are you a love expert?” I asked sarcastically.
“You know what? I get it! Your life is shit. You lost Angel, your son walked away from his family and your other son is a right tosser. Fine! But you don’t get to play house with someone and not make an honest woman out of her when you forget to wear a raincoat. You can’t stick things in places and not wear anything and not expect something to happen!” he yelled back at me. Now I was getting pissed.
“Listen, Harrison, who the fuck died and made you the boss of my life? I’m not playing house with anyone,” I spat out.
“Oh really? What do you call it? Do you even love her?” he asked.
“Yes. And it scares the fucking shit out of me,” I admitted.
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” he said with a satisfied, tight smile.
“It doesn’t make a difference. Women get hurt around me. Kaci...Angel... I just don’t want Chloe to get hurt too. Or the baby,” I replied. He shook his head.
“Kaci was a few sandwiches shy of a picnic, mate, and Angel... well, you were young,” he replied. I slammed my fist down on my workbench and he jumped.
“What does that have to do with her dying?!”I yelled.
“Mate, connect the dots and you will come to the same conclusion the rest of us did. You will see who killed her. It’s not rocket science is it?” he said softly. My head hung down and I felt stinging tears behind my closed eyelids.
“No, but, God, I fucking miss her. You know? I miss her hair and the way the sun would hit it. She looked like a fucking angel. I miss her smell, her laugh. I don’t know if I have room in my heart for another woman and what if something happens to Chloe? What if she’s taken from me too? What the fuck will I do then?”
“You’ll get up and put your fucking pants on...one leg at a time like the rest of us miserable bastards and you will get on with your life. You’re not alone, I miss her too,” he said as he came over to put his hand on my shoulder. I wiped at the hot tears running down my face.
“I don’t know, Tangler. I’m too old to go through this shit again. I’m an old man. What the fuck does she even see in me?” I asked. He wiped at his own eyes and shrugged.
“You obviously have a big swinging cock, because your personality is shit,” he replied with a grin. I punched him in the arm.
“You’re a dick, you know that right?” I said. He shrugged.
“It was getting too emotional in here. I had to do something to break up the sappy mood,” he replied. He put his hands on both of my shoulders and looked into my eyes.
“You need to talk to Chloe. From what I’ve seen, she is really close to her parents. You need to fix that pronto. Don’t let her slip out of your hands mate, you’ll regret it,” he said. I nodded.
“Shit. I thought at this point in my life, shit would be easier,” I replied. He snorted.
“What daft arsehole fed you that lie? When you deal with women, nothing is ever easy,” he replied. I laughed and followed him out of the garage to the parking lot. My heart felt all jumbled up and backwards from talking to him about Angel. Shit, I still dreamt about her at night. I would wake up feeling broken inside, Chloe sleeping soundly next to me. I needed to tell her all of this. She needed to know that Angel was never going to go away and I didn’t want her to. I saw Angel every time I looked at my kids and I couldn’t try and drink it away like I used to. If I really loved Chloe, I needed to tell her what was going on. And then I would have to deal with her reaction after.
When I got home, Chloe was gone. Kicking off my boots, I flopped onto the couch and turned on the television. Soon, my eyes started to feel heavy. I gave into the pull and was soon asleep. I opened my eyes suddenly as I felt someone’s hands on my belt. Chloe was home and she was between my legs. I woke up real fucking quickly. She looked up at me with a devious smile. Her fingertips danced down my sides, coming to rest on my hips. Digging her fingers into my skin a little, she came to the waistband of my jeans. Licking her lips, her eyes on mine, she unzipped me and I held my breath. I gasped as the cool air hit my suddenly heated skin. Sighing, my eyes were glued to her, wondering just what she was going to do to me next. Hoping it had something to do with my dick. My hardened cock sprung free, the skin stretched around my piercings, which only made it ache even more. In one quick, fluid motion, her small hand gripped the base of my thick cock. I groaned and my hips surged forward. Chloe laughed softly and her warm breath hit my skin. Before the next dirty thought crossed my mind, her soft, pink lips were trailing kisses all along my shaft, followed by barely-there licks from her warm pink tongue.
