Chapter 19 #2
“Because she’s your mother.” Dawn set her mug down and crossed her arms. “I didn’t know everything when you were younger.”
My head lifted. “What do you mean?”
She hesitated for a second. “I knew things weren’t easy; your parents weren’t exactly good at hiding their issues from the neighborhood.”
That was probably the nicest way anyone had ever described their relationship.
“I didn’t know all the details,” she continued. “But I knew there were days when you didn’t want to go home.”
I stared down at my cup. “I thought I hid that better.”
“You really didn’t.”
I let out a breath. “That’s embarrassing.”
“It shouldn’t be.” Her voice softened. “Keaton, some days you came over and stayed here for twelve hours. You’d do your homework at the kitchen table as soon as you two got home from school, then you’d eat dinner with us and help me clean up.
All before you and Rowan would disappear into his room for hours. ”
When she put it that way, it sounded painfully obvious.
“I thought I was more subtle than that.” After all, I used to climb into his bedroom window for even more time with him.
“You were a child, and most kids aren’t good at hiding what’s bothering them.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
She smiled. “Come to think of it, the only thing you boys were ever good at hiding was that you were dating.”
I nearly choked on my coffee.
She laughed. “Although, looking back, there were definitely moments that should’ve tipped me off.”
“Please don’t tell me about them.”
“I’ll spare you.”
“Thank you.”
The grin lingered on her face before slowly fading. “I wanted to ask you about the stuff going on at your house a lot of times.”
That surprised me. “Why didn’t you?”
She looked down into her mug. “Because I was afraid that if I pushed too hard, you’d stop coming over. I cared about you. I still do, and I did what I thought was right to make sure you knew you always had a place where you were welcome.”
I blinked hard before she could see how deeply she was affecting me.
Yet that didn’t stop her from stepping closer and resting her hand on my forearm. “I didn’t want to overstep back then, especially after your father passed, but I feel I can speak freely now. You’re allowed to be hurt when people who should know better don’t show up for you.”
My eyes immediately began to burn. “It’s not that I expect a lot from her.”
“I know,” she agreed.
“I just ...” I took a breath. “I’d like her to care.”
The words hung in the air between us, and a second later, Dawn’s arms wrapped around my left side, avoiding my messed up shoulder. “It’s her loss,” she said quietly. “She’s missing out on knowing an incredible man.”
I took a deep breath. “Thank you.”
“You never have to thank me for loving you, sweetheart.”
I had absolutely no idea how to respond to that, which was probably a good thing because the front door opened a second later and Rowan’s voice drifted into the house. “Why does it smell like cookies?”
Dawn let out a soft laugh. “Looks like you’re going to have to share now.”
The rest of the afternoon passed quickly.
Rowan noticed my missing sling immediately when he returned from his ride and had been nearly as excited as I was when I told him I no longer needed to wear it.
We ended up eating Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch while Frank complained about Black Friday traffic and the crowded stores Dawn had dragged him through.
She ignored him and kept piling more food onto our plates.
Eventually, Rowan and I moved to the couch and did absolutely nothing for a while.
It wasn’t particularly exciting, but it felt nice to spend some time relaxing and hanging out together.
By early evening, Rowan was sitting beside me with his arm draped over the back of the couch, while Frank and Dawn were in the kitchen debating whether to have leftovers again for dinner.
I tilted my head toward him. “Want to get out of here?”
A smile tugged at his mouth. “What are you thinking?”
“We could go back to my place.”
He frowned.
“I know anything having to do with Devon isn’t your favorite right now,” I added.
“But he doesn’t live there. Derek’s at his sister’s house down south, Mason is ‘keeping up appearances’ for his parents during their fancy holiday weekend in San Francisco, and Enzo’s working tonight.
We’d have the whole place to ourselves.”
His brow lifted. “Just the two of us?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“What would we do?”
I pretended to think about it. “We could watch movies.”
“Sounds nice.”
“We could order pizza,” I continued.
“I like pizza.”
I leaned over and whispered in his ear. “We could have sex wherever we wanted without worrying about your parents hearing us.”
Rowan choked on his own laugh. “Way to sell it.”
I grinned. “Is that a yes?”
His eyes dropped briefly to my mouth before returning to mine. “Yeah, baby. That’s a yes.”
Less than thirty minutes later, we pulled into the driveway outside my house, and no one else was home, just as I’d promised. I barely waited for the front door to close before grabbing Rowan’s hand and heading down the hallway. He let me drag him a few steps before tightening his grip on my hand.
“I thought we were going to order a pizza and watch movies?”
Glancing back over my shoulder, I replied, “I’m hungry for something else.”
I pulled him into my bedroom and closed the door behind us. After the intense morning I’d had, I needed to lose myself in him and forget everything else.
Turning to face him, I looked him in the eyes. “I’m in charge this time.”
While we were both fighters, and neither of us was particularly good at letting go of control outside of the cage, I usually allowed Rowan to take the lead when we were together. But that wasn’t the plan tonight.
“Yes, sir.” He leaned back against my dresser, arms crossed, a smirk on his lips, and his eyes dark with amusement and desire.
Once I closed the distance between us, my good hand came up to cup the back of his neck and pull him in for a possessive kiss. Exploring his mouth, my tongue swept in to taste him, part of my quest to memorize the feel of him. His hands rested lightly on my hips as he let me set the pace.
When I finally pulled back, we were both breathing heavily.
I kept my eyes locked on his as I slowly sank to my knees.
Making quick work of his jeans, I unbuttoned them and pulled them down, along with his boxers.
His cock sprang free, already hard and curving up toward his stomach.
I wrapped my hand around the base, feeling the weight and heat of his erection against my palm.
I leaned in and swiped my tongue over the head, tasting the salty bead of precum that’d gathered there.
He hissed, his hands flying to my shoulders, but he caught himself at the last second and only held onto my left arm.