Chapter 29
Scottie
It’sKoen’s first time in Philly, and he’s meeting my family. It’s my first time leaving Price in complete control of the store, and I don’t know who’s more nervous.
“They’re going to love you.” I turn toward him just as we reach the front door to their brownstone townhome in Society Hill.
He glances up. “Are all three levels theirs?”
“Yes.”
“And you live in a trailer.” He grins, shaking his head.
Before I reach for the door handle, he nuzzles my neck. “If your dad says no, I just want you to know I’ll always remember you.”
I giggle, squirming because his scruffy face tickles me. “Maybe don’t lead with how you want me to can tomatoes and pop out babies. Let him figure that out in real time.”
“Noted.”
I open the door.
“Sweetheart!” My mother saunters toward us in her wide-leg jeans and long-sleeved, ruffle-front blouse. Her chin-length silver hair is tucked behind one ear.
“Hey, Mom. So good to see you.” I enjoy her warm embrace.
Koen’s right. Good mothers should be treasured. Mine wasn’t home with me, but I always felt her love, and she’s always been nurturing. That’s what makes her such an amazing doctor, too.
“Mom, this is Koen. Koen, this is my mom, Caitlyn.”
“Dr. Rucker, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Koen offers his hand.
She gives me an approving nod before returning her attention to him. “I’m only Dr. Rucker if you need a medical consult.” She winks at Koen and bypasses his proffered hand in favor of a hug. “But if you’re in love with my daughter, you should call me Caitlyn.”
Koen doesn’t give me a second glance when she releases him. With a confident smile, he nods. “Caitlyn, I love your daughter very much.”
My mom’s usually controlled with her emotions, but Koen has her fighting a few tears.
I hug his chest and kiss his jaw.
“Thought I heard the door open.” Dad makes his way down the hardwood stairs that have an old runner rug down the middle of them. They added it after my sister took a tumble and had to get ten stitches in her head.
“Hey, Dad.” I give him a quick hug. “This is Koen.”
He offers Koen his hand. “Denny Rucker. Nice to meet you, young man.” Dad tucks his hands into the pockets of his cargo shorts, which he’s paired with a “Tree Hugger” green T-shirt. His signature white socks are pulled halfway up his knobby shins.
And much like Koen’s usual attire, Dad’s sporting a baseball hat. A red Phillies hat.
“Likewise, sir.” Koen’s comfortable. Too comfortable. It’s not natural.
“Southern boy.” Dad winks at me. “Well done, Scottie. But you should call me Denny. Come on in. Can I get you something to drink? Beer? Whisky? Wine?”
“I’m five years sober. Water works great. Thanks.”
My heart squeezes until my whole chest aches. I’m in love with a man who is confident and honest. Owning his imperfections only makes him more perfect in my eyes.
Mom loops her arm around mine as we follow Dad and Koen to the kitchen. “He’s cute, Scottie,” she whispers with the giddiness of a girlfriend instead of my mom.
My grin swells. “Yes, he is.”
Koen tosses me a curious glance over his shoulder, those blue eyes alight with curiosity.
“Mom and I were just discussing how homely-looking you are, babe.”
“Oh, Scottie Ann Rucker. That is not true.” Mom releases me and pats Koen on the back. “She’s always been an ornery little thing. You’ve got your hands full with this one.”
Deep satisfaction settles in his unwavering grin as I nod for him to sit in the horseshoe-shaped nook. Mom has three charcuterie trays on the table, enough for an army.
“So, what brings you two to Philly?” Mom asks. “I was surprised when Scottie announced your visit. We usually go to Austin.” She eyes Koen, and he returns a smile.
For some reason, I don’t trust that smile. What is going on?
Koen fills his plate with food. “I was hoping to speak to you, Denny, in private. But upon further consideration, I think tradition on this matter is a bit outdated. So I might as well take this moment to ask both of you.” He eyes them with a stupid amount of confidence, and I realize it’s happening.
Right here. Right now.
“Save the speech, son. You have our blessing. We’ve been waiting for this day.” Dad doesn’t skip a beat. “Take our daughter.”
“Dad!” I cover my face while everyone laughs.
“Listen, my darling daughter,” Dad grins at me when I drop my hands, “you have always walked your own path. I don’t know why this young man thinks our opinions matter. And they shouldn’t. One day, we won’t be here, and I want to believe that you and Steph will be just fine without us and our opinions.”
“But …” Mom eggs him on as if they’ve carefully scripted this.
“But,” Dad continues, “we knew if the day ever came that a man had the courtesy to ask for your hand in marriage, he would be the one just for having that good sense of kindness and respect.”
My jaw hangs open, my eyes unblinking while stuttered thoughts struggle to line up into coherent sentences. “Y-you didn’t even act surprised? I told Mom I had met someone special, but I didn’t say more.”
Mom hides her knowing grin behind her glass of red wine. “I knew because it’s been forever since you’ve thought of a man in your life as ‘special.’ And I’m your mother. I could tell just from the tone of your voice. So I told your dad last week that you were coming home to introduce us to your future husband.”
The room falls silent, all eyes on me. This makes no sense. My mother is a lot of things, but she’s not one to read my tone on a phone call.
“Or …” Koen angles his body toward me, and my mom squeezes my dad’s arm, tears in her eyes. “I might have stolen your parents’ number from your phone. I might have already had a long talk with both of them.” He pulls a ring out of his pocket. “I might already have their blessing. Might you be interested in being my wife, Scottie Ann Rucker, the love of my life?”
Sneak-y Pete.
I shake my head. He knows the answer.
“Is that a no?” Koen feigns shock.
“I need to think about it.”
Through the corner of my eye, my parents’ faces are crestfallen.
Good. They can wallow in their deceitfulness for a few seconds.
“I’m done thinking. I’ll marry you.” I press my hands to Koen’s cheeks and kiss him.
My mom claps her hands like a circus monkey.
“Sure you don’t want to change your mind, Koen?” Dad asks. “If she’s yanking your chain like that now, just imagine what you’re in for twenty years down the road.”
Koen slips the ring on my finger and grins at me. “I think I’m in for a pretty great life.”
After a celebratory dinnerat a nice restaurant, my parents head to bed, and Koen follows me to my bedroom, stopping at the door with his bag in one hand and his other hand scratching his head. “Which bedroom is mine?”
I toss my bag onto the floor and turn toward him. “Are you serious?”
“No premarital sex.”
“What makes you think I’d have sex with you in my parents’ house? Are you incapable of sleeping next to me instead of inside me?”
Koen steps into the bedroom and drops his bag next to mine. “My dick is like my other dog, well-trained. It is you who can’t be trusted.”
I roll my eyes before checking my phone.
“Call him,” Koen says, closing the bedroom door.
“Who?”
“Price. Who else?” He hooks my waist and sits on the edge of the bed with me on his lap.
“I’m just … checking my email.”
“If you don’t call him soon, he won’t be at the store, which means you won’t be able to reach him until tomorrow.”
“Why do I need to call him?”
“Because he’s watching my dog, and we need to know if he’s taking good care of my Scrotum.”
I grin, resting the side of my head against his. Koen knows I’m concerned, but he knows I’m afraid to show my concern. And he’s giving me an out.
God, I love this man.
“You’re right. We can’t let anything happen to your Scrotum.”
“We really should start thinking of him as our Scrotum. Don’t you think?”
Turning my head a fraction, I kiss his cheek. “I thought you’d never ask.”
I call the store and put it on speaker.
“Drummond’s General Store. Price speaking.”
“Hi,” I say in a fake voice. “I was wondering if you have anything for bad gas during sex?”
Koen snorts.
“As a matter of fact, I do. But the store is closed until tomorrow. However, if you have cayenne pepper and vapor rub at home, you can mix equal parts and rub it on your anus in a counterclockwise motion, and that should take care of it.”
Koen presses his fist to his mouth and shakes with silent laughter.
“I’m worried about you,” I say in my normal voice.
Price chuckles. “Me? I’m worried about you having gas during sex. Or are you calling for Koen?”
“Fuck you,” Koen says.
“Oh, hey, buddy! How’s your first time in Philly going?”
“My parents love him,” I say, pinching Koen’s cheek.
“I’m not surprised. He’s spirited. And fiery. You know … because he’s a welder. Did you guys catch that pun?”
“Hilarious,” Koen says.
“Did Scrot do okay at the store with you?” I ask.
“Other than the display of chocolate he ate, yes, he did just fine.”
“I’m already regretting checking in on you, but Koen’s been missing his BFF and copilot, so I said we could call before you left for home.”
“Well, kids, I’m fine. Still kicking. I walked the mutt this morning, and I’ll let him piss in my yard before bed. So take your time. No need to rush back to fragile old me. A little terminal cancer never hurt anyone.”
I feel Koen’s gaze on me as tears well in my eyes. “I …” My voice cracks while attempting to clear the emotion from my throat, but it’s lodged too deeply.
“Kiss my Scrotum for me, would ya?” Koen asks, saving me from drowning.
Price laughs.
“Welp, it’s late.” Koen squeezes my waist a little tighter as I struggle to keep a semblance of composure. “We love ya, buddy. Goodnight.” He ends the call before Price can respond.
I cup a hand over my mouth and choke on a sob. Did Koen really just say that? Did my future husband feel my desperation and tell my first love, ”We love ya?”
He’s too good for me. I don’t deserve Koen Sikes.
Sobs continue to wrack my body. Koen leans us back on the bed and strokes my hair while I make a teary mess of his shirt. And he does all this without knowing the true depths of my despair. I need to tell Price the truth. This is killing me.
As I catch my breath and the last of my tears release, the tide of my emotions shifts from grief to gratitude.
From gratitude to love.
From love to need.
I slide my hands along his chest and kiss his neck. “I never thought I could love someone…” my mouth brushes his ear “…more than I loved him.” As my lips hover over his, and he gazes into my tired, swollen eyes, I whisper, “I was so very wrong.”
Koen gives me the hint of a smile while his fingers brush hair away from my eyes. “He’s a good person. And he’s my friend, too.”
A few more tears sneak out and down my face. “I need you.”
“You have me.”
I shake my head. “I need you.”
His gaze searches mine. I don’t want him to make me laugh or beg.
And he doesn’t.
With tenderness and patience, he removes our clothes. His touch eases the pain.
His kiss stops time.
His whispered words give me hope.
And his naked body intertwined with mine is how I want to spend the rest of my life.
“I get to do this to you for eternity,” he mumbles before sucking my nipple and teasing it with his teeth.
“Do what?” I whisper, slowly writhing beneath him, needing him inside of me.
“You know, baby …” He deposits wet kisses down my body, inching himself lower until his hands grip my legs, spreading them wide. “This. I fucking get to do this to you forever.”
My breath catches when his tongue teases me, wet and warm between my legs.
When his finger slides inside of me, I close my eyes, squeezing my breasts, mouth opening to accommodate the growing intensity of each breath.
He adds a second finger.
“God … YESSS …”
There’s no way I can chase my response and muzzle it before it reaches my parents’ bedroom.
Euphoria wins.
Pleasure ripples through me, leaving my skin warm and flushed. He crawls up my body, dragging his lips along my skin.
Kissing.
Teasing.
“Koen.” I sigh, feeling content and sleepy.
“More?” The head of his erection presses between my legs while he hovers above me, wet lips brushing mine.
He knows that answer.
And I know when he penetrates me with a firm thrust, it’s going to be an awkward morning with my parents.
My dad’scoffee grinder brings me out of my slumber.
“Scottie Sikes,” Koen says, staring at the ceiling, hands laced behind his head.
“Not yet.” I grin, rolling toward him, fingers teasing his bare chest.
“I’m just taking it for a test run.”
“What do you think?”
“Koen, Scottie, and Scrotum Sikes. It has a nice ring to it.”
I chuckle. “I will name our kids. Understood?”
“Come here.”
“Where?”
He reaches for my waist, pulling me on top of him.
“Here?” I grin, straddling his chest and combing my fingers through my hair.
Koen’s gaze affixes to my breasts. “Not quite.” His hands grip my hips, scooting me lower until his erection slides between my legs.
I lift an eyebrow.
He grins. “Baby, can you be quiet this time?” His hips lift until he’s inside of me.
I bite my bottom lip to suppress my moan before relinquishing a tiny nod. My hands rest on his chest as I move slowly with him. I have a beautiful ring on my finger, a future far beyond my simple dreams, and a man who has redefined love for me. This life is everything.