20. William
20
WILLIAM
L ife was good, I thought as I pulled out of my driveway and headed toward Havelock.
It had been a couple weeks since Kristin first introduced me to Logan, Kylie, Hunter, and Zoey. Ever since the first night, she’d been okay with me dropping by a few nights a week to have dinner with them. Unfortunately, our intimate activities were still limited.
The surprise I had up my sleeve wouldn’t remedy that entirely, but it was a start.
I glanced at the three bouquets in the passenger seat of my truck. Kristin melted over simple things like flowers, and I loved seeing her glow like that. So, I brought new ones every time I came over.
Hopefully, they would bamboozle her into accepting the other surprise I had in the bed of the truck. She responded well to little gifts, but I knew she would pitch a fit over bigger stuff.
I had been biding my time until I felt like we were on solid enough ground for me to pull a stunt like this without asking first. Hopefully, the kids would be on my side .
After a twenty-minute drive, I pulled into the mobile home park. I did a three-point-turn and backed up to the front door.
The screen door shrieked as it flew open and smacked the side of the house.
“William Matthew Solomon,” Kristin hollered as she stepped outside. “You better not be doing what I think you’re doing.”
I tried to suppress a laugh. She looked so adorable when she tried to be stern with me.
The kids piled up behind her to see what she was yelling about.
“Dude, she full-named you.” Hunter laughed. “You’re in big trouble.’
The October air was crisp, and the trees had turned to brilliant oranges. Pumpkins dotted the recently repaired steps leading to the door. One night before dinner, I brought some tools and lumber over. Hunter helped me replace the old planks.
I grinned and hopped out of the truck, flowers in hand. “Hello to you too, beautiful.”
Kristin’s mouth formed a hard line. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”
“Bringing my girls some flowers.” I fought hard to keep my tone innocent as I handed her the biggest bouquet. “Why? What do you think I’m doing?”
Zoey wiggled her way to the front of the pack. I knelt and handed her the smallest bouquet. It was just a few daisies and some baby’s breath the florist had lying around, but it was the perfect size for Zoey’s tiny hands.
Kylie looked over Kristin’s shoulder. They were about the same height, and in a few years, she would look just like her big sister. Lord help Kristin when Kylie found an interest in dating.
Whenever Kylie talked about boys, it provoked a protective impulse in me. I kept that to myself, though. It wasn’t my place to tell Kylie what to do, so I just tried to lead by example .
“And for you,” I said, handing Kylie her flowers.
Her face lit up with the biggest smile. It made me feel on top of the world.
Kristin told me on a near-daily basis how happy the kids had been as of late. I wanted to believe it had something to do with me being around.
A guy could hope.
I looked at Logan and Hunter. “Y’all ready?”
“Ready for what?” Kristin hissed, eyeing the back of my truck.
For the moment, I ignored her. I knew I was about to piss her off, so I erred on the side of asking forgiveness instead of permission. She’d thank me later.
Hunter grinned conspiratorially. Logan looked the same as always. Unimpressed.
Slow and steady, I reminded myself.
Hunter and Logan knew what I was up to. I had mentioned it to them when I was here for dinner last week. I leaned in and kissed Kristin’s lips, then brushed past her on my way to the living room.
The two boys took one side of the old couch while I lifted the other.
“Whoa! Hold on. You can’t just take my couch!” Kristin was still standing in the doorway. “Put it back!”
“Sweetheart.” I grinned. “Mind stepping away from the door so the boys and I can get this done before we go to Maddie’s?”
It was poker night. I planned my couch switch-a-roo intentionally. Kristin was notoriously punctual. I figured if I did the swap right before we had to leave for poker night, she could only protest so much. And hopefully by the time we returned, she’d give in and let the new one stay.
Hunter and Logan reveled in their sister’s irritation with me and how little they thought I cared about her fury. Truth is, I cared a lot. That’s what made me willing to accept her wrath .
Kristin huffed and stomped to the kitchen. She made a show of angrily shoving her flowers into a vase and filling it with water.
“Dude, she’s pissed,” Logan said with a smirk.
We pivoted and turned the couch onto its side to ease it out the front door.
I grinned. “Yeah, she’s cute when she’s mad.”
“I heard that!” Kristin shouted.
We snickered as we backed the couch down the steps and onto the grass. “Alright, let’s leave this one here, get the new one in, then load the old one onto my truck. Logan, you get up there and walk the couch out. Hunter and I will hold it from this side.”
He didn’t say anything, just hauled ass into the truck bed to get behind the new couch.
“One, two, three,” Logan said, then grunted as he lifted his side of the couch.
Hunter and I each took a corner, guiding it down as Logan walked it off the truck bed. I gave him the harder job on purpose.
My best guess was that Logan felt he was being ousted as the man of the house. I figured that may have been why he remained suspicious of me. At seventeen, no kid should have to feel the weight of that responsibility. Hell, at thirty-eight, it still scared me. I wondered if that was the kind of thing a person could ever truly feel ready for. Maybe you just had to jump in blindly with both feet.
Hunter held the end of the couch while I caught it in the middle. Logan slid off the tailgate and grabbed the other end.
“Good job, man,” I said.
Logan didn’t respond, but he looked pleased.
Kristin and her sisters watched from the hallway as we tilted and pivoted, maneuvering the new couch in. She crossed her arms and scowled at me. I didn’t mind. The way her forearms pushed her tits out had me thinking things that were wholly inappropriate with children present .
With the old plaid couch out, we put the new one in its place. It was a covered in a simple gray fabric, and was about the same size, but twice as heavy because it had a pull-out bed.
When Kristin said that she used the couch as a bed, my first impulse was to tell her to pack her bags and move into my place. I had plenty of space. Hell, the kids could each have a room to themselves and then some, but I held back.
We hadn’t been together very long, and I didn’t want to spook her.
My second impulse was to rent her an apartment with a third room so she could have a little privacy. I kept that urge to myself, too. Kristin wasn’t one to accept help willingly, and I knew bringing it up was giving her ammunition for a fight.
So, I settled on a sofa bed.
The old couch had seen better days. Every time I sat on it, my ass either sank due to the lack of cushion, or something springy stuck into my back. How Kristin slept on that thing every night baffled me. The new couch didn’t solve all her problems, but it would hopefully give her a few good nights of sleep.
I caught Kylie’s eyes and tossed her my keys. “Ky, there’s a bag in the backseat of my truck with some pillows. Mind bringing it in for me while we load up the old couch?”
Logan and Hunter were waiting for the signal, so I tipped my head to the door and headed outside to load up the old couch. They followed me out and helped me hoist it into the back of my truck.
I pulled my wallet out of my back pocket and handed them each a fifty. “Nice work. I appreciate it.”
Hunter took his and pocketed it before I could blink.
Logan stood there with his eyebrows in his hairline. “Really?” he asked skeptically.
I nodded. “Yeah. Last week I asked y’all if you’d help me move the couches, and you did. ”
He tentatively took it from me. “Are you sure?”
I chuckled. “I’m sure. You earned it.”
Logan cracked a smile and pocketed the money. “You got any more jobs you need help with?”
I grinned. “Actually, yeah. That last storm we had knocked a lot of branches down in my yard. If Kris is okay with it, I could use an extra set of hands sometime.”
He looked ready to jump on the offer, but pulled back. “You live in New Bern, though... It’s kinda far.”
“Like I said, if Kris is cool with it, I could use the help. I can come pick you up and bring you back.”
Kylie popped her head out the front door. “Kris cooled down a little. She might not kill you now. You wanna come in and see it with the pillows?”
“Of course,” I said as I headed up the steps and into the house.
The new couch looked great, and the pillows accented it perfectly. The lady at the furniture store had thrown them in with the purchase. Kylie had draped a blanket over the corner, and there was a scented candle burning on the end table.
Kristin leaned against the wall, arms crossed, staring at the couch.
“You ready to go, Sunshine?” I asked.
Kristin raised a bone-chilling eyebrow. “You’re just going to pretend like you didn’t do this without asking me?”
I leaned down and pecked her lips, but she stood as still as a statue. “It’s called a surprise.”
“I hate surprises.”
I grinned. “I know. That’s why I sent Kylie pictures to see which one she thought you would like.”
Kristin leveled a heated glare at her sister. “You knew about this?” She turned to add Logan and Hunter into the mix. “All y’all knew about this?”
The kids grinned .
I wrapped my arms around her, hoping to sooth a little bit of the tension in her shoulders. “Don’t be mad at them. They just helped.”
“You and I will talk about this later,” she clipped. Her tone was harsh, but a smile flickered at the corner of her mouth.
“One more surprise, sweetheart.” I stood behind Kristin and wrapped my arms around her waist. Looking at the kids, I said, “Show her the best part.”
Zoey ran up to me with gimme hands. I picked her up with one arm and perched her on my hip.
Kylie tossed the pillows and cushions aside. Hunter moved the trunk Kristin used as a dresser out of the way. Finally, Logan grabbed the handle of the metal frame and pulled out the folding bed.
“Will—” Kristin covered her mouth when she saw the queen bed.
Kylie held up the bag that I had put the throw pillows in. “There are new sheets to fit it, too. I told Will to get white ones because I know you like those best.”
Kristin tried to blink away her tears, but it was useless. One after the other, they rolled down her cheeks. She turned into my chest and wrapped her arms around my waist.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Zoey on my hip was cumbersome, but I managed to lean down and kiss the top of Kristin’s head.
“Come on!” Kylie said, clapping her hands together. “It’s time to go!”
The weather was perfect, so rather than the regular poker night, Maddie and Luca invited everyone and their families over for a bonfire. Luca promised to grill up something delicious and reassured everyone that there would be enough non-alcoholic drinks for the underage crowd .
After grabbing Zoey’s booster seat from Kristin’s car, the six of us piled into my truck and headed to Beaufort.
“Is Luca going to be there?” Kylie asked from the back seat.
Logan rolled his eyes and elbowed her. “He’s married.”
Kristin laughed. “Even if he wasn’t, he’s way too old for you.”
The rearview mirror reflected Kylie’s wicked smile. “Will is older than you. Like way older than you.”
Kristen stiffened.
I reached over and held her hand. “Which proves a very good point about waiting for the right person.”
“Besides,” Kristin said, relaxing again. “Me and Will together makes a relationship. You and someone Luca's age makes a felony.”
Kylie smirked. “My favorite color is morally gray.”
“Oh Lord,” I muttered while Will stifled a laugh.
Zoey piped up. “Will, are you gonna marry Krissy?”
Kristin’s eyes widened in panic. “Zoey?—”
“Maybe someday,” I said calmly.
“I’m sorry,” Kristin mouthed.
I shrugged and brushed it off. Thankfully, Maddie and Luca’s house came into view. Kristin’s expected opposition to the couch switch-a-roo put us a little behind schedule, so the party at the edge of the water was already in full swing.
Steve and Maddie stoked the growing bonfire while Luca grilled hamburgers and hotdogs on the brick patio. Chase and Luna were playing fetch in the sand, and the kids immediately flocked to him. They smothered Luna with snuggles and kisses.
Kristin and I walked down the party hand-in-hand. The side door to the house was open, so I took a chance and pulled her inside.
“What the?—”
I pushed her into a closet and shut the door. “Talk to me.”
“But the kids?— ”
“They’re fine. There are more adults than kids and they know everyone out there.” Even in the dark, I could see the anxiety radiating from her. “Let me have it, Kris. I can take it. Whatever you need to get off your chest, put it on me. Let me carry the worry for you. Lay it on me.”
She crashed into my arms, and I pulled her against my chest.
“I don’t deserve you,” she choked out. Her body shook, and I tightened my grip around her shoulders. “I can’t even give you sex because the kids are always around. Not that it matters. I’ll have no fucking clue what I’m doing when we finally do it. It’s been a freaking half-decade since I’ve had it.”
“Sunshine, if your biggest worry is that sex with you won’t be good, let me stop you right there. It’ll be good because it’s us. And when we finally get there—which I am really fucking excited about, by the way—it’ll be the right moment.”
She sniffed, then sighed. “You’re so patient and good to me and I have literally nothing to offer you. You spoil the shit out of me and the kids, and I can’t do that for you.” An exasperated laugh broke free from her chest. She ran a hand back through her dark hair and shook her head. “And Zoey goes off and runs her mouth about marriage, and you don’t get scared off by that. I’m starting to think you’re not even human.”
I smirked. “Oh, I plan on running the second I get out of here. I’m gonna change my name and move three states away.”
Kristin swatted my chest, but I caught her hand and laced our fingers together.
Smiling, I said, “Check your price tag. You’re not on clearance. You are top shelf, sweetheart.”
“I don’t feel like I am,” she said softly. “I don’t know why you want me.”
“I want you because of everything that you are. You are so goddamn beautiful. You are the hardest working person I’ve ever met. You take pride in your job and give it your all even when you’re tired. You care for every single person in your life. You’re generous and kind.”
Tears welled up in her eyes.
I tipped her chin up and leaned down until my lips found hers. “And I’ll make sure to remind you every day.”