Chapter 26
Holly
Around seven, Mom knocks on my door and peeks her head in to tell me she’s starting coffee and breakfast. She didn’t want to knock on Jax’s door to wake him.
I assure her that I’ll get him moving and that we’ll be down in a bit.
She smiles wide and leaves my door cracked.
I shuffle into my bathroom, brushing my teeth before I pad across the hall.
I feel like I barely slept a wink last night as I debated slipping across the hall and into his sheets to confess that I feel the same way he does.
I crack the door, sneaking in and quietly closing the door behind me.
I make it up to the bed and have to cover my mouth to keep the laugh from breaking out loudly.
My man lies there on his stomach, looking gorgeous as hell.
I’ve seen this before, but the difference is the giant fluff of fur wrapped around his head like a hat.
Tigger lifts his head and trills happily to greet me.
“Really, Tigger?” I whisper, reaching out to scratch his head.
He’s my good boy. I miss having him around.
Maybe I’ll consider getting a kitty back home.
Tigger stands and stretches, jumping down to go paw at the door.
I let him out and close it again. Walking up to the bed, I take in all the delicious muscle out in the open.
I grab the sheet and pull it down slowly, revealing inch by yummy inch of his back muscles with their ink.
His boxer brief-clad ass is begging for my hands.
I climb onto the foot of the mattress, my body’s weight causing him to stir and turn over onto his back.
I run a hand up his thigh as I crawl between them, enjoying the masculine rumble that leaves his chest as he begins to wake.
My fingers inch across the front of his tented boxers, snickering about morning wood yet equally impressed. I grasp him firmly in my hand through the fabric, kissing up his belly. He sucks in a breath, his fingers winding through my tresses as he pulls me up to him.
“Good morning, woman. Are you trying to get me kicked out of your house? Because two more seconds of that and I’m going to flip you over on this bed and fuck you senseless.”
“Remind me to wake you like this when we get back home then.”
Another low rumble vibrates through his chest, and damn, it makes me want to test his patience.
He pulls me down for a kiss, and I could care less that he hasn’t brushed his teeth yet.
He hums, pressing his lips together to enjoy my taste.
“Mmmm, minty. Now I’ll be nicer. Good morning, baby.
” His rough morning voice makes me melt.
“Morning, handsome. My mother is cooking breakfast. It’s time to get up and get moving. By the way, you had a fur hat when I came in here.”
“That cat jiggled my door last night and made muffins on me. He got to stay once I was sure he wasn’t planning to smother me in my sleep. I like Tigger.”
I giggle, crawling off his body to go get ready. He groans with disappointment, reaching to snag me by the waist and yank me back under the covers. I let him nuzzle my boobs for a few more seconds as he sighs happily in my arms.
“Jaxon, you can’t get comfy again.”
“Me want sleepy.”
Tommy Boy references pop into my head, and I chuckle.
“What happened to worrying about my dad kicking you out?”
Jaxon lifts his head an inch from my chest.
“Good point. Get your sexy butt out of my bed before I do something stupid.”
I slide out of bed, stopping at the door to turn back and peek at the rumbly side of him tossing back covers and sitting up. Jaxon rubs his eyes with the palms of his hands, wiggling his toes on the carpet before standing, and he just looks perfect. He opens his eyes and smirks at me.
“You’re staring.”
“You’re cute, all grumbly and gravelly in the morning.”
Jaxon chuffs.
“Do I have time for a shower?” he asks, grabbing a few things from his weekend bag.
“Make it quick.”
“You’re not in it, so it will be.”
I smile wide before prancing off to my bathroom.
???
By nine-thirty, we’re on our way out the door. Traffic into the city isn’t too crowded, but damn, I do not miss this part of living here. Jaxon wanted to drive, but I yanked the keychain from his mouth as he was tying his sneakers and boogied out to the car.
“So, where are we going?”
“Only one of my favorite places no matter how old I get,” I singsong as I take the Hampton exit off of I-64/40. I wind through Forest Park’s plethora of roads, making my way to the bottom of Art Hill, where I park near the giant fountain.
“A park?”
“There’s little trails, this giant fountain, The Muny is over that way, the Boathouse, the Art Museum…” I point directions toward all the different choices. “But my favorite place is at the top of this hill and down a bit to our left.”
Jaxon grins wide, finding my giddiness infectious.
“Following you, my lady.”
I stop, turning to squinch my nose up at him over my shoulder.
“I like Cupcake better.”
Jaxon chuckles, reaching forward to pinch my butt.
“Get that pretty ass moving, Cupcake,” he growls playfully as I stretch my legs a smidge.
“Got your water bottle?” I ask, watching as he lifts it up to show me, along with a quirked brow of interest. “Good. Race you to the top,” I blurt the last part out fast, taking off before giving him a chance to say anything. His loud laughter echoes behind me.
???
Jaxon
She surprises me. Challenge accepted. A loud burst of laughter erupts from my lungs as I round the fountain, following her onto the pathway of gravel that disappears uphill between a small row of trees.
My heart pounds excitedly, giddy with the opportunity to laugh and play with my girl like we’re teenagers running through the rain.
As I close in on her, I slow a little, drawing the fun out and totally enjoying the way her butt shifts in her athletic shorts. My ass.
Ahead, I see the trees opening back up and want to catch her for a kiss before that happens.
I pick up my speed, and she looks back and squeals with delight, trying to dodge me as I reach out and snag her shirt.
I slow our run, pull her to me, and look both ways to see if we’re alone.
When I see the coast is clear for at least a minute, a mischievous grin cracks across my face as I push her back against the trunk of a tree and kiss her stupid.
“Thank you,” I pant.
“For what?” she asks breathily, a mix of exertion and desire.
“For reminding me that life can be fun. That that part of my life isn’t over.”
“This is why I’m excited for you to start your new job.
A whole new life apart from fluorescent lights and antiseptics awaits.
” She grins wide. Holly’s right. I put in a lot of hard time and hard work.
Now I get to enjoy the living part. I should’ve tried harder to make it more of a priority during my residency, but life just… got in the way.
“I’m excited too. It’s amazing what sleep can do for a person.
” I chuckle. Noticing an older couple come around the corner, I pull Holly away from the tree to start walking again.
We both take a swig from our waters as we breach the tree-lined path and see the Art Museum up ahead. “So, we stopping here?”
Holly wrinkles up her nose and shakes her head.
“Nah… to the left we go.”
I begin to notice a lot more families around as we pass the top of the hill, and I look down, seeing the pretty landscape of the fountain and man-made pond. Well, it’s pond-ish…
“This place is busier than I first noticed.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Are you going to tell me what’s next?”
“You’ll see in less than five minutes.”
A dad pushing a stroller has us scooting over onto one half of the sidewalk.
The little girl is sipping out of a big souvenir cup with animals on it as she strangles the life out of a big stuffed elephant.
I look ahead and see big brick walls and hear the sound of–a train horn?
Am I hearing that right? We cross the sidewalk, and then I see it.
St. Louis Zoo in big letters along a patch of the wall that had been obstructed by trees earlier.
There’s a giant rock feature with parents watching their children climb as they snap photos. A wide grin stretches across my face.
“So, this is your favorite place?”
“Yup,” Holly says with certainty before reaching for my hand and pulling me forward.
We enter the visitor center, and I notice the giant shark statue floating from the ceiling, along with tons of other animals.
I’ve heard this is one of the best zoos in the country.
She pulls me through sliding doors that open up to the rest of the zoo.
“Favorite animal?”
“Guess.”
I take a second to ponder her preferences.
“Elephants?”
“Oh, I wonder if they have any new babies! I love them, but no.”
“Tigers.”
“Wrong.”
“Monkeys?”
“Hippos. You’ll see why. Next would be the giraffes. Oh!” She holds up a finger to add to her list. “And the sea lions!”
I snicker, loving the excitement on her face, her inner child on full display.
“Where to then, Cupcake?” I ask when we come down the ramp from the visitor center and have the choice of left or right. She smirks up at me, then yanks my hand toward the right.
“Elephant-land.”
???
“Okay, I totally see why you love the hippos,” I say before sucking a long pull of lemonade from my teal souvenir sipper. “But you can’t tell me that they were cuter than that baby elephant.”
Holly shoves a spoonful of frozen strawberry lemonade into her mouth, hums an ’uh-uh’, and swallows.
“Cuter, no. Nothing beats baby animals. But the way the hippos bounce and prance beneath the water still makes them my favorite.”
“They’re totally not that cute in the wild.”
“You’re right! They'll rip your face off.” She shoves another spoonful into her mouth while we both chuckle, and I lean in and press a kiss to her cheek. I want my lips on her so badly, but a chaste peck will have to tide me over.
“Alright, it’s monkey time, then the big cats before the giraffes.”
“I’ll follow you wherever you want to take me.”
“What would you rather be? A lion or a tiger?”
“Tiger, all the way. I like their surroundings better.”
“Dude–snakes. Giant snakes. And spiders.”
I choke on my lemonade so hard, it almost goes up my nose.
“Oh, Cupcake, that just made my whole day. Wanna go look at them?”
“I don’t want to feel them crawling across my face when I sleep tonight.”
I love her.
???
Holly
By the time dinner is over and we’re back in my childhood home, it’s almost eight.
I. Am. Wiped.
Mom and Dad brewed some tea and are out back on the porch. I yawn, stretching my arms high, attempting to push some energy back into my muscles, but I just don’t have it in me.
Jaxon and I had such a nice day that I find myself wishing for more hours of daylight and the youthfulness of a toddler to go with it.
Jaxon’s arms wrap around me from behind as he presses his face against my neck, breathing in my scent like he just came home from a long trip and missed me. This feels nice.
“You seem tired, Darlin’. Did I wear you out?”
“You just had to see all the animals, didn’t you?” I chastise, even though I don’t mean a word of it. I was totally on board to see every bit, and Jaxon was totally enjoying every second, right along with me.
“Every one. Even the tarantulas,” he whispers next to the shell of my ear, smiling darkly against my skin and chuckling when I shudder.
“Gah, I almost had their fuzzy legs out of my brain. Now I’ll certainly dream of them.”
“I’ll be right across the hall. You could, you know, tiptoe over and crawl in with me.”
I peer over his way, eyes rolling up at him with an incredulous gleam. He sighs, loving getting me all worked up.
“Okay, okay…fine. No snuggles for me.”
“I’ll send you Tigger.”
“Tigger is a solid snuggler. I shall steal the cat.”
“Comfy clothes and a movie on the couch?”
“You speak my love language.”
“Five minutes. Be ready to snuggle. Please tell me you brought sweatpants.”
“And a hoodie, just in case.”
“For me to steal it?”
Jaxon smiles softly against my skin, then lets go, pushing my body toward the stairs.
“Anything of mine is already yours.”
I stumble in my footing a smidge, then look back at him from my place on the steps.
“I’ll remember that next time we’re eating steak.”
A dark look of amusement wars across his face as he rethinks his words. I boop his nose and hustle up the steps, giggling as his feet thunder behind me, then squeak when he pinches my ass.