32. Judd
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
judd
“Are you sure you want to go to my parent’s house?” I ask Amelia again, coming up behind her and wrapping my arms around her bare middle, dropping a kiss on her shoulder. The one that’s not bruised. It’s been four days since Bruno and Amelia were attacked. The bruises around her neck and shoulder look worse, but she’s reassured me multiple times that they look worse than they feel. While both of them are doing significantly better, I don’t want the chaos and noise that are my family and friends to set back their healing.
She sets her makeup down, looping her arms around the back of my neck. “Judd, it’s Thanksgiving. We’re not missing spending time with your close friends and family.”
“They would understand if we didn’t make it.” The day after the attack, I told my parents and Kessler what happened. My mom, being the amazing person she is, came over to my place right away to make sure Amelia and Bruno were really alright and to bring us dinner so we didn’t have to cook.
Amelia had me do a group FaceTime to Hazel and Charlie so she could tell them what happened. Like Amelia predicted, Charlie was upset she didn’t contact her right after it happened because she would have come home. Amelia told her that’s exactly why she didn’t and reassured both her and Hazel she was okay. Telling them both she would be fine because she had me here and to enjoy their holidays.
She also had a session with her therapist and when she got back in the car after her session, she told me that’s the first time she’s left her office around the holidays without being in tears.
I hope I had some part in that.
Amelia rolls her eyes at me. “And I told you, Bruno and I are fine. The doctor and vet gave us both a clean bill of health yesterday at our re-checks. We’re healing great and will be good as new in no time.”
“You’re lucky you’re still sore or I would spank your perfect ass for rolling your eyes at me.” It’s hard enough keeping my hands to myself while she’s in nothing but a black lace bra and underwear, wearing a blue silk robe that matches her eyes.
Her gaze turns heated, and she runs her fingers through my hair at the nape of my neck, giving it a small tug. My dick jumps in response. “Amelia,” I warn. “If you want to make it to my parents’ house, you better stop, or I’ll spend all day and night eating my dinner right here in our bathroom.”
Oh yeah, another thing that happened over the last few days was we decided to move Amelia in with me. It didn’t make sense to have separate apartments in the same building. So, after Amelia starts feeling better, we’re moving all her stuff in here, at least until we can build our dream house.
She gives me a seductive smirk and takes a step back, dropping her arms from my neck. “Maybe later, Davis. My hair actually looks good, and I’m almost done with my makeup. I don’t need you ruining it.”
“I won’t ruin it,” I tell her, backing her into the counter and dropping to my knees. “And you’re beautiful with or without makeup, hair done or not.”
“Juddson,” she says in a warning that only encourages me.
“Hmm?” I hum, dipping my head down to kiss up one thigh, then the other.
A soft moan leaves her lips and when I look up, Amelia’s head is tipped back and she’s gripping the counter with both hands. I reach up and hook a finger on both sides of her underwear, dragging them down her legs. She steps out of them quickly and I toss them aside.
“Are you wet for me, Shortcake?” I ask, planting more kisses between her thighs. She spreads her legs wider, opening up for me. Using my pointer finger, I dip it into her center, feeling exactly how much she wants me and trail it up to her clit, tracing around the sensitive bundle of nerves. “You’re soaked. Do you want me to help you with that, baby? I can get you all nice and clean before we have to leave.”
She whimpers and nods her head.
“Say please.”
“Please, Judd. Please, fuck me,” she pleads.
“No time for that, baby. I don’t want to hurt you. So, I’m going to have my dessert before dinner.”
Wrapping a hand around her calf, I lift her leg and place it over my shoulder, giving me better access to her center.
“Hold on, Shortcake. I’m starving.”
She runs a hand through my hair, gripping it tight when I take my first lick. “Yes,” she whispers, grinding her hips into my face.
I quickly set a rhythm of licking and sucking. Applying more and more pressure to her clit with each pass, building her pleasure. Her thrusts soon become erratic as she chases her high. Her moans echoing through the bathroom.
I growl into her and add a finger, then two. Her pussy clamps down around me, welcoming the pressure. I match the strokes of my fingers with the strokes of my tongue, and it doesn’t take long for her to come apart around me.
“Fuck, Judd. I’m coming.”
Her pussy pulses around me, and she soaks my hand with her orgasm. I stay down there, licking her clean as she comes down from her high. Once the tremors have subsided, I grab the underwear I tossed aside, helping her back into them and stand. “Fucking beautiful,” I tell her, bending down and placing a kiss on her lips.
“I love you so much,” she whispers when I pull back and rest my head on hers. My heart soars at her words, just like they did when she said them for the first time Sunday night.
“I love you too, Mills. I always will.”
Dinner is loud and chaotic, and there’s not an inch of empty space on the large dining table. Voices and laughter fill the air along with scents of the mouthwatering food Mom has cooked. Amelia is seated beside me chatting with Lucy, Kara and Kara’s mom, Connie, about a scene in her next book, while we wait for Mom and Dad to finish carving the turkeys and hams. Kessler and I both offered to help, like we do every year, but Mom shooed us out of the kitchen, like she also does every year. Brent and his sister, Cass, are sitting on the other side of me talking in low whispers. Reese is sitting across from them, playing on his phone but looking uncomfortable. You bet I’ll be poking that bear later.
Someone taps my foot under the table, and I tear my gaze away from Amelia to see Kessler staring at me. He tips his head to the sliding door that leads to my parent’s backyard.
“I’ll be right back.” I tell Amelia, dropping a kiss on her head and getting up from my seat. She nods and gives me a smile before turning back to the girls to talk. Kessler does the same with Lucy.
The noise is muted as Kessler shuts the door behind him and heads over to the covered patio, taking a seat on one of the chairs. I sit down in a matching chair next to him. We both look out at the expansive backyard we were lucky enough to play in growing up. “How is she?” Kessler asks, propping his foot up on his knee. His breath puffs out in a white cloud in front of him. It’s not raining, but it’s cold.
I sigh and scrub a hand down my face. “She’s actually doing okay. She had a nightmare the first night after it happened and a few panic attacks, but has been doing pretty good besides that. She had an appointment with her therapist on Tuesday and saw her doctor yesterday to make sure her wounds were healing properly and her concussion symptoms weren’t getting worse.”
“And how are you doing?” he asks, giving me his big brother stare down that means ‘don’t bullshit me’.
“I’m… okay. I know once she’s able to drive herself, it’s going to be harder to let her out of my sight, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”
“Have you thought about talking to someone?”
I give him a questioning look. “Like a therapist?”
He nods. “Yeah, or if you don’t want to do that, you could always just talk to me about it, get it off your chest instead of bottling it up inside?”
“I’m not the one who was attacked, Kess.”
Kessler drops his foot to the ground, sitting forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “No, but you witnessed some of it. You saw the woman you love being attacked. She could have lost her life. That has to be traumatic for anyone.”
The image of Amelia fighting for her life flashes through my mind. “It was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life and I don’t think I’ll be able to get it out of my head for a long time. If ever,” I admit.
“I don’t even want to imagine what I would do if it had been Lucy. That guy is lucky he’s alive.”
“Trust me, I wanted to kill him. But the need to see if Amelia was okay overrode that urge.”
The back door opens, halting our conversation, and Mom’s head pokes out. “Everything okay?” she asks.
We both nod, getting to our feet.
“Well, dinner’s ready, you two. Come eat.”
We walk in and take our seats. Once everyone is seated, I notice one chair is empty. Just as I’m about to ask where he is, the mudroom door opens, and Garrett comes in. His long hair dirty-blond is pulled back into a low bun and his ice-blue eyes take in the room, staying a beat too long on Kara before continuing and finding Mom. “Sorry I’m late, Mom.” His deep voice rumbles through the now quiet room.
“No worries, dear. There’s a seat right next to Kara for you,” Mom tells him. Lucy and Kessler share a smirk. And I cough a laugh into my fist. Leave it to Mom to play subtle matchmaker.
Conversations start back up and the buzz of voices once again fills the room.
“Wow, he is stupidly attractive,” Amelia mutters, eyes not leaving Garrett as he takes his seat next to Kara, who’s turned a couple of shades of red.
Lucy snorts into her water, making her cough while Kessler pats her back.
“I’m sitting right here, Shortcake,” I mumble.
She turns and smirks at me. “Don’t be jealous, Davis. I can look, It’s you I’m going home with.”
“Damn right you are,” I tell her, giving her a wink.
“Alright, everyone,” Mom announces, standing from her chair, “I just want to say how happy I am to have so many people joining us this year. My heart is full seeing all the love and laughter filling this house. For those of you who’ve never joined us before, we usually go around the table and say what we are thankful for this past year. Does anyone want to go first?”
Everyone looks around the table at each other, seeing who might go first. I clear my throat and start, probably shocking everyone because I’m usually one of the last people to go, but I have a lot to be thankful for this year.
“I have a lot of things to be thankful for this year, but I know Hudson and Kade are hungry, so I’ll keep it short,” I joke, getting chuckles from everyone. “First, I want to thank everyone for sticking by me a few months ago when I made the biggest mistake of my life. Your support got me through a dark time.” I look at Amelia, taking her hand. “I’m also thankful for making that mistake because I may not have met my missing piece, if not for my stupidity.”
Amelia squeezes my hand, giving me her sparkling smile and whispering, “I love you.” I raise her hand to my lips, kissing the back of it.
Mom clears her throat, and I look down the table, seeing her dab at the corners of her eyes. Lucy sniffs and Kara swipes a finger under her eye. “Uh, who’s next?” I ask, looking at Kessler.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll go.” He sits up in his chair, but keeps his arm draped across the back of Lucy’s shoulders. “I’m thankful for meeting the love of my life this year and gaining a son.” He ruffles Hudson’s hair, then turns to look at Lucy. She nods her head and Kessler turns back to us. “We also have something we want to share with everyone. Well, two things actually.” He pauses and Lucy reaches up and grips his hand on her shoulder. “This next season is my last year playing ball.” Shocked gasps echo around the table, and he locks eyes with me. I know how hard of a decision this is for him and I know it’s not one that was easily decided. But he’s starting a new chapter in his life, one that involves being an incredible dad and loving husband, and when Kessler decides to do something, he never does it halfway.
“What’s the second?” I ask.
Wide grins break out over Lucy and Kessler’s faces. “If everyone could look under their plates, you’ll see what it is,” Lucy says.
Everyone picks up their plates. On the place mat is a picture of two baseballs, one pink, one blue. In the center of the baseballs are the names ‘Aspyn’ and ‘Denver’.
“Does, does that mean you’re having one of each?” Mom asks, voice tight from trying to hold back her tears. Lucy nods her head, her own tears streaming down her face. Getting up from her chair, Mom goes over to Lucy and Kessler, giving them each a hug.
Everyone takes turns telling them congratulations and once everyone is back in their seat, Mom asks if anyone else would like to share what they’re thankful for.
“I’d be thankful if we could eat,” Hudson says from the other side of Kessler.
“Hudson James,” Lucy scolds, trying to hold back her laughter. Kessler doesn’t succeed and chuckles along with everyone else.
“I want to say one thing, then we can eat, Hud,” Mom tells Hudson. “I just want to say how thankful and blessed we feel to be able to share our home and food with you all today.” She looks at Hudson and gives him a wink. “Now we can eat.”
Dishes are passed around; plates are loaded, and a hush falls over the table while everyone eats. We’re about halfway through the meal when some of the chatter starts back up.
“You doing alright?” I ask Amelia. She’s only finished half of what’s on her plate.
Leaning back in her chair, she groans. “My eyes were too big for my stomach.”
I chuckle and run my hand over her thigh. “There will be plenty of leftovers and Mom will make sure she sends us home with more than we need.” I look across the table and see Hudson reaching for seconds. “Or Hudson will eat it all.”
“This kid is going to eat us out of house and home.” Kessler laughs. His eyes flick to mine and he sits forward in his seat, leaning on the table. “Speaking of homes. I had an interesting conversation with Beau Miller the other day.”
I set my spoon down and swallow my mouth full of mashed potatoes. “About what?”
“You know the lot next door to us?”
“I wouldn’t call that a lot . It’s 30 acres of overgrown pasture and trees.”
“Same thing. Anyway, he’s looking to sell. Wanted to know if I was interested before he officially put it on the market.”
I sit taller in my chair. Kessler knows I’ve been looking for property near here since moving back home. “What did you tell him?”
Kessler smirks and leans back in his chair, lacing his fingers together behind his head. “I told him I wasn’t interested. It’s too big of a project for us right now with the babies on the way.” He pauses and keeps staring at me with that stupid smirk.
“ And ?”
He lifts a shoulder. “I may have given him your number and told him you’ve been looking for property and might be interested.”
I jump up, the scrape of my chair making a horribly loud noise against the floor. Everyone watches as I run around the table and give Kessler a hug from behind. “I could kiss you right now, big brother.”
“Please don’t.”
“Oh, no. I think this deserves a giant smooch.” Tightening my grip, so he can’t get loose. Kessler struggles against me as I bring my face closer to his, giving him a loud smack on the cheek.
“Boys, not at the table,” Mom chastises. “You’d think being adults, they’d quit picking on each other, but it still hasn’t happened.”
“I’m not picking on him, Mom. I’m thanking him.”
Mom raises an eyebrow at us. “For what?”
I release Kessler and return to my seat, sliding my arm around Amelia’s shoulders. “You know I’ve been wanting to build a house since being back. Well, Kessler said Beau Miller is looking to sell the property next door to him and gave him my number.”
Amelia’s head whips to the side to look at me, wincing slightly when she does. “Really?”
I nod. “Really. So, what do you say, Shortcake? Wanna build our home?”