Chapter 14 #2
Way to be a fucking coward, Rhonan.
Joanne isn’t going to let me off that easy, though. “She made sure to ask for permission this time before she took off.”
I meet Joanne’s gaze and nod. “Good, but why are you baking them here?”
“I figured you’d be more comfortable with that,” Vienna interjects, pulling my eyes to her finally—and fuck, I wish she hadn’t.
Her eyes are narrowed at me, like if she could, there would be lasers projected out of them right at me.
You messed this one up good, Rhonan. Nice job, dickwad.
“I—” But before I can respond, Ellis starts talking again.
“Ms. Lewis, are you gonna take the cupcakes to your friend now?”
Vienna directs her gaze back to my daughter, reaching for her hand. “I wish I could, sweetie, but unfortunately, I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Vienna inhales deeply before staring up at the ceiling and then back down at my daughter. “Today is my friend’s birthday, but that friend is up in heaven.”
Ellis’s eyes widen. “My—my mommy is in heaven.”
Vienna rubs her thumb across Ellis’s hand. “I know.”
“What was your friend’s name?” Ellis asks as I swallow down the lump in my throat, guilt consuming me even more as I watch and listen to them.
“Lydia, and she was my best friend in the whole entire world.”
“And now she’s an angel,” Ellis whispers.
“Yes, sweetie. Now she’s an angel. But…” Vienna inhales again, as if trying to fight back her emotions. “Lydia loved cupcakes, especially cupcakes with sprinkles. So, since I was missing her today, I thought I could make some for her and share them with you since I know you love sprinkles too.”
Joanne reaches up to brush a tear from her cheek, and that’s when my stomach turns even harder.
Ellis reaches for the bottle of sprinkles. “These cupcakes need more rainbow sprinkles then.”
Vienna and Joanne start laughing, but I can’t watch anymore. Turning away, I head down the hallway to change out of my uniform while berating myself for the hundredth time about what an insensitive asshole I was.
Yesterday was not my finest moment, I’ll be the first to admit that. But just like I tell Ellis, everyone makes mistakes. It’s what we do next that matters the most.
By the time I shower and have a fresh pair of jeans and T-shirt on, I return to the kitchen to find Ellis coloring on a piece of paper and Joanne washing dishes in the sink.
And no sign of Vienna.
“Hey.”
Ellis peers up at me from her coloring, but only briefly. “Hi, Daddy.”
Scratching my neck, I say, “Uh, where’s Vienna?”
Joanne glares at me over her shoulder. “She went home.”
“Why?”
“Wanted to be alone. She left some cupcakes for us.” Joanne wipes her hands on a dishtowel as she walks over to me and lowers her voice while placing her hands on her hips. “Feel like an ass yet?”
I grind my teeth together. “No need to rub salt in the wound.”
Joanne huffs out a laugh. “You may have wounds, Rhonan, but what you fail to realize sometimes is that other people do too.”
Ellis pulls on my shirt. “Daddy?”
I drop my gaze to her. “Yeah, sweetie?”
“I drew this picture for Ms. Lewis.” She holds out the paper to me, showing me what looks like two female stick figures standing next to each other, both with wings.
“What did you draw?”
“That’s Ms. Lewis’s best friend and my mommy, up in heaven together.”
My shoulders fall. “Oh. That’s…”
“Can I give it to her?”
“Uh…”
“Please, Daddy?”
“It’s almost bath time, Ellis.”
Joanne clears her throat. “Why don’t we have Daddy take it to her while you take your bath? And that way, we can have another cupcake once you’re done.”
Ellis nods enthusiastically. “Okay!” She pushes the paper against my stomach. “Make sure she knows it’s from me though, Daddy.”
“I—” My eyes trail Ellis as she runs down the hall, but Joanne steps right in front of me so I have no choice but to look at her.
“You owe that woman an apology, Rhonan.” Her brow arches painfully high on her forehead. “I only heard a snippet of what you said to her, but I can imagine what else you spewed out of fear.”
“Fuck, Joanne.”
“You need to grovel,” she continues. “Vienna is a special woman. Apologize and grovel like you’ve never groveled before.” With one more lift of her brow, she heads down the hall to the bathroom where Ellis has already turned the water on.
A heavy sigh leaves me, but I know that Joanne is right. And the longer I put it off, the worse things are going to get between me and Vienna.
With Ellis’s drawing in hand, I push open the front door and slowly cross my yard, reaching Vienna’s too quickly to prepare what I’m going to say.
Nonetheless, when she opens her front door, nothing could have prepared me for the sadness on her face and my lack of knowing what I could say to make things right.
Vienna swipes tears from under her eyes. “What do you want, Rhonan?”
Clearing my throat, I straighten my spine. “I came to apologize.”
“For?” she asks, crossing her arms over her chest.
“For yelling at you yesterday.”
One of her eyebrows lifts, and I’m suddenly aware of what a natural move that is for all of the women in my life. “Is that all?”
“Well, I—”
“You know what?” she says, cutting me off. “No. It’s my turn to talk.” She clears her throat and jabs her finger into the center of my chest. “You had no right to yell at me the way you did yesterday.”
“You’re right.”
“I know!” Her voice rises in volume. “And guess what? You were wrong!”
“About what?”
She points toward the side of her where my house lies. “I do know what it’s like to lose someone I love. Lydia was my family. She may not have been related by blood, but her death destroyed me.”
“You’re right. I—I didn’t know.”
Her hands fly into the air now, her anger radiating off of her and, despite knowing how pissed off she is at me, I can’t help but find her anger fucking hot—the intensity of her gaze, the quickness of her breaths. That I fucked up and she has no problem letting me know that.
“I know you didn’t! Because you just assumed! You just stomped over here like an ogre and—”
I don’t think, I just move.
I close the distance between us and crush my lips to hers. When my tongue darts out to find hers, she shoves me away, but her eyes are wild and her cheeks are flushed. “What the hell, Rhonan?”
The only sound resting between us is our heavy breathing, our chests rising and falling with each labored inhale. Our eyes bounce between one another, the silence deafening even though that seems impossible.
But before I can say anything else, Vienna launches herself at me, jumping into my arms and wrapping her legs around my waist, smashing her lips back to mine.
My adrenaline kicks in, closing her front door behind me and then spinning around, pinning her up against it while our tongues clash and my cock presses against my zipper.
I thrust my erection right between her legs, spurring a moan from deep in her throat, but Vienna doesn’t miss a beat.
She writhes against me, creating the friction I know she needs.
“God, you’re infuriating,” she mumbles against my lips.
“I’m aware. You’re not a saint either, you know.”
Vienna deepens our kiss, yanking on the strands of my hair between her fingers. “God, Rhonan. Yes.”
Our mouths continue to move over one another, and even though I know I should stop this—whatever the hell this is—my body won’t let me.
“I need you to know how sorry I am,” I say, lifting my lips from hers and waiting for her to open her eyes. When she does, the green hue I’ve grown to find comfort and intrigue in is darker than I’ve ever seen.
She’s needy, and fuck if I don’t want to apologize to her in other ways.
“Fuck it,” I grate out, fully committed to how I’m going to make my point.
Lifting her from the door, I carry her down the hallway to her bedroom, familiar with the layout of this house after fixing her showerhead all those weeks ago.
“Rhonan…what are you doing?”
When I reach her bed, I toss her onto it, pinning her hands above her head as I hover over her.
“I’m going to apologize to you, Vienna… And when I’m done with you?
You won’t question the sincerity of it because you’re going to be lying in a dent in your mattress too fucking spent from coming so hard. ”
Her eyes widen. “Rhonan…”
Dragging my nose up her neck to her ear, I whisper, “Tell me you want this. Tell me you want me to make you come.”
“I do, I just…”
I lean over her again, still restraining her hands above her head.
“Don’t overthink this, Vienna. We’ve exercised restraint up until this point, but I’m really fucking tired of pretending I don’t want you.
” Reaching for one of her hands, I move it right over my cock straining against my jeans. “Tell me you feel the same.”
A moan leaves her lips as she nods. “I do. God, Rhonan. Fuck me…please.”
I don’t waste another second before my lips find hers again as Vienna continues to rub her hand up and down my cock.
“Jesus, baby. This isn’t going to be gentle.”
“I don’t want gentle,” she mumbles against my lips. “I want it hard.”
“I hope you know what you’re asking for.” Vienna pushes up from the bed to reach my lips, and with my free hand, I make fast work on the button on her jeans. “Strip for me, Vienna. I need to see this fucking body again.”
I release her other hand and she instantly pulls at her zipper, pushing her jeans down and kicking them off while our mouths remain connected.
Without hesitation, I find the string of her underwear at her hips and rip them apart before dropping my head between her legs and burying my face in her pussy.
She buries her hands in my hair. “Oh fuck, Rhonan. Yes…”
“You taste like heaven, Vienna.” I drag my tongue up her slit, swirling it around her clit and then repeating the process. But then an idea comes to me.
Standing up straight and adjusting my cock, I pull Vienna up from the bed and trade places with her, lying down and resting my head on her pillow.
“Rhonan?”