Chapter 16
Chapter
Sixteen
“He hasn’t hadsex in three years?” Gemma gaped at her. “Seriously?”
“That’s what he said.” They were sitting in the diner drinking coffee. Gemma’s kids were with Riley’s mom, so they’d decided to come in for a late breakfast, although since it was almost twelve it was probably more like an early lunch.
Cassie had pretty much devoured her stack of blueberry pancakes, thanks to last night’s exertions.
Presley had left early in the morning. He’d had to pick Delilah up and take her to church. She got the impression he really didn’t want to go, but he’d promised Delilah and if there was one thing this man did, it was keep his promises. Especially those made to his daughter.
He’d asked her if she wanted to go to, but she’d shaken her head.
“I think I’d spontaneously combust if I walk into church after the things you did to me last night,” she’d murmured.
“In that case, I’ll be a pile of ashes on the fucking steps.” He’d kissed her softly. “If you change your mind let me know.”
She hadn’t though. After last night’s gig and then Presley coming back to her house, she’d felt like she needed some space to think. Because yes, she loved being with him, and she loved having sex with him, too.
“The man must have the bluest balls this side of a pool table,” Gemma muttered, pulling Cassie out of her thoughts. “Or at least he did. Until you did a public service and emptied them for him.”
“Eww.” Cassie screwed her nose up. “You make it sound so romantic.”
Gemma started to laugh. “Seriously, though. Three years. Riley gets grumpy if we don’t do it for three days.”
“I guess it’s hard being a single dad.”
“Obviously.” Gemma wiggled her brows.
Cassie opened her mouth to reply, but right then the door to the diner jingled open and Delilah walked in. She was wearing a green flowery dress, her hair up in bunches, one of them a little higher than the other. Her face lit up when she saw Cassie sitting with Gemma.
“Hi Cassie!” She ran over. “Guess what?”
“What?” Cassie leaned forward, all ears.
“I’ve been picked for the choir. To sing. I get to make my de-boot next month.”
Cassie grinned at her pronunciation of debut. “That’s wonderful. Congratulations.”
“But I want my hair in a fishtail braid,” Delilah said. “Can you do it for me? Daddy can’t.”
From the corner of her eye she saw Presley walk in, with his parents and brothers. She’d only seen Hendrix once, but apart from his blonde hair, he was a carbon copy of his two older brothers.
All three of them were wearing suits. They looked devastating. Heads turned to watch them walk.
Presley’s eyes caught hers and he smiled. She smiled back.
“Hey.” He put his hand on Delilah’s shoulder. “Is she disturbing you?”
“Not at all.” She shook her head, feeling ridiculously pleased to see him. “How was church?”
“Tolerable.”
Gemma kicked her under the table, and she kicked her back.
“Daddy, can we sit with Cassie?” Delilah asked.
“There’s not enough seats,” Presley said. “And anyway, she’s with a friend.”
“That’s not a friend. That’s Gemma.” Delilah rolled her eyes at him. “She says hi every time I go into class.”
“Sorry,” Pres said to Gemma, who was openly staring at him. “She’s a little overexcited.”
“I mean, she isn’t wrong,” Gemma said, smiling at him. “I am just Gemma.”
“Hi Cass,” Marley said, coming to join them. He’d already loosened the knot on his tie and unbuttoned the collar of his shirt. He looked about as comfortable in a suit as Presley did.
But they were both hot. In every single way.
“Hi.” She smiled at him. “You look fancy.”
“Mom insists on dressing up for church. Usually I’m at the station but Pres called and told me that if he had to go to church, I did too.” He shrugged. “Anyway, did this animal get you home okay last night?” he asked, bumping his shoulder against Presley’s.
“Yeah. It was all good.” She gave him a smile.
And then the rest of the family walked over. She got an official introduction to Hendrix, and Presley’s mom and Gemma started talking about the annual dance show they put on every Christmas.
“You want your check?” their server asked Cassie and Gemma, because the diner was filling up.
“Hey, Rina,” Maddie said.
“Hey, Maddie.” Their server grinned. “I didn’t see you there.” She looked around. “Want to take the big corner booth?”
“Yeah, that would be great.” Maddie smiled.
“But I want to sit with Cassie,” Delilah said.
“We have to go,” Cassie told her. “Maybe another time?”
“Daddy, can Cassie come over for dinner instead?” Delilah asked.
Gemma kicked Cassie again. She wrinkled her nose at her friend. Did she need to make it so obvious?
“We’re going to Grandma’s for dinner.” He ruffled his daughter’s hair. “But we can have Cassie over another time.”
“Tomorrow?” Delilah questioned.
Cassie met Presley’s eyes. They were crinkled at the side, like he was amused.
“I’ll talk to Cassie and we’ll arrange it, but not tomorrow, okay?”
Delilah gave a loud sigh. “Okay.”
The server gave them the check. Cassie picked it up. “I’ll get this,” she told Gemma.
“You sure?”
“Yep. My turn.” She hopped up and walked over to the counter, but not before she whispered quickly in Presley’s ear. “You should wear a suit more often.”
He harrumphed and she smiled again. She’d never get sick of teasing him. By the time she reached the counter to pay, there was a line there. As she stood waiting, her phone vibrated. She took it out and smiled when she saw the message from Presley.
You look pretty hot yourself. – Presley
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw him next to Delilah, who was talking to Gemma. Thankfully her friend was so used to little girls she was joining in the conversation with animation.
Marley wandered over to the corner table to join his parents and Hendrix. She could see Pres urging Delilah to take a breath and say goodbye.
Wear that suit the next time I see you. I want you in my mouth just like that. – Cassie.
Was it too much? She wasn’t sure. It was true though. They hadn’t had a lot of time for foreplay. Not when they were both so desperate for him to be inside of her every time they were alone together.
But she did want to taste him. To please him.
The thought of it made a blush steal up her chest.
When she turned to look at him this time, he was smirking. He glanced over and gave her the dirtiest look.
“You ready to pay?” the cashier asked. She blinked the thought of Presley’s body out of her mind, trying to concentrate on the poor woman in front of her.
“Yes, thanks.” She handed the check over, and passed over some cash. This was about the only place in town that didn’t take card. But she kind of liked it. Liked that it stayed old fashioned and untouched.
Even if she did have to remember to go to an ATM every time she came here.
“Okay,” she said, walking back to the table. “We’re good to go.”
“I’ll see you at class,” Delilah called out. “And when you come over to dinner.”
“You will.”
“And you can do my hair,” Delilah said, as though she was offering Cassie a treat.
“Sure.” Cassie laughed.
She looked at Pres, who had an exasperated expression on his face. “I’ll see you around,” she said, her voice soft.
“Yeah, you will.”
She wasn’t sure if that sounded like a promise or a threat, but either way it worked. Gemma grabbed her bag and slid out of the booth to join her, saying goodbye to Delilah and Presley before they reached the door.
As soon as they stepped outside she felt the warmth of the sun blasting down. Cassie didn’t bother putting her jacket on, letting the balmy air caress her skin. The door closed behind them and Gemma put her arm through Cassie’s.
“So, what did he text you?”
“Sorry?” Cassie blinked.
“I saw him on his phone. He was messaging you, right?”
Her cheeks pinked. “Um, yeah.”
Gemma’s grin was huge. “That man has the hots for you like nothing else. You should have seen him looking at your ass as you walked to the counter.”
“He was looking at me?” She felt a little breathless.
“All the damn time. Like he wants to do all the dirty things to you.” Gemma sighed. “I remember those days. The heat, the excitement. Don’t get me wrong, married life is good, but… that early passion. Man, there’s nothing like it.”
“I told him I want to blow him in his suit,” Cassie said.
Gemma almost choked. “Give a girl a little warning before you start with the dirty talk, will you?”
It was hard not to smile. “You asked what he texted. I thought I’d give you the short version.”
“That suit though,” Gemma said, fanning her face with her hand. “It really did look amazing on him. He’s great in jeans and engineer boots but…”
“But there’s something about a suit.”
“Damn right there is. I might have to ask Riley to put his on later.”
“For what?”
“For a blow job.” Gemma rolled her eyes. “Of course.”
Cassie laughed. Damn, she was laughing a lot these days. Life was good and she appreciated that. Between her teaching, the band, and friends like Gemma she felt truly blessed.
And maybe add a hot grumpy single dad in there, and it was almost perfect.
How did she get this lucky?
It was Sunday evening and they’d cleaned up the dishes from dinner, and Presley, his dad, and his brothers were sitting in the den, having been thrown out of the kitchen by Delilah and his mom who insisted they wanted to watch the live action Beauty and the Beast in there.
Not that being in the den was a hardship. When their parents had this house built a year before his mom had gotten pregnant with twins, they’d future proofed it for a family. When they were kids this had been their playroom. Full of plastic toys and coloring books and tiny little instruments that they learned to play on.
And then when they’d all moved out, his dad had it remodeled into his man cave. It had a pool table and a fuss-ball set, along with a bar that stretched the length of one wall. On the wall opposite was the biggest damn television you’d ever seen. And the four of them were sitting on the sunken leather sectional sofa, watching the ball game.
“Your mom was happy you came to church today,” his dad told Pres, as the game went to commercial.
Pres shrugged. “Delilah wanted me to be there. It’s no big deal.”
“Of course it’s a big deal,” Marley said. “You made us all go.”
Pres met his brother’s eyes. “If I have to suffer, you do too.”
“I know that,” Marley said grinning. “The story of my damn life.”
Truth was, going to church hadn’t been as bad as he’d thought it would be. And it made his kid happy, and wasn’t that what it was all about?
“Whatever the reason, thank you,” his dad said. “Your mom keeps saying how different you’ve been recently.”
Pres had no idea what to say to that. One thing for sure – he wasn’t going to tell them that one of the reasons for his difference had been screaming his name beneath him last night.
Thankfully, Hendrix’s phone started vibrating, taking the attention off Pres. Marley looked over at the screen and smirked. “Who’s Mollie?” he asked.
“Shut the hell up.” Hendrix accepted the call and jumped up from the sofa. “Hey, give me a sec. I’m with my asshole brothers.”
“Less of the asshole,” Pres said, lifting a brow.
“Sorry, I’m with my big brothers. Who are pains in my ass.” He wrinkled his nose at Pres and walked through the door to the stairway.
“He’s in love again,” their dad said, shaking his head. “He’s always moody when there’s a girl around.”
“Who isn’t?” Marley asked. “You’ve seen Pres around Cassie, right? He’s moody as hell.”
Their dad turned to look at Pres. “You and she a thing now?”
Thanks Marley.
He swallowed hard. “It’s complicated.” Not that he wanted to explain it to his father, anyway.
“So what, you were just at her place last night to do her plumbing or something?” Marley asked, grinning.
“How do you know I was at her place last night. You tracking me now?”
“Nope.” Marley shrugged. “I drove past early this morning. Had to pick something up from the station. Your car was still there.”
Well shit. That’s what he got for letting his horndog ways override his common sense. He could have at least parked down the road. If Marley noticed, that meant half the town had.
“She seems like a nice girl,” his dad said.
“Too nice for Pres,” Marley teased.
“At least I’m not yearning after somebody I can’t have,” Pres said, finally getting annoyed with the focus being on him.
Their dad blinked and turned his attention to Marley. “Who are you yearning for?” he asked, and then he shook his head. “Actually, scrap that, it’s probably better that I don’t know. Your mom will squeeze it out of me and then she’ll hunt you down for all the juicy details.”
“There are no juicy details because I’m not yearning for anybody,” Marley replied, shooting Pres a dirty look.
Yeah, sure. And that’s why he hadn’t been on a date for a year. But that wasn’t Pres’ problem. If his brother wanted to break his own heart by wanting somebody he couldn’t have, that was Marley’s problem.
As for Pres, well he didn’t have any problems. Yeah, it was awkward seeing Sadie at the gig knowing he’d finally slept with somebody for the first time since Jade died.
But she’d been kind. Sent him a message saying she’d enjoyed the show and would hopefully catch another.
But it was one thing feeling more relaxed about finally seeing somebody. Another thing having his entire family knowing. And his dad was right. Once you told one member of the family, you told them all.
And he had a damn big family. Sometimes it felt like he was related to half of Hartson’s Creek.
“Anybody want a beer?” their dad asked, just as Hendrix walked back in, looking a little flushed.
“I’ll take one,” Hendrix said. Marley nodded.
“I’m driving. I’ll take a non–alcoholic, please,” Pres said.
His dad gave him a pleased nod and grabbed four bottles, carrying them over to the sofas.
“So,” he said, handing out the bottles. “What about the Pirates this year? You think they stand a chance?”
“Not if they keep playing like this,” Marley muttered.
Pres smiled, because they all appreciate their dad’s change of subject. Even Hendrix, who was typing on his phone, only half his attention on his family.
“Hey, did you know your band’s song has gone viral?” Hendrix asked.
Pres blinked at yet another change in conversation. “No. How?”
“On TikTok. Mollie saw it. Apparently you’ve got a million views.”
“What does that mean?” their dad asked. “What’s TikTok? They paying you?”
Pres bit down a smile. Their dad’s fame came at a time when social media wasn’t a big thing. He didn’t get why any bands would expose themselves to that kind of scrutiny. Especially without being paid directly.
“I don’t think so,” he told him. “It’s just some free publicity. Alex likes doing it, so we let him.”
“It’s still cool though,” Hendrix said. “When are you playing next?”
“A couple of weeks,” Marley told him. “Why, does your girlfriend want to come watch how real men do it?”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Hendrix said, his eyes narrow. “And you’re not a real man.”
“Sure about that?” In the blink of an eye Marley reached for Hendrix, wrapping his arm around their little brother’s neck and pulling him into a noogie. He rubbed his knuckles on Hendrix’s head as their younger brother tried to squirm out of his grasp, fruitlessly hitting his hands against Marley’s rock hard chest.
“Get the hell off me,” Hendrix protested.
“Just showing you how a real man deals with annoying little brothers.” Marley let him go, smirking.
Until Hendrix launched himself at Marley, pinning him down in an attempt to noogie him back.
Pres’ eyes met his dad’s. How many times had they all fought as kids? Way too many times to remember. His mom used to hate it, even though their dad admitted he’d done the same with his own brothers.
It was how they solved problems. How they communicated.
Sometimes, it was even how they showed each other they loved them. And yeah, he knew that was messed up. And they’d mostly grown out of it.
“Touch me again and your head is going down the toilet,” Marley said, extricating himself from Hendrix’s grasp.
Okay, he’d grown out of it. And he thanked God daily that Delilah hadn’t picked up the habit of punching out her feelings.
She talked them out and he liked that. Even if sometimes she talked just a little too much.
“Is somebody fighting down there?” their mom’s voice echoed down the stairs. Hendrix and Marley immediately separated and Presley bit down a smile.
Sure, their dad let them fight it out, but their mom never did. And truth be told, all three of them were more scared of her than they were of each other.
“Not anymore,” their dad shouted back. “You can get back to your movie.”
“I’m on it,” she called. “And I’m telling you, the Beast is way better behaved than any of my damn children.”