Chapter 17 Ella
SEVENTEEN
ELLA
I spent the entire day in bed with Texas. We rolled around and kissed. He slid into me effortlessly and we rocked my bed against the wall. We passed the time with dirtying ourselves up before slipping into the shower and getting clean.
Only to get dirty again.
Texas was the perfect gentleman. He’d get up and grab us drinks and snacks. He even hauled the television over from his house and brought it into the room so we could hook it up and watch a movie together.
A movie where we only saw the first thirty minutes.
After being thoroughly worn out in all the best ways a woman could be, I figured I’d be relaxed.
That my mind would be blank, and my body would feel as if it was soaring.
But every single time I looked over at the clock, I locked back up again.
I napped against Texas’ strong muscles. I wrapped myself around him and felt him pull me close.
I felt safe in his arms, but the second I looked at the clock whenever my eyes pulled open, I locked up with tension again.
And despite Texas’ beautiful tongue between my legs, I never stayed relaxed for long.
“It’s six,” I said.
“He’s got one more hour,” Texas said.
“You don’t think he thought he could keep her for the night, do you?”
“I made sure he understood she was due back here tonight before he left.”
“And the crew knows? Stone knows?”
Texas kissed my forehead. “Everyone knows. I promise you, Ella.”
I sighed as I lay my head on his shoulder.
On the television, Golden Girls played. We gave up the fruitless effort of watching a movie and instead put something on that could give us some background noise.
Texas kissed the shell of my ear. The slope of my neck.
He rolled me over as his hands roamed my curves, massaging me from head to toe.
His thumbs dug into the muscles of my back.
I groaned at the ministrations of his knuckles running up and down the edges of my spine.
He parted my legs and massaged me with his tongue, bringing me to a height that rolled my eyes into the back of my head.
I’d lost count at how many times that man made me come.
“Mm, you taste so good, woman,” Texas grunted.
He massaged down my legs as my body melted into the bed. I shook from his efforts. From the pleasure he pushed through my system. But when he finished off my feet and sank next to me, I looked at the clock again.
“It’s six forty-five,” I grumbled.
“All right. I hear you. Come on. Let’s get cleaned up and dressed before someone finds us like this.”
He helped me out of bed and into the bathroom.
We slipped into the shower together really quickly and actually managed to get out without falling into one another’s embrace again.
But there was something in the pit of my stomach that told me to keep an eye out.
The closer it got to seven, the more nervous I became.
“Texas, something doesn’t feel right,” I said.
“Trust me, if something was up, I’d already know about it,” he said.
“What if Jett doesn’t bring her back?”
Texas’ nostrils flared. “If he doesn’t, he’ll be on the run for the rest of his life. Because the entirety of the crew will be after him. For good.”
The fact that Texas looked worried didn’t help at all.
In fact, it only reinforced the worry that bubbled in my gut.
I looked at the clock just as it struck seven before I dashed over to the window.
I peeked out from behind the curtain, looking up and down the road for any sign of her. Any sign of Jett and Keva.
But I didn’t even hear so much as his fucking engine roaring.
“Texas,” I breathed.
“I’m calling Stone right now,” he said.
Tears crested my eyes as he stepped out of the kitchen.
I unlocked the door and threw it open. Consequences be damned.
I didn’t know if I had fucking hickies on my neck or anything like that.
All I wanted was my daughter back in my arms. My stomach rolled in on itself.
My hands shook. I heard Texas murmuring down the hallway, and I wanted to scream at him to tell me what in God’s great creation was going on.
Then, I felt his hand come down onto my shoulder.
“Stone says they’re two miles out. Headed this way now. According to Bronx, they sat in Jett’s car to eat ice cream instead of driving while eating it,” he said.
I could have cried tears of joy the second I heard Jett’s car revving off in the distance.
“That’s them!” I exclaimed.
I tore away from Texas’s hand and went dashing out into the driveway.
I wanted to scoop Keva into my arms and bring her back inside as quickly as possible.
I didn’t give a damn about the ice cream.
About the sugar rush I’d have to deal with.
All I cared about was getting my daughter back in one piece.
And when I heard that sweet voice of my daughter’s hit my ears, every part of me relaxed instantly.
“Mommy! Guess what? Daddy took me to the zoo, and we saw ‘pudgins,’” Keva said.
“She can’t say ‘puffins,’” Jett said.
“Oh, sweetheart. I’m so glad you’re home. Did you have a good time?” I asked.
“Daddy let me have ice cream too,” Keva said.
“Didn’t have time to feed her. We stayed too long at the zebra exhibit,” Jett said.
I held her close as Jett approached me. I saw Texas posture on the porch, his hands clenching at his sides. Jett stepped in front of me, blocking my view of the man on the porch. And his kind smile turned sinister as Keva dug herself into the crook of my neck.
“I don’t appreciate having a gaggle of goons on my tail the whole time,” he murmured.
I glared at him as I clung to Keva tighter.
“But it won’t be like that forever. So, don’t worry about it,” he whispered.
“What did Daddy say?” Keva asked.
“He said he really enjoyed his day with you and that he loves you,” I said breathlessly.
Jett’s smile was positively maniacal. It made me sick to my stomach.
He ripped his door open and dipped into his car, and then he squealed out of my driveway.
I shook in the middle of my driveway as he rushed off.
I looked up the street and saw the glimmer of my brother’s chrome-laced bike.
In the shadows, I saw the outline of his body.
I’d gotten used to searching for it for the better part of my adult life.
He nodded at me before he struck up his bike and rode off in the direction Jett took.
But Jett’s words swirled through my mind.
It won’t be like that forever.
What did he mean by that?
“Are you okay, Ella?” Texas asked.
“Tex!” Keva exclaimed.
She launched her body at him, and he caught her as chuckles fell from his lips.
“Looks like someone’s had dessert before dinner,” Texas said.
“Daddy said I could.”
“Well, how about we get in here and get you some real food, yeah?” he asked.
“Will you eat too?” Keva asked.
“Oh, I’m always eating. You don’t have to worry about that,” he said.
“I meant ‘wif’ me, silly billy.”
“My name’s Billy now?” he asked.
I giggled as him and my daughter went back and forth.
He carried her into the house and set her down at the kitchen table before he went to work in the kitchen.
Keva curled up at my side as Texas threw together breakfast for dinner.
He cooked up bacon and pancakes. He chopped up some fruit and scrambled some eggs.
He put extra cheese in them just for Keva and then started a pot of coffee for me and him.
We all sat and ate as a family. And it was the first time in years I’d actually enjoyed that dynamic.
I cleaned up from dinner while Keva dragged Texas into her bathroom.
I heard him drawing her a bath and splashing around in the bubbles.
I heard him making up some song to calm her down while he washed her hair.
I even heard him arguing with her playfully on which pajamas would be the warmest for her to wear.
I inched my way down the hallway and peeked in to look upon the scene.
Texas picked my daughter up and tossed her into bed, her blonde curls bouncing and flying away as she laughed out loud.
He tucked her in tight and even read her a bedtime story, keeping her close and being the protective man I was coming to know him to be.
The entire scene warmed my heart as Keva fell asleep against him.
He looked up at me and smiled before he inched his way out of her bed. He kissed Keva’s forehead and put the book on her bedside table and then slid out into the hallway. He closed the door and looked down at me, his eyes dancing between mine.
“Are you okay, Ella?” he asked.
“I am now,” I whispered.
I reached up and cupped his cheek, his stubble raking across my palm.
He nuzzled into my hand before wrapping his grip around my wrist, and then he turned and kissed my skin.
Goosebumps fled down my arm as my body came alive again like I hadn’t just spent hours indulging every divot and swell of his body.
“Goodnight,” he murmured.
And with an aching heart, I watched him walk into the guest bedroom.
Tears rushed my eyes as he closed the door. My gut clenched when the sound of the lock flipping occurred too. I stumbled into my bedroom, my entire body shaking as the weariness of the day finally broke my dam. I managed to get my door closed before I fell to the floor, collapsing in a fit of sobs.
I pressed my hands into my face to muffle them so I wouldn’t bother Texas.
I wanted him with me. I wanted him in my bed. I wanted him as Keva’s father instead of that asshole I had married. I had ruined my life. I had ruined my daughter’s. And I felt like I was ruining Texas’s. He was stuck in some house with some girl he had to protect that wasn’t even his.
That couldn't be his.
“Oh, God,” I breathed through my sobs.
I drew in a shaky breath as I lay down on the floor, curling up and letting the tears flow freely. I had no idea when shit had gotten so complicated, but I was ready for it all to be over.
I was ready for Jett to be gone so I could live my life without looking over my shoulder.
I was ready for Texas to be gone so I wouldn't be constantly reminded of a life I couldn't have.
I wanted the crew to be off my ass so I could piece myself back together, and I wanted Stone to stop sticking his nose in every little damn thing I did with my world.
I just wanted it all to stop.
No matter how it all got stopped.