Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
DANIKA
The month that followed Hardin’s birthday party had been rough on Leo. While he loved having his son with him full-time, Macie hadn’t understood why her brother wasn’t leaving with her when it was time to go back to her mom’s.
She missed him something fierce during the weeks they were apart, and each time she came back to Leo’s, it was obvious something was off.
She was quiet and withdrawn. Leo had tried talking to her about it, but she remained tight-lipped.
She wasn’t her normal, lively self during our baking lessons.
She still wanted to do it, but something in her had changed, and the more time that passed, the more I began to worry.
The only thing Leo could do was try his best to pull her out of it when he had her, and I did what I could to help with that.
With Hardin now at his dad’s full-time, Leo wasn’t able to stay the night at my place, so more often than not, Roscoe and I were at his place.
I had a ton of clothes at his house and had doubled up on all my toiletries to keep his bathroom stocked.
I didn’t mind this one bit since his house was a million times better than mine, and I loved spending time with him and his kids, not to mention, going to sleep beside Leo each night was quickly becoming one of my favorite things.
On top of all of that, the Darrin Callo case was weighing heavily on him.
He couldn’t tell me about it, but I had a feeling he and Micah were hitting one road block after another.
His hours had become somewhat erratic, and it wasn’t unusual that he wouldn’t get in until well after the sun went down, so I’d started making dinner every night so he’d be able to eat, relax, and hang with his kids in the evenings before having to go to sleep, only to wake up and do it all over again the next day.
The one thing that hadn’t changed was how Leo acted with me. No matter how stressed or worried he got, he didn’t snap. He never lost his temper, and even if he’d had a bad day, as soon as he walked through the door, he sought me out for a kiss, wanting to connect with me in some way no matter what.
He didn’t hide his affection from his kids, in fact, it was such a common occurrence that they’d started teasing us about how gross it was.
But there had been a few times after a kiss or embrace that I’d caught Hardin watching us with this expression on his face that I could only describe as relief.
His dad was happy and that was enough to make him happy.
But it wasn’t just affection I was getting on a regular basis from Leo.
Every night, no matter how exhausted he was, as soon as he climbed into bed, he’d reach for me.
Some nights he needed it hard and fast, other nights he made love to me slowly, but it never failed that I’d have at least two orgasms before my head hit the pillow.
I’d gotten my period the week after Hardin’s birthday, but I’d gotten on the pill shortly thereafter, so now condoms were a thing of the past, and I had to say, I didn’t miss them one damn bit.
At that very moment, I was building up to my second.
He’d given me my first while fucking me from behind and playing with my clit while I was on my hands and knees.
Now I was on top. Leo was sitting with his back pressed against his headboard, watching me as I rode him.
My bottom lip was clamped tight between my teeth, my eyes half-mast as he grabbed hold of my hips and began thrusting up from underneath me.
“Oh God,” I whimpered as the pressure built out of control.
“Give it to me,” he grunted, one hand traveling up to cup my breast, his rough thumb scraping over my nipple, as the other hand moved down to where we were connected. “I want those eyes on me when you come,” he ordered, rubbing my clit. “I wanna watch.”
His fingers at my nipple and clit and his cock inside me was a triple threat.
I had no chance of holding back, but when he talked dirty like that my release skyrocketed, and I came hard, my walls squeezing him like a fist as my muscles locked tight and I moaned out my release.
He followed me over a second later, gripping my hair and slamming my mouth down on his so he could grunt his orgasm past my lips.
I collapsed against him, and he gave us time to come down, running his hands along my spine and ribs tenderly before finally lifting me off of him and depositing me into the bed.
He disappeared into the bathroom just long enough to wet a washcloth, then came back and proceeded to clean me up and pull one of his tees over my head, just like he did every night. Every time he did that, my heart swelled and I fell more in love with him.
Finally, he shut off the lights and climbed into bed, wrapping himself around me and letting out a sated sigh against my hair.
“I’m probably gonna have to work late tomorrow, but Macie’s got gymnastics practice. Would you mind takin’ her? I’d hate for her to have to miss it.”
I rolled over to face him, looking at his shadowed face. “Of course. I don’t mind at all. I haven’t gotten to see her do gymnastics before so it’ll be fun.”
He let out a sigh, this one not sated in the least, but full of concern and weariness. “It seems to be the only thing she actually enjoys anymore.”
My heart clenched. “Leo, honey, we’ll get her squared away. She’ll be okay. She’s still got you. You’re an incredible dad, so whatever she’s goin’ through, you’ll see her past it.”
“I just fuckin’ hate that I don’t know what’s wrong. She won’t talk to me. My baby girl’s always talked to me.”
Wrapping my arms around him, I squeezed tightly, bending my head to press a kiss against his chest. “It’s all gonna work out,” I whispered. “It’ll be okay, and you’ll have your happy, I promise.”
He returned my embrace, hauling me up so he could reach my lips with his. “Do you have any idea how much you mean to me?”
I smiled. “You love me.”
“I do,” he confirmed. “And you love me.”
“I do, honey.”
I held on, feeling some of the tension melt from his body. He settled seconds later, but never once loosened his hold, whispering, “Goodnight,” against my forehead.
I offered him the same, my arms wrapped around my man.
Concern filled me up from the inside, scratching at my throat as I made the drive to Macie’s gym.
She’d been silent the whole way, staring out the window in a daze.
It was so unlike her not to chatter constantly, that I knew whatever was on her mind was something big, something she wasn’t able to handle on her own.
“Honey,” I started, glancing in her direction from the corner of my eye. “You okay?”
“Yeah, Dani,” she mumbled. I waited for more, but that was all I got.
“You know, if there’s ever anything you need to talk about, anything at all, I’m here.
Your dad is too, but I get that, sometimes, as a girl, there are things we aren’t comfortable talking about with boys.
” That caught her attention, and from my periphery, I saw her turn to face me, so I continued.
“You can talk about those things with me, sweetie. I just want you to know that.”
“Like girl stuff?” she asked hesitantly.
I glanced over to give her a smile. “Yeah. Like girl stuff. Or anything else.”
The silence descended on the car once more, so I shifted my focus back to the road ahead, trying to think of something to say when she finally spoke.
“Dani?”
“Yeah?”
“How old were you when you got your first period?”
Caught off guard by that unexpected question, it took me a few seconds to think on before I answered, “Well, I can’t remember exactly, but I think I was around your age.
” I peeked over and saw her staring down into her lap, chewing anxiously on her bottom lip.
“Macie, a girl getting their first period is nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s totally natural.
It just means you’re growing up. I still remember going to my mom when it first happened. ”
“And she helped you?”
“Of course,” I replied. “It’s a mother’s job to help her daughter through that first time. It can be a little scary.”
She didn’t say anything, but I heard a sniffle coming from the passenger seat and was hit with an uncomfortable thought.
“Honey, did you talk to your mom about it?”
“I-I tried,” she stuttered, making my stomach sink.
“What did she say?”
“She didn’t say anything,” Macie whispered. “She just went into her bathroom and came back with a handful of tampons and tossed them on my bed.”
Red began to seep into my vision and my fingers twisted harder around the steering wheel as rage set in.
The fact that Whitney would be so careless as to leave her daughter to navigate a situation like her first period all alone pissed me right the hell off.
I pulled a long, careful breath in through my nose, trying my hardest to get back to calm before I dared to speak again.
“Macie, has she ever talked to you about using a tampon? There are things you need to know—”
“I didn’t use them” she said quickly. “I just . . . they kind of scared me. I called one of my friends, and she brought me some pads at school the next day.” Her voice broke on the next whispered words. “It was so embarrassing.”
I reached across the console, placing my hand on her knee and giving it a squeeze. “There is nothing for you to be embarrassed about. It took me months to work up the courage to use a tampon. It’s intimidating. You did the right thing by calling your friend.”
“Yeah, but she shouldn’t have had to be the one to talk me through it and tell me about cramps and stuff.”
“No, she shouldn’t have,” I admitted gently. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. It wasn’t fair to you. But if you want, I could take you to the store tomorrow and get you set up with everything you need.”
“You’d do that?” she asked, sounding a bit surprised.
“Of course,” I insisted. “Macie, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to help you.
That’s what people do when they care about each other, and I care about you very much.
This is a difficult time for you, honey.
Your hormones are going nuts, cramps can be painful, and a lot of girls tend to get really emotional during that time of the month.
It’s not something you should have to navigate by yourself, and I’m happy to help you. That is, if you want me to.”
“Thanks, Dani,” she said quietly. “I was gonna ask Dad, but . . .”
“This is a girl thing,” I finished for her, giving her knee another squeeze. “Guys don’t get it, so we gotta stick together, me and you. What do you say?”
I looked over just in time to catch her giving me a tiny smile, and the ball of tension that had been forming in my chest over the past few weeks finally began to loosen. “Yeah, Dani. That sounds great.”
I focused back on the road, my lips trembling with a suppressed grin when she spoke again. “And just so you know, I really care about you too. Like, a lot.”
God, but I loved this girl.