Micah
Fucking perfect, love bug.
“Oh god.”
The heavy metal band in her head would not quit and groaned as she turned onto her back, stretching an arm out. While the bed was empty, it was still slightly warm and a small smile floated over her lips at the memory of Fletcher being in bed with her. But then everything else about the night came flooding back and she groaned again.
Given that it was a Tuesday and they had work the next day, she had been surprised to get a text from Tatum about needing a drink. It was only when all three of them were seated at the Loose Lasso that they understood why Tatum needed them. Having spoken to Tatum about the whole Benji-Ambrose kerfuffle, knew that her best friend would be struggling. But never in her wildest dreams did she think Benji would come back and make demands . They’d been divorced for three years and he was now asking for all the things they’d laid out in their settlement. And it had rightfully shaken Tatum up.
So they went drinking.
At first, Tatum was angry and knocking back tequila shots faster than was good for her. Then they switched to pitchers of margaritas, which wasn’t as smart as they thought at the time. Of course when men saw three gorgeous women out and about, having the time of their lives, they insisted on buying them drinks. None of them would ever turn down free alcohol, even if it was a bad idea.
So they continued drinking.
They went from tequila to margaritas to beers and then more tequila shots. With a small break to eat and line their stomachs. Then back to the margaritas. By which time the Loose Lasso staff had set up the mechanical bull riding competition. And nobody was going to stop the three of them from participating. However, they did not participate in throwing themselves into the arms of the hot cowboys—though was certain Sadie was disappointed in their decision. The bull riding prompted multiple restroom visits after which they ate more food and then called Fletcher.
Mostly prompted by Tatum and Sadie laughing about how he was her stallion.
Apparently drunk was okay with their silly nicknames.
And Fletcher had shown up.
More than that, he’d helped her best friends into his truck, got them food and waited until they were all a little more steady and sober before driving them to her place. He tucked her friends into the guest bedroom and then helped her out of her clothes before wrapping her up in her bed. And he stayed the night, judging by the delicious scent of him still lingering on her sheets.
She grinned through her pounding hangover, right until her brain reminded her of the vague mumbling while they were eating burgers. Wincing, she turned over and buried her face in the pillow. When they were married, Geoffrey would give her so much shit for drinking with the girls and having a good time. On the rare occasions she’d call him for a pick-up after a night out, Geoffrey would show up begrudgingly and berate her the whole drive home— You’re a mother, you need to behave that way. What will Emery think when she finds out her mother’s a fucking lush? What is wrong with you, you can’t get drunk on a week night. would sometimes fight back, but when you’re slurring through your rebuttal, it’s hard to really make a point.
So she obviously freaked out that Fletcher would feel the same way. In her drunken state, that was the only thing that made sense. Because she knew that she was really drunk and it wasn’t entirely the most attractive thing. Except, he hadn’t seemed to judge her and when she brought up her worries in the most vague way possible, he’d been confused. You trusted me to be there for you, that’s all that matters , was all he said, but it was the way he said it that made her realize she’d underestimated how wonderful Fletcher Kelley was.
After a few more minutes of silently grumbling at herself, she slid out of bed and found two Advil and a glass of water on her nightstand, along with a note that said ‘this goes in your mouth, love bug’. She popped the pills and on wobbly knees, walked to the bathroom, brushed her teeth and rinsed her face. Then with a big headband, she pushed her hair back. She grabbed the silk robe from behind her bathroom door and tugged it on over her camisole set before heading downstairs.
Apparently everyone else was already awake, judging by the laughing and talking and the delicious smells of breakfast food coming from her kitchen. hugged herself, smiling as she hit the bottom step, attempting not to get too giddy over this development.
“I still can’t believe Mick’s dating Santa,” Sadie said loudly, drawing laughs from Emery and Tatum.
“For a few weeks a year. The rest of the time, I’m…”
“Fletch, former rockstar,” her daughter supplied and snorted out a laugh as she stepped into the kitchen.
Her best friends looked fresh as daisies, perched on stools at the kitchen island. Emery was standing with Fletcher while he made breakfast. The sight of all her favorite people in one room made her heart swell.
“Morning,” she greeted them, wincing at the way the word grated on her throat.
“We were getting to know your stallion a little better,” Tatum said with a smirk and Emery shuddered. “And we’re still processing the fact that you’re dating Santa .”
Fletcher rolled his eyes playfully, shooting her a smile as he held out a mug. “They keep skipping past the fact that I’m also a regular guy.”
“With platinum albums and awards and a Santa hat to his name!”
shot Sadie a smirk and then sidled closer to Fletcher as he flipped pancakes. Her friends had never liked Geoffrey and they’d never seen her be affectionate with him either. When it came to Fletcher, she liked being able to touch and hold him as much as possible. Pressing a kiss to his shoulder, she sighed softly and leaned against him as one arm came around her shoulder. “You feeling okay?”
“The Advil helped, thank you,” she whispered and then took a sip of her coffee.
“Have a seat, I’m almost done.”
She nodded and tipped her head back as he dropped his lips to hers for a quick kiss. Smiling against his mouth, she patted his stomach and sat down, inhaling the coffee deeply.
“I thought you three were past the point of black out drunk or whatever,” Emery said, slurping on her water loudly, making everyone groan.
Tatum shrugged. “We did not black out, we…had too much fun.”
Then her friends were pushing to their feet, stretching as they stood up. “On that note,” Sadie said through a yawn, “we’re heading out. Thanks for the pick-up and the coffee, rockstar.”
Fletcher tipped his head towards the women and waved as they let themselves out of the house. She was halfway through her coffee when Emery and Fletcher joined her, plates loaded with food. For a long moment, nobody said anything. The only sounds in the kitchen were the light scraping of cutlery against their plates.
“Did you have fun, Mom?”
She nodded, glancing at her daughter then at her boyfriend, before smiling. “There was a mechanical bull riding competition and as you can imagine Tatum and Sadie wanted to participate.”
Fletcher’s lips twitched, but she was glad he didn’t say anything. He’d said enough about her penchant for riding . If he’d seen her last night, he would have most definitely been impressed with her skills.
“Did you win?”
“Not even close.” She laughed, recalling how many times they fell off the bull. “Pretty sure I’ve collected more bruises.”
Emery shook her head. “It’s crazy how the three of you have stayed the same my whole life.”
“The magic of lifelong friendships.”
“You have any friends like that, Fletch?”
He shook his head at Emery’s question and frowned. “What about the band?”
“We’re friends and I love them with my whole heart. But we’re not the kinds to go drinking or bull riding together.”
“Erin?”
Emery’s head snapped between the two of them. “Who is Erin ?”
“Another friend,” he explained. “But also, no. Maybe you and Nico will have that kind of friendship when you get older.”
Emery blushed as she shook her head. “Maybe.”
smiled and slid off her stool to refill her coffee. Standing on the other side of the counter, she watched her two favorite people. “I like this. Three of us having breakfast together.”
“Does this mean more sleepovers?” Emery asked, glancing sideways at Fletcher.
“Uh…”
“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing.”
“Em,” sighed and her daughter grinned.
“I’m glad you’re here, Fletch. Thank you for breakfast.”
Then she was gone, leaving them alone in the kitchen.
“She’s going to give me hell about this for a while, isn’t she?”
laughed and came over to give him a quick kiss. “I managed for fourteen years, you’ll be fine.”
And not once did she think about how those words might sound.
An hour later—they made Emery help them clean up—the house was empty of friends and teenagers. With Emery on Christmas break, she had already grabbed her things and left to go see Nico. That meant and Fletcher standing on opposite sides of the kitchen island, smiling at each other, letting the silence wrap around them.
“Now that we’re alone—” twirled towards him, aware that her robe was flaring open to flash her mostly bare legs and delicious cleavage ”—what can we do with all this time?”
“A shower, for starters.” She gasped as she came to a halt and put her hands on her hips, staring at Fletcher. “What? You might look edible as fuck right now, sweetheart, but you do not smell that good.”
Huffing at him, she undid her robe and let it fall to the floor as she walked out of the kitchen, fully aware of Fletcher’s eyes fixed on her retreating form. She smiled to herself when she heard him swear and when she was halfway up the stairs, his arm wound around her waist, pulling her against him.
His warm breath brushed against her shoulder as he said, “I didn’t say shower alone.”
“Considering I don’t smell so good, I figured you didn’t want to be anywhere near me.”
He released her when they hit the top of the stairs and she glanced over her shoulder and found his jaw tight as his eyes stayed on her ass. “I want to be near you all the time, not so good smells and all.”
Smirking to herself, walked into her ensuite bathroom and turned on the shower. A peripheral glance in her mirror showed that Fletcher stood a few inches shy of the doorway, so she stripped her clothes off, tossing them into the hamper. And then without looking at him, she stepped into the shower, tipping her head forward to let the warm water soak her hair. When she felt his hands slide over her hips and his front press against her back, she smiled.
“I want to talk to you about something,” he whispered and ’s heart stuttered. She slowly turned to face him and Fletcher brushed the wet hair out of her face. “What was going through your head last night when we were getting burgers?”
Of course this man was astute enough to know something was going on and she was grateful that he hadn’t brought it up the night before. Sighing heavily, turned off the water and reached for her shower gel and squirted some into her hands. Fletcher held his hands out and she did the same for him.
“I should preface this by saying I don’t get drunk very often. It happens maybe once a year, if anything. But there were a few times after Emery was born and I was still with Geoffrey when I’d go drinking with the girls,” she told him, lathering the soap in her hands before working it into Fletcher’s chest and stomach, over his shoulders and biceps. “He would always criticize me and make me feel guilty for having a little bit of fun. He’d get mad, say some awful stuff which would get me worked up.
“But I know that when I’m under the influence, the things that come out of me might not always be nice or said the right way. So I kept my mouth shut countless times and he’d keep giving me shit.” Resting her hands on his chest, she closed her eyes as his fingers massaged her shoulders and neck. “As you can tell, I didn’t date a lot or have a special someone who’d answer my call when I needed some help. When I called you, I was only thinking about how I wanted you to hold me. Then we were sitting in your truck and I kept waiting for you to question my decisions and tell me I was being foolish and irresponsible.”
He grunted and she smiled to herself, turning the water back on. “I know it’s silly to be hung up on something that happened years ago, something that someone did to me. But you’re the first serious relationship I’ve been in since the divorce and my brain was processing it that way.”
He didn’t say anything as he brushed his hands over her body, washing the soap away, lips pressed to her forehead. knew that the comfort, love and safety she found with Fletcher would never be found anywhere else. Or with anyone else. He didn’t expect her to be anything but herself or change who she was. In fact, he liked all of the parts of her that Geoffrey didn’t. Not that she needed to keep comparing the two, because they were like oil and water.
“First of all, fuck your ex. I hate that he made you feel guilty for finding joy in the little things. Secondly, I love when you’re happy and having the time of your life. Last night was a new side of you, but your eyes were so fucking bright and that’s how I want you to always feel.”
She looked up at him as he turned off the water and then reached past the shower curtain and pulled a towel for her. This man. She patted herself dry and wrapped the towel around her body as Fletcher did the same thing. Stepping out of the shower, she finally looked at herself in the mirror and smiled when Fletcher stepped up behind her.
“And most importantly, I was serious when I said that I appreciated you putting your trust in me last night. It might not have been how you wanted me to meet your best friends, but you called me when you needed me and that’s enough.” He pressed his chin against the side of her head and wrapped his arms loosely around her shoulders. “I will never hold you back, curb your joy or put out that light in your eyes. I will stand by your side and behind you, tell me what you need and I’ll make it happen. Okay?”
With her heart ready to leap and emotions clogging her throat, she blinked back tears and nodded. “Okay.”
He pressed a kiss to her temple, against her cheek, down to her jaw and her neck. With one more soft kiss to her shoulder, he released her and took a step back, smiling at her through the mirror. “Luckiest son of a bitch to be yours, Mick,” he said and stepped out of the bathroom, leaving her gasping for air as she gripped the counter.
She was never under any illusions that what she and Geoffrey had was love, but like so many people in the world, it’s what craved. To love someone and be loved by them in such a way that every thought of them left you breathless. Fletcher did that by infiltrating every waking thought, but by also being present in her life at all times.
Even when she didn’t know she needed him, Fletcher was there. He was hers .
Once she caught her breath, she dried herself off fully and chose not to add any product to her hair. Instead, she let it air dry and figured that Mrs. Hershey could say whatever the hell she wanted at their session that evening. When she stepped out of the bathroom, wearing only an old Rescuers t-shirt, Fletcher was sitting on the bed and waiting for her.
“Have you been sitting there this whole time?”
He nodded, smiling softly. “Thought you might need a few minutes, so figured I’d wait here.”
“You are…” she trailed off, stepping between his spread legs and cupped his face in both hands. How could she put into words the way this man made her feel? Safe, secure, loved, cherished and like herself. She’d accepted that not every relationship would make you feel whole, then Fletcher came back into her life.
“ I am the luckiest person in the world to have you love me. Your heart and soul are mine, Fletch. And I promise to take good care of them. I can’t believe I get to be yours and have you in my life again. For real this time.”
“It was real the last time too.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I’m yours, for real, for as long as you want me.”
She carefully climbed into his lap, knees pressing into the bed on either side of his hips. “Don’t want to make big declarations and all that yet, but how does forever sound?”
“Fucking perfect, love bug.”
A sound that was a mix between a growl and a scoff came out of her and she shook her head. “I am not calling you my stallion.”
“You already did. Multiple times. It’s such a good title.”
“Fiiiine, but only in the bedroom.”
He grinned, leaning in to brush his mouth against hers as he said, “Does that mean I can’t call you love bug in public?”
“Oh, you must. It’s growing on me, shockingly.”
He laughed against her mouth and smiled before kissing him soundly, their arms winding around each other. The kiss seeped into every inch of her soul, it was in the way he held her—one hand cradling the back of her head, the other wrapped tightly around her waist. It was in the way his tongue swept into her mouth, searching, giving and taking. It was in all of their love for each other that lingered between them, the deep seated passion and hunger they’d held onto for sixteen years that had finally bubbled to the surface.
She had never put much stock into second chances.
Until Fletcher.