Fletcher
You’re too obsessed with me.
In the week leading up to Christmas, both and Micah were busy. Between his Santa duties and the sudden influx of customers at Big Wave, he was swamped all the time. Micah was wrapping up sessions for the year and that meant she worked pretty tirelessly every day. But there were a few windows of freedom that would open up.
While thought it would be filled with quickies and orgasms in his office, they actually spent most of that time talking. Sure, there was a lot of kissing and touching, cuddling even. And he fucking loved it. One afternoon, they inhaled street tacos while sitting on his tailgate; late one night, they stuffed their faces with burgers and fries by the beach; and after a particularly grueling day, they drank milkshakes and walked down the promenade hand-in-hand.
There had been one night when he got home after his Santa shift and found Micah waiting at his house. After a hot, knee-shaking kiss at the front door, they barely made it to his bedroom before clothes came off and she rode him until she’d had two orgasms. Then she sucked and swirled her tongue around him until he was a collapsed heap on the floor. Afterwards, they showered, cooked together and ate their meal standing at the kitchen counter.
Sex wasn’t their primary objective and loved that. It had been a long time since he’d dated someone, but every minute spent with Micah was pretty fucking special.
While their original plans were to meet Erin the morning after the Loose Lasso night out, with Micah’s hangover firmly in place, they pushed it to another day. His girls were excited, even though he was nervous as fuck about having the three most important people in his life in the same space. But he knew that Micah and Erin would get along, and that Emery would be fascinated by yet another badass boss babe.
Sleepily stretched out in a large booth at Stardust Diner—Emery had mentioned her favorite all-day diner enough times that didn’t even think twice while picking it as their breakfast spot—all four of them sipped on their hot beverages while waking up.
“We’re all definitely setting great first impressions this morning,” Micah said around a yawn that made Erin laugh. “Sorry, we’re so much better behaved than this on a regular day.”
Erin echoed Micah’s yawn and waved a hand. “I get it, trust me. It’s not even that early, but I feel like I’ve been running a marathon.”
“Quit it,” mumbled, covering his mouth as he also let out a yawn. “It’s 11 a.m. and everyone’s been awake for hours.”
All three women glared at him before Emery turned to Erin with a slight frown. “So you and Fletch are best friends and nothing more?”
“ Em. ” Micah poked her daughter in the side and he caught Erin’s amused smile. She had sounded just as skeptical the first time he mentioned having a female friend.
“What? Making sure that this is not some kind of second family situation or whatever,” Emery said, frowning even deeper as she rubbed her side.
He didn’t know if he was amused or concerned that Emery thought there was something else going on. But he liked that she was protective of her mother and maybe a little bit of him? The variety of expressions around the table amused him and used his coffee cup to hide his smile.
Erin finally straightened up beside him and leaned over the table with a smile. “A few years ago, Hank tried to set us up. It didn’t work out.”
“I was too grunge for the likes of Miss Polished here,” offered with a chuckle.
Erin rolled her eyes and added, “Besides, we’re better off as friends.”
Emery looked between them, nibbling on her bottom lip and gently tapped her foot with his. When the teenager looked at him, he smiled. “Just friends, kid.”
“ And I’m pretty sure the reason we didn’t make sense is because he’s been in love with your mom all along.”
Micah cleared her throat and he watched as the blush spread over her cheeks. But she met his gaze and winked when he smirked. He had been in love with Micah for a long time, even when he wasn’t sure what the feelings were. Then again, Emery didn’t know the details of their history. Not that he wanted her to know about their epic one night stand or how for a split second he thought Emery was his kid.
“I mean, my mom’s pretty awesome,” Emery said, grinning at Micah before looking at him. “So you have great taste.”
“I have to agree,” he told her, clinking his mug against Emery’s filled with hot cocoa.
The rest of the breakfast went smoothly as Emery asked Erin a million questions about what it was like to be a lawyer and a partner at a big law firm. The whole time, Micah shifted between watching her daughter with love and adoration and shooting grateful looks. He’d spent so many years wanting this, but never finding it. His ex-wife hadn’t been the kind of person he could have had a solid life with and they both knew it. And now that he was closing in on fifty, definitely didn’t expect everything to look this good.
To be sitting at breakfast with his family.
Afterwards, Micah and Emery left to do last minute Christmas shopping before Micah went into work. and Erin grabbed coffee from his favorite shop and walked along the promenade silently. He’d known her long enough to know that Erin had thoughts and sitting quietly with her for a few minutes was part of the process. Finding a bench—not too far from where he and Micah had discussed nicknames not too long ago—they sat down and Erin leaned back with a sigh.
“Hank would be proud of you.” Erin nudged him gently and smiled. “She’s great. Both of them are.”
Knowing that Erin approved and that she knew Hank would too made this all the better. “Apparently Hank knew them.”
“For real?”
Nodding, he sipped on his coffee. “When Micah came home the first time, she mentioned visiting him there. Surprised the old man didn’t try to set me up with her.”
“Maybe he was protective of her and the kid. I mean, I get why he would be.”
“Yeah. They’re pretty fucking special. Best thing to ever happen to me.”
She shifted on the bench, straddling it so she was facing him. “I’m happy for you.”
“But…?” he said, dragging the word out as he glanced at her.
“Have you been planning a future with her?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like…you always talked about how you never wanted to get married again or have a kid. But she’s different, right?”
He sighed, pondering the question with his head tilted back. If he hadn’t met Alice and married her, his answer might be different. But he knew that if he got to spend his life with Micah, he would be the happiest man alive. And that didn’t mean marriage. Though , as he closed his eyes, he could see Micah in a wedding dress clearly and suddenly it was all he wanted.
“Yeah,” he whispered, opening his eyes to stare at the sky for a long moment. “I don’t think either of us wants to raise a baby, but everything else? I want that.”
“Emery adores you, I hope you know that.”
He smiled, remembering how quickly he took to her. Maybe it was because she reminded him of Micah or because she was that great a person.
“I love her too. From the minute she walked into my store and sassed me about teaching her the drums, I knew that she was someone special.”
She was funny, smart and despite being tone deaf, she was determined. The passion that flowed through Emery when it came to music was something connected with. He’d been like that too, falling in love with music and then wanting to be a part of it. Emery would eventually have to either give up learning drums or keep going batshit with her sticks, and he would be there every step of the way.
“And Micah…” Erin trailed off, making smile. He waited for his friend to continue, because he knew she saw what he did. “Those pictures didn’t do her justice. But she also seems like someone with her head screwed on straight.”
A laugh burst out of him and he raised his coffee in a silent toast. “She’s the best, E. I don’t think there are enough ways in which I can express how fucking perfect she is.”
“I can also see why you’ve held onto your love for her.”
“She sees me, always has,” he admitted softly. “Sixteen years ago, she looked at me and didn’t expect anything other than what I had to offer. She still does that and it’s amazing.”
Erin nudged him again and he grinned. “I never thought of you as a sap, but I guess the man who wrote a love song for a Mermaid would wear his heart on his sleeve.”
He groaned loudly, aware that Erin would never let it go. Laughing as he straightened up, he gently tapped his coffee against hers and then let himself relax into the bench.
“She’s always been the one.”
“Well, I’m happy for you. You, of all the people I know, deserve this.”
He gave his friend a nod and took a long sip of his coffee. Then turned to face her, one eyebrow arched. “Speaking of which…we need to talk about you and Benson.”
“What? No. Who’s Benson?”
“Decker.”
“Kelley,” she countered, rolling her eyes. “It was a while ago and it was nothing.”
“Clearly. Judging by that silly handshake the other day.”
Erin sighed and made a face. In the whole time he’d known her, his friend had been single. She wasn’t against relationships and she wasn’t celibate, but she very rarely talked about her personal life that way. The more thought about it, the more he realized that the two of them never really talked about their pasts. They didn’t know about each other’s families, they knew about almost all the surface-level things. Sure, some would say that’s not how friendships were built, but if you asked him, that was how some of the best bonds were created. History didn’t define everything, it was enough to know the other person would be there for you in the present.
“Couple of years ago, before you moved to town, Benson and I had a friends with benefits thing going on.”
“Huh.”
She held a hand up and shook her head. “This was before he got married and became a dad. We hooked up for about six months while I was in the process of becoming partner, it was a stressful time in my life,” she explained and he nodded, because he wasn’t going to judge her for the choices she made. “While I was gone, he met his ex and when I came back, we knew that it was over.”
“And now…?”
“I sometimes forget that he still works at the shop, so whenever I see him, it’s a shock.”
He tilted his head to catch Erin’s eye. “Did you have feelings for him?”
“Not really.” Erin made a face, one side of her mouth going up and the other sliding down. “He’s a handsome man and the sex was phenomenal , but it was never more than that. He does this thing with his to—”
He covered her mouth with one hand and said, “Nope. Don’t need that in my head before I go back to work.”
“You asked.” She pushed his hand away, laughing at his expression.
He sighed dramatically and finished his coffee, setting his cup aside and then caught a look of confusion on her face. “There’s something else.”
“I’m queer,” she said softly. He shifted so he was looking at her properly. She searched his eyes and added, “You’re the only person I’ve told.”
He smiled and held a hand out, watching as Erin hesitated before setting her palm against his. “Thank you for trusting me with this.”
“You’re my best friend, remember?”
“Am I? I didn’t know it went both ways.”
Erin snorted and poked his palm. “Don’t be an asshole.”
“Love you, Decker,” he mumbled and pressed a kiss to her temple.
“Love you too, you grunge rocker.”
After another walk along the promenade where Erin complained about work, but reminded him that she had finally found her dream job, dropped his best friend off at her hotel. When he returned to the store, Emery and Nico were already causing havoc with their instruments. Well, Nico was at least attempting to make music. Emery liked the noise. He watched Benson try to corral the teenagers to no avail, but didn’t bother to step in and help.
Replaying his conversation with Erin, he realized that he never wanted to know what his life would be like without Emery or Micah. This kid changed him almost as much as her mother had.
“What do you think, Fletch? Am I getting better?”
He narrowed his eyes at Emery’s smug expression. “Maybe I need a proper demonstration.”
“Hell yeah!” Emery cheered and stood up behind the drum kit. “What do you want me to play for you?”
Running through the songs they’d worked on together, pursed his lips. Emery couldn’t read music and she either went too fast or too slow. But what she lacked in musical ability, she made up for in determination. So the only way to not completely destroy their hearing was to give her a track with an easy progression to follow.
“How about some AC/DC?” Benson offered and shrugged. You couldn’t go wrong with Phil Rudd.
Emery beamed and sat down, stretching her arms and rolling her shoulders, which made Nico and Benson groan dramatically. Nothing this kid did could be simple. And honestly, he loved how everything was a little more dramatic every time. Benson waited for her cue and then through the speakers, pumped “Back in Black” without the drum backing and nodded to Emery.
As expected, she came in a few seconds late and then rushed through the opening to catch up. Then fell back again, before she finally leveled out. But even then, her rhythm was a little off and she couldn’t work the kick and snare at the same time. Emery didn’t give up though. With the tip of her tongue peeking through her teeth, she smashed through the song until Benson turned the backing track off. Emery stumbled as she came to a stop and then grinned at him while she panted from all the exertion.
“So, what do you think?”
He could feel Benson and Nico’s worried glances on him, but he shrugged. “You’ve improved. A little more work on the timing and you’ll get better.”
“Seriously? Does that mean I can come back next year?”
“Maybe.”
Her face fell. “What, why?”
“I meant maybe I’ll have classes next year, maybe I won’t.”
“But if you’re dating Mom, you can still gimme lessons, right?”
This kid . snorted and shook his head. “No preferential treatment.”
“Ugh, fine. I’ll make Benson teach me.”
patted his friend on the back and shot Emery a wink before heading to his office, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
What’s the nicest way to tell someone they’re not good at something?
Micah
You suck.
…
Micah
Not you! That’s what you tell someone.
What about when the someone is your kid?
Micah
Oh god, how bad is she?
Well…
Before he could type out the rest of his message, his phone started to ring, Micah’s name flashing at the top of his screen. He chuckled and settled behind his desk as he swiped to answer.
“Love bug.”
“ How bad is she, Fletch?”
“She’s a little tone deaf.” Among other things . But he kept that to himself for now.
Micah groaned and he could picture her rubbing her forehead. “Maybe I should tell her to give it up.”
“No, don’t do that. We’ll find a way through this.”
“Is that her?” she asked and winced at the sudden clashing and banging. He got up to close his door and leaned against it. “She’s so bad, Fletch. Save us all.”
Laughing, he pushed his hair behind an ear. “She’s passionate and determined. There are some things we can try and teach her, but let’s not discourage her yet.”
“Maybe she’ll find something new to get excited about and music is not the thing for her.”
“Maybe. But for now…we’re not giving up on her.”
“Why not?! Save Benson and Nico, that poor kid.”
He smiled and sat in his chair. “Love bug.”
“ Fiiiiiiiine ,” Micah said, dragging the word out. “In other things…I’m glad we got to meet Erin. She’s not the kind of person I would have picked as your best friend.”
“She’s pretty great. She liked you too.”
“Maybe we’ll run away together one day.” He clenched his jaw and smiled to himself, glad that she couldn’t see him. “Oooh, is this silence you being jealous?”
“Fuck no. Erin’s awesome, but I know you’d never leave me.”
“Is that so?” He could hear the smile in her voice.
“You’re too obsessed with me.”
She gasped and then burst into laughter. “You’re not wrong.”
Smirking, he settled back in his chair. “Love you, Mick.”
“Aw, I love you too. I’ll see you later?”
“Yup. I’ll drop Em off before I head to the Village.”
After another round of ‘I love you’, hung up and closed his eyes, letting the chaos of Emery’s drumming wrap around him. He could teach her how to hone those skills. It would take longer than expected. But it would be worth it to see Emery happy.