19. John
When I opened my eyes, it took a few seconds for reality to sink in. My mind flicked through the night before like it was comprised of still-action shots. Adelaide and Franklin showing up. Adelaide”s disapproving face. Joey”s announcement. And finally, the two of us, alone together in my bed for hours. Joey wearing my mother”s ring.
Her hand was splayed on my chest now as she slept on, the ring glinting in the gauzy morning light. Seeing it there created such a well of emotion inside me, I was having trouble sorting it all.
I”d never gotten to see the ring on my mother”s hand, but TJ had, and of course Dad had. What would they think of it on Joey”s slim finger?
The ring was supposed to be TJ”s. Dad had given it to him when he”d begun dating Tabitha. But TJ felt like it wasn”t the right thing for her—for him, the ring held sadness. He wanted something new for his fiancée. So he passed it on to me.
”What will Dad say?” I had asked him at the time.
”The question is what would Mom say,” TJ told me. ”And I know she”d approve.”
It wasn”t as if TJ had gotten a whole lot more time with Mom than I had. He”d been only three when she died just after I was delivered. But he”d had some time, and for me, he was the gospel when it came to her. The memories my father shared were colored by his anger, parsed out as if they were in short supply and he wanted to hold most of them for himself. Those TJ had were colored by the innocence of his youth, and I preferred the bright, beautiful Mama he remembered.
”She”d be so happy for you to have it,” TJ had told me.
Now, looking at the tiny diamond glinting on Joey”s finger, I thought maybe I felt Mama”s approval, a faint acknowledgment from something beyond this earthly plane that this was right. I rolled my head to glance at Joey”s pretty face, and found her watching me.
”What are you thinking about?” her voice was wary, as if she”d convinced herself I would change my mind.
I dropped a hand atop hers, loving the feel of the ring beneath my palm. ”I”m happy. I was thinking how glad my mama would be to see you wearing her ring. I was just feeling...” I didn”t have words to express the way I felt about Joey becoming my wife. It was like winning every championship game in the league without even having to try.
”You sure you don”t have regrets?” Joey whispered.
I didn”t like her uncertainty. ”Do you?” I double-checked.
”Not about you, John. This thing with us? This feels right. I just want to make sure I haven”t pushed you into something.”
I rolled and took her in my arms, pulling her on top of me.
”It is right,” I told her. I let my hands coast across her skin, cupping her perfect ass and holding her against me. She dropped her head to kiss me, and soon, her hands slid between us to notch me at her entrance. We hadn”t used condoms since that first time because Joey had an IUD and she”d told me that she and Evan had used a condom every single time. Evidently, he had a very specific plan about children and was willing to sacrifice pleasure to make sure nothing happened ahead of schedule.
I thought if something happened, and Joey ended up pregnant with my baby that it would be the happiest accident in the whole world.
* * *
We met Mr. And Mrs. Baxter at the diner in Boomsmack, where they were already seated in a booth when we arrived.
”Good morning, darlin”,” Mr. Baxter said, rising to take Joey”s hand and kiss her cheek. ”Son,” he said, extending a hand for me to shake. He seemed to have accepted the situation overnight and I didn”t sense any hostility from him. Mrs. Baxter was another story. She didn”t greet either of us from her spot next to the window, just kept her hands tucked around her coffee cup and watched us sit down.
”Good morning, Mama,” Joey said. ”Did you sleep well?”
Mrs. Baxter scoffed. ”Of course not.”
I braced myself, ready for a new battle today, but Mrs. Baxter”s eyes had fixed themselves to Joey”s hand. To the ring.
”The jeweler was open early,” Mrs. Baxter said, a note of something harsh in her voice. ”On a Sunday.”
Joey lifted her hand and displayed the ring, which shone in the morning light coming through the window. It was small, nothing like the one on Mrs. Baxter”s hand. But it was beautiful and Joey”s smile when she held it up was even more gorgeous.
”Well, look at that,” Mr. Baxter said. ”Honey, that”s gorgeous.”
”Thank you,” Joey said, ignoring her mother”s quip about the jeweler.
The waitress stopped by and took orders, and then we were left with the heaviness of the impending conversation. Joey”s hand on my thigh beneath the table gave me the courage I needed to sit still, to take the scrutiny of this expectant couple. A couple who had actively worked to prevent us from ever being together, and one that had never accepted me. All of that aside, these were Joey’s parents. If she needed to maintain a relationship with them, I wasn’t going to let my own feelings get in the way. Nothing said I had to be golf buddies with Mr. Baxter.
”So tell us about your plans, pumpkin.” Mr. Baxter grinned over the rim of his coffee cup. ”What have you been doing up here in Virginia since you left?”
I admired the man. His easygoing attitude appeared unflappable. He was intimidating in his stature and confidence about his place in the world, but unlike his wife, he didn”t seem to want to wield his position like a spear.
”Well, there”s the engagement, obviously,” Joey shot a smile at me and I smiled back. ”But I”ve also been shadowing a couple people—one at a biomedical company that works in animal health, and one in a government agency that tracks wildlife.”
”Why?” Mrs. Baxter asked.
”Because, Mama. I want to work. I want to use my degree. I”m not interested in hosting garden parties and going to bridge club to talk about people with other ladies. I want to do something that matters.”
”Joey, darlin”, what your mama does matters,” Mr. Baxter said in a somewhat stern tone, defending his wife who simply sniffed and looked hurt.
”That”s not what I meant,” Joey said, her hand on my thigh tightening for a brief moment as if drawing strength. ”I just mean that it isn”t what I want for me. I want to work. And I think I”m going to go to work for the biotech.”
”So you plan to stay here?” Mrs. Baxter asked, her voice higher than before.
”Yes,” Joey said, glancing at me. We hadn”t even gotten to have this conversation yet, but I loved how confident she sounded as she explained what the company did. ”And John”s job is here, obviously,” she added.
”And when will this wedding be?” Mrs. Baxter asked.
”We haven”t even discussed it,” Joey said. ”There”s no hurry.”
The food arrived, and everyone was quiet, the preceding words circling the table. I ate my eggs, a surprising calm settling over me. Joey was here. She was staying.
This was what happy felt like.
”You”ll have to write apology notes,” Mrs. Baxter said with no preamble.
”What?” Joey asked, looking up from her pancakes.
”To every guest and vendor who went out of their way to attend your wedding to Evan.”
”Okay,” Joey agreed.
”I assume you”ve apologized to him?” she asked.
”Of course I have.”
”His parents?”
”Er. Not yet,” Joey”s shoulders fell a bit.
”And does he know about... this?” Mrs. Baxter pointed at me with her fork. I had become ”this.”
Joey swung her gaze to me. ”No. It just happened.”
Mrs. Baxter”s face settled into a stern expression. ”I”ll leave it to you to handle it all properly. I think you know you cannot in clear conscience embark on another wedding effort without properly handling the details of the last.”
”Of course,” Joey said.
For a moment, no one spoke, and the remnants of the conversation settled with the leftover bits of waffle and muffin on our plates. Then Mr. Baxter pushed his plate away and smiled broadly at me.
”So John, when does the season start again? I”ve never really followed ice hockey, but I guess that”s about to change.”
I smiled back at him, happy to have something to talk about where I was the authority.
For the next half hour, we talked about the Wombats, about the league, and about my prospects. It felt good, being acknowledged by Mr. Baxter, even if Mrs. Baxter remained an icy presence at his side. Maybe one day, she”d come around. And if not, I didn”t really care as long as Joey was on my side.
* * *
The Baxters departed that afternoon, after spending a little time at my house with us. Mrs. Baxter never really warmed up, though she did accept Hank climbing into her lap for a bit, which surprised me.
Eventually, they drove away, and Joey and I were left alone, facing each other as an engaged couple. I was about to sweep her into my arms and take her back to the bedroom when my phone vibrated in my pocket.
I pulled it out to see Coach Merit”s name on the screen. The coach and I weren”t exactly hang-out buddies, and a call from him was most likely news, and not necessarily good. My blood cooled in my veins. I was about to answer—should have answered—but Joey”s eyes were burning with heat and her hands were at my waist, unfastening my jeans.
The phone was like a rock in my hand, threatening to weigh me down despite the buoyant happiness I”d experienced all day with Joey at my side. As my fiancée.
”Do you need to get that?” Joey asked, stepping even closer and slipping her hand into my pants as a mischievous smile pulled her lips up to one side.
Her hand wrapped around me and my capacity for words was extinguished. I set the phone on the table in the foyer as Joey guided me down the hall, her hand starting a rhythm that every cell in my body burned to finish.
Our mouths fused as we fell onto my bed, and her hand left me only long enough to pull off her own clothes while I did the same. Every time I touched her, I marveled that she was really mine to hold, that my dreams were all coming true right here in my arms.
Joey climbed onto me, pushing me to lay back on the bed, and she slowly made her way down my torso, littering the path behind her with kisses and nips to my skin that had me clawing the covers for control. When her hot breath hit my penis, I lurched up, trying to take control, but she pressed me back down with a light laugh. ”I”m in charge now, Sammy.”
Her tongue made a slow swipe down my length, and then swirled around the head as stars exploded behind my eyes. Joey”s mouth was taking me in, her wet heat surrounding me as her hands caressed my balls and I fought for control.
Puppies? No. Golf? Not working. Mrs. Baxter”s disappointed frown. There it was... I pulled myself from the brink and let Joey work me, taking me deep down her throat and then sucking as she came off and did it over again.
”Oh god,” I managed. ”That is... That is...”
”Good?” she asked, her head popping up to look into my face.
”They haven”t invented a word for it yet. Something way, way better than good.”
She started again, one hand wrapped around my base while her mouth challenged every last bit of my willpower. Finally, I couldn”t take it any more, and I hauled her up over me, barely in control as she sank down onto me and surrounded me with a totally different wet heat as her head dropped back.
”You feel so good,” she moaned, moving slowly over me. Each undulation of her hips was sheer torture, if torture was something performed by the most beautiful woman you could imagine and designed to drive you wild with pleasure.
”So. Fucking. Good,” she said, punctuating each word with a thrust.
I froze, my eyes popping open. ”Did you just...”
She stopped moving, grinning at me. ”I can curse. I know all the words.”
”I”ve literally never heard you curse.”
A wicked smile crossed her lips and her eyes glinted as she leaned down over me, her hair brushing my chest as her lips moved close to my ear. ”Do you like it? Do you want me to talk dirty to you while I fuck you?”
Holy shit. Those words? From her mouth? I just about lost it. ”God, yes,” I groaned. ”But I won”t last long if you do.”
The wicked smile stayed in place, and she leaned up again. ”John, I love feeling your cock filling me up like this.” She thrust. ”It”s so fucking big, so good.” She thrust again. ”You”re so good, it”s like you were made just to fuck me.” Her voice broke a little as she thrust that time, and my control began to slip from my grasp.
She moved over me, the words forgotten in pursuit of the pleasure, and when she moaned—a husky, desperate sound—my body released. All the tension coiled up in my spine, in my limbs, flew outward as I let go, forced to orgasm by Joey”s utter perfection.
She matched me, still moving over me, her cries becoming higher and breathier, and then finally, stopping as she let herself collapse over my chest.
”Oh god,” she whispered. ”Wow. I think I like talking dirty.”
”I know I like it when you do,” I said.
”I think it was seeing what it did to you,” she said turning her head and pushing her soft hair away from my face.
”Just looking at you turns me on,” I told her, clasping her body to mine. ”Hearing you say dirty things? That”s almost too much. No man could survive it.”
Her back vibrated with her laugh, and I held her there, reveling in the fact that I had everything I”d ever wanted right here in my arms. It was so fucking perfect I was afraid to move.