Chapter 9 Katie
KATIE
Three days. Seventy-two hours. Four thousand, three hundred and twenty minutes of existing in this aluminum cage that used to be my home.
My mother clanks dishes in the sink, still moving victoriously.
She thinks I came home because I wanted to.
She doesn’t know I’m just here because I have no other choice.
She hums off-key, a smug performance of maternal satisfaction. Everything feels smaller now. The walls closer, the ceilings lower, like I’ve grown too large for this space, the trailer no longer able to contain the woman I’ve become.
Cameron’s ring still sits heavily on my finger, hidden beneath the long sleeve of my sweater. A secret. A promise he made, pointing toward the life that’s no longer mine. A life I refuse to surrender.
“Glad you got your head on straight,” my mom says, leaning against the counter with her morning glass of wine. “Go to that college today and check it out. Forget that good for nothing man.”
Every one of her words feels like poison wrapped in a guise of affection.
I force myself to nearly smile. Better than starting yet another fight. “Maybe I’ll visit tomorrow.”
Her eyes flash with a victory she hasn’t really won. Inside, I’m already planning. Building my escape route with the same methodical precision Cam used to draw the blueprints of his new shop.
The campus sprawls before me like a series of photographs taken professionally for its website. A montage of possibilities. Weathered brick buildings, students laughing over coffee, their biggest concern their next exam and not whether their parents’ welfare check will be delayed.
For a moment, I imagine myself being here. Walking these paths, sitting in the lecture halls, becoming someone who I never truly thought I could be. A smile manages to work its way across my face.
This place—it’s everything I ever wanted. But it doesn’t feel right. Not without him.
A couple passes, their fingers intertwined, causing a pang in my heart. I remember Cameron’s hands, permanently stained from days of honest work, callused and rough as they caressed my body. A man who built something from nothing.
And like his dream for his garage, my dream of a scholarship is no longer a dream—it’s a reality. A tool I can use in life but not an aspiration that defines me.
I take a seat on a bench and glance down at the acceptance packet on my lap, then reach into my pocket and pull out a tiny slip of paper from Cam’s garage. It has my writing on it. I was running some numbers for him. And that’s when an idea begins to form in my mind.
Maybe I can have both. The education I’ve always dreamt of and the man I fell in love with.
“Yeah…why can’t I?”
My fingers move slowly as I dial Cam’s number. My heart beats heavily with each ring, but as I expected, there’s no answer.
I call again. Pick up, Cam!
Still nothing.
I stand and stuff my things into my bag. Fine. If he won’t answer, I’ll go find him and make him talk to me.
The drive to Cam’s garage feels like a collection of heartbeats rather than a journey across miles.
No music—my thoughts are loud enough. This is his fault.
He’s the one who taught me to fight for what you want, to never let anyone tell you you can’t have it.
And that’s what I’m doing now. Fighting.
Not just for myself, but for us. For the future we deserve.
His truck sits outside the garage like a statue of hope, sending relief flooding through me. I bite my lip in determination. There’s no going back now.
I see him through the window, lost in work, sleeves rolled up and showing his massive, sweaty forearms. He’s working on an engine and doesn’t notice me until I come right up behind him. “You don’t answer my calls now?”
Cam freezes. The wrench in his hand trembles slightly before he sets it down beside him. When he turns, his face is a whirlwind of emotion—shock, guilt, and something deeper. Something that hits me right in the chest. He looks like a wolf who’s been starving and has finally set eyes on its prey.
“I went to see the school,” I tell him. “And it got me thinking. I want to go, but I’m not leaving you.”
“Katie—”
“I’m going to do both, Cam. I’ll take classes, and I’ll work part-time at the shop. And at the end of the day, I’ll come home to you.”
He shakes his head, averting his eyes. “No. You deserve every chance you can get.”
I step closer. “Don’t you believe in me, Cam? Don’t you believe I can do this?”
“Of course I believe in you,” he growls, clutching the sides of the engine bay.
I press my hand to his chest and feel his heart pounding hot and heavy beneath my palm. “You want me to have a future, and I’m choosing one—one with you in it.”
He’s fighting…he’s fighting…
But I break him.
His control shatters, and the next thing I know, I’m in his arms with his mouth on mine. He kisses me with so much passion, desperate and demanding, like he hasn’t breathed in days and I’m the very oxygen he needs to survive.
My legs spread apart for him as he leans into me, pressing his rock-hard bulge against my center. I’m tingling, dripping wet. Ready for him. No, I’m beyond ready—I’m aching for the touch of my love that’s been denied me for the last three days.
He groans, tugs my pants down, snatches my hips, and lifts me up onto the edge of the truck like I weigh nothing. Yes. I’m his little girl, and he’s my daddy, and I’ve missed this—missed it like I’ve been away from him for years.
As he yanks his jeans open, I lift his shirt, giving me a view of his sculpted abs. It’s not just the perfection of his body that excites me—it’s the protection and security it represents. Cam is strong, and he would never let anything happen to me.
The crown of his cock finds my center and spreads me. I nearly go off as he enters. So thick, so hard.
“God, I’ve missed you,” he groans, sliding his hand roughly into my hair. “I never should have pushed you away.”
“You shouldn’t have.” I smile up at him as fierce waves of pleasure rippled through my body. “But I forgive you.”
“Oh, you do?” His grin is wicked as he pounds me faster. “That’s what I need from you? Forgiveness?”
I nod. “Yes, Daddy.”
“You don’t forgive me,” he snarls, kissing me deeply, passionately. Sending my heart into a new rhythm. “I forgive you for being so goddamn beautiful. For turning my life upside down.”
I grin up at his ruggedly handsome face, feeling my orgasm rising up inside me. Already?
“Thank you.”
The corner of his mouth twists up. “You’re welcome.”
My mouth drops open as his manhood flexes inside me. Such deep penetration, like there’s no end to his length. Even the truck is shaking on its shocks with every thrust he delivers.
A happiness grips me. Just like we broke in the garage when Cam took me on the floor of the office, now we’re going at it again right here in his workspace. This place is ours. His and mine. And it’s just the beginning too. Who knows where our future will take us?
“Do I feel good, Daddy?” I ask, arching my back and lifting my shirt so he can see my breasts. The feeling I get when his eyes rake over my body is divine. It makes me feel so special.
“Good?” He nearly laughs, his eyes narrowing. “That doesn’t even begin to cover it, baby. In fact, I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna last.”
“It’s okay. Come in me, Daddy. I know you’ll fuck me again later.”
His mouth twists devilishly. He nods. “You’re goddamn right I will.”
Rough callused skin grazes across my nipple as Cam grabs my breast, reminding me of what kind of a man I am going to marry. His forehead presses against mine as his hips move faster and faster.
The delicious, sparkling build-up is occurring inside me again. My whole body is tingling as Daddy fucks me against the truck. Such a naughty pair we both are. And as I get closer and closer, I am more and more sure that this is right where I belong. With this man.
The rock on my finger clinks against the truck as I blast closer and closer to the edge, reminding me that I am owned by Daddy. Owned by my lover. His lips press against the soft skin of my neck, just below the ear, and he whispers, “Come for me. Let me feel that soft pussy tighten up on my cock.”
And that’s all it takes.
My back spasms, and I clamp down on Daddy’s pulsing rod.
My hips buck and slam against his as I feel the first shot of his seed spray into me like hot heaven.
I’m coming so hard, soaring up into space as my eyes roll back in my head and a moan escapes my lips, my core tight and everything between my legs squeezing, pulsing, gripping, holding him in so deep as he bottoms out inside me.
My heart aches with love. I got him back. And I reach up and wrap my arms around the neck of the man who I will obey forever. He groans hard and heavy, wrapped up in the pleasure of his own peak, holding me tightly and making sure not a single inch of him slides back out.
Slowly, the world stops spinning. He presses his lips against mine, and his hands frame my face like I’m the most precious painting in the world—something he almost lost and can’t believe he recovered.
“I almost lost you.” His eyes are glassy, filled with emotion. “But you’ll have both, Katie. College and the shop. And me. Everything.”
I smile, because I know it. Everything that matters is right here in this garage. I hold up my hand, showing him his ring. “That’s right.”
We stay locked together, his hand taking mine as he kisses me deeply. Then, he lifts me and carries me up into our apartment, our home. The starting point for the life that will come next.
The rest of the world operates on rules and limits, conventional wisdom about what you should do and what you shouldn’t. But here, we make our own choices. Our own rules. We define our own normal.
Cam tried to give me freedom, but I chose forever instead.