13. Eli
Eli
Iwake up the following morning with a headache and a hard dick.
Fuck, the things I fell asleep thinking about last night…
I memorized Sienna’s naked body the moment I saw her fingering herself a few days ago.
Everything about her is perfect.
Her supple breasts are the perfect size.
Round.
Soft.
Small, pink areolas.
Hard nipples.
I would sell my soul to the devil for a taste.
But after last night, I may not need to do that anymore. Her feelings for me were made very clear.
Unfortunately, I’m not the only one who is crushing on her. Sienna is a beautiful woman, so it comes as no surprise that Knox and Cash also have a thing for her. But it’s fucking inconvenient. And now everything is complicated.
My cock hardens as I think more about last night. Turns out Sienna is even more vocal when she’s got alcohol in her system. I can only imagine how vocal she’d be with me buried inside of her pretty little pussy.
My hand gravitates to my cock. I stroke myself for a moment, keeping the momentum slow. I shut my eyes and picture her beautiful, cherry red lips wrapped around my length, licking and sucking. She takes me into her throat and gags, which only leaves her wanting more.
My alarm shakes me from my trance.
I sit up, remembering I have Henry to homeschool. That kid is my world, and I cannot let myself forget that. When you prioritize your own needs, you fail the people around you.
I tug on a shirt, slip into my pants from last night, and head across the hallway into his room. But I open the door and find it empty, the covers pulled back on his bed. He should still be sleeping at this time. Weird.
“Henry?” I walk across to the bathroom.
Also empty.
This is strange. The kid loves to stay in bed as long as possible. We’re the same that way.
I walk into his bedroom again to check in his closet. Sometimes he likes to set up a fort in there, but not today.
I pull up the shade to check on the snow. It’s much lighter this morning, and the sunrise is the best it’s been in days. Vibrant colors stretch across the sky as far as the eye can see. It’s beautiful.
And then my chest contracts.
“This is the Orange County Police Department. Am I speaking with Eli Walker?”
“Speaking.”
“Sir, I tried to knock on your door earlier, but there was no answer.”
“I don’t live in Orange County anymore.”
The woman on the receiving end of the phone sighs. “I’m really sorry to be the one telling you this, Eli, but your sister and her husband were in a car collision today.”
No.
I stand on my porch and go cold to the bone despite the warm day.
“They didn’t make it.”
The woman continues speaking, but all I hear is noise that isn’t bringing them back.
Dead. No. It’s impossible.
I can’t live without my sister. It was heartbreaking enough when we lost Dad as kids, but at least I still had Margaret. We were each other’s shoulders to cry on, and now they’re telling me she died the same tragic way our father did?
I refuse to believe it.
Life can’t be that fucking cruel.
I stand frozen on the porch, watching the sunrise, begging it for a miracle as tears fall from my eyes.
My cabin sits on the top of the San Bernardino Mountain range, but I feel as though I’m buried at the bottom, being crushed by granite as it presses me deeper into the earth.
“Sir,” says the woman, her voice cutting through my thoughts. “I know this is a lot for you to take in.”
“Fuck. Henry. Who’s gonna look after Henry?”
Orphaned at one year old.
“I’m coming for him,” I say before the woman has a chance to answer my question.
“Sir, you’ll need to find an attorney and go through the legalities before?—”
“I’m Margaret’s power of attorney.”
“I understand all that, but?—”
“He’s family.”
I open my car door and throw myself into the driver’s seat. I let the tears roll down my face as sunlight spills into the car.
Grief is an emotion I know well, but it never gets easier.
I march into the living area, stopping when I see Henry and Sienna dancing.
Thank god.
Sienna dances effortlessly about the room, moving her hips, her arms, and her feet in time to the rhythm that she’s keeping with her fingers.
Henry stares up at her in awe. She’s the breath of fresh air I think he’s needed for a long time.
I try my best with Henry, and Knox and Cash are good for him, too. But it’s different having a woman around. I haven’t seen his face this lit up in a long time.
Sienna moves through the room without a care in the world, but somehow still maintains her dancer’s poise. I could watch her all day.
She smiles when she looks down at Henry, scrunching up her nose, like she can’t get over how cute he is.
The smile continues to spread, rounding out the apples of her cheeks.
She works up a sweat, her face turning pink as she twirls around the fire in an oversized flannel.
The shorts she’s wearing are Knox’s and fall all the way down to her knees.
She’s a vision when she’s wearing her designer pieces from LA, but even more so when she's dancing around in loose clothing without a care in the world.
It’s no wonder Hollywood scooped her up and turned her into a star. They saw her natural charm and probably had her entire career figured out after just one look.
I think back to just a few days ago, when she first walked into the cabin. She was a completely different person, plastered in makeup she didn’t need, wearing clothes that hid who she really was.
Hollywood saw potential, and she gave them permission to mold her into a completely different person. And for what? Money? Fame?
After working as a private chef in the hills, I know how fame affects people. It makes people before it breaks them. And when it breaks them, it takes their soul.
My chest contracts. When Sienna has to go back to LA, she’ll return to her old self. She obviously knows that, judging from the look on her face last night when Cash mentioned leaving.
She’s torn between responsibility, which unfortunately tends to outweigh everything else, and being free.
She’s lucky she still knows who she is outside of responsibility. Between stepping up to support my family after Dad’s passing and taking Henry in, I never figured out who I was outside of all that.
“Yes! Okay, we’re getting there,” says Sienna. She lifts Henry’s arm into the air and spins him around.
Sienna counts to four, snapping her fingers to the rhythm as they step and twirl. She finishes with a high leg kick, and Henry watches her, mesmerized.
“Why can’t my leg go that high?”
“It takes practice, buddy. And you know what we say…?”
“Practice makes perfect.”
“Exactly.” She ruffles his hair and shuffles back a few steps. “Okay, let’s start again. From the top?—”
And that’s when she sees me and comes to an abrupt halt, her eyes falling over my face.
“Eli!” says Henry. “We’re dancing.”
“I can see that, bud.”
“You should join in.” Sienna turns to Henry. “Shouldn’t he, buddy?”
“Yes!”
“I might pull something.”
“Ugh, borringgg!”
“So borringgg,” copies Henry.
I point to the clock on the wall. “What does the time say, Henry?”
“Six.”
I narrow my eyes down at him. “Henry. You know it says seven.”
“But I’m having fun. Just ten more minutes.”
“That’s so cool you’re learning how to dance. But you know we have to eat breakfast and then get ready for school."
“But he’s learning right now,” counters Sienna. “There’s a lot more to learning than just reading and math.”
I flash her a look that falls somewhere between let me take over and I want you in my bed now.
Sienna searches my eyes and backs off. She gives Henry a little kiss on the head and tells him they’ll dance again later. Then she disappears into the hallway, and I watch her go.
She’s a problem, and I wish she wasn’t. Henry needs to be around a free spirit like Sienna—we all do—but the snow has stopped and the sun is shining, which means she’s leaving soon. We can’t get too attached.
And even though I barely know her, I’ll be sad to see her go. Responsibility will be calling her name as soon as she gets back in the city, and she’ll lose herself again to be the version of herself everyone else needs her to be.