Chapter 24

"Are you into hockey?" Dad asks Felicity.

Lunch was incredible and Mom thankfully kept it light. Homemade chicken noodle and French onion soups, grilled cheese, and salads. I had visions of us sitting down to a Thanksgiving meal but being the incredible cook she is, she can pull off anything and make it five-star. Mom taught me everything I know in the kitchen, and when I was younger, if I wasn't playing hockey with Dad, I"d be helping Mom prep food.

So far, I'd say Felicity has handled the occasion well, although as she sits next to me, I can feel the tension rolling off her. I kind of feel bad throwing her into meeting my parents so last minute, but she's been a champ and smiled through the afternoon. My parents, especially Mom, can be overwhelming, to say the least, and as the day's worn on, she's not reined it in at all. If anything, she's becoming giddier at the thought of me having a girlfriend. I can only hope Felicity isn't scared away, which is a real possibility, and that thought cuts through my bones, leaving me cold.

"Yeah, well sort of. I'm getting more into it now that I have a season ticket to the Scorpions. I got it for my son, Jack, when he turned eighteen. He's playing college hockey and is totally obsessed."

"Oh great. How's his season going?" Anything hockey and Dad's all ears.

She sets her water glass down. "A bit mixed. He seems to be finding his stride though. He's fast on the ice, but his technical skills need work. Although recently they've come on, so he tells me. I'm going to one of his games this weekend."

I look over at her. "You are?"

"Yeah, I'm going to drive over and watch. He needs someone in the stands for him."

"That he does." I smile and squeeze her thigh under the table.

She looks incredible this afternoon; black leggings and a fitted cream fluffy sweater showcase her gorgeous hourglass figure and her hair falls in waves across her shoulders, her scent is driving me crazy. But not as crazy as the knee-high black leather boots she wore out.

Jesus.

When she stepped out of her bedroom, I wanted to turn her around and take her straight back in, lay her down on the bed, and unzip them with my fucking teeth.

I want her so badly.

The taste I got last night has only served to drive me to the edge of my sanity. It took everything in me to hold back from going further last night, and I don't know how much longer I can hold out. I want to be inside her; I need to feel her squeeze around my cock. I need to bury myself in this woman and claim her as mine. I just hope she won't make me wait much longer because I'll wait a lifetime for her. Even if she's my undoing.

"Can I help you with the dishes, Jennie?" Felicity breaks through my haze of dirty thoughts I absolutely should not be having at the table.

Waving a dismissive hand, Mom starts collecting empty plates. "Oh thanks, honey, but no, you're our guest. Jon, why don't you show Felicity the rest of the house? I'm sure she'd be intrigued to see your old room."

Adam chuckles from the side of the table, his head buried in his phone, but he hears everything that's being said.

"Yeah," Dad cuts in, "We've taken down most of the posters in there, but there's still one or two left up. I'm sure she'd enjoy seeing your previous interests."

The "posters" he's referring to are of my boyhood crush, Pamela Anderson. Given the fact they've only lived here six years, I'm confused as to why those posters have made a reappearance. I swear to God my parents collectively set out this morning to embarrass the shit out of me. Too bad at thirty-four I"ve passed that point, but I guess this is the first chance they've had to make me blush in front of a girl since I've never brought one home before.

Plastering on an unaffected smile I place my hand on Felicity's lower back and guide her out of the room. When she's out the door and safely out of eyeline, I turn back to face my family and flip them the bird. Dad throws his head back in laughter, practically choking on his water.

Instant karma.

I glanceat my watch and notice it's now five. Shit. I need to be over at Zach's in an hour. I spent the last thirty minutes showing Felicity my old room. She asked me about every single one of the trophies and medals stacked in my cabinet, carefully reading the engravings. I was going to store them at my place, but Mom wanted to keep them here, a reminder of what I achieved when I was younger. True to form, two posters had been hung back up and it wouldn't surprise me if it was Adam's doing. I've got to hand it to him, he's always had the knack of winding me up; call it sibling intuition.

"Where's Felicity?" I ask Mom as I exit the downstairs bathroom. After the house tour, I took a call from my agent that couldn't wait, and Felicity wandered back downstairs.

"She's out in the backyard with Adam, honey. They've been out there for a good while now."

"With Dad?"

"No. Just them."

I peer over Mom's shoulder to find Felicity and Adam standing at the raised Koi Pond. Adam's bent over, pointing at something, an animated look on his face, and Felicity matches his level of enthusiasm. The pair look like kindred spirits, each as engrossed as the other. I can't recall the last time I've seen my brother so engaged with another person; let alone someone he's only just met. He's always preferred his own space.

"I think you might have a little competition for her attention." Mom's teasing tone penetrates my trance.

A smile pulls at my lips as I continue to watch them. "Yeah. Have they been like this for a while?"

"Yes, well, initially he was showing Felicity the waxy leaves on the camellia. They were both feeling them. Then they moved onto the fir trees. Adam then pulled her across to the pond, and they've been there ever since." Mom pauses, shaking her head in wonderment. "She's really something, isn't she?"

"Amazing." I'm still staring at the woman who seems to capture the attention and hearts of everyone she meets.

This woman. If I wasn't completely gone before, I sure as hell am now.

"Thanks for coming today,"I say to Felicity as we make our way back to downtown Seattle.

"I enjoyed myself. Your family is lovely."

I know I'm lucky to have them in my life.

Felicity turns on my playlist but keeps the volume low, and Ed Sheeran's "Lego House" starts playing softly through the speakers. "You like Ed Sheeran?"

"Don't tell me you're going to trash him as well as Miley? I don't think my heart can take it."

She laughs, a sound that makes my heart swell once again. "No, I love him. He often joins me on my end-of-week wine dates."

What the fuck?"Huh? Is that some random British saying?"

She laughs again, pressing her palm to her sternum.

"Alright, Mary Poppins, it's not that funny." Fuck knows where that came from, but her posh British accent, flawlessly pretty face, and dark hair kind of remind me of her, along with the fucking massive tote bag she carries around everywhere she goes.

She whips her head over to find a shit eating grin on my face. "Oh no, you didn't. Joker." She then turns the volume up louder on Ed.

I immediately reach over and turn it down, sensing my opportunity to push a little further.

"What are your plans for the holidays, Mary?"

She casts a glance over her shoulder to the empty back seats.

"What're you doing?"

"Just checking for someone called Mary."

I tap my fingers on the steering wheel. "Are you going to stop being a naughty girl?"

Felicity shrugs innocently. "Didn't think I was."

I switch lanes and then throw a quick, heated glance her way. "Oh, you are. And that's punishable behavior in my book."

Her mouth forms a perfect "o" and the apples of her cheeks pinken.

My dick twitches at the sight of her lips parted like that. "Can you not?"

"Not what?"

I shift in my seat, trying to get myself comfortable with an ever-hardening dick. "Hold your mouth like that."

She drops her head down, her shoulders shaking with laughter. "Aw, does it make you uncomfortable?"

"You could say that."

And then she does something I really, really wasn't expecting. Placing her left hand on my inner thigh, she slowly runs her palm up from my knee to my groin, her fingers dancing and teasing as she makes her ascent.

"Fuck." I throw my head back into my seat, gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles. "You're gonna make me crash, Angel."

"So, it's Angel now? Is that my bad girl name?"

A low growl escapes my chest. "Don't push me, not unless you're prepared."

That's met with an evil chuckle, but she takes mercy on me, stilling her hand mid-thigh.

Trying to gather myself and regain some control behind the wheel on a freeway. "You haven't answered my question."

It's as if the playful, flirty, steamy Felicity leaves the car. Taking her hand back, she twists her fingers together on her lap, dropping her head so her hair falls in front of her face."Heading home for a few days and coming back New Year's Day."

I sort of expected her to say that. Why wouldn't she be going home to see Darcy and her family? "Okay," I say, drawing the word out to indicate my confusion at her sudden shift in mood.

"I'm desperate to see Darcy. Jack's coming home with me too. We fly out on Christmas Eve."

Then it hits me. The potential source of her discomfort."Where will you be staying?"

She pales slightly, turning her face to catch my straining jaw.

"Where are you staying, Felicity?" I bite out, more of a demand than a question at this point but I'm far from anything but concerned for the woman I care so deeply about.

"In Oxford."

"Where in Oxford?"

Her voice is barely audible, "My old house."

My stomach falls through the floor as both anger and, I'm not ashamed to admit, jealousy coarse through me. "With him?"

Growing defensive, she replies. "Well, yes. It's what Darcy wants, for us to be together on Christmas morning, and I put my children first."

When I was eighteen, I was more interested in going out, playing hockey, and spending time with friends. "Has Darcy specifically told you that? Won't she be with Liam most of the time?"

"Well, no. Sort of. Elliott's been texting me, telling me I owe it to the kids to give them the Christmas they deserve."

Emotionally manipulative bastard.

I'm desperate for her to see what Elliott's game is. "So, stay somewhere else and go see them in the morning. You can't stay in that house. With him. I see you, baby. I've seen what he does to your confidence, the way he speaks to you. Can't you see what he's doing even now? He's got you like a puppet on a string. Using your children to manipulate you. Christ, he told you he wants you back. Can't you see?"

Sitting on her hands to prevent the nervous fidgets I've just made her aware of, she shakes her head. "I've nowhere else to stay."

"Friends?"

"Haven't got any back there. They were all affiliated with our marriage."

Jesus, he's a fucking narcissist, cutting her off from all connections. "Then stay with your mom and dad." He can't possibly have turned them against her too.

"Can't," is all I get back in a clipped and defeated tone.

"What do you mean you can't? Even if they're away, stay at their house."

"Because they're dead, okay? They're gone. Both of them. Eight years ago, they both died of cancer. I sold the house because Elliott said it was a structural liability and the garden was too big to manage."

A sob breaks free as she spins her body around to face the passenger window and my heart plummets. It hits the fucking floor, ricocheting around my ribcage on the way down. She lost her mom and dad, at thirty-one, in the same year. I don't have words and frankly, how can anything I say next do justice to what she's been through? So instead, I act like the dickhead I am and say in a soft tone, "You can't stay there, Felicity."

She ignites. Like a wild animal backed into a corner, she rears up, throwing her arms in the air. "Well, funnily enough, Jon, you don't own me. You don't get to tell me what I can and can't do and who I can and can't stay with. I mean, ugh, what are we even doing here? What is this?" She furiously motions between the two of us. "Do you not see the irony? You question his controlling and borderline abusive actions, and all the while, you're telling me who I can see and where I can go for the holidays. No one owns me like that."

Her words hit me like bullets. She's right. I'm acting like a total asshole, but the inner need buried within me to protect this woman wins out. I draw in a calming breath and finally say, "It isn't borderline abuse, Felicity. You physically shake whenever his name is mentioned. Has he ever touched you?"

Her sobbing shoulders still. "What do you mean? I've had two children with him."

"You know exactly what I mean. Has he ever hurt you?"

"No." Somehow, despite Elliott being the lowest version of a man I can think of, I believe her. "Okay."

We drive the rest of the way in silence. Unlike previous times where we've sat comfortably in each other's presence, this time it's unbearable. The air is charged with our joint anger and frustration. But mostly at this point, I feel sad, desperate for the loss of her parents, and destroyed by her tears. The thought that I caused her to cry makes me ache.

I pull up outside her apartment block and cut the engine. I don't want to leave, but I have twenty minutes to make a thirty-minute journey to Zach's, and I can't let my best friend down again.

Unbuckling her seat belt, Felicity wipes at her cheeks. "Thank you for today."

She reaches for the door handle, but I stop her, gently grasping her other arm at the elbow.

"Look, I'm sorry. You're right. I can't and don't have any right to tell you what to do. But know this, if you were mine, then things wouldn't be any different. I'd still let you know that I didn't like you spending time with that asshole because he hurts you, but I would never, ever try to control you. I just want you to be safe and happy. What happened to your mom and dad, shit, I'm so sorry, Felicity."

My words are sincere, but I can tell they do nothing to penetrate the walls she's rebuilt back around her once more. Her face is expressionless as she nods her head in acknowledgment and reaches for the door of my car. "Thank you, Jon. Good luck with your away series."

And then she's gone. Shutting my car door and walking to the entrance of her apartment building. Leaving me in a state of shock, sadness, and fury. How the fuck did the best twenty-four hours of my life go so wrong in the space of ten minutes?One thing I am sure of though is that I can't bear to see her hurt or upset in any way, and I'll do everything I can to show her how much she means to me. I pray to God that one day I'll call her mine, but I know right here and now she'll own my heart for a lifetime.