Chapter 22

twenty-two

. . .

Demi

This last weekhad been absolute madness, and Romeo was definitely feeling the pressure. The entire town was promoting the fight now. If you wore one of the Golden Boy shirts, you would receive ten percent off at Whiskey Falls bar and The Golden Goose.

Someone had posted a video of Ronny and Romeo arguing on social media, and it had taken on a life of its own. Leo had jumped on the bandwagon and had been thrilled to point out that he knew Romeo’s weakness now.

Me.

He posted photos of the altercation where Romeo kept me tucked right behind him. He made a video playing the clip over and over of Romeo telling Ronny to stay the fuck away from me. And people ate it up. It had gathered millions of views, and local news channels were asking to come and interview Romeo daily.

It was a lot.

But my boyfriend had kept his head down and tried to ignore all the noise and focus on his training. Joey had stepped things up, as these final weeks of practice were grueling. Romeo was training harder than ever, and yesterday, Teacup and I had barely been able to stay ahead of him on his seven-mile run. The weather was warming up, and I loved being able to help with this part of his training. When he ran through town, everyone was out there, cheering and honking their horns, but out at my grandparents’ house, it was peaceful and quiet. He could clear his head and focus on his run.

And I got to enjoy the view.

He was chiseled perfection.

I watched him sleep as he rolled toward me, his eyes blinking open as his hand found my hip and he pulled me closer. It was the first day in weeks that we’d been able to sleep in, which wasn’t even really sleeping in, because the sun hadn’t come up yet. But normally, he was up at 4:00 a.m. to get his run in early. Joey thought he needed the rest this morning and wanted him to take a day off from running, but he’d be in the gym later today.

“Hey, baby. Are you watching me sleep?”

I snuggled up against him. Cedar and sage were now my kryptonite. My fingers roamed his chest, and he groaned.

“Yes. You rarely sleep, so I was enjoying the view. Are you sore?”

“I think I’m in a constant state of discomfort, if I’m being honest.” He chuckled. “I’m always a little sore.”

“Well, those guys really pushed you hard last night, and you ran hard in the morning, too. Can you take a day off from work today?”

“Nope. I need to catch up on payroll and the books and get the schedule going for next week. We just keep growing, so I need to hire another trainer.”

My fingers were trailing along his shoulder and down his arm, and I pushed to sit up. “How about I give you a massage before we both have to get up?”

“How about I bury my face between your thighs and start my day with you on my lips?”

“Massage first. Pleasure second,” I teased, as my teeth sank into my bottom lip at the thought of it.

Romeo always knew how to please me. Even when he was exhausted. Even when I knew he should just get some sleep. He said that he slept best after hearing me cry out his name.

How could I argue with that?

I urged him to roll onto his stomach, and I moved to the bathroom to grab some lotion and then climbed on top of him, straddling his waist. I squeezed the lotion into my palm and rubbed my hands together before pressing down on his shoulders, causing him to groan.

I worked his muscles slowly before moving down his back.

“That feels so fucking good,” he said.

“It will help loosen you up, too.” I pulled his briefs down, and my fingers dug into his firm butt.

“Wow. You’re really going there, aren’t you?” He chuckled as I moved down his thighs, adding more lotion to my hands.

“I want to make you feel better. I know how exhausted you are.”

“The best I feel every single day is when I’m with you. When I tune out all the noise. When I’m sitting on the couch, watching a movie with you. When I’m watching you eat or laugh. And, of course, my all-time favorite time of day is watching you fall apart when I’m buried deep inside you,” he said, his voice deep and gruff.

“I feel best when I’m with you, too,” I whispered. My feelings were so deep for this man that I found it overwhelming at times. “Are you going to miss me when I’m gone?”

I was going to meet Slade for his family counseling session. He’d asked me to come, and he was there, doing his part, so I’d agreed. I had a lot to say to him and a lot of anger over what I’d learned since he’d been gone, but it didn’t mean that I didn’t love him.

“I wanted to talk to you about that,” he said, rolling onto his back, and I squeezed some more lotion into my hands.

“Okay.” I settled on top of him again, one leg on each side of his waist before leaning down and pressing my palms into the tops of his shoulders.

“I talked to Lincoln, and he and Brinkley happen to be going to New York at the same time. They said they could pick us up, and we could fly with them on their plane, and they’d take us to Boston. And then they’d fly us back on our own because they’re staying for a few days since my brother has meetings there and Brinkley’s got work.”

His brother was a famous NFL player, but I hadn’t met him yet. Romeo talked about him and Brinkley often.

“Really? That’s so nice. You really want to come with me?” I asked, pausing as I worked my fingers over his chest. I hadn’t asked him to do that. He had issues with my brother that were fair, and I didn’t expect him to want to support Slade in any way. Not to mention his training was a full-time job, on top of running the gym.

“I love you, and you’ve supported me through all this shit with the fight. Now you’ve been dragged into the middle of Leo’s madness, and he’s talking about you every fucking day. You’re out on Teacup, early in the mornings, racing my ass before work. I want to support you, too, baby. This works both ways.” His tongue swiped out to wet his bottom lip, and his hooded gaze had me squirming as I rocked against him, finding him hard as a rock beneath me.

Everywhere.

“This is a little different. I’m going to visit a man who made your life a living hell all those years ago.”

“He’s your brother, and I know that you love him. And I love every part of you, Demi Crawford. Even the part that forgives people who don’t always deserve it.” His gaze softened. “You’re meeting with your dad after work today, right?”

“Yes. He says he has a lot to say to me, and I want to hear him out. I know he and my mom have started marriage counseling. It’s all just… messy, you know?” I sighed. “And I love you, too. All of you. Even the part of you that doesn’t want to tell me how much pressure you feel. How exhausted you are. How frustrated you are by Leo’s taunting. And now you’ve got Ronny freaking Waterstone posting about us, too. It’s a lot.”

“It’ll all settle down after the fight is over. Ronny’s trying to save face because now the whole world knows he’s a fucking creep. He can blame us for this coming out all he wants, but if he’d stayed the fuck away from you, none of this would have happened.”

“I could not agree more. He brought it on himself.” I slid down his body and worked his abdomen, one muscle at a time. Now, I was trailing my lips behind my fingers, and Romeo sucked in a breath. I moved down his thighs, taking my time on each leg.

I crawled between his legs and pulled the front of his briefs down, and his dick jolted in response, standing straight up.

I wrapped my fingers around his thick length and stroked him up and down as my gaze locked with his.

“Fuck, baby,” he whisper-hissed. “Why does everything you do feel so fucking good?”

I loved that I affected him the way that he affected me.

It made me feel sexy and powerful.

This man was everything I wanted.

Everything I needed.

I pumped him faster, and he reached for me. “I need to be inside you. Right. Fucking. Now.”

I reached into my nightstand drawer and pulled out a condom before tearing the top off with my teeth. I rolled it down his throbbing erection, and his eyes never left mine. Then his hands found each side of my hips and lifted me effortlessly, lining me up right above him.

He slid me down slowly, filling me completely. My head fell back, and I rocked up and down as we found our rhythm.

He sat forward and wrapped his lips around one hard peak, teasing and licking, before moving to the other side.

I was so turned on I could barely see straight.

His hand moved between us, knowing exactly what I needed, just like he always did. He pressed his fingers against my clit, and I gasped. I was already so close.

He leaned back to look at me. “Come all over my cock, baby. I want to feel you.”

That was all it took.

His hands. His fingers. His mouth.

Romeo.

It was too much.

I dug my nails into his shoulders, and his name left my lips on a cry as my entire body went over the edge.

My vision blurred.

I continued to move as he gripped my hips and thrust into me.

One.

Two.

Three.

It was my name on his lips when he followed me over the edge.

He rocked me against him over and over, riding out every last bit of pleasure.

And I was completely lost in this man.

I found my father in his study, and I walked in as he moved to his feet. I held up my hand to stop him. We needed to talk, not hug. I had a lot of questions, and I wanted to keep my head clear for this conversation.

“Let’s talk first,” I said, sitting in the chair across from him.

My mom had said he’d meet me here after their session, as they were still going through a lot, and it would take some time. She was over at my grandparents’ house, working on the white party with Grammie and the decorating committee.

“Thanks for coming over to see me.” He sat down, and his eyes looked sad. Tired. I pushed away the urge to tell him that everything would be okay. That I could forgive him.

Because we had a long way to go.

“Of course. But let’s start with Ronny. He’d made it sound like you two were good, and he was heading over to meet you the day he came to the coffee shop.”

“Demi.” He cleared his throat. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes, and not doing more about what you’d shared with me regarding what had happened with Ronny is my biggest regret.”

“Not sending two innocent teenagers away from their families for months? It’s the Ronny incident that you’re most upset about?” I folded my arms over my chest and raised a brow.

Yeah. Things are about to get real. I’m not holding back.

“One thing at a time, sweetheart. I said I’ve made many mistakes. But I should have reported Ronny. I did call him immediately after I spoke to you that night, but he didn’t respond until the following morning. He told me he’d blacked out and had forgotten where he’d been the night before. He agreed to see a therapist and genuinely seemed to feel terrible about what had happened. I didn’t want a police report to be filed because I knew it would humiliate him and his family. But I was wrong. I put your safety on the line. I never thought he’d show up here.”

“Well, he came to meet you recently, right, Dad?”

He nodded the slightest bit. “Patrick came into town and asked Ronny to be there, too. He wanted his son to apologize to both of us. I told him that you weren’t currently speaking to me, so I guess he took it upon himself to go to the coffee shop and address the issues himself.”

“That’s not what he did. He came in angry and told me that I’d messed everything up for both of our families. That there was a lot of money on the line, and I’d caused all these issues over nothing. He still thinks he did nothing wrong. You get that, don’t you? Have you seen the things he’s posting on social media now? About me? Your daughter. That I was a tease and that I’ve twisted the whole thing. The stuff he’s saying about Romeo being the son of a jailbird. That he’s trash and so am I.” A tear ran down my cheek. I’d tried to put on a brave face, but it was all taking a toll. I was tired of all of it.

“I’m very aware. I have Sam reaching out to him today.” Sam Simmons was my father’s attorney at the investment company that he ran. “He is going to take those posts down, or he is going to get slammed with a defamation of character lawsuit. I have ended all business ventures with Patrick and their family moving forward. I should have done that sooner, but I’m trying my best to repair our family, Demi.”

I nodded. It was a start.

“Okay. And how exactly are you planning to repair things with Romeo and River?”

“Your mother tells me you’re dating him and that it’s gotten serious.” He cleared his throat. “You do know that his father served time, and he and River were not innocent kids back then. They’d ditched school and had reputations for getting into fights.”

“Well, your son and Ronny ditched school that day, as well, didn’t they? And Romeo was going through a hard time. His father had just gone to prison, Dad. His family was falling apart, and you made everything worse. Who cares if a teenager ditched school all those years ago?”

“His father had three DUIs and could have killed someone.”

“And my father is a liar who sent two teenagers to a hellhole to save his son and his pathetic friend.”

His brows narrowed as he studied me. Anger flashed across his gaze, but he quickly fixed his features. “I am truly sorry for what I did. I did not want your mother to suffer because Slade made a stupid mistake. I was trying to protect my son. My wife. My family.”

“At the expense of someone else’s.” I shrugged. There were no tears left to cry for my father in this moment. “Dad, that is not okay.” There was a disconnect here, and he wasn’t understanding the magnitude of his actions. “He’s such a good man, Dad. And you owe him an apology—you owe both of them an apology.”

He looked away, staring out the window at the water in the distance. “So, this really is serious between you two, then? You’re in love with a boxer. One who has no college degree or plans for the future outside of getting into a ring and getting punched in the head. Are you doing this just to prove a point to me?”

A maniacal laugh left my lips, one I didn’t know I was even capable of. “You’re serious? You think I’m in love with Romeo because I want to teach you a lesson?”

I pushed to my feet. I didn’t know that I could leave this house more disgusted than I’d been when I’d arrived.

“Demi. Stop. That’s not what I meant.”

I whipped around. “You don’t even know him. You judged him back then, and you’re judging him now. Judging me!” I was pissed. “So what if he doesn’t have a college degree? Ronny has one. Slade has one. And look at their goddamn lives. Romeo is a professional boxer. He runs the gym his father started so that he can help take care of his family. He’s honest and hardworking and strong. And I love everything about him. Shame on you for thinking that money and power make someone a man. I don’t know that Mom is looking at you the way that I look at Romeo lately,” I spewed. “Let’s face it, Dad. You were going to let Ronny get away with what he did to me because it was going to cost you money. If I hadn’t fought him off, and Liz hadn’t been home and walked in, he most likely would have forced himself on me, Dad. But at least he has a college education, right?”

I stormed out of his office and found my mother standing in the entryway.

“Demi Crawford, you get back in here right now. This conversation is not over!” he shouted as he followed me into the foyer.

My mom looked between us, exhaustion written on her features.

“It’s time for you to go,” she said to my father as she glanced at the front door.

“Agreed,” he said as he looked at me. “You come back when you can show me some goddamn respect.”

My mother chuckled. “I was talking to you, Jack. And from now on, I’ll meet you at our therapy appointments. You are not welcome here.”

He sighed and shook his head. And then he marched out of the office, grabbed his keys, and stormed out the front door.

“I’ve made a mess of our family, haven’t I?” I whispered.

“Nope. You’ve done nothing wrong. Your father has made a mess of our family all on his own.”

She wrapped her arms around me, and I wondered if our family would ever recover.