Chapter 18 Austin Graham

The Reality of My Life

Five Days Until Christmas

Oh shit.

What have I done?

One minute, we were making out. The next, the tree was crashing to the ground, and both my girls started crying.

I feel like I ruined the peaceful moment.

Deep down, I realize I’m not to blame. No one is, really. But it still feels like this wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t come over tonight.

I stare at the total destruction of the tree. It’s darker in here now with the tree on the floor instead of standing up tall, casting a glow over the whole room, so I take the screaming Mia and head toward the nearest lamp and switch it on.

I walk the baby over to her mother and place Mia in Kelly’s arms.

“You take care of her. I’ll take care of this.” I gesture toward the fallen tree as she nods. I lean down and press a gentle kiss to Kelly’s cheek, and I pull back and look her in the eyes as I set my hands on her upper arms. “We’ll fix this. I promise.”

“’Kay,” she sniffles, and she walks the long way around the couch to bounce Mia as she sings to her while I beeline for the giant mess on the floor.

I lift the tree back to a stand, and Kelly takes the still screaming Mia into her bedroom while I work. I flip on more lights and locate a broom in the laundry room, and I sweep all the little shards of broken glass along with about ten million pine needles into a dustpan, emptying it into the trash can before filling it up again. I work quickly, and I hear the sounds of screaming start to quiet as Kelly talks soothingly to Mia.

I can’t help but laugh at the entire situation. I just got home from scoring a touchdown in a pro football game, and now I’m in dad mode, taking care of my girls and sweeping the floors. It’s likely not what most fans imagine as they think about what the players on their favorite teams do after a win, but this is the reality of my life.

I pull the broken ornaments off the tree and toss those in the trash, too, and an idea forms in my head as I work. The tree is probably better off as firewood at this point since it likely still has some broken glass in it. A few of the front branches broke, and I think we’ll take care of replacing it tomorrow. I take the good ornaments off and set them on the table, and then I haul the tree outside and set it on the side of the house. I sweep one more time just to be sure I got everything, and I make a bottle for Mia since it’s inching pretty close to bedtime.

I show up in the doorway of Mia’s bedroom with the bottle I just prepared, and Kelly looks grateful. Neither of them is crying anymore, and for that, I’m grateful.

“Where’s the vacuum?” I ask Kelly as she walks over to the rocking chair in the corner of Mia’s room.

“Front closet, but you don’t have to do that.”

I just roll my eyes at her since she can protest all she wants. It’s happening.

I vacuum the whole area around where the tree was and around the entire room just to be sure I got all the glass, and I put the vacuum away when I’m done. I head back to Mia’s room, and she’s just finishing her bottle with that sleepy haze falling over her eyes.

“Thank you,” Kelly mouths to me. I walk over and press my lips to Mia’s head, and I listen as Kelly sings “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” Mia’s practically asleep by the time the song ends, and Kelly gently lifts to a stand and sets the baby in her crib. We both bid her sweet dreams before we head out of the room, closing the door behind us.

Once we’re back on the couch in front of the Netflix fireplace with no tree twinkling beside it, I make a promise. “We’ll get a new tree tomorrow. And whatever decorations you want.”

“It’s fine. I’m sure that’s not what you want to do on your day off,” she says.

I reach over and grab her hand, and I pull it up to my lips. “It’s exactly what I want to do on my day off.”

She leans into me and sighs, and I think it’s a sigh of contentment. “I read all these blogs about parents putting up baby gates around the tree or not putting up a tree at all, but I thought it sounded ridiculous. Truthfully, I didn’t think I had to worry about that until next year at the earliest.”

“You want my opinion?”

She glances up at me and nods.

“I think pulling it down once will scare her off from trying it again.”

She chuckles. “I bet you’re right about that.”

“Live and learn. I was the same way. Still am, if I’m being honest.” Sometimes the lessons are good, sometimes they’re a little harder. Someone can tell me a hundred times not to do something, but I won’t believe it’s a bad idea until I do it for myself.

But the same is true in reverse. Sometimes I’m not sure whether something is a good idea until I experience it for myself, and this whole thing with Kelly seems like it has moved to a new level where I’m ready to experience all the highs and lows of a relationship with this person.

We just had a near miss where a Christmas tree could’ve fallen on our daughter, but we reacted as a team. She took care of the baby. I took care of the mess. It’s a simple little example that feels representative of what we could have together if we worked together instead of against each other.

“Can you remind me where we were before all the excitement?” I murmur.

“Mm,” she hums, and she turns toward me. “You were kissing me because I just confirmed I’m ready to give this another chance with you.”

My lips tip up, and I move them a few inches closer to hers. “Oh, that’s right. Tell me what that means.” I close my eyes as I wait for her answer.

“It means I’m in love with you, too, Austin.”

My chest squeezes at her words. They’re words I wasn’t expecting, and at the same time, they’re everything I needed to hear.

I close the gap between our mouths as my lips find hers, and the kiss starts out slow and tender, but the fire simmering beneath the surface quickly roars to life—as does my cock.

I take control, shifting us so she’s lying back on the couch as I move over her. I slam my hips to hers, and she lets out a soft moan beneath me.

I can’t wait another second without being inside her. It’s almost like this entire day has been foreplay—seeing her in the crowd in my jersey, coming home to her and our daughter, hearing the words I’ve been waiting to hear for far too long, both that she wants to give this a try and she’s in love with me.

She’s in her reindeer pajama pants again, and I’m in jeans, and there are way too many clothes separating us.

I abruptly move off her and shift to a stand, and I grab her into my arms and carry her through the house and into her bedroom. I toss her onto the bed, yank her pajama pants and panties off together, and stare down at the pink pussy waiting for me. Her knees are bent and slightly parted as she waits for me to get on top of her, but I remain standing instead. I lean in between her knees and push them open wider. I slide a finger into her, and I hiss at the feel of exactly how wet she already is for me.

She closes her eyes as her head arches back, pushing her tits out, and I wish I would’ve had the foresight to pull her shirt off, too. Instead, I push it up while I finger her, and I yank one of her tits out over her bra. I grab her breast and lick her nipple, and she rewards me with another moan.

“Tell me how much you want it,” I say, moving my finger a little faster in and out of her.

“So much, Austin. So much. Give it to me.”

I pull my finger out and use the moisture to rub her clit, and her hips sway with my movements. Fucking hell, she’s hot when she’s all needy for me. I suck on her tit as I pick up the pace on her clit, and I slide my finger back down as I move my lips up to meet hers. She grabs onto my shoulders, her nails like claws between the fabric of my shirt and my skin, and I can tell she’s getting close by the way her mouth turns a little desperate.

I want her to come while I’m inside her.

I stop everything and reach for the button of my jeans, popping it and lowering the zipper as fast as my hands will allow, and I pull my cock out. I stroke it a few times, and she sits up and reaches for me. She strokes it, too, and a little moisture leaks from the top. I wasn’t expecting a blow job, but she kisses the tip and licks the bead of moisture away before she sucks my length into her mouth.

Fuuuuuck. Her mouth feels so goddamn good, and I shove my hips a little harder into her mouth as my hand moves to the back of her head. I thrust my hips toward her mouth again, and she sucks hard over me. I reach down for her pussy again, wanting to give her pleasure, wanting to feel how wet she is as she sucks my cock, but she bats my hand out of the way and lies back again.

“Fuck me, Austin. Fuck me so hard I can’t walk tomorrow.”

Jesus Christ.

I slide directly into her at her command, and I yank on her legs, pulling her body closer to meet my thrusts. I hold onto her thighs as I slam into her again and again and again, and her eyes are closed as she takes every hard inch of my cock as deeply as I can push it.

“Open your eyes,” I demand, and they fly open and lock onto mine. I let go of one of her legs to stroke her clit some more, and I watch her eyes as she starts to fall apart. I continue driving into her, our bodies slapping together as I propel with brutal force just like she asked me to do.

That’s sort of the beauty of being with someone again and again, isn’t it? I know what she likes. I’ve learned her body, and I can deliver the pleasure she’s begging me for.

“Oh yes, Austin, yes!”

Hearing her moan my name like that sends me into some other galaxy. I thrust as hard as I can, and it’s too much, too soon. My body betrays me as I start to spill into her, sending her into her own orgasm, too. “Yes, yes, yes,” she cries with a loud groan, and I love how this sweet, kind, sunshine woman can transform into a fucking animal when I’m inside her.

I growl a string of curses through my release, and once I’m empty and her body has stopped pulsing around mine, I drop out of her. I use her discarded panties to clean her up, and I wipe my cock on them, too, before I lay down beside her. I toss an arm across her stomach, and she holds onto that arm, cradling it close, as we both close our eyes, losing the fight against consciousness.

It’s been a long day. I played in a game. I was slammed to the ground over and over, and my body is bruised and sore. I helped take care of our daughter. I cleaned up an accident. I listened to the sweetest words ever spoken by the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, and then I proceeded to pleasure her.

And now, blissful sleep.

Maybe the most blissful sleep of my life.

If only the bliss could last a little longer.