Chapter 8

Mia

Her thighs…

THE NEXT DAY I'M in my living room with Chris, Karyn, and Andrew. Jaxon decided to close down the bar for the weekend because he knew he and Bailey were going out of town and I would be watching Amari. That only left Andrew to tend to it. Chris works there part-time when we need her and Jaxon's hired a couple of waitresses, but that wouldn't have been enough.

We're all sitting around watching Amari squirm around on her stomach on her blanket in the middle of the living room floor. She tries her damndest to lift her head but isn't able to for long. How awful it must be to not have control of your body. Ha! That's funny because I didn't have any control of my body the other day.

I look over at Chris, who has just lain down and put her head next to Amari. They all descended on my house this morning because they knew I had Amari for the weekend. Jaxon isn't real fond of sharing her very often. They saw this as an opportunity to shower her with attention.

"You sure are a cute little thing, aren't you," Chris coos at Amari, and tickles her under her chin.

"She gets it from her daddy," Andrew pipes in, with a huge smile.

Poor Andrew. He's always secretly crushed on Jaxon. He knows he's never had a chance, as Jaxon has never swung that way, but you can't help your feelings.

Chris rolls over to her back, looks over at him, and asks, "Are you seeing anyone, Andrew?"

"I see a lot of people, Chris," Andrew replies, with a cheeky grin.

She sits up and crosses her legs. "Alright, smart-ass. Are you dating anyone?"

Again, Andrew looks at her with a silly grin.

"I date a lot of people. There's a lot of me to go around. Don't want no one to miss out." He finishes with a wink.

I just shake my head at his antics. I love the man, but he is seriously depraved. His shirt for today is "I love lesbians. It means more hot guys for me."

"Okay, look, I have someone I want to introduce you to, but if your plate is already full I wouldn't want you to overindulge." She shrugs as if it's no big deal.

"Hold on now, wait a minute," Andrew says, and slides next to Chris and throws an arm over her shoulder. "Who you got for me, baby?"

"Really, Andy? You are such a man whore," I tease him. I wait for it, know that it's coming. He absolutely hates being called Andy, and that's why I do it. It's always fun to rile him up.

And just as expected, I get a teething toy thrown at me. We all laugh and I pick up the toy to put back in the diaper bag.

"Well, you are," I say, still laughing.

Giving me the evil eye, he says, "I don't deny it, because let's face it, I'm irresistible. Though I'm going to wash your mouth out with soap if you don't stop cursing me like that."

The thing is, Andrew is irresistible. He's one of the hottest guys I've ever met. His chocolate-brown hair is shaggy and plenty long enough to grab and steer. Added to that are his pure-black seductive eyes and sexy-as-sin dimples. His body is a pure masterpiece. The man is, quite simply, a walking sex god. I know he's made plenty of women cry over his sexual preference. Hell, if he were into women I might even consider giving him a try. Actually no, I probably wouldn't. That would be like being with my brother. Gross! I flip him the bird and blow him a kiss at the same time, which causes him to squint at me.

"Okay, and moving on," Chris says. "My brother is coming to town for a visit in a few weeks and I'd like to introduce you to him."

"Oooh… now this sounds interesting," Andrew says, tapping his chin and looking off into space.

"But the thing is, he just recently came out. It's been really hard on him." She glances over at me and then continues, "That's why I wasn't able to move up here as soon as I would have liked last year. Jase had just told our family and there was a huge argument. My dad went ballistic."

Damn judgmental assholes. They automatically think if it's different, then it's wrong. I'm judged like that often because of all my tattoos and piercings. Not here in Jaded Hollow, but when I go to town, some people look at me weird. Fuck them all.

"I know it's your parents, but screw them. They have no right to judge," I tell her honestly.

She looks sad for a minute before she responds.

"I know. Some of the things my dad said were horrible. I've known for a while now, but Jase didn't want to say anything. He knew our parents weren't going to like it."

Andrew squeezes her shoulder and kisses the side of her head. "Well, honey, you tell him to get his ass up here and all will be fine."

"Yeah, Chris, from an outsider's perspective, coming to Jaded Hollow was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Lord knows I have plenty to be judged on, but I never have been," Karyn pipes in.

She's right. Karyn does have plenty to be judged on. She moved here from California a couple of years ago. Her dad is in the local biker gang there. There was a lot of shady shit going on and, luckily, her dad is the type of dad who loves his daughter and got her out before she caught any backlash. Her dad is now in prison for murder.

"Would you all like to see a picture of him?" Chris asks, reaching over for her purse. After digging through it, she brings out a small picture book and pulls out one picture.

Andrew is the first to see and I hear a growl erupt from his chest. "Holy fucking shit! I'm hard from just looking at him."

Chris chokes out a laugh while I just roll my eyes. I hear Karyn giggle.

Typical Andrew.

I reach for the picture, but Andrew snatches it back. "Back off. Get your own."

"Give it over, Andy." I wiggle my fingers in his direction.

For the first time he doesn't come back with a retort. Instead, he's studying the picture like his life depends on it. Okay, not so typical Andrew.

"When did you say he's coming to visit you?" he asks Chris, without looking away from the picture.

"I'm not sure of the date yet, sometime in the next few weeks."

"Let me know once you do. He's mine once he gets here."

All three of us girls look at Andrew and then at each other with our eyebrows raised. This could get very interesting. As long as I've known Andrew, I've never known him to get possessive of someone. Well, except for Jaxon, but that was a lost cause from the beginning, and he knew it. He was possessive of him for the simple fact that he wanted him to be happy, and felt not many women were good enough for him, until Bailey. It was all very sweet.

Curious at his behavior, I reach over and snatch the picture from him while he's distracted. Of course, he immediately tries to get it back. I get up from the floor and move to the other side of the couch, yelling, "Hold him down, girls!"

Both girls launch their bodies over Andrew, but it does nothing to stop him. He easily, but gently, throws them off, being careful to not go anywhere near Amari, who is still lying on the floor.

I stuff the picture down my shirt and into my bra before turning to face Andrew. He takes a step toward me.

"Give it back," he says calmly.

"Why do you want it so badly?" I ask him, really wanting to know the answer and why he's acting this way.

"Because it's mine," is his simple response.

"Actually, it's mine," Chris says, with a smug grin.

Not moving his eyes away from me for fear of me bolting with his precious picture, he answers Chris, "Not anymore. I'm sure you have plenty more." He points to my chest where I stuffed it. "That one is mine."

She laughs before saying, "Well, I'm pretty sure I no longer want it now anyways. Nothing personal, Mia, but I'm not sure I want something that's been in your bra."

I shrug, not offended in the least. I eye Andrew for a minute before I take a side step. He watches me like a hawk and matches my movement. He and the couch are between me and the hallway, and I know there's no way I can make it to my bedroom where I can lock the door.

"Don't think I won't reach in there and grab it," he says.

I never doubted it for a minute.

Just as I make my move, he jumps on the couch and reaches over and snags my waist, pulling me over it with him. I maneuver so I'm on the bottom on my stomach, so he has a hard time reaching in my shirt. He's on top and wastes no time in reaching between me and the couch and into my shirt. His fingers graze my nipple and damn if I can't help the shiver that wracks my body at the touch. Hey, I'm a girl with a hot guy lying on her with his hand in her shirt. What do you expect?

He pulls the photo out of my shirt, and goes to stand up. I grab both arms to keep him in place. I hear both Chris and Karyn laughing at us.

"Damn it, Andrew, I just want to see it," I growl at him.

He stills. I feel him kiss the back of my neck. "Okay babe, because I love you so much, I'll let you have a peek."

"Oh, thanks for being so generous," I say dryly.

Staying where he is on top of me, he puts the picture right in front of our faces. Oh, wow! I now understand why he seems so obsessed. The man is sex personified.

The guy in the picture isn't directly facing the camera. Instead, it looks like he's looking at someone off to the side. His long hair is a dark blond and it's messily pulled into a low ponytail, with pieces of it hanging out of the hair tie. It looks like it might reach just past his shoulders. I can't really tell his eye color because of how his head is turned, but they look like a light color. His hands are shoved into the pockets of dark gray cargo pants. His white muscle shirt showcases tanned muscular arms riddled with tattoos. To top off the walking orgasm in the picture is the sexy smirk he has on his face.

"Fucking gorgeous isn't he?" Andrew whispers in my ear.

I look at him over my shoulder and see him staring at the picture again with an expression I've never seen on his face before.

Oh yeah, this is going to be very interesting indeed.

A COUPLE OF HOURS LATER, I carry Amari in her car seat into Maggie's Diner. It's after the lunch crowd so it isn't too busy. I set the seat on top of a table and am lowering myself into the booth when my Gram comes rushing up to us, carrying a half-empty pot of coffee and a mug.

"Oh, let me see my great-grandbaby!" she says, as she puts the pot and mug down and starts unbuckling Amari from her seat.

"Hi, Gram," I say, smiling at her while she rocks a sleeping Amari.

She looks over at me with her own smile and pats me on the cheek.

"Hey, sweetie. Give me a kiss." She turns her head and I bend down to kiss her soft cheek.

"How's your back been treating you?" I ask, while I move the car seat to the next table over and take a seat in the booth. A minute later, Gram sits as well.

"Oh, it's the same as usual."

"You need to start taking it easy, Gram. You work too hard. Maybe you should start cutting back."

"Nonsense. I'll be just fine."

I know she will be, but I still worry about her. She isn't getting any younger and she needs to learn how to enjoy life instead of working all the time. No matter how much Jaxon and I tell her this, she just won't listen. She's a stubborn old bat. But she's one of my favorite people.

"You just missed Mac," she says, and looks up at me. Her eyes are inquisitive, like she is trying to figure something out. She knows we dated as teenagers. Hell, everyone knows. She also knows my feelings toward him now. Why in the hell would she tell me this when she knows I want nothing to do with him?

I hold her gaze and reply, "Yeah, so?"

After looking at me for a few seconds and realizing I'm not going to give anything away, she surprises me with, "I overheard Jesse tell Ethan he caught y'all kissing in the hallway of your mama's house the other day."

Fucking Jesse and his big mouth!

I shrug and tell her, "It was nothing. Just a lapse in judgment."

I pick up the coffee pot and pour the hot liquid into the mug. After dumping in a few scoops of sugar and creamer, I pick up my cup to take a sip. I look at my Gram over the rim of my cup. She's still watching me, but this time there's sadness in the depths of her eyes.

"You're wasting time, Mia," she tells me softly. "I don't know what happened between you both all those years ago, but I do know that the feelings y'all carried for each other are still there. They may be buried deep, but they are there all the same."

"You don't know what you're talking about. I no longer have feelings for Mac. The circumstances surrounding our breakup made sure of that." I tell her the almost truth. The real truth is that I do still have feelings for Mac. I hate myself for it, just as much as I hate him. But no matter how I feel, there is no way we could ever get back what we had. I could never trust him again and I refuse to live my life worrying and wondering what he's doing or who he's with.

"What happened between the two of you?"

"You know I don't talk about it, Gram," I tell her quietly.

"I know, but I wish you would. Sometimes it helps with the pain. And sometimes when you talk about it, it helps you realize things may have not been what they seem."

"Yeah, well, I know exactly what happened. And there are no other explanations. It is just as it was."

She looks at me for another minute before she shakes her head and lets it go.

"What time are Jaxon and Bailey due back?" she asks.

Relieved that we are finally off the subject of Mac, I lean back in the booth. "Around lunchtime tomorrow. Surprisingly enough, they only called twice. I thought I was going to have to turn my phone off, but they did well."

"I'm sure Jaxon had a lot to do with that. I imagine they are pretty occupied," Gram says, with a mischievous smile.

"Gram, really?" I say, cringing. This is my seventy-year-old grandmother. She's supposed to be modest and not think about things like that. What she said is just wrong.

"What? My mind works just the same as it did when I was younger," Gram says, chuckling.

"No, you're not supposed to think like that anymore. That part of your brain is supposed to be broken and not repairable, especially about your grandson."

"Oh, pish posh. My mind is just fine. I'm not stupid, Mia. Jaxon is a good-looking man and Bailey is a beautiful woman. Of course they are doing other things besides worrying about this sweet little angel. They both know she's in good hands."

"Yeah, whatever," I mumble, not in the least appeased knowing my Gram still has a working sexual imagination.

We talk for a few more minutes before she gets up to put in my lunch order. Thirty minutes later, I stand and grab the car seat with Amari buckled in, and walk up to the counter to pay. Just like every other time, Gram refuses my money. I give her a quick kiss before Amari and I head out the door. Our next stop is the small grocery store before heading back home.