BlazeTwo Months LaterI enter The Café with a huge smile on my face. Today's been a great day. In what's become our regular booth, I see Trevor waiting for me, wearing his hot as fuck white t-shirt with his bullet proof vest over the top. It's too hot for them to wear their button-down shirts and this is what most of the guys look like around these parts right now."I'll be right with ya, Blaze. He already ordered your drink," Leighton tells me as she gives me a grin.Not long ago she started waitressing here, and she seems to have acclimated well. "Sounds good."As I approach the booth, Trevor stands up, grabbing hold of my hand and bringing me in for a kiss. "Hey, hot stuff," he whistles between his teeth as he sees the dress I wear with my Louboutins. "Look at you, how did your meeting go?""Hey, handsome," I kiss him, gripping him around the waist as he motions for me to sit in the booth. We're same-side sitters and everybody makes fun of us, but I love being pressed u
TankAugust"I didn't expect to see you here today," I lean over kissing Blaze, who looks gorgeous in her sundress and sandals. The turquoise color she's picked makes her look like The Little Mermaid with her red hair. "I gave a talk at the high school about mental health awareness," she explains, putting a bag on my desk. "Then I went and got a piece of pie from The Café, because when your arms aren't available, chocolate and coconut make it all better."I get up from my seat, enveloping her in my arms. "Why have chocolate and coconut when my arms are yours whenever you need them?"She burrows her head into my chest, and like always, it makes me feel like I'm the strongest man in the world. To know this woman counts on me to be her anchor in the storm that's sometimes our lives is the biggest blessing I've ever received. "You okay?" I kiss her on the forehead."Yeah," she whispers. "Sometimes it's hard to talk about her, but I'm really proud of the work I've been doing in
VOLUME THREE: HAVOCHavocSix Months Earlier"Holden, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?"It's hard to swallow against the lump in my throat. I worry that I'm doing the wrong thing here. Making this young girl trade in one life she didn't want to live for another. But as I look at her, I see a future for me. One I'd never thought possible. As a rule, I don't trust women, but I have trusted her since I met her.For six months I've lived with her, learning the type of person she is, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that she has a good heart. In some ways she's a product of her environment, in other's she's risen above and beyond. I want to be the person who helps her realize her destiny, the future she can have. I've come to care for her, come to be her friend, and I know there's nothing I won't do for her. Somehow, she's
LeightonPresent DaySometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had never met Holden Thompson in a capacity other than an official one having to do with his job. Our civilian introduction is kind of a funny story. It involves a shot of whiskey and my first game of truth or dare. In this small town, my last name is synonymous with Moonshine, anything illegal, and now the accident that injured Trevor Trumbolt.A year and a half ago though, right before Whitney Trumbolt and Ryan Kepler became an item, I'd stood up to my family and had gone to Birmingham for one semester of college. It was the first time I rebelled against them all. I said fuck my last name, my family, and their reputation. I was going to make my own way. Ultimately, I paid for it by being arrested for them. But the night I truly met Holden Thompson is forever ingrained in my brain."C'mon Leighton! You mean to tell me you've never done anything reckless?"I swallow the drink of beer I sucked down hard. Rec
Havoc"Sorry I'm late getting here," I call to my guys. "I was in the middle of the mother of all traffic stops. I got a car transporting fifty fucking pounds of marijuana, and I had to hand that shit off to another officer," I grumble, throwing my MTF uniform on."Oh, quit your bitchin'," Tank throws over his shoulder as he's putting his gear on too. "I was having lunch with Blaze.""And I was in the middle of naptime with Stella," Renegade throws in his two cents. "We're all making sacrifices for what we do.""But my picture could have been on the State of Alabama Facebook page for the biggest marijuana bust in these parts in years," I argue, a grin on my face that they can't see."It don't matter who likes your ugly mug now, Havoc," Menace, the oldest of my guys, besides me, pipes in with his response. "You're married, you don't need the notoriety.""Yeah." Ace grins at me as I turn around to face them. "Menace here has been celibate since Caleb was like four, more than
Leighton"Thanks for picking me up and dropping me off."I glance over at Caleb, giving him a soft smile. He looks older than his fifteen years, but he's had to grow up quick, just like I did. From what I've been able to gather, Mason's been a single dad for at least the past thirteen years, and I'm not sure if Caleb's mom is alive or not. They don't talk about her much; no one talks about her at all, to be honest."Not a problem. You know I don't mind helping out if you need it. Do you work tomorrow?"I waitress at The Café, and Caleb helps in the kitchen and busses the tables. It's not much work, but he does it, and does it well. Mason's instilling a good work ethic in the kid, and I can't help but admire it. I wish I had come by my own work ethic the way he is, and not by helping out with the family business as a teenager.He nods, a yawn cracking his jaw. "Yeah, I'm gonna be there after football practice. So I'll be working later than you will be," he explains as he grabs
HavocThe hot spray of water beating down on my shoulders is doing its best to loosen the tension I have weighing there, but I have tension in other places too. Namely the space between my legs where I'm hard as a fucking rock. The tension has been there for weeks, and I can't help but try to relieve the frustration. Grasping my cock, I play for a few seconds, stroking it up and down, dragging my hand along the length. I know it'll never fully be gone until I can bury myself balls deep into the woman who teases me every day, but until then, this is the best I can do.I grunt harshly as I curl the fingers of my free hand into a fist, beating it against the tile of the shower. Sometimes a little bit of pain makes the pleasure sharper. The hand holding my cock picks up speed and I grip the base a little harder on each down stroke, curling my palm around the head on every upstroke. I'm sensitive and so fucking ready to blow, but I hold off, knowing the orgasm will be stronger if I can
Leighton"Holden, are you home?"I hear him answer me from the bathroom, at the same time I hear the water in the shower. Good, that lets me know I have a couple of minutes before he gets done. Quickly, I take the few bags I have, put them on the counter, and then head back to the bedroom to change into a tank top and a pair of shorts. When I bend over, the shorts almost show the curve of my ass – I know because I've looked. Fair? Probably not, but I'm learning as a woman you have to sometimes play the game to get what you want. If I'm honest with myself, I wear these clothes because I want Holden to notice me, yet I'm not sure he does."How does hamburgers on the grill sound to you?" I ask, bending over to get the lettuce, tomato, and cheese out of the bottom of our fridge."Sounds good. I can grill them for us as long as you take care of the sides."His voice surprises me, closer than I anticipated it would be. It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end and goose
CruiseFive Years Later"Molly's asleep." I press my wife up against the door to our bedroom, spreading open-mouth kisses along her neck as we grind against one another. Pulling back, I push my hands up her tank top, palming her breasts, moaning as I feel her nipples peak against her bra. "I paid Kelsea her stupid-ass babysitting fee, she's gone. We're alone." I can hear the annoyance in my voice. It's been an on-going argument between the two of us, how I'd watched her for free as a kid, and now she charges us.We've been out with friends and family, had a DD, and both of us have had a little too much to drink. Her with the margaritas she likes to indulge in with the ladies, and me with the whiskey Morgan and I were shooting straight with my dad."God, I want you." She rakes her nails across my neck, down my back, and fists my shirt in her hands.I want her too. Molly is three now, born within the first two years of us getting married, and we've finally got this parenting th
Ruby"Where are you taking me?" I watch as Caleb drives through the streets of downtown. This fall night is cool as rain falls from the sky. It's not sheets like the day he shot the armed man, but a steady drumming against the roof of the Jeep."You'll see." His deep voice has a secretive lilt to it, one that I've come to know well in the year we've been together. He's not great at keeping secrets, but when he does, they're the best kind.As he turns in front of The Café, I grin. No matter what's happened inside the building or in front of it, this is still one of our favorite places to go, to be. On any given night, we can walk inside and find any number of friends or family inside. It's darkish in there tonight, but I figure maybe the electricity is flickering because of the rain storm we're in. Earlier in the day, the school had lost power.He snags a parking spot near the door. "Don't touch the door, I'll come around for you. I don't want you get wet."Since the first nig
RubySeptemberBack when I bought this dress so many months ago, I had assumed I would wear it for Valentine's Day, but because of Caleb's schedule we were never able to make a special date work. He never did take me to that dinner, but we've had so many other special moments that I truly can't complain. Tonight, however, I'm thrilled to be wearing this dress to watch him get an award for bravery."You look absolutely gorgeous." He comes up behind me in the mirror as I'm applying a layer of lipstick."You don't look so bad yourself." I turn around in his arms, helping to straighten his dress uniform.I don't think Caleb has ever looked as hot as he does right now. There's something about him being so buttoned-up that I'm loving. "It's cutting off my circulation." He pulls at the fabric around his neck."You're fine." I slap his hands away. "Are you nervous?""Not really," he says with a shake of his head. "Nerves was playing for the college football championship. This is
RubyI'm lying on my couch, re-watching some TV show I've seen a million times, trying to figure out how to get through to Caleb when the doorbell rings. At first I ignore it, not wanting to disturb my brooding, but then I hear his voice."Red?" It's unsure and soft as he knocks on the door this time. "I know I don't deserve for you to let me in, but I'm asking you to. Please?"For a moment I think about ignoring him, I think about letting him sit out there and sweat. Give him the same type of reaction he's given me, but I realize quickly one of us has to be the bigger person. That person is me, because I know he's hurting and I know he's dealt with the situation he's been thrust into the best way he knows how.Opening the door, I stand there with my arms crossed. Until I see what he's carrying in his hands.The ugliest looking cupcakes I've ever seen in my life."I finally realized why he made them, even though they looked like shit," he gives me a slight smile. "It's the
Cruise"How'd you get in here?"My dad is waiting on me, probably ready to rip me a new one, just like Ruby did. I'm so not in the mood for it tonight."You don't need to know how I got in here." He gets up from where he's sitting on my couch. "Instead, what we need to do is talk about how we're going to get you to where you need to be.""What the fuck is that supposed to mean? This is me.""This isn't you, we both know that. I didn't raise you to be a fuck face. You haven't been answering my calls, your mom's, Kelsea's, or come to find out Ruby's, so let's talk about this Caleb. What the fuck is going on?""Nothing." I grind my teeth together, not wanting to do this with him."We've done this once before son, and we won't do it again. Do you remember when your friend died? Remember when you pushed everyone away? How'd that work out for you?""How does having a murderer for a son work out for you?" I fire back at him. "Because I'm on administrative leave for committing
RubyI'm sitting in my car watching Morgan and Caleb eat through The Café window. This is what I've been reduced to. It's been a week since the shooting, and so far, Caleb's refused to see me. I went to see him the other night, and it was a bad scene."What are you doing here?" Caleb opens his door, arms crossed over his chest. "I figured me not answering any of your calls let you know I'm not up to talking to anyone right now. Including you."Not gonna lie, this hurts. Seeing him like this hurts, hearing him talk to me the way he is hurts. But I won't give up on him. I promised Kelsea months ago that I would be here if he needed me, that I could handle whatever was thrown at me."You need me," I talk against the tightness in my throat."I need to be left the fuck alone. You. Mom. Dad. You all need to leave me the fuck alone.""We won't," I shake my head standing my ground. "We won't leave you alone to deal with this by yourself.""Fine, then if you won't leave, I will."
CruiseThe July sun is beating down on the pavement as I make my drive around the streets that make up Laurel Springs. It's been a boring day, for the most part, but I'm not stupid enough to think it'll last. Lately it's been slow and I've been feeling a lot like the other shoe might drop. This nagging feeling hasn't let go for the last week, but I know eventually either that shoe will drop or I'll get over it.Rain came through over an hour ago, but it did nothing to cool the day down. It's now a sauna outside. In certain parts there's actually steam coming up off the road. Behind the sun that's moved in, you can see more clouds behind. A dark hazy threat looming in the background, more storms are moving in. The stillness of the day threatens to break wide open when they do.Because of the heat that's been baking the ground and asphalt for days, most people are inside this afternoon, enjoying the air conditioning and not wanting to have heatstroke. Probably one of the reasons th
CruiseI love the smile on Kelsea's face, love even more that I'm the one who put it there. "You excited Kels?" I grin into the rearview as we make the drive to Birmingham."So excited, like I knew you knew him." She bounces in her seat. "But I didn't really know!"Him references my college roommate Slater Harlow, known by everyone who watches professional baseball as Savage. He's a formidable force on the baseball diamond, having the best season of his career. We're not as close as we once were, because life took us two totally different directions, but we still hang out every once in a while. Typically I like to keep the fact I know him from just about everyone, because I know he values his privacy. Now though? Kels is old enough to go to a major league game, and I'm doing my best to impress Ruby."I've known him a long time." I think back to our college days, how both of us had been so damn homesick. Him more than me, since I could at least head home on the weekend. Slater w
RubyIt's a hot summer day, as I walk onto the practice field. Since school let out in early June, I've been catching up on sleep, taking a summer class, and spending as much time with the man in my life as I can. Neither Mason nor Caleb are here today. Both are on duty, so another parent has offered to help the girls practice. Karina is sick with a summer cold and me? I'm here, not sure what the hell I've gotten myself into. Kelsea and I are spending the afternoon together, beginning with me picking her up. So we'll see how this goes."Ruby!" I hear as I shield my eyes and look out along the field. Kelsea is running toward me, her backpack bouncing as she runs."Hey Kels," I greet her, a real smile on my face. She and I haven't had a ton of time with one another, but as Caleb and I have gotten closer, the same has been true for the two of us. "You ready?" I wave to today's coach as she walks beside me."I am, it's hot out here." She pushes her hair back from her forehead.Ta