Brandon’s jaw starts to grind and his eyes cut to me. “Can I use the car?” he grits out.
“Yes,” I say.
Brandon immediately stomps off down the stairs, slamming the front door behind him, and I flop back on the bed and cover my face.
“Babe.”
I just shake my head.
“He knows we’re together,” Mike says, and I know he knows, but it’s one thing to know and another to find your mom in bed with a man.
“I know, but maybe we shouldn’t have sleepovers anymore,” I say through my hands. I feel the bed move. Then my hands are being pried away from my face.
“First, I came over on a night when he was sleeping at a friend’s so that I could take care of you while you were sick,” he says softly, pushing my hair away from my face. “That being said, I have a feeling it wouldn’t matter if he came home from college and found me in your bed. He would still be pissed off.”
“I know,” I whisper, feeling tears fill my eyes.
Mike’s eyes go soft as he wipes my tears away with his thumbs. “He loves you, baby.”
“I know,” I repeat on a sob.
He rolls to his side pulling me with him. “What time does he normally get home?” he asks, and I try to bury my face deeper into his chest, not wanting to answer that. “Kat?”
I take a shaky breath before tilting my head back and looking at him. “I told him his curfew is ten on school nights and twelve on weekends.”
“Lemme guess. He doesn’t come home when he’s supposed to?”
“Sometimes.” I shrug.
“Babe, I understand that you’re trying to soften things up for him ‘cause his dad left, but I think you’re hurting more than you’re helping at this point.”
“You don’t understand.” I close my eyes, shaking my head. My son is so angry. He’s a good kid and I know that he loves me, but he has so much anger inside him that I can feel it when we’re in the same room.
“I do understand. I know how much trouble teenage boys can get into when left to do their own thing.”
“Mike.”
“He’s not my kid and I can’t tell you what to do or how to raise him, but he needs to have structure and discipline. He’s not too old for you to get on him.”
“I know,” I say because I do know. “I just don’t think he was expecting to see you here.”
“You told him we’re together, right?”
“Yes,” I say immediately. “He stormed off, but I didn’t think anything of it ‘cause he always storms off when I try to talk to him.”
“We’ll figure it out together,” he says, and my heart settles a little bit more. “How are you feeling?” he asks after a few minutes. His hand goes to my forehead and his eyes look me over.
“I feel a lot better.”
“Doesn’t feel like you have a temp anymore. That’s a good thing.”
“I actually feel really great. I haven’t slept that good in a long time.”
“Me neither.” He kisses me then pulls away before sitting on the side of the bed and raising his arms above his head.
I watch, fascinated, as his back muscles bunch and expand.
“How about a shower then breakfast?” he asks, looking over his shoulder at me.
I lick my bottom lip and nod when his eyes darken slightly. He stands to come around to my side of the bed. I lie back as his upper body cages me. One hand goes to my hair while the other makes a fist in the bed near my head as his face lowers toward mine.
“How much better are you feeling, exactly?” he asks, his nose running along mine.
“Much better.” I put my hands to his chest. Even while lying down, I feel like I need to steady myself.
“Hmmm,” he rumbles, his hand in the bed going under me then traveling down my ass to the back of my thigh.
When I feel his hand on my bare skin, I squirm. When his hand travels farther up and his hand grabs on to my bare ass cheek, I bite my lip.
“You don’t have on anything under your robe?”
I shake my head no and his eyes turn even darker as they travel down my body, landing on the tie of the robe.
Chapter 5
MIKE
I can’t imagine not having this, not having her. My eyes skim down her body to the robe, which is tied around her.
Last night, when Kat was in the shower, it almost killed me to go downstairs knowing that she was naked and soaking wet a few feet from me. I haven’t even jerked off since she told me that she wanted more and left me stunned, still in my towel, at my house while I watched her drive off. I had known that I love her before she broke down, but I hadn’t realized the extent of it or how much she had consumed me.
The night I saw her at the restaurant on her date, I was talking to Joe about her and working out with him what I needed to do. Things were not cut-and-dry. She has a teenage son. I didn’t know why that scared me more than anything else. I love kids, but he is not a kid. Brandon is practically a man.
I also had my own baggage, things I needed to deal with. It pisses me off how much November’s mother affected me, but she did. The things she did while she was pregnant and then when she took off with my kid have made me question every woman I’ve come into contact with. Was it fair to loop all women into the category of lying, conniving bitches? No, but it is what it is. Now, I have a woman who has been honest to a fault since day one under me and I am going to find a way to deal with my insecurities so that we can have a future together.
“You look like you’re running a fever,” I tell her, untying her robe.
She wiggles under me until her leg comes up to rest behind my thigh so she can pull me closer. I feel the heat of her pussy through the thin cotton of my boxers and groan, pulling her closer to me as I spread the robe open. My eyes travel down her body. She is really beautiful; everything about her appeals to me.
My head lowers and I kiss her, pulling her bottom lip into my mouth before releasing it, my mouth traveling down her jaw, to her neck, then down to her breast. I look up at her, our eyes meeting, as I pull one nipple into my mouth. I suck deep, and her whimper fills the room as I release it and kiss my way to her other breast. I pull it into my mouth, watching her eyes close and her back arch. Fuck, she’s perfect.
Her legs pull me tighter, and I know what she wants. I pull down my boxers with one hand and wrap my hand around myself before running the head from her entrance to her clit then back down again. I place one last kiss on each nipple before leaning back to look at her.
“Mike.”
The sound of my name leaving her mouth is enough to cause my balls to draw up. I watch as I enter her slowly, fighting myself against slamming into her. Her body lifts forward, her hands going to my ass, her nails digging into my skin.
“Fuck. So fucking tight,” I groan, pulling out, feeling her muscles clamping down on me and try to pull me back in. “I missed this.” I lean over her completely. My feet are planted on the floor, her legs now wrapped around my hips.
“Me too,” she whispers, pulling my mouth down to hers.
I push my tongue into her mouth while one hand travels down to wrap around her hip, my thumb sliding over her clit. Her body bucks under me as her moans fill my mouth. I know I won’t be able to hold out much longer. I haven’t had this in so long and her slick, tight heat is only making it that much harder to hold back.
“So close,” she breathes. Her hands move to her breasts, her fingers pulling hard on her nipples.
I lean back, pull her hips up higher, and start slamming into her hard. Her lower body is off the bed, only her shoulders left on the mattress. Looking down her body at my cock sliding in and out of her and at her tits bouncing with each thrust causes my balls to pull up tighter.
“So wet. You feel like silk, so smooth and hot wrapped around my cock.” Her lust-filled eyes meet mine and I can feel her get tighter around me. “You’re gonna come, Kitten.”
She nods, her teeth biting into her bottom lip. I lift my foot up ont
o the bed and spread her legs wider, pounding into her harder. Her cry and the convulsing of her pussy send me over. I plant myself deep and come hard. My head falls forward, my chest moving quickly. I lift my leg that has fallen asleep and lean forward, sliding my hands under her before pulling her up and then falling to my back with her on my chest without falling out of her.
“You okay?” I ask after I get my breath back.
She nods against my chest, not saying anything.
“We need to shower,” I mumble, running my hands down her back.
When she nods again, I feel her cheek move against my chest and I know she’s smiling.
“You speechless?”
She nods again, and I laugh.
“You called me Kitten.” She giggles, making me smile.
“You don’t like it?”
“I do,” she whispers then lifts her head to look at me. Her eyes search my face for a long moment before she looks away and lays her head back on my chest.
“What was that?”
“Just happy,” she says on a squeeze.
I kiss the top of her head. “You ready to shower?”
“Yeah.” She nods, pressing a kiss to my chest before lifting her hips and pushing off the bed.
I watch her walk to the bathroom, mesmerized by the flare of her hips.
“Are you coming?” she asks over her shoulder.
My eyes travel up her body to her face and I smile, getting off the bed following her into the shower.
*
“I need you to come down to the station,” James says as soon as I pick up the phone.
I look at the clock and see that it’s after two in the morning. I know Kat’s at home. I talked to her at twelve. She was working on edits for a client. Then was going to get ready to go to bed.
“What’s going on?” I ask, grabbing my keys from the drawer. A couple of the girls who worked here would call if they’d gotten in trouble, so it wasn’t the first time I have been called away from work to help someone out.
“Brandon was just brought in for drinking.”
Shit. I look at the ceiling and pray for patience.
“Is Kat there?” I ask immediately.
Brandon’s a good kid with a lot of anger he doesn’t know what to do with, so he continues to act out without thinking about the consequences. It doesn’t help that his dad is a piece of shit, forcing everything on Kat. My woman is strong, but at the end of the day, the kid needs his dad.
“No. He said he didn’t want to call her, and since he isn’t a minor anymore, my hands are tied.”
“Fuck. Okay. I’m on my way,” I tell him before hanging up. When I make it to the front of the club, I find my brother sitting at the bar, going over an order list. “I need to go.”
“Everything okay?” he asks, standing and following me out of the club.
“Brandon’s at the station with James,” I tell him.
His eyes change from curious to concern. “Wha’d he do?”
“He was drunk.” I shake my head, unlocking my car.
“You want me to call Kathleen?” Joe asks.
I pause, thinking about it before answering. “No. I’ll see her when I drop him at home,” I tell him, getting in the car.
“Call if you need me,” he says, stepping away from the car.
“Will do,” I mumble, slamming the door closed.
I do not want to be in the middle of this, but Kat has been dealing with her son on her own for too long and the kid has been pushing her around, using what happened with his dad as an excuse to be a pain in the ass. So if he wants to call me thinking that, as his mom’s man, I’m gonna ease the blow ‘cause I wanna be on his good side, he has another thing coming.
By the time I get to the precinct, I’m pissed. When I walk into the building, I can hear someone singing “Call Me Maybe” in a loud tone. I know right away that it’s Brandon, and I immediately wonder how much he’s had to drink and if he was driving drunk. I walk down into the bullpen and see James talking to another officer.
“Mike,” James says as soon as he spots me.
“What exactly happened?” I ask, ‘cause if this kid was driving drunk, he is going to learn a hard lesson. His ass will be staying in jail at least until morning—if not longer.
“Him and a couple other boys were drinking in the parking lot of the high school.” He looks across the station when the singing stops and the sound of someone getting sick can be heard. “When Braxton pulled up, the other boys ran off. Brandon stayed put and cooperated.” He pauses again when the sound of singing picks up once again. “I don’t know this kid well, but from what people say, he’s a good boy.” His arms cross over his chest and his hip leans against his desk.
“He’s not a bad kid. He’s angry and acting out but not a bad kid,” I confirm.
“Braxton told me that he stopped Brandon a week ago for driving recklessly.”
“Does Kathleen know about that?” I ask, She never mentioned it to me and I couldn’t picture her not mentioning it at least in passing.
“Braxton let him off with a warning.” James shakes his head. “Brandon told him that he was just messing around. He didn’t have anyone in the car with him and he was in a deserted parking lot, so no one was in any danger. But when he picked him up tonight, he knew that he needed to bring him in.”
“Shit,” I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck.
“He was rambling about his dad earlier.”
“His dad’s a piece of work.” I sigh and sit down in one of the chairs, dropping my head towards my lap.
“I think you need to step in. He needs a role model in his life,” James says.
I lift my eyes to his. “I own a strip club. I can’t exactly take him there to hang out.”
“What teenage boy doesn’t like women?” James asks, looking at me with a smile twitching his lips.
Braxton laughs.
“I don’t know if I’m a good role model.” I’ve never thought about how my owning a strip club would affect any relationship I had. Luckily for me, Kat doesn’t have a problem with what I do, but that doesn’t mean I think it is a normal occupation for someone with a family.
“You’re there. Your club’s clean. I’m not saying that he needs to be there. Honestly, I just think he needs something he needs a man in his life that he can look up to.”
“I’m not sure my woman would approve of me taking her kid to the strip club.”
“You dating his mom?” James asks with a tilt of his head, making me notice for the first time how much his boys take after him.
“Yeah.”
“You serious about her?”
“You know I am.”
“Then I think you need to figure out how to be what this kid needs so you can be the man your woman needs as well. I’ve seen it happen too many times. Young man, no one to turn to, starts acting out, ends up in trouble that he can’t get out of. I don’t want that for you or Kathleen.”
I let his words sink in and know I need to do something. I just need to figure out exactly what my role would be.
“I’ll figure it out,” I tell him.
“Figured you would,” James mumbles, taking his eyes off me and looking over at Braxton. “You wanna bring him out?” he asks.
“Yeah,” Braxton says, getting up from behind the desk and heading towards the back of the station.
A minute later, Brandon stumbles around the corner with Braxton and I shake my head.
“Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, what day is it?” Brandon says as soon as our eyes meet.
“Let’s go,” I say, ignoring him and grabbing his arm.
“How can someone who owns a strip club be so lame?” he asks, leaning his weight against me.
“You want me to help you get him into your car?” James asks, holding open the door to the station.
“We’re good. I’ll call you later. We need to figure out when we’re doing our fishing trip.”
“I wanna go on a fishi
ng trip,” Brandon mutters as I lead him out to my car.
“You do?” I ask, surprised. I haven’t even thought about taking him because he has never seemed like he wants to even be in the same room I’m in let alone to go away for a few days on a trip.
“My dad was supposed to take me on a trip for graduation, but he told me we can’t go ‘cause his new kid needs braces,” he says and his eyes draw together like he’s trying to remember something. “My dad’s a piece of shit,” he slurs out.
“Your right about that,” I mutter in agreement while helping him into my car.
Once I see that he’s buckled in, I shut his door, walk around to the driver’s side door, and open it.
“We may have to schedule the fishing trip sooner rather than later!” I yell over the roof of my car at James, who is standing in the door of the station.
His eyes go from me to the passenger’s side of my car and he nods.
I get in and slam the door. Hearing Brandon talk about his father makes me realize what he has been missing. I have a good dad. Even when he and my mother split, I knew I could depend on him. I don’t know what it’s like to be a young man without a father to depend on. And it pisses me off that this kid wants to have a relationship with his dad and his father is too blind to understand that he’s lucky enough to have the opportunity to know his son, to watch him grow, to help shape the type of man he’ll be.
“My mom loves you,” Brandon mumbles, rolling his head against the headrest to look at me. “You hurt her, I’ll kill you,” he says as I pull out onto the highway towards home.
A smile twitches my lips, and I nod before answering. “I love her too, and I won’t hurt her.”
“Good,” he mutters before rolling down the window, sticking his head outside, and getting sick all over the side of my car.
“You’re washing my car tomorrow,” I tell him, trying not to laugh as he gags harder.
This scenario is familiar. I remember calling my mom to come pick me up when I had drunk too much in high school. The next day, I had to wash the inside and outside of my mom’s car. She told me that it was part of my punishment and it worked. I learned my limit quickly.
As soon as we pull up in front of Kat’s house, Brandon opens his door and falls out of the car onto the street. I get out, walk around to his side, and help him untangle his foot from where it somehow got stuck on the seatbelt before assisting him to his feet.