500 Days (52 page)

I smiled in response. “No. I just want to
enjoy you.”

“
There are plenty of ways
to do that.”

I chuckled. “And you call me the whore.”

“
Whoa! Whoa!” She pulled
back, offended. I tightened my arms and legs around her so she
couldn’t move or hit or kick me.

“
Alex, I was kidding.” She
glared at me but I could still see the playfulness in her eyes. “I
just…sometimes I get scared that this is going to end. That I’m
going to do something stupid to screw it up and lose you. I don’t
want to take any minute with you for granted. So this, this right
here,” I demonstrated by holding her close and placing her hand
over my racing heart. “You comfort me Alex. Just you. Being able to
hold you in my arms all night is the greatest gift anyone could
give me.”

She smiled, making her eyes glisten. For a
moment I thought she was going to tear up, but Alex had a tougher
game than anyone I knew. “I’m not going anywhere Casper,” she
whispered, nuzzling her lips with mine. I brushed her hair off her
shoulders, lifting her chin higher so I could shower her with
kisses all along her jaw and neck. I kissed where her pulse was now
thumping, lingering longer. I could feel her breathing pick up and
then the warm air of her exhale as I pressed a wet kiss to the
hollow of her throat. I had only planned to hold her for a while
and fall asleep with her in my arms. But once I started I couldn’t
stop. I was in no rush though. I was going to take my time and show
her how much I loved her, how much I craved her.

For the next hour, I spent every minute
kissing and touching every inch of her body. I rubbed her sore
shoulders and back, working my way down to her feet. She was so
still and quiet I thought for a moment she fell asleep. She didn’t
stir until I started to press wet kisses all the way up her spine,
darting my tongue out when I reached the back of her neck. I could
feel the goose bumps I was causing her as my hands trailed gingerly
down her sides. Her skin was so soft I could just touch it for
hours and that was what I planned to do. Working from one shoulder
to the next, I carefully rolled her over on to her back.

“
You do realize I just
might never let you leave this room again,” Alex said.

“
I’m okay with
that.”

She smiled smoothing her long fingers behind
my neck. She kissed me so tenderly I felt my temperature rise and
it took everything I had to keep with my slow pace. Just looking
into those beautiful green eyes made it all worth it.

I spent most of the night just watching her
sleep. Her skin had a slight glow to it in the dim light of the
moon. I loved how peaceful she looked, content.

My phone was going off like crazy in the
morning. Not wanting to wake Alex I turned the phone to silent and
checked all my messages. I had several missed calls from my sisters
Candice and CiCi. Colton had text me several times and I even had a
message from my mom. Shit.

I sat up, scanning through and listening to
the multiple messages. Most of them were just call me. I scrubbed a
hand down my face picked a number at random. I was thankful when
that number happened to be Colton. “Hey, we’ve been trying to get a
hold of you.”

“
What’s going
on?”

“
Did you talk to anyone
else?” he asked, deflecting. He did this when he had something he
didn’t want to tell me.

My stomach dropped. “No. You’re the first
one I called.”

I could hear him let out a sigh. “It’s your
dad, man. He had a heart attack.”

I dropped my head to my knee. My dad was the
biggest prick on the planet and probably ranked number one for
worst dad ever, but he was still my dad. “Cas, you still
there?”

“
Yeah, um…is
he?”

“
No, he’s at the trauma
center on Capitol Hill. I don’t know all the details. Candice was
too much of a mess to understand.” I nodded even though he couldn’t
see me. “Cas, you should really go over there. They don’t know if
he’s going to make it.” There was a long pause. “Cas?”

“
I know,” I looked down at
Alex who was now awake and sitting up on her elbows. She had a
worried look on her face. I turned to look at the time. “Do me a
favor and call Candice and tell her I’m on my way.”

“
Do you want me to pick
you up?” Colton asked.

“
Nah, I’m good. I’ll see
ya shortly.” I disconnected the call and tossed the phone on the
bed, running my hands through my hair.

“
Everything okay?” Alex
asked, running her hands over my shoulder.

“
My dad had a heart
attack.”

I could feel her stiffen. “Are you okay? Do
you need me to do anything? Call anyone?”

I shook my head no. “I have to go to the
hospital,” I said, getting up and looking for my jeans.

“
Okay.” She watched me,
concerned. “Do you want me to go with you?”

I paused, thinking it over. “Yeah,” I
replied. Maybe having Alex there would help keep me calm. We
quickly got dressed and headed out the door. Alex took the keys
from my hand and I didn’t argue. All the way to the hospital I just
stared out the window, rubbing my hands up and down my legs. Alex
reached out and took my hand, giving me nothing but a silent
comfort. I squeezed her hand back thankful that I had decided to
have her come along. All the times I wished my dad was dead and now
the thought of actually losing him was a lot different than I
thought it would be. I never imagined I would actually feel any
kind of sorrow if the bastard would die. I blamed it on Alex, she
was making me soft.

When we arrived at the hospital I first saw
my sister CiCi consoling a hysterical Candice. I didn’t put much
thought in to it. Candice was always the emotional one. She cried
over everything. So the scene in front of me wasn’t what stopped
me. It was the fact that my mother was there. Fear set in as I saw
Colton embracing her in a hug. My grip tightened on Alex’s hand.
“Do you need a minute?” she asked.

“
No,” I said, pulling her
along.

Candice’s head shot up the second I
approached. She sprang up and instantly attacked me. Her eyes
narrowed on Alex before she dug into me. “Where the hell have you
been? Everyone has been trying to get a hold of you for hours.”

“
I’m here now, aren’t I?”
I said through gritted teeth. The last thing I wanted was a lecture
from Candice. She looked down at mine and Alex’s intertwined
fingers and then her head snapped back up and I knew she was about
to dig her claws into Alex. “Don’t,” I warned. She pinched her
brows tight together and turned to sit back down with CiCi. I knew
the only one I was going to get a straight answer from was
Colton.

“
What’s going
on?”

“
I believe I taught you
better than that,” my mom broke in.

“
Now is not the time,
Prudence. And what are you doing here anyway? Come to see if he
actually croaks or not?” I could feel Alex tense next to me and I
knew I had to pull it back for her sake.

My mom let out a tight laugh. “You know that
bastard is going to outlive us all.” She leaned in to give me a
kiss on the cheek. “And I’m here because your sister called me. I,
unlike your father don’t abandon my children.”

“
Mother,” Candice
cried.

I bit back thousands of
insults and scrubbed a hand down my face. Alex didn’t need to be
here for this. I didn’t want to be here for this. My mom gave Alex
the once over and I knew she was sizing her up. Not willing to
subject her to the insanity that was my family. I excused myself
and tugged Alex with me to go find a doctor that would give me some
answers. The nurse at the desk told me the doctor would be out
momentarily to speak to all of us.
Just
fucking great.

I looked at Alex who I could tell felt
really uncomfortable and out of her element. “You don’t have to
stay. You can go home and I’ll catch a ride with Colton. There’s no
need for you to be subjected to this.”

She grabbed both my hands and made me face
her. “Casper, I’m fine. I’ve been through worse. Plus I know you
won’t admit how freaked out you really are, but I can see it in
your eyes. I wouldn’t be a very good girlfriend if I abandoned you
in your time of need.”

“
If you want to be a
really awesome girlfriend you would find an empty bed and help me
relieve some of this stress.” She pushed me playfully before
wrapping her arms around me in a comforting hug. I instantly
relaxed. “Just you being here is enough.” Alex pulled back enough
to give me a thankful kiss. “C’mon. Let’s go wait until the doctor
comes out to talk to us.”

I sat Alex next to Colton while I sat on her
other side. “Where are Cayden and the preschooler?”

Candice crossed her legs, shifting her body
so she was facing the other direction, showing me that she was
still pissed and refused to talk to me. CiCi rolled her eyes at her
and answered. “Cayden’s chasing after some candy striper and Dallas
is with dad.”

“
Wait, she’s with him and
we’re sitting around, why?”

“
Because she through a fit
and said everyone had to wait out here until the doctor talked to
her first and she’s his wife.”

“
We’re his goddamn kids!”
Candice shouted upset. My mom sat beside her, consoling her again.
I groaned at Candice’s theatrics.

We all sat around silently for another half
an hour and still no one came to talk to us. “This is getting
ridiculous,” I stood up. “What room is he in? I’ll find out what’s
going on myself.”

“
Just sit down Casper. I’m
sure it won’t be that much longer,” Candice said. She had finally
calmed down enough to talk civilly.

I couldn’t sit still. My leg kept bouncing
and I was getting antsy the longer I had to wait. “I’m going to get
some coffee.”

Alex put a hand on my knee. “I’ll go. Stay
here.”

“
Are you sure?”

She nodded. “Can I get anybody else
anything?” she offered.

“
Coffee would be great,
thank you,” my mom said kindly, making me wonder what she was up
to.

“
I’ll go with you,” Colton
said, springing up from his chair.

I stood up and kissed Alex’s temple,
whispering, “Thank you,” before she took off down the hall with
Colton, passing Cayden on his way back. I watched his head drop and
tilt to the side as he checked out Alex’s ass. It took everything I
had not to knock him out cold. Brother or not I wouldn’t think
twice.

“
Dayum. Is that Colt’s new
honey? Because if so I might have to introduce myself and show her
what it’s like to be with a real man.”

CiCi rolled her eyes. “Please, no one is
that desperate. One look at you and she’ll be laughing all the way
home.”

Cayden brushed her off and strolled right up
to me. “What’s up bro?” I punched him in the shoulder. “What the
hell was that for?” he groaned, rubbing his arm.

I stared him down and got
in his face. “That
honey
with Colton is my girlfriend. And if I ever catch
you checking out her ass again I will lay you flat out on your back
without a second thought.”

He put up his hands in defense, cocky smile
on his face as he took a seat next to CiCi.

“
Girlfriend?” my mom and
Candice asked. All girls had a surprised look on their faces while
Cayden sat back looking smug.

F-U-C-K. This was not what I needed right
now. I let out a deep breath. “Yes, Alex is my girlfriend.” I gave
them each a pointed look to not be assholes, but even I knew that
was wishful thinking.

“
That’s Alex?” CiCi asked,
a big smile dancing on her lips. “No wonder you had a stick up your
ass when you busted me…” CiCi bit her lip, realizing she said too
much.

“
Busted you for what?” My
mother asked, turning to CiCi with her arms crossed.

“
Go ahead CiCi, tell her.”
I sat back resting my arms behind my head, happy to have the heat
off me.

“
He caught me out past
curfew. No big deal,” she lied.

“
Cecelia Rose Covington.
Do not lie to me.”

CiCi fidgeted in her seat. Cayden took this
opportunity to bust CiCi. “He picked her up at a bar,” he
laughed.

“
What! How did you even
get in?”

“
A fake ID,” Cayden
offered.

“
Hand it over,” my mother
demanded.

“
Casper already took it,”
she huffed. She turned to Cayden, eyes on fire. “You’re such an
ass!”

“
That’s what you get for
snooping around my room and telling dad about the joint you found
that wasn’t even mine.”

“
What the hell is going on
over there? I have half a mind to make you live with me,” my mother
snapped.

“
You think you can do a
better job when you’re not even there?” CiCi snapped back, turning
it into an argument. My mother, CiCi and Cayden were all going at
it drawing attention to us.

I just sat back and smiled. “You see what
you started,” Candice complained. When the arguing got louder
Candice snapped. “Enough! This is not the time or the place.” They
all shut up as Alex and Colton returned with drinks and snacks.
Alex stood there a little frightened, not expecting to walk back
into a battle field. Colton, used to it, brushed past her and
handed drinks to Cayden and CiCi. I stood up to take the carrier
out of Alex’s hand.