All That Matters (13 page)

He felt a familiar tingle through his body and pulled out of her with regret. He released her wrists and took his cock in his own hand. He stroked himself fast and hard until he came all over her ass.

“The next time, you don't have to pull out.” Meg turned over and smiled up at him. “I'm on the pill. And I'm clean. It'd be great if you are, too.”

“I'm clean.” He reached out and grabbed her hands. Her wrists showed no sings of bruising, but he rubbed them anyway. “You good with me staying the night while the boys are here?”

“Are you good with dealing with them in the morning? Leo's going to be thrilled. Joshua is going to be pissed.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Train let go of her wrists. “And I'm good with it if you are.”

“I am.” Her voice was already sleepy again. Train shifted to lie down on the bed, and she moved next to him. “You liked that, holding me down?”

“I think you know I did, seems like you did, too.” He traced his fingers down her arm. Had he been wrong? Had she not liked it? “Meg, if you don't like something, you've got to tell me or I won't know.” The images that had formed in his mind earlier, the things that they could do, suddenly no longer seemed a possibility. Would vanilla sex be enough for him?

“I liked it,” she cuddled closer to him. “I didn't think I would. At first, I was a little scared.” Her voice shook slightly but she cleared her throat. “And then I wasn't.”

“All you've ever got to say is stop. Any way that you want to say it, stop, no, get the fuck off, whatever.” He pressed his lips to the back of her neck.

“Promise?” Her voice shook ever so slightly. Train realized that somewhere along the line, someone hadn't stopped when she said no, and he wanted to tear their faces off.

“I promise.” Train nuzzled his face against her neck. “I'm an asshole sometimes, Meg. Anyone will tell you that, but I'm never going to force you into anything. That's not saying I probably won't fuck this up, because I'm good at fucking things up.”

“I'm good at that, too.” She laughed a little. “Don't we make a pair?”

“Yeah, I'm thinking that we do.” Train pressed his lips to her shoulder. “And I think that I've figured out a solution for your lack of a job. Caroline's going to need some help with things, she broke her wrist in the wreck.”

“Wreck? What wreck?” She turned her head towards him.

“Her and Buster got hit by some old lady who had some kind of fit. The hospital is keeping them overnight for observation,” he replied.

“Is that where you went? Why didn't you say something sooner?”

“When I left, I thought it was club stuff. I didn't think about much of anything but you after I got back here.” Train stroked her arm. “But since Caroline is going to need an extra hand, I figured you could maybe help her out while you look for something else. I'll make it happen.”

“Okay,” she said simply. It was the last thing that she said before her breathing became slow and rhythmic. Train laid his head down on the pillows next to hers, listened to the sound of her breathing, felt her chest rise and fall with each exhale.

If he'd felt overwhelmed when he was bare inside of her, he didn't have a word for what this feeling was. In all his years, he'd done his best to avoid any real connection with a woman. He got it, got off and got out. He didn't cuddle. He didn't spend the fucking night. This wasn't him. He wasn't built for the ready-made fucking family experience, yet here he was.

Train lay there for as long as he could before he let the voices in his head drive him out. Meg didn't stir when he slid out of the bed, remained unaware as he dressed. It was a shitty thing to do, to leave her bed in the middle of the night, but the knowledge didn't stop him. He felt the key in his pocket, took it out and looked at it.

After a moment of hesitation, he left it on the dresser before he made his way out of the room.

<#<#<#<#

Train pushed Caroline's wheelchair and did his best not to laugh at the sight of Buster being pushed by Ace. Ace was less successful with not laughing. Train was pretty sure that Buster was going to beat the shit out of him for it. “Alright, enough.” Buster was out of the chair the moment they cleared the doors. “You stay put,” he ordered Caroline. “Someone give me the keys. I'm going to drive us home, and we're going to need a few days downtime.”

“Jobs are scheduled to the end of next week, so we're good on the Nightshade Construction front.” Caroline let Train wheel her to the curb. “The bakery can stay closed for now. I'll have to hire someone.”

“Meg's looking for work. I told her I'd talk to you about having her help you out.” Train stopped the chair next to his truck and tossed the keys to Buster. “Maybe you should call her.”

“You could just tell her to meet me at the bakery on Tuesday.” Caroline got to her feet, turned to grin at him. “I heard you were hanging out with her last night. I'm sorry that our accident pulled you away from your night.”

“No big deal. And you should call her.” Train looked away from her. “How'd you hear that anyway? Let me guess, Amelia?” Of course Danny would have run back to her, run his mouth, which meant that he'd run it to everyone. Just great.

“Wait, why won't you tell her? What did you do, Train?” She sighed dramatically.

He met her gaze until she looked away. “I didn't do anything. Just call her if you want her help. Now go home, get some rest or whatever. I'll get the truck later. If you need anything, call me and I'll get it done.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Need me to put you in the truck?”

“I think that might piss Buster off,” She grinned. “And we're going to talk about this whole Meg thing later.”

“No, we're not.”

Chapter Eight

Meg checked her phone as she approached the school. It had been nearly an hour since the secretary had called her to tell her that she was needed in the principal's office immediately. What the hell had Joshua done now? She wasn't sure she wanted to know. The sight of the police cars parked in front of the main entrance made her stomach turn. What the hell had he done?

She took the stairs two at a time, all but sprinted down the hall to the office. The secretary was on her feet immediately. “Where's Joshua? What happened?” There were a million different worst-case scenarios rushing through her mind. Lately, Joshua had been really out of control, more angry than she'd ever seen him.

“Ms. Castle, come this way. Principal Snyder has been waiting for you.” The secretary managed to look down her nose at Meg the entire time she spoke even though she was shorter. “We called over an hour ago.”

“I was at a job interview.” Meg didn't know why she felt the need to explain herself to the woman, fuck her and her condescending tone. “I came straight here when I turned my phone back on.” When they stepped through the office door, she was surprised to see both Joshua and Leo in the office. “What's going on here?”

“Ms. Castle, please sit down. These are officers Callahan and Long. We had to contact them due to what we found in the boys' bags.” The principal was a middle-aged woman who looked like she was constipated.

One of the uniformed officers stepped forward and placed a clear plastic evidence on the desk. Inside were two smaller plastic bags with even smaller bags inside. Pills packaged for sale. It took only an instant for the dots to connect. She was going to kill Josh.

“The boys won't tell us where they got it. Do you have any idea?” The taller officer, Callahan, spoke. Meg recognized him from around, and she was sure he'd arrested Josh at one time or another.

“My guess would be my brother, their father, put it in there. Don't ask me why. There's no logic in what he does. What happens now?” Meg had no qualms telling the cops the truth. Fuck Josh. He'd landed his boys in a world of shit.

“You ratted! You're a rat!” Joshua lunged out of the chair in a move that no one, not even Meg, had expected. She ended up on her ass and he was on top of her, hitting her over and over again. It was Callahan who managed to get Joshua off of her.

“Restrain him!” Long shouted. “I'm calling an ambulance.”

“I don't need an ambulance,” Meg protested as she scrambled to her feet. “Leo, go out and wait in the hall.” She didn't want him to see any more of this than he already had. He looked up at her, eyes wide, but did as he asked. He was always such a good boy.

“It's not for you, it's for him,” Long informed her. “Before you got here, Principal Snyder gave us a troubling recount of Joshua's recent behavior. We were just going to call child services, but I can't ignore that outburst. If you feel that you require an ambulance, I'll be happy to call for another.”

“No ambulance,” Meg replied. “Is this really necessary? I know that he's been having a rough time lately. He's nearly a teenager. It's the hormones.” It was a struggle not to cry, but somehow she managed.

“Yes. It is.” Long gave her a look that suggested he pitied her. She didn't want his pity. “You'll need to come to the hospital, sign some papers.”

“Excuse me.” Principal Snyder cleared her throat primly. “Actually, she's not the legal guardian of the boys. She doesn't have the authority to sign for anything. It's right there in the report that I gave you.” Meg's list of people who needed to be punched in the throat was growing by leaps and bounds. “And Ms. Castle, until this is all resolved, both boys are suspended.”

“Of course they are.” Meg didn't know what was going to come out of her mouth next when the door to the office opened and Monroe stepped in.

“Sorry, Meg. I just got your message. So, what's going on here?” His tone was casual. Principal Snyder just gaped at the new arrival. Long look pissed, and Meg deduced it had been Callahan who'd called him. She was glad that he was there. “We should probably make this quick. Leo's not feeling so well.”

“What are you doing here, Monroe?” Long demanded. “You're not one of us anymore. You've got no right.”

“Meg's a good friend, so are the boys.” Monroe walked over to where Joshua was, checked the cuffs that bound his wrists. “You've got the cuffs on a little tight here, Long. He's a kid.”

“He was out of control. Assaulted his aunt.” Long stood his ground. “Ms. Castle, we need you to go down to the station and make a statement about this incident and to go on record that the drugs are your brother's. I'm sure that CPS will also have some questions for you as well.”

“I'll have her there,” Monroe answered. “Until then, she's got nothing to say.” He reached out and took her hand. Meg let him, and the next few moments were a blur. She only began to think again when they were in his truck with the heat at the highest level.

“What do I do?” Meg leaned her head back against the seat. She felt like she was going to throw up and pass out at once, or maybe her heart would just give out. Tears burned the back of her eyes but didn't fall. “What do I do?”

“Give your statement about Josh,” Monroe told her. “Talk to the social worker, explain the situation and go for custody of the boys. You should have done that already.” He reached out, patted her leg.

“I can't take Leo with me to the police station.”

“Leo's not coming with us. I talked to a friend, she's got a few little ones at home and said Leo can come hang out with them. She said something about tacos for lunch. He'll have a good time there.”

“I like tacos.” Leo piped up from the back seat. “And I wanted to tell you about the bags, except Joshua said that would be wrong. Dad said we just had to hold them until his friend came to get them.”

“What friend, Leo?”

“Whitey.”

Meg had never heard of a friend of Josh's named Whitey, but that didn't mean much since he changed friends more than he changed his boxers. It was all about who could benefit him at the moment. Once there was no gain, he moved onto the next source. He was like a leech that way. It didn't really matter who Whitey was, because he didn't matter. The boys were what mattered.