Indelible (12 page)

I got up and opened the fridge, grabbing her preferred white wine and pouring her a glass. I placed it in front of her on the table, topping off my glass as well with the red I already had opened.

“Mmm,” she hummed after she took the first sip. “Perfect. So, any news on the teaching front?”

“Well, I have letters of recommendation from the Art Department and one of my professors, and I’ve been looking online at schools with good art programs. I’ll be able to apply to work on an intern credential with my BA, so I’ve been looking for schools that will accept that. I also heard from my mom that the art teacher I had in middle school is retiring, and that she wants me to put in for that job.”

“That would be good, right? To be by your parents?”

“It would help a lot with Karrie, that’s for sure. Until she’s ready to go start school, I’ll either need to find a daycare or someone to watch her in their home. Plus, I’ll have to work full time and go to classes two nights a week for my credentials, so I’ll be really busy. Having my family right there would make my life a lot easier, and I know they’d be thrilled to have Karrie close by.”

“I’ll be so sad not to get to see you both every day,” Molly said with an exaggerated pout.

“I know,” I said, sad at the thought of having to move away from my friends. Molly, Bill, and Thomas would be moving to Florida after graduation to be closer to Bill’s family. I was really going to miss them, and I knew Karrie would too.

“We still have a few months before we have to worry about saying goodbye, so let’s talk about something else. This is supposed to be our fun time,” Molly said.

“You’re right,” I agreed. I didn’t want to rush the next few months, even though they’d come soon enough.

I couldn’t believe I’d left my dad at rehab last night. It had been a long time coming, but he’d looked so nervous and, well…lost. I’d wanted to grab him and take him back home, but I knew that he would be better for it. That we both would. But shit, it was really hard to leave him there.

Now I was in the gym, lifting weights and hoping that his first night had gone alright. I hadn’t told anyone on the team. I figured everyone had their own problems; there was no reason to air mine.

“Fuck!” Tuck yelled from the bench. “A couple days of puking my guts out and I can barely lift. I wasn’t expecting it to be this hard to bounce back.”

“Just give it time, man,” I said, grabbing the weights from him to do my set. “You’ll get there. You just have to build back up to it.”

“I guess,” Tuck said, running his hands through his blonde hair. “Shit, I’m due for a haircut…and a drink…and some ass.”

I chuckled at that before returning my focus to my last few reps.

“What do you say we go out for a drink tonight after practice?” I offered. It would be good to hang out and take my mind off my dad.

“Sounds good to me,” Tuck responded. “I’ve got to go clean up and head to class. I’m sure there is a ton of work I need to catch up on. I’ll see you at practice.”

“Sounds good, brother.”

I finished my time in the weight room, and then got on the elliptical for half an hour to get some cardio in. By the time I changed and got out of the gym, I noticed that I’d have to run to catch Sam at the coffee shop before she left for class.

As I walked up, I saw Sam exiting the building.

“Hey!” I shouted, jogging over to meet her.

Sam turned and her face lit up with a smile. Shit, she looked hot. Instead of stopping before I reached her, I ran right up to her and swept her into my arms, stealing a kiss before she realized what was coming.

When I pulled away, my heart was pounding and my breathing was ragged.

“Hi,” Sam said softly with a shy smile.

I dove in for one more quick kiss before responding.

“Sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I took longer at the gym than I thought.”

“That’s okay. I’m happy you’re here now.” Her words brought a smile to my face.

“Can I walk you to class?” I asked, taking her hand.

“Sure.”

With her hand warm in mine, I flashed back to those hands on my body a few days ago. I couldn’t wait to have her under me again.

I cleared my throat and tried to clear my thoughts. I’d hate to pop a boner just from holding her hand.

“So, how have you been the last couple of days?” Sam asked, unaware of the thoughts her question brought to the surface.

I wondered how my dad was holding up. I was really worried that he was in some sort of pain, or getting depressed. I wasn’t allowed to see him for the first couple of weeks, and I think that was the hardest part of all of this for me, not being able to see for myself that he was doing alright.

“Pretty good,” I answered automatically. “How about you?”

“Good,” Sam said, looking at me inquisitively. “I spent time with Karrie and hung out with my friend Molly.”

I nodded, distracted. “Sounds fun.”

Sam stopped and put her hands on my face, urging me to look at her. “Are you sure everything’s okay? You seem off.”

I felt like I needed to tell someone, and since she was trusting me to meet her kid this weekend, I figured I could trust her with what was happening with my family right now.

“Not so great, actually,” I began. I almost lost my nerve when she turned to look at me, but I took a breath and kept going. “I dropped my dad off at rehab last night. See, my mom died when I was ten. Car accident, she died instantly. My dad didn’t take it well and started drinking soon after. He hasn’t been the same since.”

Sam stopped, pulling me close and wrapping her arms around me. It felt good to allow someone to comfort me, so I put my arms around her and hugged her tightly.

“I’m so sorry,” Sam said into my chest. “It must have been hard for you to lose your mom so young.”

“It was,” I admitted, kissing her softly on top of her head. “She was the light of our lives, and when she died we didn’t know what to do with ourselves. I should have talked to my dad about getting help years ago, I just didn’t know how.”

“It’s great that he’s getting help now,” Sam replied, squeezing me tighter.

“Thanks,” I said, kissing her again before pulling her down the sidewalk. “C’mon, let’s get you to class. I don’t want to be the cause of you missing any more classes this week.” I laughed, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Talking to Sam had helped, and I was glad I’d opened up. The more time I spent with her, the more reasons I found to really like her.

We stopped in front of the Arts building, and I pulled her back into my arms, not ready to let her go. The kiss started off soft and teasing, then Sam put her hand behind my head and pulled me in, taking the kiss deeper and causing my libido to go on high alert.

I crushed her to me, her soft breasts teasing my chest, her scent enveloping me. I moved my hands to her hips, squeezing her gently there and thrusting slightly, allowing the friction between our bodies to hit her in just the right spot.

Sam moaned against my lips and curled her hand into a fist behind my head.

“Get a goddamn room!” a voice yelled from somewhere behind us. It took a minute for the blood to return to my head. I broke from Sam to see James standing on the steps above us.

“James,” I greeted, not quite happy to see her.

I turned back to Sam, who looked embarrassed to have been caught practically dry humping in front of the building.

“Looks like you two are getting along famously,” James said wryly, stomping down the steps in her combat boots.

“What’s up?” Sam asked.

“Not much. Heading out to meet a friend,” James said, blowing a kiss at us as she walked by. “I like your hair,” she said to Sam and then kept on walking.

I looked at Sam’s hair. I wasn’t sure what James had meant. It was still long and still red… Hmmm.

“Yeah, uh, I like your hair too,” I said to Sam, trying to save face.

Sam laughed, lifting her hand up and tapping me lightly on the cheek.

“You have no idea what is different about my hair, do you?”

“Nope,” I said with a grin.

She laughed again and then walked passed me toward the door. Before she reached it, she turned and blew me a kiss, mimicking James.

I was about to do that thing where you catch the kiss in your hand, but I stopped myself, saving myself from looking like a total douche.

Instead I lifted my head in a nod, before turning and heading back the way we came. And if my step was a little lighter, and I whistled as I walked…what the fuck was wrong with that?

“We do want to see you, Mom, but we already have plans today. Yeah, I know, but you didn’t say anything to me about coming up this weekend, so I didn’t know,” I said with the phone pressed between my ear and shoulder as I tried to finish packing the picnic basket. “How about next weekend? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I’ll tell her. Okay, love you too, Mom. Bye.”

I hung up the phone and put it in my back pocket, going through the basket to make sure I had everything.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Check.

Goldfish crackers for Karrie. Check.

Juice boxes. Check.

Fruit salad. Check.

I tossed in some napkins and forks for the fruit salad and figured that was as good as it was going to get.

I ran into the living room to double check Karrie’s backpack before going into her room to wake her up from her nap.

Judd was supposed to meet us at the park in fifteen minutes and I was hoping to beat him there.

“Time to get up, Karebear,” I said softly, sitting on her bed and rubbing her back to try and get her to stir.

She stretched a bit and her little fist shook as she began to wake up. She was so dang cute. My angel.

“Hi, Mommy,” Karrie said, her blue eyes fixating on mine as she smiled up at me.

“Hi, baby girl. Wanna go to the park?”

I knew that would do the trick — she sat up wide-eyed and ready to go. If there was one way to get my daughter moving, it was to mention a trip to the park. She loved being outside. Her favorite part was the swings.

“Let’s try to go potty before we go,” I said, hoping that she hadn’t gone in her pull-up during her nap.