That's a Promise (13 page)

“So, do you think your dads will like me?” He asked me in his cute boyish way. I laughed because that was probably the tenth time he had asked me that question that week. I think he was nervous because he not only had to worry about one dad trying to kill him if he hurt his baby girl, but two.

“I think they might like you. If not, then I guess it just won’t work out for us,” I said back to him with a smirk. He pulled his hand from mine giving me a devilish look, and reached over to tickle my side. I hated that I couldn’t control the bout of laughter that was always uncontrollable when I was being tickled. It wasn’t funny. Being tickled is never funny. So I resorted to the only thing I knew would work while he was driving. I beat him up with my scrawny fists.

“Stop it now, Blake James Porter!” I yelled at him, still laughing.

“Okay... okay… But only because we are in the car. I am not finished with you missy!” he said, pretending to give me a stern look. I smirked at him, having no doubt that he wasn’t finished with me, but knowing that I would find a way to steer his playfulness towards a different outlet.

“Mmmhmmm we’ll see. We women have a secret power that makes sexy men like you lose complete focus, so I think I will be able to escape your future torture.” I winked at him and chuckled at the look on his face.

“You play dirty, baby. But something tells me I really don’t think I will mind,” he said shaking his head.  

We pulled up to the front of my house, and giddiness started to work its way through me. We had lived in that house for about 15 years, and I always felt peace when I was there. It was a two story house that had white paneling on the outside of it. I could tell that Daddy was already working on the garden, because the flowers in front of the house were vibrant. It wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small either. I grew up in that house, and I loved being there. I looked over at Blake, and smiled.

“Come on, scaredy cat!” I hopped out of the car and made my way to the front door. I waited for Blake to catch up, and grabbed his hand to walk into the house together. Daddy was cleaning up the kitchen when we walked in, and Dad was sitting at the kitchen table reading the Sunday paper. They both looked up in unison as we walked into the room.

“Hi dads!” I said smiling at them and running up to give them each a big hug. Dad’s eyes never left Blake’s in a look of resentment, but Daddy looked at him with a much more appreciative eye. I walked back up to Blake and grabbed his hand again. “This is Blake. Blake, these are my dads, Will and Tony.” Blake went up to each of them and shook their hand.

“Nice to meet you sirs.” He cringed a little at the use of ‘sirs,’ but I just laughed and nudged him. I couldn’t get over how cute he was, meeting my dads. He was a tough and confident man around me and other people, but being around my family turned him into a shyer person. I loved it.

“Good to meet you too! Josie seems to be keeping us in the dark, because we were not told how handsome you are!” Daddy said to him teasingly. I swear I saw a slight blush creeping up Blake’s neck when he heard that.

“Yeah, well I am nowhere near as good looking as Josie is,” he said wrapping me into his arms. “She seems to have gotten a perfect mixture of both of your DNA,” Blake said to them, seriously. It was quiet for a few seconds before we all started cracking up laughing.

“Looks like you got yourself a funny one, huh baby girl,” Dad grunted and pulled me into another big hug. He always held me like that, but I swear he was going to kill me one day from squeezing too hard.

“Oh! How’s George?” Daddy asked me, turning serious.

“He had to get a cardio angioplasty, but he seemed to be doing well afterwards, according to the doctors. We can’t see him until later… only family for right now.”

“Oh alright. We’ll go over there with you later. Are you guys hungry? I was just about to make some lunch.” I looked over at the clock, saw that it was 11:00, and I knew he was lying. Sundays were their lazy days. They stayed in bed until 10:30, so they would have just had their breakfast. I smiled at his sweetness, and said yes because I really was starving.

I showed Blake around the house while we waited for Daddy to cook us some food. I showed him our game room, my parent’s room, the guest room (that I begged Daddy to convince Dad not to make Blake stay in), and finally my bedroom. I flopped onto my bed when we walked in. It was good to be in my room. Blake looked around the space, at all my Harry Potter posters, and pictures of family and friends on the wall. He looked at my bookshelf filled with dozens of books. I always prided myself on my bookshelf. There was nothing better looking than a filled bookshelf.

Having him look around my room, a room that screamed nerd, was a little intimidating. This was a personal space for me, and I was sharing this big part of myself with him, not knowing how he would react. He came back over to the bed and laid down next to me and looked at me with a lazy smile.

“You really love books, huh?” he said. I smiled back at him.

“Yes! It’s always been my dream to have a room filled with books. Like in Beauty and the Beast. I’ve always dreamt of gliding around the room on one of those ladders that climbs up the wall, picking out books to read.” I said it wistfully and softly, imagining it vividly in my head.

“What about other activities?” he said with a mischievous look on his face, wiggling his eyebrows. I laughed.

“Yeah, there is nothing hotter than having sex in a room filled with books!” He leaned in closer to me and started nuzzling my neck.

“Mmm, do you have experience in that, Ms. Sommers?”

“No,” I said a little breathless. He climbed over me, but didn’t let his body touch mine.

“I’m going to build you a library room like that, and I am going to make that experience come true for you, love. That’s a fucking promise.” I closed my eyes, picturing us together in a room like that. I could practically feel the euphoria that he would make me feel in there. Pleasure also washed over me, as he called me “love.” He had never called me that before, but it gave me hope that he felt the same way about me as I did him.

“I would love that,” I whispered. He leaned in closer to me so our lips were separated only by a small breath. I licked my dry lips, tasting his in the process, and he moaned in reaction. It took about a millisecond of thought before we sought out each other’s lips greedily.

I slipped my tongue inside his mouth as he moved his hands over my body. He got them underneath of my shirt, and traced them across the bottom of my belly to the bottom of my bra. I moaned into his mouth and rolled over so I was on top of him. I could feel him harden against my groin, turning me on more than I already was. I started grinding against him while he kissed me.

He kissed down my neck, nipping at my skin then licking it after. My movements started to get faster, and he gripped my hips tightly, helping me move against him. I needed more friction, more movement. He moaned as I quickened my pace and grinded himself even harder on me. I needed… needed more… I was moaning louder now, and Blake grabbed my face so he could cover up my moans with his mouth. I felt myself get wet enough to seep through my jeans, but I was too close to my orgasm to try to stop. Blake slipped his hands under my bra and pinched my nipples, giving me exactly what I needed. I groaned and shuddered three times as I came. I was completely embarrassed at myself, but the look of adoration on Blake’s face eased some of the shame.

“Fuck Josie. Watching you do that almost made me bust in my pants. I haven’t done that since I was fifteen years old!” I laughed, and rolled off of him. I was about to say something smart, but Daddy called up the stairs.

“Come on you two! Lunch is ready. Josie, that boy better not be doing naughty things to you or else we will have no choice but to cut off his balls.”

Blake raised his eyebrows at me and I just laughed as we walked down the stairs. “He’s just joking,” I said trying to reassure him.

Dad grunted. “He might be joking, but I’m not.”

*             *             *

The four of us spent the day together, and my dads seemed to like Blake a lot. Especially Daddy. The two of them played chess for a couple hours while Dad and I went into the garage to check out the car we had been working on for the last couple of years. It was a 1965 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S, and Dad got it from a loyal customer who couldn’t work on it any more.

It was my favorite thing to do with Dad. We talked about the shop and life, and I always felt like it made us closer. I was underneath the car replacing the starter, when Blake came walking into the garage. I rolled out, and grinned up at him.

“Come take a walk with me,” he said to me.

“Okay. Just let me tighten this bolt real quick, and I’ll be out. Dad is that cool?”

He grunted, and I knew he was saying yes in his own bear-like way. I finished what I was doing, and got up to go wash my hands.

“Okay. I’m ready,” I said grabbing Blake’s hand.

We started walking down the sidewalk, making small talk. I told him about the neighbors, and explained some of the awful things they would say. He rubbed his thumb back and forth on my hand comforting me as I told him the stories. I felt so at peace with him; I was head over heels for this man. My heart tightened with fear of what that could mean, but a part of me was thrilled.

“I have your birthday present. We got distracted last night, so I wasn’t able to give it to you,” he said to me as we walked. I got excited and grinned at him, stopping our walk immediately.

“Ohhhhh, I
love
presents! Can I have it?” I pleaded to him with widened eyes and a pouty face. I wasn’t ashamed about being excited for a present from my boyfriend. Who didn’t love getting presents? He kissed my pouted lips before he reached into his pocket.

“You can have it, but you have to promise me that you’ll say you like it even if you don’t. I put a lot of work into finding the most perfect gift,” he said a little nervously. He handed me a small box wrapped perfectly in green wrapping paper and a tiny silver bow. I looked up at him and smiled.

“Don’t get any ideas… I had no hand in wrapping that,” he laughed.

I opened the wrapping paper carefully, and pulled out a small little box. My heart raced. No one had ever given me jewelry before, and I was pretty sure that it was jewelry in that box. I opened the box, and gasped when I saw it. I put my hand to my chest and looked up at Blake. He gave me a small smile, and I looked back down at the beautiful ring he had gotten for me.

It was a rose gold band that was molded into a pattern that looked like rope entwined. The band was laced with small diamonds that led to the center of the ring. The center was so gorgeous I could barely breathe. It was an emerald stone that was shaped into a square, my favorite style of ring. The part that was even more amazing, was that the emerald was wrapped in surrounding blue sapphire stones.

It was gorgeous, and so thoughtful. It was unique and completely me. It was us. It was a perfect image of what we were becoming, and how I was feeling. I looked back up to him, and got lost in his brown eyes. I was speechless. I could feel my heart expanding with emotion for him. As I looked into his eyes, I knew. I knew I was so unbelievably in love with him.

“It’s beautiful,” I whispered and looked away. I was shocked at myself for falling in love with him so easily, but there was nothing that I could do to stop the overpowering swell of love that was blossoming for him. It hadn’t been planned. I came to college with no intention of falling in love, but fate had other plans for me. He took the box from me and grabbed my right hand. He slipped on the gorgeous piece of art, and I really believed in that moment that I was spared my life to love and be loved by that man.

“If you don’t like it, Jo, I understand. It was the first time I had ever designed jewelry, so I wasn’t sure,” he said, trailing off at the end of the sentence. I reached up and grabbed his face, and then kissed him in a way that would reflect everything that I felt but couldn’t tell him yet.

“I love it so much,” I said emphatically.
I love you
, I thought. “It’s perfect,” I assured him.
You’re perfect,
I said to myself. “Wait, did you say you designed it? Oh my god, Blake! You are so freaking amazing!” He smiled and lifted me into his arms and kissed me.

“I’m glad you like it,” he said. He grabbed my hand again, and we continued our walk. I felt like I was walking on clouds, deliriously happy to be with him.

“I really like your parents, Jo. I’m glad you let me come and meet them.”

“Yeah, I think they like you too. Now we just have to get through meeting your mom and then we can both relax.”

“Ma’s going to love you, Josie. You’re perfect.” I wasn’t perfect. I was seriously flawed, but I didn’t want to shatter that image just yet.

“I’m tainted, Blake,” I said to him seriously. He stopped abruptly, and stared at me.

“You are most definitely not tainted, love.” There it was again. He called me ‘love’ again. That had to be a sign. He kissed me sweetly, before we turned around and walked back to the house.

*             *             *

After dinner, we went to my room. We watched the first Harry Potter, because my weirdo boyfriend had never watched it! After the movie, we laid in the bed and talked.

“Your dads are great parents, huh?” he asked me out of the blue.

“The best. I never wanted anything. They have always been supportive of me. They rarely fought, and I have always felt lucky to have had them as my parents… Do you want a family?” I asked him, curious. He turned to me and smiled his perfect crooked toothed smile.

“Yeah, I do. I want a bunch of kids with the most perfect girl by my side. Like 10 kids, babe...,” he said, chuckling. I’m sure that last part wasn’t true, but he was so cute when he said it. His eyes got thoughtful, and he continued. “I’ve always worried that I would end up like my dad, but I think I’ve always placed enough distance from him so that won’t happen.”

“You won’t be like your dad if you don’t want to be,” I said. I really had no idea, because he didn’t talk about him too much, but I could just tell that he would be a great dad. I’ve seen the way he coaches the kid’s soccer teams at the gym. He’s amazing.