Unstoppable (A Country Roads Novel) (18 page)

Dinner with Mel’s family was a breeze. Hamilton was hilarious, and Miles was very laid-back and easy to talk to. Sure Corinne seemed to say whatever she was thinking, but Bennett was used to that with his own mother. He could handle strong-willed women, and though Mel wasn’t one to always voice her opinions, she was pretty strong-willed in her own right. He just didn’t think she knew how strong she was.

When Bennett pulled up into Mel’s driveway he parked next to her car and turned his truck off. He turned to her as he put his hand on the back of her headrest.

“So, do you want to come in?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.

“For coffee?” he asked, twisting a curl around his finger.

“Sure.” She glanced at her watch. “In about eight hours.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he said with a grin.

They were in her house about two minutes later, and about five minutes after that they were in her bed.

Bennett was more than a little pleased to see Dale show up with Hamilton at three on Wednesday. Both of them were wearing gym shorts, T-shirts, and sneakers, though Dale’s looked a little bit more worn out than Bennett would’ve liked.

“You two ready?” Bennett asked as he threw his gym bag into the backseat of his truck and shut the door.

“Yup,” Hamilton said.

Dale just shrugged.

“Then let’s go.” Bennett led them over to the track that ran around the football field.

They did stretches until Bennett thought they were loosened up enough to hit the pavement. He didn’t push himself as hard as he normally did, wanting the kids to keep up with him, and they did for about half an hour until Dale fell back, breathing hard.

Bennett stopped and turned around. Hamilton was pretty short of breath and red in the face.

“You two gone about as far as you think you can?”

Both of them nodded.

“Let’s go cool it down, then,” Bennett said.

They walked onto the field and stretched out again. When they finished, Dale fell back on the grass and looked up at the sky. “You’re brutal, man,” he said as he threw his arm over his eyes.

“You haven’t seen anything yet, buddy,” Bennett said from his position on the grass. He stretched his legs out in front of him and watched the two kids recover.

“Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard for you if you stopped smoking weed,” Hamilton said as he grabbed their water bottles.

“I don’t see you doing much better than me, asshole.” Dale dropped his arm and sat up. “And I haven’t smoked anything in weeks.”

Hamilton handed Dale a bottle and eyed him speculatively for a second. “That’s good, because I can guarantee you there was no way you were going to get Kylee. She doesn’t put up with that stuff.”

Dale’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and his body froze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t,” Hamilton said with a smirk. “You know you can hang out with me sometime if you want.”

Dale’s body relaxed at the change of subject, and he shrugged. “Sure.”

“You doing anything tonight?”

“No, my mom’s working late.”

“You want to come over for dinner?” Hamilton sat on the grass a couple of feet from Dale.

Dale shrugged again. “Sure.”

“Can you stop with all of the noncommittal ‘I don’t care’ crap?” Hamilton asked. “It gets really old.”

Bennett tried not to laugh. He was getting pretty sick of that crap from Dale, too.

“Maybe I
don’t
care.”

“Maybe,” Hamilton said as he lay back and closed his eyes. “But I think you do.”

Yeah, Bennett had to agree with Hamilton. He was pretty sure Dale did care, cared a lot.

Mel had dinner with Harper, Grace, and Preston on Wednesday night. She got back around seven and started doing laundry in between grading papers. She’d fallen a little behind on her normal day-to-day tasks, being a little distracted with a certain man.

She and Bennett hadn’t actually made plans to see each other that night, so she wasn’t exactly sure if he would be coming over after practice. He might need some space after spending four nights in a row with her.

So the ball was in his court as to what would happen tonight.

If anything did happen.

God, she hated playing games so freaking much, but she didn’t want to be this pathetic clingy girlfriend who couldn’t spend a night away from her new boyfriend.

“Oh, this is so stupid,” she said as she slammed the door of the dryer shut and turned it on. “I want to see him. This shouldn’t be so damn complicated.”

She grabbed the basket full of clean laundry and headed for the living room. She put the basket down on the couch and played the episode of
Friends
she’d paused. She folded about three things before she reached over and checked her phone.

Nothing.

“Soooo stupid,” she said, beyond frustrated with herself.

He’d stayed at her house the night before, so she’d woken up with him, and they had seventh period in the wood shop. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen him today. Why was she being so ridiculous?

She just needed to distract herself. She eyed the pile of laundry in front of her. Yeah, this sure as hell wasn’t going to do it.

Her phone beeped and vibrated against the coffee table. Mel turned and pounced on it before the screen even had time to go dark.

Hey hot stuff, what are you doing?

Laundry
, she texted back as a smile split her face.

Sounds thrilling. Want a distraction?

Depends on what you have in mind. I’m about to start matching my socks and that’s the best part.

I’ll show you my best part
, he responded a second later.

Mel took a deep breath, feeling a little light-headed and a lot turned on.

Well, then get over here and show me…will there be a hands-on portion of this demonstration?
she typed out. But her finger hovered over the Send button for a second. She’d never sent dirty text messages. Well, there was no time like the present. She bit her lip nervously as she hit Send.

Bennett had been responding right away, so when a minute went by with nothing, she started to feel a little nervous. But there was a knock on her front door a moment later.

Mel put her phone down on the coffee table and walked across her living room with a quickness. She peeked out of the peephole to find Bennett standing on her porch. She opened the door and before she could even say hello he was on her, pushing her back into the hallway and closing the door with his foot.

“So let’s talk about this hands-on portion,” he said against her mouth. He walked her backward until she hit the wall. “How much hands-on are we talking about?” His mouth was on her neck now, and his hands were traveling down her sides to her hips.

“How much can you handle?” she asked.

“At this point? Very little,” he whispered against her collarbone as he pressed his very prominent erection into her thigh.

“It doesn’t feel very little.” She slipped her hand between them and cupped the front of his jeans. “You really do go from zero to sixty, don’t you?”

Bennett laughed as he pulled back and looked at her. “Zero? I haven’t been at zero in weeks. Though that text message of yours would’ve done the trick all on its own. I had no idea you could be so dirty, Ms. O’Bryan.”

“You started it.”

He grinned. “That I did.”

“Do you intend on finishing it?”

Heat flared up in his eyes as he reached down and grabbed her thighs.

“Oh,” she gasped, startled, as he picked her up.

Her legs automatically wrapped around him and he pulled back from the wall. He adjusted her in his arms as he reached for the door and flipped the locks.

He carried Mel to her bedroom and did finish it. And her. Twice.

There was just something about pillow talk with Mel that Bennett couldn’t get enough of. She was curled up against him, her hands playing back and forth on his chest. He had his hands on her back and he was working his fingers up and down her spine. She was so soft and warm in his arms. He’d been thinking about this all damn day…well, this and the other things that they’d already accomplished.

She shifted against him, one of her legs riding up between his.

“I’m glad you came over,” she said, looking up at him.

“I told you I was. Didn’t I?” He slipped his hands down to the small of her back and pulled her closer to him.

“No.” She shook her head shyly.

“I didn’t?” he asked, confused. “I thought before I’d left after seventh period…” He trailed off as she shook her head again. “Well then, why didn’t you call me or text me?”

Mel shrugged and bit her lip.

He brought one of his hands up and pulled her bottom lip out of her mouth. “Talk to me.”

“I don’t want to be
that
girl.”

“
What
girl?”

“The clingy, needy one.”

“I don’t think you’re either of those things.” He brought his mouth to hers and kissed her.

“Okay,” she said against his mouth.

“I mean it, Melanie.”

A sweet smile came across her lips. “I really like it when you call me Melanie.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah,” she said, as she snuggled into his chest.

“Well, then good night, Melanie. Sweet dreams.” He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her.

“Night, Bennett,” she sighed contentedly, her breath washing out over his skin.

Bennett held onto her, appreciating everything about the woman in his arms as he fell asleep.

O
n Thursday night, Mel met Bennett at his place before they headed over to his parents’ house. She was a little fidgety in the car, but she wasn’t nearly as jumpy as she’d been before dinner with her family.

“How you doing over there?” Bennett reached over and gently squeezed her knee.

“Good.” She smiled as she turned to look at him.

He could see she was telling the truth, too, not that he thought she would lie to him. Bennett had quickly picked up on the fact that Mel wore her emotions on her sleeve, and besides, lying just wasn’t in her nature. “Good, because you have nothing to worry about.”

“Me? Worry? Never,” she said sarcastically. “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Riiight.” He looked back to the road. To be honest, he was a little nervous. Not because he thought his parents would say something to embarrass him, and he definitely wasn’t concerned whether or not they would like Mel. They’d met her plenty of times, and they were already big fans. Plus it was Mel—what wasn’t there to like?

No, he was nervous because this was a pretty big step for him.

“You know, I’ve never brought a girl home to meet my parents before,” he told her. He wanted her to know this meant something to him. That she meant something to him.

She shifted in her seat to face him. “Never?” she asked, sounding surprised.

“Nope.” He pulled into his parents’ driveway and put his truck in Park. He turned to look at her and found a very sweet smile playing across her lips.

“What?” he asked, unable to keep himself from smiling, too.

“It’s just, I’m not the only one crossing things off a list.”

For some reason that little statement took him back for a second. But it was true. He was doing a lot of things he’d never done before with Mel, and they hadn’t been together for all that long.

“That’s true. You ready?”

Mel nodded.

“Then let’s go.”

As always, Bennett got out first and walked around to the passenger side to help Mel get out. He snuck in a few quick kisses before he grabbed her hand and led her up to the house. The second they walked inside Jocelyn was there, throwing her arms around Mel.

“Oh it’s so great to have you here dear.” Jocelyn beamed as she took a step back to look at Mel. “You’re positively stunning.” Then she looked up at Bennett. “She’s stunning, Benny. You better tell her this all the time.”

“I do,” Bennett said. “Believe me.”

“Come on, darling.” Jocelyn grabbed Mel’s elbow and led her down the hall. “Benny, your father is outside. He insisted on grilling steaks, so why don’t you go help him?”

“Will do,” Bennett said as he watched his two favorite women walk away.

Mel looked over her shoulder.
Benny?
she mouthed at him, grinning.

Yeah, so that one hadn’t skipped her attention. Not that he’d expected it to. Bennett just shrugged at her. He had nothing.

Mel’s grin widened as she turned back around.

Bennett headed outside to find his father flipping the steaks. The coals sizzled as juice spilled out of the meat. “Hey, Dad,” he said as he shut the door behind him.

He looked a lot like his father. They were the same height, though Walker was about fifty pounds heavier and had a bit of a beer belly. He also had a very thick beard and mustache that matched his graying hair.

“Hey,” Walker said. “Is your pretty little lady inside with my pretty little lady?”

“Yeah,” Bennett replied. “I’m almost positive Mom is giving her an earful.”

“Would you expect anything else?” Walker asked as he closed the grill.

“Nope.”

“Your mother has been in a fuss for the last couple of days about this. You’d swear royalty was coming or something.”

Bennett chuckled.

“That’s a sound I’ve heard very little of lately,” Walker said, giving Bennett a significant look.

“Oh, come on. I haven’t been that bad.”

Walker just raised his eyebrows at his son.

“All right, I admit it. The last few years have sucked. But it’s getting better.”

“Due in no small part to that young lady in there.”

“How would you know?” Bennett asked, raising his own eyebrows. “You haven’t even seen us together.”

“Yeah, but I’ve seen
you
. I remember how closed off you were when Kristi walked out on us.”

Bennett let out a sigh. He never liked conversations about his birth mother. She was long gone and she could stay that way forever, for all he cared.

“It took you some time to warm up to Jocelyn, but once you did you were putty in her hands.”

“And you think I’m putty now?”

“Son, I know a malleable man when I see one.” Walker grabbed his beer from beside the grill and tipped it back.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been called ‘malleable’ before,” Bennett said unable to stop the smile that turned up his mouth.

“Well, the fact that you’re smiling these days is proof positive that something’s changing, and for the better.”

Yeah, things were definitely better with Mel. But this wasn’t all that shocking. How could things not improve when she was around, when he was spending so much time with her, waking up next to her, making love to her? What man wouldn’t be smiling?

“Anyway, it’s good to see you happy again. That was all I meant.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Bennett said, clapping his father on the shoulder.

“You mind refilling me?” Walker asked as he handed Bennett his empty beer bottle.

“On it.” He grabbed the bottle and headed for the minifridge in the corner.

The backyard was an oasis for both Jocelyn and Walker. Jocelyn had her massive garden on the backside, and Walker had his very equipped porch. The grill was built into the back wall, with slate counters on either side that could handle the outside weather. The back wall housed a minifridge, which was always stocked with beer, and a sink. Above the sink hung all of Walker’s grilling utensils.

Bennett grabbed two beers, and as he straightened he heard laughing coming from the window to his right. He looked over to see Mel and Jocelyn in the kitchen. Both women held glasses of wine. Jocelyn was at the stove, sautéing what Bennett could only presume to be mushrooms and onions, while Mel leaned back against the counter.

Mel looked up and made eye contact with him through the window, and her sweet little mouth quirked to the side. As he smiled back at Mel, Jocelyn turned around and caught the moment between the couple. She said something to Mel that made her blush, but he could tell by the relaxed set of her shoulders that it didn’t make her uncomfortable.

Bennett really wanted to know what Jocelyn had said. He’d just have to ask Mel later.

“He adores you,” Jocelyn said. “I’ve never seen my son act this way before. He’s had a rough couple of years since he came back. You’ve definitely had a positive impact on him.”

“I can’t have had that much of an impact. We haven’t even been dating for two weeks.” Really? Had it been only that long? Mel felt as if it had been months since Bennett had cornered her in that supply closet and kissed the breath out of her.

“Oh sugar,” Jocelyn said. “My son has been sweet on you for some time now. He would drop your name every once in a while, and you better believe I noticed it when the frequency picked up.”

“When did that start?” Mel asked, very intrigued.

“Around last April.”

That was about the time Mel had asked him for help with the project. Of course, at that time she’d been trying to get Superintendent Reynolds to approve it, and it had been an epic fail.

“He was beside himself when you got shot,” Jocelyn continued. “You also better believe that his spending more time with you didn’t escape my notice, either.”

“Is that so?”

“It is,” Jocelyn replied. “And him bringing you home to meet us isn’t small potatoes. He’s
never
brought a girl home before.”

“He told me that.” Mel still found it all a little hard to believe.

She glanced out the window again. Bennett wasn’t on the other side like he had been last time. No, this time he was across the porch standing next to his dad. Both of them had beers in their hands.

“You know,” Jocelyn said, bringing Mel’s attention back into the kitchen. “Bennett was always a pretty happy kid growing up, but when he came back here, some of the light had disappeared from his eyes.”

“I know it was hard for him, with the accident and everything.”

“Has he told you about it?”

“No.” Mel shook her head. “I know the basics, that the helicopter was shot down and that only two made it back alive. But I haven’t asked him anything about it. I figure he’ll tell me when he wants to.”

“You’re good not to push him. He’s never done very well with that. When it comes to Bennett you’re going to need patience.”

“Boy, do I know that.”

“He’s worth it,” Jocelyn said seriously.

“I know that too. I really do.” Mel looked straight at Jocelyn, not flinching from the woman’s intense gaze. Mel really wanted Bennett’s mother to understand just how much she cared about that man. Even in such a short span of time she was already so in over her head.

“That’s good to hear, because I think you’re good for him. I’m starting to see my son again, the happy one who wasn’t always haunted. His demeanor has lightened significantly since he’s started to spend more time with you. Bennett beams now, and going to war or not, my son
never
beamed before.”

“He makes me incredibly happy, too.”

Jocelyn smiled. “That’s what a mother likes to hear.”

She moved on to a less a serious subject, and the two women chatted as Jocelyn cooked the vegetables on the stove. Mel helped her finish setting the table, over Jocelyn’s protests. By the time the men came in with the steaks, everything was ready.

“Hey,” Bennett said to Mel. “My mother telling you about all of my bad traits?”

Mel shook her head. “I think she’s trying to talk you up so that I’ll like you more. She keeps going on about all of these past achievements. I had no idea you got first place in the potato sack race in fourth grade. That’s quite an accomplishment, and I don’t know why you’d hide that from me.”

“Well, I don’t like to brag about it or anything. You know, big heads and all.”

“I don’t see why not. She also showed me some of your paintings from second grade. You sure had a thing for pink.”

“Hey, I was making those for my mom—what do you expect?”

“That you would’ve made them blue, as that’s my favorite color,” Jocelyn said from behind them.

Bennett turned to his mother. He slid his hand around Mel’s side and pulled her close. “Well, I know that now. Does that count for anything?” he asked.

“Mmm, maybe,” Jocelyn said. Her mouth turned up as she took in the pair of them standing so close. “Dinner’s ready. Why don’t you show Mel into the dining room?”

“Yes ma’am,” Bennett said as he started to pull Mel away.

“And Bennett.” Jocelyn put her hand on his arm to stop him. “I loved everything you ever brought me, pink and all.” She smiled warmly.

“I know, Mom.” He leaned down and planted a kiss on her cheek.

There was just something about how Bennett interacted with his mother that made Mel feel all warm inside. But everything he did had that effect on her.

They got back to Bennett’s house just before nine. He’d asked her to stay the night at his place, so she’d brought a change of clothes for work the next day. Bennett grabbed her bag from the trunk of her car while she grabbed the dress that was hanging in the back seat.

“Hold on—I need that other bag, too,” she said, pointing to a black satchel. “My papers are in it.”

The Braves were playing the Cubs tonight. Normally Bennett would’ve stayed at his parents’ house to watch it with his dad, but Mel really needed to grade tonight. So Bennett would be able to catch the last couple of innings while she did what she needed to do.

“Got it,” he said, grabbing the strap and pulling it up around his shoulder.

Bennett closed the trunk and led the way up to his house. Mel hadn’t been there since that first night, and he was glad she was sleeping over. She followed him inside and he handed her the satchel and took the dress from her other hand.

“Make yourself comfortable,” he said, pointing to the couch. “Let me just put this in my room.”

When he came back, the TV was already on and the game was playing. Mel was unzipping her bag and pulling out a stack of papers, and she had a red pen in her mouth. She put the papers on her lap and looked up at him. Then she pulled the pen out of her mouth and pointed to the screen with it. “I don’t have good news for you.”

Bennett turned and read the score. The Braves were down, 4–1.

“Damn,” he said as he sat down on the couch and pulled off his boots.

“They still have three more innings. Maybe they can pull it out.” She settled back against the couch, pulling her legs up underneath her.

“Maybe.” He stretched out and put his feet up on the steamer trunk. He wrapped his arm around Mel’s shoulders and pulled her into his side, where she settled in for the duration of the game.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Bennett later said to the screen for the umpteenth time.

Mel was trying not to laugh at him, really she was, but he was so aggravated. She’d seen him watch games, but he’d never been this upset before. Maybe Mel had just never seen him watching a game where his team was losing.

The Braves hadn’t improved much on their score. It was now 7–3 in the ninth inning. The odds were not in their favor.

Fifteen minutes later Mel finished grading her last paper. She put it down on the stack in her lap and looked up at the TV just in time to see the last Braves batter strike out.

“Oh, come on,” Bennett groaned. “Well, that’s that.” He shook his head as he grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. He leaned back against the sofa and closed his eyes. “That was just painful. They were all over the freaking place tonight.”

Mel put her papers on the steamer trunk. She turned to Bennett, put one of her knees on the sofa and threw her other leg over his lap and straddled him.