Us (26 page)
Chapter
40 – Elle
I'd left the kitchen cleaner than I found it out of habit. Despite the horror stories you might hear about the dirtiness of restaurant kitchens, Applebee's kept theirs relatively clean, much to the dismay of the cooks who had to scrub shit down each night. Once upstairs, I made a beeline for the shower, wanting nothing more than to use my own shampoo, put on my own clothes, and put some decent product in my curls. Though I didn't use Herbal Essence, I damn near orgasmed in the shower. That's how good it felt to have my stuff back, even if it was just a bag full.
Once out of the shower, I took my time moisturizing from head to toe, cleaning up my toenails, my split ends, and just taking my damn time in the bathroom for the first time in weeks. When I was fresh and clean, I sat down on the bed, noticing for the first time a plastic bag with a note attached. I picked the bag up and nearly squealed when I saw the name of the store.
Best Buy.
I had an idea what it was before I opened the bag, but pulled the note off that was taped to it first.
Thought you might need this. For inspiration, of course. I love you now, and I'll love you when we meet again in our next life.
J
I smiled at his scribbled hand writing, once again holding back tears. I opened the Best Buy bag to find the newest Kindle available. Turning it on, I realized he'd already synced it to my account so all my books were right there, all ready for my smutty eyes to devour the erotic words the device held. Scrolling through, I decided to start Knight, the Kristen Ashley book I'd been meaning to read since before I left to go to Mexico.
I was leaning against the headboard, legs outstretched and crossed together, my pussy throbbing from the words on the Kindle when J entered the room. I looked up at him, and had his arm not been in a sling, I would have dove for his body. I was ready, my panties drenched from the sex-filled story KA had created. It was like literary foreplay, and J was the lucky recipient of the dirty thoughts filtering through my brain.
"You wanna go downstairs?" He said it with skepticism.
"I wanna go down somewhere." My voice was not my own. It was sultry and seductive, a voice I knew how to call upon when n
ecessary, but this time it wasn't planned. I hadn't intentionally dropped my tone of voice and called up the sex goddess inside of me—it just came out.
J broke into laughter. "Oh baby, I love you so fucking much, but we need to make an appearance downstairs so we can get out of here. I want to go home—and then do whatever it is you were reading about."
I think I might have blushed at the thought of J doing to me the kinds of things Knight did to Anya.
"Alright," I said on a fake sigh.
We headed downstairs and although it was still daylight outside, the party was in full swing. I looked down at myself, at my jeans, black and green tank top, and green Adidas I wore. I looked up at the rest of the women in the room.
I was seriously overdressed.
Like, I had too many clothes on.
OK, so maybe some things were just like in the books, because the room was skankerific.
We walked over to Link and Cash who seemed to be in a heated discussion, almost as if they were about to come to blows with one another when J got up between them.
"What's this all about? I thought we were celebrating?" J tried to defuse the situation with some humor.
"It's nothing." Link's eyes bore holes into his VP.
"Yeah, nothing," Cash mimicked.
"Where's Chris?" I posed the question to Link, as I'd decided I liked him a little more than Cash. Not that I was hating on Cash, but it was like there was a neon sign hanging above his head that said
I'll love ya then leave ya.
"She went home. Had plenty of fun last night." Link said this through gritted teeth.
"She said to call her when you can."
OK, then. I nudged J and motioned my eyes around the room, hoping he understood my signal to make our rounds and get out before shit got out of hand.
"We're gonna say hello to a few folks and then head out. Link, I'll be in touch soon to see if you need anything. Cash, try not to catch the herps tonight, OK?" Again, his attempt at humor was futile, so we walked away, my arm linked though J's good one.
Although I could have easily gotten fucked up and hung with the boys late into the night, I was just as anxious as J to get back home. I'd had my fill of St. Louis for the time being. We said hello and shared a beer with Scratch and Run, Scratch having elected himself the official bartender for the night, and Run the Master of
Ceremonies. Both were well on their way to hammered, and a gaggle of gals surrounded them, all waiting turns to have body shots done off them. I just shook my head at the girls I'd never be.
We found Dig and Son in a corner, also in a heated debate a la Cash and Link style. I wasn't sure what Cash and Link were arguing about, but I had a feeling it involved Chris in some way. When I got out of the shower in the afternoon there
had been a text from her.
CHRIS: didn't fuck anyone
That was it. Alrighty then.
Son and Dig's argument was apparent as soon as we walked up and Son yelled over the music to his dad. All I caught was one word, and it was the only word I needed to hear in order to know exactly what they were fighting about.
Isabel.
J stepped in as if they were chatting about baseball. "Brothers, have a great night. I plan to. Dig, I'll be in touch in the next day or so?"
"Sure." Just like Link, Dig said this through gritted teeth. Son never took his eyes off Dig to say goodbye, and J made a smooth exit for us.
"Is this how it normally is?" I asked J as he grabbed my bag from one of the tables and we walked outside.
"Oh this is tame. At three in the morning, this will seem like a nothing."
"But we're not going to be here at three in the morning."
"Nope," J said, putting the keys to the Suburban in my hand. "You opposed to some speeding?" I shook my head. "Get us home woman."
So I did
.
We decided to go to J's for the night. Although I wouldn't have minded going to sleep in my apartment, the promise of watching the sunset together was too good to pass up. We made it home just in time to drop our bags at the door, kick our shoes off, and fall onto the couch. I curled up next to J, cursing Burns for shooting him in the shoulder and making my giant of a man injured so that I couldn't have both of his arms wrapped around me.
We sat in silence as the sun slowly began its descent on the horizon. At some point, we both let out sighs that were filled with the release of the last few weeks' of bullshit. Our bodies melted into one another's, and J grabbed my hand. He kissed the ring I wore while looking into my eyes. I couldn't imagine ever getting tired of the onyx orbs that peered back at me.
He was mine.
We were us.
Something occurred to me, though.
"What do the numbers and letters on the ring mean
? I know you said it's where Gramps and your Gram fell in love, but what does it mean?"
J laughed. "Gramps was a bit of a nut. I told you this land had been in my family since they came to Missouri, kicked off their own land when the settlers came?" I nodded. "Those are the coordinates for the pond. The longitude and latitude."
"Fuck. That's deep."
"You don't think it's a 'lil nerdy?" J asked.
I looked him in the eyes. "I think it's about one of the most romantic, albeit dorky, things I've ever heard. It fits, though. I fell in love with you right here, watching the sunset."
"You knew then?" J's voice was full of surprise.
"Not consciously, but looking back, yeah. Everything changed for me that night."
"The night you ran."
"I ran cuz I didn't know how to handle the things you made me feel. I was falling, and I didn't know it. I didn't know what to do with all the emotions. I compartmentalized everything else, but there wasn't a compartment for love, so it was just drifting around in my head scaring the shit out of me."
"Are you still scared?"
"Of love?" J nodded. "Nah. It's you and me. It's us. I'm scared of losing you more than loving you."
"You don't need to worry about that." He kissed the top of my head. "I don't plan to go anywhere for many lifetimes. You're stuck with me."
"What about the house? Are you going to keep it or live at a clubhouse?"
Wow, Elle. Talk about balls
. I was planning to save that for a later date, but I guess now was as good a time as any.
"I bowed out of the clubhouse for now, but I'll go back and forth
between all the places while I figure out my next move."
"So you're staying in Gramps
' house?" I asked, my voice filled with hope.
"I'm staying—in our house."
Crap.
Shit.
Fuck.
Holy fucking shit crap.
"Our house?" I repeated his words as a question. J nodded, his face filled with hope.
This was us, as much as it scared me. Yeah, I lied when I told him I wasn't scared. In that moment, everything was perfect, and I knew I loved J more than I thought possible. It was the days ahead that scared me, the unknown future that lie ahead of us.
Sure, the past month had been off the hook, but before that, before J, my life was predictable. Wild at times, but predictable. Now, I didn't know what to expect. The little girl in me wanted to curl up in a corner and let life pass her by, but the voice deep in my head was telling me to buck the fuck up and love the man sitting next to me. It was time to put those big girl panties on and let love in.
So I was.
I took a deep breath. What was going to happen with the club was still up in the air, but my love for J was not. They'd still be hunting down the man who ratted out the club, kidnapped Chris and I, and how the Zetas fit into everything in the near future. For now, though, it was J and I.
Us.
No more and no less. We were together, and I'd learned enough through all this to know that no one could love me the way he did, not could I love anyone as much as I loved J.
I slowly inhaled and exhaled once more before answering.
"Our house." It was a statement, a declaration, not a question.
####
Thank
you for taking the time to read this book.
This one took me longer than any other to write. Not because I loved it any less or felt disconnected to the characters, but because in the midst of writing it I moved to another country. I know, my crazy ass always has impeccable timing. I appreciate your patience in allowing me time to write the best book possible for you.
Though I am sad to leave Elle and J, they will be returning as Chris is already demanding a book of her own. As well, people have threatened death upon me if José doesn't get his HEA, so that is in the works too. Plus, we can't have Chris or José without Elle and J. Plan on hearing more about their
wild adventures. I've had many requests for Fernie and Genesis to get their own book, but they're going to have to be eighteen. No YA for me. I tried and just can't keep it clean ;)
You can review this book on Goodreads, your blog, or your favorite retailer if you so desire. (Please desire.)
Find me on
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will also find updates on the next books in the series as well other standalones I'm working on via the aforementioned social media sites.
You can check out my
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Mexico among other things.
Many thanks-
Emily
Sabinas would not exist without Mariana, Elena, Tía Arcely, and the entire Ayala family. Thank you for showing me the beauty of you
r city.
Ojo de Agua
really exists, and it's freaking beautiful! I encourage you all to check it out and enjoy a
cahuama
while doing so.
To Mariana for being there with me every step of the way. There are no words I can use to tell you how much it means that you let me ramble on about Elle and J, let me sleep on your futon,
go to the bank with me, but NOT as lesbians, and just for being my friend through everything.
To Elena for being the dirty girl.
To Maria Isabel for being the dirty girl's voice.
To Melinda, thank you for always having such great feedback. You tell me the truth in the nicest way possible.
Thank you for the red, purple and black emails. You take my writing to the next level, and I can't express my gratitude. When I get a movie deal, I'll make sure you're on payroll :)
To Lisagh, who edits my shit when I don't even have time to edit hers. Thanks, girl. Me and Mexico thank you.