of home and straight to bed. After spending over twenty-four hours in nothing but our birthday suits, real life came calling this morning. She was too nervous visiting Emily hand in hand to have a roll between the sheets with me today, and I was too antsy to get her into bed when we got home. All her questions this afternoon threw me. How can I ever tell Addison the real reason Thomas doesn’t want me around? I promised Megan I’d never tell anyone what she divulged to me that night, but she left out the fact that she had a daughter. I’ve often wondered if that makes the promise null and void, if her lack of information gives me the right to take action, even though it’s the last thing Megan would have wanted. I’ve never been able to answer that question.
I’ve been sitting on the couch for two hours, staring at a blank wall. My mind has been racking up the thousands of questions about an orphaned girl who I should have been caring for instead of wasting my life away on this couch.
Reed hasn’t left the apartment, every so often coming out and staring at me. Like right now.
This time I stare back. “Where is she?”
“A foster home in Goleta. She’s good. I’ve been keeping tabs on her, checking in with her social worker.”
“What’s her name?”
He hangs his head, his hands in the pockets of his jeans and takes a deep breath. “Emily. Emily Jones.”
“That was Megan’s last name. Where’s her dad?”
He shrugs. “No one knows. Her birth certificate lists no known father.”
That stings.
“I want to see her.”
He nods. “Get your shit. I’ll drive you.”
We pull up in front of a one-story home on the outskirts of town. There’s nothing special about it. It’s not a shit hole, but it’s certainly no mansion. A woman with short brown hair is twirling a blonde little girl in the front yard. The minute the girl’s feet hit the ground, she turns, her big blue eyes locking onto mine for a split second. My heart completely cracks in two. She looks exactly like her mom.
“Get me out of here.”
Reed pulls away from the curb and I call my attorney.
I don’t give him a chance to say hello before I ask, “Did you know?”
“Yeah. I knew.”
“I don’t care what it takes, get me some sort of visitation rights, some sort of involvement with that little girl.”
“You need to pull it together before any court grants you custody, Damian.”
“As of right now and from here on forward, I’m together. And I’m going to make it my life’s mission that Emily Jones will be properly taken care of the rest of her life.”
“Let’s go work out at home.” Addison’s seductive voice shakes me from my memory.
I smile and kiss her hard.
“New rule!” Reed is shouting and it startles us both. “No PDA, no touching unless absolutely necessary, and no sneaking off early to grab a quick fuck.” I flinch at his description of our relationship but also at the accuracy at which he’d just pegged us. “I get it, guys, I really do. And I’m happy for you both, really, I am, but just because you’ve found some . . . some cosmic event that you can’t explain, neither one of you are getting out of our workouts. So get the hell up and give me fifty!”
We both stand and Addison reaches on her tiptoes trying to whisper something in my ear. I bend down to hear her better. “Take off your shirt, and I’ll give you a blow job later.”
She drops to the ground and starts her push up routine.
I’m hard.
Again.
And can’t do much about it.
But I want a blowjob, and even though I know she’d probably give me one anyway, I take off my shirt and expose my skin to the cold post-rain air.
At least that took care of my hard on.
We work out for over an hour, Reed shouting directions at us, and both of us following every word he says. By the time we’re ready to head home, I want to kick Reed’s ass but mostly, I want to fall into bed with Addison.
I grab her around the waist and throw her over my shoulder. “See you later, Reed,” I yell behind me as I get us both out of there and home as quickly as possible. I need to be inside her, and I need it like I need air to breathe. I’ve been semi erect since I