and cologne, wanting to show some poor woman a good time in the back of an old truck.
No luck though.
Crosby wasn’t in the truck itself either.
The door was unlocked.
I opened it and found the keys in the ignition.
“What the hell?” I whispered.
I backed up and shut the door.
“What the fuck are you doing?” a voice yelled.
I side stepped and saw Crosby running toward the truck.
Zipping up his jeans.
Looking bewildered and flustered.
“What the hell are you doing?” I called back.
“Silas? That you?”
“Yeah,” I said. “What are you doing, Crosby?”
I looked beyond him and it looked like thick brush.
“I was taking a piss,” Crosby said as he finished adjusting his jeans.
“A piss?”
“Yeah,” he said. “A piss. That a problem?”
“Right here?”
“I had to go,” he said. “So I pulled over and took a piss.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’m on the way to the house and I saw your truck.”
“Thanks for checking on me,” Crosby said.
He reached for my shoulder and I backed away. “Don’t touch me with your piss hands.”
Crosby wiggled his fingers at me, laughing.
“Yeah, you’re hilarious,” I said.
“Hey, I appreciate the worry,” Crosby said. “You’re getting all soft and mushy as a father, huh?”
“I guess so,” I said. “Wash your damn hands before you touch anything or anyone.”
“Will do, Silas. Will do.”
Crosby got into his truck and drove off.
I shook my head and looked to where he had been.
I actually had to take a piss myself.
But I’d wait until I got to the house.
Mila tried to jump up on the counter for effect but she missed.
She couldn’t reach the counter due to her center of gravity being all out of whack.
She pointed at me, her face blushing. “You didn’t see that.”
“See what?”
“Thank you,” she said.
I walked closer to her and slid my hands along her curved hips.
“Were you trying to make me do the counter trick that Michael does to your mother?”
“I’m going to throw up,” Mila said.
I smiled. “What’s going on, darling? Did you bring me here to talk about how much money you’re spending?”
“No,” she said. “You said I could do what I want.”
“True.”
“As long as the credit card works, I don’t need you.”
“Ouch.”
“Well, I don’t need you here,” she said. “But at night I do need you.”
I brushed my lips to her ear. “And in the morning, right?”
“Shut up, Silas.”
“What’s wrong? Can’t admit how horny you wake up in the morning?”
“It’s the hormones,” she said. “And you should shut up. You’re the one benefiting from it.”
I smiled at her and felt like my heart could explode.
On top of how beautiful she looked, there was a wild, ravenous side to Mila in the morning. Each morning I’d wake up to her hand touching me, stroking me to life, her lips kissing my chest, her teeth grazing my skin. Like she was feral and desperate…
“Back up,” she said. “You’re too close.”
“Am I turning you on?”
“Yes!” she yelled. “You always turn me on! I can’t think straight when I’m near you. I just want to rip your clothes off and beg you to fuck me!”
I heard a cough and turned my head to see one of Tyler’s workers in the doorway to the kitchen.
“Oh, hey, Brent,” Mila called out. “Are those the window options?”
“Yup,” he said. “I’ll just leave them right here. I’m going to go take a… a break…”
I looked at Mila again and she covered her face. “I hate you, Silas.”
“I know,” I said. “Now what’s up?”
“I think you need to play some shows.”
“What?” I asked.
“Hear me out, Silas. I see the way your face lights up when you’re with Buddy.”
“That’s only because Buddy is so handsome.”
“Stop,” she said. “I’m being serious. You’re doing so much for me. For our baby. What about you?”
“This is for me too, Mila. I want this house. I want my recording studio. I already talked to Mickey about everything. I’m going to write and sell songs.”
“What about playing songs?”
“I can play for you and my son.”
Mila stepped closer to me. “Please, Silas. There’s no reason you can’t play shows. Locally at least. You know? An hour or so away. There’s plenty of bars and stuff. Not a tour. But, you know, a random night and you get to jam out on stage.”
I touched her face. “I love you for worrying about that. I really do. I won’t argue with you. I know better than to tell a pregnant woman no. So I’ll think about it.”
Mila got even closer, pressing her belly against me. “Feel that?”
She smiled.
I felt the baby - my son - kick