Always (Bold as Love) (18 page)

“
Maybe I wanted you to take it off,” I say quietly.

Jake pushes each side of the robe off my body and then instructs me to get my arms out of the sleeves. With his head propped up in one hand, he trails his fingertips from my shoulder down to my wrist, moving to my hips and down my knees and back up.

“I missed you, Sweetness,” he says as he drops his head to kiss my shoulder.

“
I missed you too, love.”

That kiss in combination with the slow journey his fingers are making tells me that tonight, we are going to make deliberate, unhurried love.

34

Jake

It's eleven o'clock in the morning when I wake up. Sweetness is tucked into my chest, still asleep. Without too much thought, I bury my hand in her hair. Just feeling her naked body tight against my own arouses me. A flashback of last night pops into my mind, and I smile, but it quickly fades as I realize everything that needs to be accomplished. I need to go through my father's things and make a final decision as to whether I'm going to keep the house or sale it. Not to mention that I've got to get all the paperwork together so when we go to Chicago, I can get Drake registered for school.

Then there's the talk that I'm supposed to have with Drake. I'm really not looking forward to that at all. I wonder if Emily has spoken to her dad or seen him since he proposed to Cherish. She hasn't mentioned him, so I'm not sure. Part of me feels like I need to speak with him since I'm whisking his daughter away. It's different than us going to Charlotte. We're going to another state that's like nine hundred miles away. Sure we're engaged, but I guess since Emily didn't really tell him that she was going with me that I should make sure he's fine with it. If he's not, I don't think Emily would stay behind, especially since I need her to help with Drake. All thoughts cease as Sweetness snuggles closer to me and lifts her head to look at me from underneath her long, black lashes.

“Morning, love.”

Oh, how I missed waking up with her next to me. “Morning.”

Her breasts push against me as she picks herself up so she can give me one of her sweet, sleepy kisses.

“
I wish we could lay in bed all day,” she says as she nuzzles into my neck.

“
Me too, Sweetness, but we've got things to do. Hey, have you talked to Mike since his proposal?”

“
He called and told me she said yes, but that's it. We're supposed to have dinner with him tomorrow. Is that okay? I forgot to tell you.”

“
Yeah, of course.”

“
What do we have to do today anyway?”

“
Well, I've been thinking about what I'm going to do with the house and I think I'm going to sell it.”

“
But this is your home.”

“
I know,” I begin. “But we're moving and starting our lives elsewhere. I just think it will be more of a hassle to keep it than anything else. Whenever we come back to visit Mike, we'll just stay at a hotel.” I add that last part just to let her know that we will come back to visit.

“
If that's what you want, then okay. What else is on the list?”

“
Well, I'm going to have to head back soon so we need to get packing because I plan on taking you and Drake with me. I've got to go through Dad's things too.”

“
Do you want me to help?”

Her voice is timid, almost as if she's scared to ask. I know I was a bit of a wreck afterwards and that had to scare her, so maybe that's why she seems afraid of her question.

“I would love that.”

She kisses my neck and reluctantly says, “We should probably get up now.”

Suddenly, I get this urge to tell her how much she means to me. A simple 'I love you' a couple of times a day doesn't really do it, even if it's true. Sometimes, you just have to spell it out for the sake of doing so.

“
I love you so much,” I say, my voice giving way to just how much with the extra gruff. “Sweetness, I appreciate you more than I thought was possible. I fall in love with you more every day and I hope that never stops. I love that we're going to spend the rest of our lives together and I can't wait to experience everything with you.”

Sweetness props herself up on her elbow, so she can look at me. Her lips fall open just a tad as she searches my eyes. “Thank you for saving me,” she says at last.

“I'll be here to save you. Always.”

She gives me a quick kiss and then the moment disappears. “We better get out of bed now or it'll never happen.”

I get out of bed and get dressed in a pair of shorts and a tee. I toss Emily her bra, underwear, as well as shorts and a shirt. Then we're in the bathroom brushing our teeth before we head downstairs.

“
Drake?”

He turns around from his position on the couch. “It's about time that y'all get up. I've been down here watching TV for an hour. I've even ate breakfast already.”

“What did you eat?”

“
Cereal.”

Emily sits beside him on the couch and I tell her that I'll fix us a bowl as well. While we eat, I decide to broach the subject of the house with Drake.

“You know that we're moving to Chicago, right?”

He nods.

“Well, I'm going to sell the house.”

“
We won't come back?”

“
We'll come back to visit, but we're going to live wherever I play.”

“
Oh, okay. When are we moving?”

“
Next week, so we need to get busy packing and all that jazz.”

Seeing that he seems satisfied, I leave them behind to run upstairs to call the realtor and make an appointment for this afternoon. When I return downstairs, I grab a couple of trash bags and send Drake upstairs. In one bag, he's going to throw away any clothes that are too small and in the rest he's getting rid of toys he no longer wants.

“Alright, Sweetness. Let's get this over with,” I say once he's gone. With trash bags in hand, she follows me into my dad's room. Immediately, we're bombarded with the stench of alcohol. There are empty bottles scattered everywhere. It's mostly whiskey, his favorite. While I'm throwing those away, Emily's going through the closet.

“
Jake,” she says after a minute.

“
Yeah,” I reply without looking her way.

“
All of your mom's clothes are in here.”

Gulping, the bag clanks to the floor and I walk over to where she's standing. Sure enough, my mom's t-shirts and dresses are hanging just like she left them. I reach across Emily and run my fingers over her clothes, ending with her favorite shirt. It is dark blue and a v-neck. It was a gift from me and Drake on one of her birthday's. She used to always say that when she wore it, she could feel our love. Plus, it was really soft, she would add with a wink.

My chest tightens and my throat burns at the memory. I barely register Emily's hand on my arm. It feels just like yesterday that she pulled the shirt out of the box and smiled like we had given her a rare gem. Mom hugged us so tightly.

“
Love,” Emily says.

“
Just put them in the clothes bag,” I answer, letting my hand fall to my side.

Before I can get lost in memories and sadness, I return to putting empty bottles in the trash. I'm so thankful that Emily leaves it alone. I try not to watch as she takes my mother's clothes off the hangers and tosses them into the bag. I move on and do the same with the dresser, which has a mixture of my mother's and father's clothes. Emily leaves the things on the shelf in the closet to me since she will have a hard time reaching it. She moves into the bathroom and throws away their toothbrushes, toothpaste, hairbrushes, and all of their other products.

On that top shelf, were our old home videos. I don't want to watch them, but I do put them off to the side because I am not getting rid of them. There was still a tape in Dad's TV and I put it with the others. I can get rid of their clothes and such, but I can't get rid of my mom's jewelry. She loved jewelry, especially shopping for it.

“
All done,” Sweetness smiles. “Are you keeping her jewelry?” she asks, coming over to the dresser where I'm standing with one of Mom's necklaces in my hand.

“
Yeah. I don't want to get rid of it. Thanks for helping me.” I carefully put the necklace back in its place and kiss Sweetness on the forehead. I tie up all the bags as she returns to the living room.

“
I'm going to check on Drake.”

I take the steps two at a time until I reach his room.

“Drake, what are you doing? You're supposed to be cleaning out your room.”

He's sitting in the middle of the floor, playing a video game. “I got tired of cleaning,” he shrugs.

I pick up the abandoned bags. “What cleaning? There's nothing in the bags!”

“
I like my stuff. I don't want to throw anything away.”

“
Drake, you don't play with half of this stuff. We aren't taking all of this junk with us. Turn the game off and help me.” When he makes no move to do so, I order, “Now, Drake.”

He huffs, but does as he was told. We start with all the toys on his floor and then move to the video games he no longer plays. It's not fun because he wants to keep everything. His clothes are a little easier to get rid of. By the time we finish, we have four bags and it's time for me to go meet the realtor.

“I'll bring back supper,” I tell Sweetness after I give her a kiss and then I'm off.

The meeting with the realtor went great. She's coming by tomorrow to take pictures of the house so I've got to get everything cleaned up. Not to mention that we're supposed to eat with Mike tomorrow. After supper, I get started taking the trash outside and I go ahead and put the bags of clothes in my car. I'll drop them off at one of those donation containers tomorrow. Once that is done, I pick up and finish cleaning downstairs. I'm exhausted by the time I do the same with the upstairs.

Emily is in bed by the time I get out of the shower. Tonight she's sporting Chicago Blackhawks pajamas.

“Do you like?” she smiles.

“
I do,” I reply as I crawl in beside her. I reach over and turn off the lamp, basking us in complete darkness.

“
I'm sorry I haven't been much help today,” Sweetness says as she rearranges herself to rest her head on my chest.

“
It's okay. I stopped by the lawyer's office today. He got the paperwork together that I need for Drake. Tomorrow, after the realtor comes by, we should go by your house and pack up your things. Are we having supper there or in Wilmington?”

“
There. It's just going to be us and Cherish.”

A few minutes of silence pass and I begin to think Sweetness has fallen asleep, but I'm mistaken.

“Jake?”

“
Yeah?”

“
I'm a little nervous about moving.”

“
Me too.”

Emily pops up and looks at me. “Really? You are?”

“Of course. Sweets, we're going to a new place on our own. I'm excited, sure, but that doesn't mean I'm not nervous about it. I'm uprooting my family too. What if y'all don't like it there? You're the only one who can move back.”

“
Love, I'm not going to leave you there. I'm sure I'll at least like it. You know why? Because I'm going to be there with you.”

“
That's sweet and all, but are you really ready to spend the next three years in a place you might not even like?”

“
I'll like it,” she affirms.

I sure hope so. The entire time I was away, I kept wondering if Emily and Drake would like living there. That was the first time I ever thought about something like that. I didn't think I would have to worry about that, but then I met Emily. Now everything I do, I have to think about her as well. Then there's Drake. I've got to add him into the equation too. We fall asleep with me wishing that we experience no more curveballs for a while.