Before Sunrise (36 page)

“
Fuck, I love this pussy.
Say it. Say it for me, Kay.”

“
Fuck me. Fuck me hard,” she
groaned.

He covered her body with his own. He got in
deep and found himself barely able to balance them both. He put
more of his weight on her as he squeezed her clit and slammed his
cock into her again. He rode her until her pussy fluttered and
clenched again.

“
Harder. Harder, fuck me
harder.”

She rolled her ass as he thrust his cock in
and out. The rush of pleasure was so extreme it was almost pain. He
lifted off her, grabbing both sides of her hips. He slammed in and
out of her repeatedly until she bucked and lost it. Collapsing on
the bed, her moans muffled by the pillow, Liam rode the wave until
his dick pulsed and jerked its first release of the night.

Wiped out, with the sounds of Ray Charles’
smoky voice in the background, Liam rested on her. At length, he
summoned enough strength to rise from her and roll away. He reached
for her and she came to him. Her face, neck, shoulders were all
covered in a slick sheen of sweat, but her eyes were bright and
alert.

“
We’ll take a little break
and do it again.” She grinned.

Liam laughed.

She rolled onto his chest. “I love you.
Merry Christmas.”

Chapter Fifteen

“
W’sup. brother?”

Liam opened the door.

Eric walked inside, bringing in the cold.
“Just checking in on you. Thought you’d have a bitch of headache
this morning.”

Liam slammed the door, shutting out the hard
breeze. He followed Eric into the living room. His friend looked at
the bare tree, then back at him.

“
You decorating
already?”

Liam smiled. “Me and Mac. Gonna pick her up,
decorate the tree and pick out some things for her room. What you
think?”

“
Cool. I think that’s cool.
And Kennedy?”

“
She’s not speaking to me,
but I got a plan.”

“
Not sure I like the sound
of that,” Eric said.

“
No, it’s going to be okay.
Christmas is our holiday. It’s why Mac was born early, I think.
It’s going to bring me and my family closer. That and a little
therapy.” Liam was only half joking.

Eric stared at him for a moment, then
glanced back at the tree. Liam crossed his arms, determined. He
loved his friend, but fuck him if he was going to come with that
‘go slow’ shit. He didn’t believe in waiting on his life. He sure
as hell had let too much time pass him by. He didn’t get the woman
of his dreams by doing what was expected of him. He wouldn’t do it
now.

Eric dropped his shaven head, then cut Liam
a look. Slowly, both men smiled. “Sounds like a good fucking plan,
bro.”

Liam nodded. “Might need your help.”

“
Cool. Count me
in.”

“
Got a question for
you.”

“
Shoot?”

“
You take a stroll around
the perimeter last night?”

“
Come again?”

“
When you dropped me off
drunk. Did you go out back?”

Eric looked to the back of the house. “Nah,
just dropped you off and left. Why?”

“
Tracks, men’s shoes size
eleven or ten. I found some leading from the door to the
gate.”

“
Fresh?”

“
Yeah.” Liam
nodded.

“
Interesting. House been
empty for awhile and we got plenty of kids around here. Could be
some. Caught a crew hanging out here like my fucking place was
their clubhouse.”

“
Yeah, I kind of figured it
was like that.”

“
Want me to check it
out?”

Liam felt the doubt creep in. He wasn’t
crazy. And he didn’t want to come off as paranoid either. “Nope.
It’s cool. Now let me tell you what you can do for me. Will need
you to get Harper to help, too.”

“
Lay it on me, man. I got
your back.”

Liam slapped hands with him. “Like always,
brother.”

***

“
You have a good time with
daddy. Be a good girl for him, okay?” Kennedy said. Mackenzie
blinked in silent response. The wide-eyed look on her face pulled
at Kennedy’s heartstrings. She kissed the dimple to her left cheek,
checked her car seat fasteners once more, then closed the door.
Admittedly, she was nervous. She had thought Anthony would show up
with Liam. Now she had to hand Mackenzie over and put all her faith
in him. After his violent explosion it was hard to trust him and
she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Thankfully, the media vans
had left so the exchange wouldn’t be on the five o’clock news. A
recent celebrity death had now taken the limelight and heat off of
them. She feared that would be temporary.

“
Maybe you should come with
us, Kay. I was thinking of Fun World after a trip to the pet
store.”

“
No.” Kennedy’s tone went
flat and firm. She walked around the front of the car and stopped a
reasonable distance before him. Liam leaned on the top of the car
door in his brown leather jacket and dark sunglasses. It hurt to
look at him, so she’d avoided his face and smile since he’d rung
the doorbell. Thankfully, he’d worn his shades the entire time,
though she suspected that was due to his night of drinking. Liam
wasn’t a man to give into vanity. Everything he bought or wore was
for practical purposes.

“
Where’s my mom?” Liam
asked. His car was parked behind Phil’s. Sally’s was
gone.

“
She went to visit Harper.
You can reach her over there. I put Harper’s number and my cell
number in Mac’s bag for emergencies. Not sure if you had both.”
Kennedy said. She kept her defensive stance with her arms crossed
under her breasts. Her eyes fixed on her daughter, who waited
patiently in the back seat.

“
You’re angry, Kay. You
should be. I was out of line yesterday. I want to apologize but it
feels like I owe you more. I know I owe you more. You can come with
us and we can talk.”

“
I packed Mac a bag with an
extra change of clothes. Pay attention to her bathroom habits. If
she’s too excited she’ll forget to go and have an accident. So make
sure you ask her if you see her hopping from foot to foot. And
don’t give her any peaches. She’s allergic.”

“
She is?” he
frowned.

“
Yes. Try not to load her
with sugar, please. She gets really wound up and hard to put to
bed. A candy or sweet treat is fine, but don’t overdo it at Fun
World. Oh, Phil and I didn’t have the fish talk. I thought you
should have it with her. Help her understand.”

“
Kay, please let me
apologize. I want to talk to you, babe.”

“
This isn’t about us. Not
now. It’s about you bonding with your daughter. Take advantage of
it. I’m trusting you, Liam.” She met his gaze dead on. She wanted
him to be clear at that point. He could mess up with her, that was
fine, but with Mac it would be a totally different
story.

Liam hung his head, then nodded slowly.
“Right. I get it. I just, well okay. I don’t have a cell phone but
I’m on my way to Ant’s house. I might pick up a disposable today
and leave you a number. Don’t worry, Kay. You know I’ll take care
of her.”

“
I know. Enjoy your day.”
Kennedy stepped away. He said something else but the wind carried
and muffled his words beyond comprehension. She thought she heard
him say he loved her. She continued toward the front door,
resisting the urge to turn and confront him. Tell him how he hurt
her feelings. How it still hurt that he’d call her nasty names. He
had once been her world. Building one without him, then
deconstructing that life because of his return wasn’t as easy as he
thought. She wanted to run after the car and hop in with him. Run
away like they did when they were younger and braver. When they
could afford to ignore the consequences. She needed him so badly it
was a physical pain and it was the pain that kept her sobered. So
she did none of that. Instead, she gave one final glance back and
watched him drive off. She waved.

They were gone.

Kennedy went inside. Phil sat on the sofa
staring at his feet. He looked so lost. So hurt. He hadn’t said
much as she dressed Mackenzie and made plans to send Sally out of
the house. He just went about his routine as if there was nothing
wrong. But that nauseating feeling of dread lingered between them.
She closed the door. “Phil?”

“
Yeah?”

He glanced over at the Christmas tree
instead of her. As if it had spoken his name. Just as she couldn’t
look at Liam, he couldn’t look at her. Both of them were the same,
oddly. Longing for someone. Helpless to have things the way they
wanted. Suddenly she didn’t feel anger or frustration for his
persistence, just pity and love. It was true. She loved him as her
husband and it had been different from Liam. They shared something
special and she would respect that. She owed that to him as well as
to herself. She needed to be whole. As she approached him, he
turned his gaze her way. She extended her hand to him. He took it,
kissed her palm and pressed it to his cheek. She rubbed the side of
his face with a sad sigh.

“
Phil. Let’s
talk.”

***

That Afternoon

“
A goldfish? She looks okay
to me.” Vasquez sipped on the long straw to his purple
Slurpee.

“
Shit, man, it took me an
hour to get her to understand the concept of death. I think I got
it all wrong. I tried buying the damn fish, but she kept talking
about the dead one. We settled on the concept of a puppy. For
Christmas.”

Vasquez laughed. “Yep, welcome to
fatherhood.”

Liam’s mouth curled into a smile. His
daughter made him earn his stripes. He liked that. She was a tough
kid, too. Smart for a four year old. He sat next to Vasquez on the
bench outside of the twelve foot tall red, yellow, and blue castle
bounce house. Liam watched as his daughter leapt in the air, her
ponytails flapping. She giggled with the twins who did flips and
somersaults.

Fun World was an indoor child’s amusement
park, a place where screaming and laughing children raced from a
foam factory, where they could blast each other with large floor
mounted swivel guns, to the arcade. The kids were in heaven. Liam
watched his daughter do an obstacle course he couldn’t get through
with his bum leg. She climbed intricate five foot tall mazes with
ladders and colored winding tubes. There was pizza station with
benches and tables, accompanied by popcorn machines, cotton candy,
and ice cream all served up by clowns.

“
Thanks for coming, bro. I
know you don’t have much more time left, before you’re called
away.”

“
Yeah, got my orders. Leave
in a few days. No problem, though. I wanted to hang out with the
boys. This is perfect. I think they serve beer here,
too.”

“
Beer and a purple Slurpee,
good mix.” Liam laughed.

“
Daddy! Daddy from heaven!
Look at me!”

Liam looked up in time to see Mackenzie
slide down a yellow foam tube. She giggled and ran to do it
again.

“
Daddy from heaven?” Vasquez
asked.

“
Yeah, can’t get her to drop
it. She says she understands but she doesn’t. She thinks I’m some
kind of Christmas gift. You know, she caught me and Kay kissing and
started crying.”

“
Damn.”

“
This is hard. Especially
after last night. Kay isn’t speaking to me, man.”

“
Eric told me you were down
at the Roadhouse, wasted. I know she was at home calling everyone
in tears. Guess things reached a boiling point, huh?”

Liam leaned back on the picnic table and
extended both his legs. “Yep. Drinking didn’t help. Still feel like
shit inside.”

“
So you will do this therapy
thing?” Vasquez gave a long slurp on his blue straw.

Liam had told Eric he would do therapy. He
wanted to apologize to Kennedy and tell her as well. But deep down
inside he really didn’t want a stranger digging around in his head.
He didn’t need to relive that shit again. He just wanted to forget
and move on. Maybe he could get a pill or something. Didn’t they
make meds for anxiety? He slipped his friend a look and gauged
whether he could be honest. He decided to lie. “Yep, gonna do
therapy.”

“
Patience. It’ll take
patience then.”

“
Right. The one thing I know
nothing about.”

“
True.” Vasquez
snorted.

Mackenzie ran for the bounce house again.
Liam checked his watch. Kennedy would have been with Phil for over
four hours now. She was with him, he was sure of it. He saw the
bastard’s car parked there. Noticed how she couldn’t look him in
the face. And if she sent Sally away that meant they were alone. He
tried to not make much of it. But damn it, she was his heart. He
should be with her. Making up with her right now was what he
needed. When would it be about just them?

“
What’s up? Why do you keep
checking the time?”

“
She’s with him, man.
Closure and shit, I suppose. She keeps saying that and I just don’t
get it. “

“
You don’t want to get it,”
Vasquez mumbled.

Liam shrugged.

Vasquez laughed. “You know I think he’s a
dick. But he was the only person that brought her back, Liam. You
were the one that asked him to look after her. Remember?”