Cautious (Sequel to Disastrous) (20 page)

My fingers ran down his face. “I know you are, baby. I just need
you to try a little harder.” He let out a chuckle. “Although, I do have to
thank you.”

Puzzled, he glanced up, his brown eyes no longer filled with the
anger he held earlier. “For what?”

“For coming in here and talking it out, for once not using sex as
a way to cope with our issues, for allowing me to spill my feelings, and for
just listening.”

Marcus still held a confused expression in his eyes as he wrapped
his arms around my waist and pulled me in closer to him. “Wait, so no make-up
sex?”

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed his face and pulled him in for a quick
kiss. “No, we need to finish getting ready and meet up with the others.”

“Not even a quickie?” His lips parted into a full-blown grin.

Shaking my head, I slapped his bicep and hopped off the counter.
“Get ready, Marcus.” I turned around, facing the mirror again to finish
applying my makeup, a bit more content than earlier.

He slapped my ass and headed toward the bedroom, yelling behind
him. “Fine, but that ass is mine tonight.”

Oh my God, what was I going to do with that man?

***

“Mia, you look beautiful.” William shouted over the
noise in the crowded restaurant as he pulled me into a hug.

“Thank you.” I pulled away from our embrace and checked out his
attire: khaki pants, a red cashmere sweater, and brown loafers. His grey goatee
was neatly trimmed and his musky cologne engulfed the waiting area of the
restaurant. “You look very handsome.” I smiled up at him as I caught his cheeks
flushing.

As my grandfather and Marcus greeted each other, I hugged my
grandmother who was dressed in a navy blue skirt and matching blouse, with
pearl earrings and necklace. “How are you, darling?” She asked as we untangled.

“Good, where are the others?” I searched over her shoulders to
find them but couldn’t make out where they were.

With a wave of her hand, she wrinkled her nose. “They’re late.”
Kathy shook her head in disapproval. “That daughter of mine is always late.
They’ll be here soon.”

We waited ten minutes before our table was called. A waitress,
who instantly took notice of Marcus, led us to a round table set for seven.
After we took our seats, she handed us a wine and drink menu to view while we
waited for the rest of our company.

“Marcus, what’s your poison? Are you a liquor or beer man?”
William spoke as his eyes scanned over the drink menu.

Marcus cleared his throat, and leaned back as he wrapped an arm
behind my chair. “I’m more of a liquor man, but I’m always down for a good
beer.”

“Whisky?” William looked up from the menu with an arched brow
toward Marcus.

“Yes, sir.”

William’s lips curled into a grin. “Atta boy. Ma’am?” He waved
the waitress back over and handed over the menu, “Two Johnnie Walkers on the
rocks, a glass of merlot for my wife here, and, Mia?” He looked at me.

“A cosmo, please.” The waitress nodded before turning on her
heels and padding her way toward the bar.

William looked over at Marcus and me. With a huge grin, he leaned
his elbows on the table. “So, with all that was going on yesterday, we didn’t
have much time to discuss the two of you. How long have you been dating?”

I wasn’t expecting that, and as I started doing the math, Marcus
chimed in, “Six months.”

My head snapped in his direction, and with furrowed brows, I
questioned it, “Really?”

Smiling, he ran his hand up and down my arm. “Yes, babe. We met
in April. Well, to be technical, we met at the end of April, so it’ll be six
months in a couple of weeks.”

“Wow, I didn’t realize it was that long. It felt so much
shorter.”

“That’s a good thing, honey,” Kathy said with a smile.

“It is?” I questioned.

“Oh, yeah,” William chuckled. “Kathy and I have been married for
over forty years, and it feels like yesterday when she agreed to marry me.” He
leaned in and kissed the side of her head.

Adoration filled his eyes as he took a moment to admire his wife.
I couldn’t help but smile at the two of them. “It wasn’t easy. It still isn’t
easy,” Kathy added. “Marriage takes a lot of work, but if you can find someone
willing to accept your flaws, it eventually works itself out.”

Marcus gently squeezed my arm, and my mind traveled to our
earlier conversation in the bathroom. He must have thought about it as well.
The discussion about marriage caused my thoughts to wander to our engagement
that was put on hold. When Marcus and I rekindled our relationship a month ago,
it was something that we both agreed to put aside as we worked on us. Marriage
was no longer the priority; building our relationship was.

When the waitress arrived with our drinks, William lifted his
glass. “To a long life together.” Marcus and Kathy lifted their glasses with a
simple nod, and we all took a sip of our drinks.

“You guys started the party without us?” Megan complained as she
approached us with my mother and Jeremy trailing behind her.

“Come join us, my dear. Our drinks just arrived,” Kathy uttered
with a wave of her hand.

All three joined us and took their seats at the table. “Hello,
what would you like to drink?” The waitress asked as she took note of the new
guests at our table. Megan ordered a martini, Jeremy a beer, and my mother a
glass of wine.

After everyone had settled in with their drinks and had placed
their dinner order, we began a casual discussion. “So, how are you enjoying
Philly, Marcus and Mia?” Sara asked as she sipped on her wine.

Marcus went first. “I like it a lot here. It was nice seeing
Mia’s face light up at places she’d remembered as a child.”

Smiling at his statement, I placed my hand on his leg underneath
the table. “It brought back a lot of wonderful memories of Dad and Michael.”
Sara gently nodded with a soft smile.

“Yeah, I’m really digging this place.” Jeremy decided to add,
even though nobody had asked for his opinion.

“Oh, Marcus and Mia, I hope you guys don’t mind if Jeremy and I
ride back to Boston with you. Sara is staying a little longer, and I have work
on Monday,” Megan stated with a slight shrug and soft playful grin.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Marcus replied to her.

Megan’s smile widened. “Yay, road trip!”

The rest of the dinner was more fun than I had expected: the
discussions, the laughing, the drinking, the jokes—it all was perfect. My grandfather
was charming, my grandmother was sweet, Megan was enthusiastic, my mother
giggled and talked about the good old days, and Jeremy . . . Well, he was
simply
Jeremy
. Now, Marcus on the other hand . . . I was in awe of him by
the end of the night. He joined in on specific topics, cracked a few jokes with
Jeremy, and laughed along with my grandmother. It was another side to him that I
hadn’t yet witnessed and an experience that I would never forget.

As the evening came to an end, I said good-bye to my grandparents,
squeezed them tightly, and promised to visit again soon. Because I wouldn’t see
my mother before we left in the morning, I pulled her into a hug and thanked her
for inviting me. I assured her that this trip was just what I needed and that I
couldn’t have been more grateful. We drove back to the hotel with Jeremy and
Megan as they sat quietly in the back seat. Marcus held my hand in the front
seat. He was talkative and discussed certain subjects that William had brought
up at dinner, and I laughed right along with him.

To say that the night ended wonderfully was an understatement.

***

After breakfast that Sunday morning, Marcus, Jeremy,
Megan, and I took one last stroll around the City of Brotherly Love before
checking out of the hotel. As much as I wasn’t ready to leave just yet, I knew
I had a life waiting for me in Boston.

Jeremy and Megan hopped into the back seat of Marcus’s car as I
slid into the front passenger seat right beside Marcus. He reached out and
brushed the back of his fingers along my cheek as he flashed an adorable grin
and winked before turning on the ignition.

As soon as Marcus turned the car on, the loud pounding music of
Taylor Swift’s song “We Are Never Getting Back Together” hit the speakers.
Marcus shook his head before he reached to change the station, but we both
froze as we heard a loud, high-pitched voice singing along with the song. It
was an absolute shock to the both of us as we turned our heads and focused our
eyes on Jeremy.

Jeremy’s eyes were shut tightly. His head was swaying side to side
as he felt the groove of the beat. Marcus and I quickly glanced at each other, amused,
and then turned our gazes back to Jeremy. Megan was giggling beside him as she
watched as well. Jeremy, not knowing that all eyes were on him, continued to
sing in a high-pitched tone about never getting back together.

Jeremy eyes flashed open, and he stopped howling in mid-song. His
brows bunched together as he studied all the eyes on him. “What? Taylor Swift
is hot!”

Marcus snapped his head toward me and with an arched brow said,
“This is going to be a long fuckin’ drive.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

MARCUS

Five and a half hours later, we were back in Boston.
Although it had been great to escape, it was also a relief to be home. Jeremy
was annoying me during the entire drive. I was glad to have finally dropped his
ass off. Megan and Jeremy nagged at each other constantly, which was both
amusing and frustrating at the same time. It made me feel a bit more at ease
about my relationship with Mia, just knowing that we weren’t the only couple
that argued all the time. At least when we did, it was for valid reasons, whereas
Megan and Jeremy nitpicked at every detail and then joked about it after an
unnecessary argument.

Mia dropped her things at her apartment and came home with me. I
didn’t want to push the issue about moving in together because I knew she
wasn’t ready for it. She was satisfied with how we sometimes slept over at each
other’s places, but I wasn’t content with it. I wanted her close to me every
night. We had put the wedding aside at her request as well. If it had been up
to me, I would have married her yesterday. Again, I couldn’t force her into any
of it. I just had to stand back and wait until she was ready.

As I pulled into the driveway of my home, Mia let out a yawn and
stretched. We had left Philly around eleven in the morning and had arrived home
close to six that evening. It was a long and exhausting fucking drive. After
turning off the ignition, we exited the vehicle, and I grabbed our bags. Mia
waited by the passenger side as I made my way toward her from the trunk of the
car. She leaned in towards me as I wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Are you
hungry?” I asked as we walked side by side.

“No, I just want to crawl into bed and sleep. I have an early
class in the morning.”

“Okay, I think I’ll join you. I have a deposition at ten tomorrow
morning. We can have an early breakfast before your class.”

Mia tilted her neck up, and the edge of her lips curled into
grin. “What?” I asked matching her smile.

“Nothing. Sometimes you can be sweet, you know?”

“Ha, no, I thought I was an asshole.”

“That too, but sweet for the most part.”

“I’ll take it.” I kissed the top of her head as she let out a
slight giggle.

We walked up the stairs of the front porch and quickly spotted
Jimmie. His head was slumped back against a patio chair with a beer in his hand
and a cooler beside his foot. Mia and I glanced at each other skeptically and
then went over towards him. Jimmie never drank when he was watching Elle. He
said it was a bad example.

As we approached Jimmie, I noticed that his eyes were closed. I
wasn’t sure if he was asleep, so I tapped his boot with mine. “Hey, Bro.”

Jimmie snapped one eye opened. After a few seconds, he collected
his thoughts and opened both eyes, “What’s up, guys? How was Philly?” He kept
his head back against the chair.

“It was good.” Mia answered.

I quickly looked around the porch and then back at him, “Where’s
Elle?”

He let out a heavy sigh, ran a hand over his face, and then sat
up straight in his chair. “She’s with Mom. She’s also mad at me because she’s being
punished.”

Laughing once, I arched a brow, “Your punishment for her was
sending her to Mom? Mom spoils her rotten.”

He raised both brows as he chugged the rest of the beer. After he
finished, he placed it on the floor beside four other empty bottles. Reaching
into the cooler, he twisted open another one and leaned back. “Yeah, well, she
called Mom after I punished her and said, and I quote, ‘Grandma, Daddy is not
being a fair father, and I want to run away.’” He took a long pull on the fresh
beer and then shrugged, “So, of course, Mom came to the rescue. After Mom and I
talked, well, more like argued about my parenting skills, she took Elle out to calm
her down. That was forty minutes ago.”

“Yep, that sounds like Mom.”

Mia bunched her brows together. “Sorry, Jimmie. She’ll come
around. Little girls can be a bit dramatic.”

“You think?”

Mia pulled out from my arm wrapped around her and gripped the bag
in my hand, “I’m going up. I’ll see you in a bit.” She glanced meaningfully at
me then tilted her head towards Jimmie, indicating for me to stay and talk with
him. I nodded in understanding. “Oh, Jimmie, how about that group date this
weekend?”

Jimmie shook his head. “Nah, things didn’t work out with Jessica
and me.”

Mia’s face fell sadly. “Oh? I’m sorry.”

“It’s good.”

Mia gently smiled and then made her way into the house after saying
her farewells to Jimmie. I was tired, but knowing I’d never seen Jimmie in that
state, I reached for a beer and slumped into a chair beside him. We both sipped
on Samuel Adams, our gazes straight ahead, overlooking the front landscaping.