Finding Us (13 page)

“El, it’s not a big deal, really,” I said again
, trying to calm her down as my parents came over to us.

“What’s going on?” Dad asked.

“Nothing,” I said. “Shot of Jim Beam would be nice, though.” My jaw had started hurting a little and I figured some bourbon would be just the thing to fix it.

“My brother be
at him up!” El explained indignantly, grabbing for her phone, which I held away from her.

Good God.

“What?” my mother said with concern, her hand going to her chest as she looked me over for signs of a beating.

By this time, Starr and her husband Chad had come over to see what was going on.
So Mom, Dad, Finn, Lark, my sister, her husband and El all stood staring at me as if waiting for me to start gushing blood or something. Shoot me now (which probably would’ve made them happy because then I’d have actually been bleeding).

“It’s no big
deal. He was pissed about what happened in LA, so he punched me. We’re cool now,” I told all of them. “Hey, Chad. Good seeing you,” I said, holding out my hand, shaking his. “Now, can we all come inside?”

My dad chuckled, putting a hand on my shoulder and pulling me into the living room. Mom asked if I wanted a heating pad to put on my jaw.
Finn and Lark stared at me (still waiting for me to start bleeding), Chad went to get shots of bourbon for himself, Dad and me, and El fumed, throwing me scowls every now and then because I wouldn’t let her call her brother.

She
then changed tactics, giving me her pouty face and tiptoeing up to put her arms around my neck. “Baby, I just want to let my dad know what happened. Just want to call and tell him about Robbie.”

I wrapped
my arms around her waist, leaning down and touching my lips to hers, saying against her mouth, “I appreciate it, babe, but we’re not five anymore and we don’t tell on each other.”

She frowned, pushing me away from her. “Jerk.”

My mouth curled up at the sides as I watched her cross her arms over her chest and pout for another five minutes before she went into the kitchen with my sister and mom to get the desserts ready to serve.

Finn looked up at me. “Did you get into a fight, Uncle Jag?”

“Yeah, Uncle Jag! Did you hit the asshole back?” Lark added.

“
Young lady, do you want your mouth washed out with soap… again?” Chad asked his daughter.

Lark covered her mouth with her hands, shaking her head at her father while Finn laughed, teasing his sister about getting in trouble again. There was some banter exchanged between the two about who got in trouble the most. When
they’d laid it all out there but couldn’t come to any definite conclusion over who was worse, they both shrugged then they ran off to the den to resume their video games, interest in my “fight” having become old news.

“She’s discovered cussing,” Chad said with a laugh as he handed me a tumbler of bourbon. “
Gonna have a bruise in the morning,” he said, tilting his head to the side to look at my jaw.

“Yeah, probably,” I agreed with a grin, downing my bourbon. “Well-deserved, though,” I added.

“As long as you’re okay with things…” Dad said.

“I’m cool with it, Dad. I understand why he did it
.” I looked at Chad. “I’d do the same for Starr. Just be glad you’ve never fucked up, man.” He snorted before going back to the liquor cabinet, bringing the bottle of bourbon over.

“Think you might need a little more of this,” he said. “Take the sting out of it.”

“Hit me,” I said, holding my tumbler out for him to refill. We all sat down and I took a drink then asked him, “How’s work?”

He was a fireman
in Chicago and always had crazy stories to tell. This time he kept us entertained about a guy getting his penis stuck in a park bench, which had us laughing so hard, Starr stuck her head out of the kitchen to see what was going on. A few minutes later, Mom called us into the dining room for pie, so we headed that way making sure to grab the bourbon and take it along. Starr took some pie to my niece and nephew then returned to the dining table.

“What was so funny?” she asked us when we were all sitting at the table.

“Probably not great Thanksgiving talk,” Dad said with a chuckle.

“Hell, maybe it is,” I said with a laugh. “I mean, I’m thankful that it wasn’t me.”

Chad, Dad and I cracked up. Chad ended up retelling the story and we guys laughed again at the look of confusion on El’s face, the shock on Mom’s and at Starr rolling her eyes because she’d probably heard the story fifteen times already.

As usual, h
olidays were never boring at the Jensen household.

Looking up at me from where
she knelt over me on the bed, El asked innocently, “Can I have my phone back now?” Then she took my cock in her mouth again, making me groan and willing to agree to anything she wanted. I’d only kept it because I’d forgotten to give it back, but if she wanted to give me head for it, I was okay with that.

She crawle
d up my body then, licking over my abs, biting my nipple, which made me jump, coming up to suck on my neck and accidentally knocking her head into my jaw.

“Fuck,” I said, jerking
away from her.

“I’m sorry!” she cried, reaching out to touch it, which made me curse again. “Sorry!” she said again, sitting back on her heels, naked as a jaybird in front of me.

“Baby, it’s okay. It’s just a little sore,” I explained as I grabbed her, rolling her under me. Looking down at her, I froze. God, I was so lucky to have her.

“What? Are you okay? Is it your jaw?” she asked, looking up at me, concern on her face,
as she started to reach a hand up to touch it then remembering that’d hurt me and lowering it.

“How’d I get so lucky?” I asked her.

She scrunched up her nose.

“Y
ou’re gorgeous,” I said, leaning down and brushing my lips over hers. “Luckiest fucking asshole in the world.” I parted her legs with my knee and entered her, loving how tight she was, how good she felt. Damn.

“I’m the lucky one,” she breathed out, wrapping her legs around my waist.

As I made love to her, I knew that in this deal, it was I who was the one who gained the most, and that’s what I was grateful for on that day of giving thanks.

She got her phone back afterward and even called her dad and told on her brother, but I didn’t care. She only did it because she loved me, and I could live with that.

Chapter 12

I’d gone back to LA to work
with my trainer the week after Thanksgiving. I’d planned to return for Christmas and be there for two weeks to spend New Year’s with El also.

Except for the week of finals, we talked frequently during the day, and I couldn’t wait to get back to her.
I missed her the minute I’d left her apartment to go to the airport.

“Heard from the hoochie
underwear chick?” Logan asked as soon as I walked into the weight room.

“I’m gonna have to change
my number too, man. She’s called several times. I haven’t answered, but she’s left messages wanting me to tell you to call her. Could kick your ass,” I grumbled.

Logan laughed.
“Yeah, well, whaddya gonna do?” He lay down on a bench and did some chest flies with free weights.

I went to the squat rack and added some weights on eac
h side as I replied, “Don’t sleep with idiot underwear models who fake orgasms?”

He laughed again. “Couldn’t help it, man. She just looked too good in that little nighty she was wearing.”

Lifting the bar onto the back of my shoulders, I stepped forward before beginning the squats. “Gonna make me puke again,” I said, as I went down in a low squat and powered back up.

He asked about El and me and how our holiday had gone
, then told me that his ex had called him, wanting to know if he wanted to meet for a drink.

“Shit,” I said. “What’d you do?” I
asked, continuing with my squats.

“
She still lives in Albany, and I’d gone home to see my folks anyway, so I met her.” He shrugged.

“And?”

“Took her home and fu
cked her brains out. Then told her to go fuck herself and left.”

“Damn. Revenge fucks are never good, man,” I
grunted as I did my last squat then racked the bar.

“Yeah? Felt pretty
good to me,” he said with a laugh. “Shoulda seen the look on her face when I walked out. I mean, really? She fucks my pitcher then five years later wants to get back with me? Deranged bitch.”

I kind of agreed with him, but it was still a tricky thing he’d done. “Sure this isn’t gonna come back and bite you in the ass like Alessandra?”

He snorted as he walked to the pull-up bar, chalking his gloved hands first. “That’s not biting me in the ass. She doesn’t have my new number.”

“You’re a dick,” I mumbled walking over to get a bar to do deadlifts.

He snorted again.

“Damn, you’re in a good mood. What’s up?”
I asked, looking to see him with a shit-eating grin on his face.

He did twenty pull-ups then dropped back to the floor. “Met someone.” He grinned
again at me.

That was a surprise. Maybe screwing his ex had exorcised the demons he’d had inside for the last five years. “Yeah? And?”

He did another set of pull-ups then took a long drink from his water bottle. I continued with my deadlifts, the burn in my legs building.

He grabbed a towel and wiped his face. “First grade teacher.” He smiled, looking
unfocused at the wall, remembering her.

I dropped the barbell, grabbing my
water, chugging down half of it then wiped my face with my towel. “Really. Where’d you meet her?” I was kind of skeptical. I mean, Logan didn’t have the healthiest view of women.

He glanced at me as if he didn’t know what I’d said then came out of his stupor. “Went to my niece’s Thanksgiving pageant at her school. Rachel’s her teacher. I couldn’t stop looking at her. Fucking blond bombshell with an attitude for days.
And the sexiest glasses you’ve ever seen. I don’t remember ever having a teacher that looked like that.”

I chuckled
at the way he looked now, all dreamy-eyed and shit. “So you asked her out?”

“Huh? Oh, no. I actually ran into her the next day at the grocery store when I was out getting another bag of cranberries for my mom. Told her she had the most perfect tits I’d ever seen.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You didn’t.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I did.”

“Then what happened?”

“She slapped me and told me I
was an asshole. Sexiest damned thing I’ve ever had happen to me.”

Uh, alrighty then. “And that turned you on?”

“Hell yeah. Woman doesn’t take shit from anyone, obviously. I’m flying back in a couple days and asking her out. My brother thinks I’m an idiot. He’s probably right. But when you know, you just know, right?”

I couldn’t disagree there. I knew how I felt about El, so I wished him luck and told him he might want to grow some stubble out because slaps didn’t hurt as bad then as they did on bare skin. I also told him it was the season of giving, so maybe she’d giv
e him another chance. He nodded at that and we continued our workout in amiable silence.

“Hullo?” I answered my phone
whose ringing had pulled me out of a deep sleep.

“Hey, honey,” El said softly.

“Hey, babe,” I replied, wiping the sleep from my eyes as I glanced at the clock seeing that it was two in the morning. I sat up. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes. Everything’s fine. I just miss you.”

Damn.

“I miss you too, baby. So much,” I told her
as I lay back down.

“I couldn’t sleep. I woke up and I know this sounds weird, but when I realized you weren’t here, my heart broke just a little.”

God, so fucking sweet. “I’m sorry I’m not there. I hate waking up without you too.”

“When are you coming home?” she asked.

“Day after tomorrow then I’ll be there for two weeks. Can’t wait to see you.”

“Me too,” she whispered with a sigh.

“Can’t wait to fuck you.”

I heard her draw in a breath then
whisper-scold, “Jag,” which made me smile that she could be such a vixen in bed yet still be so innocent.

“You were here, I’d have you naked in no time
.” I told her, closing my eyes, picturing her perfect body. “Get naked, El,” I ordered.

“Jag!”

“I’m waiting,” I replied.

“God. So bossy,” I heard her mutter.

I waited as I heard her undressing before continuing. “I can feel you sprawled on top of me right now, your thick hair brushing over my chest. God, so hard for you right now, El.” I grabbed my cock in my hand and began stroking it.

“I’d sit up then take all of you inside me in one smooth motion, sliding down all wet and warm and tight around your big cock as you filled me so full,”
she whispered, making me groan. Her transition from being shy five minutes earlier to jumping right in now was fucking hot.

And w
e’d come a long way. Well, she had. I’d always been able to talk dirty to her. I think maybe it’s just an innate quality guys have being able to vocalize what we wanted since we visualized it so much. Something to do with our thinking about sex at least twenty-three hours a day. Yeah, I was pretty sure we took an hour off during non-REM sleep. Maybe. But she’d now become a friggin’ pro at it, and I’d told her several times that she could open her own phone sex hotline and become a billionaire which always made her laugh.

“
You touching yourself?”

“Mm hm,” she murmured.

“I want you to picture my mouth on your pussy, my tongue flicking over your clit then sucking it into my mouth, making it tight and swollen. You feel that, baby? Slip your finger inside, El.”

“God, yes,” she moaned.

“Touch your breast with your other hand. Pinch your nipple between your thumb and finger. I were there, I’d bite your gorgeous nipples then suck on them so hard, you’d come just from that.”

“Jag…” she whispered.

“God, so hard for you, El. Want inside of you so badly.” I continued stroking myself, picturing myself doing all the things we were saying. “Tell me what you’re doing.”

“I’m moving on you, taking you as deep as I can. So big and hard. You
’re hitting my G-spot… feels so good… making me throw my head back,” she cried out just then.

“That’s it, baby. Circle your clit with your thumb as you press your finger inside. That’s my cock hitting the spot for you
, gonna make you come so hard for me.”

“Oh… God…” she said hoarsely.

I listened to the sounds she was making knowing she was close which made me even harder. Damn. “Pumping inside you so hard. So fast.” I moved my hand faster on my cock, feeling myself moving toward a climax. “Almost there, baby. You with me?”

“Yes,” she said breathlessly.

Holy fuck, she was stunning and I wasn’t even there with her, but I could so totally see her right now moving on top of me, her auburn hair flowing over her shoulders, her green eyes glittering with lust.

“C’mon, El…
I’m going deep… come with me…”

“I—I… oh, Jag!” she screamed as she came.

I came right after, hot spurts of come shooting onto my stomach. “Jesus, El,” I said, breathing hard. “You make me come so hard.”

“Love you,” she mumbled sleepily.

“Forever and a day, baby. Holding you in my arms right now. Feel me.”

“I do…”

“Miss you. I’ll be there soon, okay?”

“’Kay,” she murmured, already almost asleep. “’Night, Jag.”

“’Night, sweetheart,” I replied and we hung up. I got up to wash off my stomach, my eyes squinting when I turned on the light. The minute I hit the bed, I was practically out, and dreamed of my gorgeous girl the rest of the night.

I landed at O’Hare Wednesday
evening, renting an SUV and heading straight to Starbucks. I pulled up in the parking lot and sat watching El behind the counter, laughing with her coworkers and looking beautiful as always, way better than she’d looked the last time I’d gone to see her there. She now looked happy which made me ecstatic.

She’d told me
the week before that Slade had quit and gone back home to Pennsylvania, which blew my mind because I’d have guessed he hailed from somewhere near an ocean, having had the surfer look down to a T. But it’d been great to hear that he was gone, not that I was threatened by him, just a little wary since they shared a little history.

I walked in, the Christmas jingle bells on the door a
nnouncing my arrival, and when El looked up and saw it was me, she grinned great big, coming around the counter, jumping into my arms and hugging me like crazy.

“Hey, baby,” I said into her hair, kissing the side of her head.

“Hey, honey,” she murmured back, pulling back to smile at me, kissing me before I set her down.

“Got something for you,” I said, reaching into my jeans pocket.

“That a bat in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” she said with a giggle when I pulled out a Dodgers baseball bat keychain and handed it to her.

I grinned
down at her licentiously. “Both.”

“Hi, Jag!” Cassie said from behind the counter, waving at me.

“Hey, Cassie,” I said with a smile which seemed to thrill her to no end that I’d remembered her name. “How’s the boyfriend?”

She smiled hugely. “Great! He almost proposed when I gave him your autograph!”

I chuckled, nodding at her in approval then looked down at El. “My name makes men think of marriage. Think I should be worried?”

She laughed. “I’m sure you’re pinup material for all kinds these days.”

“And am I for you?” I asked, eyebrow raised.

“You are now,
well, once I took the Pin the Tail on the Donkey tacks off your picture.”

I threw m
y head back and laughed. Cute. Oh, she was cute.

I looked down at her and smiled, shaking my head. “What am I gonna do with you?”

She tiptoed up and whispered in my ear, “I can think of all kinds of things.”

Damn.
“What time do you get off?”

She looked at the clock on the wall then back at me. “In an hour. Thirty minutes if Cassie’ll agree to close up for me.”
She winked.

“Oh, I think I can convince her,” I said, waggling my eyebrows as I walked to the counter to charm her coworker into helping us out.

Cassie agreed, but only if I signed another autograph for her boyfriend, which I was more than happy to do if it meant having El home sooner. After telling El I’d pick up something to eat, I gave her a kiss then left, smiling so big it made my face hurt.

Looking up at the sky while I walked to my car, I said a “Thank you” to whoever was in charge up there and had brought us back together.

“Piss o
ff!” El shouted at
me, which made me laugh even harder.

We
were sitting at her kitchen table eating the Chinese takeout I’d brought home. We’d been talking about our first kiss through the chain link fence at school, and I couldn’t help but tease her a bit.