Moments (Breath of Life Book 3) (9 page)

FIFTEEN

"Duke, what on Earth are you doing?" Ella's demanding tone stopped Duke from what he was working on.

"Nothing."

"Why are you in my dark room trying to develop pictures when you don't have the slightest idea how?"

"I know what I'm doing, I learned from the best," he turned and kissed her on the nose trying to calm her down. He knew she didn't like him being in her dark room, but he was trying to work on a surprise piece for her.

"Ass-kisser," she accused. "Let me see if you are even doing it right." She grabbed the photo-tongs and picked up the picture from the liquid. She hung it to dry on the line staring at it. It was a picture of them on their first date. She picked up each picture he had in separate bins. Each one depicted a first they did.

"Duke," she whispered.

"It was supposed to be a surprise and as you can see, I know what I'm doing," he wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into him before she continued to stare at the pictures hanging on the line.

He knew he captured a lot of good memories from the negatives he picked out of her neatly organized photo boxes. He would never admit that he
googled the development process, but he was going to surprise her with a scrapbook. He was going to propose soon and he wanted to start their lives in their own house, not the small rental they currently had. He found the perfect one she would like. Thank goodness he didn't develop the picture of the house or him holding as sign telling her it was theirs. He had a plan to drive her out after she flipped to the last page. He was going to take her on a tour, so they could see where they had all their firsts again.

He kissed her neck and she reached back and let her hand run through his hair. "I love you," she said before turning around.

"I love you too, Ellie-bear. Forever, for always, for eternity."

"That's not long enough," she giggled. Duke loved her giggle, her laugh, her smile, her everything. He knew their life together would be perfect and he couldn't wait to grow old with her, have children, become grandparents together. They were on top of the world and nothing could ever get in their way, but first they had to get married.

Duke woke up and reached over to the other side of the bed, only to find it empty. Ella was not there with him, it was another dream. He looked over at the clock and saw that he had only been asleep for a couple hours. He stared back up at the ceiling knowing he was wide-awake, afraid to close his eyes and see her. His most cherished memories now becoming his most beautiful nightmares. Moments with Ella were haunting him in his sleep, more than ever lately.

He turned on his side and took a deep breath. Knowing that he had to get to work in the morning, Duke needed to try to get back to sleep or risk a really long day with his kids. Neither one seemed appealing at the moment. He had a long weekend and was already not looking forward to his dead week, the week before finals.

Duke was finally going back to work. After the team's loss, he thought he should at least be there to show them that they were still winners in his book. They had a phenomenal season. He wondered if they lost because they were worried about him, trying to win for him and getting frustrated with themselves causing them to not play a hundred percent.

Sighing, he turned once more. He knew he was awake and there was nothing he can do about it. He might as well get up and do the chores he had been neglecting. His laundry pile was a mile-high it seemed like. He didn't even do dishes after cooking dinner earlier. Duke listened for sounds as he got out of bed and looked out the window. He didn't see any other cars in the driveway. Deciding it was safe for him to wander in his boxers, he picked up his laundry basket and headed out of the room.

***

Duke started filling up the sink with soapy water. He had already started laundry, did the dusting, cleaned the counters, and mopped the kitchen floor. Now the only thing left was dishes. He had quiet music playing from the MP3 player he had hooked up in the kitchen. He had put on his 90's country music playlist that always made him relax. He figured maybe by the time he finished dishes, he could put his laundry in the dryer and head to bed, hopefully sleepy.

Stopping the water, Duke started with the bigger pans he used. He methodically washed and rinsed them before setting them on the drying mat. He found himself singing along when he heard a giggle behind him. He turned and saw Paxton standing there covering her mouth.

"Is this how you clean? Late at night, in your boxers?" She raised an eyebrow.

Duke grabbed a dish and brought it out of the water to scrub, "No, I just couldn't sleep." He checked it to make sure it was clean and began rinsing it.

"Why can't you sleep?"

"I just can't. What are you doing here anyways?"

"I just got off my shift. Jack texted that he was back and I thought he was here but he's not. I'm too tired to drive out to the cabin. I called him and he said to stay here tonight."

Duke set the dish on the drying mat and paused. "I didn't even know you were here. I didn't see any cars in the driveway."

"I parked out on the street. I didn't know which side you were parked on in the garage."

"I'm always on the left side," he said over his shoulder as he finished rinsing the last dish in the sink.

Duke turned and faced her. He felt his breath hitch as he realized she was only in a long shirt, her hair tousled around her shoulders. She stood there watching him. He wanted to wrap her up in his arms again. His feet stayed planted where they were. His head was still fighting his heart and urges to take Paxton to his bed.

"Good to know," she looked around and bit her lower lip.

Before Duke knew what he was doing, he found himself walking towards Paxton. He noticed her breathing stopped as soon as he reached her. They stood inches away from each other, neither making a move but his hand was twitching, as it wanted to extend out and tuck her hair behind her ear, feel her soft skin against his, and lead her to his bed.

"I can't do this again, Duke, not right now," she breathed.

"I know," he kissed her forehead. His head was screaming at him. "I know," he said again. "You're with Jack, but we betrayed him. You can't tell me you still don't ache for me too."

Paxton didn't say anything and Duke leaned in a little closer, his lips hovering over hers. The indecision he felt heightened. He could see her lean
in even closer. Their lips barely separated. Duke closed the distance between them, pulling Paxton in against him.

Suddenly the door swung open and Link came bounding in. They quickly backed away from each other. Jack appeared in the doorway, looking behind him to make sure the garage door shut. Duke hated the interruption but he was glad it happened. He was in dangerous territory and putting Paxton in a tight spot, asking her to choose between them.

Duke watched Jack turn and look at both of them. He smiled and headed towards Paxton. He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up into a kiss. He set her down and she looked at the floor, no doubt feeling guilty that moments ago, she was kissing Duke.

"Why are you two up?" Jack asked breaking the silence between the three of them.

"I was cleaning and woke Paxton up. I didn't know she was here," Duke quickly explained.

"You okay man?" Jack looked at him and Duke wanted to tell him he was, but he knew he wasn't.

"Yeah," Duke looked over at Paxton. "Just need to get my head on straight, figure out what's going on in my head."

"Wanna talk?"
 

"No, I'll be fine. I'm just going to head to bed soon. Waiting to switch my clothes over to the dryer."

"If you are sure, I think I'm going to head to bed. I couldn't sleep at the cabin by myself after Paxton's call earlier. Just decided to come over here."

"Yeah, you guys head back to bed. I'll be quieter."

He watched Jack as he turned and headed back towards their room, towing Paxton behind him.
She continued to stare at Duke as Jack led her back. Duke saw her reluctance to go.
Let her go. She chose him, not you. Don't do this,
his conscience voiced. He took a deep breath in knowing that his conscience was right. Paxton chose Jack, she chose to keep information about his family from him, he should want nothing to do with her, but his heart said otherwise. He really did fall in love with her and that's what hurts the most. The fact that she lied to protect him, but then discarded him when Jack came back. His mind then brought Jennah to the forefront, which meant Ella was back on his mind. He hated this war going on inside of him. How can he possibly allow his heart to reach out again? It desperately wanted to go after Paxton, but at the same time was shattered because of the future he lost with Ella and now Jennah was slowly making her way in for unknown reasons. He heard the buzzer of the washer telling him his load was ready to change over.

SIXTEEN

Jennah was packing up things in her room. Moving weekend came faster than she thought. She was excited to have her own place with her daughter. She was finally making sense of the world around her. It had been far too long and she had depended on others over the last couple of years. She hated being a burden. She promised herself one day, despite all her setbacks, she would make something out of herself. She had to so she could give Dobry the best life possible. She had come a long way, but she had so much further to go.

"Aunt Jennah?"

Jennah turned and saw Chase in the doorway of her room. She decided now was a good time to take a break, "Hey kid, what's up?"

"I was wondering if you could come to the baseball team's awards night. It's this Friday. I want you and Mom to be there with me."

It warmed her heart that he wanted her there to help celebrate the team's season. They had a close bond over the last year and Chase was a sweet kid. Jennah knew it meant a lot to Chase that she be included in everything. "Sure, what time is it and where? I'm sure I would need a break by then since I'm starting to move to my new place. Dobry will be at the sitter's. Maybe she can watch Dobry for the event too."

"Friday, 7pm, at the Clarion ballroom. Coach said there would be signs."

"Great. I will be there kid as long as the sitter agrees to keep Dobry."

"When are you going to stop calling me kid?"

"Never," she chuckled. She rubbed her hand through his hair even though she was reaching up to do it. He batted her hands away trying to put his hair back in place.

"Jeez! I just spent ten minutes doing it for my group study tonight."

"Group study? You do your hair for that?"

He rolled his eyes and started out the doorway.

"Who is she?" Jennah called out teasingly. He just walked away, ignoring her question. Turning she found herself smiling. She knew Chase was probably trying to get the attention of a girl in the so-called study group. She continued packing away. It was only Wednesday and she only had her room to pack as Dobry was easy enough to pack and the rest of her stuff was in storage. The packing bug hit her with her excitement of moving.

Jennah knew that it was just her need to control everything around her. She knew a big change was coming. She could feel it and it scared her. She needed to wrap her hands around the reigns and pull herself together if she was going to make this work.

***

Friday night crept up on Duke before he knew it. Somehow the week flew by and now he was getting ready to go to awards night. He was pulling out his vest and tie. He told the team to wear their
best, it was a good occasion to celebrate.

Putting on his red button-up shirt, he tucked it into his black pants. He then grabbed his tie and vest as he headed to the mirror to put his outfit together. He went with a black vest and tie. He wrapped his tie around his neck and put it in place before slipping his vest on. Buttoning the three-button vest up, he looked in the mirror. Flashes of the funeral went through his mind. He hadn't worn a vest or suit of any kind since that day. He avoided them as they brought back the memories of those days. Tonight though, tonight was different. Something was stirring within him, it had been since the night Jack interrupted him and Paxton.

"Ready?"

Duke turned and saw Lexi in his doorway. She agreed to come with him to the event. She had on a short, black strapless dress. It stopped right above her knees and she had on the sexiest black heels that had what seemed like diamonds running down the length of her foot, securing it in. "Yeah. You look amazing," he walked over and kissed her temple. He had been running to Lexi all week, she thankfully saw him through whatever he needed this week, including coming to the banquet with him.

"Thanks. You look rather dashing yourself. Makes me want to keep you here and do other things than attend the banquet," she ran her hands on his vest and back down. Duke smiled and knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Can't. I'm the coach, I need to be there."

"Then maybe afterwards," she leaned forward and kissed his neck. Over the last week, they worked out their differences. Ella never appeared to him, he figured it was because he hadn't seen Jennah in a while.

"Sounds like a plan," he broke away. He was close to giving into her. "We should get going. Make sure everything is set up before the boys arrive."

"Let's do this," she smiled.

Hand-in-hand, they walked through the doors to the ballroom that was set up for their awards night. Duke let go of Lexi's hand as he walked around the room checking everything. It seemed to be flawless and looked much better than he imagined. Around the room were easels with various pictures from the season. Ryan had them edited and blown up for tonight. The liaison from the hotel came out and greeted him from behind a table where she was putting the finishing touches on.

"Mr. Avery, it's good to see you," she greeted, shaking his hand.

"Likewise, Miss Johnson. Everything looks great."

"Good! The cooks are finishing up dinner but it will be ready to serve at 7:15."

"Perfect, that gives us time for the intro speeches and to announce. Is there anything else I need to do?"

"Nope, I have it all taken care of. The wait staff should be arriving any moment, so I better go wait in the back for them to give them instructions. Just let me know if you need anything," she smiled.

"Great, I'm good for now." He turned and looked at Lexi. She sat at a table just watching him.

"You are sexy when you are in action," she winked.

"That was nothing. Wait until my speech," he then kissed her. He didn't care they were out in public, they were alone in the room.

Lexi stood and deepened the kiss. The need between them overtook their common sense that they were in public and could only take it so far. A clearing of a throat broke them apart.

"Duke, it's nice to see you and this is..." he trailed off.

"Ryan, this is my friend Lexi."

"Friend, huh? Well nice to meet you Lexi. You must be a wonderful friend to have," Ryan teased. Duke saw Lexi blush. "I'm Ryan."

"Nice to meet you," was all she could manage to say before she excused herself.

Duke watched her leave and so did Ryan. "So she's a friend huh?"

"Yeah, friends."

"No-strings? The person who scratches your itch?" Ryan raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, you make her sound slutty, which she's not. She's a good girl and we are just two people who don't want relationships—"

"But the benefits of having one? Sex, events, companionship."

Duke didn't know how to react. He felt like Ryan was lecturing him. "We get each other."

"I'm not judging Duke, just be careful. Things can change quicker than you think. It will just take one tiny thing before she wants more."

Duke knew it was true. He saw Lexi's looks getting a little longer, things getting a little cozier. She knew him, physically at least. She knew what he needed when he needed it. He could get lost with her. He wondered if a real relationship with Lexi would last, or if it would fail miserably because they had always been physical together. Besides, he had enough women swimming around in his head, he didn't need another one.

"So," Ryan was trying to change the subject. "Ready for summer break?"

Duke laughed at the awful transition but welcomed it. "Yeah, definitely ready for a break before football camp."

"Can't wait for that! I bet you are excited for next season."

"Yeah, we are losing a few good seniors. We will definitely have a younger team, but we will see."

They continued chatting about football until Lexi came back. She sat down quietly beside Duke, not making any physical contact. Ryan then began to include her in the conversation, trying to get to know her, but Duke figured he was vetting her out to see what she really wanted from this. He couldn't help but smile at Ryan's over protectiveness. Duke knew it was just Ryan looking after him.

When the team started showing up, they all broke apart. Duke went around greeting his players and their families. It was just about time for the introduction speech.