Over the Hills and Far Away (NOLA's Own #1) (46 page)

“Um…” She took a deep breath. “Jason mentioned something about a barbeque at your dad’s tomorrow, and he said I was coming. I just wanted to make sure it was okay with you first.”

“Huh.”

“Grunt, grunt,” said the caveman.

She looked crestfallen at his response, and my heart went out to her. Again, I had that vague sense that I knew Sheri from somewhere. A strange little niggle zipped around the back of my head.

“Have a seat.” I copped a squat at the island counter, ignoring the déjà vu. “You want something to drink? Phil, get her a drink.”

Turning her big gray eyes on me, Sheri hesitated for a few seconds and then nodded. “Sure. Thanks.”

I thought Phil’s beautiful deep-set eyes were about to bug out of his head. She glanced at him, and he looked back at her with no clue as to what he was supposed to do.

“I’d like some water,” I said maybe a little too loudly. “Would you like some water, Sheri?”

“Please,” she replied softly, nodding.

I looked at Phil. Phil looked back at me, an expression of shock still on his face. Snapping out of it, he busied himself with getting us a couple of waters.

“Ice?” he grumped.

“Oh, that’d be lovely. Thanks, babe.”

His shoulders relaxed with the endearment, and I couldn’t help but smile to myself.

Turning my attention back to Sheri, I told her, “Your face healed up nicely. I hope it wasn’t too painful.”

Phil’s shoulders snapped out of relax mode, and he whipped around, ready to pull whomever off of whom first.

Sheri blazed red. “I, uh…it wasn’t so bad. I’d really like to apologize about that. It…I’m not really like that. And I-I don’t really remember much of it either, to be honest. And…it’s so embarrassing. I’m not racist, and I was told I called your friend a we-wetback.”

Phil was standing next to the fridge, each hand holding a glass filled with ice but no water. He was on high alert.

“Damn, I’m parched,” I remarked.

Taking the hint, he turned to fill them with water from the tap.

Facing Sheri, I said, “I’m sure Lili would appreciate an apology. She probably won’t accept it at first though, so be prepared for that. But if you’re patient, she’ll mellow with a little time. Alys is softhearted. She’ll forgive you, if you forgive her.”

She nodded, and Phil plunked the glasses down in front of us.

I smiled real big at him. “Thanks, babe.”

His lips twitched, and he slunk himself back to the kitchen cabinets.

“I had a lot to drink that night. I know it’s no excuse, but I want you to know that…” She inhaled deeply and glanced over at Phil before turning back to me. “Phil cares about you very, very much. He has for a long time—”

“I
love
her,” he stated from his position by the fridge. “I
love
her very, very much.”

She gave me a startled expression while I smiled at Phil like a moron.

“Well, I didn’t know if you’d said it yet!” she snapped at him.

I was glad to see she had some backbone to her.

“I didn’t want to take that away from you. As I was saying,” she said, her voice much stronger now, “he
loves
you, and he has for as long as I’ve known him. I should’ve been happy for the both of you that night. I was jealous—”

“Why?” snapped Phil. “What the fuck did you have to be jealous about? You’ve known how I felt about her from the beginning!”

“Because! I just was! I’ve had all you guys to myself for the last six years, and then we come home and…” She swelled with another deep breath. “I acted like a total bitch, and for that, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for trying to hurt you, Kenna. You didn’t deserve that.”

“Thank you, Sheri. I appreciate that.”

She looked to Phil. “I’m truly sorry, Phil.”

Nodding, he said only, “See you tomorrow then.”

She stood up, and so did I. To her surprise, I gave her a hug because I had the feeling she really didn’t get many of them.

“No worries, okay? Water under the bridge,” I told her.

Relaxing in my arms, she hugged me back. “Thank you.”

As quietly as she’d come in, Sheri left through the panel door.

Unable to ignore the heat coming from Phil’s gaze, I asked, “What’s up?”

“You’re fuckin’ awesome, Baby Girl,” he replied.

He stalked up to me and grabbed my face before planting a panty-combusting kiss on my lips. It was raw, hot, and sex-inspiring.

Moaning softly, he asked, “What the fuck have you done to me?”

That really didn’t require an answer.

It’s only fair,
I thought to myself.
You’ve done it to me, too.

“What are you thinking about?” Phil asked me, trailing his warm fingertips over my collarbone and down my sternum.

We were lying naked on his bed, listening to his iPod that he’d plugged into some sort of sound system.
Houses of the Holy
softly poured through the speakers. After some awesome sex, we were feeling pretty good and mellow.

My eyes were closed, and I couldn’t keep the smile off my face if I tried.

“You,” I replied.

“What about me?”

Um…everything?

“I’m thinking about how wonderful you make me feel, that I love how I feel you, even when I can’t see you.”

He sucked in a sharp breath.

“I’m thinking of your voice,” I told him, “and how there’s no sound as perfect as it. It’s like my own personal om. It does funny things to me. I’m thinking that I love how big and strong you are, how you’re the only man who has ever made me feel feminine and beautiful.”

“Kenna…” he breathed.

Plowing on, I told him, “Now, I’m thinking about how I love it when you say my name. I love that I’m your Baby Girl. I’m thinking that I’m both in awe and jealous of how confident and self-assured you are, how I adore that you dominate me like you do everything.”

His hot palm pressed over my heart. I could feel the way its tempo increased as I thought of him, what excited me the most about him. His breathing tripped with the rhythm of the beats.

“I’m thinking of how I love seeing you walk into a room, and when you do, it’s like the sun has come out from behind the clouds. You light up my whole world, filling it with warmth and brilliant colors.”

He gasped softly, his hand smoothing its way up to my face, turning me so that he could press his mouth to mine.

“Oh God,” he whispered, choked up.

If he’s crying, I don’t want to see. I don’t think I can handle seeing so much inside him…not yet.

He placed his Third Eye to mine, and the onslaught of love and adoration I felt was overwhelming. Pulling me onto my side, he raised my leg over his waist and pushed himself into me once more. It didn’t matter that I was sore. I wanted him where he belonged.

“My other half…” he whispered against my mouth.

“I’m thinking of how
right
this is—what’s between us,” I said to him.

“Yes…”

“Of how there’s truly never been anyone but you in my heart.”

“Baby Girl…”

He moaned and took my mouth again. Rolling us onto my back, he sank in as deep as he could go.

Agonizingly beautiful.

He pulled back and pushed in so slowly—pushing into me all that he was feeling, all the tenderness and love, all the longing, the waiting, the wretched hope over the past six years. He filled me with all his anguish and joy he’d held bottled up inside. I could feel how dark and angry he had been, but I also felt the purest, most euphoric elation as well. It left me breathless and aching. He was pressing it all into me while pushing me down, holding me beneath him, forcing me to experience it, too.

This time, the orgasm washed through me, elevating me, and he came with me. The sob he’d been choking on escaped his chest, and he shuddered violently, releasing a muffled cry into my hair. His cock pumped and jerked madly, and he crushed me in his arms. He still pushed and strained into me, feeling as though he was doing his damnedest to reach my heart.

Sunday morning found me on my back porch in lotus pose in a state of deep meditation. With all that had happened since Friday, I needed to examine my own emotions, away from the man who had been wreaking havoc with them.

I woke up not long after sunrise and snuck out of Phil’s place. Lying in his arms, I had thought about how I was going to meet his family today, that he considered me a part of it, and I’d started to feel a bit nervous. So, I had done what any rational person would do, and I’d gotten the hell out of there before he could wake up.

Admittedly, I felt a bit guilty about that. He was going to be grumpy when he woke up with me gone. But I’d needed to do my yoga and relieve some serious stress. I needed to be alone, and I didn’t feel that I had to explain myself to anyone—not even to Phil.

How can I be so fucking happy and absolutely terrified all at once? I’m torn between wanting to just hand everything over to him while fighting to retain control over myself.

Sink deeper, woman
,
I chastised myself.
You’re still thinking too much.

I allowed my mind to relax further. I released my breath, feeling my chest ease up more.

Jackpot.

Weightless, lightless, soundless train of thought—from here, I could go
anywhere
and explore any part of the cosmos and beyond.

When I ascended from deep within myself, almost ninety minutes had passed in meditation alone.

Phil’s no doubt awake and ready to raise some hell by now.

“Morning, Sweet Pea.” Alys’s sweet voice drifted out from the kitchen.

“Hey, Muffin.”

“Sweet espresso?”

“Yes, please.”

Rising up, I rolled up Mom’s bamboo mat and took my usual seat at the porch table. A few minutes later, Alys brought me my morning fuel.

“How was your day yesterday?” she asked as she took her own favorite seat.

“Good,” I replied. “Oh, and get this!”

I told her all about Sheri and how she’d really seemed to be genuine about wanting to apologize to both Alys and Lili and how she’d apologized to me.

“I think she’s probably a sweet person, and we’ve just never seen it, you know?”

“First impressions are usually the worst impressions,” Alys drawled. “I have no problem forgiving her. She did seem pretty wasted that night.”

“Yeah, she did,” I agreed. Then, because it had been bugging me on and off for a while, I said, “I get the feeling that I’ve met her somewhere. She just looks familiar. Do you get that from her?”

“Now that you mention it…yeah, maybe.”

We sat and sipped our coffee in comfortable silence for a bit.

“So…did you get laid yesterday?”

“That’s an understatement,” I laughed. “It’s like we can’t keep our hands off each other. Last night, it was awesome. We were listening to
Houses of the Holy
—” I felt myself blush, remembering that it had been
way
more than just sex.

Alys gave a short bark of laughter. “You can keep that one to yourself.”

“Will do.”

As I watched her, Alys grew quiet. Her thoughts turned inward, and I could feel her energy increasing in intensity.

“What is it?” I asked.

She smiled. “Nothing really. Just thinking about all the things that have happened recently.”

“Yeah, life escalated pretty quickly there, didn’t it?”

“You could say that. It’s just…it’s awesome to see you so happy. You’ve been lonely for so long, Sweet Pea. You’ve given your all for me and Lili and Grandma Betty and your work. You
deserve
this happiness.”

“It wasn’t like I was
unhappy
.”

“Pfft!”

“I wasn’t!”

“In any case, it’s good to see you finally letting someone else in. You’ve…returned to yourself these last couple of weeks.”

“What do you mean?”

“I used to think that it was because of Mom dying that you changed. But now, I think that maybe…it was
that night
, the night you met Phil. After we were kicked out, you never seemed whole. You looked and acted the same when you needed to, but you
felt
different.”

I swallowed thickly and reached out to squeeze her hand. “Was I so miserable to be around?”

“Of course not. You were just…different.”