This Time Around (19 page)

“Words first,” I state.

“Words first,” she says. She wants to talk, when all I want to do is ram my tongue down her throat and taste her. Fuck, doesn’t she know what she is doing to me? Ever since I was a teenager I have always had girls to get me off, or on the rare occasion I have used my hand. But shit, since Penny came back into my life my hand had done shit all. I am just not feeling it. I want every orgasm to belong to her. I want to empty myself deep inside her, plant our next baby deep inside her womb.

Hold up.

Where the fuck did that thought come from?

Holy shit, now all I can picture is Bambi pregnant, with my baby. Taking care of Knox and Connie. Me rubbing her swollen belly and feeling my son kick. But thinking all of this; for the future with a woman who hasn’t spoken to me in days and may not want a relationship with me. I chuckle under my breath but it catches Bambi’s attention.

“What's got you chuckling over there?” She tilts her head in question.

“Honestly?” She nods her head. “I was thinking about the future. Our future. Then I remembered that we haven’t talked in days and I have no clue if we are together anymore.” I keep eye contact, not wanting to look away. I want to see everything she is thinking, because she wears her emotions on her face. She blinks a couple of times and opens her mouth to speak but closes it again. She is trying to find the right words to say. I lay my hand over hers on the table and give a little squeeze.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. But you wanted honesty.”

“I know, Liam. But us being here is a good start.” I nod my head and pick the menu up.

“Are you hungry?”

“Freaking starving. So was Connie, apparently. We can order now and get theirs when they come back,” she says.

“Fair enough.” I hold the menu between us so we can share it, I can see the words but for the life of me I have no clue what they say. Bambi’s scent invades my senses and my dick hardens in my already too tight jeans. I tilt my head more towards her hair and take in more of her scent. Today she smells like oranges.

“Dude, really?” I rest my forehead on her shoulder and chuckle.

“Busted. Sorry. But damn, baby you smell so good.”

“Just like you, Liam. You always smell freaking good. I am going to bottle up your scent and sell it. I will make millions.” She winks at me.

“Babe, the only woman I want smelling like me is you.” We are interrupted from our sexy banter by a waitress.

“Are you guys ready to order?” she asks, snapping her bubblegum in her mouth. I hate it. It reminds me of being on the road with the band and the skanky bitches chewing bubblegum all the fucking time, damn the sounds gets annoying.

“Yeah, I will have the chicken fillet with baby potatoes and a salad, please. With a diet Coke, thank you.” Bambi tells her.

“Can I have gammon, egg and chips, please? Can I have a Coke as well, please?”

“Great, I will just grab your drinks.” I turn back to Bambi and smile at her. She smiles back but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

“I am truly sorry for being a dick. All I seem to be doing lately is apologising to you; the hospital and then at the house. I fucked up, Pen, and I can never take that back. I really would like us to move on,” I say, looking at her. She licks her pink lips that I know would taste amazing. I follow her tongue and wish it was my own licking her plump lips. Damn, that movement has all kinds of actions taking part in my jeans.

“I think moving on would be a good thing to do, Liam.” She looks away from me and my heart stops beating in my chest. My body turns to stone and goes cold. So much emotion from a few words. I follow her gaze as she watches the kids play in the dog park. I nod my head and push the crushing emotion back.

“I get it.” I stand up to leave but Bambi grips my wrist. I brace myself for her words.

“I meant move on in a good way, you dope. Sit down.” I snap my head around to face her, not quite believing what I had just heard.

“What did you say?” I ask, putting my arse back in the seat.

“We should move on. I think we have both suffered enough. Let’s just forget everything and start fresh.” Bambi leans in and lays a gentle kiss on my lips. I don’t reciprocate because her words have stunned me solid. “Kiss me, Liam. I feel kinda stupid kissing you and you aren’t kissing me back. I feel like a crazy stalker woman,” she giggles against my mouth. That sounds snaps me out of my stunned state. I grip the back of her head and kiss her like my life depends on it. Our tongues play together, tasting, teasing. Our kisses showing that there is more to come, but I know we are in public.

“Later, baby,” I wink.

“Promise?”

“Yeah, babe. Big arse promise.”

“So, how is the garage doing?” she asks me.

“It is good. We are talking about hiring a new bloke, he is a whiz at paint jobs.”

“That's awesome, I am so proud of you and Ade.”

“Yeah, who would have thought that I would be nearly thirty, a single dad and part owning my own business?

“Do you need more condoms, if you are gonna eye fuck all day?” Both our heads snap up to see Adrian and Claire standing by the table, smirking down at us as they take the seats opposite us.

“Have a seat why don’t you?”

“We will, cheers mate.” Ade laughs.

“Where are the kids?” Bambi asks them.

“They are at Claire’s parents, so it is boom time for us.” He wiggles his eyebrows and I laugh and fist bump him.

“Ewwww. Can we please not talk about you two doing the nasty. I am scarred for life after the last time, I got a clear visual.” Bambi shudders beside me.

“Oh yeah, you did say something about seeing his white arse one too many times. What did you walk into?” Claire bursts out and Adrian adjusts the collar on his shirt. Acting the big arse wanna-be-porn star.

“Well Miss Miller, here walked in on me eating a very tasty meal on the pool table in our conservatory, if you know what I mean.” He offers me his fist to bump and I do it.

“Nice one.”

“Typical blokes,” Claire says, but with a smile on her face. “And then there was that one time...

“What time, babe?” Ade asks his wife.

“You know, the time with the drinking and the…”

“NO!” Penny shouts, scaring the crap out of everyone around us. Adrian cracks up laughing and Claire goes bright red, matching Bambi’s new colour tone.

“Oh no, you are so fucking telling me this story.” I cover Bambi’s mouth with my hand and nod to Adrian.

“I love you, Jelly, remember that. So we were in college and there was us three and a lot, and I mean a lot, of drinking. Well, one thing lead to another and us three, well we almost…” Bambi rips her mouth away from my hand.

“Please, make him stop,” Bambi says. The table erupts with laughter. “It stopped. We didn’t do anything, I swear. I sobered up real freaking fast.”

“Hey, have you had a chance to stop by Castle Ink, yet?” Ade asks me.

“No, I need to though, I have a few things I need added to my arms. Plus, I want the bottom of my spine finished. Plus, I think Bambi was looking at getting some ink done. I would only want Dex and Jay touching her. And, I was thinking of getting my nipples pierced, man. I know that Jay brought Addy with him with the new
studio.”

She was a girl from our school that took a shining to Dex back in the day, but he only had eyes for Fiona, who he ended up marrying. There is a lot of history surrounding the Castle brothers that Addy is a little part of. There was always this chemistry between Dex and Addy, but because of the age gap he wouldn’t give her the time of day. Jay had always saw Addy as the little sister they never had. Whereas Dex kept his distance, because we know that he did have underlying feelings for her.

“I can imagine what the tension is like in there everyday, but Jay refused to hire someone else. He likes to take care of Addy,” I add.

“What kind of tension?” Claire asks.

“Addy had a big crush on Dex when we were younger. Me and Jay saw her like a little sister, but Dex kept her at arm’s length. She never interfered when Dex and Fiona got together but you could tell that she was hurting. She moved away after they got married, she couldn’t see them together anymore, it got too much. She came back when she heard that Fi had been killed in a car accident and something went down, but I don’t know all the details.” Penny touches my hand on the table and I turn to look at her, she is saying so much with her eyes, without actually saying the words.

“That must have been hard on them both. I mean, for Dex to lose his wife and then the other woman who has loved him for so long to come and visit. I can only imagine what happened between them. But also for this Addy woman, to see the man she loved bury his wife, she must have been hurting also. Hurting for him. I know I would,” Claire utters in a soft voice.

“She was hurting but a few days after the funeral, she left again. We have kept in touch over the years. I am glad that she is close, so I can keep an eye on her. I can take some of the weight off Jay now.” Bambi nods next to me, seeing my reasons for keeping Addy close. I see Addy like she saw Jodi.

“I will have to get them to add to mine, too. I have seen a wicked tree design I want between my shoulder blades. And, Claire wants another little tattoo on her finger.” He nods to his wife’s hand on top of his. Claire is a bad arse chick. She has one full tatted sleeve and two pink bows on the back of her thighs, just below her arse cheeks. I got an eye full when we were at the pool a few weeks ago.

“I hear,
ya. I will pop around there this week and book us in,”

“Are they any good? These friends of yours?” Bambi asks.

“Baby, they are the best. Jay done all of my right arm and most of my left. Dex started my spine tattoo, that is why I want him to finish it for me. I need a few things added, as well.” I bounce my eyebrows at her.

“I guess I should start looking for a design that I want then. Oh and are you serious about having your nipples done?”

“Yeah, babe. I have always wanted them done but never got around to it.” I take a mouthful of my drink as Bambi speaks.

“I like the idea of having my nipples pierced too.” I spray Ade and Claire with my drink at her words. I choke, but the fuckers just laugh at me. Bambi is rubbing my back, trying to soothe my coughing fit but it isn’t working. All I can picture is my girl's nipples sparkling with two silver barbells, wanting to be bitten and tugged on. I clear my throat and thump my chest.

“I’m good. Fuck, give a lad a little warning next time, will ya,” I tell the table.

“Sorry, babe,” Bambi says, with a fake as shit innocent look on her face.

“Sorry, my arse,”

“I am. You get to take me. And I want to get my tattoos done at the same time.”

“Tattoos. As in more than one?”

“Yep.”

“Fucking hell, kill a man, why don’t ya,” I say.

I catch Knox and Connie running towards us with the two dogs in tow.

“Mum, Liam, we are hungry,” Connie says, puffing from her running.

“Yeah, Dad. Can I have curry and chips, please?”

“Oooo, can I have cheese and chips, please?” Connie pipes in.

“You wait for our food and I will go inside and order their food,” I say and stand up. Knox and Connie sit in the two chairs opposite ours. Both Ramsey and Hetch are conked out under the table. I walk inside and I blink a few times as my eyes adjust to the dimmer light. I walk over to the counter and order the kids food.

The sight before me as I walk back out onto the deck takes my breath away. Connie is now sitting in my seat next to Bambi and Knox is sitting on her lap while they take selfies on Bambi’s phone. Seeing Knox have this woman care about him so much, makes me love her all that more. He has never had a woman figure in his life. Some of the girls on tour only watched him because I would shag them after I came back to the bus, but even that got old.

I have to do everything in my power to keep this woman and her daughter in our lives. She will be good for Knox. And more than good for me.

Tonight is a big deal for us; we are having a sleepover at Bambi’s house. This is the first time that the four of us have been under the one roof. I have bought a shit load of junk food again for the girls, Knox and me, but we will keep that a secret. I need to have a talk with Knox about Bambi and me. I know he knows I love her and she loves me, but neither of us have had the guts to say it to each other yet.