Woods

Once I got her safely in my truck, I had planned on explaining. The confusion in her big blue eyes had been obvious. But every time I tried to I couldn’t think of a way to say it without scaring her off.

I was also afraid she might argue with me and all it was going to take to get me to snap was one little pleading look from her. My c**k was still throbbing painfully and the fact I knew she wasn’t wearing any damn panties and she was soaking wet from that orgasm I’d given her was only making me harder.

Throwing her on my bed and f**king her until I had her screaming my name again and telling me that her tight little pu**y was mine had been the only thing I could think about while I touched her.

But then she’d gone off in my lap and I knew this was my moment to prove to me and her that I could be selfless. Tonight had been about her. Not what she could do for me but just about her pleasure. I didn’t want this relationship to be built on sex. There was more there with Della. I liked being around her. I wanted to protect her. She had me so wrapped up I couldn’t think clearly.

Taking her back to Tripp’s motherfucking condo was going to kill me. I didn’t want her sleeping there with him in the next room but I couldn’t exactly move her into my place either. That was moving way too fast and a girl like Della would run. I didn’t want her to run. I’d chase her ass down if she tried but I still didn’t want her to try. I wanted her to stay because she wanted to be with me.

Being the kind of guy a girl stayed for was harder than I thought.

“Did I do something wrong?” Della asked, breaking into my thoughts. I was already pulling up to Tripp’s condo. I’d been so torn about what to say to her that I hadn’t said anything. Shit. She was worried. I parked the truck and looked over at her. The frown creasing her forehead bothered me. I didn’t mean to make her frown.

I reached over and soothed the puckered skin with my thumb. “No, not at all. You were perfect.”

Her frown didn’t go away. She wasn’t buying it. I should have explained this to her. I just couldn’t find the right words.

“Okay. If you’re sure,” she said slowly and reached for the door handle.

“Wait, I got it. I’ll walk you to the door.” I said, jerking my door open and going around to open her door. She watched me still frowning with a confused look on her face. It was adorable. I took her hands and helped her down. My eyes zeroed in on the very visible wet spot on the crotch of her shorts. Glancing around I looked for Tripp’s Harley and found it sitting over by Della’s car. Hell no. He wasn’t seeing this. Evidence of her wet pu**y was for my eyes only. Reaching into the truck I grabbed a hoodie out of the backseat.

“Wear this,” I said, pulling it over her head before she could protest or even ask why. She obediently put her hands into the arms and it fell to the middle of her thighs. Completely covering her and her shorts. I let out a sigh of relief.

“Why am I wearing your sweatshirt?” she asked, studying me like she thought I might be going crazy.

I slipped my hand around her waist and pulled her closer to me then lowered my head until my mouth was at her ear. “Tripp’s home and that sweet little wet spot on those shorts of yours are for no one’s eyes but mine. When you get inside go change into something loose and baggy. And for all that’s holy, please wear panties and a bra.”

Della nodded her head and I let her go and stepped back. She smelled too good. Seeing her dwarfed in my hoodie wasn’t helping. It was making my swollen dick even worse. “Go on inside. I need to stay here. If I go to the door I won’t be able to leave.”

She stuck her hands into the front pockets of the hoodie. “Okay. I’ll, uh, I’ll see you tomorrow then,” she stammered then turned and walked to the condo. I waited until she was safely inside before I got back in my truck and left. I should have walked her to the door but I knew seeing her in Tripp’s apartment would bring out the caveman in me even more and I would follow her inside and go lock us both in her room. This had been the only way to let her go.

It was time I went and dealt with my dad.

My mother met me at the door with a frown. She didn’t ask how I was doing or even attempt small talk. She just pointed down the hall and said, “Your dad’s in his office.” Then she walked away without another word.

Most of my life my mother was only affectionate if I was doing exactly what she wanted me to. Whenever I failed or displeased her, she let me know exactly how she felt about me. I should be over it by now. I was a twenty-four year old man. Seeking my mother’s approval was a thing of my past. Still, her conditional love was hard to swallow at times.

I knocked on the door to my father’s office then opened it up. No use in waiting on him to tell me to come in. He was mad at me anyway. He was sitting at his desk with the phone to his ear when I walked inside. His eyes glared at me with disapproval through his glasses that he only wore when he was reading.

“Of course. I agree. Woods has just walked into my office. I’ll speak with him and get back to you on where we go from here,” he said into the phone before hanging it up and leaning back in his chair to study me with a look of disdain.

The bitterness from the knowledge that my grandfather had given him the Vice President title and moved him into the big office the year he graduated from college was always there. He acted like I had to prove so much to him when I’d worked more in that club than he had. He had never gotten his hands dirty or dealt with employees. Yet he expected me to pay my dues.

“I hope you’re here to explain to me why you would toss away everything we’ve worked for because you think you’ll be unhappy? That’s bullshit son. No red blooded man would be unhappy with a woman like Angelina Greystone.”

He hadn’t worked for anything. He wasn’t being told whom he had to marry. I gritted my teeth and held the curses and insults in. They wouldn’t help matters now.

“I don’t love her. She doesn’t even like me much. I couldn’t go through with it. I’m sorry but as much as I want the job I was raised believing would be mine I won’t ruin my life and hers.”

My father leaned forward on his elbows that rested on his desk. “Love doesn’t make a good marriage. It isn’t forever. It leaves you. When reality sets in and times get hard the love disappears and you’re left with nothing. You marry someone who wants the same things you do. Who isn’t expecting romance but success. Angelina gets this. You don’t.”

When my grandmother was sick I had gone to visit my grandparents every chance I got. One day I had been sitting on the porch with my grandfather as he watched my grandmother paint one of her many pictures. The love and affection on his face was unmistakable. He’d turned to me that day and said, “Don’t miss out on the love of a good woman, son. No matter what that old man of yours tells you, love is real. I’d have never had the success in my life without that woman right there. She’s been my backbone. She’s been my reason for everything I’ve ever done. One day your drive to make a name for yourself will begin to drift away. It won’t be that important anymore. But when you’re doing it for someone else, someone you would move heaven and earth for then you never lose the desire to succeed. I can’t imagine this world without her in it. I don’t even want to.”

I hadn’t thought about those words again until today. The man who had raised my father was similar to him in many ways. But there was a difference. My dad did all of this for himself. His drive to succeed was selfish. There was no love in his work. My grandfather had built this business out of love for the woman he married. I’d seen that with my own eyes. I didn’t want to be my father. I wanted to be my grandfather.

“We need to agree to disagree,” I finally said knowing the mention of his parents would only infuriate him. He always thought my grandfather had made bad decisions even though he was the man who built this club.

My father smirked and shook his head. “No son, we don’t because I’m in charge here. If you’re choosing not to do what is best for this club and your future then you’re not ready to take over anything. I can’t promote you if I can’t trust you to make smart decisions. Your job at the club is safe for now but that doesn’t mean someone I can trust more to do your job won’t come along.”

Not only was he not going to give me the position I’d worked hard for he was threatening the position I currently had. I wanted to tell him to f**k himself and walk out. Before this was over I might end up doing just that. However, out of respect for the man who’d built this with the desire to hand it down to each generation of the Kerrington name, I would stay. That man I respected. The one in front of me I held no respect for. If he pushed me too far, I’d be gone. I wondered if he’d even miss me then.