The XOXO New Adult Collection: 16 Full Length New Adult Stories (86 page)

“I know,” I said, sad at the thought of having to move away from my friends. Molly, Bill, and Thomas would be moving to Florida after graduation to be closer to Bill’s family. I was really going to miss them, and I knew Karrie would too.

“We still have a few months before we have to worry about saying goodbye, so let’s talk about something else. This is supposed to be our fun time,” Molly said.

“You’re right,” I agreed. I didn’t want to rush the next few months, even though they’d come soon enough.

CHAPTER 20

JUDD

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I
couldn’t believe I’d left my dad at rehab last night. It had been a long time coming, but he’d looked so nervous and, well...lost. I’d wanted to grab him and take him back home, but I knew that he would be better for it. That we both would. But shit, it was really hard to leave him there.

Now I was in the gym, lifting weights and hoping that his first night had gone alright. I hadn’t told anyone on the team. I figured everyone had their own problems; there was no reason to air mine.

“Fuck!” Tuck yelled from the bench. “A couple days of puking my guts out and I can barely lift. I wasn’t expecting it to be this hard to bounce back.”

“Just give it time, man,” I said, grabbing the weights from him to do my set. “You’ll get there. You just have to build back up to it.”

“I guess,” Tuck said, running his hands through his blonde hair. “Shit, I’m due for a haircut...and a drink...and some ass.”

I chuckled at that before returning my focus to my last few reps.

“What do you say we go out for a drink tonight after practice?” I offered. It would be good to hang out and take my mind off my dad.

“Sounds good to me,” Tuck responded. “I’ve got to go clean up and head to class. I’m sure there is a ton of work I need to catch up on. I’ll see you at practice.”

“Sounds good, brother.”

I finished my time in the weight room, and then got on the elliptical for half an hour to get some cardio in. By the time I changed and got out of the gym, I noticed that I’d have to run to catch Sam at the coffee shop before she left for class.

As I walked up, I saw Sam exiting the building.

“Hey!” I shouted, jogging over to meet her.

Sam turned and her face lit up with a smile. Shit, she looked hot. Instead of stopping before I reached her, I ran right up to her and swept her into my arms, stealing a kiss before she realized what was coming.

When I pulled away, my heart was pounding and my breathing was ragged.

“Hi,” Sam said softly with a shy smile.

I dove in for one more quick kiss before responding.

“Sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I took longer at the gym than I thought.”

“That’s okay. I’m happy you’re here now.” Her words brought a smile to my face.

“Can I walk you to class?” I asked, taking her hand.

“Sure.”

With her hand warm in mine, I flashed back to those hands on my body a few days ago. I couldn’t wait to have her under me again.

I cleared my throat and tried to clear my thoughts. I’d hate to pop a boner just from holding her hand.

“So, how have you been the last couple of days?” Sam asked, unaware of the thoughts her question brought to the surface.

I wondered how my dad was holding up. I was really worried that he was in some sort of pain, or getting depressed. I wasn’t allowed to see him for the first couple of weeks, and I think that was the hardest part of all of this for me, not being able to see for myself that he was doing alright.

“Pretty good,” I answered automatically. “How about you?”

“Good,” Sam said, looking at me inquisitively. “I spent time with Karrie and hung out with my friend Molly.”

I nodded, distracted. “Sounds fun.”

Sam stopped and put her hands on my face, urging me to look at her. “Are you sure everything’s okay? You seem off.”

I felt like I needed to tell someone, and since she was trusting me to meet her kid this weekend, I figured I could trust her with what was happening with my family right now.

“Not so great, actually,” I began. I almost lost my nerve when she turned to look at me, but I took a breath and kept going. “I dropped my dad off at rehab last night. See, my mom died when I was ten. Car accident, she died instantly. My dad didn’t take it well and started drinking soon after. He hasn’t been the same since.”

Sam stopped, pulling me close and wrapping her arms around me. It felt good to allow someone to comfort me, so I put my arms around her and hugged her tightly.

“I’m so sorry,” Sam said into my chest. “It must have been hard for you to lose your mom so young.”

“It was,” I admitted, kissing her softly on top of her head. “She was the light of our lives, and when she died we didn’t know what to do with ourselves. I should have talked to my dad about getting help years ago, I just didn’t know how.”

“It’s great that he’s getting help now,” Sam replied, squeezing me tighter.

“Thanks,” I said, kissing her again before pulling her down the sidewalk. “C’mon, let’s get you to class. I don’t want to be the cause of you missing any more classes this week.” I laughed, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Talking to Sam had helped, and I was glad I’d opened up. The more time I spent with her, the more reasons I found to really like her.

We stopped in front of the Arts building, and I pulled her back into my arms, not ready to let her go. The kiss started off soft and teasing, then Sam put her hand behind my head and pulled me in, taking the kiss deeper and causing my libido to go on high alert.

I crushed her to me, her soft breasts teasing my chest, her scent enveloping me. I moved my hands to her hips, squeezing her gently there and thrusting slightly, allowing the friction between our bodies to hit her in just the right spot.

Sam moaned against my lips and curled her hand into a fist behind my head.

“Get a goddamn room!” a voice yelled from somewhere behind us. It took a minute for the blood to return to my head. I broke from Sam to see James standing on the steps above us.

“James,” I greeted, not quite happy to see her.

I turned back to Sam, who looked embarrassed to have been caught practically dry humping in front of the building.

“Looks like you two are getting along famously,” James said wryly, stomping down the steps in her combat boots.

“What’s up?” Sam asked.

“Not much. Heading out to meet a friend,” James said, blowing a kiss at us as she walked by. “I like your hair,” she said to Sam and then kept on walking.

I looked at Sam’s hair. I wasn’t sure what James had meant. It was still long and still red... Hmmm.

“Yeah, uh, I like your hair too,” I said to Sam, trying to save face.

Sam laughed, lifting her hand up and tapping me lightly on the cheek.

“You have no idea what is different about my hair, do you?”

“Nope,” I said with a grin.

She laughed again and then walked passed me toward the door. Before she reached it, she turned and blew me a kiss, mimicking James.

I was about to do that thing where you catch the kiss in your hand, but I stopped myself, saving myself from looking like a total douche.

Instead I lifted my head in a nod, before turning and heading back the way we came. And if my step was a little lighter, and I whistled as I walked...what the fuck was wrong with that?

CHAPTER 21

SAMANTHA

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“W
e do want to see you, Mom, but we already have plans today. Yeah, I know, but you didn’t say anything to me about coming up this weekend, so I didn’t know,” I said with the phone pressed between my ear and shoulder as I tried to finish packing the picnic basket. “How about next weekend? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I’ll tell her. Okay, love you too, Mom. Bye.”

I hung up the phone and put it in my back pocket, going through the basket to make sure I had everything.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Check.

Goldfish crackers for Karrie. Check.

Juice boxes. Check.

Fruit salad. Check.

I tossed in some napkins and forks for the fruit salad and figured that was as good as it was going to get.

I ran into the living room to double check Karrie’s backpack before going into her room to wake her up from her nap.

Judd was supposed to meet us at the park in fifteen minutes and I was hoping to beat him there.

“Time to get up, Karebear,” I said softly, sitting on her bed and rubbing her back to try and get her to stir.

She stretched a bit and her little fist shook as she began to wake up. She was so dang cute. My angel.

“Hi, Mommy,” Karrie said, her blue eyes fixating on mine as she smiled up at me.

“Hi, baby girl. Wanna go to the park?”

I knew that would do the trick — she sat up wide-eyed and ready to go. If there was one way to get my daughter moving, it was to mention a trip to the park. She loved being outside. Her favorite part was the swings.

“Let’s try to go potty before we go,” I said, hoping that she hadn’t gone in her pull-up during her nap.

Potty training was so stressful.

After a few attempts to go to the bathroom with no luck, we went to the living room to get her shoes and jacket. Once she was ready, I put her backpack on her and grabbed the picnic basket.

As we neared the park, I noticed Judd had beaten us there. He was sitting on a bench, looking utterly sexy and out of place. He had on his motorcycle jacket, jeans, and boots, with dark shades covering his eyes. I couldn’t tell if he saw us, until he rose slowly from the bench.

Karrie had no idea he was there, since she made a beeline for the slide, toddling as fast as her little legs would take her.

I walked up to Judd and smiled when he took the picnic basket from me.

“Hi.”

“Hey.” Judd returned my smile. “You look pretty today.”

I felt my face flush with pleasure at his words, and I said thanks, watching Karrie going down the slide.

Judd followed the direction of my gaze and said, “She’s adorable.”

“Thanks,” I said again. “She really loves coming to the park.” I laughed as Karrie’s giggles carried over to us.

“Can I meet her?” Judd asked, removing his sunglasses and hanging them from the collar of his black T-shirt.

“Sure, c’mon.”

We walked over to the play area and I called Karrie over to us. She came down the slide and walked over, grinning widely.

“Mommy, ‘lide.”

“I saw you on the slide. You’re such a big girl,” I cooed back at her.

Karrie finally noticed Judd and looked up at him curiously.

“Karrie, this is mommy’s friend Judd.”

Judd crouched down so he was eye level with Karrie and smiled.

“Hi, Karrie, it’s nice to meet you.” Judd held his hand out to her, causing her to giggle and duck her head shyly. She walked behind me and peaked out at him.

I smiled at him and mouthed the word swing. He nodded and peered around my back at Karrie.

“Want to go swing?” he asked.

Karrie came out from behind me, nodding, holding her little hand out to him. He took it, and she led him to the swings meant for smaller kids.

I watched for a moment, her tiny hand clasped in his, and the sight of them walking toward the swing brought tears to my eyes.

Get a grip, Sam,
I said to myself.
It’s their first time meeting
.

I took a deep breath and got up, reaching the swing just as he was lifting her into the seat.

“How much should I push her?” Judd asked, looking at the swing as if it was a foreign contraption.

“Like this,” I said, then walked around the back of the swing and demonstrated how to push it. Hard enough to make her squeal with delight, but not so hard as to scare the life out of me.

“Got it,” he said, and proceeded to push.

They stayed like that while I set up the picnic, with Judd pushing softly and Karrie giggling loudly every time she went into the air. Judd’s smile widened with every giggle, and I had to look away, focusing on the task at hand rather than the way my heart melted looking at him interacting with my little girl.

I laid out an old blanket and placed the picnic basket on top, putting things on each corner to hold it down, just in case the wind picked up. By the time I was done, the food was laid out and each corner was held down by a random object: a shoe, a large rock, the basket, and Karrie’s backpack.

“You guys ready to eat?” I yelled over to them. I saw Judd say something to Karrie, and she shook her head, then he said something else, pointing to me. When she looked over at me I waved, gesturing for them to come over. Luckily she complied this time, rather than pitching a fit about wanting to stay on the swing.

Judd lifted her out of the swing and she came running to me, with him following behind.

Karrie ran onto the blanket and gave me a hug. “Did you have fun with Judd?” I asked her. She looked over at Judd as he eased onto the blanket and nodded.

“Tell Judd thank you,” I whispered to her.

“Tank you, Dudd,” Karrie said loudly.

I bit back a laugh, but Judd’s chuckle escaped his mouth. “You’re welcome, Karrie.”

I passed out the sandwiches and said sheepishly, “Sorry, peanut butter and jelly is all we had.”

“PB and J is my favorite,” Judd said, taking a huge bite out of his sandwich and grinning broadly at me.

“Me too,” Karrie said, trying to mimic Judd’s bite with one of her own.

The meal went smoothly, and by the time I pulled out the fruit salad Karrie was snuggled up in Judd’s lap, laughing as he pointed out the squirrels running around the park.

Karrie got up and tried chasing after squirrels, while Judd and I sat back on the blanket and watched.

“Thanks for coming today,” I said.

“Thanks for letting me,” was his reply. “Would you like to come over to my place tomorrow night?”

I looked over at him slyly, thinking there was nothing I would like more. “Let me see if I can get a sitter and I’ll get back to you.”

“Okay,” he said, intertwining his fingers with mine. “It can be a little later, after Karrie goes to bed if that’s easier. I have to clean up around the flower shop, but I can make dinner if you want.”