Chapter 17
“I think…if it is true that there are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts.”- Leo Tolstoy
Her long black hair swished behind her as she walked across the street. I followed behind a few steps just to watch the sway of her hips and that ridiculous swish of her hair. She paused and looked over her shoulder curiously at me.
“What are you up to?” she laughed.
“Enjoying the view.” She’d snorted and kept right on walking. I ran to catch up with her. Tagging her hand I’d pulled her close to my side and kissed the spot behind her ear lightly.
“You about ready, love?” She’d looked up into my eyes and smiled that bright, easy smile that seemed reserved only for the people in her life that she loved the most. Aster, her parents and me. No one else got that ear-to-ear grin out of her. Every time it happened, even three years later, I felt like I was king of the world for drawing it out of her.
“I really wish I knew where you were taking me.” She sighed. I stopped her and turned her to face me.
“Trust me, baby?” I asked with a grin.
“Of course,” she’d replied instantly. I turned her back to my front and covered her eyes with one hand.
“Uh. Cane?” she’d spoken softly.
“Trust me.” She’d nodded slightly. I walked her up the porch steps of the building we were stopped in front of and carefully opened the door and led her inside.
“Step up,” I’d instructed.
“I really don’t want to trip,” she’d complained.
“I won’t let you.” Her sigh had been loud and irritated but I knew it’d be worth it in the end. “Another step,” I whispered in her ear. Goose bumps broke out down her arms. I loved that I still had that effect on her. Eight more steps and we were at the landing in front of the door. I dug into my pocket and pulled out the key to our new place. Careful to keep a hand on her eyes, I’d unlocked the door and led her inside the entryway.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes,” she’d breathed, lifting her fingers to the hand covering her eyes. I let her pull my hand away. She’d looked around and taken a tentative step further into the living room.
“What is this?” she turned and asked.
“Our house,” I’d stated simply.
“Our house?” she’d parroted back, head cocked to the left.
“Yeah. My girl doesn't like being away from me, so I got us this,” I’d said, splaying my arms wide gesturing to the small one bedroom apartment.
“This is ours?” she’d whispered wide-eyed, bringing her hands to her lips in shock.
“Ours. I love you, Mags. I want to live together.” She’d squealed and leapt into my arms. I caught her with ease and let her strangle me in a hug.
“I love you so hard, Cane Ash,” she’d murmured at my lips before devouring them. And even though we didn't have a stitch of furniture in the apartment, I’d taken her on the floor, christening the living room right then and there. “Forever,” I’d whispered into her ear as I came.
“Forever, Cane.” Two simple words mumbled quietly to me had made me feel like my chest exploded in my rib cage. I knew right then, there was never a question of me and Mags. We were destined to be together and I’d do anything to keep her happy and safe. Two words mended my soul, changed me forever.
I wake early, before the sun's fully up, to her soft puffs of breath on my neck and our limbs tangled and naked. My face is screaming with pain from Mags' punch, but I’m hard just at the feel of her in bed with me. The swelling in her face has gone down so much that the bruised coloring now just looks like face paint gone wrong. Tugging softly on her chin, I pull her gaze to mine. She presses her breasts upward, all sleepy-eyed, and smiles. The sensation of her soft breasts on my chest makes my nipples harden. She’s still soft under all that hard, she's still my soft girl. I playfully nip at her earlobe and feel my dick twitch at the way she responds to my touches. I kiss down her body until I’m at the apex of her thighs. Her eyes are still half-mast from sleep and pleasure. I need to taste her. I move my mouth on her clit, my tongue licking the length of her before I suck on it again. She moans, her voice sandy-sounding, heavy with grit from not fully waking yet. Her nipples are pebbled and she starts panting, desperately needing more. Needing a release. I move up over her and glide myself into her drenched entrance to give it to her.
“If you're going to sing, I'll put you in the trunk and drive myself,” I mock-growl at her. She’s been singing along to the radio for the past two hours and my head feels like it’s going to explode. My eyes are too swollen to see well while driving so I’d given her the keys. She cackles at me and turns down the music.
“Your head killing you, too?” she chirps contentedly.
“It’d be fine if you weren’t at it,” I groan.
“Shut up. I’m not that bad!” she whines, wrinkling her nose. My eyes try to widen, but they’re too swollen from my broken nose to open much. She starts giggling.
“Yeah, OK. I am,” she admits laughing. “So what’s there to do in Lexington anyways?” she asks, focusing on the road ahead.
“Uh...maybe they have horses?” I offer.
“Horses?”
“Yeah,” I state. “What’s wrong with horses?”
“You want to go see horses...” she states rather than questions.
“Nah, not really. I just don’t know what else is there.” I chuckle. She smiles and giggles a little.
“Well we can’t exactly wander around with matching black eyes,” she jests.
“Right. Well there’s always a hotel and room service.” I try to wink but groan when it hurts and I drop my head into my hands.
“Serves you right, you know,” she laughs at me.
“How’s that?” I glower at her.
“You punched me in the face, I returned the favor. Now we’re even,” she says as if it's commonplace.
“Gee, thanks. You know, you’re not at all like you were. What happened to the Magnolia who babied me when I stubbed a toe? I like that one better,” I grumble.
“Oh, well that’s funny, I liked the Cane that didn’t attack and assault his girlfriend,” she volleys back, eyes narrowing at me.
“Touché,” I mumble feeling sick to my stomach. Her hand reaches out to my thigh and rests there, palm up. I stare at it, knowing the seemingly small gesture means a lot. I place my hand in hers and thread my fingers through her small narrow ones and smile at her.
Our drive is boring and long but when we finally pull into the hotel I feel at ease knowing that for another night we’re together and safe.
“I have to pee so badly.” She squirms, trying to unbuckle herself quickly. I reach out and poke her side causing her to squeal and squirm some more.
“Cane! NO! I’ll pee!” I grin and poke her again, wiggling my finger in her side. She bursts out laughing and crosses her legs together. The valet rounds the car waiting for us to exit, but I don’t care. I love the sound of her laugh. I jab her again making her jump.
“Ohhhh...” she moans and stops moving. Her face turns to mine and is etched with horror.
“What?” I ask. Silence. “What is it?” She moves her hands from her lap, revealing a large wet spot and smacks my shoulder hard.
“Holy shit! You peed in my car!?” I squawk. Her face pales and she draws her lips into each other.
“I told you I had to go, Cane!” she whines. The valet taps the window, making us both jump.
“Oh. My. God. We can’t let him park the car!” she squeals at me.
“You peed your pants,” I state. I have never seen Magnolia look this embarrassed before. It’s endearing really.
“Shhhh!” she whispers. She reaches into the back seat, grabs a shirt and shifts it around her middle, tying it at her waist. Then, she grabs the handle of the door and gets out. The seat is wet with pee but it looks as though she’s not going to sop it up. I jump out of the car as she hands the keys to the valet and quickly rounds the car. She tugs my arm to follow her. “Hurry,” she laughs, dragging me with her into the lobby. Neither one of us looks back to check on the valet.
*****
“The brass plate embedded in the sidewalk at the corner of Limestone and Main Street- right up there,” she points, “is a memorial marker honoring Smiley Pete. The animal was known as the town dog in Lexington. He died in 1957.” She pouts and makes her eyes wide. “How adorable is that?”
“You are a sucker.” I nudge her playfully in the shoulder as we approach the memorial. She'd found a walking tour book in the lobby, after she’d cleaned up and decided that we were going to aimlessly walk around and teach ourselves a little about the city. She’d also brought back a KY ball cap for me, supposedly to help hide my face some. I’d laughed and told her that I’d never had a KY hat before, never needed it. My joke had fallen flat but she still rewarded me with a quick round in the bedroom before we left.
Goodfella’s Pizzeria isn’t quite busy yet, being just in between lunch and dinnertime and it’s nice to have the place mostly to ourselves. She gets the Joe Pesci and I order an Al Pacino and we indulge until we’re both stuffed and groaning.
“You need to use the bathroom before we go?” I ask.
“No.”
“You sure?” I push.
“I’m fine,” she returns, cocking her head at me slightly.
“Maybe you should go try anyways. We don’t want another accident,” I scold. The couple that’s just sitting down near us looks over covertly and snickers. Her eyes widen before narrowing at me.
“You didn’t complain about me peeing all over you in bed last night,” she winks before pushing up on her tiptoes, and kisses me passionately for show before stalking past me out onto the city street. The woman at the table nearest has her jaw hanging open but her eyes averted, and the dude with her is full on laughing. Head hung and shoulders slumped, I slink out of the pizzeria.
“Very funny,” I snip at Magnolia who is waiting for me on the sidewalk, laughing her ass off.
“Sorry,” she laughs, “it was really funny though.” She tries to hold her giggle in but can't and doubles over. Once she gets herself under control she straightens and apologizes for laughing at me. I razz her a little but accept the apology. She one-upped me really so I couldn't be mad.
“Cane...” She stops abruptly and pulls me to halt with her. “Look.” She points ahead, wide-eyed. Up ahead is an Old Kentucky Chocolates store. Her eyes come to mine and silently plead for permission to go in. I know she could probably spend an hour in there sampling everything and spending all my money. She always had a soft spot for dessert.
“Alright.” I smile at her. “My girl likes sweets, so let’s go.” I grin at her. Her feet start moving before I’m finished talking and we’re moving double-time towards the store.
We spent a solid forty -five minutes inside and leave forty-dollars poorer. She is currently walking along side me with her nose in the walking guide while I tote the enormous bag of chocolate-covered potato chips, chocolate-covered Oreos, and other treats she just had to have. “Thursday Night Live - Cheapside Park from 4:30pm - 7:30pm for beverages, tasty food and of course, great music by live band Better off Dead. We should go!”
“Sure.” I really don’t care what we do next. I’m content exploring the city on our own and just being near her.
“Google it, so we know how far it is from here,” she directs.
“On what?”
“Your phone,” she quips. I pull my phone from my pocket and show her the cheap burner phone. “Oh.” She veers off the sidewalk and into a store. I wait outside for her not wanting to draw too much attention to our matching busted faces. She pushes through the glass door a few minutes later. “We’re like half a mile away!” Her entire face is lit up like it's Christmas morning and she just got the gift of her dreams. I’d always wondered if that would be the face I got when I proposed, but I never got the chance. “And, get this! An eighties cover band is playing tonight!” I chuckle at her exuberance and take her hand in mine and swing her into my side before placing a light kiss below her ear. “I could have guessed that from the name of the band, babe.”
“Oh, yeah, probably,” she chuckles. I watch as her hair swishes behind her, leaving her scent in the air. I love the smell of her. Sweet and flowery with a hint of honeysuckle. Her hips swing back and forth and the muscles in her legs flex with each graceful step. She looks back over her shoulder at me and smiles brightly. It reaches her eyes and it makes my chest flood with warmth.
“What?” she asks playfully.
“Just enjoying the view,” I call out.
“The last time you said that you covered my eyes and asked if I trusted you...” she states, lost in memory. I grab her hand and twine our fingers together. The way she’s standing looking at me, it’s as if her body’s a gun, her mouth the trigger and I’m destined to be shot all over again. I lean in until we’re a breath apart from each other’s mouths. “Trust me?” Her nod is almost imperceptible but it’s there. Her lips push into mine. Silky, sweet and warm. Her fingers toy with the hair at the nape of my neck as she massages my lips with hers. I pull back and she mewls at me for breaking the kiss. It’s the most endearing sound I’ve ever heard leave her mouth.
“Marry me,” I say seriously.
“What?!” she chuckles.
“I’m serious, Mags. Marry me.” I back up from her just slightly. I reach into the pocket of my pants and pull out the engagement ring I bought for her over a year ago, the ring I watched her throw into the neighboring trailer’s yard and the ring I’d spent an hour trying to recover. I bring it up between us and drop to one knee. “Magnolia Ash, I have never been able to love anyone the way I love you. I will never be able to be as good as I am right now with anyone else. You’re my soul, baby, you own me.” Her eyes soften and fill with tears. “There’s so much static in the world...people vying for attention, noises, voices, they all get in the way in here.” I knock on my head. “When I see you, when I’m with you - all that noise fades away. I can breathe. I can just be.” I reach for her left hand and hold the ring to the end of her ring finger. “Say something,” I plead. She drops to her knees so we’re face to face and looks deep into my eyes, searching for something. It kills me to see her this confused and unsure. She presses her lips to mine softly before looking down where my hand still holds hers.
“Yes,” she whispers. Cheers erupt around us. I move my gaze around us to find a rather large crowd looking on. I slide the ring onto her finger and kiss it before crouching on my heels and scooping her up into my arms. “She said yes!” I bellow, swinging her around. The thought of Magnolia and me spending eternity together makes my chest swell and my stomach flop. There has never been a more perfect moment than this one. She smiles a radiant smile at me that melts my heart all over again before she takes my face between her hands and kisses the shit out of me. So sweet. I could live a thousand lives if I got to see that smile every day.
The concert at the park was actually pretty good. The band rocked some old eighties tunes that we both knew and loved. To be honest I felt drunk with happiness the rest of the evening. We drank. We ate. We had some of the best damn chocolate-covered potato chips I’ve ever encountered and then we happily made our way back to the hotel.
Her lips come together in a sexy little pout as I pull my mouth away from her swollen clit. “Ugh, Cane, don’t stop now!” she whines. I crawl back up her body, taking my time. Kissing and nipping every crease, line and patch of skin I pass, memorizing the taste of her, the feel of her under me. Her skin's hot and flushed. Her breath is light and shallow and it gives me great pleasure to do these intimate things to her. It’s the most amazing feeling in the world, knowing that I’m the only man she’s been with. That she's mine. I nip at her bottom lip playfully before reaching between us and guiding myself into her. A rush of hot, damp breath rushes out of her followed by a low raspy groan of satisfaction. I watch all the emotions and expressions her face holds. “Eyes,” I grunt, picking up my pace. Her eyes snap open and lazily focus on my face. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she wheezes out, her eyes still glazed over with pleasure. Hearing her say it out loud makes my stomach flip and my dick twitch. Without breaking her gaze I fuck her harder until we’re both a puddle of body parts resting on the hotel bed. Her fingers trace shapes up and down my arm until the city lights catch on her ring. She pulls her hand up to the light coming through the blinds.
“It’s perfect,” she mumbles, admiring it.
“It should be. You picked it out,” I chortle.
“I did not. I had no idea you were going to propose!” she squeaks at me as if I’ve lost my mind.
“It was on a flyer that came to the house. You ooohhed and awweeed over it for like, thirty solid minutes.” I chuckle at her. “I picked it up the next week.” Her eyes bug out slightly before a giant shit-eating grin appears on her face.
“You know, for a badass you’re kinda all hearts and flowers,” she muses. And she’s right. Not that I’d admit that to anyone ever but whenever she’s near, I’m a giant pile of sap and mush.
*****
I wake long before Mags does but I don’t wake her. She looks peaceful and content in a way that seems elusive to her when she's awake. The past fifteen months I tried so hard to hate her. To find that rage and keep it close. But I still woke up every morning loving her. I trace her soft lips with the tip of my finger. Silky smooth. I want to bottle this feeling up so I can use it again later when I might need it. This game of escaping reality won’t last long enough for us. For me anyways.
She stirs slightly and I kiss the tip of her nose. A grin plays at her lips and she rolls into me, wrapping her arms around my torso and nuzzling into my chest. “You ready to pack up?” I ask, kissing her head. Her fingers toy over the scar on my pectoral. The scar she gave me.
“Yeah. I think you’ll like Blacksburg. It’s nice there,” she says wistfully.