Complicated Relationships (The Southern Devotion Series Book 3) (13 page)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Strong-willed One

Angel had been in rehab for a week now, and the house had been serene since that time. I hadn’t realized how much we fought and how much I dreaded going home until she wasn’t there anymore. Now I missed her, but I was glad she would get the help she needed.

After the intervention, I had to explain everything to Macy who took it harder than I imagined. It took us a few days to get back into a routine because we were both worried about Angel, but eventually life had to go back to normal.

"I have to work tonight, kiddo. I need you to go stay with Mary Jane so you can get plenty of rest for school tomorrow. I know you have trouble getting to sleep when you're here alone."

"Cool. I need some help with my art project tonight. Is Ashton working with you? Maybe he could come to Mary Jane's and help? Or perhaps I could go to the bar with you?"

I grinned knowing what she wanted. "I know you like hanging out at the bar, but you can only do that when it's closed. Otherwise, your uncles could lose their license; no one under eighteen is allowed in during business hours."

She sighed, "Fine. But can Ashton help me? He's the best artist I know."

"I'll call him up and see what he says."

Ashton said that Derrick would be running things tonight, so he agreed to go to Mary Jane's. Gracie and their daughter Autumn would go as well so they could keep MJ and Katelyn company while Ashton and Macy worked on her project.

My shift began an hour before opening so I could get in and set things up. As the doors opened, a hundred people poured into the building ready for a night of drinking and debauchery. It was early November, and as the holidays approached, business at the bar picked up. I suppose people wanted to get out and meet someone before the holidays arrived.

The first song that came on the radio was a fast beat hip-hop song that filled the dance floor with gyrating bodies and even a few show-offs. People surrounded the bar while holding out their arms to show they had a stamp showing proof of age and not the dreaded black X reserved for those under twenty-one.

I swung around to deliver my final beer before going on break when someone grabbed my shirt and pulled me into the backroom. It was dark, and I felt hands roaming my body and a soft pair of lips pressed against mine pressing harder and more frantically. It wasn't the taste of cherry that I was used to from Lanie, and the kissing was too rushed. As they reached for my pants, I pushed them away and turned on the lights.

"Bailey?"

"Hey, stud. I know you blew me off the last time I saw you but I was hoping for a second chance. I haven't stopped thinking about our night together."

She moved toward my lips again, and I shoved her back gently. "No. I have a girlfriend now."

Bailey grinned and said, "I'll be discreet; she'll never know."  She lifted her dress above her head and stood there in nothing but a bra and pair of thong underwear. She turned to show me the back and said, "I know you liked my thongs last time. I wore them just for you."

She began to remove her bra, and I grabbed her hands. "Stop, Bailey."

She glanced down at my pants and said, "Doesn’t look like you want me to stop."

I'm a guy, and there is a naked woman in front of me, I can’t help how my body responds to her, but I can help how it connects with her. There would be no connection in this supply room.

"Bailey, you're hot. There is no denying that, but I have a girlfriend that I love, and I do not cheat. Now put this on," I said handing her the dress, "and leave."

When she pushed through the door, it didn’t shut all the way, and I glanced up to see Lanie standing there. She looked back at Bailey, who had adjusted her dress after opening the door and then back at me.

"Lanie…I…"

Before I could say anything, she pressed up against me and pushed her tongue into my mouth in a fierce kiss. Now I enjoyed the sweet taste of cherry lip gloss. We didn’t say anything to each other. She unzipped my pants and slipped her dress up as she draped her arms around me. I placed my hands under her ass lifting her, and she wrapped her legs around me. After we had given in to the passion we'd been missing for the past few weeks, we collapsed onto the floor gasping for air.

Once I caught my breath, I said, "I guess this means you know nothing happened with Bailey?"

"I heard the whole encounter; T. I saw her pull you in here, and I followed to go off in an angry tirade when I heard everything you said. I've missed you."

"I missed you too, a lot. You came up with a nice way of showing me how much." I groaned as I pulled her into an embrace. "I don’t want to leave right now but I have to get back to work. Things are too busy for Marcus and Xander to take care of it on their own."

Lanie kissed me before standing up to straighten her dress. "I know. I came here to talk and check in on you. I didn’t plan this but the moment kind of presented itself to me." She winked. "Do you mind if I hang around a little tonight?"

I jumped up from the floor and pressed her against the wall for another mind-blowing kiss before answering. "I'd love it. And if you stick around long enough, Macy is staying at MJ's, and we'd have a house to ourselves."

"Guess I'm hanging around for a while then." 

Going back to work was difficult, especially when I'd catch a glimpse of Lanie sipping her drink seductively. Tonight would be the longest night of my work week. I must have been in a daze because a hand appeared in front of my face with a wave.

"Hey Derrick, sorry about that."

"It's cool, Tristan. I understand the distraction of a beautiful woman," he said with a wink. "How's the night going? Do I need to call in another bartender? Grayson is on call tonight in case we get too swamped."

"I think we have it handled so far."

"Great. Do you have it handled enough to help me with restocking the bar? Marcus told me earlier tonight that we were low on beer, so I had to make a run to the distributor. They weren't scheduled to deliver until tomorrow. We need to get some on ice before we run out."

I tossed my bar towel behind me onto the counter and wiped my hands on the half apron I wore around my waist. "I'm all yours, boss."

Derrick had unloaded the cases of beer into his office, and we each grabbed a case putting it up on top of our shoulder to work our way through the crowd. The fact that I got it over my shoulder this time told me my working out was improving my muscle tone. Marcus grabbed the case from Derrick and shouted, "Good timing, boss! We're down to the last six pack in the cooler."

We managed to fill the cooler up and still fill orders without running out of cold beer. Lanie tapped me on the shoulder around one in the morning. "I think I'm going to head home. You could call me when you get off work if you want."

I reached into my pocket pulling out a set of keys with my house key attached. "I have a better idea. Go to my house. It's empty, and you can wait for me there." I pulled my hand back toward myself and added, "Only if you want to, of course."

Lanie took a brief moment to think it over before placing her palm out and saying, "I'd love to."  With a quick peck on the lips, she waved goodbye, and I sighed knowing the next three hours of work would drag.

A hand slammed down on my shoulder, and I turned to see Marcus grinning at me. "I saw that hot piece of…"

Before he could finish his comment, I interrupted, "Her name is Lanie."

Marcus raised his hands in surrender and said, "No offense intended, man. All I was going to say is that the crowd is thinning, and I saw you hand her your keys. You're always covering for me when I'm sick so give me this chance to repay you. Take off early. We got this."

It didn’t take much consideration to take him up on his offer. I untied my apron and threw it onto the bar behind me. Patting Marcus on the arm, I said, "Thanks, man."

Derrick walked out the door at the same time I did and gave me a curious glance. "Leaving early?"

"Yeah, Marcus is covering the bar now that it's emptying. I hope it's cool with you?" It hadn’t occurred to me to double-check with Derrick. He's always such a laid back boss when it comes to our schedules.

"Yeah, it's fine. You know that. I trust you guys to work the schedules the way that is best for you. You're their boss, and I've seen you cover for all of them too many times. You deserve a night off. Is there someone you're running home to?" Derrick smiled knowingly.

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, Angel is still in rehab, and Macy is at our house, so you're in quite a hurry to get home to an empty house. Unless you want to pick Macy up tonight?"

"No!" I responded quickly. "Sorry, no. I…Lanie is waiting for me."

Derrick grinned and patted me on the back, "Enjoy your evening, T. I won't keep you any longer. See you tomorrow." He waved as he unlocked his vehicle and slipped inside.

As Derrick pulled his vehicle out of the spot, he rolled the window down and yelled out, "Hey T, come here."

Sprinting over I noticed he turned and reached for something on the floorboard of the passenger side. "What's up?"

When Derrick turned back to face me, he had a bottle of wine in his hand. "I know you had to get rid of anything alcoholic at the house. I thought you might want this to celebrate with Lanie tonight. You two have had a rough go for a new relationship. Funny enough that seems to be the norm for our group of friends. Take this and enjoy your evening. Macy can stay all day tomorrow if you want. I know what being a single dad can do to your romantic life."

"Thanks, Derrick. I need a good night away from all the drama of the last few weeks."

"I know.  If you need tomorrow night off, just say the word. Now go enjoy yourself." Derrick handed over the wine and rolled his window up before driving off.

The drive home had me feeling nervous for some reason. Maybe it was the idea that no one would interrupt us tonight. When I pulled into the driveway, the house was dark but Lanie's car was in front of the house. Stepping inside, I stayed quiet and stopped to pour us each a glass of wine in the kitchen before heading upstairs.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Sleeping Beauty

My bedroom lights were out as I gently pushed the door open. The moonlight shone through the window highlighting Lanie's face, the rest of her was covered up. I set the glasses of wine down on the bedside table and slipped my shoes off. Pulling my shirt over my head, I threw it into the basket. I sat down on the bed without moving it too much so I could remove my pants and socks. Donning only a pair of boxer briefs, I slid under the covers and pressed up against Lanie. I groaned when I felt her body and realized she only had on a camisole and panties beneath the covers.

I moved my hand over her stomach and kissed her shoulder blade. She moaned and turned over to face me. "Hi," she whispered groggily.

"Hi. I didn’t mean to wake you. You're very cute when you sleep."

She giggled softly, "Since when is drool and bad breath cute?"

I leaned forward and captured her lips with mine. After a moment, I said, "No bad breath there. You know I could get used to coming home to you in my bed."

"It wouldn’t be hard for me to get used to this too," Lanie said as she reached up to push my hair back out of my face. "In case it wasn't clear before, I don’t want to be on a break anymore. Do you think we could start seeing each other again?"

"I'd love that. I can't promise there won't be any drama with Angel when she comes home, but I can promise that I'll always be honest with you."

"That's all I need to hear," she said before pulling me against her body starting the night off with a bang. Pun intended.

In the morning, I woke up to an empty bed. The wine glasses sat still full next to the bed, so I took them to the bathroom sink to empty the liquid. Lanie's clothes were not where she'd left them on the chair, and I checked my phone, but there was no text, and there was no note anywhere. I opened the door to go check for her car when I smelled pancakes.

Relief swept over me with the comprehension that she hadn’t regretted our reunion. Downstairs I found her in the kitchen dancing around the stove as she piled pancakes on a plate. I stepped up behind her and kissed her neck. "Good morning, sexy."

She spun around to face me and rolled up on her tiptoes to give me a kiss. "Good morning, yourself. I was going to bring you breakfast in bed."

"I woke up alone and got a little worried that you left, maybe even unhappy about what happened last night?"

Lanie shook her head, "Last night was amazing, and no matter what the future holds I'd never be sorry we shared that. I love you, Tristan."

"I love you."

"Good. Now that we settled that, go sit down, and I'll bring you breakfast," she said before smacking my ass as I walked away to the table.

She brought over a plate of pancakes for each of us and drizzled warm maple syrup over them. Freshly squeezed orange juice was already poured in two wine glasses, so we clinked them together in a toast before digging into our food.

"Tell me about Angel. How is she doing?" Lanie asked with sincere curiosity.

"She's doing good. I talked to her the other day, and she's enjoying the therapeutic part of it. They have different therapy groups you can attend based upon why you began drinking. She attends several different ones. I don’t want to get into it too much though, I feel like it would be invading her privacy. She should be the one to tell those stories."

"Oh, I agree. I was only curious as to whether she was showing signs of getting better. I didn’t mean to pry." Lanie seemed embarrassed which made me feel like I should have worded myself better.

"I appreciate you asking and you weren’t prying at all. I only wanted to be as honest as possible with you, as promised." That seemed to make her feel better which made me happy. My phone interrupted the moment with a text message.

Derrick:
Did things go well last night?

Me:
Yep, very well. Eating breakfast now.

Derrick:
Macy can stay with us today. We're going to do some Christmas shopping.

Me:
Thanks, D. Call you later

"Everything alright?" Lanie asked as I set my phone on the table face down.

"That was Derrick. We have the house to ourselves for the rest of the day."

She grinned, "Whatever will we do?"

After spending a few hours keeping ourselves busy in the house, we decided to go out for some fresh air. Since I've been in Nashville, I haven’t done much exploring of the city on my own. Mary Jane had been telling me I needed to go check out the Parthenon sometime. One of my interests is Greek Mythology, and she knew I'd appreciate it. Lanie had been when she was younger but was up to explore it with me for the first time.

It was a few weeks before Thanksgiving, and the weather was still sitting in the sixties which is getting to be a normal temperature for November in Nashville. The Parthenon sits in the middle of Centennial Park in downtown, and it's the world's only full-scale reproduction of the ancient building. Taking Lanie's hand in mine, I walk toward the building and am immediately taken back by the beautiful architecture that had gone into the reproduction. I feel a pull on my arm as I realize that I'd stopped, but Lanie had kept going. She giggled and stepped back, "Sorry, I didn’t know you stopped."

"I should've warned you that I tend to go slowly with this stuff so I might end up getting on your nerves."

"I doubt that. Once we get inside you'll see that I'm the same way," Lanie admitted.

The cost of admission was much cheaper than I expected and as you entered through the bottom of the building you first come upon an art gallery. We strolled through the small gallery and took our time checking out the beautiful paintings. Once we made it to the end of the gallery, we took the staircase up to the second level and as we turned the corner we both gasped.

In the middle of this large open room filled with columns, there was a statue of the Goddess Athena. According to the sign next to it, the statue stood forty-two feet tall. It was quite an amazing site to see, covered with gold. We found a small bench off to the side and sat down with our fingers entwined as we took in every inch of the amazing sculpture.

The security guard tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Sir, we're ready to close. I need you two to move toward the exit. You can finish your tour in the other room but please do so quickly."

"Thanks, sorry we lost track of time I suppose," I said, extending my hand to Lanie to help her up.

"It happens. She's a beauty. I come in here and stare at her many times myself. That's why I chose to apply for this job instead of completely retiring. She reminds me of my late wife. We shared fifty years of marriage. " The old man stared up at the statue and his eyes became misty. "She loved Greek mythology. If there was a movie or a book written about it, she knew and had read or seen it." He shook his head to wipe the memory and said, "Enjoy this beautiful woman, son. They are taken from us way too soon."

He patted my back and walked away from us. I leaned over and kissed Lanie's forehead and noticed she had tears in her eyes. "You're so sweet, you know that."

"Fifty years. Marriages these days will barely last half that time. It's beautiful," Lanie squeezed my hand.

"Do you want to see the other room or would you rather grab some dinner?"

"Let's go. I don’t want to keep them open any later."

Lanie and I waved goodbye to the security guard as we passed him on the way out the door. The sun had gone down, and it was getting late in the evening. "I hate to end our night together but I need to go get Macy before she thinks I abandoned her."

Lanie chuckled, "I seriously doubt she'd ever believe you did that. It's fine though; I can grab some dinner after you drop me off."

"Hold that thought," I said holding one finger up as I dialed my cell. "Hey, MJ have you guys had dinner yet? Great. How about meeting Lanie and I for dinner? We're down near Rotier's now I could get us a table."  I laughed as Mary Jane didn’t hesitate to take me up on the offer especially when she heard Rotier's.

"Where are we going?" Lanie asked after I hung up.

"Rotier's. It's a family owned restaurant and bar that is around the corner. They make the best food, especially cheeseburgers. It's quite famous to the locals and a lot of visitor's. They have celebrities in there all the time too."

Lanie's stomach growled, and she placed her palm over it. "My stomach wants to go there."

The place was pretty packed, as usual for a weekend evening. We only had to wait a few minutes before getting a table for six at the back. While waiting, we shared an order of cheese sticks and talked a bit.

"What do you usually do for Thanksgiving? I know you told me you weren’t close to your family." I wasn’t sure if Lanie and I were at the point where we could share holidays together, but I hated the thought of her being alone.

She shrugged nonchalantly, "It's just a Thursday to me. I normally stay in and watch movies. Put up my Christmas tree if I'm in the mood. What about you?"

"When we were in Florida, Macy and I would make a big dinner for ourselves and eat the leftovers for the next week. Last year we had a similar dinner with Angel and MJ. This year Gracie and Ashton want to have a big traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all their friends. If you're up for it, I'd like you to go with me."

She tried to act as though it wasn’t a big deal, but I noticed her face light up at the suggestion. I'm not sure it was necessarily the implications of how serious our relationship is or if it was the prospect of not being alone this year. Macy and I had spent too many Thanksgiving dinners alone before I realized how sad it made me. The year with Angel and MJ was one of the best memories. We ate a huge dinner, stayed up late watching movies and then spent the entire next day decorating the house for Christmas.

Before my mom got sick, we would go to the extended family dinner on my dad's side of the family. After her memory had lapsed enough for hospitalization, we stopped seeing his family at all. The last time we heard from any of them was just before he abandoned us. I suppose it's in their blood to give up on the family. Luckily it's not in mine to give up on anyone.

"I'd love to go with you, T. Can you ask Gracie to let me know if there is something I can cook for it?"

"Sure, no problem," it meant a lot to me that she was excited about it. I wanted to tell her about my crazy past holidays, but I wasn’t ready to bring the conversation to such a depressing level. Hands covered my eyes and a voice that tried to disguise itself said, "Guess who."

"Hmm…could it be…" I reached behind my back and began tickling her stomach eliciting a fit of giggles. "Macy," I exclaimed in mock surprise as she sat beside me. "Did you have fun?"

"Yep. MJ helped me pick out the perfect Christmas gift for you today too."

"Really? You guys  are shopping early," I said to Derrick as he held the chair out for MJ to sit.

"From now until the end of the year the bar is going to be insanely busy. During the holidays people drink to forget they're alone, they drink to celebrate, they drink for no other reason than to feel like they're accomplishing something. I wanted a chance to help my wife do some of the shopping before that happens." He bent down and kissed her very extended belly and said, "Plus our little one will be here around Christmas, and we have to get their room ready too."

"I'm glad to help on my days off, MJ. Say the word, and I'll be there," I spouted before even considering how that may sound to Lanie. When I glanced to see if she appeared jealous or insecure, I noticed that she hadn’t been distressed at all.

"I'll have a lot of time off during the holidays too. It's one of the perks of being a teacher. You can consider me available as well," she said excitedly, then something changed, and she grew quiet. Sheepishly she peered at Mary Jane, "I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me."

Mary Jane and I exchanged a look of confusion. Nothing she said had been insensitive in the least. It seemed to dawn on Mary Jane first because she reached across the table and patted Lanie's hand. "I would love to spend time with you. You're dating one of my dearest friends, and I'd like to know you better."

Lanie's shoulders eased with relief. I put two and two together and figured out that Lanie thought Mary Jane wouldn't want to spend time with her considering the way things happened before when she dated Derrick briefly.

"Katelyn are you excited about your baby brother getting here?" I felt we had needed a change of subject before the two girls started questioning the odd moment between Lanie and MJ.

"Oh yeah, I plan to teach him everything I know," she stated proudly.

All of us guffawed over her comment until the waitress came up to take our orders.  Mary Jane ordered one of every appetizer and a grilled cheeseburger and fries for her main course. She had been such a healthy eater before this pregnancy that it was still strange to see her eat so much. Occasionally I still marvel at her beauty, inside and out. There are no romantic feelings there, but I admire her forgiving nature and wish I could be the same with people that had done me wrong. My dad, being one, in particular.