Cutter: A Fight or Flight Novel (15 page)

Lying in bed with Josette the morning after our wedding, I can’t help but watch her sleep: her lips curled in a sated smile, her hair wild from the events of the night before, and her eyelids dancing because of whatever dream she’s having. It’s the most glorious sight.

“I can feel you watching me. If you weren’t so damn sexy, I’d think it was creepy as hell,” she jokes, eyes still closed.

“I can’t help it. I’m just happy we finally got here. I never thought it would happen.”

“Me either, but I couldn’t be happier about it. I love you,” she declares, opening her eyes and leaning over to plant a sweet kiss on the corner of my jaw.

“Never as much as I’ll love you.” I pull the blanket away just to stare at her lush, naked body. “I’ll never get enough of this.” My hand trails up her exposed thigh and over her hip and waist until I’m able to cup her breast. “You’re so fucking sexy.”

“Well, thank you, husband.”

Grazing my hand up the rest of her torso, I align her face with mine and drag my tongue lazily across her slightly parted lips. Josette opens for me, kissing me with everything she has. Once we’re both ready for more, she breaks from our embrace and props herself up on her elbow.

“So what the hell are you going to do now that you’re not going back to Vegas?” she asks.

“Figured I’d see what positions the schools have open. Maybe even the colleges. You never know.” I lean back into her only for her to push me back.

“What would you do there?”

“Teach. Tutor. Maybe start as a TA or something while I finish my master’s. I don’t know. Really haven’t given it much thought. I have enough for us to live off for a while if we need to, plus there’s your income. I was kinda hoping to spend a couple weeks with Bethany before I really took a serious interest in seeking employment again.”

“Master’s? When did you go to school? I’m so confused. You left with a GED, and three years later you’re almost at a master’s? This makes no sense. It took me four, almost five years to get my bachelor’s.”

“Well, I had a lot of time on my hands in Vegas. I couldn’t train all day, every day. So when I wasn’t in the gym, I was taking correspondence classes. When it came time to do my student teaching, I did it part-time in Vegas for a semester. It wasn’t too hard.”

“You amaze me. You truly amaze me.” She sighs and kisses me one last time before getting out of bed. “Ridiculously handsome, agile fighter, amazing father, and great in bed. I’m pretty sure I’ve hit the mother lode,” she teases, and when I jump up to pull her back to bed, she sprints to the shower, slamming the bathroom door before I can get inside.

“My husband the teacher,” she singsongs from the other side of the door. “I’m pretty sure I can muster up my uniform from high school if you wanna play a few rounds of bad teacher, even worse student.”

Pulling the key from above the door frame, I unlock the door and push my way in. “Why wait? Let’s do a little practice round right now.”

Turning on the water in the shower, I test the temperature before I push Josette inside and pull back the curtain. Letting her go under the spray first, I take my time running my hands greedily up and down her body, paying extra-special attention to a few of my favorite areas. The little minx who is my wife turns around, placing her back to my front, while she wets her face and grinds her ass into my crotch.

“Is that the game you wanna play, Jo?”

“Games? What games? Who’s playing games?” she teases yet again, earning herself a slight smack on her right ass cheek. “Oh, this game.” She giggles. “I’m excellent at this game.”

Josette bends over in front of me and picks up the washcloth hanging on the edge. Lifting her leg and placing it on the edge of the tub, she adds a little soap to the rag and lathers it up. She bends yet again, and my growing dick can feel the heat coming off her core as she pushes her back into me…again. Not wasting another second, I palm my cock and circle it around her entrance.

“And here I was thinking you forgot how to play.” Josette laughs and jerks her body back, effectively impaling herself on my cock. Her tight warmth surrounds me, and if I wasn’t so worked over from the night before, I might come on the spot.

“I have an excellent memory, wife. I even remember this.” Slowly, I lower my hand from her hip, around to her stomach, and down through the trimmed hair. Once my fingers dive into her folds, I pinch her clit with my thumb and forefinger. Josette’s back arches and her pussy starts convulsing around my dick. “See how much I remember.”

“God, you’re good,” she cries out as another orgasm crashes down over her. Mine is quickly approaching.

“Think you got one more in ya? Cuz I’m gonna explode if you keep grinding on me like that, baby,” I growl, trying as hard as I can to hold back until I finish her off.

“If you’d stop being all patient and shit and just fuck me harder, we’d both be happy,” she sarcastically teases, and without hesitation I give her exactly what she asks for. Rearing my hips back, I slam into her and she almost loses her footing on the slippery tub bottom. One final time, I go for broke and feel her shatter all around me as I do the exact same, growling her name and leaving what could be some pretty sexy bruises on her hips.

Sated, we finish our shower, get dressed, and head out the door to pick up Bethany. All in all, this has been the most perfect honeymoon, one we won’t soon forget.

A few weeks after the wedding, I went back to Vegas to clear out my apartment and have the rest of my stuff shipped back to Lexington. Josette refused to give up her small house for something bigger, so for the time being, until I could convince her otherwise, we stayed there. Bethany continues to get red cards at daycare, which I’m not too upset about. I love that she’s who she is without apology. She might have to tone it down when real school starts, but for the time being, she’s perfect and I wouldn’t change a single hair on her head.

Over the summer, Bethany turned three and we had a huge party, including Garrett, Rian, Gregory, and their new daughter Evelyn. Greg seems to be the spitting image of his dad—overprotective of his baby sister from the moment she was born. At only seven, he’s on anyone’s ass who tries even to hold her. Josette thinks it’s adorable, but I on the other hand don’t take too kindly to being ordered around by a miniature Garrett.

Finally, just before Christmas, I was given permission to start looking for a bigger house since our house barely holds us three, let alone four. With a baby expected in the spring, we don’t have much time to find what we’re looking for and get moved in before Josette becomes a mom for the second time. I have to admit, I love Bethany with all the love one can have for a child, but I’m ridiculously excited for our new baby. I’ll get to have all the moments I didn’t with Bethany and won’t have to be told stories. But I’m also absolutely terrified. Not about becoming a father again, but I constantly worry I’ll never be able to love another human being as much as I love Bethany. I mean, how can I give the exact same to another child? It doesn’t seem logical. Josette tells me that I’m a moron and to wait until I hold him or her, but I’m still on the fence.

Two weeks after the new year, I found our perfect house and decided to surprise Josette for her birthday. This can go one of two ways: either she’s going to be really excited and give me the best head in all the world…or she’s going to cut my dick clean off my body. I’m hoping for the first.

“Keep your eyes closed,” I warn. “Are you ready to see your surprise?” My nerves are already shot, and awaiting her answer isn’t helping my situation. The look on her face I’m hoping to get when she sees what’s happening, provided she’s not pissed, is what has me holding on to sanity.

“I’m pregnant, swollen, and exhausted. I’m pretty impatient. I’m really hoping we’re at Dairy Queen, by the way. I could totally go for a Blizzard or something,” she answers, and I curse myself. I should have prepared for a craving. I should have had some sort of ice cream waiting just in case she hates the house; then at least she’ll have a treat to get her through.

Taking her hand, I lead her out of the car and up the short walkway to the front door. Letting go, I open her palm and place the key to our new home in her hand. “Surprise,” I whisper, and she opens her eyes. It takes a moment for her facial expression to change, but when she finally does, relief spreads through my body.

“Is this a joke?” she asks, tears in her eyes.

“Nope. It’s yours. Well, ours, but really, it’s yours.”

“It’s exactly what I wanted,” she cries, and hurls herself into my arms.

“How do you know?” I laugh. “You’ve not even been inside yet. You might hate it.”

“Cutter, baby, this is exactly what I wanted. I wanted a home for us and our children. I wanted a place to build a life with you. I don’t care where it is, except Alaska, I don’t want to do anything there. But this…this beautiful home…it’s where our kids will grow up and we’ll grow old. It’s exactly what I wanted.”

Fighting back my own tears, I take the key from her hand and open the front door. When it swings wide, she gasps as she looks in on the formal foyer and the winding staircase, still decorated for Christmas. When I saw the house for the first time, the owners had all the trimmings for a true family holiday, and I knew immediately Josette would love the poinsettia garland going up the banister. She tried something similar with our small handrail going onto the front porch, but I believe she labeled it as a “Pinterest fail.”

“Is this really ours?” she asks, walking into the house.

“Yep. Signed the papers yesterday.”

“This house screams professor. You’re gonna have to hurry and finish your master’s so we can host faculty parties or something. I just want to invite everyone over right now.”

“They’re already on the way,” I mutter, thankful that I bit the bullet and called our family. I didn’t want them to miss this, even if I was scared she’d hate it. As if on cue, Rian’s new minivan pulls into the driveway. Bethany is the first out, followed closely by Greg, then Garrett, Rian, and the baby.

“Mommy!” Bethany screams excitedly and runs into Josette’s legs.

“Hi, baby girl. Daddy bought us this house. Isn’t it pretty?”

“I know, Mommy. It was a secret,” Bethany responds, winking with both eyes at me. I return a wink of my own.

“She knew?” Josette whips her head in my direction.

“Yep. She helped me pick it out. My baby girl had to love it first. When she said she did, I was a goner.”

“Someone has you wrapped around her little finger.”

Placing my hand over Josette’s swollen belly and my lips over hers, I whisper against her mouth, “She’s not the only one, you know.”

F
IFTEEN YEARS LATER

“Bethany, if you don’t sit still, I can’t finish your hair.” If this girl moves one more time, I’m liable to smack her with this damn comb. Why she had to pick out the one hairdo I didn’t know by heart, or even allow me to take her to a salon, is beyond me.

“Mom. Seriously. He’s going to be here any minute and I don’t even have my dress on,” my overly emotional, highly hormonal daughter whines.

“Sit back down,” I demand, yanking her arm backward as she tries to flee my grasp to get into her dress. She’s freaking out for absolutely no reason. It’ll literally take less than a minute for her to step into her strapless pale pink dress, adjust her too-big-for-her-own-good bust, and be zipped inside. “I have a few more pieces to pin, then you’re done.”

And of course, as if everything is working against me, the doorbell rings. Luckily, Cutter’s downstairs and can get it, or Bethany would have a fit. “Moooooommmmm,” she groans, and I not-so-accidentally stab her in the scalp with a bobby pin.

“Bethany, I swear on everything holy, you keep up this attitude, I’m throwing you in the shower and starting all over. So please, for the love of God, sit still. Thirty more seconds, I swear.” Whoever said raising a teenage daughter was easy is a damn liar. Even worse, I have two of them. I have no idea what I was thinking having another baby, and being blessed, and I say that in the most sarcastic voice possible, with a daughter. Seventeen and fourteen. I should just quit at life until they both realize that Mom was right, Mom’s the smart one, and everything she did was for their own good. So basically, I’ll see them when they turn thirty.

She slumps her shoulders forward and true to my word, I get the last couple pieces of hair pinned and she’s finished. She stands first and grabs her dress from the back of the door and steps into it, holding the material close to her chest. Walking behind her, I fight back tears as I zip the zipper and she turns around, revealing exactly what I was dreading.

Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. Not a single blond curl out of place. Her big blue eyes slightly accentuated by a thin layer of dark black mascara and a little eye shadow. Lips painted a bright pink and a pair of perfectly shaped eyebrows. The dress fits like a glove. Since she started coming into her own as a woman, Cutter and I both knew we’d be fighting off the boys with a stick. There was no reason any teenager should have the kind of curves she has. Luckily for us, the first boy to really show her any kind of attention was the one boy we knew we could trust with our daughter.

“Come on, Bethany, Greg’s here,” Cutter calls from the living room and Bethany begins breathing heavily.

“Do I look okay, Mom? Don’t lie.”

“You look more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. You’ll be lucky if your dad lets you out of the house.”

“Whatever,” she scoffs. “It’s just prom and it’s only Greg. You guys need to calm down.”

Apparently, she’s the only one who doesn’t see it. Rian and I have spent countless hours talking about how adorable it would be if our kids dated, and now our wish is coming true, even if Bethany thinks they’re just friends. Friends don’t look at friends the way he’s always looking at her. With their age difference, I should be loading a shotgun right about now, but I know with my whole heart that no matter how much a boy Greg is, he won’t lay a hand on my daughter. Not until she’s eighteen in a few months, anyway.

Bethany walks out of the room, and I hang back a little so she can have her perfect entrance. I only know when she’s made it to the bottom of the stairs when Cutter growls and Greg lets out a groan. Following her down the stairs, I’m there just in time to see Greg holding his stomach and bending at the waist, then Bethany lays into her father.

“That was stupid, Daddy. You can’t go around punching people in the stomach when they tell me I’m pretty,” she chastises him.

“Contrary to popular belief, that’s what my job entails. If Greg didn’t wanna get punched, he should have kept his mouth shut,” Cutter responds nonchalantly.

“Baby,” I warn. “Leave that boy alone.”

“Boy? Shit, he’s a grown-ass man.”

“Twenty-one is barely a grown man. He just looks like one.” It’s true. The boy isn’t a boy anymore. Not only that, he’s the spitting image of his father now that he’s grown, and that can’t be a good thing for all the hearts I’m sure he’s shattering on a daily basis. Garrett’s a very attractive man, but with Rian’s features softening Greg’s—hell, if I was twenty-one, I might ask him on a date, too.

“That’s the problem.”

This whole prom has been a nightmare from the beginning. We had to petition the school to allow Bethany to bring a date to her senior prom who was older than twenty, plus Cutter didn’t take it too well. To him, she should have gone with a group of friends rather than a date. When she told him she wanted to take Greg, he nearly flipped out. I was a little worried our daughter would end up spending her prom night sitting in her room, but thankfully he came around, realizing we’ve known Greg since he was a toddler, trust his family, and know he was raised right. If there’s any young man we can trust with our daughter, it’s Gregory Rhodes.

“Are your parents coming for pictures?” I ask Greg, ignoring my husband’s caveman behavior.

“Mom is. Dad’s stuck at ballet with Evelyn.” I chuckle at the thought of Garrett helping his daughter with her leg extensions and tucking her hair into a perfect bun. Never in all my life did I think Garrett would be able to handle being the father to a little girl, but he’s done surprisingly well. Okay, he’s done really good. Instead of letting her go around with all these fast girls that seem to be hanging around the schools, he started her in ballet early, and now that she’s fifteen, she’s looking good enough to get into any prestigious company she wants to when she graduates. She’s absolutely amazing, and an identical twin to Rian, which I’ve heard on countless occasions is what’s making Garrett’s hair turn gray.

Cutter excuses himself to the den to get a much-needed drink and I start snapping pictures with my phone of my two favorite adults. I know, it’s hard to think of Bethy as a grown-up, but she’ll be eighteen in a few weeks and likes to remind Cutter and me every chance she gets about her almost-an-adult status. I think it’s adorable and Cutter wants to lock her in the basement until she’s thirty. Absolutely normal.

A few minutes later, Rian barrels through the door, out of breath. “I didn’t miss it, did I?”

“Nope,” I respond, and she joins me and whips out her phone and starts snapping away.

She leans over to me and whispers, “They’re so fucking cute.”

“They really are.”

“Think we can start planning their wedding now?”

“Probably not until my daughter gets her shit together and realizes how your son looks at her. He’s so in love with Bethany and she has no idea. She will though.” I glance down the hall and watch Cutter pour himself another three-finger drink. Laughing to myself, I can’t help but be reminded of the times I thought Cutter was just my friend and nothing more would ever come out of it.

Never in a million years did I think he’d be the man who’d give me my biggest blessings. I never thought he’d be the one I’d marry and spend the rest of my life loving more tomorrow than today. He’s my favorite person in the history of ever, and sometimes I get choked up thinking about how much he loves me. It must be a lot to forgive all that I put him through.

I never want my daughter to experience half the things I have, but when push comes to shove, if she finds a man who will love her the way her father loves me, she’s lucky beyond her years and should snatch that before it goes away. I think that’s going to be Gregory for her. When neither of them knows it, I watch them and see how his breathing quickens when she walks into the room and how his eyes light up when she laughs. He has to know that he’s head over heels in love.

And if he doesn’t, I can’t wait for the moment he realizes what we’ve all known for the last few years. Then Bethany needs to catch on.

“All right, Mom. No more pictures. We have to go.” Bethany gathers her things into a small clutch and Greg escorts her out. He opens the car door for Bethany, helps her pull her dress inside, and closes it once she’s secure. As he waves at us before he gets in the car, Rian’s outside taking more pictures, then getting in her own car.

“Wait. Wait for me,” Madeline screams, running out the door and straight to her sister, who jumped back out of the car when she saw Madeline barreling toward her. “You can’t go unless we have a dance party,” she pouts.

“OMG, I totally forgot. I got you, girl.” Jumping out of the car, Bethany asks Greg for something, and soon enough the sound of Operation Ivy spreads across the lawn.

My girls—my precious girls—start dancing like maniacs, hands raised in the air and feet moving rapidly. Okay, maybe being a mom to two teenagers isn’t so bad. Especially at times like this where they’re not pulling each other’s hair out, it’s kind of perfect.

“All right, Mad, come on. Let your sister get to her prom,” Cutter yells across the lawn and Madeline comes bounding toward the house, wrapping her arms around Cutter’s middle and hugging him tightly.

“I’m going to Stacy’s. I’m probably staying the night. Okay?” she asks.

“Sounds good, baby girl. Call me when you’re there.”

“Thanks, Daddy.” Squeezing him once more, she runs to the side of the house, grabs her bike, and starts to pedal down the street to her best friend’s house, leaving Cutter and me alone for the first time in a while.

Finally, it’s just us. Making my way back to the den, I flop down on the couch, laying my head on the armrest, and outstretching my feet. He comes over, lifts my legs, joins me, and pulls my legs into his lap, softly massaging my calves.

“We’re in trouble with that one, aren’t we?” he asks.

“Which one?” I giggle.

“Both. Both of them. One’s too old for her own good and the other’s too sly for my own good. I’m gonna start going gray like Garrett if I don’t watch it. At least he was smart enough to put Evelyn in ballet as soon as she could walk. We should have done the same with Madeline.”

“Have you met Madeline? She has two left feet. She’s gonna be our easy one. Watch. I bet you any money, instead of going out to parties and dating boys, she’ll be locked up in her room reading or something just as tame. It’s that big one we gotta watch out for. It’s not gonna take long for her to realize that she’s in love with Greg.”

“She better not be in love with nothing. Fuck, Jo. We’ve got her for another few months, and then she’s off to college with Greg. I can’t handle this shit.”

“You’re doing just fine, Daddy. Just breathe.”

“Should we start trying for number three so when the kids are gone, we have another one to spoil?” he asks, catching me off guard.

“Nope,” I respond quickly. “I’m gonna spend my time enjoying my husband when our daughters move out. Imagine all the trouble we can get into without any kids around.” I waggle my eyebrows at him and he wastes no time setting down his glass, plucking me off the couch, and throwing me over his shoulder.

“No time like the present, Mrs. Greer.”

“I like the way you think, Mr. Greer.”