Finding Carson Lee (Oh Captan, My Captain #3) (25 page)

Kinley makes me laugh again. “You sound like me. Sex, laughing, more money.” With a deep breath, I pull her closer, laying an arm around her shoulders. “What do you want to do now?”

“
I want you to drop the bad-boy barrier and talk to me. Do you want to talk about your family?”

“
Not really. Does it have to be today?”

“
No, and I’m not pushing. I was only wondering. But I do want to know what you want. Are we friends still?”

Ha. Friends? “No.” And then I’m completely honest with her. “I want you and not as a simple friend. It’s going to take more adjusting to, though. You need to be patient, remember?”

She rolls her eyes. “Really, still with the patient?”

I grin. “Oh yeah, but I’m not worried about that because I think you have a lot of it.”

Kinley

“
I should probably get home. I know you’ve had a long day.” I stand up from the couch, but Carson grabs me.

“
Stay. Please.” For one second, I see a sadness in his eyes.

“
Okay.”

He leads me back up to his room, and I slip off my shoes. “I need to borrow some clothes.” I turn to him.

“
You don’t need clothes.” He jerks me to him, capturing my lips.

I moan against the wetness of his tongue in my mouth. My body relaxes as I wrap my arms around his neck. “I missed you, Carson.”

“
I want one more secret from you.” He kisses my neck.

“
Are you sure?”

“
Please, sweetheart.” He lays his forehead on mine.

I make him sit on the bed, and I take a step back from him. Pulling the rubber band from my hair, I shake it out. I keep my eyes locked with Carson’s as I take off my shirt. A smirk sits on his lips when I unbutton my jeans and sway my hips slowly while taking them off. Carson reaches for me, but I slap his hand away.

“
Be patient,” I use his words against him. I motion for him to stand up, and he does. I remove all his clothes, leaving him naked in front of me. I lick and kiss down his chest until I reach the spot I want to be. I swirl my tongue around his head, and Carson moans loudly as I guide him into my mouth.

Deeper and slowly, I take him further in. I know how he reacted the last time, but this time, I have a different agenda. I relax my jaw and tongue taking him all the way to the back of my throat. Carson grips my hair, and I know that he’s getting closer. I stop and stand up.

“
Not tonight, sweetheart.” I wink at him as I wipe my mouth.

“
Tease,” he growls at me, trying to give me the evil eye.

I laugh at him. “Lay down.” I order him, and he obeys.

I unsnap my bra and along with my thong I toss them over my shoulder. I pull open the drawer where Carson keeps the condoms and open up the wrapper. I straddle him, rolling it on him while giving a couple extra strokes.

“
Kinley.” He closes his eyes. He’s like putty in my hands.

I position myself right over him and don’t move. Carson’s hands are tight on my hips, but I hold where I am.

“
Kinley, I swear,” Carson hisses at me.

I giggle as I push my hips down on him. I gasp as our bodies connect. I rock harder against him. I raise up, and then push back down. I continue doing that, feeling Carson digging deeper into my skin. He lifts his hips and yells out as he fills me up. I reach my hands back, placing my hands on Carson’s thighs, arching my back more.

“
Fuck,” I breathe out. I can feel him him reaching the breaking point.

Carson sits up, flips me onto my back, and begins to pound into me. I wrap my legs around his hips and latch my nails onto his back. He continues sliding in and out of me, and it’s my turn to yell out his name as the tension leaves me. With two more thrusts, Carson falls on me and neither of us can breathe.

“
I missed you a lot, sweetheart.”

I giggle, knowing that I missed him too.

~ ~ ~

“
Oh Captain, My Captain, don’t you look mighty fine.” I adjust his bowtie. Carson looks mighty sharp in his black tux.

“
Thanks.”

I double check myself in the mirror. I’m wearing a red evening gown, and I’m hoping that Carson won’t be too upset with me with the surprise I have in store for him. I had Mike help me with it all week, and I know it will work.

I hope.

We go downstairs as the limo awaits for us. Carson helps me in, and I silently pray there are no problems. The limo drives us towards the hospital when Carson looks over at me.

“
Where are we going?”

“
To pick up your date, duh,” I joke with him.

“
What?”

I don’t say anything else as Carson keeps repeating the same question. I never answer. When the limo pulls up, the beautiful four year old is sitting in her wheelchair. Mike made sure she had the dress I had LPMS make her, and they even created a sequin headscarf for her.

“
Kinley.”

“
You need to have your girlfriend on your arm on your big day.” I kiss his lips as the door opens.

“
Carson,” Gracie yells for him, and I quickly move out of the way for her and her oxygen pack.

“
Hey, Gracie. How’s my girlfriend doing today? Excited for a night out?” I watch his interaction with her and it makes me go ‘aw’ every time.

“
Yes, I slept all day, so I won’t be tired at all.” She points down to her outfit. “Did you see my pretty dress? Kinley gave it to me.” She smiles up at me and I try not to cry.

“
She did? Well, you look beautiful, Gracie.” Carson looks over at her mother. “You too, Darcie. Thanks for letting Gracie come.”

“
I really don’t think I could have stopped her. She’s been excited about it since Kinley told us.” I made sure Darcie had a dress too.

“
Okay, everyone in the limo. We can’t be late for our grand entrance.” I usher everyone back into the limo. Carson tells them not to bring the wheelchair because he’ll carry Gracie.

Soon, we are off to the party. I lost my seat to Gracie because she wants to sit right next to Carson. I giggle as she tries to sit as close as she can to him. They hold hands the entire ride. I hate to admit that she looks sicker than the last time we saw her, but I pray it’s only my imagination.

The limo driver pulls up right to the front door of the grand ballroom hotel. We all file out and head up the large staircase. Gracie comments on everything she sees. It’s different when you see it through the eyes of a child. When we walk into the ballroom, it’s been transformed into an autumn enchanted forest.

Each tables’ place card is a picture from the line. On the walls, the photos flip and change every few seconds. The commercials continuously play on the large screens. I guide everyone to the center table and Gracie proudly takes the seat next to Carson. She’s staring up on the screen and looks confused.

“
What’s wrong, Gracie? Don’t you like the pictures of Carson?” I ask her.

“
Not really.” She scrunches her face. “He’s not wearing his jersey, and he looks very bumpy.” Leave it to a child to make a table of adults roll in laughter.

“
I’ll try better next time.” I pat her tiny hand.

The dinner comes first and there are a lot of people coming over to talk to Carson, and they tell him what a great job he did. Everyone falls in love with Gracie the moment they meet her.

When the music starts, Carson takes Gracie to the floor first, twirling and spinning her, making her laugh. After a couple of songs, Carson brings her back and whispers in her ear. Gracie nods and smiles at me. Carson comes over and takes my hand, leading me to the dance floor. I smile up at him, and for the first time in a long time, he looks happy. I don’t see the stern, bad-boy Carson Lee. I see the Carson Lee that I care about.

“
I had to ask Gracie for permission to dance with you.”

“
Well, I’m honored she said ‘yes’.”

“
Why did you bring her?”

“
Are you upset?”

“
No, sweetheart, I’m not.”

“
I did it because she needs fun too. Plus, it’ll be something you both will remember forever.” A single tear leaves my eye.

Carson softly wipes it away. “Thank you.”

We finish the song, and then go back to our table. We see it in Gracie’s face that she’s tired. I look at Carson, and he nods.

“
Come on, Gracie, it’s time to leave.” Carson picks her up.

On the way back to the hospital, Gracie curls up next to Carson and falls asleep. He makes sure he gets her all the way back to her room, and I melt when he kisses her forehead. Carson gives Darcie a hug.

Carson holds my hand back to the limo, all the way home, and even in the house. When we cross the threshold, he grabs me and kisses me.

Carson

We make it to the couch with Kinley straddling me. I pull away to look at her, the thoughts of tonight still very much on my mind. I can’t get over what she did for me and for Gracie.

“
You’re amazing, Kinley,” I tell her softly.

She smiles as she sits upright in my lap. “So are you.”

As Kinley sits before me, her fingers dancing across my chest, I think about how she hasn’t pushed me at all. She’ll ask if I want to talk, and when the answer is no, she lets it go. This time, she’s not going to have to ask.

“
Let’s talk.”

Her hands move to my shoulders and stay there. “Okay. What about?”

“
I want to tell you all the things I haven’t told you yet, about my family and Mike. If you want to hear it,” I add.

Kinley laughs. “If you want to talk, I’m not going to stop you.”

My mouth opens right as my phone rings from inside my pants pocket. I pull it out, a little confused when I see that it’s Mike. Why is he calling me? Glancing at Kinley, I tell her to hold on before I answer.

“
Hey, Carson. Sorry it’s a bit late, but I needed to call you,” he explains.

“
Why? What happened?”

Mike is quiet for a moment, which immediately makes me uneasy. “I don’t know how to tell you without just saying it,” he starts. “Your father died from an overdose today.” He keeps talking, but I tune him out, running that sentence in my head over and over. I’ll never have to deal with him again. He died the same way my mother did. “Carson?” I snap out of it and listen as he says, “You’re his next-of-kin. They’re going to want to know what to do with his-”

“
I don’t care, Mike,” I interrupt him. “Make the decision for me and let me know later. I don’t want to handle it.”

“
Okay.” He wraps up the conversation, and then we hang up.

Kinley is watching me, waiting to be filled in. I guess it’s a good thing we were about to talk.

“
My dad’s dead,” I say simply. “Overdose.”

Her lips part with a bit of shock and her eyes widen. She looks sad for a moment, but there’s no reason to be. I’m not. Before she can say anything, I begin talking.

“
Mom died of an overdose too. I lived with my dad for a while before I was put into the system,” I start recounting what I know she already knows until I can push myself to go further. “Mom was about to start getting help because she knew she needed it. She was an overall good person who had a problem. Dad wasn’t, especially when he was high. That was the first time I had seen or heard from my dad since I was removed from his care.