My heart skips a beat at that, and I turn to look at him. I want to smile at him, but instead, I say, “I’m going to see my father, Case. Can you make that easier for me or not?”
He looks at me for a very long second before he finally nods his head and pushes away from the countertop. I watch him walk out of the kitchen and down the hall to his bedroom. I take a deep breath as I follow him.
CASE
“This is a bad idea,” I say softly. As far as I know, she hasn’t physically seen her father in three years. Not since she left her hometown to come to Chicago for college. And even then, I’m not sure how they left things. I do know she only hears from him when he needs help, so I’m guessing it wasn’t pleasant.
“It’s the only idea I have,” she says without looking at me as she walks past to enter the bathroom.
I reach out, grab her upper arm, and bring her to a stop. “You don’t have to do this.” I reach up and push a few long brown strands behind her ear. “I can see what I can do to get him out,” I tell her. But in all honesty, I agree with her. People like her father are best in jail. Where they are unable to harm themselves or put other people in danger. “Seeing him won’t make it better for you.”
“No,” she agrees with a sigh. She looks around the room for a second then her eyes return to mine. “When I was younger, I remember waking up in the middle of the night, and one time I found him dancing in the kitchen with my mother as she hummed a song. He spun her around and pulled her close to him. As he looked over her shoulder, he spotted me standing there and staring. He winked at me, letting me know he wasn’t gonna tell on me for being up and out of bed so late. There was always this light in his eyes when he was with her.” She hangs her head. “I keep telling myself it would return if he could just stay off the drugs. I wanna know if it’s there. I wanna know that there is hope left.” Her eyes fill with tears. “I did give up on him. And I’m not proud of that, but at some point, you have to give up, no matter how much you don’t want to,” she finishes softly.
I lift my other hand and place it on her cheek. I have seen this kind of situation more times than I can count, and I can tell you exactly how it’s gonna play out. She’s not gonna find what she’s looking for, but like she said, she needs to see it for herself.
I lower my lips to hers and give her a soft kiss. “I understand,” I whisper. “I will do anything you want in order for you to get your answers.”
“Thank you, baby,” she says softly. “Can I ask you a question?” I’m not sure if there’s anything else for me to tell her that I didn’t admit last night, so I nod. “Why did you say the situation has been compromised?” she asks tilting her head to the side.
I play with a few blue and dark strands of hair between my fingers. “I slept with you.” And it was worth it.
Her eyes widen. “How could that compromise what you and Blane were doing?”
“I told you I broke every rule I had for you. That’s a rule. In a case like this, I have to testify in order to convict the man that I had Blane setting up. Sleeping with you …” I let go of her hair and place my hand on her soft face. “… it compromised my integrity.”
She lowers her eyes down to my chest as it rises and falls quickly. Slowly, she looks back up at me through long dark lashes. “Why would you do that for me?” she asks softly.
I cup her face with my other hand as well. “Why wouldn’t I?” I say in all honesty. “You became my drug.” I inhale her scent and vanilla fills my nose making my cock grow behind my sweatpants. “You were like that one last hit a stoner craves.” I slide my right hand back into her hair and grip it tightly. She whimpers as her eyelids get heavy. “You consumed my every thought.” My other hand lets go of her face and pulls up the hem of her shirt, allowing my hand to slide up her flat stomach. Her skin is soft and warm. “I craved you in a way that would make any man walk through fire.” My hand travels higher until I cup her breast. “You are my addiction, Taylor.” I pull her head back, and it thuds when it hits the wall. Her heavy eyes shut, and her lips part on a gasp. I lower my lips and capture hers, giving her a rough kiss. Her sweet taste mixes with mine, and just as I said, she gets me high. My senses go on high alert. All I feel is her body pressing against mine. All I hear are her gasps and moans. All I can think of is lying her down and burying myself deep inside of her. When I pull away, we’re both breathing heavy. I wait for her to recover and look up at me. “I fell for you because, somewhere along the way, I realized you were worth it,” I whisper.
“If you could do it all over again, would you?” she asks, biting her lip nervously.
“Absolutely,” I say without hesitation.
Her wet and swollen lips pull back into a smile as she looks up at me. “I love you,” she whispers.
“I love you too, Taylor.” I kiss her softly once again, but the sound of my phone ringing has her pulling away from me.
Her eyes drop down to the pocket of my sweatpants. “You had better get that.” She leans up and kisses me on the lips. “I’m gonna jump in the shower.”
I take a step back allowing her to walk away from me as I go to answer my phone. “Hey, man. How’s Brecken?” I ask in greeting Miller.
“Well, he’s got dates lined up for the next month with all of these nurses who keep coming in to check on him.” He chuckles. “I would say he’s doing better than they expected.”
I smile. “Sounds like him.” We knew he would be fine. Brecken is a survivor. Always has been and always will be. I hear the shower turn on and it reminds me of something. “Hey, can you do me a favor?” I ask.
“Anything,” he answers without thought.
After I give him instructions, I hang up the phone and make my way to the bathroom. Steam covers the mirror and I reach down to remove my shirt. “That was Miller,” I announce as I push my sweatpants down my legs. My hard cock reminds me what we were about to do moments ago.
“How is Brecken doing?” she asks from behind the shower door.
“Better.” I open up the door as she rinses out shampoo with her back to me. “Miller will be here soon. He’s going to go with us to see your father.”
She spins around quickly the water causing shampoo to cover her face. “Why?”
“Usually, in cases like this, you would only be able to see your father with Plexiglas separating you two, but I can make a call and get you a meeting with him in an interrogation room. That way I can stand behind the mirror and watch the exchange.” She cups the water from the showerhead and washes the suds from her face.
“Why don’t you go in with me?”
