Page 6 of Fourth Wall

“And if you plan on driving, you’ll never actually make it out of your house, getting distracted by your mess.” I huffed. He had a point. I hated that he did. I was such an open book, and when Ifelt shitty, all I wanted was to be surrounded by my friends and family. Christian, on the other hand, was a closed book. I tried to ask him about his military service, and he gave me the quickest one-word answers. It drove me fucking insane.

“Fine. I’ll bring the leftover ginger chews I have from the girls,” I announced and then hung up.

I started to pick up the house because I knew I needed to do some cleaning before Christian came. He was twenty minutes away, so I had some time. I just needed to finish picking up the Legos. It wouldn’t take THAT long.

5

Christian

Present

I took my time driving up to the house because Maeve was notorious for being late.

In fact, when I pulled up, I opted to walk to the main house first to say hello to Maeve’s parents, Pat and Sarah. I knocked on the door to the main house and Sarah answered it first.

“Christian! What a pleasure to see you.” Over the years, I have given Maeve and her kids rides to places. Her mom was the first one to tell me when I offered, that if Maeve were driving anywhere that she would be hours late, so it was always better to pick her up.

“Are you finally here to sweep our daughter off her feet?” Pat said from inside. I just laughed. I don’t know what type of family would ever actually want me to be a part of theirs. I looked like I belonged on the set ofViking, and my job included murder and torture most days. They didn’t know the latter, obviously.

“When the ice queen melts,” I responded, and Pat laughed at my typical comeback. Over the past year since I’d known Maeve, we often fought with each other. We bickered because we were opposites in so many ways.

“We would only hope that one day she will come to her senses and realize how good you are to her.” Sarah gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, and the gesture felt so good. Very motherly. I had no idea where my own was. I never really grew up with a family. I married my middle-school sweetheart and moved in with her for most of high school, so I really had no one. My father’s identity was unknown. My mom said he was just a one-night stand when she was high, so she didn’t remember his name or even where I was conceived.

It was why the military was the only way I felt like I could escape my extremely small town and make something of myself. Turned out I did get out, but it probably fucked me up more than if I had just stayed and worked at the local factory.

I waved goodbye and walked to the guest house, where I knocked once before pulling the handle to the door, knowing it was likely unlocked.

Sure enough, the door had enough give and opened to an incredibly unorganized living room. Maeve had her extra-large pink headphones on and was oblivious that I stood in her room. Even though I found her annoying ninety percent of the time, there was no denying her beauty.

She was pretty in a way that someone didn’t even have to try. She wasn’t fussy about how she dressed like some of my friends’ spouses. She was just naturally stunning. She had long blond hair, an array of freckles lining her face, and the brightest blue eyes that shined at you when you looked at her. She was tall, probably five-nine, and had legs for days. She wasn’t particularly curvy, but I bet there was enough to fit each hand, and I’d be perfectly content with that handful.

Today, she wore her see-through silky white pajamas. I could see the outline of her tits as she ran a vacuum and danced along the living room carpet. I could see the outline of her black thong when she turned away from me and bent down to grab a toy off the ground.

Fuck, if I didn’t find her so irritating, I would bend her over the table and fuck her until her knees gave out. I hadn’t had good sex with anyone in fucking years. It was just one after the other. Mostly because part of my employment when I worked for Julian was that I had to remain sober and go to therapy at the VA. It was hard seriously dating now without meeting someone where there isn’t liquor. The first time I went to a club, very briefly, was for my best friend’s bachelor party, and thankfully, I was too consumed with the way Maeve looked dancing at the table to think about how freely the liquor flowed.

I walked over to her, knowing I would scare the shit out of her because she had no clue anyone was in her house. I walked around the house slowly with my gun raised, hoping to god no one else was in this house with her. This was a huge safety risk, but there was no point in arguing with her.

“Hey,” I tried and still nothing. I lowered my gun to my side once I assumed it was safe in here but kept it carefully at my thigh just in case.

She danced with her back facing me. She was a terrible dancer, her long arms and legs flailing about, but the way she looked so effortless and carefree made me watch her for a few more seconds before I gently put my hand on her shoulder.

“SHIT!” she screamed when I finally touched her. “You scared me, you creep.” She threw off her headphones, then quickly folded her hands over her chest and looked down uncomfortably. “You’re early,” she complained before putting the vacuum away and running to her room.

“Not even close. It's been almost an hour since I called you,” I shouted back.

“Ugh, sorry!” she trilled, and I instinctively grabbed a few of the toys and threw them in bins. “You could put away your gun. It’s terrifying,” she shouted from her room.

“It’s part of my job, firecracker. I am a bodyguard, after all.” I chuckled.

“Why can't any of my friends just have normal jobs?” She huffed, and I looked in her direction. I couldn’t help but notice that her door wasn’t shut completely. My eyes looked up just as I saw her pulling her shirt over her head. She was turned somewhat away from me, but it was so hard not to notice the way her body curved around her chest.

“Why do you call me that anyway?” she asked.

“Because look at you.” She looked down and then quickly back up with eyes that could kill. “You are a force to be reckoned with,” I lied.

When we were on deployment and stopped in Hong Kong, I went to grab some firecrackers with some of the boys at work. The shop lady told me that firecrackers could be seen as symbols of luck and prosperity. The moment I laid my eyes on Maeve, Iknew there was something about her—my good luck charm, so to speak.

Sometimes…most of the time, she drove me crazy, but I couldn't keep my eyes away from her. I watched as she pulled down her sleep shorts, and immediately, her perky ass was front and center in my view. I was literally picking up a toy as I watched her shimmy into her shorts. I felt my cock twitching, and I looked down. Shit.

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