Page 58 of The C*ck Down the Block

Because if it was, I think I’d say yes.

INTO THE HIVE

CHRIS

Trixie fell asleep in the car on the way home after the fundraiser, and she was so out, that I literally had to carry her inside and up to bed. I stripped her out of her pretty red dress and groaned when I saw her matching bra and panties. They were frilly and gorgeous, and it would have been a hell of a lot more fun to talk her into a strip tease for me instead of carefully taking them off and tossing them in her laundry hamper. The one for clothes, not the one for toys.

But she was fucking exhausted. I knew how hard she’d been working on the event, and the drain the highs and lows of tonight must have taken on her. I found a nightshirt hanging on the side of the hamper and took a sniff to see if it was clean. It smelled like peaches and Trixie, and I had to give my cock a stern talking to as I slipped it over her head.

She blinked at me bleary-eyed, and god, she looked so tired, with little bags under her eyes and everything. “Why are you so good to me?”

“You’re my girl.” She always had been, and after hearing tonight about the shitty men she’d dated, I regretted not telling her how I felt a long time ago.

She closed her eyes and smiled. “Your good girl?”

“Hmm. We’ll see about proving that tomorrow.” And the night after, and the night after that, and for all the nights and a lot of the days after that. Was I thinking about forever with Trixie? Yeah, I was. I meant what I’d said to Lulu. “Now go to sleep.”

She yawned and wiggled down into her pillow. “Come snuggle with me.”

Well, hell. I was trying to be the gentleman here, but I couldn’t resist that. I laid down beside her, over the covers, and pulled her into my arms. I wasn’t going to risk taking my clothes off or getting in with her because one touch of her skin and I wasn’t going to stop.

She gave that cute little half a snore, half a sigh sound, and in about three or four more breaths, she dropped into REM sleep. Her little eyeballs went ballistic, and I hoped she was having a sex dream, because I knew I would be.

I laid there for a moment, watching Trixie sleep. Her face was relaxed, the tension of the last few weeks dissipated, if only for a little while. I knew what I was feeling for her was more than just a high school crush that had matured over the years. It was a deep-seated, bone-deep love that terrified and exhilarated me at the same time. Marriage was a big step, a monumental one, but as I looked at her nestled in my arms, the idea didn’t seem so outlandish. Was I really thinking about forever with Trixie? Hell yes, I was.

I had some soul searching to do. I gently slipped out of bed, careful not to wake her, and left her a note saying to call me when she woke up in the morning.

I needed advice. Someone who could give me perspective. Everett had been my love guru, but this was beyond winning Trixie’s heart. I didn’t need dating advice, I needed happily ever after advice.

I slipped through the fence from Trixie’s yard and into the backyard of my childhood home. My dad was sitting there, drinking a beer, and he had a second bottle on the table next to him, unopened.

“Dad.”

“Christopher, come sit with me.” He popped the top of the other bottle and held it out to me, and I’d swear he was waiting for me to show up.

We sat there together in silence for a little while, just looking up at the stars.

“When did you know Mom was the one?” If he knew I was coming to get advice, he knew what I was asking him now. He was the sort of man who could smell BS a mile away. If anyone could give me an honest opinion about taking such a major life step, it was him.

He and I didn’t talk about her that much, not one on one. Sure, we told stories about funny things she’d done when the family was together doing something where we wished she was there. But I never could seem to bring her up when it was just him and me. It always seemed too soon. And then it seemed too late.

“The second I saw her. She was the citiest looking city slicker, with fake fur on her high-heeled boots that matched her flimsy ass jacket, putting all kinds of stupid shit into her basket at Tex’s hardware store. And I forgot my god-damned name and my manners.”

I knew my parents met when my mom bought a broke down cabin near my dad’s. We’d all heard the story about how he had to rescue her in a snowstorm. But I swear to god, he’d never said anything about love at first sight.

He looked over at me and chuckled. “Sometimes, when you know, you know. This about Trixie?”

“Yeah,” I admitted. “I’ve been thinking about more with her, a life together, but...”

“You’ve been sweet on that girl since you were kids. I’m glad you finally pulled your head out of your ass and did something about it.”

“But we just started dating.” I was ten years ahead of her in the falling in love department. She’d barely had a chance to get used to the idea of being more than friends. “I don’t even know if she’s in love with me.”

“I didn’t exactly know how your mom felt when I asked her if she’d spend the rest of her life with me. I definitely fell for her first. Sure, we were hot in bed, but like you and Trixie, April was my best friend, and I became hers. Who better to spend your forever with than your best friend?”

Except he hadn’t gotten forever with her.

“Even if some of that forever is just holding her in my heart.” His voice had gone a little quieter and gravelly.

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