Get Off on the Pain(75)

I pull her body flush with mine and kiss her slow and passionately, giving her a taste of what she’ll be getting as soon as we get home. This woman is mine and I want the whole damn world to know it.

Spending dinner with all of the people she cares about is enough to brighten up even the worst day for her. I’d pull this crap off for her every week if I could, even if I had to drag each and every one of them out of work myself.

She deserves this and so much more . . .



IT’S THREE O’CLOCK IN THE morning and I have spent the last hour or so sitting out here on the back porch with my guitar. I came to the conclusion that being out here with my guitar on my lap seems to bring the same peace it used to give me before everything went wrong in the world. I no longer feel the need to fight. Everything I have is enough.

On nights that I can’t sleep I’ve been coming out here and playing, just enjoying the peacefulness of my surroundings. Some nights, late at night, Alex comes out and brings his guitar and we play together. We play for Mom. Seeing the smile that it brings to Lyric’s face reminds me a lot of my mother and the joy that my playing used to bring to her. It makes me feel good inside . . . complete.

So much has changed over the last month that it’s been a little hard to adjust to everything. I spend most of my days running Jack’s construction business and Lyric splits her days between the tattoo parlor and the studio. Dragging her out of there for dinner earlier was good for her. She works harder than anyone I know.

Every day I see her passion for photography and art grow just a little more as she slowly lets her guard down. She’s even drawn a few tattoos up for Bailey and some random clients at the shop. The look on her face when she watches Alex permanently mark someone with her creativity is fucking priceless. I can see the pride glowing in her eyes and nothing makes me happier.

Lyric still lives next door, but she’s downstairs asleep in my bed right now. All of her stuff is at her place, but she knows where she belongs. She belongs next to me, in my arms, and in my bed. I don’t even want to imagine her anywhere else. I love that woman more and more each day and there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do to show her that.

My fingers slowly strum away at the strings of my guitar, but my eyes find their way to the doorway where Lyric is wrapped up in a blanket, watching me with a smile.

She’s so damn beautiful that it creates a void not having her in my arms. Setting my guitar down, I reach out for her arm and pull her into my lap, before pressing my lips to the top of her head.

“Can’t sleep?” I softly speak next to her ear.

She shakes her head and tilts her head back to look at me. “I can’t stop thinking,” she whispers.

I brush my lips over her cheek, then down her neck before kissing it. “About what?”

She doesn’t hesitate before speaking. “You.” She reaches back and tangles her fingers in my hair before tugging me closer. “And how happy I am to have you in my life. Tonight was perfect.” She sniffs my neck and then smiles. “And about how damn sexy you smell. I could stay awake breathing you in all night.”

Wrapping my arm around her waist, I jerk her to the side so that I can press my lips against hers. Having her in my arms, here on this back porch, is almost enough to make everything seem so damn perfect.

“Play for me.” Lyric reaches down beside us and grabs my guitar, handing it back to me. “It helps me fall asleep.”

Smiling, I grab the guitar and place it on her lap, reaching my arms around her so that I can play.

We stay like this for a while, maybe even hours, just the two of us listening to the melody of my guitar. Something about the way I feel right now almost makes it feel as if I’ve known Lyric my whole life, as if she was meant to be right here in my arms. She blew into my world, knocking me on my fucking ass, and now all I want is for her to stay.

Now that she’s mine, I’m not letting her go . . .

The End