“How would your uncle feel about this?” Ms. Petty snaps. Jesus, her name really is fitting. I can see the anger rolling off of her now. Not that I blame her. I’d be pissed, too, if I couldn’t have Eli.
“I don’t have an uncle.” I shake my head. I have no clue what she is talking about. I glance over at the clock and see it’s almost time to go. It wouldn’t be worth going back to class at this point.
“Your uncle. The man who’s been raising you most of your life. The man who left you in Eli’s care.”
I pull my eyes away from the clock to look at her. Her face is smug now.
“Ms. Petty.” Principal Ford joins us in standing.
I glance over at him and reach for the folder he has lying in front of him with my name on it. Ms. Petty’s words are tumbling around in my head. They can only mean one thing. But it can’t be true. Can it? I open the folder and look at the top of the page.
Adoption.
The date is three days after my birth. I didn’t even know my dad had a brother. I scan through more documents, not even hearing what Ms. Petty and Principal Ford are saying. I hear the bell ring but keep standing there, reading.
“Oh, your Eli didn’t tell you that your dad wasn’t really your dad?” Ms. Petty’s voice is dripping with self-satisfied victory. The fact that she’s trying to hurt me with this news is disgusting.
I throw back my head and laugh.
“That’s where you’re wrong.” I square my shoulders and stare her down. This chick is crazy and clearly has some serious problems. “My dad is my dad.”
I toss the file on the desk. “If he wanted me to know this, he would have told me. I’d also bet anything Eli has no freaking idea. And if he did, you’re right. He wouldn’t say anything, because it doesn’t matter. Major is my father.”
I turn to look at Principal Ford now. He’s glaring at Ms. Petty, clearly pissed. She crossed the line and her true colors are starting to show. This isn’t about her concern for me at all.
“Maybe things are starting to add up for you now. Ms. Petty clearly has a problem with me and is trying to make my life difficult.”
“Maggie. I’m sorry I had—”
“My dad is missing. Now I have to come down here and listen to you people try to make threats about taking another person from me.” I grab my bag from the chair. “I suggest we never talk about this again,” I say over my shoulder and stride out of the office.
I try to shake off the dirt Ms. Petty tried to throw at me. I know why my dad didn’t tell me about his brother and the adoption. I’m his daughter, and he never wants that questioned. I know that’s the reason, because I know my dad. If there’s a story to it that he thought I should know, he would have told me. But I know Major. He loves me, and I don’t need to know anything else.
I push all that aside. I know who my family is, and no piece of paper will change that. I’m going to focus on the future, and I’m going to do it in the arms of the man I love.
Chapter 22
Eli
I sit outside in my truck and wait, my cock hard and thick, throbbing with need. Today’s the day, but we have to keep up appearances. There are already too many eyes on us. One step out of line and it could be bad.
She’s the most important thing in my life, and I will do everything to protect her. Even if it means ignoring the steel length resting along the inside of my thigh.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I try not to think about it. I try not to picture her soft curves under me and the places my tongue is going to go. How her sweetness will taste and what sounds she’ll make when we’re alone.
“Fuck,” I grunt, and lean back on the headrest.
One touch from her and I knew that my life had been changed. One moment a year ago and my world was forever hers. From that moment on, everything I did, every motion in my life, every beat of my heart, was for her. When her lips met mine, it sealed her fate. She didn’t know it that day, but it happened.
The minutes tick by, and though it feels like an eternity, she appears. Her blue eyes find mine, and like every time before, I’m home.
She’s walking toward me, and every step brings her closer to my grasp. To the moment when I’ll never let her go.
This is one of the first times I’ve allowed all my urges for Maggie to burst forward. For so long I’ve pushed them down to the bottom of my feet and stomped on them. Sure, I’ve taken care of myself when the want has become too much. But seeing her and letting my desires flow freely has turned me into a bull being taunted with a red rag.
I don’t get out of the truck when she comes close. Instead I wait as she hops in the truck and leans over to place a kiss on my lips. But instead of leaning back, she smiles and rubs her nose against mine.