Page 30 of Pour Decisions (Stryker Family #3)

JD

It takes me way too long to realize why everyone at work is wearing a costume—it’s Halloween. It’s obvious by the time I get to the break room, which is decorated in fake cobwebs and pumpkins. The counter is already filled with treats and candy.

I snag a few pieces and start making my coffee.

“Bubba’s naked!” Dolores says with a sigh as she pets Bubba, who I’ve allowed to follow me into the office kitchen. Thankfully he’s never been drawn to eat sweet treats, so he won’t be tempted. “No Halloween costume for you, buddy?”

“I forgot it was today,” I say. If I had run into Katrina this morning, she would have reminded me.

But she was fast asleep when I got up, and I didn’t want to wake her.

She loves Halloween. I should have asked her what her plans are.

I have a lot on my plate today, so I make a mental note to text her and ask once I’m at my desk.

“I kind of figured you would, so I brought him this stuff!” She whips out a tiny cowboy hat and a red bandanna from her bag, like she knew I’d forget. “You wanna be a cowboy, baby?”

She could have asked Bubba if he wanted to destroy the rainforest and he would have wagged his tail. So of course, he stands still while she puts on his little hat and bandanna.

Admittedly, he looks ridiculous, but cute.

Everyone passing through the kitchen coos at him and he soaks in all of the attention. At one point, four people are petting him while he’s stretched out on his side, tail thumping against the floor. I snap a picture where his hat is cocked to the side to send to Kat.

I let Bubba be and head to my office, grabbing my phone. I text Kat the picture of Bubba and she responds right away.

Katrina: You got him a costume???? HE LOOKS SO CUTE

Me: No, someone at work did because they knew I’d forget. What are your plans for Halloween?

Katrina: Handing out candy and maybe watching a horror movie? Something spooky but I can celebrate alone if you’re going to be home late.

I lean back in my seat, my stomach unsettled. It’s not from the candy I’ve eaten on an empty stomach either. I want to go home early and blow off some of this stuff for work. For Halloween of all things.

Frank’s story about how he got started with June pops up in my head once again, and I push it back down. Wanting to spend time with Katrina isn’t a sign that I want to jump ship. I’m just stressed. At least I have tools to relax after work, thanks to Katrina.

Instead of giving Kat an answer yet, I dive into my work. Bubba wanders in and out of my office throughout the day, but doesn’t linger. Probably because people are loving up on him. Whatever look is on my face keeps most people out of my office until my uncle Jim shows up.

“Did you look over the sales reports from that liquor store chain?” he asks without saying hello. “The one owned by that father and son?”

I raise an eyebrow. His fixation on numbers is good—I wouldn’t want someone who didn’t care about them as a financial officer—but why is he so hellbent on me weighing in on it all?

I’ve completely put that liquor store chain out of my mind since the dinner where I met them. I hardly remember their names.

“Not a priority at the moment.”

My uncle looks taken aback. “The budget for the upgrades to the distillery weren’t a priority, and now this? What’s the deal, JD?”

The deal is that I think beating down the same old paths isn’t the best use of my time right now when I have a thousand other things to do.

Instead, I say, “Nothing is wrong. I’ll get to it.”

“You’ll…get to it.”

“Yes.” I stare him down and he stares back. “Is that a problem?”

“Just let me know when you get to it.” He shoots me one more look over his shoulder and leaves.

Thank god Bubba walks in moments later, tail wagging and tongue out. He’s still in costume, his hat wonky on his head. I smooth my hand down his back and pat his side to calm me down. I throw the stupid report onto my to-do list and get back to work.

I check my email a half hour later and there’s a message from my dad, my uncle cc’d.

Checking in on these numbers is all Dad’s email said.

I stare blankly at the email, processing the fact that my uncle went and tattled to my fucking father about this stupid issue.

If it can even be called that. It has the same energy as one of my brothers going to our mom to tell her that I was mean to him when we were kids. Except now it pisses me off.

Fuck this. I’m going home early today.

I don’t remember the last time I’ve gone home early just because. Maybe I never have, but there’s a first for everything.

I pack up my bag and find Bubba in the middle of the busiest hallway, still in his costume.

He whines a little when I call him to leave, but he follows me anyway.

I pick up a pizza on the way and slip him half a breadstick.

Kat is home already, and I find her on the couch, dumping candy into a big bowl.

“Hey.” I lean down and kiss her, letting my lips linger on hers. Yes, coming home was the right decision. Just a simple kiss and the weight’s lifted off my chest.

“You’re home early!” She beams up at me. “No costume?”

She’s wearing cat ears and drew whiskers on her face, paired with her black high-waisted leggings and a black crop top.

“Nope. ” I scan her face and notice the shopping bag near her. “But I have the feeling you got one for me?”

“Just while we hand out candy, if you do that around here. It’s nothing elaborate.

” She digs through the bag and pulls out a headband with brown dog ears attached.

“You’re a dog, and Bubba is dressing up as a human.

Or at least I kind of wanted him to, but now that I’m seeing his cowboy costume, I’m not sure.

Business suit? What do you think, Bubba? ”

Bubba wags his tail in response, which could mean anything, so we decide to keep him in his cowboy outfit. I change into sweats and a brown t-shirt, then sit down so she can put the dog ears on me. I feel fucking ridiculous, but her grin makes the feeling worth it.

We go onto my front porch with a big bowl of candy right as a few trick or treaters and their parents show up. Of course, they lose their minds over Bubba, who’s gentle with the kids.

To my surprise, the flow of trick or treaters is steady, with families dropping in every few minutes until the sun fully sets.

“Is the turn out usually like this?” she asks as we go inside.

“I don’t know.” I flick off the porch light and lock the door.

“I never sit out there. I usually leave a bowl on the front porch and grab it in the morning. So people are either politely only taking one piece or someone’s been dumping the whole container into their bag every year.

Now I wish we had a little more candy to eat. ”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.” She whips out another bag and dumps it into the bowl, plopping it on the coffee table. “Guess we’ll have to eat the rest of it and feel like hot garbage tomorrow.”

Both of us like the “shitty” candy—Tootsie Rolls, Dots, candy corn, Smarties—and that’s pretty much all that’s here.

“Are you sure you got most of this for trick or treaters? These are all of our favorites,” I say, grabbing a Tootsie Roll.

“Maybe I got it for us.” She takes a little baggie of candy corn and curls up on the couch. “I’ll never tell.”

I go to grab us some drinks and open the pizza box. I don’t reheat it or the breadsticks since we both like them cold. There’s no need for plates either—I’ll polish off whatever she doesn’t finish. Bubba wedges between us, but doesn’t lunge toward the food.

I start to take off my dog ear headband and both she and Bubba pin me with a look.

“What?” I ask. “We’re done handing out candy, so what’s the point of the costume?”

“Whimsy.” She looks at Bubba, who puts his head on her leg. “I know, Bubba.”

“You know how I feel about whimsy.” I leave the ears on because it’ll make her smile.

“Right.” She points to the dick sculpture from the night at the rec center, which is sitting right on my TV stand. “You get hard for whimsy. Absolutely bricked up for it.”

“I do not get hard for whimsy.”

“You just get hard for me?” She grins, leaning into my side as much as she can with the dog in between us.

“Yes, only you.” I kiss her, deep and slow. I try to nudge Bubba out of the way, but he’s a dead weight between us.

“He’s had a long, hard day of pretending to be a cowboy,” Kat says with a laugh.

“Bubba, c’mon. Off the couch,” I say. He yawns and burrows even deeper into Kat’s leg. I nudge him again and he hops off with a sigh, wandering into another room.

I kiss her again, pressing her flat against the couch.

Her crop top makes it easy to access her soft skin, and I lightly squeeze her waist. I’m more relaxed than I’ve been in a while, which makes it easier to take my time.

I tease her with my lips on her neck, dipping my fingers along the waistband of her leggings and the underside of her breasts in her sports bra.

She helps me by lifting her hips so I can peel her leggings and panties off.

I kneel in front of her and part her legs before looking up at her.

The face paint she used for her whiskers is smudged, and her lips are kiss-swollen.

She smiles back at me, then bites her lip like she’s trying not to laugh.

“What is it?” I ask, running my hands up her thighs. My eyes drift to her bare pussy, which is already wet for me.

“The dog ears.” She snorts.

Her laugh turns into a moan when I run my tongue from her entrance to her clit, and she takes off my dog ears. They were in the way of her digging her hands into my hair and pulling just the way I like it.

I press her legs back further, using her flexibility to my advantage.

Soon she’s a quivering mess against my face, and comes hard the moment I slip a finger inside of her.

Before she can even recover, I flip her flat onto her stomach on the couch and tuck a pillow under her hips, shoving my sweatpants down.

She lets out a soft, almost relieved moan when I slide into her.

I have to pause, like I always do. Her warmth wrapping my cock from tip to root lights up my nerves everywhere.

“Kitten,” I say, lightly pressing down on the back of her neck when she tries to squirm more.

“What?” She turns and looks at me as much as she can. Her eyes are heavy with lust, so I tighten my grip a little bit. She smiles.

“You know what.” I hold her in place while I fuck her, letting myself sink into the moment. It’s easy to do with her, matching her energy.

I kiss down her back as I fuck her, feeling her composure start slipping the more she winds her ass back against me.

She begs, her face buried into the couch cushions, so I fuck her harder.

Her words become unintelligible until she’s wailing, sending me over the edge from the force of her pussy squeezing around me.

I brace myself over her while I recover, then finally get the energy to get up.

We clean up and return to the couch, collapsing against each other.

She buries her face into my neck and I drag her over so she’s half on my lap.

Bubba wanders back into the room, glances at the couch, and chooses to sleep in his bed on the floor.

“Why were you home so early anyway?” she asks.

I gently play with one of her curls, running my fingers along the textured strands. The motion centers me.

“Work,” I finally say. “I’m just tired of my dad’s bullshit. I…well, I might leave.”

“Leave…the company? Your family’s company?” Her eyes widen. “Holy shit, JD.”

“I know.” I tell her about how things have changed, like Dad is tightening his leash, and how learning about Frank’s past made me rethink things.

“That’s a lot, babe,” she says, scanning my face. “But it sounds like something you might have to do.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah,” she says. “You’ve given so much to the company. And yeah, right now your dad is in charge, but he trained you to take over. He can’t get wishy washy because he can’t control what you do once he steps back.”

“I know. But it’s my family’s company. Their expectations. I mean, my whole life was leading up to it. I don’t know what life would be like.”

We sit in silence for a while, my thoughts slowly churning. I can’t imagine what the future would be like. All I know is that Kat would be in it. But I have to be tied to reality—we can’t just survive on love.

Her cat ears are on lopsided and her makeup is smudged, but they don’t take away from how serious she is.

“I doubt you’d do anything hasty, so I’m here for whatever you decide to do, okay?” She runs her thumb along my cheek. “I love you no matter what choice you make.”

She said it to me all those years ago, but hearing her say it now sucks the air out of my lungs. I’ve subconsciously understood that my father’s love—or at least his expression of love—hinges on my choices. So knowing that she’s behind me no matter what? It means more to me than she’ll ever know.

“I love you too.”