Page 39

Chapter 39

Mikey

On Saturday morning, Jessie and I had a little date day before I had to leave town. We fucked in the shower when we got up, and man, did we get adventurous. I know Jessie likes a little ass play, so I rimmed her until she was a screaming, whimpering mess. But then, she returned the favor and I was shocked at how much I liked it. Who knew I was a butt guy? But even more, the whole relationship thing was taking me by storm. I didn’t realize that even sex brought you closer when you stayed committed to one person. It felt amazing. I loved my dirty girl so damn much.

Oops, there I was thinking, nay, knowing, that I loved her. But it seemed wrong to tell her I loved her for the first time right before I went on a long road trip. I wanted to be able to take her to dinner, to celebrate, to spend hours in bed solidifying it. And what if she didn’t feel the same way yet? I didn’t want my brain to be messed up for an entire nine-day road trip. I needed to be locked in.

We got take-out coffee and she took me to her favorite fabric store to pick out material for my suit. My only requirement was that it had to coordinate with the hat she made me, so I could have a complete J. Welsh ensemble. She didn’t let me see what she got when she was looking over the silk for the liner, saying it was a surprise. I loved seeing her in her domain like that, describing why certain materials were better than others. She got emotional looking at a certain green velvet, her fingers delicately touching the fabric.

I walked up beside her and took her other hand. “You want some of that, hon?”

She sniffed. “No. My best friend just had a dress for a middle school dance made out of this material. It just took me back unexpectedly.”

I tucked her into my side and kissed her temple. “You want me to get you some?”

She turned to me quickly with a tearful smile. “No. It just felt nice to see it. Let’s go check out.”

After we had lunch, she headed to drop me off at my car at the arena. I always hated to leave Jessie when a road trip came around, but I really hated this one. Even though Riki and the rest of the Dallas team were long gone, I felt like I needed to be Jessie’s bodyguard. I just had this sneaky feeling like something was going to go wrong while I was gone, but I needed to shake off my jitters. It was an important time for our team.

The road trip would be our longest of the season, and right before the playoffs. You’re always due for one hellish road trip per season, and apparently, they’d saved the best for almost last for our team. We were sitting pretty in the number one wild card spot for the Western Conference, but we really had to focus to make sure we secured our spot in the playoffs.

And plus, we were going to Detroit. That meant a visit with my parents, which always carried some baggage. To say I was dreading it is an understatement.

Adding to my anxiety, Jessie’s car sounded like it was on its last legs.

“Hon, your car sounds kinda bad. You wanna drive mine while I’m gone and we can put yours in the shop?”

She rolled her eyes. “You are always on about my car.”

“It sounds like there’s a beehive under the hood and anytime we hit a pothole, it feels like something’s going to fall off!”

“Don’t talk so bad about her!” she quipped. “She can hear you!”

“Jessie, I just want you to be safe.”

“I know, Daddy,” she said, patting my leg. “I just got an oil change and they didn’t say anything.”

I threw out my arms. “Because you go to that janky place on Pine! They barely keep you street legal!”

“Just because I’m frugal doesn’t mean I’m getting bad service,” she huffed.

I sighed. “You are stubborn as a damn mule, Jessalyn. If I ever meet your parents, I’m going to have some words.”

She grinned a little. “You wanna meet my parents?”

I hesitated, my stomach swooping. “I guess I did say that.”

“Look at me! I got the commitment-phobe to want to meet my parents!” she cackled. “Call the L.A. Times. They’ll want to do an exclusive.”

“You are the biggest brat, Jessalyn Welsh.”

“Yeah, you like it.” She pulled into the lot at the arena and turned to me. “You gonna miss your little brat?”

“So fucking bad. You’ll be good while I’m gone?”

She just smirked at me, her little dimple popping out.

I took her chin in my hand and traced her lips. “The correct answer is ‘yes, Daddy.’”

“We’ll see,” she said with a giggle. “I’ll miss you. Tell your mom and Lori hi for me.”

“I will, hon. Kiss for Daddy?”

“Get over here, Jockey.”