Page 102 of You & Me: Part One

“Shit! We have to find a place for him. This is all my fault Jonathan.” Her voice trails off as she speaks the end of her statement.

“Sweetheart, this is not your fault. Not only are you required to report abuse in your line of work, but you got him out of a violent situation and maybe even saved his life. You have enough of your own shit going on to worry about him too. I gave him my info and I promise I will keep checking on them. I told him you wanted to see him back at school if possible. It was clear you mean a lot to him.”

“There has to be something we can do for him. I could move into Ireland’s room and Jesse and his brother could have my room. Wait . . . I could probably lose my job if I did that! Shit! This is a kid’s life we’re talking about though. Shit! Shit! Shit!”

Now, she’s up and off the couch, pacing the room. She’s fidgeting with restless energy. She pulls her hair up and into a messy bun then she pulls that out and lets it fall. Two-seconds later it’s in a ponytail high up on her head and then it’s back down again. Where do these hair bands even come from? Watching her is amazing and exhausting all at once. She cares so much about this kid that she isn’t even thinking about her own situation.

“Emily, come here,” I say using my forefinger to summon her to me.

She comes back to the couch and sits next to me, facing me with her knees pulled up to her chest while she worries her necklace.

“Sweetheart, do you have class today or any homework you need to get done? I can take care of Ireland if she needs anything.”

“No class today. I have a paper I should be working on but there’s no way I can focus on that right now. My brain hurts trying to figure out who’s doing this to me, how to protect my baby girl and how to help Jesse.”

“Why don’t you take some time off work until we figure this out? Just focus on school and Ireland.”

“I can’t take care of Ireland if I don’t have a job. You have no idea how lucky I am to have a part-time job that includes benefits. I have to have benefits, Jonathan. You just never know what could happen, and I can’t lose this job. Besides, I won’t let these bastards win. Fuck them if they think they’ll scare me away from my job.”

That’s my girl.

Break In

Emily

It’s Tuesday morning and I’m sitting at my desk staring blankly at my computer as I wait for the students to start arriving. I should be getting my day organized and checking my emails, but I can’t stop daydreaming about yesterday and how great Jonathan was. He took care of me all night. He slept next to me and just held me. He didn’t make any moves, and I didn’t feel any pressure from him. He simply held me and took care of me all night long.

The more time I spend with him the more I realize that he isn’t just this hot guy that I had a whirlwind romance with. He is an amazing man. Genuine. Thoughtful. Kind. Last night he cooked dinner, took care of the dogs, read Ireland her bedtime story and then took care of me the rest of the night. He could have taken advantage of my emotional day, and tried to push things further in my vulnerable state, but he didn’t. Instead, he rubbed my shoulders and then slept on the top of the bed covers with my head on his chest. He rubbed my head and stroked my hair until I fell asleep, just like he did every night that we shared a bed in California.

The last thing I recall before falling asleep was him kissing the top of my head and saying, “Goodnight, Gracie.” The next thing I know, my phone is buzzing with the sound of my alarm and I’m still in his arms. I reach over and slap the alarm off, but he quickly pulls me back into our spooning position and puts his nose in my hair and takes a long sniff.

“God, I love the way you smell.”

I love his morning voice. His voice is already deep and sexy as hell, but add the rasp that comes with him just waking up and my panties practically fall right off.

Before I’ve had a chance to respond back to him, he pulls my hair to the side exposing my neck and kisses me gently.

“I’ll go get the coffee started and you hop in the shower. Want me to make you anything for breakfast?” He says as he gets out of bed still fully clothed from the night before. It looks like he slept with just the throw blanket I keep on the edge of my bed. He stayed on top of those covers all night. Damn.

“I’ll just have some cereal when Ireland has hers. Thanks for getting the coffee started and thanks for last night . . . for everything really. Not sure how I would have gotten through yesterday without you.”

“I’m glad I could be there when you needed me, but there really isn’t a thank you needed. I would have been losing my mind if I wasn’t able to help, so it was really more for me than for you,” he says with a wink. “Now get up, beautiful, and get in the shower.”

I never knew that little things like eating breakfast together or talking over a cup of coffee each morning could mean so much, but they do. Who knew there were really good men like him out there? I guess I did, but I never thought I would find him again. Now, it looks like it’s up to me to decide if I am going to walk away again, or take the risk of a broken heart and being let down.

Alex, Cami and I always say no regrets. I think it’s time I start actually living my life to match our motto. Let’s face it, today could be my last so I might as well start kicking some ass.

The bell rings and snaps me out of my thoughts of the beautiful man that I am so in love with that I can’t even find the words to tell him. I don’t really even have the balls to tell myself half the time. I was able to admit it to Cami with two shots in me, but sober in the light of day and I can’t get it out.

“Hey, Miss Jacobs.” Austin says as he walks in and puts his back pack on his desk. He looks over his shoulder and signals to the cute little brunette waiting in the doorway to class. Miss J, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Kayla.”

Kayla walks into the classroom and puts her arm through Austin’s arm, but doesn’t say anything in the way of a greeting. She seems really shy, but totally in love with Austin. It’s very sweet to see them together.

I put my hand out and say, “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you from Austin and it’s nice to finally put a face to the name.”

At the sound of me saying that Austin has talked to me about her, her face lights up with pride. She shakes my hand and says, “Me too.”

We all stand there quietly after our handshake, so I remind the kids that class is about to start.

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