Page 21 of Make Me

She says the last part so softly, I barely hear it. She puts her head down, but I don’t miss a lone tear falling down her face before she quickly wipes it away. I put my fork on my plate, reach over, touch her face, and stroke her cheek. She lets out a breath. I stand up and offer her my hand. She takes it, and I lead us to the couch.

Once she’s seated, I offer her a blanket, dim the lights, and sit on the opposite side of the couch from her. Even in the warm room, she trembles.

“What happened to you after your freshman year?” I ask her.

She exhales loudly and says, “I was here with my Aunt Mae, and it was the best year of my life. After that first year of high school, my mom ordered me back to Chicago.”

“Why did she send you here in the first place?” I grew up in a house with a mother and sister. Even now, they can barely go a few days without seeing each other.

“She had a new man in her life, and he didn’t want me around, so she agreed to let me come stay with Aunt Mae. Then, I guess things ended with that man, and she got another. He was a single dad of a five-year-old girl, and he needed a babysitter. That’s why she ordered me back. I was their sitter until he dumped her. She met someone else soon after. This one is religious, and she became part of his church. She never forced me to go until he said something about it. She insisted I go, and to shut her up, I did. I was working and taking some community college courses, so I didn’t go regularly. I met a guy in the church at their annual picnic. He was the second guy to ever show an interest in me, so we went out a few times. Long story short, I got pregnant the very first time I had sex. I went to my mom, scared and desperate for advice. The first thing she did was tell the church elders, and they insisted that we get married. By that time, my mother was engaged to her boyfriend, and he sided with the elders. It was the first time I ever yelled at my mom. I told her that her fiancé didn’t get to vote on my life. She slapped me.”

I notice that she has yet to say the name of either man, but it’s her last statement that stops me cold.

“She did what?” I ask. In a few seconds, I’ve pictured a million different ways I’d confront her mother and beat the shit out of Laci’s stepfather.

“She apologized right away,” Laci says quickly. As hard as it is, I stay quiet so she can continue. “I told her I didn’t want to get married, but she told me if I didn’t, I’d be on my own. Aunt Mae was going through her own problems at that time, so stupidly, I didn’t call her. Uncle Hank had a heart attack, and it was touch and go with him for a while. A few days after finding out I was pregnant, I was married to Brian. He didn’t want to do it either, but his father is the pastor of the church, so he was forced to marry me.

“We weren’t in love. We hardly liked each other. He was in love with someone else, and they were broken up when we got together. He resented me and blamed me for losing the woman he really loved. I could do nothing right. I was berated every single minute. The pregnancy with Ivy was rough. I was sick and stressed. I gained a lot of weight, and he never failed to remind me how fat I was. After I had Ivy, things got worse. I was basically raising her on my own. I don’t think he ever held her. The night he died, we got into a fight, and I finally decided I was leaving. He stormed out, and hours later, I got the call that he was hit by a drunk driver. He died on impact. Ivy wasn’t even one yet. I found out later that he’d been cheating on me with his ex-girlfriend. Aunt Mae asked me to come back here and work in the shop, and I never looked back. It took me a while to save a little money, but being back here is the best thing that’s happened to me since the last time I was here.”

When she finishes her story, her shoulders sag in relief at finally letting that out. I hold out a hand to her, and she takes it. I pull her and practically lay her on top of me. I feel hot tears on my neck, and I hold her through her cries while I rub her back and soothe her.

“It’s okay, Laces. All of that is in the past now. But you’re so brave to have gone through all of that by yourself.”

“I’m really scared, Cooper. Scared of turning into my mother and doing to Ivy what she’s done to me. I’m scared of being with a man because my life went to hell the last time I thought someone was into me. I’m terrified that you’ll realize I’m a worthless, fat cow who—"

“Shh. The fact that you’re worried about those things tells me you’ll never become that woman. You’re too self-aware. You love Ivy too much.” She’s quiet in my arms. I tighten my hold around her and pull her closer.

“Do you know that I’ve had a crush on you since I first saw you at school? You always wore those bright shoelaces. You were like a scared little bunny, and I think Marlene is the only friend you had. But you were only a freshman, and I was a senior, so nothing could have come from that.”

She finally picks her head up and looks at me. “You did not,” she says.

“I did. Why do you think I always made it a point to bump into you in the halls at school? I wanted to make sure you noticed me. Yeah, I was stupid,” I say, and we both laugh. “I know you’re scared, but all I’m asking is that you give me a chance and get to know me. I promise, I’m nothing like the other guy. We’ll go at your pace, but Laces, I really want to be with you. Just give me a chance.”

“I can do that,” she says softly. “But I have a child, and she’s my priority. I don’t want to be anything like my mother.”

“You’re a package deal. I get it, and I really like Ivy too. Maybe for our next date, we can take her to the fair in Traverse City. When’s your next day off?” he asks.

“Tomorrow, but it’s going to rain. I’m off again on Thursday.” She sounds so hopeful, but then her smile slips, and she looks down. “But you work Monday through Friday.”

“I can take a day off.”

“Really? You want to take a day off to take me and Ivy to a fair?”

“Really.” She relaxes against me again, and I can’t help but stroke the small of her back. I adjust myself so she won’t feel how hard my dick is.

I don’t think I succeed because she goes stiff in my arms. She raises her head, and when she catches my eye, I slide my hand behind her head and push her face toward mine. Unable to resist her sweet lips, I start the kiss slowly, moving my mouth on hers, but she opens her mouth. When she does that, I know there will be no going back.

I hold the back of her head, pushing her face closer to mine as I taste her mouth and revel in the smell of her skin. She smells of roses and tastes of heaven. The kiss deepens, and she slides a soft hand underneath my shirt and strokes the patch of skin beneath my navel.

My cock hardens some more, and when she shifts on top of me, she lands right on the steel pipe in my pants. She moves her lips from mine and looks into my eyes.

“We should stop before this goes any further,” I whisper. She nods slowly, but there’s a part of me that thinks she’s disappointed about having to stop. “How about a movie?” I suggest. Without giving her time to respond, I pull her back on top of me, grab the remote, and turn on the television.

An action movie comes on, and we watch in silence. She falls asleep about halfway through, but I don’t have it in me to move her to the guestroom. I love the feel of her soft, warm body on top of mine too much to move us. And I have the impression that moving her into my bedroom would only send her running.

Chapter 14

Laci

---