Page 83 of Payoff Pitch
She smirks. “Which daddy?”
I roll my eyes and answer. “Hey, Daddy. Is everything okay?”
TANNER
I’m getting things ready for poker night when the doorbell rings. I wonder who’s here early.Veryearly. It’s unlike any of them.
I open the door to Bailey in tears. My face falls. “What’s wrong?”
She looks behind me and around the house. I shake my head. “No one is here. We’re alone.”
She throws herself into my arms and starts sobbing. I hold her tight and caress her back. “What’s the matter, sweet girl?”
“It’s my mom. She’s sick. Our father just called and saidthat she has some sort of liver disease caused by all the years of drinking. They gave her a year to live.”
I pull her tighter into my arms. “I’m so sorry.” I know they’re not close, but I imagine it still hurts. “Do you need to fly down there?”
She shakes her head in my arms. “No. She doesn’t want to see us. She said we didn’t care about her in life, and she doesn’t want us to come now that she’s dying. Dad said to give her a few weeks to absorb everything and then we’ll revisit. Kam doesn’t want to go, but I do. I just…I can’t leave things unsettled like this.”
I pull her inside and close the door, still holding her in my arms. I don’t think she needs me to say anything. She just needs me to be here for her, though I wonder where Kam is. I’d think Bailey would want her at this time.
After she finally calms down, she breathes, “I’m sorry I bothered you. Kam was just acting so cold about our mother dying. She wouldn’t talk about it. Then she took off saying she had plans. I needed a little comfort. I know you have poker night. I should head out. Maybe it’s finally hit her, and she needs me.”
I squeeze her hard, not letting her go. “You’re never a bother. I’m glad you came to me. You bottle things up, always needing to be the brave one. It’s okay to be vulnerable. It’s okay to be the one needing to be taken care of.”
Her face is buried in my neck as she nods her head and mumbles, “Thank you.”
Her hands are fisted in my shirt. I simply hold her close as the remaining tremors of sobs begin to dissipate.
When I’m confident she’s completely calmed down, I hold her cheeks and lift her face so that our eyes meet. “Are you okay?”
She whispers, “I think so.”
“Let mecancel tonight.”
She shakes her head. “No, I’m sure they’re on their way. You need this time with your friends. I should probably go find Kam anyway, though I doubt I’ll have any luck. When she wants to disappear, she fully disappears.”
She looks up at me with an expression that threatens to break me. “Just a few more minutes of you. It helps.”
I hold her in my arms, trying to give her whatever it is she needs, secretly loving that it’s my arms providing her comfort.
She begins kissing my chest, eventually trailing those kisses up to my neck. Her fingers run through my beard. She loves doing that.
Before I know what’s happening, she’s standing on her tippytoes with her lips brushing over mine. “I need you. We can be quick. Don’t hold back. Make me forget, even if just for a few minutes.”
In an instant, my mouth is on hers. I feel the warmth of her body relaxing into mine as her arms circle my neck. My hands move around the back of her thighs. I lift her and she wraps her long legs around me.
She breathes, “Tie me up. Do whatever you want to me. Just make me feel good. Please.”
I do the only thing I can do right now. I nod and begin kissing her again.
In a frenzied state, she unbuttons my shirt and opens it. Without breaking the kiss, I move us upstairs to my bedroom, and we fall onto my bed. I grind my covered cock through her center. She moves her hands all over my back. All over my body. I’ve never felt her more needy than she is right now.
Why do I like her dependence on me? I’ve never liked that in women, but with Bailey, it’s only serving to make me want her all the more. But I hate the notion of giving it to her hard and fast and then sending her on her way. There’s something so wrong about that.
An ideaoccurs to me. I reluctantly pull away, loving that she audibly whimpers at the loss.
I command, “Get your ass naked.”