“So, I’m learning, Pixie, thanks to you,” he says, holding me close as the water sprays down my back.
This is pure bliss. This moment … is everything I have never had and ever wanted.
Chapter Sixteen
~Coal~
One month later…
“Brother, I can’t believe we’re sitting here at a fuckin’ wing joint and you’re eating chili nachos with no meat. Has Paisley lured you to her dark side or what?”
I know Hammer is joking because of the smile on his face, so that’s why I only flip him the bird instead of punching him in the face. “There’s nothing dark about Pixie, but she sure as hell has lured me into somethin’. Besides, it’s not because of her that I’m not eating meat.”
The table gets quiet.
I’m not ashamed to admit it. The Cook mission changed me. I’m not sure I will ever look at meat the same way again. But with Pixie’s help, I found alternative ways to get the protein and nutrition I need to keep my body in shape. If anything, the change in diet has made me a little leaner and a fuck of a lot meaner looking.
To be honest, I’m not sure if the change in my body has much to do with the change in diet. It could be all the fucking Pixie and I have been doing. I can’t seem to get enough of the woman. It’s a miracle she hasn’t bitched about being worn out. Until she does, I’m going to keep tasting and pleasing her every damn day.
Being with her does something to me, something I like. I feel lighter when I’m with her, like the burdens of the world just disappear. I can finally see why Ice and Hammer like to spend so much time with their ol’ ladies.
Those two words, that label, gets me to thinking again about asking Pixie to be my ol’ lady. We have been exclusive, which is a first for me, but something in me wants more. I want to own her as much as she owns me. Completely. It’s almost as if we are yin and yang. She’s the light to my dark. She balances me. I’m starting to think I can’t live without her.
Is it fast, these thoughts I’m having? Yeah.
Do I give a fuck about how fast it is? Nope.
She makes all my cares drop away, and there’s not a price tag in this world you can put on that. Every day I spend with her, I fall for her a little more.
Is any of this shit I would tell my brothers here? Fuck no. But I have a feeling it doesn’t need to be said. They have their women. They already know what it’s like to have that balance.
Changing the subject, I ask Hammer, “You still thinking of proposing to Des?”
He nods. “More I think on it, the more I want to do it. Think it’s time to go ring shopping, my man. Seems like change is on the wind for all of us.”
I snort. “Not Ice. He’s already got it good. Don’t think he wants to change a damn thing.”
Prez shrugs. “Not true. I’ve been thinking it’s time Morgan and I add to the family.”
Hammer and my jaws drop open in shock.
“You want a baby?” Hammer asks what we’re both thinking.
There’s a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “Think you boys just need to wait and see what I’m up to.” He laughs at our still shocked faces, and then bites into another wing.
“Oh, hell,” I say on a laugh. “You’re just crazy enough to decide you want a baby and knock her up, then say ‘look what I did’.”
“Maybe.” He smirks. “But we got Brooke outta the house, and this empty nest shit ain’t so bad when I can fuck my wife on a kitchen counter while she waits on some cookies to cool off.”
“Eating cookies from Morgan is never gonna be the same again, brother,” Hammer says with a frown.
“More for me, shithead,” Ice gives back before biting into his chicken taco.
Hammer isn’t done letting his disappointment be known. “This feels like the time Des fed me a smoothie from Paisley, waiting till I finished to tell me it had peas and kale. All that good for me green shit. Des is good for me. The rest of that is unnecessary.”
I laugh at him. “Man, you start eatin’ cleaner, you’ll find your body and mind will work better. You’ll have stamina like never before.” I wink before scooping up a nacho chip. “Plus, I eat normal. I just bypass the meat.”
“Give it time. You’ll end up eating just like her,” Hammer says a little too confidently, and I raise an eyebrow in question. “Look, Des loves Paisley like a sister. My woman, she likes coffee, sugar—all the good shit in life. But since Paisley, she actually stops to think about packaging and what we ingest. Des is even making a damn garden this summer. Apparently, the girls are all gonna see what they can grow.”